Silliest DIY Project?

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Reel mower?

Oh, yeah, this wasn't strictly my silly DIY project, but I built it and made all the structural design changes (as originally conceived it'd have fallen over). A ridiculously sized computer table. And he wondered why his electric bill was over $100 a month.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I have dual screen and have seen triple screen but never 4 screens. I assume they aren't on the same computer.

the only reason you really need 3 (that I can figure) on a design basis is to see a BOM (build of materials) a schematic and a board layout at the same time.

I have always gotten along good on my 2 (they are 21 inchers though)

as far as the murray, mine is the all mighty 12.5 hp model. there again, it mowes my grass.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

He had four at the high point: Macbook, shuttle PC, tower PC, and an old Amiga.

I run a single 22" one right now. Plan to upgrade to two 22" on my next system, with one turned 90 degrees. The most common use I have is reading docs while programming, so the taller size would come in handy. Of course two sideways would give more gaming possibilities.

[theholycow]

I use two, but I can understand using more. With only two, I constantly have to bury and then bring forward various windows. I might be working with three maximized programs at once, plus a few cascaded windows, some monitoring that I don't touch much but want to see, and then there's IM...

I could probably use 5 screens at work (network administrator).

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Originally Posted by theholycow

I constantly have to bury and then bring forward various windows. I might be working with three maximized programs at once,

A virtual desktop system called Spaces on os x really helps with that. I don't know if there's a windows equivalent but I would imagine so. I remapped my numeric keypad so the buttons line up with the virtual desktop positions on the screen. Makes switching fast.

[theholycow]

There are loads of virtual desktops for Windows, but the end result is the same for me. A basic one is published by SysInternals, and more slick ones are available elsewhere.

I wouldn't mind trying a desktop resolution larger than my monitor resolution, though -- basically virtual desktops tiled next to eachother like multiple monitors. You move your mouse past the edge of the screen and your view pans across the desktop. That used to be common in Linux but I haven't seen it in years, and I've never seen it in Windows.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Spaces lets you drag an application from one virtual desktop to the next. I actually don't like this as I sometimes do it accidentally. I prefer to go into the zoomed out show all desktops view and drag them there.

I'm actually a big believer that desktops are a bit of a boneheaded way for the majority of users to interface to their computers. It's basically just a file browser. Front and center should be something much more like the dock, but with some self-organizing ability to help less advanced users customize it (by default this should be a non-invasive suggestions approach, not an automatically change stuff on you system). Most data interaction should be done through the appropriate application, not done via a file browser. Power users may not like such a thing, but most computer owners aren't power users. I've set up Spaces to automatically launch my applications in separate virtual desktops to slightly test this sort of organization and so far I like it.

[theholycow]

Abstract metaphores like the desktop and files are definitely a HUGE problem for common users to understand. One of the most common problems I've dealt with over the course of my career has been that people cannot grasp the concept of the file system.

There is no way that I can get my mother or my wife to understand that their files are in c:\Documents and Settings\user\My Documents\whatever.doc (or just My Documents\) (or whatever.mp3), not in Microsoft Word or iTunes. Attaching a file to an email is a HUGE event with either of them.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Not that I'm saying this is the perfect model or anything, but Front Row on the mac is much more the speed of casual users. Instead of: "OK, here's a totally general subsystem you can do almost anything with", it asks "OK, of the six things you can do, which is it?" Make a last option for "not in this list", arrange it hierarchically, and keep some frequency stats, and you're starting to get more along the lines of what I think my grandmother could handle. Well, if she hadn't been dead for more than twenty years.

I've been annoyed by moving files lately. The Finder on osx is just one window (some shortcut sort of stuff on the left, but it's not enough), so I always want a second one. I just want a file browser with two bloody windows all the time in a fixed relationship to each other. There are programs and scripts that launch two windows and put them next to each other, but you can accidentally move or close one with surprising ease. Also, that approach has some wasted space and resizing them together is a no-go.

OK, this is getting WAY WAY off topic. Don't even get me started on silly software DIY projects I've done. Be here forever.

[theholycow]

There have been LOADS of simplified interfaces like that. Microsoft Bob, Windows Media Center, and GeOS (IIRC) come to mind, but I know there's way more and I see other ones all the time.