Tag Archives: mouse

Assign Key Combinations To Extra Mouse Buttons In Windows

by on
Leave a comment
Ever since the mouse was brought to the masses with the success of Windows, it has had two primary buttons: the left click and the right click. On most mice, these used to be the only buttons before a third one came along with the scroll wheel, increasing the utility of the device specially when reading long documents or browsing lengthy websites. Nowadays, 5 button mice are pretty common, with some specialized ones such as the Razor Naga having as much as 17 buttons. Normal computer usage does not require you to have so many buttons; however, a couple of extra buttons than the regular three can come quite handy when it comes to repetitive tasks. The most common use for the fourth and fifth mouse button is to navigate back and forward in a window. Some mice come with their own software to assign required functions to the extra buttons, but for situations when you don’t have the default software your mouse, there is Mouse Manager. It is an application for Windows that allows you to set almost any combination of keys as the default function on your 4th and 5th mouse buttons. Read More

Fake Mouse Input In Windows To Prevent Screensaver Or Sleep Mode

by on
1
Screensavers are no doubt beautiful to look at, from stationary images appearing one after the other, they have evolved into complex animations that light up our screens whenever we leave the computer at idle. However, as much pleasing as they are to look at, sometimes it is a huge annoyance when you are in the middle of something and the screensaver suddenly pops up. Some of these situations can occur when you are in the middle of a presentation, installing an application or monitoring some other process that you don’t want to be interrupted. Sure, you can go to the Personalization Settings and turn off the screensaver, but what if you are not the system administrator and that option is blocked for you? Well, we have a solution for you called Mouse Jiggler. It is an open source tool for Windows that fakes the mouse input to your computer and makes it believe that some activity is going on by moving the mouse cursor slightly back and forth on your computer screen. The best part is that it will not only prevent a screensaver from appearing, but it will also prevent your PC from going to sleep. Read More

Shortcat Lets You Interact With Apps & Buttons Using Only Your Keyboard [Mac]

by on
Leave a comment
Desktop computers need two essential input devices; a mouse and a keyboard. If you use a desktop computer, you’ve subconsciously developed a system that tells you when to switch between a mouse and keyboard. You hardly think twice about which input device you’re going to use, and unless you’re using complex software, you will never have to rethink how you interact with your system. Generally speaking, the mouse is used to scroll and click buttons i.e. perform GUI actions and the keyboard is used to mainly input text and occasionally execute certain commands. Shortcat is an app that aims to end or minimize your usage of the mouse by making your keyboard smarter. It is activated via a keyboard shortcut and works with any selected app. The app lets you hit buttons without having to switch to the mouse; you just need to type in the action text on a button and hit enter. Read More

Multiplicity: Control Up To 9 Computers With One Keyboard & Mouse

by on
2
Working with multiple computers at a time requires you get up and go to the PC that you want to control. That can be both time consuming and irritating, especially if a person has to constantly keep getting up during some important work. There are applications available that let you avoid getting up from your PC again and again. It means that the same mouse and keyboard will be used to control all the connected PCs, saving you the trouble of getting up and moving yourself to be exactly in front of the other computer. Previously, we have covered some very useful applications for Windows that allow you to control multiple computers using a single set of mouse and keyboard. ShareMouse is one such cross-platform tool that lets you share your mouse and keyboard on multiple computers on the network, and Mouse Without Borders is another alternative by Microsoft Garage. Today, we have another application, Multiplicity from Stardock, which lets you control up to 9 computers from one set of mouse and keyboard. More on Multiplicity after the jump. Read More

SlideMode Makes It Easier To Select Text With The Trackpad [Mac]

by on
Leave a comment
The brilliant gesture support in OS X Lion is best complemented through the usage of Apple's Magic Trackpad, or vice versa, should you prefer it that way. If you’re on a MacBook, you get a trackpad anyway. The gestures are all excellent, highly convenient and make you, well, feel like a ninja when you use them. But, as they say, all good things come at a cost, and there is one thing that is slightly difficult to manage with the trackpad - text selection. SlideMode is a free Mac app that makes this easier and adds two other simple tweaks for users who don’t have a trackpad. What the app basically does is make selecting text easier for you, whether you’re using a mouse or trackpad. Read More

[Giveaway] EdgeCase Prevents Unintentionally Moving Mouse Cursor Between Displays [Mac]

by on
3
If you work with multiple monitors, you must have noticed that your mouse doesn't always understand that you didn’t mean for it to move to the next display, even though you continued to move it to the left or right of the screen. The mouse is meant to act like that, and it only makes sense that you would be able to move the mouse comfortably between two displays. There are, nevertheless, usage scenarios where the second display attached to you system is really meant to monitor a feed or an app or any other system activity. You don’t necessarily need it for performing your ‘work’, and that’s when your cursor jumping between monitors gets irritating. EdgeCase is a Mac app worth $4.99 in the Mac App Store that prevents the mouse from accidentally jumping between displays. Read More

Accelerometer Mouse: Control PC Mouse Movements Using An Android Device’s Motion Sensor

by on
2
There’s no shortage of Android apps in the Google Play Store that let you use your device as a mouse, keyboard or trackpad for your computer. However, most of the available solutions require you to drag your finger over the device’s screen to control the mouse cursor. New to the market, Accelerometer Mouse (currently in beta) is yet another Android app that lets you take control of your computer’s mouse movements over WiFi, but to achieve said purpose, it uses your Android device's accelerometer. That is, mouse movements are controlled by tilting your Android device to various angles. The app works in combination with a Java-based desktop server that reads the mobile device’s movements transmitted over a common WiFi network, and translates them into real-time mouse movements on your computer’s screen. The mobile client’s is extremely easy to use, with a UI that incorporates the looks of a regular PC mouse, complete with left, right and scroll buttons. Read More

MagicPrefs: Modify What Apple Magic Mouse & Trackpad Gestures Do [Mac]

by on
1
Apple’s Magic Trackpad is possibly one of the most impressive track pads out there and definitely one you’d want to use with a Mac mini or iMac. What’s most impressive about the Magic Trackpad is that combines a trackpad and mouse into one and you can’t really want more than that. While the hardware is definitely amazing, there are few tings you can do with it using the mouse preferences in OS X and that logically calls for the need of better preferences in the form of MagicPrefs. MagicPrefs: is an app that modifies what you can do with whichever type of Mouse you’ve connected to your system. It changes the default mouse options in System Preferences and lets you remap which functions are performed when you tap, swipe or click the mouse. The app additionally allows you to view the battery status of your mouse and gives you on-screen notifications when turn Caps On or Off. Read More

Browse The Web Without Actually Having To Click Any Links [Chrome]

by on
1
Oddly enough, Repetitive Stress Injury, or RSI, can also develop through extensive clicking of the mouse. While gamers are generally more prone to such a condition, people who extensively use computers have also complained of RSI. If you're a regular web surfer and use Chrome, Click-Free Browsing is is an extension that takes of the clicking burden for surfing the internet. It lets you scroll pages and follow links without actually clicking anything. Click-Free Browsing adds fixed navigation controls to the right hand-side of the page that give you fast scrolling capabilities and speedier browsing. You can just hover your mouse over these controls to easily scroll the page, simulate the back/forward buttons, and for navigating through links, just place the mouse over the navigation icons displayed alongside the links, and you will be automatically redirected to the target page. More after the break. Read More

Feewhee: Use Mouse Scroll To Resize Windows & Adjust Their Transparency

by on
2
When Windows Vista came out, the Aero-Snap feature revolutionized the way we resize our windows. It allowed users to quickly resize windows in different sizes to make efficient use of the available virtual work space. You can place windows side by side, place them vertically or automatically resize more than 2 windows horizontally and vertically to be able to access the content from each one. However, the default Aero-Snap feature is somewhat limited. It doesn’t allow you to stack windows in different positions. For instance, if you want to stack four windows on your screen in the form of a grid, you will have to manually resize them, or use a third party desktop manager that allows you to perform automatic window resizing and management of all open applications. Read More

Include Mouse Cursor In Your Mac Screenshots Using Grab Utility [Tip]

by on
2
We review screenshot apps on and off for both Mac and Windows. As with most Mac apps, finding a feature rich free app that takes great screenshots is pretty hard, and there wasn't a free app (as far as we found) that let you capture the mouse in your screenshots. On Windows, it is super easy to do so with the likes of Greenshot. For Mac, there is actually an built-in way to do this (provided you’re using OS X Lion). The Grab utility that comes pre-installed on your Mac not only has an option to capture the cursor, but also lets you choose what the cursor will look like. For those who haven’t given Grab a spin yet, it lets you capture the entire screen, an area of the screen, a window, and take a time delayed screenshot of the entire screen. Read More

Conductor Server: Control Your Mac From An iPhone/iPad [Paid]

by on
Leave a comment
A while back, we covered a Mac App, Mobile Mouse Server, which was a feature rich app that allowed you to use your iPhone as a mouse/trackpad replacement with your Mac. The Mac app was free while its iOS client cost $1.99, but the features are definitely worth it. Conductor Server is yet another Mac app that does the same, and likewise the Mac app is free while the iOS client is worth $1.99. Compares to Mobile Mouse Server, this app knocks it out of the park. The app has dedicated media controls, but additionally lets you switch between open windows of any app. You can preview thumbnails of the open windows and bring them to front on your Mac by simply selecting them on your iOS device. The app allows you to add a large variety of gestures and swipes. Read More

KatMouse: Configure Application-Specific Scroll Settings In Windows 7

by on
Leave a comment
There was a time when there were only two button mice available. Then, a third button was added to extented the functionalty of mouse for scrolling the page and performing other tasks. Nowadays, the number of buttons on a computer mouse have increased a lot with 5 button mice being commonly used, while the ones with more buttons are used in specific applications, like games. A gaming mouse, the Razor Naga Epic, has 17 programmable buttons! If you want to extend the functionality of your 3-button mouse, what you can do is use an application that allows adding and modifying mouse buttons' functions. For instance, universal scrolling is a feature that can be added by using Always Wheel and WizMouse, which let you scroll inactive windows. KatMouse is an application that enhances the utility of the scroll wheel of a mouse. It offers universal scrolling, seperate scroll settings for specified application & app windows, and pushing windows to the bottom of the windows stack on your desktop. Keep reading to find out more about KatMouse. Read More

Mouse Server: Turn Your Android Device Into A Mouse & Keyboard For Mac

by on
2
Earlier this month, we covered Mobile Mouse Server, a Mac app with an iOS client that lets you use your iOS device as a full fledged mouse, keyboard and trackpad. The app also has additional functionality for your browser and dock. The iOS client cost $1.99, but Retato Receiver is a free alternative. Mouse Server is a similar Mac app with an Android client Remote Mouse (both free and paid version available) that lets you turn your Android device into a mouse for your Mac. The app exists as an icon in the menu bar only; however, the Android client features both a keyboard and mouse layout. You can adjust the cursor’s sensitivity and auto connect to your system when the app is launched. A Windows client is also available for the app. Read More

NeatMouse: Control Your Mouse With Custom-Mapped Keyboard Buttons

by on
Leave a comment
Sometimes, it may happen that your mouse stops working in the middle of something, or a new mouse might not get detected by Windows. In times like these, being able to control your mouse with the help of your keyboard comes in very handy. This is also applicable to netbook and laptop users who might hate relying on the trackpad for mouse movements. Even though the ease of access center in Windows allows you to control the mouse with your keyboard buttons, you don’t have options like scroll up and down in a window. NeatMouse is a portable tool for Windows that allows you to control your mouse via keyboard, and provides you with the ability to scroll up and down a page, mimic the left and right clicks of the mouse and move the pointer with different speeds. If you don’t want to use the pre-specified keys for performing different functions, you can change them individually according to your own preference. You can activate and deactivate the application directly from your keyboard anytime just with a single key. More on NeatMouse after the break. Read More

Quickly Jump Mouse Pointer Across Several Monitors With Multi Monitor Mouse (M3)

by on
Leave a comment
Throughout my professional life, I’ve favored multi-monitor setups, whether homogeneous or heterogeneous (although I naturally favor homogeneous ones, but you cannot always have that luxury). They give you more screen area to play with, make organization of work easier and considerably speed up tasks (personal experience here). However, for most people, multi-monitor setups imply having two display devices attached to a single PC, which is generally easy to manage. Things start getting complicated when you have perhaps three or more displays attached with a single PC, meaning that you get to control all of the extra desktop space with a single keyboard and mouse. One annoyance that such setups present is the excessive mouse movement required to travel/navigate across the multiple desktops. Multi Monitor Mouse (M3) is a very small tool that allows your mouse pointer to quickly jump across various monitors, making the whole experience considerably faster. Read More

SmoothCursor: Set Different Speeds For Mouse & Trackpad [Mac]

by on
Leave a comment
Do you use both an optical mouse and a trackpad with your Mac? Both devices have separate system settings available, but the settings for a Mouse allow you to control the tracking speed, the double-click speed and the scrolling speed while those for the trackpad let you set up touch-gestures. So far as cursor speed and acceleration is concerned, they are same for both Mouse and Trackpad. SmoothCursor is a free Mac app that allows you to set separate acceleration speeds for trackpad and mouse. It has three different modes that allow you to choose how the settings will be implemented. Read More

Mobile Mouse Server: Turn Your iPhone Into Mouse & Keyboard For Mac

by on
Leave a comment
One of the great things about owning Apple devices is how well they work with each other; not just the native apps, but also, how developers put them to good use. Mobile Mouse Server is a free Mac app that allows you to use your iPhone as a fully functional mouse, keyboard and Touchpad. You will be required to install the iPhone app, which costs $1.99 in the App Store, to connect your phone to your Mac. The app works smoothly, and allows you to program mouse gestures and hotkey functions that you can execute from your phone. More after the break. Read More

Clikka Lets Disabled People Use Mouse Effortlessly

by on
3
The technological advancement of recent times has let disabled people perform normal functions, and lead a pretty regular life. These days, disabled people are climbing mountains and running in Olympic races with the help of different gizmos. Devices that help them perform tasks normally come under the title of assistive technology, or accessibility options in case of Windows. The accessibility options in Windows allow people with disabilities to use the operating system without needing the help of others. You can adjust settings for better display and readability, configure keyboard and mouse settings, and make the sounds produced by your computer easier to your and set up speech recognition for controlling the operating system through your voice. Other than the default Windows options, there are also a lot of third party applications available that help in enabling everyone to use the computer in a better, easier manner. Clikka Mouse is one such application that allows disabled users, in particular, people who can't use or don’t have fingers, to use their computer in a normal way. The application is used to emulate mouse-click actions at the position of the cursor, without actually pressing the buttons. Read more about Clikka Mouse after the jump. Read More

Add A Stick To Your Mouse Pointer With PointerStick

by on
Leave a comment
PowerPoint presentations are a handy way to indulge your audience into what you’re trying to demonstrate. But in order to get the most  out of it, you need proper equipment and tools at your disposal, which also includes what is being presented on screen. And when we talk about what's been shown on the screen, mouse pointer plays an integral part. It is quite easy to lose track of mouse cursor position during PowerPoint presentations on large projector screens. Another problem is that, if you have to point something out to the audience, there is no way for anyone to locate the mouse cursor if they are sitting a bit far away or unless you move it around a little bit. Today, we have software solution for you that might come in handy in such scenarios. Simply labelled as PointerStick, it is a portable application that adds a stick to your mouse cursor, enabling you to easily point at objects on you computer screen. The stick itself seems quite reminiscent of a magic wand. The beauty here is that you can also fully customize the stick, for example, you can change size, transparency and texture of the stick, and use hotkeys to enable and disable it, accordingly. Read More