Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with touch

Typing: from 60wpm to 90wpm

ekpyrotic — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:54:03 -0800

From a reasonably good [60wpm] looking-at-the-keys typist to a reasonably good [90wpm] touch typist. I currently type at ~60wpm. I have to look at the keyboard every 3-or-so words. I want to touch type for 2 reasons,

1. To improve speed,
2. So I can copy text effectively, i.e., not have to look at the keys now and again.

Where's the best place to go from here?

She likes me, but does she like me like me?

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:32:50 -0800

Late start at dating, and I'm worried that I don't/can't express attraction on dates or around people I like. Halp! I've gotten a really late start into the dating world. I'm in my mid-20s and have basically only gone on a handful of first dates (all arranged online), mostly in the past year or so, none of which have involved more physical contact than a rather chaste goodbye hug. A few times I've developed friendships with (single) women I've been pretty attracted to, but those have not morphed into anything more. (I don't know how to! Literally, don't know how those things happen.) Even aside from the mechanics of it ("touch her arm X times!" "mention Y!"--not that I think you can go by some textbook here), I don't know what happens if the "move" (physical or verbal) is unwanted/unrequited. Seems like it would be extremely awkward, especially if we've already become "friends." And it seems like friends is what I know how to do - I meet someone I'm attracted to and then when we hang out, I don't act like it's a date (I guess - how do you act like it's a date other than paying for someone?)

Relevant background:
-I'm a woman, and I'm pretty much only interested in dating women.
-I grew up (through high school) in a religious environment where no one dated and there was pretty extreme separation of the sexes. (i.e. lack of dating/flirting experience or exposure at a "normal" age, combined with developing the tendency to censor attraction since liking women wasn't really okay in that environment.) (But I have been away from that for >6 years at this point.)

I guess it would be perfect if I ended up on a date with someone who takes the reins and I'm attracted to, but:
a) I don't feel like I can/should count on someone else like that (as someone said in another AskMe: man who wait for roast duck to fly into mouth wait long time.)
b) I worry that I give off "not interested" signals, which might be stopping many people from taking the reins. I'm not an extremely physical person (would love to be more so) and I have these internal filters that seem to stop me from being really obvious about my attraction to people.

To my knowledge, no one, male or female, has ever overtly hit on me or expressed interest (excepting maybe the very occasional sketchy street dude), which suggests I'm either oblivious to cues or giving off some sort of "don't go there" signal.

How can I seem more receptive to advances? How do I express this stuff other than "hey, I like you?"

What happens when you try kissing someone (a friend suggested I just take the plunge and kiss someone I'd been hanging out with) and it wasn't wanted/expected? Or even if you grab their hand and it wasn't wanted?

Throwaway email since this is anon: askme.dating@gmail.com.

Annoying sensual quirks filter: Why does he rub me the wrong way?

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:52:38 -0800

I'm female, just started seeing a guy, we're both in our thirties. We've made out a couple of times but are still fairly new to eachother physically. So far it's really nice, except for one thing: whenever, wherever he touches me, he does it in a repetitive circle. It never stops. And it makes me want to leap out of my skin and run screaming. Example: When we're standing and hugging, his arm will be around me, not just roving around like arms do, but rubbing his hand in a big circle on my back. ACK. Or, when we're laying down his hand will be moving over my shoulder in circles. Wax on, wax off. Or, his hand will be resting on my cheek, but his thumb will be rubbing my temple in incessant circles. As long as his hands are going from point A to point B on me it doesn't seem to happen. It's when they stop to rest that he starts boring a hole into me. I have tried nonchalantly putting my hand over his, but he keeps wiggling underneath it!

I have dated other guys with the same habit. Why do some people do this? I otherwise really enjoy his touch. How do I (kindly) ask him to for the love of god STOP what is for him probably a sub-conscious motor habit? And does this drive anyone else up the wall like me?

Text Message Problems

Zeker — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:48:23 -0800

I have a Touch Pro (Fuze) on WinMo 6.5. From my understanding, my text messages are being handled by pocket outlook. Can I use something besides outlook? I HATE HATE HATE HATE pocket outlook. Viewing multimedia messages is such a pain in the butt, it doesn't just display them as they should be, but rather as separate elements (i.e., click this impossibly small icon to view your picture. Jump this loophole to save it, now click here to read the accompanied text, back, now click here to listen to the accompanied music file). Also, sending text messages is horrible. Let me explain why...

Reception sucks indoors. So if a text message fails to send, this is what would typically happen on any other phone...

Message fails >>> message stays in outbox >>> phone keeps an eye out for reception >>> if there's reception, message is re-sent automatically >>> success!

Here's what outlook does...

Message fails >>> message I typed is sent from OUTBOX to MY INBOX (instead of staying in the outbox) >>> I need to click on my message and hit FORWARD >>> erase MY NAME under RECIPIENT NAME >>> re-type the recipient's name >>> keep my finger on send until I see 1 bar of reception >>> hit send, hope it goes through >>> cry in shame of spending 3 minutes to resend 1 message >>> kill myself.

I've tried actually moving the message from the inbox to the outbox, but it gives me an error saying it can't be done.

Who else is annoyed by this? Is there a setting to change the way this behaves? Or better yet, is there a replacement text message manager that works better and actually lets me view my MMS messages nicely? I'd appreciate some help please :D

I Ch-Ch-Charge you

gensubuser — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 09:10:49 -0800

Where would you go to get a cheap iPhone/iPod wall charger and/or USB cable? From looking at amazon and a couple other vendors, it seems there is a very popular tactic of ramping down the product quality in successive batches. By the time an item has 4star reviews, the next shipment could very well fry your device. I have a 2G Touch.

Can you recommend a vendor that either: A) has a large inventory in stock of the same device, such that I can rely on the reviews, or B) is semi-branded such that their reputation matters?

Or, some other tactic.

OhMyGodIThinkTheItouchIsCoolBut...

wittgenstein — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:23:29 -0800

Question about wi-fi and my new itouch. I was lucky enough to recieve a free itouch from work. After downloading the software upgrade, I am now going crazy with apps (after reading previous AskMeFis, of course.)

One evening, while using the LastFm app, I lost the internet connection. Since then, my itouch does not seem to be able to "receive" the wi-fi at my house.

Data Points:
1. I have tried telling the itouch to "forget" the house wi-fi, so that I have to log in to it again.

2. The itouch works fine at other locations (school, Barnes and Noble, etc.)

3. The home wi-fi is working fine for our laptops.

4. On the very unlikely chance that LastFm had anything to do with it, I deleted and reloaded that application. That had no effect as well.

When I try to connect, and then use Safari, for example, the screen turns a darker color and keeps trying to connect until the operation times out (or I end it myself.)

Obviously, this is not a life or death situation, but it is annoying, and I would like to solve it myself if I can. Any suggestions?

Digital piano recommendations for touch and dynamics

neworder7 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:05:57 -0800

Digital piano recommendations? My priority is realistic touch and being able to produce sounds for as many dynamic levels as possible. I don't want to pay for "pretty" features to have like screens, sound effects, powerful speakers etc..etc.. I have an upright piano and I live in an apartment and it is disturbing my neighbors. So I am looking to get a digital piano.

What I am looking for :

1. Realistic touch,
2. Being able to give many dynamic levels from ppppp to ffffff :)

I don't want to pay for things like pretty features like :

1. pianos with screens,
2. sound effects,
3. powerful speakers
4. midi, digital stuff etc..etcc

Although these features don't hurt to have, if there is a cheaper option with similar touch and dynamics I would definitely go for the cheaper one.

Considering all this, I appreciate any recommendations, or your experience with digital pianos, or how it is like to go from acoustic to digital or any comments.

Thank you

HTC Touch Pro

Zeker — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:45:12 -0800

Questions about HTC Raphael phones... My goal: I have AT&T, want to upgrade my phone and NOT renew my contract.

My interest: HTC Raphael, HTC Touch Pro, HTC PPC 6850, HTC XV6850, HTC Touch Pro T7272.

Question: Are those phones the exact same thing??! Or is it just cosmetics that differ? In other words, if I buy the Sprint version of the phone, can I unlock it and use it with AT&T, even with customized ROM? Or do I need to purchase a specific one of these?

Side notes: any suggestions on where I can get unlocked phones for cheap? Or suggestions on a phone that's about as good as this one?

I... don't... touch people.

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:37:37 -0800

I can't touch people. I just can't. What the hell? I searched, but didn't find anything on this, surprisingly.

As a boy I grew up very isolated, and missed the usual rites, rituals and landmarks of sociability and dating. I wasn't physically abused (verbally, though). In my late twenties, I now have a good number of friends and acquaintances; I go out to parties and events, and sometimes I get a bit smashed, but not always. As far as dating, I've gone out with women, but I'm really afraid of misreading body language and just kind of occupy my own space -- which probably isn't conducive to any progress.

Which brings me to my main problem. I'm not comfortable touching people. Even patting someone on the back, male or female, feels unnatural, like I'm doing an imitation of someone else. It doesn't really bother me when someone puts an arm around me, or a girl sits in close contact, but simultaneously I wonder what made them decide to do that; like what gave them permission. At the thought of doing that, I feel like I'm invading personal space. The times I've tried, I felt creepy and withdrew as quickly (if awkwardly) as possible. A woman made me repeatedly re-hug her because I was doing it wrong; I wasn't coming in straight on, leaving too much space.

I'm not very good at them, but I'll participate in sports (competitive and not), go jogging and the like. But I won't dance because I feel uncomfortable and am terrified of looking stupid. I also don't like the way people look dancing, or being surrounded by so many bodies. The idea of moving around for its own sake, out of the joy of the physicality of it, doesn't really resonate with me. I feel like it's something I may have to confront eventually, but I don't really look forward to it.

If I sound like a prick/weirdo, apologies, but I'm being painfully honest. My question is part what the fuck is wrong with me? and part what the fuck should I do?

I need to Shift into a higher plane of typing!

brenton — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:10:43 -0800

I am looking for a typing program that will force me to use the right shift key for left hand letters, and the left shift key for right hand letters. When touch-typing, I have the bad habit of only using the left shift key. With intense focus, I can use the right shift key for letters on the left, but after trying many times to force myself to do this, I always find I am reverting back to my old ways (it's faster in the short term, slower in the long run).

I really want to correct this flaw before I go to grad school and start writing Truly Long Papers. But every typing program I can find fails to distinguish between the shift keys. Does anyone know of a program that is shift-specific?

I am not even sure if keyboards send a different key-code for the different shift keys. If this is the case, then I am determined to hack a keyboard and then hack an open-source typing program to do this... any suggested starting points?

iPod Touch Recovery

Kiwi — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:31:34 -0800

How to recover videos from an iPod Touch? My video files were kept on an external HD, which has now bitten the dust. Does anyone have any experience with getting the videos back off the iPod and onto my PC?

DS, iTouch, or Kindle?

backseatpilot — Fri, 15 May 2009 08:18:20 -0800

I'm thinking about getting a Personal Entertainment Device of some sort or other, and I'm looking for some anecdotal experience, pro/cons, etc. from people. I've been doing a lot of traveling lately, and it doesn't show any signs of letting up - I need something to occupy myself on flights and in hotels. I have a laptop, an older iPod, and books, but I found myself watching Gran Torino three times in a row on my last transoceanic voyage after I read all my books and my batteries died.

Couple the above with a sudden gadget lust, and I've got three devices in mind: Nintendo DS, iPod Touch, or Kindle. I realize that they're all aimed at different markets/demographics, so I'm looking for any empirical evidence for or against each device, especially with regards to travel usage - cramped quarters, limited/no wifi connectivity, lack of available power outlets. Also, some specific questions:

-As an adult, "serious" gamer, am I going to be really disappointed with the games on the DS? (I do enjoy "casual" games, but I don't think I could spend seven hours on an airplane playing Peggle.)
-I see tech blogs nerdgasming over the iPhone all the time, but what about the Touch? Are there apps and "things to do" on the Touch that won't be diminished by lack of wifi?
-Are either the Touch or the Kindle really worth the price tag? I realize this is incredibly difficult to answer.
-The major pro I can see for the Kindle is not having to carry tons of books with me, but is that the only advantage? Is it going to give me eye strain like reading on a computer monitor will?

I guess the ultimate question would be - which of those three devices would you pick and why? Or is there something else out there that I'm overlooking?

3G Dongle & iPod Touch

pettins — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:34:59 -0800

Is it possible to connect a 3G Dongle (from "3" in my case) to a 2nd Generation iPod Touch (do not want and/or can't afford an iPhone) to simulate a Wifi connection? I know this may be impossible, however, I keep thinking about how I could get mobile broadband for my iPod Touch and I am paying a monthly fee (£15) for the 3G Dongle.

For example, could I get a cable that goes from my 3G Dongle and plug it into my Wireless Router and generate a Wifi signal from it?

(I accept I would need a power supply for this, but lets assume I have this (eg DC to AC converter in the car for example)).

I have bought a USB connector that reverses the connection on the 3G dongle so I can plug it in to the iPod sync cable, however, this does not generate a connection so I suspect that the iPod Touch requires some 3G hardware or software component?

I know that the iPhone does this by itself but I want to stick with my iPod Touch and JUST the £15 a month for the mobile dongle if it is possible.

If it can't be done, is it possible to explain why not?

Thanks for any suggestions...

Offline AskMe reading with iPod/iPhone?

Napoleonic Terrier — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:45:20 -0800

Using an iPod Touch, is there a way to automatically download the latest 50 (or some preset number) Ask MetaFilter questions and answers for off-line reading on the Touch?

iPod Touch + Blackberry = ?

Franklin76 — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:16:00 -0800

I have a Blackberry. I have an iPod Touch. Is there anyway I can get the iPod Touch to use the Blackberry to access the internet?

What's a good PDA in 2009?

unsliced — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 01:57:47 -0800

I'm on the lookout for suggestions for PDAs or similar devices for my father. His short-term memory is going. While it used to be pin-sharp, it's becoming a real problem, to mitigate it he's been using a PDA - he's always carried one and was a real fan of the Palm series. Now it needs replacing ... His Tungsten (Vx, I think) is finally giving up the ghost. My sister and I are clubbing together to replace it for his upcoming birthday, cost isn't really an issue, but we are keen to deliver the right gift.

It seems to me that the PDA is not as common as it used to be. The market place is crawling with smartphones and netbooks, but the old fashioned PDA or organiser has gone the way of the Dodo. Most netbooks are just too big and (relatively) slow - this needs to be pocket-sized and instantly on (like a PDA) and he's got a phone and doesn't need or want the regular expense of a smartphone and data plan.

He's technologically fairly able: he's happy to tinker and play, it would be useful to have some that synchronises with his desktop machine. He also has WiFi in the house, so that would be good functionality to have, too.

I'm thinking that, mainly because of the App Store, the iPod Touch is the way to go. There are so many different apps that if you don't like one, you can just move on. But are we missing out on other options?

In particular we think he'd like a proper keyboard, which the Touch doesn't have. Although are they are decent keyboard like accessories?

This is not directly a question about his symptoms, how to cure them and identifying underlying causation, it's more about finding alternative recommendations!

Sell me a useless gadget.

Pleadthefifth — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:25:25 -0800

I am ''technolusting'' over two things at the moment. One being an Asus EEE PC and the other being an iPod Touch. Unfortunately, I cannot get both. You must help me decide, great denizens of AskMe. So. I want to ask this question in a creative manner. I have a certain set of criteria in mind, but let's pretend I am a completely ignorant person. [[Pretend?]]

Pretend you work in an electronics store. Whichever one [iPod Touch or EEE PC] you think I should buy, SELL IT TO ME. Pretend you're getting a hefty commission off of selling either the iPod Touch or Asus EEE PC to me. If you have personal experience with either, or both, please include that. List the pros and cons of both. Create election-worthy smear campaigns against each other.

Please, help me decide!

(I hope this doesn't count as "chatfilter".)

Help, Itouch musi has disappeared

lee — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:27:10 -0800

Asking for my friend, here's his dilema.... "Of course this happens THE DAY I leave for vacation. All of the music files on my iPod Touch have "disappeared." I say that in quotes because the "Other" file section is suddenly the same size as the music section was last night. Here's a screenshot:" "The only reason there is ANY audio recognized by the iPod Touch right now is because I just loaded some podcasts to listen to this morning.

How do I get my music back? What the hell happened?! I've searched a bunch of forums but can't seem to find the answer to this..."

ipod touch going crazy?

special-k — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:10:40 -0800

Why does my ipod touch keep rebooting automatically? My ipod touch is 3 months old. Over the last two weeks, I find that it just reboots randomly several times in a row. The only way to make it stop is to do a hard reboot and then restart.
The trigger most of the time is when I hit the sleep button. What should I do? Update the software or take it back to an Apple store?

Really Big iPhones Are Not in Budget

rokusan — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:36:20 -0800

Cheap touchscreens + Linux (?) + full-screen browser? A colleague is looking at building a semi-public art installation that requires about 20 small touchscreens (14-19 inches) that are running web browsers and nothing else. She has not much budget, but will be applying for some small grants. So I'm thinking about this...

(1) What's the cheap/easiest touchscreen monitor or all-in-one low-end PC? They'll be mounted in (new-build) walls, so they can be laptoppy or industrial or even small CRTs.
(2) I assume Linux for cost reasons, but it doesn't matter really. If Linux, which distro is the best bet for (which?) touch support?
(3) How to boot into a full-screen browser (Chrome?) without any window-manager type other apps visible/available?

I'll take ideas on any 1-2-3 item! I'm sort of stymied for starting points.

Can I make better use of my iPod Touch's calendar?

cheapskatebay — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:40:51 -0800

Please help me use the calendar feature on my iPod Touch more effectively. I bought an iPod Touch a few months ago, and it's great. Specifically, it's great for music/podcasts, photos and a few apps I really enjoy.

One of the main reasons I bought it was for the calendar feature, however, and I'm finding it hard to use the calendar effectively. This manifests itself in three ways:

1. It's hard for my big fingers to "type" on the calendar keyboard (though I'm getting better at this with practice).

2. I cannot sync with my work calendar (Groupwise).

3. I have many recurring appointments that don't fit in with the recurrence offerings of the calendar (e.g., I want to schedule a meeting the third Wednesday of every month, and that is not feasible from what I've seen of the recurrence options).

My hope is to include both work and personal events on my Touch calendar. (Right now, I type in everything on it - all my personal events and work events when I find the time/inclination.) For the time being, I use Novell Groupwise as my work calendar/e-mail program. My employer may switch to Outlook sometime this calendar year. I use PCs both at home and at work.

The second and third issues - the (non-)syncing and recurrence issues - are the big ones for me. Can anyone suggest full or partial solutions that do not involve hacking the iPod or anything particularly technical? Here's all I've come up with so far:

1. Buy a Mac, use iCal, sync with iCal. Pros: full-keyboard typing, iCal seems to have better recurrence features than the Touch calendar (from what I've heard). Cons: no syncing with Groupwise of which I'm aware; spending more than the cost of the Touch on a separate computer to partially fix this problem seems utterly inane.

2. Sync via Outlook at home. Pros: full-keyboard typing, presumably better recurrence options (it's been a while since I used Outlook and cannot recall if appointment recurrences are better than with the Touch). Cons: Getting appointments from the Groupwise work calendar to Outlook. (I've read of workarounds that include such steps as setting up Google Calendars that, frankly, seem like as much or more work than typing everything in manually! Moreover, I'm not sure Groupwise can sync with Google Calendars.)

3. Learn of a kick-ass third party app - a separate calendar app altogether or something else - that addresses one or more of these issues. I haven't seen anything yet.

4. Buy a cheap PDA and use that as my calendar. Pros: hopefully it would work! Cons: may have syncing issues as well (I think Groupwise really is a problem regarding syncing); adds another device that I'd really rather not have to contend with.

5. Use a paper calendar. Pros: no gadgetry or tricky technology to fret about. Cons: I have abysmal handwriting; having bought the Touch, conceding abject defeat on its calendar function is an unpleasant proposition.

The status quo (manually typing in everything and contending with limited recurrence options) is aggravating but tolerable. If there is a solution that might hinge on my eventual workplace conversion to Outlook, I'm willing to limp along as I have been doing thus far. I'll certainly consider any solutions that involve intermediate steps such as establishing a Google Calendar, but I'll confess that doing so sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

Thanks in advance for reading this long question and for any ideas or suggestions.

Anyway to develop iPhone/iTouch apps without investing in a Mac?

nmaster64 — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:16:25 -0800

I'm interested in developing iPhone/iPod Touch applications, however my understanding is the SDK only works in OSX. I have a XP desktop and a Vista notebook with an AMD Athlon and Turion (both dual core) respectively, both pretty good machines. Is there any way to avoid spending serious cash buying a Mac just to get into iPhone development?

I don't want to listen to this song anymore.

Fairchild — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:48:16 -0800

I can't remove songs from my iPod touch. Please help me before I lose my mind. In "options" I have clicked "manually manage music and videos", but in my Music folder everything is dithered out, except the "Sync music" box.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks so much.

Best ipod touch case

no bueno — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:44:11 -0800

Best ipod touch cover/case getting an ipod touch for christmas and i already have a good idea of what i'm going to do with it as far as programs and extensions like turning it into a remote. but i want to protect it. i've seen a few good things about the ZAGG covers but i want to know what everyone else is using for covers. i don't want a bulky case because i already have enough space taken up in my pockets which is why i was thinking the zagg was a good solution.

Verizon PDA/Cell with no dataplan?

retro88 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 11:05:21 -0800

Are there any good GTD and/or organizational solutions using a Verizon phone and not subscribe to a data plan? What phone can i get that has calendar/ todo lists syncing capbablites that doesn't require a data plan? Is it too much to ask for a PDA/Cellphone with wifi, that does not need an email/internet package?

I am not a cell phone power user, and actually my wife and I can get by with a minimal amount of minutes on a share plan. I also subscribe (sorta) to the GTD philosophy and have been thinking for sometime to incorporate a PDA into my organization system (calendar, todo lists etc.)

As i am coming due for a phone upgrade, i unfortunately found out that verizon requires a data plan (extra ~$30/mo) to use most all of their pda/smartphones/blackberrys according to verizon and these two links. Mandatory Data Plan and no data plan. The Palm Centro seems like the best candidate, but i played with the phone at the store, and wasn't sold on it, and/or its syncing capabilities. An added bonus would be wifi capabilities. But of upmost importance, is some syncing capabilities, preferably with outlook.