On Thu, 04 Jan 2024 21:46:37 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

The context menu button for sure. I did not even know what it was
called until this thread. Zag makes a good case for the right ALT key.
I don't use it. I also don't use the right CTRL button ever. Finally,
I do not use any of the keys on the numpad. I should probably get a
tenkeyless keyboard next time.

On Sat, 06 Jan 2024 09:29:31 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>>> I have used print screen, but I usually forget it's there too, and bring
>>> up snipping tool now.
>
>PRTSCR for taking a screenshot of the whole desktop, ALT-PRTSCR for
>just the active window. I rarel

By default, it's mapped to the snip tool in Win11, which does full screen
(both screens if it's an extended display), window, or selection. Vastly
superior.

I think you can enable it on Win10.

So the key is frequently used on my PC at this point because it does
something useful. Alt+PRTSCN will still capture the focused window, btw.

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten

On 1/6/24 08:29, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 13:57:17 -0600, candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net>
> wrote:
>
>> On 1/5/24 10:34, Justisaur wrote:
>>> On 1/4/2024 11:55 PM, Anssi Saari wrote:
>>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:
>>>>
>>>>> My Mac keyboard has an Eject button that never gets used, because the
>>>>> Mac its plugged into doesn't have an optical drive. But since I almost
>>>>> never use the Mac, almost all the keys on its board would qualify. ;-)
>>>>>
>>>>> -----------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> So, what's your least used key? Or do you love them all equally, as
>>>>> the keyboard gods intended?
>>>>
>>>> I have a bunch I never use, or almost never.
>>>> - Silly context menu key.
>>>
>>> I didn't even know what this was.  I don't think I've ever used it. I've
>>> at least used every other key at some point, ever if it was ages ago.
>>> This is my winner (or loser)
>>
>> I think it's bound either Right Click or it moves your focus to the File
>> menu.
>
>
> (long pointlessly pedantic ramble)
>
> More specifically, it opens the context menu.
>
> So, let's go back to 1995. Microsoft has just released Windows 95. A
> big thing about Windows95 - one of the features Microsoft crowed about
> - was how its OS (or desktop, at least) was 'object oriented'. In DOS,
> everything was program oriented; you opened the program, then opened
> the file, then did whatever you needed, then closed the file and moved
> onto the next one. And it wasn't just files that had to be manipulated
> this way; configuration settings required you to open separate apps
> too.
>
> Windows95 was supposed to be transformational in this regard. Need to
> open a file? Just double-click on the file itself and its associated
> program would open. Use the file frequently? Point a shortcut to the
> file - not the program! - and drag it to your desktop. Etc.
>
> But more than that, you would be able to manipulate files and settings
> easily and conveniently using 'context menus' that let you access
> features - including by not limited to copying, pasting, renaming, and
> printing - without going through the associated program. As the name
> implies, the menu that popped up would change depending on the context
> of what you clicked. The context menu of a WAV file might have a
> "play" option; a DOC file might have print, etc.
>
> Microsoft was /really/ excited about this feature. So much so that
> they wanted everybody to be able to use it... including people who
> might not be comfortable with a mouse, or whose mouse only had one
> button (yes, those were still common, if not the majority, on PCs in
> 1995). So they convinced hardware manufacturers to add the context
> menu key to keyboards (it was also a way of advertising how 'modern'
> Windows95 was; you needed a new keyboard to maximize its utility! That
> old IBM Model M just wouldn't cut it for something as high-end as
> Windows95! ;-).
>
> Where it was promptly ignored by users. Partly because it was in an
> inconvenient place, but mostly because the people who were most likely
> to use it also owned a two-button mouse and it was just simpler to
> right click.
>
> (Side note: there are a distressing number of computer users - of all
> ages - who still haven't discovered right-click functionality. It
> hurts my brain whenever I encounter them.)
>
> So technically, the context menu button is NOT the equivalent of a
> right-mouse click. It almost never will act as a right-mouse click in
> applications that use the right-mouse for something else. Rather, it
> is a key that Explorer (and many Windows apps) maps to 'open context
> menu'), which is also mapped to the right mouse button. But they're
> really completely different signals.

Cool! I had no idea the context menu button was made by MS to advertise!

> (Another side note: SHIFT-F10 usually works too. Click on your desktop
> and try it!)
>
> Myself, I use it very rarely... but I /have/ used it. Sometimes, when
> the mouse is broken or not plugged in, it comes in handy. But even
> Microsoft seems to think its pretty useless, seeing as they are
> apparently changing its functionality to launch the CoPilot AI
> asssistant in future versions of Windows.

I really dislike AI being everywhere.

>>> I have used print screen, but I usually forget it's there too, and bring
>>> up snipping tool now.
>
> PRTSCR for taking a screenshot of the whole desktop, ALT-PRTSCR for
> just the active window. I rarel

rarel?
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

On 1/6/2024 11:52 AM, candycanearter07 wrote:
> On 1/6/24 08:29, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>> On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 13:57:17 -0600, candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 1/5/24 10:34, Justisaur wrote:
>>>> On 1/4/2024 11:55 PM, Anssi Saari wrote:
>>>>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:
>>>>>
>>>>>> My Mac keyboard has an Eject button that never gets used, because the
>>>>>> Mac its plugged into doesn't have an optical drive. But since I
>>>>>> almost
>>>>>> never use the Mac, almost all the keys on its board would qualify.
>>>>>> ;-)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----------------------------
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So, what's your least used key? Or do you love them all equally, as
>>>>>> the keyboard gods intended?
>>>>>
>>>>> I have a bunch I never use, or almost never.
>>>>> - Silly context menu key.
>>>>
>>>> I didn't even know what this was.  I don't think I've ever used it.
>>>> I've
>>>> at least used every other key at some point, ever if it was ages ago.
>>>> This is my winner (or loser)
>>>
>>> I think it's bound either Right Click or it moves your focus to the File
>>> menu.
>>
>>
>> (long pointlessly pedantic ramble)
>>
>> More specifically, it opens the context menu.
>>
>> So, let's go back to 1995. Microsoft has just released Windows 95. A
>> big thing about Windows95 - one of the features Microsoft crowed about
>> - was how its OS (or desktop, at least) was 'object oriented'. In DOS,
>> everything was program oriented; you opened the program, then opened
>> the file, then did whatever you needed, then closed the file and moved
>> onto the next one. And it wasn't just files that had to be manipulated
>> this way; configuration settings required you to open separate apps
>> too.
>>
>> Windows95 was supposed to be transformational in this regard. Need to
>> open a file? Just double-click on the file itself and its associated
>> program would open. Use the file frequently? Point a shortcut to the
>> file - not the program! - and drag it to your desktop. Etc.
>>
>> But more than that, you would be able to manipulate files and settings
>> easily and conveniently using 'context menus' that let you access
>> features - including by not limited to copying, pasting, renaming, and
>> printing - without going through the associated program. As the name
>> implies, the menu that popped up would change depending on the context
>> of what you clicked. The context menu of a WAV file might have a
>> "play" option; a DOC file might have print, etc.
>>
>> Microsoft was /really/ excited about this feature. So much so that
>> they wanted everybody to be able to use it... including people who
>> might not be comfortable with a mouse, or whose mouse only had one
>> button (yes, those were still common, if not the majority, on PCs in
>> 1995). So they convinced hardware manufacturers to add the context
>> menu key to keyboards (it was also a way of advertising how 'modern'
>> Windows95 was; you needed a new keyboard to maximize its utility! That
>> old IBM Model M just wouldn't cut it for something as high-end as
>> Windows95! ;-).
>>
>> Where it was promptly ignored by users. Partly because it was in an
>> inconvenient place, but mostly because the people who were most likely
>> to use it also owned a two-button mouse and it was just simpler to
>> right click.
>>
>> (Side note: there are a distressing number of computer users - of all
>> ages - who still haven't discovered right-click functionality. It
>> hurts my brain whenever I encounter them.)
>>
>> So technically, the context menu button is NOT the equivalent of a
>> right-mouse click. It almost never will act as a right-mouse click in
>> applications that use the right-mouse for something else. Rather, it
>> is a key that Explorer (and many Windows apps) maps to 'open context
>> menu'), which is also mapped to the right mouse button. But they're
>> really completely different signals.
>
> Cool! I had no idea the context menu button was made by MS to advertise!
>
>> (Another side note: SHIFT-F10 usually works too. Click on your desktop
>> and try it!)
>>
>> Myself, I use it very rarely... but I /have/ used it. Sometimes, when
>> the mouse is broken or not plugged in, it comes in handy. But even
>> Microsoft seems to think its pretty useless, seeing as they are
>> apparently changing its functionality to launch the CoPilot AI
>> asssistant in future versions of Windows.
>
> I really dislike AI being everywhere.
>
>>>> I have used print screen, but I usually forget it's there too, and
>>>> bring
>>>> up snipping tool now.
>>
>> PRTSCR for taking a screenshot of the whole desktop, ALT-PRTSCR for
>> just the active window. I rarel
>
> rarel?
Y do you ask?

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
....
> PRTSCR for taking a screenshot of the whole desktop, ALT-PRTSCR for
> just the active window. I rarel

You didn't finish your post. :P
--
"You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit." --1 Thessalonians 1:6. Is AUKEY hub dying?
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

Zaghadka <zaghadka@hotmail.com> writes:

> Right ALT. The hell do you use *that* for? I can't even *reach* right ALT
> without awkwardness and/or cramps, let alone have a use for it. Make that
> the Copilot, flavor-of-the-month, nonsense key, please.

I use it for mapping extra keys, those that I need sometimes but not
very often but don't want to hunt down with an app or web page
either. Things like the euro symbol (on US layout), some greek letters,
degree symbol, that sort of thing.

On Thu, 04 Jan 2024 21:46:37 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>** Microsoft is intending to repurpose this key to launch its CoPilot
>AI thingee on future computers. It's good to know this key will never
>be used in the future too!

It should get a lot of use on gaming rigs.

With one keypress, we will be able to speak in "please play this
miserable fucking game I just bought for me, while I step away and do
something more entertaining like watch paint dry... then post a review
to Steam based on your experience as if it came from me".

AI runs a little behind, so it should be at least a couple of years
before it starts generating reviews with a realistic level of
abhorrence.

kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> writes:

> On 1/5/2024 3:46 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>> Technically, this poll has nothing to do with action games, or games
>> in general. But since this newsgroup name starts with "comp" and it's
>> about computers, I think I'm still considered on-topic.
>> -----------------------------
>> Today's CRAP Poll is... What is the least used key on your keyboard?
>
> CAPSLOCK. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY IT'S EVEN THERE. NEVER USE IT MYSELF.

It's there so I can remap it to control ;-)

On Sat, 06 Jan 2024 13:04:49 -0600, Zaghadka <zaghadka@hotmail.com>
wrote:
>On Sat, 06 Jan 2024 09:29:31 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
>Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>>PRTSCR for taking a screenshot of the whole desktop, ALT-PRTSCR for
>>just the active window.

>By default, it's mapped to the snip tool in Win11, which does full screen
>(both screens if it's an extended display), window, or selection. Vastly
>superior.

I know; it's annoying.

I'm not a fan of the snip tool. I'd rather do the necessary clipping
in an image editor - where I can get pixel-perfect cuts - than try to
eyeball it on the desktop. Plus, I don't have to use the mouse to
select a capture option; I just slam the PRTSCR key and the whole
desktop is grabbed to the clipboard.

Fortunately, you can disabled PrtScr/Snipping tool in
Settings->Accessibility->Keyboard. It will then revert to 'old-school'
settings (PrtScr captures full desktop, alt-prtscr captures active
window). No mouse required!

On Sun, 07 Jan 2024 00:20:24 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

>Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>...
>> PRTSCR for taking a screenshot of the whole desktop, ALT-PRTSCR for
>> just the active window. I rarel
>
>You didn't finish your post. :P

Heh. That's because I pressed "win+shift+S" to summon the snipping
tool, and my newsreader misinterpreted the key-combo and it sent the
message before I was done typing it.

I noticed immediately, but didn't feel it really warranted a follow-up
(I think I was going to say, "I rarely use the snipping tool because I
prefer to do the cropping in a dedicated graphics program").

On Sat, 6 Jan 2024 13:52:15 -0600, candycanearter07 <no@thanks.net>
wrote:
>On 1/6/24 08:29, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>> (long pointlessly pedantic ramble)

>Cool! I had no idea the context menu button was made by MS to advertise!

The key first appeared on Microsoft's own "ergonomic keyboard". I've
no idea if they really pressured other hardware manufacturers to add
it to their keyboards, or if instead other manufacturers felt that NOT
including it would make them look out of date. A bit of both, I'd
guess.

The Windows key was a much more prominent form of advertising. Not
only did it only (at the time) work in Windows95, but it featured the
Windows logo on it! Originally, most keyboards that used it had TWO
Windows keys (one to either side of the ALT keys) but these days a lot
of manufacturers leave the second WinKey out or replace it with
something more functional (I often see the FN key in its place).

It's really sort of hard to imagine how big of a deal Windows95 was
back when it was released. Microsoft spent hundreds of millions hyping
up their product, and it worked. For the first time (and perhaps the
last!), general consumers were /excited/ about an operating system
upgrade. People were waiting in line to buy their copy! Every hardware
manufacturer had to get in on the deal somehow (not to mention
software developers, and journalists, and... and... and...). It made
money for almost everyone involved - not just Microsoft - and being
able to slap a Win95 logo onto your product was shorthand for saying,
'we're cutting edge tech'.

On 1/5/2024 12:57 PM, Zaghadka wrote:
> On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 21:07:04 +0100, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
> kyonshi wrote:
>
>> On 1/5/2024 8:57 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
>>> On 1/5/24 03:27, kyonshi wrote:
>>>> On 1/5/2024 3:46 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Technically, this poll has nothing to do with action games, or games
>>>>> in general. But since this newsgroup name starts with "comp" and it's
>>>>> about computers, I think I'm still considered on-topic.
>>>>>
>>>>> -----------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>> Today's CRAP Poll is... What is the least used key on your keyboard?
>>>>
>>>> CAPSLOCK. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY IT'S EVEN THERE. NEVER USE IT MYSELF.
>>>
>>> Is this supposed to be ironic or are you actually holding down the Shift
>>> key for everything?
>>
>> it was in fact a poor attempt at a joke
>
> Jokes are funnier when you're not SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS
> UNTIL YOU START FOAMING AT THE MOUTH AND FALLING OVER BACKWARDS! :^D
>

I don't know, I rather liked Sam Kinison

--
-Justisaur

ø-ø
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
¶¬'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>Today's CRAP Poll is... What is the least used key on your keyboard?

The Sleep key. It not only never gets used, it gets removed from any
keyboard I get to make sure it doesn't get used.

Most of the other keys you mentioned I use fairly often, except the
Menu key, which my current keyboard doesn't have, the Fn key which my
keyboard has instead of a Menu key but I don't see the point of, and
the Scroll Lock key which doesn't usually do anything and is in a too
awkward of a position to remap something to in games.

>:The WinKey
> Oh, this fucker! You know how many games it hard-locked
> back in the bad-old Win95 days when switching from
> full-screen mode wasn't allowed?

I never really had much a problem with the Windows key kicking me out of
games, and I sometime use it deliberately to do that since it's easier
than ALT-TAB. I also use WIN-R a lot to run programs.

>:The PRTSC key
> Or printers, for that matter.*

I use this all the time to make screenshots. I don't really mind the new
snipping function and most of the time when I used the old copy screen
to clipboard function I used ALT-PRTSC to just copy the current window,
which still works.

>:The PAUSE key
> I press it multiple times per day but never get
> the much-needed break I deserve!*

Some games use it to pause the game, and CTRL-BREAK sometimes works when
CTRL-C doesn't.

>:The right CTRL key
> Why use right CTRL when the left one is just so
> much more handy?

I very rarely map this to something when I run out of the keys to right
of it to remap to things, as I'm left handed and use the number pad
instead of WASD in games.

--
l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
[oo][oo] rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca:11068/
db //

On Mon, 8 Jan 2024 11:32:15 -0800, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Justisaur wrote:

>On 1/5/2024 12:57 PM, Zaghadka wrote:
>> On Fri, 5 Jan 2024 21:07:04 +0100, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
>> kyonshi wrote:
>>
>>> On 1/5/2024 8:57 PM, candycanearter07 wrote:
>>>> On 1/5/24 03:27, kyonshi wrote:
>>>>> On 1/5/2024 3:46 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Technically, this poll has nothing to do with action games, or games
>>>>>> in general. But since this newsgroup name starts with "comp" and it's
>>>>>> about computers, I think I'm still considered on-topic.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----------------------------
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Today's CRAP Poll is... What is the least used key on your keyboard?
>>>>>
>>>>> CAPSLOCK. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY IT'S EVEN THERE. NEVER USE IT MYSELF.
>>>>
>>>> Is this supposed to be ironic or are you actually holding down the Shift
>>>> key for everything?
>>>
>>> it was in fact a poor attempt at a joke
>>
>> Jokes are funnier when you're not SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS
>> UNTIL YOU START FOAMING AT THE MOUTH AND FALLING OVER BACKWARDS! :^D
>>
>
>
>I don't know, I rather liked Sam Kinison

Yeah, but he told the joke and then gave his signature scream.

Loved that guy, too.

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten