mouse gestures
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MagicPrefs is a must download for Magic Mouse owners
We know the Magic Mouse is selling well. I was one of the many who was pretty excited when I heard about it and grabbed one the first week it was out. When I actually went to use it, however, it was a major downer. On my Mac Pro the tracking was erratic, slow, and pretty unusable. I wasn't the only person reporting this. I put the mouse on my shelf of forgotten tech until a friend told me about MagicPrefs. MagicPrefs is a free utility that runs from your menu bar and fixes the problems some Mac Pros had with the Magic Mouse. This app goes way beyond fixing the tracking speed. This little utility allows you to assign actions to two, three and 4 finger clicks. Also to one, two, three and four finger taps. You can define two and three finger swipes for left, right, up and down. You can even define drag and pinch movements on the surface of the mouse. Pre-defined actions include control of Spaces, Dashboard, Expose, Quicklook and many others. You can create, load and save presets as well. Some of the gestures are a bit difficult and take some practice, and the app warns you which ones might be tricky. There is even a real time display on the app that lets you test different combinations of motions to see how they will work. For people who have a Magic Mouse that works great, you will love the power of this app. If yours was a dog with your Apple hardware, this app may fix all that. The developer says the app will eventually wind up as a preference pane, and that it will always remain free. The app requires OS X 10.5 or above. The price is very, very right, and the app fixes a lot of the weaknesses in the Magic Mouse. I say, go for it, and let us know in comments how it works for you.
How to play WoW with a joystick
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/How_to_play_WoW_with_a_joystick_WOW_Insider'; Reader Aaron Stacey wrote to tell us about a simple new script he's developed that allows him to play WoW more fluidly, despite having little fine dexterity control in his right hand. Since a spinal cord injury, he is only able to grasp and release his hand. Prior to developing this script, Aaron used to play only with his left hand using "an abundance of key binds and keyboard/mouse switching." He was restricted to caster classes because of the difficulty in moving and attacking at the same time.Inspired by our Wii remote post and our treadmill post, Aaron came up with an ingenious idea that he hopes will help others with similar disabilities. The key is GlovePie, a piece of Windows freeware (donations welcome) originally written for virtual reality gloves, which allows you to play any game using any type of controller you like. GlovePie's website lists controllers like joysticks, gamepads, mice, keyboards, and Wiimotes, among a host of other hardware.Find out how to do it yourself after the break.
