Your pet peeve, technical or otherwise.

[PlainName]

Graphics and CAD programs that treat the mouse wheel as vertical scroll.

It's dumb. It's a 1D control but there is a 2D screen to move, so what if you want to pan horizontally? The solution appears to be pressing a key as well, but now you have some movement needing a magic key and some not, and what if you really wanted to go diagonally?

The solution should be obvious: make the mouse wheel zoom in and out. With that, you can zoom and pan to wherever you want, all without any magic keys or anything, just scroll the wheel. If you need the page-analog scroll, you can add the ctrl key for vertical, shift for horizontal. That (needing a key whichever way it goes) makes more sense than sometimes needing one, and the most used option (zoom) never needs one.

Some packages let you configure the mouse wheel to however you want. I happened to try the latest Inkscape last night since someone pointed out how grown up it had got, and that doesn't let you do anything at all. You'll fart around pressing a key when you shouldn't, not when you should, moving off the bottom of the page when you meant to zoom in, and you'll bloody like it. Inkscape doesn't need to feat me using it in the near future.

[SilverSolder]

Graphics and CAD programs that treat the mouse wheel as vertical scroll.

It's dumb. It's a 1D control but there is a 2D screen to move, so what if you want to pan horizontally? The solution appears to be pressing a key as well, but now you have some movement needing a magic key and some not, and what if you really wanted to go diagonally?

The solution should be obvious: make the mouse wheel zoom in and out. With that, you can zoom and pan to wherever you want, all without any magic keys or anything, just scroll the wheel. If you need the page-analog scroll, you can add the ctrl key for vertical, shift for horizontal. That (needing a key whichever way it goes) makes more sense than sometimes needing one, and the most used option (zoom) never needs one.

Some packages let you configure the mouse wheel to however you want. I happened to try the latest Inkscape last night since someone pointed out how grown up it had got, and that doesn't let you do anything at all. You'll fart around pressing a key when you shouldn't, not when you should, moving off the bottom of the page when you meant to zoom in, and you'll bloody like it. Inkscape doesn't need to feat me using it in the near future.

Inkscape is rather good, I agree with you about scrolling with the mouse wheel - it works for me in a browser, but not in an image or vector graphics application...

[Nominal Animal]

Some packages let you configure the mouse wheel to however you want. I happened to try the latest Inkscape last night since someone pointed out how grown up it had got, and that doesn't let you do anything at all.

In Linux at least:  Edit > Preferences, Behaviour, Scrolling, check Mouse wheel zooms by default.
I use a touchpad (with both horizontal and vertical two-finger scrolling), so I keep it unchecked: that way I can do two-finger panning.

All the Inkscape keyboard shortcuts are editable in Edit > Preferences, Interface, Keyboard Shortcuts.
There are a few different presets (defined in XML files), with the Inkscape default being only the default one.  I have "Adobe Illustrator", "Corel Draw", "Xara", "Macromedia Freehand", and a few others in that list, but haven't tested them.
If you go through all the shortcuts, you can export the shortcut key list, which you can import in newer or older versions (and is useful to keep a copy of your personal preferred defaults).

[SiliconWizard]

I have the latest release of Inkscape (1.2.2) on Linux and haven't found this option. May be configurable with the keyboard shortcuts though which is another preference tab. Haven't tried that.

But, as is relatively common in CAD apps, a combination of key + mouse wheel gets you there by default:
- Mouse wheel : pan up/down
- Shift + Mouse wheel : pan left/right
- Ctrl + Mouse wheel : zoom in/out

[PlainName]

But, as is relatively common in CAD apps, a combination of key + mouse wheel gets you there by default:

Yes, exactly. It's a stupid default carried over from text viewers of various sorts. Why is panning one way with a magic key and the other way without a magic key? Illogical and user-hostile. And get the magic key mixed on and you'll be zooming instead, which shouldn't need a magic key.

But that would be fine if they let you configure it, and some devs clearly think they know better than their users.

[Ed.Kloonk]

It's quite acceptable for somebody to say "There's a method to my madness"

What isn't acceptable, apparently, is to retort "How about a method without any madness (for once)."

[TimFox]

I believe that Dr Watson wondered if there were madness in Holmes' method.

[helius]

The prospect of methodical madmen is considerably more worrying than some other type.

[SiliconWizard]

But, as is relatively common in CAD apps, a combination of key + mouse wheel gets you there by default:

Yes, exactly. It's a stupid default carried over from text viewers of various sorts. Why is panning one way with a magic key and the other way without a magic key? Illogical and user-hostile. And get the magic key mixed on and you'll be zooming instead, which shouldn't need a magic key.

Using a consistent UI across apps is not stupid.
If it doesn't match your preferences, that still doesn't make it stupid. Actually, the fact that CAD software in general has tended to ignore commonUI rules and consistency is pretty horrific. They are almost all very quirky.

Getting used to this mouse wheel thing only takes a couple minutes anyway. Not something that I would fret about.

But that would be fine if they let you configure it, and some devs clearly think they know better than their users.

Yeah. Well, that is configurable in self-respecting software. But removing configurability has been a trend in software development for a good decade, so.

[PlainName]

Using a consistent UI across apps is not stupid.

Indeed. However, as I explained, this isn't consistent because it's an extrapolation from 1D text viewer scrolling. And using the wrong thing consistently is just aggravating and reinforces how wrong it is, like scratching a sore.

Getting used to this mouse wheel thing only takes a couple minutes anyway

Doesn't for me, for the reasons explained: you sometimes need a key, sometimes not, and it's often the other key to the one your motor memory selects.

[armandine2]

  when the "dot" conflicts with the IC manufacturers logo print 

WTB SMTC-1159 

[PlainName]

Can't see any logo or text on that, only the dot.

[armandine2]

if only they hadn't

[edited to add context - pics]

[Kim Christensen]

if only they hadn't

I must be dense, because I can't see a problem here.

[jonovid]

designs 

 rotary encoder resolution on knobs
getting the rotary encoder resolution on a knob right, so dialing the value is not too too slow. or just add a 10x speed mode

having the display backlighting in power saving mode by default  even when not needed such as a AC powered device.

the space between sockets on a pcb

not using uv stabilised plastic

AI help when its not needed   sarcasm fail     irony fail

[PlainName]

[edited to add context - pics]

Ah! Yes, well you have a 25% chance of getting it right.

[SiliconWizard]

Using a consistent UI across apps is not stupid.

Indeed. However, as I explained, this isn't consistent because it's an extrapolation from 1D text viewer scrolling. And using the wrong thing consistently is just aggravating and reinforces how wrong it is, like scratching a sore.

Well, no, the mouse wheel was once called a scroll wheel and was meant for scrolling stuff on the screen. Not just text. Lists, images, whatever.
Using it for scrolling in some contexts and zooming in others is what is not consistent.

I'm not saying that using the mouse wheel for zooming is not useful in practice. Just talking about UI consistency. Then it's just a matter of habits.

And that said, again, I'm all for giving users a choice - we all have different habits and preferences.

Getting used to this mouse wheel thing only takes a couple minutes anyway

Doesn't for me, for the reasons explained: you sometimes need a key, sometimes not, and it's often the other key to the one your motor memory selects.

I'm sorry to hear that.

[PlainName]

Just been troubling the developer of an application that wasn't working correctly. Eventually they sent a screenshot showing the right button to press. The reason I hadn't pressed it was because it didn't look like a button - no frame around the icon so it looked just like some cosmetic squiggle. I really, really loath the shit Windows 10/11 style of hiding information.

Scrollbars are another. The AMD Radeon main window is scrollable but I went for literally years nowt seeing anything below the line because there's nothing to indicate that there was anything there. No scrollbars, no half a line at the bottom, nothing. Of course, if you do scroll (via mousewheel) the scrollbar kindly appears until you stop, and then it bloody hides again!

[Nominal Animal]

I have the latest release of Inkscape (1.2.2) on Linux and haven't found this option.

Ouch, sorry: I forgot to check, and am still running 0.92.5 (because vanilla Linux Mint 20.3).

But, as is relatively common in CAD apps, a combination of key + mouse wheel gets you there by default

Many microcontrollers (especially my favourites, Teensies) with native USB can expose a mouse+keyboard+multimedia keyboard combo, and generate the necessary events in combination.  In Linux, this means that one can create a custom HID device for zooming and panning, plus a suitable set of macro keys, to supplement mouse/trackpad controls.

I already have a small e-Ink display and a suitable capacitive touch module (configurable buttons and/or trackpad), but I'd really like to add a 3D trackball (for rotating the view in 3D CAD) and a detentless wheel for zooming.  With a large enough trackball, say 8 cm in diameter, two or three optical mouse sensors with some crafty math might work... I wouldn't mind having the ball being non-captive in a simple cradle, if it was heavy enough.

[helius]

Any trackball is a 2 DOF input device; to get '3D' input you need 6 DOF, so there must be compliant mounts and strain sensors in addition to the "optical mouse" type rotation sensors. That is why most 6 DOF sensors don't rotate but just use strain sensors for everything: it's more reliable and avoids backlash problems.

[SiliconWizard]

I already have a small e-Ink display and a suitable capacitive touch module (configurable buttons and/or trackpad), but I'd really like to add a 3D trackball (for rotating the view in 3D CAD) and a detentless wheel for zooming.  With a large enough trackball, say 8 cm in diameter, two or three optical mouse sensors with some crafty math might work... I wouldn't mind having the ball being non-captive in a simple cradle, if it was heavy enough.

I'm also considering making some kind of "3D" mouse. A classic commercial device is the 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse. I have looked at teardowns, it's relatively clever.

[Bryn]

My pet peeve regarding computers and technology is something that has bugged me for years... when the process light of my laptop is on and flickering whenever the system is idle. I've learned in recent times that it's all to do with the system being "indexed" or something, but at times I see under Task Manager that processes to do with Windows Update and even Disk Defragmenter are on without my say-so. This has happened ever since I had this laptop and I don't recall it ever happening on my last one.

[Kim Christensen]

My pet peeve regarding computers and technology is something that has bugged me for years... when the process light of my laptop is on and flickering whenever the system is idle.

It's gotten worse with each Windows evolution. All kinds of crap runs in the background now. Some of it is useful, most of it is not. With a prebuilt PC, I always do a full wipe and reload of the OS as job #1.
After, I ran a little utility called ShutUp10 which made it easy to turn off unnecessary stuff. Just be careful with turning things off you don't fully understand.

[Bryn]

It's gotten worse with each Windows evolution. All kinds of crap runs in the background now. Some of it is useful, most of it is not.

Even worse when you can't tell if any background processes are running or not, as some computers and laptops don't even have a process light now (take the Dynabook Satellite Pro for instance, that I loaned from my college)... makes you want to have Task Manager open always to see what's going on

[PlainName]

You know, once upon a time I was always bothering about what's running in the background and what's using memory and all that. Totally micro-managing everything and stopping everything possible so there's no chance it would affect a game or whatever. That'd lasted for years and years - DOS, Win3, 95, XP... I could be really anal about the tiniest resource grab by apps or the OS.

Then I got a Core i7 and, frankly, I don't give a toss now. So long as I can't tell if anything is running, and it's not doing naughty stuff, I struggle to be bothered. In fact, just checking my task tray now I see 27 icons there, and there are a handful of gadgets on the desktop to boot. In a previous life that would horrify me! Fact is, PC hardware has just kept getting more powerful and capable faster than software is managing to soak it up. Apart from a few special cases where the developers really should be taken out and shot.