Howard- Really there's been enough & I don't like it at all when it gets ad hominem. All lmy hyphens in the way I write. I'm going to leave it that I get paid a lot for money for my writing. i happen to be dyslexic, have ADD, & can't spell. Sorry. Your pentagon joke sucks. You are technically correct of course- pentagons does have 5 sides-usually five congruent angles. There's that hyphen again. And how did you like the congruent part-pretty good for someone who took geometry +45 years ago. I have some knowledge about Macs-thank you very much. Remember the Altair 1975? And lastly-I really get to the truth-any "non obvious"- read non intuitive-that has three panes & needs 127 pages of explanation sucks. And that's 120 pages more than Apple provides hard copy for a over priced-over rated computer. Macs are a machine-Quicksilver is a program; neither are a religion.
On Feb 3, 8:16 pm, Howard Melman <[email protected]> wrote: > ⌫ is the symbol for the delete key (aka backspace key). It's the > standard symbol on the mac used for this key, on some (not all) of > their keyboards, in all the documentation, in the keyboard shortcuts > listed in the menus. In the Finder menu you'll see it listed for Empty > Trash and in the Finder's File menu you'll see it used for Move to > Trash (with the ⌘ symbol for the command key). > > I had to assume some mac knowledge, as I had no intention of writing a > "how to use a mac" book. > > If you keep reading my manual you'll see the difference between search > and text mode in Quicksilver. > > I appreciate you saying you're not trying to be an a**hole and > describing your experience so that things can be improved, but I > suggest you put some of your energy to reading some more documentation > about the new computer you have rather than ranting about your first > difficultly. You will have more. I have many books on computers and > programming too. I recommend David Pogue's Missing Manual series for > learning the mac. > > Your point about taking things literally from having six years of > Latin surprises me when you call a pentagon a rectangle. I did not > say I violated my conventions in the Quick Reference Sheet on those > two items, you assumed that. Your messages are filled with typos, odd > formatting and far too many hyphens. I still tried to read through > them to understand your point and address your problem. > > Howard > > On Feb 3, 2009, at 7:42 PM, diskifer wrote: > > > > > Howard- > > I first want to tell you that I really do appreciate taking the time > > to answer me inquiry. Now I hope we are talking the same language > > here. > > > I will deal with one problem quickly On quick reference keyboard > > shortcut-not your manual- you have for search again command > > ⌫ Resets search on current level . First off- I have no idea what > > the rectangle around the X means. Hitting X by itself does > > nothing on my computer. If I hit the clover key(the onebetween the > > option & spacebar labeled command) along with the "X" key-it does > > remove the text. I see you're saying that is the "cut" key which is > > why it looks like replace the present text and search again mode. > > > You say & now I get it-that box with the triangle side on the left is > > indeed the delete or backspace symbol butlet me point out why I went > > astray & I think people can get confused. There is very good reason > > for it. > > 1. That symbol is NOT present on my mac keyboard. I have to presume > > if you use a symbol it's on the keyboard > > 2. I have seen it in programming books > > yes I understand you need space but you broke your convention on > > those last 2 commands as you say you did. Whats the result? > > illogical representation andforme consequent confusion-confusion I say > > perfectly warranted. > > A logical person would look for that back space command on the Mac > > keyboard-wouldn't they?! Those are the keys one is supposd to push > > in useing this APP. > > > I do want you to understand that I am not tryng to be an a--hole > > here; just what goes through the user's mind. And again these are > > little things BUT they prevented me from understanding how this APP > > worked and that to me is a big deal. Again-not in your case-you're > > trying to be clear. For me-the bigger lesson isthat what are the > > consequences when it's not perfectly clear & the reason I am taking > > thetime with this post. > > > I have 6 ears of Latin. So what-who cares? This the point-i read > > thinhgs literally-word by word in the form their in. Because > > computers are stupid-it is exactly why it is so important in general > > for computer book writers to be meticulous with their instruction-and > > you would think that somebody such as myself who owns about 40 books > > on programming would know by now that most writers of such books > > almost never right lucidly from the point of view of the READER! And > > they never are. You'd think I'd learn! > > > Of all things-if you want to read a book about programming beautifully > > explained and written-best I have ever seen-Jon Ericsson-Hackers > > Manual 2. > > > As for your statement about the delete key -you say:BTW, the delete > > key does delete the last letter typed when Quicksilver > > is in text mode. I'm not sure why in search mode, delete resets the > > search; I suspect it's because to select something you usually just > > type a few keys > > > I'll show you what I don't know-what ll is the difference between the > > "text" & the different search mode?!!!!! I thought one put text > > into the first box so that it can do a search. No text-no search?? > > What am I missing? DELETE does NOT delete the text in the search box > > on this computer. What does command-X(actually cut) or typing again > > a new search in the same box. > > > Thanks for time. Again I do really appreciate what you have done. I > > ave to eat-my feeble brain demands it. regards, cappy > > anderson york, maine > > > On Feb 3, 6:27 pm, Howard Melman <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Quicksilver is very powerful, but it is not obvious. It's one of the > >> reasons I wrote the manual. A lot of people on the forums had similar > >> questions when they came to the app and at the time QS wasn't open > >> source, so writing documentation was something I could contribute (I > >> also wanted an excuse to use iWork Pages). Also, Quicksilver is in > >> fact easy to use (it why so many people do like it), but note that is > >> not synonymous with obvious (which is why it's not for everyone). > > >> I see you're new to OS X and haven't used a mac in 20 years. Assuming > >> you've been using Windows, yes some things are different. Not > >> necessarily better (though I think many things are) but just > >> different. I know people that still can't get use to there being one > >> menu at the top of the screen instead of a menu at the top of each > >> window. It's very normal for "switchers" to complain that something > >> is > >> harder when in fact it's just different and unfamiliar. > > >> I very curious when you said "The Quick guide erroneously says the > >> keyboard short cut- search again short cut- is X. It is -command key > >> X." I tried to follow what you said and tried to find what you're > >> referring to since you didn't quote the manual directly. I think it > >> in > >> the User Manual (version 0.15) you're referring to the first full > >> paragraph at the top of page 14 (hardly a parenthetical): > > >> "If you mistype something, you can type the delete key or ⌘X to > >> clear > >> the pane and start over. If you navigate to something via → or / > >> then these keys will still keep you in the current position but clear > >> the search. To reset entirely so that you’re using the top-level > >> global catalog use the esc key. There’s no way to delete just the > >> last letter typed. " > > >> Note that clover-like symbol before the X (which I hope came through > >> in the email) means holding down the command key (aka the apple key) > >> while hitting X. It's standard mac convention to write it this way. > >> In > >> the Quick Reference at the end under Keyboard Shortcuts, the last two > >> items are "resets search on current level" and "resets search to top > >> level", I use the symbols for delete (aka backspace) and escape, > >> mostly because I have to conserve space. I think those are correct. > > >> If I'm misunderstanding something please let me know, I'd like to > >> correct it. > > >> Quicksilver provides a LOT of functionality, and often many different > >> ways to do the same thing. It's use model is not similar to other > >> applications which is why it is so uniquely useful. I've written 15 > >> versions of this guide and have struggled trying to find the most > >> useful way to present information without having lots of duplication. > >> The answer to your question was on the ninth page of text which I > >> think is pretty good. I first had to explain what the application > >> does > >> and its basic use, activation and installation. That seems > >> appropriate > >> to me. > > >> BTW, the delete key does delete the last letter typed when > >> Quicksilver > >> is in text mode. I'm not sure why in search mode, delete resets the > >> search; I suspect it's because to select something you usually just > >> type a few keys. If you've made a mistake it's probably more > >> efficient > >> to start over rather than figure out which key you went wrong on and > >> backspacing to it. Escape is also a common "reset" key on many > >> systems > >> since the 70s. Finally, command-x is the standard shortcut for Cut > >> which does remove the current selection. It's actually a good > >> standard > >> choice for that functionality even those most people don't think to > >> use it in the Quicksilver command window. I don't recall if I had > >> that > >> experience, but I guarantee you're not the first to experience it. > >> It's a reason I documented it. > > >> Howard > > >> On Feb 3, 2009, at 5:52 PM, diskifer wrote: > > >>> OK- > >>> I had downloaded that suggested guide and his quick ref. My > >>> question is answered in the detailed PDF almost parentheticly with > >>> one > >>> sentence on page 14. The Quick guide erroneously says the > >>> keyboard > >>> short cut- search again short cut- is X. It is -command key X. > >>> Why do I think its a big deal? The delete or backspace key is the > >>> default universal way to implement text replacement > >>> information It > >>> is intuitive-simple. Even (q)uit is more intuitive and my gripe is > >>> that the way this app works on this simple manuveur in non obvious > >>> way > >>> & gives me a bad initial impression of what is probably an OK app. > >>> And while I may be the first person to bring this up-guaranteed I'm > >>> not the first person to experience this and if that makes me a > >>> troll- > >>> so be it. > >>> It just seems to me this is NOT the kind of thing you should have to > >>> ask for help on a forum. And-as an afterthought-in reading that > >>> guide- > >>> BECAUSE he gets into explaining search > > ... > > read more »
