Re: [Thinkpad] Control over a closed Thinkpad?

Yes, you're right. Excuse my fuzzy thinking. A mouse will do.
So it is a software question. The software would need to interact
with the media player so that:
- a random click would not switch the focus to another application
(making the software "full screen" might do that)
- various clicks get translated into the commands for
Pause (the most important)
Unpause = Resume (the same button)
Play
Stop
Next Track
Previous Track

and perhaps the wheel gets converted into a volume control
(or an equivalent to Fn-PgUp or Fn-PgDn if we want to get really
thinkpad-centric about it).

Let's see. left click = pause / resume toggle
right click = stop, wheel = volume.

If the track is stopped, then the wheel selects the track.
left click = resume, right click = Play (from beginning)

And maybe left-click-wheel controls the location in the track, though that might be a bit too fancy.

>Excuse me but aren't wireless mice (Microsoft, Logitech, etc) all
>RF instead of IR? Therefore, wouldn't a small (?mini?) wireless
>mouse in the jacket pocket and the receiver plugged into the laptop
>in the backpack do the job?
>
>And, for that matter, a wired mouse would work just as well because
>there would already be one wire from the laptop to the headphones.
>The only issue would be to configure the center wheel or right
>mouse button to be the pause/play button for the audio player. Right?
>
>On Sat, 29 May 2004, Jonathan Berry wrote:
>
>>Thanks, David:
>>
>>>> Let's say you are travelling and want to use your Thinkpad as a bulky
>>>iPod. Or you set up your Thinkpad as a web or fax server on a crowded
>>>desktop. You want to be able to control your Thinkpad without having to
>>>open it up.
>>>>
>>>> Is there a way to do this? I know that my 600E does not have anything
>>>on the outside of the case, aside from the on-off rocker. Is there
>>>something that could connect to the mouse port or infra-red port?
>>>
>>>You're not going to be able to control the IR through a backpack.
>>
>>OK, but that doesn't eliminate an infrared from consideration. The backpack could be open. The process might be: reach in the backpack, find the IR remote, push the "pause" button. What I want to avoid is: open the backpack, take the computer out, open, bring back from suspend, click "Pause", suspend, close, put in backpack ... and then the same process all over again to resume. In this sense the IR remote would be equivalent to a jog dial (or whatever) on the exterior of the Thinkpad (which could be a good idea if intelligently implemented).
>>
>>> there
>>>are a couple of companies that make radio frequency PC remote controls
>>>which will do exactly what you are asking for. They tend to be either
>>>USB or serial port, so you need one of those. You could try
>>>http://store.niveusmedia.com/s.nl/c.304836/sc.2/category.2/it.A/id.4/.f
>>>
>>
>>OK, I guess that would be good if it went with RF headphones, too.
>>Otherwise, a wired solution would be OK, as my headphones are wired.
>>
>>I downloaded the PDF manual, and for $us40 it looks like a useful USB RF remote. Yes, it looks like you could program it to mimic your media player's keys (Play, Pause, Stop, Resume, Next; not sure about Volume Up / Down)
>>
>>>- David R.
>>>
>>
>>

-- 
happy
Jonathan Berry and Erika http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/fun.htm
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