Little Big Annoyances

Everyone's got their idiosyncrasies.

Some people can't touch apricots and and peaches.

Some people don't tolerate a sound of scraping on the glass.

Some people can't drive stick.

My idiosyncrasy is the middle button in the browser. I want it to open a new tab, in the foreground.

And Google Chrome, otherwise a decent browser, can't seem to support this feature as of version 3.

Or is it just an advanced configuration option?

about:config doesn't work. OK.

Some research shows that it does support some others, though verification shows that it's a hit and miss (for some reason, not all keywords display anything other than an empty page - keep trying in new tabs). Other than that, nothing.

Moving on. More searching (details omitted as mundane). Nothing useful, except it seems that there are other people desperately trying to make Google add this option, to no avail.

Damn Google, is it that difficult? Every other browser has this option configurable, who died and gave you the right to decide that you know better how it is supposed to work? Yes, I know you can do it, but it requires two hands, and what if I don't have the other one?

Maybe if the head of usability testing team for Chrome had one arm, we'd get this feature faster?

PS: This is the only reason Chrome is not the default browser on my boxes.

UPDATE: Tried to get the Chrome Beta and what do you think? Lo and behold, time after time, browser, network proxy and fresh/upgrade tricks being used seemingly irrelevant, it downloads the Chrome (stable, v. 3.0.195.21) instead. And, as usual with Google, the hood is welded shut and it'll take significant effort to figure out where the problem is. Screw it, I don't have that much time.

Back to Firefox.

The Quest For The Holy HTPC Keyboard

It's been a few years since I started looking for a decent HTPC keyboard. Having spent more than a half of my life working with regular keyboards and mice (and not having a laptop until a couple of years ago), I was stuck on the idea of a keyboard with lots of functional keys, and whatever mouse that can do the job.

Then it dawned on me.

You don't need a mouse on an HTPC keyboard.

You need a trackpad.

I used to hate trackpads before, when I had to use them occasionally. Turned out, the secret is in two-handed operation: you use one hand to move the cursor, and the other to press the buttons. Works more than fine for vast majority of casual computing. More than enough for HTPC.

Have to admit, this idea is still to be proven. The selection of keyboards with a trackpad is small at this point, and I have not heard of any manufacturers before:

• Adesso
• BTC (this one has a joystick, though, not a trackpad)
• SolidTek

Form factors are odd. So are keyboard layouts. Reviews are not that stellar, either.

And then there's the Asus Eee keyboard - still half vaporware at this point, but definitely promising.

I guess I'll wait a bit. But at least I know what I need now.