KDE 4.9.3 may have lost touchpad config

I use the kubuntu backports ppa on Ubuntu 12.04.

I was unable to browse the web, some weird pages were loading... then I realized that my touchpad was randomly clicking places.

So I went to the control panel where I was previously able to turn off tapping...

Well, that option is no longer there!!!

My computer is unusable until this is fixed... so I found this:

http://thismagpie.blogspot.com/2012/07/finally-how-i-permanently-disabled-tap.html

synclient MaxTapTime=0
synclient MaxTapMove=0 

 This worked!


A working user interface is the #1 requirement for a computer system.

I have also been unable to find where to report this critical bug.

ksynaptics is gone!
No touchpad configuration in systemsettings!
tpconfig does not work!

Pulldown buttons are not user friendly

Firefox now has a pulldown button for selecting whether or not to save a password for a site.

Kubuntu / KDE has a pull down button for selecting whether to reboot or suspend.



How am I supposed to tab between the options?

Keep your dang user interface compatible with keyboards please!
I have miss-selected so many of these buttons, and have had my computer shutoff or save a password enough times that I know this is a design defect.

Pull-down buttons are cute... but should only be used for trivial additional actions.
It is not ok to use them where any data might be lost, or security be compromised.
It is not ok for major decisions.  It is ok for added sub-features related to that button, but not features that are the same logical decision level.

Terminal Control Character Mayhem

If I am using Konsole, or sometimes even a virtual terminal, I can cat a file, and it gets dumped and sent to the program that has to interpret it.


Well, some binary data might indicate a change in character encoding...
So my terminal gladly switches to another character encoding set.


I would like to include in my Prompt(all prompts that anybody uses), some sort of  way to for-sure return to my expected character encoding.

Other ways to do this may include disabling switching of encodings (which might break some programs)

or wrap or alias commands like "cat" to encode all characters in printable standard characters. (some sort of escaping to represent what the non-printable characters are.

I think the prompt is the best place to look. The terminal programs themselves are also a prime place for work.

Either way, it is unacceptable for my whole screen to turn into gibberish just because I used cat to inspect a file... and I still don't know of a fix!

Policy for keeping filenames sane

Have you ever created a file with the name "-rf"?

Or used KDE where a "/" was interpreted as some character that looks like a slash, but is not one? and totally borks your computer?


I would like to create a system-wide policy that does not allow insane filenames to be created.

This potentially means banning look-alike characters.

The complexities in this system would be when including filenames with characters from languages other than English.

We could have a dual file-name system...

And Or we could use the hash of a non-compliant filename.


Basically I want the filesystem to be able to  give an error if a file name starting with a dash, or has a space then a dash, or contains certain reserved words separated by spaces.  If it has a non us-english keyboard character in it..

This could add substantial overhead to some writing operations...  and it could add danger for programs that do not try again if write was unsuccessful.

This program could also save the file regardless, but name it in a compliant fashion.... but it is better to just error out.

How to Select a Good Laptop. Interface matters!

I'll go over the points that I think are more unique to my laptop selection first, the rest is rather obvious.

Try the physical user interfaces!  Except for gaming, and some content creation, the rest doesn't matter much.

Trackpad:


1.  The trackpad should let your finger move freely over it. If it is textured for style, it may not perform when you are using it.
2. The trackpad should have edges to let you know when you moved your finger out over the way.
3. There should 2 discrete buttons, that are next to eachother, so you can press both at the same time with a single finger.     (pressing both mouse buttons at the same time is a shortcut to cancel your current mousing activity),  pressing both mouse buttons can also be interpreted as an additional action (3rd mouse button).
4. The buttons should not be "integrated" with the trackpad.. if it is all one piece of plastic, then it will be harder to cancel an unwanted cursor movement.

Screen:
5 the screen: should be non-glare MATTE,   NOT GLOSSY.   If you see your reflection in the monitor, this laptop will give you much pain and suffering.

Body:
6: the body: should feel sturdy... it's ok if it looks somewhat cheap, some designers put more time into making the object function..  The body should not flex when you twist it.

****
Switches
7: Hardware switches:
volume key, if you can actually control the volume immediately with a knob, this laptop is great!
Hardware wifi on/off   I don't trust the software only..

8: unadvertised features matter more than some other features:
Virtualization in the cpu.  I only recommend laptops that have virtulization enabled.    This will let you run other operating systems at the same time, which is amazing, and cool.  This is a bit harder to lookup, because they don't advertise this on laptop cpus.



The stores:
***
At Fry's:  I would not buy a single laptop they had out there.  Either some sort of fingerprint reading device is disrupting the functinality of the trackpad, or the buttons are spaced far apart, or the trackpad is textured like sandpaper.
***
At office stores,  they typically have just one or two models with non-glare screens. If the mouse buttons work, this is great.




I order things this way:
use
interfaces
price
size
performance
battery


Screen type by usage:
MATTE

Do everything:
I prefer smaller laptops with high resolution displays. (13in and smaller, with sxga or wsxga  )  (1400x1050 sxga+ is what my 13in  laptop has, and it is great. but I could get away with 1280x800)

I always plan to be near a plug, and buy an extra power adapter.  I typically go for discrete graphics level performance (AMD now has on chip 3d acceleration which is probably good enough)  but I want a discrete video chip and discrete video memory.

Take everywhere:
 My dell mini 9 is just great.. it has a 9 inch screen with 1024x600 resolution. It was cheap, and it is fast... It is enough of a laptop to do anything I need but 3d editing and games  or video editing(which is what I need to do :(

Poor eyesight:
If you have poor eyesight, you might select a 15 in panel with 1280x800

HD Video Editing:
Ideally, I would like to have a WUXGA 1920x1200 display if I am going to be doing anything with HD video.  (this would probably be a 17in laptop)


Interfaces:

I perfer dual pointing device laptops with the touchpoint and the trackpad.

General communication.

So many fields and topics are deeply related.  Computing devices are showing up everywhere, but they are used to solve problems we have always had.

I had a chance to observe a parent and child interact in a way that reminds me of poor user interfaces.

On (many days) that day,  The parent started talking to the child, and the child did not respond. The parent moved on to do something else.  The child did not do the task that was demanded, and the parent became angry.      It was like the parent used UDP to communicate a critical message, and the packet got lost.   The parent should have used something like TCP, where a message delivery confirmation is expected.


This reminds me of unix programs that don't report on success.   Maybe there is a way to provide a sub-channel communication that indicates success.

It could also be possible to remap cp, mv, mkdir, and other common programs to use Kio and kfile (from KDE) to give someone notifications when transfers are done.  A simpler way to do this could be to have these programs log actions, (and use trash folders)

Physical Buttons, trusted shell indication light and display

How many of you are annoyed by administrator password prompts?

I sure could use a non-spoofable* authorization button and console.

*(will need engineering and kernel integration, root cold spoof it anyway)


Here are the basic parts,
an lcd terminal, distinct from the rest of the system, OR, a physical light that indicates that information on my screen is not just some elaborate userspace spoof of an authorization window.

This is not just a light that comes on when a sudo program is activated, it is a light that indicates that the video display is verified to be giving out authenticated information.

This information would include, the filename, and what access the program requests.

A hardware button could authorize things like software updates or installs (from authenticated repositories only)  with just a press.

A(the) hardware button could be used to confirm execution (or opening) of a newly downloaded file.

A(the) hardware button could be used to  authorize system settings changes..

For additional security, the system could be set to not prompt you for your passwords until you press the(another) button

Codes or patterns could be used for some authentication (morse code or a timer, or presses in response to a song or tones)

If there was a small(or any dedicated) display (a text display, ) this information could be presented on that display instead of the general purpose display.


I believe I heard of trusted computer initiatives before, but it sounds like it may be an alliance to own your computer, and not trust the user...  Perhaps some of the hardware could be repurposed for hardware authentication interrupts.



This feature is similar to the reset buttons on our consumer routers, but this one would not reset data, and it could be manifested by a switch with a safety lock, or flip cover.

I imagine this button would not be on the keyboard, or if it is it would be one of those special keys like on one of the late 90's keyboards with buttons for everything.


I would like to make this project work with a Logitech G15 keyboard.
It has a little display, and it has tons of extra buttons...  but ultimately I would like the button to have it's own device, and only let the authentication program  read from it.

(It would otherwise be possible to have a web page spoof your password prompt, we are being conditioned to enter our passwords multiple times on every login and configuration change...  This would be a great way to authenticate routine maintenance, and enforce a more deliberate and communicative authorization process)