[ZenKey] Suggestions, tricks, thoughts, for the minimalist

[fafhrd]

Perhaps we should not toss the word zen about lightly: here is a koan, a zen parable or example to help one who wishes to be on the path to attain enlightenment:

[FONT=arial,helvetica]The Last Poem of Hoshin[/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica]The Zen Master Hoshin lived in China many years. Then he returned to the northeastern part of Japan, where he taught his disciples. When he was getting very old, he told them a story he had heard in China. This is the story:[/FONT]

[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica]One year on the twenty-fifth of December, Tokufu, who was very old, said to his disciples: "I am not going to be alive next year so you fellows should treat me well this year."
The pupils thought he was joking, but since he was a great-hearted teacher each of them in turn treated him to a feast on succeeding days of the departing year.
On the eve of the new year, Tokufu concluded: "You have been good to me. I shall leave tomorrow afternoon when the snow has stopped."
The disciples laughed, thinking he was aging and talking nonsense since the night was clear and without snow. But at midnight snow began to fall, and the next day they did not find their teacher about. They went to the meditation hall. There he had passed on.


Hoshin, who related this story, told his disciples: "It is not necessary for a Zen master to predict his passing, but if he really wishes to do so, he can."
"Can you?" someone asked.
"Yes," answered Hoshin. "I will show you what I can do seven days from now."
None of the disciples believed him, and most of them had even forgotten the conversation when Hoshin called them together.
"Seven days ago," he remarked, "I said I was going to leave you. It is customary to write a farewell poem, but I am neither a poet or a calligrapher. Let one of you inscribe my last words."
His followers thought he was joking, but one of them started to write.
"Are you ready?" Hoshin asked.
"Yes sir," replied the writer.
Then Hoshin dictated:
I came from brilliancy
And return to brilliancy.
What is this?This line was one line short of the customary four, so the disciple said: "Master, we are one line short."
[/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica]Hoshin, with the roar of a conquering lion, shouted "Kaa!" and was gone.

(from Zen Koans - AshidaKim.com)[/FONT]

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Ok. Sorry to interrupt your zen again > I like the 3rd one down on this page: Gong Sounds

I think it's a fitting, soft zen sound.

I gotta go, but I'll check in every now and zen.

 

[pcRat]

"Ctrl+Alt+Z is good because you can press all 3 with your 3 middle fingers at one time.
3 fingers, one press."
At first I read that as " Ctrl+Alt+Z is good because you can press all 3 with your middle finger at once."

My response started to be that it depends which type keyboard you have to press Ctrl+Alt+Z all 3 at once with 1 finger.

Then I got to thinking that this program may come in handy.

RandyRants: SharpKeys 3.5 To switch your left Winkey with left Alt key. Then you'd be able to press [Ctrl+Alt+Shift] or any 2 of those keys at once with 1 finger.
I even turned my
~ key into a [left side Backspace key]
Caps Lock key into a [left side Enter key]

 

[fafhrd]

Yea, it has the essence of the emptiness of existence on the high plateaux of Outer Mongolia without the comfort of a warm yak to cuddle up to.

I wonder if Win8fait might be interested in Ghostly Gongs 002 Sounds, sampled into short soundbites

 

[Win8fait]

When the cat's away, oh how the mice will play.

@fafhrd
Yeah. The Zen thing was meant as coloration - an inflection - not 64bit encryption. But us grasshoppers take what we can get. I created a cmd shortcut, gave it a blank icon, and a shortuct key Ctrl-Alt-K. The other stuff about using empty spaces and such is – to me – more for passwords, but yeah.

I see now that you can just hide all icons on the desktop, which you had said before. I was so excited by the idea that I could just delete them all, why would I want to hide them? But, it would seem, I must if I want to create a shortcut key to sleep the machine.

That's fine. It meets the requirement of zero icons in sight – but maybe I can stick the shortcut off in \system32 or something? Does it really have to be in my otherwise immaculate desktop?


@ David Bailey
..Bang on.

First one (rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Sleep) just does a temporary sleep, for like 30 seconds, then automatically boots back up. No good.

Second one (rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState 0,1,0) – works, but for some reason my keyboard does not get me out of the sleep like regularly happens, which you mention. I don't want to have to reach down and zap the machine. Oddly however, a tangential benefit happens. It solves the problem that normally when I put the machine into sleep mode (I have a desktop – so hybernation is irrelevent to me – or is it?) when I come back awake, and alt-tab to any of the open windows, they auto half-size and I have to fix them every time. That's a problem further down the list but this method of yours is promising because it solves that somehow as well. If I could fix it with a toggle such that the keyboard works to awake the machine - this would be the solution.


–----partitioning funny business away from serious (that's probably exactly inverted)

I'm thinking Buddhist bell vs. gong.

Doood. This gives the decode. The timing between bell sounds is three full breaths. Didn't know that. Makes all the sense in the world. "Invite" the Bell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6aYE3irqFQ

“I send my heart along with the sound of the bell.”

 

[Win8fait]

Clarification:

This thread is not about Zen jokes. This is real.

The idea is much more than just aesthetic minimalism – it's about minimalism in motion and effort. It's about reducing the “surface tension” of computing, and getting rid of ridiculous and unneeded visual queues. The mouse is great, but only to the extent it can accomplish specific things more elegantly and efficiently than much quicker keystrokes. Shortcuts, in the form of icons, and icons in general are ... simply not necessary – and the whole point is to completely eradicate reliance on “icons” that you have to go click on somewhere.

(Obviously the world of unlimited apps are above and beyond what is going on here at the base OS level. Obviously we prefer an icon of a file, and not a Hex representation. Work with me here.)

The idea transcends “desktop”, or “metro”, and is neither of those (and was alive well before Windows 8.) I'm just exploring it as the obvious extension of my new Windows 8 machine, but the ideal environment is empty space – an empty screen – that may or may not have a 40” image of a flower. The point is to activate applications and all functions of a machine via keystrokes alone – because that is often the most efficient way – popping up like little thought clouds. I see it as an emerging further evolution to the keyboard centric desktop/laptop; just as gestures are to the phone/tablet.

Note: Voice is a distraction, not a convergence. You don't want a room full of “crazy people” talking to their machines, like how we have now with people “talking to themselves” over cell phones in the supermarket. We do not need more of that – I assure you. Voice is NOT the future. I've seen the future, and the future is now.

When you've done this for a while, the keystrokes become second nature, and you can achieve things at the speed of thought – but without thinking about it. The things just kind of happen. No having to reach over and grab a mouse (unless it's more optimal for a specific task), or having to rely on context or where the damn icon is at and how you're going to get a little arrow (where is the arrow again?) over there to interface with it – you ARE the interface – you're already THERE before you “thought” about it.

So this is beyond the desktop paradigm. (e.g. The function may be affecting your desktop and your cellphone at the same time. Your “desktop” is in the cloud, if you insist on a desktop for context.)

Note: this assumes a typing class or three, and a decade of daily use, and pretty much an unholy need for speed and efficiency and irreverence to that which came before. “Hunt and peck” need not apply, until such time that it makes sense. (Dear God – that makes me a racist.)

Another important clarification: the point of this is not to be or become technical. The point is to be or become efficient – to have things “just happen” on the screen at the speed of thought. Everything else (other than jokes, of course) should be eschewed as the grimy dangerous culdesacs they are.

I officially anoint the “Dojo of Zenkey” here on EightForums.

The dojo's name is Zenkey, which is a larger instantiation of the Winkey concept.

I am not special – in fact I don't even exist, other than this text. Like the movie Fight Club – I just “gave it a name”. This is about much more of less.

(Oh yeah – and I'm half drunk. So you might factor that in.)

 

[fafhrd]

In Zen, a glass can neither be half full nor half empty, the glass is just too large for the amount of liquid it contains.

Check out autohotkey AutoHotkey -it can create Winkey shortcuts, apparently. It has its own supportforum.

To avoid confusion, note the official winkey shortcuts already in use here: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2355-windows-8-keyboard-shortcut-keys-list.html

(BTW :winkey: + G was used in Windows 7 to toggle between Gadgets)

 

[Win8fait]

...A Zen Master just picks up the glass and drinks.

Re: Win-G = gadgets. Interesting. (Protect legacy, or forge ahead? Humm.. That should be a no-brainer – however – historical context is paramount!)

---

Ya know, how is that hotkey configuration type app not central to an OS? I don't understand.

Kind of like a Logitech universal remote is to a room full of entertainment center components, the OS is a “universal remote” to all applications. Why is that not more central to an OS?

---focus

I await David Bailey (or someone) to help improve the Sleep function.

Then there is the OP question of somehow improving the Start screen to remove the “Start” and user name/icon.

I'll pull out the Hex Editor, I don't care - but those inane idiocies have to go!! I KNOW it's the start screen. I KNOW who I am. Just rediculousness.