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natas12

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Hi, I am natas12 and I create Various KDE 1.-4. Improvements.

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Last time active : Mar 28 2006
Joined : Feb 07 2004
Krecipes

Various KDE Stuff by fungmeista 18 comments

oh, it's too early and i don't seem to be able to read... ;-) it uses sql, ok. - Jan 19 2005
Krecipes

Various KDE Stuff by fungmeista 18 comments

are the recipes stored in xml (like in bookcase / tellico)?

really nice, i'm downloading it right now. this will make my recipe-collection (which now exists as a collection of loose papers) really comfortable... :-) - Jan 19 2005
KBoot CCCP

KDE 3.x Splash Screens by garrylachman 12 comments

finally i got my 100% communism desktop! nice! :-) - Jun 20 2004
lenin Test

KDE 3.x Splash Screens by asciiwhite 7 comments

...i'd like to see this without tux, though... - Jun 10 2004
Soviet Arizona

Wallpaper Other by johanneswilm 44 comments

in fact, i really AM a communist! so what? i'm not forcing YOU to be a communist and neither the wallpaper does. but IF it does, it is even better than i thought... :-)

remember also, there is a lot of "christian" stuff here on kde-look.org. i am an atheist but i simply don't care about the christian wallpapers. however, i could be whining like you: "stop! this is religion! no religion here!"

everything is political (art as well), there is no place on earth where you won't be bothered by politics. - Jun 06 2004
Soviet Arizona

Wallpaper Other by johanneswilm 44 comments

good. more! more! iconsets, themes, sounds! :-) :-) - Jun 06 2004
newMenu2

Various KDE Stuff by aivs 44 comments

...there are to many "sections". you have a section of recently used programs, a section for shutting down and locking the screen, a section with some kind of "special" programs (the round buttons) and the "regular" k-menu. imho it would be better to reduce the number of sections - recently used programs, log-out & lock, other programs. - May 01 2004
newMenu2

Various KDE Stuff by aivs 44 comments

...needs improvement.
i like your idea of a better-structured and cleaner k-menu.
we have to use "recognition" instead of "remembering" - big icons, colors, special buttons. this is how newbies use their computer and nearly any other technical device - instead of remembering a function they instantly recognize a picture, a sound, a colour (look inside your car: you'll find a big red triangular button in nearly any car).
we should use this behaviour and a better k-menu is a first step.

one improvement: leave more space between the items. this makes it look cleaner and less nervous and is easier to click at. - May 01 2004
GRUB NextBoot

Various KDE 1.-4. Improvements by marktaff 44 comments

most modern distributions use grub instead of lilo, so it is a good thing, to choose the OS before rebooting (just like you can choose your reboot-method in KDM when you use lilo). - Apr 20 2004
Improved accessiblity!

Various KDE 1.-4. Improvements by Figurehead 12 comments

i would not call it subjective. there are some "objective" borders (especially for disabled users!) - placing the mouse and clicking on small icons and buttons requires much more coordination between hands and eyes than clicking on a big button. that's why things like "panic buttons" (e.g. on a machine) are big, round and red - you don't have to fiddle around with small buttons, you just "hit" them (well, kde should not be crowded with giant panic-buttons... ;-)). i remember looking at my mother while she tried to point at a button in word: (1) take mouse, (2) move it, (3) look at the screen - where is the arrow?, (4) move mouse again, (5) ah, there's the button, (6) click (mouse moves a bit while clicking), (7) damn! miss!, (8) move mouse again, and so on... :-) - Apr 16 2004
improving session management

Various KDE 1.-4. Improvements by natas12 6 comments

i know this concept sounds confusing. maybe i did not explain it correctly: it is absolutly necessary, to make it clear that windows and other ui-elements are not "clickable" while restoring the session. maybe the screenshot could look a bit faded.out (like logging off in gnome) with the window on top of it (which would show the progress of restoring).
this would provide the following:

(1) consistency - because users can remember pictures better than other things and because most users are "task-oriented", they instantly recognize "this is my desktop. that's how i left it. i can continue my work when loading is finished".

(2) imho it would look better and smoother than windows popping up. currently, the applications pop up one after one and i've seen users who just start using the first application while the others are loading. than the next application "steals" their focus, e.g.: the first app is kate. you start to write something. the next app is konqueror which opens your homepage (e.g. you gmx mailaccount). when you continue your writing, it is possible that a part of it leaks into konqueror (for example into a textarea of your homepage). the third app is kopete, which demands a password, and so on.
[actually, this "leaking" is a general problem with konqueror and tabbed browsing - you enter a text but if another tab finishes loading, it is possible that it steals your cursor and so everything you enter - that's another issue... ;-)]

(3) from a "psychological" point of view, the loading-time appears to be shorter, maybe due to the fact that you already SEE how your desktop will look like (and you SEE the progress-bar). - Apr 16 2004
BasKet Note Pads

Utilities by kelvie 347 comments

basket now fully replaces my k-menu. i also wrote some simple scripts for mounting/unmounting cd-roms and partitions and added them to "my" basket.

it would be a really cool idea to have this tool inside the universal sidebar, especially when autohide is turned on.

thumbs up! :-) - Apr 14 2004
Rectangular KDE start/menu button

Various KDE 1.-4. Improvements by speleoalex 47 comments

i would not do that - the k-menu is, well, a "menu" and should not open automatically. this would introduce a new inconsistency into kde (ui-elements like menus and buttons require ACTIONS) and could be quite annoying for quick users: you have to WAIT until the menu opens.

but i agree in your other point: there is no need to make it rectangular. it just should look different enough to be recognized... - Apr 07 2004
Rectangular KDE start/menu button

Various KDE 1.-4. Improvements by speleoalex 47 comments

there is no need for kde to "copy" the windows-look. that can be done by the distributions (like xandros). the point is that the "k"-button does not look very special (but it should). it is small, grey, it doesn't even look like a button at all...!

i have no problem with that since i don't use the k-menu (i'm using the wonderful "basket-utility" for nearly everything...). however, for newbie-users, the k-menu should look special. it should say "click me!". i would like to see the button in kde 3.3... :-) - Apr 07 2004
BasKet Note Pads

Utilities by kelvie 347 comments

no, but as i understand it, it can "collect" a bunch of different things you use often or you want to remember - a program, a link to a website, an image, etc. . but maybe i didn't get it right... too much beer... ;-)

anyway, still a good idea... (i'm downloading it right now) :-) - Mar 18 2004
BasKet Note Pads

Utilities by kelvie 347 comments

this is a really good idea. it could be used as an addition to the k-menu for average users with repeating tasks (e.g. "write something", "send a mail", etc.).
- Mar 18 2004
UI redesign for konqueror settings

Various KDE 1.-4. Improvements by natas12 28 comments

i agree that splitting up the settings in this way might be a bad idea if you like to change one or two single options - that would be a "clicking hell"... ;-)
maybe it could be split up in just two sections - "basic" and "advanced". "basic" will let you change some common features (your home-URL, turn on / turn off java, etc.). "advanced" will let you play around with the rest of the options. another possiblity: steal the security-dialog from firebird (it has this "panic-button" for deleting every private information - really cool!).
in my opinion, the number of changeable options should be reduced anyway - it is easier to install a whole linux-system than configuring konqui. but this is part of the "KDE needs user-levels" - discussion, so maybe i'll join the usability-mailinglist when i have more spare time regularly... - Feb 08 2004
UI redesign for konqueror settings

Various KDE 1.-4. Improvements by natas12 28 comments

well, i installed a linux system for my parents and they've never got used to the configuration dialog. they don't know whether "TLS" is a good thing. they really don't know, whether "use with caution" is dangerous or not... ;-)

(from now: everything is "imho"... ;-) )

konqueror is the best example for missing usability guidelines within KDE. i really love KDE but it has to be restructured. in my opinion, average users don't like to configure more than 100 options in one single window with a dozen of tabs and sub-options which are poorly layouted anyway - some options are nearly empty (appearance), some are crowded with tabs and nested lists (crypto). some UI-elements exist twice, e.g a slider and a spinbox for ONE item. one of them isn't necessary and could be removed to save space on the screen. another example: "web shortcuts" contains a single tab - why one tab? you don't need tabs if you only have one...

personally, i only change my home-url and some tab-behavior. from time to time, i delete my history and cache - that's it.

i don't want to start a flamewar - maybe my idea is even worse... ;-) - Feb 07 2004