4 ms·

I guess at least now I know I'm not alone. I'm very OCD about clicking on random words, triple clicking on paragraphs to highlight them entirely while I'm readi

by smokinn 16y ago

I guess at least now I know I'm not alone. I'm very OCD about clicking on random words, triple clicking on paragraphs to highlight them entirely while I'm reading or just dragging my mouse over random amounts of text on the page. I don't know why I do it but it drives pretty much everyone reading the same thing as me on the same computer insane.

harry 16y ago
I do this as well, more of a "track where I am when I'm reading" when I get distracted by something else, I quickly return to the spot. I dislike it when something like WSJ puts those 'learn more' links after you highlight something right under the cursor.
yesbabyyes 16y ago
I do all of this, too. Especially selecting paragraphs. Actually, now that I think about it (which I do fairly often, tbh), this is one of the reasons I've stayed with Firefox. It only highlights the text of the paragraph. WebKit highlights to the end of the line, and some more, I think. It isn't as visually appealing, at all. We had an intern at our company for a week, a smart guy who is graduating from high school, and he pointed out all of these things about me. I also manically tap caps lock with my left pinkie. I'd rather not think about this part of me too much, especially when it comes to picking browser based on how it renders (manically) selected paragraphs.
- ComputerGuru 16y ago
  No it doesn't, at least, not any more :) Chrome 6 on OS X, triple-clicking on the word "WebKit": http://grab.by/4DKh http://grab.by/4DKh
Periodic 16y ago
My cousin does this as well. When she reads something online she highlights the half-line she's reading at the time. You can always tell when she's gotten distracted and started reading something because there's a constant clicking coming from her mouse.
MichaelGG 16y ago
That's fairly common (I do it too). I remember reading one of MS Office PM's blogs (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jensenh/ http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jensenh/) and he mentioned they had to do work on the minibar in Office 2007 to not annoy people who select while reading.
- alextingle 16y ago
  It still annoys the hell out of me.
po 16y ago
I do this too and I think its the same part of my brain that likes the bounce of the window on the iPhone after an inertia scroll. I pull the window down over and over when I'm bored. It's like bubble wrap.
krevis 16y ago
Everyone does this sort of thing! The first time I saw it named (as "One Free Interaction") was this blog post: http://www.cooper.com/journal/2009/01/one_free_interaction.html http://www.cooper.com/journal/2009/01/one_free_interaction.h...
bluemetal 16y ago
caught myself at it while reading your comment, always good to know you're not alone

by smokinn 16y ago

harry 16y ago

I do this as well, more of a "track where I am when I'm reading" when I get distracted by something else, I quickly return to the spot. I dislike it when something like WSJ puts those 'learn more' links after you highlight something right under the cursor.

yesbabyyes 16y ago

I do all of this, too. Especially selecting paragraphs. Actually, now that I think about it (which I do fairly often, tbh), this is one of the reasons I've stayed with Firefox. It only highlights the text of the paragraph. WebKit highlights to the end of the line, and some more, I think. It isn't as visually appealing, at all. We had an intern at our company for a week, a smart guy who is graduating from high school, and he pointed out all of these things about me. I also manically tap caps lock with my left pinkie. I'd rather not think about this part of me too much, especially when it comes to picking browser based on how it renders (manically) selected paragraphs.

ComputerGuru 16y ago
No it doesn't, at least, not any more :) Chrome 6 on OS X, triple-clicking on the word "WebKit": http://grab.by/4DKh http://grab.by/4DKh

Periodic 16y ago

My cousin does this as well. When she reads something online she highlights the half-line she's reading at the time. You can always tell when she's gotten distracted and started reading something because there's a constant clicking coming from her mouse.

MichaelGG 16y ago

That's fairly common (I do it too). I remember reading one of MS Office PM's blogs (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jensenh/ http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jensenh/) and he mentioned they had to do work on the minibar in Office 2007 to not annoy people who select while reading.

alextingle 16y ago
It still annoys the hell out of me.

po 16y ago

I do this too and I think its the same part of my brain that likes the bounce of the window on the iPhone after an inertia scroll. I pull the window down over and over when I'm bored. It's like bubble wrap.

krevis 16y ago

Everyone does this sort of thing! The first time I saw it named (as "One Free Interaction") was this blog post: http://www.cooper.com/journal/2009/01/one_free_interaction.html http://www.cooper.com/journal/2009/01/one_free_interaction.h...

bluemetal 16y ago

caught myself at it while reading your comment, always good to know you're not alone