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I never thought I'd have a use for extra buttons all that much. There's always keyboard combinations to spare. Yet about 18 months ago, I remembered I'd got t

I never thought I'd have a use for extra buttons all that much. There's always keyboard combinations to spare. Yet about 18 months ago, I remembered I'd got these 5 custom buttons on my keyboard that in something like a decade and a half of using this keyboard model, I'd never once used. A little bit of searching later, I figured out how to write a bash script that would (for Linux) find the zoom window for whatever meeting or webinar I was in, and bring that up. Then a second script to do the same but also unmute. That has become so insanely useful I'm really kicking myself about not having used those buttons before.

memoriasit 4y ago
Could you share that script?
- hammock 4y ago
  Would it work for Mac?
  - Twirrim 4y ago
    It relies on xdotool, which I don't think works on Mac? If I was still on mac, I'd probably try and use hammerspoon somehow. I used that for a few bits of automation, and I know it had ways to choose applications.
- Twirrim 4y ago
  Hopefully I get this right with the formatting. #!/bin/sh ZOOM=$(xdotool search --limit 1 --name "Zoom Meeting") ZOOM_WEBINAR=$(xdotool search --limit 1 --name "Zoom Webinar") if [ -z "${ZOOM}" ]; then xdotool windowactivate --sync "${ZOOM_WEBINAR}" elif [ -z "${ZOOM_WEBINAR}" ]; then xdotool windowactivate --sync "${ZOOM}" fi sleep 0.1 xdotool key --clearmodifiers "alt+a"
marvin 4y ago
This is a bit of an aside, but I play a lot of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds with a regular team of friends. That game has a fiendish amount of keyboard commands, even related to regular movement. Many of them can be accessed through sub-menus, but that puts you at a competitive disadvantage when things happen fast. I've figured out that I just don't have the hand-eye coordination to move in four directions, activate the scope, zoom the scope, lean left and right, aim the gun and fire it during the exact right milliseconds. So I unloaded the "lean left and right" actions from my right hand to my feet, using a set of rudder pedals intended for a flight simulator. I then unloaded some of the esoteric menu options from keyboard shortcuts to a Stream Deck with user-friendly (works even for six-year olds) picture interface right in front of me. Improved my performance considerably.

memoriasit 4y ago

Could you share that script?

hammock 4y ago
Would it work for Mac?
- Twirrim 4y ago
  It relies on xdotool, which I don't think works on Mac? If I was still on mac, I'd probably try and use hammerspoon somehow. I used that for a few bits of automation, and I know it had ways to choose applications.
Twirrim 4y ago
Hopefully I get this right with the formatting. #!/bin/sh ZOOM=$(xdotool search --limit 1 --name "Zoom Meeting") ZOOM_WEBINAR=$(xdotool search --limit 1 --name "Zoom Webinar") if [ -z "${ZOOM}" ]; then xdotool windowactivate --sync "${ZOOM_WEBINAR}" elif [ -z "${ZOOM_WEBINAR}" ]; then xdotool windowactivate --sync "${ZOOM}" fi sleep 0.1 xdotool key --clearmodifiers "alt+a"

marvin 4y ago

This is a bit of an aside, but I play a lot of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds with a regular team of friends. That game has a fiendish amount of keyboard commands, even related to regular movement. Many of them can be accessed through sub-menus, but that puts you at a competitive disadvantage when things happen fast. I've figured out that I just don't have the hand-eye coordination to move in four directions, activate the scope, zoom the scope, lean left and right, aim the gun and fire it during the exact right milliseconds. So I unloaded the "lean left and right" actions from my right hand to my feet, using a set of rudder pedals intended for a flight simulator. I then unloaded some of the esoteric menu options from keyboard shortcuts to a Stream Deck with user-friendly (works even for six-year olds) picture interface right in front of me. Improved my performance considerably.