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Show HN: DeadMouse – Surf the web with just your keyboard.

35 points by chetan51 14y ago

sravfeyn 14y ago
I started using it. I liked it. But, I use Space button to scroll down. You are eating that away. Felt very irritating. Your 'shortcuts' should not mingle with the existing ones, at least, the most used shortcuts like SPACE button.
- chetan51 14y ago
  You're very right. It'll be fixed and updated soon (check the GitHub issues page).
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
lightyrs 14y ago
Thanks!
- chetan51 14y ago
  No problem!
bluespice 14y ago
That's pretty clever, I think this should be implemented natively in browsers. It's nice that it's bound only to the visible part of the page too. But let's face it, if web devs were conscious about keyboard usability we'd at least see tabindex html property used sometimes, and it's been around for a while.
- falling 14y ago
  Firefox implements this. You type ' and then the anchor text.
- hallz 14y ago
  It is native in FF. press '/' to search, type in link name and then press enter.
  - vinodkd 14y ago
    exactly. if only google didnt think they needed to capture the / for their search (in the main site, gmail etc), this extension wouldnt be required.
    - dudeanon842 14y ago
      On some sites you can get around it by tabbing to a different element then hitting /. Also note that / searches all text, but ' will search links only, which will let you get around it on gmail etc. And there's always good ol' ctrl-f.
positr0n 14y ago
I use vimium [1] which has this feature (search for links to open them) and much more. It doesn't have the cool effect though :) [1] http://vimium.github.com/ http://vimium.github.com/
richo 14y ago
So it's like vimium but you have to type more?
- chetan51 14y ago
  It's a tradeoff, actually. I used to use Vimium for following links, but I made this because I feel it's a little more natural than hitting 'f' and then typing an arbitrary code next to the link you're looking at. Instead, you can just type exactly what you see immediately. It's really just a personal preference, I feel. Plus, DeadMouse usually finds the link within the first two characters, so it's not any more typing than Vimium.
  - richo 14y ago
    I think vimium supports that behaviour out of the box. Either it or pentadactyl (I always forget which is which when it comes to features). And yeah, that totally makes sense. It seems snappier than vimium in a totally unscientific test as well.
YellinBen 14y ago
The wiggling is cute at first, but I think a more straightforward method of highlighting would make it easier to find the active link.
- lukifer 14y ago
  I suspect one reason for the wiggle is that it's unlikely to collide with the site's native styling. I actually think a better effect would be oscillating between growing and shrinking. Might not look right with links embedded in a paragraph, though.
  - chetan51 14y ago
    Exactly, wiggling works well even for links that look like buttons, among other styles of links. I played with growing and shrinking, but it looks bad because the text loses resolution as it becomes bigger (at least using CSS3 transforms).
- connor 14y ago
  I agree- perhaps a dimming highlight would be a bit nicer (background dims, except for a box around the selected link). Otherwise, great work.
pka 14y ago
FF users may wanna check out Pentadactyl [1]. Press f/F, type in number or link text, done. [1] http://5digits.org/pentadactyl http://5digits.org/pentadactyl
dbz 14y ago
A major improvement would be that once you type something (for example GIT), and then pause for a few seconds, you can begin typing something else (such as XKCD).
- chetan51 14y ago
  Good idea! I've added it as a feature request to the issues page.
branola 14y ago
I prefer Mousetool (on Windows at least): http://code.google.com/p/windows-dwell-clicker/ http://code.google.com/p/windows-dwell-clicker/
fieldforceapp 14y ago
was I the only one confused by the name... http://www.deadmau5.com http://www.deadmau5.com
SkyMarshal 14y ago
Fwiw, Vim plugins: Chrome/ium: http://vimium.github.com/ http://vimium.github.com/ Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pentadactyl/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pentadactyl/ Opera: https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/vimoperate/ https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/vimoperate/ Anyone know any for Safari or IE?
- stevengg 14y ago
  Emacs: Conkeror http://www.conkeror.org/ http://www.conkeror.org/
TheCowboy 14y ago
If I try to type to 'wiggle' a link in Google search results, it always just continues typing in the search input box. While using the escape key to 'escape' a 'wiggle' makes sense, setting it to backspace makes it easier to access and also makes sense, or allowing users to configure which key to exit a 'wiggle'. Thanks, I like this.
- chetan51 14y ago
  Good idea! I'll make backspace do the same thing as escape.

35 points by chetan51 14y ago

I started using it. I liked it. But, I use Space button to scroll down. You are eating that away. Felt very irritating. Your 'shortcuts' should not mingle with the existing ones, at least, the most used shortcuts like SPACE button.

chetan51 14y ago
You're very right. It'll be fixed and updated soon (check the GitHub issues page).

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

lightyrs 14y ago

Thanks!

chetan51 14y ago
No problem!

bluespice 14y ago

That's pretty clever, I think this should be implemented natively in browsers. It's nice that it's bound only to the visible part of the page too. But let's face it, if web devs were conscious about keyboard usability we'd at least see tabindex html property used sometimes, and it's been around for a while.

falling 14y ago
Firefox implements this. You type ' and then the anchor text.
hallz 14y ago
It is native in FF. press '/' to search, type in link name and then press enter.
- vinodkd 14y ago
  exactly. if only google didnt think they needed to capture the / for their search (in the main site, gmail etc), this extension wouldnt be required.
  - dudeanon842 14y ago
    On some sites you can get around it by tabbing to a different element then hitting /. Also note that / searches all text, but ' will search links only, which will let you get around it on gmail etc. And there's always good ol' ctrl-f.

positr0n 14y ago

I use vimium [1] which has this feature (search for links to open them) and much more. It doesn't have the cool effect though :) [1] http://vimium.github.com/ http://vimium.github.com/

richo 14y ago

So it's like vimium but you have to type more?

chetan51 14y ago
It's a tradeoff, actually. I used to use Vimium for following links, but I made this because I feel it's a little more natural than hitting 'f' and then typing an arbitrary code next to the link you're looking at. Instead, you can just type exactly what you see immediately. It's really just a personal preference, I feel. Plus, DeadMouse usually finds the link within the first two characters, so it's not any more typing than Vimium.
- richo 14y ago
  I think vimium supports that behaviour out of the box. Either it or pentadactyl (I always forget which is which when it comes to features). And yeah, that totally makes sense. It seems snappier than vimium in a totally unscientific test as well.

YellinBen 14y ago

The wiggling is cute at first, but I think a more straightforward method of highlighting would make it easier to find the active link.

lukifer 14y ago
I suspect one reason for the wiggle is that it's unlikely to collide with the site's native styling. I actually think a better effect would be oscillating between growing and shrinking. Might not look right with links embedded in a paragraph, though.
- chetan51 14y ago
  Exactly, wiggling works well even for links that look like buttons, among other styles of links. I played with growing and shrinking, but it looks bad because the text loses resolution as it becomes bigger (at least using CSS3 transforms).
connor 14y ago
I agree- perhaps a dimming highlight would be a bit nicer (background dims, except for a box around the selected link). Otherwise, great work.

pka 14y ago

FF users may wanna check out Pentadactyl [1]. Press f/F, type in number or link text, done. [1] http://5digits.org/pentadactyl http://5digits.org/pentadactyl

dbz 14y ago

A major improvement would be that once you type something (for example GIT), and then pause for a few seconds, you can begin typing something else (such as XKCD).

chetan51 14y ago
Good idea! I've added it as a feature request to the issues page.

branola 14y ago

I prefer Mousetool (on Windows at least): http://code.google.com/p/windows-dwell-clicker/ http://code.google.com/p/windows-dwell-clicker/

fieldforceapp 14y ago

was I the only one confused by the name... http://www.deadmau5.com http://www.deadmau5.com

SkyMarshal 14y ago

Fwiw, Vim plugins: Chrome/ium: http://vimium.github.com/ http://vimium.github.com/ Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pentadactyl/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/pentadactyl/ Opera: https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/vimoperate/ https://addons.opera.com/en/extensions/details/vimoperate/ Anyone know any for Safari or IE?

stevengg 14y ago
Emacs: Conkeror http://www.conkeror.org/ http://www.conkeror.org/

TheCowboy 14y ago

If I try to type to 'wiggle' a link in Google search results, it always just continues typing in the search input box. While using the escape key to 'escape' a 'wiggle' makes sense, setting it to backspace makes it easier to access and also makes sense, or allowing users to configure which key to exit a 'wiggle'. Thanks, I like this.

chetan51 14y ago
Good idea! I'll make backspace do the same thing as escape.