PDA's Interface

Sometimes, I find tapping on the screen of a PDA in
the cockpit a bit of a nuisance. I wish the thing
had 'voice control.'

My finger, not really all that big or fat, sometimes,
doesn't find the 'buttons' just right. Getting the
stylus out is possible, but I was wondering if there
could be a different way.

How about a banjo pick? I've rounded up one from a
coworker. Here on the ground, it works just fine.
Just slip it over my index finger and, voila, an instant
long fingernail. Easily controlled, even more so than
the stylus.

One thing, though. I might want to tape it on my finger
just so it doens't fall off and get lost in the cockpit
or under the seat pan or where ever.

Anyone tried the finger pick?

Oh, and by the way. How can you tell if the floor
a banjo picker is sitting on is level?

Drool runs out evenly from both sides of his mouth...



Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

I find tapping on a PDA very hard during bumpy flights and maybe the banjo
pick will work better than just a finger or stylus. Good idea.

Good southern banjo player joke, but how do we know the toothbrush was
invented in the south?

Anywhere else it would have been called a teethbrush.

Doug

"Ray Lovinggood" wrote in message
...
Sometimes, I find tapping on the screen of a PDA in
the cockpit a bit of a nuisance. I wish the thing
had 'voice control.'

My finger, not really all that big or fat, sometimes,
doesn't find the 'buttons' just right. Getting the
stylus out is possible, but I was wondering if there
could be a different way.

How about a banjo pick? I've rounded up one from a
coworker. Here on the ground, it works just fine.
Just slip it over my index finger and, voila, an instant
long fingernail. Easily controlled, even more so than
the stylus.

One thing, though. I might want to tape it on my finger
just so it doens't fall off and get lost in the cockpit
or under the seat pan or where ever.

Anyone tried the finger pick?

Oh, and by the way. How can you tell if the floor
a banjo picker is sitting on is level?

Drool runs out evenly from both sides of his mouth...



Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

Doug wrote:
I find tapping on a PDA very hard during bumpy flights and maybe the banjo
pick will work better than just a finger or stylus. Good idea.

Probably sounds better than a banjo too

Good southern banjo player joke, but how do we know the toothbrush was
invented in the south?

Anywhere else it would have been called a teethbrush.

Oh, and by the way. How can you tell if the floor
a banjo picker is sitting on is level?

Drool runs out evenly from both sides of his mouth...

http://bluegrassbanjo.org/banjokes.html
#63

Shawn

How about a press on nail....can be clear, very little mess and removed
quickly. Just a thought.
Shawn wrote:
Doug wrote:
I find tapping on a PDA very hard during bumpy flights and maybe the banjo
pick will work better than just a finger or stylus. Good idea.

Probably sounds better than a banjo too

Good southern banjo player joke, but how do we know the toothbrush was
invented in the south?

Anywhere else it would have been called a teethbrush.

Oh, and by the way. How can you tell if the floor
a banjo picker is sitting on is level?

Drool runs out evenly from both sides of his mouth...

http://bluegrassbanjo.org/banjokes.html
#63

Shawn

Someone actually sells PDA styluses that fit this description. Squeezes
on your finger tip with a little blunt pointy thing to poke the PDA
with. Google turned up http://www.man-machine.com/finger_stylus.htm

Thought it was a bit geeky for the office but here....

Ray Lovinggood wrote:
Sometimes, I find tapping on the screen of a PDA in
the cockpit a bit of a nuisance.

How about a banjo pick? I've rounded up one from a
coworker. Here on the ground, it works just fine.
Just slip it over my index finger and, voila, an instant
long fingernail. Easily controlled, even more so than
the stylus.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

The left side of my left thumbnail is left long. My fingers rest against
the left side of the PDA to steady my hand in bumps and I tap with the long
part of my thumbnail.
Why buy a prosthetic thumbnail when you're perfectly capable of growing one?
I haven't yet dropped it while in flight yet either.

"Maule Driver" wrote in message
.com...
Someone actually sells PDA styluses that fit this description. Squeezes
on your finger tip with a little blunt pointy thing to poke the PDA
with. Google turned up http://www.man-machine.com/finger_stylus.htm

Thought it was a bit geeky for the office but here....

Ray Lovinggood wrote:
Sometimes, I find tapping on the screen of a PDA in
the cockpit a bit of a nuisance.

How about a banjo pick? I've rounded up one from a
coworker. Here on the ground, it works just fine.
Just slip it over my index finger and, voila, an instant
long fingernail. Easily controlled, even more so than
the stylus.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

At $9.99 + shipping/handling the finger stylus better be FAA certified and
say "For aviation use only". Otherwise, I'll go get guitar/banjo
fingerpicks for $0.25.

Doug

"Maule Driver" wrote in message
.com...
Someone actually sells PDA styluses that fit this description. Squeezes
on your finger tip with a little blunt pointy thing to poke the PDA with.
Google turned up http://www.man-machine.com/finger_stylus.htm

Thought it was a bit geeky for the office but here....

Ray Lovinggood wrote:
Sometimes, I find tapping on the screen of a PDA in
the cockpit a bit of a nuisance. How about a banjo pick? I've rounded
up one from a
coworker. Here on the ground, it works just fine.
Just slip it over my index finger and, voila, an instant
long fingernail. Easily controlled, even more so than
the stylus.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

My fingernails stayed chewed down because I'm the nervous
sort of flyer, wondering if I'll make it to the next
thermal before hitting dirt.

Nah, the 'natural' stylus option won't work for me.
I'll try the banjo pick.

And for the banjo players out there, it's a 'Dunlop.'
My boss gave it to me saying the Dunlop wasn't a good
brand of pick. At least, for picking banjo's. Looks
like it will work well for picking tasks, turnpoints,
zooming, etc on the Ipaq.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA



At 19:00 30 August 2005, For Example John Smith wrote:
The left side of my left thumbnail is left long. My
fingers rest against
the left side of the PDA to steady my hand in bumps
and I tap with the long
part of my thumbnail.
Why buy a prosthetic thumbnail when you're perfectly
capable of growing one?
I haven't yet dropped it while in flight yet either.

I've been using an iPAQ with Winpilot for a few years now, and never
had the need for a stylus while flying. I just use my fingernail and it
works fine. What software are you using which requires a stylus while
flying?

I'm using an iPAQ with Glide Naviguesser II. Sometimes,
when I want to pick another turnpoint other than the
ones in the task, dragging the sliding bar down the
screen goes too fast and I skip the ones I want. Then,
I'll tap on the up or down arrow to scroll through
the turnpoints. I find doing this task can be a little
cumbersome at times and I want something 'faster.'
That's why I want a 'more steady and precise' pointer
than just my blunt finger.

Also, I might want to tap on an airfield and find it's
radio frequency, in case the wind stops blowing and
I have to land. Yea, I can also grab the chart and
look on it, too.

I hate doing this stuff while flying because my eyes
are in the cockpit and not looking outside. Anything
to speed the task surely can't hurt.

Voice commands to complete these tasks sure would be
nice.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA
Where gasoline is pushing US $2.85/gallon for regular
this morning

At 11:48 31 August 2005, wrote:
I've been using an iPAQ with Winpilot for a few years
now, and never
had the need for a stylus while flying. I just use
my fingernail and it
works fine. What software are you using which requires
a stylus while
flying?