Problems
A common problem of pointing sticks is the inability to identify the zero position (the position indicating no user touch). A typical solution, which reflects the fact that user operation of the pointing stick is rarely constant, is to interpret any absence of change of pressure (over a given interval, perhaps one or several seconds) as meaning the user has released the stick.
If the user applies exactly constant pressure to the stick for such an interval, this method mistakenly re-zeroes the stick. Then additional pressure is required to achieve the same movement of the screen cursor, and the cursor spontaneously moves in the opposite direction when the user releases the stick. If the user avoids touching the stick, the error ends when the stick detects the real zero position.
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Famous quotes containing the word problems:
“Hats have never at all been one of the vexing problems of my life, but, indifferent as I am, these render me speechless. I should think a well-taught and tasteful American milliner would go mad in England, and eventually hang herself with bolts of green and scarlet ribbon—the favorite colour combination in Liverpool.”
—Willa Cather (1876–1947)
“She has problems with separation; he has trouble with unity—problems that make themselves felt in our relationships with our children just as they do in our relations with each other. She pulls for connection; he pushes for separateness. She tends to feel shut out; he tends to feel overwhelmed and intruded upon. It’s one of the reasons why she turns so eagerly to children—especially when they’re very young.”
—Lillian Breslow Rubin (20th century)
“The problems of the world, AIDS, cancer, nuclear war, pollution, are, finally, no more solvable than the problem of a tree which has borne fruit: the apples are overripe and they are falling—what can be done?... Nothing can be done, and nothing needs to be done. Something is being done—the organism is preparing to rest.”
—David Mamet (b. 1947)