Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2017 May 31

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May 31[edit]

Video editing software in the 90's[edit]

I looking for a video editing software in the 90's which you could manipulate a video, meaning, to take an object from one video and to implant it in another video. I believe there was a few of them in the 90's. 77.138.185.97 (talk) 15:40, 31 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Adobe Premiere was first launched in the early 90's, if I recall correctly. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 15:45, 31 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Which end of the '90s? This was a decade when a _lot_ changed in video editing, in particular the development of non-linear digital editing. At the start of the '90s this was expensive workstations and custom hardware video boards, by the end of the '90s it was high-end commodity PCs.
As to brands, then Avid was the big one, then Adobe Premiere, then (for the Mac) Final Cut Pro Andy Dingley (talk) 16:20, 31 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I used the Video Toaster from 1991 to 1994 and then sold it (the entire computer and video setup) to a company that used a lot of them to make TV commercials. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 17:48, 31 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thick touchpad tape[edit]

Can anyone recommend a decent tape that i can use on the bottom quarter of my laptop touchpad to dull/numb it completely? It's one of those with no independent buttons and it irritates me as I can't leave a finger or two resting near the bottom to left or right click because the cursor can't work with another finger on the pad. I've tried cut-to-size/shape decals, electrical tape, and both on top of each other. Together they were thick enough to stop me being able to use the cursor through them, but i still can't rest my fingers on the area or i can't move the cursor on the clear area above. Anyone have a solution other than a wireless mouse? Thanks Jenova20 (email) 19:12, 31 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Try a couple layers of those screen covers they sell for smartphones. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 19:30, 31 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Anything better? Touching screens still works well through screen protectors so this seems like it will require a lot of layers or just not work. Thanks for the suggestion Jenova20 (email) 20:11, 31 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]
That's why I said a couple. I was playing around once and found that my old Samsung Galaxy s2 wouldn't register touches through two of them. The only other thing I can think of is electrical tape with some superglue added to keep it from peeling up. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 22:20, 31 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I'll give it a try later. I've already tried electrical tape on top of a decal. That was enough to dull it a bit, but not enough to rest a finger on and still use the uncovered part of the touchpad. Thanks Jenova20 (email) 08:59, 1 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • I am going to offer an "XY solution": disable the touchpad and use a real mouse (IMO even a cheap USB mouse is better than a good touchpad). This can be done programatically. IIRC you asked previously about Ubuntu-related stuff; in which case, this looks relevant. TigraanClick here to contact me 13:24, 1 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I had that thought, but I'm not aware of a solution that would only disable part of a touchpad. If there is a setup app for the pad driver that excludes part of the touch-pad, that would obviously be ideal.
Most modern touchpads are capacitive sensors, which are tricky to block. "Blocking them" usually just involves putting some non-conductor down to increase the distance between your finger and the sensor. A piece of cloth might be ideal. ApLundell (talk) 13:45, 1 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Disabling only part of the touchpad at the software level is probably next to impossible, yes. TigraanClick here to contact me 16:18, 1 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]
This is the sort of thing someone shouldn't say where I can read it. Because now I'm going to be loading up my old laptop touchpad driver in .net reflector and trying to see if I can do that this weekend. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 16:28, 1 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]
The air mouse looks interesting enough to buy anyway, but i'll try a few different thicknesses of tape and maybe cloth tonight and update on the results later. Thanks Jenova20 (email) 08:28, 2 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]