Every now and then, you run across a little hunk o' coding goodness that simply makes life better. As I have mentioned in the past, LaunchBar reigns supreme. Like Pogue's Missing Manuals, LaunchBar is the missing app that makes OS X complete.

Now I have found the missing kernel extension.

uControl easily maps various keys to other keys. For example, uControl can map caps lock to control-- an obvious boon to any unix/emacs geek.

However, the single coolest feature of uControl is the ability to turn the trackpad (or mouse) into a scrolling surface. With the feature enabled, holding down the function key causes the trackpad to send scroll up/down/left/right events instead of the normal pointer move events. Since the control is fully two dimensional, the end result is a virtual scrolling surface as opposed to emulating a scroll wheel.

Much more useful.

Like any kernel extension, there is a risk that uControl is going to render the system unbootable after a system update. uControl protects against this by automatically disabling itself if the system fails to boot.

Furthermore, uControl is fully open source.

Very nice. [bbum's rants, code & references]

I mentioned uControl in my Emacs bindings in Cocoa text fields post, but I never followed up on an eval. of uControl. I've been meaning to do so, as I've had it installed for a couple of weeks now. It appears that Bill has beaten me to it, though.

Not much I can add. Check it out.
comment []  trackback []  4:50:14 PM