Under the Magnifying Glass
The Magic of Qualifier Keys
By Steven H. Fyffe
sfyffe@maccompanion.com
During The Adventure of Black Peter, in a rather whimsical moment, Sherlock Holmes said, “
I have investigated many crimes, but I have never yet seen one which was
committed by a flying creature.” (1)
“Why in the world would I want to do that?” That was likely your
first thought after completing your first “guided discovery” (2) assignment in
last month’s column (3).
What? You haven’t done your assignment? Stop now. Click on
Reference link #3 (below) and try the assignment for yourself ... don’t worry,
I’ll be here when you get back. I need to finish my coffee anyway ... the
finger tapping sound you hear is just me sitting here waiting.
Back already? Great! You have now discovered that holding the
Shift key, while resizing a Quick Time window, allowed you to change the
movie’s aspect ratio.
![](UMG_files/image004.jpg)
The Shift key altered the function of another key or action.
Thus, it became a Qualifier key. Wasn’t that fascinating?
Tavern patron: A toast to the greatest detective in all the world.
Holmes: Thank you, gentlemen. I am touched.
Watson: I can vouch for that! (4)
OK, perhaps not, but I did warn you that we are discussing
“trifles.” You’ve got to admit that it was fun, was it not? Anyway, enough with
the belly laughs. I promise, you will remember the short cut to change the
aspect ratio of a Quick Time movie, if you have a sudden urge to do so.
Why don’t you sit back now? Let’s discuss together what we have
discovered in our inductive exercise. Although many have a long experience with
Qualifier Keys, perhaps you have not systematically investigated their power.
You may have often heard or read short cut tips. Maybe, you have even tried
them out for yourself. Why not set a goal to discover the power of Qualifier
keys in both the Operating System and in third party applications? Hey, I think
“Under the Magnifying Glass” will do just that ... after all isn’t that what
inductive learning is all about.
In fact, we have already started on our great detective journey
together. We discovered one of the oldest know Qualifier Keys, the Shift key.
“I take a short cut when I can get it.” Sherlock Holmes in The
Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez (5)
The Shift key predates computers, going back to the time of
typewriters (6). Indeed, it has remained in the same basic location on the
keyboard for over 150 years. When a rifle manufacturer, named Remington,
decided to go into the type writing machine business (7), there was a need for
a change from lower to upper case letters. Thus, the birth of the Shift key.
![](UMG_files/image006.jpg)
Now, I challenge you to another inductive adventure. Here are a
few more “guided discovery” (2) assignments to try...
1. Click
on any folder. Now, in the Finder menu click on File. In the drop down menu,
you will see an option called “Add to Sidebar”. With the menu still open, now
press and hold the Shift key. What change do you observe? Try out both options,
to have easier access to you folder.
2. Now,
let’s explore a little deeper into the Operating System. Click on the Apple
logo in the upper left corner of the Desktop, then select System Preferences,
and choose Dashboard & Exposé. Notice the boxes under “Active Screen Corners”.
Click on the blue drop down option menu. Now hold down the Shift key. What
happened? This is how to create a “hot corner” with the Shift qualifier. For
example, you could set the lower left corner for the Screen Saver. Without the
qualifier, every time your cursor ventures there, the Screen Saver starts,
whether you intended to do so, or not. With the qualifier key, all you need to
do is click the qualifier and then move your mouse cursor to the corner ... no
more accidental Exposé moments. For even greater fuzzy feelings, instead of the
Shift key as your qualifier you could use the Ctrl (Control) or Command (Apple)
keys.
3. Some
applications combine various Qualifier keys into Keyboard shortcuts. Try this
while you are on the Desktop and Finder appears in the upper left corner of the
Tool Bar, next to the Apple logo. Click the Shift, Command, and C key, at the
same time. Now do the same with Shift-Command-A and Shift-Command-U. What did
you discover?
4. By
the way, in TextEdit, Pages, and other text entry boxes, what happens when you
are typing and press the Shift key. WOW, the invention (8) of an Upper/Lower
Case Shift qualifier was a cool idea!
How many other uses of the Shift, Control, and Command Qualifier
keys can you discover?
![AppleMark](UMG_files/image008.jpg)
This week, Jared went with grandma and Papa to the park. What
would appear as a puddle of muddy water in the parking lot to an adult, Jared
saw a great sea for adventure. He hopped and ran. He found a stick to splash
and create waves. He investigated the tire tracks leading away from the muddy
puddle. Oh the joy of it all. The muddy water made it all the more of an
adventure. Grandma and Papa could not stop laughing at him as he explored the
possibilities of his muddy puddle.
Please come back again next month as we look at our Macs in a
whole new light ... putting the trifles “Under the Magnifying Glass”. It will
be fun, but don’t be concerned if your trousers get a little muddy. Thanks for
dropping by.
Reference Links:
1. http://www.bcpl.net/~lmoskowi/HolmesQuotes/q.detection.html
2. http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/52/1/88.pdf
3. Under
the Magnifying Glass - Observation of Trifles =
http://www.maccompanion.com/macc/archives/October2007/Columns/UMG.htm
4. Without
a Clue (1988 movie) = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096454/quotes
5. http://www.bcpl.net/~lmoskowi/HolmesQuotes/q.Holmes.html
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter
7. http://abaris.rider.edu/special_collections/typewriters/T-001.jpg
8. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4204780.html