I would love to be enable a pen-shadow -feature when using
windows-journal to give public lectures. Does such
a feature exist?

Background: I'm a physics professor using windows-journal on my
Acer TravelMate C300 Tablet PC,
hooked up to a beamer, to give my lectures: What I write
on the tablet screen is beamed onto a big screen, which the students
watch, and from which they can take notes. They seem to like this format,
since the file is saved at the end of the lecture, printed
to .pdf format, and put on the internet. Also, it is nicer than a power point
presentation, since they can watch the formulas being developed
in real time in front of their eyes, and have sufficient time to take notes,
etc.
Also for me, preparing lectures is just as easy as using pencil and paper,
whereas powerpoint requires much more work to prepare lectures, if
they contain many formulas.

There is one problem, though: students find it hard to follow WHERE I'm
writing
on the screen, because the little guiding dot which tells me where the pen is
going to write is way too small to be seen when beamed onto a wall.
This problem does not exist if you write on real transparencies using
an overhead projector, since then students see the shadow of
your pen while you write. It would be very useful if in windows-journal
there would exist a "pen shadow" feature, which, when enabled, would
create a rather large artificial pen shadow that follows the tip of the pen
and has the shape of an actual pen, which would be visible from afar.

Is there any hope that such a pen shadow feature can be included
in future versions or updates of windows-journal?

Lacking such a feature, I have been using a "next-best" option:
The back of my tablet-pen functions as an eraser;
If I enable the mouse-tracking-feature, and drag
the back of the pen close to the screen such that the
erasor-icon is displayed (but not touching the screen itself,
so that nothing is erased), then one sees quite a sizeable
erasor-icon track for a couple of seconds, showing the
path that the erasor icon had been drawn. That way I have
a kind of "surrogate pen-shadow", which I can use when
pointing to a formula while not actually writing, and
which is very easy to activate
by just pointing the back of the pen to the tablet screen.
However, the eraser-icon is white, with faint black
lines at the edges,, and hence also not very visible from afar.

A nicer pen-shadow-surrogate would be to use the textmarker, set to
some bright color (green) with a very thick, round pen, which makes
a very big, impossible-to-overlook spot (or track, if the mouse-tracking
feature is activated) when the tip of the
pen is dragged close to the screen. However, the drawback here
is that if you have to frequently alternate between pointing
to formulas and writing new formulas,
you have to each time change between the pen and the textmarker
modes of writing. Now: This problem would be solved if it were possible
to change the function of the back of the pen from being an erasor to
being a textmarker. Is there any hope that this can be achieved?

But a pen-shadow-feature would really be the best way to go.

If future editions contain a pen-shadow, I could imagine that
this style of lecturing could become quite popular among
physics professors (and other disciplines where teaching
involves writing down many formulas), which would boost sales
of tablet pc's. So it would be worth the effort to implement this feature!

Thanks,
Jan

There isn't such a thing as far as I know, Jan, but have you tried using the
highlighter? It offers several pretty bright colors, and you could go back
through the things you want to draw attention to pretty easily.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone


"jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1FEB706B-6C62-422E-BB37-1BFE603A7346@microsoft.com...
>I would love to be enable a pen-shadow -feature when using
> windows-journal to give public lectures. Does such
> a feature exist?
>
> Background: I'm a physics professor using windows-journal on my
> Acer TravelMate C300 Tablet PC,
> hooked up to a beamer, to give my lectures: What I write
> on the tablet screen is beamed onto a big screen, which the students
> watch, and from which they can take notes. They seem to like this format,
> since the file is saved at the end of the lecture, printed
> to .pdf format, and put on the internet. Also, it is nicer than a power
> point
> presentation, since they can watch the formulas being developed
> in real time in front of their eyes, and have sufficient time to take
> notes,
> etc.
> Also for me, preparing lectures is just as easy as using pencil and paper,
> whereas powerpoint requires much more work to prepare lectures, if
> they contain many formulas.
>
> There is one problem, though: students find it hard to follow WHERE I'm
> writing
> on the screen, because the little guiding dot which tells me where the pen
> is
> going to write is way too small to be seen when beamed onto a wall.
> This problem does not exist if you write on real transparencies using
> an overhead projector, since then students see the shadow of
> your pen while you write. It would be very useful if in windows-journal
> there would exist a "pen shadow" feature, which, when enabled, would
> create a rather large artificial pen shadow that follows the tip of the
> pen
> and has the shape of an actual pen, which would be visible from afar.
>
> Is there any hope that such a pen shadow feature can be included
> in future versions or updates of windows-journal?
>
> Lacking such a feature, I have been using a "next-best" option:
> The back of my tablet-pen functions as an eraser;
> If I enable the mouse-tracking-feature, and drag
> the back of the pen close to the screen such that the
> erasor-icon is displayed (but not touching the screen itself,
> so that nothing is erased), then one sees quite a sizeable
> erasor-icon track for a couple of seconds, showing the
> path that the erasor icon had been drawn. That way I have
> a kind of "surrogate pen-shadow", which I can use when
> pointing to a formula while not actually writing, and
> which is very easy to activate
> by just pointing the back of the pen to the tablet screen.
> However, the eraser-icon is white, with faint black
> lines at the edges,, and hence also not very visible from afar.
>
> A nicer pen-shadow-surrogate would be to use the textmarker, set to
> some bright color (green) with a very thick, round pen, which makes
> a very big, impossible-to-overlook spot (or track, if the mouse-tracking
> feature is activated) when the tip of the
> pen is dragged close to the screen. However, the drawback here
> is that if you have to frequently alternate between pointing
> to formulas and writing new formulas,
> you have to each time change between the pen and the textmarker
> modes of writing. Now: This problem would be solved if it were possible
> to change the function of the back of the pen from being an erasor to
> being a textmarker. Is there any hope that this can be achieved?
>
> But a pen-shadow-feature would really be the best way to go.
>
> If future editions contain a pen-shadow, I could imagine that
> this style of lecturing could become quite popular among
> physics professors (and other disciplines where teaching
> involves writing down many formulas), which would boost sales
> of tablet pc's. So it would be worth the effort to implement this feature!
>
> Thanks,
> Jan
>
>
>
>

Hi,

In response to your query, I've just written an application named
"LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the trick.
Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.

Download link and screenshot here:

http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen

All the best,

-Tum


"jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1FEB706B-6C62-422E-BB37-1BFE603A7346@microsoft.com...
>I would love to be enable a pen-shadow -feature when using
> windows-journal to give public lectures. Does such
> a feature exist?
>
> Background: I'm a physics professor using windows-journal on my
> Acer TravelMate C300 Tablet PC,
> hooked up to a beamer, to give my lectures: What I write
> on the tablet screen is beamed onto a big screen, which the students
> watch, and from which they can take notes. They seem to like this format,
> since the file is saved at the end of the lecture, printed
> to .pdf format, and put on the internet. Also, it is nicer than a power
> point
> presentation, since they can watch the formulas being developed
> in real time in front of their eyes, and have sufficient time to take
> notes,
> etc.
> Also for me, preparing lectures is just as easy as using pencil and paper,
> whereas powerpoint requires much more work to prepare lectures, if
> they contain many formulas.
>
> There is one problem, though: students find it hard to follow WHERE I'm
> writing
> on the screen, because the little guiding dot which tells me where the pen
> is
> going to write is way too small to be seen when beamed onto a wall.
> This problem does not exist if you write on real transparencies using
> an overhead projector, since then students see the shadow of
> your pen while you write. It would be very useful if in windows-journal
> there would exist a "pen shadow" feature, which, when enabled, would
> create a rather large artificial pen shadow that follows the tip of the
> pen
> and has the shape of an actual pen, which would be visible from afar.
>
> Is there any hope that such a pen shadow feature can be included
> in future versions or updates of windows-journal?
>
> Lacking such a feature, I have been using a "next-best" option:
> The back of my tablet-pen functions as an eraser;
> If I enable the mouse-tracking-feature, and drag
> the back of the pen close to the screen such that the
> erasor-icon is displayed (but not touching the screen itself,
> so that nothing is erased), then one sees quite a sizeable
> erasor-icon track for a couple of seconds, showing the
> path that the erasor icon had been drawn. That way I have
> a kind of "surrogate pen-shadow", which I can use when
> pointing to a formula while not actually writing, and
> which is very easy to activate
> by just pointing the back of the pen to the tablet screen.
> However, the eraser-icon is white, with faint black
> lines at the edges,, and hence also not very visible from afar.
>
> A nicer pen-shadow-surrogate would be to use the textmarker, set to
> some bright color (green) with a very thick, round pen, which makes
> a very big, impossible-to-overlook spot (or track, if the mouse-tracking
> feature is activated) when the tip of the
> pen is dragged close to the screen. However, the drawback here
> is that if you have to frequently alternate between pointing
> to formulas and writing new formulas,
> you have to each time change between the pen and the textmarker
> modes of writing. Now: This problem would be solved if it were possible
> to change the function of the back of the pen from being an erasor to
> being a textmarker. Is there any hope that this can be achieved?
>
> But a pen-shadow-feature would really be the best way to go.
>
> If future editions contain a pen-shadow, I could imagine that
> this style of lecturing could become quite popular among
> physics professors (and other disciplines where teaching
> involves writing down many formulas), which would boost sales
> of tablet pc's. So it would be worth the effort to implement this feature!
>
> Thanks,
> Jan
>
>
>
>

That is awesome. Thanks for posting the information.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone


"Thong Nguyen" <tum@veridicus.spamless.com> wrote in message
news:eRR6QOI3EHA.2016@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> In response to your query, I've just written an application named
> "LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the
> trick. Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
>
> Download link and screenshot here:
>
> http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen
>
> All the best,
>
> -Tum
>
>
> "jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1FEB706B-6C62-422E-BB37-1BFE603A7346@microsoft.com...
>>I would love to be enable a pen-shadow -feature when using
>> windows-journal to give public lectures. Does such
>> a feature exist?
>>
>> Background: I'm a physics professor using windows-journal on my
>> Acer TravelMate C300 Tablet PC,
>> hooked up to a beamer, to give my lectures: What I write
>> on the tablet screen is beamed onto a big screen, which the students
>> watch, and from which they can take notes. They seem to like this format,
>> since the file is saved at the end of the lecture, printed
>> to .pdf format, and put on the internet. Also, it is nicer than a power
>> point
>> presentation, since they can watch the formulas being developed
>> in real time in front of their eyes, and have sufficient time to take
>> notes,
>> etc.
>> Also for me, preparing lectures is just as easy as using pencil and
>> paper,
>> whereas powerpoint requires much more work to prepare lectures, if
>> they contain many formulas.
>>
>> There is one problem, though: students find it hard to follow WHERE I'm
>> writing
>> on the screen, because the little guiding dot which tells me where the
>> pen is
>> going to write is way too small to be seen when beamed onto a wall.
>> This problem does not exist if you write on real transparencies using
>> an overhead projector, since then students see the shadow of
>> your pen while you write. It would be very useful if in windows-journal
>> there would exist a "pen shadow" feature, which, when enabled, would
>> create a rather large artificial pen shadow that follows the tip of the
>> pen
>> and has the shape of an actual pen, which would be visible from afar.
>>
>> Is there any hope that such a pen shadow feature can be included
>> in future versions or updates of windows-journal?
>>
>> Lacking such a feature, I have been using a "next-best" option:
>> The back of my tablet-pen functions as an eraser;
>> If I enable the mouse-tracking-feature, and drag
>> the back of the pen close to the screen such that the
>> erasor-icon is displayed (but not touching the screen itself,
>> so that nothing is erased), then one sees quite a sizeable
>> erasor-icon track for a couple of seconds, showing the
>> path that the erasor icon had been drawn. That way I have
>> a kind of "surrogate pen-shadow", which I can use when
>> pointing to a formula while not actually writing, and
>> which is very easy to activate
>> by just pointing the back of the pen to the tablet screen.
>> However, the eraser-icon is white, with faint black
>> lines at the edges,, and hence also not very visible from afar.
>>
>> A nicer pen-shadow-surrogate would be to use the textmarker, set to
>> some bright color (green) with a very thick, round pen, which makes
>> a very big, impossible-to-overlook spot (or track, if the mouse-tracking
>> feature is activated) when the tip of the
>> pen is dragged close to the screen. However, the drawback here
>> is that if you have to frequently alternate between pointing
>> to formulas and writing new formulas,
>> you have to each time change between the pen and the textmarker
>> modes of writing. Now: This problem would be solved if it were possible
>> to change the function of the back of the pen from being an erasor to
>> being a textmarker. Is there any hope that this can be achieved?
>>
>> But a pen-shadow-feature would really be the best way to go.
>>
>> If future editions contain a pen-shadow, I could imagine that
>> this style of lecturing could become quite popular among
>> physics professors (and other disciplines where teaching
>> involves writing down many formulas), which would boost sales
>> of tablet pc's. So it would be worth the effort to implement this
>> feature!
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Jan
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>

Hi Tum,

Judging by the screenshot which you provided, it seems that
you have precisely understood my needs! I'm very excited about
your application! Regrettably, though, I was not able to get it to work
on my computer (I'm close to being a computer illiterate.)

I saved the files you provided, LecturePen.exe and pen,pnb, in the same
directory as the one in which I have the windows-journal file that't I'm
editing (but I suppose it does not really matter in which directory
one saves them). However, what am I supposed to do then?
If I double-click on LecturePen.exe, I get an error message:

C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\mscor wks.dll could not be loaded

On the other hand, if I just open the .jnt file, I don't know how to
activate the LecturePen feature there.

I'd appreciate it very much if you could provide a few more hints for dummies
for how to get your application to work.

Thanks for the help!

Jan




"Thong Nguyen" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> In response to your query, I've just written an application named
> "LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the trick.
> Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
>
> Download link and screenshot here:
>
> http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen
>
> All the best,
>
> -Tum
>


"Thong Nguyen" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> In response to your query, I've just written an application named
> "LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the trick.
> Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
>
> Download link and screenshot here:
>
> http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen
>
> All the best,
>
> -Tum
>
>
> "jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1FEB706B-6C62-422E-BB37-1BFE603A7346@microsoft.com...
> >I would love to be enable a pen-shadow -feature when using
> > windows-journal to give public lectures. Does such
> > a feature exist?
> >
> > Background: I'm a physics professor using windows-journal on my
> > Acer TravelMate C300 Tablet PC,
> > hooked up to a beamer, to give my lectures: What I write
> > on the tablet screen is beamed onto a big screen, which the students
> > watch, and from which they can take notes. They seem to like this format,
> > since the file is saved at the end of the lecture, printed
> > to .pdf format, and put on the internet. Also, it is nicer than a power
> > point
> > presentation, since they can watch the formulas being developed
> > in real time in front of their eyes, and have sufficient time to take
> > notes,
> > etc.
> > Also for me, preparing lectures is just as easy as using pencil and paper,
> > whereas powerpoint requires much more work to prepare lectures, if
> > they contain many formulas.
> >
> > There is one problem, though: students find it hard to follow WHERE I'm
> > writing
> > on the screen, because the little guiding dot which tells me where the pen
> > is
> > going to write is way too small to be seen when beamed onto a wall.
> > This problem does not exist if you write on real transparencies using
> > an overhead projector, since then students see the shadow of
> > your pen while you write. It would be very useful if in windows-journal
> > there would exist a "pen shadow" feature, which, when enabled, would
> > create a rather large artificial pen shadow that follows the tip of the
> > pen
> > and has the shape of an actual pen, which would be visible from afar.
> >
> > Is there any hope that such a pen shadow feature can be included
> > in future versions or updates of windows-journal?
> >
> > Lacking such a feature, I have been using a "next-best" option:
> > The back of my tablet-pen functions as an eraser;
> > If I enable the mouse-tracking-feature, and drag
> > the back of the pen close to the screen such that the
> > erasor-icon is displayed (but not touching the screen itself,
> > so that nothing is erased), then one sees quite a sizeable
> > erasor-icon track for a couple of seconds, showing the
> > path that the erasor icon had been drawn. That way I have
> > a kind of "surrogate pen-shadow", which I can use when
> > pointing to a formula while not actually writing, and
> > which is very easy to activate
> > by just pointing the back of the pen to the tablet screen.
> > However, the eraser-icon is white, with faint black
> > lines at the edges,, and hence also not very visible from afar.
> >
> > A nicer pen-shadow-surrogate would be to use the textmarker, set to
> > some bright color (green) with a very thick, round pen, which makes
> > a very big, impossible-to-overlook spot (or track, if the mouse-tracking
> > feature is activated) when the tip of the
> > pen is dragged close to the screen. However, the drawback here
> > is that if you have to frequently alternate between pointing
> > to formulas and writing new formulas,
> > you have to each time change between the pen and the textmarker
> > modes of writing. Now: This problem would be solved if it were possible
> > to change the function of the back of the pen from being an erasor to
> > being a textmarker. Is there any hope that this can be achieved?
> >
> > But a pen-shadow-feature would really be the best way to go.
> >
> > If future editions contain a pen-shadow, I could imagine that
> > this style of lecturing could become quite popular among
> > physics professors (and other disciplines where teaching
> > involves writing down many formulas), which would boost sales
> > of tablet pc's. So it would be worth the effort to implement this feature!
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jan
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>

Hi,

I wrote the application "quick and dirty" in C#. You'll need version 1.1 of
the .NET framework. WindowsUpdate (windowsupdate.com) will give you the
option to upgrade to version 1.1 (and possibly Tablet PC 2005 SP2 if you
haven't already installed it).

Instead of using WindowsUpdate (which may force you to install all sorts of
other updates), you might find it easier to just download the .NET framework
1.1 directly. Instructions can be found at:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

(watch out for the url/address wrapping across two lines)

You're right that you don't need to put the exe in any directory in
particular. You won't need to "activate" the pen in Journal as LecturePen
is global and appears in any application. It will place an extra icon in
the taskbar tray (next to the clock). You can right click on that icon to
get a menu and a choice to close/exit the program.

Let me know how you get on...

All the best,

-Tum

"jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E7DC8CB2-F930-4BF7-A882-1F385FE5C0BA@microsoft.com...
> Hi Tum,
>
> Judging by the screenshot which you provided, it seems that
> you have precisely understood my needs! I'm very excited about
> your application! Regrettably, though, I was not able to get it to work
> on my computer (I'm close to being a computer illiterate.)
>
> I saved the files you provided, LecturePen.exe and pen,pnb, in the same
> directory as the one in which I have the windows-journal file that't I'm
> editing (but I suppose it does not really matter in which directory
> one saves them). However, what am I supposed to do then?
> If I double-click on LecturePen.exe, I get an error message:
>
> C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\mscor wks.dll could not be
> loaded
>
> On the other hand, if I just open the .jnt file, I don't know how to
> activate the LecturePen feature there.
>
> I'd appreciate it very much if you could provide a few more hints for
> dummies
> for how to get your application to work.
>
> Thanks for the help!
>
> Jan
>
>
>
>
> "Thong Nguyen" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> In response to your query, I've just written an application named
>> "LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the
>> trick.
>> Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
>>
>> Download link and screenshot here:
>>
>> http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>> -Tum
>>
>
>
> "Thong Nguyen" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> In response to your query, I've just written an application named
>> "LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the
>> trick.
>> Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
>>
>> Download link and screenshot here:
>>
>> http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>> -Tum
>>
>>
>> "jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:1FEB706B-6C62-422E-BB37-1BFE603A7346@microsoft.com...
>> >I would love to be enable a pen-shadow -feature when using
>> > windows-journal to give public lectures. Does such
>> > a feature exist?
>> >
>> > Background: I'm a physics professor using windows-journal on my
>> > Acer TravelMate C300 Tablet PC,
>> > hooked up to a beamer, to give my lectures: What I write
>> > on the tablet screen is beamed onto a big screen, which the students
>> > watch, and from which they can take notes. They seem to like this
>> > format,
>> > since the file is saved at the end of the lecture, printed
>> > to .pdf format, and put on the internet. Also, it is nicer than a
>> > power
>> > point
>> > presentation, since they can watch the formulas being developed
>> > in real time in front of their eyes, and have sufficient time to take
>> > notes,
>> > etc.
>> > Also for me, preparing lectures is just as easy as using pencil and
>> > paper,
>> > whereas powerpoint requires much more work to prepare lectures, if
>> > they contain many formulas.
>> >
>> > There is one problem, though: students find it hard to follow WHERE
>> > I'm
>> > writing
>> > on the screen, because the little guiding dot which tells me where the
>> > pen
>> > is
>> > going to write is way too small to be seen when beamed onto a wall.
>> > This problem does not exist if you write on real transparencies using
>> > an overhead projector, since then students see the shadow of
>> > your pen while you write. It would be very useful if in
>> > windows-journal
>> > there would exist a "pen shadow" feature, which, when enabled, would
>> > create a rather large artificial pen shadow that follows the tip of the
>> > pen
>> > and has the shape of an actual pen, which would be visible from afar.
>> >
>> > Is there any hope that such a pen shadow feature can be included
>> > in future versions or updates of windows-journal?
>> >
>> > Lacking such a feature, I have been using a "next-best" option:
>> > The back of my tablet-pen functions as an eraser;
>> > If I enable the mouse-tracking-feature, and drag
>> > the back of the pen close to the screen such that the
>> > erasor-icon is displayed (but not touching the screen itself,
>> > so that nothing is erased), then one sees quite a sizeable
>> > erasor-icon track for a couple of seconds, showing the
>> > path that the erasor icon had been drawn. That way I have
>> > a kind of "surrogate pen-shadow", which I can use when
>> > pointing to a formula while not actually writing, and
>> > which is very easy to activate
>> > by just pointing the back of the pen to the tablet screen.
>> > However, the eraser-icon is white, with faint black
>> > lines at the edges,, and hence also not very visible from afar.
>> >
>> > A nicer pen-shadow-surrogate would be to use the textmarker, set to
>> > some bright color (green) with a very thick, round pen, which makes
>> > a very big, impossible-to-overlook spot (or track, if the
>> > mouse-tracking
>> > feature is activated) when the tip of the
>> > pen is dragged close to the screen. However, the drawback here
>> > is that if you have to frequently alternate between pointing
>> > to formulas and writing new formulas,
>> > you have to each time change between the pen and the textmarker
>> > modes of writing. Now: This problem would be solved if it were
>> > possible
>> > to change the function of the back of the pen from being an erasor to
>> > being a textmarker. Is there any hope that this can be achieved?
>> >
>> > But a pen-shadow-feature would really be the best way to go.
>> >
>> > If future editions contain a pen-shadow, I could imagine that
>> > this style of lecturing could become quite popular among
>> > physics professors (and other disciplines where teaching
>> > involves writing down many formulas), which would boost sales
>> > of tablet pc's. So it would be worth the effort to implement this
>> > feature!
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Jan
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>

I've noticed the timer based tracking accuracy isn't good enough and will
mean some fast strokes may get missed. I'm going to rewrite the app in C
using windows hooks to get accurate mouse tracking ... it'll also mean you
won't need .NET and the application will be leaner memory wise. I'll let
you know when it's done.

"jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:E7DC8CB2-F930-4BF7-A882-1F385FE5C0BA@microsoft.com...
> Hi Tum,
>
> Judging by the screenshot which you provided, it seems that
> you have precisely understood my needs! I'm very excited about
> your application! Regrettably, though, I was not able to get it to work
> on my computer (I'm close to being a computer illiterate.)
>
> I saved the files you provided, LecturePen.exe and pen,pnb, in the same
> directory as the one in which I have the windows-journal file that't I'm
> editing (but I suppose it does not really matter in which directory
> one saves them). However, what am I supposed to do then?
> If I double-click on LecturePen.exe, I get an error message:
>
> C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\mscor wks.dll could not be
> loaded
>
> On the other hand, if I just open the .jnt file, I don't know how to
> activate the LecturePen feature there.
>
> I'd appreciate it very much if you could provide a few more hints for
> dummies
> for how to get your application to work.
>
> Thanks for the help!
>
> Jan
>
>
>
>
> "Thong Nguyen" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> In response to your query, I've just written an application named
>> "LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the
>> trick.
>> Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
>>
>> Download link and screenshot here:
>>
>> http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>> -Tum
>>
>
>
> "Thong Nguyen" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> In response to your query, I've just written an application named
>> "LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the
>> trick.
>> Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
>>
>> Download link and screenshot here:
>>
>> http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen
>>
>> All the best,
>>
>> -Tum
>>
>>
>> "jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:1FEB706B-6C62-422E-BB37-1BFE603A7346@microsoft.com...
>> >I would love to be enable a pen-shadow -feature when using
>> > windows-journal to give public lectures. Does such
>> > a feature exist?
>> >
>> > Background: I'm a physics professor using windows-journal on my
>> > Acer TravelMate C300 Tablet PC,
>> > hooked up to a beamer, to give my lectures: What I write
>> > on the tablet screen is beamed onto a big screen, which the students
>> > watch, and from which they can take notes. They seem to like this
>> > format,
>> > since the file is saved at the end of the lecture, printed
>> > to .pdf format, and put on the internet. Also, it is nicer than a
>> > power
>> > point
>> > presentation, since they can watch the formulas being developed
>> > in real time in front of their eyes, and have sufficient time to take
>> > notes,
>> > etc.
>> > Also for me, preparing lectures is just as easy as using pencil and
>> > paper,
>> > whereas powerpoint requires much more work to prepare lectures, if
>> > they contain many formulas.
>> >
>> > There is one problem, though: students find it hard to follow WHERE
>> > I'm
>> > writing
>> > on the screen, because the little guiding dot which tells me where the
>> > pen
>> > is
>> > going to write is way too small to be seen when beamed onto a wall.
>> > This problem does not exist if you write on real transparencies using
>> > an overhead projector, since then students see the shadow of
>> > your pen while you write. It would be very useful if in
>> > windows-journal
>> > there would exist a "pen shadow" feature, which, when enabled, would
>> > create a rather large artificial pen shadow that follows the tip of the
>> > pen
>> > and has the shape of an actual pen, which would be visible from afar.
>> >
>> > Is there any hope that such a pen shadow feature can be included
>> > in future versions or updates of windows-journal?
>> >
>> > Lacking such a feature, I have been using a "next-best" option:
>> > The back of my tablet-pen functions as an eraser;
>> > If I enable the mouse-tracking-feature, and drag
>> > the back of the pen close to the screen such that the
>> > erasor-icon is displayed (but not touching the screen itself,
>> > so that nothing is erased), then one sees quite a sizeable
>> > erasor-icon track for a couple of seconds, showing the
>> > path that the erasor icon had been drawn. That way I have
>> > a kind of "surrogate pen-shadow", which I can use when
>> > pointing to a formula while not actually writing, and
>> > which is very easy to activate
>> > by just pointing the back of the pen to the tablet screen.
>> > However, the eraser-icon is white, with faint black
>> > lines at the edges,, and hence also not very visible from afar.
>> >
>> > A nicer pen-shadow-surrogate would be to use the textmarker, set to
>> > some bright color (green) with a very thick, round pen, which makes
>> > a very big, impossible-to-overlook spot (or track, if the
>> > mouse-tracking
>> > feature is activated) when the tip of the
>> > pen is dragged close to the screen. However, the drawback here
>> > is that if you have to frequently alternate between pointing
>> > to formulas and writing new formulas,
>> > you have to each time change between the pen and the textmarker
>> > modes of writing. Now: This problem would be solved if it were
>> > possible
>> > to change the function of the back of the pen from being an erasor to
>> > being a textmarker. Is there any hope that this can be achieved?
>> >
>> > But a pen-shadow-feature would really be the best way to go.
>> >
>> > If future editions contain a pen-shadow, I could imagine that
>> > this style of lecturing could become quite popular among
>> > physics professors (and other disciplines where teaching
>> > involves writing down many formulas), which would boost sales
>> > of tablet pc's. So it would be worth the effort to implement this
>> > feature!
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Jan
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>

Please post back here where you've got it ready for show time. 8-)
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone


"Thong Nguyen" <tum@veridicus.spamless.com> wrote in message
news:OVVOu%23N3EHA.1076@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> I've noticed the timer based tracking accuracy isn't good enough and will
> mean some fast strokes may get missed. I'm going to rewrite the app in C
> using windows hooks to get accurate mouse tracking ... it'll also mean you
> won't need .NET and the application will be leaner memory wise. I'll let
> you know when it's done.

Hi Yum,

I'm happy to report that I now managed to install you application:
it is indeed PRECISELY what I needed. Fantastic!

However, I also noticed the tracking-fast-srokes problem that you
mentioned below -- which makes the tracking indeed too unreliable
yet for use in lecture.

But I'm sure you'll sort that out, soon, and am very much looking
forward to the streamlined application -- you're really onto something
terfrifically useful!

Jan


"Thong Nguyen" wrote:

> I've noticed the timer based tracking accuracy isn't good enough and will
> mean some fast strokes may get missed. I'm going to rewrite the app in C
> using windows hooks to get accurate mouse tracking ... it'll also mean you
> won't need .NET and the application will be leaner memory wise. I'll let
> you know when it's done.
>
> "jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:E7DC8CB2-F930-4BF7-A882-1F385FE5C0BA@microsoft.com...
> > Hi Tum,
> >
> > Judging by the screenshot which you provided, it seems that
> > you have precisely understood my needs! I'm very excited about
> > your application! Regrettably, though, I was not able to get it to work
> > on my computer (I'm close to being a computer illiterate.)
> >
> > I saved the files you provided, LecturePen.exe and pen,pnb, in the same
> > directory as the one in which I have the windows-journal file that't I'm
> > editing (but I suppose it does not really matter in which directory
> > one saves them). However, what am I supposed to do then?
> > If I double-click on LecturePen.exe, I get an error message:
> >
> > C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\mscor wks.dll could not be
> > loaded
> >
> > On the other hand, if I just open the .jnt file, I don't know how to
> > activate the LecturePen feature there.
> >
> > I'd appreciate it very much if you could provide a few more hints for
> > dummies
> > for how to get your application to work.
> >
> > Thanks for the help!
> >
> > Jan
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Thong Nguyen" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> In response to your query, I've just written an application named
> >> "LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the
> >> trick.
> >> Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
> >>
> >> Download link and screenshot here:
> >>
> >> http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen
> >>
> >> All the best,
> >>
> >> -Tum
> >>
> >
> >
> > "Thong Nguyen" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> In response to your query, I've just written an application named
> >> "LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the
> >> trick.
> >> Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
> >>
> >> Download link and screenshot here:
> >>
> >> http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen
> >>
> >> All the best,
> >>
> >> -Tum
> >>
> >>
> >> "jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:1FEB706B-6C62-422E-BB37-1BFE603A7346@microsoft.com...
> >> >I would love to be enable a pen-shadow -feature when using
> >> > windows-journal to give public lectures. Does such
> >> > a feature exist?
> >> >
> >> > Background: I'm a physics professor using windows-journal on my
> >> > Acer TravelMate C300 Tablet PC,
> >> > hooked up to a beamer, to give my lectures: What I write
> >> > on the tablet screen is beamed onto a big screen, which the students
> >> > watch, and from which they can take notes. They seem to like this
> >> > format,
> >> > since the file is saved at the end of the lecture, printed
> >> > to .pdf format, and put on the internet. Also, it is nicer than a
> >> > power
> >> > point
> >> > presentation, since they can watch the formulas being developed
> >> > in real time in front of their eyes, and have sufficient time to take
> >> > notes,
> >> > etc.
> >> > Also for me, preparing lectures is just as easy as using pencil and
> >> > paper,
> >> > whereas powerpoint requires much more work to prepare lectures, if
> >> > they contain many formulas.
> >> >
> >> > There is one problem, though: students find it hard to follow WHERE
> >> > I'm
> >> > writing
> >> > on the screen, because the little guiding dot which tells me where the
> >> > pen
> >> > is
> >> > going to write is way too small to be seen when beamed onto a wall.
> >> > This problem does not exist if you write on real transparencies using
> >> > an overhead projector, since then students see the shadow of
> >> > your pen while you write. It would be very useful if in
> >> > windows-journal
> >> > there would exist a "pen shadow" feature, which, when enabled, would
> >> > create a rather large artificial pen shadow that follows the tip of the
> >> > pen
> >> > and has the shape of an actual pen, which would be visible from afar.
> >> >
> >> > Is there any hope that such a pen shadow feature can be included
> >> > in future versions or updates of windows-journal?
> >> >
> >> > Lacking such a feature, I have been using a "next-best" option:
> >> > The back of my tablet-pen functions as an eraser;
> >> > If I enable the mouse-tracking-feature, and drag
> >> > the back of the pen close to the screen such that the
> >> > erasor-icon is displayed (but not touching the screen itself,
> >> > so that nothing is erased), then one sees quite a sizeable
> >> > erasor-icon track for a couple of seconds, showing the
> >> > path that the erasor icon had been drawn. That way I have
> >> > a kind of "surrogate pen-shadow", which I can use when
> >> > pointing to a formula while not actually writing, and
> >> > which is very easy to activate
> >> > by just pointing the back of the pen to the tablet screen.
> >> > However, the eraser-icon is white, with faint black
> >> > lines at the edges,, and hence also not very visible from afar.
> >> >
> >> > A nicer pen-shadow-surrogate would be to use the textmarker, set to
> >> > some bright color (green) with a very thick, round pen, which makes
> >> > a very big, impossible-to-overlook spot (or track, if the
> >> > mouse-tracking
> >> > feature is activated) when the tip of the
> >> > pen is dragged close to the screen. However, the drawback here
> >> > is that if you have to frequently alternate between pointing
> >> > to formulas and writing new formulas,
> >> > you have to each time change between the pen and the textmarker
> >> > modes of writing. Now: This problem would be solved if it were
> >> > possible
> >> > to change the function of the back of the pen from being an erasor to
> >> > being a textmarker. Is there any hope that this can be achieved?
> >> >
> >> > But a pen-shadow-feature would really be the best way to go.
> >> >
> >> > If future editions contain a pen-shadow, I could imagine that
> >> > this style of lecturing could become quite popular among
> >> > physics professors (and other disciplines where teaching
> >> > involves writing down many formulas), which would boost sales
> >> > of tablet pc's. So it would be worth the effort to implement this
> >> > feature!
> >> >
> >> > Thanks,
> >> > Jan
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

Hi

Try downloading and installing version 0.3. It isn't the rewrite, but it
should eliminate pretty much all of the missed strokes. The rewrite will not
come till after Xmas I'm afraid :(



^Tum


"jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:455790E9-6C51-4001-9CBA-8F8C740C22BA@microsoft.com...
> Hi Yum,
>
> I'm happy to report that I now managed to install you application:
> it is indeed PRECISELY what I needed. Fantastic!
>
> However, I also noticed the tracking-fast-srokes problem that you
> mentioned below -- which makes the tracking indeed too unreliable
> yet for use in lecture.
>
> But I'm sure you'll sort that out, soon, and am very much looking
> forward to the streamlined application -- you're really onto something
> terfrifically useful!
>
> Jan
>
>
> "Thong Nguyen" wrote:
>
>> I've noticed the timer based tracking accuracy isn't good enough and will
>> mean some fast strokes may get missed. I'm going to rewrite the app in C
>> using windows hooks to get accurate mouse tracking ... it'll also mean
>> you
>> won't need .NET and the application will be leaner memory wise. I'll let
>> you know when it's done.
>>
>> "jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:E7DC8CB2-F930-4BF7-A882-1F385FE5C0BA@microsoft.com...
>> > Hi Tum,
>> >
>> > Judging by the screenshot which you provided, it seems that
>> > you have precisely understood my needs! I'm very excited about
>> > your application! Regrettably, though, I was not able to get it to work
>> > on my computer (I'm close to being a computer illiterate.)
>> >
>> > I saved the files you provided, LecturePen.exe and pen,pnb, in the same
>> > directory as the one in which I have the windows-journal file that't
>> > I'm
>> > editing (but I suppose it does not really matter in which directory
>> > one saves them). However, what am I supposed to do then?
>> > If I double-click on LecturePen.exe, I get an error message:
>> >
>> > C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v1.1.4322\mscor wks.dll could not be
>> > loaded
>> >
>> > On the other hand, if I just open the .jnt file, I don't know how to
>> > activate the LecturePen feature there.
>> >
>> > I'd appreciate it very much if you could provide a few more hints for
>> > dummies
>> > for how to get your application to work.
>> >
>> > Thanks for the help!
>> >
>> > Jan
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > "Thong Nguyen" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi,
>> >>
>> >> In response to your query, I've just written an application named
>> >> "LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the
>> >> trick.
>> >> Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
>> >>
>> >> Download link and screenshot here:
>> >>
>> >> http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen
>> >>
>> >> All the best,
>> >>
>> >> -Tum
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> > "Thong Nguyen" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi,
>> >>
>> >> In response to your query, I've just written an application named
>> >> "LecturePen" which, if I properly understood your needs, will do the
>> >> trick.
>> >> Feedback or suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.
>> >>
>> >> Download link and screenshot here:
>> >>
>> >> http://www.veridicus.com/tummy/programming/lecturepen
>> >>
>> >> All the best,
>> >>
>> >> -Tum
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "jvd1" <jvd1@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:1FEB706B-6C62-422E-BB37-1BFE603A7346@microsoft.com...
>> >> >I would love to be enable a pen-shadow -feature when using
>> >> > windows-journal to give public lectures. Does such
>> >> > a feature exist?
>> >> >
>> >> > Background: I'm a physics professor using windows-journal on my
>> >> > Acer TravelMate C300 Tablet PC,
>> >> > hooked up to a beamer, to give my lectures: What I write
>> >> > on the tablet screen is beamed onto a big screen, which the students
>> >> > watch, and from which they can take notes. They seem to like this
>> >> > format,
>> >> > since the file is saved at the end of the lecture, printed
>> >> > to .pdf format, and put on the internet. Also, it is nicer than a
>> >> > power
>> >> > point
>> >> > presentation, since they can watch the formulas being developed
>> >> > in real time in front of their eyes, and have sufficient time to
>> >> > take
>> >> > notes,
>> >> > etc.
>> >> > Also for me, preparing lectures is just as easy as using pencil and
>> >> > paper,
>> >> > whereas powerpoint requires much more work to prepare lectures, if
>> >> > they contain many formulas.
>> >> >
>> >> > There is one problem, though: students find it hard to follow WHERE
>> >> > I'm
>> >> > writing
>> >> > on the screen, because the little guiding dot which tells me where
>> >> > the
>> >> > pen
>> >> > is
>> >> > going to write is way too small to be seen when beamed onto a wall.
>> >> > This problem does not exist if you write on real transparencies
>> >> > using
>> >> > an overhead projector, since then students see the shadow of
>> >> > your pen while you write. It would be very useful if in
>> >> > windows-journal
>> >> > there would exist a "pen shadow" feature, which, when enabled,
>> >> > would
>> >> > create a rather large artificial pen shadow that follows the tip of
>> >> > the
>> >> > pen
>> >> > and has the shape of an actual pen, which would be visible from
>> >> > afar.
>> >> >
>> >> > Is there any hope that such a pen shadow feature can be included
>> >> > in future versions or updates of windows-journal?
>> >> >
>> >> > Lacking such a feature, I have been using a "next-best" option:
>> >> > The back of my tablet-pen functions as an eraser;
>> >> > If I enable the mouse-tracking-feature, and drag
>> >> > the back of the pen close to the screen such that the
>> >> > erasor-icon is displayed (but not touching the screen itself,
>> >> > so that nothing is erased), then one sees quite a sizeable
>> >> > erasor-icon track for a couple of seconds, showing the
>> >> > path that the erasor icon had been drawn. That way I have
>> >> > a kind of "surrogate pen-shadow", which I can use when
>> >> > pointing to a formula while not actually writing, and
>> >> > which is very easy to activate
>> >> > by just pointing the back of the pen to the tablet screen.
>> >> > However, the eraser-icon is white, with faint black
>> >> > lines at the edges,, and hence also not very visible from afar.
>> >> >
>> >> > A nicer pen-shadow-surrogate would be to use the textmarker, set to
>> >> > some bright color (green) with a very thick, round pen, which makes
>> >> > a very big, impossible-to-overlook spot (or track, if the
>> >> > mouse-tracking
>> >> > feature is activated) when the tip of the
>> >> > pen is dragged close to the screen. However, the drawback here
>> >> > is that if you have to frequently alternate between pointing
>> >> > to formulas and writing new formulas,
>> >> > you have to each time change between the pen and the textmarker
>> >> > modes of writing. Now: This problem would be solved if it were
>> >> > possible
>> >> > to change the function of the back of the pen from being an erasor
>> >> > to
>> >> > being a textmarker. Is there any hope that this can be achieved?
>> >> >
>> >> > But a pen-shadow-feature would really be the best way to go.
>> >> >
>> >> > If future editions contain a pen-shadow, I could imagine that
>> >> > this style of lecturing could become quite popular among
>> >> > physics professors (and other disciplines where teaching
>> >> > involves writing down many formulas), which would boost sales
>> >> > of tablet pc's. So it would be worth the effort to implement this
>> >> > feature!
>> >> >
>> >> > Thanks,
>> >> > Jan
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>

Hi Tum,

version 0.3 works great! No missed pen strokes any more!
It certainly covers all my needs. I'm very much impressed!

So, I won't wait for the rewrite, but start using it in lecture on Monday
morning.
I'll also certainly tell all my colleagues to visit your web site -- should
I wait with that until after the rewrite has come out?
(Does "after christmas" mean "before the new year").

Jan


"Thong Nguyen" wrote:

> Hi
>
> Try downloading and installing version 0.3. It isn't the rewrite, but it
> should eliminate pretty much all of the missed strokes. The rewrite will not
> come till after Xmas I'm afraid :(
>
>
>
> ^Tum
>
>