Synergy is an Amazing Thing

Alright, I am so excited right now that I don’t even know how I can put it into words. As many of you know, I have a desktop PC and a PowerBook. My main problem is that I really like my Mac, but I hate having to switch the keyboard and mouse over to it when I want to sit at my desk and work. Well, what I have found on the internets is just amazing!

Synergy

Yes, it deserves it’s own freaking line. This program is amazing. I am currently typing with the keyboard hooked into my PC… but I am blogging this on my Mac. Yeah, this is rad. It shares the connection of my keyboard and mouse over TCP/IP so I am sharing it wirelessly to my Mac. How cool is that? No more need to unplug and plug it back in. I can just start Synergy and do my stuff.

This works on Linux, Windows XP, and OS X. So, with it you can mix and match if you wish. Now, this works nice if you have the monitors for all systems. In my case I just use the laptop screen. But, even so, you could be creative in how you do this.

Gosh, I’m so excited right now. If you have a laptop/desktop combo or whatever, this is a great program to try out. Oh yeah, if you add an open file share between the two computers you’re gravy. In any case, check it out if you think this could benefit you. It sure blew me away.

Design Dilemma

Anybody who designs anything knows how difficult it can be to have a completely original product. This is even more so when you are designing a product for a market that has a very dominant product established. So, my current thinking has similar thought processes as one might have if they were in a corporation designing a product for market, but mine is for a class project.

My problem is deciding what is outright copying versus implementing ideas that I feel are very good. I can only think of the iPod (yes, so cliche) when this crosses my mind. The iPod was the first widely popular mass marked portable MP3 player that really took off with people. Yes, had to state the obvious. Now, there have been many new players into the market that the iPod created. This seems only logical, right? I mean, if you can tap only a little bit of the market share, you are bound to make a little money (pending product quality among other things). But, they had to build off what worked to even have a chance.

My problem is within the visual design of our project. I have tried to take the effort to take ideas I like and implement them in what I am doing. I have also tried to not “lift” designs from other products already out in the market. But, my main question is this, where is the line between stealing a design and implementing things that have just worked?