Foot-activated boss button enables gaming at work

by Vladimir Cole { Oct 1st 2006 at 7:45PM }

Wired's sex columnist Regina Lynn noticed that the Stealth Switch being sold ($24.99) at ThinkGeek might work well for diddling the workday away without fear of the boss figuring out why she's so happy all the damned time.

The product enables slackers to shirk their duties in complete safety, thanks to a bevvy of features designed with gamers in mind:

"Quickly install the software and plug the hidden foot switch in (it goes either between the keyboard and your computer, or just into an available USB port) and you are safe. It hides in the shadows and just a light tap of your toes will let it work its magic. Based on your preferences, it can hide the current window, hide all windows, or hide all windows except for specified windows. Not just minimize, mind you, but totally erase from your screen. The Stealth Switch can also mute the sound, hide the taskbar, hide the desktop icons, and password protect the restore function. When the coast is clear, another quick tap and you are ready to frag in peace."

Tags: games for windows, windows gaming, WindowsGaming

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

menuka @ Oct 1st 2006 7:56PM

this would be awesome if i could bring it to school...

Raaaaah! @ Oct 1st 2006 7:57PM

This is incredibly old. o_o

CYRiX @ Oct 1st 2006 7:59PM

Old.

_habit_ @ Oct 1st 2006 8:27PM

But does it get you a new job when you're fired for low productivety levels?

Wulkar @ Oct 1st 2006 8:06PM

its cool but you can just say your getting some culture so you don't go crazy and kill everyone.

CitrusC @ Oct 1st 2006 8:07PM

Oh man!!! This is so FREAKING NEW!!!111!11!!1!6x9^10!!

Adorable little nublets aside, this is a concept which I've never really seen properly developed up until recent years; seems like the ideal final product if it works as advertised.

If you're using something which is taking up a considerible amount of resources, you'd have a delay between pressing the pedal and everything minimising, though... kind of anti-climatic, unless you're supposed to be working on a blank screen with a huge resolution windows taskbar filling 20% of the screen.

Still, if it works, I tip my hat to the designers, although I've no use for it myself.

devian @ Oct 1st 2006 8:09PM

This is so damn old. If WIRED thinks this is some next generation device, then they are way out of the fucking loop.

The ZeroCorpse @ Oct 1st 2006 8:11PM

Yeah. . . Uhhh. . . That's been a part of OS X for many years now. It's called Expose' and it's very handy.

`Nice to see Windows users catching up finally.

Lex @ Oct 1st 2006 8:14PM

Stuff like this has been around forever for windows this is nothing new.

rockintom99 @ Oct 1st 2006 8:23PM

Zerocorpse: What the hell are you talking about?

1. Expose has *not* been around for years. It is pretty new actually.

2. Expose brings all the windows ordered to the front. This is so you can find a task easily.

The purpose of the pedal is to HIDE things, NOT bring them to the front.

Plus, there arent really enough games to warrant something like this on a mac.

Nanka @ Oct 1st 2006 8:33PM

rockintom99 ... you clearly dont have a mac. Expose does so much more. You can do 4 things. One of them is show your desktop, which hide everything else.

And related too the new ... just WORK at your job ... if you dont wanna .. CHANGE job ! I really dont get that gizmo

Nanka @ Oct 1st 2006 8:36PM

Oh and rockintom99, "Tiger" ... with Expose is out since April 2005. So Yes, its been out for quite a while now.

taliesin-nine @ Oct 1st 2006 8:40PM

I don't see the point of a foot-pedal. If you're using the computer for doing anything other than watching a movie, you're going to have your hands on the keyboard/mouse anyway and could use those to activate the switch.

Oh, this was posted by a sex columnist...

computer gamer @ Oct 1st 2006 8:48PM

I want to know if it doubles as an accelerator for PC driving games? ;)

barry @ Oct 1st 2006 8:56PM

actually, expose first appeared in panther (10.3), which has been around since october 2003.

Me @ Oct 1st 2006 8:59PM

Even though it's not something new, it's still awesome !!! I needed one of these when i worked for Dell !!!!!

The4thnobleman @ Oct 1st 2006 9:04PM

Key term there.....worked....for Dell. Past tense, as in you no longer work there.

the4thnoblemanisgay @ Oct 1st 2006 9:49PM

thanks for clearing up that past tense issue, it almost has something to do with the blog

PhantomVI @ Oct 1st 2006 9:58PM

In theory it'd be nice to use for games...
But come on, we all know this is for porn.

And yeah, at work and home Exposé works like a charm for all my porn hiding needs.

Ronald @ Oct 1st 2006 10:10PM

I remember when I use to work at a local ISP in San Diego (ADNC) doing dial-up support back in the 90's and playing Quake 3 Arena while doing support call's for dial-up customers.

I mean full blown old lady on the phone screaming about getting only 34.4k when it says 56k service, and me just working on my headshots with the rail gun.

Boss didnt care as long as issues got resolved and customer got up. Oh it awesome!

Cabcru @ Oct 1st 2006 10:12PM

So does the foot pedal disappear in a puff of green smoke when to tap it or do you just end up with your boss asking you what that thing under your desk is?

Thomas L @ Oct 1st 2006 10:36PM

Is it just me or does it seem like every single one of Vladimir's articles fails miserably.

Honestly... Just stop.

Spencer @ Oct 1st 2006 10:52PM

Oh, hiding all windows/showing the desktop? Lessee...oh yeah, that's like that one quick launch button that's been in Windows since Win95. Or like hitting ESC in a 3.1 app.

Nice to see that Mac users have finally caught up.

onetrueping @ Oct 1st 2006 10:59PM

And what none of you have noted, typically, is that the average corporation's IT department installs loggers on all computers to ensure that productivity levels STAY up. Except on their own, of course.

Hiding your windows and shite only works as long as the boss doesn't get suspicious and the IT department doesn't mind your installing all kinds of apps or whatever on their systems.

Useless, unless you are teenage and hiding porn from your mom. Thumbs down.

Sasuke @ Oct 1st 2006 11:44PM

Ya, I've know about this for a while now...

Psyclerk @ Oct 1st 2006 11:49PM

Wouldn't work at my place of employment, which is a school district. We are cursed with Novell, which brings with it Console One. Allows you to remote view any computer on the network, no walking by required. Handy for seeing who is having online affairs or gambling on school time.

vrf @ Oct 2nd 2006 1:01AM

I wouldn't really have a use for this device, but I really wonder why there aren't more foot-pedal type devices out there. Your feet could really be helpful for some games, like weapon switching or something. And think of the non-game uses. Like an digital fine artist working on a monitor/tablet (Cintiq) with one hand using the stylus and the other tapping hotkeys could really benefit from a third "hand." You could cycle through tools or do multiple undos with a quick foot tap.

I better go patent this...

RevJonathan @ Oct 2nd 2006 12:07AM

Amazing, this has been out for SOO long, I've had one fore a year, and seen them for a while before that.

Honestly, they fired Summa for this kind of drivel?

Rob X. @ Oct 2nd 2006 12:44AM

"Hiding your windows and shite only works as long as the boss doesn't get suspicious and the IT department doesn't mind your installing all kinds of apps or whatever on their systems."

Exactly, the IT department knows what you have on your machine, this just offers a false sense of security. Even better, we all shop at ThinkGeek and have known exactly what this thing is for some time now. After doing weekly uninstallations of unauthorized software on our entire organization's machines, people finally got a clue. Of course, we were playing networked Quake 3 with all the files and registries renamed to less conspicuous names.

Ritz @ Oct 2nd 2006 12:51AM

Dammnit, people. If you don't like the news story, scroll over it and look at a different story. No one is forcing you to read into the article. And seriously, if it bothers you that much, stop reading Joystiq. ...And stop trolling the comments page.

K, thanks.

On another note, such a device would have limited applications. Ussualy by the time you notice someone who could read your screen, they'll at least be able to notice a flicker on the screen. Same with F11 on a Mac or Show Desktop on Windows. If bosses are anything like my mom was back when I homeschooled years ago, such flicker gets very suspicious =(.

Its a decent idea, but in application it wouldn't do so well, I don't think.

The ZeroCorpse @ Oct 2nd 2006 2:42AM

There is no hide all/show all key on Windows 95/98/ME/XP that works instantly, like Expose. I wasn't always a Mac user, and I never knew of any key that hid all windows or worked even REMOTELY like Expose does.

Quick Launch is NOTHING like Expose. And hitting ESC in a 3.1 application didn't hide the windows. It minimized or closed the program (depending on the program). Even if it minimized, the windows were still there on your desktop. Expose doesn't just minimize.

But hey, I've used every OS, so I know. Clearly, anyone who would say Expose is anything like Quick Launch hasn't ever wandered away from Windows and is operating under the idea that Mac OS hasn't changed since 1984.