Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Near & Far  or  Close & Closer

Un gatto segue il mouse sullo schermo.
Posso farlo stare a 15 pixel di distanza
o a 30 pixel di distanza.
Come specifico le due situazioni nella guida?
Con 'near' e 'far'  
oppure  'close' e 'closer'
oppure altro...? 
---         -----        ---
La funzione di questo gatto è di segnalare
la posizione del mouse.
Uso il termine ' highlight' 
(oppure 'point to' o altro...?)
Esempio:  the cat higlights the mouse position


The shape of the mouse pointer changes when it is moved over a link.
The default mouse pointer is usually an arrow, which changes to a
pointing finger when it is moved over a link.
The shape of the mouse pointer may change inside a program, depending
on the program.
Within text documents, the mouse pointer assumes the shape of a cursor
(not to be confused with the text-insertion cursor).
An hourglass may appear next to the mouse pointer after left-clicking,
indicating that a process is under way.
When the process is complete, the hourglass will disappear.
Moving the cursor over a link will sometimes highlight the link,
depending on what type of link it is.
When the mouse is moved over certain types of links, information about
the link is shown.
Right-clicking will highlight the link, and will often open a menu,
again depending upon what type of link it is.
Right-clicking is never dangerous.
Left-clicking will open the link.
Left-clicking can be dangerous.
Dragging the Mouse Cursor over text in a document while holding down
the left mouse button highlights the text. Text highlighting can be
accomplished without the mouse, by using arrow keys to position the
text insertion cursor, and the Space bar and other keys to highlight
the text, and by using menus accessed by the Alt key the text can be
copied or cut.
I don't know what your cat is supposed to do. If we can see where the
mouse is, how can the cat tell us where it is?
Joe from Massachusetts

Joe,
the shape of the mouse pointer is regularly visible.
In addiction a little cat follows it 
(I developed a program that does this).
Tha cat is big and colored, so it helps visually impaired people
to locate the mouse pointer 
(infact the standard little white arrow is sometimes diffcult to locate,
expecially on a white background).
I hope you've understood the scenario. 
My two questions remain.


 oppure altro...?
The cat can be set to follow the mouse cursor at a distance of 15 pixels or 
30 pixels. 



Ok,
but if I want to create two menu items,
so to let the user choose among them,
how have I to call them?
'Near' and 'Far' ?
Also,
the 'highlight' term (to describe the function)
is good?

 is good?
Not really, no. The term 'highlight' might be confusing in this context. 
Although it can refer to the addition of an object to point out an existing 
object, it usually refers to an existing object made more noticeable through 
the change of some characteristic, such as color, or underlining.
Microsoft would use 'accessibility options' or 'cursor options'. I'd vote 
for something more playful, like 'cat options'. 

for something more playful, like 'cat options'. 
I need to use only a verb...


Oh, I thought you meant the noun form. In that case, there are many verbs
you can use, and 'highlight' is fine.

thanks


"billo" ha scritto nel messaggio:
[CUT]
Forte stare nel futuro, eh?
;-)))
Tschüss,
Enrico il Pentolaio.
P.S. I messaggi che hai inviato oggi risultano inviati il 19 agosto, ossia 
domani. Prova a vedere se si è incasinato l'orologio del tuo computer.
--
"Non esiste fortezza tanto forte che il denaro non possa espugnare"
My still-in-construction website: 
www.pentolaio.tk
 

;-)))
rotfl, era anche parecchio che ci stavo.... !
ora tutto ok