Puzzle Description:

The "undo" button image that I added to the "Create Puzzles" page on webpbn today. Many programs I looked at had clockwise arrows for undo buttons, but I thought that was crazy. Undo should obviously be counter-clockwise.

#1: Jan Wolter (jan) on Jul 30, 2009 [SPOILER]

While I was drawing this new button in gimp, it struck me that it would make a tolerable PBN puzzle, so here it is. It has an annoying 24x24 size and is none too beautiful, but it solves pleasantly.

Whenever I add a new feature to the site that requires a new button, I'm always a bit discouraged, because I'm not that good a button designer.

But button design is really cool. It's optical illusion city. There's hardly a button on the Internet that doesn't have some interesting visual tricks going on in it, if only 3D illusions.

In this one, I wanted a big obvious arrow head that stylistically matched the arrows on the shift up/down/left/right buttons, but didn't really have room for it, so I let it connect to the border and the "U", and sure enough, when you look at the normal sized icon, the connections disappear.

I probably should have taken more time getting the curve of the arrow to look smooth and the thickness even. Probably should have used some gray cells to smooth it out. But oh well. If I'd used gray, I wouldn't have been able to put it up as a puzzle.

Lol, I love the explanation, and it's been awhile since I've seen a Jan puzzle!

Jan: to me you are 100% correct, why should undo be clockwise, that's very unwise.

Shae: I agree with you 100%

Jota: You are 100% (whatever that means). :-)

I think the reason we have this site is precisely because Jan is a person who thinks like this.

I greatly respect your attention to detail...and am even more respectful of your generosity of spirit that shares this bounty with all of us. Thank you, Jan.

I think it's because we're used to clocks going clockwise (CW), that indicates the passage of time, so going backwards in time should be counterclockwise (CCW). On the other hand, mathematicians measure angles going CCW as positive, so if you wanted to indicate undo to a mathematician it might have to go CW instead.

Very logical. Very exact. Very "typical." :-) I enjoyed solving this and enjoyed the description and comments. I second JoDeen's expression of respect and gratitude.

I enjoyed the puzzle and the comments. It is nice to know what is on the create puzzles page since I never go there...
Jan I also love the way your brain thinks and that you share it!

It seems extra fitting (or poignant) this this is my final Jan puzzle to solve. <3

I'm glad this was captured as part of the site's history. It's something I always took for granted and it's cool to see what developments there've been. I've used it a lot for the puzzles I have made.

Undos are cool in so many apps. I feel spoiled by them. We didn't have undo with my old Apple. We were lucky to have backspace!

Goto next topic

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