One handed computing
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I've just found out that I've got to have surgery to repair two tears in the rotator cuff on my right shoulder. I had similar surgery on my left shoulder some years back while I was between jobs, so I was able to recover at my own pace. Also, I know what the recovery involves (3 days not moving, 3 weeks in a sling, 4 months building up range of motion, 4 months building up strength). This time, I don't have the luxury to be off-work during my recovery (apart from the 1st 3 days) as I'm hourly-paid. So I'm learning to do everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) one-handed. I'm left handed anyway, but - up to now - I've used my right hand for a lot of stuff. I moused with my right hand, and using my left instead took a lot of getting used to. I ended up not changing the buttons round because I do a lot of remote desktopping and, while I do, the buttons revert to their default state. I've got a game where a left-click builds a wall and a right-click knocks a wall down ... I've been getting it hopelessly wrong :doh: I expected that wiping my butt with my left hand rather than my right as usual would be a problem, but I'm adapting well :-D - the problem is pulling up my pants and doing up my belt one-handed afterwards. Back to coding ... CTRL-ALT-DEL causes a problem, as does using the num pad (I moved my portable pad on my laptop over to my left, but my office keyboard is a pain [literally]). Someone suggested I use Dragon Naturally Speaking instead of typing but, as an ex-pat Scouser living in California, my accent has become so bastardized that I spend more time laughing over DNS trying to understand me than it would take to type one-handed anyway! Anyway, it's only 3 weeks so I can be grateful it's not permanent. Does anyone else have some (hopefully funny) stories of using computers with some kind of activity restriction?
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I've just found out that I've got to have surgery to repair two tears in the rotator cuff on my right shoulder. I had similar surgery on my left shoulder some years back while I was between jobs, so I was able to recover at my own pace. Also, I know what the recovery involves (3 days not moving, 3 weeks in a sling, 4 months building up range of motion, 4 months building up strength). This time, I don't have the luxury to be off-work during my recovery (apart from the 1st 3 days) as I'm hourly-paid. So I'm learning to do everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) one-handed. I'm left handed anyway, but - up to now - I've used my right hand for a lot of stuff. I moused with my right hand, and using my left instead took a lot of getting used to. I ended up not changing the buttons round because I do a lot of remote desktopping and, while I do, the buttons revert to their default state. I've got a game where a left-click builds a wall and a right-click knocks a wall down ... I've been getting it hopelessly wrong :doh: I expected that wiping my butt with my left hand rather than my right as usual would be a problem, but I'm adapting well :-D - the problem is pulling up my pants and doing up my belt one-handed afterwards. Back to coding ... CTRL-ALT-DEL causes a problem, as does using the num pad (I moved my portable pad on my laptop over to my left, but my office keyboard is a pain [literally]). Someone suggested I use Dragon Naturally Speaking instead of typing but, as an ex-pat Scouser living in California, my accent has become so bastardized that I spend more time laughing over DNS trying to understand me than it would take to type one-handed anyway! Anyway, it's only 3 weeks so I can be grateful it's not permanent. Does anyone else have some (hopefully funny) stories of using computers with some kind of activity restriction?
A couple years back I slipped on some ice that had built op on my front steps while I was leaving my house, managed to not break my laptop, but instead all my weight went onto my elbow. Nothing was broke(maybe), however I later did discover that if that elbow was resting on a surface at the wrong angle my whole arm had shooting pain(that wrapped down to my fingertips and then up into my shoulder and down my spine). :omg: Needless to say I no longer rest my elbows on the table while typing. but on a positive note I'm told people with good manners don't put their elbows on the dinner table.. so score one for my manners. ;P -I went in to have it looked at. Some EXPERT told me that it didn't hurt and I wasn't injured. :confused:
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I got sticky keys working ... thanks for the advice, does exactly what I wanted it to
ian dennis wrote:
I got sticky keys working ... thanks for the advice, does exactly what I wanted it to
Glad to be of help. :cool:
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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I broke my right arm about 7 years ago. Couldn't use it for any thing for 6 months. I was self employed so I had to do the best I could. I tried Dragon Naturally Speaking (too much like talking to yourself), sticky keys, telling my kids what to type (like a secretary/junior programmer). Nothing worked except using my left hand for all typing. The first thing I did was to setup the mouse for left handed (at least it wasn't ergonomic). I learned to stretch my fingers like a piano player shift and control key combinations. My wife signed my name wherever needed (checks, credit cards). I still can't write anything with my left hand. I could do most things, but my wife had to help getting the brace on and off, and she had to cut any meat I had. I stopped eating steaks, and only ate things that I could cut with a fork. Now the funny parts. I had an airplane brace (where your arm is straight out to the side, but my elbow was bent 90 degrees). I was at church talking to friends, and my kids would come up and hang their coats on my arm like a coat hanger. The guy that was setting up my brace told me about someone else with an airplane brace on his left arm. He needed to drive in to see the guy about something and his car was a Volkswagen bug, so the only way he could do it was to put the brace out the driver side window. The only problem was that it was snowing, and by the time he got there, he had snow up his sleeve almost to his elbow. Good luck on the recovery. Try to find ways to read more for 3 weeks. Actually you can be pretty productive; I just found more reasons to cut/paste and let the IDE do more work for me.
SS => Qualified in Submarines "We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm". Winston Churchill
Jim (SS) wrote:
. I learned to stretch my fingers like a piano player shift and control key combinations.
Easier for some people than others. I can type Right Shift-A one handed on a full sized keyboard, but most people don't have hands anywhere near that large. Actually that brings up another suggestion. Get an old EEE with the 80% keyboard and use synergy/etc to control your main PC with a tiny keyboard that's easier to one hand.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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I've just found out that I've got to have surgery to repair two tears in the rotator cuff on my right shoulder. I had similar surgery on my left shoulder some years back while I was between jobs, so I was able to recover at my own pace. Also, I know what the recovery involves (3 days not moving, 3 weeks in a sling, 4 months building up range of motion, 4 months building up strength). This time, I don't have the luxury to be off-work during my recovery (apart from the 1st 3 days) as I'm hourly-paid. So I'm learning to do everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) one-handed. I'm left handed anyway, but - up to now - I've used my right hand for a lot of stuff. I moused with my right hand, and using my left instead took a lot of getting used to. I ended up not changing the buttons round because I do a lot of remote desktopping and, while I do, the buttons revert to their default state. I've got a game where a left-click builds a wall and a right-click knocks a wall down ... I've been getting it hopelessly wrong :doh: I expected that wiping my butt with my left hand rather than my right as usual would be a problem, but I'm adapting well :-D - the problem is pulling up my pants and doing up my belt one-handed afterwards. Back to coding ... CTRL-ALT-DEL causes a problem, as does using the num pad (I moved my portable pad on my laptop over to my left, but my office keyboard is a pain [literally]). Someone suggested I use Dragon Naturally Speaking instead of typing but, as an ex-pat Scouser living in California, my accent has become so bastardized that I spend more time laughing over DNS trying to understand me than it would take to type one-handed anyway! Anyway, it's only 3 weeks so I can be grateful it's not permanent. Does anyone else have some (hopefully funny) stories of using computers with some kind of activity restriction?
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Jim (SS) wrote:
. I learned to stretch my fingers like a piano player shift and control key combinations.
Easier for some people than others. I can type Right Shift-A one handed on a full sized keyboard, but most people don't have hands anywhere near that large. Actually that brings up another suggestion. Get an old EEE with the 80% keyboard and use synergy/etc to control your main PC with a tiny keyboard that's easier to one hand.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
I can only get as far as the D from the right shift. However, old habits die hard, and I still tend to shift-key and control-key on the same hand.
SS => Qualified in Submarines "We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm". Winston Churchill
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I've just found out that I've got to have surgery to repair two tears in the rotator cuff on my right shoulder. I had similar surgery on my left shoulder some years back while I was between jobs, so I was able to recover at my own pace. Also, I know what the recovery involves (3 days not moving, 3 weeks in a sling, 4 months building up range of motion, 4 months building up strength). This time, I don't have the luxury to be off-work during my recovery (apart from the 1st 3 days) as I'm hourly-paid. So I'm learning to do everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) one-handed. I'm left handed anyway, but - up to now - I've used my right hand for a lot of stuff. I moused with my right hand, and using my left instead took a lot of getting used to. I ended up not changing the buttons round because I do a lot of remote desktopping and, while I do, the buttons revert to their default state. I've got a game where a left-click builds a wall and a right-click knocks a wall down ... I've been getting it hopelessly wrong :doh: I expected that wiping my butt with my left hand rather than my right as usual would be a problem, but I'm adapting well :-D - the problem is pulling up my pants and doing up my belt one-handed afterwards. Back to coding ... CTRL-ALT-DEL causes a problem, as does using the num pad (I moved my portable pad on my laptop over to my left, but my office keyboard is a pain [literally]). Someone suggested I use Dragon Naturally Speaking instead of typing but, as an ex-pat Scouser living in California, my accent has become so bastardized that I spend more time laughing over DNS trying to understand me than it would take to type one-handed anyway! Anyway, it's only 3 weeks so I can be grateful it's not permanent. Does anyone else have some (hopefully funny) stories of using computers with some kind of activity restriction?
I want to thank everybody that made (useful) suggestions. I've thought about the velcro/kilt thing and will probably use suspenders/braces. That way, the trousers will stay up while I'm tucking my shirt in. I'm going to get my hair cut at lunchtime ... into a buzz cut, so I don't have to worry about brushing it one-handed, and I can get away with washing it less often. (The things you have to anticipate!)
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El Corazon wrote:
he is talking to the computer again
The appropriate response is of course "yes, because the computer does what I tell it to!!"
-------------------------------------------------------- Knowledge is knowing that the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in fruit salad!!
_Damian S_ wrote:
he is talking to the computer again The appropriate response is of course "yes, because the computer does what I tell it to!!"
Some time ago, I bought a GPS (satnav) system for the car. One day I was out driving with my wife and came to a complex intersection. I yelled "Now which way do I go?" My wife answered "Over there". I yelled back "I wasn't talking to you" She answered "Who were you talking to then?" "My GPS" "It won't answer you back" "I know. That's why I bought it." (Wrong thing to say!)
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I've just found out that I've got to have surgery to repair two tears in the rotator cuff on my right shoulder. I had similar surgery on my left shoulder some years back while I was between jobs, so I was able to recover at my own pace. Also, I know what the recovery involves (3 days not moving, 3 weeks in a sling, 4 months building up range of motion, 4 months building up strength). This time, I don't have the luxury to be off-work during my recovery (apart from the 1st 3 days) as I'm hourly-paid. So I'm learning to do everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) one-handed. I'm left handed anyway, but - up to now - I've used my right hand for a lot of stuff. I moused with my right hand, and using my left instead took a lot of getting used to. I ended up not changing the buttons round because I do a lot of remote desktopping and, while I do, the buttons revert to their default state. I've got a game where a left-click builds a wall and a right-click knocks a wall down ... I've been getting it hopelessly wrong :doh: I expected that wiping my butt with my left hand rather than my right as usual would be a problem, but I'm adapting well :-D - the problem is pulling up my pants and doing up my belt one-handed afterwards. Back to coding ... CTRL-ALT-DEL causes a problem, as does using the num pad (I moved my portable pad on my laptop over to my left, but my office keyboard is a pain [literally]). Someone suggested I use Dragon Naturally Speaking instead of typing but, as an ex-pat Scouser living in California, my accent has become so bastardized that I spend more time laughing over DNS trying to understand me than it would take to type one-handed anyway! Anyway, it's only 3 weeks so I can be grateful it's not permanent. Does anyone else have some (hopefully funny) stories of using computers with some kind of activity restriction?
Hey, there's some very interesting stuff on the Wikipedia page for 'chorded keyboard' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorded\_keyboard), like the 'minimal chorded keyboard'; just half of a QWERTY keyboard where you hit space simultaneously to use key from the missing half. It'd be pretty nice in any case, to have a typing device that's still fast, but requires only one hand (and doesn't cause massive RSI). Another thing that may be of help is shortcut software - I use AutoItScript (a kind of structured Basic with lots of hooks into Windows and a decent API) for some utilities on my Windows work machine, but it may come in handy to map one-hand-unfriendly key/mouse combos to small shortcuts.
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I've just found out that I've got to have surgery to repair two tears in the rotator cuff on my right shoulder. I had similar surgery on my left shoulder some years back while I was between jobs, so I was able to recover at my own pace. Also, I know what the recovery involves (3 days not moving, 3 weeks in a sling, 4 months building up range of motion, 4 months building up strength). This time, I don't have the luxury to be off-work during my recovery (apart from the 1st 3 days) as I'm hourly-paid. So I'm learning to do everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) one-handed. I'm left handed anyway, but - up to now - I've used my right hand for a lot of stuff. I moused with my right hand, and using my left instead took a lot of getting used to. I ended up not changing the buttons round because I do a lot of remote desktopping and, while I do, the buttons revert to their default state. I've got a game where a left-click builds a wall and a right-click knocks a wall down ... I've been getting it hopelessly wrong :doh: I expected that wiping my butt with my left hand rather than my right as usual would be a problem, but I'm adapting well :-D - the problem is pulling up my pants and doing up my belt one-handed afterwards. Back to coding ... CTRL-ALT-DEL causes a problem, as does using the num pad (I moved my portable pad on my laptop over to my left, but my office keyboard is a pain [literally]). Someone suggested I use Dragon Naturally Speaking instead of typing but, as an ex-pat Scouser living in California, my accent has become so bastardized that I spend more time laughing over DNS trying to understand me than it would take to type one-handed anyway! Anyway, it's only 3 weeks so I can be grateful it's not permanent. Does anyone else have some (hopefully funny) stories of using computers with some kind of activity restriction?
Broke my wrist back during the summer. I live alone and the worst thing was trying to wash dishes (no dishwasher), without taking a bath in the process. I ended up with a wet shirt, wet pants, and had to mop the floor afterward. It was not my right hand (which is my dominate hand), it was my left, so a little easier there, i could not imagine trying to do the dishes with my left hand. After that I ate out for a good while.
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I've just found out that I've got to have surgery to repair two tears in the rotator cuff on my right shoulder. I had similar surgery on my left shoulder some years back while I was between jobs, so I was able to recover at my own pace. Also, I know what the recovery involves (3 days not moving, 3 weeks in a sling, 4 months building up range of motion, 4 months building up strength). This time, I don't have the luxury to be off-work during my recovery (apart from the 1st 3 days) as I'm hourly-paid. So I'm learning to do everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) one-handed. I'm left handed anyway, but - up to now - I've used my right hand for a lot of stuff. I moused with my right hand, and using my left instead took a lot of getting used to. I ended up not changing the buttons round because I do a lot of remote desktopping and, while I do, the buttons revert to their default state. I've got a game where a left-click builds a wall and a right-click knocks a wall down ... I've been getting it hopelessly wrong :doh: I expected that wiping my butt with my left hand rather than my right as usual would be a problem, but I'm adapting well :-D - the problem is pulling up my pants and doing up my belt one-handed afterwards. Back to coding ... CTRL-ALT-DEL causes a problem, as does using the num pad (I moved my portable pad on my laptop over to my left, but my office keyboard is a pain [literally]). Someone suggested I use Dragon Naturally Speaking instead of typing but, as an ex-pat Scouser living in California, my accent has become so bastardized that I spend more time laughing over DNS trying to understand me than it would take to type one-handed anyway! Anyway, it's only 3 weeks so I can be grateful it's not permanent. Does anyone else have some (hopefully funny) stories of using computers with some kind of activity restriction?
One of my colleagues had hand trouble and the company bought him a FrogPad keyboard. (http://frogpad.com) He said it didn't take too long to get used to it, and he was impressed with how fast he could still type. After his hands got better, he did switch back to a normal keyboard because it was faster. Another coworker tried Dragon Naturally Speaking for several months. It's good for writing letters, but not for writing computer code (because of all the punctuation, function/variable names, etc.).
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ian dennis wrote:
I got sticky keys working ... thanks for the advice, does exactly what I wanted it to
Glad to be of help. :cool:
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
The QLiner it´s very easy to use and you can adapt the hotkeys for left handed. At the link you can find a tutorial also. www.qliner.com/hotkeys Good Luck.
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The QLiner it´s very easy to use and you can adapt the hotkeys for left handed. At the link you can find a tutorial also. www.qliner.com/hotkeys Good Luck.
this thread's old enough that the OP probably won't see it unless you post it in reply to one of his messages (for email notification).
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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this thread's old enough that the OP probably won't see it unless you post it in reply to one of his messages (for email notification).
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
Oh, ok, I´m sorry. Thanks
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You'll be lucky ... 9 months to get shoulder strength back too 100%
The QLiner it´s very easy to use and you can adapt the hotkeys for left handed. At the link you can find a tutorial also. www.qliner.com/hotkeys Best Luck.