I was working on my curriculum vitae and suddenly it started displaying Hebrew when I typed. It was a little freaky. I forgot that I had both Hebrew and Spanish keyboards installed in addition to US English, mainly because I was doing both in Duolingo. Haven't worked on the Hebrew in a while, so I didn't even remember having it.
Showing posts with label Keyboards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Keyboards. Show all posts
Saturday, February 11, 2023
Thursday, October 27, 2016
I'm trying
to make things more ergonomic at home as well as work, to be better for my neck. To that end, I've hooked up an external keyboard to my laptop, and I went by YKWIA's and got one of my monitors (I have two, one with the desktop he has borrowed, and one that he had borrowed before his desktop tanked). I found a nice, sturdy box to elevate the monitor, which doesn't adjust normally, that my Bulova clock came in when I reached my ten-year anniversary at the hospital. (Yes, I have kept this box for nearly 10 years, without using it for anything. Have I mentioned I'm a hoarder?) Unfortunately, I forgot to get the power cord to the monitor, so I can't hook it up just yet, and I apparently didn't hoard an extra monitor power cord, and so I have the entire laptop up on the box, which does better for looking at the laptop screen. Just having my normal ergonomic keyboard on its tray should help.
Today my neck, shoulders, and arm have been pretty painful. I have taken ibuprofen, arthritis Tylenol (not at the same time), used the muscle rub--nothing has come close to taking it away. The muscle rub actually does best, because I think it actually gets to the nerves, as opposed to the oral medicine. I will have to go back and look at last night's post that I did while under the influence of the muscle relaxers. I remember it being damn difficult to type. I was also waiting for my bread to bake, and it had something like 12 minutes still on it, and I was trying to patiently wait while practically falling over. So the relaxers do make me loopy after all. I definitely cannot take them till bedtime tonight--I'm getting A, who is doing a special shift at work, at midnight, and I certainly can't drive if I take them.
Today was good. I was as productive at work as one in severe pain could be, and I got all sorts of things done. I found out that they can participate in DOCLINE (the National Network of Libraries of Medicine's interlibrary loan system) even after I'm gone and there is no longer a library, because they will have access to enough electronic journals that if they're willing to lend, they can borrow as well. That gives research and other clinical staff access to the information they need.
I also paid some bills, went to my allergist, got my shots, went to the grocery store, and took a care package over to YKWIA (and picked up the monitor, sans cord). I now have a Halloween costume to wear to work Monday. I'm going to wear my Miskatonic University School of Library Science t-shirt, with a headband I got at Kroger with light-up tentacles. Yes. A graduate student who has read too much, most likely. I have a box that looks like a large book, and I'm thinking of putting something on it (that's removable) that says Necronomicon. There's only one person at work that I know who has read HP Lovecraft, so most people really won't get it, but they'll like the headband, anyway. :) That's the second Cthulhoid costume I've worn to the hospital, the first being Great Cthulhu himself.
Alright, I've hooked up the keyboard, I've eaten. Now I am going to put away the rest of the groceries, queue up some music through the Bluetooth headphones, and start folding clothes, after rubbing some more of that stuff on my neck and shoulders. It really is the best option. I should have gotten some more while at Kroger's. Oh, well. Tomorrow is another day.
Today my neck, shoulders, and arm have been pretty painful. I have taken ibuprofen, arthritis Tylenol (not at the same time), used the muscle rub--nothing has come close to taking it away. The muscle rub actually does best, because I think it actually gets to the nerves, as opposed to the oral medicine. I will have to go back and look at last night's post that I did while under the influence of the muscle relaxers. I remember it being damn difficult to type. I was also waiting for my bread to bake, and it had something like 12 minutes still on it, and I was trying to patiently wait while practically falling over. So the relaxers do make me loopy after all. I definitely cannot take them till bedtime tonight--I'm getting A, who is doing a special shift at work, at midnight, and I certainly can't drive if I take them.
Today was good. I was as productive at work as one in severe pain could be, and I got all sorts of things done. I found out that they can participate in DOCLINE (the National Network of Libraries of Medicine's interlibrary loan system) even after I'm gone and there is no longer a library, because they will have access to enough electronic journals that if they're willing to lend, they can borrow as well. That gives research and other clinical staff access to the information they need.
I also paid some bills, went to my allergist, got my shots, went to the grocery store, and took a care package over to YKWIA (and picked up the monitor, sans cord). I now have a Halloween costume to wear to work Monday. I'm going to wear my Miskatonic University School of Library Science t-shirt, with a headband I got at Kroger with light-up tentacles. Yes. A graduate student who has read too much, most likely. I have a box that looks like a large book, and I'm thinking of putting something on it (that's removable) that says Necronomicon. There's only one person at work that I know who has read HP Lovecraft, so most people really won't get it, but they'll like the headband, anyway. :) That's the second Cthulhoid costume I've worn to the hospital, the first being Great Cthulhu himself.
Alright, I've hooked up the keyboard, I've eaten. Now I am going to put away the rest of the groceries, queue up some music through the Bluetooth headphones, and start folding clothes, after rubbing some more of that stuff on my neck and shoulders. It really is the best option. I should have gotten some more while at Kroger's. Oh, well. Tomorrow is another day.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Well, I made it home
which is remarkable, as I'm on mile 16 of my gas light, and the car was idling a little funny while sitting in traffic. YKWIA wanted me to help him with something, but I won't have any gas money until tomorrow and couldn't take a chance of getting stuck somewhere, so hopefully he'll be okay. We do have plans together tomorrow, though. I had a fairly slow day at work, although I did help a co-worker who was having some trouble in Microsoft Excel by finding a partial solution in an e-book I have on Excel on my Kindle. I came home, opened the last of the tuna, and ate it with some mustard and dressing on crackers. Terminix is coming tomorrow, so I'm going to work on the dining room, which is covered in clean, folded but as-of-yet-not-put-away laundry. Most of the rest of the apartment is fine, except the bedroom, and I'll just shut the door to it. :) But I may work on that, a bit, too.
I'm having a little trouble with keyboards. See, on any given day I type on an ergonomic keyboard at work, a normal one at YKWIA's (although his has almost all the letters rubbed off, and even though I touch type, that can be an issue), a swiping 'virtual' keyboard on phone or tablet, a small Bluetooth keyboard for phone or tablet, the laptop keyboard, which is smaller than a normal one, but larger than the Bluetooth, and then there's the rudimentary keyboard on my Kindle. I think all of this typing on many different platforms is affecting my ability, because the placement of the fingers is different for each one. So if you notice any typos, you'll hopefully understand. Actually, the 'backspace' and 'delete' keys are reversed on the Bluetooth and laptop keyboards, and if I am at an odd angle (like now) on the bed, I touch the touchpad of the laptop accidentally with the heel of my hand, and bad things happen, indeed.
One last thing, for now: I want to wish my Uncle Ed and Aunt Sharon a wonderful 53rd anniversary. You make a great couple.
I'm having a little trouble with keyboards. See, on any given day I type on an ergonomic keyboard at work, a normal one at YKWIA's (although his has almost all the letters rubbed off, and even though I touch type, that can be an issue), a swiping 'virtual' keyboard on phone or tablet, a small Bluetooth keyboard for phone or tablet, the laptop keyboard, which is smaller than a normal one, but larger than the Bluetooth, and then there's the rudimentary keyboard on my Kindle. I think all of this typing on many different platforms is affecting my ability, because the placement of the fingers is different for each one. So if you notice any typos, you'll hopefully understand. Actually, the 'backspace' and 'delete' keys are reversed on the Bluetooth and laptop keyboards, and if I am at an odd angle (like now) on the bed, I touch the touchpad of the laptop accidentally with the heel of my hand, and bad things happen, indeed.
One last thing, for now: I want to wish my Uncle Ed and Aunt Sharon a wonderful 53rd anniversary. You make a great couple.
Saturday, August 01, 2015
Today I:
- Took a friend to the grocery.
- Helped another with some issues he was having.
- Took a nap.
- Cleaned my desktop keyboard.
- Did the game notes.
- Copied music from my phone to the desktop.
- Checked the music on the laptop to see if it was up to date.
- Removed some duplicates.
- Backed up the documents, music, pictures, and videos from the desktop to an external hard drive.
- Made some macaroni and cheese.
- Baked some oatmeal bread (yummy!)
- Loaded the dishwasher and did a load.
- Straightened up a bit here and there.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
I really need to stop eating at the computer
I just vacuumed out the keyboard with a little device I probably bought twenty years ago, then took alcohol swabs and cleaned the ergonomic keyboard I have at home thoroughly, and also the mouse. I got a lot of crumbs out of the keys, some schmutz, and generally got to see how icky the stuff that came off on the swabs was. It was getting to the point where my keys were sticking and kind of gross to try to type on. Now the keyboard is much happier. It's kind of weird because in addition to being curved for an ergonomic fit, it has buttons for things like the calculator, back, forward, to bring up the Internet or mail programs, or even zoom in. I don't use those special buttons much, but they are useful.
So what I wound up doing tonight was getting some rest (I didn't really nap, I just got off my feet and spent a little time under the fan relaxing). Then I went to Kroger and got some very healthy things like veggies, fruit, orange juice, cheese, and Morningstar Farms products. Most everything was on sale, so I scooted in at a fairly low price (not the $29 mentioned in the earlier article, but still, less than I normally spend). I'm trying to save as much as I can for bills.
I dropped some creamer off at my friends' house (half-and-half is a staple there), then came on home and put all the groceries away. A wants me to do some political research, and I couldn't stand the thought of typing on the dirty keyboard much longer, so I went ahead and cleaned it. Part of the problem is it's too high to go under my desk on the drawer, so it's always exposed to anything that I'm doing. But on further examination I've found that the front piece that makes it so high actually comes off, and so when the that's removed and the legs are put down, the whole thing does, in fact, slide under the drawer. Eureka! I think it's more comfortable for it not to be elevated as well. Thank you Microsoft for allowing it to be customised. And I still have the wrist rest and all the special buttons. Silly that I never really looked at the bottom (I only did because I noticed a tag saying there was a health warning under there) to see that the front piece had tabs and slid off. Instead I've been, if I wanted to slide the drawer in, propping the keyboard vertically on the floor against the computer tower/print stand.
I got some Vitamin D while I was at the store. I'm supposed to take 2000 IUs as directed by my doctor, since I'm deficient in Vitamin D (apparently many people are, as I know several people who have been on it or told to take it). So I got some of that because I'd been out for awhile, and went to put the tablets into my pill bottle with the rest of them, and they're not tablets, but tiny capsules, akin to Vitamin E, but smaller. This is going to be fun to juggle in the morning. On the other hand, they go down much easier, I'm sure. That makes a total of seven injections of three different medicines, thirteen pills (eleven medicines), an inhaler, allergy eye drops, a chewable multi-vitamin, and a nasal spray that I"m taking, although the inhaler is as needed. In the summer months I add another couple of pills since my ankles swell in hot weather. Oh, and an Epi-Pen when I start my allergy shots in a week or so. Plus diabetic supplies such as glucose meter, test strips, lancets, pen needles, etc. Thank God for health insurance (which covers everything but the vitamins), and also cell phone applications that will tell you when to take all this stuff. This is one reason I'm so concerned about the loss of my job when the hospital downsizes to an ambulatory medical centre in two years, and also why, if I don't find a decent job by then with benefits, I am happy that Obamacare is an option, because in the old days they would have just denied me health insurance due to my pre-existing conditions.
Okay, I suppose I should go do that research A wants me to do. He wants to know more about the candidates running for Kentucky offices before the primary in May. I should educate myself, too, so we'll just kill two birds with one stone there.
So what I wound up doing tonight was getting some rest (I didn't really nap, I just got off my feet and spent a little time under the fan relaxing). Then I went to Kroger and got some very healthy things like veggies, fruit, orange juice, cheese, and Morningstar Farms products. Most everything was on sale, so I scooted in at a fairly low price (not the $29 mentioned in the earlier article, but still, less than I normally spend). I'm trying to save as much as I can for bills.
I dropped some creamer off at my friends' house (half-and-half is a staple there), then came on home and put all the groceries away. A wants me to do some political research, and I couldn't stand the thought of typing on the dirty keyboard much longer, so I went ahead and cleaned it. Part of the problem is it's too high to go under my desk on the drawer, so it's always exposed to anything that I'm doing. But on further examination I've found that the front piece that makes it so high actually comes off, and so when the that's removed and the legs are put down, the whole thing does, in fact, slide under the drawer. Eureka! I think it's more comfortable for it not to be elevated as well. Thank you Microsoft for allowing it to be customised. And I still have the wrist rest and all the special buttons. Silly that I never really looked at the bottom (I only did because I noticed a tag saying there was a health warning under there) to see that the front piece had tabs and slid off. Instead I've been, if I wanted to slide the drawer in, propping the keyboard vertically on the floor against the computer tower/print stand.
I got some Vitamin D while I was at the store. I'm supposed to take 2000 IUs as directed by my doctor, since I'm deficient in Vitamin D (apparently many people are, as I know several people who have been on it or told to take it). So I got some of that because I'd been out for awhile, and went to put the tablets into my pill bottle with the rest of them, and they're not tablets, but tiny capsules, akin to Vitamin E, but smaller. This is going to be fun to juggle in the morning. On the other hand, they go down much easier, I'm sure. That makes a total of seven injections of three different medicines, thirteen pills (eleven medicines), an inhaler, allergy eye drops, a chewable multi-vitamin, and a nasal spray that I"m taking, although the inhaler is as needed. In the summer months I add another couple of pills since my ankles swell in hot weather. Oh, and an Epi-Pen when I start my allergy shots in a week or so. Plus diabetic supplies such as glucose meter, test strips, lancets, pen needles, etc. Thank God for health insurance (which covers everything but the vitamins), and also cell phone applications that will tell you when to take all this stuff. This is one reason I'm so concerned about the loss of my job when the hospital downsizes to an ambulatory medical centre in two years, and also why, if I don't find a decent job by then with benefits, I am happy that Obamacare is an option, because in the old days they would have just denied me health insurance due to my pre-existing conditions.
Okay, I suppose I should go do that research A wants me to do. He wants to know more about the candidates running for Kentucky offices before the primary in May. I should educate myself, too, so we'll just kill two birds with one stone there.
Saturday, February 07, 2015
A productive yet beautiful day
I don't think we quite made it into the 60s this afternoon, but it came very close, anyway. This morning I went to the pharmacy and got some medicine. Then I took a friend by his tax preparer, a woman who works out not too far from my apartment. While he was in there, I sat in the car, parked there on the street, and listened further into my audiobook. I stopped by Tire Discounters and they topped off the nitrogen in my tyres, and then we stopped over by my apartment so I could pick up something. We went back to his house, where I installed their housewarming gift (ten years late, but hey...), and then we made a grocery list, and headed over to the Euclid Kroger, where we parked on the roof and shopped, going down the escalator on the way down and the large elevator for the carts on the way back up. We put the groceries away, and then YKWIA watched some videos on YouTube and the movie we had out from the Netflix DVD queue--Inception, which I very much enjoyed. I didn't find it difficult to follow at all, and it seemed fairly consistent within itself. YKWIA and I agreed that the ending, which was deliberately shot to leave a question in the mind of the viewer, nevertheless is not ambiguous at all, given very clear clues to indicate whether the ending takes place in dream and reality. Anyway, I really liked it. The next one up is technically Lucy, but that is not actually released until Tuesday, which is the day Inception should arrive back at Netflix, so it may bump to the next one, Maleficent.
After the movie, we watched a few more YouTube videos, and then I headed home. Now I'm listening to the radio and just hanging out at home, trying to fix a sticking keyboard. (The Y and U are depressing at the same time, and sometimes the H or 7. I have an ergonomic keyboard, and unlike regular ones, apparently you can't just pop off a key to fix it. Usually the more I type, the better it gets. But I'm doing a lot of backspacing as a result.) I'm burning a lavender and cedar wood candle because my apartment smells like the cigarette that's seeping in through the bathroom somehow from upstairs. It's so strong I sprayed some lavender room and body mist in there. I hope it helps. I hate cigarette smoke. At least it's not cigar smoke. That makes me physically ill and when I'm near someone smoking a cigar I want to just puke on them. Of course, I feel the same way about people who wear strong musk perfume. :)
I also heard from my mother tonight right after the movie ended, and we chatted for awhile, mostly about our shared klutziness (she hurt a finger badly recently). I told her about my upcoming trip and a little bit about work.
Tomorrow we're not playing the Call of Cthulhu game because Brenda has a Society for Creative Anachronism Shire function instead. But I'm going over later than normal to my friends' house and doing the normal housework and then I think YKWIA has some things in mind to do, but I haven't been let in on the plan yet.
I don't have anything particularly exciting lined up this week at work or after. There's class on Wednesday, of course. The week after I'm off work for Presidents' Day, class, and a doctor's appointment.
Okay, I think I'll work on something for awhile, then maybe do some reading or book-listening before bed. I have several 14-day books due on Monday, non-fiction ones, and I'd like to go through them before I return them. Good night, if I don't write again tonight.
After the movie, we watched a few more YouTube videos, and then I headed home. Now I'm listening to the radio and just hanging out at home, trying to fix a sticking keyboard. (The Y and U are depressing at the same time, and sometimes the H or 7. I have an ergonomic keyboard, and unlike regular ones, apparently you can't just pop off a key to fix it. Usually the more I type, the better it gets. But I'm doing a lot of backspacing as a result.) I'm burning a lavender and cedar wood candle because my apartment smells like the cigarette that's seeping in through the bathroom somehow from upstairs. It's so strong I sprayed some lavender room and body mist in there. I hope it helps. I hate cigarette smoke. At least it's not cigar smoke. That makes me physically ill and when I'm near someone smoking a cigar I want to just puke on them. Of course, I feel the same way about people who wear strong musk perfume. :)
I also heard from my mother tonight right after the movie ended, and we chatted for awhile, mostly about our shared klutziness (she hurt a finger badly recently). I told her about my upcoming trip and a little bit about work.
Tomorrow we're not playing the Call of Cthulhu game because Brenda has a Society for Creative Anachronism Shire function instead. But I'm going over later than normal to my friends' house and doing the normal housework and then I think YKWIA has some things in mind to do, but I haven't been let in on the plan yet.
I don't have anything particularly exciting lined up this week at work or after. There's class on Wednesday, of course. The week after I'm off work for Presidents' Day, class, and a doctor's appointment.
Okay, I think I'll work on something for awhile, then maybe do some reading or book-listening before bed. I have several 14-day books due on Monday, non-fiction ones, and I'd like to go through them before I return them. Good night, if I don't write again tonight.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Quite a storm has come up
I stopped by YKWIA's after work for just a bit to help him with something and then went over to Office Depot looking for a USB headset with microphone to use tomorrow for a meeting of the Kentucky Medical Library Association via GoToMeeting. I just couldn't justify a drive to Louisville and back for a three-hour meeting when I've got data entry to do, especially since, due to some issues today, I'm behind on putting the data in, so I'll have to catch up tomorrow morning.
I got some things over at Office Depot and came out of the store just as the sprinkling began, with the clouds very dark, lightning striking in the distance, and a flash flood/thunderstorm warning issued on my phone. From Woodhill to about Speedway on Richmond Road the skies had opened up in a deluge, but I drove ahead of the storm, got in the house without getting very wet, and now it's very dark outside and I suspect the more rain is coming. My across-the-hall neighbour has fixed some form of Indian food that smells wonderful. I'm eating a bit of pimiento cheese with crackers and a banana. It is sad by comparison. But I should be going over to Masala in Beaumont for some tasty Indian food soon with friends.
There are some things I need to do around the house tonight, but they'll have to wait until the storm clears. My keyboard is acting a bit weird, typing slowly at times like the buffer or connexion is messed up whenever I backspace, so I think I'll sign off of here for just a bit. It's a little odd, as it is a wired ergonomic keyboard. It may be somehow related to the storm. I'll write later.
I got some things over at Office Depot and came out of the store just as the sprinkling began, with the clouds very dark, lightning striking in the distance, and a flash flood/thunderstorm warning issued on my phone. From Woodhill to about Speedway on Richmond Road the skies had opened up in a deluge, but I drove ahead of the storm, got in the house without getting very wet, and now it's very dark outside and I suspect the more rain is coming. My across-the-hall neighbour has fixed some form of Indian food that smells wonderful. I'm eating a bit of pimiento cheese with crackers and a banana. It is sad by comparison. But I should be going over to Masala in Beaumont for some tasty Indian food soon with friends.
There are some things I need to do around the house tonight, but they'll have to wait until the storm clears. My keyboard is acting a bit weird, typing slowly at times like the buffer or connexion is messed up whenever I backspace, so I think I'll sign off of here for just a bit. It's a little odd, as it is a wired ergonomic keyboard. It may be somehow related to the storm. I'll write later.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Doing some general computer maintenance
I got the laptop back today from the couple who borrowed it a few months ago, so now I'm downloading various updates, making sure it's got some protection on it, setting it back up on my wi-fi network, etc. It's taken a couple of hours but I'm almost finished.
Today I ran some errands with a friend after work, hitting Lowe's, Fayette Mall, Meijer, Kroger, and Subway all in the Nicholasville Road area during rush hour, but cleverly avoiding most of the traffic. I discovered that A startles very easy at the least little thing (loud noise in the next car, or a car he perceives as too close), making these horrible, panicked gasping noises that then startle me. He doesn't drive, and he's just not used to traffic, mainly riding on the bus. I showed him the new bus stop at Fayette Mall, which is in a stupid place, out on the service road in the back over by Dick's Sporting Goods. It has been at the entrance to Macy's for awhile, and before that at the main mall entrance. Apparently the move was requested by the mall and Macy's. So they've put it in a place without any shelter from the elements and heavy traffic. Heaven help you if you're in a wheelchair, or have small children with you, or the like. Mark my words, someone's going to get hurt due to this.
Tomorrow I get dressed up all fancy and go to my friends' vow renewal on their tenth wedding anniversary. I had to go to Lane Bryant today and get the last piece of my outfit, some Spanx hose. I'll try to get Brandon to take a picture of me in my finery after the event and post it here. I don't get to dress up much. I've sort of vacillated back and forth about how I feel about the event, given all the fuss, stress, and money for just a few hours of fun, but I know it's very important to them, and after all, it is their day. I definitely want to be there. Plus I get to meet their friends and family.
I forgot that typing on the laptop takes some getting used to. I use four different kinds of keyboards on a daily basis: my ergonomic keyboard on my desktop, the Swype keyboard on my phone and tablet, a regular keyboard at my work desktop, and then the laptop. There seems to be a bit of a lag on the laptop right now and I'm finding that between that and the placement of the letters being somewhat more compact that I'm backspacing almost as much as I'm typing.
I think I'll check on the computer's progress with its various tasks and then turn in for the night. Here's hoping we don't have any truly horrible storms. There's still the possibility of a derecho event, especially a bit north of us. It's possible we'll get storms tonight and tomorrow morning. It's supposed to clear up after that, which would be great for the vow renewal. Good night.
Today I ran some errands with a friend after work, hitting Lowe's, Fayette Mall, Meijer, Kroger, and Subway all in the Nicholasville Road area during rush hour, but cleverly avoiding most of the traffic. I discovered that A startles very easy at the least little thing (loud noise in the next car, or a car he perceives as too close), making these horrible, panicked gasping noises that then startle me. He doesn't drive, and he's just not used to traffic, mainly riding on the bus. I showed him the new bus stop at Fayette Mall, which is in a stupid place, out on the service road in the back over by Dick's Sporting Goods. It has been at the entrance to Macy's for awhile, and before that at the main mall entrance. Apparently the move was requested by the mall and Macy's. So they've put it in a place without any shelter from the elements and heavy traffic. Heaven help you if you're in a wheelchair, or have small children with you, or the like. Mark my words, someone's going to get hurt due to this.
Tomorrow I get dressed up all fancy and go to my friends' vow renewal on their tenth wedding anniversary. I had to go to Lane Bryant today and get the last piece of my outfit, some Spanx hose. I'll try to get Brandon to take a picture of me in my finery after the event and post it here. I don't get to dress up much. I've sort of vacillated back and forth about how I feel about the event, given all the fuss, stress, and money for just a few hours of fun, but I know it's very important to them, and after all, it is their day. I definitely want to be there. Plus I get to meet their friends and family.
I forgot that typing on the laptop takes some getting used to. I use four different kinds of keyboards on a daily basis: my ergonomic keyboard on my desktop, the Swype keyboard on my phone and tablet, a regular keyboard at my work desktop, and then the laptop. There seems to be a bit of a lag on the laptop right now and I'm finding that between that and the placement of the letters being somewhat more compact that I'm backspacing almost as much as I'm typing.
I think I'll check on the computer's progress with its various tasks and then turn in for the night. Here's hoping we don't have any truly horrible storms. There's still the possibility of a derecho event, especially a bit north of us. It's possible we'll get storms tonight and tomorrow morning. It's supposed to clear up after that, which would be great for the vow renewal. Good night.
Friday, March 22, 2013
I know the idea of open letters is rather laughable
As it's not like the big companies ever read little blogs like mine, so what's the point of writing such a letter? So I won't. I'll just make a complaint.
Today I decided to get a new keyboard, one that is more ergonomically designed. I chose the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000, which includes a lot of programmable buttons that can be used for things like zooming, spell-check, calculator, opening mail, favourites, printing, various things. To use these features, you install a program called Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center. I've used the same program when installing a friend's mouse, and didn't think twice about it. Turns out that in doing so, it reset my mouse buttons, on a non-Microsoft mouse (it's my original one that came with my computer to the default, so that it became a right-hand mouse. Now, although I am, indeed, right-handed, I use the mouse with left-handed settings both at work and at home in an effort to reduce strain on my wrists (hello, the main reason I bought an ergonomic keyboard, and since my right wrist is worse and the number pad is on the right, I balance with the mouse on the left). I thought, fine, I'll go back into the mouse settings and change them back. That is no longer possible, as any attempt to use the mouse settings through regular Windows 8 brings up a box that says 'change mouse settings' and it goes straight to the Mouse and Keyboard Center, which, since it is not a Microsoft mouse, is useless as the hardware does not appear as an option. So, it overrode the button settings I had, then took away my way to make things better. This leaves me with the choice of getting a Microsoft mouse, or reverting to right-handed use. The latter would not be particularly bad, except every other computer I use is set to left-handed use. On the other hand, at the moment, inconvenienced as I am, I'm not feeling the urge to go out and buy a Microsoft mouse. Now, I doubt Microsoft did this on purpose to irritate left-handers and righties who happen to be somewhat ambidextrous, but it still stinks. I've left a comment on one of their forums. Maybe if enough of us do, they'll update the software in some fashion to alleviate the issue. Unfortunately, I don't really believe that.
Today I decided to get a new keyboard, one that is more ergonomically designed. I chose the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000, which includes a lot of programmable buttons that can be used for things like zooming, spell-check, calculator, opening mail, favourites, printing, various things. To use these features, you install a program called Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center. I've used the same program when installing a friend's mouse, and didn't think twice about it. Turns out that in doing so, it reset my mouse buttons, on a non-Microsoft mouse (it's my original one that came with my computer to the default, so that it became a right-hand mouse. Now, although I am, indeed, right-handed, I use the mouse with left-handed settings both at work and at home in an effort to reduce strain on my wrists (hello, the main reason I bought an ergonomic keyboard, and since my right wrist is worse and the number pad is on the right, I balance with the mouse on the left). I thought, fine, I'll go back into the mouse settings and change them back. That is no longer possible, as any attempt to use the mouse settings through regular Windows 8 brings up a box that says 'change mouse settings' and it goes straight to the Mouse and Keyboard Center, which, since it is not a Microsoft mouse, is useless as the hardware does not appear as an option. So, it overrode the button settings I had, then took away my way to make things better. This leaves me with the choice of getting a Microsoft mouse, or reverting to right-handed use. The latter would not be particularly bad, except every other computer I use is set to left-handed use. On the other hand, at the moment, inconvenienced as I am, I'm not feeling the urge to go out and buy a Microsoft mouse. Now, I doubt Microsoft did this on purpose to irritate left-handers and righties who happen to be somewhat ambidextrous, but it still stinks. I've left a comment on one of their forums. Maybe if enough of us do, they'll update the software in some fashion to alleviate the issue. Unfortunately, I don't really believe that.
Thursday, August 09, 2012
I have a new gadget
It's the Targus AKB33US Bluetooth keyboard. I'm using it to type this entry on my tablet. This is actually quite a nice little keyboard. You just have to remember that the backspace is in the upper right corner and is smaller than the delete key, which is right under it. Some people have complained about that, but really it's not hard to adjust.
So far it's staying connected with no problem. The first time you connect, you turn the Bluetooth on your device on, turn on the keyboard, press the connectivity button, and it 'discovers' the keyboard. You type in the numbers indicated on the screen, and then you're connected. After that, the device remembers the keyboard and you don't have to type in the numbers. Or at least that's how it works with an Android device.
The on/off switch is on the bottom of the keyboard and therefore it might be harder to remember to turn off the keyboard when finished. The keyboard takes two 'AAA' batteries. The ones that came with mine were Toys R' Us brand, which I thought funny. :)
What the keyboard didn't come with was any sort of guide, but I had already found that on the Targus website before I ordered, when I was trying to find out if it was compatible with my device. According to Targus, it is compatible with any Android device running Android OS version 2.3. It is also compatible with the iPad and several other types of tablets as well, so it's not just for Android tablets.
The feel to the tablet is pretty decent; it's easy to type on, and isn't too sensitive or not enough. I highly recommend it. And at $35 from Amazon (as opposed to the $60 I found elsewhere), it's much less than getting a laptop I do not really need.
Supposedly you can type from up to 30 feet away. I'm not sure why you would want to, but it's nice that it doesn't have to be right at the device to do anything.
It would have been nice to have some sort of case for it; fortunately I have something it will fit in. Some keyboards come with a stand for the tablet; this one doesn't, but then my cover for my tablet stands, so I didn't need one. So I'm pretty happy with my purchase.
Friday, August 03, 2012
The application saga
I bought an application for Android through Amazon called Relax Melodies Premium, by Ipnos Software. I had tried the free version first and realy liked it. But when I opened the premium version on my tablet, it only had 36 sounds on it, much less than the 80-some-odd advertised.
Not to be deterred, I contacted Ipnos Software, and the tech support folks were really helpful. Turns out there was an update that fixed the problem that some devices were having, but it wasn't up on Amazon yet, so one of them sent me a link to the update that I could download and install from. I did so, and had instant success.
Then I noticed there were updates from Amazon. I thought oh, they updated their software there, so I went ahead and downloaded all the various application downloads listed. The Relax Melodies Premium is one of those that will totally uninstall before installing. So I hit yes, and then went into the application, and things were right back to how it used to be. Apparently since the versions didn't match, Amazon assumed there was an update needed. Argh!
So I uninstalled that and went to that link from before, but they had removed the file (which makes sense, as some people might just publicise it, as it was just something at Dropbox). Then I remembered that since I had actually downloaded the file, it should still be in downloads. I found it with my tablet's file manager, clicked on it, and yay, it re-installed without a problem and it's back to the way it should be. I'll just ignore any update requests until I'm sure it's a higher version.
Speaking of the tablet, I was thinking about a project I really need to work on that involves some word processing at another person's house. I had considered getting a laptop, but that seemed a bit excessive, as my desktop does well, my apartment is small so it's not like I have to have access in every room, and the tablet could theoretically do it--it's just the swiping of a virtual keyboard that is an issue. So, I looked around and all the keyboards I could find that connected to tablets with cables wouldn't work. But there are also Bluetooth keyboards. By reading reviews I found out that one I was considering wouldn't work because the Bluetooth version is higher than my tablet's. But I found one that should, and contacted the company, which said that as long as my Android version is high enough, all should do well. So I ordered it from Amazon and it should be here in a few days. Office Depot had it for about $60. Amazon had it for $35 and has an excellent return policy should it not work, and I checked and the seller who sells through Amazon and is fulfilling the order has the same policy regarding electronics. So, wish me luck. $35 is a tenth of what I would pay for a basic laptop, so I'm hoping it will connect and work well. We'll see.
Some days I really do feel like a tech geek. :)
Not to be deterred, I contacted Ipnos Software, and the tech support folks were really helpful. Turns out there was an update that fixed the problem that some devices were having, but it wasn't up on Amazon yet, so one of them sent me a link to the update that I could download and install from. I did so, and had instant success.
Then I noticed there were updates from Amazon. I thought oh, they updated their software there, so I went ahead and downloaded all the various application downloads listed. The Relax Melodies Premium is one of those that will totally uninstall before installing. So I hit yes, and then went into the application, and things were right back to how it used to be. Apparently since the versions didn't match, Amazon assumed there was an update needed. Argh!
So I uninstalled that and went to that link from before, but they had removed the file (which makes sense, as some people might just publicise it, as it was just something at Dropbox). Then I remembered that since I had actually downloaded the file, it should still be in downloads. I found it with my tablet's file manager, clicked on it, and yay, it re-installed without a problem and it's back to the way it should be. I'll just ignore any update requests until I'm sure it's a higher version.
Speaking of the tablet, I was thinking about a project I really need to work on that involves some word processing at another person's house. I had considered getting a laptop, but that seemed a bit excessive, as my desktop does well, my apartment is small so it's not like I have to have access in every room, and the tablet could theoretically do it--it's just the swiping of a virtual keyboard that is an issue. So, I looked around and all the keyboards I could find that connected to tablets with cables wouldn't work. But there are also Bluetooth keyboards. By reading reviews I found out that one I was considering wouldn't work because the Bluetooth version is higher than my tablet's. But I found one that should, and contacted the company, which said that as long as my Android version is high enough, all should do well. So I ordered it from Amazon and it should be here in a few days. Office Depot had it for about $60. Amazon had it for $35 and has an excellent return policy should it not work, and I checked and the seller who sells through Amazon and is fulfilling the order has the same policy regarding electronics. So, wish me luck. $35 is a tenth of what I would pay for a basic laptop, so I'm hoping it will connect and work well. We'll see.
Some days I really do feel like a tech geek. :)
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