You might rememeber a few weeks back I was talking about some carpal-tunnel-like pain and numbness I was experiencing in my left hand, and how that led me to start trying Dragon NaturallySpeaking dictation software for text entry (or, as you might like to call it, “writing”).
It worked pretty well, and if that seems like something you might like, I’d recommend it. But I was finding it a little inconvenient — I like to work in coffee shops and libraries, and there’s no way I’m going to be yammering into a microphone somewhere like that.
So instead I’ve been typing with just my right hand. You ever try that? Go on, try it.
Slow, isn’t it? Your hand has to just keep moving back and forth too far over the keyboard. The layout just isn’t meant for it, obviously.
It turns out there is a keyboard layout designed for it — Dvorak for right hand. There’s nothing special I had to download to switch to it — it’s an option within Windows.
I didn’t really want to yank the keys off of my netbook and re-arrange them, so I went with the less drastic method of ordering these keyboard stickers. They weren’t super-expensive, they arrived quickly, they seem pretty durable, and they look good. Check it:
click to embiggen
The result? I’m trying it out right now — I’m writing this whole post with it. It’s actually pretty easy for me to switch, since I’ve always been a hunt-and-peck typist anyway (albeit a very fast one). I am having trouble getting used to where they’ve put the period key, and I seem to have some weird mental block about where the “G” is located. But otherwise, it seems fine.
So is this slower than typing on a standard keyboard with both hands? Oh, yeah. A lot. Mainly because I’m not used to it yet, I think. But despite my unfamiliarity, this already feels faster than one-handed typing on a regular layout. This is a promising start.
(My left hand is starting to feel better, by the way. But this will help give it the break it needs in the meantime.)
Here’s a strange little fairytale for you this week, one of my favorites. As always, please share this link with your friends, and please leave me a review if you like it. Thanks!
Don’t have a Kindle? Get one here, or download a free Kindle reading app for your PC, Mac, smartphone, or tablet!
Lost BoyAndrew ran away to The Woods to be alone, to live however he wanted. Instead, he found the brother he’d never had, which was so much better than being alone — and so much more dangerous …. Free from August 17, 2012 through August 19, 2012! Download now » This short story originally appeared in the collection “SLICES,” available now. |
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Oh, hey, look what I just found while I was doing a Google search for “Michael Montoure”1 — it’s the audio from one of the panels I was on at Crypticon back in May! The panel was called “Zombies Can’t Run & Vampires Don’t Sparkle: The Psychology of Why We Argue Over What Fictional Things Can Or Can’t Do”, with myself, Derek M. Koch, Eloise J. Knapp, Jake Stratton, Chris Saint, and Steve Holetz. (That’s me on the right there, in my fetching Friday the 13th hockey jersey.)
The audio from the panel is included as part of an episode of a podcast called Mail Order Zombie. I haven’t had a chance to listen to the whole episode yet, but the audio from the panel starts at 54 minutes and 13 seconds in.
This was a damn entertaining panel to be on — everyone on it was sharp, witty, and passionate and well-informed about the genre. (And yes, I am humbly including myself in that description.) Thought-provoking and funny stuff.
Go give it a listen: Mail Order Zombie #186 – Dust, Don Coscarelli & another Crypitcon panel (plus music by H2Awesome!)
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1. What? Oh, come on, it’s not like you never Google yourself. There’s nothing wrong with it, so long as you do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
Please share with your friends, and consider leaving me a review if you like it, won’t you?
Don’t have a Kindle? Get one here, or download a free Kindle reading app for your PC, Mac, smartphone, or tablet!
The Thirteenth BoyJohnny Lee Edwards has killed a dozen young men, and the papers are calling him a monster. If he has his way, Timothy will be the thirteenth — but Timothy has met monsters before …. Free from August 10, 2012 through August 12, 2012! Download now » This short story originally appeared in the collection “SLICES,” available now. |
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An unreliable narrator, MICHAEL MONTOURE ( montoure@bloodletters.com )
is an indie writer of horror and dark urban
fantasy. His
obsessions include hidden truths, secret dealings, and the changing and
fragile nature of our own pasts. He is known as much for his
spoken-word performances of his fiction at Seattle coffeehouses and
conventions as for the stories themselves. Currently working as a writer
and producer of the webseries Causality, he lives alone with
a gray cat by the edge of Echo Lake, Washington. ( Twitter / Facebook
/
Google+
)