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Ergonomic Mice Reviewed
Gregg writes "Most of the time these mice are marketed towards people suffering from RSI, however anyone feeling discomfort using a regular mouse should be able to switch to any of these pointing devices that were created with ergonomics, and only ergonomics in mind. TechSpot's comparison includes three products: the Perific Wireless Dual Mouse, 3M Ergonomic 'Renaissance' Mouse, and Evoluent's VerticalMouse 2." From the article: "People are sometimes under the impression that only those who work at a computer all day are at risk of repetitive stress injuries (RSI). Unfortunately that is not true and even people spending an hour or two per day using a computer are now suffering from RSI. Even if you aren't going to purchase ergonomic products for your everyday use, there are still some very helpful tips on how to lower the risk of someday suffering from RSI. Many specialists recommend taking short breaks after long periods of computer use to reduce risk. It is also a good idea to do a few quick and simple hand/wrist stretches that will help make sure you are doing your best to try and stay healthy."
Mine's the old style: furry and with a little tail. I give it a little water, some pellets twice a day, and it just runs around on its little wheel and is happy.
I gave up work!
Honestly it's the best thing I ever did. I recommend it to anyone that doesn't like working.
I used to have a better sig but it broke.
The Perific mouse looked quite cool as it can be used both as a trackball AND a mouse, and also attached to your hand while you type. I feel that even an even better way to save space is one of those touchpads used on laptops.
Mac users may want to stay away from the Evoluent mouse because you'll need to spend $20 for a USB Overdrive to program all of the buttons.
While this is certainly a good thing to be aware of, I disagree that it's a reason to avoid this mouse. First of all, USB Overdrive good software - I don't use it myself but it has a good reputation. Second, the software is not actually required to use the mouse - Mac OS X fully supports the second button for contextual menus and the wheel for scrolling, and the third button works in Safari, Firefox 1.5, and probably other apps.
Finally, just about ANY mouse is going to require this software to make use of the fourth and fifth buttons, because mouse makers don't make their own Mac drivers. Some manufacturers may bundle it instead of making you buy it separately (I think Microsoft does this), so you should definitely consider that as part of the cost of the mouse, but that doesn't mean you should avoid this mouse, or any other, just for that reason.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Might Mouse, here he comes to save the day!!
That mouse shown in the link looks weird, not only would that be uncomfortable IMHO, I couldn't stand looking at that thing. And 'taking breaks' after extended periods of use, wouldn't that lessen the time I could play EverQuest? No WAY I'd give up my gaming time just to prevent RSI, I'd rather jump off a cliff. GERRONIMO!!!!
NO~, I read Slashdot because I think it's stupid.....
...my TrackMan... I've used it for years and I don't have any problems.
I just would like to have a left-hand version of it.
I was developing RSI as a help desk support guy years ago, and switched from a right-handed mouse to a left-handed trackball. Problem solved. One nice advantage of this setup is that your keyboard actually sits directly in front of you with the 10-key hanging off of the right side. And your shoulder doesn't have to support the full weight of your arm (since you can consistently rest your wrist).
I'm on my fourth Kensington Expert Mouse -- they're expensive but I won't use anything else (at work, anyway).
I destroyed my wrists using my laptop. It took about four years for it to be really problematic, but almost overnight I started getting burning sensations in my wrists. Laptops generally encourage you (by design) to press your wrists down on the flat smooth bit in front of the keyboard, and this is an absolute killer.
I'm now using a Kinesis keyboard. It works pretty well, and I can type pretty much without pain. I have yet to find a good mouse (still using the old trackpoint nipple), but will probably invest in something like one of the ones in the article.
Does anyone have experience with the Maltron keyboards? Or other expensive ergonomic keyboards? Although the Kinesis works pretty well, I find that the function keys are hard to hit accurately, and also that the thumb keys stretch my hand too much... I suppose I should get used to moving my hand instead of stretching my thumb to hit enter, but it's difficult to maintain under pressure.
Thanks for any insight. Typing with my keyboard on my lap and my laptop raised up onto a pile of books as we speak. Or as you read and I write. Or whatever.
P.S. To application developers: keyboard-only accessibility is really important to people with RSI like me...
The mouse supports a conventional grip and a grip with both hands. I already hate lifting a hand off of the keyboard, now I've to life both hands to use the mouse. That's bound to be annoying. Instead I'll continue doing what I do currently - I keep changing the hand I use for mouse after every few days. Works fine for me. No RSIs after doing this for 4 yrs now with about 8-10 hrs of daily computer use.
sarchasm
Trackballs, as someone's mentioned, are the way to go. You might have to try a couple before you find the one that works for you (Kensington Orbit, Logitech Trackman, etc.), but it's worth the try. Several injured people in my office have switched and are happier.
What I am annoyed about (it's always something, innit?) is that there are NO Bluetooth trackballs! Hello Logitech! It might be a small segment of your market, but I think there are enough of us who are very, very interested. Especially to go with our shiny new iMacs and their wireless BT keyboards. My trackball cord is abotu the only one in sight on my desktop, but a BT version is the only thing I'd trade it for. Neither Kensington nor Logitech seem to be interested.
(There is one weird-looking, unappealing BT trackball image circulating, but I have yet to hear of anyone actually finding it for purchase, and what I really want is one of the two more common trackballs.)
Seriously, I'm a Model M keyboard nut, and I'm just as comitted to my trackball. These things are like gold on eBay (no relation to seller). If you haven't used one of these (set the upper white thumb button to dounle-click), you haven't lived. This is the best pointer device I've ever used.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
My personal favourite, the MouseTrapper. Completely mechanic, can use whatever old mouse you have lying around, and the motion you use are completely different from a regular mouse. It also doesn't break. I personally cannot use any mouse, not even those 'ergonomic' ones, as I will feel it in my wrists in a couple of days. I usually use a laptop with touchpad, but when I sit behind a desktop machine, this thingy really helps.
My hands were so bad that I considered getting out of the computer area alltogether. As a last resort I bought a Wacom Graphire 3 board, and all my problems disappeared. The pen is very light and the angle of the forearm is just the same as when writing with a regular pen.
It takes a while getting used to, but was worth it, my hands are so good these days that I even spend time playing games and stuff again, very nice.
Linux support is good enough.
Most of them are big as houses are requires you to move your entire hand to move the damn thing around the desk. If anything, this increases the risk of getting "mouse arm".
The way to use a mouse, is to rest your wrist on the desk, and move the mouse with your fingertips. None of these ergonomic ones allow you to do that. Instead, they force you to move your entire arm, increasing stress on the shoulder.
Someone should tell the mouse manufacturers that the problem isn't that the hand isn't resting "comfortably" around the mouse, but rather that the user moves and strains his shoulder.
Consequently, I've settled on using wired lightweight mouse or laptop-style small wireless mouse.
I started taking glucosamine and chondroitin to see if it would help a problem in my neck, and was amazed to find that my fingers felt like they had been hit with dollop of WD-40. Pain that I had sublminated was suddenly gone, and I can now do things that used to cause me agony, like hold a bowling ball or open a jar.
I recommend anyone who uses a computer all day long even if they don't notice any pain try this stuff for a week and see whether it makes a difference.
As with almost all higher-end mice, these seem aimed at primarily or entirely right-handed use. Left-handed mouse users are almost completely stuck with 2 or 3 button mice that are longitudinally symmetrical and thus work with either hand. I'd love one of the high end logitech laser mice but it's impossible to use in any reasonable fashion with the left hand. Yet I find most left-handed people have given up and just use the mouse with the right hand, which makes very little sense -- mousing with the left hand on a standar keyoard reduces by 3x-4x the distance required to move the arm to change from keyboard to mouse and allows the right hand to use the keypad or other control-type key clusters easily. I chose to use the left hand with the mouse on my first mouse-enabled machine ~18 years ago (I'm not strongly handed either way, but use left for some tasks and right for others) and am amazed that the mouse manufacturers treat 10% of the population this way. Logitech doesn't even answer my emails.
People at my company who have RSI usually just request a track ball mouse. They seen to help quite a bit, are fairly common, and relatively cheap. That's basically what the first one, the Perific mouse, is but with a small ball. I don't see how that's actually better than a trackball which has a much larger ball. Repetitive small movements are hard on the wrist (I know from hammering in nails in weird parts of houses for Habitat for Humanity).
EvilCON - Made Famous by
Dude, that's not the stranger. The stranger is when you sit on your hand untill it falls asleep, then you jack with the numb hand. Topical anaesthetics are also interesting to use every now and then, but not advised for when you just want to rub one out.
For less than $20 I modded a cheap mouse so that I can have one of these "vertical" mice at home. It's a lot cheaper than the 3M model. Also you can adjust it to fit your hand exactly.
Simon.
If the glucosamine and chondroitin don't work for you, there are therapies that will. Active Release Technique (ART) is great for RSI and other repetitive injuries (I'm a runner and triathlete, I've used ART to treat various problems).
The company where I work has an ART practitioner come on site 2 mornings a week to treat RSI and other problems. Several of my friends and colleagues have been rteated on site. It's a pretty cool benefit.
BTW - I don't do ART for a living, I'm a programmer, so don't consider this an advertisement.
Alan.
I experienced serious pain from using the scroll wheel.n omicmouse.html
Why, Microsoft, why? Why did you place such a tempting button halfway down the longest finger, why? The tendons that control the bending motion for that finger extend through over six inches of flesh from the finger tips to the muscles in the upper arm. These tendons saw back and forth across several nerves, blood vessels, and tiny bones when when you use the scroll wheel.
I now swear by the Goldtouch optical mouse. Like the Evoluent VerticalMouse, it sits at a slant to place your hand in a more natural position. However, the scroll wheel has been moved from its middle-finger position to a bi-directional button at the side. The scroll button is operated by the thumb, which evolved large muscles at its base to perform this exact bending motion.
I have one of these mice for home and one for work: http://www.keyovation.com/ergonomics/product/ergo
You see, that is what the gamecube controller should be modeled after. That looks comfortable enough to point at your TV and click whatever button is needed. A lot better than that darn remote.
I don't know why people still use mice, human index fingers are simply not made to make a clicking motion so many times in a day.
After working as a video editor using a mouse for a couple of months the pain in my index finger became so bad that I had to use my middle finger to keep on working.
After I got pen & tablet the pains resided, touching the tablet with a pen gives the so much less stress, not to mention that it feels much more efficient than a mouse.
Sure, decent tablets cost a whole lot more than mice but since we're talking about one of the primary ways we interact with computers here (and most of use spend several hours a day using them) I consider it money well spent.
Not that there is a need for ergonomic mice, but that people can get hurt by mice and keyboards.
To me, it looks like an attitude problem. I've been working with computers for the last 25 years, where I've been at the keyboard/CRT/mice for hours at stretch (it's even worse since the Internet came about).
Yet, I never had the slightest problem. Perhaps it is because I never always do the same thing, but vary what I do, that is, get a book, get a printout from the printer (which is purposefully set beyond arm reach), fiddle with the radio/mp3 player, and many little things that distract from my keyboard pounding/mouse fondling.
Focusing may be good, but like anything else, too much of it is bound to be bad; I've worked with plenty of people so much focused on their stuff that they'd jump that high (no, higher than that) whenever they had the slightest interruption. And, guess what? They're the ones who get hurt with their keyboards...
I mean, it's not hard to introduce some variation in one's daily routine. For supposedly creative people, it should not make them lose too much neurons on it, no?
Weight shmeight already. I have a microsoft wireless wheelmouse, and I don't notice the weight at all. It's certainly less of a pain in the arse than the drag of the cable, especially if you hve the gain set high. But then I've discovered this clever technique which I've christened sliding the fucking thing, not picking it up and juggling it.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
these are all right handed. what about the other 1/2 of the world who is left handed?? or righties who prefer a left mouse?
aww the constitution
Is there a site/resource that the greater geek community trust for ergonomic product reviews?
My ergonomics advice: Try a laptop mouse; the smaller the better. The reason is: You can control it using your fingers alone while the base of the hand rests on the table without moving - and you can pull it under your palm for vertical moves. That way you get high precision so you can set the mouse pointer to high speed; minimal movements then are enough to reach any point on the screen accurately. I would guess that helps with RSI.
It's completely beyond me why anyone with the option not too should continue to use a mouse in the first place. Trackerballs are far superior as there's no arm movement involved and with most designs the left click is done using the thumb, which has stronger muscles than the index finger. Plus trackerballs are more flexible than mice for FPS's :-)
l s/GB/EN,CRID=2150,CONTENTID=5145) but it doesn't have a scroll wheel, which can be an issue in some cases. Unlike some trackerballs it's quite small, and I find it's quite feasible to carry one around for my laptop.
I try to mix designs between computers on my desktop. Both the Logitech and Microsoft trackerballs are nice. I like the Logitech Marble Mouse (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/detai
For anyone whose having twinges or RSI and is still using a mouse I'd highly recommend trying a trackerball for a few days. They can take a few hours to get used to, but stick with it. I never get any problems at my own computers even after multiple days of 12+ hour sessions, but if I'm forced to use a mouse for an 8 hour day on a clients computer then my joints really know about it afterwards.
Damn dude, even that squeeze ball thingy is ghetto'ed up with duct tape. You should definitely post over in hardocp's ghetto mod pics thread.
[apologies-in-advance to anyone offended by my cultural insensitivity.]
Why can't I just use my old wingman joystick? And why don't they make a keyboard that's broken in half (like where most ergos split, but hinged) so you can type with the pinky side of your palm on the table and your your thumbs up? It'd have to be a laptop layout (no number pad) . And ideally it would have a convenient thumb track ball for one thumb and clicker under the other. I'll pay a crapload for that.
Yup. I bought two of them back when they were in production, one for work and one for home. I wish I'd bought three or four. Be sure to add your post to the Logitech Forums asking them to bring it back.
The Web is like Usenet, but
the elephants are untrained.
I really hope someone from Logitech is reading this article because I find their newer mice to be terribly uncomfortable. The MX1000 for instance requires you to grip it completely like a glove in order to get it to work, having to constanly 'grip' the mouse for hours while playing fps games is exhausting and totally annoying. I usually prefer to simply rest my wrist on the mousepad, and have my digit finger hover over the LMB. Whenever I need to move the mouse I pivot around where my wrist makes contact w/ the mousepad, or I lift my wrist up slightly and move it, ending back in the resting position w/ my wrist on the mousepad. I can sit at my computer and game for 10 hours like this comfortably. I didn't last 20 minutes using the MX1000.
So I ended up switching back to my old ball mouse simply because the ergonomics of the MX1000 were unbearable. I miss the high dpi, but certainly don't miss the hand cramps. Overall I'm much happier with the cheap $10 ball mouse than the $60 laser MX1000.
The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
Check out the GoldTouch keyboards - they do exactly what you're talking about. I have one and I love it!
Anyway, be designed a plastic mousepad that attaches to the arm of your chair, so your mouse is where your hand already is. He had someone produce a few thousand of them and he's selling them now. You can look at them here if you're interested.
Disclaimer: I designed his website for him, but the bastard doesn't give me a dime from sales.
I sort of agree with you. The mouse does seem to be stupidly shaped, but once I put my ring finger on top of the mouse with my middle finger (rather than trying to shove it down on the side with my pinky) and kept my palm off the mouse I've had no trouble.
Left handed people account for only roughly 10-12% of the world population (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefthanded#Statistic s_of_left-handedness), and I doubt right handed users who prefer the a left mouse make up 38-40%.
Sadly, PS/2 was yet another victim of USB, which doesn't care what you plug into it, the electrical slut.
.... you are not using your mouse correctly.
You should slide it on the surface where you work, no need to raise it rom it....
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Not half. Talk about inflating your statistics, leftie.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
I've tried TouchPads, trackballs, and various mice. After 20 years of computing, here are four things that I recommend to everyone:
1. Learn how to type by touch. It isn't difficult.
2. Reduce your clicks: use X-mouse focussing. (If you use Windows, install Microsoft's TweakUI Powertoy. If you use X, you have the setting somewhere.)
3. Keep your forearms flat on your desk. Adjust your chair's height if you must.
4. Use a REAL ergonomic keyboard, one with the split-key design. (Any keyboard that does not have the split-key design is ~not~ ergonomic.)
Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
And before the insensitive clod jokes show up (sorry if you are an unemployed amputee) I thnk the above is a fair generalization to make.
Get 4 mice, as different as possilbe one from each other and then make sure you also use both of your hands.
I for example have 2 rodents in the office and 2 more at home.
In the office I use the left hand, at home I use the right hand (dirty, dirty you old dirty you) and increase variety by changing mice every couple of weeks or so (now this is all sounding very fishy).
So there you go.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Switch hands. Use keyboard shortcuts.
Whenever I've had problems related to the mouse, I've switched it to the other side of my keyboard. When injured one shouldn't continue to abuse it. Let it heal.
I'm right-handed but normally use the mouse left-handed. This has the added bonus that I can still write or type with my right-hand.
The best solution to mouse related problems is to just not use the bloody thing. This seems to be easier under Windows than X mind you.
I have a funky 3M mouse, and it's nice, except that the buttons are too cheap. The first one I had, the buttons failed within two weeks. In particular, they could switch between open and closed without clicking, and without the finger moving any significant amount. I returned it to the store, got a new one; after about two months the same thing happened. I opened it up, removed the case of the switches, deformed the little bit of metal to push down a little harder, and it works fine.
I'm a little surprised, frankly; I would have thought that the switches would be more precisely manufactured, and that mashing them with pliers wouldn't help. :}
After using a Logitech wireless trackball-thingy for about a year, I am completely converted.
I beat my mates in FPS-games with my trackball.
I do my work with my trackball.
I surf the net with my trackball.
All without any pains in my shoulder or writst. Ever.
I'll probably stick with trackballs for the rest of my life.
Genetically designed to fit into the lower colon PERFECTLY!!!111
Comfort Keyboards are like that. Nicely made but expensive. I went through a point were I couldn't type any more. Just too painful. Used this for six months and all was right. I did end up going back to a normal keyboard though.
-William Shatner can be neither created nor destroyed.
Trackball is the word.
It makes sense for left-handed people to use a mouse on the right. It frees the left hand to do what the left hand is go for.
Well, meet your long-lost clone. I too am a model M nut, and I too covet my trackball. However, I never got the model you like because I coulnd't play FPS games with it... instead I went for their el-cheap-o $29 model where my hand rests firmly on top of the ball.
:-) All day at work my hands NEVER LEAVE THE KEYBOARD. It's ludicrous how much faster I can work than my coworkers :-)
At work, I managed to procure one of the Model Ms with the built-in trackpoint... I almost shot a load when I finally got my hands on it.
Only 10% of people are gay, but they get so much press it's ridiculous.
Seriously. That beats most of the Score 5, Funny's that I've seen.
This sig is neither interesting, nor humorous. Including meta-humor.
Even when I'm on a desktop, I use a touchpad (see http://www.enablemart.com/productGroupDetail.aspx? store=10&dept=24&group=58). I tried trackballs for a while, but they're kinda cumbersome and they required too rigid a position - my hand still hurts. Touchpads allow you a relaxed enough position that you shouldn't start hurting.
Only problem is that if you are playing a game, your fingers get sweaty and it loses sensitivity...
Oh, and they don't squeak!
Murphy's law is recursive, washing your car to make it rain doesn't work.
I'm a 23 year old programmer, and I already have bad carpal tunnel in my right arm, and sorta bad in my left. I was so bad that I'd get tingling and a dull pain in my wrist after 15 minutes of computer use.
I say "had" because sometime around March I bought one of the 3M Ergonomic Mice. It was the best $50 I ever spent. The mouse is shaped like a joystick and has 3 buttons. It was hard to aim at first, but after a week I was back to 90% accuracy. (100% after 2 weeks). After adjusting I can play FPS games at my old skill level.
I started a new job in May, and I used an old-style mouse. After a month the pain came back, and I got my employer to purchase me one for work.
I can now use a computer all day, and have no pain at all in my wrist! I now look forward to a lifetime of happy mousing!
... at home, and both of them had the thumb switch fail. I ended up hacksawing the handle off and gluing the switch back with some epoxy and model airplane parts. It worked ok, but I'm not really convinced these are the way to go anymore. Now I use the touchpad on my laptop, and a cheap laser mouse on my entertainment pc, and they both work fine. BTW, this is from when the '3M' mouse was sold under a different brand name about 5 years ago. Its an old design, and it looks like the switches still suck. But the reviewer is wrong about gaming with them, I played quake II and whatever else with them just fine.
42
And i forgot to mention, they also make my thumb ache after a while.
Had some serious wrist pain (couldn't sleep for a week), bought TrackMan Marble FX on eBay. Struggled with it for two weeks, and got used to it. No pain since then. I've bought two more. One for use at home and one just in case either of the other two breaks (which I don't think it will - there's nothing in it that can break).
My right-handed college roommate mouses with his left hand.
Me, I'm left-handed, but mouse right. I still prefer symmetric mice though. They're a lot smaller. I just don't like huge mice.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
It gives you white thumbs? Seriously, you may want to look at reducing the vibration from that thing ;)
Modest doubt is called the beacon of the wise. - William Shakespeare
Also look at the Siemens KB-PC E - the E is for ergonomic. I've been using it for 2 years or so now, in conjunction with a mouse that is very much like the 3M from this test, and it has really helped me a lot. The Siemens KB is very comfy, has palm rests, is split in the middle and the angle can be changed, plus it can be raised in the middle to two different levels of height, allowing for a very natural position of the hands.
http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/products/prof_acc essories_mainboards/keyboards_mice/special_keyboar ds/kbpc_e.html
If a train station is a place where a train stops, what's a workstation?
As always, you can't make a one-type-fits-all mouse (or keyboard). For you, that mouse didn't work. Probably nobody said it would. Sell it, find another. For me, the mx500, and now the mx1000 (almost the same shape) proved to be the most comfortable mice I ever had.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
What about left handers? Are they conveniently forgotten by mouse makers when designing so-called ergonomic monstrosties?
http://www.geocities.com/saravkrish/progs/joymouse /index.html
Try it. I wrote it quite some time back (several years). It hopefully should work now too. Sorry it's only for Windows... I was a windows programmer then. Hardcore linux programmer now.
Thanks,
Saravana
Personally, I love the Logitech Cordless Trackman Wheel mouse http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?page=products/de tails&contentid=5001&crid=6&detail=2&countryid=19& languageid=1
I had some discomfort using a standard mouse and love the trackball mechanism.
Very comfortable.
I stumbled onto this unorthodox technique out of desparation. I hook up two mice at the same time. I use the mouse on the right to position the cursor and the mouse on the left to click. The clicking motion can be a straight finger poke down which eliminates finger movement for clicking which seems to be the cause of RSI. Pain and tingling subsided immediately.
I touch myself at work!
Honestly it's the best thing I ever did. I recommend it to anyone that does like masturbating.
Heh, is that how you figured out that the mouse was female? ;)
The good things about the M keyboard, you already know: it is solidly built (value) and provides good tactile response (the lack of which may contribute to RSI). You could also use it as a pry-bar and a snowboard.
The bad things about your beloved are: it's loud; its right-handedness (movement keys and number-pad on the right) became The Standard but is awkward for a significant percentage of people; the grid-layout of the letter keys forces the user's arms inward and straight ahead, or forces the wrists to bend outward -- either of these positions will cause physical pain given enough time.
By the way, bending an opponent's wrist outward the way your model M will bend your wrist is a very effective submission hold in ju-jitsu, judo, and likely in other fighting styles.
Microsoft did a good thing in selling the truly ergonomic Natural Keyboard. However, I was puzzled to see in stores recently a Microsoft keyboard labelled "ergonomic" that isn't ergonomic at all, except for a "wrist support".
Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
I've put a trackball on the floor, and I'm spinning the ball with my toes. That spares my hands and lets me leave my fingers in the home position for touch typing on the keyboard.
The trackball only has two buttons and I need three for X11 on FreeBSD so I've started the mouse demon with
"-3" gives me three button emulation, "-E" adjusts how simultaneous the left and right buttons have to be to count as the middle button. I boost it from 100ms to 500ms to accomodate my relative lack of coordination when I try to click both buttons with my toesI'm sure this is valuable information, but I couldn't even get through the first half page. This is probably the worst written thing I've seen on Slashdot all month. There's a writer and an editor credited on the page, so you'd think some sort of effot had gone into this article. The sentence construction and word choice is just painful to read. It's great to see the sort of journalistic standards news websites are holding themselves to these days.
___ alwaysBETA.com - Hey, you've got nothing better to do.
10.4 Lets me use all 5 buttons on my mouse WITHOUT any additional driver. I have Left Click, Right Click, Scrolling, Center Click (as expose all), side button 1 (set to expose application), and Side button 2 (as Dashboard). Though to be honest I mostly just use right, left and scoll.
I've been looking high and low for a box that will take a USB generic HID on one end and output Bluetooth generic HID on the other. I'd buy one for my keyboard and mouse - all the better if the device can do both at once.
This sounds like the kind of thing where there should be at least 7 Taiwanese manufacturers with bridge chips but for some reason it doesn't seem so.
Can anyone provide links to existing solutions or a theory as to why these don't exist?
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
I've had RSI and had therapy. It hasn't gone but is very much controllable. My experience (YMMV):
-the problem is in the shoulder and neck, not in the wrists
-regular exercise/sports help
-I you don't work out find stretchs that help you to relax you neck and shoulders
-if you experience any kind of sensation stop straight away and relax your shoulders and arms
-if you experience any kind of sensation don't finish what you are doing first
-to relax shoulders and arms let them dangle along your body
-when you know you're going to be busy plan breaks in advance
I keep my keyboard in my lap, which lead to a far more natural typing position.
Oh, and the loud is a benefit. Audio feedback helps a lot.
I can throw myself at the ground, and miss.
After 20 years (without RSI complaints) switching to a Windows (Dell) PC started to give RSI complaints rather quickly. Switching back to an Apple mouse (the Mighty Mouse works fine in Windows)solved the problem. The mouse is very light and maybe my hand/arm is used to it.