Here's a true story that may have some bearing on your situation:
Once upon a time I was responsible for about 20 people working in an open room that had no windows to the outside. Without power it was pitch black in the room. There were many obstacles that a person could fall on in the dark. I had asked many times for emergency lights to be installed. A fall in the dark would have likely killed or maimed someone in the event of a power outage, an occasional event as we have recently noted.
My boss warned me to keep my mouth shut. Firemen came around doing their annual inspection. my people were out on break so it was just me and the firemen and the Public Address system listening in. I gestured for them to stand still and turned out the lights for about 5 seconds. No one said a word. I turned on the lights.
The following week or so I had emergency lights. That same day my boss was down on my ass because the firemen submitted a list of areas requiring emergency lighting. Mine was at the top of the list. He accused me of talking to the firemen. I, of course, said that I never uttered a word about the need for emergency lights, which I hadn't. The cost for the lighting also did not come from my budget, which it would have if it were installed at my request.
So, to sum up, perhaps an inspection is overdue for the premises where your local firemen would have to resuscitate you, treat you for electrocution and burns, as well as quell the fire you'll likely start, trying to do this as an amateur. Perhaps your firemen could stumble across your electrical cabinet...
WordPerfect failed at version 6. I remember it well because our office made a business decision to stay with WP. We paid a price for that decision. It turned out that the software was fine for letters. It was buggy, unstable, a system killer for anything complex. After a few months of agony in the office and with our client base for whom we developed documents, we jumped to MS office and never looked back.
WP 6 for Windows should never have been released in the state it was in. The fixes released didn't fix it. In the long run that mistake cost WP its market poition and ultimately everything for Corel Office. It is now a giveaway coupon.
Look back and remember:
http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/chronology.h tm l
I use Outlook a great deal. I used Ecco before Outlook. I really miss the outlining capability of Ecco. However, in the overall evaluation of things, Outlook is clearly more capable.
I have tried a few other clients but none had the all-around capability that Outlook has. I often wonder if the folks that diss Outlook here have used it much. I have never had a virus problem, although I had a few close calls that my virus scanner caught. I have had one great debacle when I was fooling around with the pst file about 3 versions ago. It was my fault and it cause me a lot of pain.
Outlook is much more that just an email client with calendar and contact manager.
For a time I used Outlook as my desktop. You can launch all your applications from Outlook if you choose to. It works quite effectively. It just turned out to be a little too boring, not enough visual appeal after a number of months. However if you want a sparse no-nonsense desktop Outlook has it.
Another of the seldom mentioned capabilities of Outlook are the automatic journaling of Office applications and email activity by name date and time. I just wish that could be extended to any application. You can manually journal anything. Outlook can provide journaling reports in multiple formats. This is a lifesaver for me when I do my monthly billing.
Outlook has alarms for arbitrary uses. It has rules that can automate various filtering and file location tasks.
Other applications may have some of these maybe even most of these. I don't know of any application that has them all.
I looked at Evolution. It looks like an Outlook knock-off. Certainly that is somewhat flattering to Outlook's designers. Kapor's effort also looks similar. I wish him luck and ask that he not forget the journaling capability. It would really be great if any application could be registered with the software and have its activity automatically journalized.
Did I mention easy synchronization with PDA devices? Or, that it can also use "stationery." I haven't personally found a use for this, However, I have received a few messages on "stationery." That's how I learned that it existed.
In summary, Outlook is useful, robust, very flexible and capable, and pretty secure (a la pgp) if configured as recommended for security and backed by a virus scanner. I depend on it.
Sure the savings is $27,000.00 for a school district serving about 4,000 students. That's significant for a small school district.
However there are other issues that deserve serious attention. I do consulting in business and industry. Like it or not, it is a fact of business and industry life that MS Office is everywhere virtually to the exclusion of any other user productivity applications. Even applications like SPC and Product design are mostly Win-based.
Not having familiarity with these applications is a significant deficit for folks seeking employment after High School or Community College career training.
Remember, not everyone gets to go to University. Not everyone is talented.
Go ahead, have a infrastructure based on alternate technology. Just don't prevent youngsters from access to technology, that in spite of your religious convictions, increases their opportunity to get an ordinary job.
You are at the peak of your youth, health, and learning ability. If you just take a year off and muck about or do slug work, you are wasting a limited resource in your lifetime.
Are you "goal directed" and "success oriented?" Is money important to you in the scheme of things? If yes, figure out what you'd like to do to make that money and go to school.
If you just plan to drift from pillar to post in your life, go ahead take the year. If you expect monetary "success," but are not sure what to do, go to your local community college and ask for some help. No sneering! There are generally good resources there for little or no cost, especially in urban centers.
If you must take the year because you are at a loss for what to do with yourself, hunt around amongst your relatives and learn a trade in the year. You can learn about 70%-80% of any trade in a year if you pay attention. In 3 years you can learn 95% plus of most any trade.
Don't waste a year in your peak. At the very least figure out a way to get some outstanding memories by adventuring, say travel in the US and Canada.
Please consider that her condition only will move toward less and less capability. Consider doing a little discreet inquiry into what motor functions typically last the longest. Whatever those are, that is what we all should design to.
It is not in her best interest to put together a rube goldberg device that may have to be changed again in 6 months. Better to develop something that will provide the emotional security and husband-alerting functionality (I hate that IBM word) to as close to the end as possible.
I did a little reading and looking around. I found that breathing will eventually be a problem and a ventilator may be out there in the future, so I wouldn't build anything depending on breath control. From what I can tell eye movement may be the way to go unless the control of her hand would be with her for a couple of years.
I found this mouse for a computer. It is sip and puff switched if you think control of respiration will be with her for some years. It is $540.00. So, it isn't really the Radio Shack cheapie that you spoke of. (http://www.quadjoy.com/) I have no connection with that product or company.
If you must do the Rube thing, I suggest the microswitches that have been spoken of. A little modest wire and bell setup should do her fine for the time being. Microswitches that take the slightest touch up to a pretty good bump are available. They could be setup to turn on lights or crank up a siren.
Here is another link to resources (non-Rube)(http://www.alsa.org/resources/product.c fm) Be sure to look through these resources. Here's an example of one of the switch pages that would be just what you would be looking for if switches was the path you decided to take. (http://www.communicationaids.com/switches.htm)
Once again, I would suggest designing to the function that will be with her the longest. She won't face another learning curve. She won't be reminded of her deterioration by having to change to another communication system. The longer timeframe should allow for additional investment as it will serve for a longer time and thus be less expensive over the long haul.
Good luck to you and your friend with this little project.
Slashdot Mirror
Here's a true story that may have some bearing on your situation:
Once upon a time I was responsible for about 20 people working in an open room that had no windows to the outside. Without power it was pitch black in the room. There were many obstacles that a person could fall on in the dark. I had asked many times for emergency lights to be installed. A fall in the dark would have likely killed or maimed someone in the event of a power outage, an occasional event as we have recently noted.
My boss warned me to keep my mouth shut. Firemen came around doing their annual inspection. my people were out on break so it was just me and the firemen and the Public Address system listening in. I gestured for them to stand still and turned out the lights for about 5 seconds. No one said a word. I turned on the lights.
The following week or so I had emergency lights. That same day my boss was down on my ass because the firemen submitted a list of areas requiring emergency lighting. Mine was at the top of the list. He accused me of talking to the firemen. I, of course, said that I never uttered a word about the need for emergency lights, which I hadn't. The cost for the lighting also did not come from my budget, which it would have if it were installed at my request.
So, to sum up, perhaps an inspection is overdue for the premises where your local firemen would have to resuscitate you, treat you for electrocution and burns, as well as quell the fire you'll likely start, trying to do this as an amateur. Perhaps your firemen could stumble across your electrical cabinet...
1 October 1993: WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows -->
h tm l
/.
WordPerfect failed at version 6. I remember it well because our office made a business decision to stay with WP. We paid a price for that decision. It turned out that the software was fine for letters. It was buggy, unstable, a system killer for anything complex. After a few months of agony in the office and with our client base for whom we developed documents, we jumped to MS office and never looked back.
WP 6 for Windows should never have been released in the state it was in. The fixes released didn't fix it. In the long run that mistake cost WP its market poition and ultimately everything for Corel Office. It is now a giveaway coupon.
Look back and remember:
http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/chronology.
Apologies to Columbia for the potential
Groove: redux, reduced, repurposed, repackaged, remarketed and MSed. There you have it Boys and Girls.
I use Outlook a great deal. I used Ecco before Outlook. I really miss the outlining capability of Ecco. However, in the overall evaluation of things, Outlook is clearly more capable.
I have tried a few other clients but none had the all-around capability that Outlook has. I often wonder if the folks that diss Outlook here have used it much. I have never had a virus problem, although I had a few close calls that my virus scanner caught. I have had one great debacle when I was fooling around with the pst file about 3 versions ago. It was my fault and it cause me a lot of pain.
Outlook is much more that just an email client with calendar and contact manager.
For a time I used Outlook as my desktop. You can launch all your applications from Outlook if you choose to. It works quite effectively. It just turned out to be a little too boring, not enough visual appeal after a number of months. However if you want a sparse no-nonsense desktop Outlook has it.
Another of the seldom mentioned capabilities of Outlook are the automatic journaling of Office applications and email activity by name date and time. I just wish that could be extended to any application. You can manually journal anything. Outlook can provide journaling reports in multiple formats. This is a lifesaver for me when I do my monthly billing.
Outlook has alarms for arbitrary uses. It has rules that can automate various filtering and file location tasks.
Other applications may have some of these maybe even most of these. I don't know of any application that has them all.
I looked at Evolution. It looks like an Outlook knock-off. Certainly that is somewhat flattering to Outlook's designers. Kapor's effort also looks similar. I wish him luck and ask that he not forget the journaling capability. It would really be great if any application could be registered with the software and have its activity automatically journalized.
Did I mention easy synchronization with PDA devices? Or, that it can also use "stationery." I haven't personally found a use for this, However, I have received a few messages on "stationery." That's how I learned that it existed.
In summary, Outlook is useful, robust, very flexible and capable, and pretty secure (a la pgp) if configured as recommended for security and backed by a virus scanner. I depend on it.
Sure the savings is $27,000.00 for a school district serving about 4,000 students. That's significant for a small school district.
However there are other issues that deserve serious attention. I do consulting in business and industry. Like it or not, it is a fact of business and industry life that MS Office is everywhere virtually to the exclusion of any other user productivity applications. Even applications like SPC and Product design are mostly Win-based.
Not having familiarity with these applications is a significant deficit for folks seeking employment after High School or Community College career training.
Remember, not everyone gets to go to University. Not everyone is talented.
Go ahead, have a infrastructure based on alternate technology. Just don't prevent youngsters from access to technology, that in spite of your religious convictions, increases their opportunity to get an ordinary job.
Sorta defeats the purpose of the form factor. Why not just put it in a tower?
You are at the peak of your youth, health, and learning ability. If you just take a year off and muck about or do slug work, you are wasting a limited resource in your lifetime.
Are you "goal directed" and "success oriented?" Is money important to you in the scheme of things? If yes, figure out what you'd like to do to make that money and go to school.
If you just plan to drift from pillar to post in your life, go ahead take the year. If you expect monetary "success," but are not sure what to do, go to your local community college and ask for some help. No sneering! There are generally good resources there for little or no cost, especially in urban centers.
If you must take the year because you are at a loss for what to do with yourself, hunt around amongst your relatives and learn a trade in the year. You can learn about 70%-80% of any trade in a year if you pay attention. In 3 years you can learn 95% plus of most any trade.
Don't waste a year in your peak. At the very least figure out a way to get some outstanding memories by adventuring, say travel in the US and Canada.
Please consider that her condition only will move toward less and less capability. Consider doing a little discreet inquiry into what motor functions typically last the longest. Whatever those are, that is what we all should design to.
c fm) Be sure to look through these resources. Here's an example of one of the switch pages that would be just what you would be looking for if switches was the path you decided to take. (http://www.communicationaids.com/switches.htm)
It is not in her best interest to put together a rube goldberg device that may have to be changed again in 6 months. Better to develop something that will provide the emotional security and husband-alerting functionality (I hate that IBM word) to as close to the end as possible.
I did a little reading and looking around. I found that breathing will eventually be a problem and a ventilator may be out there in the future, so I wouldn't build anything depending on breath control. From what I can tell eye movement may be the way to go unless the control of her hand would be with her for a couple of years.
I found this mouse for a computer. It is sip and puff switched if you think control of respiration will be with her for some years. It is $540.00. So, it isn't really the Radio Shack cheapie that you spoke of. (http://www.quadjoy.com/) I have no connection with that product or company.
If you must do the Rube thing, I suggest the microswitches that have been spoken of. A little modest wire and bell setup should do her fine for the time being. Microswitches that take the slightest touch up to a pretty good bump are available. They could be setup to turn on lights or crank up a siren.
Here is another link to resources (non-Rube)(http://www.alsa.org/resources/product.
Once again, I would suggest designing to the function that will be with her the longest. She won't face another learning curve. She won't be reminded of her deterioration by having to change to another communication system. The longer timeframe should allow for additional investment as it will serve for a longer time and thus be less expensive over the long haul.
Good luck to you and your friend with this little project.