One added wrinkle — I used a bit of Fun Tak to attach a golf ball (yes, a real golf ball) to the top of my righthand mouse, dead center. The golf ball allows me to mouse with my fingertips, with my right hand in a relaxed, “cupped” position, my right palm facing towards my left hand.

Good luck!

(And of course, all the usual disclaimers apply — if your wrist is bothering you, see your doctor! If you try two-handed mousing, and it isn’t helping, or seems to be making things worse, stop immediately!)

I started wearing a wrist brace, but that only provided temporary relief.

I tried operating my mouse with my left hand, but that was surprisingly frustrating.

I tried voice mousing (with IBM’s ViaVoice software), but that was even more frustrating.

I took a quick look on the internet at a head-mounted mouse and a foot-operated mouse, but those options were prohibitively expensive (and could well turn out to be at least as frustrating as left-handed mousing).

But then inspiration struck — I plugged a *second* USB mouse into my computer, and tried using my right hand to point, and my left hand to click, drag, and scroll.

All of a sudden, the stress on my right wrist was history!  And I experienced *none* of the left-handed mousing frustration.

(However, I’ll let you know if I develop tendonitis in *both* wrists…)

There’s one really cool side benefit, btw — if you do any drawings on your computer (using Visio or whatever), you will find that two-handed mousing is *much* steadier than one-handed mousing  in situations where you have to “click, hold, and drag.”

A few more thoughts:

1. If you want to give this a try, you might want to disable ”pointing” for the lefthand mouse.  (If it has a rollerball, take the ball out.  If it’s an optical mouse, mask the red light with a piece of paper or masking tape.)
2. If you don’t have a second mouse (or room for a second mouse on your desk), you can achieve a similar result by using the *free* utility AutoHotKey.  For example, you can map the left mouse button to your F1 key, and the right mouse button to your F2 key, both of which you will operate with your left hand.
3. I find that two-handed mousing works best if you can fully support your forearms with armrests, but experiment to see what configuration works best for you.

Good luck!

Randomize it.

I keep my To Do List on an Excel spreadsheet.  I’ve added a column called “Random,” and populated the column with random numbers ranging from 0 to 10, generated using the RAND function, so that each listed task has a random number assigned to it.

I then sort the spreadsheet based upon the numbers in the Random column.

Several times a day, I hit F9 to generate a fresh set of random numbers, and then re-sort the spreadsheet.

I’m not 100% sure about the psychology behind it, but it really helps!

—————————————–

If you’re going to try it using Microsoft Excel, the exact formula I use is:

= RAND() * 10

You can “drag copy” the formula down the entire length of the column.

On the Excel Tools menu, under Options… / Calculation, make sure that the only box checked is “Manual.”

Anyway, I’m currently working my way through Nintendo’s entire Legend of Zelda series.  A lot of the titles are available on the Wii Virtual Console (including the truly awesome Ocarina of Time and mind-blowing Majora’s Mask).  Other titles are available for the GameCube (and can be run on the Wii, if you get a GC controller and GC memory card).  But four titles are only available for the Game Boy (Link’s Awakening, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, Minish Cap).  And you need a GBA (or SP) and a link cable if you’re playing Wind Waker, and you want to use the Tingle Tuner.

So I bought a used Game Boy Advance for around $25 off of ebay.  I chose the GBA over the SP for the following reasons:

1. Compact form factor.  (The GBA is a single block — the SP looks like a mini-notebook.)
2. Batteries.  (The GBA uses AA batteries — the SP uses a rechargeable lithium battery.  Because the GBA doesn’t have a lighted screen, the batteries last a lot longer.)
3. Earphone jack.  (The SP doesn’t come with an earphone jack.)

Pretty cool, huh?

When my GBA arrived, I couldn’t wait to try it out.  I put in the batteries, loaded in my Oracle of Seasons cartridge, and turned on the juice.

Sadness.

The screen image was unbelievably dark.  And no matter how I tried to light my GBA, the screen image totally sucked.

At first, I thought that my GBA was defective — but an internet search revealed that *everyone* thinks that the GBA screen is too dark.

There are a whole bunch of GBA lighting systems out there, the best ones including the Radica Gamester Flood Light, the Halo GBA Light, and the Afterburner.  But after having spent $25 on the GBA, it seemed downright perverse to spend another $25+ to light the thing — especially when you can buy a used SP for $30.

But then, inspiration struck.  I bought an LED headlamp at Target for $14 — problem 100% solved.  I look totally insane when I’m playing Zelda on my GBA, but that’s beside the point.  Wearing the headlamp, with all 4 white LEDs on, and with the headlamp tilted just right, the GBA screen roars to life, with vivid colors and sharp contours.

I got an Energizer:

It looks even geekier when attached to a human head...

I think just about any headlamp (or headlight, as it is sometimes called) should work, as long as:

1. It uses at least 3-4 ultrabright white LED’s.
2. It has a variety of settings (including a “spot” setting and a “flood” setting).
3. It has a reasonable battery life (50 hours or more).
4. It is reasonably light weight.
5. It uses AAA batteries.
6. The lighting elements can be adjusted by tilting.

BTW — the top brand name is Petzl — you can get a Petzl meeting the above criteria for around $36 or so.  (Now I know what I want for my birthday!)

Best of all, the headlamp has an infinite number of uses that have nothing whatsoever to do with your GBA!

Happy Father’s Day.

(First published at www.geekyasianguy.com on June 15, 2008.)

Danger, Will Robinson!

They’re sold under various names, usually including the word “Mag” or “Stix.”

The tiny magnets are made out of neodymium (yes, that’s a real element), and they’re unbelievably strong.

The first thing you should know is that they are super-dangerous, especially if the tiny magnets get separated from the plastic part.  Kids have been known to swallow them.  Swallowing one magnet isn’t great, but swallowing two or more can be deadly, because they can stick together through an intestinal wall.

But the second thing you should know is that they can be a lifesaver!  (Well, not literally, I suppose…)

The other day, I was fixing my dishwasher, and I dropped a Torx screw down a hole that led into the chopper motor housing.

Oops.

I tried getting the thing out with a pair of chopsticks (gaak! — I hope no one was watching), but that was hopeless.

I briefly considered:

1. Trying to run the dishwasher to see if the Torx screw was really going to mess up the chopper motor.
2. Taking apart the entire bottom section of the dishwasher to get into the chopper motor housing.
3. Buying a new dishwasher.

Each option had its drawbacks…

But then I remembered my daughter’s magnets!  She has the kind where each magnetic stick has an arc shape, with four sticks forming a ring.

I took one of the rings, rearranged the sections to form a “snake,” and lowered it down the hole.

Presto!  Seconds later, the wayward Torx screw was dangling at the end of the snake.

Hey, maybe some of those cheapo toys coming out of China aren’t total crap, after all!

I’m too baffled to be offended.

Is there some white guy at a country club somewhere who is laughing his a** off?

When I was a kid, when I saw Asians portrayed in cartoons, by golly we knew they were Asian.  To avoid any possible doubt, Asian characters were drawn with impossibly yellow skin, slanted eyes, and bucked teeth.  And they all spoke with those ridiculous accents.

So last night, I saw the new Disney/Pixar animated film Up, and I spent half the movie trying to figure out if the kid was supposed to be Asian.  Judge for yourself:

Is he, or isn't he?

But after a while, it dawned on me:  I didn’t care.  The kid was funny, touching, and most of all, human.

Hmm — maybe we have made some progress.

The film rocks by the way.  (Although it’s a little odd to go to a kids movie and see all of the adults crying their eyes out.)

Footnote — according to the internet, the kid is totally supposed to be Asian.  He’s modeled after Pete Sohn, an animator at Pixar:

Guess which one is Pete...

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We got a card in the mail advertising a travel club.  If you pay a membership fee, the club entitles you to discounts on airfare and lodging.

To get you to attend a 90-minute presentation, the club was offering “complimentary” travel coupons for round-trip airfare anywhere in the continental US.

My wife  figured that it was a pretty good deal to get some free plane tickets for 90 minutes of her time, so she called and made an appointment.  I told her that I had heard some bad things about travel clubs, and that she should look on the internet.

Yep — *plenty* of bad stuff on the internet.  A lot of people found out that the travel coupons were impossible to redeem, and that in any event, redeeming those “complimentary” coupons was going to cost money.

The travel club rep made a followup call, so my wife asked the rep about all the bad stuff on the internet.

The rep brazenly explains:  ”We never said free.  Complimentary does not mean free.” 

Just remember — travel clubs, extended auto warranties, and offers to lower your credit card interest rate are all scams.  Every single one of them. 

And “complimentary” doesn’t mean ”free.”

(I’m fighting the temptation to go to the meeting and make an ugly scene…)