It’s as easy as 1 - 2 - 3 to win.   Here’s what you need to do to enter:

This week we’ll be giving away two ergonomic mice - a Humanscale Switch Mouse and a Contour Design RollerMouse free.  To learn more about the bags, click on the linked photo above.

Your entry should look like this:

Three ideas for future blog articles focused on technology and writing:
1.
2.
3.

First Name:
Last Name:
Location: (state)
Email address:

ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER WEEKLY GIVE-A-WAY.  To choose a winner, we will drop all entries into a "hat" and draw blindly - winners will be drawn in sequential order.

Deadline for laptop bag give-a-way entries is November 14, 2009 6 P.M. PST. 

I love to skeet shoot.  And the number one rule to remember is: Think small, aim small, miss small.  In other words, instead of aiming at the entire clay pigeon, aim for a piece of it.  It narrows your focus and heightens your chances of success.  How the hell does this equate to a tranquil writing bungalow in the woods?  Put a sock it in - I’m gettin’ there!

And back to my center of peace…

Me: Well, what’s stopping you? 
You: That thing we call "dinero" with lots of "muchos" on top. 
Me: How do you plan on obtaining this muchos dinero? 
You: After I sell my blockbuster screenplay and rake in the 15 points on the back-end of the contact.
Me: Sweet.  But isn’t it the calming affect of the bungalow by the brook that helped you create that blockbustin’ screenplay?
You: Uh…yes.  Listen, is this going to be a chicken and the egg thing?

Where I’m going with this is that you don’t have to wait for a lottery-payday to start living your dream.  Aim small, miss small — remember?  There’s a company called Tumbleweed that specializes in tiny houses.  Really, really, tiny, functional houses.   The houses range from 69 sq feet (A.K.A. Help-I-Can’t-Breath!!!!!!) to around 700 sq feet with a starting price of $18,000. 

           

Epu 

 

You can purchase plans and do-it-yourself, or buy the home pre-built.  Many of the plans allow the home to be constructed atop a trailer frame for easy transport to the 1/4 acre of land you purchased (for a steal!) by the fresh water lake. And isn’t the government offering huge incentives for first time home buyers right now?

Do you see what just happened?  You are no longer dependent on a set of events to make your dreams come true.  You have today, this moment, this opportunity. Unfetter yourself from your "ideas" of how and when, and set foot in the direction you think you aught to go.  Let the Universe take it from there… 

 

   

Z-Glass Plans

It’s as easy as 1 - 2 - 3 to win.   Here’s what you need to do to enter:

 

Your entry should look like this:

Three ideas for future blog articles focused on technology and writing:
1.
2.
3.

First Name:
Last Name:
Location: (state)
Email address:

ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER WEEKLY GIVE-A-WAY.  To choose a winner, we will drop all entries into a “hat” and draw blindly - winners will be drawn in sequential order.

Deadline for laptop bag give-a-way entries is November 6, 2009 5 P.M. PST.  Winners will be notified the following Monday (November 9, 2009).

This blog has written at length about the advantages of tablet PCs (TPC) for writers.  In fact, the lack of writers’ awareness regarding various technologies that enhance productivity was the impetus behind LitCentral starting this blog.  Lump TPCs into the “technology that enhances writers’ productivity” bunch. If you are the type of writer that likes to map out your novel or script with handwritten notes, 3×5 cards, and Post-it stickers the TPC is a great solution.   Using software applications like OneNote and Evernote with your TPC,  you can write directly on the screen,  capturing all of your handwritten notes (all in one place) and never run out of ink or paper.  

When I first became interested in the TPC over five years ago, you could expect to pay a minimum of $2000 for the cheapest of models, and up to $4500 for the crème de la crème.   Today, prices have dropped considerably with certain models starting at $799.

LifeBook T4310

Fujitsu is one of the oldest manufacturers of tablet PCs, helping to pioneer the hardware platform over 20 years ago.  They offer the largest selection of TPCs, and recently joined the family of multi-touch tablet PCs with the introduction of the Lifebook T4310. Most tablets are built around a “mobile” platform with light weight hardware (2.4 lbs - 4 lbs) and small 12″ screens.   The T4310 is no different.  It offers the latest dual digitizer technology with pen input and multi-touch interaction, a modular bay, bi-directional display hinge, and the performance of Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor technology.

Starting at $1049, the Fujitsu LifeBook T4310 isn’t the cheapest TPC on the market, but it does not compromise on quality or technology. My only gripe is that I would prefer it have a faster FSB (1066 MHz vs 800 MHz).  Available for order late October.  Go here for more info.

Horchow is offering a different spin on old and new technologies with a bluetooth wireless traditional handset.  If you don’t want to be bothered with batteries or recharging, there is also a $68 non-wireless handset that you plug directly into your cellphone. 

I have my BlackBerry Tour and my office phone at my disposal when I’m seated behind the desk.  Often I’ll route BB calls to the office phone for the sheer comfort of it all.  The design of the traditional handset actually has some practical ergonomic value.  Think about it… You never look like an idiot searching for the pin-hole mic when the person on the other line claims "I can’t hear you; are you covering the hole?" And best of all, you can press it to your ear with your shoulder and have ample use of both hands. You might ask, "But Robin, don’t those conveniences already exist with modern bluetooth headsets?" Okay you have a point, but a hackneyed point. Everybody and their grandma has a bluetooth headset growing out of their ear, but the mix of old school with modern technology could be the new black . 

For those of you who want a little green in your work environment, the Horchow bamboo-like keyboard and mouse offer an interesting eco-friendly approach to computer hardware.   It will  set you back a cool $78 but you’ll look good writing that next blockbuster.   PC compatible only.  BTW…check out Horchow for great writer gifts in general.  The holidays are fast approaching, ya know! 

Essentially, Joshua is wanting to help reinvent the way humans interact with a computer and he’s asking all to participate. "Pretend touch was the only acceptable input device to the mass market. Forget the Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers. Forget the rectangles. Start with your fingertips and design out from there," Joshua says.  OK Joshua, you’re on…

The 3D NUI 

To date, input devices such as mice, keyboards and digitizers offer limited interaction with the computer, right?.  The monitor literally acts as a barrier to entry disallowing a user the ability to reach inside and interact with an application beyond a one-dimensional plane.  But what if the dimensions of the computer extended further than the screen?  Imagine a three-dimensional NUI sans the stupid red and blue paper glasses.  It’s like an advanced Wii experience, except not only can you use applicable hardware (see Fig 3), but it’s better because your body can essentially step inside the application.  No, I don’t mean like a character you create on the Wii.  Your hand or whatever body part actually interacts with an application that is presented in 3D.  Thus, your hand remains your hand, not a character-generated interpretation. The application itself is three-dimensional. For example, if you’re inside CAD building the next space shuttle, you could pick up the parts you’re working with and place them accordingly. 

FIG 1  (3D NUI)

Now take the above picture one step further and imagine a large 60-inch monitor offering a grander scale and the ability to interact using the entire human body. Need to prep for an operation you’ve never performed Doc?  Open up the cadaver application and practice, using an electronic scalpel as an input device. 

Fig 2 (3D NUI - Massive Scale)

Fig 3  (3D NUI Input Devices etc. etc.)

Forgive my entrepreneurial zeal, but my brain immediately started mind-mapping the endless horizontal and vertical markets a 3D NUI could apply:

• CAD
• Interior Design
• Cartography
• Digital Sculpting and Painting???  (Takes art degrees over the internet to a whole new level)
• Auto Design
• NASA
• Facial Recognition (Social networking never looked so good)
• Surgical Practice (Use scalpels, scissors, tweezers, etc as input devices)

• Education (Imagine the possibilities: applied physics, trigonometry, geometry, etc.)

Okay Joshua, that’s my two pennies.  It’s late… All these possibilities have kept me at the office later than I planned on staying this evening.

I enjoyed participating in The MOADtouch Project and encourage the LitCentral Founders’ Blog readers to give it a go.  BTW…Have I mentioned before on this blog how much I love technology? We live in such an exciting era.  The possibilities are endless!

Leather and technology are an odd combination, mixing old world with new age.   However, Restoration Hardware has put together a handsome combination of the two eras in the form of a steamer trunk office.  When I came across this desk piece I thought it might be ideal for some of our readers. Writers so often love the nostalgia of  traditional  office settings, but don’t want to be fettered by antiquated technology. 

The Mayfair Steamer Secretary Trunk is a reproduction of an antique steamer trunk with over 3,000 hand-hammered brass nail heads.  If your main room doubles as an office and entertaining space, you can literally close up shop, allowing for privacy and additional room for guests.   Window placement in your loft or house might cause "glaring issues" with your computer screen at certain times of the day.  The Mayfair Steamer stands on wheels for easy mobility - so you can position your office away from the sun, the kids, or your spouse???  

Price: $3995

Let me begin by describing the writer’s meme - and by all accounts it is a meme, particularly for fiction writers. 

You sit in front of a computer for blocks of hours, but you’re not really "present".  Your body is there in front of your computer, but your attention, your vision, your emotions - are carrying on in a world inside your head.  This world is the place where your characters reside.  There’s a time warp that’s almost indescribable.  You feel as though you’ve been writing for 30 minutes but the clock shows you’ve been at it for hours.  Quite often, the only thing that pulls you out of this world is a numbing in the wrist or a sharp pain in the back.   

Enter the benefits of ergonomics for writers.  ANYTHING that helps you stay in "that world" is a good thing.  That world is where you are at your best.  In that world you are not creating, you are an observer…a journalist.  Your character’s thoughts, feelings, actions and dialogue are coming through you, and the keyboard and onto your computer screen.  The longer you stay in that world, the better writer you become (remember my article on Outliers?). 

So often when purchasing computer equipment, ergonomics is considered an afterthought - and ergonomic mice – well they are like the "after” gadget.  Just like the backup hard drive "after" your system has already crashed.  Or the protective eyewear "after" you’ve scratched your cornea.  Or the brain bucket “after” you have spilled your brains on the asphalt.  I have been using the ergonomic mice described below for over a month, and I realize the mindset surrounding ergonomic mice should not be an “after”thought at all.  They should be more reflective of seatbelts. What I mean by this is, “Would you buy a new car that didn’t come with seatbelts as standard equipment?”  Heck no!  

Contour Design - Contour Mouse

This mouse really is as big as it looks in the pictures.  It is purposely designed with a wide base to allow your hand to rest comfortably atop the mouse while eliminating "gripping" and "pinching".   There is no strain or discomfort to your wrist or forearm, because the mouse slopes at a natural 17 degree angle.  This thwarts the stress that "palm-down" can cause on the wrist joint.

Scrolling through a 120-page screenplay is  a breeze with the location of the scroll wheel located next to the thumb.  The Contour Mouse was a big hit around the office, because the design conforms to your hand. It’s almost the same result you would get if you were to press your hand into wet cement.  It is perfect for the writer spending long Googling hours preparing for their next screenplay or manuscript.    

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Contour Design - RollerMouse Free 
 
 


At $219.95 this was the most expensive mouse we tested, and much like the TrackBar Emotion,  it took about a week to fully acclimate to the hardware platform.  But once we had the hang of  two-handed mousing, we loved it!  Yes, two hands! When you distribute navigation and other mouse functions to both hands you further eliminate the stress that comes with solely using the dominant hand. Who knew!?

•    Perfect for both desktop and laptop users
•    Slim design with removable palm rests
•    Seven buttons for clicking, scrolling, copying, pasting, etc.
•    2008 National Ergonomics Conference Attendees Choice Award for best new product

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Euro Office - TrackBar Emotion

I really wanted to test Euro Office’s claim that the TrackBar Emotion works on multiple operating systems.  We tested the mouse with a desktop Mac and PC as well as a PC laptop.  It performed flawlessly inside of XP, Vista and OS X.  The Mac operations required a 3rd party software (SteerMouse) to operate all of the buttons, but I was able to program in the F9 (exposé), Dashboard, ⌘ + shift + 4 (snipping) functions, and easily access these additional keyboard functions with one click of the button.  Compared to the RollerMouse Free it is bulkier. I think the  thickness is part of the engineering so that it remains level with most desktop keyboards.  Euro Office is coming out with the successor to the TrackBar Emotion, but was unable to get it to our office in time for testing.  You know what that means?  This already great ergonomical mouse is only going to improve.

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Evoluent - VerticalMouse 3

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Humanscale - Switch Mouse
We can see why Humanscale has taken home a lot of top design awards with the Switch Mouse.  Like the Contour Mouse, the Switch Mouse is designed to fit the curve of the human hand.  The V-shaped base keeps a writer’s hand in a more natural position with less stress and repetitive motion.  This allows for extended Googling without causing pain in the wrist or forearm (not to mention carpal tunnel).

The scrolling feature on the Switch Mouse is really cool.  It is a “four-way button”  called a navigation dish and it is placed strategically on the top of the mouse. It was convenient for me to use my middle finger to scroll and keep my pointer finger on the left-click button.  Simply slide your finger over the top of the navigation dish to scroll in all directions.  This was the only mouse we tested that allows the user to  adjust the size of the mouse on-site (see pics below).  The key is to allow your entire hand to rest atop the mouse.  Using the slide-out mechanism, you can adjust the length of the mouse so that it fits the full length of your hand - palm extended.  Again, this is to thwart the constant "pinching" and "gripping" of mouse buttons that causes stress on the joints.  Humanscale are the folks that make that great ergonomic chair called Freedom.  They also sell flat panel monitor arms, keyboard trays and other ergonomic gadgets.  For Mac users you are limited to the plug-n-play functions of only two out of the four buttons - the right and left click, plus the navigation dish.

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Wow-Pen - Joy