[gui-talk] P.S. re flat typing surfaces (was still hassling, etc.)

Sun Jan 3 13:48:02 UTC 2010

Joel,

Yes a bit different but all the same.  I had perfect vision until I was 33 
(15 years ago, dam has it been that long) then lost total vision not even 
shadows.  I didn't even touch a keyboard until I went thru the adult school 
for blindness in Washington St. as I was in construction and...

So Yes, I learned to touch type and didn't have to go thru the hunt and peck 
like some so I probably have an advantage or maybe not.  But I am assuming 
that most fast typist's don't look at the keyboard anyway they are probably 
looking at the monitor or looking at their watch to see how much longer 
until they can leave work.

Everyone have a great day,

David Wermuth
NFB of Florida
President Hernando / East Pasco Chapter
dwermuth1 at earthlink.net
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joel Deutsch" <jdeutsch at dslextreme.com>
To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 12:54 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] P.S. re flat typing surfaces (was still 
hassling,etc.)

> Hey David,
>
> Just a short one, as I've just had my lunch as have to go back to
> concentrating on my work. Our experiences are a little different, 
> probably,
> but all the more worth a good laugh or two because of that. See, it's not
> just a problem of transitioning from using a desktop with Jaws to using a
> laptop with Jaws. I've only been legally blind and unable to read print or
> see the keys on a keyboard for something approaching fifteen years by now,
> and I'm 65. Prior to that, it wasn't only about being normally sighted. it
> was also about being a skillful touch typist, going way back to around 
> high
> school, when I first learned typing in a summer school class.
>
> So I still There've been times some years ago when I was clocked at nearly
> 100 wpm, with just a few typos, although mostly typing wasn't any kind of
> race for me. I was just good at it.
>
> It's since beginning to use Jaws that my typos have increased because I
> can't see myself producing them even though I hear what I've done, soon
> enough. so it's only now because of the smaller size of the laptop's
> keyboard, with all those keys jammed together without the spaces b3etween
> them that my fingers have always felt although this isn't a big conscious
> deal at all, if you know what I mean. it's just that the keys are so much
> easier to feel with those little spaces between them, sticking up
> individually, and with separations between things like the number pad and
> the keyboard to the left, groups of four F keys and then a break, and so
> forth. This is the stuff that makes it feel like learning Braille to learn
> the laptop's keyboard. I think I'd do best to just position it on a work
> desk same as my desktop, sit in an office chair or secretarial chair, as 
> I'm
> accustomed to doing, and try it that way for awhile.  It's just that this
> scenario is so ironic, because my whole idea of also having a laptop was
> seeing myself sitting in a comfortable armchair or even propped up in bed,
> typing away. Or on the couch. The usual laptop idea.
>
> So this is all screwy. And I've got work to do now, so I'll have to come
> back to play with the laptop this evening.
>
> On your knees in front of a desk? Why? What a strange posture for typing!
> Have you ever heard of the classical pianist Glenn Gould,who was notorious
> for setting his piano stool way down low and lifting his ands, ape-like, 
> up
> to and above the keyboard. He liked to hum along with himself, too. He did
> some great work, so you gotta say whatever. But I love your story about 
> the
> gransition from your knees on the floor to, of all things, a chair! LOL
>
> Joel
> --- 
> From: "davidw" <dwermuth1 at earthlink.net>
> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 11:38 AM
> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] P.S. re flat typing surfaces (was still
> hassling,etc.)
>
>
> Joel,
>
> I'm laughing at how I use to type on my lap top at first: I put it on my
> desk, get on my knees as sitting in a chair seemed awkward and typed at 
> the
> very most two words a minute with only twenty mistakes.  Smile  Crap it
> didn't take me long before I could type three words a minute with only ten
> mistakes.  I'm up to about fifty words a minute now with maybe a mistake 
> or
> two so hang in there and yes I have graduated to using a chair now.  Yea,
> off my knee's but it took time.  and yes I used a desk top at that time 
> too
> and could type thirty or so a minute but that darn lap top learning.
>
> Keep the comments coming it brings back fond memories and sorry but a few
> laughs too.  Smile
>
> David Wermuth
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Joel Deutsch" <jdeutsch at dslextreme.com>
> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 10:06 AM
> Subject: [gui-talk] P.S. re flat typing surfaces (was still hassling, 
> etc.)
>
>
>> David,
>>
>> I forgot to mention that I do happen to have a fairly light but solid
>> synthetic cutting board with non-skid rubber feet that holds my laptop
>> precisely on my thighs.But my problem isn't really the laptop tilting or
>> slipping on my legs. It's just the queer typing position it requires to
>> type
>> that way. So "flat surface" swill have to translate for now into some 
>> sort
>> of table or desk, not just any flat surface. Arghh.
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "davidw" <dwermuth1 at earthlink.net>
>> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, January 01, 2010 11:17 PM
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Still hassling with my laptop keyboard
>>
>>
>> Joel,
>>
>> At first and still today after using my lap top I still find it a bit
>> awkward to type with it in my lap, or on my knee's.  I can do it but put
>> it
>> on a hard surface and work from there.  Once you get comfortable with
>> typing
>> then slowly introduce it back to your lap.
>>
>> I know it is called a "lap top" but I assure you that unless your on a 
>> bus
>> or in a car most people use a table, coffee table, desk, it's much 
>> easier.
>>
>> Again Hang in there,
>>
>> David Wermuth
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Joel Deutsch" <jdeutsch at dslextreme.com>
>> To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, January 01, 2010 1:12 PM
>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Still hassling with my laptop keyboard
>>
>>
>>> Hi Lloyd,
>>>
>>> I'm aware that there's an area faintly outlined by grooves in the 
>>> central
>>> area of that big flat hand rest slab beneath the keyboard area. I knew 
>>> to
>>> look out for it just from things people said on lists, and the sighted
>>> friend who configured this particular Acer for me pointed out exactly
>>> where
>>> it was, disabled it partly in the bios (he's an I T professional, so he
>>> knows what  he's doing) but warned me to simply keep my hands clear of
>>> the
>>> area, no matter what. So far I've put in hours sitting with this machine
>>> on
>>> my knees and learning slowly to use it, and I've so far been entirely
>>> successful in avoiding that patch that is the touch pad. I'm not
>>> misspelling
>>> words like that last one, just breaking them up so that Jaws doesn't
>>> mispronounce them, which drives me nuts.
>>>
>>> Thanks for the warning, though. And Happy New Year!
>>>
>>> Joel
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Lloyd Rasmussen" <lras at sprynet.com>
>>> To: "'NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List'" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 3:56 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Still hassling with my laptop keyboard
>>>
>>>
>>> The central part of that "hand rest" is probably a touchpad, which acts
>>> like
>>> a mouse.  If you haven't already done so, you need to deactivate it and
>>> learn how to deactivate it in the future in case it decides to come back
>>> to
>>> life.  Clicking or touching in the wrong places can really mess you up.
>>>
>>> Lloyd Rasmussen, Kensington, Maryland
>>> Home:  http://lras.home.sprynet.com
>>> Work:  http://www.loc.gov/nls
>>>
>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>>> On
>>>> Behalf Of Joel Deutsch
>>>> Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 1:08 AM
>>>> To: NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List
>>>> Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Still hassling with my laptop keyboard
>>>>
>>>> Ted,
>>>>
>>>> Thanks a lot for the moral support. I've been putting in about an hour
>>>> of
>>>> just practicing nearly every day, and I can see that I've begun to
>>>> memorize
>>>> and visualize (a formerly sighted person's habitual way of mapping
>>>> things
>>>> the little keyboard, and I guess I'm making some progress. I'm still a
>>>> long
>>>> way from my fantasy of sitting back in an easy chair with the laptop on
>>>> my
>>>> knees and just typing away; even when I get more of the keyboard
>>>> memorized,
>>>> I know I'll probably always be struck by the feeling that it isn't a
>>>> normal
>>>> typist's keyboard. Wrong hand position, and that slab of "hand rest," I
>>>> guess it's thought of, just screws things up if you're a serious 
>>>> typist.
>>>> If
>>>> children were all given their first piano lessons on something akin to
>>>> this,
>>>> not many of them would grow up to be serious pianists, I'm afraid.
>>>>
>>>> But I'll keep working at it and see if I can develop a level of skill
>>>> and
>>>> comfort that's "good enough," to steal a phrase from psychology. The
>>>> good-enough mother, it was.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks again for the moral support. I was starting to think I was 
>>>> really
>>>> lame. Now I see it's truly difficult, but can be done if you're
>>>> determined.
>>>>
>>>> Joel
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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