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I'm struggling with severe bilateral ulnar nerve pain, which has been getting worse lately.
Using the computer does worsen the pain in my good arm, but it can't explain all the pain in either arm. I've done a bunch of ergonomic fixes such as a vertical mouse, a lower table for a desk, etc. I'm typing with my good arm, but also using break-scheduling software. I've tried dictation, but it trips over every word from a to ergonomics, it screws up spacing, punctuation, etc. and it requires me to delete the results and type everything anyway.
Using an e-reader should help, relative to using the computer. I have been using one, but can't be sure it is helping. I bought a new one last July, but it broke after a couple weeks, and I couldn't get it repaired. I can't use tablets, because I can't handle touchscreens, bright lights, flashing/strobing lights, animation, beeping sounds, etc.
Anyway, carrying files from websites to the e-reader is still an issue. It can hurt trying to reach each page, convert each page, correct the metadata, and so on.
It really helps when authors create one big epub. D.A.W. did that for the first couple volumes of Battle for Earth.
I'm always looking for more lesbian science fiction, especially hopeful stories with an emphasis on trans, autistic, and/or spoonie womyn. I'm not in a position to write my own, with my arm injuries and chronic illness. At the moment, I'm unable to do extended searches or to pull several chapters together. I don't know where to look for complete ebooks, apart from Google Books for technical works and Amazon.
Ideas?
Comments
Track Ball
I was having big issues using a mouse and a touch pad. I bought a track ball and am much better.
Gwen
... Just thinking about those
... Just thinking about those things makes me hurt more. I'm glad they work for you, but they don't work for me, they made me want to lose my hand to end the pain.
Multiple chapters together
The is a useful feature on this site for displaying all the chapters to a multi-post story as one page. If you activate the "Printer-friendly version" link from the Title page of a book, then it will output all the pages below it in the outline tree. It is therefore possible to get a single page for the entire book.
I have in the past saved this and then run it through a HTML to EPUB converter, such as Calibre, in order to produce ebooks to read while on holiday where I haven't had internet access. You may find this a useful technique. The formatting of the printer friendly page converts reasonably well, and it would be an improvement over trying to do each chapter separately.
I believe the only restriction is not to try in on "As easy as falling off a bike", as that is so long it causes the server to crash!
If you are on a recent version of Windows, 8+, then an option you may want to consider is the built in handwriting recognition. I have used it in the past and it is actually reasonable in its accuracy. The only problems I have had with it is I found doing speech marks tricky. Slower that typing, but possibly a lot more reliable than speech recognition. This does assume that using a pen would be more comfortable for you than a mouse or keyboard, which may not be the case. You would also need a graphics tablet/stylus in order to do this. I personally have a cheap USB one, a Genius G-Pen F350 that I think I got as and of line for around 20 GBP in a local shop. If you write with a pen without issue, then it may be worth considering, if you don't mind some initial cost in getting the hardware.
I can write with a pencil, if
I can write with a pencil, if I can rest my hand on the surface. I can't usually write with a pen, and can't use touchscreens, so I've pretty much dismissed graphics tablets.
Graphics tablets
Tablets used by professionals for graphic input are not touch screens. (They predate touch-screens.)
They are typically used with a special stylus that is recognised by the tablet and the location marked where the tip is on the pad. You can think of it in electrical terms as a very fine control mouse, but in mechanical terms just as a pen or pencil.
You don't of course, have the usual mouse buttons but there are often buttons on one or more sides of the pad itself.
Penny
But printer-friendly mode
But printer-friendly mode looks very useful on this site. Only downside is that I won't get a table of contents. Thanks for the suggestion.
A number of stories don't sem
A number of stories don't sem t have the functioning organizational page the printer-friendly version requires.
There was a tool to make EPUB
There was a tool to make EPUB from stories here: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog/17070/convert-bcts-storie... , but now it does not work, due to cloudflare's captcha. I tried to do "save then convert", but there were issues with metadata (or I used the script wrong).
It's on the list
It's on the list to get this working again, but it isn't real super HIGH on the list unfortunately.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
I bought a $50 graphics
I bought a $50 graphics tablet, got the drivers installed, etc. but can't use it because I can't see what I write and the computer can't read what I write.
Maybe someone here with some free time
could bundle it together for you? I am still working and don't have much free time, but there might be some kind aoul out there that could do it. I've been using speakIt! in chrome to do some of teh reading for me as I am still not at 100% vision yet (and may never be again) bu, like you found, technology just isn't thhere yt :(
Yesterday it wasn't working
Yesterday it wasn't working right. Today it isn't working at all. Very frustrating. No chance of refund, not much chance of this or any tablet ever working.
My current ergonomic arrangements
I use a small laptop.
I sometimes use it with a lap desk, wrapped in cloth, and a vertical usb mouse.
I sometimes use it with a proper table, adjusted to 24 inches, the same vertical usb mouse, an external monitor, propped up on two books, and maybe the external microphone, the new external graphics tablet, or the backup drive.
I am thinking about using it with an exernal mini keyboard, propped up at an angle to reduce wrist strain. A lot of ergonomic keyboards slope towards each side, but since I'm typing with only my right hand, I'd need the keyboard to slope towards the right side.
I would need to rearrange the desk, move the laptop out of the way, get a good usb hub, and rearrange the cables. But I've had a lot of trouble with usb hubs.