Singing Potatoes
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Tuesday, 8 July 2003
RSI: Rodent Setup Investigation

I think I need a new mouse. Maybe one of those "ergonomic" ones, because my right hand hurts on both sides where I tend to grip my mouse. (This is in addition to my left hand, which hurts because I tripped and caught myself mainly with my left thumb.)

I'd go back to using my GlidePoint, but it's difficult to play first-person shooter games with it, and Nerdvana is coming up in a couple of weeks. I'm not going to spend an all-weekend LAN party getting shot to smithereens because I'm moving around awkwardly!

I've heard good things about trackballs, though. On the surface, they seem ideal for gaming (not to mention requiring a smaller footprint on the desk, which is always beneficial if you tend towards clutter), but because of the funky way I set up my game controls, I'm not sure how well a trackball would actually work. Time to go down to CompUSA and test-drive a few different models, I guess.

Posted by godfrey (link)
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Comments
I could not live without my mouse wheel (is that a trackball? no, probably not).
Posted by M o I r A on 9 Jul 2003 00:25
Ever play Centipede? That uses a trackball. Computer trackballs are smaller (I've seen some where the ball itself is only about the size of a shooter marble), but it's the same general principle. It's just a mouse built upside down, really.

And now that you mention it, yeah, it'd better have a scroll wheel. I can't believe how difficult it is now to use a mouse without one.

Posted by Godfrey on 9 Jul 2003 07:10
Hey G, Nerdvana's Friday! Hope you got your calendar clear.

BTW, I'm so old school, I can barely play games with even a mouse; I do almost every game with the keyboard.
Posted by Lunchbox on 9 Jul 2003 09:35
Clear? 7PM Friday through 9PM Sunday is a solid black mass! It'll be good to have you back; the tables seemed empty last time without your bottle of Pepto-Bismol.

I used to be keyboard-only, then I discovered that I could get better and faster aiming precision with the mouse. (And it's really helpful for Medal of Honor, where the submachine and machine guns have a real kick; you have to keep readjusting the aim to compensate. Or just fire in shorter bursts, but sometimes it's just fun to hose someone with bullets.)

Running, running, running... and I'm blind.

Posted by Godfrey on 9 Jul 2003 10:21