Tools of the trade

A lot of you are probably wondering how a blind guy can work in such a text-centric vocation.  Well, there are really three answers.

First, I'm legally blind, not "blind" bind.  I can still see, just not too well.

Second, with a little help from my friends.  I recognize that I am limited by my visual impairment, and I don't hesitate to ask for help with things I know I can't do well.

Finally, there's what I want to start talking about today:  tools.  I'm still learning what tools are availabel and elpful, but today, we'll talk about what I'm using now.

First, my unreasonably big screen. A 32" TV makes a heck of a monitor.  Plus, I get a remote control.  :-)

Second, my Microsoft Mouse and (more importantly) accompanying software.     My mouse is currently a Microsoft Lase Mouse 6000 (Yes!  A mouse with a frickin' laser beam in its stomach!).  The MS mouse series comes with some very nice divers, which include different actions for the different buttons.  The default action for the right outside button is to turn on the magnifier.  The magnifier included in the MS Mouse driver package is better than the one built-in to Windows.  In addition tot he annoying and borderline useless line mode, you can use a lens mode (what I usually use) or full-screen mode.


Lens mode basically takes a small rectangle of your screen and doubles, triples, and so forth,  the size.  This is, IMHO, better than the full screen mode because I can always see the whole screen just by moving it, which means I have some sense of context.

Something that makes my life manageable in ways I never would have expected before i started having problems:  digital documents.  There was a slightly awkward (for the HR guy) and rather hilarious (for me) moment when I pointed out that the Americans with Disabilities documentation I was supposed to fill out was written too small to be legible.  I ended up filling it out on my computer and signing on the dotted line (which a friend helpfully pointed at).

Google Voice is a godsend.  I can't really see the screen on my phone well enough to use the address book, but Sprint integrates directly with Google Voice, so I can make phone calls from that, and get my emails, SMS, and voicemail in my GMail (wh I'm constantly checking when at work or at home).

There are also some things that  bridge the gap between work and fun.  Which, if you can do both at the same time, I strongly suggest it. My most recent acquisition is a 12.6" tablet.  With my Seeing-Eye-Wife's help, I immediately rooted it and used LCDDensity to nearly double the size of the screen elements.  I've wanted one of these forever but since I can no longer see my ebook reader, I figured I had some rationale for purchasing one.  Plus I really wanted it.  I'm currently working on dropping a new ROM on it, to get some advance features, and then getting it to work with my ebook management software.  Oh, and I really wanted one.

I've only been at this "blind" thing for the last six months or so.  I'm very much open to any suggestions for tools to help me out.  If you've any ideas, that's what the comments are for.  :-)

Welcome, my blurry audience

A little bit of background.  I'm male, in my early thirties, and thanks to bad mangement in my 20s, my Type I diabetes has given me proliferativer diabetic neuropathy.  If you don't know what that means, don't worry --  spellcheck doesn't, either.  Basically, it means my retinas have lost the ability to see detail, as if the world was a JPEG that's been blown up too much.  I'm not totaly bind, though -- only legally blind.  Legally blind covers a lot of territory, so I'll give you the metrics and an illistration.  My "good" is is 20/350, and my "bad" eye is like looking through a sheet of waxed paper.  To write this blog I'm using a screen magnifier on a 32-inch "monitor" which came with a remote control and could, theoretically, pick up ESPN.

Now, I've said al this to a great many people in the six or so months since my eyes really got bad, not to powerload pity points, but so that people understand my perspective (or lack thereof). 

And that is the reason I'm stating this blog.  I'm going to talk about the tools, the experiences, and the problems I'm experiencing due to this handicap.  Mostly, it will center around my work and my job, but these things touch other areas in my life, so you'll get to meet my wife (who drives me to work), friends (who help me with things I can't do by myself_, and, occasonaly, the frustrations I run into.

So welcome to my world, each and every blurry one of you.