Comments | moominmolly: left-handed mousing

moominmolly

left-handed mousing

Mar 11, 2002 15:45

I'm using a right-handed mouse with my left hand today, and I keep switching the buttons around. I've got them mapped in my head not as "left" and "right" but as "index finger" and "middle finger". Never really did get left and right - they're so relative. I've got a great sense of direction and spatial relations but I can't tell left from right ( Read more... )

me, by-x

Comments 4

other paw oonh March 11 2002, 15:51:08 UTC

I started writing with my left hand about six years ago. I think that
the only real problem is a question of strength -- my muscles
aren't strong enough yet, though I've got the shapes of letters
down pat. (weight training!)

jnala March 11 2002, 16:23:57 UTC

When I mouse left-handed, I generally swap the buttons. Under X, xmodmap -e 'pointer = 2 1 3'. I forget how it works under Windows, but I'm sure it's possible.

crouchback March 12 2002, 01:47:00 UTC

It's hard for me to tell, but I think I was, at one point, left-handed. I've read comments from teachers form early grade school about me writing with both hands. Then I was "encouraged" to go with the right hand since I apparently could not make up my mind.

Ireally get thrwon for a loop by left-handed things. My sweetie, for instance, has things set up that way on her computer, and it takes me a few minutes to readjust to the fact that right and left are switched.

latent leftiness moominmolly March 12 2002, 12:21:32 UTC

ectropy and I were talking about this a month or two ago. I think both of us are at least ambidextrous if not outright lefties -- for me, though, the problem is that my left hand just isn't as practiced as my right. Ever since switching the mouse buttons around, I've had no trouble mousing lefty. My left side is stronger, my left leg is dominant, and glancing around my desk, I seem to put most (not all!) of my water bottles to the left of my keyboard. But it just doesn't have the same motor control as my right hand.

The motor control was hard-won, though -- my handwriting with my right hand was total crap for a long time. I'd like to practice writing with my left hand, but I almost never write anything down anymore!