Hello again my fellow GlowFolk. Many of you already know of me from my contributions to this forum in the past. Some of you may have even noticed that my contributions have dropped off recently, and if you are really paying attention, you may have even noticed that my lack of recent posts has unfortunately resulted in my losing my “regular” standing on the forum, which is something I did not want to have happen.
There is unfortunately a very good reason for my dropping off in contribution levels. A few of you may remember seeing my post last year in the ALS ice bucket challenge thread, where I mentioned that I actually have ALS. At that time, I still had full use of one of my arms and partial use of the other, but as the disease has progressed, it has become virtually impossible for me to type on a computer or cell phone, or even to use a mouse. In order to enter any amount of information, I need to use voice recognition, and although that works surprisingly well, it can also be surprisingly difficult to do on a whim when one is living in a house that has a very active five-year-old running around in it – it is seldom quiet around here!
The good news is that I have recently been provided with some new hardware by the ALS Society that will make it easier for me to use my computer productively again, so I have decided to set aside some time behind a closed door on a very regular basis to rectify my recent drop in activity.
Oh and @Jules, as you can imagine, my recent loss of ability to use a mouse has obviously been a pretty major stumbling block in my efforts to prepare the Affinity Design tutorials that I had agreed to do. I still intend to do at least some of them, and some of that new hardware should make it possible to get back at those as well.
I suspect that some of the new hardware that they provided me might be of interest to some of the more technical folks on the forum, so my plan is to add a couple of additional threads about those as well.
Edits: I should probably mention that I am the B in B_and_D_T; my name is Bill.
I’ve noticed your absence, but not understood why until now. I’m glad to hear that you’re getting some help for coping better with it in order to regain activity!
That organization was a great resource for my Wife’s Mother! When she had lost her ability to speak they got her a device she could type into that would speak. Creepy part was she sounded just like Steven Hawking!
Get this man a pre-release @dan / @Rita!
It is amazing how much support they have given me! Regarding your prerelease comment, since I live about 120 miles north of the 49th parallel, I do not think I am eligible for a prerelease, but I would be more than happy to accept a production unit ASAP!
Only if you have the time/inclination to do them, Bill. I know you know your way around that program pretty well, and I’d love to post some of your wisdom here, but it’s not something to stress over. I will try to find some from Youtube to fill in the gaps later.
I noticed you weren’t here as much, but I was hoping it was because you were out partying like a wild thing. (I’d sure like to be…)
Can’t speak for @dan and @Rita, but they know what’s going on. Under the circumstances, I imagine they will still consider you quite regular.
Yay fellow Canadian is back! Loving your positive attitude at getting back your Regular status and using your new hardware. Sending you positive thoughts and best wishes for your health!
I only asked for that hardware so that I could use the programs I want to use, and right now the only thing that might prevent me from getting to them is the fact that a recent upgrade to Dragon naturally speaking has broken its ability to work with Microsoft Word!
Don’t fret about the tutorials…there’s no rush on them - we can upload them at any time, even after the units ship. (People will focus on the Glowforge abilities first.)
And I think it’s pretty spectacular of you to offer to do them, especially since you have a couple of extra impediments to overcome these days to do them.
Hi Bill…I remember you well and have missed seeing you here. You are one courageous guy and I applaud you. Always moving forward the best you can. Most all of us are still here jabbering away and will look forward to cyber seeing you more often.
Bill
Don’t know you, didn’t know you well enough to even miss you, but I am very happy that, with the help of the technical advances, that you are able to live a productive life and do what you so love to do.
Are there any details you can share about that hardware? Knowing this forum, I bet people would find it very interesting. Maybe even suggests some hacks
(I loathe upgrades that do that.)
