Friday, December 03, 2010

Fixing Mom's Keyboard - Intergenerational, Cross Continental Tech Fix

I was on the phone with my mom in LA. She'd taken my son (her grandson) to the airport to fly back to DC. But he'd left an ergonomic keyboard for her to use. And while she liked the keyboard, she wasn't getting the letters she wanted when she typed. My son uses a Dvorak keyboard, but that wasn't the issue.

She types the alphabet and tells me what she's getting. A, ok. B. ok. C ok. D ok. E ok. Trouble starts with J, then K then L. She's getting numbers.

Is there a numlock key? She can't find one.

What kind of keyboard is it?

Kinesis.

I look online. It does look strange. But nothing detailed enough.

An 800 number. Mom's on one phone. Call Kinesis on the other phone. I explain to Rick - my mon's in LA, I'm in Anchorage, my son's on a plane, and she's getting numbers instead of letters.


Rick: I think I can help. Find the Key(something key, I can't remember) in the upper right. Push it.

I repeat this to my mom.

She does it. She types. It works.

It's nice to be able to solve a little, but vexing problem for my mom, so easily. But this is a truly strange world.


Meanwhile, I've added a "Today's Tips" in the "Anchorage International Film Festival" tab above. Let's see if I can keep up enough to even have daily tips. Shannyn Moore has asked me to call into her radio show on KUDO every weekday after the 1pm news to say what's happening at the festival. So putting up daily tips should help get me ready.

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