Afterword

ThimphuTech was the first technology blog in Bhutan. We started writing it in 2009, just as broadband and mobile internet started to take off. (Although internet in Bhutan was launched in 1999, it was either super-slow or super-expensive, and was only used by a selected few).

In the blog, we wrote about technology and food, but also about plenty of other stuff. The blog became popular and influential in Bhutan. A companion bi-weekly column -- Ask Boaz -- was published for many years in the Kuensel, Bhutan's national newspaper. (The complete Kuensel columns are available as an ebook, Blogging with Dragons).

We stopped updating the blog when we left Bhutan in 2014, but the information within the posts can still prove useful, and thus we decided to keep it online.

We thank all our readers.
Tashi Delek,
Boaz & Galit.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Left and Right (K2 #67)

Question of the Week 
My son is left-handed. Is there a special mouse for left-handed people?
— A mother from Bumthang

Answer
Various surveys show that about 10% of the world population is left-handed. If the same percentage holds for Bhutan (and that needs to be verified), then there are more than half a lakh left-handed people in Bhutan. That’s a lot!

Living a left-handed life can be challenging: Have you ever tried using ordinary scissors - the ones designed for right-handed people - with your left-hand? It’s not easy! What about playing the guitar? Switch your guitar to the other hand, and suddenly the strings are in the reverse order. There are even special pencil-sharpeners for the left-handed.

Luckily, there is no need for a special mouse for left-handed people. There are two buttons on the mouse. The primary button, which is usually the left button, is used for clicking items and selecting them, as well as for dragging-and-dropping items. Right-handed people use the index finger to operate this button. The other button is called the secondary button, and is usually the right button on the mouse. The secondary button opens a menu of various operations you can perform on the item you clicked on, for example, renaming a file.

To set an ordinary mouse for left-handed users, the primary and secondary buttons need to be switched, so that the primary button can be operated with the index finger of the left hand. First, open the Control Panel. Next, click on the Mouse icon (if you cannot find the Mouse icon, you are probably in the Category view - just switch to the Icon view first) . Under the Buttons tab, select the “Switch primary and secondary buttons”. The buttons are now switched!

Are you using your laptop’s touchpad? The touchpad can be difficult and frustrating to operate. Here’s a better option: get a small USB mouse, connect it to your laptop, and use it instead of the touchpad. If you use your laptop for long hours, it will reduce the stress on your eyes as well as your hand.



Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

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