Visual Basic 6 and a Gammy Left Hand
I program in Visual Basic 6 and despite the language being probably ten years old now, it still does what it says on the tin with all versions of Windows and Internet Explorer up to 7 and 8 respectively.
But also because it is such a well defined language and so easy to use, I can effectively run it one-handed, with just a little bit of help from my gammy left hand for Shift and Tab. I do all the other typing with my right. But then the sort of things you need to do with the keyboard in most programs, you can do with the mouse.
Despite my two strokes, I can still do everything I need to do! I’ve even remembered most of the code I’ve written over the years, so at least that part of the brain works, even if the hand doesn’t!
The first new program will be a 2011 version of my Daisy Presentation Browser. This program does three main things :-
- Allows you to set the size of the browser to improve your presentations based on web sites.
- Print clean copies of web pages to a pre-defined size or the maximum available on your printer.
- Copy the web page in the browser to the clipboard for pasting into another program.
My heart goes out to the genius who designed Visual Basic 6 in the first place, without whom I would be seriously suicidal!
I’m Programming Again!
I may still have pain in my face, a left hand that doesn’t know its Alt from its Control or Caps Lock, but I have to do something so I’m starting to program again. Or should I say reprogramming again as I’m only updating each of my Daisy Web Tools for 2011!
The first one that I will reprogram is the Presentation Browser. I wrote this a few years ago, to solve the problem of being able to print or capture a clean image of a web page, without the toolbar and all the other things that insist on being printed, when you do this from within Internet Explorer or another browser.
I shall announce the program here when it is ready. All of the Daisy Web Tools, will be available separately and free.
Some Lotus Elan Pictures
This is really to test out how the gallery in WordPress works.
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- A Gazelle and a Hippo
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- A Short Car
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- In Blackpool
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- Lotus Evora on Test
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- The Hague
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- Altenberg
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- At the Trafford Centre
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- Freshly Cleaned
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- Travelling in Style
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- Waiting for the Ferry
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- The Hague
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- In Amsterdam
It seems to work fairly well although there are the usual inconsistencies that programmers tend to create. I’m not saying I’m any better, but I work hard to have a philosophy that is the same everywhere.
Sometimes I fail, but I usually get there in the end.
But take here. I’m trying to get the space under the picture exact, so that the gallery fits in nicely. But I’m having trouble. It should be easy! My father, a printer, who was a stickler for layout would not have been amused.
Just Like Old Times
Years ago, when I was writing Artemis, I was always to be found at the computer from about five in the morning or even earlier. My late wife would be snug in bed.
But then when I wake up I get up. And guess what, it’s now just before five and after waking up from a strange dream, I am now at the computer.
Am as I as productive as I was in the 1970s?
Probably not, but I still have the stamina to program for twelve hours a day. On the other hand, there are a lot more algorithms in my mind now, so I don’t have to spend time finding them!
The Anonymous Widower 