Mouse Tool

MouseTool^TM …”software that clicks the mouse buttons, so you don’t have to.”

“Writers’ cramp” used to be an almost romantic term for me, suggesting a bespectacled James Joyce-type in a brown woolen suit, discreetly writing observations into a small notebook before fashioning something literary on a dependable Underwood, one clackety-clack after another.

The term quickly lost its romance when I was writing my thesis and my arms recoiled uncontrollably from the keyboard, as a searing, itchy pain fired its way up my forearms. Years of physiotherapy and many, many ergonomic products later, my tendinitis persists, and I’ve learned there’s no way to get rid of it, just a need to work with it wisely.

Ironically, my research into RSIs led me to the Web: ironical because it required lengthy hours of mouse usage, which exacerbated my condition. And while I found a good many reference sites (www.ucsf.edu/sorehand is one of the better referral and discussion sites; see also Typing Injury FAQ), most searches rendered list after useless list of either prohibitively expensive ergonomic computer accessories, or products that failed to meet expectations during my hands-on tests.

A few rare products, however, do live up to their claims. Often these products are the very ones whose claims are cautious, and that’s a good sign: it usually indicates the manufacturers’ understanding that RSIs are complex injuries, that every case will differ, and that there is no one panacea.

A friend (let’s call him The Dude) introduced me to Jeff Roush’s MouseTool. While this software takes some getting used to, I can say categorically that it’s one of the best ergonomic devices I’ve encountered.

First, it’s shareware, which wins applause from the geek contingent.

Second, it’s Y2K compliant. Ha!

Third, Roush is quick at getting back to you by email if you have any questions.

Last, it’s fantastic, and I never use this word. Basically, MouseTool is a Windows-compatible program that, true to description, clicks the mouse for you, eliminating most need to click yourself. Simply hover the mouse pointer at one spot for a minimum length of time that you specify in the user options (the default is 0.5 seconds), and the mouse will single click at that spot.

This is no small aid: mousing, at least for me, was the most intensely pain-inducing activity. (Those with RSIs must of course monitor their typing habits and equipment, and in future reviews I’ll look at some [supposedly] ergonomic keyboards.)

For RSIs, MouseTool seems to work best when used with an ergonomic mouse. The best PC mice I’ve found so far are those in the Logitech MouseMan series (reviews forthcoming). A tip for those with smaller hands: don’t rest your hand over the mouse, but hold the mouse chassis at the tail end, thumb on one side, four fingers on the other, as if in a loose handshake grip. Then move the mouse with your whole forearm, not just your hand. For me, this greatly reduced much of the pain from mousing.

There will be an adjustment period using MouseTool. Because the mouse cursor and typing cursors can situate independently in wordprocessing programs, MouseTool will often have you typing phrases or bits of words in the wrong place. I tend not to use it when word processing. I’ve found its greatest strength is for Web use, though again, you have to take care not to rest the pointer over active links, or you’ll accidentally open those links. Eventually you learn to hover- click the mouse, then quickly move it out of the way to a non-linking part of the Web window. I also reset the default ‘dwell time’ to eight-tenths of a second instead of the default five-tenths, since I was getting too many spurious clicks with the latter.

MouseTool has a Stretch Break timer, which I’m sure would be more helpful if I consistently took the time to stretch when it suggested. There are other features of MouseTool that I haven’t explored, including hot keys, and SmartDrag, which allows you to drag and drop without clicking. I’ll get around to these someday. For now, I find the basic functions of MouseTool a godsend.

Roush himself suffers from RSIs, so he understands that, at their worst, they can be literally debilitating. On his website Roush says, “I want people to use this if it helps them. I want to help people get back to doing their jobs and using their tools without fear of pain.” The latter statement may seem dramatic to non-RSI sufferers; for those of us afflicted, it’s no exaggeration.

Download:
MouseTool is available from http://www.mousetool.com. You get a free 20-day trial, after which you’ll need to pay $19.95 US for a permanent user code. This fee is for a lifetime *per user* license, meaning that one purchase entitles you to download copies to several different computers, provided you are the primary user at each. Roush operates on hackers’ honour code, so don’t screw him: this is good software, and he deserves the credit.

No plans for a Linux version (my biggest complaint), as Roush is a Windows programmer. Nor is there a Mac version, so Mac users must turn to SmartClick, a MouseTool parallel developed by RJ Cooper, available for $99 US. Roush is not affiliated with SmartClick.