I don't know if this is the place to post this, but it seems closer than any of the other areas.
When I'm typing, I watch as the words show up on my screen, and when it's something like this, all is normal.
When I'm working on my novel, though, the words keep jumping about and vanishing, and I have to look away every few seconds to be able to see anything at all.
Does this happen to anyone else?
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
I'm really not sure what you mean exactly.
Posted by KPKilburn (Member # 6876) on :
It does sound like a vision problem...though it might be a computer hardware or software problem, too.
But if you think it's a vision problem, get to the eye doctor at once.
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
only when i have been drinking. or been awake for over 3 days on mission then what i type blurs. try BC power. it works wonders of keeping me awake. and pain free. it is the light that keeps most of my PLT going.
Rommel Fenrir Wolf II
Posted by puppysnot (Member # 5217) on :
I have had similar occurrences with a couple different causes. For me, the primary problem was my thumbs? THUMBS? Yup. My thumbs. I work almost exclusively on a laptop. On my laptop, the touch pad is centered below the space bar. When I’m “on a roll” and trying to get as much down as possible before I loose my train of thought, I type faster (though not necessarily better). In this blinding flash of speed, my thumbs tend to flail about. In the process, they (my thumbs) would often hit or slide across the touch/scroll pad. In doing so, I have cut, copied, pasted, deleted, and moved things about in some most annoying ways. No matter what I did, my thumbs would not co-operate. I purchased an external keyboard (mainly for other ergonomic reasons) and it remedied my alien thumbs.
Alternately, sometimes my computer will get behind. I’ve noticed that if one or more programs are running at the same time as word-processor, the computer will be performing other tasks in the background. Due to this, combined with typing speed and processor speed, I have, at times, typed six or seven words before they would show up on the screen. I probably have way too much junk on my computer. Couple this with my demon thumbs and ... wow.
Did any this help? Eh, probably not, but maybe it was worth a chuckle.
Gordon
Posted by mfreivald (Member # 3413) on :
Migraines can do very bizarre things. You don't even have to have pain for them to have their effects, either. I know someone who during a migraine watched the text on the page of the book he was reading completely disappear.
I'm not a doctor, but I'd say that was a candidate for the cause.
Posted by Kirona (Member # 7125) on :
KPKilburn - While that's a good idea, I don't think that's it. Something physical like that shouldn't be so selective.
Robert - it may very well be a vision problem, I know I have several. I've noticed that it's happened a lot since I've upped my screen resolution and made my fonts larger in MSWord than they were before to compensate. I overcompensated a bit, though. As far as hardware problems, I know the words are still there on the screen, not moving or changing or anything - the visual disruption is not at all pixelated like what's on my screen.
Rommel - While entertaining, that's not likely. I don't drink, and I can't stay up for three days...I would die of insanity and a total collapse of self-destructive impulse control. And what's BC and PLT?
Puppy/Gordon... thumbs. I knew there was a reason I didn't like working on my laptop. That's why things kept getting modified. This system, though, is a desktop, so that's no problem here, and the issues I'm having aren't that the text is changed, only that I can't see it (even while I can see it's on the screen, strange as it is). And with my computer being a new, custom-built beast, I don't think it has any problems keeping up with MSWord. And yes, that was worth a chuckle.
mfreivald - if that's a sign of a migraine, then I seem to have migraines at least once in any day that I read a book or draw or anything, since this is somewhat similar to that kind of reaction (the words will vanish on book pages for me too once in a while).
Overall, thank you all for responding and making suggestions, it's all very helpful and/or enlightening (or at least entertaining). For now I'm going to blame my bad vision and over-sized font. Thanks everyone!
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
So, it's a literal vision problem, then. That is bizarre, to add to Robert's comment I suggest talking to an expert. In the case of medicine sooner is always better than later.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
It could be a symptom of any number of things. Don't disregard it, though, just because it doesn't show up in any other computer activity. Near as I can tell, MS Word produces an extremely-bright-white picture on the screen that's more than most things you might look at online. And the overall image would change considerably less, too.
You might try lowering the brightness of your screen, before you see an eye doctor, as a short term solution.
Posted by Hariolor (Member # 7048) on :
My FAVORITESTEST thing to do in (insert your fav word processor here) is set it to a blue background with white text. This is far far easier on the eyes *clinically proven, I think* and is prettier , to boot. In MS word it's in the Preferences. I use a Mac now and can't remember exactly where the setting is, but that's a big help for cutting down eye strain.
Also, what you describe may just be your eyes natural blind spots and you're occasionally becoming aware of them, especially when you're trying to work quickly.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Hadn't thought of that. I tend to stick with what it is when I got it, only rarely making that kind of modifications. By all means try it, if you can figure out how---something I have little luck at, actually.
But see an eye doctor. A blind spot could be indicitive of just about anything.