Matt Watson
Spanish lecturer
Who are you and what do you do?
I'm Matt Watson, and I teach Spanish at Mississippi State University. I like to write and do translations, and I also studied journalism and worked for the student newspaper as an undergrad. I am prone to undertaking random and varied projects or hobbies that I rarely finish.
What hardware are you using?
I use my brother's four-year old 20" iMac at home. It is the best desktop I've ever had, and it was free! At work, I generally use my three-year-old black Macbook, which still has a lot of files I have been too lazy to back up and transfer to the iMac. For my job, I often have to use one of our lab's PCs in order to use the computer projector. I plan on buying a DVI cord one day and perhaps my own projector. I prefer to use my Bamboo pen tablet to navigate the computer, but I generally don't use it with my Macbook.
I also have a not fully functional HTC Hero with Android that I will probably soon replace with an iPhone 4s. I recently bought a Bluetooth earpiece, because lifting the phone to my ear is difficult and tiring. Talking on the speakerphone as a common practice is almost socially unacceptable.
I like to read, and the Kindle has made reading a lot less physically taxing.
And what software?
I run Leopard on the Macbook and Lion on the iMac. I have Microsoft Office on my Macbook but not on my iMac. The only two programs I ever use from Microsoft Office are Word and maybe PowerPoint. I'm completely incompetent with Excel. I use Google spreadsheets for grading and am thinking about using it to log my personal caretakers' time, something I've been too lazy to start doing. I use Pages on the iMac for word processing needs, and so far it's working fine. I was a long-time user of Firefox but have mostly converted to Google Chrome, which runs more smoothly for me. I type with a point-and-click app called KeyStrokes, which I peck at fairly rapidly using the Bamboo Tablet. Other applications: Skype, Twitterific, Garageband, iTunes.
What assistive technology equipment are you using?
I use an electric door opener, an electric Hoyer lift, an air mattress, a hospital bed... oh, and a motorized wheelchair.
What would be your dream setup?
A 27" iMac at home and a 13-inch Macbook Pro hooked to a 27" Apple LED Cinema Display for the office. Lion on both. If only Santa would listen to me for once!