Dear Doc
I get terrible pain inmy shoulder
and arm fromusing a mouse, and
it has got worse since I began using
the touchscreen features of my
Windows 8 laptop. Any suggestions
would be great.
mw, cambridge
the problem with
‘mouse shoulder’ is that, while fingers are designed
to make small, continuous movements, the arm and shoulder are not,
and it’s made worse if you keep holding your arm up to swipe a screen.
Take regular breaks and consider using a trackball rather than a mouse
or go for an external touchpad controller. Apple makes Magic
Trackpad
(£59, store.apple.com)
, and Logitech makes the Wireless
Rechargeable Trackpad for
Mac or Windows
(right,
£69.99, logitech.com)
. It’s also
built into the same firm’s new
K820 keyboard (£89.99).
WORDS
ALEX PELL
. WE REGRET ALEX CANNOT ANSWER QUESTIONS INDIVIDUALLY AND NO CORRESPONDENCE WILL BE ENTERED INTO
Ski Tracks
69p
iOS, Android
Back up your
après-ski bragging
with hard data using
this sophisticated
tracking app that
monitors your
mountain activity.
Record your speed,
distance covered,
number of runs,
angle of slopes and
time you were on the
go. It even provides a
map of your route.
Ski & Snow
Report
Free
iOs, Android
Sniff out fresh
powder with this
smart app from
OnTheSnow. It
shows live webcam
images, how many
lifts are open and
shares the resort’s
Twitter feed. The
selection is global
and it even notifies
you if snow falls in a
favourite resort.
AllSnow Ski
Free
iOS, Android
This multipurpose
tool offers many
of the benefits of
the first two apps,
plus strong social
features, and soon
it will enable you
to see your friends’
locations at any
moment. The app
has links to resort
websites and can
download offline
piste maps.
Tripster
Free
iOS, Android
Bargain hunters
rejoice. Tripster
gives you discounts
on equipment hire
and entertainment
at participating
destinations. So far
it’s restricted to a
few dozen French
resorts, but you’ll be
smiling if you get
40% off on ski hire or
two-for-one toffee
vodka shots.
Ski TrailMaps Pro
£2.99
Android
Most resorts offer
their maps digitally
these days, but if you
hop between a few
places, this app is a
winner. It lets you
store up to a 1,000
piste maps from
around the world on
your phone and will
overlay routes onto
satellite imagery of
the mountain. There
is a free trial version.
King of themountain
This month, we’ve got the apps you need to hit the slopes flying
Gadget Doctor
B E S T
A P P S
V I E W P O I N T S
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