The Tao of Walking Ridge

I wanted a teleprompter to help me with my lyrics for songs I was still learning.  Especially “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” by Dylan.  There are so many words, it is hard to memorize them all, but I wanted to start performing the song before I had all the words memorized.

My first thought was teleprompter software, but I found few options and fewer for Linux.  Then I discovered the OpenOffice had a presenter software (similar to PowerPoint).  Remote controls for slide shows are available at many computer stores (I got mine at Best Buy) and they allow you to step forward or backward through a slide show.  You can also blank the screen and the one I got has a laser pointer, but these were options I did not need.

If you are giving a speech, you can set the laptop low with 44 point letters that are very easily read and control the slide show with the hand held remote.  I mounted my remote in a project box from Radio Shack and truned it into a foot pedal.  This allowed me to step through the lyrics a verse at a time.  This was even easier than trying to figure out the right scrolling speed.  And the Targus remote that I got worked great plug n play in my Ubuntu Hardy Heron system.