As part of a 10-foot experiment, I decided to use only a keyboard.
I'm currently on Ubuntu 12.04.
To use your computer efficiently from a distance, you will need a complete wireless keyboard with arrows and numerical pad. If it even has an included mouse it may help you to start and in some circumstances (like controlling some javascript buttons) but it is counterproductive in general.
I recommend you install firefox with the following add-ins :
-AddBlock Plus (nothing more painful than a blinking add on your fullscreen TV with sound)
-Custom New Tab (so that the focus is not lost when you create a new tab)
-Stylish (so that you can install a style to remove the scrollbars (totally hide scrollbars) as they would now be useless)
-Vimperator (it will take a little time to get use to it except if you are a vim fan but it will allow you to easily follow links)
In firefox check that the option : Display, Zoom, Zoom Text-Only is disabled, it gives poor results when you need to often zoom in and out like you will in a 10-foot experiment.
Useful key for Vimperator : Insert : toggle vimperator
f : show hints to follow
Useful shortcut to learn for firefox : zoom-in (Ctrl + "+"), zoom-out (Ctrl + "-"), back (alt + left); forward (alt + right), home (alt + home), arrows, new tab (Ctrl + t), rotate tabs (Ctrl + tab), fullscreen F11
There probably exist a plugin to be able to use Vimperator to launch flash video but I have not yet found it.
