The Four-eyed Journal » Tips

Ergonomics and proper posture in using a laptop

jhay — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:26:32 +0000

Okay, so it takes a little while to get used to Firefox 3′s new “Awesome bar”, and now I’m beginning to agree with the remark of commenter minor‘s wife that the new address bar in Firefox 3 could cause some added eyestrains because it spits out huge chunks of text every time you type in a URL. Still, congratulations to Mozilla and to all Firefox fans, it’s reported that we reached 8 Million downloads for Firefox 3 on Download day.

Which means there are now 7 Million users who will have to grapple with the new address bar of FF3, it’s a usability issue that I hope will be addressed in the next versions of Firefox.

Speaking of usability, ergonomics and health issues with regards to using computers and laptops, today I’d answer what friends have been asking me every time they see me using a full-sized mice with my laptop. The trend is that with desktops you should use full-sized mice while if you’re going to use a laptop and not bother with its track pad, you would use one of those mini-mice which is half the size of the regular ones, hell there are even micro or pocket-sized mice that could easily fit in one’s underpants. Case in point, Carlo’s new mini-mice for his Asus Eee PC. Cute but not for me.

I for one did not follow this convention. Simply because my right hand is too big to comfortably use a micro-mice. See the photo below?

That wireless mini-mice given to me by my uncle could easily be hidden underneath my hand, if my hand were a lot hairier it would look like a tarantula that has caught a small mice (the animal) for dinner. So I went out and bought a full-sized Optical Mice by Logitech. It’s twice the size of most mini-mice but it saves me a lot from painful wrist and finger strain or what’s properly called as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Asides from taking care of our hands and wrists, which I think are one of the most important parts of a blogger’s anatomy, Manav of Technospot.net reminds us of the importance of using good posture in using our computers, especially if your work or lifestyle involves using it for long periods of time.

By my reckoning, it’s written for those who use desktop computers as these are much more common and configurable because the monitor and keyboard could be adjusted separately for greater comfort.
On the other hand, for laptop users like, our situation is a bit different thus our setup is also a bit different.

A set of good ergonomic tips in using a laptop can be found in the website of The University of Ontario:

Shoulders should be resting at your sides, elbows bent to 90 degrees and wrists straight. Tilt the screen to reduce neck bending and any glare.
Make sure you use a light touch while keying and mousing.
The armrests on your chair should not obstruct arm movements as seen in the picture to the right.
Can you use secondary function or short-cut keys instead of the mouse
Consider the tasks you will be working on. Raise the screen to eye level when reading lengthy documents (consider using the mouse for scrolling) or lower the keyboard to elbow level for intensive keying.
Consider using the laptop as a stand alone CPU with an external keyboard, mouse and monitor. If the notebook screen is large, raise the entire computer to eye level and use an external keyboard and mouse.
If you are working at a table that is too high for proper keying, try tilting the laptop towards you using an empty binder. Reclining your seat slightly will help to improve arm postures. Tilting the laptop will also help to raise the screen closer to eye level.
Take a break from your laptop. Do you have other jobs you can work at for a bit that don’t involve using a computer? Several short breaks, where you can change your posture, is recommended over one long break.

Other sites offer more tips in proper and healthy laptop usage but I don’t have the luxury of having a secondary LCD monitor to plug in to my laptop to achieve that eye-level setup recommended when reading documents from the computer. For now, I’ll just adjust the height of my gas-lift chair when needed.

9 strategies to improve memory

jhay — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:50:33 +0000

Here’s something well worth the time to read, it’s from the

How to stay healthy during the rainy days

jhay — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 02:16:28 +0000

It seems that the dry-spell here in the country is over. A tropical depression is growing near Bicol and tropical storm “Chedeng” continues to move steadily up north towards Taiwan. The good new is, dry-hot days are gone for now. Rains will be repleneshing rivers and lakes and hopefully the country’s power problems would not escalate further.

It may a welcomed cool relief but it is during this changing weathers that we succumb to common illnesses that if taken for granted would lead to more serious ailments that costs us money and time. Somethings we bloggers fear the most.

So how to stay healthy and sickness-free during this cold and rainy days?

Bring an umbrella – or something to keep you dry. It may be cumbersome, bulky or not ‘fitting-in’ with your daily get up, but an umbrella, a cap, a jacket or even a raincoat will keep you warm, dry and less succeptible to common illnesses like colds and flu.
Eat well and healthy – stack up on your vitamins, minerals and energy. It will boost your immune system and keep those nasty micro-baddies at bay. You’ll neeed the extra energy to keep warm and alert because during these cold rainy days, our bodies tend to produce more heat to keep us well. Fresh fruits like apples, grapes, oranges, lemon and others rich in vitamin C will do the trick. Besides, they could even be cheaper and more fun to eat than those artificially-synthezised vitamin tablets and capsules.
Sleep plenty and rest well – Sleeping during this cold rainy nights is a wonderful thing to do. It encourages us to get some well deserved rest and sleep from work, travelling, studying and blogging. Just don’t oversleep that you’ll miss work or school. Don’t forget, a good sleep has always given us that much needed boost that we wake up refreshed and full of energy.
Bring a hanky or a towel – This comes handy when you leave behind your umbrella at home or somewhere else. More importantly, use it to wipe dry your hands after handling your wet often dirty umbrella especially before eating meals. Most of all, use it to cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze. It’s not only polite, it’s hygienic.
Tissue paper could also work, blow your nose in it instead of your cloth hanky. It’s much cleaner and safer. Just remember to throw them properly and buy those tissues that are made to be eco-friendly.
Wash your hands – It is one the most basic tenets of staying healthy but also one the most easily neglected by us. Hand sanitizers make this very convenient but be careful in what you buy, you may be allergic to a particular component of a particular variety. So please read what’s on the bottle first before lining up at the cashier.
Take a bath regularly – this goes hand to hand with hand washing. Do I need to elaborate on this?
Visit the doc regularly - Rain or shine, we must give extra effort in staying healthy. Visit our doctors for regular checkups, not just when you get sick or seriously ill.

I hope this tips will help you in staying healthy. Stay safe everyone.

Oh and in case all else fails and you do get sick and you have a blog, ProBlogger Darren Rowse has some tips on what to do your blog when you get sick.

Wishing you a speedy recovery Darren!

*photo taken from Breakfast Blogger