colin dellow's bln

So, I have made one more ergo tweak:

I have begun typing on a Dvorak keyboard.

It's weird. But, it offers much more balance between left and right hands as well as much less hand motion in general (think like 50% less).

But, bah, muscle memory is hard to override!

(This post took four minutes to type.)

Also, I've stopped cracking my knuckles. Although not related to the commoner RSI symptoms, cracking knuckles can apparently cause weakened grip strength.

The more you know, eh?

So last week I had this tingling feeling in my hands.

And occasionally my fingers felt kinda numb.

And typing was difficult -- my fingers weren't as nimble as they should have been.



Do you know how scary that is? You do -- great! Now imagine you're me. I exist through my computer. It's how I communicate, how I learn, and how I do my work. It is probably the most consistent source of joy in my life. Call me a nerd, but I love seeing what technology can do. I love how it connects people. My computer, but more so my ability to type, is largely, horribly, irreversibly tangled up in my definition of self.

Now picture this scenario if you were me: the one tool that has defined you since you were 5 and you cannot use it. Even though you have the knowledge within your brain to make great things happen, you cannot force your hands to make real the impulses you have. The nerves just aren't doing their job. Sorry, Colin: no love for you today! Try sleeping... maybe tomorrow the problem will just magically go away!

And for a week, I did just that. I slept, and I hoped. I slept, and I hoped. I slept, and I hoped. I slept, and I hoped. By the time I got in to see the doctor, the problem had (mostly) gone away. The doctor told me I had aggravated my ulnar nerve likely based on how I sit. Nothing to worry about, just pay more attention. And today, I feel mostly back to normal.




But for a week, I was silently scared shitless. Know the feeling you get when you whack your funny bone? That's because you've pissed off your ulnar nerve. So, while it was great to hear that I probably don't have RSI, I was, to repeat myself, absolutely scared shitless. Living with a lifelong buzzing in my arms is NOT what I envisioned when I was young.

So I'm treating this as an enormously lucky break and the world's loudest wake-up call. I've done a lot of research into RSI and ergonomics. I'm ditching my $10 existing keyboard for a $130 ergonomically happy keyboard. The benefits:

• Less force to depress individual keys
• Much more neutral pronation in the wrists
• Non-alphanumeric keys are distributed equally over left/right hands (e.g. function keys, arrow keys, page down/up, home/end)
• Narrower profile on desk, enabling mouse to be closer to body

I'm also going to pick up a $10 gel mousepad with wrist support. My mouse is a moderately ergonomic one, and I think with wrist support and being that much closer to my body due to the new keyboard's reduced profile, it'll be just fine. Plus it was a Valentine's day gift from Jenn -- it's got sentimental value!

As well, I've installed Workrave. It's a free program for Windows, Mac and Linux to remind you to take rest breaks as well as micropauses throughout the day. It'll even lock your computer to encourage recalcitrant people to take breaks.

Lastly, I'm doing research into daily stretches I can do strengthen the weaker muscles in my hands, wrists and arms.

If you're a computer nerd and you've had any of the symptoms of RSI -- weak grip, tingling, numbness, clumsiness, difficulty sleeping due to your wrists/hands, pain in the upper arms, pain in the forearms -- go see a doctor! And start doing research on typing injuries! And if you're not in pain now... remember this blog post just in case something happens in the future.

so, in case any one of my loyal readers should go snooping on Google Groups, let me address some issue that will doubtless pop up.

The issue is about this message right here.

Lemme quote what "Colin Dellow" said:

I feel that the government is spending too much money on things that we can gert by without. People are living without necessities due to the goverments taxes. Its time to start cutting out some things which aren't vitally important. These kids will still be able to find work.

Now, sure, I was raised in a rather conservative part of Canada. And hey, I'm a precocious kid -- look at me here, age 13, asking a group of C programmers which is the better TCP library to use: Waterloo's stack or DJ Delorie's.

But come on. I'm suggesting we should cut funding for gifted programs at age EIGHT ? That puts me in grade three. In a school that doesn't even receive funding for gifted programs. Now sure, perhaps my adolescent self was royally embittered at the bastards in the public system, with their marble urinals, their gold-plated drinking fountains and their 5-to-1 teacher-to-student ratio.

Or maybe my brother "typoed" his name. For crying out loud, this wasn't even sent on Usenet -- it was sent on FidoNet. If you're not a big techie nerd, an analagous statement would be: For crying out loud, this wasn't even transmitted via telephonic wires -- it was sent via carrier pigeon. Hell, I'm surprised "Colin" didn't have a Flock of Seagulls lyric in his signature block. And a mullet. And clothes in neon orange and green hues. And the middle name Paul.

OARBS recently got a positive article (warning: pdf) in the Toronto Metro, a commuter paper with an estimated circulation of 400,000.

The story's basically a hometown-kid-does-good fluff piece on Dan and has already generated 3 inquiries today. Huzzah!

For some reason though, the thing that makes me most giddy is the fact that I now have a hit on Google News in addition to my hits on Googles Web, Local, Images and Groups (can you tell? Google is my Pokemon. Collect them all!)

What do two procrastinating nerds do with Google Earth, a broadband internet connection, high school algebra, PERL and a variety of songs?

They make a video.

...it's like they knew I was coming.

Other cool things that Dan and I found on the Microsoft campus:
* Very foresty parking lots
* Beach volleyball courts, soccer fields and baseball diamonds

Just in case my previous post left some confusion, this May will find me in rainy Redmond, WA. I will be espousing the One Microsoft Way. Or at least, working there. Then again, now that I'm one of "Bill's minions", I guess I should give you this link.

But who am I to say no to Satan when he asks to buy my soul?