Slashdot Mirror

Seriously, does everything Google does have to make the front page? That post contains zero new information that isn't here, here, or here.

Yes, fine, I admit it, everyone at Google is smarter, happier, richer, more statuesque, and throws better parties than The Rest of Us. We're not worthy. Now stop telling me about it.

ghostlibrary writes "Even while NIH is getting new ethics regs, patientINFORM is being evangelized as a way for ordinary citizens to look up experimental treatment online, in essence circumventing their doctor, and the FDA long ago the tacitly approved this. /. debated Wikis in hospital. RSI fans track risky or untested procedures from the Typing Injury FAQ and Health-Hack covers IT-related self-help medicine. Laser-eye stuff is now mainstream and doesn't need a check beyond google. Any other sites out there for those willing to dictate their own medical course? Does this mean Internet users will become test subjects moreso than the usual college students and elderly?"

ghostlibrary writes "People who are interested in obtaining information about experimental treatments for health conditions can turn to a new web site called patientINFORM, which is being evangelized by a collective of publishers and medical groups. This site is controversial because it in effect allows patients to circumvent their doctors in the search for unconventional and unapproved therapies. While the FDA has tacitly approved this kind of information service in the past, the NIH is about to issue new regs covering the conflicts of interest this kind of service raises. This site joins other sites that disseminate information about risky or untested procedures, such as the Typing Injury FAQ, which covers RSI (repetitive strain injuries) or Health-Hack, which covers IT-related self-help medicine. Laser-eye stuff is now mainstream and doesn't need a check beyond google, and past Slashdot articles have even discussed the advisability of using wikis in hospitals.

Are there other sites out there for those willing to dictate their own medical course? Does this mean Internet users are joining the usual college students and elderly as experimental subjects for untested therapies?"

What we really need are alternatives to traditional typing -- ways to communicate with the computer in a more efficent manner.

I'm personally waiting for the wireless implant in my head so I can just "think" the words onto the screen :)

In the meantime, I've tried out the Twiddler2 chorded keyboard, which is a combination key entry and mouse device. Although a bit slower, it is FAR more comfortable surfing and chording with it than using the traditional keyboard and mouse (though you can forget programming). And it plays nice with OS X and Windows.

If you're interested, there are many other chorded "keyboards" as well as many more ergonomic variations to the standard keyboard. A useful resource is the exhaustive Alternative Keyboard FAQ and this alternative keyboard gallery.

With handwriting and voice recognition technologies, is using a QWERTY keyboard with nine out of ten fingers something worth knowing anymore?

Handwriting recognition isn't much good at all yet, and voice recognition isn't much better. Besides, have you ever known anyone to write code using a microphone?

Full-size keyboards are still the fastest, easiest, and most cubicle-friendly way of entering data into any computer for about 99.9% of all users. (The last 0.1% use chording, and they spent their own time mastering it.)

Someone in my office has a program that stays up all the time, and displays a hand in various positions to tell him when he should be resting. There's also a number of programs refered to from The Typing Injury FAQ

I would have to disagree with this also. I started programming when I was nine, and started to have trouble with my wrists when I hit 21 (also about two years after I learned how to touch type). I have since switched to an ergonomic keyboard which has cleared up the problem completely.

In Europe there are pretty strict regulations about the environment around VDU workers (people sitting at a computer). I have to wonder if many people's problem is not their environment. I have seen far too many people lower their chair practicaly to the floor, and then wonder why they get problems with their wrists. People also seem to think that it's okay to sit sideways at a desk looking at a screen on an angle, or at a screen with their head turned. This is a sure way to develop neck and back problems. A poor chair is another issue. They have to support your back properly so you can relax as you type, otherwise you will develop back problems. Your elbows should idealy be at the level of your wrists at the keyboard. If they are lower, you are asking for problems. A good friend of mine at University was studying physiotherapy, and they had found the wrist rests can actualy do more harm than good, as people tend to rest their wrists on them whilst typing. This is another way you can develop problems. Wrist rests are for resting your wrist on whilst you are not typing!
All in all I have seen very few people who have good posture, and a well configured work environment have problems with RSI. This is not the first study like this to be published.

http://www.tifaq.com/archive/rsi_article.txt
This is a link to an article published in the independant in 1993 that talks about RSI being totaly preventable by simply ensuring workers have well designed environment.

While traditional chording keyboards have never really caught on, this thumb "keyboard" seems to have great potential in this area. Chording keyboards, as we all know, have fewer keys and allow people to type faster if they know the combinations very well. Unfortunately, the combinations are somewhat more difficult to memorize than the locations of keys on a regular keyboard. But if you could have a dual-thumb apparatus, like a set of two joysticks or a pair of sensor-embedded gloves (a la Minority Report), I bet you could make chording feasible.

Dunno if these are exactly what you're looking for, but...

http://www.ergostar.com/split.shtml

http://www.comfortkeyboard.com/ergomagic_tm.htm

This one is adjustable, but doesn't come apart:
http://www.keyalt.com/keyboards/goldtouch.htm

There are links to several (including some of the above) here:
http://www.tifaq.com/keyboards/adjustable-split-ke yboards.html

DennyK

I remember something aboout .com being the "tiny" build target, and .exe for "medium" and "large." I left windows before I seriously got into C/C++ programming. Can anyone explain the diferrence?

Here is an article on chording keyboards. It seems like something useful for palmtops; a pic and some momentary pushbottons could make a nice serial device for my Zaurus.

Like we've never seen one of those before.

So, why exactly is this different than other types?

the Alternative Keyboard FAQ is here and has information about other kinds of keyboards.

also some news articles...

CU study: Vertical split keyboard lowers the injury risk for typists
Vertical Keyboard: the "Touch Easy."

Looks like somebody just ripped off typing injury FAQ. They probably did it a while ago too, because tifaq has more current links.

The Kinesis changed my life, pure and simple. Before this keyboard I tried many alternatives, including the MS Natural keyboard, and none of them releived me of the constant pain in my hands. At one point in my career it got so bad that the pain at night prevented me from sleeping -- even if I spent a day or two away from the computer.

After trying the Kinesis, not only do I feel that my typing is faster (and ABSOLUTELY more comfortable), my pain is all but gone -- and this includes stretches of days with 20 hours of typing per day.

It's impossible for me to heap enough superlatives at this product. To say that it saved my career as a computer scientist is not overstating it. I can recommend it whole-heartedly, and urge anyone who has pain to at least give it a shot.

I'm in no way associated with Kineses (other than being a very satisfied customer) but I am so impressed with their keyboards that I actually offered to invest in the company (at the time they weren't soliciting outside investors).

Here is where I bought my keyboard (see the picture of it on the home page): DMB Ergonomics

And here is some additional information that might be helpful:
Alternative Keyboards

Typing Injury FAQ

RSI = Repetitive Strain Injury, just in case you didn't know.

--Arik

The typeing injury faq has gobs of information about keyboards. It can be found here

Personnally I use a Twiddler. Some folks don't care for them but I love mine. There is a bit of learning curve and the mouse buttons can be a bit squirlly. It has 16 keys, 4 modifyers, and a track point. You type by makeing cords. The track point moves the mouse and puts the 16 keys into mouse button mode(little squirlly).

The Filewalker is definately interesting, but the text input method seems like it would be a pain. The biggest drawbacks are:

• text entry will be slow because it is essentially a serial-access device not a random-access one like a keyboard
• you have to be looking at the screen as you type, because you need to see which column of letters is in view.

An interesting alternative would be a device like this that used a chording keyboard. These were pioneered by a British company called Microwriter who built a device called the Agenda back in the early '80s. This had a text entry system that uses five keys - different combinations ("chords") of keys generate different letters. It takes a while to learn the chords, but once you know them you can type one-handed, relatively rapidly and without having to look at the screen. Chording keyboards may also be less liable to cause RSI.

For more information about chording keyboards, see this FAQ

Touch screens still don't cut it for me. My stubby callused fingers are about as precise as a horse's hoof for a pointing device.

Also, the 'soft' keyboards that can be displayed on these touch screens are frustratingly inaccurate due to a lack of tactile feedback (no click-clack).

Combine a Web pad with a chording keyboard-mouse combination and we would have something great. 'Til then I'll stick with my Palm.

WARNING: using arm rests while typing can cause severe injury! I actually would rest my arms on them while typing and this led to tendonitis at both of my elbows. This is a very common injury and incredibly easy to avoid. If you have arm rests, just be sure to lower them to a point that they will not even brush your elbows/arms while typing.

A good source of more info would be It's not carpal tunnel syndrome or the typing injury faq.

I happen to suffer from serious wrist pain and being an input freak I decided to take it all the way. Yes, I'm convinced that the Evolution keyboard is better than an old clickety-clack keyboard, but if you want to see some real damage reduction, you have to go extreme.

I decided to go for a Datahand, and at around 1500 bux I think it's the most expensive keyboard out there. I'm very happy about it, but I only type at max. 95% of my old typing speed. A little bit frustrating, but worth it. If I use a regular keyboard for more than 20 mins, it's hell. I have also tried the Kinesis Essential keyboard, which is much cheaper, but a very good ergonomic keyboard.

For a while I used a Foot switch, also from Kinesis, but this was a real waste of money. You have to always have your feet in the same place to use it, and it's waaaay too small - I kept hitting two buttons at the same time.

Since I still have some problems with my arms, I decided to go for some armrests. These are movable and kinda cool looking together with the datahand, and although the product is good quality, I don't really feel that they that much. They give a marginal improvement at best.

Oh, the built-in mouse on the Datahand sux, so I ordered a head tracked mouse (after seeing it on /.) from Eyecontrol, but it still hasn't arrived.

I personally think that the mouse is the biggest culprit when it comes to wrist problems, but I am still considering using some kinda speech recognition software. Ok, I'm a bit geeky about this, but I'm 23, and I need these hands for many more years.

-Kraft

-Kraft

There is a wonderful FAQ at www.tifaq.com which has a lot of info about alternative keyboards and such. There are lots to choose from, including chording keyboards (a la Infogrip's BAT) and split keyboards etc. One thing to keep in mid is that the keyboard alone is not a solution. You need to practice good overall ergonomics, and this includes a good desk and chair, as well as taking breaks and repositioning yourself.

There is a wonderful FAQ at www.tifaq.com which has a lot of info about alternative keyboards and such. There are lots to choose from, including chording keyboards (a la Infogrip's BAT) and split keyboards etc. One thing to keep in mid is that the keyboard alone is not a solution. You need to practice good overall ergonomics, and this includes a good desk and chair, as well as taking breaks and repositioning yourself.

For those of you who want to minimise occupational typing injuries, have a look at the Typing Injury FAQ.

For those of you who want to minimise occupational typing injuries, have a look at the Typing Injury FAQ.

OosTime is a simple program that does about the same thing as xwrits. /Lars

Another option is to get a Dvorak keyboard and see if that works better for you. A Dvorak keyboard is supposed to be much more efficient than the standard QWERTY keyboard. What I mean is that the space your fingers have to move to type most words is much less, reducing the strain on your hands. It's also supposed to be faster. Downside is learning a new layout. Here is an URL with some info on the Dvorak layout.

As for not using a mouse that gets tricky in a GUI environment. I've never tried it, and it is pricey, but footmouse.com has a foot operated mouse. If your goal is to reduce wear and tear on your hands, maybe it is worth looking into.

You could also check out the portion of the typing injury FAQ that deals with alternative input devices. Perhaps you could substitute something for the mouse or keyboard that is more to your liking.

Hope this was helpful.

Sorehand has a bunch of information about RSI which I found quite useful as I was going thourhg these problems a few years ago. Especially useful to me was the mailing list and The Typing Injury FAQ

http://www.tifaq.com/keyboards.html
It's from the "Typing Injury FAQ" and I found it a good read. The vertical split ones, the Maltron ones, and even the chorded ones look pretty good. I use Dvorak on a run-of-the-mill Cheapo keyboard, and I'm fine with it, but someone else might find this interesting.