Slashdot Mirror
Hardware That Literally Doesn't Stink?
gtaylor writes "You know that new computer smell? Some people (like me) get sick from it. Can Slashdot readers provide good suggestions for mice or keyboards made from ceramic, unlacquered hardwood, metal, etc, non-plastic headphones and microphones, screens like the new metal-framed cinema display from Apple, etc? (Wood is not necessarily right if it's glued or varnished.) I have a Sharp Plasmacluster air purifier that is very helpful but the fewer volatile organic chemicals released in the first place, the better. I'll also need a chair (leaning to the Herman Miller Mirra chair) and an adjustable metal/hardwood desk. High-density hard synthetics like polypropylene (a popular material at Ikea) or acrylic are also inert enough to be fine if they have no plasticizers - suggestions for a full office set-up welcome."
As a practicing pulmonary doctor, I see patients that claim a wide variety of environmental sensitivies. My one patient was an engineer who thought her computer "was releasing chemicals that were killing her" did the following.
She placed her computer case in a plastic storage bin and placed it in the crawl space under her bedroom. She then bought extension cables for everything and ran the cables up into her living space. I wish I had the pictures she brought in... but her setup included a desk mounted power switch as well.
Once she moved her computer out of her bedroom she decided that her light bulbs were releasing harmful chemicals. It was obviously her light bulbs because she had moved basically everything else out of her bedroom.
Of course, she slept with her cat... but her cat couldn't be causing her allergies. Of course not.
Gesh... just another day at the office.
Davak
send me your new goods, and I will send them back after I wear the new smell off... Sounds like a plan to me!
- Your stupidity got you into this mess, why can't it get you out? -Will Rogers
I think with the majority of Slashdotters, the hardware which suffers most from stink problems lies between the keyboard and chair...
dunno about plastics etc but if you ever tried popping off a key or two in one of your few-year-old keyboards - particularly if you regularly eat at your computer desk, well chances are you've located a primary source of smell just there.
ISO certified == THX certified
Take up smoking. Tobacco will give you a legitimate reason to worry about your health and deaden your sense of smell.
-- I could tell right away that she was impressed with my HUGE Slashdot Karma.
Seriously. Us poor script kiddies are crying, "need more b0xen!" and this guy is wasting all this money on some damn non-volatile plastics.
This.
I just live with the smell for one or two days. By then everything smells of coffee and I'm OK.
Couldn't stand em. Made me sick. Well one day I decided to have one even though I didn't like em. Felt like I had wasted my money. Know what I did? I bought another one. After about 5 Big Macs I was startin' to dig it. Now I really like Big Macs. Sometimes you have just to grin and bare it until your body adjusts. Now maybe you have a serious medical condition and are literally allergic to this stuff. In which case, you can probably get some injections that will very slowly expose your body to it until you are used to it. But chances are you're not seriously allergic to this stuff, you're just a big cry baby. Eat the damn Big Mac.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Alright so these people who can't handle the smell of new computers can do this:
Have them shipped to my house.
I'll use them for a few years.
I'll ship them to your house.
problem solved!
Buy plastic and deal with it you wuss. Darwin wins.
This has to be a joke right? I mean, If you get sick from the smell of a keyboard, then what else in the room is making you sick? Think you might be grabbing at straws a bit here? Blame it on your parents, it's their fault for not letting you outside to eat worms and dirt when you where a kid.
Wow. What a way to live. Have you ever bought a new car? Do you ever plan too? Can you fly commercial airlines? Plane cabins stink. What about driving near pastures or out in the country in general. Do you have allergies, or just some super-sensitive snout? Do you complain when a movie theatre smells like feet, or do you avoid movie theatres because of your condition. I mean, if you spend this much time trying to make sure your desk is ok for your nose, it must be pretty serious. Do you claim ADA and get special stuff at work, or do you suffer though each day.
Sounds like a geek ailment to me.
one time i dropped my computer on my foot and slid down a few stairs while moving. In that case, the computer itself was a very large airborne particle!
...when you get sick from the smell of your own tin-foil hat.
"'Yrch!' said Legolas, falling into his own tongue."
Whoa! For a second there I thought you said your PCP wasn't giving you heart palpitations and I thought "Man, your dealer's rippin' you off!" : )
harmonious design
I find that placing a fine layer of Obecalp spray over the entire surface works miracles when it comes to containing the problem that leads to these symptoms. Like everthing good, it is hard to get ahold of: but I have a supply, and for the low price of only $99 a bottle I can sell you some.
Unfortunately, there is a risk you may have to repeat the treatment after a while. It really depends on the severity of you Airdnocopyh (the scientific name for this serious illness) condition.
I have a friend who is allergic to peanuts. He doesn't eat peanut butter.
That's the thing about allergies, they limit us. You need to just get over it and go herd sheep or something.
I mean, I've got this major where I have two hands and two eyes, but I can't look at two things at once while inteligently interacting with each. It's a failing, I know, but I accept it and only engage in one on screen task at any given instant. those are the breaks.
Beings aspergers AND pulling chicks... I enjoy the challenge!
I love the smell of fresh hardware so much I kept all the packaging that came with my Powerbook. Every once in a while I open it up and remember that magical moment, my first Mac.
Sig: I stole this sig.
You could probably save a few bucks by putting yourself in an inert plastic bubble instead of buying all new furniture etc.
Captain, Kirk, is that, you? You seem, to have, this, halting problem, as you, speak. :)
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
I am totally being serious. If you have a cool PCP, you should try this:
:)
Grab a bucketful of fried chicken and take it to your next doctor's appointment. Let him hook you up to the EKG machine and then eat away.
I often ask patients to bring in things that they believe they are allergic to.
If you go from normal sinus to having a ton of PVCs while eating chicken, your doctor would have a very interesting case to publish! Plus, if you bring your doc a bucket of chicken, he is certain to sit down and chat a spell.
No one in my office liked the smell of
computer hardware. The problem was driving
us all completely crazy, until we found
the answer:
Now everyone in my office just uses one of these!
http://www.approvedgasmasks.com/suit-responderp
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
I have a chronic fatigue syndrome too. Or maybe I'm just lazy. Uhhmm... never mind.
___
If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it.
Its actually more disturbing how little time it took me to bang that out... :)
Why do you think you need to clean the inside of your winshield so often??
Top ten reasons:
10. When you fire the gun from in there, the gunshot residue stays in the car.
9. Because if I don't clean it, the gasses from the film on the inside make me wheeze.
8. When I hit the brakes hard, Rover goes flying. Whee!
7. If you leave cookies on the dashboard for a half hour they get warm. Mmmm...
6. If you leave cookies on the dashboard for a half year, they grow a fine green hair.
5. My parents never leave the house, and my "special" friend just got this bear costume...
4. I blame the Bush administration!
3. It's been like that since I started eating lunch at White Castle.
2. My erupting foot-fungus is none of your business!
and the number 1 reason:
1. Porno Tuesdays at the drive-in!
...and I have to wear RayBans 'cos cd's blind me. Must be nice.
WeBlowItUp
The testing can be the worst part of all. Everytime I drink a Gloria Jeans iced chocolate, I get violently, violently ill inside of an hour. I've never been able to nail down what the active ingredient is that does it, but there is nothing quite as unnerving as raising the glass to your lips when you already know that it's going to be utterly excruciating, but you need one more data point to be absolutely sure.
Good luck with the Turkey. It would suck to be cut off from that.
YLFIOne god, one market, one truth, one consumer.
Hmm, eating chicken caused heart palpitations? Well, maybe a fat man eating one too many chicken wings will certainly cause his heart to work overtime and thereby inducing it to beat irregularly.
My apology for being politically incorrect by using the word fat. Please replace it with a man with enlarged physical condition caused by a completely natural genetically-induced hormone imbalance.