Re:Chinese Rooms and Software Guys
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Arguing A.I.
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· Score: 1
There's a book called _The Naked Ape_ by Edmund Morris, a zoologist, who studies humans as if they were just any other animal. Not earth-shattering, but definitely worth the read.
I have spent the last several years recovering from various arm injuries caused primarily by typing. (Typing is obviously not the only cause, or every typist/programmer would have such problems. Other factors are fitness, flexibility, posture, and work habits, among others.)
I had pain in both arms which got so bad I could not type a single line without pain. Although I argued with the doctor, I was diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Basically, if your arms hurt and you work with computers, many doctors will diagnose carpal tunnel. I didn't agree with the diagnosis, and saw 3 other doctors, each of whom gave a different diagnosis and a different prescription. After a year and a half of no improvement, I gave in and had a carpal tunnel release surgery, which did not help in the slightest. Having thus proved to the doctors that I didn't have carpal tunnel syndrome, I began physical therapy (stretching, strengthening, and massage) which ultimately fixed me enough to the point where I can work and type this message. I still have pain every day and have to constantly stretch/etc to maintain my ability to work.
Just keep in mind if you have some of the symptoms for CTS that the median nerve goes through a lot of other areas besides the carpal tunnel where it might be impinged (eg the chest, armpit, at the elbow, etc.)
See the page in my sig for more info about my experience.
One of the major problems with computers is the LIMITATION of movement, which is why I don't subscribe to the datahand keyboard's or dvorak layout's idea that further limiting movement is better for preventing RSI. (It may of course be better for speed.)
Think about it. Running, climbing, hunting, chopping, carrying, and all of the other activities which occupied our ancestor's days were a lot more strenuous than typing and mousing, and yet we are getting injured. It's due to holding the same position(s) day in and day out while performing small, repetitive movements. Now, I'm not saying that reaching for the mouse is definitely better, since it can put an awkward strain on the arm/shoulder, but there definitely is something to be said for INCREASING the amount of movement necessary for computing.
Some things to try for movement at the computer are sit-stand workstations, chairs that rock or at least adjust, or even one of those big exercise balls (to sit on.)
keeping the keyboard low enough, so that when I sit up straight and let my arms hang down loosely, my elbows are still at >= 90 degree angle. I use the microsoft ergo keyboard (30$ or so), which I am quite happy with.
See page in my.sig for lots of other things I did to conquer my repetitive strain injuries.
webcam-control-center (link), which for about 20 bucks (free trial) will detect for motion in any part (or all) of the camera's field of vision. You can set it to trip for any motion, or for any percentage change. (For instance, 50% would mean half of the camera's field of view just changed, which means either something big stepped in, or a LOT of little things moved.)
The program can be set to run a file when tripped. I'm sure there must be a program you can find out there (or write) to dial a phone number.
webcam-control-center, which for about 20 bucks (free trial) will detect for motion in any part (or all) of the camera's field of vision. You can set it to trip for any motion, or for any percentage change. (For instance, 50% would mean half of the camera's field of view just changed, which means either something big stepped in, or a LOT of little things moved.)
The program can be set to run a file when tripped. I'm sure there must be a program you can find out there (or write) to dial a phone number.
Here is a guy who (in my opinion) gets it. Especially in his answer to #1, Mr. (Dr.?) Shirky understands the situation and can communicate it better than most others I have seen.
"Where did the whole universe come from? - the big bang? Well what created the big
bang? Don't forget the ask the next question... I found that it led me to God. "
Ah, but you are forgetting to ask the NEXT question. Well what created God?
Not saying God doesn't exist, merely pointing out the flaw in your argument.
Well, the subject pretty much says it. There is a community here in the sense of a group of people congregating together, but there is certainly a social aspect missing. Why not start #slashdot or some other form of synchronous chat to supplement the asynchronous discussion?
Hmm, let's see... whole body slumped down, leaning forward to see the screen... arms stretched to the keyboard... I'd give you a week before you're screaming in pain.
On the other hand, a sturdier (i.e. not plush but rather wood, or thinly padded) recliner or even better rocking chair could work, provided you can place the keyboard exactly right and could get the monitor close enough to your face.
Check out Adjustable Keyboard Podiums(I don't work for them, yada yada..) They might help you set up a healthy workstation from a recliner.
I'm sure you'll still be able to use their universal key. The one that's all 0s with one 1.
I don't remember offhand, but it has the form of
00000-01000-0000-000 something like that.
Oops, did they not want that to get out?
Make sure you aren't bored by CIS
on
CS vs CIS
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· Score: 1
Yeah, CIS will be easier. But unless you're really into what CIS is (as opposed to CS) you're going to be awfully bored, and you might get lazy. Why not take the more interesting and challenging route?
Since for some reason Slashdot posts ALL ERGONOMICS ARTICLES ON THE WEEKEND, I'm posting late. I had/have various problems with my arms for the last 3 years, including muscle/fascia pain in the arms and elbows and tingling in all fingers. Check my website (see sig) for more info.
I bought the datahand after six months or so of ZERO typing (just try finishing a CS degree without typing) and my hands were still too weak/painful to really use it, but I did form some impressions. It's a truly new, creative, thoughtful design, but I think ultimately it is flawed. It definitely reduces finger movement, but I've come to think that is a bad thing, rather than a good one. Your hands are basically totally immobilized in this thing and you just kinda push your fingers forward, backward, to the sides, or down (instead of down, forward then down, sideways then down, etc on a normal keyboard.) I found that keeping my hands so still while moving the fingers was actually worse than using a regular keyboard. I think movement is important to keep everything warm and loose.
Thankfully datahand offers a 30day free trial, so i got my money back (-90$ or so for 2 way shipping.)
I have settled on the microsoft elite 2 (30$) after a long period of rehabilitation. For the long story, see link in my sig. For short story, stretch, stretch, stretch, massage, and strengthen.
Compare the costs of 1 person who develops RSI with the costs of ergonomic equipment for an entire division. In this case, Uncle Sam is both looking out for its citizens who don't always have the power to control what equipment they work on, and helping companies too short-sighted (or just inexperienced) to realize what a problem RSI can be.
I don't have a link right now, but I have seen more than one study that shows, economically, it is better for a (large, at least) company to invest in ergonomics than to deal with RSI-laden workers.
Ergonomics don't have to be expensive, either. I personally need a low table, an adjustable chair, and a microsoft elite keyboard. Total cost: same as any other workstation.
It's things like OSHA that make me glad we have such a great government, despite what Bush may say about it.
Hey, I tried the Datahand and it didn't really work for me. One thing that I think would be a problem for everyone else to is that your hands are REALLY immobilized while you are using it. They barely move. While this may seem a good thing, it seems to me (a NON-doctor) that in the long run it will continue to restrict your mobility and make you worse.
After successful physical therapy, much stretching, a couple of years, and a microsoft elite keyboard, i'm back on the typing wagon. Good luck all!
You said: "Yea, and where are the mistakes in evolution. Wouldn't you expect a few screw ups like an extra half formed arm that didnt do anything. We'd all survive, we'd just be a little messed up and half evolved. Then the"res punctuated evolution where it really starts to stop making sense."
Ever see a person with down's syndrome or born disfigured????? Hello? There are mistakes everywhere. Not to mention all the stillborns and miscarraiges that don't make it.
Orson Scott Card has been doing this forever
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The Satori Effect
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· Score: 1
Granted, it's not 120 pages, but OSC has the first 1-4 chapters of most (or all?) of his books up at www.hatrack.com. He even has some short stories in totality.
If you don't know him, go buy (or borrow) _Ender's Game_. GREAT scifi book.
People as a whole (in large enough groups) can't govern themselves. That is why socialism and communism don't work. They're nice ideas, but the larger a group is, the more likely the individuals are going to act selfishly. For good governmental/societal policies you need to set the system up so that PEOPLE DO GOOD THINGS AUTOMATICALLY. That's why capitalism works. If everyone works selfishly (this doesn't preclude teamwork, see game theory) then the country gets rich. And hey, it works. It's why the drug war is failing -- legislation against a popular activity is useless. You have to work with what people want.
The problem with corporations is that once they achieve a big enough size, their natural selfish impulses are no longer wholly helpful to the system, but harmful. This is because it's easier for them to bully than to earn money "honestly." Trying to convince them to do it "honestly" is useless, since that would just help less honest corporations gain a competitive edge. What you need to do is build into the system a natural check against such practices, some intrinsic disadvantage of either being a huge corporation, or behaving badly. Of the two, it'd be much easier to stop them from being huge in the first place. Hence anti-trust laws. The laws only work when enforced, and they involve legal battles and stuff and are very sloppy. Instead we need to implement rules that favor smaller companies. SEVERE tax penalties might work (good luck getting THAT through washington.)
My point is, you can't expect people to act selflessly, you have to set the system up so that they WANT to.
Sorry about the rambling.:)
Why don't we redirect this discussion to what we REALLY want for our palms?
I'll lead off with high-speed continuous wireless access and a projection screen.
I do my research at Amazon and then go to BestBookBuys.com, which searches some 20 or 30 book retailers (including Amazon) and gives you a list of how much your particular book would cost (including shipping!) from each place. A good quick way to comparison shop, which is one thing the internet is great at.
Suppose you posted information I (The Government, Neeman-Marcus, Satan) didn't want to be available. Instead of litigation, why can't i just create 19,023 new pads all named the same as the pads used to form your document? So you'd have to find the *right* pads with the names I've copied. Since they don't have a date or presumably an author's name (!) how would you find them?
The only way around this I can see would be for servers to refuse duplicate padnames. But that wouldn't work because different servers could still have duplicates.
Slashdot Mirror
There's a book called _The Naked Ape_ by Edmund Morris, a zoologist, who studies humans as if they were just any other animal. Not earth-shattering, but definitely worth the read.
How about "My Kale?"
I had pain in both arms which got so bad I could not type a single line without pain. Although I argued with the doctor, I was diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Basically, if your arms hurt and you work with computers, many doctors will diagnose carpal tunnel. I didn't agree with the diagnosis, and saw 3 other doctors, each of whom gave a different diagnosis and a different prescription. After a year and a half of no improvement, I gave in and had a carpal tunnel release surgery, which did not help in the slightest. Having thus proved to the doctors that I didn't have carpal tunnel syndrome, I began physical therapy (stretching, strengthening, and massage) which ultimately fixed me enough to the point where I can work and type this message. I still have pain every day and have to constantly stretch/etc to maintain my ability to work.
Just keep in mind if you have some of the symptoms for CTS that the median nerve goes through a lot of other areas besides the carpal tunnel where it might be impinged (eg the chest, armpit, at the elbow, etc.)
See the page in my sig for more info about my experience.
Think about it. Running, climbing, hunting, chopping, carrying, and all of the other activities which occupied our ancestor's days were a lot more strenuous than typing and mousing, and yet we are getting injured. It's due to holding the same position(s) day in and day out while performing small, repetitive movements. Now, I'm not saying that reaching for the mouse is definitely better, since it can put an awkward strain on the arm/shoulder, but there definitely is something to be said for INCREASING the amount of movement necessary for computing.
Some things to try for movement at the computer are sit-stand workstations, chairs that rock or at least adjust, or even one of those big exercise balls (to sit on.)
What book?
See page in my .sig for lots of other things I did to conquer my repetitive strain injuries.
The program can be set to run a file when tripped. I'm sure there must be a program you can find out there (or write) to dial a phone number.
The program can be set to run a file when tripped. I'm sure there must be a program you can find out there (or write) to dial a phone number.
("Mine! Mine!")
Here is a guy who (in my opinion) gets it. Especially in his answer to #1, Mr. (Dr.?) Shirky understands the situation and can communicate it better than most others I have seen.
Ah, but you are forgetting to ask the NEXT question. Well what created God?
Not saying God doesn't exist, merely pointing out the flaw in your argument.
Upon an unsuccessful search they do not offer you the choice.
Obviously, they have no responsibility to offer it, but it's kind of slimy that the time you want the option the most, it's not offered.
Also exact string searches are a little weird, particularly if you forget the +s for common words like "the."
On the other hand, a sturdier (i.e. not plush but rather wood, or thinly padded) recliner or even better rocking chair could work, provided you can place the keyboard exactly right and could get the monitor close enough to your face.
Check out Adjustable Keyboard Podiums(I don't work for them, yada yada..) They might help you set up a healthy workstation from a recliner.
I'm sure you'll still be able to use their universal key. The one that's all 0s with one 1. I don't remember offhand, but it has the form of 00000-01000-0000-000 something like that. Oops, did they not want that to get out?
Yeah, CIS will be easier. But unless you're really into what CIS is (as opposed to CS) you're going to be awfully bored, and you might get lazy. Why not take the more interesting and challenging route?
I bought the datahand after six months or so of ZERO typing (just try finishing a CS degree without typing) and my hands were still too weak/painful to really use it, but I did form some impressions. It's a truly new, creative, thoughtful design, but I think ultimately it is flawed. It definitely reduces finger movement, but I've come to think that is a bad thing, rather than a good one. Your hands are basically totally immobilized in this thing and you just kinda push your fingers forward, backward, to the sides, or down (instead of down, forward then down, sideways then down, etc on a normal keyboard.) I found that keeping my hands so still while moving the fingers was actually worse than using a regular keyboard. I think movement is important to keep everything warm and loose.
Thankfully datahand offers a 30day free trial, so i got my money back (-90$ or so for 2 way shipping.)
I have settled on the microsoft elite 2 (30$) after a long period of rehabilitation. For the long story, see link in my sig. For short story, stretch, stretch, stretch, massage, and strengthen.
Feel free to email me.
I don't have a link right now, but I have seen more than one study that shows, economically, it is better for a (large, at least) company to invest in ergonomics than to deal with RSI-laden workers.
Ergonomics don't have to be expensive, either. I personally need a low table, an adjustable chair, and a microsoft elite keyboard. Total cost: same as any other workstation.
It's things like OSHA that make me glad we have such a great government, despite what Bush may say about it.
After successful physical therapy, much stretching, a couple of years, and a microsoft elite keyboard, i'm back on the typing wagon. Good luck all!
You said: "Yea, and where are the mistakes in evolution. Wouldn't you expect a few screw ups like an extra half formed arm that didnt do anything. We'd all survive, we'd just be a little messed up and half evolved. Then the"res punctuated evolution where it really starts to stop making sense." Ever see a person with down's syndrome or born disfigured????? Hello? There are mistakes everywhere. Not to mention all the stillborns and miscarraiges that don't make it.
Granted, it's not 120 pages, but OSC has the first 1-4 chapters of most (or all?) of his books up at www.hatrack.com. He even has some short stories in totality. If you don't know him, go buy (or borrow) _Ender's Game_. GREAT scifi book.
People as a whole (in large enough groups) can't govern themselves. That is why socialism and communism don't work. They're nice ideas, but the larger a group is, the more likely the individuals are going to act selfishly. For good governmental/societal policies you need to set the system up so that PEOPLE DO GOOD THINGS AUTOMATICALLY. That's why capitalism works. If everyone works selfishly (this doesn't preclude teamwork, see game theory) then the country gets rich. And hey, it works. It's why the drug war is failing -- legislation against a popular activity is useless. You have to work with what people want. The problem with corporations is that once they achieve a big enough size, their natural selfish impulses are no longer wholly helpful to the system, but harmful. This is because it's easier for them to bully than to earn money "honestly." Trying to convince them to do it "honestly" is useless, since that would just help less honest corporations gain a competitive edge. What you need to do is build into the system a natural check against such practices, some intrinsic disadvantage of either being a huge corporation, or behaving badly. Of the two, it'd be much easier to stop them from being huge in the first place. Hence anti-trust laws. The laws only work when enforced, and they involve legal battles and stuff and are very sloppy. Instead we need to implement rules that favor smaller companies. SEVERE tax penalties might work (good luck getting THAT through washington.) My point is, you can't expect people to act selflessly, you have to set the system up so that they WANT to. Sorry about the rambling. :)
Why don't we redirect this discussion to what we REALLY want for our palms? I'll lead off with high-speed continuous wireless access and a projection screen.
I do my research at Amazon and then go to BestBookBuys.com, which searches some 20 or 30 book retailers (including Amazon) and gives you a list of how much your particular book would cost (including shipping!) from each place. A good quick way to comparison shop, which is one thing the internet is great at.
Suppose you posted information I (The Government, Neeman-Marcus, Satan) didn't want to be available. Instead of litigation, why can't i just create 19,023 new pads all named the same as the pads used to form your document? So you'd have to find the *right* pads with the names I've copied. Since they don't have a date or presumably an author's name (!) how would you find them?
The only way around this I can see would be for servers to refuse duplicate padnames. But that wouldn't work because different servers could still have duplicates.
Am I wrong?