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Date:      Wed, 11 Aug 2004 17:09:54 +0100
From:      Dick Davies <rasputnik@hellooperator.net>
To:        Paul Robinson <paul@iconoplex.co.uk>
Cc:        chat@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: RSI-basher?
Message-ID:  <20040811160954.GB9117@lb.tenfour>
In-Reply-To: <20040811122010.GS12472@iconoplex.co.uk>
References:  <20040810152244.GM12472@iconoplex.co.uk> <20040810153601.GL87690@submonkey.net> <20040811085011.GA21373@lb.tenfour> <20040811122010.GS12472@iconoplex.co.uk>

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* Paul Robinson <paul@iconoplex.co.uk> [0819 13:19]:
> On Wed, Aug 11, 2004 at 09:50:11AM +0100, Dick Davies wrote:
> 
> > These are absolutely brilliant. I would be typing this with my nose if it weren't for mine,
> > as it is I am still doing development work and sysadmin with only the odd ibuprofen to keep
> > me healthy.
> 
> Yeah, that's the thing. Last night I was in an absolutely foul mood, because
> I knew if this got any worse, in effect my career would be over. As I'm
> still only 26 (yes, I have been in front of a screen playing/admining/coding
> since I was 11 and I can't imagine being able to do anything else for a
> living), this is not something I really wanted to occur.

Try thinking of a job that doesn't involve hands. 

no, me neither.
 
> On the mailing list there have been loads of good pieces of advice about 
> ergonomics, individual choices of keyboards and setups, and they're all 
> useful. I intend taking all that advice (even the weird one about the copper 
> bracelet) simply because until neurological i/o implants are available, I 
> don't have any choice.

acupuncture works in about 25% of cases apparently.

also, I'm going to give the Alexander technique a whirl - conquering Asia is a
small price to pay to be able to play Deus Ex again.
 
> I also, having realised I can get work to pay for it and having read your 
> comments, have decided I'm going to get one of these keyboards. Even if work 
> refuse for some reason, I'm going to pony up for it out of my own pocket. 
> Unless I find something even better. :-)
  
Other than a cute typist, I think this is as good as it gets.
If you're into bondage you could try:

http://ratpoison.sourceforge.net/keyboards/009-edi/


> > * universal support - no drivers needed, every OS I've used it with (*BSD, Linux, win*, mac os*)
> > sees it as a USB hub with mouse and keyboard attached.
> 
> That's nice. Only thing I have to consider is those occasions when I'm 
> plugging into boxes without USB support. Hmmmm.
> 
> > * flash updates using a piece of Java - you also get a GUI then to configure all the perks
> 
> Java? I'm in BSD world! Getting Java to run on FreeBSD was so hard the last 
> time I tried it, I've given up hope. Still, I'm sure I'll find a way. :-)

Like I said you can do it all as long as you have an editor for it to print into - a mozilla location
bar works fine too.
 
> > * it can switch layouts - I think Dvorak, Qwerty and Qwerak are in the latest ROM - *without* needing
> >   a layout update in the OS : so if you use Dvorak you set that in the keyboard and don't need to configure
> >   each OS - win2k in particular drives me potty since it has per-app keyboard maps, I avoid all that with
> >   this.
> 
> Yeah, I'm thinking about making the jump to Dvorak, but I can type very 
> quickly with QWERTY and am not sure I want to go through the pain of 
> re-learning the layout. It seems a lot of hassle seeing as I only got 
> touch-typing down pat about 2-3 years ago.

Fair enough, I couldn't touchtype anyway so Dvorak was as easy as learning qwerty.
 
> > but if you're learning to touch type on it its simpler to download the printable overlays and stick them
> > on either side of the monitor.
> 
> That's the one thing that has put me off so far. If I go one route and then 
> want to try or revert another route, it's $300 effectively down the drain. 
> At the moment the $/GBP exchange rate is so good for me that this is not 
> actually prohibitively expensive - about 150 GBP - but down the road it 
> might be closer to 225 GBP as it has been in recent years.

It looks like you'd get most of your money back through ebay anyway, and it doesn't matter what's on the board
so long as you're touch typing really:

http://ratpoison.sourceforge.net/keyboards/007-jcorneli/


-- 
When all other means of communication fail, try words.
Rasputin :: Jack of All Trades - Master of Nuns



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