We had a ergonomic consultant come into our offices today.
He was there to evaluate our computer setups and let us know how likely we were to cripple ourselves within three years. He looked at people’s postures, measured various body lengths and limb angles, and came up with a list of recommendations for improving - there’s that magic word again - our ergonomic statures.
Interestingly, his most-cited phenomenon, from what I could overhear, was that of the computer user contorting his body to match whatever angle the items on his desk laid. That is, it was easier for most people to shift to uncomfortable positions for the sake of using their monitors, keyboard, or mice than it was to physically adjust those items.
In my case, it was moving my wireless keyboard six inches forward.
I’ve spent years reading and listening to the Mac experience. I’ve never actually bought a Mac, but I was interested in some of its software and how cool it looked. The exercise was mostly academic; I didn’t care for paying for the privilege of Mac ownership, and the Windows alternatives worked well enough despite the clunkier interface.
When I jumped over to LOLapps, I figured it may be time to try my hand on the supposedly superior system (). I almost bought one for myself, but abruptly realized that I don’t need multiple personal computers in addition to a work laptop. Plus, my gaming needs still demand more-flexible PC-compatiable hardware.
So I’m sitting here, writing out a blog post over a slow Edge data network and struggling to tap out letters on the sub-optimal iPhone keyboard.
Yea, Wordpress for the iPhone…not that great for anything beyond a paragraph or two. Although it does allow for a funny pic:
It was a cold evening. Ominous clouds lounged overhead, threatening to envelop the sleepy town beneath…not that it was much different from most other nights in foggy Daly City. But this night, ah, this night held the honor of being the first, of many nights, when strange tales were told. The clouds seemed an appropriate touch.
“IV Sedation is for pussies. Pussy pussy pussy…”
This was the first of many stories, all speaking of the same journey of a trial, a trial reaching into the extremities of the human body. They say some were not destined to face this challenge; they were not born with the proper instruments that force this battle. Yet others seemingly welcome the fight, relishing a chance to forever banish the anguish of gnashing teeth and crushing gums. Those who accept face violence and blood.
Yet another lesson in the law of unintended consequences, the malleability of statistics, and the stupidity of robots.
Courtesy of the Counterize II plugin for Wordpress, I’ve been trying to analyze traffic charts like this for the past few months:
Could it be that, in addition to the lack of coherence embodying this site’s namesake, I’m also providing five times more value to my readers? Maybe MSN Live () is providing subtle commentary on the value of incoherence?
I’m moving up the software ladder. Nine months ago I was writing desktop applications for Factset; three months ago I was writing websites for Tagged; and now, I write Facebook applications for LOLApps. This trajectory predicts a soon to-be career in creating tiny web widgets and, inevitably, living off of single lines of code.
With every shift up the ladder, it seems like the pace kicks up a notch, and change comes about much more rapidly. The programmin’ is also a bit easier, but there are more technologies and layers of software to worry about, out here on the guzzlin’ edge of the web. And of course, the competition gets heavier and stiffer.
He was there to evaluate our computer setups and let us know how likely we were to cripple ourselves within three years. He looked at people’s postures, measured various body lengths and limb angles, and came up with a list of recommendations for improving - there’s that magic word again - our ergonomic statures.