JMS: regarding CTS/RSI

[B5JMS Poster]

Subject: JMS: regarding CTS/RSI
+  1: Nov  2, 1995: nmehl at bbnplanet.com (Nathan J. Mehl)
*  2: Nov  7, 1995: straczynski at genie.geis.com

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: nmehl at bbnplanet.com (Nathan J. Mehl)
Lines: 50

>     No matter what precautions you take, when you write sometimes as much 
>as 20 pages per day...it's gonna happen.
>
>     (General note: I've seen virtually every article on CTS, I know about 
>the vitamins, the wrist-rests, the exercises, all that; 
>I do what I can with those things that help.  So while advice is 
>appreciated, it's not necessary in this case.)

Well, at the risk of attempting to give advice when it's been 
warned against...

Vitamins, wrist-rests and exercises are all well and good, but
they don't really change the fact that the standard 101-key
computer/typewriter keyboard is severely incompatible with human
physiogomy over the long term.  As long as you're using a regular
keyboard, you're going to continue to have the problems (as, of
course, you've already noted).

There are, at the point, several alternatives to standard keyboard
entry that you might want to take a serious look at:

Several companies make what are known as "chording keyboards."  
These are small, hand-held devices that use 5-10 low-resistance
buttons which you "chord" (ie: press more than one at once) to
produce all the characters available on a standard keyboard.
Additionally, there are usually 20-50 possible chords left over
which you can assign as macros for frequently used words or
phrases.

The advantage of these devices is that you can simply hold them
in your hand at a non-stressful angle, and you do not have to
use anywhere near as much energy to press the keys.

The most popular such device is the "BAT" by Infogrip, Inc.  They
can be reached at 800-397-0921, or email to thebat at pacrain.com.
(They also have a web site: "http://www.pacrain.com/~thebat")

There is an extensive list of keyboard alternatives at the
Typing Injury FAQ website: 
http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~dwallach/tifaq/keyboards.html
If you don't have access to the WWW, I'll happily mail you
a copy of the text.


-- 
"The life of a sysadmin is always intense!"
If you think I speak for my employer, they'll be happy to correct you.
Nathan J. Mehl -- BBN Planet System Operations -- nathan at bbnplanet.com
<A HREF="http://web.near.net/~nmehl">homepagesque</A>


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

From: straczynski at genie.geis.com
Lines: 3

     Thanks; already using the Kinesis keyboard at work....

                                                           jms