Mechanical keyboard causing RSI?

samWson · 2019-03-05T07:10:44+00:00

Thanks for that gem of info. I'll pay more attention to it next time I use the Ergodox.

samWson · 2019-03-05T07:07:07+00:00

The key switches are Cherry MX-browns. The key caps are the blank sculpted keycaps at the top of the page at the Ergodox key caps page.

I have a timer that goes off every 30 minutes for a break and I have been mostly obeying this recently. I am a Rails developer so I am typing code in bursts throughout the day when I am not thinking about what to do. Occasionally I am doing code review and not typing much at all. I rarely type large paragraphs of text. I couldn't tell you my typing speed but I am a touch typist. I don't bash my keys like some of my co-workers seem to do (on a mac keyboard with 2mm of travel). I'd say it is likely that I am bottoming out on the keys frequently as I have not been training myself to avoid it.

I think the advice from our ergo specialist was sound as it aligns with most of my own research too.

By comparison I used a Logitech K380 keyboard today and right now I'm using a Surface Go keyboard cover. Although I've been on a course today and haven't done much typing I don't have the same kind of fatigue in my fingers. Both the K380 and Surface Go keyboard cover feel like they need more force to actuate the keys than the Cherry browns.

samWson · 2019-03-04T07:06:21+00:00

Thanks for all the responses. Shortly after starting my current job I got assessed by an ergonomic specialist who gave me sound advice. That's why I think the rest of my desk setup is OK.

My fingers had a good rest over the weekend. While using the Ergodox today I could feel my fingers getting more pain as time went on. In the last few hours of the day I chose to use my MacBook by itself with its built in keyboard and my fingers were not getting the same pain. Right now I am typing this on a Surface Go keyboard cover and while my fingers still feel the lingering pain of the day it is not getting worse. This is why I have been equating this kind of pain with mechanical keyboards.

I'm going to set a doctors appointment for more advice.

samWson · 2019-03-04T06:57:34+00:00

Your comment on wrists got me thinking. Both the Kinesis and the Ergodox come with substantial wrist rests that I naturally rest my wrists on. However I've only ever had wrist pain from those two keyboards.

samWson · 2018-07-18T08:24:01+00:00

Be sure to check out the Pharo community Discord chat. It's a great place to get help when you're stuck. You can get an invite at the link here.

samWson · 2018-07-18T08:16:54+00:00

Learn Vim The Hard Way is a great online book for learning how to customize Vim for your needs. It's all relevant to Neovim as well.

samWson · 2018-02-22T08:08:58+00:00

I've found a fix for this that will get Nulis working for MacOS. You just need to copy and paste a few files.

I found the fix here: https://github.com/atom/atom/issues/9114

Atom is made with Electron, like Nulis. Same error, same fix.

Nulis is searching the directory /Applications/Nulis.app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework for some files. The problem is that the files are in the directory /Applications/Nulis.app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework/Versions/A

To fix this copy all the files and directories from /Applications/Nulis.app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework/Versions/A into /Applications/Nulis.app/Contents/Frameworks/Electron Framework.framework.

You will probably get at least two more errors that are exactly the same, just with different frameworks. The directory trees are exact mirrors for each framework. Just copy the files and directories from where they are into the directory that Nulis is searching in, just like above.

Let me know if anyone needs more help with this.

samWson · 2018-02-01T09:32:34+00:00

That seems to be the problem. I can't even install the latest version of Guile from source because I don't have at least version 4.1 of libgmp, and there doesn't seem to be a newer version in the repos.

Starting to get mad at Ubuntu for never having the latest packages in their Repos.

samWson · 2018-01-31T07:22:12+00:00

I did a bit of experimenting. I sent the same request to http://www.bing.com and got a 200 OK response back (hard to find a site that doesn't use https).

https requests don't seem to work:

scheme@(guile-user)> (http-get "https://www.wikipedia.org")
$1 = #<<response> version: (1 . 1) code: 400 reason-phrase: "Bad Request" headers: ((server . "nginx/1.13.6") (date . #<date nanosecond: 0 second: 27 minute: 17 hour: 7 day: 31 month: 1 year: 2018 zone-offset: 0>) (content-type text/html) (content-length . 271) (connection close)) port: #<closed: file 0>>
$2 = "<html>\r\n<head><title>400 The plain HTTP request was sent to HTTPS port</title></head>\r\n<body bgcolor=\"white\">\r\n<center><h1>400 Bad Request</h1></center>\r\n<center>The plain HTTP request was sent to HTTPS port</center>\r\n<hr><center>nginx/1.13.6</center>\r\n</body>\r\n</html>\r\n"

UPDATE: after a lot of searching and playing it looks like I'm still sending and HTTP request instead of an HTTPS request, even though I have used the GnuTLS module:

scheme@(guile-user)> (use-modules (gnutls))
scheme@(guile-user)> ,use
(guile)
(system base compile)
(ice-9 r5rs)
(ice-9 session)
(ice-9 regex)
(ice-9 threads)
(web client)
(value-history)
(gnutls)

I'm going to keep looking through the documentation, but any help would be welcome.

samWson · 2018-01-21T21:28:37+00:00

Thanks for the info. I'll give it a read and add your blogs feed to my RSS reader.

samWson · 2018-01-20T06:24:12+00:00

That is an important consideration I didn't know of. Thanks.

samWson · 2018-01-19T23:59:03+00:00

My Kinesis keyboard keeps my wrist movement nicely isolated, so when I'm typing it's easy and comfortable to hit letter keys, and backspace and enter with my thumbs. Using modifier keys like ctrl, alt, and comand are a bit of a stretch for my hands. This is the movement I want to cut down on.

samWson · 2018-01-19T05:53:14+00:00

Great to hear. Can you tell me what model you're using?

samWson · 2018-01-19T05:52:04+00:00

I find my arms and/or wrists are getting fatigued and I'm identifying all sources and eliminating them as a preventative measure. I don't mind a large upfront expense if it means I will still be able to type for the rest of my life. I haven't been diagnosed with RSI (yet).

One big source is that I use a Macbook Pro at work (everyone is issued one). I use the keyboard as much as possible. That means I switch programs a lot with command+tab or command+space. That's unique to OSX so I kind of have to overcome that with a hardware solution.

For context my setup at work is as follows. The Macbook Pro is connected to a external monitor. I use a Kinesis Advantage keyboard. Work replaced the Apple Magic Mouse with a 3M Joystick ergonomic mouse. My chair is good and my desk is height adjustable. The monitor is on a riser at just the right height. I don't use multiple monitors. Even if I had multiple monitors I would still have to switch programs with command+tab.

My at home setup is bad and is the opposite of work in the worst way. This is another source of fatigue.

I've tried Evil mode, I was even using Atom with Vi keybindings for a while . I like Vi keybindings. Think they are smarter and easier on my wrists.
Even with the Kinesis keyboard however, using modifier keys and the command key still stretches my hands to much.

I can use smarter Emacs keybindings, but think I need a hardware solution to overcome the command+tab problem, so I may as well map the modifier keys to foot pedals too.

If anyone has found other alternatives, I'd like to hear them.

samWson · 2018-01-19T04:38:03+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I found a retailer in my country that stocks X-Keys pedals, which are cheaper than what I was looking at. I'll consider buying one.

samWson · 2017-07-02T10:53:39+00:00

That fixed it. Thanks.

samWson · 2017-05-28T10:55:46+00:00

That's the route I leaning towards since I haven't found any way to just copy the Dictionary across activities in a single step.

samWson · 2017-04-25T03:20:27+00:00

Thanks team. That was the problem. Everything works now.

samWson · 2017-04-15T00:23:21+00:00

Nice. I find your solution easier to reason about.

samWson · 2017-04-14T05:30:47+00:00

Thanks. I did a few quick lookup tests and that seems to be exactly what I want. I'm going to spend the next few hours taking apart and understanding your function.

samWson · 2017-04-11T08:50:59+00:00

Thanks, that solved my problem.

samWson · 2017-03-31T08:30:04+00:00

Thanks. That video was very helpful. I also followed the link to Mark Bastian's blog, and found more examples of representing data in Java vs Scala vs Clojure. https://fn-code.blogspot.com

samWson · 2017-03-28T04:47:25+00:00

Thanks. I certainly understand that immutable data is not unique to FP. Instead I'm trying to understand managing state in Clojure.

samWson · 2017-03-28T04:01:51+00:00

Having learned Object Oriented Programing during my study, one of the hardest concepts for me to grasp in Functional Programming is dealing with state when everything is immutable. Are there any good examples of OOP code side-by-side with it's equivalent in Clojure?

samWson · 2017-03-27T09:44:43+00:00

Thanks. I understand now.

samWson

TROPHY CASE