@agile_geek: Thanks for mentioning it. I have the book, but didn't start in it yet.

Oh no, I'm overdosing on Potemkin, I'm starting to see it useful everywhere...

tech worker’s catch 22: need a doctors note for a standing desk, but use a standing desk to avoid going to the doctor

@jrotenberg: I have been trying for a year to get one, no joy

< standing desk + high chair. Is awesome 😄

has anyone got any experience of using a standalone mac touchpad compared to the touchpad built into the macbook pros?

I am finding pretty severe RSI in my shoulders and I think it is from using the laptop but I can’t give up the touchpad...

I have a friend who uses one pretty exclusively.

Only weird thing is that's usually off to one side of the keyboard, so it's not as fast to switch between keyboard and touchpad.

colin.yates: Could also experiment with ergo keyboards as well

the wrists in movement is not the best either

@colin.yates: I love them. I have two.

colin.yates: switching to a split keyboard (kinesis freestyle 2) has been really good for my shoulders / upper back. With this model the two halves are freestanding, and can be positioned so that my arms are in a totally natural position while typing. And yeah, the standalone mac touchpad just works, with a mac, in my experience. Also with a split keyboard the touchpad can be in the middle (I use a trackball in the middle)

the pointer device literally sits between the two halves of the keyboard

great stuff - thanks all. I have a Microsoft 4000 keyboard which works really well, but yeah, not loving the idea of the trackpad being so far away. Time to go shopping I expect...

adulteratedjedi: i ended up just bootlegging it

was given some shit about it

then never heard anything else

i basically said “if i can’t stand at least part of the time i can’t work in the office"

and no one stopped me after that

but yeah, for some reason lots of companies aren’t into it

'(testing "that it actually works” ...'

heh

just saw that in someone else’s code

validating, because i do that all the time

@colin.yates: I had RSI for a long time, and my father (mathematician/programmer) had it worse due to a genetic predisposition. Fancy keyboards are all very well, but by far the most important thing is regular breaks. Get yourself a copy of http://antirsi.onnlucky.com (older free version is fine, new one is cheap). Set it to minimum 30 sec break every 5 mins, and 5 min break every hour.

It will drive you crazy, but it’s what you need to do. The most difficult thing is making sure you actually relax during the breaks, since forced breaks often have the opposite effect - relaxing your muscles allows bloodflow which is what you want.

me too on the breaks

standing, sitting, walking around the office, leaving the office altogether

vim anyone? 😉

@hq1: yes