repetition

Break bad ergonomic habits with help from RSIGuard

Velcro wrist braces. Padded keyboard rests. Office chairs like beach balls on steroids. All ergonomically designed to prevent and treat workplace repetitive strain injuries (RSI) like carpal tunnel syndrome caused by sitting and typing all day, every day. One of the best things you can do about RSI is to make the problem part of the solution. RSIGuard Stretch Edition collects a variety of ergonomic tools in one easy-to-use package. Its Break Timer uses realistic models to suggest stretch breaks when you need them and leave you alone when you don't. The AutoClick tool cuts down on mouse clicks, … Read more

Macro magic

A macro is an automated series of computer actions that can save you a lot of time if you find yourself doing the same tasks over and over again. Unfortunately, macros aren't always easy to create, which means that a lot of people who could benefit from them never get the chance. iMacros for Internet Explorer changes this, making it easy even for novices to create and use macros.

This browser extension appears as a small icon on the IE toolbar, and clicking on it opens a sidebar to the left. Here there are tabs for playing, recording, and … Read more

Whatever happened to carpal tunnel syndrome?

Remember when carpal tunnel syndrome was looking to be the big bad wolf that would blow down the IT industry with a gust of wrist injuries?

While some people have certainly and unfortunately been afflicted with it, it has not become the epidemic that so many predicted.

An Associated Press article on Sunday looks into what happened with the repetitive stress injury washout:

With the personal-computing boom of the 1990s came thousands of repetitive stress injuries or repetitive strain injuries. RSI became the hip medical acronym of the keyboard era, with subset carpal tunnel syndrome the diagnosis of the day.… Read more