On the front of the mouse war, we've got the Orbita Freestyle. This, and a foot mouse might be my answer to ergonomic heaven.
To follow up on the Hadron: it appears that we were so close to annihilating the planet that some sort of terminator appeared from the future to make it stop working.
h/t the internet.
I'm very close to buying an overpriced laptop so that I can start making music again. It's exciting; it's harrowing.
Time for it to die.
I think I might be going no-hands mouse. The song at the end of this promo basically all but convinced me:
I'm behind the times, I guess it's called Non-Specific Arm Pain now. That seems like a bit too much of an existential appellation. Something like non-specific life pain.
THIS is what I want. At work. At home. On the bus. When I sleep.
Long time readers know that I'm into alternatives to mice for controlling my computer. So far, the best we have are trackballs. But this might be taking us somewhere where I want to be:
So far it's only the finger that gets to go into tron-space to fondle the digital panda. But if your hand gets to go in, and possibly, your whole arm, well, then you may get to that level of organic movement that may be less damaging than our current interfaces. Supposedly, the most ergonomic form a keyboard could take is a ball, about the size of a beach ball with the keys on the sides. Well, if your hand could merge with the monitor in a digital opening, like the finger poking at the panda on the tire swing, you could interface with a virtual mouse and virtual keyboard that would let you do all sorts of things that would look like interpretive dance, and be better for your musculature.
Here's a direct link to the Japanese site.
I have long had problems with my arms--as mentioned previously--namely an RSI problem. I should probably be resting my arms right now (I'm officially grading papers online fulltime right now) but before I do, look at the latest MAC toy:
I was a serious naysayer when it came to the iPhone--I thought it was the technological equivalent of Beck (enuff said). But I was really hoping for the new wave of interfaces to address the concerns of my lame-ass, inflamed tendons. Questions, concerns still loom, but I'm optimistic.
h/t zentrout
One stick in my life's craw is ergonomics; If I can never unshackle myself from computer use, it will become imperative that the ergonomic situation is improved. I am hunched and my arms are thin and strained; If I'm constantly sitting at a computer I start developing tendonitis. It has happened to me at a few office jobs in the past; I experience numbness in my arms, and then shooting pain along the ulnar nerves that I feel up into my ring and little fingers. And then I can't use a computer for weeks, have to go through physical therapy etc. Mac is rumored to be working on a new interface this year. If I could work a computer like a theremin, like an interpretetive dancer , well, it'd be the bee's knees.
