Safe computing

Safe computing e course Lesson No 1

2006-05-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

Healthy computing.
http://www.thepurplegenie.com/healthycomputing.htm

Get used to your computer, don’t get used by it.

More than what the name connotes, computers have much to do with our lives today. You get in touch with your friends, make a purchase from a department store, you access your bank account, you make an opinion poll, you listen to your favorite music, you play chess online, you reserve your flight tickets, all with this odd assembly of electronic gadgets.

You often tend to think how clever you have been in manipulating the electrons into doing what you want them to do for you. Don’t be too sure. The flip side of technology is that you get so addicted to the convenience of technology that you fail to see what hazards they bring.

Have you felt eyes burning while having to sit for a long time in front of the monitor? Have you felt that unmistakable stiffness in your neck? Does your fingers and wrist ache and sprain when trying to flex them backwards? If you are, then know that you are being used by your computer!

“A healthy mind is in a healthy body”

This saying is true even for computer users. While working on the computer, your body is at rest and gets typically no physical workouts. But for fingers, your body is in a state of inaction and lethargy. You even forget to blink your eyelids sometimes! This results in the degeneration of muscles that are toned only if they get enough exercise. Muscles sag, joints get stiff, fat deposits are added and you are susceptible to a number of small and big ailments. This is how computer users tend to go out of shape and gain weight easily.

To serve the cause

These factors prompted us to do a lot of research on this subject – “How to stay healthy while working on your computer?” We have introduced a new e-course on healthy computing; absolutely free…this is a 5-lessons mini course. From lesson one through lesson five, we shall take you through the wonderful world of healthy computing. This deals extensively with various things that can go wrong while someone spends their time on computers. The potential hazards that are hidden in the application of computers and their recommended preventive measures are discussed. In the event of you already suffering with any of the ailment mentioned, there are corrective actions recommended, which will reduce or eradicate them for you. You don’t have to spend a single cent for this. Here, you don’t lose anything. Besides, you gain much.

We have also included some of the exercises that could be recommended for someone who sits in front of a computer in a chair all day. These exercises are very easy to follow and less strenuous that you don’t require an instructor to guide you with these exercises. We have even added some photographs that might help you gain a wider perspective about these workouts.

Today, being the first lesson of our e-course, let’s discuss how to stay healthy, while working on your computer. This contains suggestions on different ways by which you can stay fit even though you have to work on the computer all day long, with pictorial representations. There are some exercises that can be done even at your work place during your micro breaks and short breaks. These are mostly stretching exercises. All these exercises should be performed slowly and carefully. Each position is assumed gracefully to the point where a stretch is felt intensely but with no pain.

If you use computer regularly, you must know; which is the right posture for your kind of job, how to sit on your chair, how to keep your hands, how to move your elbows and shoulders, how to take care of your back and a lot more…

We will be giving useful tips for computer users on a daily basis till the end of this course.

In the coming lessons we shall discuss many other aspects of healthy computing that helps you regain your health and self-confidence. To use the computer without getting used by it!
Tip For The Day

Monitors that are placed too high or too low are not recommended for people who have to use computers for long hours per day. It affects the head, neck, shoulders, and the back, as they have to adjust their positions for better view of the monitor. In the long run, the muscles that support the head are fatigued due to these awkward postures.

Never thought these things could make such a big difference to your lives, did you? We’ll tell you how much more you have to know!

Healthy computing.
http://www.thepurplegenie.com/healthycomputing.htm

Safe computing e course Lesson No 2

2006-05-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

Healthy computing.
http://www.thepurplegenie.com/healthycomputing.htm

Today, we are on the second lesson of e-course on ‘Healthy Computing’.

Stay fit: Take care of your body
Now, you may ask, “What’s the big threat about working on a fast and convenient machine, reclining on my armchair all day?” Well, the threat would be that while you’re using your machine to the optimum use for which it is made, you’re in turn switching off your body muscles that need as much work! They in turn run low on performance and finally starts wasting away. Next time you try to lift any weight, or even bend down to pick your newspaper; you can end up spraining your back or neck, no jokes.

Let’s discuss various types of injuries that you might encounter while working on a computer such as carpal tunnel syndrome as well as various eye discomforts. This also includes various symptoms of these ailments and their methods of treatment.

Some of the common ailments that computer users suffer from are Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD), Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Tendinosis, Bursitis, and Tendinitis. All these ailments need proper care of an orthopedic MD for the right treatment at the right time. Every computer user should know the different signs and symptoms of these disorders so that they can seek prompt medical attention while they encounter with any kind of difficulty.

Your eyes:
Your eyes also need proper care as the other parts of the body. It is the worst affected organ in case you have to sit in front of the computer for long hours. Eyestrain and Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) are the most common disorders that the eyes encounter with.

Everybody has a tendency to put on weight in the absence of balanced diet and exercise. Along with these factors, if you are a regular computer user, you are sure to gain those extra inches around your belly and many other parts of your body.. If you need to shed the extra inches that you already have, what you need to do is to increase the number and frequency of certain exercises that you find useful.

Today’s Motto

No worries…Be Healthy…Be in Good Shape…
Use your computer to your heart full…

Healthy computing.
http://www.thepurplegenie.com/healthycomputing.htm

Safe computing e course Lesson No. 3

2006-05-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

Healthy computing.
http://www.thepurplegenie.com/healthycomputing.htm

Hello and welcome to the third day of our e-course on ‘Safe Computing’. Today, let’s have a look at the ergonomic key boards, monitors, chairs, pointers, and all other devices comprising your computer workstation for you to stay healthy even though you have to use your computer for prolonged hours. Some examples of this are vertical sitting posture, traction posture, declined sitting posture, and reclined sitting posture.

As you know, there are certain limitations for a 5 lessons e-course. We cannot explain every thing due to the limitation of space and time. But there is nothing to panic…..We have compiled everything you need to know about computers in a ‘100’ page e-book with lot of illustrations.
This book gives you various tips for selection and arrangement of various components of your computer workstation. These include monitors, keyboards, pointer/mouse, wrist/palm supports, document holders, desks, chairs, and even your telephones. We have taken account of different inputs for users who would like to know more about their workstation components to help them carry out their work more professionally, contentedly, and safely.

Especially for you………………..

Under the topic of monitors, we have added inputs on the viewing distance, viewing angle, viewing time, and viewing clarity. And under the section on keyboards, we have included inputs on keyboard placement distance, height, and its design. We have also added details regarding keyboard trays and their applications.

This e-book also includes details regarding how people become out of shape from years of sitting in front of a computer monitor. We have added some of the exercises, with illustrations, that we would recommend for someone who sits in front of a computer in a chair all day.

There are different pointing devices like mouse, touch pads, trackballs, fingertip joysticks, and pucks. We have taken efforts in bringing you information regarding pointer placement, pointer size, shape, and settings that would be of much help to users suffering from shoulder and neck discomforts. We have also discussed how the wrist/palm rests should be used to get full comfort while working for long hours.

For those users working more with printed materials, document holders give them more ease and comfort. Risk factors like awkward postures of the head and neck, fatigue, headaches and eyestrain can be reduced by proper placement of these holders.

This book brings to your notice the kind of desks that you should use for the best comfort and the leg space beneath them. The clearance space under the work surface should have adequate legroom for the user while seated in comfortable postures.

While talking about a safe and productive computer workstation, the picture of a well-designed and appropriated-adjusted chair comes to our mind naturally. Being an inevitable part of a good workstation, chair offers essential support to the back, legs, buttocks, and arms, along with reducing exposures to awkward postures, contact stress, and forceful exertions. Keeping these in mind, we have included a long detailed list of chair ergonomics and its accessories like backrest, seat, armrest and base.

In this e-book, we have discussed each and every symptom of all kinds of eye complaints in detail for your reference. We have also discussed how monitors can cause headaches, the right monitor that suits your eyes and some of the most dangerous chemicals released by computers. This book will equip you with diverse medical information related to computer usage, pertaining to every part of the body. Hence, you don’t have to go to different sources in search of information related to the medical side of ‘Healthy Computing’.

Aren’t these vital information that you need to stay young and healthy at work?
Get your copy of ‘Healthy Computing’ today and get computer savvy.

Healthy computing.
http://www.thepurplegenie.com/healthycomputing.htm

Safe computing e course Lesson No. 4

2006-05-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

Healthy computing.
http://www.thepurplegenie.com/healthycomputing.htm

Hello! Today we have reached the fourth and the most crucial day of our mini e-course. This day, we are going to present before you some tools that makes you healthier while working on your computer.

Wake up… We don’t want you to lose that brightness in your eyes just because of the simple reason that your profession is closely linked with computers. Eyes are the most important part of the body that needs good care for people who have to use the computers for extended hours.

Products like Occu-Bright are available in the market, which are good for the eyes.

Have you heard of Occu-Bright? This is a multivitamin, mineral, and amino acid complex with 30 milligrams of Glutathione that supports your eye tissues. It contains enhanced levels of B2 and B6, water-soluble vitamins that are easily lost from foods and the body. Prolonged physical stress speeds up your body’s metabolic rate and can rob your body of these necessary B vitamins. It is formulated with Bilberry, Selenium, Ginko Biloba, Zinc Citrate and Beta Carotene for enhanced optical benefits.

This is the same with your hands if your job demands working on the computers for prolonged hours. Good care has to be taken to reduce the strain on your hands. Professionally designed speech recognition products like Dragon Naturally Speaking are available in the market for this purpose. You can replace slow and painful typing with the simplicity of using your voice to turn speech into text at up to 160 words per minute. You can create e-mail, instant messages, documents, and spreadsheets more than three times faster than typing – simply by speaking. Plus, you can use your voice to control your PC. You can start programs, use menus and surf the Web all by voice.

Do you know that monitors increase eyestrain? If you don’t select a proper monitor, your eyes react within a couple of weeks of using it.

Different types of monitors are available in the market that helps you reduce the strain on your eyes. This e-book gives you more details on how to select and purchase the right monitor for you. We have given detailed information on cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors.

If you work in front of a computer screen, often watch TV, or have children who watch TV and play videogames, then beware! Several problems have been observed in people who spend more than four hours a day in close proximity to an unprotected CRT-based screen. Some of them are stress, headaches, irritability, insomnia, eye strain, eyesight decline, abnormal general fatigue, decrease in productivity and in the natural resistance of the immune system, decline in libido, disorders in the menstrual cycle, and hormonal disturbances. Even more disturbing is the fact that exposure to radiation from CRT monitors appears to be one of the causes of decrease in spermatogenesis. Know more about these from our e-book. So don’t miss your chance. Hurry!
Know more about the products that helps you reduce the strain on your eyes as well as your hands. So, what are you waiting for? Grab your copy of ‘Healthy Computing’…today!

Healthy computing.
http://www.thepurplegenie.com/healthycomputing.htm

Safe computing e course Lesson No. 5

2006-05-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Safe computing blog. Here you will learn how to Safe Compute with a few tips about safe computing.

Safe computing
http://www.thepurplegenie.com/healthycomputing.htm

Breaks:
Welcome to the last day of our 5-day e-course. Let’s discuss the different types of breaks you can take to minimize the effects of sitting in front of the computer for years. Let’s see how often one should take a break away from the computer for a quick exercise.

Taking breaks while working on the computer comes under good work habits. Most people become so engrossed in their work while using the computer that they forget about taking breaks. The result is eye fatigue and other orthopedic disorders.

Even if the work environment is absolutely suiting all your requirements and comfort levels, it may still lead to unwanted stresses and strains if good habits are not cultivated. Prolonged, static postures will inhibit blood circulation and take a toll on your body.

Try the following:

Take short 1-2 minute stretch breaks every 20-30 minutes. After each hour of work, take a break or change tasks for at least 5-10 minutes. Always try to get away from your computer during lunch breaks.

Avoid eye fatigue by resting and refocusing your eyes periodically. Look away from the monitor and focus on something in the distance.

Rest your eyes by covering them with your palms for 10-15 seconds.

Use correct posture when working. Keep moving as much as possible.

Learn more about micro breaks and pauses while working from our e-book.

Today, we shall also discuss about the workstation environment that is an essential factor of healthy computing.

The comfort of the user and hence his productivity is related to the aeration and moisture levels in the workstation environment. You can have a better view of the monitor and see the images clearly if you take good care in selecting the right level of illumination and place it appropriately. Normally, brighter lighting or sources that cause glare on your monitor lead to eyestrain or headaches which may force you to work in awkward postures to have a better view of the screen. Our e-book gives you details regarding all factors of workstation environment and lots of tips that ensures your healthy computing.
Last, but not the least, did you know that telephones are an inevitable part of the workstation? They add to the convenience of your work. Yet, the combination of telephone and computer is very dangerous, as you tend to use both the devices simultaneously. It has been found that this even leads to musculoskeletal disorders. The cords of the telephone can get tangled up hence causing the user to assume awkward postures.
Don’t cradle the telephone between the face and shoulder while working, as this can lead to neck strain. Place your telephone within easy reach. Telephone stands or arms can help. Use headsets and speakerphone to eliminate cradling the handset. Use a telephone that has a "hands-free" feature. Ensure that your "hands-free" headsets have volume control options.
Well, for more tips regarding this, rush for your copy of ‘Healthy Computing’…today!
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Healthy computing.

http://www.thepurplegenie.com/healthycomputing.htm