SparkFun Forums

[leon_heller]

I used to work on computer ergonomics at HUSAT, many years ago. There are many myths about problems arising from intensive computer usage - they are all caused by individuals' health problems and/or poor ergonomics.

Leon

[Philba]

at least now we know what you are talking about. Resolution has nothing to do, qualitatively, with what is being emitted from a computer. If it's quantitative, then wear a thicker tinfoil hat.

Dav, I suggest you spend more time digging into the details of things and not be just an "idea guy". Like I said, ideas are a dime a dozen. It's the genius that can sort the good from the bad.

Now, several bits of instructive dialog from the the movie I mentioned earlier. Bill is played by Michael Keaton:

Code: Select all

Bill: I'm an idea man Chuck, I get ideas, sometimes I get so many ideas that I can't even fight them off!
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Bill: So there I was at the Blackjack table with all my wash 'n' dries... did I tell you I had the idea for them first?
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Bill: OK, here's an example. Watch out, stand back.
[speaks into tape recorder]
Bill: This is Bill. Idea to eliminate garbage: edible paper. You see, you eat it, it's gone. Eat it, it's out of there!
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Bill: What if you mix the mayonnaise in the can, WITH the tunafish? Or... hold it! Chuck! I got it! Take LIVE tuna fish, and FEED 'em mayonnaise! Oh this is great.
[speaks into tape recorder]
Bill: Call Starkist!

[dav7]

Do you mean electro-magnetic radiation? There is no evidence whatsoever that emanations from computer systems have any effect on people!

Leon

I see. I'll keep that in mind.

It's more likely the noise/refresh rate or the contrast of the monitor rather than EMR.? Could even be your ambient lighting...

Tried different monitors?

Noise/refresh rate? Hmm... I run this CRT at 85Hz. Anything less seems to give me a migraine - for example, when I tried to make a video card "go" with my Linux installation but didn't have the technical prowess to pull it off, I was stuck at 60Hz while trying to figure out how to make the card push the refresh rate higher, and I eventually felt so "fried" I gave up because I couldn't think, had dinner and once I was in bed and the light off felt a lot better, IIRC. Similar, but less intense, situations have produced similar, but fortunately less intense, results.

Oddly, I live in Australia where the TVs use PAL which scans at 60Hz, but that doesn't hurt.

And while I've used a few different CRTs, there have been an LCD or two in the mix. Switching between CRTs has usually meant a bit of eyestrain for about 3 to 5 days, then my eyes get used to that individual display's parameters.

I used to work on computer ergonomics at HUSAT, many years ago. There are many myths about problems arising from intensive computer usage - they are all caused by individuals' health problems and/or poor ergonomics.

Leon

Well, health-wise I have a few issues that I'm working on getting to the bottom of, and ergonomically I'm sitting on a chair that's probably less than optimal for this table. Before this chair I was sitting on a supposedly "good" chair but once I found out that it wasn't all that good I subsequently got rid of it.

at least now we know what you are talking about. Resolution has nothing to do, qualitatively, with what is being emitted from a computer. If it's quantitative, then wear a thicker tinfoil hat.

Okay... then maybe my problems are light-based then. What could be going on here? I've just come home after going out and on the bus home I managed to score a seat behind someone working on a website locally on their EEE PC, which I thoroughly enjoyed watching (:D) but after the 5-10 minute trip found myself a little worse for wear mentally - "tense" would probably be the best word for it. It only lasted a couple of minutes after getting off the bus but found it easier to get irritated by things than I'd normally be.

Dav, I suggest you spend more time digging into the details of things and not be just an "idea guy". Like I said, ideas are a dime a dozen. It's the genius that can sort the good from the bad.

Now, several bits of instructive dialog from the the movie I mentioned earlier. ...

I thought I remembered that movie! I've seen that one on TV, and I can - to some extent - relate to Bill. I do see myself as something of an idea person - much more so in the past than nowadays, mostly because my visualization skills don't seem to be what they used to (but I'm hoping that's just a small dip in my abilities). I do have a small catalog of what I think are "good" ideas, but I don't really know. I try to get into the details where I can, but it gets overwhelming quickly... but practice makes perfect, so meh, I'll keep trying.

This is honestly the last place I thought I'd be talking about this kind of stuff... heh. Anyways. Thanks for your input guys! I really do want to know why this is happening


Another thing I think I'll mention is a very strange phenomenon caused by my older style PS/2 and to a lesser extent a perfectly ordinary Toshiba Satellite laptop from 1998. I think it destroys theories that it's the light output from the screen that's causing some of my symptoms.

About 2-3 weeks ago, I tried to play my PS/2 for the second time since my mum bought it. And the same thing happened that happened the first time I tried to play it as well.

Hooking the PS/2 up to the TV, flicking the switch and all that don't produce any incredibly horrible results - in fact, I don't really feel much at all. However, after an hour of playing, I'll start to feel complacent. This progresses to a form of compulsion after a few hours, which starts out hardly noticeable, but gets progressively more aggressive. By the following day the PS/2 is at the top of my priority list in terms of what I want to do, I've got "tunnel vision" and I can't help but feel bored by most other things.

By 2 to 3 days I start to feel incredibly bored by most anything except the PS/2, then a huge shift begins to take place - everything slowly switches from just being boring, a consciously refutable emotion, to being associated with.. death. I'm not joking. Instead of being annoyed, irritated or angry or whatever else with certain situations, I'll think about suicide, and at one point I think I even started thinking about killing other people, buildings blowing up, and so on.

Along with this I become less and less capable of learning from situations and reacting with even mildly open-minded thought, I use "autopilot" for more and more situations, am less flexible, more easily depressed/downhearted and think extremely negatively about situations including those that are game-related. Because of this - and note this - I was switching the TV on and off throughout the day. I'd play Gran Turismo 4, be unable to round a particular corner and fail a training course for the umpteenth time, give up, watch TV or turn the TV completely off in frustration, then repeat the whole cycle again. Because I was on autopilot I'd be unable to take hints from the game as to why I was failing and try the same methods again and again - the same methods that were simply not working.

Around this point I accepted that this was what would happen whenever I used the PS/2 and subsequently stopped using it - which was hard, because my mindset was such that I saw everything non-PS/2 as boring and that the PS/2 was all that mattered and I had a constant "why do I exist" and "why does life matter" type thing running the whole time as well.

At the point I accepted I couldn't use it (the TV was off at the time and had been off for probably 10 minutes at least), I switched the PS/2 off using the switch at the back, and the moment I did that my mood improved! I only had a small "rush" of "yay, life is good", but it was enough to prove to myself that once and for all the PS/2 was extremely bad for me and I could never use it again outside of a test situation of some sort.

The laptop, however, was a somewhat different story - not as bad as the PS/2 but objectionable nonetheless. I'm guessing that its LCD is somewhat to blame for the extreme fatigue I feel - it's much more acute with this laptop (and its LCD) than my desktop (with its CRT) - but even when I close the lid (switching the LCD off naturally) and use an external display I have a certain amount of brain fog, inability to focus/concentrate very well after a prolonged (3-5hours) amount of use.

Lastly, I have High-Functioning Autism and while I don't possibly know how that may have a part to play here...? Of note is the fact that last time I was on the computer I felt much worse for wear and unable to think clearly as I am now, but since I've started taking something to support the structure of my brain I feel much better while being battered by *whatever* is pummeling me while I use the computer.

-dav7

[wsc]

Seek help.