When the new year started, I resolved to pay more attention to media. Why is everyone always talking about Netflix? What’s a Podcast? Finding time for these things has been my biggest hurdle, but it’s going well. I listen to Podcasts at the gym (because I also resolved to start hitting the gym), and managed to watch a couple episodes (because seasons are daunting) of new TV.
Do you feel like half your day is spent watching your status bar load? Is the frustration starting to take over your daily life? It’s a common problem to have a “slow computer,” but not always easy to pinpoint. Here are some tips to help you eliminate some of these issues and work more efficiently. Hopefully you use some of these tips before physically harming your machine…. I’m semi-kidding.
Yes, I said it: corporate spying. This will no doubt conjure images of big dark rooms filled with desks and cubicles; hooded figures tapping on keyboards wearing OJ Simpson style gloves; and monitors everywhere. I assure you that this image isn’t too far off from reality. Just ditch the gloves and light the room to discover a smartly decorated workspace, where those hooded figures wear ironic tee shirts and flip-flops.
One thing every desk jockey complains about at some point in time is discomfort in their arm (usually the mousing arm). A lot of people think this is caused by poor wrist position, and while that may be true to an extent, it’s only a single piece a larger puzzle. In this scenario, wrist and elbow problems often develop due to extended periods of wrist pronation (having the palm in the face-down position). Ideally we would counteract this by trying to leave our hand in a neutral position 90% of the time, but we don’t live in an ideal world. So what, you may ask, can be done to counteract this most insidious of ailments?
Back in my senior year of college, my roommate and I made a spur of the moment decision that ended up being a big part of my life. We were signing up for internet and needed to figure out whether to get cable or not. We looked at each other and said “Well, we don’t really use it, and it’s way cheaper without, so we’ll just get internet.” We knew we could always add cable if we were desperately bored. We never ended up adding it, and were quite happy without it. I already had Netflix, back when they mailed you actual DVDs. I spent several weeks building and setting up a fancy home theater PC that we could use to play those DVDs, as well as our completely-legally-acquired-through-legal-means other content. It was kludgey, hard to use, and broke often, but it was free, and that was way more important.
