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Resolutions for programmers

matt.might.net

91–100 of 158 posts

Re: Resolutions for programmers

#91
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not the shoe that's solving your problem, though. The trick is to run on your forefoot and roll back to your heel. That's it. That said, it's true that the key difference in the average running shoe and the Vibram line is the lack of heel-cushioning, which as a result encourages correct running, but I felt it pertinent to clear that up. tl;dr run with an impact front-to-back, toe-to-heel.

That's right. I knew that long ago, but I was unable to maintain that pose while running 10km -- old habits die hard. After about one month of walking and running with the Vibrams, my step changed from heel-first to front-to-back, as it should -- and it stays that way even when I don't use the vibrams (I hardly use them at all during the winter -- they're not good for running in city puddles) front-to-back toe-to-hee…

Wouldn't any shoe with no heel cushioning be a way to get there?

Re: Resolutions for programmers

#92
post #2

Learn Dvorak - I'd warn against bothering with Dvorak. Huge time sink with dubious claims of speed improvements. While a mythical programmer may exist who feels his raw typing speed limits his productivity, I never met that unicorn. While learning you have an increased error rate, run into incompatibility with other programmers and programs (emacs or vim... good luck) and end up needing to defend something no one act…

I learned Dvorak to help with RSI. It worked. I'm fast at Dvorak after 4 years (90 wpm), but not as fast as I was with Qwerty (120 wpm). Dvorak has a pleasant "rolling" finger feel and my wrists never ache, so I've kept it. What fascinated me about learning Dvorak was that I felt like a stroke patient. Suddenly, I could not do something I had been able to do for years. It made me consider the cost of a keystroke. Gre…

i'm going to try dvorak out. i started experiencing rsi symptoms last year and decided to switch my mouse hand to my left hand. it took almost 6 + months to train my hand to have the precise motion i had with my right (even when using adobe design products) . one year later, i have very little pain, if any. though, after reading this article, i'm now curious to try the dvorak layout.

also, i love my apple keyboard and was worried about using something else, as i use them on all my machines, including linux boxes. did some research and found this:

http://www.kbcovers.com/servlet/Detail?no=154

ordered three. thanks mattmight.

Re: Resolutions for programmers

#93
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I learned Dvorak to help with RSI. It worked. I'm fast at Dvorak after 4 years (90 wpm), but not as fast as I was with Qwerty (120 wpm). Dvorak has a pleasant "rolling" finger feel and my wrists never ache, so I've kept it. What fascinated me about learning Dvorak was that I felt like a stroke patient. Suddenly, I could not do something I had been able to do for years. It made me consider the cost of a keystroke. Gre…

i'm going to try dvorak out. i started experiencing rsi symptoms last year and decided to switch my mouse hand to my left hand. it took almost 6 + months to train my hand to have the precise motion i had with my right (even when using adobe design products) . one year later, i have very little pain, if any. though, after reading this article, i'm now curious to try the dvorak layout. also, i love my apple keyboard an…

Colemak is supposed to perform slightly better then Dvorak as a layout, and be easier to learn for a qwerty typist.

http://colemak.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout#Colemak

Re: Resolutions for programmers

#94
post #2

Learn Dvorak - I'd warn against bothering with Dvorak. Huge time sink with dubious claims of speed improvements. While a mythical programmer may exist who feels his raw typing speed limits his productivity, I never met that unicorn. While learning you have an increased error rate, run into incompatibility with other programmers and programs (emacs or vim... good luck) and end up needing to defend something no one act…

I learned Dvorak to help with RSI. It worked. I'm fast at Dvorak after 4 years (90 wpm), but not as fast as I was with Qwerty (120 wpm). Dvorak has a pleasant "rolling" finger feel and my wrists never ache, so I've kept it. What fascinated me about learning Dvorak was that I felt like a stroke patient. Suddenly, I could not do something I had been able to do for years. It made me consider the cost of a keystroke. Gre…

> I learned Dvorak to help with RSI.

Indeed, it always bothers me when Dvorak enthusiast pull out the speed claims; the comfort advantages are much more compelling in my book.

Re: Resolutions for programmers

#95
post #38
post #2

Learn Dvorak - I'd warn against bothering with Dvorak. Huge time sink with dubious claims of speed improvements. While a mythical programmer may exist who feels his raw typing speed limits his productivity, I never met that unicorn. While learning you have an increased error rate, run into incompatibility with other programmers and programs (emacs or vim... good luck) and end up needing to defend something no one act…

Learn Colemak [1] instead. The change in comfort when typing is incredible. The difference in how much you need to move your fingers when typing is big. Typing with QWERTY feels you moving your fingers all over the place as fast as possible; typing with Colemak feels like letters flowing off your hands. Whether it is faster I do not know (obviously after years of using Colemak and rarely using QWERTY I type faster on…

How do you find the two-backspaces-no-caps-lock thing?

Re: Resolutions for programmers

#96
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried using ergonomic keyboard to help with RSI?

I got a bount of RSI, and switched to a egonomic keyboard (Microsoft Natural 4000), and it helped immensly.

I switched to that keyboard after I was bothered with RSI. A few years later I started using my laptop a lot more, making it impractical to lug the keyboard everywhere, but I found that the Natural had forced me to improve my posture in general, keeping myarms at 90 degrees from each other with wrists straight.

Now I can type without pain on any keyboard, which is a relief since after using a Thinkpad the mushy key response of the Natural drives me nuts.

Re: Resolutions for programmers

#97
post #93
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i'm going to try dvorak out. i started experiencing rsi symptoms last year and decided to switch my mouse hand to my left hand. it took almost 6 + months to train my hand to have the precise motion i had with my right (even when using adobe design products) . one year later, i have very little pain, if any. though, after reading this article, i'm now curious to try the dvorak layout. also, i love my apple keyboard an…

Colemak is supposed to perform slightly better then Dvorak as a layout, and be easier to learn for a qwerty typist. http://colemak.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout#Colemak

thanks for the link vacri!

Re: Resolutions for programmers

#98
post #91
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's right. I knew that long ago, but I was unable to maintain that pose while running 10km -- old habits die hard. After about one month of walking and running with the Vibrams, my step changed from heel-first to front-to-back, as it should -- and it stays that way even when I don't use the vibrams (I hardly use them at all during the winter -- they're not good for running in city puddles) front-to-back toe-to-hee…

Wouldn't any shoe with no heel cushioning be a way to get there?

One required feature is the flexible toe-ball connection (so that you can comfortably use the toes to balance when the weight is on the balls of your feet), which not every shoe without heel cushioning will provide, though some probably will.

The other important feature is "high-resolution" impact transfer - you need precise ground feedback for your muscles to compensate for an uneven terrain.

If you have (as an extreme absurd case) a super-hard graphite/plexiglass sole, then you have no cushioning, but are not likely to avoid delivering impacts to your knees even if you run on the balls of your feet.

Supposedly, Vivo Barefoot, Nike Free and Newton are as good. But I only have experience with the Vibram FiveFingers, which is why I recommended it.

Re: Resolutions for programmers

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no problem using Dvorak with Emacs - in fact, it spreads out a lot of keyboard shortcuts that are otherwise scrunched down it the bottom-left corner. (I can use vim fine with Dvorak, too, but I mostly use Emacs - I'll leave it at that.) And: it's not about typing speed, it's about typing comfort .

I was going to say this. Emacs + Dvorak is very comfortable to use. Vi(m) isn't bad either, but the directions (hjkl) are spread out which used to (and still does as it's not my everyday editor) cause me some difficulty. A particularly nice thing (for me) with Dvorak and Vim is that the `:` is in the lower left, right next to the shift key. I find many sequences easier to type.

I've htns mapped to . There's no need to restrict yourself to the default mappings.

Re: Resolutions for programmers

#100
post #7
post #3

Programmers stuck inside who need fitness ideas get out and meet people. Go to meetup.com, type in your area and type in running, health and fitness. Find a running club where you meet up somewhere and run around a loop, trail, or city area. I found that extremely rewarding. It is a filter to screen out the fraggles from the doozers.

What is it that makes people assuming exercise -> running? It has all the unpleasant effects of exercise + it destroys your knees and you still don't have a sixpack.

Rock Climbing is probably a better plan then. It is fun in the way that you're not supposed to be having fun anymore at your age, to the point where you find yourself rearranging your schedule so that you can do more of it. And it absolutely will give you a sixpack by the time you're any good at it.

The only downside is that it won't actually get you fit in the traditional sense. I can pull into a front lever using two fingertips, but I can't run a mile to save my life.

Still, it's exercise that you'll actually do. And unless you live in Nebraska, there's a climbing gym within a 20 minute drive of you right this minute.

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