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Save your eyes, start using f.lux

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Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#191

This thing gets a lot of love by a bunch of folks here, so I gave it a good half year of trying. But it's just too annoying. Around 5pm, your display turns pinkish orange and it becomes a lot harder to see anything. Code gets harder to read, colors display wrong, video just fades to black. None of the advertised happiness ensues. The second half-year it remained installed, my only interaction with it was to notice it…

I love f.lux, I just wish it was adjustable for that exact reason. It is winter, it gets dark out early... I don't want it to shift to night time mode at 5pm. I find myself hitting "disable for an hour" 1-2 times a day before I leave work.

However, when I get home and get back on my system, then I'm ready for night time mode.

I prefer the 20 second switch over so I know to turn it off fast. With the long transition, I find myself being annoyed for a while until its enough for realize I need to turn it off.

I'd love a simple "activate at sunset, but not before X:XX".

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whenever Flux gets mentioned, there's two groups of people: 1: Doesn't understand it, hates the "wrong" colors. Can't get used to it. 2: Appreciates the candle-like colors, says it helps them sleep in the evening or relaxes their eyes. I wonder if there's some sort of genetic difference? Maybe some people just aren't sensitive to bright light in the evening?

I wonder if the two groups are 1. the ones who discovered the "Slow" setting in preferences, and 2. the ones who didn't. When the transition is set to Fast, I find it very jarring. When it's set to slow, I barely notice it.

I don't think it's the slow setting. I tried it for a few months, and I did use the slow setting, but just found the washed out colors annoying. Regardless of the lighting in the room. I even tried forcing myself to keep it on for a couple of weeks straight, figuring I'd get used to it. No dice. It was usable enough, I just missed the colors and didn't really notice any difference as far as eyestrain.

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#194
post #183

Why use f.lux when you can just pop a metatonin pill thirty minutes before sleep? I've been doing that and I sleep like a baby every night regardless of how long I stare at my bright monitor beforehand.

How does staring at a bright screen affect sleep? If anything, it makes me tired and I fall asleep even faster.

Like any other bright light source (such as the Sun), the light coming from the monitor breaks down some of the melatonin that your body naturally produces. You may still become tired when using a computer and subsequently fall asleep, but the quality of that sleep will be adversely affected unless you account for reduced melatonin levels somehow (either via a program like f.lux, or with supplemental pills).

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#196
post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does staring at a bright screen affect sleep? If anything, it makes me tired and I fall asleep even faster.

Like any other bright light source (such as the Sun), the light coming from the monitor breaks down some of the melatonin that your body naturally produces. You may still become tired when using a computer and subsequently fall asleep, but the quality of that sleep will be adversely affected unless you account for reduced melatonin levels somehow (either via a program like f.lux, or with supplemental pills).

Melatonin is prescription only in the UK. So, go careful if you're travelling from US to UK with off the shelf sleep meds.

I read some article that investigated melatonin supplements in the US. It said that because supplements aren't as heavily regulated you couldn't be certain which pills had melatonin or how much.

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#197
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whenever Flux gets mentioned, there's two groups of people: 1: Doesn't understand it, hates the "wrong" colors. Can't get used to it. 2: Appreciates the candle-like colors, says it helps them sleep in the evening or relaxes their eyes. I wonder if there's some sort of genetic difference? Maybe some people just aren't sensitive to bright light in the evening?

I'm not sure it's a genetic difference. I used to be in camp 1, despite trying Flux many times, but now I'm firmly in camp 2. The change for me was due to a change in working environment, and I imagine that's the difference for a lot of people: if you're in a brightly lit room anyway, then the colours becoming weird is just going to be irritating. If you're in a room with a lot of natural lighting, or trying to work…

You should check out Hacker Vision as see what you think: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-vision/fomm...

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#198
post #8

On Linux, you can use Redshift: http://jonls.dk/redshift/

redshift has constant problems with it's geolocate service in recent versions of Ubuntu. Not sure what the issue is, but you can specify the longitude and latitude to circumvent it. I use, for example:

    redshift -l :
I've not had good luck with the f.lux port for linux.

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#199
post #8

On Linux, you can use Redshift: http://jonls.dk/redshift/

Another vote for Redshift. Use Flux on work PC and Redshift on laptop. The colour transition seems to be a lot more subtle with Redshift and I find it easier to adjust. On the other hand, the change feels very sudden with Flux. Often use my laptop in work, but I suppose it could well just be a difference in lighting between home and the office, as others have mentioned. Maybe my eyes deceive me.

Re: Save your eyes, start using f.lux

#200

This thing gets a lot of love by a bunch of folks here, so I gave it a good half year of trying. But it's just too annoying. Around 5pm, your display turns pinkish orange and it becomes a lot harder to see anything. Code gets harder to read, colors display wrong, video just fades to black. None of the advertised happiness ensues. The second half-year it remained installed, my only interaction with it was to notice it…

Whenever Flux gets mentioned, there's two groups of people: 1: Doesn't understand it, hates the "wrong" colors. Can't get used to it. 2: Appreciates the candle-like colors, says it helps them sleep in the evening or relaxes their eyes. I wonder if there's some sort of genetic difference? Maybe some people just aren't sensitive to bright light in the evening?

I've tried it once for a short while and sided with camp #1.

Going to try it out again, "forcefully", for a longer while to see how it works out.

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