« Older Home
Loading Newer »

Archive for January, 2007

Exercises for Back Pain Treatment and Prevention

Published by adriamooney January 31st, 2007 in Back and Spine, Chairs and Furniture, Stretches and Exercizes and Uncategorized. 6 Comments

Back pain keeps more people away from work than any other single cause except the common cold.
9 of 10 people experience back pain during their lifetimes. Why? Long hours of sitting in cars, at desks, and on couches force the body into a C-shaped slump and this places uneven pressure on the vertebral disks [...]

iPhone, Multi-Touch, and the “Death of the Button”

Published by adriamooney January 30th, 2007 in Human Computer Interaction, Mobile Devices, Product Design, Uncategorized and Usability. 134 Comments

In order to understand why interaction designers are so excited about the iPhone, we have to take a look at multi-touch technology.

What exactly is multi-touch?
Multi-touch is a human-computer interaction technique and the hardware devices that implement it. It is a kind of touch screen or touch tablet / touchpad that recognizes multiple simultaneous touch points, [...]

Boring PowerPoint Presentations: Who’s to Blame?

Published by adriamooney January 29th, 2007 in Human Computer Interaction, Office Ergonomics and Uncategorized. 5 Comments

Microsoft’s PowerPoint has become THE tool used for communicating a set of ideas to an academic or professional audience.  Is it an effective tool, does it get the job done?
Anyone that has ever went to college or worked in a company is all too familiar with the PowerPoint presentation.  They are notorious for being boring, [...]

Ergonomic Nightmare of the Week: Remote Controls

Published by adriamooney January 29th, 2007 in Ergonomic Nightmare, Mobile Devices, Product Design and Uncategorized. 5 Comments

Why is every remote completely different?  There is absolutely no coherent design standardization of remote controls.  This is a problem because new remotes come into our lives so often, and each time we are forced to reconcile with the paradigm shattering design of our new remote.

Usually we don’t even try to learn what most of [...]

Sore Neck? Try a New Pillow

Published by adriamooney January 26th, 2007 in Back and Spine, Ergonomics at Home and Uncategorized. 2 Comments

In the past couple weeks I have woken up every day with an incredibly sore neck.  Spine-health.com has a nice article on pillows that was really helpful.
Excerpts:
If the height of the pillow is too high when sleeping sideways or on the back, the neck is bent abnormally forward or to the side, causing muscle strain [...]

2 Easy Eye Exercizes for Healthy Computing

Published by adriamooney January 25th, 2007 in Stretches and Exercizes and Uncategorized. 2 Comments

Palming

Palming is an activity you can do to relax your eyes periodically throughout the day. Here’s how it’s done:

Cover your closed eyes with your hands, so that the palms are over (but not touching) your eyelids. Your fingers should overlap above your nose on [...]

7 Backpack Safety Tips

Published by adriamooney January 25th, 2007 in Back and Spine, Kids Products and Uncategorized. 7 Comments

In the last decade or so, many schools have removed lockers in order to save money.  Ultimately, students suffer because of this.  It is not uncommon for kids to lug 40 pound behemoths on their backs all day long (I remember doing this all through middle school).
Here are some tips to help lighten the burden:
Choose [...]

Nail Salon Workers and Occupational Safety

Published by adriamooney January 24th, 2007 in Occupational Safety, Office Ergonomics and Uncategorized. 129 Comments

The Asian Law Caucus launched a nail salon project as part of a worker health and safety program led by Lenh Tsan. The project’s objectives go hand in hand with recent awareness about dangerous chemicals in many cosmetics, and the 2007 passage of the California Safe Cosmetics Act.
Tsan’s worker health training program includes sessions [...]

Victim of Desk Rage

Published by adriamooney January 23rd, 2007 in Human Computer Interaction, Humor, Office Ergonomics, Uncategorized and Videos. 0 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILIvquPQSc0]
Computers are not our friends! Cubicles are a living hell! This video is a perfect example of desk rage

Kids With Big Backpacks

Published by adriamooney January 23rd, 2007 in Back and Spine, Kids Products and Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Originally uploaded by Beth Rousseau

We start so young, it’s no wonder we all have bad backs!