How to fight RSI - Part 5, Software help tackling RSI

Prevention is always better than treatment and has a better outcome, too. We all know that stop using computers is the best way to stop RSI but this is not always an option. The second best option is to take as many breaks as we can and don’t over work those already damaged muscle. The sad truth is that most of us spend way more time in front of our computers than we realize. And sometimes, it’s all too easy to realize this only when pain strikes. There are some software that are designed you to take regular break from your computer. RSI guard is the one I use and it does help me to watch my time in front a computer.

Remedy Interactive's RSIGuard is a software solution that claims to reduce the impact of repetitive strain injuries (RSI). The software contains a variety of ergonomic tools which may help cure or at least slow RSI progressing.

It has a Break Timer that uses realistic models to suggest stretch breaks when you need them and leave you alone when you don't. The AutoClick tool cuts down on mouse clicks, and the KeyControl's macros help reduce keystroke. The DataLogger's statistics can help you understand how and when you use your PC, and handy ForgetMeNots issue regular reminders about posture, stretching, and other ergonomic aids throughout the day so you don't end the day in pain.

Setting up RSIGuard starts with creating a Personal Profile by checking off answers to a series of questions about your work habits, computer use, break time preferences, and so on. you could enable Microbreaks, define Work Restrictions, run a Device Survey, and change our settings at any time via the Setup menu. A small interface and system tray icon handle control duties. The Break Timer appeared on schedule and displayed optional stretch exercise videos. RSIGuard gave us lots of options for responding to its Break Needed messages, including starting our break time anyway even when we didn't respond, which is sort of like showing yourself who's boss, and exactly what entirely too many people need. We could also enable stretch reminders, something else most people need. Pressing Skip Break ends your break early, but a motherly nag asks if work is more important than your health. Well, is it?

Personally, I only use the break timer which reminds you to take a break when you need it. If you don’t cooperate, the software will disable you keyboard and force you to do so, which especially useful as I don’t have much self-control.

It’s not cheap, so download the 45 days trial version to check whether you can benefit from it before you buy it. When you finally decide to buy it, buy it from the US site rather than UK site which can save you enough money for a few beers.

How to fight RSI - Part 1, what is RSI

How to fight RSI - Part 2, Postures

How to fight RSI - Part 3, Ergonomic Accessories-keyboard
How to fight RSI - Part 4, Ergonomic Accessories-Mouse and other pointing device

How to fight RSI - Part 4, Ergonomic Accessories-Mouse

As the name suggests, Ergonomic mice were designed to provide optimum comfort and avoid injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis and other repetitive strain injuries. Most Ergonomic mice are designed to fit natural hand position and movements, to reduce discomfort.

A normal mouse requires you to hold your hand flat to the desk, thus twisting your wrist approximately 60 degrees from its natural position and leaving it resting on the desk. Most Ergonomic mice were designed to rectify this.

Traditional Ergonomic mouse

Some more traditional type of Ergonomic mouse such as Microsoft Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 shown below. Personally, I am not convinced by these kinds of mice and the reviews are mixed as well. These provide better tracking and have more functions, but they still aren't quite as comfortable as, say, the joystick design of the 3M Ergonomic mouse.

Trackballs

If your pain is mainly located in upper arm or shoulder, a trackball can significantly reduce your pain. Trackballs are a group of pointing device consisting of a ball held by a socket containing sensors to detect a rotation of the ball. The user rolls the ball with the thumb, fingers, or the palm of the hand to move the cursor. Because you don’t have to move your arms, trackballs can help the healing of RSI in the arms.

Trackballs come with different shape and the user experience can be very different as well. There is no way to tell whether you can get use to a specific type of trackball without trying them out, though reviews on the web can always help.

Logitech M570 Wireless Trackball is my favourite but your millage may vary.

3M Ergonomic mouse

The 3M Ergonomic Mouse (Ergo Mouse), is designed to help reduce the hand, wrist, elbow and arm pains associated with using a traditional mouse. It aims to do this by reducing the amount of twist in your wrist and by removing pressure from the heel of your hand. The Ergo Mouse's joystick-like design allows you to hold your hand as close as possible to its neutral posture - wrist and thumb both straight and relaxed; fingers curled and at rest - while having its heel float above the desk. The buttons are also positioned so that you don't have to flex your fingers from the neutral posture in order to reach them. In contrast, when using a conventional mouse your fingers are almost constantly flexed from your hand's neutral posture, and they have to move even more to reach and operate the buttons/scroll wheel. This can result in finger pain, and even muscle contracture and reduced mobility.

The 3M Ergonomic Mouse is one of the most effective anti-RSI pointing devices in the market. Its design ensures your wrist and arm are in their most comfortable position and the button arrangement is also very comfortable. However, due to the way in which you hold the Ergo Mouse, you have to use your whole arm to move it, making it difficult to use accurately. So whereas a good mouse will enable you to move around your desktop in lightening quick speed, the Ergo Mouse requires a more ponderous approach. It will take some getting used to but it’s well worth the effort of adapting.

Touch screen laptop,

There are quite a few of these available in the market and many more are coming out thanks to windows 8. Again, go for a big brand and read reviews on the web before take out your wallet.

There are two big players in the touch screen market, Wacom and Ntrig. Wacom has been in the market for much longer and their panels tend to be better than the Ntrig ones, which are a bit cheaper.

Touch screens are fine if you mainly use your laptop to browse the web, look at photos or watch move. However, you will need one that support digitizer which is essential for any series work.

If money is no issue, Lenovo X230T tablet or HP HP EliteBook 2760p are fantastic machines. If on a tight budget, some older generation machines like x200T tablet or 2740p can be found on eBay for a fraction of the price.

Graph tablet

Similar to touch screen laptops, you use a pen to control the mouse cursor. Therefore you are using a different set of muscles and can subsequently relieve the pain caused by using traditional mouse. There is a wide range of Graph pad available to buy. Again, Wacom ones are highly regarded but a cheap one will do the trick just as well if you just want to use it as a mouse.

Motion controllers

These have never been an option because their lack of accuracy. However, everything changes with Leap Motion controller. It will be on sale in May and it certainly looks very promising. 

How to fight RSI - Part 1, what is RSI

How to fight RSI - Part 2, Postures

How to fight RSI - Part 3, Ergonomic Accessories-keyboard
How to fight RSI - Part 5, Software help tackling RSI

How to fight RSI - Part 3, Ergonomic Accessories-keyboard

Ergonomic Accessories-keyboard

Now you have sorted out your postures, it's time to invest some ergonomic gears to help your body stay in a more natural position. Unfortunately, the companies who made these also knows how important your health is, so they tend to charge a lot more for these compared to the more traditional accessories, but eBay is always a good place to source some mint condition second hand staff.

Let's start with the cheap.

Chopsticks 

OK, I admit that I am addicted to Chinese food. You can replace these with two pens, or any other long, pointy staff. Striking the keyboard with chopsticks does not use the same finger muscle compared to typing. While this is slow and looks ridiculous, it does relax your finger muscle and help healing to occur.

Keyboard(s)

Let's face it, no one wants to type with two bamboo sticks for the rest of their life. It's painfully slow and, more importantly; it doesn't work well with the girl sit next to you. So eventually you will have to ditch those and get a decent keyboard that will not only stops the pain but works well when you want to do this

There are countless ergonomic keyboards available they all work more or less the same way. You can see from the picture below that it's very difficult to keep our hands in a natural position while typing on the normal keyboard. 

Ergonomic keyboards uses curved or split designs, like the one below, which make it easier for us to type in a more natural position.

There are many reviews on the web that can help you to identify the most suitable keyboard so I am not going to bore you with more technical staff. There are a couple of things that I would like to suggest, though. First, go for the big brands, they have invested tens of millions in R&D and their products are more likely to do what's said on the tin than the ones made in Bob's shed. Second, have a look at the reviews on Amazon, especially the negative ones from verified buyers. They sometimes can be more helpful than the ones from the technical sites, where occasionally the reviewers are paid by the manufactures to write the review. Another little trick regarding Amazon’s customer review, have a look at both Amazon UK and US, they tend to sell the same staff so you can get more information.

However, the keys of most of these keyboards have standard travel distance, which inevitably put strain on your already weakened muscle. Therefore, a chiclet keyboard, or island-style keyboard can be better choice. In addition, you will want a keyboard that has keys with very low resistance which will help to reduce the pressure while typing.

Take all above into consideration, I have found that Bluetooth® Mobile Keyboard 6000 to be my favourite. This keyboard features Microsoft’s Comfort Curve design that will help your hands to sit more naturally. They keys has a firm and positive feel but need little effort to press, resulting an excellent overall typing experience.

You can also get some special Velcro wrist braces to help your hands to stay in a more natural position. However, there is a dilemma, if you wear these for a prolonged period, it will hinder blood flow which is really the last thing you want to do when you have RSI. 

How to fight RSI - Part 1, what is RSI
How to fight RSI - Part 2, Postures
How to fight RSI - Part 4, Ergonomic Accessories-Mouse and other pointing device
How to fight RSI - Part 5, Software help tackling RSI

How to install/ flash Android Jelly Bean ROM / Firmware on Samsung Galaxy S II / Galaxy S III / Galaxy Note / Galaxy Note II

As a smart phone user, there is probably nothing more frustrating than knowing that there is a new version of the OS around but you cannot have it for at least months to come because your carriers is taking their sweet time to add their bloatwares. Well, where there is a problem, there is a solution.

This step by step guide will walk you through on how to flash a stock or customer ROM on Samsung Galaxy S II / Galaxy S III / Galaxy Note / Galaxy Note II so you won't be at the mercy of your carrier. This may well apply to other Samsung phones but I haven’t had a chance to test them.

You can use this guide to upgrade or downgrade your phones ROMs.

Disclaimer: Please note that you are using this at your own risk and I am not responsible to any possible damage to your phone or computer. Please also not that flash a customer ROM is likely to void your warranty.

Preparation:

1. Check and make a note of your current firmware/version: You can do this by typing *#1234# or go into Setting-About Device. This will enable you to revert back to your old rom if something went wrong.
2. Download the latest rom for your device: You can download all Samsung ROMs from http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/. Please make sure that you download the correct rom for your device because Samsung sell phones with slightly different hardware under the same name. A wrong rom can lead to catastrophic result.
3. Download PC Odin: PC Odin 1.85. Please only use V1.85, newer versions doesn't mean better versions here.
4. Make sure you have the correct Samsung driver installed. The easiest way to do this is to install the latest version of Samsung Kies.
5. FULLY charge your phone.
6. Prepare a good quality USB cable (preferably the supplied one) and a stable PC.
7. Backup your personal data such as: Contacts, Messages, Applications, Pictures and Videos. You can do this very easily using Kies.
8. Backup your apps using something like Titanium backup.
9. Revert your phone back to factory state. This is not mandatory but is highly recommended to minimize any potential problems. The easiest way to do this is Setting-Backup-Reset-Factory reset. Or you can go into the bootloader by pressing Power+Volume up+Home and follow the onscreen instructions. There is also a full reset key combination *2767*3855#.

Now we have done all the necessary preparation and it’s time to FLASH.

Rom flashing: Please follow the instruction TO THE WORD to avoid any problems.

1. Extract PC Odin.
2. Extract the downloaded firmware or stock ROM.  a. If your Rom only has one file, ignore step 5, this file contains everything you need, it normally has a file extension of .tar.md5.  b. if your rom has more than one file, ignore step 4.
3. Right click PC Odin and run as administrator.
4. Check Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time checkboxes and uncheck all others. Then click PDA and point to the rom you have downloaded. Make sure your screen is like the one below.
   
5. Check Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time checkboxes and uncheck all others. Then  a. Click on the PDA button then select and load a file with: CODE_N7000xxxxx_CLxxxxxxx_REVxx_user_low_ship.tar.md5    b. Click on the PHONE button then select and load a file with: ODEM_N7000xxxxxx_REV_00_CLxxxxxx.tar.md5    c. Click on the CSC button then select and load a file with:  GT-N7000-CSC-MULTI-xxxxxx.tar.md5
6. (Picture from DroinAngel)
7. Turn the phone off then boot into Download Mode by pressing and holding the Volume Down, HOME and Power ON button at the same time. You will then present into a "Warning Message" screen, just press the Volume Up to continue. Once the Android robot and a "Downloading" message appears, connect your phone with the PC.
8. (Picture from DroinAngel)
9. The ID:COM box will turn yellow when the phone is properly connected and you are ready to go. DO NOT proceed and check your connection if this didn't happen.
10. Now press start and you are on your way.
11. DO NOT Interrupt the flashing process.
12. When you are finished, you will be presented with successful message.
13. It's recommended to factory reset your phone again after flashing.

Now you are done, enjoy your new ROM.

How to fight RSI - Part 2, Postures

POSTURES

Most RSIs are results of bad postures, by simply changing your postures you can reduce, or even stop the pain you have been suffering.

Now check your postures against the picture below.

If your postures and not optimal, adjust your chair, and equipments to match the picture. If your chairs or monitors are not adjustable, it's time to talk to your boss to get that 20 year old piece of junk changed. Sometimes they may not be that willing to help, but you have to insist. Remember, you have to take care of your own health. Though you might not want to threat your boss with a lawsuit, a little mention of HSE will make them happier to help.

How to fight RSI - Part 1, what is RSI
How to fight RSI - Part 3, Ergonomic Accessories-keyboard
How to fight RSI - Part 4, Ergonomic Accessories-Mouse and other pointing device
How to fight RSI - Part 5, Software help tackling RSI

How to fight RSI - Part 1, What is RSI

I have developed severe RSI while writing my PhD thesis and it has been getting worse since then because the Job I am doing. Now it has been haunting me for the last 10 years and I have decided enough is enough, I am going to do something about this. 

From now on, I will publish a series of blogs to record my journey of fighting RSI and hopefully this will encourage me and help people who suffer from similar problems.

First thing first, what is RSI?

According the good old Wiki, Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is a syndrome incorporating several discrete conditions associated with activity-related arm pain such as edema, tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome, stenosing tenosynovitis, intersection syndrome, golfer's elbow or medial epicondylitis, tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis, radial tunnel syndrome, and focal dystonia.

RSI is also used as an umbrella term for non-specific illnesses popularly referred to as Blackberry thumb, iPod finger, gamer's thumb (a slight swelling of the thumb caused by excessive use of a gamepad), Rubik's wrist or "cuber's thumb" (tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, or other ailments associated with repetitive use of a Rubik's Cube for speedcubing), Trigger finger, Stylus Finger" (swelling of the hand caused by repetitive use of mobile devices and mobile device testing.), Raver's Wrist, caused by repeated rotation of the hands for many hours (for example while holding glow sticks during a rave), and others.

Doctors have recently begun making a distinction between tendinitis and tendinosis in RSI injuries. There are significant differences in treatment between the two, for instance in the use of anti-inflammatory medicines, but they often present similar symptoms at first glance and so can easily be confused.

The following complaints are typical in patients who might receive a diagnosis of RSI:

• Short bursts of pain in the arm, back, shoulders, wrists, hands, or thumbs (typically diffuse – i.e. spread over many areas).
• The pain is worse with activity.
• Weakness, lack of endurance.

Now we know what RSI is and it's time to do something about it. 

For those of you who spend too much time Gaming, Facebooking, or masturbating, you don't have to worry. It's just that your body is telling you it's time to get a life, some real friends and a girl friend (or one of those inflatable ones). Believe me, your health is way more important.

For those of us who don't have a choice because we have bills to pay or families to feed, we just have to fight for it. It's an arduous journey and I cannot be sure that we will win but how do we know if we don't try?

OK, let's start our journey.



How to fight RSI - Part 2, Postures
How to fight RSI - Part 3, Ergonomic Accessories-keyboard
How to fight RSI - Part 4, Ergonomic Accessories-Mouse and other pointing device
How to fight RSI - Part 5, Software help tackling RSI