NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/comp/emacs/4076

Text File | 1993-01-27 | 2.8 KB | 60 lines

Newsgroups: comp.emacs
Path: sparky!uunet!ukma!asuvax!chnews!hfglobe!ichips!ichips!jabram
From: [e-mail] (Jeff Abramson)
Subject: Re: hand injuries
In-Reply-To: [e-mail]'s message of Tue, 26 Jan 1993 00:28:55 GMT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (News Account)
Organization: Intel Corp., Hillsboro, Oregon
References: <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 15:19:13 GMT
Lines: 47


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (David Tornheim) writes:

   I have used EMACS for about 8 years now and have sworn by it, since
   I can use it on almost every machine.  Unfortunately, I've noticed that
   my hands hurt quite a bit at the end of the day, _especially_ when
   I edit files with EMACS.  The frequent use of the CNTL key combined
   with another key is the motion that is most painful. (e.g. I use C-b and
   C-f a lot to move around within a line, since commands like M-F and
   M-B actually take longer).  Because of this, I'm seriously considering
   switching over to the evil VI editor to save my hands from permanent
   damage (no kidding!).  Is anyone else in the same boat? Does anyone
   have other suggestions?

Your hands probably hurt for reasons other then using EMACS.  When you type,
do you rest your wrists on a table, desk, or wristpad?  You shouldn't.  Are
your wrists bend with respect to your lower arms?  They shouldn't be.  Both of
these reasons are more likely to damage your hand muscles, and cause soreness.
The wristpads that are so popular should NOT be used while typing, this is a
myth.  They should only be used to rest your wrists when NOT typing.

I think there is one reason why you should stay with EMACS, it is
customizable, therefore it should take less effort to do anything then it does
in VI.  Is your control key below the left shift next to the spacebar?  If so,
switch it with your Caps Lock key.  I have both caps lock and control bound to
control.  I do not know how to do it within emacs, because I have it globally
bound in my xsession using xmodmap:

        # Caps lock should work like control.
        #
        xmodmap -e "clear Lock"
        xmodmap -e "add Control = Caps_Lock"

We've just had extensive ergonomic training, at believe it or not, it does
make a difference how you sit and how you type.  If your computer time is work
related, then your company should order furniture and provide training. Lots
of tools can be blamed also, but you can customize EMACS to make it not one of
them.

I tried not to make this a public service announcement, but I hope that some
people can use this info that was given to me not too long ago...

--Jeff
--
--Jeff Abramson
  Microprocessor Division 6                    [e-mail]
  Intel Corporation, Hillsboro OR                       [phone]