Week 2 - Clear - Ergonomics

What is ergonomics? Ergonomics, in brief, is the study of efficiency in the work environment. A more complete definition can be found by clicking on the ergonomics link, ergonomics. Have you ever had wrist, back or neck pain after slaving away your computer terminal at the office day in and day out? These types of pain could be due to the inefficiencies in your work area. For example, if you find yourself having wrist pain, ask yourself this, "What type of keyboard do I currently use:  Keyboard A or Keyboard B?"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/krypto/48297478/

Keyboard B

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yvettemn/139890573/

Keyboard A

Keyboard A is flat and not ergonomically friendly, while Keyboard B is more ergonomically friendly due to a slight curve design.  You may ask yourself, "Why does the curve in Keyboard B make it more ergonomical?" Well when typing day in and day out, Keyboard A does not allow your wrists to form at their natural position.  Keyboard B allows for the wrist to form at their natural position, more at a slanted angle instead of straight forward as in Keyboard A.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaeru/1599676842/ 

Now what workplace inefficiencies contribute to that nagging back and neck pain? And what can you do to become more ergonomically friendly to help decrease these types of pain. Back and neck pain in the workplace can be caused by many things such as, lack of lumbar support, height of chair, posture, how your feet rest and prolonged sitting. So, how do you correct these? Well, while the photo to the left shows us an example of inappropriate and non-ergonomical workplace habits. The photo to the right shows us proper workplace and ergonomically friendly habits. Notice the proper posture and how the legs and feet(balanced on the floor) are positioned at an approximately 90 degree angle. Many office chairs have height and positioning adjustments  on them that allow the user to adjust the chair to their comfort level, which allows for a good ergonomic body position.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onekell/2570138754/

There are also lumbar supports available for all types of office chairs and lumbar support levels, with maximum support or light to moderate lumbar support.  Also, remembering to take breaks throughout the day and walk to allow your spine to elongate will help to alleviate back and neck pain. So, these have just been a few examples of what causes some of the aches and pains we suffer from as result of our day to day work environment and how to help ergonomically correct your current workplace.  The following link with provides explanation of what causes workplace aches and pain, as well as more ways to correct workplace functionality...Ergonomic help!  Below is also a fun and enteraining video to show you how you can make your current workplace more ergonomic for your bodies ease and comfort, enjoy!

*Permission granted for reuse by Standard YouTube License.

Week 1 - Muddy - Blogging

I consider myself very capable of getting around on computers and the world wide web. I even find myself pretty savvy when it comes to using electronics, technology and certain computer programs. However, when it comes to blogging...it seems that I have ALOT to learn! 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skooksie/5039703873/

When I first read that we would have to post a blog weekly I must say that I dreaded the thought of blogging. Why you may ask? Mainly because it was the fear of the unknown to me, as well as the fact that I am one of those people that consider blogging nerdy and a seemingly useless waste of time. I asked myself, "Why would anyone want to read about what I have to say or blog?"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tommyhuynh/195116969/

Well, I began to proceed with the Getting Started worksheet that was provided and as I was beginning to journey on this new path of creating a blog I found myself doing research on blogging since I had never blogged before this class. There was so much to learn (at least it seemed that way to me!). And as I began to develop my blog, I found myself to be mostly concerned with the design, layout and the attraction level of the visual aspect of my blog.  I wanted it to be visually appealing to viewers, like the blogs that I had seen when researching how to blog, what to blog about and why people blog.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/secubie/2565327187/

During my research on blogging I found that the old saying, "Time is money", was true when it came to blogging.  The question that I had always asked myself, "Why do people blog?", had now been answered! Blogging is a BIG business.  With dedicated websites, as well as books and DVDs on how to blog and what to blog about for beginners all the way up to advanced and even the business professionals, it's now clear to me why people blog.  I also guess, depending on what people blog about there is the added value of blogs that are informative and helpful that can be easily accessed when needed via the world wide web!

After my research on blogging I now understand more about the world of blogging, from creation to actually writing and posting a blog. Please note everyone in cyberspace that this will be my first official blog so keep your fingers crossed and hope that it goes somewhat in the right direction!  However, with that said, as I mentioned a couple of paragraphs ago in the above portion of this blog...I found myself more focused and centered on the visual aspect of my blog. I now realize that yes, a blog needs to be visually appealing to viewers, but the most important aspect of a blog is actually the information contained in the blog. Imaging that! So to those of you out there who have never blogged before and find the blogging topic muddy...I present to you these few words of advice (or should I say experience now!). A blog should be not only visually appealing, but should be just as appealing intellectually in order to attract viewers.