I have trackpads for just about all my machines, I'm very rarely using a mouse.

would you mind posting a link to what you're using please?

I spent a lot of time searching for options after developing cts and worse bc of poker. even going as far as to consider steering wheel and driver pedals as the mouse and buttons

there are foot-operated clicking devices

and you could probably rig up a wii-mote to do your aiming for you. swear i'd seen videos of this sort of thing, but not sure what to look for on google

alternatively, use a gamepad for mouse/clicking

I'm in Macland using their track pads. Don't know if there are drivers for Windows or *nix.

gamepad worked for a bit than got annoying.

http://www.amazon.ca/Logitech-Wirele...enovo+trackpad

this look good

commerciability of something like this looks great http://www.fastcompany.com/1745395/d...ind-reading-pc

I've been trying it. The biggest stumbling block for me is the web. There's just too many websites with no thought given to the tab order of elements. I was trying to navigate through GitHub without using the mouse - but its just too ridiculous.

The vimium plugin makes it pretty easy generally

+1 to Vimium plug-ins.

Also, buy a mechanical keyboard. You only have to press they keys about half way to get a response, so it is like your fingers are floating on air. When I do use a regular keyboard, I definitely feel the jolt of each keystroke now. My hands used to burn at night from using standard keyboards. Like night and day now, less fatigue and nearly no pain. My left pinky still bothers me sometimes.

I was using Windows 8 without a mouse for a while when it first came out. It was surprisingly not that bad.

After a long-ish chain of rejection letters, I finally got a phone call yesterday.

#1 indication that you really have no ****ing clue: when you are asked how much money you want, say a number that is about 50% of the normal going rate. One day I'll learn to say $100K with a straight face and not expect to hear laughter.

fml.

I'm so used to working jobs that go "This is what we pay. You okay with that?"

Every programming job is "What do you want?" It is a very hard question to answer on the spot, especially when I'm not sitting at my computer to look up "[job description] salary." I always low-ball myself, and I'm giving what I think is probably too much for me.

The worst: I once went on an interview, and they asked how much I wanted. I said 20k less than what was written in the job ad. I didn't realize it until I looked at it later that night.

I know that my voluntarily low-balling myself isn't the only issue, but I wonder how much of an impact it has. I totally expect myself to be a liability for any job, and I feel like I'm asking for an amount that would make me very comfortable.

I have had carpal tunnel for 5 years. Two things have helped me the most:

1) Using cheap elastic band to fix the wrist. I think the combination of fixing the wrist and applying pressure to the righ spott really helps with reducing the pain. http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v1/3...pg_220x220.jpg

2) Using Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard. After using it for a year I now really see how ****ty most laptop keyboards/regular keyboards are. It is a truly well designed piece of plastic. http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/_b...herviews01.jpg

i remember one time seeing the scoring key for a questionnaire that our company used as a first screen for applicants. for each question, there were four choices, and scores assigned to each answer, kinda like in those magazine quizzes. for most of the questions, the scoring system was straightforward: if the question had a correct answer, then the best answer had max score, and wrong-but-not-terrible answers had a lower score, etc. some questions were more subjective, and the scoring system gave insight into the hiring manager's thought process. one of the questions was desired salary. it went something like: 70k 2 points, 80k 4 points, 90k 5 points, 100k 4 points. i'll let you draw your own conclusions.

*the hiring manager was one of the smartest people i ever worked with

His follow-up question was pretty good: "Will that big a huge raise for you or something?"

Thanks, this looks good. I'm just going to have to get use to how it works (as mid sentence I somehow ended up going to a random ad...).

Luckily I'm a vim user so its not that big of a deal. I switched to the vim plugin for Sublime last week and that's been really awesome. Not sure what took me so long.

This is the keyboard I got last week. So far so good. It's funny when I accidentally switch to my laptop keyboard it's obvious right away where the edge of the case presses up against the wrist in a painful way. Again, not sure what took me so long.

Crazy theory:
Are full time keyboard users who type properly (hands on the home row) more prone to joint pain and RSI?

If you keep your hands locked in the same position and barely move your fingers that seems like it could be much more stressful than someone who uses both the mouse and keyboard. My hands are constantly moving or sitting in a very relaxed state off the keyboard.

I've been at this for a long time now and I never experienced issues. Do you guys keep your forearms perfectly parallel to the ground, and well supported by an arm rest? I think that may help a lot too.

daveT, if I were hiring a developer for any sort of role expecting experience, somebody saying a really low salary would be a bit of a red flag (although we don't ask salary questions up front, so its kind of a hypothetical). I think I'd just be a little bit more thorough asking about background to make sure I really understood your past experience.

I think you need to figure out a strategy for this because its something that came up before. Personally, I'd go the route of not stating a number and saying you want to be paid competitively and that salary is just part of the whole benefit package which you can sort out later. That negotiating article that's been posted a couple times ITT has good strategies for how to do that well.

Otherwise, you need to do your research and figure out an appropriate number. Maybe even give them a high number but add a caveat that you really like what they're doing and you'd be negotiable on the number depending on the overall compensation package.

In my case, the issue is almost certainly poor work environments (laying on the couch, in a hammock, always using the laptop keyboard, etc.). But with a good keyboard I think proper typing probably helps. Right now my arms/wrist don't really move and are just resting on the foam resting area in a pretty good position. It's only my fingers that need to move to type.

Can't tell if that MS keyboard is mechanical or not. Also, no backlighting, so booooo.

Why's it so hard to find a backlit, ergonomic, mechanical keyboard that's not $200?

Probably manufacturing costs and niche market.

I've never tried one, and I wasn't willing to spend the money (even though its really works money) on one without personal experience.

Backlighting is nice, but for me its always been just an aesthetic feature.

I'm not that great at typing with my right pinky. Just not used to finding all the weird keys programming requires, so it helps to be able to look down and find that one weird bracket key I keep missing now and then

I thought the vast majority of wrist issues was caused by mouses

Phones give me hand/finger pain. A few nights ago my power went out so I sat on the couch with my phone for a few hours and I can still feel the irritation. The weird thing is I didn't notice any pain when I was using the phone but the next day my normal keyboarding/mousing was painful. I wonder if a lot of people misattribute their pain to the wrong source & start buying vertical mice and lol foot pedals.

Normal keyboard/mouse doesn't give me any problems despite being pretty much glued to one of my computers all day. I don't have any fancy setup either, but I think my desk might help because it's a bit lower than most. I can rest my forearms on the edge of the desk so my hands hover over the keyboard. If i had a wristpad, my wrist would never make contact with it. Also I'm a vim user which may help a bit, but I use a mouse for everything else. I don't even alt+tab to switch between windows and have even been spotted saving a file from the dropdown menu.

It's the eeeeend of windooows as you know it, and I feeeeeel fiiiiiiiiiine

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2483961,00.asp