I'm an Italian web developer and (almost) entrepreneur based in London.
In the past couple of months my eyesight has worsened quickly.
It has worsened to the point that I now need to wear glasses on a daily basis. I know this doesn’t sound too serius as there are millions of people wearing glasses or contact lenses but I consider it quite bad after 30 year of perfect eyesight. The worst thing about it is that I now get tired easily and I suffer from occasional headaches.
I just want to share a couple of tips which are helping me to reduce eye strain:
Looking at the computer screen is like looking at a light bulb. The less white light hit your eyes, the better. I used to use editors with a black background but there are a couple of applications that do not support color customization (Word, Excel and the like).
Nocturne is a little application that invert the colors on your screen, so that white becomes black and viceversa. I can assure this is a lot easier on your eyes and you’ll feel the difference if you just try it for an hour.
I’m used to look at close objects and my optometrist suggested to regurarly look at things far away, and of course I forget to.
This software (Anti Repetitive Strain Injury) remind you to take short breaks every now and then, to make sure you don’t stare at the computer screen for too long without giving your eyes the chance to rest.
AntiRSI is smart enough to understand if you’ve already taken a break, monitoring your mouse and keyboard activity.
These tools are only for Mac, please feel free to reply with Linux/Windows equivalents.
Contacts:
My stuff:
Keep in touch!
In Rotterdam
When I Was a Rock Star
Pineapple field in Hawaii
RailsConf07 Speech