Friday, May 9, 2008 

Computers and Your Eyes

According to the 2003 U.S. Census, 64% of adults and 86% of children use computers at school, at work, or at home. Computers can make life easier and save time, but they can be very hard on your eyes. About 88% of people who use computers everyday suffer from eyestrain. There are some things that you can do to make your computer easier on your eyes.

Try these tricks to protect your eyes when using your computer:

Adjust your screen settings so that the light from your screen is about equal to the lighting in the room, not bright or dim, and turn up the contrast for a crisper image
Every fifteen to twenty minutes, get up and walk around, and shift your vision to something far away
Position the monitor about 10 to 15 degrees below eye level, with the top of the monitor tilted slightly away from you
Reduce the lighting in the room where you use your computer to about half of the normal level of lighting
Use curtains and low wattage bulbs to reduce glare
Wear glasses with a special coating that prevents glare
If you wear prescription glasses make sure that they address intermediate vision. Most eye glasses are optimized for near and far vision. It is estimated that 70% to 75% of computer users could benefit from the use of computer glasses.

Computer vision syndrome (CVS)

Printed words are much easier for your eyes to focus on than the letters on your computer screen. Letters on the screen may have the illusion of being crisp and clear, but they are not. They are made of tiny pixels which cause your eyes to make constant micro-movements, shifting to the "resting point of accommodation" and then back to trying to focus on the words. This can quickly cause eye strain.

The brightness of the screen causes you to blink five times less often than normal when you are looking at the computer, leading to dry eye.

Sitting at the computer for long periods of time can cause the muscles in your face, neck, and shoulders to become stiff and tense and reduce the blood flow to your head and eyes.

Most prescriptions are not accurate for computer use, because they are not optimized for reading or viewing objects that are at the distance from our eyes as most computer screens. Your prescription need not be off enough for you to notice to cause eyestrain when using the computer. According to a recent study conducted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry, even if you feel that you can see the screen clearly, your performance may be decreased as much as 20%.

Signs that your computer is damaging your eyes
Symptoms of CVS include:

Eye strain
Difficulty focusing
Blurred vision
Double vision
Headaches
Neck and shoulder pain
Fatigue
Decreased productivity

If you use a computer on a regular basis you should have annual eye exams to make sure that it is not damaging your eyes. If you are experiencing the symptoms of CVS contact your ophthalmologist right away.

 

The Truth Behind Computer Running Very Slow - RAM vs CPU

Is your computer running very slow? This is an ongoing problem for many computer users in the world. Although there are various symptoms to a why a computer will be running slow, you need to understand what the difference between RAM vs CPU and which should upgraded or focused on. This article will aim to teach you about how RAM and CPU processing work to determine if you have a problem with your computer running very slow.

So what's the difference between RAM and CPU? First of all, RAM stands for Random Access Memory and can be thought of as the holding tank for running processes. The more RAM you have, the more programs you can run. I might also add that RAM works with Virtual Memory where a section on the hard drive is reserved to act as secondary RAM. Also, RAM is accessed much faster than a hard drive. CPU stands for Central Processing Units and this is where many mathematical computations occur. The computations are processed by the CPU which fuels the applications running on your system. The faster your CPU, the faster your applications can run.

If you look at RAM vs CPU, they do two different tasks. The CPU will run the application and store the processed results in the RAM. However, for most computer users, multitasking is a popular activity on the computer. Therefore, running several programs need to be held in RAM. On a visual perspective, CPU will be demonstrated most by how fast a program will initiate where RAM will demonstrate it's ability to handle several programs at once. If you notice that it takes a long time for a program to start when you have a sufficient amount of RAM, then you may need to upgrade your CPU. If you have a decent CPU speed, but notice that you are experiencing your computer running very slow with only 3-4 programs running, you may need to upgrade your RAM.

To reiterate, CPU handles how fast a program will start or perform and the RAM handles the load of the programs currently running. By understanding the difference between the CPU and the RAM, you can determine what type of hardware upgrade you may need. If you still experience your computer running very slow despite having sufficient RAM vs CPU, then you may have a software or operating system issue.

Looking for more information or software on your Computer Running Very Slow? Solutions To Making Your Computer Faster

Brad Carter is a computer consulting junkie that can save you the trouble of dealing with a slow PC. Learn to speed up your computer with his tips, books and software recommendations.

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