As an update to my recent post, I wanted to report that I did go out and get an external keyboard and a mouse to add to my working set-up. (It was hard deciding which to go with – way too many choices in this world.)

Now I know that some people think I'm ridiculous to worry about radiation from my laptop CPU, but all I know is what I feel, and I can assure you that the physical experience of working for hours on an external keyboard is *very* different from the experience of working directly on my laptop. My laptop gets pretty warm after a couple of hours of use, but with the keyboard it's all cool all the time. No more hot buzzy feeling either – which is a relief, because the buzzy feeling was starting to make my wrists ache.

As for the purchases I made...
I'm happy with the keyboard, though for my purposes I'd much prefer that they scrapped the whole number pad at the right hand side. I'll never use it, and shaving off that extra 10cm would make the whole thing much more portable.

I don't love the mouse I got - a Macally iLaser. It performed terribly yesterday at Workspace on the unfinished wood table surface. It also doesn't have the ability to scroll side to side, which I value. I think I'm going to take it back and get something different... probably a Logitech with a Tiltwheel in it.

Therein ends today's discussion of workplace health and geekery. ;)