New Year - New Creative Space
I've been using computers on and off since I was eight, and since I turned eighteen they have been central to my work and play. Years of hardcore abuse and an internet career, means my RSI/OOS is so bad now that I can't use a keyboard every day. Hitting the keys is agony, and my arms go numb eventually. Scrolling on a mouse makes my hand feel on fire, and sitting at a desk gives me a migraine. Giving up cyberspace would cause me even more pain, so I've completely changed my studio space.

First to go was my desk, closely followed by my chair. I stole the TV table from the living room for my shuttle & screen, and turned my book-shelf on its side. A sheepsking rug some cushions for my back, and I now sit on my studio floor cross-legged. The cats love it as they can hang next to me, and get far more attention that when I was sat at a desk glued to the screen. With my laptop I can work from my yoga mat using the projector as a huge screen, and the best thing I've bought in ages is my Bean. It gives me a lovely back stretch and I stop for regular mini-workouts. My back is much better now I'm no longer sitting still for hours on end, and a bonus is the abs I've developed.

To all you net heads - please look after your wrists and hit the keyboard GENTLY. Instead of a scroll wheel use the space key to page down when reading. Then in ten years time you may be pain free. If you have a wireless mouse try switching it to your opposite hand, as becoming ambi-moustrous lays down new pathways in the brain. Better still look at other ways of interacting with your machine. Our bio-suits are delicate things, and until we can port straight into cyberspace we need them.

This may be the very last blog I ever write but fear not dear readers, I'm moving onto Dictation software so that I can escape the tyranny of mice & keys. Soon I'll be able to wander the house wearing a bluetooth headset, knowing that whatever I speak will be typed for me. With my new MP3 stick that records voice, I can write anywhere I like. Then all I have to do is squirt the recording through Dragon Dictate and my words magically appear on screen.

It's like having a virtual secretary, the ghost in my machine. It doesn't talk back yet but I'm sure it will soon.