Did you know that a normal human being blinks 20 times in a minute, whereas a computer user blinks only 7 times a minute!

Have you ever had eyestrain, blurred vision, delayed focusing, headaches, back and neck aches, dry and burning eyes, light sensitivity, distorted color vision, forehead heaviness, or sore eyes after using a computer for long periods at a time?

Quick fixes for common eye strain

1. Blurred vision; red eyes: Get a full glass of water and drink the entire glass, then blink and rub your eyes gently, blink and rub, blink and rub. (Also see recommendations below)
2. Migraine or bad headache: Massage your temples on both sides of your face. Dim or lower the environmental lighting around you if you can. If that still does not help, then chug 2 bottles of Gatorade.

Recommendation(s)
It has been suggested that after 20 minutes of computer use, you should take a 20 second eye focus break and look at objects that are 20 feet away from you.

Be sure to adjust your monitor refresh rate to the highest available setting as it is easier on your eyes.

Helpful tools such as Eye Defender http://www.eterlab.com/eyedefender/ is a freeware download from Eterlab that will automatically interrupt your work and make you take a short eye break.

3 for 1 special: Get off your butt and take a water break.

1. This will remove the computer from your vision and help relax your eyes
2. Help hydrate your eyes and overall body as we all need a large source of water in our daily diet.
3. Exercise your body by going to the water cooler or getting a refill of water.

This article is not intended to inform your employer that you need more breaks or that your computer is causing any permanent damage to your health, however this article is trying to help you be aware of your personal health and ways to prevent temporary strain on your eyes. So who is winning, your eyes or the computer screen? You be the judge as you can control this for yourself. Delay no further and take control to knock your monitor out by doing the recommendations listed above.

Good luck and we wish you all many more years of safe computer use.

Eye Strain related illnesses for further research:
Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS)
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

On Tuesday, July 10th, 2012, Microsoft released a security advisory regarding sidebar gadgets in Windows Vista and Windows 7. All gadgets, old and new, now pose a security threat to your computer. They can be compromised to allow a hacker to have access to your PC and all of your data. Microsoft’s current solution is to disable gadgets completely. Follow this link for the “fix” and to read more about it – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2719662

Here is Microsoft’s official recommendation: “Customers who are concerned about vulnerable or malicious Gadgets should apply the automated Fix It solution as soon as possible. For more information, see the Suggested Actions section of this advisory.”

To be safe, CompuType IT Solutions recommends that you follow Microsoft’s suggestion and disable your gadgets. You can use the “Fix It” application found at the Microsoft link above, or disable the gadgets manually. Hopefully MS will provide a solution to this issue, to keep all the gadget users happy. If you are not comfortable making these changes and repairs yourself, just give us a call and we’ll be glad to assist.

CompuType would also like to remind you to keep your Windows Updates current, as well as your Anti-Virus, Java, Flash or any other application that constantly nags you to update it. Most of the updates these companies push out are to fix security vulnerabilities, so it is good practice to keep up with them. If you’d like to have CompuType help you keep up with these issues, just give us a call. We can set you up with remote support, using GoToCompu, or one of our skilled technicians can stop by and take care of your issues.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Monday is not “Internet Doomsday”. There will be no cataclysmic shutdown, no Al Gore pulling the plug with a demonic laugh, no sudden termination like the TomKat split. July 9, 2012 on the Mayan calendar does not say “Adios Internet”. What is happening is described in detail here.

Essentially, the FBI is shutting down some servers on Monday that have been allowing PCs infected with the DNSChanger virus to use the internet as if nothing is wrong. Once these servers are shutdown, PCs with the virus will not be able to access the web.

Yes, that sounds horrible, but it is easily avoided. Before Monday, July 9, please visit http://www.dns-ok.us from every PC you own to see if you have the virus. If you see green, do a happy dance because your machine is clean. If you see red, then don a hazmat suit – you need to start cleanup procedures immediately.

If your antivirus program isn’t correcting the problem, then be sure to contact professional help, or even that 29-year-old “kid” that lives in your neighbor’s basement. If you don’t get it cleaned up this weekend, you won’t be able to check fantasy baseball stats and upcoming summer sales access important work related websites.

Experts currently estimate the number of infected PCs is down to 250,000 or less, so you’ve got a .02% chance of being infected. Much better chances than winning a lottery jackpot though so be sure to get your PC checked out soon!