Staying Healthy When My Job Involves Sitting at a Computer all Day. Part 1.

I spend hours on the computer every day. I suspect many of you do the same. It's a part of life for this generation. On average, I spend a minimum of eight hours in front of the screen each day. Another 3 hours are spend sitting while I commute. Close to eight hours are spent lying down. And the remaining 5 hours are a mixture of sitting down and standing up, but mostly sitting down.

I spend half my day sitting down. That translates to half my life sitting down.

Now I used to think that a few hours of running each week and some bodyweight exercises could help get me back into shape. While this is definitely possible, I have recently learned that even if I am in top shape, if I spend more than six hours at a stretch sitting down, I am more prone to heart disease, some types of cancer, diabetes, and a shorter life. Not that I am in top shape.

To HUD or not to HUD - is the new addition to Ubuntu good?

I am an avid user of Ubuntu, a popular version of the Linux OS. Why? Because a licenced version of Windows would cost me over a month's salary and the cost of a Mac is almost what I earn in half a year. I just can't justify the cost of another operating system.

But more than the cost issue, I found the operating system simple to use, the interface clean and the community extremely helpful. So I've stuck with Ubuntu for almost 5 years now as my primary operating system.

When the team working on Ubuntu announced Unity a few versions back, I was very skeptical. I liked the way things worked so why change everything so drastically? When I upgraded to Ubuntu 11.10 I did so with the intention of using the classic interface.

I haven't used it even once.

Despite my skepticism, I found Unity made my life easier. I quickly found the programs I needed and I found that it didn't affect my workflow negatively. And I learnt the ropes very fast.

And now it looks like we're in for another big change.

On January 24, Mark Shuttleworth (The man behind Canonical, Ubuntu's parent company if you will) announced the HUD in a blog post entitled Introducing the HUD. Say hello to the future of the menu.

Calling it the "Intenterface" he describes the HUD as a way of mapping a user's intent to the interface.

Hello to Blogger! (And what this blog is for)

Howdy folks!

My name is David. This is my third blog.

Why a third blog? Especially when I hardly have time to update the other two.

Well, the first blog is all about Ethiopia. And the second one is all about photography on Ubuntu. But there are so many other things that I want to write about. Every day I learn something new. I have so many interests.

Where do I put everything?

On this blog of course :)

You know how you find old boxes in old houses that are stuffed with things that can sometimes be very interesting? That's what I want this blog to be. I'm going to write about and save everything that I find fascinating that doesn't fit into my other two blogs.

On this blog, you will find:

• Thoughts about life in general
• A lot of things about Ubuntu Linux
• Thoughts about gadgets
• Thoughts about productivity
• Thoughts about writing
• Reviews of software and products
• Thoughts about running a creative team

More about me:

I'm a blogger, photographer, copywriter and family guy :) 

Why is this called the Misadventures of David Kirba

When I was 14, I started writing a book. It didn't get very far, but whatever did get written down was pretty nice. Unfortunately I lost everything in a flood, but that's another story. So this is a continuation of my story. Sixteen years down the line. I hope you enjoy it.