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Found this while looking at various blog posts about standing desks. I'm intrigued...

Amplify’d from www.latimes.com

Sitting Too Much Could be Deadly

LONDON — Here's a new warning from health experts: Sitting is deadly. Scientists are increasingly warning that sitting for prolonged periods - even if you also exercise regularly - could be bad for your health. And it doesn't matter where the sitting takes place - at the office, at school, in the car or before a computer or TV - just the overall number of hours it occurs. Research is preliminary, but several studies suggest people who spend most of their days sitting are more likely to be fat, have a heart attack or even die.

"After four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals," Ekblom-Bak said. She explained that genes regulating the amount of glucose and fat in the body start to shut down. Read more at www.latimes.com

 

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Switch To A Standing Desk??? Girl Geek Extraordinare Gina Trapani of Lifehacker Says Yes

Amplify’d from lifehacker.com

Why and How I Switched to a Standing Desk

Lifehacker founding editor Gina Trapani recently took the standing desk plunge that she's written up many times before, and, after a few days and some adjustments, is digging her new, healthier setup. Here's how she, and others like her, made the transition.

I spend about 45 to 50 hours a week working on my computer. Up until a week ago, I did that work sitting on my ever-expanding behind.

Last Monday I adjusted my desk to standing height (pictured right). I spent the week working on my feet, and I'm never going back to a sitdown desk again. Here are some questions and answers about the change.

Two reasons: Higher calorie burn and better posture. When I'm sitting at my desk, even in a fancy ergonomic chair, I tend to slump, with my back curved and shoulders forward, which closes my chest and makes my breathing more shallow. When standing at a desk where my forearms are at a 90 degree angle on the desk surface, my shoulders go back, which makes my spine concave and opens my chest. Besides the initial foot pain and muscle aches of engaged thighs and calves, it feels great.

Yes, very much. In fact, the first three days were brutal, so painful I doubted the whole endeavor. By mid-day 2, I had to sit down every hour or so. I was distracted and had a hard time focusing on anything but how much my feet hurt. At night I sat on the couch with my feet elevated. I collapsed into bed totally exhausted. I never appreciated sitting as much as I did the first three days.

Then, on the fourth day, it wasn't so bad. On day 5, I got lost in work for 2 hours before I thought about the fact that I was on my feet once. Now it's my new normal.

Who else uses a standing desk?

More people than I'd realized, especially techies! Former Twitter developer and founder of BankSimple Alex Payne. Creator of Instapaper Marco Arment. Podcaster extraordinaire Dan Benjamin. Novelist Philip Roth. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Lifehacker editor Jason Fitzpatrick. Now, newly, my fellow San Diego techie Mitch Wagner. Who else? Read more at lifehacker.com

 

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SWAT Team Takes Middle School Hostage After Hip Hop But Dial

Amplify’d from news.nationalpost.com

SWAT team swarms middle school after accidental ‘butt dial’

According to the Chicago Tribune, a man accidentally called his wife when he sat on his phone and it called one of the last numbers he dialed. This happens all the time. What happened next is why you are reading about it on the internet.

The wife received his garbled communication, and somehow, this led her to believe that he was being held hostage. She called 911 and soon a SWAT team was deployed to his workplace — a local middle school. Why would she think he was in danger? A school official explains.

“He was listening to music and he had, I don’t know, hip-hop … or music like that, where there were lyrics that were gangster-like,” explained Mark Friedman, interim co-superintendent of District 36. “So there were lyrics on the radio as he was driving home, and she listened to it and became concerned.”

Ah yes, those “gangster-like” hostage takers are always up to no good. The best part was when the team converged on the school and set up a perimeter for three hours, until they found out that the man was safe at home. So they were ready to pounce on an unsuspecting building! Good use of taxpayer money. Read more at news.nationalpost.com

 

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