Keyboards? Yech !!!
p2pnet news | Off Topic:- Warning! Your keyboard may be hazardous to your health!
That’s because type pads, “sometimes harbour more filth than the average loo seat and house millions of bacteria which can cause diarrhoea and vomiting,” says the Guardian, quoting a study in Which? Computing.
Researchers, “examined samples from 33 keyboards and found a variety of bugs including E coli and S aureus, which can cause skin infections and make people ill,” says the story, going on:
“The scientist swabbed a loo seat and a toilet door handle in a typical London office for comparison.
“One of the keyboards in the experiment had to be removed from the office because it was five times dirtier than the lavatory seat and home to 150 times the acceptable limit of bacteria.”
[Note: For non-UK readers, 'loo' probably comes from "Gardez l'eau," French for "watch out for the water," says Bog Standard. "We probably get the word 'loo' from this expression, although some people think it comes from 'Room 100' which is what European people used to call the bathroom. 
]
“If you look at what grows on computer keyboards, and hospitals are worse, believe it or not, it’s more or less a reflection of what’s in your nose and in your gut,” the BBC has Dr Peter Wilson, a consultant microbiologist at University College London Hospital, saying, adding:
“”Should somebody have a cold in your office, or even have gastroenteritis, you’re very likely to pick it up from a keyboard.”
.
.Stumble It!
Guardian – Filthy as a loo seat: hazard of computer keyboards, May 1, 2008
BBC – Keyboards ‘dirtier than a toilet’ , May 1, 2007
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May 3rd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Bacteria! Bacteria everywhere! Bacteria on my keyboard, bacteria in my computer, bacteria on my skin, bacteria in my gut, Bacteria in the air and in the water! Wohohohoho!
This is hysterical guys! We need bacteria! without them we can not leave.
Immune systems are not just for the dogs. Hello!
By the way we have to demand the soap makers to stop puting some anti-bacterial shit in our soap. This is harmfull folks! Soap alone kill enought bacteria by itself.
We need our bacteria in our skin who prevent the bad stuff from infecting us and we need our bacteria in our guts, otherwise we can not eat.
We really need to raise the scientific culture level in this country. Business is not everything you know!
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Whatever man; I’m setting fire to my keyboard now.
May 3rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I’m sorry but all this hype about bacteria and using anti-bacterial soaps is getting annoying.
I never use anti-bacterial soap nor do i get the flu shot and guess what.
This Winter I had 2 24 hour flu’s and one cold that lasted 2 days.
Everyone I know who got the flu shot and use anti-bacterial soap were sick as dogs.
I think their immune systems went to shit due to the lack of use.
I think I’m going to keep my dirty old keyboard since it might be keeping my immune system active and ready to go when I need
May 3rd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Take your keyboard apart and see whats in there.
Mine had tons of hair. :/
May 3rd, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I take mine apart and clean it every few months. Mine always looks nice and clean, with maybe a little dirt on the sides of the keys and some hairs and such under them.
I’ve seen some nasty keyboards though. A former neighbor had several kids in the house and others who used the computer. The keys were dirty, there were crumbs and hairs between the keys, etc. It was disgusting.
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I didn’t know they could be taken apart. Don’t try throwing them into the bath. I also wash my hands with soap after using the toilet and after shopping. Still, I may try cleaning it.
Speaking of room 100, the old CB lingo for toilet break was 10-100. Interesting but useless fact.
May 4th, 2008 at 5:38 am
“I didn’t know they could be taken apart. Don’t try throwing them into the bath. I also wash my hands with soap after using the toilet and after shopping. Still, I may try cleaning it.”
There’s no absolute guarantee, but every one I’ve ever seen can be taken apart. Most of the ones I’ve seen in the last few years have been very similar. I made a quick guide, which you can find here;
http://rapidshare.com/files/112451099/Keyboard-Disassembly.txt.html
May 4th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Seriously, all this sickness hype is ridiculous. “Diarrhoea”, which, is only dangerous if you are malnourished, and “vomiting”, which is about as bad as getting punched in the stomach. Seriously, has anyone in a modern country (which, if you have a keyboard, you probably are in one) died from diarrhoea and vomiting?
And what is this “acceptable limit of bacteria?”
May 4th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I take myself apart for a complete clean up every week not just the keyboard. Just in case.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I’d like to state for the record that I clean my keyboard more for the aesthetic value than any fear that it will make sick. Also, mine tends to allow dust and things to get inside and interfere with the contacts. I should just replace it, but I just can’t bring myself to get rid of it when I know it’s still useable.