MacBreakZ Manual: Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

MacBreakZ 5 uses too much CPU!

MacBreakZ 5 is based on Mac OS X's most modern application architecture, the 64-bit Cocoa Runtime with Garbage Collection (really!). What you see when you look in the Activity Monitor when examing applications built on this architecture is markedly different from what you see when you examine applications built using the older architectures. Even at the best of times, understanding CPU and memory readings in the Activity Monitor is far less straight forward then you might imagine.

First of all, 50% CPU means half the CPU cycles of one core; modern Macs have between 2 and 16 cores. Secondly, you need to distinguish between idle CPU cycles and busy CPU cycles. If you have 16 cores and thus a total of 1600% CPU available and all programs togther use only 60%, you've got 1540% doing nothing. What a waste!

Funnily that's exactly what those clever Apple engineers were thinking and they are trying to find clever ways of doing something useful with all those wasted processor cycles.

Mac OS X uses idle time to do "housekeeping" and preparing things in the background just in case they migh be needed. The modern 64-bit runtime system does a lot more during idle time than the older runtimes. The "garbage collector" in particular goes and reclaims unused memory, moves memory pages around, updates its internal state, etc. The text system goes and prepares text layout, so that it's all done should it become visible on the screen, etc., etc.

The same goes for memory. If there is plenty of memory available, the 64-bit runtime will allocate a big chunk of that memory to applications that might need it at some stage in the future.

What's important to understand is that what you see when your machine is not doing much (when you are busy looking at the activity monitor to nefarious applications) has nothing to do with what happens when your machine is doing some heavy lifting. When the CPU and memory is strained, Mac OS X will automatically stop idle processing tasks, shift out memory to disk, compact memory pages, etc.

I'm not getting prompted to take any breaks!

You will only get prompted to take breaks once a pre-set period of time has elapsed. If you never get prompted to take breaks, this may mean:

that you have set the breaks to be too far apart, so you never work for a "long enough" period of time to trigger the stretch

Example: Say you have set your break interval to be 2 hours, but you never stay at the computer for 2 whole hours.

Solution: In the "Preferences..." reduce your interval between breaks (the recommended level is 20-30 minutes).

that you have set your break duration to be too short and the program detects that you have taken an "informal" break and resets the elapsed time to zero

Example: Say you have set your break duration to be 2 minutes. Now when you spend 2 minutes without touching a key or moving the mouse, the program will detect this as having taken a break and it will reset the elapsed time to zero.

Solution 1: Set you break duration to something longer in the "Preferences..." (5 to 10 minutes rest break are recommended)

Solution 2: In the "Preferences..." untick the "Detect informal breaks" check box

your task involves more reading and thinking time than typing and mousing activity. The low activity level makes the clock stop running and run backwards a lot and you never get over the break threshold

Solution 1: Re-run the setup assistant and specify "Optimize for posture problems"; this will change settings so that you will have more regular breaks.

Solution 2: in the "Activity Monitor" section of the "Preferences.." dialog increase the delay before the clock runs backwards and increase the "Keeps running" delay.

Solution 3: in the "Activity Monitor" section of the "Preferences.." dialog untick the "Runs backwards" checkbox.

Note that not being prompted with many breaks may not be a bad thing. It may simply mean that you are using your computer in a safe manner already and thus do not require frequent rest breaks. If you naturally get up from your desk regularly, take short breaks and use the mouse and keyboard sparingly, your already doing many things right.

You may still benefit from regular stretching breaks and choosing the "Optimize for posture problems" approach discussed above may still make sense for you.

I constantly get interrupted with breaks!

There are three main reasons for this happening:

you are quite simply currently using your computer in an especially unhealthy manner and are at a significant risk of RSI injury
your hand is constantly moving the mouse even when you "rest"; this is an unhealthy habit; it's advisable to take your hand off the mouse whenever possible to prevent an excessive build-up of tension in your hands, arms and most importantly shoulder/ neck.
you are using an input device, such as tablet or some types of trackball that produce a continuous stream of tiny movements; this isn't great (see writer's cramp) but is usually "okay".

Whatever the reason, there is no point in bombarding you with more breaks than you feel comfortable with at this point. You may just give up completely and that would be the worst case scenario.

Solution 1: if you are simply not ready to take as many breaks as recommended, use the setup assistant and choose the "Prevention" profile combined with an a longer adaptation period.

Solution 2: configure a longer adaptation period, shorter breaks and longer break intervals in the "Preferences..." dialog.

Solution 3: especially if you are using a tablet, configure a more relaxed activity level measurement in the "Activity Monitor" section of the "Preferences..." dialog.

The clock behaves strangely/ is running back/ is stopping

The MacBreakZ 4 clock is not a normal clock. It doesn't just go forwards, but it may stop or even run backwards in response to your keyboard and mousing activity.

The reason for this is that how frequently you require a break depends on how intensively you use the keyboard and mouse. MacBreakZ takes this into account by making the clock run forwards only when you are "active", stopping it when you become "inactive" and finally making it run backwards after a certain amount of time while you are "resting".

MacBreakZ also automatically detects "informal breaks", so that when you get back from lunch for instance, you won't be prompted for a break immediately.

The behavior of the clock can be configured in the "Activity Monitor" section of the "Preferences..." dialog.