black lights in a room and eye safety
 

ok standard wally world bought black light flourcent(sp sorry in a hurry)

how long can i leave it on in a dark room with my puter before it causes me eye damage or can it?

Most recreational blacklights (not for identification of rocks/minerals or for sterilization) emit UV-A light, in the 345nM to 400nM spectrum, this is safe to use continuously as long as the light or a reflection of the light is not directly in your field of view. Keep a distance of a few feet between yourself and the light to prevent the small amounts of skin damage that can occur from intense concentrations of UV-A.

What is the advantage of the black light? Is it just the cool factor? Just curious.

well actually the one we bought from walmart the flourscent(sp) was used on our daughter.. she had that pserosis bad and using it combined with meds got rid of it with in a few days.. weird but true

commercial blacklights have no real danger except for being really annoying and cliche.
We used them for a few years at our parties, and staring at the computer screen to type this message is probably causing more damage than all those parties combined =)
happy black lighting!

Black lights are awesome. I don't know why people think they're annoying or cliche.

They're very soothing and relaxing, IMO. I have two in my computer room that I turn on when I need some light, but don't want the florescent light blaring down on me (which is almost always).

I like the fact that it's on, but at the same time it's not obtrusive like normal lights. For example, if you turn it on and close your eyes, you don't know it's on unlike a normal light. Sleeping with lights on is annoying, but sleeping w/ the black light on is like sleeping in the dark (when your eyes are closed). As a result, it makes a good "night light" of sorts.

My bedroom is PITCH black because I keep the windows/curtains closed, so when I get up in the middle of the night I'd like to see my way around, but a nightlight is too bright and annoying. Black lights are a great solution to this.

thing that bugs me only is thus... off to the side in my pref vision its there.. i close my eyes its gone then open them and its back.. hard to explain the feeling.. almost like someone is forceing my eyes to open when the light reaches my eyes not painful but somewhat annoying.. although its fun to see all the dead skin cells and dust on a person heh and ack the plaque on thier teeth