Archives: January 2005
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Wed Jan 26, 2005
Dvorak Typing
I'm a pretty fast typist, reaching speeds of 125 words per minute for short bursts, and sustained speeds of around 100 words per minute. But over the past several months, I've been experiencing a bit of pain in my hands and fingers.
So I explored the possibility of dictation software, such as IBM's ViaVoice and MacSpeech's iListen. I almost purchased iListen, but the expense ($150 with microphone) and reported inaccuracies caused me to hold off.
Instead, I decided to rearrange my keys and to try to learn the Dvorak keyboard layout, which is purported to be much more efficient and less of a strain on the wrists than QWERTY is, though market forces have kept QWERTY in widespread usage. Here's a good page with a seemingly rational point of view on the matter, and here's Wikipedia's informative entry.
So far, I've spent about 12 hours of typing time on Dvorak, and I can touch-type at 20-25 words per minute. That's a very frustrating speed, but I can switch back to QWERTY when I need to type fast, and I don't have to rearrange my keys because I don't need to see them.
I'm using Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor to learn, mainly because it was the first one I found. It generates some humorous random phrases for you to type (inspiring me to rewrite Vial, a nonsensical chatbot I wrote). For example:
If you want to start learning, most would recommend Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing.
I don't blame most people for using QWERTY to type, and I don't blame any computer or keyboard manufacturers for selling what people want, but for someone like me who uses a computer over ten hours each day, using the most efficient input method possible is vital. I expect it to take a couple weeks to reach a bearable speed, and hopefully from there I'll be able to quickly match my QWERTY speed, with less hand strain to boot.
I'll let you know whether it was worth it.
(This post typed in Dvorak.)
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Sun Jan 16, 2005
Comment Spam Neutralized
Some of you may have noticed that spammers figured out how to spam pMachine comments. Well, I've written a script to identify and destroy those comments. Hopefully it'll be easy to stay a step ahead of the spammers.
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What's wrong with this headline?
In Iraq, Abbas extends olive branch, takes office with crisis on his hands
Continued...
