my biggest downfall as a geek...

Romashka · 2006-01-28 11:19:26

I prefer classic keyboard layout because I often use other people's keyboards and most of them have classic layout. I use "dynamic typing" method - each finger presses the closest key but hands are moving constantly over keyboard. Using this method most of key combinations are pressed much faster than using "10-fingers" method and hands and fingers get much less tired. (IMO) And moving hands over the keyboard helps a lot allowing typing complex combinations using few fingers of both hands almost simultaneously, regardless of distance between keys in combination.
Thre is good program for Windoze called Stamina. It helps to teach "dynamic method", but I've learned this method even without it.

rafal · 2006-01-31 17:55:38

Yesterday I sent a post here but it's not present anymore. Anybody has removed it?

Dusty · 2006-01-31 22:32:16

it got split:

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?t=18401

jaboua · 2006-02-01 12:59:47

I learned the typing thing without any such program - we had it at school four years ago but I never made it faster than maybe 12 characters/minute... I don't know exactly when or how it happened, but I do know that two years ago I watched my keyboard while typing and used only two fingers to type, now I type quite fast without watching the keyboard and I type with 7 fingers I think.

eyolf · 2006-02-01 15:21:45

Since this thread started out asking for recommendations, here are mine.
First some background: I was fortunate to have a father who liked typewriters, so I got my own in first grade, along with an age-old tutorial in touch typing. I took it as a game, so I learned the basics the kid-way. This also involved some bad habits, such as never really learning the number keys, and using some "wrong" fingers.
That's why I've been looking at the typing programs lately: to learn the numbers and re-program the "c" key from index to long finger (man, is that hard, after 30 years of typing...).
Anyway, my favorite so far is gtypist. It does what it's supposed to, especially if you start it with the -w flag (which will emulate word-processor-type of input, so that you won't have to press enter at the end of every line of text). KTouch has some nice extra features, such as keeping track of your progress, but it has one major flaw, imho, in comparison with gtypist: if you make a mistake, gtypist will register the error but continue, whereas in ktouch you have to go back and correct the error before you can go on with the exercise. Gtypist's way is the best, I think: it stimulates both precision and fluency, whereas the Ktouch way breaks the flow too much, and teaches the bad habit of using the backspace key too much.

jakob · 2006-02-01 17:07:44

dvorak, though ways better than qwerty is still not optimal... especially for english there could be some more optimizations...

i think colemak would be worth a visit in the case of phrak since it is really modern and not (yet) split up in a hundreds of variations...

Besides: The world typing record is held by a dvorak-writer!

cactus · 2006-02-01 17:35:13

hellwoofa wrote:

Besides: The world typing record is held by a dvorak-writer!

shakespear didn't use dvorak!

jakob · 2006-02-01 20:37:56

nor did shakespeare live at all

phrakture · 2006-02-01 21:51:47

Romashka wrote:

I prefer classic keyboard layout because I often use other people's keyboards and most of them have classic layout. I use "dynamic typing" method - each finger presses the closest key but hands are moving constantly over keyboard. Using this method most of key combinations are pressed much faster than using "10-fingers" method and hands and fingers get much less tired. (IMO) And moving hands over the keyboard helps a lot allowing typing complex combinations using few fingers of both hands almost simultaneously, regardless of distance between keys in combination.
Thre is good program for Windoze called Stamina. It helps to teach "dynamic method", but I've learned this method even without it.

That sounds similar to how I actually type. I don't type homerow, and I don't hunt-and-peck or look at the keyboard.... I do this sort of spatialized thing... I keep my idle fingers on certain keys and am just able to judge the distance to where the real keys are.
My hands stay crooked, similar to an MS Natural keyboard... left pinky rests on shift, left thumb on space. Right thumb rests below space, right pinky between enter and shift. I use the other three to hit what keys I need, but mostly use pointer fingers... it's odd, but I can type decently... I just wish I could actually type, though I've never had the drive to sit down and actually learn.... *sigh*

cactus · 2006-02-02 01:00:42

hellwoofa wrote:

nor did shakespeare live at all

Someone had to write that stuff. Lets just call the writer "shakespear" for now..and assume the collective works were not written by martians or robots from the future.

Cerebral · 2007-12-07 00:30:30

phrakture wrote:

...is that I never learned to type...
So I'm looking for a decent typing program... and no kiddy games (tuxtype)... I seem to recall some nice console based ones... but can't find any online or in pacman...
If anyone wants to point me int he right direction, it'd be appretiated.
Thanks

Back to high-school for you, mister.

"Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing" is what you need.

F · 2007-12-07 00:35:19

its called IRC, dude. Go there and try to hold a fast paced conversation. An easy way to do this is to argue politics/religion/etc. where you need to voice your opinions in a 5 second span before people get tired/bored of you.

Its not hard. ;p

Allan · 2007-12-07 00:55:51

Well, seem we are reviving old threads.... I have noticed my touch typing skills have diminished over the years. I woke up early the other morning and went to check my email without turning on a light. Replying took me ages.

Acid7711 · 2007-12-07 01:35:06

Screw touch typing. I've learned to hunt and peck with all my fingers. I've done it since I was too young to remember and can still type more accurately and faster than most anyone I know, outside of a strict typing position like a secretary, etc. Point is do what works for you, not just what is considered the "right" way to type by everyone else. I struggled through the stupid computer classes throughout my school years as a kid. I'd get into trouble cuzz I wouldn't use the home-row keys, there's no point if your system is working for you.

Just my 2 cents.

And yes, right there talking about IRC. That's where I developed my super-sophisticated hunt and peck method that I still use today Spending all day, every day in chat rooms as a kid will teach you well.

Last edited by Acid7711 (2007-12-07 01:36:20)

kensai · 2007-12-07 02:18:03

I took it as a course at the University, I failed my first exam with a big "F" and I said, "this isn't for me" so I never returned to the class. Yeah, is true the Arch Linux newsletter editor, isn't a skilled keyboard typer.

Last edited by kensai (2007-12-07 02:18:41)

buttons · 2007-12-07 03:22:33

Played MUDs for years. The only person I know that types faster than I do is my mother, who was a writer, and now teaches English.

And qwerty touch typing all the way. I had a class on it in 2nd grade and have been infinitely grateful ever since.

Klepto · 2007-12-07 06:36:41

I can't touch-type either, I describe my typing style as 'advanced hunt and peck', been doing it almost 30 years now so it may be too late to change. TBH the bottleneck for my typing is my brain anyway, so I see little need to change.

Going back to the OP, I'd have to say my biggest downfall as a geek is maths. I understand only what I need to understand for what I do: thinking in hex is easy, I can logically model a CPU in my brain, but more advanced things I get lost with. 3d graphics are about the limit of my understanding, simultaneous equations I still can't do, and for mental long division I guesstimate.

peets · 2007-12-08 01:09:09

T-Dawg wrote:

is it really so? phrakture's only weakness is.....typing??

I hear he also got hacked.

How's touch-typing when you need to program and use all those punctuation characters on the right side of the keyboard? And is dvorak any good for coding? I have a fun job with almost nothing to do, so maybe learning to touch type is something I could do...

I think I remember using "Mavis Beacon" for a few weeks in a high school computer class. I wish I remembered what I learned, though.

slemKaffe · 2007-12-08 01:54:34

I have never been able (or patient enough) to learn touch with qwerty. I type reasonably fast and use most of my fingers, but my accuracy isn't very good. For some reason though, I have no problem typing touch using dvorak. I just got started with dvorak, so for now my typing is a bit slow, but my accuracy is a lot better, and I don't have to look at the keyboard at all anymore!

onearm · 2007-12-08 08:45:54

I'm terrible at touch-typing. Guess what "onearm" mean? I'm so slow that I could type with one arm and don't notice any slowdown.
What I have the most trouble in typing are the numbers and the punctuation symbols, pretty everything that one has to use double jump in position from the classic "asdf" and "jkl" position for the fingers.

finferflu · 2007-12-08 14:16:26

peets wrote:

I hear he also got hacked.

Nooo! Really?!?!?

ezzetabi · 2007-12-08 14:48:44

shadowhand wrote:

Dusty wrote:
Dvorak has a real nice geek factor. It might be a great way to compensate for your 'biggest downfall as a geek' ;-)
+100 Nerd points :!:

And a what about a custom dvorak? I re-wrote the X11 driver myselft...

solstice · 2007-12-08 21:45:11

try klavaro. another software that's pretend to learn you to touch type. but even on a dvorak keyboard !

i have tried to learn with a similar software. the first 2 days are a pain. but after a week you can already gain some speed.

the more difficult is to continue to touch during your daily task

Last edited by solstice (2007-12-08 21:51:38)

depierce · 2007-12-10 03:25:52

Cerebral wrote:

phrakture wrote:
...is that I never learned to type...
So I'm looking for a decent typing program... and no kiddy games (tuxtype)... I seem to recall some nice console based ones... but can't find any online or in pacman...
If anyone wants to point me int he right direction, it'd be appretiated.
Thanks
Back to high-school for you, mister.
"Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing" is what you need.

Second on that, or third if someone else piped up. Mavis Beacon Typing Tutor - prolly run it under Wine. One place I worked they forced a bunch of sysadmins to learn how to type with that app (I was not one of them; I took typing in high school, did data entry for a living and still manage 85 WPM without error - except on stupid laptop keyboards like this one!). It worked wonders for them.

jb · 2007-12-10 14:33:10

kensai wrote:

I took it as a course at the University, I failed my first exam with a big "F" and I said, "this isn't for me" so I never returned to the class. Yeah, is true the Arch Linux newsletter editor, isn't a skilled keyboard typer.

Words in Newsletter: ~2700 words
Time between newsletters: ~3 weeks

As long as you can crank out 0.09 words per minute, it doesn't matter how bad you are at it... well maybe to your GPA it did, but other than that minor detail you should be good to go.

On a side note, I can't/don't touch-type in the traditional sense either. I just hover over, rest on random keys, and guess where they are relative to the key I hit. Although, I've come to notice that my left hand almost always settles on WAD+Shift/Ctrl+Spacebar when I'm not typing. I guess that position is committed to long-term memory.

Edit:Tenses were all over the place to the point of non-comprehension. Still too early to write I guess.

Last edited by jb (2007-12-10 14:37:20)

Arch Linux

#26 2006-01-28 11:19:26

Re: my biggest downfall as a geek...

#27 2006-01-31 17:55:38

Re: my biggest downfall as a geek...

#28 2006-01-31 22:32:16

Re: my biggest downfall as a geek...

#29 2006-02-01 12:59:47

Re: my biggest downfall as a geek...

#30 2006-02-01 15:21:45

Re: my biggest downfall as a geek...

#31 2006-02-01 17:07:44

Re: my biggest downfall as a geek...

#32 2006-02-01 17:35:13

Re: my biggest downfall as a geek...

#33 2006-02-01 20:37:56

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#34 2006-02-01 21:51:47

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#35 2006-02-02 01:00:42

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#36 2007-12-07 00:30:30

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#37 2007-12-07 00:35:19

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#38 2007-12-07 00:55:51

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#39 2007-12-07 01:35:06

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#40 2007-12-07 02:18:03

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#41 2007-12-07 03:22:33

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#42 2007-12-07 06:36:41

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#43 2007-12-08 01:09:09

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#44 2007-12-08 01:54:34

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#45 2007-12-08 08:45:54

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#46 2007-12-08 14:16:26

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#47 2007-12-08 14:48:44

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#48 2007-12-08 21:45:11

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#49 2007-12-10 03:25:52

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#50 2007-12-10 14:33:10

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