Month: November 2011

Dvorak Redux

An update on my Dvorak learning experience, one year later. I switched one year ago, over Thanksgiving break.

When I started, my goal was to get to 40 WPM to feel comfortable getting my daily work done. With that goal accomplished, I ran drills continually with the MasterKey software, and watched my milestones go by: 50, 60, 70.

Today my average speed in drills—with accuracy—is 75 WPM, very close to what I was with QWERTY before the switch. What I lost in time and energy learning the new layout I’ve gained back in bunches with touch-typing skills and typing confidence. I’ve learned to use the top number row (and its related symbols) much better now, and rarely look down.

I don’t have efficiency stats to compare before and after, but my confidence and speed in typing make me feel great about this decision.

Verdict: typing is fun. Just like any tool I use, I’m aiming to master it—and I’ve found it’s more fun when done with confidence and expertise. Every day is stronger, faster, better.

In the Abstract, Yes

A pun-splosion in IRC today—at work—about naming children programming language terms reminded me of one of my all-time favorite puns.

A child psychologist who is all in favor of new, alternative discipline for kids comes home one day to find his two kids putting their hand prints in the freshly laid sidewalk in front of their house.

As he gives them a good wallop his wife gasps, “I thought you were against punishing your kids that way?!” He replies, “In the abstract, yes—but not in the concrete.”

(First seen in the ever-punderful book Treasury of Atrocious Puns by Bennett Cerf.)