The Dvorak keyboard layout. page 1
Cunt
29th January 2012, 10:24 PM
I learned about the dvorak layout years ago, while reading about something or other.
While teaching myself to touch-type a few years ago, I happened across the dvorak layout again. I decided to give it a try and have enjoyed it since.
First off, how I did it.
There are a lot of dvorak-specific training resources out there, and I found them to be lacking so I simply printed out a copy of the layout, placed it under my monitor, and used a program called ‘Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing’ to learn for awhile.
After I got the layout memorized, I did the drill and games in ‘Mavis’ without the printout.
My pre-dvorak speed was about 35-60wpm (peak) and after 40 hours of playing in ‘Mavis’ (there is a tracking component to that wonderful bit of software) I was caught up.
Now a couple of years into using it my speed is steady between 40 and 50 wpm with peaks in the 70’s.
Why dvorak? Simple really. It’s superior in just about every verifiable way.
More words are available in the ‘home row’ without reaching your fingers anywhere. Pruning those therbligs usually means more work in less time. Less RSI (though I have yet to see a long study, admittedly).
The qwerty layout, legend has it, was made so that the bars which were used in the original machines to stamp the letters on the page collided less often. This machine optimization did not take any human or language elements into consideration (unless you believe the rumour that the layout was chosen so that salesmen could type ‘typewriter’ without going off the top row ).
Dvorak changed the layout to reduce injury and increase productivity.
It worked quite well, but those elements are well documented online. I wanted to talk about some other advantages which might not have been apparent to Mr. Dvorak at the time.
I know a man who uses keyloggers and other security on his work computers as part of his security measures. When he asked me to test parts of his system, he could not make sense of anything I typed when viewed on the keylogger. I asked him and he didn’t think he would have ever thought of looking for a simple substitution code and had never heard of dvorak. That’s a pretty good thing for me, since it doesn’t take any more effort on my part to feel the benefit of this kind of security improvement. Wouldn’t want the boss knowing I surf animal-abortion pictures during office fap-time. By the way, there seem to be only human abortion photos available on the internet…so disappointing…but I digress.
Another advantage is that when I walk away from my computer, and leave facebook open, it will take someone a bit more than the usual time to fuck up my shit. For example, if you wanted to change my status to ‘is wondering why his feces has such an unusual taste today…must have been the trucker-semen’, you would quickly find out that you couldn’t type. If you wanted to try later, you might just change my password, but again, not being likely to know how to switch between the layouts would slow you down.
Yet another is just that it is different, and different is cool. (I touch-type, so on qwerty keyboards, I just change the layout in Windows)
It takes a fairly short time to learn. The benefits are many and large. I wonder if there are any other dvorak users here at MindRomp, or if I am the only one?
Oh, and I did find it was tough to get a keyboard in anything other than qwerty. This one, cheap as a sleeping prostitute and twice as pretty, was very easy to change over (manufactured by nexxtech, sold by the Source). Many are not. In some of them, the key goes WAY into the board like the root of a fucking tooth, and for some reason the keys under ‘f’ and ‘j’ are different ‘roots’, causing four sideways keys when you rearrange them to dvorak. Still others have keys which are all different shapes, voiding the whole attempt.
I have tried labels, but honestly, when you type any serious amount at all, the labels don’t last.
So, any other dvorak typers? Anyone want to learn? Anyone know why the only animal abortion porn out there is 'human' animal, and often on Christian themed sites?
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee174/Darren8306/_DJK2717copy.jpg
While teaching myself to touch-type a few years ago, I happened across the dvorak layout again. I decided to give it a try and have enjoyed it since.
First off, how I did it.
There are a lot of dvorak-specific training resources out there, and I found them to be lacking so I simply printed out a copy of the layout, placed it under my monitor, and used a program called ‘Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing’ to learn for awhile.
After I got the layout memorized, I did the drill and games in ‘Mavis’ without the printout.
My pre-dvorak speed was about 35-60wpm (peak) and after 40 hours of playing in ‘Mavis’ (there is a tracking component to that wonderful bit of software) I was caught up.
Now a couple of years into using it my speed is steady between 40 and 50 wpm with peaks in the 70’s.
Why dvorak? Simple really. It’s superior in just about every verifiable way.
More words are available in the ‘home row’ without reaching your fingers anywhere. Pruning those therbligs usually means more work in less time. Less RSI (though I have yet to see a long study, admittedly).
The qwerty layout, legend has it, was made so that the bars which were used in the original machines to stamp the letters on the page collided less often. This machine optimization did not take any human or language elements into consideration (unless you believe the rumour that the layout was chosen so that salesmen could type ‘typewriter’ without going off the top row ).
Dvorak changed the layout to reduce injury and increase productivity.
It worked quite well, but those elements are well documented online. I wanted to talk about some other advantages which might not have been apparent to Mr. Dvorak at the time.
I know a man who uses keyloggers and other security on his work computers as part of his security measures. When he asked me to test parts of his system, he could not make sense of anything I typed when viewed on the keylogger. I asked him and he didn’t think he would have ever thought of looking for a simple substitution code and had never heard of dvorak. That’s a pretty good thing for me, since it doesn’t take any more effort on my part to feel the benefit of this kind of security improvement. Wouldn’t want the boss knowing I surf animal-abortion pictures during office fap-time. By the way, there seem to be only human abortion photos available on the internet…so disappointing…but I digress.
Another advantage is that when I walk away from my computer, and leave facebook open, it will take someone a bit more than the usual time to fuck up my shit. For example, if you wanted to change my status to ‘is wondering why his feces has such an unusual taste today…must have been the trucker-semen’, you would quickly find out that you couldn’t type. If you wanted to try later, you might just change my password, but again, not being likely to know how to switch between the layouts would slow you down.
Yet another is just that it is different, and different is cool. (I touch-type, so on qwerty keyboards, I just change the layout in Windows)
It takes a fairly short time to learn. The benefits are many and large. I wonder if there are any other dvorak users here at MindRomp, or if I am the only one?
Oh, and I did find it was tough to get a keyboard in anything other than qwerty. This one, cheap as a sleeping prostitute and twice as pretty, was very easy to change over (manufactured by nexxtech, sold by the Source). Many are not. In some of them, the key goes WAY into the board like the root of a fucking tooth, and for some reason the keys under ‘f’ and ‘j’ are different ‘roots’, causing four sideways keys when you rearrange them to dvorak. Still others have keys which are all different shapes, voiding the whole attempt.
I have tried labels, but honestly, when you type any serious amount at all, the labels don’t last.
So, any other dvorak typers? Anyone want to learn? Anyone know why the only animal abortion porn out there is 'human' animal, and often on Christian themed sites?
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee174/Darren8306/_DJK2717copy.jpg
Exi5tentialist
29th January 2012, 11:13 PM
I can touch-type in Dvorak, but because IT departments are all control freaks and disable certain control panel settings because they think you're being subversive if you're allowed to choose what keyboard layout you use, I maintain the ability to touch-type in Qwerty, the bog-standard layout. I'd rather not bother at all with Qwerty. IT can of course over-ride their own restrictions, but in new settings it wastes time to explain it all to them and I can't afford that if I've been sent on a training course using computers and they then have to switch the keyboard over from the 19th century layout. I eventually persuaded them to let me use both Dvorak and Qwerty on my desk computer at least. Gold star to IT.
Cunt
30th January 2012, 12:33 AM
I can touch-type in Dvorak, but because IT departments are all control freaks and disable certain control panel settings because they think you're being subversive if you're allowed to choose what keyboard layout you use, I maintain the ability to touch-type in Qwerty, the bog-standard layout. I'd rather not bother at all with Qwerty. IT can of course over-ride their own restrictions, but in new settings it wastes time to explain it all to them and I can't afford that if I've been sent on a training course using computers and they then have to switch the keyboard over from the 19th century layout. I eventually persuaded them to let me use both Dvorak and Qwerty on my desk computer at least. Gold star to IT.
Another, similar sneak-around I showed him was using google translate to search banned terms in foreign languages.:)
Dvorak is so far ahead it isn't even questionable. I do find it irritating that qwerty is such a standard. It IS a bit '19th Century' now that you mention it. Fuck it's nice to have found this! I was damned close to paying a hundred fucking bucks for one.
Another, similar sneak-around I showed him was using google translate to search banned terms in foreign languages.:)
Dvorak is so far ahead it isn't even questionable. I do find it irritating that qwerty is such a standard. It IS a bit '19th Century' now that you mention it. Fuck it's nice to have found this! I was damned close to paying a hundred fucking bucks for one.
Exi5tentialist
30th January 2012, 12:56 AM
Dvorak is so far ahead it isn't even questionable. I do find it irritating that qwerty is such a standard. It IS a bit '19th Century' now that you mention it. Fuck it's nice to have found this! I was damned close to paying a hundred fucking bucks for one.
Oh - you were going to buy a whole new Dvorak keyboard? Oh noes!
It took me a month to learn to touch-type in Dvorak, without changing the qwerty keyboard layout. But I already touch-typed in Qwerty, so it was probably easier than it would be learning to touch-type from scratch. Trouble was, after touch-typing in Dvorak for 3 months I realised I'd lost the ability to touch-type in qwerty. So I had to re-train in qwerty. Then I started to switch over from one to the other with increasing frequency until I could switch with ease - and all to appease some unknown IT department in my future!
Being "ambidextrous" like me is probably a rarity. Most people either do one or the other. But then I am used to this phenomenon in other areas of my life.
Oh - you were going to buy a whole new Dvorak keyboard? Oh noes!
It took me a month to learn to touch-type in Dvorak, without changing the qwerty keyboard layout. But I already touch-typed in Qwerty, so it was probably easier than it would be learning to touch-type from scratch. Trouble was, after touch-typing in Dvorak for 3 months I realised I'd lost the ability to touch-type in qwerty. So I had to re-train in qwerty. Then I started to switch over from one to the other with increasing frequency until I could switch with ease - and all to appease some unknown IT department in my future!
Being "ambidextrous" like me is probably a rarity. Most people either do one or the other. But then I am used to this phenomenon in other areas of my life.
Grumps
30th January 2012, 01:17 AM
Anyone know why the only animal abortion porn out there is 'human' animal, and often on Christian themed sites?
TL;DR?
TL;DR?
Cunt
30th January 2012, 04:48 AM
Anyone know why the only animal abortion porn out there is 'human' animal, and often on Christian themed sites?
TL;DR?
TL;DR I type different. Bring on the porn.
TL;DR?
TL;DR I type different. Bring on the porn.
oblivion
30th January 2012, 05:23 AM
I've thought about learning dvorak, and was seriously considering it a few years ago when I was trying to recover from an RSI.
I used a kinesis keyboard for a while - the kind with the keys inside recessed wells. It was a pseudo-qwerty layout.
http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/images/kb_adv-wht720x442.jpg
I also tried something called datahand. interesting concept. I never really got proficient at it.
http://www.datahand.com/images/DatahandTabletop.JPG
I later went back to a modified qwerty keyboard made by goldtouch. Still use these.
http://officefurniturepics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/goldtouch-keyboard.jpg
I type about 70 wpm with qwerty. Would be interesting to see how fast I could get with dvorak.
I used a kinesis keyboard for a while - the kind with the keys inside recessed wells. It was a pseudo-qwerty layout.
http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/images/kb_adv-wht720x442.jpg
I also tried something called datahand. interesting concept. I never really got proficient at it.
http://www.datahand.com/images/DatahandTabletop.JPG
I later went back to a modified qwerty keyboard made by goldtouch. Still use these.
http://officefurniturepics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/goldtouch-keyboard.jpg
I type about 70 wpm with qwerty. Would be interesting to see how fast I could get with dvorak.
Cunt
30th January 2012, 05:41 AM
I later went back to a modified qwerty keyboard made by goldtouch. Still use these.
http://officefurniturepics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/goldtouch-keyboard.jpgThis layout looks optimal for my purposes. I might just order one.
I type about 70 wpm with qwerty. Would be interesting to see how fast I could get with dvorak.
My guess would be that if you WORKED at it for 2 weeks, you would be done learning. Another 2 weeks using and you would be back to your pre-dvorak speed. As to whether you would gain wpm or not is kind of up in the air. I think it is easier to speed, but then again, I am using my hands. Yours may vary. There have been lots of studies, but the real test is whether you really try it or not. At that time, of coures, you are contaminated as a research subject. Tricky.
http://officefurniturepics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/goldtouch-keyboard.jpgThis layout looks optimal for my purposes. I might just order one.
I type about 70 wpm with qwerty. Would be interesting to see how fast I could get with dvorak.
My guess would be that if you WORKED at it for 2 weeks, you would be done learning. Another 2 weeks using and you would be back to your pre-dvorak speed. As to whether you would gain wpm or not is kind of up in the air. I think it is easier to speed, but then again, I am using my hands. Yours may vary. There have been lots of studies, but the real test is whether you really try it or not. At that time, of coures, you are contaminated as a research subject. Tricky.
Cunt
30th January 2012, 05:42 AM
Oh, and I prefer where the <> is. Might be relevant. (I don't like where they put ] and [)
oblivion
30th January 2012, 05:45 AM
I may try switching to dvorak for a few weeks while I am on leave after surgery. I'd get pissy about losing speed if I tried to pick it up while in a work environment. That's one reason why I never quite got there with the datahand.
Cunt
30th January 2012, 06:10 AM
Also, datahand looks a bit dependant on a specific company for support. I can use ANY keyboard, just software swith the computer to dvorak and I can work.
Izdaari
30th January 2012, 11:04 AM
Dvorak sounds logical, and I especially like the security angle of being gibberish to keyloggers. But alas, I am addicted to highest quality keyboards, preferably with mechanical switches, so until something like the Razer Black Widow is available in Dvorak, I probably won't switch.
nostrum
1st February 2012, 09:04 AM
Interesting. I actually had typing lessons on those big old typewriters at my all-girls xian school (yes, typing was important, as was home economics and pastoral care whereby sex was never actually discussed.) It was a killer on the little fingers, to have to reach up and out to get the Q and the P because the mechanism was quite heavy.
It's pretty stupid that computer keyboards just adopted qwerty huh.
It's pretty stupid that computer keyboards just adopted qwerty huh.
MSG
1st February 2012, 09:08 AM
I learned typing for a term when I was about 14 and had delusions of one day being a famous novelist. All the other ones in the class were girls. This was in the '70s.
MSG
1st February 2012, 09:11 AM
Stephen Jay Gould wrote an essay about QWERTY typewriters as an analogy for the contingent nature of evolution.
MSG
1st February 2012, 09:11 AM
Only 2 more posts for a 5-post combo
nostrum
1st February 2012, 09:12 AM
:owned:
MSG
1st February 2012, 09:13 AM
saved by the belle
nostrum
1st February 2012, 09:14 AM
dammit, I'm a patsy :sadcheer:
MSG
1st February 2012, 09:16 AM
too easy
nostrum
1st February 2012, 09:16 AM
don't talk about my teen years!
MSG
1st February 2012, 09:19 AM
hey, come on, I did my best to defend your honour with that Khe Sanh lyric, now you're just bringing yourself down
nostrum
1st February 2012, 09:20 AM
I can't help but feel it's all ksen's fault
MSG
1st February 2012, 09:21 AM
you heart was held in a vast suburban chain
ksen
1st February 2012, 03:05 PM
I can't help but feel it's all ksen's fault
:colbert:
:colbert:
ksen
1st February 2012, 03:05 PM
I like Dvorak's music.
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