Re: Windows 8 / 8.1
By: Digital Man to Mro on Sat Jan 04 2014 22:18:29

This is my keyboard of choice: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419V8X7P7FL.jpg
Normal keyboards cramp my hands and limit the hours I can't spend at the keyboard. The natural keyboards are a godsend (for me).

I've thought about trying a keyboard like that. It makes sense - the straight keyboard shape does force the hands into a somewhat odd position. I'm somewhat surprised that advancements in keyboards such as a natural shape and Dvorak key layout aren't more common. I've read that the reason that keys are arranged the way they are in a QWERTY keyboard layout aren't necessarily for efficiency, but more so that the arms of a typewriter wouldn't get jammed due to someone typing too fast. Even though that layout was designed for typewriters, we're still using that key layout today. I've thought about learning Dvorak, but I still use a QWERTY keyboard because it's the de-facto standard, so I can type on any computer. I've known people who use Dvorak at home and have a hard time typing at work because they aren't used to the QWERTY layout.

Nightfox

Re: Keyboards
By: Nightfox to Digital Man on Sun Jan 05 2014 09:37:38

on any computer. I've known people who use Dvorak at home and have a hard t typing at work because they aren't used to the QWERTY layout.

I wonder how tough it would be to switch back and forth between the two once you picked up Dvorak... I've thought many times about picking it up; I can type (er, was clocked at, anyway, about a decade ago, before carpal tunnel set in) 119wpm in 3 minute trials, ~95+ without errors. I'd like to see what I can get to on a dvorak layout. I've downloaded the tutors multiple times, but never really sat down and started making attempts to learn it.

--Damo dice, "Perhaps today IS a good day to die!"

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Re: Re: Dvorak (was: Keyboards)
By: Khelair to Nightfox on Tue Jan 07 2014 07:02:56

I wonder how tough it would be to switch back and forth between the two
once you picked up Dvorak... I've thought many times about picking it
up; I can type (er, was clocked at, anyway, about a decade ago, before
carpal tunnel set in) 119wpm in 3 minute trials, ~95+ without errors.
I'd like to see what I can get to on a dvorak layout. I've downloaded
the tutors multiple times, but never really sat down and started making
attempts to learn it.

That's my concern as well. I'm fairly good with QWERTY too, and I wonder if learning another keyboard layout would hurt performance overall - similar to the effect of being a jack of all trades but not really good at any one thing.

Nightfox

Re: Re: Dvorak (was: Keyboards)
By: Nightfox to Khelair on Tue Jan 07 2014 19:35:26

That's my concern as well. I'm fairly good with QWERTY too, and I wonder if learning another keyboard layout would hurt performance overall - similar to the effect of being a jack of all trades but not really good at any one thing.

Yeah, I'm guessing it's stored in very close to the same spaces in the communications area of the brain as language mappings. I don't know for sure if it'd affect it the same way, but it seems to me that there'd be some large potential for incorrect cross-referencings. For instance, I know English natively, then Spanish quasi-fluently, and German well enough to get around in the country, but not to sit and have a dialog. When I'm struggling to learn new Spanish, or delving into Spanish that is a little too deep for me, I start coming up with tons of German references, and vice versa. I'm thinking that there's a possibility that typing fast and furious with knowledge of 2 keyboard layouts might well cause the same sort of thing.

--Damo dice, "Perhaps today IS a good day to die!"

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Re: Re: Dvorak (was: Keyboards)
By: Khelair to Nightfox on Wed Jan 08 2014 14:07:42

Yeah, I'm guessing it's stored in very close to the same spaces in the
communications area of the brain as language mappings. I don't know for
sure if it'd affect it the same way, but it seems to me that there'd be
some large potential for incorrect cross-referencings. For instance, I

That could be true. But I wonder if it has more to do with muscle memory. I feel like I know where to reach when I want to type each character. But then, I often type more naturally than that, in that I often don't really have to think about typing - it just happens.

know English natively, then Spanish quasi-fluently, and German well
enough to get around in the country, but not to sit and have a dialog.
When I'm struggling to learn new Spanish, or delving into Spanish that
is a little too deep for me, I start coming up with tons of German
references, and vice versa. I'm thinking that there's a possibility
that typing fast and furious with knowledge of 2 keyboard layouts might
well cause the same sort of thing.

I've done that to some extent when learning certain languages too. English is also my native language, but I've also studied German, Portuguese, and a bit of Japanese - and sometimes when trying to speak one of those languages, I occasionally think of a reference in a different language, but I know it's incorrect.

Nightfox

Re: Re: Dvorak (was: Keyboards)
By: Nightfox to Khelair on Wed Jan 08 2014 20:06:17

That could be true. But I wonder if it has more to do with muscle memory. I feel like I know where to reach when I want to type each character. But then, I often type more naturally than that, in that I often don't really have to think about typing - it just happens.

There's definitely some points where typing occurs much more as muscle memory than as something that you need to think about typing. I've got a few passphrases for my varying levels of encryption in different applications and services. The one that I'm thinking of right now is one that I use for my most securely encrypted things; it's 30-40 characters long, with a few english-ish words thrown in, but spelled wrong with varying case throughout the word, broken with random number & symbol inserts, etc... I had to write it down for a couple of weeks while I used it over and over again... That was awhile back. Now for the life of me I can barely remember it without at least pretending I have a keyboard in front of me to type on. Heh.

I've done that to some extent when learning certain languages too. English is also my native language, but I've also studied German, Portuguese, and a bit of Japanese - and sometimes when trying to speak one of those languages, I occasionally think of a reference in a different language, but I know it's incorrect.

Yeah, that happens to me somewhat, too; sometimes I can't pull up the reference on the tip of my tongue for quite some time, though. It's annoying as all hell.

--Damo dice, "Perhaps today IS a good day to die!"

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