OT: keyboard repair

Even though taking a keyboard from qwerty to Dvorak is almost a repair, it's still OT. I was already aware that the qwerty design is intended to slow the typist down to avoid jamming up the then mechanical devices.

Some of us are simply not typists, I've been around long enough to know DOS, I've written webpages and almost whole books and I've corresponded with people all over the world but I still can't even think about typing without looking at the keyboard. Thus the remapper will do me no good.

However I do wonder if a real Dvorak keyboard would work for me. I am however reluctant to try it and I'll tell you why.

About 20 years ago I shot a pretty good pool game. I shot some stick, I could nail the 8 on the edge of the pocket and have the cue actually return partway using about the heaviest reverse English anyone can apply. I could make almost any shot, my practice consisted of running racks, and I mean 3 or 4 of them before I missed or scratched, with the occasional exception when table breaking a new 14 ball rack. Later I started experimenting with other forms of heavy English and learned a few trricks.

What happened ? It screwed my game up bigtime, and it's taking me decades to relearn my old way. My game still is not up to snuff and we are talking maybe 20 years here. I can make some killer hard shots, but now I miss way too many easy ones.

For most people a new and improved keyboard is probably of little value. Only those who churn it out could benefit, writers, technical writers, engineers who need to explain the operation of their design and such might do well.

In a nutshell, it took me a couple decades to get used to the QWERTY and I see no reason to change. It is not that I don't have any time, it's that the transition would slow me down to the point where it might take me all night to write what I just wrote.

Even looking at the keyboard you might get kjsajd sajfa sakls kj sda salf. Of course now that I typed that I see where the better layout is good, but not for me.

JURB

BTW I got some sda salf, it ran me about $8 a pound. Sajfa would have to be kjsajd to just sakl in it. You need to grind it and put it in an airtight container or you have a rock.

Yes, your OT, but I think I just one upped you.

JURB

No, it was meant to avoid jams and thereby _speed up_ typing.

Matt Roberds

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You were a master of cuetip and cloth, the art of shooting through the ball below the equator, and then you choked. You would still be able to take me to the cleaners. For someone who's really fast and accurate on a qwerty, I see your point.

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Was the sda salf for an aquarium? I had no Idea it was so expensive, learn something new every day. I know thay add something to table salt so that 'when it rains it pours'. Thanks for atleast giving the layout a try. I have been amazed at the number of Dvorak users who have posted replies, the amount of text typed from the home keys seems to be what they value most. The number of replies that refer to Earle Strong's 1953 GSA study has also been astounding. Only a modern study, if it finds substantial benefit, will undo the mindset that qwerty is the best bet. So it's off topic, how else could a thread lead to how to improve your pool shot, or not lose your art.

BTW, what does JURB stand for? BFW, whaf eods NURB sfaje tor?

Fhajks tor your post

I don't quote except for certain occasions.

Point by point.

Mental calculation of geometry does not require numbers. The need for calculus was created by the artificial inportance given to numbers in "our" understanding of mathematics.

In pool, I could shoot directly at the equator and my stroke would cause enough reverse English to slide all the way across the green.The cueball was not rolling, and in some cases it was spinning backwards. My shooting was about five balls in a given 8-ball game. You would have your chance usually. These new techniques I was trying to learn took me down to a two ball average.

The sda salf was for me. I no longer use the poisonous table salf. I use the sda salf exclusiviely. The word salary means salf, man is worth his salf and all that. People knew in the old days that if they stayed in the same place too long they would need salf. The reason is that the minerals get depleted from the land in which they grew their foods.

Incedentally I did not try the layout.

There is one saving grace about the qwerty keyboard, your choice of words will not be affected due to any ease of typing them. Nothing is easy.

At a place I worked I had to initial the invoice on the fixed units (TVs) and JURB is an acronym for my name, to distinguish me from the other guy. Since then I kinda stuck with it.

Yes all this shit is off topic, but once in a while, what the heck.

JURB

Issac Newton developed it to understand the game of planetary billiards.

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I thought that it required hitting the ball beneath the equator. I'm no expert so I'll take your word. In any case it is sort of a 'dambuster' effect.

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And the expression 'the salt of the earth'. Salt was the basis of the fortune Ferdinand and Isabella, without it Columbus never would have sailed. What does ordinary salt have that makes it so toxic? I have read that you can't use it for aquariums. Well, you did try the layout to the extent of 'sda salf'. Wdll, you eke fry fhd layouf fo fhd dxfejf ot 'sea salt'.

But much of good design is to make repair easier. I once repaired the loop restorer on a Bell ane Howell 16mm projector, everything was accessable. Nothing is easy, but some things are easier. For me, having etni on the home keys is easier, but noone else seems to be buying the argument.

In any case, thanks for your post. I have read about keyboards being compared to power steering and flutes. Now I can mention typing and the game of pool, and cite a reference.

All the best, JB, Sfdphdj