Feb, 2009 (2009-02-14 17:04)
I’ve stuck with my month of Dvorak, doing the tutorials for one week and completely switching for the next three weeks. I’m happy to stay that I’ll be sticking with the new layout.
I learned quite a bit that should be helpful to others considering a switch, and I’d like to share some of that here.
Read more… »
Jan, 2009 (2009-01-12 09:56)
I’m on my second day of full time dvorak and it’s been hard hard hard. I loose all ability to type whenever I think hard, and music is out of the question. Bleaaargh…
Dec, 2008 (2008-12-31 19:35)
So far, things are progressing very quickly. In my first fifteen minute session, I was able to memorize a, o, e, r, m, n, t, i, u, and s. I also get several other keys right at least 50% of the time. So my first impressions:
- this may not be as much suffering as I thought
- it’s really comfortable — almost no finger travel
- balances letter combinations between fingers/hands very well
- punctuation and symbols will take getting used to
- seems like U and I should be reversed
(I typed this in dvorak at roughly 8 wpm — not bad for 15 mins worth of drilling)
Dec, 2008 (2008-12-31 13:40)
I’ve considered dvorak before. However, today, after reading a lifehack article on the topic, I decided to convert to the dvorak layout for one month. After, I will evaluate the usefulness and decide if I switch or return to qwerty.
My goals are:
- Increased efficiency: Dvorak seems much more efficient and I’m all for ‘rocking the boat’ when the boat is leaking.
- Decreased wrist pain: I have chronic wrist pain from years of martial arts coupled with years of computer work. I’m hoping the decreased movements of the dvorak layout will help.
- Learning something new: I haven’t been devloping any new skills of late, and it’s time to start growing as a person. As Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding said so well, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
My plan of attack is as follows:
- Print dvorak layout and place it above my monitor
- 15 minute practice session every morning and evening for the first week
- After 1 week, eschew qwerty and switch completely to dvorak – continue practice sessions
- Survive 1 month
I’ve done a bit of research and decided on
keybr.com as my typing aid. I tried it out for 15 minutes and was quite satisfied with the practical approach it offered to developing muscle memory and latter patterns…
- Not a good measure of typing speed – words you type become muscle memory after time, and the combinations offered by keybr are not commonly used words.
- The lack of commonly used words reinforces hard combinations and prevents me from only becoming proficient at the easy combinations. Very good.
- Only works in IE — and I am not a fan of the M$ junkpile bug-fest that it is.
- Has dvorak oriented lessons which target dvorak combinations specifically
- Displays an on-screen keyboard to prevent looking at hands while typing.
So here goes, wish me luck with my training. I’ll post my progress when practical and my final evaluation at the end of the month.
