Archives for November 2006

links for 2006-11-27

Posted by PJ on Nov 27, 2006 | Comment |

links for 2006-11-20

Posted by PJ on Nov 20, 2006 | Comment |

links for 2006-11-16

Posted by PJ on Nov 16, 2006 | Comment |

The Quick Brown Fkdlsfjadskasjfskljsdkl

When I was in the third-grade, twice a week the whole class lined up single file and quietly walked down a long hallway on our way to the computer lab. It was there that a gray-haired lady with a cat applique sweater taught us “keyboarding.”

The typing program that we used on the Apple IIe computers had an overly-simplistic method of calculating the number of words per minute each student was capable of typing. It was simply the typing rate, minus the number of errors.

Within 15 minutes of the beginning of our first lesson, I learned that I could game the system simply by flailing my hands wildly against the keys. The error count was high, but it was nothing compared to the astronomical rates generated by my randomly thrashing sausage-digits.

I could (incorrectly) copy a whole line of 40 words in six seconds flat. Here’s how the math worked out:

400 WPM - 40 incorrect words = 360 WPM

Occasionally we had to turn in paper printouts of the computer screens showing our WPM ratings. The real trick turned out to be concealing my well-developing typing “technique” whenever this happened. I wanted to do well, but I didn’t want to stand out and attract attention. I figured 60 WPM wouldn’t raise any eyebrows, so I adjusted my keyboard-thrashing to hit that target.

Somehow I misjudged the rates of my fellow students. On the last day of class I was given a typing award.

I still feel guilty.

Posted by PJ on Nov 14, 2006 | 2 Comments |

links for 2006-11-13

Posted by PJ on Nov 13, 2006 | Comment |

links for 2006-11-12

Posted by PJ on Nov 12, 2006 | Comment |

links for 2006-11-10

Posted by PJ on Nov 10, 2006 | Comment |

links for 2006-11-09

Posted by PJ on Nov 9, 2006 | Comment |

links for 2006-11-05

Posted by PJ on Nov 5, 2006 | Comment |

links for 2006-11-04

Posted by PJ on Nov 4, 2006 | Comment |

links for 2006-11-02

Posted by PJ on Nov 2, 2006 | Comment |

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