Admiral Refuge

So um… I just took a test today: 109 words per minute!!!! 

"MOO!" was actually my catchphrase growing up. I was just wearing a shirt that said "Got moo?" and I'd annoy everyone when I was kid by sprouting out the word "Moo…" randomly. My username before "Admiral Refuge" was "mooman1359." Stephan just reached a new height of epicness...

@Zonova: > I tried this a while ago, but it interfered with my school. I'm starting it again this summer though, and hopefully in two months i'll be able to be somewhere near normal speed ^^ Anyways, best of luck with it Do you mean, they wouldn't let you change the layout? Because that was the case with Jungle's school too, so I got this portable thing that can go on a USB stick; just plug it in, run the .exe, and it switches to Dvorak via software; you won't have to worry about switching manually (esp if you're not allowed); you can get it here: http://www.mediafire.com/?mb3ws8mai358sof If you mean your typing speed in Dvorak was too slow when you first started learning: A) What's your QWERTY WPM B) How long were you using Dvorak, and did you quit cold turkey, or mix qwerty/dvorak? For the latter issue, your best bet would probably be waiting until summer.

@Marsh: > Is there a point other then increased typing speed over the long run? Like does it prevent arthritis or anything? I don't even care about the typing speed, and stopped caring when I was up to 75-80wpm due to the fact that Dvorak is much more comfortable to type with than QWERTY, and yes, it can help so you don't get carpel tunnel, etc. The problem comes from the fact that the QWERTY keyboard was designed to be awkward and slow, because the first-gen typewriters used gravity to pull the teeth back into place, and people were typing too fast. It certainly was never meant to be used while "touch typing." Even the inventor of the typewriter came forward at a later date, and urged everyone to stop using QWERTY, but the damage was already done. That's when a huge study was done by Dvorak, and the invention of the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard came into being, but now I'm digressing :x If you have some time, there's a very excellent article on Dvorak and Qwerty that goes over Dr. Dvorak's original study (and there's some _very_ interesting images with it) here: http://infohost.nmt.edu/~shipman/ergo/parkinson.html If anything, I'd recommend everyone to read this piece from 1972. @Whack: > It seems that the Dvorak keyboard is a more 21st century keyboard layout that organizes the keys we use most better. Dvorak was created in the 1930s, actually.

I recall Jungle telling me that his WPM with QWERTY was about 40wpm. We'll see when he can exceed that with Dvorak (and we'll see how quick it takes).

Reference: [**The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard**](http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/topic,78331.0.html)

@jianozi: > Here is a new clip > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-ptTzZHgQo I lost it at 0:40 xD

I just got done eating some ham, too.

@jianozi: > Here is a new clip from the edit Im working on. > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z8zOQqVNX0 ROFL wow.

@Rithy58: > My thought exactly. > > I read some more about the layout and I want to switch but it's gonna be a problem when I go to school. Unless I carry around my keyboard and changes Layout every time I use the computer, it's not gonna work. My school doesn't allow electronic so laptop is out of question, not to mention, what do I do with laptop? > > Is it possible to be able to type with both layout and switches whenever I need to? > > Sincerely, > Rithy That's the beauty of touch-typing, though. I can walk up to any machine with a QWERTY keyboard, switch it to Dvorak, and just start typing. For instance, my macbook has a QWERTY keyboard, it's just… When I press the "S" key, it prints "O." You should be able to set your own keyboard in the Accessibility/Keyboard options on your school computer. I think it's like, "start->control panel->keyboard" or something like that (depending on the OS it uses). And even then, do your computers allow USB sticks? The Colemak layout has a nice [autohotkey](http://colemak.com/wiki/index.php?title=AutoHotKey) script, I'm sure one for Dvorak could be whipped up, too. When I started, I simply switched cold-turkey. I printed out an image (actually, the one in my OP) and put it on a wall a decent bit away from me. And, whenever I forgot a word, I would check that image – eventually, my mind was able to remap the keys for my fingers. @Pete: > Touch typed would be a lot harder if you used both on a regular basis, but it should be alright, I would think. I've seen it done, but it takes much longer, and I don't do it. I just switch do Dvorak when I'm at another computer (such as when I'm at college, etc) or I hunt & peck with the QWERTY layout.

@[Pie: > ICT link=topic=78331.msg839867#msg839867 date=1329846151] > I just checked that site.. Idk how its at all possible to type at 150+. > > Nice I kinda wanna try a different key layout.. I feel like I'll get much to frustrated though. The first few weeks were horrible for me, but once I hit about 15wpm, the IMs and programming got me through. As for speed, I've seen Stephan touch up 120+WPM before (I have yet to beat him in a typerace), and people have been able to write 350+ WPM (using shorthand, ofc).

Introducing the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard: [](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-asnry9TDZ6g/TTcN7HL6nRI/AAAAAAAAA_E/jTr1FQFg2AU/s1600/dvorak.png) Today, I finished a long 1-year-long experiment on the [Dvorak Simplified Keyboard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard). See, I stopped using QWERTY cold-turkey, and switched to Dvorak near the end of December, 2010. My typing speed went from 102wpm (with QWERTY) to 5wpm (with Dvorak). I didn't label any keys or anything like that (after all, I was learning to touch-type!), and forced myself to lean how to blind-type on that keyboard. Back at the end of 2010, [I started keeping a log](http://anthonyianozi.blogspot.com/2010/12/switched-keyboard-layouts.html). For those who don't want to read my blog, here's a quick table on my progression. | **Time Elapsed** | **Words Per Minute (WPM)** | | 1 Day | 5 WPM | | 5 Days | 15 WPM | | 2 Weeks | 40 WPM | | 9 Months | 85 WPM | | 13 Months | 103 WPM | My friends, on my [Final Update on Dvorak](http://anthonyianozi.blogspot.com/2012/02/final-update-on-dvorak.html), I scored 103 WPM on TypeRacer – I'm pretty much back to my QWERTY speed in just one year, and my fingers/wrists/etc no longer hurt from typing.... My pinky finger is stronger, too :D

@Jungle: > Could you bike the path or is it dirt? Some may have biking, but most of it is usually walking-only, from what I've read. EDIT: And it seems I'll have to get waterdrops through the desert.

I was considering the northern route; always wanted to see the Great Plains through Nebraska. For those interested, [here's a larger map](http://www.traildino.com/img/upload/North_America/United_States/Map/American-Discovery-Trail.gif) of the trail.

@Jungle: > Woah, that starts in Cape Henlopen? I go down there all the time… Yeah, I do as well; I live about an hour or so away.

@Jungle: > If any of you have plans to see this, make sure that you also have plans to sleep there overnight. Sleeping under the stars like this is amazing, especially if you do it in the desert with no bugs out. This is definitely one of the things I'd like to do again. [**Trust me, I plan on sleeping under the stars.**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Discovery_Trail)

Yeah, it's not photoshopped. And while I haven't seen this in person, I have a friend in Arizona who can see it, and I have a friend in (I think Michigan) who can see it as well. From what I remember reading, about 60% of the US and 50% of Europe will go through their whole lives without being able to see what the night sky is supposed to look like, due to light pollution. Heck, I'm lucky if I see the big dipper or the North Star when I look up there… I do plan on going out to see this someday, though. It would take traveling probably to the desert or the Great Plains to see it.

This is…. breathtaking.... But I'm reading you have to be about 300 miles from the nearest city to see it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KySThq5CxLI Here's one of the southern sky, but it's shorter with no sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ94KIiUHak

@Jungle: > Using Star Trek to combat a Star Wars joke. I sense a sci-fi fanboy debate. Glad someone picked up on that.


Bump, because well… I was just thinking about this. Also, related (to feeling small): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7f8Z4fPCRo

I'd recommend testing testing your server's upload and download speed, and that's pretty much the only important thing when hosting a server for Origins. There's plenty of websites that can help you if you're using Windows Server and have access to a browser.

lulz

I read this title as "Black Marsh"

Seems the contests are based off of ACM's ICPC. I led my team in that competition in college for the past few years; hard problems are hard.