<strong>Sudo lets you run things as another user. Useful.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Your confident sarcasm has me doubting myself but I believe sudo will allow you to do anything root can, but with greater safety.
I've never found any need to use root, nor have I seen anyone recommend the practice.
edit: tip #2 in this article on <a href="http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2002/10/22/macforunix.html"; target="_blank">Top Ten Mac OS X Tips for Unix Geeks</a> has a little info on root and sudo. I am not enough of a unix geek to need anything more than sudo but I thought this might help others.
<strong>geez man, only as dangerous as running MacOS or Windows, you are root there 24/7.</strong><hr></blockquote>And you are going to tell me that you have never encountered a novice Classic Mac OS user that has screwed something up because he was able to meander freely through the System Folder? Ha! Even one person with problems like this is more than there ever should be in Mac OS X. [quote]<strong>I understand you and agree in some ways. but "permission bugs"?</strong><hr></blockquote>One word: Finder.
In you start using the Finder as root, it will overwrite the hidden .DS_Store files. When you log back in as your regular user, window settings and icon arrangement will not 'stick'. I have seen this happen to many frustrated novices after someone told them to do something while logged in as the root user. Usually they think it is a bug in the OS, but it isn't -- the OS is respecting the permissions on the .DS_Store files (now owned by root) and refusing to overwrite them.
Look; this is way off-topic here. If you want to debate to pros and cons of root, make a thread in the Mac OS X forum about it.
Back on topic...
How is everyone's progress? I still feel very slow, but I can tell that I am picking up a little speed after a whole week. I'll have to test my WPM in Ten Thumbs a bit later. I think I'm going to try to stay with this for a while longer.
I'm seriously thinking about it. Between notes, work, and research I probably crank out anywhere from 5-25 pages a day plus another 5-10 of anonymous online (AI, chat, e-mail) bullshit. Funny thing is that, with zero touch typing ability, seemingly through the sheer force of repitition, I'm getting up around 60 wpm of what I call "turbo hunt and peck." My hands hurt sometimes, especially when the office/library staff forget to adjust the thermostat. I should probably take care of this problem before it gets bad.
Going on ten days here. I am still frustratingly slow and the temptation to switch back to QWERTY is growing since I know a few papers and csc programs are coming up on me very soon.
I just tested under the "Master Key" app's test for "Dvorak Letters And Basic Punc" for five minutes and scored 22 WPM with 100% accuracy and 5% error rate. That is nowhere near a satisfactory speed in my opinion, but I can see a little bit of improvement. I'm going to try te keep with this for a while longer. So far I've been 100% Dvorak for the past 10 days, only reverting to QWERTY for an occasional game for which I don't want to go to the hassle of remapping the keys.
BTW, I think Ten Thumbs artificially inflates your WPM rate for some reason. Why do I say this? Because I clearly remember it telling me I was already over 20 WPM five or six days ago when that was clearly not right. Besides, my trial period on Ten Thumbs has run out.
<strong>I'm seriously thinking about it.</strong><hr></blockquote>If you really type that much, I would suggest putting off the switch until you have at least one full week where you know your typing won't be pushed on a deadline. Switching back and forth between Dvorak and QWERTY as you are first learning (so I've read) can be detrimental to the learning process. You should allot yourself a LOT more time for whenever you normally are typing things.
Although there have been days (recently) when a paper just needs to get done (where even 30+ pages get done in one night) shit, 5-25, that doesn't sound right on the high-end now, does it? 1 or 2 paragraph letters shouldn't count as a "page" in the academic sense. The regular workload is probably half that but for those times every year when work/school conspire to shorten my lifespan. The fact that it really "feels" like I'm typing twice as much can't be good though; sometimes my fingers feel numb! I've noticed literally dozens and dozens of typos as well as a compunction to hit commas and apostrophes in all sorts of wrong and distracting places as I go -- never happened to me when I typed a lot slower. ermm...
Maybe it's worth saying out loud that the word "Dvorak" is nowadays used to refer both to the certain english layout and the concept of layout design which tries to make typing speed as fast as possible. The concept includes placing most used keys under strongest fingers, and placing the keys so that in the given language, your hands and fingers in the same hand will alternate as much as possible. For instance, you should rarely have to hit two sequential letters with the same finger.
So there's "the Dvorak layout" and then there are "Dvorak layouts".
I tried Dvorak earlier but after two weeks of learning, I realized it wasn't worth it for me. I am Finnish, therefore I need the letters öä and possibly å when I type in Finnish. I frequently use someone elses' or schools' computers where I cannot switch the layout. I want to be able to use the same layout at least 80% of the time if I am to learn it.
If I constantly worked on my own computer only, and could find software to change the keys I guess I'd follow a friend's example and design my own layout. He didn't do anything as radical or difficult as making a "Finnish Dvorak", he just set up his Linux so that he basically has the Finnish layout for letters (which gets him the easy öäå letters) and US settings for everything else because they're so much better for coding. Personally, I might go for English Dvorak layout because I mostly write in English, then I'd just add öä in an unintrusive spot.
<strong>i used dvorak for about a week but had to switch to much to be serious about learning (due to school and work). during the summer when i get a laptop, i will use dvorak on there!
i type around 120wpm, 180 is crazy
how can you get wpm from c++, its completely different type of things. Is that including characters that aren't words?</strong><hr></blockquote>Yep, giving wpm for code doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Hard to imagine anyone who's typing places the limit on how fast they can write code. Especially C++! It's not uncommon for a professional programmer to produce 200 lines of code in a month if the task at hand is hard enough.. typing speed just doesn't factor in.
Dunno how fast I write. Somehow I feel I'm getting a bit faster lately, but I have the bad habit (?) of correcting my errors the second I make them, not in a separate "proofreading phase". As soon I hit the wrong key I know it and the backspace comes reflexively. Of course I scan the text afterwards to make the structure and such better but there won't be any typos to correct.
<strong>Yep, giving wpm for code doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
It's kind of like working on a slow computer. If you buy one twice as fast, you wont get twice as much work done. But if the computer is fast enough to keep up with your mind then you can takes breaks to your own rhythm instead of having your train of thought derailed while the computer catches up. I think all professional programmers should be able to touch type, do you see professional pianists or guitarists having to hunt and peck?
----
If you're really making that many mistakes, you need to slow down to a comfortable rate and try to pick up speed again. Trying to go too fast, too soon will encourage you to pick up bad habits.
Some of the typing tutors mentioned earlier in the thread have a mode where you type accompanied by a metronome. This keeps your rhythm steady to stop you speeding up on the easy keys and then coming a cropper on one of the rarer letters.
They also have hints on study technique, how many times a week and how long for etc. and, importantly for you, percentage error rates to target.
<strong>Hehe, if you decide to learn Dvorak, keep in mind that cmd-x (cut) becomes cmd-q (quit) </strong><hr></blockquote>
Also cmd-v (paste) is right next to cmd-w (close window) which is one of the reasons I've started composing long posts in a text editor and pasting the final version into web interfaces, for webmail, forums etc.
It's not the only reason though. Safari is the only browser, on any platform, which has bearable text editing capabilities.
Actually, if you use the "Dvorak - Qwerty" layout then you will still be able to use the *location* of the old keyboard commands from Qwerty. For example, command-Q becomes command-" because the Dvorak " is located on the Qwerty Q. This can be helpful for the folks that have memorized the location of all their shortcut commands and never actually look at them or think of the letters.
I have made the switch to DVORAK. I started using it at the beginning of January, and although I am not fully back to my old speed of 80 WPM, but I am getting better every day.
I really like the DVORAK layout and evepytime I use a QWERTY keyboard now I realize how inefficient, regarding finger movement, it is.
<strong>Actually, if you use the "Dvorak - Qwerty" layout then you will still be able to use the *location* of the old keyboard commands from Qwerty. For example, command-Q becomes command-" because the Dvorak " is located on the Qwerty Q. This can be helpful for the folks that have memorized the location of all their shortcut commands and never actually look at them or think of the letters.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I found that too confusing and just used the keys in the Dvorak position.
Command-Q got me a few times in the web browser, if I hit the two keys at once (I wish browsers would "Are you sure?" any closing windows with key commands!)
Comments
<strong>Sudo lets you run things as another user. Useful.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Your confident sarcasm has me doubting myself but I believe sudo will allow you to do anything root can, but with greater safety.
I've never found any need to use root, nor have I seen anyone recommend the practice.
edit: tip #2 in this article on <a href="http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2002/10/22/macforunix.html"; target="_blank">Top Ten Mac OS X Tips for Unix Geeks</a> has a little info on root and sudo. I am not enough of a unix geek to need anything more than sudo but I thought this might help others.
[ 01-08-2003: Message edited by: stupider...likeafox ]</p>
<strong>geez man, only as dangerous as running MacOS or Windows, you are root there 24/7.</strong><hr></blockquote>And you are going to tell me that you have never encountered a novice Classic Mac OS user that has screwed something up because he was able to meander freely through the System Folder? Ha! Even one person with problems like this is more than there ever should be in Mac OS X. [quote]<strong>I understand you and agree in some ways. but "permission bugs"?</strong><hr></blockquote>One word: Finder.
In you start using the Finder as root, it will overwrite the hidden .DS_Store files. When you log back in as your regular user, window settings and icon arrangement will not 'stick'. I have seen this happen to many frustrated novices after someone told them to do something while logged in as the root user. Usually they think it is a bug in the OS, but it isn't -- the OS is respecting the permissions on the .DS_Store files (now owned by root) and refusing to overwrite them.
Look; this is way off-topic here. If you want to debate to pros and cons of root, make a thread in the Mac OS X forum about it.
Back on topic...
How is everyone's progress?
I am having trouble with ";qjkyfg" i really cant find them at alll sometimes
the home row is great tho
Z and ? are always switched also <img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
I just tested under the "Master Key" app's test for "Dvorak Letters And Basic Punc" for five minutes and scored 22 WPM with 100% accuracy and 5% error rate. That is nowhere near a satisfactory speed in my opinion, but I can see a little bit of improvement. I'm going to try te keep with this for a while longer. So far I've been 100% Dvorak for the past 10 days, only reverting to QWERTY for an occasional game for which I don't want to go to the hassle of remapping the keys.
BTW, I think Ten Thumbs artificially inflates your WPM rate for some reason. Why do I say this? Because I clearly remember it telling me I was already over 20 WPM five or six days ago when that was clearly not right. Besides, my trial period on Ten Thumbs has run out.
<strong>I'm seriously thinking about it.</strong><hr></blockquote>If you really type that much, I would suggest putting off the switch until you have at least one full week where you know your typing won't be pushed on a deadline. Switching back and forth between Dvorak and QWERTY as you are first learning (so I've read) can be detrimental to the learning process. You should allot yourself a LOT more time for whenever you normally are typing things.
Dvorak is very cool tho, If my Tibook, iMac and Powermacs all had dvorak layout then I would possibly force myself to keep trying with it!
[ 01-10-2003: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>
Maybe it's worth saying out loud that the word "Dvorak" is nowadays used to refer both to the certain english layout and the concept of layout design which tries to make typing speed as fast as possible. The concept includes placing most used keys under strongest fingers, and placing the keys so that in the given language, your hands and fingers in the same hand will alternate as much as possible. For instance, you should rarely have to hit two sequential letters with the same finger.
So there's "the Dvorak layout" and then there are "Dvorak layouts".
I tried Dvorak earlier but after two weeks of learning, I realized it wasn't worth it for me. I am Finnish, therefore I need the letters öä and possibly å when I type in Finnish. I frequently use someone elses' or schools' computers where I cannot switch the layout. I want to be able to use the same layout at least 80% of the time if I am to learn it.
If I constantly worked on my own computer only, and could find software to change the keys I guess I'd follow a friend's example and design my own layout. He didn't do anything as radical or difficult as making a "Finnish Dvorak", he just set up his Linux so that he basically has the Finnish layout for letters (which gets him the easy öäå letters) and US settings for everything else because they're so much better for coding. Personally, I might go for English Dvorak layout because I mostly write in English, then I'd just add öä in an unintrusive spot.
Hoping to spark some thoughts..
- Gon
[ 01-14-2003: Message edited by: Gon ]</p>
<strong>i used dvorak for about a week but had to switch to much to be serious about learning (due to school and work). during the summer when i get a laptop, i will use dvorak on there!
i type around 120wpm, 180 is crazy
how can you get wpm from c++, its completely different type of things. Is that including characters that aren't words?</strong><hr></blockquote>Yep, giving wpm for code doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Hard to imagine anyone who's typing places the limit on how fast they can write code. Especially C++!
Dunno how fast I write. Somehow I feel I'm getting a bit faster lately, but I have the bad habit (?) of correcting my errors the second I make them, not in a separate "proofreading phase". As soon I hit the wrong key I know it and the backspace comes reflexively. Of course I scan the text afterwards to make the structure and such better but there won't be any typos to correct.
- Gon
<strong>Yep, giving wpm for code doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
</strong><hr></blockquote>
It's kind of like working on a slow computer. If you buy one twice as fast, you wont get twice as much work done. But if the computer is fast enough to keep up with your mind then you can takes breaks to your own rhythm instead of having your train of thought derailed while the computer catches up. I think all professional programmers should be able to touch type, do you see professional pianists or guitarists having to hunt and peck?
----
If you're really making that many mistakes, you need to slow down to a comfortable rate and try to pick up speed again. Trying to go too fast, too soon will encourage you to pick up bad habits.
Some of the typing tutors mentioned earlier in the thread have a mode where you type accompanied by a metronome. This keeps your rhythm steady to stop you speeding up on the easy keys and then coming a cropper on one of the rarer letters.
They also have hints on study technique, how many times a week and how long for etc. and, importantly for you, percentage error rates to target.
<strong>Hehe, if you decide to learn Dvorak, keep in mind that cmd-x (cut) becomes cmd-q (quit)
Also cmd-v (paste) is right next to cmd-w (close window) which is one of the reasons I've started composing long posts in a text editor and pasting the final version into web interfaces, for webmail, forums etc.
It's not the only reason though. Safari is the only browser, on any platform, which has bearable text editing capabilities.
I really like the DVORAK layout and evepytime I use a QWERTY keyboard now I realize how inefficient, regarding finger movement, it is.
<strong>Actually, if you use the "Dvorak - Qwerty" layout then you will still be able to use the *location* of the old keyboard commands from Qwerty. For example, command-Q becomes command-" because the Dvorak " is located on the Qwerty Q. This can be helpful for the folks that have memorized the location of all their shortcut commands and never actually look at them or think of the letters.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I found that too confusing and just used the keys in the Dvorak position.
Command-Q got me a few times in the web browser, if I hit the two keys at once (I wish browsers would "Are you sure?" any closing windows with key commands!)
Amorya
My original <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=reply&f=2&t=002109"; target="_blank">thread.</a>
I love it!