Debit Card Fraud Hits Close to Home

A colleague of mine recently discovered a transaction in his checking account from a company with which he has never done business:

WWW.PROMOSDESIGN.COM 540-317-3245 NV 24493989021207633400563

$11.89

The website doesn't exist, and the phone number goes nowhere.

This is particularly sneaky, because the amount is small enough to increase the likelihood that it will go unnoticed!

Luckly, I didn't have any of these in my account. But I'd watch out for this in your account, just to be safe!

How I Switched to the Dvorak Keyboard Layout

After trying it twice unsuccessfully, the third time was the charm, and I’ve never looked back!

I think I found the Dvorak keyboard layout out of frustration with the QWERTY layout. I always found typing to be awkward and slightly frustrating. There are just too many words, very common words, that do not flow well when they are typed. After years of typing, the awkward, unnatural feel of typing never really faded. And the order of the keys seemed to make no sense! And it begged the question: “why are the keys laid out this way?”

So, while doing some searching out of curiosity, I found the Dvorak keyboard layout. Right off the bat, I was sold on the idea:

• the purpose of QWERTY was to minimize binding of typewriter arms,
• No one seems to really be sure how exactly the QWERTY layout was chosen,

But Dvorak…

• was designed through scientific study and measurement
• was designed for the purpose of maximizing efficiency for the English language
• common letter combinations were placed outside-in. When drumming your fingers on a hard surface, it’s more natural to go pinky-finger to forefinger
• the most commonly typed letters were placed for the strongest fingers
• there was a focus on hand alternation for consecutive letters, which is more efficient than consecutive letters on the same hand
• vowels were placed all on one side to maximize alternation
• …and the list went on.

Countless people claim that it feels more natural, and can reduce strain from typing (which I had). And the long-time world record holder for typing used Dvorak.

Dvorak just made more sense! But, as with many things, QWERTY is still around because it became the defacto standard.

So, I decided to try it.

First Try

I was so convinced that I set out to try it right away. I started memorizing the layout at home, and planned to eventually start using it at work. It was gonna be great!

Well, it turned out to be a bit harder than I thought. The QWERTY was so engrained in my brain and in my muscle memory, that trying to continue with Dvorak after working all day with QWERTY became counter-productive. So I put it on the shelf.

Second Try

Pretty much the same thing.

Third Try

OK, this QWERTY crap is really pissing me off. Typing sucks. And I’m actually pretty good at it! I can understand why so many people reach a ceiling at a fairly low proficiency level.

In a career that requires me to type a LOT, if I have to do this for another 20 years, I’m gonna lose it.

Since the last time, I’d met someone at work who actually used Dvorak as her primary layout. She went to type a period on my computer, and ‘e’ showed up. After a chuckle, she told me she used Dvorak and had been using it for a while. The next time I saw her type on her own computer, she was one of the fastest typers I’d ever seen!

This time I changed my approach. I was gonna have to go “cold turkey”, take the plunge! Going back and forth just wasn’t working for me. I was going to have to find a way to make the switch completely.

At work, I was approaching the beginning of a long project cycle that would involve a lot of documentation. Because it was to be a several month cycle, I knew that the beginning of it would be fairly low pressure. That meant that I could probably take a bit of a slow-down in my typing speed without much impact on anything else. Besides, there were people at work who were extremely productive engineers, but were terrible at typing. If they can be productive at a snail’s pace on the keyboard, then so can I, darn it!

So, I found some time over the weekend to re-memorize the Dvorak layout, and took the plunge.

I didn’t have an actual Dvorak keyboard, so I had to rely on touch-typing. For that, I used the method in the article:

After a few weeks

I was still a lot slower than before I started, but I was starting to type fairly steadily, and at a regular pace. I was seeing continual improvement.

After a couple of months

Much improvement! I was about as fast as before I started, but many fewer type-o’s. Typing had become much more comfortable and natural. It was also more steady and rhythmic.

Now…

My typing is far better than it ever was with qwerty. I have fewer type-o’s. It’s more consistent and steady. It’s actually more comfortable, which seems like a strange thing to say, but it’s true; there’s no awkwardness, and the words flow so naturally that my hands can stay much more relaxed.

I have also acquired a new skill, at which I continue to improve, making it actually enjoyable to type sometimes.

This article wouldn’t be complete without mentioning at least one drawback (which is exactly how many I have found). Not all of the keyboards out there are set up for Dvorak. So, if you have to use someone else’s computer, or you have to share a computer, then you might have forgotten qwerty. This has happened to me, but, to be honest, I’m using my own computer 99.9% of the time, so it really doesn’t matter that much.

See this article on Hubpages: My Experience with the Dvorak Keyboard Layout, http://hubpages.com/hub/My-Experience-with-the-Dvorak-Keyboard-Layout

Learning to Touch-Type, Once and for All, Without Drills or Gimmicks

What does it really mean to touch-type? Many think that it simply means positioning your hands with your index fingers on the F and J keys. While that is the proper hand position, I have known many people to still rely heavily on looking at the keyboard.

Looking at the keyboard may not seem like it would be a big deal. But if you’ve ever let a type-o get sent out, or only noticed it four sentences later, then it’s a real nuisance. Stuff like that doesn't happen when you're looking at the screen.

It's understandable, though! Taking the time to actually think about were the keys are detracts from thinking about what you're trying to write. There's just too much work to do! This is why it's so easy to fall into the habit of looking at the keyboard; we don’t want to slow down or loose our train of thought. But, in doing so, we still take the time to look, and we stall the development of our muscle memory.

The key (no pun intended) to productive typing is muscle memory. Learning to touch-type means that you no longer rely on looking for the letters, and you no longer need to think about where the keys are; it’s automatic. You instead think about what you want to say, and your fingers do the rest. It will probably take weeks (or months?) to really reach that level, depending on how much typing you do. Letting it happen "naturally" over time could end up taking years, or it could never happen. But it’s easier that one might think, and it will be worth it.

You can teach yourself to touch-type without tutorials, typing tutors, drills, or any of that stuff. If you have work to do, and your work requires typing, then that's all you need. There's no need to try to find time in your crazy life to dedicate to Type-Master 101 (or whatever).

1. Accept that there will be an initial slow-down. It might not be a good idea to start this when it's crunch time at work. But for the most part, a temporary slow-down in your typing speed is unlikely to have a big impact on your productivity (unless typing is your job). Some of the most productive engineers I've worked with were the worst typers I've ever seen. If they can be productive, then so will you.

2. Use the proper hand position: forefingers on the F and J keys. Don't move your hands around, just your fingers (except for those keys that are out of reach).

3. Memorize the keyboard. ("Uh, duh!") But, to be honest, it's worth going through this step, just to be sure, even if you think you have it memorized. It's quite simple: do the alphabet. That's it. Don't waste your time with drills that focus on common sequences of letters or any of that hoo-haa; that won't help you remember where a key is. Just type A to Z until you can do it comfortably and steadily, without any long pauses.

4. Don’t look. … EVER. OK, except for the occasional glance for aim when stretching for those hard-to-reach keys (“|”, “+”, “]”, numbers, etc..). You should truly never have to look for a letter. … Unless of course, you’ve just taken a bite of your morning Danish, which has resulted in a sweet, cheesy mess on one hand, leaving one-handed hunt-and-peck with the other as the only option.

5. Pace yourself. This is very important. Ever heard the old saying “practice makes perfect”? Well, that’s close. The truth is: “perfect practice makes perfect”!

Only go as fast as you can without making mistakes. Sure, correcting a mistake may be simple, but it disrupts your rhythm, and you don’t want your muscles to memorize those mistakes.

Set the pace so you can type steadily, instead of typing the easy words very quickly and pausing extra long when you need to think. Think ahead! Keep it steady during those words that come easy so you can use the time to think about what’s coming up. Long pauses can become habit.

6. Keep at it! Progress will seem slow at times. But if you stick to these simple rules, the progress will be steady.

Tips:

There's a good chance that you will not notice any improvement during any given day. You might actually feel that your typing has gotten worse! But you're just tired. Not "sleepy", but your hands are tired. Most often you will notice the improvement the next day, after you've slept on it, and all of your practice has had a chance to sink in.

You will have the occasional "brain fart". You'll be typing steadily along, and you suddenly stop, as if you stalled out. This can be quite common in the beginning. But don't be tempted to look down! Don't think "Oh, just real quick to remind myself". This kind of just-this-once attitude will become a habit. If your typing stalls out, just give it a second; it'll come. And pushing through these kinds of things will cause them to happen less and less.

After you start to become proficient, once in a while, you will run into a word that gives you trouble. You either have to think about every single letter, or you always make a mistake. This will happen less frequently over time. It may help to (carefully) re-type that word 5 to 10 times to engrain the correct muscle pattern.

If you really want to overhaul your typing, try the Dvorak Keyboard Layout. Read about my experience switching over in my blog: How I switched to the Dvorak Keyboard Layout.

See this article on Hubpages! Learning to Touch-Type, Once and for All, Without Drills or Gimmicks, http://hubpages.com/hub/Learning-to-Touch-Type-Without-Drills-or-Gimmicks