The more you know!

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"This book, like probably every other typed document you have ever read, was typed with a QWERTY keyboard, named for the left-most six letters in its upper row. Unbelievable as it may now sound, that keyboard layout was designed in 1873 as a feat of anti-engineering. It employs a whole series of perverse tricks designed to force typists to type as slowly as possible, such as scattering the commonest letters over all keyboard rows and concentrating them on the left side (where right-handed people have to use their weaker hand). The reason behind all of those seemingly counter-productive features is that the typewriters of 1873 jammed if adjacent keys were struck in quick succession, so that manufacturers had to slow down typists. When improvements in typewriters eliminated the problem of jamming, trials in 1932 with an efficiently laid-out keyboard showed that it would let us double our typing speed and reduce our typing effort by 95 percent. But QWERTY keyboards were solidly entrenched by then."

I honestly had no idea :smile:
 
That doesn't sound right. Using 10 fingers and obviously knowing the placement of all the keys it should be close to irrelevant where the keys are.
What does that "efficiently laid-out keyboard" look like? Maybe you have an article on it.
 
The “Dvorak Simplified Keyboard” was patented in 1936 by Dr. August Dvorak. The layout places the most commonly used letters in the home row, where they’re easy to reach, and the least commonly used letters on the bottom row, where they’re hardest to reach. While QWERTY results in most of the typing being performed with the left hand, Dvorak results in most letters being performed with the right hand.

Whereas QWERTY was designed so keyboards didn’t jam, Dvorak was designed by taking a look at QWERTY and trying to come up with a faster and more efficient layout. People who prefer the Dvorak keyboard argue that it’s more efficient, can increase typing speed, and even offers better ergonomics
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I won’t be trying it anytime soon :razz:
 
Funnily enough I don't think my left hand would have any fine motor use if I didn't use a keyboard where all the common keys were on the left. Prior to using a keyboard regularly I remember not being able to do much with it except hold things.

Also can you imagine trying to use WASD on a Dvorak keyboard? A nightmare for gamers!
 
Why are bottom keys harder to reach? I'm so confused. But okay.
The bottom keys are harder to reach because you push with your elbow against the person hugging you from behind. Not very nice!
I assume all languages (with Latin alphabet) will need their own layout.
Yes, the Cyrillic alphabet languages don't need different layouts, because they are all the same!

But srsly, I assumed the layouts are centered around two "attractor" keys (one for each hand) that are supposed to be the most used letters in some language, and the next most used letters are one key away from them. Obviously "e" should be where "k" or "j" is in English.
Whether the keys are up or down from your default finger positions shouldn't matter much?
 
I assume all languages (with Latin alphabet) will need their own layout.
Apparently there's something equivalent to the DVORAK layout in for the french language; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BÉPO
It's something some people in France use apparently, but most of the population prefers AZERTY, which is the equivalent of QWERTY over there.
In the french canadian world, there's a modified version of the DVORAK layout thing going on, but again it's adoption is marginal.

This talk about keyboards made me remind how it can be hell to configure keyboards for french use in Canada; two competing QWERTY layouts one of which has two versions that aren't totally compatible with each other and the other of which I've never seen one keyboard brand fully implement; I'm talking about the canadian french, canadian french legacy and canadian multilingual keyboards respectively. I can guarantee you one thing when you're a tech helping out people with their keyboards; it's never configured to the type they physically own and that makes their typing experience hell. What's more, even though the canadian french and it's legacy version are way more popular, the government insist on using the multilingual layout and macs don't come in anything else than multilingual, so learning how to type fast and comfortable can also cause problems.
 
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Visiting Latvia I came upon this QWERTZ typewriter.
08Ddd.jpg
Only the Y and Z have switched places, which probably makes sense in that language.
 
QWERTZ is German, and all countries in their sphere of influence have this layout. Even former Yugoslav countries. Which is a huge inconvenience if you need to switch with English, as a lot of symbols are moved around too.
 
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#459 Research shows that in some cases placebo doesn't have to be concealed (open-label) to be effective,
i.e. even if the person knows he/she is getting placebo the effect is still there - close to indentical with blinded placebo.


OLP [open-label placebo] and DPB [sic!] [double-blind placebo] had similar effects that did not differ significantly, suggesting that blinding may not be necessary for placebos to be effective...


#460 The word silhouette comes from the French minister of finance, Etienne de Silhouette, in the 18th. century.
Because of his austere economic policies (after the Seven Year's War) "his name became synonymous with anything done or made cheaply and so with these outline portraits".



#461 One of the longest aqueducts in the Roman empire in Tunisia - 132 km. -
was restored in 1862 and still supplies the town of Tunis with water.
(Although it's mainly the ground level channels and modern pressure pipes that are used)



#462 "The record speed for a British long drop hanging was seven seconds from the executioner entering the cell to the drop."



#463 In his lecture "From Versailles to Cybernetics" Bateson argues that the treaty of Versailles and the development of cybernetics are the only two anthropologically important events of the twentieth century.



#464 While writing his famous The Harmony of the World - which includes his 3rd law of planetary motion - Johannes Kepler was also defending his mother, Katharina, from accusations of witchcraft (in 1615).


#465 Among the many practical challenges on establishing a permanent habitat on the Moon is the combination of a light atmosphere and the dust/rocks. When a ship lands the rocks are hurled in all directions like projectiles, potentially shooting asunder any structure/building nearby.


#466 In the 1990s to the 2000s the camorra (Italian mafia) dumped waste in an area since known as the triangle of death (near Naples).
A 2004 study revealed that deaths by cancer in the area are much higher than the European average.

#467 El Greco (the painter) once offered to redo the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, painting over the work of Michelangelo (mainly the nudity that had gone out of fashion), saying "the Old Master ‘did not know how to paint". It was very much criticised, and he soon after left Rome (for Spain).

#468 Oi is "a type of punk rock featuring violent, racist lyrics, associated especially with skinheads."


#469 The popularity of Robinson Crusoe (released in 1719) lead to an entire genre of books known then and now as Robinsonade.
Not only in the UK but all over Europe, many authors would sell their books with the word Robinsonade on the cover.

#470 In 1990 Denmark was the first country in the world to introduce a state-controlled organic label,
and the country has the highest organic market share in the world with 12.8% of food bought in supermarkets and every third carton of milk purchased certified organic.
 
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#471 In 1849, Austrian paddle steamer SMS Volcano launched a flight of unmanned hot air balloons to drop bombs over beseiged Venice, securing its place as the first aircraft carrier in history.
 
I'm sure someone at some point released messenger pigeons from a ship and no one called that ship an aircraft carrier with early warning aircraft.
K&K fanboy. :razz:
 
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