Archive for the 'dvorak' Category
iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Keyboard

I just realized that the original software or drivers are not needed for windows mobile in order to connect the iGo keyboard. Simply press ctrl  Fn(left) Fn(right), check if the led is on, then go to the Settings/Connections/Bluetooth/Add new device… The mobile device should see the keyboard after few seconds. Click on the listed device, enter a pin, then enter the same pin on the keyboard (take care on shift/Fn etc.), the connection should be made.
The iGo also works perfectly on openmoko…

dvorak experience

It is more than 1 year now, that I switched to dvorak keyboard layout. It was a spontaneous decision, but luckily it worked. The transition period is painful, as you have to struggle from the first day to use the new layout, and forget about the old one. Trying to train for the new layout, and continue to use the old one, is counterproductive, so you really need full power only with the new layout. It is like trying to learn to write with the left hand, when you are a right handed person.

But the result is amazing. My writing speed has considerably increased, I can be proud to be able to write 10 times faster now than earlier. And as I still feel in catching up period, I expect much better speeds in another year.

The results are very good, as the improvement in writing speed are due not only to better distribution, thus access of the key, but also due to the fact that earlier I never managed to type correctly with 10 fingers. I think lot of people suffer from this, as they learn to typing alone, almost nobody goes through the process of learning correct typing, something like a piano student goes through… I did often experiments to learn correct 10 finger typing, but it was almost impossible as my fingers were tending to make always the same mistakes, trying to type a key with the wrong finger… Thus dvorak keyboard gave me also the opportunity to learn typing from scratch…

How to start?
The good news is that you do not need a new keyboard…. This is rather funny, as people often come to my desktop and try to type something, and they see strange words on the keyboard as I have a default English layout keyboard. And believe me learning with a non dvorak keyboard the dvorak layout is much better, because if you would have an original dvorak keyboard, you would always cheat to look at the keyboard to find keys. Seeing different keys, you give up looking at the keyboard, and you will try to learn the position of keys from the begging.
Software?
under linux it is easier to find good software, I used only gtypist, it is available under most of the linux distributions. You also may try ktouch, klavaro. Gtypist has for sure dvorak layout, I do not know for sure about the later two.
good luck in learning dvorak layout!