Why Would I Write

Category: Technology

  • Touch Typing

    Over the weekend, I was looking up for some tips to improve my touch typing skills and I learned something I can’t believe I had never thought of before: keep your index fingers on the home keys (F and J on a QWERTY keyboard) if you’re using your pinkies to hit keys like escape, backspace, control, tab or shift – this will allow you to quickly return to the home row and reset your fingers in the correct typing position. It was something so simple yet effective. This prompted me to scour the net for more tips that I could use. Turns out, there aren’t many tips available online that I didn’t already know. Unless there’s a hidden cache of advice hidden available somewhere on the internet, the only other thing I’ve managed to takeaway is that practice is everything.

    Like playing the guitar or a video game, typing is very much all about muscle memory. Think about words you type very often: your own name, words like you, me, them, they, the – I’m pretty sure most of you can touch type them without any effort. However, if I were to give you a word like adscititious, it would probably take you a moment to type it out. But if you keep typing the word over and over again, you’ll be able to type it quickly. Basically, you have to practice typing until you are at the stage where you’re typing words instead of letters. It’s like being so familiar with a guitar chord that you can press it without having to look at the fretboard, or pulling off key combinations to execute a special move for your video game character.

    While I don’t think I’ll consistently surpass 100 wpm anytime soon (I type fast enough for my current job anyway), it’s something I hope to achieve naturally in the long run – once I’ve typed the most common English words enough times to make them all muscle memory. But for those of you who are interested in learning how to touch type, here are some helpful sites.

    Keybr– a site that helps you memorize where each letter is on your keyboard and analyzes which keys you’re struggling with.
    10fastfingers – a great site for practicing the most common English words
    Type Racer – a popular online typing game where you race against other people by typing out a passage of text quickly and accurately

  • Music and the Internet

    If there’s one thing I am extremely thankful to the internet for, it’s how much it has enabled me to enjoy music. Beyond allowing me to listen to new music that I would have never discovered otherwise, the internet has been a great teaching tool. Thanks to the wonderful people out there who have spent their time transcribing song lyrics and tabbing guitar parts, I can easily learn how to play and sing a song with a few clicks.

    Sure, it doesn’t make learning the song any easier, but the fact that I don’t have to spend time trying to figure out what notes are being played and what words are being sung saves me a lot of time. I can head into the nitty-gritty right away. We can also watch video tutorials to figure out the right way to play songs. Back then, we’d have to ask friends or teachers to learn the songs so that they could teach it to us.

    And thanks to the internet, I can also easily publish a song for the whole world to hear, just like that. Back then you’d have to record something to a CD or tape and pass it along by hand. Crazy. It’s because of the internet we’ve had so many musicians breakout and become commercial successes. Sure, it also enables a lot of crap but fortunately we’ve been blessed with the sense of hearing so we can learn to ignore what we dislike.

    In addition to learning about music, the internet has opened my world to instruments. It’s easy to find out what your favorite guitarist plays and how to replicate their sounds. You can read all about an instrument you want to buy before pulling the trigger. If you’re unsure of how to use its features, video tutorials are available. Same thing for recording software.

    When you think about it, it’s insane how much music is enabled because of the internet. It’s one of the things I’ll be forever grateful for, and I can’t imagine a world without such a tool.

  • Topre and Me

    Topre and Me

    A couple of years ago if you told me that I’d be spending an exorbitant amount on keyboards, I would have told you that you were crazy. Well, fast forward to now and I eat my own words. Ever since I fell in love with the hobby (if you can even call it that – since I don’t assemble my own boards yet), I’ve been on the lookout for new keyboards to try out. Different layouts, sizes and switches.

    However, one of the switches that I never had an opportunity to try were the polarizing Topre switches. There were a lot of people raving about them and on the other hand there were people saying that Topre switches were just expensive rubber domes. I had to find out for myself – but that was an impossible task since I didn’t have friends with Topre boards for me to try out and retail stores here didn’t carry them either. Fortunately, I had a friend in Japan last week and thanks to him, I have one of the most iconic 60% keyboards in existence – the HHKB Professional 2.

    While I had never tried Topre before, I was a fan of the keyboard’s design and layout so that made it an easy buy for me. Also, I figured, if I wasn’t a fan of Topre I would have no problems reselling it on the secondhand market. Turns out, I don’t even need to consider that option because man, I’m in love with the switches. Tactility is different compared to the almost non-existent bump on MX Browns, and it’s at the top of the key press instead of midway. It feels great to type on – each keypress when bottoming out gives a nice, solid ‘thock’ that sounds like music to my ears.

    In terms of aesthetics, the retro colorway and non-gamer Sans Serif font is perfect for such a timeless keyboard that hasn’t really changed since 1996. Despite it having a plastic shell, the keyboard feels extremely sturdy and is heavier than I expected.

    The learning curve is pretty much zero, since I’m used to 60% boards and I’ve been using a similar layout for the past few months. My only real complaint with the keyboard is that my control key rattles more than I’d like it to. Other than that, I love the HHKB Pro 2 so far. It’s only my first day with the keyboard but I can see myself using it until it gives up on me (which hopefully won’t be any time soon!).