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Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Ezzie's Blog Roundup, 11/28: Black Keyboards

It's amazing how much the details matter in life, and how people ascribe their own level of importance to details. Women across the world will get upset or insulted if a man doesn't understand the difference between their 18 pairs of black shoes... while men get frustrated that women think football is "just a bunch of men running into each other!" It's the details that matter in life.

I never thought that using a new keyboard would be such a great difficulty. The keys are actually great, the option and shortcut buttons as good as or better than what we had... but the keys and keyboard are all black. The old one? White. Now, this normally isn't a big deal, and it actually looks nicer on the desk in front of the monitor. But... it's hard to see at night! The living room isn't the brightest, and I don't always want to have a light on nearby... but I can't see the keys well. I don't often look at the keyboard, but every once in a while I glance down - but now, this doesn't help me and I'm making a lot more mistakes than normal. So often, the little details matter.

And now, on to the Top 10 [or not] from the J-blogosphere:
And now, rounding out the Top 5:
Enjoy!

10 comments:

  1. The room where my computer is located isn't always bright either, an easy solution is to buy a desk lamp:)
    Great links

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  2. The F and J keys have raised marks on the keys so you can feel your way to the "home keys". I told you to keep practicing with Mavis Beacon! Now there are online programs to brush up on your keyboarding skills. No excuses!

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  3. thanks for the link!

    and different keyboards take getting used to. i've been through many! we also used those typing programs, like the one your mom suggested, at school to learn how to touch type. that was probably one of the most useful things they taught us there!

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  4. I'm another Mavis Beacon fan! I hated it when I was younger and my father made me practice it, but it's helped me so much to be able to touch-type. It really pays off now, when I can say that I type 45/50 wpm (although that's also partly to do with the fact that I have a lot of practice from IM etc.). And it makes it easier to type in the dark. :)

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  5. Prag - Thanks. I don't have much room for one, though I was thinking about that last night...

    Mommy - Thanks, I KNOW! And I type faster than most people - it's not like I can't type. It's more like when I make a mistake, and look down to see why my hands are off, that it gets annoying.

    Sarah - The keyboard is pretty easy to get used to, save the smaller backspace. It's got a good feel. But I can't see it! But yeah, those typing programs are great.

    Scraps - Oh, for sure. It's not like I didn't practice, as my mother so kindly implies. I just didn't practice *a lot*. And IM *definitely* helps a lot. :)

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  6. I once had a keyboard that lasted for over 12 years.

    They used to make the heavy duty keyboards where typing makes 10x more noise than the current crop but lasted.

    No more.

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  7. For me, the glare from the computer screen is usually more than enough light to see the keys, but perhaps I'm unusual.

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  8. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  9. Ezzie--no room for a lamp? You can try a miner's light (Thing 1 actually has a flashlight with elastic head bands) or any of the following items--all very handy-dandy and they consume very little space!
    kiss the girls for me!

    http://www.directron.com/ledkb.html

    http://www.onepc.net/index.php?view=docs&doc_id=162

    http://www.boingboing.net/2003/06/20/tiny_keyboard_light.html

    http://us.gizmodo.com/

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  10. the glare from the computer screen is usually more than enough -->ditto scraps.

    and yes, i also blame IM for my fast typing. it's more like a conversation when you don't have to wait ages for someone to type three words!

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