On 09/08/2009 04:00 PM, Andrew Barss wrote:
Chris Friesen wrote:

: Kind of like keyboard layout...Dvorak is 10-15% faster for a trained
: typist

That's a myth. And a quite interesting one at that:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/29944.html

It's not only NOT faster than a QWERTY keyboard for a trained typist,
it's arguably slower, and Mr. Dvorak was a bit of a huckster.

I should note up front that I use QWERTY and have never tried Dvorak.

There are arguments against that article. This post for instance is
quite interesting and seems to bring up several easily-verifiable points:

http://www.dvorak-keyboard.com/dvorak2.html

I got my 10% figure from Donald Norman's book, "The Design of Everyday
Things". He notes that Dvorak affectionados claim higher improvements
but that he could not substantiate them.

Quite a few people have indicated that Dvorak results in less stress on
their joints.

: Personally I like metric for most things, but living so close to the US
: it's just easier to use US units for construction/woodworking.

Otherwise, you'd find 2440 x 1220mm plywood panels easier and more
intuitive to work with?

No, I'd find 2400x1200 panels easier to work with. Why stick with 8'
ceilings if we're truly going metric? But that would require redoing
all the building standards for 400mm or 600mm centers instead of 16" or 24".

Chris