From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Tim X Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: basic question: going back to dired Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:59:27 +1000 Organization: Rapt Technologies Message-ID: <87vdymtark.fsf@lion.rapttech.com.au> References: <4884DC7F.6060406@gmail.com> <87od4nzcmd.fsf@lion.rapttech.com.au> <878wvpqn69.fsf@lion.rapttech.com.au> NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1217515258 31298 80.91.229.12 (31 Jul 2008 14:40:58 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:40:58 +0000 (UTC) To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Thu Jul 31 16:41:48 2008 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1KOZLT-0001Nf-Sz for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:41:36 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1]:44310 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1KOZKZ-0003aP-BN for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:40:39 -0400 Original-Path: news.stanford.edu!headwall.stanford.edu!newshub.sdsu.edu!news.astraweb.com!border1.newsrouter.astraweb.com!not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.0.60 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:3cm2pzhtCu7+q6JMVAdJUdB5wAA= Original-Lines: 51 Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: 07d9ced5.news.astraweb.com Original-X-Trace: DXC=_6f2]URiD77CObSL`Ra@h6L?0kYOcDh@:IGb]mONgOi:Yf1ljZDmBM=2_; YdSITmQ>LeNCC_4^\\5 Original-Xref: news.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:160739 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:56088 Archived-At: "Juanma Barranquero" writes: > On Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 06:33, Tim X wrote: > >> Are you a touch typist? > > Yes. > >> I find C-x C-c really easy. > > I don't find any control key combo "easy". Perhaps I would find them a > bit easier if I did the usual Caps Lock / Ctrl switch, but I suspect > it wouldn't be much of a difference. > Probably not. I find control sequences no more difficult than shift sequences. (actually, I would like to move the shift lock away from the shift key as I do sometimes accidentaly hit shift lock). I guess it can depend on the size of your hands and the type of keyboard you have. I do find some keyboards more difficult to use than others, but not so much due to the layout as the size of the keys, the pressure and 'feel' of the keys, the incline level etc. Over many years, I've also found the chair and table height are critical. I've also noticed that people who seem to have problems with ctl, shift etc also tend to hold their hands/fingers in a fairly flat way. I use to play a lot of piano in my youth and my teacher taught me that you should hold your hands/fingers on the keyboard as if you had an orange under the palm of the hand. In this shape, the tips of your fingers hit the keys rather than the flatter pad part of the finger. >> However, in general, I think moving >> away from the home row/keys usually reduces speed and is less >> convenient. > > While programming or doing other everyday computer tasks, I don't find > typing speed a significant parameter. It doesn't worry me the least > bit to spend a few fractions of a second moving my fingers out the > center row. > Well, I guess everyone's milage can differ, which is what makes it hard to reach agreement in debates like this. I work as a programmer, but I would say nearly half my time is spent writing text as opposed to code (design docs, project submissions, instruction manuals etc). I agree that when coding, typing speed isn't as critical. Tim -- tcross (at) rapttech dot com dot au