It's been a week since I started my FB abstinence and so far, so good! This week has been pretty busy anyway, and I haven't started on my goal to engage in more professional networking sites yet, but I did not check FB except on Monday which is my designated FB day.
Goal for this week: Use said spare time to sign up for LinkedIn and update my account on Mendeley and Epernicus.
13 September 2009
09 September 2009
C dak. jrbk.py.e yr Ekrpat!!!
Many months back a friend of mine told me about this ergonomic keyboard set-up called Dvorak. It sounded fine but why bother? My typing was easy and I had no real complaints. Until recently.
In the last few months I noticed my (non-dominant) hand complaining about all the work she was doing, and I started paying a little more attention to the inherent imbalance in the qwerty set-up. Not being one to back down from a challenge, I decided to take my friend up on his ringing endorsement of the Dvorak layout.
Now, you may or may not remember the significant frustrations that were involved when you first learned how to type. Try UN-learning all those patterns, and you wind up with spaghetti-head! My brain (and fingers) are in a jumble when I sit down to type now. If I am not at my computer, I have to revert to the qwerty set-up, which shouldn't be that hard since it is pretty well engrained in my muscle memory, but my mind likes to be difficult and mix up the two layouts at inopportune moments. The first few days are definitely the hardest, too. I went from typing 70+ wpm to maybe 25 (and that's being generous!).
Perseverance is key though, and having been at this new mind training project for just over a week, I'm really starting to enjoy this challenge! I'll let you know in a month if I am still of that opinion!
(If you decide to try Dvorak, let me know! I would love to know how it goes!)
In the last few months I noticed my (non-dominant) hand complaining about all the work she was doing, and I started paying a little more attention to the inherent imbalance in the qwerty set-up. Not being one to back down from a challenge, I decided to take my friend up on his ringing endorsement of the Dvorak layout.
Now, you may or may not remember the significant frustrations that were involved when you first learned how to type. Try UN-learning all those patterns, and you wind up with spaghetti-head! My brain (and fingers) are in a jumble when I sit down to type now. If I am not at my computer, I have to revert to the qwerty set-up, which shouldn't be that hard since it is pretty well engrained in my muscle memory, but my mind likes to be difficult and mix up the two layouts at inopportune moments. The first few days are definitely the hardest, too. I went from typing 70+ wpm to maybe 25 (and that's being generous!).
Perseverance is key though, and having been at this new mind training project for just over a week, I'm really starting to enjoy this challenge! I'll let you know in a month if I am still of that opinion!
(If you decide to try Dvorak, let me know! I would love to know how it goes!)
03 September 2009
Calling it quits
Don't worry. This is nothing too drastic. Well, it might seem drastic to some, but hear me out.
Facebook is my friend. At its inception, I held out, trying to ignore the hype and the social frenzy that ensued. That lasted almost a year, and then I caved. Facebook has its place, and its purpose, I will grant you that. There are people from my torrid (or not so torrid) past who have gotten in contact through FB. Kindergarten friends, people I knew from when I lived in Germany in 1990(!), and even cousins and second cousins who I am now "friends" with.
Facebook is also my enemy. There lies a sneaky side to this social construct that allows you to pry, even to snoop, and enjoy an almost voyeuristic glance into other peoples' doings that is almost as bad as gossip websites. As much as I would like to deny that I enjoy being privy to my extended friends' activities, thoughts, and passions, there is something relatively addictive to "being in the know".
For that reason, and for other reasons, such as finding time for constructive networking on more professional sites and even just writing more regularly in my blog, I am giving up Facebook. Not permanently, not even absolutely, but I hereby make a public vow to only visit Facebook once a week for browsing purposes.
So if you don't see as much updating from me on FB, and it takes you awhile to get a reply from me, know that it's not personal. It's just a little techno-purging in order to achieve a more harmonious balance in my life. :-)
Facebook is my friend. At its inception, I held out, trying to ignore the hype and the social frenzy that ensued. That lasted almost a year, and then I caved. Facebook has its place, and its purpose, I will grant you that. There are people from my torrid (or not so torrid) past who have gotten in contact through FB. Kindergarten friends, people I knew from when I lived in Germany in 1990(!), and even cousins and second cousins who I am now "friends" with.
Facebook is also my enemy. There lies a sneaky side to this social construct that allows you to pry, even to snoop, and enjoy an almost voyeuristic glance into other peoples' doings that is almost as bad as gossip websites. As much as I would like to deny that I enjoy being privy to my extended friends' activities, thoughts, and passions, there is something relatively addictive to "being in the know".
For that reason, and for other reasons, such as finding time for constructive networking on more professional sites and even just writing more regularly in my blog, I am giving up Facebook. Not permanently, not even absolutely, but I hereby make a public vow to only visit Facebook once a week for browsing purposes.
So if you don't see as much updating from me on FB, and it takes you awhile to get a reply from me, know that it's not personal. It's just a little techno-purging in order to achieve a more harmonious balance in my life. :-)
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