Whew, broke the 30 wpm mark, here I come 40!
January, 2009
26
Jan 09
My brother and Dan Akroyd…
Never got around to posting this but thought it was pretty cool – my brother who works at the Mandalay Bay recently met Dan Akroyd who seems to have clued into “The Number 1 way to sell alcohol to folks who wouldn’t usually buy it” and that is “Make an awesome container.”
22
Jan 09
Wait…that IS pretty freakin awesome!
We’ve all seen a lot of Obama merchandise lately, but a Presidential ninja is about as cool as it gets!
21
Jan 09
Coding jigs…
I think like most developers I have a problem…that is, whenever a problem of most any situation arises I mentally develop a software solution for it. That’s not to say that they are all brilliant designs, in fact, they are largely better left to die in the empty void that occupies the space between my ears. But recently, I’ve needed a way to keep track of the various passwords that I use on a day to day to basis and that is something that could might probably possibly be a candidate for using some software to create a better way. Certainly a better way than using the same password for everything.
Enter the jig (this jig, not the irish folk dance). What a great way to solve a small problem I have (and yes I know it has been solved before) without having to worry about the usual pressure of deployment and client requirements and all that other stuff that makes me carry a solution from 0 to 50% where it stagnates and eventually becomes that “great project that I wish I had more time for.” Anyway, I’ll keep you posted but I whipped out this little app in Flex and AIR in a couple hours to start me down this path of actually solving this little password issue that I’ve been having. It’s ugly, but most jigs are right?
I was going to call it swAIRwords but that seems kinda lame…although the possibilities for icons is almost limitless…
18
Jan 09
Typing Update for Day…I’m too lazy too calculate what day it is
So…typing…actually, things are really starting to come together! I have passed the point of wanting to back to simple hunting and pecking – in the few times that I have accidentally fallen back into my old habit I found it to be an awkward and fumbling experience (yes yes you can come up with your own joke to insert here.) I’m also starting to wander into that realm where my fingers are starting to “find the letters on their own.” It’s kinda neat, I think of a letter and my fingers will for the most part just hit that letter. Apparently at some point it will actually transfer over to words and they will magically appear on screen just as soon as I think (would could be good or bad) and that is when I believe I will have truly arrived in the typing world.
Until then, here’s my latest typing score!
Oh, and I can now get up to level 3 on typing of the dead – that’s got to count for something right?
Quick update: That typing test was a day old – I was feeling like I was on a typing roll so I decided to crank another one out and this was the result:
11
Jan 09
The whole comic idea…
So both Mark and Bill have commented on wanting to see a webcomic…I don’t have anything to really show yet but I did want to acknowledge the interest and show that the idea is alive. 
10
Jan 09
Typing of the day, part 6!
No post yesterday but that certainly doesn’t mean that I didn’t get in some typing in – I was committing copious amounts of code yesterday as I was trying to hit a deadline (which, depending on your point of view, was a good or a bad thing. Anyway, here’s todays test:
Well, a little slower but the accuracy was a better so that’s a good thing right? Right?!
8
Jan 09
This is so oddly awesome…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamhundley/2381976328/in/set-72157601106715242
Some things are beyond mere words…
8
Jan 09
The Typing of the Day 4 – Revelation
So last night I started to finally get some return on this painful task of learning how to type…and it all started with a tutorial (start dream sequence……….now!)
I was wanting to play around with some asp.net mvc stuff and I came across a task that I usually aproach with great trepidation and gnashing of teeth: the online tutorial. Probably not scary for most of you but I have two unwritten rules when it comes to tutorials – I have to finish it and I have to type the code (no copy and paste sir – especially not now when I need the practice.) Understandably, my inability to type made this a daunting task as I usually ended up performing this inane cycle of insanity to finish the darn thing:
Look at the code sample
Look at the IDE
Look at the keyboard
Look at the code sample and memorize a small chunk of text to type
Type
Repeat the above 2 steps until all code is typed
Look at the IDE
Type to fix what I messed up
Look at the IDE
Repeat until all typing mistakes are fixed
Look back at the code
and over
and over
and over again…
Quite asinine isn’t it?
Last night, while my typing is arguably slower, the whole process was so much smoother as I never had to look at the keyboard. This new process went something like this:
Look at the code
type what I see
verify
Wow, I cannot express how much more pleasant of a process that was than the madness I used to engage in. Like, dare I say, it was actually fun?
And now, here is the typing of the day!
Not monumental but at least some improvement…