Long gone, but now back… sort of. :)
(Answer requested by Roger Wilkey) The “ ஃ ” glyph is used in mathematics and logic to symbolize “thus” or “therefore” in the same way that the ” = ” glyph is used to symbolize “equality” or “equals.” But you’d never use ” = ” in a normal written sentence to replace the word “equality,”…
(Answer requested by Elynn Quirk) Personally? Nope. Not at all. I doubt I use my keyboard’s backlight even 0.1% of the time. I’d probably feel differently if I were regularly using the laptop in situations with poor lighting. But if there’s enough light to work, there’s usually enough light for me to to see the…
(Answer requested by Terry Turner) It’s not the clicks, per se, but the positive tactile feedback that tells you that a key has been depressed enough to register the keystroke. On a well-made mechanical keyboard, all the keys will “break” their upward resistance with the same amount of pressure (i.e. they’ll generate the click and…
(Answer requested by José Marulanda) The magic isn’t in having two screens, per se, but being able to see and usefully access two different things on screen at the same time. That can be accomplished with two screens; or — if it’s large enough — one screen with the two items displayed side by side….
(Answer requested by Natalie Hen) Keyboards primarily differ in the quality of their internal key mechanisms — how robust the springs or domes are; how much pressure and vertical key travel it takes to trigger a keystroke; how well the keys are 2-axis stabilized; how much noise they make; and how long the electrical contacts…
Reader Jenni Wieter asks; “What is your favorite laptop that you have ever had or used and why?” Hmmm. Two top contenders come to mind: Model 100: This was my first portable computer: a TRS-100. Back in the day when PC’s were usually bulky, desktop units with several separate components, this lightweight, all-in-one portable design…
Remember them? I wrote some! 🙂 In fact, I believe I wrote the first type-and-run program to appear in a non-computer, general-circulation magazine, at least in the US. Back at the dawn of the PC era, I was a newly-hatched junior editor at New Shelter magazine; a general-circulation publication with 750,000 subscribers; covering things like…
Q: Did your hand writing go for a toss after using electronic keyboards? (via Quora) A: Well, any skill that’s not regularly practiced will atrophy. But in my case, there was little to lose; and I can’t blame keyboards! My handwriting was hard for others to read from grade school on. Formal penmanship was too…
Q: Is writing the most difficult method of communication? (via Quora) A: No, because communication is more than the transmission of information: True communication is when your message is not merely transmitted, but also received and understood — and ideally, remembered. If you only look at the first part of communication — the transmission of…
I’m again experimenting with voice-to-text transcription. I keep hoping for that Star Trek experience — you know, where the characters whap their comm badge, speak with normal speed and diction, and have the computer fully understand them. But for me, that’s truly fiction. In real life, with free-form text, voice to-text accuracy is likely to…