Up Front by Emma Hart

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Up Front: Girls Can Do Anything. You Just Can't Watch.

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  • Lucy Stewart,

    Mmmm, evil Willow...

    Why is it that Vamp!Willow keeps appearing to derail PA threads?

    (I mean, I know *why* they then get derailed, because, hey, Willow in a corset. I just wonder why it happens so often.)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Joanna,

    Joanna, for shame! Girls don't read porn!

    That's true. But I know some girls who write it quite well...

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 746 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    That's true. But I know some girls who write it quite well...

    That's not a bad skill given that they apparently have their eyes closed.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Joanna,

    By which I mean that the new issue of Metro's inclusion of dogging as something that's not done in Auckland but is done in Wellington totally came straight from the work of the Istas.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 746 posts Report Reply

  • Joanna,

    That's not a bad skill given that they apparently have their eyes closed.

    In this day and age, surely everyone can touch-type?

    (Apparently the speed at which I can type while not looking at the screen at all is kind of frightening to some)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 746 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    (Apparently the speed at which I can type while not looking at the screen at all is kind of frightening to some)

    I have that too. People come into my office and I look up at them while I keep typing to finish a sentence.

    But then I work with academics, for most of whom typing involves fingers doing chicken impressions.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Girls don't read porn!

    They just look at the pixtures. :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    That's true. But I know some girls who write it quite well...

    Heh... reminds me of a story Florence King told about the only books of hers she doesn't own are the paperback porno novels she wrote in the 60's under a pseudonym -- easiest money she ever made, but took years to purge the prose style. She didn't mind people knowing she wrote the damn things, but was horrified at the though of dying at home and a complete stranger thinking she read them.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    But then I work with academics, for most of whom typing involves fingers doing chicken impressions.

    As a Joanna-style typist, what scares me is the speed at which programmer friends of mine can type using just two fingers.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Lx,

    She didn't mind people knowing she wrote the damn things, but was horrified at the though of dying at home and a complete stranger thinking she readthem.

    O god yes. My executor has strict instructions that in the event of my untimely demise she must immediately race around to my house and dispose of all the 'literature' and bedside accessories.

    Although IANAL...

    As an almost-a-lawyer who spends at least 12 hours a week with the rest of Wellington's future lawyers I invariably find IANAL hilariously and childishly amusing as an acronym. It's almost too accurate.

    Wellington • Since Apr 2007 • 24 posts Report Reply

  • Lx,

    Emma I'm totally blaming you for my descent into matters of the body.

    Wellington • Since Apr 2007 • 24 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    You should see me go. And I'm also really quick at the mouse. My to-do list has: learn to touch type, and investigate getting virtual secretary software.

    Good luck to you. If the Great Architect of the Universe had meant us to be touch typists, tho, it would have given us three hands. Wacom since 1992 here. Happy to live out my days on planet point & click. They'll have to pry that pressure sensitivity from my cold dead paws.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Keyboards will be museum pieces sooner than we think. My pick for the dominant future interfaces are voice (including speech to text) and gesture - like the iPhone and that holographic system from Minority Report :

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    And handwriting and sketching will no doubt have a place..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    My pick for the dominant future interfaces are voice (including speech to text) and gesture

    I think it would take a major breakthrough to replace the stupid old keyboard.

    The problem with speech-to-text is that speaking uses a totally different part of the brain to typing/writing. I can usually express myself much more fluently when I'm typing than when I'm speaking. And an extreme example is some severely autistic people who cannot speak but who can freely express themselves when they write or type. Even a handwriting system wouldn't work so well because I can type faster than I hand-write.

    And as for a Minority Report-style gesture system, well, wouldn't your arms get tired doing all that swooshing?

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    there where wacom pads in the computer room. Nobody but myself ever used them, true story. lets hope it's only because I attended quite possibly, the most least prestigious in New Zealand, if not the world.

    Jebus. Just having Wacom stuff in an educational institution sounds pretty prestigious. I mean, I all but sold an elderly relative's prosthetic device to get my first one. Once USB came along I'd realised that a small tablet is 95% as useful as a big one, and plays nicer with the keyboard desktop space, therefore heaps cheaper.

    Prolonged periods of graphics-related mouse-clicking lead to chronic shoulder pain for me. Not with a stylus tho, it's all in the way you hold the pointing device. Photoshop more useful than a word processor for me, without the pressure/angle thing it feels flat and dead.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    I read somewhere in the last few days that someone is releasing a laptop with Wacom built into the wristrest. Can't remember who or where, sorry. And then there's the ever-present Apple tablet rumours. Drool.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    You are reading just fine to me, Steven. Maybe something is different about how your words seem to you?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • jon_knox,

    Have just read in the SMH the that Hussey & Clarke have saved Australia...then attempted to follow the live score link, only to find that the site's live blogger had abandoned providing this service with the following kind words.

    Well, NZ should be able to stroll home from here. My shift is ending and have to move on. If it wasn't for Setanta the papers would be screaming for blood tomorrow. Enjoy
    ED

    Belgium • Since Nov 2006 • 464 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen Judd,

    The problem with speech-to-text is that speaking uses a totally different part of the brain to typing/writing. I can usually express myself much more fluently when I'm typing than when I'm speaking.

    That's a matter of practice. My Dad used a dictaphone most of his working life, and was able to compose complex prose fluently. Of course in those days secretaries, as opposed to mere typists, were expected to tidy up any little infelicities.

    Apropos voice command: a former colleague suffered from OOS, and eventually switched to voice recognition software. Within a week, he started getting a sore throat...

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report Reply

  • Isabel Hitchings,

    I think I'd have an awful lot of inhibitions to get over before being able to usefully use any kind of voice activated system to replace a keyboard.

    Christchurch • Since Jul 2007 • 719 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Yes, I haven't seen anyone say how speech to text would actually work in open-plan offices.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Heather W.,

    There are alternative keyboard designs commercially available e.g. vertical split - available in QWERTY and Dvorak layouts. That website www.tifaq.org has others as well (Typing injury FAQ). Tend to be more expensive than standard keyboards.

    North Shore • Since Nov 2008 • 189 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    I can usually express myself much more fluently when I'm typing than when I'm speaking.

    Yeah, me too. I'm way more fluent at a keyboard than in any other setting. I'm utterly useless with a pen these days, and my tongue only appears to be able to get ahead of my brain the way my fingers do after I've had a few gins. I suspect dictating would cause me to dry up completely.

    I can break writer's block by playing any word game that involves typing. I get to such a speed that when I go back to my blank piece of paper my fingers carry the momentum over.

    In cricket-related matters, I just might have used the phrase 'fuck off you cheating cheating lying fucking bastard' last night, and not in re the women's game. Fortunately my family finds this behaviour endearing.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    In cricket-related matters, I just might have used the phrase 'fuck off you cheating cheating lying fucking bastard' last night, and not in re the women's game. Fortunately my family finds this behaviour endearing.

    Yep, that sure was a sweeet win.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

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