7 Jan
2002
7 Jan
'02
5:43 p.m.
From: John Lawson <jpl15(a)panix.com>
I have (somewhere) a Burroughs internal publication
that outlines
points
of company history, in there is the article I'm
refering to. It is packed
away just now, but in a couple of months I'll have my library out of the
boxes and back on the shelves, Insh'Allah!
I'll gladly pay for copies of this material, if it's copyable.
Well, okay, I think we're describing the same
symptom from slightly
different viewpoints. My reference specifically mentions machine damage
as a result of improper crank use; it is undoubtedly also the case that
inaccurate results would also devolve from this; and in fact that would
be
far more serious a situation, since, in the case of
gross mechanical
failure, you at least know to check your results - because your desk is
suddenly littered with oily springs and bent levers...
crunch sproingggg (turn-of-last-century expletives deleted)
Yeah, what good is a calculator if you have to double-check the results?
No shit, this
list is a real shark tank these days when it comes to
precision in expression ;>)
And I must place myself in that Group; faddish moronic mangling of
English evokes my very strong underlying concern over the precipitous
slide of overall American educational standards, the fact that
ever-more-stupid teachers continue the downward spiral, and the
market-driven grotesque Deification of vulgar pop-culture fueled by
billions of indiscriminate young dollars. Most often I just delete %99 of
the Beavis-and-Butthead stuff I see, but occasionally I simply wish to
raise a little flag in the gathering Storm of Dumb. Now: contrast the above with the fact that, as my
years advance (nearly
50) I find it increasingly more difficult to type without falling into
egregious and repeated errors, mainly right-left handed letter
transposition errors, and spelling errors that go undetected because I
'see' the word I *meant* to type instead of what actually came off the
keyboard. I am using Pine under a Unix shell, (and have turned off my
main wordprocessor spell checkers) in an effort to force myself to pay
more attention. As well, I don't touch-type, I use four or five fingers
and watch the keys, not the screen. I've tried several time to *learn*
touch-typing; all that generates is smashed keyboards and frustration.
My typing skills are about the same as yours, and, to complicate things, my
eyes are going, making it much harder to catch errors.
Getting old is hell, but it beats the alternative ;>)
Glen
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