From: John Lawson <jpl15(a)panix.com>

I have (somewhere) a Burroughs internal publication that outlines

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!

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

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)

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.