Resources to learn C

Tim ignored_mailbox at yahoo.com.au
Sun Apr 5 05:47:29 UTC 2009


On Sat, 2009-04-04 at 22:28 -0600, Frank Cox wrote:
> I actually learned to type numbers by typing in all of those MLX programs out
> of Compute! magazine on my Commodore 64. 

I learnt binary and hex from hours of graphics programming.  We'd colour
in graph paper for our designs, then convert that binary into strings of
hex.

> I learned to type in school on huge Underwood manual typewriters.  (I was the
> only boy in the high school typing class; I thought it would be a good skill to
> learn.  Obviously, I was right.)  While I got so I could type over 100wpm, I
> somehow never really got the hang of typing the numbers -- numbers in a text
> would always play hell with my typing speed.  Not enough practice at the time, I
> guess.

We had big heavy manual typewriters, too.  I was a bit cautious about
signing up for typing classes, figuring that I'd be the only boy, and
subject to ridicule outside of the class.  Oddly, the class was about
half and half.  I guess they were into computers, too.

I never managed 100 wpm, even on easier to type on machines.  I think
it's a hell of an achievement to get even anywhere near 100 on a manual
typewriter.  Years later I upset one of the ladies working in my school
by typing faster than she could.  Mind you, I was typing autocue
scripts, which only have about 30 characters across, and we'd *correct*
any errors with just a black texta.

I'm not too fast on the numbers, but it's the symbols that really get
me.  Shift plus such a long reach was difficult, and each keyboard likes
to shuffle the position of at least some of the symbols.  I like
separate number pads, these days.  I find them much easier to use.




How do you confuse a teenager?
Give them a rotary dial telephone to use.

-- 
[tim at localhost ~]$ uname -r
2.6.27.21-78.2.41.fc9.i686

Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored.  I
read messages from the public lists.






More information about the fedora-list mailing list