Two Spaces

June 14th, 2004 | by ian |

NudeCybot hits the Radar…Google returns this domain as the sole result. Now I need to work on showing up for “nude+cybot” searches.

As I write this post I notice that I still type TWO SPACES after a period. I was taught this in grade 9 by Dr. Byron Harker who would probably be appalled at the deterioration in my writing abilities, but would be nonetheless quite proud of his ability to ingrain certain principles of writing upon his students. So ingrained that it is a typing reflex.

Unfortunately for this habit, the invention of proportional fonts made the double-space-after-a-period no longer required for legibility. I wonder how this weblog will look if I switch right now. We shall see. It requires me to do the equivalent of “two steps forward, one step back” but eventually I might be able to reduce this to simply one step. For now I have to think about it actively to avoid the DS.

This reminds me of another publishing story. Ever wonder why a QWERTY keyboard has letters in such a particular order? I heard that typists became pretty good pretty fast and the hammers on typewriters would get jammed, so they designed a keyboard for increased travel time between the most common key combinations to avoid the mechanical problems associated with overzealous secretaries. Alright I admit I can’t remember where I heard this story or if it is true but it is a good story. Anyone is welcome to call me on this one, and set me straight. Alright I’ll give you a head start and send you to a great site for this kind of stuff: the Straight Dope. The QWERTY question is answered here.

Did I mention that my significant other has a Masters in Publishing from NYU? I think that is so cool. A great Canadian band Moxy Fruvous has a song: “My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors.” If anyone qualifies as the subject of that song it is her. Damn I am back to typing two spaces after every period…

Post a Comment