I hate my handwriting. When I have to turn something in, I always type it. Since I am studying mathematics right now, that means I format almost everything using LaTeX.
LyX is a godsend for taking LaTeX-formatted notes in class.
Ask HN: Has your handwriting suffered from years on the keyboard?
51–60 of 83 posts
Re: Ask HN: Has your handwriting suffered from years on the keyboard?
#52No, but that's because I started using a tablet for day to day computing.
Re: Ask HN: Has your handwriting suffered from years on the keyboard?
#53I think more than a few of us start typing so early that it's hard to separate the two. OTOH, I find that the kinds of pen & paper I use have a significant effect on the quality of my handwriting.
Gotta love that Pilot G2
I got a Fisher Space Pen (http://www.spacepen.ca/) for Christmas last year. I use it every day and it's still going strong.
Re: Ask HN: Has your handwriting suffered from years on the keyboard?
#54If you want to do something about the problem I highly recommend: "Write Now" by Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay [1] It is a workbook-style introduction to "italic" handwriting. I worked through it a few years ago and to this day my handwriting is still legible. (It was not prior; the learning process was triggered by the realization that consistently I could not read my own handwriting.) [1] http://www.amazon.com/Write…
Thanks, I have added it to my shopping cart.
Re: Ask HN: Has your handwriting suffered from years on the keyboard?
#55My handwriting basically looks like a five-year-old's.
Doesn't help that I'm left-handed either.
Re: Ask HN: Has your handwriting suffered from years on the keyboard?
#56My handwriting was never good, but thirty years of all-day use of a keyboard, it has definitely suffered. I find that I frequently misspell words (even my name), not because I don't know how to spell, but because my motor skills have atrophied enough that I get odd twitches when writing. My block printing is legible however, perhaps in part because of the mechanical drawing course that I took in college when I was an engineering major. The instructor was anal about the formation of letters and numbers. Other than shopping lists (even those are often typed and printed), I rarely write anything any more. When I sent out Christmas cards, I practiced writing before committing pen to card.
Re: Ask HN: Has your handwriting suffered from years on the keyboard?
#57If you want to do something about the problem I highly recommend: "Write Now" by Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay [1] It is a workbook-style introduction to "italic" handwriting. I worked through it a few years ago and to this day my handwriting is still legible. (It was not prior; the learning process was triggered by the realization that consistently I could not read my own handwriting.) [1] http://www.amazon.com/Write…
Thanks, I have added it to my shopping cart.
You're welcome! Probably obvious but I recommend scanning or photocopying the exercises rather than marking up the book itself.
Re: Ask HN: Has your handwriting suffered from years on the keyboard?
#58I think more than a few of us start typing so early that it's hard to separate the two. OTOH, I find that the kinds of pen & paper I use have a significant effect on the quality of my handwriting.
Gotta love that Pilot G2
That was my favorite pen until I tried the Pentel EnerGel. It has gel ink, like the G2, but the barrel is slightly fatter (thus easier for me to grip). The "killer feature" of that pen though is the pocket clip automatically retracts the point inside the pen. I've had a few shirts ruined by forgetting to retract the point before clipping it to my shirt, and this pen does that automatically. When you push the "clicker" on the end to extend the point, a little plastic tab gets pushed down and wedges under the end of the pocket clip. As soon as the clip is slightly lifted (or a piece of fabric gets shoved under it), the tab is released and the spring pulls the point back inside.
Re: Ask HN: Has your handwriting suffered from years on the keyboard?
#59I was home-schooled my entire life. I wrote everything on the computer; notes, todo's, letters, essays, everything. My dad is a writer and he would give me essays and books to grammar-check for him when I was young, so my English grammar is pretty good. My handwriting, however, is so embarrassing. I write in all capital letters and it looks like chicken-scratch. Hell, I can't honestly say I even know how to write all the cursive letters!
I'm 26 and I know my writing isn't going to magically get any better with time. I've been looking for good material to help teach myself how to handwrite, but I haven't found much. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place (or not hard enough).
If anyone has any suggestions for improving my handwriting, I would love to hear them. (I saw the post about the "Write Now" book, and I'm definitely going to pick that up.)
Re: Ask HN: Has your handwriting suffered from years on the keyboard?
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Gotta love that Pilot G2
Gotta love those pencils and their undo support :)
I don't know of pencils with undo, but here's one with "replay." (If you point at [X] in your notes, it will play back the recording of the lecture at the point you wrote [X].)
http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/30/livescribe-shows-off-leap...
The Apple Newton had two levels of Undo (with redo disabled, otherwise just one).