Internet Services from KKoncepts

This morning I began my working day, as usual, by firing up my trusty Dell laptop. I then deviated from my normal routine and promptly sneezed all over the keyboard. I do not recommend this. While I can find no mention of this in the "how NOT to care for your Dell product" section of my "User's Guide", there certain should be. It makes a HUGE mess which requires a fair bit of time to clean up.

In the process of returning my keyboard to a pristine (and more importantly, NON-mucus covered) state, I discovered, however, that my keyboard actually has a lot to say about me as an individual. A clever detective could discern many things about this device's owner just from the patterns of dirty and clean keys.

For instance, it's clear which side of the "Perl vs. Python" debate I come down on. My '$' and ';' keys are both very dirty.

My opinion on "Vi vs. Emacs" is similarly laid out for all to see as my Control and Meta keys are remarkably clean, while the 'q' and 'w', statistically low usage keys for typing my mother tongue, English, are both quite well worn.

As much as I like my editor of choice, however, I can't say I'm really a power-user as the "h,j,k,l" (movement) keys are no dirtier than the rest, while the arrow keys required a good bit of scrubbing.

<sheepish grin>
I'm also clearly not a very good typist as the BACKSPACE key is probably the dirtiest of them all!
</sheepish grin>

And finally, what was the only completely clean key on my 3+ year old keyboard? The key which was still in mint condition? The key which I could sell on eBay and legitimately state "in original condition; never been used"? The "Windows" key, of course. ;-)

So while I can't recommend sneezing on your keyboard, I certainly can advocate cleaning it. Not only is the feel of the clean touches a pleasant change, what you learn about yourself may spur you on to new heights.

I, for one, have resolved to learn the BASH keybindings so that pressing the BACKSPACE key 37 times will no longer be my sole recourse for erasing an errant line. CTRL+u (clear to the beginning of the line) and CTRL-k (clear to the end of the line) have already been added to my "Essential information for not making people wait around while you press the UP ARROW 18 times trying to find a short command in the history so you can then press BACKSPACE repeatedly and get back a blank prompt again" list.

May all your "accidental" voyages of discovery be as prosperous to you as this one was to me!