patorjk

I have done testing of my own on personalized keyboard lay-out by keylogging myself.
My initial interest in keyboard layouts was piqued years ago with the CarpalX project [1], so I started keylogging myself in 2017.
I am a researcher, programmer, sysadmin, and work in a multilingual environment (Python, English, Dutch, R, Java, French, Spanish), so I was expecting some interesting results.

I put 3 years worth of keylogs into Patorjk's Keyboard Analyzer app [2] used by OP (after sanitizing passwords and personal identification).
Here are my personal results:

Programmer Colemak 59.06
Colemak 59.02
CarpalxQ 56.02
Workman 57.43
Workman for Programmers 57.16
Simplified Dvorak 54.71
Programmer Dvorak 53.96
personalized 53.53
QWERTY 46.61
AZERTY 44.83

I did build an Ergodox but never got around to learning it, so here are Ergodox scores:

Colemak Thumbshift 63.12
Ergodox/Colemak/Cub 60.93
Ergodox Colemak v1 60.13
Ergodox/Workman/Cub 59.27
Ergodox Colemak v2 57.07

For me, Colemak variations seem to come on top over Workman and CarpalX in this test.
Note that Patorjk's Keyboard Analyzer [2] does not have a ergonomic typing effort modeled in as much detail as the CarpalX model which takes into account full stroke path.
It is very much possible that CarpalX will come out in front of Colemak using the more CarpalX…

I strongly, strongly disagree that the layout doesn't matter.

I was experiencing pretty bad pain from typing on a qwerty layout. Qwerty has high percentage of combinations that require jumping rows or contorting your hand.

I switched to Colemak (which follows a similar philosophy as Workman) and my hands have significantly too less pain. I still get some from being a heavy typer, but I no longer experience the worst of the paint.

I know you can't prove anything with one word, but the word nice is a great example.

On qwerty, "n-i" forces an uncomfortable twist with the pointer and middle finger. "c-e" forces a jump of the home row.

On colemak, "n", "i", and "e" are all on the home row with the same hand. "c" is on the opposite hand in the lower row. There's no uncomfortable twisting.

You find these types of improvements across nearly all of the intentional layout designs like drovak, colemak, and workman. Regardless of "proper" posture, they do minimize a lot of difficult typing procedures.

Look at the stats on this comment alone: http://patorjk.com/keyboard-layout-analyzer/#/load/1mwrX5bH

I think the jury's still out on that one. I've always spelled it out (and I always will, dammit!), I've had professors either spell it out or pronounce it, and it very much seems to be a mix of regional preference and past experience. Of course, there's two arguments here: One is that SEQUEL was changed to SQL to avoid possible trademark issues (thus implicating that this also necessitated a change in the pronunciation), the other is that the original intent was to call it SEQUEL (thus this is the Only Way). Which is more correct? No one knows!

There's an interesting write-up on the differences[1] which I find interesting. There's even a fellow who asked one of the original developers[2] how to best pronounce it (spoiler: no resolution).

Come to think of it, I spell out most acronyms under 4-5 characters much to the chagrin of my peers (unless the intent was clearly to make it a word). I think it ought to boil down to preference.

[1] http://www.vertabelo.com/blog/notes-from-the-lab/sql-or-sequel

[2] http://patorjk.com/blog/2012/01/26/pronouncing-sql-s-q-l-or-sequel/

After 15 years I would say stick with Dvorak. I didn't stick with it longer than a few months, as I was experimenting with alternative layouts. I found Colemak worked better for me; more comfortable and I prefer rolling fingers over alternating hands.

I don't follow touch typing very strictly, for example my left index finger just typed the `y` in `strictly` because it requires less hand movement than moving my right hand from `l` to `y` since my left index was already on `t`.

If you have any blog posts or example of something you type, throw it in [0] this analyzer, which I find fairly accurate. You'll see that Colemak/Dvorak are nearly always on top. In your post, Dvorak wins with a slight edge over Colemak. In my post, Colemak wins with a slight edge over Dvorak. I find them to be pretty equal and it comes down to how you type.

[0] http://patorjk.com/keyboard-layout-analyzer

In 2001, I submitted a AIM password decryption program to patorjk.com . It's still there today.

Ctrl+F "AIM PW Decrypter" @ http://patorjk.com/programming/vb6examples.htm

I recently rewrote the code in Javascript just for fun. I'll have to post it somewhere someday.

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Tangentially related, I once stole a 4-character AIM screenname from someone who infected a computer at my school with some backdoor. I found his IP address via `netstat`, and then was able to access his C: drive because Windows File Sharing was turned on with anonymous access. I guess he didn't even have a firewall to block the port. I copied his registry database, and decrypted the AIM password and changed it. He got it back by using AOL's password reset by email tool.

I wonder if whoever it was (he or she) reads HN.

I have a popular web based ascii text generator (https://patorjk.com/software/taag), it uses FIGlet driver that I wrote (https://github.com/patorjk/figlet.js/). Many of the other ones out there also use their own drivers (I've seen some written in php and python). There are also different types of ASCII text fonts out there other than FIGlet (ex: my app compiles fonts that were made in the AOL days in the Arial font - which is interesting because it's a non-monospaced font).

FIGlet is the most popular spec for these types of fonts though (it's an app and a spec). The mailing list hasn't been active in a decade, but people used to submit fonts there. It was cool to see what people made.