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Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20220313160742/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mavis-beacon-teaches-typing-real-b2034472.html https://web

by cols 5y ago

Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20220313160742/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mavis-beacon-teaches-typing-real-b2034472.html https://web.archive.org/web/20220313160742/https://www.indep... Mavis Beacon taught me to type. I don't really care if she's real or not, I'll always have a soft spot for that CD!

Ansil849 5y ago
> I don't really care if she's real or not I don't understand comments like this. Why go through the effort of articulating your lack of interest in a topic? "I have no intellectual curiosity about this topic, but I figure I should still comment letting the world know I have no interest in this".
- interestica 5y ago
  I think you missed the point of the comment. I don't think this is a lack of interest in the topic per se -- it's demonstrating that when using the software, there was a clear separation between the 'teacher' and just using the software. I had no idea she was a 'real' person (or interpreted as such anyways) and always presumed it was just a 'character'.
- Jaruzel 5y ago
  I think something is lost in translation here, the OP is saying that emotionally it doesn't matter to them if she wasn't real, they still hold her in high regard. They are not saying, "I have no interest in this."
- cjaybo 5y ago
  "They taught me how to type" sounds a lot more like fond recollection than disinterest to me, but I guess we all read things differently. Your way seems needlessly uncharitable, though!
- michaelcampbell 5y ago
  > I don't understand comments like this. Interestingly, I suspect you understand it fully.
- gunfighthacksaw 5y ago
  “I don’t really care if“ can be replaced with “regardless of whether” if you have a pathological case of semantic pedantry.
tiahura 5y ago
- iratewizard 5y ago
  "America is racist" is a narrative sold by racists to sow racial division. Shirkey's principle. Any institution (or career race-baiter) tasked with solving a problem will instead preserve the problem so they can continue to solve it.
  - lozenge 5y ago
    What year did America go from actually being racist to just pretending?
    - tiahura 5y ago
      I think a strong argument is to be made that in the early ‘70s the tide turned and racism became viewed as old fashioned and embarrassing.
      - sangnoir 5y ago
        I think a subtle distinction has to be made: being labelled a racist became the worst thing ever. Which has led to absurd scenes where someone conducts themselves in blatantly racist ways and then says "That's not who I am". It has become a noun, rather than a verb
  - ketzo 5y ago
    There’s a significant divide between “America is racist” and “America was founded on, and still preserves, many institutions that are fundamentally biased against some people.” I don’t know many people who seriously claim that every single atom of American life is racist.
    - iratewizard 5y ago
HideousKojima 5y ago
StarCraft taught me how to type, gotta type fast if you're going to trash-talk on Battle.Net
- monkeybutton 5y ago
  ICQ and MSN messenger did it for me.
  - effingwewt 5y ago
    Definitely messenger apps that did it for me. Back in the AOL online CD days! No one I knew could type, so I had to learn myself. By the time it was taught in HS, my habits and muscle memory weren't having it. I could type 'properly' but far slower, so I gave up. To this day I've never had a RSI from typing (and some of the marathons were crazy!), and it's rampant among 'proper' typers.
  - _carbyau_ 5y ago
    Gotta get that zinger joke in before someone else does!
    - thombles 5y ago
      It could be a geographical thing but my experience of ICQ and MSN was almost entirely 1:1 chat. It was a calmer way to be - no onlookers to impress, and first-class support for signalling that you’re not at your computer right now so maybe they should message later.
      - monkeybutton 5y ago
        This is my experience too. The standout memory for me is staying up till the wee hours of the morning chatting with the girl I'd end up dating for the last couple years of highschool.
- jen729w 5y ago
  Copying my mate’s work (hi, mjoc101) at uni taught me to type. Too many headaches looking at his printout, my screen, my keyboard, forced me to use whatever tool was available on the uni *nix systems. One of the best things I ever did for myself. If you’re reading this and you don’t touch-type, learn. Now. (They kicked me out eventually, so nothing good came of the copying.)
jrib 5y ago
I had Mavis Beacon but AOL Instant Messenger taught me. I later relearned using gtypist when I switched to dvorak 10 years later though. https://www.gnu.org/software/gtypist/ https://www.gnu.org/software/gtypist/
unboxingelf 5y ago
Blank key caps taught me to type
bladegash 5y ago
Same here - I would likely be finger pecking to this day if not for Mavis Beacon.

by cols 5y ago

Ansil849 5y ago

> I don't really care if she's real or not I don't understand comments like this. Why go through the effort of articulating your lack of interest in a topic? "I have no intellectual curiosity about this topic, but I figure I should still comment letting the world know I have no interest in this".

interestica 5y ago
I think you missed the point of the comment. I don't think this is a lack of interest in the topic per se -- it's demonstrating that when using the software, there was a clear separation between the 'teacher' and just using the software. I had no idea she was a 'real' person (or interpreted as such anyways) and always presumed it was just a 'character'.
Jaruzel 5y ago
I think something is lost in translation here, the OP is saying that emotionally it doesn't matter to them if she wasn't real, they still hold her in high regard. They are not saying, "I have no interest in this."
cjaybo 5y ago
"They taught me how to type" sounds a lot more like fond recollection than disinterest to me, but I guess we all read things differently. Your way seems needlessly uncharitable, though!
michaelcampbell 5y ago
> I don't understand comments like this. Interestingly, I suspect you understand it fully.
gunfighthacksaw 5y ago
“I don’t really care if“ can be replaced with “regardless of whether” if you have a pathological case of semantic pedantry.

tiahura 5y ago

iratewizard 5y ago
"America is racist" is a narrative sold by racists to sow racial division. Shirkey's principle. Any institution (or career race-baiter) tasked with solving a problem will instead preserve the problem so they can continue to solve it.
- lozenge 5y ago
  What year did America go from actually being racist to just pretending?
  - tiahura 5y ago
    I think a strong argument is to be made that in the early ‘70s the tide turned and racism became viewed as old fashioned and embarrassing.
    - sangnoir 5y ago
      I think a subtle distinction has to be made: being labelled a racist became the worst thing ever. Which has led to absurd scenes where someone conducts themselves in blatantly racist ways and then says "That's not who I am". It has become a noun, rather than a verb
- ketzo 5y ago
  There’s a significant divide between “America is racist” and “America was founded on, and still preserves, many institutions that are fundamentally biased against some people.” I don’t know many people who seriously claim that every single atom of American life is racist.
  - iratewizard 5y ago

HideousKojima 5y ago

StarCraft taught me how to type, gotta type fast if you're going to trash-talk on Battle.Net

monkeybutton 5y ago
ICQ and MSN messenger did it for me.
- effingwewt 5y ago
  Definitely messenger apps that did it for me. Back in the AOL online CD days! No one I knew could type, so I had to learn myself. By the time it was taught in HS, my habits and muscle memory weren't having it. I could type 'properly' but far slower, so I gave up. To this day I've never had a RSI from typing (and some of the marathons were crazy!), and it's rampant among 'proper' typers.
- _carbyau_ 5y ago
  Gotta get that zinger joke in before someone else does!
  - thombles 5y ago
    It could be a geographical thing but my experience of ICQ and MSN was almost entirely 1:1 chat. It was a calmer way to be - no onlookers to impress, and first-class support for signalling that you’re not at your computer right now so maybe they should message later.
    - monkeybutton 5y ago
      This is my experience too. The standout memory for me is staying up till the wee hours of the morning chatting with the girl I'd end up dating for the last couple years of highschool.
jen729w 5y ago
Copying my mate’s work (hi, mjoc101) at uni taught me to type. Too many headaches looking at his printout, my screen, my keyboard, forced me to use whatever tool was available on the uni *nix systems. One of the best things I ever did for myself. If you’re reading this and you don’t touch-type, learn. Now. (They kicked me out eventually, so nothing good came of the copying.)

jrib 5y ago

I had Mavis Beacon but AOL Instant Messenger taught me. I later relearned using gtypist when I switched to dvorak 10 years later though. https://www.gnu.org/software/gtypist/ https://www.gnu.org/software/gtypist/

unboxingelf 5y ago

Blank key caps taught me to type

bladegash 5y ago

Same here - I would likely be finger pecking to this day if not for Mavis Beacon.