Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

@Konqi For Comptometers in particular, professionals received training very similar to professional typists. They touch typed without looking at the keys (eyes and other hand was on the document with the figures).

For speed, they not only chorded the keys (an advantage to full-keyboard calculators versus ones that only had a single set of 0-9), they also only pressed 1-5 to keep their hand on "home row" and to make, say, 7, would type 3 then 4. Pros were *very* fast at this.

Back in 1918 machines were designed to tell humans when they made a mistake. Over a hundred years later the roles have reversed. How times have changed.

#AI #VintageAds #calculator

This Monroe Model G mechanical calculator was made some time between 1918 and 1920, and is the one I used on the cover of my new book. I also featured non-blurry pictures of it as the background image on each chapter, and in those cases left a little easter egg for keen-eyed readers.

#calculators #writing

@cavaughan Hmmm, if it's been awhile since you checked, check in with support again. We recently went through a lot of old stock of parts that couldn't be used for refurbs and it's possible we might have something.

@ljs @jebba Tell me about it. I'm chatting here instead of working on my new book right now!

@ljs @jebba This is why I like the LaTeX workflow. If you are using a publisher's Word/LibreOffice template, the temptation is to write the book directly in the formatting tool, so your writing ends up being interrupted by formatting.

With $text_editor + LaTeX, I can focus on the writing first (I do basic formatting hints in markdown). This lets me write the full draft and keep my focus on the writing before I worry about layout and formatting.

@ljs @jebba With the help of a few macros (which I'm sure you also set up in EMACS), it is *very* fast to format a book compared to GUI tools or Word/LibreOffice templates. Most of the text for this book was already written other than some front material and chapter intros. Learning LaTex, iterating through formatting, editing, indexing, and waiting for page proofs to arrive took less than 4 weeks from start to book launch.

@jebba I used vim and LaTeX.

Thanks to the excellent suggestion from @agx, I have created a sample chapter for the book. A link is available on the product page for each version of the book, or you can check it out directly here:

https://kylerank.in/bohs_lacc_sample_chapter.pdf

#writing #linux #publishing #SelfPublishing

@cavaughan Thank you!

@agx Thank you. That's a great point about the sample chapter. I will get one together and update my timeline here when it's ready (shouldn't take too long).

@daniel I am so happy you are pleased, and I really appreciate your saying that. We have all worked so hard on the Librem 5 and it is gratifying to see people get and enjoy theirs.

OK this is neat, a protocol for hosting a website around the globe that distributes traffic based on which server has the most solar energy: http://solarprotocol.net/

@jordanerickson Thank you!

I have officially just used my new book as a reference for the first time. In this case I wanted to confirm the syntax for a flock command and remembered "oh wait, that's in the book!" and found it using the index.

#writing #linux

@apples_and_pears I should be thanking you! I'm pleased you are enjoying it so far.

@apples_and_pears Thanks! And yes, the articles are still currently online as well, but unless you are me and already know that you wrote an article on a topic, what you called it, and the URL for it, it's tricky to find specific articles on topics.

I *still* reference my own articles all the time, and realized by putting the relevant and useful ones together in a book, it would be easier for everyone else to find them.

Wrote for Linux Journal and it was a gas
Every month, published Hack and /
Wrote for a decade only to find
LJ went bust, posts gone behind

Wrote for Linux Journal and it was divine
I wrote down everything on my mind
A lot of great tips that now you can't find
LJ went bust, posts gone behind

In between, I put the best columns in a book of mine
It is now self-published with hardcover spine
Paperback and ebook too, they all are good
I sell them on Lulu

https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/kyle_rankin