Category: Tech

Typing (keyboarding) is the most important tech skill that I’ve learned. But is it taught in school anymore?

That 7th grade typing class I took enabled me to type with rapid precision without looking at keys. This seems trivial these days. I never put my average words-per-minute score on a resume to get a job. It was just assumed that you could belt out 70+ words with ease if you used a computer at all.

Without typing, I couldn’t have sustained any job that I’ve ever had, aside from being a caddie. The skill enabled me to quickly write term papers in college, newspaper articles, technical manuals, code in HTML and CSS, craft fiction, pound out countless emails, and, lately, serve up ChatGPT queries. Maybe I wouldn’t have had that first date with my wife if I hadn’t responded so quickly when online dating.

I saw my 7th grade typing teacher at a friend’s engagement party once. I gave her a big hug and thanked her, and probably frightened her a bit. But her class was the only one that provided a future-proof skill, well over Trigonometry.

But are kids being taught typing today? Do kids wonder why the QWERTY keyboard exists on their phones?

My 7th grade son has a school Chromebook but he isn’t taught how to type. He uses his own homegrown two finger method and somehow seems to be getting by. He seems fine texting on an iPhone or entering in Nintendo Switch codes. He can tap out a Wawa hoagie order on a touchscreen with ease. But does he know that you should use your left pinky to tap on the letter Z?

To navigate the digital world, typing seems absolutely essential.

Many students start typing on computers and cell phones before they are in school. Is it assumed they are proficient, and that speech-to-text dictation functionality is the future?

With typing not being a skill that’s tested on standardized tests, I can see why it would be removed from the equation. STEM based curriculum has an emphasis on coding and digital literacy, but wouldn’t typing better expedite these skills?

Is it assumed that typing is akin to walking, eating and personal hygiene, and that they should just learn it at home?

Is typing a part of your school district’s offerings?

I drive an 18-year-old car. There’s no AI functionality built into it, at least that I’ve discovered.

The high beams produce about 1,700 lumens per halogen bulb. Newer cars with LED bulbs produce about 3,500 lumens for their standard beams.

So, my high beams are actually dimmer than the standard beams of modern cars.

Driving through hilly suburbia at night makes this apparent. The yellowish tinge of the halogen bulbs is no match for the piercing bluish LED light and it’s many reflective glares.

If you have astigmatism, night driving is even more challenging. Halos, streaks and blurry vision come into play.

At times, it seems safer to wear my prescription sunglasses at night. Luckily, night driving glasses exist with amber tinted lenses that are designed to filter out the LED blue light.

For some, wearing geeky glasses is not enough. Soft Lights Foundation advocates for regulations on LED lights, with an emphasis on protecting potential health harms such as migraines, seizures, and neurological issues.

Even if you have a modern car, the oncoming headlights are getting too bright. It’s a battle of LED lights.

Adaptive Driving Beam (ADB) headlights seems like the answer, and were approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2022 in the U.S. (The EU approved them in 2006.) This AI technology uses sensors and cameras to adjust the shape and brightness of the headlight, improving road safety and comfort.

For certain cars manufactured since 2022, the ADB option is there. But what about my 18-year-old car? That’s where I need to adapt as well and buy a new vehicle.

My car’s high beams vs. new car standard beams are like 2010 AI vs. ChatGPT — one tries its best but struggles in the dark, the other sees everything, maybe a little too well.