I was at work late last night, and the moon and clouds were just gorgeous when I came out into the empty parking lot. Jupiter (I think) was really bright, too, next to the moon. I snapped some shots, and this one came out pretty well. Shot on a Canon T1i, braced on a sign, everything auto, because I'm a photography poser.

Posted via email by way of Josh Bancroft’s Posterous

I’ve been posting a lot more on my blog than I have in a long time. Part of the reason for it had been to try out Posterous (write once, email, publish in many places). But there’s a bigger underlying reason that at least deserves a mention.

 After 2+ years, I finally made myself learn how to type with two fingers on my iPhone.

 You all know how much I rely on my iPhone for everyday connected life. There’s a reason I call it my prosthetic brain. An when the iPhone first launched, Steve himself, foreseeing the complaints people would have about the lack if a physical keyboard, went to lengths to teach us how to get used to the iPhone’s on screen keys. Trust the software. Type full words or sentences. Start using one finger.

 For whatever reason, I have always been an index finger iPhone typist. Having had a BlackBerry, I was familiar with the two thumb method, but every time I tried it on my iPhone, it was too error prone. My thumbpads felt too big. I made too many mistakes. Progress was slow and difficult, so I always switched back to the one finger method at which I had become quite proficient.

 So why did I force myself to learn two thumb iPhone typing? The reason is kind of embarrassing. My wife, Rachel, has had an iPhone for quite a while, an is what I’d consider a more “normal” user than I am (e.g. she doesn’t freak out if she’s more than a few feet away from her iPhone). One day, I noticed her typing with two thumbs. I had taught her according to the precepts of Steve – start out with one finger, two thumbs at first is too frustrating. But where I had stagnated in One Finger Village, Rachel had moved, all on her own, into Two Thumb City.

 When I thought about it, there was no reason other than inertia and laziness on my part that kept me from the two thumb method. So I made myself practice. A lot. I don’t quite feel completely proficient yet, and I make a LOT of mistakes still, but I definitely type faster than I did before.

 So instead of limiting myself to short tweets and emails, longer portions of text (like this post) no longer seem so daunting, and I’ll likely continue to post more and longer stuff from my iPhone.

 What about you? Do you still type with one finger on your iPhone? Or did you jump right in to the two finger method?

Posted via email by way of Josh Bancroft’s Posterous