The Dvorak Zine

Know your limits...

2008-11-24T19:32:00.002-05:00

Frunch, GCB and I have been talking recently, trying to figure out the future of The Dvorak Zine and DVzine.org. As we get older, we are all becoming very busy guys, and we need to keep the scope of the project small and manageable, instead of expanding it into too many new areas which we will not be able to maintain.

One area we found, where we can cut back, is the idea of translating the Dvorak Zine in a variety of languages. We had created a rough draft of a French Dvorak Zine (which we mentioned here on the blog) but after a lot of thinking and discussion, we have decided to cancel that project. It opens a door to more translations, which we do not have the time to create.

We are deeply honored that so many people across the world, want to spread the message of our zine, but we no longer think that a direct translation is the best way to do so. Our zine is very specifically about an American invention, and American inventors dealing with the English language in a very specific way.

We encourage others to create their OWN zine, dealing with the specific history of their language's version of the Dvorak layout. If anyone wants to use our zine as a reference about the history of the keyboard, or as a template of how to use comics to get across this information, that would be great! But we no longer wish to try and port our zine internationally.

We will of course continue to list links of international sites in the International Section of our site.

Our main goals, as they stand now, are: 1) to spread the word about Dvorak with our site and zine 2) to help new Dvorak typists with their transition into the world of better typing by answering their questions via email 3) to use this blog to point people to new Dvorak resources as they become available. Those are responsibilities we can handle!

"I'm working on it, I'm working on it!"

2008-06-13T00:23:00.002-04:00

Well, the first Dvorak Day was a success! Many people wrote in to tell us about passing out flyers, or copies of the zine and hopefully we convinced a few new people to give Dvorak a try! We'll have more time to plan out NEXT year's Dvorak Day, so start thinking up some new ways to spread the word.

The title of this entry is a line from Han Solo, when everything is going wrong on his ship (the Millennium Falcon). This is a bit how we feel here at DVzine.org this summer! While there have not been many updates recently, we are still fighting the good fight! Recently Alec exhibited at the 2008 MoCCA Arts Fest where he passed out many copies of The Dvorak Zine and heard from people who had picked up the zine years ago and are now happily typing Dvorak! Alec is also working on a new 12-page Dvorak comic which will be in the next volume of Syncopated Comics. ALSO Gabe and Alec are preparing to be interviewed for an upcoming documentary about QWERTY.

This is all to say that there are still many updates in the works and we will get to them as soon as we can. We appreciate your continued patience. Soon enough we'll launch back into Hyperspace!

The 1st Annual Dvorak Day!

2008-05-17T22:17:00.010-04:00

We hereby declare this Wednesday, May 21st to be the first annual DVORAK DAY! In 1932, Dr. August Dvorak turned in the patent for his simplified keyboard on May 21st, so we thought "What better day to get out and spread the word about Dvorak?!" Since this is the first year, we thought we'd start out small, by making up some flyers to pass around to our non-Dvorak friends.

There are four flyers total, which you can get in the Downloads section. You just print out the PDF file double-sided, cut the sheet on the dotted lines and you are ready to spread the word about Dvorak! Be creative and come up with your own ways to tell others about Dvorak on Wednesday, and send in your stories. That way we can all have some more ideas for NEXT year's Dvorak Day!

We also wanted to note that while doing some research for these flyers, we learned that the world's fastest typer, Barbara Blackburn passed away on April 18th, 2008. Barbara was a lifelong Dvorak typist and did a lot to promote the greater efficiency and SPEED that were possible when typing Dvorak. We are sad to see her go, and send our condolences to her friends and family.

Dvorak Day - May 21st!

2008-04-24T02:43:00.003-04:00

Well, the new site updates are far from over, but people can at least get the idea of what's going on. The biggest update is our new international section where we will be posting translations of the zine and other resources for our international friends of Dvorak.

The other big announcement is that we are declaring May 21st International DVORAK DAY! The original patent for The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard Layout says it was filed on May 21st, 1932 so we thought this was as good a day as any to celebrate Dvorak. (We were going to use Dr. Dvorak's birthday, but he was born on Cinco De Mayo!) The goal for Dvorak Day is to tell at least ONE new person about the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard. You don't have to "convert them" but just spread the word to a new person. Just think! If every year we doubled our ranks, eventually we would HAVE to take over, right?!

Anyways, we'll post more info about Dvorak Day as it draws closer and also more about various updates around the site. Viva La Dvorak!

Weekend Updates

2008-04-12T13:13:00.003-04:00

Well, Gabe and I are going to be updating the site this WEEK, so there will most likely be a little chaos while pages and sections shift and are updated. We apologize for the confusion this might cause, but hopefully the end result will be a more organized site with better content!

To tide you over while we fiddle with the site, here is a Dvorak inspired Limerick I wrote!

There once was a man named Dvorak.
For inventing, he had quite a knack.
He designed a keyboard
That was largely ignored,
But now it is making a comeback!

Viva La Springtime!

2008-03-22T16:35:00.003-04:00

I know, I know: Two months with no updates???! Well, all I can say is, we are not sleeping over here at DVzine.org headquarters. We are busy with many projects!

We finally finished converting The Dvorak Zine into French! It is going through some proofreading right now, but will be available soon, as both a webcomic and as a printable PDF. Get ready for Dvorak, people of France!
We received our largest ever order of Dvorak Zines (over 400 copies!) for the attendees of the 2008 GEL conference. So Gabe and I have been doing a lot of Folding and Stapling these days.
Last but not least, we are gearing up for some rearranging and updating of the site, so that things will be easier to use and up-to-date!

Hang with us, and Viva La Dvorak!

Happy New Year! +100,000 hits?!

2008-01-16T19:35:00.000-05:00

Well, it's 2008 and learning Dvorak is a perfect New Year's Resolution!!! :) We've got a few Dvorak-related resolutions here ourselves at DVzine.org central, so hopefully there will be some more activity on the site this year, including a ton of backlogged updates, some translations of the zine (French AND Spanish?!) and some other top-secret surprises that are in the works...

Back in December, our friend Ruth Engelberg was driving home from work in Seattle when she heard Dvorak mentioned on the Sound Focus program. DVzine.org gets a mention about 6:00 into the broadcast, so thanks to Glenn Fleishman and all the folks at KUOW. Hooray for public radio!

Also, UK dvorak enthusiast Colin is trying to get his government to take a look at Dvorak as an official layout for the UK! If you are living in the UK, please sign this petition! He needs 200 e-signatures by April 18th!!!

ALSO, we cleared 100,000 hits on the front page! It's great to think that we've got some new people typing Dvorak from making the zine and this site. Keep spreading the word and we'll change this world yet!

Viva La Dvorak in 2008!

BoingBoing.net CRASH!

2007-11-12T14:20:00.000-05:00

DVzine.org quickly exceeded it's bandwidth allotment the other day, after being linked on the popular BoingBoing.net blog. It is finally back up, so thank you everyone for your patience! We will be taking orders for physical copies of the zine and answering emails again! Viva La Dvorak!!!

GCB, SPX, RSS, ETC!

2007-10-31T19:12:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone! Sorry once again for the long lapse in blog posting. It has been a busy time here at Dvorak Zine Central, as GCB recently moved to New York City where he will be living with Alec. That's right! Two thirds of Team Dvorak Zine will be in the same place. This will make it much easier to spread the word about Dvorak!

Speaking of spreading the word, Alec had a successful trip down to the Small Press Expo a few weekends ago, where he was handing out (and selling) The Dvorak Zine. It was really great to see some returning people, who had bought the zine last year at SPX and now type Dvorak!

We're still waaaaay behind on site updates, but there were a few things we HAD to share right away:

1) We FINALLY set up an RSS feed for DVzine.org! You can use that link in your RSS readers to keep up on our latest updates, and also use it to more easily browse through the archive of previous posts. Web 2.0... WOO!

2) Jonathan emailed us to say that he has set up Step-by-step instructions for converting an apple Macbook keyboard to Dvorak! We were wondering if this was possible, but didn't have a spare Macbook to try it on, so that was good to know!

3) And Mime sent us a link to Autohotkey which is a new utility for Windows users that helps their computer stay in Dvorak more easily and keep the keyboard shortcuts (copy, paste, etc) in the same places. Mime also set up some instructions in their message board so check it out!

4) Last but not least, we are still slowly working on the French translation of The Dvorak Zine. Actually, the translation is done, Alec needs to just finish placing it into the comic. He is almost done wiping clean the pages (which we could also use with OTHER translations) and then he just needs to drop in the translation. Thanks for your patience while he gets this done!

Well, that's it for now. Hopefully there will be some more updates soon (we're doing our best). Viva La Dvorak!!!

Dvorak Zine Spotted In The Wild!

2007-09-24T22:32:00.000-04:00

Gabe's friend Jesse alerted us to the fact that The Dvorak Zine showed up in a recent episode of JetSet. Check it out! (starts 3:25 in to the video)

Also, Gabe is moving to New York! This will bring together 2/3rds of Team Dvorak so hopefully there will be some more activity around the site as we try and tackle the French translation of the zine and some long overdue updates to the site! Until then, Viva La Dvorak!

Helio Mag Article!

2007-07-20T19:29:00.000-04:00

Hey Dvorak typists, check it out! There is an interview with Alec, Frunch and the GCB over on HelioMag.com! The interview was conducted via email by Steve Salardino and ended up being SO LONG it will be posted in two parts. Read up on the secret origins of Team Dvorak Zine!

PART ONE | PART TWO

Dvorak Videos!!!

2007-05-18T17:41:00.001-04:00

We got an email from Denmark today, alerting us to an excellent new site for Danish Dvorak Typists: http://www.danskdvorak.dk None of us read Danish, but while poking around the site (which looks great!) we were AMAZED to find TWO Dvorak Promotional videos that had been made by August Dvorak himself! What a find!!

Check them out below and thanks to YouTube user ANCELME for uploading these videos!!!

Summer 2007: Back to Work!!!

2007-05-06T21:52:00.000-04:00

Well, as Dvorak-supporter Colin pointed out, it has been a whopping 13 weeks since we have updated the home page. YIKES!

The main reason for this silence, was that Alec has been INSANELY BUSY finishing up his two-year illustration program at Pratt Institute. But on Friday he graduates, and it will be back to work on the Dvorak Revolution!

Exciting things have still been happening during this "down time." The Dvorak Zine received a glowing review in this year's Best Zine Ever and it will also be a "Zine of the Month" for patrons of the Independant Publishing Resource Center in Portland, OR. Also, we sorted out some printing problems we were having, so we now have a nice healthy stack of Dvorak Zines to distribute to the world! Alec will be using these at the MoCCA Arts Fest this summer in New York to help spread the word about Dvoark. Swing by and say hello if you are in the area!

There are tons of updates slated for almost all secitons of the site. Also, Alec is going to continue working on the French Tranlation of the Dvorak zine, aided by our new friend Daniel in France! There should be a lot of updates this summer, so keep checking back!

The Dvorak Zine: an important part of any collection!

2007-01-25T18:03:00.000-05:00

Today, Alec sent me a link to my local library's website, which is publicizing its new Zine collection with none other than The Dvorak Zine! If that page has changed since this post, you can see the image here. At the time of this post, Portland's Multnomah County Library system owns 10 copies of The Dvorak Zine, and 8 are checked out. I think that's pretty darn cool-- and the dvzine team is very excited just to have our book circulating through the fantastic US Library System.

In fact, this is a great idea for all you street-teamers out there: check your local library for a copy of the dvzine, and if they don't have one, request that they put a copy or two in their system! Just think of all the 5th-graders looking for school report topics at the library that could stumble across The Dvorak Zine... and be changed forever!

The Dvorak Zine: Changing the World, One Card Catalog at a Time.

2006: A Good Year!

2006-12-20T10:10:00.000-05:00

Well, I apologize for the lack of updates this season. It just wasn't possible for me to fit DVzine.org updates into my hectic schedule. Next semester will be less stressful though, so hopefully I can get to some much overdue updates and improvements around the site!

Even though the front page was not bustling with activity, GCB, Frunch and I were still answering tons of Dvorak-related emails, I'm still working on the French Translation of the zine (which will hopefully be done by this summer) and the rest of the site saw a lot of use (we broke 60,000 hits!)

On top of all that, we've now printed almost 1,000 copies of the zine and distributed them all around the USA (and to some countries abroad as well!) Plus people are still downloading the readable PDF, printing out their own copies of the zine and reading it online! Let's hope we can keep this momentum going in 2007!!!

Slow and Steady Wins The Race

2006-09-26T20:01:00.000-04:00

This picture of Alec, Frunch and the GCB was taken at the Portland Zine Symposium this summer. It was the first time the creators of The Dvorak Zine had all been in the same place since the zine was released back in June of 2005.

I must apologize for the long delay in updating the site. I am EXTREMELY busy with school and work right now, so unfortunately DVzine.org is being forced to take the "back seat" for a while...

But fear not! Email questions are still being answered, orders of zines are still being sent out, I'm still printing up copies for Microcosm Publishing. It's mostly just the website updates I don't have time for right now. I will do my best though! And hopefully the site will get a big update before the end of the year.

In the meantime, I will be at The Small Press Expo October 13th and 14th in Bethesda, MD spreading the word about Dvorak! So swing by and say "Viva La Dvorak!"

Frappr Map and Zine Symposium

2006-08-02T16:00:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to say that Jose' had the great idea to create an interactive map on Frappr.com for Dvorak Typists. We here at DVzine.org think it would be really cool if everyone typing Dvorak marked their location on this map. Not only would it give us some idea of how many people are typing Dvorak, it would also give us some idea of where we are all located!

I also wanted to let everyone know that Alec, GCB and Frunch will all be making an appearance at this year's Portland Zine Symposium. It will be the first time all three authors have been in the same place since the inception of the zine. So come swing by August 12th or the 13th and talk Dvorak with us!

50,000 hits & French!

2006-07-15T01:35:00.000-04:00

Sorry it's been so long since I updated the site. The Dvorak Zine headquarters just moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn and I have yet to set up a reliable internet connection, so this post is a little over due...

First of all, we made it to 50,000 hits!!! Thanks to everyone for checking out the site, emailing suggestions and tips, printing out copies of the zine and spreading the word about Dvorak!

Secondly, Microcosm Publishing reordered more Dvorak Zines because they had sold all the ones we sent them, and Alec distributed about 100 copies at the MoCCA Arts Fest. Alec (and possibly GCB & Frunch!) will all be at the Portland Zine Symposium August 12th and 13th so swing by and say hi!

Thirdly, as you can see below The Dvorak Zine is being translated into FRENCH!!! A huge thanks goes out to Dvorak enthusiast Ivan who is sending in the translation one page at a time. We're going to try and have it done for Angouleme this year!

More updates are on the way (after I get an internet connection) so until then, Viva La Dvorak!!!

Calling All Michigan Dvorak Typists!!!

2006-06-12T13:01:00.000-04:00

Kim Kovelle is writing an article about Dvorak for Metro Parent Magazine in Detroit. She will be featuring The Dvorak Zine but also needs a testimonial from a Michigan Dvorak typer. So if you are willing to be interviewed, please email us and we will put you in touch with her. It would be ESPECIALLY helpful if you are a parent, but it's not essential. Help spread the word about Dvorak to the next generation of typists!!!

DV Distribution!

2006-06-08T01:44:00.000-04:00

The Dvorak Zine has been picked up for distribution by Tower Records!!! We're not sure which stores it will be in, or how many copies they will have, so please keep an eye out and let us know if you see it! We sent them 80 copies, so hopefully they will spread those out around the country!

For those of you in New York City (or the surrounding areas), Alec will be at the MoCCA Comics Festival this weekend (June 10th and 11th) signing copies of The Dvorak Zine and trying to convert as many typists as possible. Swing by if you get a chance. There will be a lot of really awesome minicomics and zines to check out! Viva La Dvorak!

DVzine.org Typing Tutor!

2006-05-03T03:48:00.000-04:00

Well, after a couple of weeks of hard work, the DVzine.org Typing Tutor is finally online! So people can now learn Dvorak without even leaving our site! The tutor is basically just a flash interface for Dan Wood's tried and true ABCD Dvorak Typing Course. Thanks Dan for letting us use your text!

There are probably still some bugs here and there, but I think it's good enough to use for now. There are still INFINITE possibilities for improvement (and bells and whistles!) so hopefully it will continue to improve. For now, happy Dvorak Learning! VIVA!!!

Micro Updates!!!

2006-04-11T18:01:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally worked up the energy to dig through the DVzine gmail account this afternoon and update the site with the dozens of suggestions and links from all of you. So there are A LOT of little updates all around the site. Some of the more prominent ones include:

In the Windows Set-Up Section there are directions for getting Dvorak on your log-in screen and a link to another Awesome Utility that helps you keep your computer in Dvorak
(There are also new helpful links and tips in the Mac and Linux sections)
TONS of links to awesome FREE Typing Tutors have been posted on the Typing Tutor page
UK, Estonian, Finnish, and other resources have been added to the International Page
Posted a linke to John's Dvorak Widget over in the Stuff Dowload Section

Thanks to everyone who sent in tips and links! (And sorry for the horrendous delay getting them posted!) Other than that I'm still chipping away at the DVzine.org Typing Tutor in Flash. Wish me luck!

Site Map / Converter

2006-04-04T19:23:00.000-04:00

Well, the version 2.0 site redesign has been fully implemented throughout the entire site! There are still a few content gaps here and there (it seems there's always SOMETHING to work on...) but for the most part the site is up and running. One of the biggest updates is a brand new Site Map which will hopefully help people figure out all the things DVzine.org has to offer.

The other exciting update is our new Dvorak Converter! I built this as a programming "warm-up" using Macromedia's Flash. Next I'm going to begin building a DVzine.org Typing Tutor. But more on that later. For now? Viva La Dvorak!

The Zine Section v2.0!!!

2006-03-10T23:36:00.000-05:00

Well, I spent FOUR HOURS tonight completely overhauling The Zine Section. I reorganized a lot of the content that was already there and built some new pages too! Hopefully it will make it easier for people to read the zine, download the pdf and print out their own copies!

The Zine Section is the biggest section with the most pages, so hopefully the other sections won't take as long to update. Please let me know if you find any broken links!

Also, I FINALLY built a little favicon.ico file for DVzine.org! Talk about long overdue! Keep checking back, there should be a whole bunch of new stuff coming in the next few days...

DVzine.org v2.0!!!

2006-03-07T21:57:00.000-05:00

Well, if you didn't notice, DVzine.org v2.0 is IN EFFECT!!! Take a lap around the site to check out the new tabbed navigation system. There is also a secondary navigation system with a "You Are Here" arrow to help users figure out WHERE they are in the site and what else is available in that section of the site.

Although I have implemented the revisions throughout the entire site, some of the secondary navigation pages are not linked up yet, as there will still be some big organizational changes coming along soon. Patience is appreciated as parts of the site go up and down in the coming weeks. You can check always check the front page for the most up-to-date info!

In other exciting news, our friend and fellow Dvorak typer Ivan is translating The Dvorak Zine into FRENCH, which will be the first non-English version of the zine (??!) Hopefully that will be available as a PDF download some time this summer. Viva La Dvorak!!!