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

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!

Viva La Springtime!

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!

1. 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!
2. 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.
3. 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?!

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!

GCB, SPX, RSS, ETC!

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!

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!

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

Summer 2007: Back to Work!!!

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!

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.

Slow and Steady Wins The Race

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

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!

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!!!

DV Distribution!

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!

Navigation v2.0!

Well, things are definitely moving forward with the DVzine.org v2.0 redesign. Armed with some new PHP knowledge from class and a lot of help from my friend Nate Beaty I was able to build these new Test Pages which demonstrate the new tabbed Navigation system. Hopefully that will start to be implemented SITE WIDE starting some time next week

In other news, The Dvorak Zine was recently reviewed by Eleven Year-Old Greta WHO IS NOW TYPING DVORAK! Yeah!!! That might just be the youngest Dvorak typer we've had so far! :) Viva La Dvorak!

Dvorak interview!

Alec Longstreth (the comics artist who drew The Dvorak Zine) was recently interviewed for the Indie Spinner Rack podcast. It's an hour-long interview about Alec's minicomics, but if you skip to about 75% of the way through it, you can hear discuss The Dvorak Zine. He also tells a great story about a recent Dvorak experience that Frunch had in Silicon Valley. Viva La Dvorak!!!

Web Updates Vs. The Front Lines!

Alas, each time I try to work on the DVzine.org updates, something else gets in the way. This time, it's PRINTING ZINES! We got an awesome offer from Microcosm Publishing to help us distribute The Dvorak Zine. So I have to print up 40 copies for them and then I need to print up another 100 (or so) for the rapidly approaching Small Press Expo. (Come swing by and say hello if you are in the Washington D.C. area September 23rd or 24th!)
After refilling my toner cartridge SIX TIMES though, I finally had to buy a new one. With that and a bunch of paper and cardstock (and more toner off of Ebay) I've almost spent $150 this week just to make more Dvorak zines (GULP). So it would be a great time to donate if anyone can help out with a few bucks. We lose money on all externally distributed zines (since they are bought at 50% the cover cost), plus I usually end up giving away as many zines as I sell at these events. I may not be the best business man, but I'm good at spreading the word about Dvorak!!! Any help would be greatly appreciated--every dollar lets us print another zine!

Back on track!

Well, after a whole month "off" from working on the site, I'm ready to jump back in and finish off version 1.0!! Plans include: relearning Cascading Stlye Sheets (and then using them to improve the site), redo some graphics here and there, incorporate the MANY updates people have been emailing in, creating a sitemap and also just filling in the last little gaps around the site.
On the Dvorak front, I just got back from a two-week trip to the Pacific Northwest where I distributed over 100 copies of the Dvorak Zine at the Portland Zine Symposium. Frunch even showed up for a bit to help spread the word!!! It got a great reaction and a lot of people came back the second day of the symposium to tell us that they had relabeled their keyboards or had started typing Dvorak. Hooray!
Also, we made it to 30,000 hits! HOORAY!!! Hopefully we can continue to spread the word about Dvorak and really get some people to make the switch! More updates will be coming and I apologize in advance if some of the site is broken over the next couple of days... VIVA LA DVORAK!!!

Weekend of Rest

Well, the email front finally calmed down enough for "team Dvorak Zine" to take a well earned break this weekend! As a result there are only a few small updates to report, but as always, there are more on the way!
A few resources for Dvorak-esque layouts in ESPERANTO were added to the International Page (thanks Michael!)
We also added a FREE, open-source Dvorak typing tutor to the Typing Page, which we had forgotten to post originally (sorry Kamil!)
Alec also spent some time this weekend catching up on Zine orders and printing up extra copies which he distributed to the Jigsaw Zine Shop in New York City. He also printed up 10 copies to enter The Dvorak Zine in the Tokion 2005 King of Zines contest. Let's hope it wins!
More improvements, additions and updates will be coming this week!

New Desktop Images

Added new DESKTOP IMAGES in the typing section as a teaching tool for new Dvorak learners.
Went into the actual Zine files and fixed some "typos" (even though they aren't TYPED!) I think there are only a few left...
PLEASE NOTE: I am working full time at my DAY JOB, not getting much sleep and BARELY keeping up with the barrage of emails and zine orders. I canceled my plans for this weekend and will be working ALL DAY Saturday and Sunday updating the site and getting more content on here. So please bear with me... MAIN GOALS: Working on the INTERNATIONAL section and updating the FAQs!!! Patience is appreciated!

ANALYZER!!!

Fixed more TYPOS (geeeeez!) and set up FRUNCH'S TYPING ANALYZER!!!! Check it out in the info section, especially with the "key by key" setting. Totally rad! Good work Frunchy! Changed front page to have updates. Mailed off the first batch of zine orders from 6/14/05

MoCCA!

Distributed about 100 copies of The Dvorak Zine at MoCCA Arts Fest in New York City!