What does “aoeu.ca” mean?

The CIRA sent me an email today saying they might give me a MacBook if I submit a story about my “.ca” address. Free MacBooks interest me so I figured why not.

He’s what I submitted:

“aoeu.ca” is not my business. It’s not my family page. It’s not any organization that I run. “aoeu.ca” is my way of telling the world two important parts of who I am. It’s part of my identity.

I have always been one to tweak my environment with the intention of being as efficient as possible. I use a customizable window manager for Linux (FVWM), I use powerful text editors (Vim and Emacs), and I touch my mouse as little as possible. Despite all these attempts to be efficient I was so frequently using the computer that in the course of my school year I began feeling twangs of RSI pain in my wrists.

One summer, whilst home from university, I was browsing the internet with a lowly dial-up internet connection when I came across a new tweak: the Dvorak keymap. By rearranging the keys on my keyboard it promised to not only to help me work faster, but also to have less strain on my wrists. I had only a few hours a week of work and thus lots of free time so I printed off a copy of the keymap, downloaded a typing tutor, changed my computer settings and started typing.

The Dvorak keymap did everything it promised. I can type faster (a modest 98wpm), and I only rarely have any RSI pains. I also have a great discussion item for whoever uses my computer; they quickly get pretty confused when the keys they press produce unexpected results.

Another part of my identity which “aoeu.ca” gives insight to is my proud Canadian citizenship. At the age of 10 my family moved to the USA and I spent the next eight years as “the Canadian”. I enjoyed living there, but all along I knew that I’d eventually want to head back home to Canada. University presented the opportunity to do so and I haven’t left (except to visit old friends) since.

So now you know a bit about who I am, so when looking to put up some sort of web presence and give myself an email address which would survive ISP changes (via email forwarding) I looked for something that would represent a bit of who I am while being quick to type and easy to remember. When using the Dvorak keymap if you type the “asdf” buttons on a keyboard you get “aoeu” on the screen, and the “.ca” shows off my nationality.

You’re welcome to visit “aoeu.ca” sometime. You won’t find much content or any sort of big business, but it’s me, and it’s a bit of who I am.