It is almost impossible to proof read a document you wrote yourself for typos, specifically repeated/replaced words, immediately (while you can still remember writing it.) I don't know if this is true in all languages, but it's definitely true in English.
This is because your brain subvocalises (reads back) what you meant to say, not what you actually wrote, when you re-read and can still remember the sentence in your head.
I know of at least one example of a Deputy Headmaster, who was also my maths teacher, accidentally typing in a swearword to a school report. My Dad (the IT manager, whose job it was to check all the reports before they were posted) got him to read it back aloud (a day or so after he wrote it) and he read out the sanitised/corrected version, aloud, from a piece of paper with the swearword staring him in the face. He was very embarrassed when my dad pointed it out.
In cases like that, you wish you could define a specialised dictionary without the swearwords, so that dangerous typos jump out at you!
to GP: tooling can only get you so far, and you're battling against your own brain the rest of the way. A 2AM README typo is forgivable; a CV/cover letter issue (where you were supposed to be concentrating, and/or getting someone to proof read for you) less so.
Typos are one thing, misuse of homonyms or lack of subject/verb agreement is another entirely. I wouldn't begrudge someone a "teh" in a readme THAT much (though, again: where the fuck is your spellcheck?), but a misuse of "your" for "you're" immediately makes me start to question if they have a clue what they're doing.
This is because your brain subvocalises (reads back) what you meant to say, not what you actually wrote, when you re-read and can still remember the sentence in your head.
I know of at least one example of a Deputy Headmaster, who was also my maths teacher, accidentally typing in a swearword to a school report. My Dad (the IT manager, whose job it was to check all the reports before they were posted) got him to read it back aloud (a day or so after he wrote it) and he read out the sanitised/corrected version, aloud, from a piece of paper with the swearword staring him in the face. He was very embarrassed when my dad pointed it out.
In cases like that, you wish you could define a specialised dictionary without the swearwords, so that dangerous typos jump out at you!
to GP: tooling can only get you so far, and you're battling against your own brain the rest of the way. A 2AM README typo is forgivable; a CV/cover letter issue (where you were supposed to be concentrating, and/or getting someone to proof read for you) less so.