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It’s Time for Caps Lock to Die

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Re: It’s Time for Caps Lock to Die

#21

Post by roboguy12 »

WorldMaker wrote: post #18
dacoja wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, I'm the author :) I realize it comes across like I'm super worked up over something no one cares about, but I don't hate the key, I just think it's a waste of space on modern keyboards, and that we should collectively reconsider its purpose. Considering the amount of time we all spend on our computers nowadays, any little efficiencies on their input devices could have a pretty large impact. I'm also someone who…

I think Windows has a pretty decent emoji interface as of a couple feature releases back: Win+. or Win+; (the Windows key [or Super key if you prefer the Linux name] with either . or ; whichever feels more comfortable) brings up a palette that can be navigated via keyboard and/or searched by typing words (and/or clicked/tapped). Most recent feature update even added common kaomoji.

Also, for the macOS users, there's a great emoji picker interface: cmd+ctrl+space brings up a very similar-sounding menu where you can search by typing, or scroll through and click the one you want.

Re: It’s Time for Caps Lock to Die

#22

Post by dacoja »

WorldMaker wrote: post #18
dacoja wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, I'm the author :) I realize it comes across like I'm super worked up over something no one cares about, but I don't hate the key, I just think it's a waste of space on modern keyboards, and that we should collectively reconsider its purpose. Considering the amount of time we all spend on our computers nowadays, any little efficiencies on their input devices could have a pretty large impact. I'm also someone who…

I think Windows has a pretty decent emoji interface as of a couple feature releases back: Win+. or Win+; (the Windows key [or Super key if you prefer the Linux name] with either . or ; whichever feels more comfortable) brings up a palette that can be navigated via keyboard and/or searched by typing words (and/or clicked/tapped). Most recent feature update even added common kaomoji.

Nice, didn't know about that! I have a PC desktop and a MacBook but lately my PC has been getting dusty, so I have to admit I'm not super familiar with the latest on Windows. Thanks for letting me know :)

Re: It’s Time for Caps Lock to Die

#23

Post by dacoja »

roboguy12 wrote: post #21
WorldMaker wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Windows has a pretty decent emoji interface as of a couple feature releases back: Win+. or Win+; (the Windows key [or Super key if you prefer the Linux name] with either . or ; whichever feels more comfortable) brings up a palette that can be navigated via keyboard and/or searched by typing words (and/or clicked/tapped). Most recent feature update even added common kaomoji.

Also, for the macOS users, there's a great emoji picker interface: cmd+ctrl+space brings up a very similar-sounding menu where you can search by typing, or scroll through and click the one you want.

That's actually the one I was thinking of as being awkward to activate :) I love the picker itself but the activation method is pretty clunky in my opinion.

I wish I could just hit one key instead of having to simultaneously press three. I've been using Rocket for awhile now (https://matthewpalmer.net/rocket/) which kind of takes the Slack style ":emoji_name" format to the whole computer, but it's still kind of awkward to activate and has a lot of false positive triggers. (It really makes you realize how often you type colons in everyday computer usage.)

Re: It’s Time for Caps Lock to Die

#24

Post by SanchoPanda »

If someone agrees and wants to implement something like this easily - autohotkey lets you do this in Windows with a one line script.

CapsLock::Ctrl ; or some other key here

To leave yourself some flexibility on using capslock still by hitting shift+ caps to activate it, use

+CapsLock::CapsLock

CapsLock::Ctrl ; or some other key here

Re: It’s Time for Caps Lock to Die

#25

Post by m463 »

dacoja wrote: post #16
ziddoap wrote: post #4

What a... strange battle to fight. The author has a serious bone to pick with a keyboard key. I would suggest that anyone who feels this strongly about their caps-lock key simply remove it from their keyboard so it can no longer be accidentaLLY ACTIVATED. Edit: Also, > (Say, for example, double tapping the Shift key, like how it already works on your phone.) Would be terrible for gamers - I already get annoyed with s…

Hey, I'm the author :) I realize it comes across like I'm super worked up over something no one cares about, but I don't hate the key, I just think it's a waste of space on modern keyboards, and that we should collectively reconsider its purpose. Considering the amount of time we all spend on our computers nowadays, any little efficiencies on their input devices could have a pretty large impact. I'm also someone who…

I think the problem with "getting rid of it" is that someone will define a terrible "what it should be" and move other keys around.

Right now it is basically a user-defined key.

I redefine it as control on all my systems, which is wonderful as an emacs user.

Re: It’s Time for Caps Lock to Die

#26

Post by pjob »

As an alternative to the "remap caps lock to esc or ctrl" crowd, I'd like to suggest remapping to scroll lock. I don't need easier access to esc or ctrl, so I decided to pick a different key. Scroll lock doesn't really get used for anything important (in my workflow) and provides an extra key to use in bindings for your text editor or games. I've been using it for about a decade and it gives me a bit of additional utility for a key that I wouldn't otherwise use.

Re: It’s Time for Caps Lock to Die

#27

Post by basq »

pjob wrote: post #26

As an alternative to the "remap caps lock to esc or ctrl" crowd, I'd like to suggest remapping to scroll lock. I don't need easier access to esc or ctrl, so I decided to pick a different key. Scroll lock doesn't really get used for anything important (in my workflow) and provides an extra key to use in bindings for your text editor or games. I've been using it for about a decade and it gives me a bit of additional ut…

On a 60% and no idea where scroll lock lives (time to check the manual). But I've come to really prefer ctrl in place of capslock. I'm also somewhat of a madlad as I remap every game I play from wasd to esdf. This allows my pinky to use 'a' key for functions normally mapped to shift (like running in games), have two 'shoulder' keys (instead of q/e its qw/rt) and I can leverage the finder-key bumps for quicker hand placement. It costs a single 5 minutes per game but provides and overall more ergonomic (and consistent with touch typing) experience, in my opinion. There are also a few other benefits, but I won't go into them. Figured if I had the patience to learn/write emacs chords, I could do this much, and it paid off quickly.

Re: It’s Time for Caps Lock to Die

#29

Post by eddieh »

kahlonel wrote: post #10

As a programmer of C language, where macros are conventionally all-caps long strings, CAPS lock is really important for me.

I set up Emacs so Meta works on words and Super works on symbols. So I type_the_identifier_in_lowercase then type s-b to move the cursor to the beginning of the symbol, then type s-u to uppercase the symbol and move the cursor back to the end of the symbol. It works out to the same number of keystrokes as using caps lock, but is way more powerful since I can also transform all caps to lowercase just as easily.

Re: It’s Time for Caps Lock to Die

#30

Post by eddieh »

dacoja wrote: post #20
WorldMaker wrote: post #17

I was convinced to try and decided that I like using Caps Lock as a left-hand Backspace myself. Nice to have one on each side, and that one is a much more convenient reach for your pinky.

That's a great idea! You've inspired me to try setting it to Delete, because it's a bit awkward to delete characters after the caret on Mac right now (FN + Delete is the only way I know how)

Ctrl-d deletes caracters forward on macOS. Super easy when caps lock is ctrl.
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