maybe I missed it in the article, though I read through it twice.. Why do this?
The creative instinct must be satisfied...
433% Keyboard
91–100 of 132 posts
Re: 433% Keyboard
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a Tunisian (north africa) I write mixed texts containing both arabic and latin scripts. I have an azerty/arabic keyboard, arabic letters are on the same keys as latin letters so I constantly need to switch layout when I'm typing. A ~200ish keys keyboard would be Ideal for me. And i suppose it's the same for all non-latin keyboards
Have you considered having two keyboards plugged in at the same time, and switching between them according to your needs?
You haven't tried this yourself.
I have.
Keyboard maps are on the host, not on the keyboard. Engravings on the keytops are meaningless and are not what determine how a key is understood. A (for example) U.K. 105-key keyboard and a French 105-key keyboard just look like two 105-key keyboards with all the same keys to the host.
Several common operating systems just combine all keyboard input from multiple plugged-in keyboards into one giant "union" keyboard and apply a single keyboard map to it.
I've been working on Linux/BSD software that allows individual different keyboard maps per keyboard, for my user-space virtual terminal system. It's achievable, but I've not encountered anyone else who has seriously attempted to make such a thing work, in the general case where arbitrary USB keyboards can be plugged in and out at runtime.
Re: 433% Keyboard
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
You mean there is a need for this?
Maybe not for 450 keys (!), but I would dearly love to be able to type all the diacritical marks and at least select Unicode ranges (Cyrillic and Greek). It's been a really low-priority desire (I won't dignify it with "need") and so I haven't even really worked out a layout or even carefully defined what I'd like, but yeah, the Really Big Keyboard would fill at least a small need.
If you persuade your operating system to load up keyboard maps with the ISO 9995 common secondary group, you will get all of the combining diacritical marks at least. They're mostly on level 3 of group 2.
Re: 433% Keyboard
#94For some context, this project was basically made to one up someone else, so it's not fully serious. Part of what makes the keyboard funny though is that (a niche of) the custom mechanical keyboard scene has been moving to many fewer keys and programming the firmware to compensate. So it's pretty funny going from seeing several Planck ~49 key layouts to seeing this gargantuan 450 key absolute unit. Sincerely typed by…
Is it an Atreus? How do you like that size of keyboard? I'm not too bothered about adopting some chords, but more interested in the general ergonomics / RSI risks.
A DIY custom actually![1] It's a split with 3 x 6 alphas, 3 thumb keys, and a palm key. I really like it but I was already moving in the direction on layout-minimalism on my ErgoDox. You can find a pic of my layout here[2]. Happy to answer any questions about it.
On ergonomics and RSI, tough to say whether some of these things make a difference or not. There's no data. The single biggest difference to me is having multiple thumb keys because that allows you to almost completely relieve the pinkies. The only sideways movement I use them for now is a "sticky keys" style one-shot modifier for Control on the keys adjacent to the home-row. Although having a split board (and standing desk) has been super for overall posture.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/comments/infzme/t... [2] http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/8105b7f97f89fa...
Re: 433% Keyboard
#95I regularly use what I call a "140% keyboard" which has a total of 140 keys. This is the regular 104-key layout with added keys in various places such as between the alphanumeric and F key section, filling the gaps between cursor keys and the block above it, etc. The keyboard has on-board macro programming and multi-layer logic. I use it for things like having keys which jump directly to specific windows, keys which…
Do you happen to have a picture of the layout? I too wish for a keyboard with more keys, especially vertically. But besides an extra row or two of F-keys, I haven't come up with any logical extensions.
It's a variant of the PrehKeyTec MCI3100. Photo: https://www.prehkeytec.com/fileadmin/user_upload/global/prod...
Note the blanks in the lower right there do have switches under them so you could put keys there as well (that's where mine has Hold and UnHold incidentally). One warning is that the blank keycaps and relegendable keycaps (the ones that are a clear plastic cover you can stick a bit of paper under) are mostly sold in bulk to system integrators and it's expensive to get them in small quantities. So if you're in the market, you probably want one with as many of those as possible. PrehKeyTec's software supports printing legends for them but it's pretty basic so you might want to use something else to design them.
Re: 433% Keyboard
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am not OP, but I moved to a 40% (44 key minivan) about a year ago, and I am using it as my daily driver at home and work. I find that the fact that I can reach every key on the board and barely move my hands has helped a lot. The other interesting notation is that I can put the mouse really, really close by. So the motion going from keyboard to mouse is greatly reduced. I find that my wrists are much better off wit…
What sort of WPM did you have on normal keyboards, and whta have you been able to train up to on your current one? I plateaued at roughly 35 WPM on Dvorak as a teenager and have been hesitant to commit to major layout changes since then, despite the ergonomic promises that a lot of them make.
I am the minivan owner... I find that my WPM did not move significantly. In fact, I would argue that for the most part my typing speed is the same. Now, when it gets to coding, or {}, [], things slow down just a tiny bit, but with todays editors, this can be minimized.
I will admit, I have been in IT for many years. I feel like unless you are an accountant, or someone that has to hit {} [] constantly and can not deal with macros, that the 60%, 40% keyboards help a lot. Most CS/sysadmin/engineer type people are good with layering anyway.
I will say this, on a normal keyboard, you have to hit shift to do a few odds and ends. On a 40%, you would be amazed at the speed that you pikcup "oh, hey, {} and [] are over here, just I have to hold down this one key, just like shifting on an normal keyboard... ok, I get it" and then by week two you no longer think about it. Just my $0.02. I did, however, test my typing speed on one of those online things. I really did not change much after about a month from my previous keyboard to the minivan.
Re: 433% Keyboard
#97So can you just bind arbitrary keys to arbitrary characters? Aren't there a limited number of codes (scan codes?) that the keyboard will send out?
There are a limited number of scancodes; defined by the USB standard. The annoying thing for keyboards is that the OS controls what scancode maps to what character and that makes it impossible to have certain keys. For example, you can't have an ! key. That is always Shift+1 (with a US layout, that is). QMK and other firmwares will let you make an ! key, but it's implemented by pressing shift, then pressing 1. So you…
Stepping back, why would you actually want the keyboard firmware to have configurable settings and runtime state? xkbcomp (Linux/Xorg) is buggy as hell, but I'd say it's still fundamentally the right abstraction to do this on the host. Configuring a layout on the keyboard is itself the hack, really only encouraged by the recent innovation happening there.
Re: 433% Keyboard
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can keep the normal layout on a 40%, you just wouldn't have number/function/nav keys without layers 40% is not just plank, and I personally find the ergonomics of a plank board to be rather bad compared to staggered, unless it's split.
That reminds me, I consider losing arrow keys a dealbreaker. I use them frequently enough to navigate both text and code in various contexts (except in Vim, which I don't use exclusively). I already hold modifiers to jump to next/prev word boundary, page, start/end of continuous data ranges in Excel, etc. Admittedly, I'd probably adapt, but I'm held back by the belief that any ergonomic advantages of moving to wasd o…
On most 40% layouts, incredibly, you can keep the arrow keys. Look it up.
Re: 433% Keyboard
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even Latin, if you use enough languages with enough diacriticals. Or want to code in APL. Or use Greek letters when typing math.
> Even Latin, if you use enough languages with enough diacriticals. Or want to code in APL. Or use Greek letters when typing math. I've always wanted something like the space cadet keyboard with a couple of extra modifier keys vs. what's typically available today for typing unusual characters (and the keycaps for making that easy). https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Space-ca...
Only 3 extra modifiers, really (a PC keyboard having 4, discounting left and right variants) and fewer actual keys (a mere 100) than an old U.S. 101-key Model M keyboard, let alone a modern U.S. 104-key Windows keyboard.
Re: 433% Keyboard
#100I am more interested in the workflow of using one separate keyboard for each hand.
That is probably trivial to setup on conventional keyboards but I wonder if it is ergonomically better.