Fortysomething trans woman (she/her) living in the middle of nowhere with husband, cats and puppy. Interested in esports, film photography, music, cooking, nature, and witchy things. Not on social media.
Yes it's to keep my wrists a bit further apart but also to give my pinky fingers less work to do.
Yeah I'm new to it and still getting used to it. I've gone the slow but accurate route, which is incredibly frustrating, but I'll get there.
Haha its actually a Neon Genesis Evangelion themed keycap set so the additional keycaps are icons of the angels. I have them wired up to Vim and AutoHotkey shortcuts.
It's mostly a copy of my 34 key layout so the thumb keys are shift - space - enter - layer. Having the spacebar would throw that off. I was tempted but in the end I didn't want to lose a key on the top three rows for "enter".
Succumbed to an OLKB Planck
I ordered this on a whim and got a cheap set of keycaps off Amazon for it, but now that I have it put together (plastic switch plate, tape modded, gateron cap golden yellows, double o-ringed keycaps) it is sounding and feeling really good. The keycaps were a cheap but they are bright and fun. I might make it my "throw in a bag and take into the office" keyboard.
I just worked out that a rotary controller can be mapped onto a mouse scroll wheel, which suddenly makes a lot of sense. I've been sitting here thinking "why would I want a volume knob? Why would I want two?" Is there anything else I am missing about rotary controllers?
I think once you accept that standard keyboards are laid out as they are just by convention and nothing else, and that moving to a new layout will take a bit of time, the prospect of having a keyboard where everything is exactly where you want it to be becomes quite thrilling. This is actually my first bit of real typing using Colemak DH. It is excruciatingly slow to touch type but I didn't know it at all two weeks ago. In two more weeks time I'll have my first split keyboard in my hands. So it's definately doable...
I would add "and only if it is a fresh build" because while I am interested in seeing new builds, and I do want to support vendors, I don't want to be spammed here. A pinned thread for vendor news as the other commentor suggested would do just as well for info.
I almost feel like my piano training has kicked in with my QWERTY technique. I almost move my left hand above my right sometimes to hit certain keys. It's definitely a lost cause and you are totally right: we know so much more about ergonomics now that if you are going to learn to touch type at this point, you might as well learn an alternative layout.
I'm really enjoying learning it so far. Semimak sounds really interesting. I think what I take away from reading about alt layouts is, beyond a certain point, you need to start to understand the dexterity and capability of your own fingers because metrics won't tell you much more than the very basics of what a layout can do.
Ech what a nightmare. I figure I have one shot at an alt layout before my brain plasticity finally gives out so Colemak DH it is.
I hear you re: row stagger. I actually just realised in terms of touch typing the keys on the bottom row are shifted one column/one finger compared to a column staggered keyboard. Just as well I caught that before CDVK got too engrained.
I'm really loving it. Something clicked when I started adding the top row to my drills and now its actually fun. I'm deliberately taking my time so I don't pick up any bad habits. My QWERTY typing is fast but atrocious in terms of form.
What's really annoying me right now is that I'm learning on a row staggered keyboard and I know fine well that the V and K should not be there, but, for the purposes of the exercise they are and I have to kind of bear with it and hope that my new muscle memory will correct when my little Ferris Sweep arrives.
Learning new keys
When you are drilling new keys but you absolutely do not want to look at the layout map that shows the keys you are supposed to know already.
Yes that extra thumb key is awfully tempting. It was touch and go whether I was going to start my ergo keyboard journey with two or three thumb keys. In the end I went with a hunch that I didn't want to pull my thumb too far under my palm for that third key but having escape or a leader key right on my thumbs would be very powerful.
New layout. No kbd yet but new layout.
I am still waiting for my Ferris Sweep to arrive but in the meanwhile I have been keeping busy by drilling Colemak DH and learning QMK. I posted last week about some ideas I had for the layout I wanted to try, which I have since refined and managed to code up in QMK to the point that it compiles! This may sound a bit weird but I am deep learner - its how my brain works.
Anyway there is lots of documentation - which you might consider even more weird I don't know - let me know what you think. All subject to change especially when the .. firmware .. hits the .. metal .. I guess?
The IBM .. I'm going to say joystick .. is so underrated. If I do go down the path of designing my own board I will definitely be looking into getting one on there in place of a switch or nestled in somehow.
Btw for great justice I have ordered a small Wacom Intuos and a Logitech Ergo M575.
Pointing device options
Hiya all. I was wondering what pointing options there were out there for split ergo keyboards? Looking around, on the face of it there seems to be the Apple Magic Trackpad 2 and well that's about it. There seem to be plenty of trackballs at various prices but nothing that looks particularly small and nondescript.
I will give mouse keys a try but I am really not convinced. If I could get my little Chromebook to display RDP colours correctly it may be that having a touchscreen would do just fine as an alternative.
Google Sheets template for Ferris Sweep layouts
Somebody asked so I thought I would post a link to the Google Sheet I drew up for my Ferris Sweep layout:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1l2nOnsPRKFaykuBirOujkDo7srL1JX_3IZWA8OosrcY/edit?usp=sharing
I'm sure there are far better tools out there but it will do in a pinch.
Planning my PiantorFerris Sweep*
So I should be getting a PiantorFerris Sweep* from Beekeeb in a number of weeks and I thought I would get a head start and plan my layout - or at least one version of it, influenced heavily by Ben Vallack's video about avoiding press-and-hold mechanics.
Still plenty of fiddling to do. I want to move the WASD-style cursor keys in L3 onto my first three fingers for sure. In fact I've already changed it and made room for insert and added shift as a home key mod on the right. God this is addictive.
*ETA: I am, of course, talking about a Ferris Sweep with two thumb keys as depicted in the drawings not a Piantor, which I was also considering. I guess I was swayed by the alliteration.
Debating which split keyboard to get
Reposting this on what is probablty the correct community, which I didn't know actually existed on Lemmy until five minutes ago .....
I’m humming and hawing over which split 36-key or thereabouts keyboard to get, either pre-soldered or as a kit to do the soldering myself (which would be an adventure because it has been a minute).
I’m pretty sure I want five columns not six, because I don’t see the point of giving my pinky extra work. I’m not sure about giving my thumb two or three keys for layers. Three keys would probably give me more options but I don’t want to get all layered out, you know?
Any thoughts on that? I know there is huge potential for going down the rabbithole here but assuming I get one keyboard, would I be better getting more rather than less - six columns - to play with layouts and layers? Or just go with my gut and get 5x3+2 right at the start?
PS: Does anybody know if Beekeebs 36-key Piantor case fit the 36-key PCB snugly? Or is it just the 42-key case with a big gap where the extra PCB has been broken off?
Debating which split KBD to get
I'm humming and hawing over which split 36-key or thereabouts keyboard to get, either pre-soldered or as a kit to do the soldering myself (which would be an adventure because it has been a minute).
I'm pretty sure I want five columns not six, because I don't see the point of giving my pinky extra work. I'm not sure about giving my thumb two or three keys for layers. Three keys would probably give me more options but I don't want to get all layered out, you know?
Any thoughts on that? I know there is huge potential for going down the rabbithole here but assuming I get one keyboard, would I be better getting more rather than less - six columns - to play with layouts and layers? Or just go with my gut and get 5x3+2 right at the start?
C3Equalz Kiwi Tactile switches and RGB backlighting
Has anybody got experience of the Kiwi switches? They seem ideal for me EXCEPT that they are incredibly green and it sounds like they probably disrupt RGB backlighting from what little I have been able to find out. I don't know how bad the effect is, though.
I was going to go for a set of Gateron Kangaroos but I read that the Kiwis had less post wiggle. Why do they have to be so hulked out??
Noob question about Keychron Qn Pros
I'm in the UK so I would like to have a keyboard that has the at-symbol and inverted-commas in the correct places for my fingers. The Keychron Qn Pros all come with keycaps that have the ats and inverted-commas the "wrong way round" for me so I was wondering if I buy a Q2 Pro and a set of keycaps, will I be able to put on the keycaps that I want and remap the two keys using Via so that they send the correct characters?