Joining the Kinesis club...

[sordna]

BTW what did you guys remap alt+tab for windowsswitching to? I find it entirely unusable in the standard configuration.

I swapped Tab / Delete, since I use Tab a whole lot more often than Delete. So to do Alt+Tab I hit the right Alt with my right thumb, and the Tab with my left thumb.
Got the idea of Tab on the thumb from a Maltron I tried, it's a great location.

[Input Nirvana]

I'm still toying with the idea of putting "E" on a thumb key, a la Maltron....

[hoggy]

Welcome to the kinesis club.

I've only got the one advantage board.  It's clearly my favourite board though.  Saved me from ditching my programming career for stacking shelves.  The transition might be awkward - but it's totally worth it.

[hoggy]

The best thing about a kinesis is that you can jump onto the end of threads and try to say why they are so wonderful to type on.

[Input Nirvana]

The best thing about a kinesis is that you can jump onto the end of threads and try to say why they are so wonderful to type on.

What an opportunistic weenie.

Ditto

Post when you get a second Kinesis, you poser

[sordna]

I have 6, my oldest one is on tour, and my newest and most expensive one was attacked with a dremel tool yesterday. Click my sig for details.

[Input Nirvana]

I'm down to 5, goal this year is 3 (split modified, unsplit modified, another for a custom controller).

I'm toying with the idea of doing a couple of the mods and selling those units to get the mods 'out there'.

[boli]

my newest and most expensive one was attacked with a dremel tool yesterday. Click my sig for details.

Nice work sordna!

I'm wondering why you didn't use the key on the right for something other than the embedded num pad - since the num pad is on the right side I'd think the left hand would toggle it. Then again you could have moved or duplicated the num pad to the left side... what were your thoughts?

[sordna]

To access the numpad keys I use the left k-shift, but I am not using the 2nd layer just for the numpad. I mapped all the F keys to the number row, so for F1 - F5 I hold the right k-shift and the corresponding number key on the number row. Also, since I normally map End to Escape, and I sometimes need the End function, I use the right k-shift and the End key to produce End. By the way, I use the embedded numpad for mousekeys. I just hold the left k-shift and can do clicks and move the pointer right around the home row!
I'm thinking to add a couple more keys, around the thumb clusters, so I can do shift with my thumbs.

[Input Nirvana]

Starter ideas:

[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 38646[/ATTACH]

Or just below thumb clusters, or above just to the inside of each keywell.

[Architect]

A couple more keys would be awesome on the Kinesis. I don't DIY much anymore or I'd try it

[sordna]

Starter ideas:

Or just below thumb clusters, or above just to the inside of each keywell.

I'm amazed that this guy did NOT add switches under the shifts, which is the most obvious and easy place to add them! I like those those extra thumb keys, hmmm, where's that dremel ?

[boli]

To access the numpad keys I use the left k-shift, but I am not using the 2nd layer just for the numpad. [snip awesome stuff]

Man I hadn't thought it through when asking that question... Damn you sordna, that's very awesome!

It's a shame the k-shift thing can't be remapped without a foot pedal or rewiring (please don't confirm ), I'd even gladly give another key or two for such a thing (possibly in the Caps Lock location, which is where my `~ key is currently, which I could move to either Page Up/Down or Home/End maybe...)

Starter ideas:

(Attachment Link) 38646[/ATTACH]

Or just below thumb clusters, or above just to the inside of each keywell.

Oh yeah I think I saw this when you posted at the colemak forum, very awesome indeed! It does look a bit more involved than sordna's mod though, not sure I'm up for it.

[sordna]

You can remap the key pad toggle function to any key. So you can make your Caps Lock toggle the keypad layer. But it won't act as a momentary shift. Once you push it it will take you to keypad mode, and you would have to push it again to get out of it. If you don't mind, you can do that, but you'll need either a footswitch for the remapping, or just use a thin wire and short the black and green leads of the RJ11 jack together to produce the "from" keypress for the keypad toggle during remapping.

[boli]

Thanks for the clarification. That's too bad, I like the momentary k-shift much better.

Another question about this bit:

The other 2 actions (FS1 == Left Shift, FS3 == Keypad Enter) are remappable like any key on the keyboard, so if you are interested in adding extra keys for whatever other function like Windows keys or whatever, you could use those instead, and remap them to your heart's content.

So the FS1 and FS3 actions could be remapped without remapping the original Left Shift and original Keypad Enter? Just wondering, the way you did it sounds more interesting ATM.

[sordna]

So the FS1 and FS3 actions could be remapped without remapping the original Left Shift and original Keypad Enter?

Correct. They are extra keys, that just happen to be mapped to Left Shift and KP_Enter upon keyboard reset. They can be remapped independently and will not affect your original Left Shift and KP_Enter.

[Forsaken]

I swapped Tab / Delete, since I use Tab a whole lot more often than Delete. So to do Alt+Tab I hit the right Alt with my right thumb, and the Tab with my left thumb.
Got the idea of Tab on the thumb from a Maltron I tried, it's a great location.

I swapped delete/left-shift. I find it very convenient to shift with my thumb.

[dorkvader]

I swapped delete/left-shift. I find it very convenient to shift with my thumb.

Hmm, that's a good idea. I'm having more trouble with shift than other keys. I blame my pinkies.

[Lanx]

which kinesis you have? i had to hard mod delete on both of the classics i had. (and seems to be an issue that only affects me)

[sordna]

Lanx, are you sure you are doing it correctly? You would remap it like this: Pgm+F12, Left Shift, Delete, Pgm+F12
It works both on my Classic and my Advantage boards. You could use Right Shift instead of Left Shift too.

[Lanx]

yea, it've been the array or whatever, i can't retry now since like it's hard modded anyway lol.

[Input Nirvana]

Keep in mind, though it has almost never been an issue, if you are dealing with a board and the serial # is in the 30k range...it's at least 10 years old, could be close 15-20 years old.

[Lanx]

40k range

[CyberDave]

Well, my board is here! It's dirtier and yellower than I expected, so I only hooked it up to make sure it works...will give it a good cleaning when I get home, and probably let it sit in some Retr0bright under a UV lamp over the weekend.

EDIT: Oooh, doubleshot keycaps, even...

[dorkvader]

Keep in mind, though it has almost never been an issue, if you are dealing with a board and the serial # is in the 30k range...it's at least 10 years old, could be close 15-20 years old.

Really? I thought it was just an old manual, but the one I'm borrowing from sordna is really from 1994? (sn is 11k)

Cyberdave tell us what you think of it! I'm still pretty slow, as I'm still getting used to proper touch typing.

[sordna]

dorkvader, the #110 I gave you is from the 1990-1994 era.

[CyberDave]

Really? I thought it was just an old manual, but the one I'm borrowing from sordna is really from 1994? (sn is 11k)

Cyberdave tell us what you think of it! I'm still pretty slow, as I'm still getting used to proper touch typing.

As excited as I am to start learning on this keyboard, I don't think I'm going to be able to really get into that until next weekend. It needs a good cleaning and de-yellowing first, and I already have a bunch of other keyboards that need cleaning first (I found a stack of Wyse terminal keyboards with Cherry MX doubleshots that I plan to harvest, clean, and sell).

Also, I'm moving to a new office at work on Monday. Yesterday after I finished packing up my cube, I went over to my new space. It's mostly empty, but it looks like someone left behind a box of stuff with no name attached. In that box was another Kinesis keyboard. One of the first things I'm going to do Monday is try to track down its owner and maybe make an offer.

[hoggy]

One of the first things I'm going to do Monday is try to track down its owner and maybe make an offer.

21st Century hunter gathering at it's finest.

[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 38913[/ATTACH]
[ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ] 38912[/ATTACH]


When my company moved offices, I moved all of my keyboards myself...

[Input Nirvana]

One of the first things I'm going to do Monday is try to track down its owner and maybe make an offer.

And so it begins.....