radical idea.

[wheel83]

i looked at the colemak layout and they suggest using caps lock as backspace.  i liked the idea of less travel to the backspace key, but this didnt seem like the best idea.

anyways, my new idea is using the ";" button as backspace. i never use that punctuation much anyway and i can bind it to something else.  and it just seems like a good idea to me. i could be on to something here.



anyways what are some good programs for doing this?  i forgot how to use autohotkey.

will

[wheel83]

thanks ripster!

i will try it tomorrow!

[Alpha Omicron]

I suggest you try out vanilla Colemak for while. A few people swap a key or two, but you'll be surprised at the extent to which it Just Works™.

[wheel83]

i dont think i will ever switch from standard qwerty anytime soon.  its tempting.  but no one is ever gonna switch anytime soon.

[lowpoly]

On my mini I have Backspace on Fn+Space.

[wheel83]

like i said its a radical idea.  of course it can be torn down.

[wheel83]

...

[wheel83]

...

[ch_123]

anyways, my new idea is using the ";" button as backspace. i never use that punctuation much anyway and i can bind it to something else.  and it just seems like a good idea to me. i could be on to something here.

I take it you don't do much programming? Semicolon is used at the end of a command in all the C-based languages.

[wheel83]

no i dont do any programming.  im just looking for faster/easier ways to type.  i do a lot of emailing and chatting.

[Rajagra]

I suggest you try out vanilla Colemak for while. A few people swap a key or two, but you'll be surprised at the extent to which it Just Works™.

Is there such a thing as vanilla Colemak? I downloaded "Portable Keyboard Layout" intending to try it out, but found I had choices like Colemak, Colemak_Comfort, and Colemak_UK. The last one seemed the obvious choice for my UK keyboard, but it moves the bottom row to the left to take advantage of the extra \ key next to left shift. BUT, doesn't that mess up all the careful optimisation that makes Colemak worth using in the first place?

EDIT added layouts.
It is the colemak_comfort layout that moves keys along:
colemak
colemak_comfort
colemak_uk

[Alpha Omicron]

Is there such a thing as vanilla Colemak?
I downloaded "Portable Keyboard Layout" intending to try it out, but found I had choices like Colemak, Colemak_Comfort, and Colemak_UK.

See www.colemak.com.

doesn't that mess up all the careful optimisation that makes Colemak worth using in the first place?

I wouldn't say Colemak is "carefully optimised". I think of it more as a "fixed Qwerty".

[ch_123]

The last one seemed the obvious choice for my UK keyboard, but it moves the bottom row to the left to take advantage of the extra \ key next to left shift. BUT, doesn't that mess up all the careful optimisation that makes Colemak worth using in the first place?

It doesnt move anything as far as I know... All the symbols stay the same, the layout is just concerned with the placement of letters, which is the same for Euro and US layouts.

[Rajagra]

See www.colemak.com.
I wouldn't say Colemak is "carefully optimised". I think of it more as a "fixed Qwerty".

From that site: "According to carpalx, which is the most extensive research on keyboard layouts done so far, Colemak wins over Dvorak and QWERTY in all different typing effort models."

If you change the layout, that may change.

It is the colemak_comfort layout that moves keys along:

EDIT> In any case, I've downloaded the (vanilla!) Colemak layout and TypeFaster via http://www.colemak.com, it's easy enough that way.:amen:

[cmr]

anyways, my new idea is using the ";" button as backspace. i never use that punctuation much anyway and i can bind it to something else.  and it just seems like a good idea to me. i could be on to something here.

hmm, you must do all your programming in python

[ch_123]

Ive decided to try out Colemak for a while. After a good bit of practise in Gtypist I have a very limited ability to touch type in it. I might stick to it for a week and see how it goes.