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one at home, one at work. great feel, proper ctrl placement, and no useless number pad to move your hand over every time you go to use your mouse

I had to get a small keyboard and an optical mouse (to get rid of the mousepad), due to a once-dislocated shoulder.

It's extremely comfortable, and as a bonus result, I can read a book placed to the left of the keyboard (without getting a sore neck),
and/or between keyboard and monitor (without having to squint to see what's on the screen).

This machine is my mp3 player walking to work, an instant on recording device, plays movies (PocketDivX), and I can read slashdot from it, not to mention the regular PDA features.

Don't think I have a solution for the MP3 or DivX parts, but the others can be handled with Handera products. My old TRGPro with Eudora Internet Suite handles online browsing, though with a limited HTML set (no frames or tables, iirc). The newer 330 model does that, and also has the instant-on voice recording, too.

Ease of programmability, I don't know about. I do know the PalmOS can handle limited Python, plus Tcl, some type of Basic, and I think some sort of Java.

I can get an expansion pack that allows me to plug in any USB keyboard and has a VGA port that will do 800x600 @ 256 colors - yes, I can put a powerpoint presentation on this and leave the laptop at home

Done, with a combination of the 330 and Margi Presenter To Go. Tack on a Happy Hacking Cradle and you can use whatever PS/2 keyboard you like. This list of other keyboards might have other options to your liking.

Handera also has both CF and SD/MMC slots in the 330 models. No color on any Handera models yet, and they've not yet gone past OS 3.5.x.

Yes, what hacker uses a mouse anyway? I'm sure they all use The Happy Hacking Keyboard.

Have you ever checked out the Happy Hacking keyboard line? They offer keyboards with the Sun Type 3 layout and only 60 keys - none of this "windows" key nonsense. :)

Check them out!

(Sorry to sound like an infomercial. Sometimes, you just find something really spiffy, and *want* other people to dig it, too...)

The Happy Hacking Keyboard is about the best new keyboard I've found. Good feel, no extra keys, remarkably small, but keys as big as an old IBM.
From their site:
- NO CAPS LOCK KEY
- NO WINDOWS KEY
- CTRL Key is in Right Position
- Full Size Key Pitch

They don't have any of those cutesy 'Shop on the Web' buttons that link you to long-dead dotcoms or even seperate number pad or arrow keys - this is a keyboard perfect for serious text editing. (Dare I say it? A real man's keyboard!)

If you've ever used one, you probably know what I'm talking about...

Cheers,
Jim in Tokyo

In my recent search, I found that these keyboards are perfect, albeit overpriced.

you can always get a happy hacking keyboard here.

No more of those sissy windows or CAPS LOCK keys ;-)

00_NOP wrote:
> The zx80 keyboard?

I second that, the ZX80 keyboard was terrible. Actually we used those computers at school in a class called "Computers and Programming" in 1982 or something. Yup, BASIC programming on 1K RAM and a crappy black and white TV for display. Imagine the sensibility on those fragile pads after being punched and poked by hundreds of bullies, no wonder my fingertips still hurt.

IMHO, I always found the Amiga 500 keyboard to be the best. It also had the CTRL key at the right spot, which is why I'm using - and recommending - the Happy Hacker Keyboard. It's a few extra bucks, but I promise you all - it's worth it.

-skurk.

Last time I checked, this keyboard was called the Happy Hacking Keyboard

this

Exactly. You are describing the brilliant Happy Hacker Keyboards!

Not only do they remove the extra BS keys, but they also swapped Control & Caps Lock, for those of us using Sun systems, or those who just prefer that type of setup. It really is a great keyboard!

Best keyboard in the WORLD is...

The Happy Hacking Keyboard!

Not exactly ergonomic in the usual sense of the word, though...

Ummm...someone's already gone and done it...
The Happy Hacking Keyboard.

Thank me.

We're talking lunchbox form factor!

I say 'pseudo' laptop because I don't want to mess with batteries when pretty much all the places I'd care to use a laptop there are already electrical outlets nearby. Plus how cool would it be with an old vacuum cleaner's retractable powercord?

There are plenty of little optical mice and the Happy Hacker would certainly be adequate... but I kept getting hung up on what I have heard is the most expensive part of a laptop- the display.

Most of the 4"-8" discrete LCD modules I can find (such as these) only have standard "Yellow RCA" composite video-in.

Anyone know where small LCD modules with VGA connectors can be found?

this thing has more keys than my keyboard! (i use a happy hacker keyboard)

These are nice...

Eww. Does anyone else wish they'd make a version of the Happy Hacking normal or Lite with USB? Those recessed cursor keys really turn me off buying the Lite 2.

Well, if you get a Happy Hacking Keyboard then the ESC key is where the tilde is on a regular ol' keyboard. Couple other changes like caps is replaced with ctrl. Its supposed to be great for working with *nix command lines, vi, etc.

...all get a Happy Hacking Keyboard and shut up?

http://www.pfuca.com

---
If PacMan had affected us as kids we'd be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to electronic music.

Are there _blank_ keycaps available for keyboards?

I see that for the Happy Hacker Keyboard they do Dvorak ones, but I was hoping to have a completely blank keyboard... just to freak out anyone who still needs to look at the keyboard when they are typing ;)

Actually, Happy Hacking Keyboard Lite 2 (now that's a product name!) has 2 downstream USB ports, too.

Happy Hacker at Pfu for those who don't know it. (Karma already at 50, not whoring with links, etc.)

Most non-US keyboards aren't made for programmers.
If you want a good keyboard for writing code, order a US keyboard.
If you're using a Sun workstation, you might want to check out their "UNIX/C" keyboard.
Another option is the "Happy Hacking Keyboard" from PFU, Inc.

These guys make non-Windows keyboards with pride. And the best IBM ThinkPad lines ship without Windows keys to this day. So yes, fortunately for all of us, somebody still produces MS-free keyboards :)

You want a Happy Hacker Keyboard ... this thing is portable ! Two people at the month lan party I go to, use it, and do very well with it.

And you can't go wrong with a flat panel LCD if you can afford it. You may want to check your local computer fair and see if you can buy a refurbished one.

Not sure if anyone has posted this one, but use The Happy Hacking Keyboard!

.kb

I'm not sure if this is the smallest but it does rock and it is *very* small.

The Happy Hacker keyboard is also available for your PDA, if you don't mind the extra size. For serious keyboard jockeys (or, if you use your Palm to telnet into a server and use Emacs), it might be another option.

I prefer to use my happy hacking keyboard with my palmpilot, because I've found the action on most of the folding keyboards isn't to my likeing. The happy hacking cradle has a ps2 port on it, so you can plug any keyboard into it. Not great for travle, as you have to carry a full size keyboard, but good when you want to enter data quickly.

Of course, to combine the HHC with a Palm V, you need yet another connector thingamabob, but hey, what price consumer geekdom?

(Sorry if this gets posted twice, /. seems /.'ed)

There has to be a way to implement some manner of encryption between the keyboard and the OS, in which the keyboard mapping is jumbled and re-constructed via a random mapping once it reaches the OS. I'm no hardware expert but I would think some sort of device could act as an interface which the keyboard plugs into. Add some software to the PC and there you go.

If you're really that paranoid, carry a laptop, or at least carry your own keyboard with you. You could easily slip a Pfuca Happy Hacker keyboard in your briefcase.

But... I'm not sure if I could get used to the stylus-based input.

This is a possible solution (hey, cool, the HHKB now comes in black...), but if I'm going to carry around the keyboard (which is my preferred input method anyway) and cradle, I may as well just bring the laptop.

Do you think I'll be able to adapt? Otherwise, I agree with Flavio -- it's either a laptop or pad o' paper for me.

All generalizations are false.

Ugh!! I hate MS Natural Keyboard. for some reason it makes my hands hurt after a day of using it.

I prefer using an old IBM AT keyboard, nice and clicky!

Of course the HHK is rather nice too!

... to use a Happy Hacking keyboard: they are a smaller target for "food crumbs..., dead insects..., dead skin, and hair".

Lots of people are saying the same things: why buy it? You need an outlet and a monitor (not to mention a keyboard and a mouse and a usb network card), so its not exactly a portable. It has no room for expansion, so its not exactly a desktop. It's too expensive for a thin client, so why would anyone want to buy it?

When I first saw the espresso, I thought one thing: "LAN Party". This would be (almost) the ultimate LAN Party box. Imagine walking into a LAN party with a 15" LCD, a happy hacker keyboard, and a 4"x6" machine. Quite the envy, methinks. The biggest downside: no hardware 3d. But for the Quaker or the Half-Lifer, thats not much of an issue.

I wouldnt mind the extra inch of depth for a PCI/AGP slot. I wouldnt even mind an extra $50 or $100 on the price tag. And I'm sure there are plenty of gamers out there who would agree.

• http://www.landware.com/produ cts/gotype/gotypeps.html Landware's origional
• http://www.palm.com/products/keyboard/ Newer foldable keyboard OEMed by Palm
• http://www.pfuca.com/products/hhkb /hhcindex.html This is another product that allows you to connect a normal PS2 keyboard to your Palm.

&nbsp - Mike

does anyone make a compact, collapsable keyboard like the ones for the Handspring and Palm.
You might prefer this:
Happy Hacking keyboard. I gotta get one of those.. :)

The people who make my tiny keyboard (PFUCA) also make a small server called the netbox running Linux. The company website has pictures of Linus checking out clusters of them.

The people who make my tiny keyboard (PFUCA) also make a small server called the netbox running Linux. The company website has pictures of Linus checking out clusters of them.

The people who make my tiny keyboard (PFUCA) also make a small server called the netbox running Linux. The company website has pictures of Linus checking out clusters of them.

http://www.pfuca.com/products/hhk b/hhkbindex.html is where you can get them. They are quite simply the best keyboard on the planet, IMHO of course.

My cellular phone can do as much as some of the early Palm Pilots. I can store tons of numbers, personal information, and even play a few games (the "snake" one is my fave). A color Palm would be nice if 3com is trying to move away from "PDAs" and into the WinCE market. But unfortunately they'll have to change a lot more than the screen to make it attractive. A color LCD is a start... I'd love to see a Palm with an active-matrix notebook-type display. But it's not too useful on something that many people regard as a "gameboy for suits"... they have to design a New Palm.

The New Palms should keep the familiar interface, but add an HDD with a few hundred megs, and at least 16MB RAM.

I'd like to see a better e-mail interface.

I'd like a simple web-browser. Opera is a good candidate - very quick, and extremely tiny install file.

I'd like a spiffy text editor. Did you know that those Happy Hacker keyboards can be hooked up to Palms (with a cradle) for direct text entry? Those keyboards are sweet. You could have one of them, with the Palm in the cradle, on an airplane and take up much less space than a laptop.

My dream for the Palm is actual decent UN*X support, and maybe even a few apps... Hey, Linux for Palms! I can be sitting there, coding via the Happy Hacking Keyboard into Palm-Emacs running under Palm Hat Linux!

Somebody mentioned this, but didn't provide a url so here goes: www.pfuca.com One of the two versions evidently has some sort of ibm-style tactile feedback, but I'm not sure if there's an actual clicky-noise. I hope not, I hate
that damned noise.

Of course you'd mention this after I switched to the Happy Hacker Keyboard (w/o NumLock key). =)
Christopher A. Bohn

I think the original article contained a link to pfuca, who sell keyboards that have the 'spirit of Unix' still living in them :)

I rather liked the keyboard, but it's not quite right, so I won't get one:

• I have got used to having Ctrl down there on the left
• I have got used to having a big enter key
• I have got really used to the 'delete to the left' key being at the top of the keyboard. Whatever you call it.
• I like page up and page down, and the cursor keys are good for command line editing
• In xterm you can use Shift-Insert instead of middle-mouse-button, which is great, but the Happy Hacking keyboard doesn't have Insert
• I want to be able to delete left and delete right. So I need a backspace and a delete key (however you call them).
• My keyboard already has two Control keys, the Happy Hacker would be a step backwards in that respect. It even has space for them, which is unused.
• On a Danish keyboard you need a few extra keys.

So I would like a slightly less radical keyboard than the Happy Hacking keyboard. Cut the function keys, cut the numeric keypad, leave everything else more or less the same. No windows keys of course, no caps lock, and make it compact so it doesn't take up too much space. Putting Ctrl next to A would let me have two Alt-Gr keys which would be a godsend on a Danish keyboard, where you need Alt-Gr for ${[]}|~\ ie all the time in programming.

Does such a keyboard exist

A foot-operated mouse would complete the picture.

I don't agree that it's 'cos of old software, as I use modern software (lots of NT, Irix, Linux etc etc) and still prefer the older real keyboards.

I do, however, agree that it is subjective - maybe there should be keyboard for each type of user...someone like me has no need for Caps Lock, Windows key, SysRq etc, but maybe some people do. I would like a bigger spacebar and left shift, the pipe character up top right where it should be and a whole host of other things - but that would also cause disturbance to those who like it like that.

So, manufacturers - how about more of you doing a pfuca

Almost everything that Tom rants about in this article is taken care of by the folks at PFU America, makers of the Happy Hacker keyboard. Though he doesn't mention it or them by name, his article is like a manifesto for the HH kbd.

I hope I get one or two of the keyboards for the holidays, they look excellent.

I do not actually believe, nor do I endorse the supposition, that Tom is in the pay of the PFU people. I just think it's interesting that there is a company that seems to be on the same Zen wave that he is on.

Bander

Here's some ideas for the geeks in us:

1) A Happy Hacking Keyboard. A throwback to the Sun Type 3 keyboards, 60 keys, compatible with Macs and PCs.

2) Victorinox Cybertool. Already suggested by many of you, the ultimate pocket knife to have around for us techies.

3) Pretty much anything from thinkgeek.com. Great products, get the shooter glasses and play the unix drinking game :) Plus, they sell stuffed Tux penguins.

4) Shirts from copyleft. Great ones there.

Other nice gifts ideas from Sharper Image and Hotbox. Check out the infinity puzzle at the latter, seems very interesting.

Those looking for a Palm keyboard solution may also be interested in this from PFU, the makers of the Happy Hacking Keyboard. It lets you connect any PS/2 keyboard to your PDA.