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Changing the Keyboard
Your Mama sent us a funny NY Times bit (yes, you need a free account) about dumbing down keyboards because all those crazy keys confuse the newbies. BUt this begs the question: How can we survive without old friends like the Scroll Lock, the Sys Rq and of course, break?
OBVIOUSLY, the solution is to make a keyboard with one and only one button.
It would sit right smack in the middle of the keyboard. The only label on it would be a little smiley face. (You could put some LSD on it if so inclined).
Then, you think about what you want the button to do REALLY HARD as you press it down. The keyboard would then interpret your thought and send the appropriate message to the computer.
Of course, you'd have to put new typing programs on the market to teach you where on the Home Key to place your fingers.
Some would say that as long as the keyboard is reading your thoughts, why not just eliminate the keyboard altogether and just communicate your thoughts telepathically to the computer? Obviously, that's just hogwash. How are you supposed to convey your thoughts without pressing down on the button??
Anyway, I have a limited number of these special keyboards made, so contact me if you want one. The price is $100 per unit, non-negotiable.
DISCLAIMER: The keyboards only work as long as your only thoughts are, "Do nothing. Do nothing."
-
The only keys you need are :
ctrl + alt + del
I was helping my new bride move out of her apartment and what did I find in the back of a closet? Why, an old IBM!
She said, "Oh, yeah. That thing is ancient. We can probably just throw it all out."
I said, "No way. I'm keeping this keyboard."
Yep. Count 'em -- 101 long-throw keys with easy action and SPRINGS (Can I get a hallelujah!) A case that was made of METAL, man! You could put it on your lab -- provided you didn't need circulation to your knees (it's a little heavy compared to today's stuff). A genuine coiled cable from an era when coiled cables did NOT tangle into a 3" knot of cheap plastic misery within a week.
And the NOISE! I haven't heard that kind of audible feedback from a keyboard in years! Everything now is don't-wake-up-the-guy-in-the-next-cubicle softie soft. (ok, Dell is the exception) Not only did it "click", it would "boing" oh-so-softly with each keystroke!
It went straight on to my #1 box and the cool factor of the machine went up immediately. Trust me -- you could feel it. The only drawback is that when I'm in the office, people can tell whether I'm working (CLACKETY CLACK CLACK) or just goofing in Netscape.
Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.
The idea is that, with Scroll Lock on, when you use the cursor movement keys (up, down, etc) instead of moving the cursor, you scroll the window.
Timur Tabi
Remove "nospam_" from email address
Ok, I've been using Linux for over two years now without coming across this before - it would have been damn useful those times when SVGAlib stole my keyboard and I didn't have a network to telnet in from.
/. has comment truncating working nicely now, and it's all worth it.
~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry for the long comment, but
/usr/src/linux/Documentation/sysrq.txt:
MAGIC SYSRQ KEY DOCUMENTATION v1.2
------------------------------------
[Sat May 16 01:09:21 EDT 1998]
* What is the magic SysRQ key?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is a 'magical' key combo you can hit which kernel will respond to
regardless of whatever else it is doing, unless it is completely locked up.
* How do I enable the magic SysRQ key?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You need to say yes to 'Magic SysRq key (CONFIG_MAGIC_SYSRQ)' when
configuring the kernel. This option is only available it 2.1.x or later
kernels.
* How do I use the magic SysRQ key?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On x86 - You press the key combo 'ALT-SysRQ-'. Note - Some
(older?) may not have a key labeled 'SysRQ'. The 'SysRQ' key is
also known as the 'Print Screen' key.
On SPARC - You press 'ALT-STOP-', I believe.
On other - If you know of the key combos for other architectures, please
let me know so I can add them to this section.
* What are the 'command' keys?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'r' - Turns off keyboard raw mode and sets it to XLATE.
'k' - Kills all programs on the current virtual console.
'b' - Will immediately reboot the system without syncing or unmounting
your disks.
'o' - Will shut your system off via APM (if configured and supported).
's' - Will attempt to sync all mounted filesystems.
'u' - Will attempt to remount all mounted filesystems read-only.
'p' - Will dump the current registers and flags to your console.
't' - Will dump a list of current tasks and their information to your
console.
'm' - Will dump current memory info to your console.
'0'-'9' - Sets the console log level, controlling which kernel messages
will be printed to your console. ('0', for example would make
it so that only emergency messages like PANICs or OOPSes would
make it to your console.)
'e' - Send a SIGTERM to all processes, except for init.
'i' - Send a SIGKILL to all processes, except for init.
'l' - Send a SIGKILL to all processes, INCLUDING init. (Your system
will be non-functional after this.)
* Okay, so what can I use them for?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, un'R'aw is very handy when your X server or a svgalib program crashes.
sa'K' (system attention key) is useful when you want to exit a program
that will not let you switch consoles. (For example, X or a svgalib program.)
re'B'oot is good when you're unable to shut down. But you should also 'S'ync
and 'U'mount first.
'S'ync is great when your system is locked up, it allows you to sync your
disks and will certainly lessen the chance of data loss and fscking. Note
that the sync hasn't taken place until you see the "OK" and "Done" appear
on the screen. (If the kernel is really in strife, you may not ever get the
OK or Done message...)
'U'mount is basically useful in the same ways as 'S'ync. I generally 'S'ync,
'U'mount, then re'B'oot when my system locks. It's saved me many a fsck.
Again, the unmount (remount read-only) hasn't taken place until you see the
"OK" and "Done" message appear on the screen.
The loglevel'0'-'9' is useful when your console is being flooded with
kernel messages you do not want to see. Setting '0' will prevent all but
the most urgent kernel messages from reaching your console. (They will
still be logged if syslogd/klogd are alive, though.)
t'E'rm and k'I'll are useful if you have some sort of runaway process you
are unable to kill any other way, especially if it's spawning other
processes.
* Sometimes SysRQ seems to get 'stuck' after using it, what can I do?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That happens to me, also. I've found that tapping shift, alt, and control
on both sides of the keyboard, and hitting an invalid sysrq sequence again
will fix the problem. (ie, something like alt-sysrq-z). Switching to another
virtual console (ALT+Fn) and then back again should also help.
* I hit SysRQ, but nothing seems to happen, what's wrong?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are some keyboards which do not support 'SysRQ', you can try running
'showkey -s' and pressing SysRQ or alt-SysRQ to see if it generates any
0x54 codes. If it doesn't, you may define the magic sysrq sequence to a
different key. Find the keycode with showkey, and change the define of
'#define SYSRQ_KEY 0x54' in [/usr/src/linux/]include/asm/keyboard.h to
the keycode of the key you wish to use, then recompile. Oh, and by the way,
you exit 'showkey' by not typing anything for ten seconds.
* I have more questions, who can I ask?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You may feel free to send email to myrdraal@deathsdoor.com, and I will
respond as soon as possible. If that email address does not work, use
myrdraal@jackalz.dyn.ml.org.
-Myrdraal
I believe SysRq was added to the AT keyboard to assist with IBM-style terminal emulation.
--
Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
The sad thing is that many of the extended keys (as you'd find on the PC-style Apple extended keyboard) don't work in most Mac programs. I was always pressing Del on my old system 7.6 Mac with no results.
Apple did get one thing right by mapping cut-copy-paste-undo to the first four F keys.
--
Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
the original IBM 101-key keyboard. I have a pile of them, ranging in years from the mid-80s thru the early 90s, and all my friends use them. They have an amazing tactile-click, and they're completely indestructible. I've taken them apart -- the grounding strap in there could take a direct lightning strike. You can also pop off all the key caps (which fit over the actually keys) and remap them very easily.
I've seen them selling (refurbished) for around $80.
BTW, when Fire and Darkness was still a DOS game, you used Alt-SysRq to switch to the text mode console. Ever since we switched to Windows, it's been Scroll Lock. So we like all those extra keys.
I have to say, I do like Sun keyboards with the Ctrl where the Capslock is on all other keyboards (except the original 88-key that came with my IBM PC...now that was old school...)
If you ever use Lotus Notes, Ctrl+Break is a god send because it stops Notes from whatever crazy task it's hung on.
Scroll Lock also works in Notes and I actually use it (although less now that I have a scrolly mouse.)
--
Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
Try "cypherpunk s ". :)
I have the same number of options, they're just on a smaller number of keys :)!
The other day one of the network admins (novell guy, not a unix guy) came by to do something to my machine (gotta love remote admin!). Took one look at my keyboard and said "What the hell is that?" I offered to stay and type for him, he said no. I came back 10 minutes later and he was saying "I don't know how to do control alt delete!" :) (Del on this keyboard is "fn+'".
Duane
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
Well, you'd think that's what the "Help" key would be for, except when it doesn't do anything (which is usually).
So much for Human Interface Guidelines...
--
Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
Actually, Macs have Command instead of Alt (on the old keyboards) and still have a control. The Option key is there also.
Nothing is more useless, imho, than the Windows95 keys, which seem to serve the unique purpose of making the spacebar 3 inches long.
The best keyboard layout would be the PowerBook's if not for a few problems. First, it has a useless "Enter" key to the right of the spacebar, where there is traditionally a Cmd key. Fortunately this can be remapped. Second, the arrow keys are too small. Third, you should be able to use the f-keys to do anything. I mean, doesn't the F stand for function? I should be able to launch Netscape by pushing f5 if I want. The iBook lets you do that. Diehard keypad users who need to enter tons of numbers can set the numlock and the keypad gets mapped to the 789-uio-jkl-m,. keys. It fits the most useful stuff in the smallest space while maintaining a "full size" keyboard and drops the useless "print screen," "scroll lock, " and "pause" keys that I have never pressed. There, I pressed them. Wow.
Also, the Powerbook and iMac have the light for the Caps Lock button INSIDE the caps lock button. So if you want to see if it's on, you don't look on the other side of the keyboard.
The most useful key on the entire keyboard, of course, is the power button. Why have no other manufacturers picked up on this?
rooooar
Let me clarify: The mouse is inaccurate for just running around and shooting. It doesn't stay level and/or I tend to overshoot. Plus, since I'm right handed, it's easier to control everything important with my right hand than to switch to the mouse.
If I'm sniping, it means that no one is shooting back (yet) so I have more time to delicately move the mouse into position and blow some poor creature's head off. I wouldn't use the mouse in the thick of things, but then I wouldn't use a sniping rifle then either.
I don't have anything against analog control however; Goldeneye 007 uses a thumbstick pretty extensively for aiming and that's fine. But there's a big difference between the amazingly comfortable and well-thought out N64 controller and my keyboard and mouse.
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
I don't play Quake, but I do play games like it. I've never had to turn NumLock on to play these games with the number pad. So what is this guy talking about?
Timur Tabi
Remove "nospam_" from email address
That's an enormous amount of space saved!
Then, because it's a VR model, you can give it as many or as few keys as you like, placed where you like. Don't like QWERTY? Design your own style!
Finally, with everything in VR, and people getting to design things the way that works for them, we can get rid of condescending IBM keyboard designers and half-brained journalists, and get some work done!
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
While I agree about the numeric keypad being very useful, IMO the main numeric keys are too. They let me type occasional numbers without having to move my hands. Doing something like coding while having to move my hand to another area of the keyboard to enter numbers would slow me down a lot.
WHoa! chil I was just being a bit silly, sadly I too call it Ctrl-Alt-Del, I was just trying to stir up things, which oviously I stirred up one individual a bit too much. I was making that statement simply because you can hit alt-ctrl-del and it will work (note: you cannot hit del-ctrl-alt, or del-alt-ctrl). Anyways get a grip, btw if I look across my keyboard I see a spacebar then and alt then an ctrl then a del to the upper right (yes I see ctrl and alt on the left side of the spacebar too but I choose to ignore them just to annoy you).
:)
Well, I don't play quake at all (it's ugly), but when I do play 1st person shooters (Marathon, Doom, Unreal) I keep my right hand on the keypad and left hand on the w/a/s/d keys (thumb on space). Since I put movement, sidestep, weapon selects and both triggers on the keypad, I'm just busy.
Once in a while I switch to the mouse (for sniping) but never in the thick of things. The mouse is too inaccurate for my tastes, unless I carefully aim. The keypad is great, OTOH. Since I've got aiming also mapped to left hand keys, I usually don't play with the mouse at all. And I play real good.
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
The PowerBook has an "Enter" key because for some reason Macs treat "Enter" and "Return" differently. Most applications treat them the same, but there were some older apps (Excel 2?) where Enter and Return have different meanings. This used to pose a problem on the original Mac keyboard, which only had a Return key.
Just file this post under "More useless information".
--
Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
If they're going to dumb down a keyboard, they should do it somewhat like the iMac's.
No, I don't mean in terms of layout or size. I'm stuck on Grandma's iMac at the moment and I hate the keyboard. But consider: 12 function keys, the standard character set, the standard modifiers, Caps, Tab, the arrows, a standard numpad, Help, Home, Page Up, and Page Down. What else do you need, except perhaps a couple more function keys if you're an F-key freak?
Scroll Lock, SysRq, PrintScreen (unless you're on a Windoze box where the key supposedly takes a screenshot but doesn't even save the picture on the disk), and others like that have served their purpose. They were designed for ancient terminals, so few of which are in use today (with the ones that are in use being phased out, and no new ones being sold) that you certainly don't have to make new keyboards for them (especially since simply being able to use one renders a user non-clueless by definition, so you're not dumbing the keyboard down by removing them).
I'm for getting rid of superfluous keys that even the average Linux user has probably never used. Just don't cut out too many keys.
d
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
Hey - have you looked at the cost of keyboards lately? $8 for your typical squishy 104 key model!
I can understand the "let's get rid of all the useless keys" movement. After all, it might increase the profit margin of some taiwanese company by 10 cents per keyboard or something.
--
Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
That's true in logic, but not in colloquial speech. Treating both definitions as being valid leads to the least frustration. I doubt the colloquial use will disappear any time soon.
Does anyone know where keyboards of this type can be obtained, or even where I could find a picture of one?
In fact, I expect that it doesn't matter if you leave it on or off with Quake - you can always reassign the keys.
Timur Tabi
Remove "nospam_" from email address