I have one, and I love it. It's loud, feels great and the dipswitch settings on it make me not have to worry about any software to make it work exactly as I like.
The backlighting on it is also perfect.
I don't DVORAK, but the included keypuller makes it simple to swap keys around if you are so inclined.
> the included keypuller makes it simple to swap keys around if you are so inclined.
You know what would be nice? If the keyboard had enough intelligence to read the keycaps and modify which codes it sent based on which keycaps are attached to which switches.
OS key remapping tends to vary from 'xmodmap' to 'worse than xmodmap', in my experience. It would be nice if the stupidly obvious thing worked for once.
Normally keys are scanned group-by-group digitally, but Cherry recently came out with a keyboard that uses analogue readout of the key matrix. They now put different resistors at each switch and measure the voltage (so they save delays introduced by the scanning and can sell it as "super fast" to gamers …)
If they put the resistors in the keycaps and managed to get stable contacts to the switches below working, one might be able to get a feature like that in hardware.
But allowing to reprogram the keys in the keyboard controller probably is easier. Longer initial setup time, but how often do people change their keyboard layouts?!
> Normally keys are scanned group-by-group digitally, but Cherry recently came out with a keyboard that uses analogue readout of the key matrix. They now put different resistors at each switch and measure the voltage (so they save delays introduced by the scanning and can sell it as "super fast" to gamers …)
Interesting to imagine most keyboards are that primitive.
It's also interesting to see gamers continuing to push technology forwards.
> But allowing to reprogram the keys in the keyboard controller probably is easier. Longer initial setup time, but how often do people change their keyboard layouts?!
It's worth it if the setup is obnoxious enough, and, well, this is something which should be possible, and it's annoying that it hasn't been done yet.
That's actually a really clever idea. Secondary levels take manual work of course, but the basic principle should be viable, especially if you have a "default" layout photo to compare.
Saying the software is so bad you wish it was done in hardware seems like a step backwards to me. Surely a simpler answer is to write a nice xmodmap GUI.
In this case, I honestly think the hardware solution is the better UI.
A very naïve person would expect that changing where the keycaps are would change which switch corresponds to which keycode. Only they'd think of it more like "Hey, the key I want to press is over there, but if I swap things around a bit, I can put it in this more convenient location over here." This isn't stupidity, it's merely expecting the world to be more obvious in its workings than it actually is.
Obviousness is a good UI heuristic. It isn't everything, and it can lead you down some dumb blind alleys, but in this case I can't think of any non-technical reason it shouldn't be made to work.
>A very naïve person would expect that changing where the keycaps are would change which switch corresponds to which keycode.
I don't agree with this. Nobody would expect that rearranging the buttons on their car dashboard would change the original functionality. Same for buttons in a lift, coffee machine, anything you care to name. People are very familiar with the idea that the switch is just a sticker on an underlying mechanism. They don't think the letters inscribed on the plastic magically embody some functionality. So I think your whole premise is wrong.
>> I don't DVORAK, but the included keypuller makes it simple to swap keys around if you are so inclined.
Unfortunately you cannot swap the keys that sit in different rows. You couldn't swap a "Q" and an "A" for example - they have different profiles. See here for more information (picture on the right if you just want a quick visual):
I use an alternative layout and I never switched my keys around. You should never be looking at the keyboard while you type, even while learning a new layout.
This has long been a pet peeve of mine when it comes to online articles. I see the appeal for printed magazines because, if people are flipping pages, a large pull quote might catch their attention and get them to start reading. But for an online article, the fact that I'm scrolling down means that I am reading. And if I'm reading, there's nothing more annoying than re-reading the exact sentence that I just read.
If you want to do more intelligent pull quotes, paraphrase the quotes and use them as headings. For example:
... And then, Reader, I clicked on it.
<div class="pullquote">The Container Store is my kind of porn</div>
I'd been looking for a new job for months, the search wasn't going
as well as I'd planned, and The Container Store, let's be honest,
is my kind of porn. ...
This has the advantage of piquing someone's curiosity ("Why is the Container Store a kind of porn for this person?") and they can carry on to read the following paragraph to find out why. For the next pull quote:
<div class="pullquote">A job with benefits is a unicorn</div>
Of course, it too appears above the paragraph that mentions it. The point is to set the stage for what you're about to read, not just regurgitate in a large, bold font the text you just read... which wastes peoples' time.
Images instead? Although peppering of stories with boring stock photos isn't great either. Original art is of course expensive, but that would be best.
I'm already reading the page. I don't need a pull quote to repeat what I just read. Pull quotes are for magazine layouts when you're flipping through pages. Pull quotes on a web article is a clear sign that the editor is stuck in print media. I'm not 'flipping' through web pages like a magazine, so their usage is a bit passé. Perhaps let's not listen to what the writers like and listen to what readers like. I'm pretty sure the designers aren't making grammar suggestions to the writers, so let's let the designers focus on what they know best: readability and usability.
There has to be a better way, its really distracting and breaks up all the flow. The article font is already large enough make the page scroll forever, to add large chunks of quotes or images in the made me give up halfway though.
Putting them inline with the story is bad. Doing so in a way that just repeats the preceding paragraph is terrible. Seriously, read it for yourself all the way through and ask yourself if that's a comfortable flow.
At some point, we flee after Joe630 demands "hugs" from us... something he continues throughout the conference. "Touch me not, boy... I will not submit to your fondling," I tell him behind clenched teeth as I back out of the room.
"I'll only hug a man if he's buying me drinks or I'm trying to lift his wallet."
Seeing an eclipse is like flying in an airplane. Seeing it in totality is like jumping out of one.