New Keyboad Layout Introduced

[cynthia]

If you can come up with a good reason the ";" key is in the home row, I'll concede.

Back in the old days that sign was very often used when you had a list of items to add in a sentence. Llike when you was to list something like; item1, item2 and item3.

But I rarely see it used today.

[TNT]

Why else would common letters like "e" "n" "t" and "r" not be in the home (middle) row? And why would you have "g" "j" "k" and the ever so useful ";" in the home row. If you can come up with a good reason the ";" key is in the home row, I'll concede.

There are certain truths one simply cannot deny by looking at the evidence. If YOU were going to design an efficient keyboard, would you HONESTLY put the bleeping ";" key in the home row? That's all I have to say.

[cynthia]

There are certain truths one simply cannot deny by looking at the evidence. If YOU were going to design an efficient keyboard, would you HONESTLY put the bleeping ";" key in the home row? That's all I have to say.

If you are a programmer - then I think you like it on the current location.

[TNT]

Back in the old days that sign was very often used when you had a list of items to add in a sentence. Llike when you was to list something like; item1, item2 and item3.

But I rarely see it used today.

Yeah, but used more often than the "." (period)? I somehow doubt that highly.

[TNT]

I'm not a programmer. Why is the ";" nice in the home row?

[cynthia]

I'm not a programmer. Why is the ";" nice in the home row?

All statements ends with a semicolon character (. This character is used to mark the end of the statement and in fact it must be included at the end of all expression statements in all C++ programs (one of the most common syntax errors is indeed to forget to include some semicolon after a statement).

;

[TNT]

Oh, thanks.

They didn't have C++ when the keyboard was invented!

[toomanycats]

I was one of those schlepps who actually took typing in high school (circa 1973) when mechanical typewriters were still considered "wonders". We were taught that the keyboard layout was to prevent the keys from crashing into each other as this could be avoided by placing common characters where they reside presently. One could infer that the end result was to slow down the typists but one could also infer that because of previous machine layouts and the mechanical jamming that took place, this was to speed up typists. The race to produce mechanisms that would allow an easier and lighter stroke means manufacturers were trying to speed things up. The standard layout was a starting point dictated by the technology of they day. Without stop signs you could get to work faster, except that you would crash into someone else doing the same thing, which would in fact slow you up, and waste a lot of paper.

[TNT]

;

[Tennessee Tony]

Okay, that's the dorkiest looking layout I've ever seen, AND it is unproven.

The Dvorak system was taught to only a handful of clerks during WWII in the US. That handful was able to easily outperform the hundreds of others in the same office, within just a few weeks.

The idea of different, more efficient keyboard layouts is not new in the least. But, unfortunately, we are what we are, and the masses will likely never change, without some sort of legislation requiring it be the new standard taught in school or some such.

In windows, all one needs to do to really really really mess with a co-worker who has left their desk for a moment is go into the Control Panel and change the keyboard layout. Dvorak is listed there, along with layouts for other languages and countries. It is listed under regional settings, I'll post directions at the bottom of this post.

What we NEED, to make a change, and to make it easy for multiple users, is a lighted (or lit) keyboard with BLANK transparent keys. At the flip of a switch on the keyboard itself, the "Standard" characters glow, or flip it the other way, and the (proven) Dvorak character assignments can be seen. I hope I'm making sense.

Until such devices are created, dual keyboards, though a clumsy arrangement, could be used on multiple user computers (I'm referring to the hospital and bank posts previously).

I think I'll round up an old USB keyboard and pull all the letters off and rearrange them to the Dvorak style. It'll be easy to temporarily plug in when I feel like learning Dvorak. Additionally, I'm going to have my daughter learn it, before she gets tainted with the Qwerkie system.

And now, I have a question. I don't use User Accounts, but my ex-wife does. But is it possible on a multi-user system, that each user could have a different keyboard layout? Because if I teach my daughter to use Dvorak, she'd be trying to reset the ex-wife's computer to Dvorak, sure as the world. I'm so proud of my little 8 year old hacker.



Now, how to change the keyboard layout, in Windows XP.

To add another keyboard layout or Input Method Editor (IME)

Open Regional and Language Options in Control Panel.

On the Languages tab, under Text services and input languages, click Details.

Under Installed services, click Add.

In the Input language list, click the language for the keyboard layout or Input Method Editor (IME) you want to add.

Select the Keyboard layout/IME check box, if multiple options are available, and then click a service in the list.

If Keyboard Layout/IME is the only type of text service available, click an option in that list.

Notes

To open Regional and Language Options, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Regional and Language Options.

There may be only one keyboard layout for some languages.

To add an IME, you must have installed it on your computer first.

[Tennessee Tony]

The best thing about the Dvorak system, is that not much changes. The / and the ? are still on the same key, as are all the other non-letter keys, just in a different spot. If any keyboard layout becomes the new standard, Dvorak is the one I'd wager on.





For a better layout, look here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...tes_Dvorak.svg

[toomanycats]

I think C is in the wrong spot but maybe it's me. I have fat fingers. C should be where J is, E should be where > is, > should be where V is and V should be where K is. and so on...................

[TNT]

What we NEED, to make a change, and to make it easy for multiple users, is a lighted (or lit) keyboard with BLANK transparent keys. At the flip of a switch on the keyboard itself, the "Standard" characters glow, or flip it the other way, and the (proven) Dvorak character assignments can be seen. I hope I'm making sense.

I doesn't have to be that complicated. It could have the Dvorak written in another color, kinda like in Tennessee Tony's post. I know that Japanese keyboards have English in one color and Japanese in another.

If you wanted to change your existing keyboard, you could probably just write the letters in using a Sharpie, or use something like rub on letters and clear nail polish to protect it.

[Kabuchan]

Personally, the absolute best keyboard would be one where no matter what key I hit, it will always be the right key!

[TNT]

You want every key to look like this one?