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Thinking about those Atari 400 style "touch-sensitive" keyboards that seemed cool the first time you used them, but quickly turned into a torture mechanism if you had to use them for more than a few minutes.
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Dec 15, 2021 18:16
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Dick Trauma posted:Thinking about those Atari 400 style "touch-sensitive" keyboards that seemed cool the first time you used them, but quickly turned into a torture mechanism if you had to use them for more than a few minutes. Membrane keyboards were necessary to get early 8 bit computers down to their desired price point, but boy howdy I can only imagine the kind of carpal tunnel syndrome you got from having to learn to code on one of these:  Sinclair machines still manage to surprise me every time with how small they were. Also that design!
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Dec 15, 2021 18:25
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barbecue at the folks posted:Membrane keyboards were necessary to get early 8 bit computers down to their desired price point, but boy howdy I can only imagine the kind of carpal tunnel syndrome you got from having to learn to code on one of these: Are those semaphore keys?
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Dec 15, 2021 18:45
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Computer viking posted:As a fun bonus, I also type a fair bit of Norwegian. There's a layout change button on the keyboard [...] As a fellow Norwegoon who just got used to a US computer keyboard layout (gently caress you, AltGr, goodbye!) I wish Microsoft (and KDE team) could do as MacOS – option+a gets you å, option+o gives you ø, and option+; gets you æ. Without switching awayfrom US layout! So wonderful for the rare Norwegian sentence here and there.
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Dec 15, 2021 18:49
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tribbledirigible posted:Are those semaphore keys? Nope, they for making 8 bit graphics with a keyboard.
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Dec 15, 2021 18:58
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A Pack of Kobolds posted:Nope, they for making 8 bit graphics with a keyboard. Among other things. Funny thing is you had a wipable keyboard on a computer with the worst porn.
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Dec 15, 2021 19:07
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F4rt5 posted:Long press on a and o takes too long I guess? As somebody who occasionally types Spanish or French words, cosigned. I was so peeved when I went from MacOS to Windows. I keep Character Map pinned to my toolbar, but God, it's clunky.
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Dec 15, 2021 19:58
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I'd hate to have to use them with any regularity, at that point I think I'd just write down / memorize a handful of alt codes, strictly inferior to the mac system they may be.
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Dec 15, 2021 21:02
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ArcMage posted:I'm big on swiftkey since 8pen died. Holy poo poo, someone else used 8pen.
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Dec 15, 2021 21:13
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barbecue at the folks posted:Membrane keyboards were necessary to get early 8 bit computers down to their desired price point, but boy howdy I can only imagine the kind of carpal tunnel syndrome you got from having to learn to code on one of these: The typing issue was mitigated a bit by the input system, with keywords being auto expanded. Here's an interview with the guy who wrote the manuals for the ZX81 and Spectrum (which were really, really good): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcWLudpe0n8
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Dec 15, 2021 21:27
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F4rt5 posted:Long press on a and o takes too long I guess? I can't help regarding Microsoft, but on KDE I have my CapsLock key set to function as a Compose key. So, to type á, I type Compose, a, ', in sequence. ø comes from Compose, o, /. å is, weirdly, not Compose, a, o, but is either Compose, o, a, or Compose, a, *, or Compose, *, a, or apparently Compose, a, a. (I look them up in the config file when I can't figure them out. There's almost always several combinations which work.) Obsolete tech: A CapsLock key? I'm not sure what I would use it for.
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Dec 15, 2021 22:55
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Vavrek posted:Obsolete tech: A CapsLock key? I'm not sure what I would use it for. YouTube comments
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Dec 15, 2021 23:50
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Vavrek posted:I can't help regarding Microsoft, but on KDE I have my CapsLock key set to function as a Compose key. So, to type á, I type Compose, a, ', in sequence. ø comes from Compose, o, /. å is, weirdly, not Compose, a, o, but is either Compose, o, a, or Compose, a, *, or Compose, *, a, or apparently Compose, a, a. (I look them up in the config file when I can't figure them out. There's almost always several combinations which work.) I <3 the Compose key. I started using it years ago because I am in the UK and like US keyboard layout (got too used to a Happy Hacking...), and £ is Compose, L, -. (Everything else was on the keyboard already I think) I don't think I've had to look stuff up much, as all the mappings just kinda made sense, but it seems a right pain to add more mappings, which is a shame. Caps always remapped as control, obviously. (Except on old apple keyboards where it physically latched when pressed!)
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Dec 16, 2021 00:00
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Vavrek posted:Obsolete tech: A CapsLock key? I'm not sure what I would use it for. A friend of mine uses it instead of the shift key, it makes me irrationally annoyed every time I witness it.
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Dec 16, 2021 00:04
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Placeholder posted:A friend of mine uses it instead of the shift key, it makes me irrationally annoyed every time I witness it. How do they do special characters? Or do they just never ask a question or use classic emoticons?
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Dec 16, 2021 00:10
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Serperoth posted:How do they do special characters? Or do they just never ask a question or use classic emoticons? To clarify, he uses it to type capital letters. As in he'll press caps lock and then whatever letter he wants in uppercase, and then press caps lock again.
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Dec 16, 2021 00:18
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Assume he has hand problems? I know when I had tendonitis in my hands I had trouble hitting two keys at the same time.
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Dec 16, 2021 00:59
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Serperoth posted:How do they do special characters? Or do they just never ask a question or use classic emoticons? That wouldn't be a problem on an old mechanical typewriter. On those, the shift key physically shifted the basket of type bars, to bring up the other symbol on their striking heads. There was no way to do a modern "caps lock" that only affected the letters and left numbers/symbols untouched, so there was a "shift lock" key which mechanically was exactly like holding down the shift key: it shifted the basket and held it there. To release, you didn't press the same key, you pressed regular shift, which released the lock and then the basket came back to normal position as the key was released, just like a normal momentary operation of the key to get a capital letter.
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Dec 16, 2021 01:00
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Placeholder posted:A friend of mine uses it instead of the shift key, it makes me irrationally annoyed every time I witness it. My fiancee was like this until two weeks ago. Her native language doesn't have capital letters so she sort of got by, until one day she was having trouble typing a password and I saw what she was doing and was like "wait... why dont you just press shift?" "What's shift do?"
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Dec 16, 2021 01:15
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F4rt5 posted:Long press on a and o takes too long I guess? I type a bit too much Norwegian for that to not be annoying.  As for US layout, eeh. The windows version is the single least featured keymap out there, even though the layout for the different brackets is pleasant. Having dead key accents alone is neat enough to keep me away. (US int would be better, but if I'm changing layouts in the first place, etc). Also, the *nix Norwegian layout was designed over the idea that an unused key combo is a waste. I like it, but it's very "linux hacker". 
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Dec 16, 2021 04:39
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Would there be a market for PretentiousKey? It's a keyboard that autocorrects your diction to make it more pretentious. Like you type "awesome" and it corrects to "exquisite" and you type "Guardians of the Galaxy" and it corrects to "The Lobster"
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Dec 16, 2021 07:27
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Teriyaki Hairpiece posted:Would there be a market for PretentiousKey? It's a keyboard that autocorrects your diction to make it more pretentious. Did you know an iOS keyboard will auto correct Elon Musk with capitalization and everything?
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Dec 16, 2021 08:38
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barbecue at the folks posted:Membrane keyboards were necessary to get early 8 bit computers down to their desired price point, but boy howdy I can only imagine the kind of carpal tunnel syndrome you got from having to learn to code on one of these:
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Dec 16, 2021 09:30
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Kwyndig posted:Assume he has hand problems? I know when I had tendonitis in my hands I had trouble hitting two keys at the same time. Nope, he's just weird like that. He says he picked the habit up as a kid and now it's too late to change. He used to celebrate CapsLock-day to annoy me even more.
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Dec 16, 2021 10:50
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Powered Descent posted:That wouldn't be a problem on an old mechanical typewriter. On those, the shift key physically shifted the basket of type bars, to bring up the other symbol on their striking heads. There was no way to do a modern "caps lock" that only affected the letters and left numbers/symbols untouched, so there was a "shift lock" key which mechanically was exactly like holding down the shift key: it shifted the basket and held it there. To release, you didn't press the same key, you pressed regular shift, which released the lock and then the basket came back to normal position as the key was released, just like a normal momentary operation of the key to get a capital letter. In macos, there's an italian keyboard layout that still works like this — it used to be called "Italian Typewriter" but now it's just Italian—QZERTY. On the old typewriter layout, the "number row" is actually characters (including important stuff like "the word 'is'"), and the shifted state is numerals. So you get a shift lock key instead. It's quite neat, and presumably there are other keyboard layouts that have a similar setup. Also, caps lock makes a very convenient 'enable IME' key, if you don't have one on your keyboard already, and have an actual use for it. At least in osx, it doesn't work nearly as nicely in windows.
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Dec 16, 2021 11:02
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The modern French layout does the same "use shift to get digits" thing. Made typing my password really weird when I was fixing something on a laptop belonging to a visiting researcher. (Being AZERTY didn't help either.) Computer viking has a new favorite as of 11:49 on Dec 16, 2021 |
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Dec 16, 2021 11:46
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Computer viking posted:I type a bit too much Norwegian for that to not be annoying. I really fell in love with the bracket positions in the US layout, not having to AltGR with the right thumb and move the left hand way over to those 7-0 keys. And the < and > are more logically placed instead of being a dumb key that steals left-shift space. I'll try setting up the compose key in KDE, that seems logical. CapsLock is set to CTRL on both my office Macs and on my home PC. And that really helps since I've not gotten used to the MacBook having the Fn key where it is.
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Dec 17, 2021 11:18
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 Brought this at an op shop today cos it looks cute and seems to be complete, no leaking battery issue
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Dec 18, 2021 03:44
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I've been looking to get another Palm device, and another PocketPC. I had a Palm pro and later some Clie that was really nice. I had some iPaq, don't remember the model but it was when Compaq made them. It sucked because it wouldn't register a button press if another button was pressed down which made NES emulation pretty useless. But I haven't pulled the trigger on buying them again yet, because now that Palm and PocketPCs are done I figure there's a "best" model for each out there. So, if anyone knows, what's the "best" Palm device and "best" PocketPC for me to get now? Couple friends of mine had these https://www.amazon.com/VTech-Helio-Handheld-Metallic-Blue/dp/B00004XSI2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 and, for a really cheap Palm clone they were pretty cool to mess around with. Just almost no support. There was a way to get Linux running on them, and my friend did it https://www.linux.com/news/installing-linux-vtech-helio-pda/ but who knows if the stuff you'd need to do that is still anywhere on the Internet.
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Dec 18, 2021 06:21
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BrainDance posted:I've been looking to get another Palm device, and another PocketPC. I had a Palm pro and later some Clie that was really nice. I had some iPaq, don't remember the model but it was when Compaq made them. It sucked because it wouldn't register a button press if another button was pressed down which made NES emulation pretty useless. i found install discs for upgrading an obscure pc-tv hybrid from windows 3.1 to 95 the other day online, they're still out there
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Dec 18, 2021 06:27
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My headaches at work dropped significantly when I told people I could no longer provide tech support since Team Viewer stopped supporting Windows XP.
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Dec 18, 2021 15:10
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Was browsing G4's old website and happened upon this: https://web.archive.org/web/20051210223712/http://www.g4tv.com/themanshow/features/25687/Surf_Porn_Anonymously.html. An old form of consumer-facing VPN?quote:SURF PORN ANONYMOUSLY I can't find a trace of it anywhere else, so I don't think they ever sold it. No screenshots or images provided in the article.
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Dec 18, 2021 18:20
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Makes me think of the browser Heatseek, designed for surfing porn.
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Dec 18, 2021 19:57
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ErrEff posted:Was browsing G4's old website and happened upon this: https://web.archive.org/web/20051210223712/http://www.g4tv.com/themanshow/features/25687/Surf_Porn_Anonymously.html. An old form of consumer-facing VPN? Since they specify you need a modem and phone line, it sounds more like an incognito browser and a dialer that calls this company instead of your usual ISP. And it's less clear how this part works, but it also sounds like they handle the payments to adult sites on your behalf, so that your credit card statement won't show a payment to nasty-freaky-porn.com.
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Dec 18, 2021 20:19
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BrainDance posted:I've been looking to get another Palm device, and another PocketPC. I had a Palm pro and later some Clie that was really nice. I had some iPaq, don't remember the model but it was when Compaq made them. It sucked because it wouldn't register a button press if another button was pressed down which made NES emulation pretty useless.
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Dec 18, 2021 20:48
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You Am I posted:
Those are cool as. I wanted one of these though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9_Vh9h3Ohw
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Dec 19, 2021 04:54
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Humphreys posted:Those are cool as. I wanted one of these though
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Dec 19, 2021 12:59
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Yeah I had the WiFi adapter for my visor. It worked, and I could check my email, but I seem to remember it being a pain to get connected to random networks.
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Dec 19, 2021 17:30
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blugu64 posted:Yeah I had the WiFi adapter for my visor. It worked, and I could check my email, but I seem to remember it being a pain to get connected to random networks. I had the InnoGear MiniJam MP3 player for my Prism. It worked great and used a 32MB SD card for storage fakeedit: You can still get it on Amazon!? https://www.amazon.com/InnoGear-MiniJam-Player-Springboard-Module/dp/B00004TZHO
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Dec 19, 2021 18:11
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I was looking for a video on the Altair 8800 that was more technical than just gawking at it for being a very early home computer. I found this video that walks through how the front panel works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suyiMfzmZKs I had a vague idea that you could enter and view code/data with the panel but I didn't know the specifics. I feel like this video, while the quality is a little old and crusty, is a really drat good explanation and demonstration of how it works. Also I didn't realize that the switches had such a chunky and satisfying sound to them. Also, even though entering a program like this is like hard mode for computing (at least by the standards of what would come just a few years later) the functionality of it is really well thought out. The "Deposit Next" function is something I didn't expect and is really well thought out and makes entering a program as easy as possible given what's available. edit: I just got to the end where he explains that it's a clone, not an original, but I assume that the original had switches like that if effort was put into duplicating its feel edit 2: His Altair 8800 playlist has 63 videos showing entering an actual program up to talking to hardware up to loading programs from teletype and paper tapes 
BattleMaster has a new favorite as of 23:25 on Dec 20, 2021 |
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Dec 20, 2021 23:17
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