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As a software dev, the biggest gain for me was incorporating the arrow keys under my right hand fingers via a layer switch, and having movement modifiers under

As a software dev, the biggest gain for me was incorporating the arrow keys under my right hand fingers via a layer switch, and having movement modifiers under the left (jump word, end-of-line etc). I think one moves around so much in code that anythng else is micro optimization. YMMV.

deckiedan 7y ago
I switched to a Kinesis advantage some years ago, and the arrow keys are such a massive improvement. I was thinking about using layers like you suggest for movements, but outside of vim where you need to shift+move to select text, isn't that going to be quite awkward?
- zupa-hu 7y ago
  I see yours allows for 300 keypresses in macros, that's pretty cool. I'm using the Vortex Pok3r, it only allows for 32, which is 99% okay, but I did run into this limit. On the other hand, how do you access the macros? I can't see any special keys on it, except for maybe the `progm` key on the top right, but it is out of reach. On the Pok3r, I have remapped the CapsLock key to be the layer modifier key, so while it is pressed, the special macro layer is active. I barely need the Caps key, so it is a minor annoyance to have lost it, but the gains are way bigger. That way, I'm using IJKL as my arrow keys. I have remapped Space to mean Shift, thus while it is pressed, I can select anything while moving around with the arrows. Also, I remapped F to Ctrl for jumping words (I'm on Windows, F stands for Fast :P). U -> start of line, P -> end of line. It's sure not as powerful as vim, but the fact that this is available everywhere, even while I'm typing a comment on HN, totally outweighs it for me. So nah, it's not awkward for me. Or does it come across like that? Edit: typo
  - zupa-hu 7y ago
    For anyone is interested, if you are on Windows, you can write an Autohotkey script to emulate this, although it will be buggy because of key shadowing (google if you don't know what it is). I can even send my script to anybody interested to try it out. But you will really need a proper keyboard for this to work where each key has its own dedicated wire.
mamcx 7y ago
Mmm... good idea. I also put common marks in the middle: http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/75c4808455c07affbad9b1911c6fe6a5 http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/75c4808455c07a... (This is my main driver now)
- zupa-hu 7y ago
  Wow, aren't those too far to reach? And... What is this website? I can't make any sense of it. Seems to be some powerful configuration tool to do.. What exactly? :D
  - mamcx 7y ago
    Yeah, I made some design mistakes (more at https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/9wjpg0/finished_ergo_keyboard/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/9wjpg0...) This site is part of a few that are used to made your own keyboard.

deckiedan 7y ago

I switched to a Kinesis advantage some years ago, and the arrow keys are such a massive improvement. I was thinking about using layers like you suggest for movements, but outside of vim where you need to shift+move to select text, isn't that going to be quite awkward?

zupa-hu 7y ago
I see yours allows for 300 keypresses in macros, that's pretty cool. I'm using the Vortex Pok3r, it only allows for 32, which is 99% okay, but I did run into this limit. On the other hand, how do you access the macros? I can't see any special keys on it, except for maybe the `progm` key on the top right, but it is out of reach. On the Pok3r, I have remapped the CapsLock key to be the layer modifier key, so while it is pressed, the special macro layer is active. I barely need the Caps key, so it is a minor annoyance to have lost it, but the gains are way bigger. That way, I'm using IJKL as my arrow keys. I have remapped Space to mean Shift, thus while it is pressed, I can select anything while moving around with the arrows. Also, I remapped F to Ctrl for jumping words (I'm on Windows, F stands for Fast :P). U -> start of line, P -> end of line. It's sure not as powerful as vim, but the fact that this is available everywhere, even while I'm typing a comment on HN, totally outweighs it for me. So nah, it's not awkward for me. Or does it come across like that? Edit: typo
- zupa-hu 7y ago
  For anyone is interested, if you are on Windows, you can write an Autohotkey script to emulate this, although it will be buggy because of key shadowing (google if you don't know what it is). I can even send my script to anybody interested to try it out. But you will really need a proper keyboard for this to work where each key has its own dedicated wire.

mamcx 7y ago

Mmm... good idea. I also put common marks in the middle: http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/75c4808455c07affbad9b1911c6fe6a5 http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/75c4808455c07a... (This is my main driver now)

zupa-hu 7y ago
Wow, aren't those too far to reach? And... What is this website? I can't make any sense of it. Seems to be some powerful configuration tool to do.. What exactly? :D
- mamcx 7y ago
  Yeah, I made some design mistakes (more at https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/9wjpg0/finished_ergo_keyboard/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/9wjpg0...) This site is part of a few that are used to made your own keyboard.