Comments on: Function Lock?! http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88 Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:19:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Ilya Shubin http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-28317 Ilya Shubin Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:32:26 +0000 http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-28317 Dear "cheap" Microsoft...My opinion. The best keyboard is a rectangle shape. It is cheap and convenient... Price example = 7 $ Dear “cheap” Microsoft…My opinion. The best keyboard is a rectangle shape. It is cheap and convenient… Price example = 7 $

]]> By: Tyler http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-25307 Tyler Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:16:55 +0000 http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-25307 I sat down to one of these at work a while back. I spent a good hour trying to diagnose why VNC wasn't giving me the usual menu when I hit F8. I was tracing system calls and checking keyboard maps all over the OS until I finally questioned the keyboard itself. I have the luxury of being the de facto IT person for our lab, so that god damn piece of crap got cast into the deepest, darkest storage box we had. It's still there to this day. Watching. Waiting. Biding it's time until it can feed on human frustration again. I sat down to one of these at work a while back. I spent a good hour trying to diagnose why VNC wasn’t giving me the usual menu when I hit F8. I was tracing system calls and checking keyboard maps all over the OS until I finally questioned the keyboard itself.

I have the luxury of being the de facto IT person for our lab, so that god damn piece of crap got cast into the deepest, darkest storage box we had.

It’s still there to this day. Watching. Waiting. Biding it’s time until it can feed on human frustration again.

]]> By: Alex Chamberlain http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-25016 Alex Chamberlain Fri, 25 May 2007 18:52:49 +0000 http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-25016 You are right in blaming Microsoft for the Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V confusion. I'm amazed how many Windows users these days don't realize three things about keyboard shortcuts: 1. Apple invented the shortcuts "modifier-C for copy", "modifier-P for print", "modifier-S for save", etc. as part of the original Macintosh design in 1984, but the Command (aka open-apple or cloverleaf) key on Mac keyboards was dedicated to that purpose (as the modifier key) specifically because... 2. The Control key already had an established meaning in terminal emulation software inherited from dumb terminals like the DEC VT series, e.g. standards like Ctrl-C = "send ASCII BREAK to remote host", and that's also part of the reason why... 3. Before Windows there were at least three competing standards for the cut/copy/paste shortcuts: those established by Borland products (Turbo Pascal etc.); Microsoft (the DOS version of Word, QuickBASIC, and others); and WordStar (probably experienced by more people in the text editor module of Sidekick). All of which means that whoever at Microsoft decided to adapt the Apple standard, but using the Ctrl key, was a colossal dope, because we've been inflicted with a confusion between Ctrl-for-terminal-control and Ctrl-for-Windows-shortcuts for the past 20 years. (Why didn't they choose Alt?!?) You are right in blaming Microsoft for the Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V confusion. I’m amazed how many Windows users these days don’t realize three things about keyboard shortcuts:

1. Apple invented the shortcuts “modifier-C for copy”, “modifier-P for print”, “modifier-S for save”, etc. as part of the original Macintosh design in 1984, but the Command (aka open-apple or cloverleaf) key on Mac keyboards was dedicated to that purpose (as the modifier key) specifically because…

2. The Control key already had an established meaning in terminal emulation software inherited from dumb terminals like the DEC VT series, e.g. standards like Ctrl-C = “send ASCII BREAK to remote host”, and that’s also part of the reason why…

3. Before Windows there were at least three competing standards for the cut/copy/paste shortcuts: those established by Borland products (Turbo Pascal etc.); Microsoft (the DOS version of Word, QuickBASIC, and others); and WordStar (probably experienced by more people in the text editor module of Sidekick).

All of which means that whoever at Microsoft decided to adapt the Apple standard, but using the Ctrl key, was a colossal dope, because we’ve been inflicted with a confusion between Ctrl-for-terminal-control and Ctrl-for-Windows-shortcuts for the past 20 years. (Why didn’t they choose Alt?!?)

]]> By: Jeff Schiller http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-24939 Jeff Schiller Fri, 18 May 2007 21:53:16 +0000 http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-24939 Speaking of useless keys, here's my own take on Caps Lock and a Copy/Paste key: http://blog.codedread.com/archives/2006/03/14/k-twang-a-stray-thought/ Speaking of useless keys, here’s my own take on Caps Lock and a Copy/Paste key: http://blog.codedread.com/archives/2006/03/14/k-twang-a-stray-thought/

]]> By: Mike Sullivan http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-24891 Mike Sullivan Wed, 16 May 2007 01:52:23 +0000 http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-24891 The Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000 has the F-lock, but it doesn't reset itself each time you reboot. Leave it on F-key functionality, and it stays that way. Also, this keyboard has the standard key arrangements for Insert, Home, PgUp, PgDn, End, Delete, and cursor arrows. Separate PrtScrn/SysReq, ScrlLk, and Pause/Break keys. It also has some idiotic programmable keys, and a key that brings up the Windows calculator, a zoom slider (which seems to scroll on web pages) and back/forward browser buttons. Very nice ergonomic layout, and it's available in an OEM package (brown box instead of retail box) from newegg.com for much less than the retail version. The Microsoft Natural Keyboard 4000 has the F-lock, but it doesn’t reset itself each time you reboot. Leave it on F-key functionality, and it stays that way. Also, this keyboard has the standard key arrangements for Insert, Home, PgUp, PgDn, End, Delete, and cursor arrows. Separate PrtScrn/SysReq, ScrlLk, and Pause/Break keys. It also has some idiotic programmable keys, and a key that brings up the Windows calculator, a zoom slider (which seems to scroll on web pages) and back/forward browser buttons. Very nice ergonomic layout, and it’s available in an OEM package (brown box instead of retail box) from newegg.com for much less than the retail version.

]]> By: IronKurton http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-24845 IronKurton Sat, 12 May 2007 00:22:15 +0000 http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-24845 bah. I have an annoying F-lock keyboard at home. It's an older logitech keyboard (not ergo). Thank you for bringing this up. On another note, whose bright idea was it to start switching around insert/delete/pg up/down/home/end keys?! I don't want them larger. I don't want them smaller. I don't want them transposed (think about transposing a matrix). As far as blaming microsoft for ctrl-insert and shift-insert, I'm not sure what you mean... Those are still functional in windows (and sometimes linux). Plus you also have the functionality of ctrl-c and ctrl-v. Best of both worlds. I use ctrl-insert and shift-insert all the time in non-putty windows. This probably stems from way back in the DOS days when I played around with QBasic a lot. Now if only Apple would change their keyboard combinations to ctrl-v and ctrl-c (hell, I could even live without shift-insert and ctrl-insert). End should go to end of line. Ctrl-end is for end of file. Get it right Apple! bah. I have an annoying F-lock keyboard at home. It’s an older logitech keyboard (not ergo). Thank you for bringing this up.

On another note, whose bright idea was it to start switching around insert/delete/pg up/down/home/end keys?! I don’t want them larger. I don’t want them smaller. I don’t want them transposed (think about transposing a matrix).

As far as blaming microsoft for ctrl-insert and shift-insert, I’m not sure what you mean… Those are still functional in windows (and sometimes linux). Plus you also have the functionality of ctrl-c and ctrl-v. Best of both worlds. I use ctrl-insert and shift-insert all the time in non-putty windows. This probably stems from way back in the DOS days when I played around with QBasic a lot.

Now if only Apple would change their keyboard combinations to ctrl-v and ctrl-c (hell, I could even live without shift-insert and ctrl-insert). End should go to end of line. Ctrl-end is for end of file. Get it right Apple!

]]> By: Jason http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-24787 Jason Sat, 05 May 2007 21:51:08 +0000 http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-24787 Finally someone is as annoyed as I have been with having to hit the funtion lock key everytime I boot up with my Microsoft Keyoard. Of course I always forget and end up initiating whatever Microsoft task is assigned to the key instead. Finally someone is as annoyed as I have been with having to hit the funtion lock key everytime I boot up with my Microsoft Keyoard. Of course I always forget and end up initiating whatever Microsoft task is assigned to the key instead.

]]> By: Michael Mc http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-24622 Michael Mc Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:45:50 +0000 http://www.yorkspace.com/2007/04/88#comment-24622 :o Oh my! $25 for FIVE KEYBOARDS? Woah. Tech stuff is so cheap in America... I know that's probably a business price, but wow. That's about £13 here... that's a VERY good price. :o

Oh my!

$25 for FIVE KEYBOARDS?

Woah. Tech stuff is so cheap in America… I know that’s probably a business price, but wow. That’s about £13 here… that’s a VERY good price.

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