Hi Joe Proword. Thanks for sharing your experience in using Maltron. Great to see that you like it and use it successfully in your work for such a long time.
Would you share with us some of the picture of your Maltron and put some videos of your using it to youtube so that all of us can see?
My fastest typing records http://hi-games.net/profile/4314
My switching experience https://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?id=970
Would you share with us some of the picture of your Maltron and put some videos of your using it to youtube so that all of us can see?
You can find a picture of the maltron in my overview of keyboards with non-staggered keys. There's also a link to hi res images of the Maltron keyboards.
Hi Joe Proword. Thanks for sharing your experience in using Maltron. Great to see that you like it and use it successfully in your work for such a long time.
Would you share with us some of the picture of your Maltron and put some videos of your using it to youtube so that all of us can see?
Funny you should ask that right now. I just received this link from Martin at Maltron in UK.
https://www.youtube.com/user/spotsvstripes
I will say straight off that this ISN'T how Maltrons are really used. (These appear to be QWERTY layouts, which perhaps is why they're flailing away like motor bike mechanics trying to change a tyre at the Isle of Man TT :D)
I'll have a dig round on the net for some video, and if I can't find anything suitable I'll see if I can get my video cam to work, and film me doing some transcription. ;)
Joe
I must be gittin' slightly elderly. I forgot I'd bought a new webcam this week with appropriate software, so here's a link to about 25 seconds of transcription using the Maltron.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYJtF1I3PRs
A couple of points. First, I did wash my hands. I'd been for a bicycle ride today and I didn't realise how badly my fingers were burnt. (I wear gloves without fingers, which leaves them exposed to the sun and leaves the backs of my hands quite pale, as I now see.) ;)
Secondly, if the sound is a bit tacky, I didn't realise two things. Firstly it was coming through my headphones, which were on the desk, rather than through the speaker. Secondly, I had the speed of the playback set at +20% or so, because the person was a rather slow talker. I'd already transcribed this bit of the interview so I already knew what she was saying.
Here I'm transcribing using my "shorthand", so you can watch my thumbs. My right thumb, as well as hitting the space bar, also executes the expansion function described in my blog on transcribing. The key I've chosen to expand the abbreviations is the exclamation mark (!) which is right next to the space bar. Further, both thumbs do duty hitting the "Ctrl" key, which is the central one on the top thumb row. This executes the "hot keys" eg Ctrl A gives "ation", Ctrl B gives "because", Ctrl M gives "ment" and so on. (The complete list of hot keys is in my Transcription blog.)
It may not be very visible on the video, but under the heel of each palm I've glued a piece of black high density foam (camping mat) which I rest my hands on. As you'll see, despite what Lillian Malt says, I very seldom lift my hands from these rests, as my hands/fingers are large enough to be able to reach the vast majority of keys without needing to move the hands at all. This takes a lot of strain off my arms and shoulders, because I'm not having to "hover" the hands over the keys.
Hope this helps.
Joe
Very interesting ...
On viewing my Youtube video another video appeared in the sidebar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3ReadHvS2Y&NR=1
so I played it.
The video shows the woman is using the QWERTY layout. Wow. Her hands really dance around the keyboard. Okay, she's got smaller hands than I have, and she's not using shorthand, but that's still a huge amount of work she doing, simply due to the layout.
Joe
Wow you are really professional and thorough in designing your own codes of court shorthand. A lot of thought must have been put into it.
Now I see a way to optimize English typing :-) common prefixes and suffixes should have been typed shorthand.
But the most optimal about Maltron is that you can use Maltron layout and type E or T with the right or left thumb. Have you tried it, Joe (proword) ?
My fastest typing records http://hi-games.net/profile/4314
My switching experience https://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?id=970
Wow you are really professional and thorough in designing your own codes of court shorthand. A lot of thought must have been put into it.
Now I see a way to optimize English typing :-) common prefixes and suffixes should have been typed shorthand.
But the most optimal about Maltron is that you can use Maltron layout and type E or T with the right or left thumb. Have you tried it, Joe (proword) ?
Actually there's NO thought involved, that's why it works so well. I've now got about 7000 abbreviations in my list, and all I have to do is come across a word (or phrase) which I might think is worth an abbreviation and say to myself "What's a good abbreviation for that?" and key it in. If nothing happens (ie there's no pre-existing abbreviation) then that's it. I create the abbreviation and next time I come across it I just say "What's a good abbreviation for that?" and 99.9999% of the time I'll use the same abbreviation as before. (I do have a couple of "rules" (more like guidelines) which I follow but these are pretty flexible, and I describe them in my blog.)
The abbreviation list is completely my creation, and nobody else is ever likely to recreate my entire list, simply because different people think different ways. In other words, different people will have different abbreviations for the same thing, or maybe even NO abbreviation at all. It's like SMS texting on mobile phones, but better (a) I can use all my fingers, and not just my thumbs, and (b) I don't have to worry whether the person at the other end understands my abbreviation, because I've already programmed the computer to understand. ;)
I think that's why many people shy away from my shorthand, because they think they'll have to learn 7000 abbreviations. 8-o That WAS the case with stenotype, simply because, like Pitmans pen shorthand, other people have to be able to translate the abbreviated typing/script at a later date, possibly even after the original scribe has died, whereas with keyboard shorthand the translation (or "scoping") takes place immediately.
Perhaps the Colemak community might approach Maltron and see if there's any chance of a Colemak/Maltron dual keyboard possible. Would be interesting. Then you'd be able to shuffle the keys around to suit yourself.
As for trying other layouts, whether Maltron related or otherwise, my experience is that with transcription the "speed bump" is the speed at which the person speaks. If I can transcribe at 180 wpm, and somebody is speaking at 150 wpm, then being able to key in more quickly isn't going to achieve anything. So I guess it's a case of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." However, I AM able to speed up the playback of the recording, but that obviously has limitations, as the pitch goes up, and they start sounding like "The Chipmunks".
Joe
Actually there's NO thought involved, that's why it works so well. I've now got about 7000 abbreviations in my list, and all I have to do is come across a word (or phrase) which I might think is worth an abbreviation and say to myself "What's a good abbreviation for that?" and key it in. If nothing happens (ie there's no pre-existing abbreviation) then that's it. I create the abbreviation and next time I come across it I just say "What's a good abbreviation for that?" and 99.9999% of the time I'll use the same abbreviation as before.
Yeah, this is such a neat technique in many situations!
As for trying other layouts, whether Maltron related or otherwise, my experience is that with transcription the "speed bump" is the speed at which the person speaks. If I can transcribe at 180 wpm, and somebody is speaking at 150 wpm, then being able to key in more quickly isn't going to achieve anything. So I guess it's a case of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." However, I AM able to speed up the playback of the recording, but that obviously has limitations, as the pitch goes up, and they start sounding like "The Chipmunks".
You could look into timestretching, i.e. changing speed without changing pitch.
Btw, you seem to have huge hands! Do they build muscle from all the typing? (I suspect not since you do this minimum effort typing :-)
Great video - it looks effortless. You've certainly honed your skills for your job. Interesting point about resting the palms. I think holding my arms up puts a bit too much strain on my neck shoulder. I do it as a favour to my wrists. I have a friend who swears by a little keyboard - that he can reach all the keys while resting his palms. It's the way I used to type - but I've tried to escape from. It certainly looks comfortable. Does the Maltron feel good when you lay your hands down? Do you get any aches and pains? Do you use any assistive software - aliases that expand and/or predictive text?
--
Physicians deafen our ears with the Honorificabilitudinitatibus of their heavenly Panacaea, their sovereign Guiacum.
You could look into timestretching, i.e. changing speed without changing pitch.
I've got different types of software for transcribing, some of which does that. The trouble is unless I "boost" the data density of the recording up to about CD quality, then time stretching* adds very undesirable side effects/distortion which make it very difficult. (*It's actually time "shrinking", or compressing, since I'm trying to for example play 10 seconds of recording in 8.5 seconds or something, so it has to remove slices of data.)
Btw, you seem to have huge hands! Do they build muscle from all the typing? (I suspect not since you do this minimum effort typing :-)
:D
Since you're from Denmark you'll probably appreciate this. For about 20 years I was in a Medieval/Dark Ages Battle Re-enactment Group, the Grey Company, and I used to fight with swords made of 3/16" spring steel, which weighed quite a bit.
My character was a Viking warrior/bard called Bragi. (If you're up with your Norse mythology, you may recognise the name. ;) )
I'm third from the left, waving a two-handed sword. That sort of activity had almost the same sort of effect on the hands and arms as being an old-fashioned blacksmith, swinging a hammer.
Joe
Great video - it looks effortless. You've certainly honed your skills for your job. Interesting point about resting the palms. I think holding my arms up puts a bit too much strain on my neck shoulder. I do it as a favour to my wrists. I have a friend who swears by a little keyboard - that he can reach all the keys while resting his palms. It's the way I used to type - but I've tried to escape from. It certainly looks comfortable. Does the Maltron feel good when you lay your hands down? Do you get any aches and pains? Do you use any assistive software - aliases that expand and/or predictive text?
I suppose the best I can say about the Maltron is that when I'm finished a day's typing, I may feel tired, but I very seldom feel sore. It's been so long since I've used QWERTY/flat keyboard that even a short stint of a few minutes makes my hands and arms start to get sore.
The assistive software is the WordPerfect shorthand. It works so well, I don't think I need anything else. About 6 years ago I calculated that it gave me a Ki:Ko (keystrokes in:keystrokes out) ratio of about 6:10. ie For every six keystrokes I'd enter on the keyboard, it would produce 10 keystrokes on the screen. I think that's probably down at about 5:10 these days.
Here is an excerpt from my Transcription blog:
*************************************************
How Effective is the Text Expanding/Hot Key Combination?
Obviously this is a very subjective measure, but have a look at the text below. This is a piece of transcript I did a couple of years ago, but the names have been changed for confidentiality reasons:
****************************
HIS WORSHIP: Yes, thank you?
MR MONITOR: May it please the court, my name is Monitor, I appear on behalf of the first and second plaintiffs.
MS FEATHERN: May it please you sir, Ms Feathern for the defendant.
HIS WORSHIP: Yes, thank you.
MR FRANKLE: May it please you your Worship, I appear for the third party.
HIS WORSHIP: Yes, thank you. Mr Monitor?
MR MONITOR: If your Worship pleases, this is a copyright case involving an action by the plaintiffs as against the defendant, Richard Keith Haute. The case arises as a consequence of the second plaintiff, Homestead Holdings Pty Ltd, otherwise trading as Anthem Homes, being a builder that designed a set of drawings for a house to be built for the defendant, a Mr Richard Keith Haute. The - - I'll call them - - instead of calling them the second plaintiff, I'll call the second plaintiff Anthem Homes, if that pleases the court, the third party, Beeswing Holdings Pty Ltd, that company trades as Machard Homes, so we have Anthem Homes and Beeswing Homes. Gregory Thomas Ching, he is the owner of the copyright, the original architectural design, of a particular design of house, and he licensed the use of that to Anthem Homes. For the purpose of these proceedings, your Worship should have an amended particulars of claim, particulars of amended defence, amended statement of claim against the third party, and a re-amended particulars of defence by the third party.
What I propose to do is take you through the particulars of claim to start with. The first plaintiff is a building designer. He will give evidence to tell the court of his background and experience. The second plaintiff is a company that is incorporated. On the amended defence there is a denial of the Anthem Homes or Homestead Holdings Pty Ltd being an incorporated company. That denial is now withdrawn.
MR FRANKLE: Can I just rise, and I do apologise to my learned friend for interrupting him, but there's a minor housekeeping matter that should be dealt with at this early stage.
HIS WORSHIP: Yes.
MR FRANKLE: And that is for the third party. I simply seek a direction, that we haven't had one the past, although the case has been run that way, and the direction I seek is the direction that the third party's liability to the defendant be determined at this trial.
****************************************
Above is the published transcript. Below is what I actually keyed in. It looks a bit of a mish-mash but I'll try and explain my "code". Where you see an asterisk "*" followed by a letter, this is a key stroke combination. Eg *t means I pressed Ctrl (Or Alt) T to get the text string "the". However where you see a text string followed by a hash "#", this is a QuickCorrect expansion. Eg Yh# means I've typed "yh" and hit my expansion key to get "Your Honour".
As you can see there is a considerable saving in keystroking, an even greater saving when you take into account the "invisible" savings created by reduction in typing errors. An example is my proclivity to key the word "the" by typing t-e-h- [backspace] [backspace] h-e. So using the keystroke Ctrl T actually saves me typing more than one extra keystroke.
If this text appears to "jammed up" this is because when there is a change in speaker, the new paragraph spacing is included in the keystroke combo, as described above.
##################################
*1Yes, t*k? *3Miplc#, my name is Monitor, I ape# obhfo# *t ft# and sec# ptf#s. *4Mipl# y* sir, Ms Feathern for *t dft#.*1Yes, t*k. *5Mipl# y* yw#, I ape4# *t 3pty#. *1Yes, t*k. Mr Monitor? *3If yw* pl*s, this is a copyright case ivog# an acn# by *t ptf#s as ais# *t dft#, Richard Keith Haute. *t case arises as a cnsq# of *t sec# ptf#, Homestead Holdings Pty Ltd, otw# trading as Anthem Homes, be*i a bldr# *h designed a set of draw*is for a house to be built for *t dft#, a Mr Richard Keith Haute. *t - - I'll call *tm - - instead of calling *tm *t sec# ptf#, I'll call *t sec# ptf# Anthem Homes, if *h pl#s *t crt#, *t 3pty#, Beeswing Holdings Pty Ltd, *h coy# trades as Machard Homes, so we hv# Anthem Homes and Beeswing Homes. Gregory Thomas Ching, he is *t owner of *t copyright, *t orgl# archtl# design, of a pt# design of house, and he lcs#d *t use of *h to Anthem Homes. For *t pu# of *tse pcdg#s, yw# sh*o hv# an amdd# pt#s of claim, pt#s of amdd# dfc#, amdd# stm# of cl# ais# *t 3pty#, and a re-amdd# pt#s of dfc# by the 3pty#. *W I pps# to do is ty# thr*g *t pt#s of cl# to start with. *t ft# ptf# is a bldg# designer. He will give ev# to tell *t crt# of his bakg# and xpc#. *t sec# ptf# is a coy# ie# inc#d. On the amd# dfc# th# is a denial of *t Anthem Homes or Homestead Holdings Pty Ltd be*i an inc#d coy#. *h denial is now wdwn#. *5Can I *j rise, and I do apols# to mlf# for interrupting him, but th#e's a minor hskpgm# *h sh*o be dtw# this early stage. *1Yes. *5And *h is for *t 3pty#. I simply seek a drn#, *h we hvn# had one *t past, alth*g *t case has been run *h way, and *t drn# I seek is *t drn# *h *t 3pty#'s lbly# to *t dft# be dtm#d at this trial.
**********************************
Obviously I could have made some "case specific" abbreviations, eg Athem Holdings etc to reduce the keystroking even further.
Hope that helps.
Joe
I've got different types of software for transcribing, some of which does that. The trouble is unless I "boost" the data density of the recording up to about CD quality, then time stretching* adds very undesirable side effects/distortion which make it very difficult. (*It's actually time "shrinking", or compressing, since I'm trying to for example play 10 seconds of recording in 8.5 seconds or something, so it has to remove slices of data.)
Hmm, then what about a program that simply shortens pauses in the speech but otherwise leaves it alone? (could of course be used in conjunction with regular speedup)
Viking stuff
Awesome!
Yes, I recognize the name. And I see you got the helmets right -- people usually stick horns on them when depicting vikings.
Hmm, then what about a program that simply shortens pauses in the speech but otherwise leaves it alone? (could of course be used in conjunction with regular speedup)
It's not the pauses that are the problem. When I'm doing court work (as opposed to say an oral history interview) there can be up to four speakers simultaneously (Judge, witness, prosecuting counsel, defence counsel), but if I'm lucky I'll have a four-channel recording, one channel for each speaker. I then have to switch out three channels, and transcribe one speaker, rewind, switch a different speaker in, rewind, switch the third speaker in etc. So really, there is no such thing as a "pause", because there is constant noise, just from different speakers. Further, in this case, there's a good chance I'd be using a cassette tape, rather than digital recording (although it is changing) which won't have any facility to remove pause, as the tape is travelling at a constant speed. And lastly, there are times when, for whatever reason, the speaker is recorded at a very low level (turns his/her head away from the microphone, is thinking, upset etc) and the "cut off level" might be too high to allow the playback to do "hear" the speaker. The same applies to VOX microphones (Voice operated switch) systems, which only record when somebody is actually speaking. Until the advent of digital VOX, it was always possible (and I've had it happen) to lose vital information because the VOX didn't trip until AFTER the vital word.
Viking stuff
Awesome!
Yes, I recognize the name. And I see you got the helmets right -- people usually stick horns on them when depicting vikings.
Yes, that was a question we were often asked at shows. :D "Why don't you have horns like the real Vikings?"
Joe
@proword, what's the difference between the maltron and the kinesis advantage? Are they made by the same manufacturer?
--
Physicians deafen our ears with the Honorificabilitudinitatibus of their heavenly Panacaea, their sovereign Guiacum.
what's the difference between the maltron and the kinesis advantage? Are they made by the same manufacturer?
Um, no, one is made by Maltron, the other by Kinesis. I don't have a Maltron, but I've been using a Kinesis Ergo Contoured for a few years. Here are a couple of differences I can come up with:
They have different layouts, I suggest you check out their respective sites
I assume the key switches feel different, though both use high quality mechanical key switches
The Kinesis is reprogrammable, the Maltron is not (that's pretty huge in my opinion)
The Maltron is more expensive (might be better quality, I dunno, but you often get what you pay for)
...
You'll find more info (mostly about the Kinesis) in this overview of keyboards with non-staggered keys, in particular the layout I settled on eventually. I'm still quite happy with my Kinesis, but still I've studied the info at the Maltron site a lot, but I find things in both their old and new layouts that I don't like, and couldn't easily change.
@proword, what's the difference between the maltron and the kinesis advantage? Are they made by the same manufacturer?
I've never used Kinesis so I've no experience, and can only go on what I see on various 'net sites.
Maltron started manufacturing in 1977, and Kinesis came into existence in 1990.
From what I've seen the Kinesis only has the option of QWERTY/Dvorak, and not a more ergonomic key layout such as the Malt.
The videos I linked to show the difference between using QWERTY and Malt layouts on an otherwise ergonomic (Maltron) keyboard, as far as hand and arm movements go.
Maltron using Malt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYJtF1I3PRs
Maltron using QWERTY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3ReadHvS2Y&NR=1
This video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxH7Uith0tQ
shows the Kinesis being used. It appears to be QWERTY. There's still the gross hand/arm movements (particularly in hurdling to the top row from the bottom), but certainly much reduced compared to a "flat" keyboard.
From my own perspective, I'm not sure how much weight I'd allocate to the programmable function, since I already have my own set of programmed keys in WordPerfect, and I don't know which programming would take precedence, and whether there would be any irreconcilable clashes. As it is, some of my other software, such as one of my audio transcription packages, used to have programmed keys built in, which clashed with my own use. However, the later version of this software is much more flexible in that respect, though others are still pretty intransigent.
Joe
Maltron started manufacturing in 1977, and Kinesis came into existence in 1990.
Aye, Maltron is definitely "the original", and Kinesis seems to be a cheaper alternative/clone. The main ingredients are the same: two separate slighly sloped "bowls" containing keys for each hand plus lots of thumb keys.
Other than the subtle layout differences and the other stuff I listed earlier there's also the missing separate num pad on the Kinesis (it's integrated into the right "bowl" actually).
From what I've seen the Kinesis only has the option of QWERTY/Dvorak, and not a more ergonomic key layout such as the Malt.
The beauty of remapping is that you can easily make the keyboard be any layout you want. But since we're in a Colemak forum I imagine most readers would prefer Colemak anyway.
This video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxH7Uith0tQ
shows the Kinesis being used. It appears to be QWERTY. There's still the gross hand/arm movements (particularly in hurdling to the top row from the bottom), but certainly much reduced compared to a "flat" keyboard.
The video description says it's the DVORAK layout.
It seems that this user rests his wrists on the keyboard's palm rests while typing. Isn't the idea with Maltron or Kinesis keyboards to "hover" the hands while typing and have them rest during pauses? I usually have my hands laid down while typing as well, but I can see that it would be slightly easier to reach stuff if they'd hover.
From my own perspective, I'm not sure how much weight I'd allocate to the programmable function, since I already have my own set of programmed keys in WordPerfect, and I don't know which programming would take precedence, and whether there would be any irreconcilable clashes.
The keyboard programming is in its firmware, so it should take precedence over anything "further up". BTW I should elaborate on reprogramming, there's two things it can do:
1. remapping: remap any key to any key-code
2. macros: send multiply key-codes by pressing one key
What you do in WP seems to be the second kind of programming. What I wouldn't want to miss in a keyboard is the first kind of programming - I'd like to be able to (logically, not physically) move around the keys on the keyboard, such as putting the arrow keys on the left half to allow cursor use while mousing with the right hand, or adding a second enter key to the left half to allow its use while mousing with the right hand.
So while the Kinesis originally has this layout I remapped a few keys and ended up with this layout (I haven't remapped any character keys in firmware, that part is done by the Colemak keyboard layout in the operating system). I also love to have the three modifier keys Command, Option (Alt) and Ctrl as thumb keys - that's what I'm used to as a Mac user, pressing the main modifier key (Command) with my thumb. It's mostly modifier key location that turned me off the TypeMatrix, and the main skepticism I have towards the Maltron or TrulyErgonomic keyboard. Other than that I'd be delighted to give a Maltron keyboard a go. :)
I don't use macros in the keyboard firmware though, instead, I use a software (Typinator) that supports macros system-wide across all programs.
For example: typing "[u" results in the text
[url={clip}]{^}[/url]where {clip} means it will insert the current clipboard contents while expanding and {^} is where the cursor will be at after the expansion - so this particular macro allows me to enter URLs in BBCode forums (such as this one) easily. I just go copy an URL I want to use, type "[u" and can start writing the link name right away. Another example would be to type "brO" which expands to "Best regards, Oliver".
The beauty of remapping is that you can easily make the keyboard be any layout you want. But since we're in a Colemak forum I imagine most readers would prefer Colemak anyway.
True. (What am I doin' here? ;) )
It seems that this user rests his wrists on the keyboard's palm rests while typing. Isn't the idea with Maltron or Kinesis keyboards to "hover" the hands while typing and have them rest during pauses? I usually have my hands laid down while typing as well, but I can see that it would be slightly easier to reach stuff if they'd hover.
That's what the "good book" says, but I can not see the reasoning behind it. Given that so many words can be typed with little or no movement away from the (Maltron) keyboard's home row, it seems like a waste of energy, and in 25 years, it's never caused me a problem. But certainly in the QWERTY layout, there is reason for it.
The keyboard programming is in its firmware, so it should take precedence over anything "further up". BTW I should elaborate on reprogramming, there's two things it can do:
1. remapping: remap any key to any key-code
2. macros: send multiply key-codes by pressing one keyWhat you do in WP seems to be the second kind of programming. What I wouldn't want to miss in a keyboard is the first kind of programming - I'd like to be able to (logically, not physically) move around the keys on the keyboard, such as putting the arrow keys on the left half to allow cursor use while mousing with the right hand, or adding a second enter key to the left half to allow its use while mousing with the right hand.
So while the Kinesis originally has this layout I remapped a few keys and ended up with this layout (I haven't remapped any character keys in firmware, that part is done by the Colemak keyboard layout in the operating system). I also love to have the three modifier keys Command, Option (Alt) and Ctrl as thumb keys - that's what I'm used to as a Mac user, pressing the main modifier key (Command) with my thumb. It's mostly modifier key location that turned me off the TypeMatrix, and the main skepticism I have towards the Maltron or TrulyErgonomic keyboard. Other than that I'd be delighted to give a Maltron keyboard a go. :)I don't use macros in the keyboard firmware though, instead, I use a software (Typinator) that supports macros system-wide across all programs.
For example: typing "[u" results in the text[url={clip}]{^}[/url]where {clip} means it will insert the current clipboard contents while expanding and {^} is where the cursor will be at after the expansion - so this particular macro allows me to enter URLs in BBCode forums (such as this one) easily. I just go copy an URL I want to use, type "[u" and can start writing the link name right away. Another example would be to type "brO" which expands to "Best regards, Oliver".
It's a case of "horses for courses" I think. The vast majority of my own work is text entry, so I obviously tend to favour the word processor, which has the remapping/ macro facilities built in. So, as I mentioned previously, it's not uncommon for me when, for example, I'm chatting on a bulletin board, to do my composition in my word processor, then using a single keystroke macro, copy the entire page to my clipboard, switch to my bulletin board, then paste in from the clipboard. I suspect that this would work with any software which has access to the Windows clipboard, but it's not something I've any experience with, so just a guess.
Joe
I'd prefer that, having my default editor be used for all text entry. Despite it being easy to write in one program and paste into another - in practice this feels like a bit of a barrier. I don't know why that would be. I must admit I'd prefer my web browser to offload a lot of duties to separate programs - video to VLC, sound to Mplayer, text entry to Vim for example.
I was unsure how the Maltron keyboards were programmed - or how they presented themselves to the OS - and whether you could remap them on the OS side.
The Malton does seem odd in having the num pad in the middle. Seems go against the ergonomics of the bowl. Is that more comfortable for one handed entry? The Kenesis looks sensible in that regard.
--
Physicians deafen our ears with the Honorificabilitudinitatibus of their heavenly Panacaea, their sovereign Guiacum.
I've never given much thought as to whether and how the Maltron was programmed, since it was something which I never needed, so I won't be of any great assistance here.
The same could be said of the numeric keypad. If it wasn't there I certainly wouldn't miss it. I suppose if I WERE ever needing to use it I'd probably just move the whole keyboard across until the pad was in a comfy position and work from there. (Which would work regardless of which hand I used I suppose.) Or if I was going into HEAVY numeric work, buy a separate number pad. In any case all the characters and most of the control keys are duplicated elsewhere on the keyboard. I notice that on the single hand Maltron keyboard the numerals are TRIPLICATED, a stand alone keypad, the "normal" top of the keyboard keys, as well as down in the bowl.
Funnily enough, when I did psychology MANY years ago I was quite adept at using a full sized calculator keyboard for statistics. These days I just use a pocket calc, even with an "operating system" calculator available. :D
Joe
Pam Hobday (or whoever does it) would be able to solder many more Maltrons if they got rid of the numpad! Should drive down the cost too!
How much can you accomplish on a one handed Maltron then?
--
Physicians deafen our ears with the Honorificabilitudinitatibus of their heavenly Panacaea, their sovereign Guiacum.
I was unsure how the Maltron keyboards were programmed - or how they presented themselves to the OS - and whether you could remap them on the OS side.
I'd assume it's like any other keyboard: for each key it sends a particular key-code to the computer, and the OS maps this key-code to a character by using a particular keyboard layout.
Of course you can remap keys on the OS side, but creating your own keyboard layout is quite a bit of work, and you'll have to do it in every OS you use (I have Mac OS X and Windows installed on my computer for example). Also certain keys are harder to remap than others - CAPS lock as back space anyone? ;)
Remapping in the keyboard firmware on the other hand is very easy, it takes 4 steps:
1. Press the remap/program key
2. Press the (original) key for the character you wish to remap
3. Press the key for the new location of that character
Repeat 2 and 3 to remap other keys. So you basically do "I'd like this character to be there".
4. Press the remap/program key again
The Malton does seem odd in having the num pad in the middle. Seems go against the ergonomics of the bowl. Is that more comfortable for one handed entry? The Kenesis looks sensible in that regard.
I guess they just made good use of the empty space in-between the bowls. The way Kinesis does it might be more comfortable, but it only works for right-handed people. Also, you need to press a key to switch the right bowl from normal layout to numpad layout - you can only use one or the other at a time.
When paying bills with online banking I'd often have been happy to use both the characters in the right bowl as well as a numpad at the same time.
Pam Hobday (or whoever does it) would be able to solder many more Maltrons if they got rid of the numpad! Should drive down the cost too!
How much can you accomplish on a one handed Maltron then?
I think Pam hung up her soldering iron quite some time ago. (But having met her on a couple of times, maybe she's still going on.)
I hope with my one handed Maltron to be able to do pretty much the same as I'm doing with two hands, though perhaps a little more slowly.
Although I suspect I'll have to set up my WordPerfect with different abbreviations/hot keys simply to take account of the different layout. eg one of my "guidelines" when creating a short form is to take at least some account not only of the position of the keys I'm using to type the abbreviation, but also the key(s) I might use in typing something in full. eg on one dual keyboard I might have no difficulty in typing an expression because the keys are in easy reach, but on the single it might be a much more difficult proposition, and therefore worthwhile making an abbreviation.
An example: when I was using QWERTY to type the word "the" almost always involved me typing "T-e-h [backspace] [backspace]-h-e", whereas on the Malt the positioning of the letters was radically different, and didn't cause errors. However, because I'd got myself into the habit of using "Ctrl T" on the QWERTY, it translated across to the Malt, but wasn't worth stopping. So I suspect I'll need to look at the single layout and see if there needs to be a rethink.
But then, I don't NEED to use the singleton so therefore I've got no reason to put too much energy into it. It's simply an intellectual exercise I guess, so that when I am showing someone with a disability that NEEDS the singleton, then I'll be able to have a good personal grasp of it, rather than just theorising.
One of the beauties of WordPerfect is that it not only has the facility to change keyboard maps with a couple of mouse clicks, but also to install a completely new set of abbreviations. In fact it actually takes me more time to physically change the keyboard than it does to invoke the new set of hot keys and abbreviations.
If it's of any use, my oldest Maltron keyboard (1986, upgraded 1989) was used on an IBM XT, and is still functional on a Windows 7 system. (2011). The only alteration is to change the plug from DIN to PS/2 via an adapter. I can go to USB, but that's not always been successful.
Joe
I've been thinking about this for a while now, and thanks to SpeedMorph/Michael Dickens' algorithm, I have managed to find a nice layout with e under the left thumb.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
= . , u p - k d l c b /
' o a i n y m h t s r "
q ( ) ; w _ x f g v j z
# | + * % ^ \ $ & @
~ < > U P { K D L C B `
! O A I N Y M H T S R ?
Q [ ] : W } X F G V J Z
A little explanation is necessary I believe. I have used the following for the thumb keys:
l3 l4 r4 r3
l1 l2 l5 r5 r2 r1
l6 r6
l1: e, l2: shift, l3: del, l4: fdel, l5: opt, l6: tab
r1: space, r2: return, r3: cmd, r4: ctrl, r5: opt, r6: esc
Since shift and tab are on the left thumb, the two shift keys and the tab key can be used for something else (in this case: =, q and z). It is not extremely comfortable to type capital e, but it can be done (same goes for shift+tab). If I had a Maltron, I could make one of the additional thumb keys give capital e or backtab with no modifier. Unfortunately I do not have a Maltron yet. The arrow key row I use is: PgUp, Up, Down, PgDown, Home, Left, Right, End (same as Arensito). And that's pretty much it for now. I am going to try to learn it. It is better than Maltron, anyway (in my opinion).
I'd like to thank Joe for all his time and input. It's very helpful, even on a Colemak forum. Many of the items, though specific to Malt, have a common basis that is wise to consider, especially when "optimization" enters the vocabulary.
I have a few random thoughts:
-One reason I believe Maltron boards seem to last quite a while...there is a simplicity factor. Shell case, case mounted Cherry switches, keycaps, hand soldered to a single simple controller, a couple led lights, and a power cable. No pcb mounting with a variety of contacts that can break, short out, etc.
-A guy in Germany has done some exciting things with a couple Maltrons and has shown it to them. It may trickle down, maybe Joe can get some info on this.
-I've considered taking an extra programmable Kinesis controller I have (they are absolutely awesome) and installing in into a Maltron. I might get an old dual hand, 3D, (with trackball?) to do this.
-I also considered putting the "E" into the thumb cluster of the Kinesis, or just possible remapping to the Malt layout to try it.
-There have been a couple attempts on Geekhack to build a generic plug-in programmable controller, that has several switchable on board layouts, but all have come to a halt. I even tried to roll people up to do it, but some things have changed for me recently and I can't administer a project like that. :(
-I discussed with Sordna (on Geekhack) about a mod that I will do to a Kinesis Contoured, by lilting the thumb clusters to more of an incline, like the Maltron.
-I've cut a Kinesis Contoured into 2 halves and thought a Maltron would also be a likely candidate.
Hope this post is not too far off the mark of this thread. I'd love to continue this process.
An Evil Screaming Flying Door Monkey From Hell typing with Colemak saved my life!