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    Thanks Shai!

    • Started by Turbulenz
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    • Registered: 18-Feb-2008
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    29-Apr-2008 13:54:28#1 Thanks Shai!

    I used qwerty-layout about 15 years.
    Now I have used Colemak about 3½ months. (since 12.01.08)
    I used TypeFaster and SES Type to learn this layout.
    I'm using Windows XP and Portable Keyboard Layout program with Colemak layout.
    My qwerty speed was about 48 wpm and now it's like 20 wpm with hunt and peck system :)
    My typing speed with colemak is about 68 wpm. (http://hi-games.net/typing-test/)
    Typera.tk:
    Mode    Keys/min    Date
    English words    368    2008-04-29 01:01:18
    Finnish words    354    2008-04-28 22:11:27
    Finnish    341    2008-04-29 00:50:50
    English    337    2008-04-29 00:37:13

    It seems that I'm developing 3 wpm by month now.
    My friends doesn't want to learn new layout, even they have seen my progress.

    Last edited by Turbulenz (29-Apr-2008 14:02:44)
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    29-Apr-2008 17:30:28#2 Re: Thanks Shai!

    That's encouraging news, Turbulenz!  My qwerty speed was also about 45 wpm, and I am slowly but surely getting faster in Colemak - just barely at 20 wpm now.  I am trying to get my muscles to unlearn 40+ years of qwerty, so it has been slower than I would like!  But if you've been able to get to 65 wpm in just a few months, it sounds like it is definitely worth the effort!

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    20-Sep-2008 20:57:45#3 Re: Thanks Shai!

    Hi Turbulenz!

    I noticed that you have typed finnish words and sentences as fast as english. I'm curious to know have you modified colemak layout for ä and ö or are you typing them with AltGr? Just being curious because I'm Finnish too and I am considering the switch from qwerty. The only thing that is stopping me is that ä and ö characters require AltGr combinations. So happy to hear your experince.

    Kikkailija

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    • From: Viken, Norway
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    20-Sep-2008 21:50:37#4 Re: Thanks Shai!

    After going some rounds with this question I've come to the conclusion that I'm going with the standard Colemak with the Norwegian æøå added on AltGr []\ - but it may not be the ideal solution for all. Punctuation is moved to a US setup which is different from the European ones... but I'm thinking that those are for the most part silly and I want to be able to use a setup that allows me to comply with what's used in programs, hotkey arrangements and so on. So I'm willing to take the extra hassle of learning the "US" punctuation layout. I've just started with it, but it seems to be going okay already.

    I don't use the "international" part of the standard Colemak, as I don't think that suits my needs.

    I don't type all that much Norwegian, but what I'd do if I were to is to make a clone of the layout with øåæ on top and []\ on AltGr. Then a simple hotkey would switch between the two whenever my Norwegian typing needs were stronger than my coding ones. The main idea is to have two almost equal layouts with ONLY the special characters changed - and not even changing keys, but only whether they're on AltGr or not.

    It's fairly simple to do on most systems.

    Last edited by DreymaR (20-Sep-2008 21:51:36)

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    • From: Turku, Finland
    • Registered: 11-Jun-2008
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    22-Sep-2008 22:41:11#5 Re: Thanks Shai!

    Moi kikkailija! Hauskaa nähdä muita suomalaisia Colemakin ääressä! [Fun to see other finns pondering Colemak!]

    This summer, I pondered the same thing (AltGr) and also the possibilities of using ColeMak on Turku University's restricted computers... and tonight I stumbled upon a readymade solution!

    fmate14 has written a really nice program (Portable keyboard layout, pkl) for taking Colemak on any USB-stick anywhere, making it run on any computer without installing.. not only is this great for people using various computers (University etc.), but he has also made several additional layouts, including a Finnish (and at the same time, Swedish) layout with ä and å in their Nordic QWERTY positions and ö where p "normally" is placed.  The punctuation marks (",", "." and "-") retain their Nordic QWERTY position in the right-hand lower row in fmate14's Finnish Colemak-layout.

    The pkl: http://sourceforge.net/project/platform … tform=6931    for the Finnish layout also download: Colemak_variants_layouts_v0.3.zip

    As soon as I have checked that this works on the university computers here, I will get to work on learning an the Nordic Colemak, as I want something more ergonomically planned than QWERTY and it seems that Dvorak would be harder to learn.

    Good luck with Colemak if you go for it!

    Thanks Shai for a better layout, fmate14 for a great program, DreymaR and the other Nordic Colemak people for their insights!

    -Linus

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    • From: Viken, Norway
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    23-Sep-2008 00:05:27#6 Re: Thanks Shai!

    I fully agree: PKL is invaluable at work. Three cheers for Farkas M!

    What I did was to modify the 'comfort colemak' file to have æøå on AltGr \][ (and moving the symbols that had been there elsewhere).

    *** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
    *** Check out my Big Bag of Keyboard Tricks for Win/Linux/TMK... ***

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    23-Sep-2008 07:52:35#7 Re: Thanks Shai!

    Moikka moi! [Houdy hou!]

    Thanks for the tip Linus. I had PKL already in use but I haven't heard of the Finnish layout.

    Btw. I noticed that the Finnish layout uses QWERTY-layout when CTRL is pressed. For example in Firefox a new tab opens with CTRL-T not CTRL-F.

    Kikkailija

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    • From: Rockland, Wyoming
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    25-Sep-2008 18:24:36#8 Re: Thanks Shai!

    Welcome to the forums! Nice to see another happy Colemak user. And I haven't convinced any of those I know to use Colemak, either.

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