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    Oops! My accidental experience with Colemak

    • Started by SerendipityG3A
    • 7 Replies:
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    • Registered: 11-Aug-2009
    • Posts: 11

    I’ve been on QWERTZ ISO since learning how to type in about 1994 (sad, I donno how I made it so long without learning how to type). I never clocked my top typing speed, but I was able to type along with the lyrics of any of the songs I had on my iTunes until less than a year ago when I suddenly lost the use of my right hand. At that time, I became interested in alternative keyboard layouts (for obvious reasons). I switched to a left-hand Dvorak. I’ve since been in physical therapy for my hand, and have regained most of its function, but my pinky and ring finger are still impaired.  About a month ago, I decided to go back to typing with two hands, but I didn’t wanna go back to a standard keyboard because of all the stuff I’ve read about Dvorak since switching, so I tried Dvorak. It had too much for my impaired right hand to do, so I made a mirror image of it. It only took me a couple of weeks to get to where I didn’t have to look at the keys, but I was frustrated with how many times I had to use the same finger for more than one letter in a row, so I kept looking until I found Colemak. It had the same problem with using my impaired fingers too much, so I made a mirror of it too, and after a few experiments and some studies on my typing style, I moved a very few keys around, and now I have my MOSTLY Colemak keyboard!

    .. or so I thought ..

    Well, I just now discovered a mistake that I made when I first set up my Colemak.  See, the ISO keyboard has an extra key when compared to the ANSI keyboard in the diagrams, and that key goes to the left of the Z key on the Colemak layout, making the left shift key shorter.  Well, what I did while I was setting it up is I started the Z on that key instead of the key next to it, so I ended up with my entire bottom row shifted to the left by one key.  No wonder I had to move some keys around.  And I never noticed my mistake until just now!  Well, now, I’ve learned my screwed up layout, so I guess I’m stuck with it!  LOL!

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    • Registered: 11-Aug-2009
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    How I discovered my error, the illustrated version:

    I was making this diagram to show you which keys I changed (marked in green and blue)...
    Colemak_layout_2.png
    ...when suddenly, I noticed the entire bottom row was different from mine!
    ColemakOops.jpg
    Carp!

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    • Registered: 17-Mar-2008
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    A lot of people with the extra key shift the left-hand side of the bottom row on purpose. You could try leaving ZXCVB where they are, but shifting KM,./ back. It really does help with keeping your wrists straight.

    Last edited by tomlu (11-Aug-2009 12:27:55)
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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
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    Yep, that's what I do. Some call it the 'comfort Colemak', and Shai himself recommends it for keyboards with that key present.

    Like Tomlu said, you really want to move the K and M back or they'll be uncomfortable to type and/or require different fingering which will confuse you when you switch back and forth between QWERTY and Colemak. Your degree sign button fits nicely in the middle.

    How nice that you ended up with Colemak after all your thought!  :)

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

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    No wonder this thread seemed so boring to all those people who looked at it and left without a word.  Thanks!  I feel better about my goof now.  I feel I have my final version since I think I’m starting to type too fast to wanna go back and learn it again =)  School is gonna start soon, and I don’t wanna be struggling to learn my keylayout while I’ve got papers due.

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    • Registered: 20-Oct-2006
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    Much easier to practice before the pressure is on.

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    • From: Viken, Norway
    • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
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    To 'go full Colemak(Comfort)' you'd have to move 6 keys. Not sure how you finger those today, but you'd be going back to QWERTY fingering for 4 of them so that ought to be really quick. The degree key is completely inconsequential since it's so rare. In sum, this should be really easy for you to learn and I'd just do it if I were you.

    The only time I've strayed from the regular Colemak was when I made the 'Comfort' change - and then that became part of the regular Colemak! Any and all changes that seemed like a decent idea at the time (such as switching semicolon and colon) got ditched after a while. I think it pays off to stay with the mainstream solution as long as it's a decent one and changing it won't bring major advantages. (Then again, that's the argument for staying with QWERTY for many people - aaaargh!)

    Fascinatingly enough, there's a recent thread at the geekhack forums about 'Comfortoid' improvements.

    Last edited by DreymaR (12-Aug-2009 08:56:26)

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

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    • Registered: 11-Aug-2009
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    Well, as I mentioned before, I moved a few other keys around too to compensate for what I thought was a design flaw, but really turned out to be my own personal flaw, and to accommodate my damaged hand.

    Anyway, I think we’re getting to an age when more and more of our personal settings will follow us everywhere we go, and I think alternate keyboard layouts are getting popular enough that our own layouts will be among those personal settings.  One might argue that that’s an efficient way to accommodate typists with physical (hand, finger, etc.) impairments who other layouts might be more practical for.  As alternate layouts continue to grow more popular, accommodations for those layouts will become more practical.  The issues that we see today with short-cut keys, modifier keys, and in-game keybindings will be automatically resolved and adapted to our own personal layouts as soon as we lay our hands on the keyboard.  That’s what I think.

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