It has been a while I wrote about keyboards - or anything at all, really -, so it is high time I do that, because there has been a lot of progress made on various fronts. We will touch a number of topics today, ranging from Kaleidoscope to QMK related ones. As a teaser, we will talk about hid-io, feedback from the Keyboardio PVT run so far, and Emacs.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
I have been playing with an UHK prototype lately, obviously not on any of the hardware bits, but on the firmware. It's an interesting thing, poking around in the brain of a keyboard, especially when its the third, very different kind of brain.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
The layout I use, and the one I'm aiming for are rather unconventional in a few respects. One of these is that I make heavy use of various multi-purpose keys: one-shot modifiers, tap-dance-, and leader keys. I have read, and continue reading a lot of keyboard and layout-related material. Blog posts, researches, theorycrafting about the most efficient layout, and a lot more. And reading most, I often feel frustrated, because almost all of them are written with the same old keyboard design and ...| asylum.madhouse-project.org
Just like last time, the focus of this post is keyboard.io and ADORE. There are plenty of news to report on both sides! A lot of progress has been made on the arduino front, to make it possible to have the behaviour I desire on the Model 01 - only the Leader key is missing, and I have a good idea about its implementation, too. On the other front, ADORE has seen a huge update again, aimed at reducing pinky use, and balancing the hands out. We'll see after this post how that worked in practice.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
Today I will write more about layouts and the keyboard.io than the ErgoDox, though most of the testing has been made on it. This time, I took a big step: having procrastinated on it for a very long time, I rearranged the number row, along with the symbols. To make the transition easier - for some values of easy - I started to use the same number/symbol layout on my base layer too. What can I say? It's painful. I have used the same layout ever since I first laid my hands on a keyboard in the e...| asylum.madhouse-project.org
As with the last blog post, I'm writing this on ADORE, to collect another heatmap worth of data. It is still awfully slow, but the changes I made since the last time feel better so far. Nevertheless, this post will be as much about other things, as about ADORE. This marks the day I start tagging these posts with the new Ergonomics tag.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
I'm writing this on ADORE, to collect enough data for a new, ADORE-based heatmap, and to practice the layout. Most likely, this post will take the longest time to write. Nevertheless, I will persevere, for science!| asylum.madhouse-project.org
Since the last update not much has happened with the layout. There were some minor changes, but nothing spectacular. Instead, I've been doing a lot of research, or at least, trying to. The focus is now on the ADORE layer, and I'm collecting data, analyzing the layout, and similar things. For example, here is an updated heatmap of my current, Dvorak layout:| asylum.madhouse-project.org
It's been a while I posted an update about my ErgoDox journey, and there's a lot to talk about, now that I'm back from vacation. Today, we have two main topics: trackballs and heatmaps. The two are not connected, it just happens that I write about both at the same time.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
In the past, I usually updated every week, but this last one took longer, almost two weeks. Not because things finally settled down, no. It's never over. Lots of things are happening on the keyboard front, a good amount of experimenting was and is being made. The changes this time are less radical, perhaps, at least as far as the base layer is concerned. Other layers... well, they did see some bigger updates.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
Although just six days ago it seemed I am done doing major changes to my layout for a while, and the base layer will not be touched, I was wrong. It's never done. There is always something to tweak, to make things even more comfortable, and fit for my hands and usage patterns. Nevertheless, while there were a number of updates to the keyboard, the path I started on with the ErgoDox continues, and I'm at a stage where it's no more just a keyboard. It's something bigger: as I started paying mor...| asylum.madhouse-project.org
In the past week and a bit, my layout did not change much at all, neither behaviour, nor key location. It appears I reached a state where I feel sufficiently comfortable. Therefore I will be talking less about the keyboard now, or how I am taming it, and instead focus on something I am experimenting with: creating my own alphanumeric layout.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
Ever found yourself in need of entering binary codes rapidly? Ever wanted to use all ten fingers to do so? Ever felt your SuperCoder 2000 too limiting, by only having three buttons? We heard you! With this layout for the ErgoDox EZ, you will be able to tap in binary at an unparalleled speed and accuracy! Efficiency never seen before!| asylum.madhouse-project.org
For the past week, I have only applied tiny tweaks and bugfixes to my ErgoDox layout, it appears that I have finally arrived to the part of the journey where the core remains the same. Because the changes - apart from a new, experimental layer - are all very small, this time, I will not only talk about the ErgoDox, but also compare it to my previous keyboard, the TypeMatrix 2030.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
It has been over a month of receiving the ErgoDox EZ, and it has been my daily driver at work for most of that time, after the first weekend, which I spent with it at home. In this time, I learned a lot about my typing habits, my preferences, and about the keyboard too. In this summary you read now, I will try to not only describe how I use the keyboard, but the whys too, the process that led to the setup I have right now.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
Another week almost gone, and there are a lot of progress to report on the ErgoDox front. I tweaked my layout further, but there are less changes this time, and most of them under the hood: not how the keys are laid out, but how they behave. Mind you, there were still some minor changes here and there.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
I am now using the ErgoDox EZ as my main keyboard at work, and am loving it. Sometimes, when really frustrated, I still switch back to my TypeMatrix, but that is happening less and less. As of day 22, I am consistenlty reaching 40+ WPM, with 95%+ accuracy. But I make a lot of mistakes, so it is time I slowed down, and work on accuracy for a while instead.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
Been using the ErgoDox for almost a week now, and it is starting to get better! I rarely have to consult the printed layout anymore, but I make plenty of errors still, mostly because I am trying to pay attention to type with all ten fingers. The layout itself (pictured below) feels close to final, although only the base and the Hungarian layers are tested well - the rest, I have not used all that much yet.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
So I have been playing with the ErgoDox some more, and things are getting better! I have put together a visual aid now, which is a great help. Touch typing is still slow, because I never properly learnt it before. Modifiers are also awkward to use, I may have to relocate them closer to the thumbs - or at least, move SHIFT closer, as that is what I use most often.| asylum.madhouse-project.org
Today my ErgoDox EZ arrived, I flashed a Dvorak firmware a couple of times, and am typing this on the new keyboard. It's slow and painful, but the possibilities are going to be worth it in the end.| asylum.madhouse-project.org