Keyboards
in [Java Programming]
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From: Roedy Green on 30 Apr 2010 00:01 On Sun, 25 Apr 2010 13:33:04 -0400, Lew <noone(a)lewscanon.com> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : > Removing the >numeric keypad from the right of the keyboard will have no effect on where the >right hand rests whatsoever if people do that smart thing. I don't have a numeric keypad on my Kinesis (there is an embedded one). My right hand rests with the right pinky just north west of the right shift key. The mouse sits immediately to the right. With a conventional keyboard, the mouse would be several inches to the right because the keypad would intervene. see http://mindprod.com/bgloss/kinesis.html for a picture of the layout which should make this clear. The numeric keypad is for numeric data entry. You might use it for accounting or statistics. You would not use it for word processing, programming, web browsing, social networking. To get an idea of how often it is used, have a look at the wear on the legends on used computer keyboards. -- Roedy Green Canadian Mind Products http://mindprod.com It�s amazing how much structure natural languages have when you consider who speaks them and how they evolved.
From: Lew on 30 Apr 2010 06:31 Lew wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : >> Removing the >> numeric keypad from the right of the keyboard will have no effect on where the >> right hand rests whatsoever if people do that smart thing. Roedy Green wrote: > I don't have a numeric keypad on my Kinesis (there is an embedded > one). My right hand rests with the right pinky just north west of the > right shift key. The mouse sits immediately to the right. > > With a conventional keyboard, the mouse would be several inches to the > right because the keypad would intervene. > > see http://mindprod.com/bgloss/kinesis.html > for a picture of the layout which should make this clear. You apparently missed my comment upthread that I used a Kinesis kb for years. > The numeric keypad is for numeric data entry. You might use it for > accounting or statistics. You would not use it for word processing, > programming, web browsing, social networking. To get an idea of how > often it is used, have a look at the wear on the legends on used > computer keyboards. You elided the important part of my comment: that "that smart thing" is to put the mouse on the left. Removing anything from the far right of the keyboard then has no effect on right-hand placement because the mouse is on the left. Thus the basis for my remark is not the disputable value of the keypad but the irrelevance if the mouse is switched to the left. I used a Kinesis keyboard for five years on a job. Hardly a day went by that I didn't lament its lack of a separate numeric keypad. Many times I did switch the keys to embedded numeric mode, but it was a poor substitute. Utility is in the hand of the holder. That didn't affect where my right hand rested because I had the mouse on the left. -- Lew
From: Roedy Green on 30 Apr 2010 13:42 On Sat, 24 Apr 2010 08:48:09 +0100, Break Point <break.point.00(a)google.mail.removepreviousdot.com> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : > cast into room 101 Could you explain that reference? I presume it means "discarded/destroyed". -- Roedy Green Canadian Mind Products http://mindprod.com It�s amazing how much structure natural languages have when you consider who speaks them and how they evolved.
From: Roedy Green on 30 Apr 2010 13:43 On Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:39:29 -0500, jebblue <n(a)n.nnn> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : >It only supports Windows and Mac, that makes it useless. Huh? I thought any Windows keyboard automatically worked on Linux. Does it need a special driver? -- Roedy Green Canadian Mind Products http://mindprod.com It�s amazing how much structure natural languages have when you consider who speaks them and how they evolved.
From: Roedy Green on 30 Apr 2010 13:45
On Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:42:13 +0200, Zlatko Duric <zladuric(a)gmail.com> wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : >What's the trick was just a repeated question number one, to elaborate. >I wanted to know why is it better to point and click with my left hand One reason is the mouse is closer to where you normally rest your left hand that a mouse on the right is to where you normally rest your right hand, at least if you don't have the old IBM layout with the function keys on the left. -- Roedy Green Canadian Mind Products http://mindprod.com It�s amazing how much structure natural languages have when you consider who speaks them and how they evolved. |