autohotkey key remapping and mouse boost - release 1b

[Carl Andersen]

Corrected a small error in the comments about the remapping tables:
their indices begin with 1, not 0.

Functionally, this release is exactly the same as 1a.

[Mike D]

Hi Carl,

This is a truly moby hack. I was considering putting aside my AG
because it was too difficult to reach all the Ctrl- and Alt-modified
keys I need to get things done (emacs, heh). Your layout, with modifier
keys all reachable by the thumbs, is much more comfortable and
functional than the original AG layout.

It's also great for commonly typed Linux/Unix commands like "cd" and
"ls", because C and L are now relocated to the backside finger keys.
The two new shift keys are, counterintuitively, easy to pick up and
start using, thanks to functional key mapping (red for numbers, blue
for cursor movement keys, etc.)

I really encourage anyone who often uses the Ctrl and Alt keys to
download AutoHotKey at
http://www.autohotkey.com/
and give Carl's hack a try. Nice!

-mike

[Mike W]

Carl,

I believe the space, period, and comma characters, which require a
shift key to be generated with your remapping script, are more common
than the q, b and f characters, which do not require a shift key. What
do you think about swapping them? I realize that it would then require
2 shifts to be pressed to generate a capital Q, B, or F, but it may be
worth the tradeoff.

Mike

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[Carl Andersen]

Thanks Mike. Nice to be appreciated.

[Carl Andersen]

Hi Mike,

Yes, after using this release for awhile, I came to similar
conclusions, although the symbols I found myself using often were
space, enter, bksp, and the arrow symbols. Next in usage were comma
and
period and tab, for me at least.

About your suggestion - just for me personally, I would prefer to keep
all the basic letter symbols unshifted. But using chords of two
adjacent finger keys, there are enough combinations to type (unshifted)
all the
letter symbols as well as the symbols above.

At present I'm working on a new keymap that tries to incorporate this.

But really, I would like everyone to feel free to just modify my
release to suit their purposes and even to release the modified version

to the group. I guess I will add some features to my release to make
alteration of it easier. Like the Photoshop docs I use to make
pictures of the keymaps.

[oggie rob]

> About your suggestion - just for me personally, I would prefer to keep
all the basic letter symbols unshifted.

Hi Mike and Carl,
I was going to respond in the same way, but wanted to hear Carl's
comments first. Of course, no matter what some keys are going to be a
problem. Imagining that the next Alphagrip uses the "thumb only above
the Shift keys" philosophy (which I think is the real draw to using
this keymap), then the most important factor is how easy those "mod"
keys are to hit.
I find Blue and Red are very easy, but Green is a bit harder (and I
don't use Orange very often).

Also, I do think it is a problem to double-strike the jkvxyz keys.
However I like the consistency of the finger keys - not sure what other
suggestion there might be.

-rob

[Carl Andersen]

Rob,

By "double-strike" do you mean that you type the desired chord twice by
accident, or that you type the two keys of the chord non-simultaneously
and end up with those two symbols rather than the chord?

[oggie rob]

Hi Carl,
In my post, "double-strike" just means "simultaneously hitting" - not
sure of the technical term! I'm referring to the technique required to
type those keys.

I think it is not a good idea to require simultaneous strikes, is all.

-rob

[Carl Andersen]

Say, why is that? I am pretty enamored of chords by now.

Maybe it's my coolio foam key extenders. ;) They really do make
it easier to type a key quickly, I think.

[oggie rob]

> Say, why is that? I am pretty enamored of chords by now.

I noticed that! Your other post looked interesting.
The problem (as I see it) comes down to errors. With a qwerty keyboard,
when you make a mistake its because your finger was in the wrong place.
My mind actually knows it is making the mistake as I type it because I
immediately hit the backspace. Why do I type it then? I don't know.
Anyway, the only surprise I get is when I've initially positioned my
hands in the wrong place and start typing gibberish.

But with hitting the keys simultaneously, your mind might be telling
you the right thing but your hands don't respond right. I have most of
a problem right now (with your realease 1a) hitting keys y and z,
because it is a bit more of a stretch to reach those than the j or k
combination. I don't like the increased chance of typing errors.

Chorded keys isn't an area I know too much about, but I think one
philosophy or another should be chosen. I might actually prefer "going
the whole hog" and using lots of these chorded keys (like your latest
keymap) rather than just a few - just because it is a little more
consistent.

-rob

[oggie rob]

> I have most of a problem right now (with your realease 1a)

I meant release 1b

-rob

[JCastagno]

hmmm... can you explain how to use the contents of that file? All of
the autohotkey scripts that I have used before end with .ahk. When I
try to open the .ini with autohotkey I just get errors.

I also tryed ripping out just the mouse speed stuff and renaming to
.ahk without success. I get errors on the first line where a { is used
with an if statement.

Thanks very much :)

[Lars D.]

Carl Andersen's autohotkey script is posted in executable form on the
AlphaGrip site. It is divided into two separate programs -- one for
the Remap and one for the MouseBooster. The Remap is located @
http://www.alphagrips.com/Andersen.html and the MouseBooster is located
@ http://www.alphagrips.com/trackspeed.html.

Lars D.

[JCastagno]

I have to say that I am very impressed with the key remapping. I
thought at first the the chording of keys was going to be too hard, but
it wasn't too bad. It solved the 2 biggest problems I had so far with
the keys, which were using ctrl/alt and reaching for the green shift
buttton.

The only drawback I see with this layout so far is that I use space and
backspace so much, it is kind of a pain using 2 keys for them.
Hopefully I won't use backspace as much in the furture, but space will
always be used a ton.

Thanks for your work :D

[JCastagno]

I wish I could just edit my previous post but...

I just wanted to add that I think its fantastic how well you guys at
AlphaGrip accept community input and even go as far as to incorporate
apps and tweaks like this one into your website.

It makes me really excited to own one :D

[MClark]

As excellent as it is that AG is so enthusiastically incorporating the
user community, it's important to keep in mind that registry editing as
described on http://www.alphagrips.com/trackspeed.html can be pretty
dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. An explanation of how
to back up your registry or at least a disclaimer of sorts is probably
in order if you plan to continue linking that page from your FAQ.

Just a thought...

[Lars D.]

MClark,

We posted a warning on the 'Speeding Up the AG-5's Trackball for
Windows Users' page. Thank you for the suggestion.