Download Pinky
Sunniva Delrio
I just started using GNU Emacs as my text editor and I am concerned about getting afflicted with "Emacs Pinky" by having to constantly press the control key with my pinky finger as is required when using Emacs. How can I avoid potentially getting this type of repetitive strain injury?
I have always been curious about why such a large community of programmers, writers, geeks, etc. haven't yet found super simple and effective solution to this problem. Simply: 1) take a small piece of paper, make paper ball of it; 2) use scotch to stick it on to your left ctrl key (temporarily removing it from the place); 3) when writing, use side of your left palm to press that key - now this key is higher than others and you can do it easily. That way you don't need to buy uber ergo-keyboards, or remap ctrl key to capslock (which you eventually will push with your pinky anyway)...
On any standard keyboard (which symmetrically positions modifier keys, e.g. any MS keyboard) now you can press Ctrl key with ring finger and Alt key with middle finger on both hands. These fingers are much stronger than pinky and can endure frequent use.
Even after remapping capslock to become control, you still have to use your pinky to press it - at least I do, because my ring finger won't reach it for a command like C-g. Using your pinky at all is not recommended, right?
I started using the side\palm of my hands to hit the control key instead of my pinky fingers. My understanding is that on more ergonomic keyboards the control key button is bigger which makes it easier to perform that motion.
I can use the Control key in either the west or south-west positions without any trouble. Many Emacsers swear that the control key belongs in the west position and the west position only, and that anything else will ruin your pinky. The only thing we know for sure causes RSI from typing is too much typing. Try type-break-mode and see if a few regular breaks help.
The drawback to this plan is that the alt key has moved to the left, so the alt+tab command (which I use for window switching) no longer matches the mac equivalent cmd+tab. But I can still hit it with my thumb, and it's still, to me, a far lesser evil than destroying my pinky. Yeah, I know I could just make ctrl+tab the window switcher, but then the real ctrl key doesn't work for tab switching. Besides, with apps moving into the browser, the window/tab navigational strategies are gonna be in flux for a while -- but the basics like cut/paste aren't going anywhere, so I want them locked down. Under my thumb.
I actually did my own hack to avoid using the ctrl key. I use now the SPACEBAR key.This small program for X changes the behavior of the space bar, so that when it is used in a combination, it adds the control modifier to it. When used alone, it behaves normally on release.That way you don't have to use your pinky at all! Worked perfectly for me.
I am not a programmer and I also have a hard time explaining ideas. I am on a dell mini laptop. The mouse touchpad is in a spot where my thumbs rest.My left touchpad button acts as a control key:With the side of my thumb I press it and edit in emacs as usual.I was going to map the right touchpad button to alt, but instead I have done thefollowing:I press the button and the control key gets pressed (locked).I press it again and controll gets released.This not only made my pinky feel better it also made my editing twice as fast. (accordingto my org-mode clocks)It is hard to explain how nice it works.In order to do this I used the following two aplications:xbindkeysxdotoolMy xbindkeys config file:
I just started learing hydrid picking and I have some fingerstyle experience already. Just wondering if I should be using pinky or not? It feels so uncomfortable as in traditional fingerpicking I don't use pinky. I feel like learning to use pinky for hydrid picking might be harmful for already learnt fingerstyle method. Opinions?
I'm not an Emacs user, but a couple of years ago, I discovered the magic of Vim. Then I discovered the magic of keyboard remapping. Soon after, I was blissfully navigating text in every program with just capslock and my trusty hjkl;0 keys. And now I have a capslock combination for every key on the right side of the keyboard (and alternate modes while holding caps and s,d, f, or g, which is I think what ultimately pushed my the stress in my pinky over the threshold) mapped to some IDE command, an application switcher, or some other vital function that I feel impaired without immediate access to.
Anyway, does that sound similar to what others who have had Emacs pinky experienced? If so, what was actually injured in your case? Was there structural damage, or was it just chronic inflammation? And were you able to treat it?
so a friend watched me play guitar recently and pointed out that i had my pinky tucked under my fretboard. i dont usually use it, so its pretty week. Now im focused on my picky and where it is at all times. what are some good songs that can make my pinky stronger.
I have been playing guitar on and off for a long time. I recently dusted off my guitars and started playing again, and as I'm somewhat self taught, my theory is lacking. Anyway, I have ALWAYS had an issue with my left pinky sticking straight out (kind of locked) when fingering notes and chords with the other fingers. Now is this just how my hands are? Because it severely limits my ability to hit notes with said pinky. As its high above the note, and sticking straight out!!! Has anyone here ever seen or heard of this problem? Can it be remedied?
I'm gonna answer the question: Do I really have to use my right hand pinky when I play the flute for most notes, because it doesn't really make a difference, does it? Well, the short answer is yes, you do need to use it.
Here's the tiny reason why you do need to use your right hand pinky when you play the flute is because it actually makes a difference for some notes. Not many, honestly, not many, but some. So obviously D sharp or E flat. You have to have that down. Otherwise, it's a different note.
All right. If you learn the flute and you learned your notes correctly with your right pinky down, when it needs to be down, which is pretty much familiarly, every note, except for D and some of the high ones, you are going to give your brain less to think about because you're being consistent with your fingerings.
It will all also give you the brain space to think about other aspects of improving your flute playing, concentrating on something else that you're learning to do a new piece, a new technique. So the consistency of you using your right hand pinky, when you're supposed to teaches your brain to react automatically and frees that brain space for other things. So there you go.
I must be missing something simple here. I do not have a TM Warthog so the A-10's left throttle button ("pinky switch", I believe), is mapped to UP on a four-way hat on my CH HOTAS throttle. I cannot seem to figure out how I use this hat to enable certain exterior lights functions that do not seem to work otherwise. In fact, I do not know what this left throttle button is for at all. Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks!
Very helpful, gents, many thanks. All the above functions are set to FWD/BACK/DOWN on that hat, so that takes care of the 3 pinky switch lights functions. UP on my hat is "Left Throttle Button" so it must be mapped to AP engage/disengage, something I never noticed before as I had mapped this function to another button, which I will now eliminate as redundant. Thanks!
I get that. No rocket science degree necessary. However, if I select Anti-Collision (and for that I need the pinky in AFT pos), it works, until I switch it to center. If I switch back to AFT again, the anti-collision does not switch back on again. That I don't get. Why is that? If I wanted it disabled, I would switch to FWD. However, everything else than AFT flips the a.c. switch on the panel right back. Why? Why not keep it in that position, because I can disable it with the pinky? In other words: moving the pinky affects the actual state of the panel switches. That is the thing I am curious about.
We have to be sure that lights are off after doing that, so the spring loaded acol switch is forced to flip to aft position. If it wouldn't be designed that way, we would have to trust solely the pinky switch. But we want to be sure that lights are off right? So, switch flips back and we can judge the anticol is shut down by its switch position.
So this is a question I posed in another thread yesterday about somebody asking about another similarly perceived physical limitation. If somebody told you that your pinky was too short, what would you do with that information?
My pinky is about as long as yours, give or take. I have not spent even a minute worrying that finger size is somehow holding me back. The thought just never even occurred to me. I just play whatever is easy and sounds good.
When I'm using Chrome, Powerpoint, Notepad++, etc. I take a lot of advantage of the keyboard shortcuts in those programs. However, this gets a bit tedious and straining, having my pinky stretch down to the Ctrl key every time I need to save, for example.
At this point my pinky is strong enough to beat anyone in the "Pinky Wrestling" that Burger King describes on their hash brown baggies, but it's also quite sore after a couple hours in front of the computer.
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