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Re: why must emacs depend on sound packages?



Title: Re: why must emacs depend on sound packages?

Chris Jones wrote:
> On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 12:04:44PM EDT, Barclay, Daniel wrote:
>> Chris Jones wrote:
>
> [..]
>
>>> Where the above no longer works for me is when the two action keys
>>> do not belong to the same half of the keyboard - such as Ctrl-X
>>> Ctrl-P, because I would use my right thumb to action the Control
>>> key, the left hand ring finger to hit X, and then would be stuck
>>> having to maintain the right Control key depressed and hit the "P"
>>> key with my right pinky.
>
>> Ah, that might be your problem right there:  Using "proper" shifting
>> technique (as a typing teaching would presumably teach).  Oh,
>> wait--you aren't switching from left to right control key there.  But
>> you are using a thumb on an improperly positioned control key.  Such
>> an abomination! :-)
>
> It certainly is not. I was under the impression that homo sapiens
> differed from the apes due to his opposable thumb.

Huh?  You think other primates don't have opposable thumbs?

In any case, the significance of opposable thumbs is in _grabbing_
things (you know, between fingers (finger and thumb) moving in
_opposing_ directions).  There no direct relationship to pressing
keys.

 > With proper typing
> position - the wrists unbent, pretty much horizontal, reaching for the
> Windows keys remapped to Control is totally effortless.

If it works for you, then quit complaining.  I was trying to help
you because you seemed to find Emacs' modifier keys inconvenient.

(By the way, do you mean that you curl your left thumb under your
hand to reach the Windows key, or do you move your whole hand to
the left (using the left control key only with keys typed by your
right hand, per "proper" typing style)?)


>> Try using your left pinky on the (left) control key its rightful
>> (original) place, immediately to the left of the A key (assuming
>> English/QWERTY layout)).  Then use your left ring finger (instead
>> of the "proper" left pinky) on the q, a, and z keys when you
>> need to enter C-q, C-a, or C-z, respectively; and shift fingers
>> on the next column or two as needed.
>
> Now you are kidding, right?

Were you actually paying attention when you wrote that?  Did my
description somehow retain some ambiguity I thought I avoided?

How hard is it to put your left pinky on the key immediately to the
left of the A key and then put your left ring finger on the A key?
That leaves those fingers right next to each other.

Or was your comment not implying that it was hard but just reacting
to its difference from proper (per typing class) fingering?


>> The C-x C-p is easy: left pinky left control down, left middle or
>> ring finger x down, right pinky or ring finger p down, and then
>> all finger up in any order you want (or no order (simultaneous)).
>
> My guess is that you must have a couple of RSI doctors among your close
> relatives.

Again, I don't think you're paying attention.  Trying to press the
control key(s) where IBM moved it to is a lot harder than pressing
it where it was originally.  (Obviously, your placement of them on
the Windows keys is better than the default PC-keyboard positions.)


> Not only is this very difficult to get right consistently without
> looking at the keys ...but it
> completely leaves out the fact that in my personal case, there is a
> wired-in association between a given key and a given finger.
>
> I am reusing the basic associations acquired while typing to which I
> only added two+two (Control & Alt keys) synchronized thumb actions. If I
> followed your advice, I would have to build into my personal muscle
> memory an entire new set of finger actions that are both inconsistent
> with my (standard) typing habits ...

Actually, it would be only about half of one hand of finger-to-key
associations--only left hand, and only whichever keys one re-assigns.

Hmm.  I think I have "Emacs control-key mode" vs. "regular mode."

I notice that I shift my left hand left a bit (to put my pinky on
the left-of-A control key) and widen my fingers (some fingers stay
in their normal columns (e.g., index finger for F key)).

Note that I don't typically shift to control-key mode for just a
single command (one control-key sequence).

More typically, I shift my hand left for "move-around and cut/copy-
and-paste mode" (e.g, C-a, C-e, C-p, C-n, C-w, C-y, etc.) and
then shift back to normal touch-typing position for "typing words"
mode.

In particular, I frequently press the control key and don't let it
up until I've hit a half a dozen or more other keys (regardless of
which hand presses them).

Whether you'll ever like Emacs control-key sequences probably depends
on how often you use them--that is, whether you usually do things
(e.g., lots of moving around between typing text) that require many
control keys in a row (where the press-Control-and-hold aspect helps
more) or you usually just use a few interspersed in more "plain" typing.


 > _and_ physically stressful.
>
> Seriously, left pinky on the key to the right of the "A" key and left
> ring finger on the "Z" key at the same time...?

(No.  Left pinky on the key to the LEFT of the "A" key.)


> Tried it a couple of times and had to stop because I was cramping.

Well, actually, C-z isn't that frequent.  How do your fingers react for
C-a?



Daniel

--
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