It was invented by Christopher Latham Sholes who was an American newspaper editor.  Sholes wanted to find a way to stop the hammers in typewriters from getting clogged up all the time.  This happened because the layout that was being used allowed people to type more quickly than the mechanical parts of the typewriter could respond, with the upstroke of one letter completing before the downstroke of the previous one had finished.

And so in October 1867 he patented the QWERTY keyboard layout to solve the problem by moving letters that were commonly used together further apart so that the typewriter hammers wouldn’t need to overlap.  He sold the idea to Remington and in 1878 their Remington No. 2 typewriter popularised the layout.  Since then the uptake for this keyboard layout has been enormous and it remains the most popular keyboard layout around the world today.

Why do we still use QWERTY though with modern computers where mechanical hammers are no longer a problem?  The simple fact remains that we have all grown up using this keyboard layout and, as such, we know our way around it and changing it now would cause all manner of problems, slow everybody down and no doubt cost the worldwide economy billions in lost productivity.

The rise of the touchscreen computing device however does present the next generation at least with a solution.  Software keyboards can be laid out however you want them to be and as these are probably going to be the way that the children of tomorrow will learn to use computers, by using smartphones and tablets primarily, could and should the operating system manufacturers now be offering an alternative keyboard layout for us to use, such as an alphabetic one?

Many people believe that a standard alphabetic keyboard is easier and quicker for people to use, and that it makes it quicker for people to learn.  It would be a simple job to put an alphabetic software keyboard into modern touch-enabled operating systems, and the actual hardware keyboard equivalents wouldn’t need to follow for some years in all probability.

This way we could give children an opportunity to potentially type more quickly on their computers, increasing their own productivity.  Also anyone who prefers using an alphanumeric keyboard already, and they can be found for sale in a few places and I’m certain that some apps already exist for some platforms, will finally have the option to use one on all their devices.

So what do you think?  Could the next generation of computer users benefit from Microsoft, Apple and Google adding alphabetic or other keyboard layouts to their operating systems now?  Do you already use a keyboard layout like this or do you have experience of doing so?  Would you like to try an alphabetic keyboard on your tablet and smartphone and do you think it would be easier to type on and also, do you think that your children would benefit form typing alphabetically, or would it be better for them to learn the traditional QWERTY layout?  Why not let us know in the comments here what you think about the future of typing on computers.

Fortunately help appears to be at hand, quite literally, as there are new an innovative ways to interact with our computers available and in general use already.  There’s the recently introduced Siri from Apple, which while it might be a version 1 product and in need of some improvement (especially if you’re Scottish) seems to work rather well for voice interaction.

Then there’s the now venerable Kinect, coming soon to Windows to help us to all pretend to be Tom Cruise throwing his windows around Minority Report style.  Touch screens are opening new opportunities too and new types of keyboards.  Sadly a wholesale move to touch technology can only guarantee that the next worldwide health scare is a pandemic of repetitive strain injury and nobody needs any of that.

But slowly and surely we are moving away from using keyboards and mice to control our computers and to communicate with them.  This has led me to wonder exactly how we’ll be doing this in the future?  Clearly the outsider has got to be voice.  With so many languages, dialects and words to learn we’re still many years from the processing power needed to produce reliable results, and do you want to explain to your boss that you had said “brick” in that email but the software misunderstood you?

Then comes touch.  RSI issues aside we can still use them to read natural handwriting.  This technology has now been around and working reliably for a decade, the postal services around the world have invested huge sums in computers that can read the words we write.  Alas this is a slow process and writing out a long email instead of typing it in under half the time just isn’t suitable for the demands of modern life.  This brings us then to the Kinect which is great for throwing things around but pretty useless the first time you actually try and do precise work with it.

This means there there’s a gap, sitting somewhere between what he have and what we don’t and I thought I’d throw this out for you to see what you think will be the control methods of tomorrow?  Will we will use keyboards and mice so much, or will the mouse go in favour of gestures and will basic keyboard controls be taken on by voice control instead?  In short, will be resort to using all of these technologies simultaneously to control our devices?

I bring this up because this has all really taken off just this year.  2011 has been a tremendous year for new ways to control computers with some of the most amazing technologies put into practical and widespread use for the first time.  2012 looks to be even more exciting with swipe gesture control coming to Windows 8.  We may not want this though.  For many a keyboard and mouse are just fine and they’ll want to keep things like that.  What do you think?  Do you think there will be an outright winner and do you even think that ten years form now we’ll have any choice in what we use?  Why not tell us here.

The caps lock key, next to num lock, was the culprit here most of the time. Most computer users do not need the caps lock key on the keyboard anymore. The following guide explains how you can disable the caps lock key permanently.

Here is how it is done. Open the Windows Registry the following way: Hold down Windows-r to bring up the run box, enter regedit into the box and tap on the enter key. This opens the Windows Registry Editor. Navigate to the following Registry key in the folder browser on the left.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout

Right-click on Keyboard Layout and select New > Binary from the context menu. Enter Scancode Map and press enter to add the key. Double-click on the newly created key afterwards and enter the following information.

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
02 00 00 00 00 00 3A 00
00 00 00 00

Take a look at the following screenshot to see how it should look like in the Registry editor.

You need to restart your PC after you have made the changes. Once you have done that you will notice that the caps lock key will no longer function under Windows. Nothing happens if you tap on the key.

Please note that some applications may make use of the caps lock key. If that is the case you may break some or all of their functionality. You can re-enable the caps lock by deleting the Scancode Map Registry key and restarting the Windows PC.

Keyboard remapping software like Sharp Keys can also be used to remap the caps lock key so that it no longer functions at all or offers a different function.

Are you using Caps Lock? If so, for what?

This opens the Keyboard Preferences dialog in which you can select different language layouts. Click the “Layouts” tab and then click “Add”.

Now the Layout dialog box opens. Scroll through the various different countries and variants to select the desired language layout that you want to set. Keep in mind that you can set multiple languages and the default will not be lost. In this demonstration, we are selecting basic German for the keyboard layout. Select by country to choose any language and then select any applicable variant. Certain countries, such as the United States, can display several different languages. When your selections have been made, click Add and you are able to preview the keyboard layout for that language setting.

You are also able to set the layout by language and set a variant. When you have completed your selections, click Add.

In this case, the keyboard language was set both by country and by language. You can do either one, but the layout may vary somewhat if you do not set by country and by language. This is something you will have to experiment with, as the settings will be different for each country and language. Always view the preview to be sure that it is what you are looking for or at least close to what you are looking for.

Notice that we now have two languages displayed in the Keyboard Preferences. Both are immediately usable and you can add additional languages or simply close the dialog.

Now that multiple languages have been installed, a new icon will be displayed in the System tray. This will be located in the upper-right portion of the screen. An abbreviation of the country for which the keyboard is set is shown here. Click on the icon to reveal the list of languages and to change languages. You may also access Keyboard Preferences here to add more languages.

Click on “Show Current Layout” to preview the keyboard layout for a selected language. Here, the language was switched to German and we get a layout preview.

You can print this layout easily from this screen. At the bottom-right you will see the Print button. Click Print and you have an easy reference to keep beside your keyboard for reference.

To change keyboard shortcuts for switching languages, open the keyboard preferences dialog and click the “Layouts” tab. Now chose the keyboard shortcuts to switch between input languages. For example, check the box next to “Alt+Shift” and this will be the shortcut to change keyboard languages. Choose the shortcut that is most convenient for you.

There are other options in Keyboard Preferences to customize keyboard settings, should you desire to experiment with these. This covers the basics for adding keyboard languages to Ubuntu.

I usually feel the urge to clean my keyboard when I’m working on the computer, for instance when I see some dust on it. The problem that I constantly face is that I cannot really clean the computer while it is running. The same goes for the computer mouse. The reason is simple: Both the mouse and keyboard send keys or actions to the system which are then executed if the computer is running. And you need to press down the keys or mouse buttons if you want to thoroughly clean the hardware.

Sure, it is possible to shut down the computer to clean the keyboard and mouse while it is off. Then again, why shut down the computer if there is a way to clean keyboard and mouse while the computer is running.

You could try and lock the computer while cleaning, but that method is not foolproof as you may hit a key accidentally that unlocks the PC again.

The idea of using child protection software, like Toddler Keys or Kid Key Lock, makes sense considering that the programs can be used to disable keys and mouse buttons effortlessly.

Toddler Keys is probably the more sophisticated of the two. The program adds an icon to the Windows System Tray upon execution. A right-click displays the available options.

Here it is possible to lock the keyboard, keyboard and mouse, drive doors or power button separately. A keyword to unlock the computer is set in the program options. The default word is quit which needs to be entered to unlock the keyboard and mouse again.

You basically start the program and lock the keyboard and mouse whenever you want to clean your keyboard or mouse. I’d suggest to shut down the computer though before you start thoroughly cleaning it, especially if you are using fluids to do so (via).

You may also want to take a look at Mike’s guide on cleaning the insides of a computer.

Let’s start with why you might want to buy an illuminated keyboard.  It’s clear that a great deal of design effort has gone into these products, indeed Logitech has been putting much more effort into design generally.  I’ve recently bought a few of their products including the DiNovo Keyboard for netbooks for which the palm-wrest is a single piece of brushed aluminium and their HD Pro Webcam which shoots 1080p video with their ClearChat Wireless Headphones (and I’ll be reviewing these last two items soon).

Illuminated keyboards can be a real boon however, especially for the living room when people are winding down for the evening with the TV on and the lights are dimmed.  It makes everything much easier to use and I can tell you straight away that in this type of environment you will notice the benefits of an illuminated keyboard straight away.  But let’s have a look at these two particular high-end products.

Logitech Illuminated Keyboard

The Logitech Illuminated Ultrathin Keyboard with Backlighting is most definitely the more striking of the two.  I wasn’t too keen on the over-styled font used on the keys but there can be no doubt that this keyboard is extraordinarily pretty and exactly the sort of keyboard that will help make an all-in-one PC look stunning.

The action is smooth and quiet and there’s plenty on offer including media playback controls on a function key combination and dedicated controls for volume and a key to launch the ever-important calculator.

The keyboard is surrounded by a piece of clear plastic that sadly doesn’t also light up but that looks gorgeous.  The lighting itself has three brightness settings and can also be switched off when you don’t want it.  It’s not intrusive, even when sitting in the dark, but there’s bleed around the keys too instead of just through the middle.

In fairness this is a problem that’s common with illuminated keyboards and the wireless one suffers from the same problem, though not as badly.

One difference between the two keyboards is that the wired keyboard has a double height Del key and shuffles the Insertkey, which almost nobody uses any more, off to the top row of small function keys.  I found this makes a big difference as you might be surprised how often this key gets used.

Logitech Wireless Illuminated Keyboard

The Logitech wireless illuminated keyboard is a very different proposition.  It’s all curvy with big, bold letters on the keys in an almost comic sans font.  It’s clear here that Logitech have gone for comfort rather than looks and each key is slightly curved as as to make typing for long periods more comfortable.  This extends to the write-wrest too which is also curved.
The keyboard has a similar clear plastic strip around the outside, again not illuminated that adds to the chic appeal of the device, a helpful on-off switch and a very useful battery indicator.

You plug this keyboard in via the supplied Micro-USB cable and I found leaving it plugged in all the time except for when I wanted to use that cable to top up the charge on my phone.  It’s useful to be able to use it wired or wireless.

But how does power consumption work?  Logitech have tried to minimise the draining effect of the backlight by including a motion sensor into the keyboard that only turns it on when you’re near the device (it also comes on when you’re typing).  This motion sensor is in the top right of the device though near the battery life indicator and, I don’t know about you, but I don’t put my hand up[ there very often.  Putting the sensor in the wrist-rest would have been far more sensible I think.

Speaking of sensors, the wireless receiver is tiny and there’s no pairing involved, it just works all the time.  This is essential as I remember how hard it was to pair keyboard from even a few short years ago.  The backlight again has three brightness settings.

Conclusions

So which one do I think is best and are they worth the price premium you’ll pay for them?  If you tend to have lots of drinks around then you should probably look elsewhere as these keyboards are definitely not spill-proof, but they’re definitely worth it if you want to make a design statement with your PC, or if it sits in a prominent position in your home.

For style then the wired keyboard wins hands down, if you’ll excuse the pun, but if you need to type for extended periods then the wireless keyboard is the on you should go with for the extra comfort.  This keyboard is also excellent for people with vision problems as the letters and symbols on the keys are very clear and much larger than on your average keyboard.

If I had to pick a winner then the wirelss keyboard pips it, though both are excellent, very quiet and have great build quality.  Recommended.

However… on that last point, are you aware that the keyboard you’ve just spent huge sums of money on could be dead within weeks with no hope of having it replaced by the manufacturer?

I was in just this situation recently with a keyboard that had fallen foul of a white wine spillage.  It’s wasn’t large, only a small dash of no more than 5ml.  You would expect any modern keyboard, with modern production standards and given everything we know historically about keyboards and food and fluid spillages to be able to withstand such a spillage.  Indeed, most consumers and businesses would expect any and all keyboards to be able to withstand something small.

Sadly on this occasion, and within just a few seconds, the keyboard was rendered useless and has not worked since.  This seemingly tiny volume of wine stopped some keys working forever and caused many others to record incorrect key-presses or to auto repeat when just tapped once.

The keyboard in question was only two months old but the spillage wasn’t covered by the warranty.  There’s no point in saying it was caused by something else either as water damage of any type is very easy to spot and diagnose on electronics, just ask anyone who’s dropped their mobile phone in their drink.

A call to the manufacturer was met with sympathy but very little actual help and a voucher code arrived in my inbox towards the cost of a new keyboard.  This wouldn’t cover the vast bulk of the cost though.

I later called back in my capacity as a gHacks editor and was told that none of the keyboards from this particular manufacturer were considered spill-proof!  I pressed further with this and found that while a few of their keyboards had drainage holes, the design of the rest didn’t allow for these and so there was nowhere for any fluid to go once it hit the keyboard.

Further investigation of their website made no reference to any of this on the product pages.  Even the keyboards with drainage holes didn’t have this fact mentioned.  There was no reference at all unless you dug really deep into the FAQs and then the only reference was an article saying that all keyboards should be considered “non spill-proof” unless this was specifically mentioned in the product information, which again, it wasn’t.

Now I’m not going to single out this single manufacturer, firstly because when I pushed the issue about the lack of information on their website and that most people would expect a certain degree of spill-resistance they did their best to help resolve the problem for me, but also because I don’t believe this particular manufacturer’s products are any better or worse than any other.

It is significant to note however that such a basic feature of keyboard seems to have been dropped from modern designs.  The moral of this story is that if you are considering spending a sizeable sum of money on a particular keyboard it’s wise to contact the manufacturer first to check exactly how spill-proof it is, if at all.

There are generally two types.  The best type is channels designed specifically to drain fluid away from the keyboard.  If a keyboard has these you can be certain that it will be mentioned.  You would normally only expect to find such a feature on high-end laptops though.  The other is the drainage holes I have mentioned earlier.  The manufacturer of my particular keyboard was at pains to stress though that the existence of such holes did not make the keyboard spill-proof as you can never protect against large amounts of fluid and there’s no way of knowing where on the keyboard it will fall.  These drainage holes, for fairly obvious reasons, can’t be everywhere.

It’s a tremendous shame that in this age where we’re all trying to use fewer of the planet’s resources that electronics products generally are coming with shorter and shorter life-expectancies.  This news simply comes as another blow so when you’re buying your next expensive keyboard it can be a wise move to do a thorough research job first.

Keyboard Indicator is a program for the Windows operating system that indicates the current key state and key changes to the user on the computer desktop. The program first and foremost displays the states of the caps lock, scroll lock and num lock keys in the Windows system tray. Windows 7 users need to configure the program to always display the icons on the statusbar, everyone else should be fine with the standard setting.

The program shows activated keys in red, and inactive keys in blue. The information is also revealed by hovering over an icon with the mouse.

But Keyboard Indicator offers a second notification if a key state changes on the keyboard. It displays an onscreen notification of the new state, configurable to be placed in one of the four corners of the desktop or a custom location. The onscreen notification displays in addition if Insert has been activated on the keyboard.

This gives a direct response if a key is pressed. If it is accidentally it is possible to react right away by pressing the key again. The settings of Keyboard Indicator offer to change font colors, locations, styles and polling intervals.

The program is a bit heavy on the resource side but could prove to be useful to some users nevertheless. It is available for download at the developer website. The software is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system and requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.

Less useful and probably not used at all by most computer users are the Caps lock and scroll lock keys. Especially the wrong caps lock state can be problematic. Back when i worked in the IT of a big corp we had lots of users who locked themselves out of the system by entering the wrong password because the Caps lock key was active.

Experienced users may have spotted the wrong state of the caps lock key eventually, if they were not working on a laptop or another mobile device. The majority of laptops does not have indicators for these three system states on the keyboard, which means that it becomes harder to find out in which state the keys are.

Unless of course, the user has installed a program like Keyboard Leds. The software program acts as a substitute for the keys on the keyboard. It displays the states of the num, caps and scroll lock key in the system tray, and if desired, as an on screen display as well.

Each led can be configured individually. Windows users who only want to see the state of the caps lock key can for instance disable the two other keys. It is also possible to change the color indicator for each key.

The on screen display offers a slightly different approach. It displays textual information about each key’s state, with options to drag and drop the display to any area on the screen, and to change the text color and size, as well as the background color.

Keyboard Leds is a handy tool for laptop users (and Windows users with broken Leds) who want to have access to caps, num and scroll lock state indicators on the system. The free program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows, and available for download at the developer website.

But similarities end here. If you analyse how people use the keyboard to type. Some prefer the one or two finger method, while others are confidentially using all ten fingers without even looking at the keyboard. This behavior directly corresponds with the typing speed of the individual computer user. Typing speed is usually measured in characters per minute (cpm) or words per minute (words per minute) with the former being more accurate than the latter.

Individuals can save lots of time by improving their typing speed, and companies money. A ten percent increase in typing speed for instance means that the users task is finished 10% faster as well. Now imagine raising the typing speed of one or multiple employees by 50% or even 100%.

Some say, the typing speed increases naturally with use. While that may be correct to some extent, it is often the case that users hit a wall eventually. From that moment on, they cannot improve their typing speed by simply typing, they need professional typing tools to improve it further.

The two most common tools found are typing games and typing tests. This guide concentrates on free online typing tools that everyone can use to improve the typing speed.

Typing Tests And Games

Keybr

Keybr supports seven languages and differentkeyboard layouts depending on the language selected. It displays text on the screen that the typing student needs to type on the keyboard. Available text options are random (gibberish text), Robert Scott’s Jabberwocky or text from a website or blog that the user can select individually.

The program keeps track of the typing speed and error, and visualizes the next character for the user. The typing test keeps track of the top speed, average speed and progress as well.

TypingTest

Typing Test is a website dedicated to improving the typing of its users. The website offers a basic English typing test after which it will grade the user’s result and compare it to the average computer user.

The website offers typing games as well, including a game of KeyMan, a PacMan clone in which the player controls the movement by typing keys on the keyboard.

TyperShark

A basic game where the player has to type the words appearing on sharks approaching the player’s character. The game offers several difficulty setings, and will display statistics in the end. Included in the stats are the words per minute, and the accuracy.

Power Typing

Offers various short typing tests.

Type Online

Learn2Type

Offers both a typing test and a ten key test, which tests the numpad typing speed.

Typeracer

A fun typing game where you compete in a race with other human players.

Nimble Fingers

Typing test that concentrates on various keys on the keyboard.

State Universities Tying Test

Test with instructions, required text for various examinations.

Key Hero

Typing Courses

Typing Web

Offers typing courses that are sorted into beginner, intermediate and advanced courses. Registered users can save their typing progress.

Sense Lang

Rapid Typing Tutor

A website with typing related information, from base finger positions and general typing tips to typing games, online typing tests and typing software.

Typing Tips

PC Drome

• Position of your body
• Placement of hands
• Memorize the Keys
• Maximize Use of Shortcut Keys
• Practice makes man perfect

7 Good Tips To Faster Typing On The iPad

• Right Way to Position iPad?
• Suggestions & Corrections
• Most Used Words
• Editing – Cut, Copy &Paste
• Capitals & Periods
• Voice-Over & International Settings
• Practice, Practice, Practice

Now of a typing test, game or tutorial that we have missed? Let us know in the comments.

Virtual keyboards defeat most keyloggers, who often concentrate solely on the computer keyboard, and not other means of text input.

The UserScript Virtual Keyboard Interface makes it a lot easier to work with virtual keyboards in supported web browsers.

virtual keyboard

Using a UserScript offers advantages over software based virtual keyboards. Two of the biggest advantages are better and faster accessibility of the keyboard on the screen.

Virtual Keyboard Interface supports text fields, password fields and text areas at the moment, which means that it cannot be used in the web browser’s address bar or search form.

The keyboard is displayed on the screen by double-clicking into the text field on the website. We actually had to triple-click to get it working, but that’s a minor problem.

The virtual keyboard is then displayed beneath the text field. It offers different keyboard layouts, for instance for US, Germany, Russian or Japanese users.

Keys are entered by left-clicking with the mouse on them. It is furthermore possible to change the size of the keyboard, which unfortunately does not stick after the page has been closed.

Virtual Keyboard Interface is compatible with Firefox and Google Chrome. Users of those web browsers can download and install the script from the official UserScripts website. Firefox users need the Greasemonkey extension before they can install the script.

I’ve already touched on this subject in my article “Handy GNOME keyboard shortcuts” and I’ve demonstrated how to create custom shortcuts in my article “Create custom desktop shortcuts in Ubuntu“. Both of those articles strive for the same goal – the most efficient computer desktop experience possible. Add to that growing documentation this article on even more (handy) GNOME keyboard shortcuts, and you’re getting close to realizing your dream of never leaving your keyboard.

Menus

We all have to work with menus. Be it the main window (Applications) or Application menus, having a keyboard shortcut for these menus goes a long way toward efficiency. Let’s take a look at some:

Alt F1: This will open up the Applications menu on the GNOME desktop. Once open you can use your arrow keys on your number pad.

Alt F: This opens up the file menu in your current working window. Once open you can use your arrow keys on your number pad.

Alt E: This open up the Edit menu in your current working window. Once open you can use your arrow keys on your number pad.

Alt Space: This brings up the Window Menu (where you can select a window to be “Always on Top” and more. Once open you can use your arrow keys on your number pad.

Windows

These particular shortcuts always pertain to the current working window.

Alt F7: Initiates window movement. Once you press this combination you can use your arrow keys to move the window where you want it.

Alt F8: Resizes a window. Once pressed, use your arrow keys to resize the window. Hit Enter when finished.

Alt F10: Maximizes a window.

Alt F5: Returns a window to previous or normal size.

Alt F4: Closes the window.

Nautilus

Nautilus is the default GNOME file manager. You will use it frequently.

Ctrl W: Close the current working Nautilus window.

Ctrl R: Reload the Nautilus window.

Alt Up Arrow: Open parent folder.

Alt Left Arrow: Move back one folder.

Alt Right Arrow: Move forward one folder.

Alt Home: Return to your home directory (~/).

Ctrl L: Show/hide the location bar.

F9: Show/hide the side pane.

Ctrl H: Show/hide hidden files.

Ctrl +: Zoom in.

Ctrl -: Zoom out.

Ctrl 0: Normal size.

Final thoughts

Between the original keyboard shortcuts article and this article, you should now have plenty of shortcuts to keep your fingers from dancing between your keyboard and your mouse. Of course neither of these article touch upon Compiz, which has its own set of keyboard shortcuts. We’ll discuss those in another article.  As well, we will do the same feature for the KDE desktop. You can expect that article very soon.

Your quest for desktop efficiency will soon come to a close!

The application’s interface offers all the controls necessary to set the sounds for the computer keyboard. A slider is available that can change the volume of the sounds. Pressing buttons from a to z will change the sound that will be generated whenever a key on the computer keyboard is used.

Available sounds are the classic typewriter sound and some very annoying ones that could come straight out of a video game (think Space Invaders when shooting the gun). The program will display the selected volume and sound scheme. A click on the Set button will activate the sound scheme for the computer and every key pressed from then on will also play the selected sound.

The remove button will remove the sound scheme again so that no sound is being played while typing on the computer keyboard. ClicKey can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It is compatible with most versions of Microsoft Windows.

Killkeys is a portable software program that can be configured by filling out the ini file of the same name. The ini file contains two important lines that define which computer keyboard keys are disabled. The first line is called Keys and will disable the key all the time while the name of the second is Keys_Fullscreen which will only disable keys when the computer is running a fullscreen application.

The hex values of the keys have to be entered in the ini file. These hex values can be extracted from a Microsoft MSDN page easily.

Killkeys will use about five Megabytes of computer memory while running in the background. It will automatically place its icon in the Windows system tray with the possibility to hide that icon from there. The only way to kill the process then would be to kill it in the task manager or a similar computer program capable of displaying and killing processes.

The light was that bright that I had to turn the N73 before going to sleep because of the distraction by that light. My next purchase was the Razer Arctosa gaming keyboard which uses one ultra bright white LED in the top left corner of the computer keyboard. And guess what; It is not possible to turn off that light either.

Now I’m no expert when it comes to usability and quality control but I’m beginning to wonder if I’m overly sensitive to LED lights or if the manufacturer’s quality control fails big time.

The only working way of dimming down those bright LED lights was to use – preferably black – tape placed directly over the light. Do you know of other devices that have annoying blinking LED lights that cannot be turned off?

In this article I am going to list some of the handier shortcuts for the GNOME desktop. So get your fingers stretched and ready…

Windows

The following short cuts will focus primarily on open windows.

Alt-tab: This combination cycles through the currently open windows. This is handy when you have a lot of windows open and you constantly are moving from one to another.

Ctrl-alt-d: This combination minimizes all open windows to the far corners of the screen. To get them back just hit the combination again.

Shift-alt-up arrow: (requires Compiz) This combination takes all open windows, shrinks them, and organizes them on the screen so you can see all open applications. You can then use the arrow keys to highlight the window you want. Release the keys and the highlighted window will have focus.

Alt-F9: Minimizes the focused window.

Ctrl-Alt-s: Shade window. To unshade window hit the same combination.

Desktop

The following combinations effect the desktop.

Ctrl-Alt-Backspace: This combination will restart X Windows (this logs you out).

Ctrl-Alt-l: This combination will lock the screen. You will need your user password to unlock the screen.

Alt-F2: This combination opens the “run” dialog. From here you can enter a command to run (similar to the “cmd” Windows command).

Alt-F1: This combination opens the main menu.

Print Screen: This key will take a screenshot of the whole desktop.

Alt-Print Screen: This combination will take a screenshot of a single window.

Ctrl-Alt-left arrow: This combination will move one desktop to the left.

Ctrl-Alt-right arrow: This combination will move one desktop to the right.

Ctrl-Alt-down arrow: Show all desktops on one screen. Because there are more desktops than will fit across your screen (even in this small size), you use the left and right arrow keys to move one way or the other.

There you have it. Some of the handiest GNOME keyboard shortcuts. But don’t think you’re limited to the default. Creating your own keyboard shortcuts is simple. Go to the System menu and click on the Preferences entry. From within this new sub menu click on the Personal menu where you will find the Keyboard Shortcuts entry. Click on that to open up the Keyboard Shortcuts window. From this window you can edit the existing keyboard short cuts, but you can not create new ones.

Final Thoughts

If you have never been a big user of keyboard short cuts you should give it a try. Once you realize how efficient you computing can become you will never look back. I will say that I miss the older style gconf-editor where you could create a multitude of keyboard shortcuts in GNOME. With GNOME 2.24 it seems you are limited to the keyboard shortcuts listed in the keyboard-shortcuts tool.

]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/18/handy-gnome-keyboard-shortcuts/feed/ 2 http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/17/keyboard-shortcuts/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/02/17/keyboard-shortcuts/#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:07:25 +0000 Martin Brinkmann http://www.ghacks.net/?p=10612 It’s rather strange that Windows does not ship with an easy way to configure keyboard shortcuts in the system. Enter HoeKey. A lightweight portable software that can be used to configure various advanced keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts can be edited and added to the computer system by editing a ini file that contains all the existing shortcuts. It basically comes down to the following. The user picks a keyboard combination containing the Windows, ALT, Shift or CTRL key plus one additional key and defines an action for that keyboard shortcut afterwards.

One of the biggest strengths of the application is the wide variety of possible actions that can be defined. It ranges from running applications, entering text, manipulating windows, changing system settings like the volume of the system. Hoekey supports multimedia keyboard keys and can control media playback on the computer system as well.

Probably the most amazing factor of this keyboard shortcuts program is its low resource usage. Once everything has been configured the application runs quietly in the background. It uses 200 Kilobytes of computer memory while running and 600 Kilobytes of virtual memory. That’s nothing compared to most other applications that allow the manipulation of keyboard shortcuts on the Windows operating system.

KeyTweak displays a full keyword plus specialty buttons in its interface. A click on a button on that virtual keyboard will display the current keyboard mapping of the key and the option to remap the key using a pulldown menu. One interesting and very helpful feature of the software program is that it is showing the default keys of the selected keys.

This means that it is possible to remap keys and undo the changes easily by either remapping the key to the default one again or by clicking on the restore Default button in the lower half of the interface.

Another option provided by the keyboard remapper is to disable a key completely. Could be used to disable the Windows keys or the Caps Lock key. The specialty buttons section contains buttons for many multimedia and specialty buttons that are available on several keyboards. It is possible to remap those keys as well.

Keytweak comes with a teaching mode that can be used to remap keys as well. It works by simply pressing two keys on the keyboard with the option to remap key 1 to key 2. The main benefit of Keytweak is the visual representation of the keyboard and that it is easy to restore the keyboard defaults. All remapped keys are underlined in the program interface.

Typing software is also great for kids who are making their first experiences with a computer system. Rapidtyping Typing Tutor is one of those typing software programs that can be used by adults and kids alike. It comes with a colorful interface that is showing an underwater environment that rewards the student with scenery changes and additional animals that are shown on the screen.

Adults can look behind this and concentrate on the typing software. Before it starts the user has to pick a fitting keyboard, the Typing Tutor is supporting several types of keyboard layouts like QWERTY, QWERTZ and AZERTY.

The typing software is using lessons to tutor the user. They begin with combinations of four characters (letters, syllables, numbers, special chars) that have to be typed repeatedly in alternating order before it is showing complete texts.

An extensive set of statistics is recording the progress of each lesson over time showing valuable information like time needed and characters per second for the lesson which should hopefully improve over time.

The typing software uses profiles to distinguish users which makes it excellent for families with several kids.

I did feel a little bit overwhelmed by the plethora of options and settings of the application. It too almost 15 minutes before I thought that I had seen all of the functions of the program.

Zen Key is an application manager that can launch, manage and manipulate applications. Most of its features can be executed with a few keystrokes. Alt Space opens the Zen Key menu by default which puts everything at your fingertips.

zen key

Zen Key, among other things offers the following features:

• Work and play on an Infinite desktop (almost)
• Launch a program or a file
• Control program windows
• Automatically make windows transparent
• Iconify windows
• Open folders
• Control Media Applications
• Open Websites, perform an Internet search
• Issue a Windows System command
• Simulate a series of keystrokes

Zen Key uses only 6 Megabytes of memory when running which is really astonishing. Two windows had been iconified and the virtual desktop was displayed when I checked the memory usage.

The major problem that users might have with Zen Key is that it is quite complex and takes a while to get just to. It does add a few nice features that seem pretty unique to me though and that alone makes it a program that is worth that time.