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Replace the capslock key on a keyboard with a little toggle switch. Instead of hitting it to turn capslock on of off, you flick it up to turn capslock on, and flick it down to turn capslock off.
Why? Two words: tactile feedback.
When typing, especially on a keyboard of a different size than you're
used to, it's very easy to accidentally hit the capslock key while reaching for [shift] or [a]. If you're not a touchtypist, this can go unnoticed for some time, and potentially require retyping of a line. Having the capslock feel different would make it much harder to hit by accident. If you are a touchtypist, it's easy to toggle the capslock deliberately, but at the wrong time - turning it off while trying to turn it on, or vice versa. There's a little light on the keyboard to tell you about capslock status, but you have to look at the keyboard to see it. A switch would allow you to feel the on/off status without taking your eyes away from the screen.
This could also be applied to scroll lock and num lock, for users who go into those modes often.
Treatment of Caps Varies
Inverting_20Capital_20Password
See this discussion for what does and doesn't shift [MechE, Feb 16 2010]
'No CapsLock' keyboard layout
http://www.taniwha.org.uk/
about 3/4 the way down the page - I have been using this for years - very satisfactory solution. [pocmloc, Feb 17 2010]
Ogham keyboard for mac
http://www.evertype...ipt/ogham-keys.html
//The keyboard is active when Caps Lock is down// [pocmloc, Feb 17 2010]
Earl of Cork
http://en.wikipedia..._of_Cork_and_Orrery
... or what ? [8th of 7, Feb 17 2010]
The English Folk Dance and Song Society
http://www.efdss.org
Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regents Park Road, London NW1 7AY [pocmloc, Feb 21 2010]
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Annotation:
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[Ian], that's what happens when capslock is on, you don't realize it's on, and you Hit Shift To Capitalize Single Letters. |
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Old keyboards used to have more tactile Cap Slocks - much
better, but probably harder to implement on the uberthin
keyboards of modern laptops. |
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Well, it's what happens when _I_ don't realize caplock is on, and hit shift to capitalize single letters. Does your computer have some special setup? I've never used one that where hitting shift+letter with capslock on doesn't yield a lowercase letter. |
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[+] Bun, although I think there should also be a solenoid to mechanically reset the switch to it's default position whenever the computer reboots. |
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Actually, hang on, why not have "Shift" automatically turn off
Cap Slock? |
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[Ian], the Shift key "shifts" from lowercase to capital, and vice
versa as well. My keyboard does the same thing that [gisho]'s
does. [+], by the way--I do quite like this, it's very steampunk. |
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I wonder if there's any type of computer that has a more
sensible arrangement? |
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//Actually, hang on, why not have "Shift" automatically turn off Cap Slock?// |
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It's totally incredible that it doesn't. It's not like no one has thought of it - the computer keyboard was based on the manual typewriter which did exactly that. Someone must have made the conscious decision to remove the feature, tHEREBY iNTRODUCING tHIS rATHER aNNOYING eFFECT. |
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PS - I don't think Macs have this problem. |
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PPS - I'm starting to sound like a Mac fanboy. Shoot me now. |
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Some of the keyboards I use exhibit the [gisho] effect (and
very annoying it is, too: [+] for the idea), but this one
doesn't. This one's a Mac, and the others are Windows, but
I don't know how general that is. |
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[MB] For uberthin laptop keyboards, how about a
piezoelectric vibrator on the capslock key, activated when
capslock was on? It wouldn't take much power to give
salient tactile feedback, especially if it were only actuated
when a finger touched the key. It'd be -- what's the word -
- not no-moving-parts exactly -- solid state? no finicky bits
to break, jam, or collect dirt. |
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I do this all the time, but then I don't look up from the keyboard either.
You know come to think of it, I don't think I've ever used Caps Lock on purpose. I'm just going to pop that little sucker right outa there. |
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How about a repeating audio alert that says "Caps Lock is on! Caps Lock is on!" constantly until you turn it off. |
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"Small Caps Lock" key. I would love that. |
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Or a Caps Lock Lock that keeps it from activating. |
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I like [wags] idea! Then we can have a toggle switch to shut off the audio alert! yeah, that's it! |
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This is a nice idea, but would need some feedback sensors on a modern computer as the caps lock key just tells the PC to change it's state. I do PC support and I get issues when remoting into a computer with the caps lock pressed, which requires me to press mine to cancel out theirs, etc. |
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I'd almost go with the above suggestion for removing the stupid thing completely except for very few users I have who use it continuously (printing labels). |
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Engineering drawings are properly annotated in all caps. Capslock is a must have for that purpose. Of course you could always create a font that has caps for both and use that instead. |
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I like this idea a lot. Not so much because I think it's a
great idea, it just might be. But more so because this
and maybe one or two others...ARE THE ONLY
FUCKING IDEAS I GET, THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED
RECENTLY. GET IT? WHAT IN HELL IS AN ORRARNY, OR
ORRENARY , OR WHATEVER THERE IS ABOUT A ZILLION
ECHO IDEAS ABOUT. AND THE REST I JUST DON'T GET.
MUST BE STUPID BLISSMISS MONTH. |
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Another use for all-caps is certain keyboard layouts for obscure scripts. I'm thinking specifically of Ogham (early medieval Gaelic script) for which there is dedicated Unicode positions, and available fonts; the very useful keyboard layout I have gives Latin letters on normal and caps, and Ogham characters on caps-lock. |
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//WHAT IN HELL IS AN ORRARNY, OR ORRENARY// |
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An orrenary is a device for displaying the motion of planets in
a grumpy way. |
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Or a person. Or a place. Or both. Or a thing for showing the motions of heavenly bodies (see also Playboy Channel). |
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make it so's you have to stand up to type more than one cap in a row. |
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"EARPLUGS FOR THE NOISE, SIR ?" |
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[blissmiss]//WHAT IN HELL IS AN ORRARNY// look at the first
link under "Dog Orrery" -- all will become clear (also, it's
pretty). |
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Thank you very much. I was a bit overwhelmed with
all the orr(blah) postings. But you are right, the first
link was quite beautiful. |
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//An orrenary is a device for displaying the motion of planets in a grumpy way// |
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Or it could be an orrery whose planets consisted of canaries... |
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<contemplates posting an orrery idea> |
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I rip the membrane out from under my caps lock buttons. If i ever need something to be all caps, it is probably in a program where there is a function to convert a selected body of text to whatever case type i need. |
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that, and my cow-orker thought it was hilarious to constantly hit caps lock when i was AFK, causing me to wonder why my passwords weren't working. |
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I ended up with a machine with a 'windows' button next to the spacebar. That is when I learned you can remap your keyboard to do whatever you want. Now I have five CTRL buttons on my keyboard. You should get yourself three shifts! |
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//This could also be applied to scroll lock and num lock, for users who go into those modes often.// |
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For another solution to this caps lock problem, hold down the num lock key for five or more seconds. A box will come up. Press OK. |
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//Don't want a reputation as someone pedantic// |
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Imagine the lengths you would have to go to in order to get that reputation in here. |
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//Some seriously twisted Lord of the Rings ideas come to
mind.// |
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//This could also be applied to scroll lock and num lock// |
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Ah yes, Scrollock the Unclean, son of Numlock the Wise... |
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Cecil Sharp would disagree, I'm sure. (link) |
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According to the link, this is "one of the premiere folk
development and advocacy organisations in the UK." One
of?? |
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My Commodore64 had tactile feedback without the toggle; Caps was just a mechanically latching button. The travel was about a half inch too, and it took several times the force than the others... can't remember what effect the Shift had. |
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Um... can someone explain to me the significance of my link? I am mystified. |
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Looks like someone's been drunk-linking. |
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Hair lock: Caps lock that goes off even if you just brush it.
//Actually, hang on, why not have "Shift" automatically turn off Cap Slock?//
The release of the shift key would be slightly better, since you probably pressed the shift key to get upper case. Isn't that how the type writers used to work? I seem to recall some kind of release catch. |
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Put CL on the back of the keyboard frame. Upper
left, perpendicular to the other keys. Or maybe in
the other room. |
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I for one loaded the registry file to remove my caps
lock. Placing it above the keyboard in a PS2
controller style is a great idea but it can get lost as
idiots rarely lift their keyboard for other buttons and
you could push the keyboard a little too far forward
and bump into a book or cup of tea and start
SHOUTING again... |
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hmm back to the drawing board. |
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How about a Caps Lock key like the top of a clicky ball point pen? Push it once and it stays down, push it again and it pops back out. |
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