NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #1/NN_1993_1.iso/spool/comp/misc/4837

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-09 | 7.1 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Scott Ophof)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Really better? (Different keyboard altogether!)
Date: 9 Jan 1993 18:05:49 -0600
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On 8 Jan 1993 07:21:56 GMT [e-mail] (Hymie!) said:
>and lo, there was much rejoicing among the people, as
>  [e-mail] (Scott Ophof) writes:

Hey, I'm just passing on what I heard/saw back then!  :-))


>>Very roughly, the keyboard layout is something like this:
>>                  v
>>         c c c c  v  c c c c     The "c" keys are the consonants,
>>         c c c c  v  c c c c     digits, and punctuation marks.
>>         c c c c  v  c c c c     The "v"s indicate the vowels.
>>         c c c c  v  c c c c     "ns" means "No-Space".
>>               ns   st           "st" means "Shift-Toggle"
>>To make this work, the thumbs are used for vowels, and the other
>>fingers for consonants on each side.

>hmmm... when i look at my hands, i see that my thumbs are /lower/ than
>the four fingers, making them ideal for the space bar.  to get my thumb
>to the highest vwel would probably fracture my wrist.

Not "space bar", but "NOspace key".  A space is automatically
inserted before each new syllable, unless explicitely requested NOT
to be inserted (by pressing the NOspace key).
And my examples are just that, a few of the many ways to do it.
You seem to have read the item, so you'll also have come across a
line which said one could even type single-handedly.
From what I remember of the Velotype keyboard layout, the keys were
spaced so that they could EASILY be reached, *much* easier and with
less finger-movement than with the usual mechanical/electrical/
electronic keyboards.
And yes, the NOspace and ShiftToggle keys are meant to be pressed
with ones thumbs in normal use.


>>To "type" a word (like "pressing"), one first builds the syllable
>>"pres", by depressing the "r" and "p" in the left consonant area
>>with the fingers of the left hand, the "e" with a thumb, and the "s"
>>in the right consonant area with a right-hand finger.  When all the
>>keys you want are depressed, the following will appear on a one-line
>>...
>hmmm again... as i type this,  my right hand index and middle fingers
>are bandaged together; and the right index finger is unusable.
>the bandage also reduces the hand mobility.  i don't think i could
>hold down three keys with my right hand even if i wanted to.

No problem; use what you can, and make up for what you can't by
typing those keys later...  Nobody says one MUST type the whole
syllable in one shot.  There are words in many languages where 4 or
even more consonants preceed a vowel (or follow it)...


>>Why doesn't one get "rpes"?  Or "lbes"?  Because there's this
>>(removable) chip built-in that is programmed for the peculiarities
>>of a particular language.  And "rp" or "lb" just ain't normal to
>>English (UK or otherwise...  ;-) ).

>urp!  you mean i can't write about light bulbs?  or purple people eaters?
>or purple light bulbs? or purple slurpees?

Oh yes, easily!  See the following quotes as "syllables", where
"_" means use the NOspace key to suppress the automatic space:
   "lig _ht bul _bs"  (2nd and 4th syllables are without vowels)
   "pur _p _le pe _op _le e _at _er _s"
There's probably an easier way to do things like "ee".  I don't know
the details, not having followed a Velotype course.  (sigh)


>>...
>>press the "ns" (No-Space) key.  Release the lot, and voila, the
>>syllable "sing" will be suffinxed to "pres", making "pressing".
>>Had one not used the "ns" key, one would've got "pres sing", since
>>the system assumes a space between syllables unless told otherwise.

>interesting assumption.  too bad it's wrong for people above
>a third-grade reading level.

Expand please?  Again, I don't know the details, and wish someone
more knowledgeable with Velotype would "come to the rescue".  :-)


>>Also, "gn" is less normal than "ng" in English, so if you want the
>>word/syllable "sign", you make "sig", and later append "n" to it as
>>a separate syllable.

>see above with bandaged hand proble.  also - hwo do you guarantee
>that the consonants will be on the correct side of each vowel?
>it looked like only four consonants are repeated.  which ones?

The left set of consonant keys are the same as the set on the right.
Though not necessarily symmetrical.  I vaguely remember something
about character location being dependant on the language in the
keyboard's chip.  Maybe each key contains a lighted display of the
character it represents?


>>As soon as one uses a "." as last character of a "word", the system
>>assumes the next word is to be capitalised, ie. it will start off a
>>new sentence.  One uses the "Shift-Toggle" key to cancel this
>>behaviour for this occurrance.  But one also uses it to capitalise a
>>word that would normally be lower-cased.

>i grant you this one concession.  i hate the shift key, and only
>tolerate the control key.

Your feelings re the Shift key are clear, yes.  ;-)
But I've been told that using only lowercase in email may mean that
the author couldn't care less about what the reader thinks or feels.
(grinning, and disclaiming any other meaning than exactly what is
said in the previous sentence)


>>Anyone who is more up to date re Velotype is more than welcome to
>>correct me;

>i hope so.  it sounds rather horrid.

C'mon, you Velotype enthousiasts!  You're out there, I know!
Not afraid big bad IBM/AT&T/Apple will eat you?


>>There's another keyboard out there somewhere, consisting of only
>>16 keys in a 4 x 4 matrix.  Someone else mentioned something about a
>>cyclist here in this thread; I think this is the same thing.  Figure
>>out how many different characters one can produce with 1-key, 2-key,
>>and 3-key combos.  And all that with only one hand...

>ick.  it's a good thing i didn't /break/ my entire hand, or lose a finger.
>(i'm told i came kinda close)

Use your LEFT hand then!  :-)


>>The Velotype thing *can* be used single-handedly, btw.

>oh boy - i can hardly wait to hit four keys simultaneously on differnet
>ends of a keyboard with one hand. if i have my pinky on the 'a' key of
>my qwerty, and the ring finger on the 's', my middle finger can't hit 'g'
>and my index finger can't hit 'j'.  and that's with the /good/ hand.

I didn't say the Velotype consonants are grouped like the QWERTY/Z
or DVORAK keyboards.  And again, you don't HAVE to build a whole
syllable in one single shot.  Temporarily reconfigure your way of
typing till either the bandage (or the HAND) falls off...  >;-)

Reminds me of when I couldn't use my right foot.  So I pressed the
loud pedal in my manual 4-speed Simca with my left foot, learned to
shift without the clutch, and ease away slowly from standstill using
the manual choke.  It worked really fine!  The manual choke made it
all possible.  That's one reason why I hate automatic chokes...  :-)
And you don't want to know my alternative method of easing away from
a stop.  >;-)

Regards.
$$/