Out of the Blue

[Dec 07, 2004, 09:56 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

I just need to vent a little here. I ruined a keyboard with a coffee spill yesterday, and contrary to the logic that might suggest a cheap replacement was in order for an item that had suffered such a carelessness-related demise, I picked up a fancy Microsoft wireless desktop as a replacement. Now I am suffering with a couple of inconveniences using it, because they have decided that the small array of keys above the arrow keys (home, insert, etc.) needed rearranging. Specifically, the six keys are now five, and instead of being two rows and three columns, the keys are now in two columns, with the insert key removed from the mix and placed on the top row to share a key with PrtScrn and SysRq (talk about marginalized -- I guess some folks find accidentally hitting Insert as welcome as the Caps Lock). This all completely messes with my instinctive use of all these keys, and why? Because they decided the delete key needed to be twice as tall as it was for some reason. Also, the 12 function keys that are traditionally laid out in three groups of four are now four groups of three. WTF?

Nothing like a little change for change's sake. Too bad, because the keyboard has the nicest action I've ever used... but I still may have to return this. We shall see.

I guess today marks the true start of the holiday season, as the Festival of Lights begins tonight at sundown. Happy Chanukah!

Links of the Day:	Seinfeld Dictionary. Yada yada yada.
Stories of the Day:	Mother of the Matrix Victorious. Thanks Brandon. Nativity Plays Boosting Tea Towel Sales. Scientists Seek Limit on Shark Killings.
Science!:	NASA Seeks Methods to Repair Shuttles in Flight. R2D2? Science Is Eating His Dust. Roads Gone Wild.
Media of the Day:	Yiddish with Dick and Jane. Thanks RedAnt. Gym Class. Thanks bowerbird.
Auction of the Day:	2nd-PC Natalie Realdoll type silicone doll. Thanks choke. Used?
	Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.

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102 Replies. 6 pages. Viewing page 1.
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102.

Re: No subject

Dec 9, 2004, 09:38

Taulin

The one thing I always look for in a keyboard is backlighting. Also, in that review, he speaks highly of the font on the keys and how it is printed in the middle of the keys, but the pictures he provides show standard printing.

101.

Re: No subject

Dec 8, 2004, 13:13

Pluvious

Everyone seems to think 'their' keyboard is the best. I would HIGHLY recommend the new Saitek Gamer Keyboard myself. No more F-Lock key to mess with either!! http://www.techbits.ca/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=34 http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/keyboards/saitek/ Amazon's price $47 : http://tinyurl.com/5nrvo Someone posted on Amazon no XP SP2 support. Is this fixed? I had NO problem whatsoever with SP2 and Winxp Home. I didn't even know there was a problem to be honest.

100.

Re: Matrixed

Dec 8, 2004, 09:53

Bronco

I agree. I'm hoping a lot of the money she ends up getting comes directly from the Wachowski brothers.

I haven't read all the posts regarding this issue but this whole thing makes me wonder how much of the story was created by the woman and how much the brothers.

Sure would clear some stuff up if it turned out that her 'influence' ended with the first movie.

-TPFKAS2S
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teh m4y0r ownz a GabeN b4ckp4k
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-TPFKAS2S http://www.braglio.com

99.

Re: OT

Dec 8, 2004, 06:31

Tango

My God Daikatana is awful. I got it from that link someone posted the other day, and was willing to give it a try, but man... the levels I make for HL are better. ______________________ We don't go to Ravenholm.

98.

Geekish? Nerdy?

Dec 8, 2004, 01:47

Camaro76

Belkin Nostromo n50 SpeedPad all the way, baby!

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WWFS - What Would Freud Say?




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97.

Re: Tactile Pro keyboard

Dec 7, 2004, 23:45

Enahs

That screw was pissing me to hell off....so I used a hammer to get it out...and back in.

_____
Enahs
That’s a deep kiss too, like the Europeans. You know the French they have to unhinge their jaw to show love.




I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally. - W. C. Fields

96.

Re: Tactile Pro keyboard

Dec 7, 2004, 23:19

flir48

Go to control panel, Accessiblity Options, click the setting button, and uncheck "use shortcut".. sticky keys forever disabled

95.

Re: Tactile Pro keyboard

Dec 7, 2004, 22:42

Zathrus

I do that every time it comes up, and it keeps coming up. Wanna swap computers? You seem to have found the magic button that REALLY disables it I didn't actually bother to check it when I gave instructions previously, but I just did now, so I know they work. In the Accessibility options click on Settings next to the 3 options on the first page and disable the shortcut key for each. That's what the real problem is. I just tested this on my home (gaming) PC -- hitting shift key several times quickly brought up the damned dialog. I clicked on settings or options or whatever the hell the 3rd button was, then went into Settings on each of the "features", turned off the short cut keys, and clicked OK on the main dialog. Hitting shift rapidly no longer brings up the dialog box from hell. Oh, and Kevlar said this correctly first, but I thought I'd reply as well and steal all the glory and fame.

94.

Re: Matrixed

Dec 7, 2004, 22:02

TangledThorns

I sure hope the few media outlets not owned by Time Warner make a big deal out of this. I read on a site about her that CBS is investigating. The Matrix is a very big franchise and I'm sure the non-WB media would eat it up.

93.

Re: Matrixed

Dec 7, 2004, 21:48

WarPig

After reading the article I know have second thoughts about buying the collection. The whole thing is sickening.

I agree. I'm hoping a lot of the money she ends up getting comes directly from the Wachowski brothers. Even though they finally got caught I can't help but feel they still got away with grand larceny. I sure hope the few media outlets not owned by Time Warner make a big deal out of this.

-------------------------------------------------------
"Give me a Sandwich and a Douchebag and there is nothing I cannot do." ~ Lord Salisbury




________________________________ GO SEAHAWKS!

92.

Re: Matrixed

Dec 7, 2004, 21:30

MeatForce

After reading the article I know have second thoughts about buying the collection. The whole thing is sickening.

I like how the Matrix super-deluxe-edition ad that's been running here is offering "Free Scripts"!!

-----
"I want my lamp back. I'm gonna need it to get out of this slimy mudhole."




----- I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.

91.

Re: Matrixed

Dec 7, 2004, 21:30

MeatForce

This comment was edited on Dec 7, 21:31.




----- I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now, even though you broke my heart and killed me.

90.

Re: Today is December 7th right?

Dec 7, 2004, 21:16

ShockwaveRider

very astute. and in a few short years someone will say "9/11" and people will wonder what he meant. Right, just like most of you young'uns probably don't hold February 15 with any reverence any more... Never trust the Spanish!

89.

Re: Matrixed

Dec 7, 2004, 21:06

ShockwaveRider

I cant believe Terminator was actually stolen though. Supposedly it was borrowed from R. Heinlein, wasn't it? Harlan Ellison actually. He sued James Cameron and got a settlement, I think...

88.

Re: Tactile Pro keyboard

Dec 7, 2004, 20:28

Jensen

I hate the F-Lock, but even more, I hate that the lights aren't on the keyboard, but on the wireless receiver, so I don't know what the options are toggled to. I really like the calculator button though.... it is the only "multimedia" key that I use.

87.

Re: Tactile Pro keyboard

Dec 7, 2004, 20:12

WarPig

Am I the only person on the planet that has never accidentally hit the Windows key while playing a game? I mean, really... I've never even once had this problem

I'm another one who had to rip the Windows key out, and I'm a decent typist myself. When I play games, instead of the "normal" WASD keys most people use I use the ones underneath, mainly ZXC and ALT for jump (I use mouse2 for my go button and every key above ZXC is for weapon selection). When they first shoehorned the Windows key in there I'm pretty sure they made the ALT key smaller. This really seemed to bite me in the ass during Tribes because I never engaged my jetpack without jumping first. There's nothing like grabbing the enemy flag and suddenly switching to your desktop to bring out the tourettes in a guy.

Now I have one of these Microsoft multimedia keyboards (with the evil F-Lock key) and so far have never accidentally pushed the Windows key. I guess I'm finally used to it now. Of course I don't play a tenth of the hours I used to.

-------------------------------------------------------
"Give me a Sandwich and a Douchebag and there is nothing I cannot do." ~ Lord Salisbury




________________________________ GO SEAHAWKS!

86.

Re: Seinfeld

Dec 7, 2004, 19:46

Wolfox

No Makana peaches also. Not a comprehensive dictionary indeed. Perhaps not really linkworthy?

85.

Re: Tactile Pro keyboard

Dec 7, 2004, 18:42

Kevlar

Jim! I had that same StickyKeys problem as I typically use shift for alt-fire/zoom in whatever game I'm playing. It used to drive me nuts! Disabling StickyKeys by unchecking "Use StickyKeys" didn't help me either. You know what did? Go into the Settings button to the right of StickyKeys in Accessibility Options. Not only do you have to make sure "Use StickyKeys" is disabled (unchecked) but in the Settings panel that opens up make sure everything is unchecked - especially "Use Shortcut" at the top. That will disable the 5 Shift key hits from activating it no matter what. At least it did for me, I haven't had a problem since. Good luck, man. PS. Blue, I feel your pain - whenever I'm rolling out new Dells nowadays on campus I'd say 80% of them have a new keyboard with a 2x3 set of keys for the Insert, Home ... PgUp, PgDn set instead of the usual 3x2 layout. It drives me nuts. What, are they saving 10 cents per keyboard for a quarter inch less plastic? Is it "slimmer" and "more attractive"? Please. edit: tags This comment was edited on Dec 7, 18:47.

84.

Re: No subject

Dec 7, 2004, 18:38

Hump

I would HIGHLY recommend the new Saitek Gamer Keyboard myself. No more F-Lock key to mess with either!!

I've heard a lot of good things about that keyboard. I messed aroud with a display model at the local CompUSA and it had a nice feel and layout to it.

on the other hand the Ideazon Zboard sucks IMO. Got it free with Halo PC in a promotional and used it all of 15 minutes. Just cant justify swapping out the key insert everytime I want to play a few rounds.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ideazon_zboard_review/

----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sometimes I dream about....cheese. Here, have a medkit"
- Half Life 2 NPC




---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Both the “left” and the “right” pretend they have the answer, but they are mere flippers on the same thalidomide baby, and the truth is that neither side has a clue." - Jim Goad

83.

Matrixed

Dec 7, 2004, 18:30

TangledThorns

After reading the article I know have second thoughts about buying the collection. The whole thing is sickening. I cant believe Terminator was actually stolen though. Supposedly it was borrowed from R. Heinlein, wasn't it?

102 Replies. 6 pages. Viewing page 1.
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