Home > User Pages > Carl Andersen

Andersen Keymap B v0.51 - 11-8-06

First bug fix - I had forgot to insert the support for multiple monitors. Now it's in there.

https://alphagrip.pbwiki.com/f/cfa_release%20B%20v0_51.zip

Andersen Keymap B v0.5 - 11-5-06

This is the keymap file I have used for the past several months. I am calling it Keymap B because it is radically different from the keymap I made shortly after the AG-5's release. I should say straightaway that it is a beta version, a real work in progress, with known "issues" that I can't seem to find the time to fix at the moment. I gratefully welcome any comments, bug fixes and additions from anyone, although of course I can't promise to incorporate them.

Anyway, this map is similar to the old keymaps in that it:

(1) moves all numbers and letters and directional keys (Left, Up, etc) to the finger keys;

(2) moves the Ctrl and Alt keys up above the Red and Green Shift keys for easy access;

(3) adds new colored Shift Keys, which, when pressed as chords with the finger keys, output various characters; this allows the fingers to type all the keys in (1) using the fingers.

This keymap is different from the old maps as follows:

(1) it resumes using the original Red and Green Shift keys that the older scripts abandoned. I noted in my post of 11-2-06 that gluing foam additions to the sides of the AG-5 made the Red and Green Shift keys much easier to use. Note that unless you add similar addons to your AG-5, you may find this remapping unwieldy. By using the Red and Green Shifts, we need only create one additional Shift key (Blue), instead of the four needed by the older maps;

(2) it concentrates navigational keys (Left, Up, PgUp, etc) under the left index finger, and makes the primary keys unshifted and so easier to type;

(3) it moves crucial edit keys (Tab, BkSp, Space, Enter) back to the front of the Alphagrip. Experience taught that making all these keys easy to strike greatly improves one's first days with the AG-5 (especially Bksp, LOL);

(4) in general, frequently-occurring letters and numbers are moved to those finger keys that seem to me to be easiest to hit. Unfortunately, chords of two finger keys are often required to fit all the desired symbols onto the finger side. However, these too are laid out with an eye for which combinations are easiest to strike. Frequently used punctuation keys (e.g. Comma) are produced using the easier chords, while less frequent characters (e.g. "Q") are relegated to the leftover chords. I should mention that my experiences of what keys/chords are easy to hit are conditioned by the foam addons I put on my AG-5's finger keys. I think they make *all* finger keys easier to hit, but some more than others.

I include the Photoshop files so people can alter the keymaps as they see fit.

https://alphagrip.pbwiki.com/f/cfa_release%20B%20v0_5.zip

AlphaGrip Modification - 11-2-06

Several months ago I experimented with some new modifications of the Alphagrip and wanted to show them to you all. When the Alphagrip wiki goes up, I'll write up more about them as well as a guide to making foam addons.

The first three pics show a dual-Alphagrip model I experimented with in May. The two alphagrips are connected with two Panavise camera mounts that have ball joints, so you can swivel them to most any angle you wish and then lock them in place. Note the foam addons for the keys and the trackpoint pointing device that I mentioned in other posts. I made this model to see if holding the AG and typing with it at different angles would be easier. I found that the angle I liked best was kind of like a steering wheel, with one's fingers falling over the top of the keys. Ultimately, though, the bulk of two AG-5's got to be a little much.

The last pic is the system I use now. The vertical piece of foam and the little rectangle of foam make my hand fall over the AG-5 a little more like a steering wheel. The foam key addons allow typing with minimal finger movement. The pieces of wood let the AG-5 sit in my lap without my having to hold it up. I now prefer an optical trackball (cut from a Logitech Trackman) mounted on the front of the AG-5. My right-wrist RSI is far enough gone that I like to also use my index finger to mouse, although I still use the thumb-ball about half the time. I don't know if I would recommend this system to everybody, but it's a nice relaxing ride for me....

   

  

Dual Monitor Script - 11-02-06

This script adapts the Andersen Mousebooster Autohotkey code to work on dual monitor setups. Some people have experienced mouse jitter problems with these scripts; I regret that I just don't have time to support them properly.

https://alphagrip.pbwiki.com/f/cfa_dual%20monitor.ahk

Dual Monitor Script Solution - 04-26-07

For people who like to use a mouse booster in Auto Hotkey with a multi monitor setup: I have found 1) what causes the drifting on the secondary monitor and 2) how to fix it!

It turns out that the MouseMove command has a bug when using negative coordinates. This only affects monitors that are displayed to the left of and/or above the primary monitor. The mouse will actually move 1 pixel towards the origin (upper left corner of the primary monitor) of the negative coordinate (down or right depending on which is the negative coordinate) on every iteration of the script. You can verify this by making a stationary "booster" script that moves the mouse to the location where it already is:

MouseGetPos, PosX, PosY
MouseMove, PosX, PosY, 0

This trivial script exhibits mouse drifting if your secondary display is to the left of and/or above your primary monitor. I found that MouseGetPos does return the correct values, but that the point -1,-1 maps to 0,0 in the MouseMove command.

The way to fix this is to subtract 1 from the negative coordinate before you call MouseMove. For example, in Carl Andersen's multi monitor mouse booster, just add the following code directly before the MouseMove command:

if (AdjMousePosx < 0) {
	AdjMousePosx -= 1
	}
if (AdjMousePosy < 0) {
	AdjMousePosy -= 1
	}

Hopefully this will solve the problem as it did for me :-)

Tubeliar

MouseBooster v1.0.41 - 2-27-06

The Andersen MouseBooster is a simple AutoHotkey script that increases the speed of the AG-5's trackball. Just save the program to your computer and activate it when using the AlphaGrip. Once its running, you can toggle it on or off by pressing the PrtSc button. To close the program, right click on the icon in the lower right-hand corner of your screen and select Exit.

The Andersen MouseBooster also increases the speed of your desktop mouse when active.