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42 <tr> 42 <tr>
43 <td class=table-post> 43 <td class=table-post>
44 <div class="date"> 44 <div class="date">
45 02/08 — 2022 45 28/08 — 2022
46 </div> 46 </div>
47 <a href="/posts/a_reference_counted_afterlife" class="post-link"> 47 <a href="/posts/programming_on_34_keys" class="post-link">
48 <span class="post-link">A Reference Counted Afterlife</span> 48 <span class="post-link">Programming On 34 Keys</span>
49 </a> 49 </a>
50 </td> 50 </td>
51 <td class=table-stats> 51 <td class=table-stats>
52 <span class="stats-number"> 52 <span class="stats-number">
53 1.6 53 6.2
54 </span> 54 </span>
55 <span class=stats-unit>min</span> 55 <span class=stats-unit>min</span>
56 </td> 56 </td>
@@ -59,15 +59,15 @@
59 <tr> 59 <tr>
60 <td class=table-post> 60 <td class=table-post>
61 <div class="date"> 61 <div class="date">
62 13/06 — 2022 62 02/08 — 2022
63 </div> 63 </div>
64 <a href="/posts/lotus58" class="post-link"> 64 <a href="/posts/a_reference_counted_afterlife" class="post-link">
65 <span class="post-link">Lotus58</span> 65 <span class="post-link">A Reference Counted Afterlife</span>
66 </a> 66 </a>
67 </td> 67 </td>
68 <td class=table-stats> 68 <td class=table-stats>
69 <span class="stats-number"> 69 <span class="stats-number">
70 4.7 70 1.6
71 </span> 71 </span>
72 <span class=stats-unit>min</span> 72 <span class=stats-unit>min</span>
73 </td> 73 </td>
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12 <language>en-us</language> 12 <language>en-us</language>
13 <copyright>Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0</copyright> 13 <copyright>Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0</copyright>
14 <item> 14 <item>
15<title>Programming On 34 Keys</title>
16<description>&lt;p&gt;Minimizing your keyboard layout is a slippery slope. A few months ago, I built the &lt;a href="https://github.com/icyphox/ferricy"&gt;Ferricy&lt;/a&gt;, a 34-key-split-ortho-ergo keyboard. The Ferricy is a fork of the &lt;a href="https://github.com/davidphilipbarr/Sweep/tree/main/Sweep%20Bling%20MX"&gt;Ferris Sweep MX Bling&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
17&lt;figure&gt;
18&lt;img src="https://u.peppe.rs/otz.jpg" alt="The Ferricy, designed by icyphox" /&gt;&lt;figcaption aria-hidden="true"&gt;The Ferricy, designed by &lt;a href="https://icyphox.sh"&gt;icyphox&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;
19&lt;/figure&gt;
20&lt;p&gt;My daily use consists of a bit of prose and a lot of program, my layout has evolved accordingly.&lt;/p&gt;
21&lt;h1 id="base-layer"&gt;Base Layer&lt;/h1&gt;
22&lt;figure&gt;
23&lt;img src="https://u.peppe.rs/base.png" alt="Colemak with no mods" /&gt;&lt;figcaption aria-hidden="true"&gt;Colemak with no mods&lt;/figcaption&gt;
24&lt;/figure&gt;
25&lt;p&gt;The base layer contains alphabets, four symbols and four whitespace keys:&lt;/p&gt;
26&lt;ul&gt;
27&lt;li&gt;Alphas: Stock Colemak, with no modifications whatsoever&lt;/li&gt;
28&lt;li&gt;Symbols: &lt;code&gt;. , / ;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
29&lt;li&gt;Whitespace: tab, space, enter, backspace (from left to right)&lt;/li&gt;
30&lt;/ul&gt;
31&lt;h1 id="layers"&gt;Layers&lt;/h1&gt;
32&lt;p&gt;Keyboard input is complex and it is impossible to skirt around it. You can either use a keyboard with enough keys to supply all possible inputs (a mechanical burden), or you can use firmware to supply all possible inputs (a cognitive burden). Layers are a cognitive burden.&lt;/p&gt;
33&lt;p&gt;I use 3 layers, heavily inspired by &lt;a href="https://github.com/manna-harbour/miryoku"&gt;Miryoku&lt;/a&gt;, but tuned for programming. Excluding the base Colemak layer:&lt;/p&gt;
34&lt;ul&gt;
35&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;NAV&lt;/code&gt;: activated on holding &lt;code&gt;space&lt;/code&gt; (left thumb)&lt;/li&gt;
36&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;NUM&lt;/code&gt;: activated on holding &lt;code&gt;tab&lt;/code&gt; (left thumb)&lt;/li&gt;
37&lt;li&gt;&lt;code&gt;SYM&lt;/code&gt;: activated on holding &lt;code&gt;enter&lt;/code&gt; (right thumb)&lt;/li&gt;
38&lt;/ul&gt;
39&lt;h2 id="the-nav-layer"&gt;The &lt;code&gt;NAV&lt;/code&gt; Layer&lt;/h2&gt;
40&lt;p&gt;As the name suggests, this layer is focused on navigation. Arrow keys and the likes.&lt;/p&gt;
41&lt;figure&gt;
42&lt;img src="https://u.peppe.rs/nav.png" alt="NAV, on holding space" /&gt;&lt;figcaption aria-hidden="true"&gt;&lt;code&gt;NAV&lt;/code&gt;, on holding &lt;code&gt;space&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;
43&lt;/figure&gt;
44&lt;p&gt;Using Vim and Colemak means you lose out on HJKL navigation. However, on activating the &lt;code&gt;NAV&lt;/code&gt; layer, the right home-row is converted into arrow keys. In essence, by holding space, I can navigate Vim with the home-row, or Firefox, or my PDF reader. I no longer need to look for software that allows Vim navigation keys, because it is baked into the firmware!&lt;/p&gt;
45&lt;p&gt;My Vim motions are not limited to HJKL. In fact, my Vim motions are rarely HJKL. I tend to use &lt;code&gt;}&lt;/code&gt; (next paragraph) and &lt;code&gt;)&lt;/code&gt; (next sentence) more often. As a result, these have found their way into my &lt;code&gt;NAV&lt;/code&gt; layer, over the likes of &lt;code&gt;PgDown&lt;/code&gt; and &lt;code&gt;End&lt;/code&gt;. Having brackets at my index and middle fingers is nice for programming too.&lt;/p&gt;
46&lt;h2 id="the-sym-layer"&gt;The &lt;code&gt;SYM&lt;/code&gt; Layer&lt;/h2&gt;
47&lt;figure&gt;
48&lt;img src="https://u.peppe.rs/sym.png" alt="SYM, on holding enter" /&gt;&lt;figcaption aria-hidden="true"&gt;&lt;code&gt;SYM&lt;/code&gt;, on holding &lt;code&gt;enter&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;
49&lt;/figure&gt;
50&lt;p&gt;This layer contains all the symbols that you would find by hitting &lt;code&gt;Shift&lt;/code&gt; and a key on the number row. Probably noteworthy to Vim users: the symbols are arranged in the form of a mirrored numpad for exactly one reason: to move &lt;code&gt;$&lt;/code&gt; to the left of &lt;code&gt;^&lt;/code&gt;. It has always annoyed me that &lt;code&gt;$&lt;/code&gt; moves the cursor to the end of the line and &lt;code&gt;^&lt;/code&gt; moves it to the beginning, but their position on a typical number row are reversed, 4 comes before 6.&lt;/p&gt;
51&lt;h2 id="the-num-layer"&gt;The &lt;code&gt;NUM&lt;/code&gt; layer&lt;/h2&gt;
52&lt;figure&gt;
53&lt;img src="https://u.peppe.rs/num.png" alt="NUM, on holding tab" /&gt;&lt;figcaption aria-hidden="true"&gt;&lt;code&gt;NUM&lt;/code&gt;, on holding &lt;code&gt;tab&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;
54&lt;/figure&gt;
55&lt;p&gt;Another deviation from Miryoku, the numpad just feels &lt;em&gt;right&lt;/em&gt; on my &lt;em&gt;right&lt;/em&gt; hand.&lt;/p&gt;
56&lt;h1 id="zmk-combos"&gt;ZMK Combos&lt;/h1&gt;
57&lt;p&gt;If you have been paying close attention, you might have noticed that &lt;code&gt;escape&lt;/code&gt; didn’t make it to any layer. &lt;code&gt;escape&lt;/code&gt; is too crucial to put on a non-base layer, but at the same time, not as important to deserve a place on the base layer. That is where ZMK’s combos come in. Combos let you tap any number of keys, and combine them to form a single key. I have combos set up for underscore, minus, escape and caps-word (more on caps-word later):&lt;/p&gt;
58&lt;figure&gt;
59&lt;img src="https://u.peppe.rs/combos.png" alt="Combos are almost piano-like" /&gt;&lt;figcaption aria-hidden="true"&gt;Combos are almost piano-like&lt;/figcaption&gt;
60&lt;/figure&gt;
61&lt;h1 id="home-row-mods"&gt;Home-row Mods&lt;/h1&gt;
62&lt;p&gt;Inherited from Miryoku, I have home-row mods for activating &lt;code&gt;Super&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;Alt&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;Shift&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;Ctrl&lt;/code&gt; and &lt;code&gt;Hyper&lt;/code&gt; (&lt;code&gt;Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Super&lt;/code&gt;). The idea is to send &lt;code&gt;T&lt;/code&gt; on tap and &lt;code&gt;Ctrl&lt;/code&gt; on hold. Home-row mods are fairly popular, so I’ll not go into the details.&lt;/p&gt;
63&lt;figure&gt;
64&lt;img src="https://u.peppe.rs/homerow.png" alt="Super, Alt, Shift, Ctrl, Hyper; on the left half, and mirrored on the right half" /&gt;&lt;figcaption aria-hidden="true"&gt;Super, Alt, Shift, Ctrl, Hyper; on the left half, and mirrored on the right half&lt;/figcaption&gt;
65&lt;/figure&gt;
66&lt;p&gt;&lt;code&gt;Hyper&lt;/code&gt; bridges the gap between firmware and software. You can never configure key combination that, opens Firefox, for example, through firmware alone. However, with the &lt;code&gt;Hyper&lt;/code&gt; key, and some &lt;code&gt;sxhkd&lt;/code&gt; magic, you can emulate that. Pressing &lt;code&gt;Hyper + F&lt;/code&gt; on a keyboard is just two keys, but the key codes sent are &lt;code&gt;Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Super + F&lt;/code&gt;. That key combination is not intercepted by any application as a shortcut, except for the following &lt;code&gt;sxhkd&lt;/code&gt; stanza:&lt;/p&gt;
67&lt;div class="sourceCode" id="cb1"&gt;&lt;pre class="sourceCode bash"&gt;&lt;code class="sourceCode bash"&gt;&lt;span id="cb1-1"&gt;&lt;a href="#cb1-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span class="ex"&gt;super&lt;/span&gt; + alt + shift + ctrl + f&lt;/span&gt;
68&lt;span id="cb1-2"&gt;&lt;a href="#cb1-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span class="ex"&gt;xdotool&lt;/span&gt; search &lt;span class="st"&gt;&amp;quot;Mozilla Firefox&amp;quot;&lt;/span&gt; windowactivate&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/pre&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
69&lt;p&gt;Alternatively, you can intercept unused &lt;code&gt;F&lt;/code&gt; keys: &lt;code&gt;F13&lt;/code&gt; through &lt;code&gt;F24&lt;/code&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
70&lt;p&gt;Home-row mods are mirrored on each half because it would be impossible to hit &lt;code&gt;Ctrl + T&lt;/code&gt; if not; they lie on the same key.&lt;/p&gt;
71&lt;h1 id="caps-word"&gt;Caps-word&lt;/h1&gt;
72&lt;p&gt;Caps-word is a clever caps-lock, built into ZMK. Typing out constants such as &lt;code&gt;PORT&lt;/code&gt; with home-row mods would look like this:&lt;/p&gt;
73&lt;ul&gt;
74&lt;li&gt;hold &lt;code&gt;e&lt;/code&gt; (shift) on left hand, and tap &lt;code&gt;p&lt;/code&gt; on right hand&lt;/li&gt;
75&lt;li&gt;hold &lt;code&gt;e&lt;/code&gt; (shift) on left hand, and tap &lt;code&gt;o&lt;/code&gt; on right hand&lt;/li&gt;
76&lt;li&gt;hold &lt;code&gt;s&lt;/code&gt; (shift) on right hand, and tap &lt;code&gt;r&lt;/code&gt; on left hand&lt;/li&gt;
77&lt;li&gt;hold &lt;code&gt;s&lt;/code&gt; (shift) on right hand, and tap &lt;code&gt;t&lt;/code&gt; on left hand&lt;/li&gt;
78&lt;/ul&gt;
79&lt;p&gt;This hold-alternate-hold dance gets tiring quickly. With caps-word, however:&lt;/p&gt;
80&lt;ul&gt;
81&lt;li&gt;toggle &lt;code&gt;caps_word&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
82&lt;li&gt;type out &lt;code&gt;p&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;o&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;r&lt;/code&gt;, &lt;code&gt;t&lt;/code&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
83&lt;li&gt;hit a &lt;em&gt;break&lt;/em&gt; character (space, enter will do)&lt;/li&gt;
84&lt;li&gt;continue&lt;/li&gt;
85&lt;/ul&gt;
86&lt;p&gt;Caps-word automatically disables capitalization upon encountering a breaking character, (which are space, enter or any modifier, by default) right in the firmware!&lt;/p&gt;
87&lt;h1 id="findings"&gt;Findings&lt;/h1&gt;
88&lt;p&gt;34-keys has been reasonably comfortable to use, for both prose and program. My palms do not move across the desk at all, as I reach for keys. I mostly write Rust and Bash, and my layout has evolved to accomodate special characters from their grammars (angled brackets and hyphens, specifically). If you are on a similar journey, I would suggest focusing on accuracy and comfort over speed. Speed comes with time.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
89<link>https://peppe.rs/posts/programming_on_34_keys/</link>
90<pubDate>Sun, 28 Aug 2022 13:51:00 +0000</pubDate>
91<guid>https://peppe.rs/posts/programming_on_34_keys/</guid>
92</item>
93<item>
15<title>A Reference Counted Afterlife</title> 94<title>A Reference Counted Afterlife</title>
16<description>&lt;p&gt;I took interest in the Egyptian rendition of the afterlife recently.&lt;/p&gt; 95<description>&lt;p&gt;I took interest in the Egyptian rendition of the afterlife recently.&lt;/p&gt;
17&lt;h3 id="parts-of-the-soul"&gt;Parts of the Soul&lt;/h3&gt; 96&lt;h3 id="parts-of-the-soul"&gt;Parts of the Soul&lt;/h3&gt;
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27 <tr> 27 <tr>
28 <td class=table-post> 28 <td class=table-post>
29 <div class="date"> 29 <div class="date">
30 28/08 — 2022
31 </div>
32 <a href="/posts/programming_on_34_keys" class="post-link">
33 <span class="post-link">Programming On 34 Keys</span>
34 </a>
35 </td>
36 <td class=table-stats>
37 <span class="stats-number">
38 6.2
39 </span>
40 <span class=stats-unit>min</span>
41 </td>
42 </tr>
43
44 <tr>
45 <td class=table-post>
46 <div class="date">
30 02/08 — 2022 47 02/08 — 2022
31 </div> 48 </div>
32 <a href="/posts/a_reference_counted_afterlife" class="post-link"> 49 <a href="/posts/a_reference_counted_afterlife" class="post-link">
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36 6.2
37 </span>
38 <span class="stats-unit">min</span>
39 </div>
40 </div>
41 <h1>
42 Programming On 34 Keys
43 </h1>
44 <div class="post-text">
45 <p>Minimizing your keyboard layout is a slippery slope. A few months ago, I built the <a href="https://github.com/icyphox/ferricy">Ferricy</a>, a 34-key-split-ortho-ergo keyboard. The Ferricy is a fork of the <a href="https://github.com/davidphilipbarr/Sweep/tree/main/Sweep%20Bling%20MX">Ferris Sweep MX Bling</a>.</p>
46<figure>
47<img src="https://u.peppe.rs/otz.jpg" alt="The Ferricy, designed by icyphox" /><figcaption aria-hidden="true">The Ferricy, designed by <a href="https://icyphox.sh">icyphox</a></figcaption>
48</figure>
49<p>My daily use consists of a bit of prose and a lot of program, my layout has evolved accordingly.</p>
50<h1 id="base-layer">Base Layer</h1>
51<figure>
52<img src="https://u.peppe.rs/base.png" alt="Colemak with no mods" /><figcaption aria-hidden="true">Colemak with no mods</figcaption>
53</figure>
54<p>The base layer contains alphabets, four symbols and four whitespace keys:</p>
55<ul>
56<li>Alphas: Stock Colemak, with no modifications whatsoever</li>
57<li>Symbols: <code>. , / ;</code></li>
58<li>Whitespace: tab, space, enter, backspace (from left to right)</li>
59</ul>
60<h1 id="layers">Layers</h1>
61<p>Keyboard input is complex and it is impossible to skirt around it. You can either use a keyboard with enough keys to supply all possible inputs (a mechanical burden), or you can use firmware to supply all possible inputs (a cognitive burden). Layers are a cognitive burden.</p>
62<p>I use 3 layers, heavily inspired by <a href="https://github.com/manna-harbour/miryoku">Miryoku</a>, but tuned for programming. Excluding the base Colemak layer:</p>
63<ul>
64<li><code>NAV</code>: activated on holding <code>space</code> (left thumb)</li>
65<li><code>NUM</code>: activated on holding <code>tab</code> (left thumb)</li>
66<li><code>SYM</code>: activated on holding <code>enter</code> (right thumb)</li>
67</ul>
68<h2 id="the-nav-layer">The <code>NAV</code> Layer</h2>
69<p>As the name suggests, this layer is focused on navigation. Arrow keys and the likes.</p>
70<figure>
71<img src="https://u.peppe.rs/nav.png" alt="NAV, on holding space" /><figcaption aria-hidden="true"><code>NAV</code>, on holding <code>space</code></figcaption>
72</figure>
73<p>Using Vim and Colemak means you lose out on HJKL navigation. However, on activating the <code>NAV</code> layer, the right home-row is converted into arrow keys. In essence, by holding space, I can navigate Vim with the home-row, or Firefox, or my PDF reader. I no longer need to look for software that allows Vim navigation keys, because it is baked into the firmware!</p>
74<p>My Vim motions are not limited to HJKL. In fact, my Vim motions are rarely HJKL. I tend to use <code>}</code> (next paragraph) and <code>)</code> (next sentence) more often. As a result, these have found their way into my <code>NAV</code> layer, over the likes of <code>PgDown</code> and <code>End</code>. Having brackets at my index and middle fingers is nice for programming too.</p>
75<h2 id="the-sym-layer">The <code>SYM</code> Layer</h2>
76<figure>
77<img src="https://u.peppe.rs/sym.png" alt="SYM, on holding enter" /><figcaption aria-hidden="true"><code>SYM</code>, on holding <code>enter</code></figcaption>
78</figure>
79<p>This layer contains all the symbols that you would find by hitting <code>Shift</code> and a key on the number row. Probably noteworthy to Vim users: the symbols are arranged in the form of a mirrored numpad for exactly one reason: to move <code>$</code> to the left of <code>^</code>. It has always annoyed me that <code>$</code> moves the cursor to the end of the line and <code>^</code> moves it to the beginning, but their position on a typical number row are reversed, 4 comes before 6.</p>
80<h2 id="the-num-layer">The <code>NUM</code> layer</h2>
81<figure>
82<img src="https://u.peppe.rs/num.png" alt="NUM, on holding tab" /><figcaption aria-hidden="true"><code>NUM</code>, on holding <code>tab</code></figcaption>
83</figure>
84<p>Another deviation from Miryoku, the numpad just feels <em>right</em> on my <em>right</em> hand.</p>
85<h1 id="zmk-combos">ZMK Combos</h1>
86<p>If you have been paying close attention, you might have noticed that <code>escape</code> didn’t make it to any layer. <code>escape</code> is too crucial to put on a non-base layer, but at the same time, not as important to deserve a place on the base layer. That is where ZMK’s combos come in. Combos let you tap any number of keys, and combine them to form a single key. I have combos set up for underscore, minus, escape and caps-word (more on caps-word later):</p>
87<figure>
88<img src="https://u.peppe.rs/combos.png" alt="Combos are almost piano-like" /><figcaption aria-hidden="true">Combos are almost piano-like</figcaption>
89</figure>
90<h1 id="home-row-mods">Home-row Mods</h1>
91<p>Inherited from Miryoku, I have home-row mods for activating <code>Super</code>, <code>Alt</code>, <code>Shift</code>, <code>Ctrl</code> and <code>Hyper</code> (<code>Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Super</code>). The idea is to send <code>T</code> on tap and <code>Ctrl</code> on hold. Home-row mods are fairly popular, so I’ll not go into the details.</p>
92<figure>
93<img src="https://u.peppe.rs/homerow.png" alt="Super, Alt, Shift, Ctrl, Hyper; on the left half, and mirrored on the right half" /><figcaption aria-hidden="true">Super, Alt, Shift, Ctrl, Hyper; on the left half, and mirrored on the right half</figcaption>
94</figure>
95<p><code>Hyper</code> bridges the gap between firmware and software. You can never configure key combination that, opens Firefox, for example, through firmware alone. However, with the <code>Hyper</code> key, and some <code>sxhkd</code> magic, you can emulate that. Pressing <code>Hyper + F</code> on a keyboard is just two keys, but the key codes sent are <code>Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Super + F</code>. That key combination is not intercepted by any application as a shortcut, except for the following <code>sxhkd</code> stanza:</p>
96<div class="sourceCode" id="cb1"><pre class="sourceCode bash"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb1-1"><a href="#cb1-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="ex">super</span> + alt + shift + ctrl + f</span>
97<span id="cb1-2"><a href="#cb1-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a> <span class="ex">xdotool</span> search <span class="st">&quot;Mozilla Firefox&quot;</span> windowactivate</span></code></pre></div>
98<p>Alternatively, you can intercept unused <code>F</code> keys: <code>F13</code> through <code>F24</code>.</p>
99<p>Home-row mods are mirrored on each half because it would be impossible to hit <code>Ctrl + T</code> if not; they lie on the same key.</p>
100<h1 id="caps-word">Caps-word</h1>
101<p>Caps-word is a clever caps-lock, built into ZMK. Typing out constants such as <code>PORT</code> with home-row mods would look like this:</p>
102<ul>
103<li>hold <code>e</code> (shift) on left hand, and tap <code>p</code> on right hand</li>
104<li>hold <code>e</code> (shift) on left hand, and tap <code>o</code> on right hand</li>
105<li>hold <code>s</code> (shift) on right hand, and tap <code>r</code> on left hand</li>
106<li>hold <code>s</code> (shift) on right hand, and tap <code>t</code> on left hand</li>
107</ul>
108<p>This hold-alternate-hold dance gets tiring quickly. With caps-word, however:</p>
109<ul>
110<li>toggle <code>caps_word</code></li>
111<li>type out <code>p</code>, <code>o</code>, <code>r</code>, <code>t</code></li>
112<li>hit a <em>break</em> character (space, enter will do)</li>
113<li>continue</li>
114</ul>
115<p>Caps-word automatically disables capitalization upon encountering a breaking character, (which are space, enter or any modifier, by default) right in the firmware!</p>
116<h1 id="findings">Findings</h1>
117<p>34-keys has been reasonably comfortable to use, for both prose and program. My palms do not move across the desk at all, as I reach for keys. I mostly write Rust and Bash, and my layout has evolved to accomodate special characters from their grammars (angled brackets and hyphens, specifically). If you are on a similar journey, I would suggest focusing on accuracy and comfort over speed. Speed comes with time.</p>
118
119 </div>
120
121 <div class="intro">
122 Hi.
123 <div class="hot-links">
124 <a href="https://peppe.rs/index.xml" class="feed-button">Subscribe</a>
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126 </div>
127 <p>I'm Akshay, I go by nerd or nerdypepper on the internet.</p>
128 <p>
129 I am a compsci undergrad, Rust programmer and an enthusiastic Vimmer.
130 I write <a href="https://git.peppe.rs">open-source stuff</a> to pass time.
131 I also design fonts:
132 <a href="https://git.peppe.rs/fonts/scientifica">scientifica</a>,
133 <a href="https://git.peppe.rs/fonts/curie">curie</a>.
134 </p>
135 <p>Send me a mail at [email protected] or a message at [email protected].</p>
136 </div>
137
138 <a href="/" class="post-end-link">Home</a>
139 <span>/</span>
140 <a href="/posts" class="post-end-link">Posts</a>
141 <span>/</span>
142 <a class="post-end-link">Programming On 34 Keys</a>
143 <a class="stats post-end-link" href="https://git.peppe.rs/web/site/plain/posts/programming_on_34_keys.md
144">View Raw</a>
145 </div>
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147 </body>
148</html>
diff --git a/posts/programming_on_34_keys.md b/posts/programming_on_34_keys.md
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1Minimizing your keyboard layout is a slippery slope. A few
2months ago, I built the
3[Ferricy](https://github.com/icyphox/ferricy), a
434-key-split-ortho-ergo keyboard. The Ferricy is a fork of
5the [Ferris Sweep MX
6Bling](https://github.com/davidphilipbarr/Sweep/tree/main/Sweep%20Bling%20MX).
7
8![The Ferricy, designed by [icyphox](https://icyphox.sh)](https://u.peppe.rs/otz.jpg)
9
10
11My daily use consists of a bit of prose and a lot of
12program, my layout has evolved accordingly.
13
14# Base Layer
15
16![Colemak with no mods](https://u.peppe.rs/base.png)
17
18The base layer contains alphabets, four symbols and four
19whitespace keys:
20
21- Alphas: Stock Colemak, with no modifications whatsoever
22- Symbols: `. , / ;`
23- Whitespace: tab, space, enter, backspace (from left to
24 right)
25
26# Layers
27
28Keyboard input is complex and it is impossible to skirt
29around it. You can either use a keyboard with enough keys to
30supply all possible inputs (a mechanical burden), or you can
31use firmware to supply all possible inputs (a cognitive
32burden). Layers are a cognitive burden.
33
34I use 3 layers, heavily inspired by
35[Miryoku](https://github.com/manna-harbour/miryoku), but
36tuned for programming. Excluding the base Colemak layer:
37
38- `NAV`: activated on holding `space` (left thumb)
39- `NUM`: activated on holding `tab` (left thumb)
40- `SYM`: activated on holding `enter` (right thumb)
41
42## The `NAV` Layer
43
44As the name suggests, this layer is focused on navigation.
45Arrow keys and the likes.
46
47![`NAV`, on holding `space`](https://u.peppe.rs/nav.png)
48
49Using Vim and Colemak means you lose out on HJKL navigation.
50However, on activating the `NAV` layer, the right home-row is
51converted into arrow keys. In essence, by holding space, I
52can navigate Vim with the home-row, or Firefox, or my PDF
53reader. I no longer need to look for software that allows
54Vim navigation keys, because it is baked into the firmware!
55
56My Vim motions are not limited to HJKL. In fact, my Vim
57motions are rarely HJKL. I tend to use `}` (next paragraph)
58and `)` (next sentence) more often. As a result, these have
59found their way into my `NAV` layer, over the likes of
60`PgDown` and `End`. Having brackets at my index and middle
61fingers is nice for programming too.
62
63## The `SYM` Layer
64
65![`SYM`, on holding `enter`](https://u.peppe.rs/sym.png)
66
67This layer contains all the symbols that you would find by
68hitting `Shift` and a key on the number row. Probably
69noteworthy to Vim users: the symbols are arranged in the
70form of a mirrored numpad for exactly one reason: to move
71`$` to the left of `^`. It has always annoyed me that `$`
72moves the cursor to the end of the line and `^` moves it to
73the beginning, but their position on a typical number row
74are reversed, 4 comes before 6.
75
76## The `NUM` layer
77
78![`NUM`, on holding `tab`](https://u.peppe.rs/num.png)
79
80Another deviation from Miryoku, the numpad just feels _right_
81on my _right_ hand.
82
83# ZMK Combos
84
85If you have been paying close attention, you might have
86noticed that `escape` didn't make it to any layer. `escape`
87is too crucial to put on a non-base layer, but at the same
88time, not as important to deserve a place on the base layer.
89That is where ZMK's combos come in. Combos let you tap any
90number of keys, and combine them to form a single key. I
91have combos set up for underscore, minus, escape and
92caps-word (more on caps-word later):
93
94![Combos are almost piano-like](https://u.peppe.rs/combos.png)
95
96# Home-row Mods
97
98Inherited from Miryoku, I have home-row mods for activating
99`Super`, `Alt`, `Shift`, `Ctrl` and `Hyper` (`Ctrl + Shift +
100Alt + Super`). The idea is to send `T` on tap and `Ctrl` on
101hold. Home-row mods are fairly popular, so I'll not go into
102the details.
103
104![Super, Alt, Shift, Ctrl, Hyper; on the left half, and
105mirrored on the right half](https://u.peppe.rs/homerow.png)
106
107`Hyper` bridges the gap between firmware and software. You
108can never configure key combination that, opens Firefox, for
109example, through firmware alone. However, with the `Hyper`
110key, and some `sxhkd` magic, you can emulate that. Pressing
111`Hyper + F` on a keyboard is just two keys, but the key
112codes sent are `Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Super + F`. That key
113combination is not intercepted by any application as a
114shortcut, except for the following `sxhkd` stanza:
115
116```bash
117super + alt + shift + ctrl + f
118 xdotool search "Mozilla Firefox" windowactivate
119```
120
121Alternatively, you can intercept unused `F` keys: `F13`
122through `F24`.
123
124Home-row mods are mirrored on each half because it would be
125impossible to hit `Ctrl + T` if not; they lie on the same
126key.
127
128# Caps-word
129
130Caps-word is a clever caps-lock, built into ZMK. Typing out
131constants such as `PORT` with home-row mods would look like
132this:
133
134- hold `e` (shift) on left hand, and tap `p` on right hand
135- hold `e` (shift) on left hand, and tap `o` on right hand
136- hold `s` (shift) on right hand, and tap `r` on left hand
137- hold `s` (shift) on right hand, and tap `t` on left hand
138
139This hold-alternate-hold dance gets tiring quickly. With
140caps-word, however:
141
142- toggle `caps_word`
143- type out `p`, `o`, `r`, `t`
144- hit a _break_ character (space, enter will do)
145- continue
146
147Caps-word automatically disables capitalization upon
148encountering a breaking character, (which are space, enter
149or any modifier, by default) right in the firmware!
150
151# Findings
152
15334-keys has been reasonably comfortable to use, for both
154prose and program. My palms do not move across the desk at
155all, as I reach for keys. I mostly write Rust and Bash, and
156my layout has evolved to accomodate special characters from
157their grammars (angled brackets and hyphens, specifically).
158If you are on a similar journey, I would suggest focusing on
159accuracy and comfort over speed. Speed comes with time.
generated by cgit v1.2.3 (git 2.25.1) at 2024-12-25 17:42:03 +0000