Rockbox USB Remote

Not about OpenMW? Just about Morrowind in general? Have some random babble? Kindly direct it here.
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owatnext
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Rockbox USB Remote

Post by owatnext »

Hello!

I just recently got a new keyboard. You see, I use the AZERTY layout because I feel that it fits a lot better as a programmer. It has all of the symbols I need at quick access. On my previous keyboard, I just put stickers on it and told Windows to see it as an AZERTY. But now, I'm so glad to have upgraded. The only draw back here is that my keyboard now no longer has media control keys at the top! I often used them for controlling music playback while I was in a game of Morrowind. (using OpenMW, of course! :mrgreen: )
So, to circumvent this problem, I installed Rockbox https://www.rockbox.org/ on my iPod video. What this does is overrides Apple's default operating system and instead uses an open source operating system. One of Rockbox's features is to function as a USB remote control. So now, I can use my iPod as the media control keys that I lack on my keyboard. I no longer have to leave the game in order to skip a song or to pause the song! It's great.

I know, completely unrelated to OpenMW, but if anyone is interested in an open source iPod firmware replacement, you should definitely check out Rockbox.

P.S., Maybe one day, someone could work on a port to Rockbox for OpenMW :P
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psi29a
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Re: Rockbox USB Remote

Post by psi29a »

owatnext wrote: 08 Jun 2017, 00:49 I just recently got a new keyboard. You see, I use the AZERTY layout because I feel that it fits a lot better as a programmer. It has all of the symbols I need at quick access. On my previous keyboard, I just put stickers on it and told Windows to see it as an AZERTY
Considering that only Belgians and French (and the French government/acedemics want to move away from this[1][2]) use this layout, can I assume you're from there? After moving to Belgium, I taught myself Azerty (I grew up with Qwerty) and can touch-type with no problem switching between the two using the caps-lock key. I only use Azerty if I have to because either I'm either using my wife's laptop/keyboard or I have to switch my layout so she can use mine.

Let's get one thing straight, as a programmer (professionally or otherwise) Azerty is absolutely the worst. Having to use shift to get access to numbers is the single largest waste of time considering that you're working with numbers for a living. Diverting to a keypad to avoid shifting is worse. Unless you're doing translations or serious texts, there is no reason to use non-ascii characters while programming so having access to smart-quotes, accents, dietetics and other bit is equally useless.

If you ever go to university in Belgium, UGent for example, and your studying to be a "burgerlijk ingenieur" or anything having to do with computer-science/engineering, they will make you use Qwerty so you stop wasting time.

There is a great keyboard layout available in Ubuntu (and variants) is Qwerty US-International - with AltGr deadkey. (This is the Alt key on the right side of the keyboard.)

It avoids problems with so many anoying dead-keys (' `) when typing regular text or code and only AltGr is active compared to the regular Qwerty US keyboard. (AltGr + ' then e => é for example, AltGr + ` then a => à, etc... Great for French accents.)

And same for Windows here, http://keyboards.jargon-file.org/altinter.zip

Enjoy!

[1] http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-eu-35365604
[2] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/201 ... h-typists/
SquireNed
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Re: Rockbox USB Remote

Post by SquireNed »

psi29a wrote: 08 Jun 2017, 08:52 Let's get one thing straight, as a programmer (professionally or otherwise) Azerty is absolutely the worst. Having to use shift to get access to numbers is the single largest waste of time considering that you're working with numbers for a living. Diverting to a keypad to avoid shifting is worse. Unless you're doing translations or serious texts, there is no reason to use non-ascii characters while programming so having access to smart-quotes, accents, dietetics and other bit is equally useless.
I'm not trying to argue about the superiority of one keyboard layout or another, and I'm not a real programmer, I basically never touched numbers while programming C# and PHP.

Now, you could point out that C# and PHP aren't quite as robust, but the thing that I'd think would suck is if you don't have access to your sigils or other rarer characters as quickly.
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psi29a
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Re: Rockbox USB Remote

Post by psi29a »

That (the numbers) was just an example, there are other issues as well. I'm sure there are better layouts than Qwerty, many people have sworn by Dvorak. The issue was about Azerty in general, it is an abomination.
Cette astuce va certainement ravir la plupart d’entre vous qui trouvent que le layout par défaut des claviers AZERTY est une abomination. Le mot est un peu fort, mais soyons honnêtes, l’utilisation du clavier standard français est une sorte de perversion dactylographique.
http://akrambenaissi.com/2014/06/04/uke ... ur-un-mac/
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owatnext
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Re: Rockbox USB Remote

Post by owatnext »

psi29a wrote: 08 Jun 2017, 08:52 ... can I assume you're from there? {France}
I'm actually from Germany, but have lived in America for the majority of my memorable life, that's where my parents moved. I am going to be moving to Wales for school soon, however.
psi29a wrote: 08 Jun 2017, 08:52 ... as a programmer (professionally or otherwise) Azerty is absolutely the worst. Having to use shift to get access to numbers is the single largest waste of time ...
As a student programmer I, in my own personal experience, find AZERTY to be more functional when programming. I have access to all of the symbols I need¹ and the numbers don't get in the way. Now I do heavily need the numbers, because as you say I will be working with numbers for a living, I use the num pad. But this is all in my own personal taste. I have always had a hard time touch typing the row of numbers as opposed to using the number pad. I find that the number pad is a lot easier to just *tappa tappa* and hit the numbers more precisely.
¹Those sumbols being < > & " ' ( ) - : ; , ! *
Again, just my personal preference, similar to how I have my computer set to the Welsh language in both Debian and Windows.

But, this is a digression from the topic I originally presented, which is Rockbox being used as a USB remote lol.
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psi29a
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Re: Rockbox USB Remote

Post by psi29a »

Want to split the topic? :D
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owatnext
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Re: Rockbox USB Remote

Post by owatnext »

Good idea lol. There could be a topic dedicated to which keyboard layout people prefer and for what reasons.
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psi29a
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Re: Rockbox USB Remote

Post by psi29a »

Create a new topic, only with Rockbox USB Remote. Cut & paste what you typed above. I'll take care of rest by making this thread the keyboard thread. :)
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psi29a
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Re: Rockbox USB Remote

Post by psi29a »

More fuel to the fire:
http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20170613_02923132
Het is Frankrijk menens met de zoektocht naar een alternatief voor het azerty-toetsenbord. De Association française de normalisation (Afnor) legt twee opties op tafel.
Afnor has two options to replace the established Azerty keyboard:
1) an updated Azerty keyboard
2) an updated Dvorak keyboard (named BEPO)

In the updated Azerty keyboard, the letters and numbers would retain their current location on the keyboard, but it would for example be possible for capital letters to also display accents and type a period without holding down the shift key.

So it looks like they are looking to adjust the Azerty layout, by allowing access to numbers by default. That would remove my biggest gripe. :)
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