We all love you, shifty disco girl.

[venta]

Note to self: There is a shift key on the right of the keyboard. Look, it's quite big, just below the enter key. You should consider using it.

Because, you see, I don't. I use the left-hand-side shift key pretty much exclusively. Obviously, if the key I'm shifting is on the LHS of the keyboard, this can involve twisting my wrist round awkwardly. If I do it too much (as I seem to have done in the last 24 hours) I end up with quite a painful sensation in the outside of my wrist.

Does anyone have a deliberate policy (or know what their accidental policy is) on shift-key use ? When do you use right or left ?

If you were typing a long string of caps JUST LIKE THIS, how would you do it ? When someone noticed a while back that I occasionally use capslock for this kind of thing there were howls of disgust and derision as if I'd been caught out shagging a donkey, or somesuch. Do you ever use capslock ? Is there an optimal length of a string of letters at which it becomes "worth it" to use the capslock key ?

Further note to self: Hey, there's a Control key over on the right, too! Who'd have thought it ?

Comments

[kneeshooter]

I hardly ever use RHS; but do CAPS LOCK on occasion (though I didn't then).

I think I use SHIFT when I'm typing CAPITALS in a sentence of mixed case, but CAPS LOCK when doing data entry in UPPER CASE.

[wimble.livejournal.com]

I don't think I ever use the caps-lock key. I just fold my thumb back under my hand and leave it on the shift key.

JUST LIKE THIS

I used the left hand shift key for the text, keeping it held down. My left hand home keys seem to be F E W Q, so holding shift isn't too bad. Normally, to get to the middle of the keyboard, I have to move my hand across. With shift held down, I move my right hand to the left to compensate.

I was going to say I didn't use the right hand shift key at all. But then I typed the <cite> tags around the text, and found I was using the right shift key for the shifted punctuation symbols, holding it down with my right little finger.

[venta.livejournal.com]

You hold down the shift with your thumb ? Blimey. That is odd. Fourth finger, or occasionally little finger for me.

Now I'm thinking about it, I observe that I never use my left thumb at all, my right thumb does all the space-bar-hitting for me.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

My left hand home keys seem to be F E W Q

<looks at keyboard>

You are a Martian and I claim my five pounds.

[erming.livejournal.com]

caps lock for more than a couple of characters, otherwise lhs shift exclusively (though I sometimes use my right hand to type a capital S while the left hand operates the shift key).

[al-fruitbat.livejournal.com]

For me, capslock is reserved exclusively for screwing up password entry on the web.

_{I wish modern computers still had the ability to 'switch' text between cases. The BBC-B at school could do this - Every time I accidentally type a sentENCE IN CAPITALS ANd notice half-way through, I want to select the offending text and switch case...}

[j4.livejournal.com]

TextPad has commands to switch text to upper-case, lower-case, and "sentence-case" (i.e. everything in lower case except for capitals after full stops). It's also generally quite a nice Windows text editor. (They're not paying me to say this, I just like using it!) It's not really free, but the free trial download is fully functional...

I confess, though, I didn't know you could do that on the Beeb. I feel like I just lost some of my 8-bit cred there. 8-)

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I must obviously be strange.

RHS is my default. I almost never use LHS. Nor do I get any painful sensations as a result.

When I'm TYPING A SENTENCE ALL IN CAPS I just automatically shift my hand over slightly to compensate. This is pretty much always faster than trying to remember where the CAPS LOCK key is, so unless I'm likely to get cramp in my hand while tying something very long I don't bother.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Nor do I get any painful sensations as a result.

That may be more to do with our respective physiologies than our typing methodologies - after all, you can use a mouse without getting painful sensations, I believe :)

Re: right Control key

[wimble.livejournal.com]

That's only for games :)

Re: right Control key

[kissifa.livejournal.com]

As is the left shift key for some of us. It's always the designated "Walk" key - it is essential to making Lara Croft slowly stride up to the cliff you're about to make her swan dive head first off of, or for making your alien slowly creep up on the unsuspecting marines from the shadows.

Typing? We don't need no stinking left shift key capitals! Right hand pinky all the way!

[stegzy.livejournal.com]

Depends. I was trained as a touch typist. So I tend to use the shift key thats opposite to which letter I wish to capitalise....I think...It tends to be a subconcious thing now...

Also the right shift is handy for controlling some computer game :-)

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

I was trained as a touch typist too.

Thus it disturbed me somewhat to discover that at some point I'd entirely ceased to use an entire shift key, no matter how awkward it was making do without it!

Quick experimentation has shown, however, that the position of the leftshift key (on this keyboard at least) actually makes it slightly painful for me to try to reach for it. This is probably some kind of weird physiology issue, but it explains why I don't use the thing :)

[j4.livejournal.com]

I always use the left-hand shift-key. The right-hand shift-key on my laptop broke recently & while I was annoyed that it had broken, it didn't actually inconvenience me at all (though I got it fixed anyway).

If I was going to type a long string of caps JUST LIKE THAT, I would hold down the left shift-key with my little finger and just type the rest with the other fingers. My little finger more or less hovers over the shift key anyway; at least, it can automatically find it to do caps in the middle of things e.g. for Proper Nouns. (I don't touch-type properly, but I don't need to look at the keyboard and I type Pretty Damned Fast.)

My text-editor of choice has a command for "change to upper-case" so if I wanted to type a really long string of caps I'd just type as normal, then select the relevant bits of text and hit ^U.

I note that the left-hand shift-key is slightly closer to the letters on the left-hand side of the keyboard than the right-hand shift-key is to the letters on the right-hand side, if you see what I mean, because all the bits and bobs -- ",./;'#[]" -- get in the way. I suspect that's why it's easier for my left-hand little finger to hover over the shift while I carry on typing letters.

None of which wrist-twisting shenanigans seems to have given me the RSI that by rights it probably ought to have done. I have a vague theory that playing piano all my life (and violin for most of my life) has strengthened my wrists in some way. But I digress.

[venta.livejournal.com]

My text-editor of choice has a command for "change to upper-case"

So does mine, unfortunately, this may actually be a bad thing. I do almost all my typing in a text-editor, then on occasion am typing something like this in a browser and I automatically go for some obscure keyboard shortcut, and... bad stuff happens.

My current favourite is selecting a region of text, going for Ctrl-W to cut it, then remembering a smidgeon too late that Ctrl-W in Firefox closes your tab and loses the comment/email/world altering post you were typing :(

[cardinalsin.livejournal.com]

I only use the left key, unless I'm doing something so awkward that it awakens me from the usual automaticity of typing. Likewise I only use caps lock if I've been typing caps for so long that my brain has switched on and realised it would be easier.

[triskellian]

I think I only use the left hand shift key, and always with my little finger, which I otherwise don't use at all. And I think I do tend to use caps lock for the very, very rare occasions I'm typing something in solid capitals.

[eostar.livejournal.com]

fourth finger on the shift-key on the side opposite the letter I want to capitalize. Never pinkies, I'm a mutant, my pinky joints don't work properly:)Caps key for strings of capitals.

And yes, I'm a crap typist:)

[waistcoatmark.livejournal.com]

Comparing grubbiness of keys, it's fair to say that Caps LOck is rarely used, RHS shift, RHS windows, Alt GR and Properties never get used but interestingly RHS Ctrl does - probably exlusively for Ctrl-], the incredibly useful "find matching brace" function in Visual C++ and Code Composer.

It's also worrying that the cleanest (and thus most used) key on my keyboard appears to be backspace.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_corpse_/]

Ah, well now, that depends. I can touch type. I'm self taught, but I'm not as fast touch typing as I am just banging away at the keys that I know are there any old fashion. Which means I don't touch type as often as I peck away. Which means I'm not as fast.

If I'm touch typing, then I'll use the appropriate little finger on the opposite hand, otherwise it's invariably the pinkie on the LHS.

As for CAPSLOCK, only if it dawns on my that there's a whole bunch of stuff to come in uppercase, and not always even then.

Lastly, what is this fourth finger of which you speak? I have index, big (or middle), ring and little (or pinkie). Which of those is the fourth?

The index of my index finger is 0, so I call it my first finger ?

[venta.livejournal.com]

Lastly, what is this fourth finger of which you speak? I have index, big (or middle), ring and little (or pinkie). Which of those is the fourth?

I have a first finger, a middle finger, a fourth finger and a little finger.

No, I can't justify it. That's just how I think of them.

A while ago, a discussion cropped up on someone else's LJ, and she was keen to avoid the term "ring finger" so said "third finger". I got hopelessly confused, since I don't have a finger I'll happily call "third".

[verlaine.livejournal.com]

I always use the left shift key. What do you take me for, some kind of Tory?

I don't actually see any need to use the right-hand one at all: I use the little finger of my left hand for shifting, which means every single other key is comfortably at my other nine fingertips. Is this not how other people capitalise things then?

[venta.livejournal.com]

Apparently not - there are all sorts of mutants out there. Including me, since I mostly use my ring finger for the left shift.

Worse, there are people all over my journal using the word "pinky". I don't know why this always winds me up, but it does. Am I the only person with irrational dislikes of some words ?

[davefish.livejournal.com]

If I held down shift and then prodded you in bumular regions might you come over to Cambridge for dinner some evening?

[mejoff.livejournal.com]

shift key?

[venta.livejournal.com]

It's the key that makes some of the letters go a funny shape, like grownups use ;)

[philipstorry.livejournal.com]

I use the left shift key mostly, but I'll use the right shift key occasionally.

As for caps lock - I use it when it would take longer than three seconds to type it without caps lock. Why? Because I use a laptop as my primary machine. An laptop keyboards are prety cramped in many ways - I keep hitting the darned caps lock key accidentally. So I configured the laptop keyboard to ignore caps lock unless it was pressed for three seconds. That solved that problem. ;-)

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

I don't write in all-capitals enough to be able to spot a pattern. (touché) (Why is s near to c? Is it in order to make me look illiterate when writing in pseudo-French? Of course it is.)

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

I use the caps lock key, much as you do, and which shift I use is somewhat random, in keeping with the rest of my typing really.

Ever notice how, once you try to become aware of exactly how you type, your ability to type out a single word correct first time goes completely to pot?

I once saw a woman who would type every capital, ever, by turning caps lock on, hitting her one key, then turning it off again. She hadn't even discovered the left-hand shift key, it seems...

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Excuse me while I ponder how much of a bind that must be.

Um, Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers, Peter Piper picked.

Actually, that's not as bad as I thought.

But still not a patch on that ol' shift key :)

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

I use left shift for most purposes, but CAPS LOCK FOR LONG STRETCHES OF CAPS and right shift for {}:@~<>? most of the time.

In case it's not obvious - I don't touch type.

[broadmeadow.livejournal.com]

If this twisted hand syndrome becomes more serious than a mere nuisance you could always investigate one of these (http://www.smith-family-news.co.uk/2004/023-012.html) (a cykey chording keyboard). Victoria uses it as it only requires one hand; it also requires very little hand movement (the four fingers have one key each, the thumb has three to move between).

[pm215]

Be aware that the new models are rubber-key rather than the proper physical keys you can see in that photo. If you do want to investigate you're welcome to borrow the (new style) one that's sat in my drawer at work (assuming you can find keyboard, instruction book and the infrared receiver thingy for it...)

[smiorgan.livejournal.com]

Of course I don't use the bloody caps lock, because I've re-mapped it to ctrl, unix-stylee. Any WRITING IN CAPS IS DONE HOLDING SHIFT DOWN WITH MY RING FINGER AND TYPING ONE HANDED, OCCASIONALLY USING INDEX AND MIDDLE FINGERS OF THE LEFT HAND FOR Q, W, A AND S.

The same goes for shifting the numbers - I can do Shift-2 with the left, but generally I use both hands. I tend to float my hands over the keyboard - matter of debate whether I should actually be doing this - but it seems to avoid any lateral wrist bending. Took me a while to train the muscles to do this, though, as I'd been a slave to a wrist rest.

Now, I will go back to thinking about you shagging a donkey.

[wimble.livejournal.com]

I've already bagged the video rights.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm fairly good at using one hand to shift and the other for the letter key, unless I'm typing multiple caps at once (then I just keep the first shift key pressed).

At home the caps lock key is bound to Vim's auto-complete-word; haven't tried doing that on work's Windows boxen yet. Meta+shift+caps should be auto-complete-line, but it's currently broken and won't be fixed until next time that a big C or LaTeX document needs doing.

Anyway, I claim my five spod points.
Steve