[HN Gopher] Daktilo: Turn Your Keyboard into a Typewriter
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Daktilo: Turn Your Keyboard into a Typewriter
Author : orhunp
Score : 118 points
Date : 2023-10-03 13:05 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| [deleted]
| chaosprint wrote:
| two projects somehow related:
| https://virtual.bbcmic.ro/?disc1=elite.ssd&autoboot
|
| https://github.com/jarmitage/Stenophone
| matt3210 wrote:
| as we all know, loudest keyboard wins
| throw0101a wrote:
| Related, " _Shift Happens_ is a beautifully designed history of
| how keyboards got this way ":
|
| > _It 's the 150th anniversary of the QWERTY keyboard, and Marcin
| Wichary has put together the kind of history and celebration this
| totemic object deserves._ Shift Happens _is a two-volume,
| 1,200-plus-page work with more than 1,300 photos, researched over
| seven years and cast lovingly into type and photo spreads that
| befit the subject._
|
| * https://arstechnica.com/culture/2023/10/shift-happens-is-a-b...
| kamel3d wrote:
| I have a mechanical keboard I like its sound and I dont want to
| add anymore noise to that
| jszymborski wrote:
| What I really want is a small editor that prohibits me from
| deleting things, as a typewriter dies. I switched to pen and
| paper for my drafts and it's all but ended my incessant self-
| editing that plagues my writing process. I'm sure a real
| typewriter would be more paper efficient.
|
| Now I just stick with what's on the page and edit what I dislike
| later.
|
| It would be handy for a digital version of that though.
| kickaha wrote:
| I made an Emacs mode that provides this functionality, only to
| find that someone else had done it better:
|
| https://github.com/emacsmirror/draft-mode
|
| (It was still worth it: huge fun and I learned a ton.)
| sacredSatan wrote:
| It is not exactly what you're looking for but this might be a
| middle ground. It does let you delete things, but after a
| certain length, you can't do it anymore.
|
| This is the web version of the app: https://write.sonnet.io/
| jszymborski wrote:
| Super clever idea, but ironically my biggest issue re: self-
| editing is often the first sentence of a draft haha
| jonjacky wrote:
| You could just use the old 'ed' line editor which is already
| installed on any Unix-like system, including Linux and Mac OS.
| ed was written around 1970 to support printing terminals like
| teletypes.
|
| It's easy: at the command line, type ed draft.txt (or whatever
| file name you want). Then on a line by itself, type the a
| command (for append). Then, just type your draft. When you are
| done typing, type a period . on a line by itself. Then type w
| to save the draft in the file. Then type q to exit ed. Your
| draft is in the file draft.txt. In the old days, you would then
| have a scroll of teletype paper with your draft on it, that you
| would tear off and take away to review. Nowadays, you can use
| another command to print the draft.
|
| Later you can do ed draft.txt again and use other ed commands
| to make corrections/revisions if you like.
|
| Or, even simpler, just use the cat command. At the command
| line, type cat > draft.txt. Then type your draft. When you are
| done, type ctrl-D. That's it. Your draft is now in the file
| draft.txt. You can use cat draft.txt (without the > ) to see
| what is in the file.
|
| To append more text later, type cat >> draft.txt - be sure you
| type two >> , if you type just one > you will erase what you
| have written and start over.
| jszymborski wrote:
| might have to give that a shot!
| Yen wrote:
| Another approach I've found useful for this - turn off your
| monitor, or turn your brightness down to 0.
|
| You can often do this pretty easily, with keyboard shortcuts or
| hardware buttons, and it does a lot to limit your temptation to
| re-read your draft while you're still writing, and makes
| editing (temporarily) impossible.
| celaleddin wrote:
| This is cool! Also, reminds me of selectic-mode for Emacs:
|
| https://github.com/rbanffy/selectric-mode
| geniium wrote:
| I love these kind of project.
| coldblues wrote:
| If you're wondering, it doesn't work on Wayland.
| davidthewatson wrote:
| I'm sad because I run rust on hyprland and love the idea.
|
| Does anyone know why "it doesn't work on Wayland"?
| diggan wrote:
| https://github.com/Narsil/rdev#linux
| liotier wrote:
| ... For when your Model M isn't assertive enough.
| [deleted]
| joblessjunkie wrote:
| As an old fart who actually used a typewriter, I must point out
| that the bell does not ring when you press the carriage return.
| The bell rings when you are nearing the end of the line to warn
| you that you are bout to run out of paper.
|
| On carriage return, the sound should be a slow swing of the heavy
| carriage physically returning.
| stavros wrote:
| This is odd, I could have sworn mine rang the bell when the
| carriage return returned to the start of the line, so it was
| more of a "swoooosh ding!", but I watched a video and you're
| right. Very odd.
| joemi wrote:
| Maybe this is your Mandela Effect moment?
| plexxer wrote:
| On mine, the force of the carriage returning was enough that
| it jostled the bell and it rang softly. Perhaps that is what
| you were remembering?
| queuebert wrote:
| The ding is your cue to return the carriage. You were well
| conditioned. :-P
| cbm-vic-20 wrote:
| The bell was rang (rung?) when you were around ten columns
| away from the right side of the paper, as a notification to
| the user to manually use the carriage return bar, or use the
| return key on the fancy electric typewriters.
| Someone wrote:
| > as a notification to the user to manually use the
| carriage return bar
|
| It also, probably more so, was a signal to the user to
| start thinking about how to break the current line. You
| couldn't type and, upon realizing the word you were typing
| didn't fit the line, backspace and type a hyphen.
|
| 'About ten columns' then is a reasonable number. Of course,
| longer words exist and aren't extremely rare, but those
| would have a reasonable hyphenation point that you could
| and would want to use.
| LanceH wrote:
| Maybe a _thunk_ , advancing to the next line if it's a powered
| typewriter.
|
| Those IBM selectrics were overbuilt. They vibrated and hummed
| when turned on.
| orhunp wrote:
| Thanks for your comment! I created an issue about this:
| https://github.com/orhun/daktilo/issues/22
| otteromkram wrote:
| Chiming in to complement your amazing username.
| sound1 wrote:
| that is the 2nd immediate thing i noticed about that post and
| 100% agree with you! :-)
| nerdbert wrote:
| Also, shift should make a sound, and both space and backspace
| obviously have their own sounds, which are different from
| typing a character.
| Jolter wrote:
| I thought I heard shift sounds in the demo video?
| BradDavis67 wrote:
| [flagged]
| LorenDB wrote:
| It's a cool idea, but... my keyboard already sounds cool! Why
| would I want to mask the sound of those clicky switches? ;)
| cbm-vic-20 wrote:
| Additional feature request: different typewriter sound profiles:
|
| * Manual Typewriter * 1960s Electronic Typewriter * IBM Selectric
| * ASR 33 teletype
| Nevermark wrote:
| Hacker News is no place for frivolous humor!
|
| And yet ... sometimes ...
|
| > daktilo ("typewriter" in Turkish, pronounced " _DUCK_ -til-oh"
|
| (Painfully obvious highlighting, all mine.)
|
| So what we have here is a duck type writer helping you write
| code?
|
| _How much duck type would a duck typer with a duck type writer,
| type, if a duck typer had a duck type writer to type duck type?_
|
| (Citation: Nevermark, re. Dactilo, HN, 2023.)
|
| Ok that's out of the way.
| jmcphers wrote:
| If you're on macOS, a similar program named Klack[1] was featured
| on HN recently, too[2]. It's very polished and has a variety of
| different keyboard sounds among which to choose.
|
| [1] https://tryklack.com/ [2]
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37395370
| dr_dshiv wrote:
| Ever seen "Maxheadroom: 20 minutes into the future?" So good! (I
| had no idea, I only knew him from Pepsi commercials). Anyway, in
| the film, the hackers use typewriter keyboards. It was a great
| touch.
|
| Minute 20:15 https://youtu.be/vPFOkWWNWvk?si=WFBx4pCa4ZRY5hrQ
| queuebert wrote:
| In the '80s, Wall Street traders used robotic fingers to type
| orders into mechanical keyboards because the exchanges mandated
| all orders must be submitted by keyboard. So they had rooms
| full of loud typing.
| duluca wrote:
| Bravo, super
| tezza wrote:
| Does it have the sound of Tippex being carefully brushed onto the
| paper when you hit the backspace or delete or CTRL-x ?
|
| Then blowing sounds as you try to make it solid quicker?
| RichieAHB wrote:
| I want to hear that at normal typing speed. I feel like, unless
| there are a good amount of slightly varied samples, it's going to
| have that TR-808 repetitive vibe going on ...
| tiborsaas wrote:
| I was also put off by the static, repetitive sounds. My
| suggestion would be to record 5-10 sounds and pick randomly,
| slightly tuned them up/down with some filtering.
| numpad0 wrote:
| Maybe the sound should be played in proportionate intervals
| to typing speed, rather than upon "hits", with the last one
| somehow cleverly ending with key-up and/or first key-down
| inevitably absent.
| CodeWriter23 wrote:
| Different hammers on an old typewriter made different sounds
| likely due to differences in mass and the angle of approach.
| thfuran wrote:
| But since audio provides a potential vector for side
| channel attacks, randomization is better.
| varispeed wrote:
| That should really be recorded in stereo and at least 20
| samples for each key, possibly at different strength and then
| some sort of algo that would pick samples depending on how
| vigorously someone types.
|
| Then that still wouldn't capture the intermodulation etc.
|
| It's a lot of work to actually make it sound remotely
| realistic.
| tiborsaas wrote:
| +1 on all these, and don't forget that the keys make a
| sound too while they travel back to their resting position.
| paradox460 wrote:
| I once set up something similar in Karabiner. Had it on for all
| of 20 minutes before I got tired of it
| ohadron wrote:
| Cool! Feature requests:
|
| 1. physical synthesis of typewriter sounds rather than using
| sound files.
|
| 2. Simulating key jams, so if you type too quickly further key
| presses are inhibited.
| cfiggers wrote:
| Sounds like you'd be interested in having a teletype machine, a
| system for triggering key presses on a physical typing
| interface using digital signals (not to be confused with a
| teletype machine, a system for triggering digital signals using
| key presses on a physical typing interface).
| jimmiles wrote:
| So many prank ideas...
| mewse-hn wrote:
| Software noises don't really impress me when there are mechanical
| keyboards with solenoids that slam into the casing for every
| keystroke
| Kelamir wrote:
| Greatly enjoying the musicbox effect. Thanks!
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