An DHIATENSOR Phoenix

Ok, so it's a very early version and I have already had some ideas on how to make a modern DHIATENSOR keyboard better, but this is the keymap bundle that you can use to turn your modern keyboard into George's Dream.

Right now, its only for MacOS X, but I am looking into the possibility of making this map available for Windows and Linux. Perhaps there will even be an Android version (Apple will not let you change the keyboard)...but I get ahead of myself. 

To install the keymap, drag the bundle file "DHIATENSOR.bundle" (link at the bottom of this screen) to the "/Library/Keyboard Layouts" in either your home folder on on the system library. If you copy the file to just your home folder you will be the only one able to use the layout. If you copy the file to the system Library folder, everyone who uses your computer will have access to the layout. Drag the file to the correct folder and logout (Home folder Library) or restart (system Library).

Login and go to the "Language & Text" pane in "System Preferences" application. Select the "Input Sources" tab. Scroll down to DHIATENSOR (it has a small Blick 5 next to it) and check the box. Close "System Preferences"

In the upper-right-hand side of the screen you will see the flag for your keyboard. Click on that flag and select "DHIATENSOR."

You will now be using the very very proof-of-concept version of a modern DHIATENSOR. I tried it on my Apple aluminum keyboard and it works well. Mrs. Magic Margin's MacBook also seems to function with the layout. Here is a reference illustration:

Please do not use this in any sort of nuclear facility or in a situation where people's lives may be in peril. Neither George nor I want that on our consciences.

The problem with this method is that your keyboard still has the hated, inefficient QWERTY layout. If you have a model M laying around it's easy to switch the keytops around. Other keyboards pose more of a struggle. I have some ideas and I will save them for later. If you can try it, let me know how it works for you.

Download the DHIATENSOR keyboard map here.

You can also find a complete keymap illustration for shift and caps lock here.

George's Dream

Copper-Clad Ambassador: It's Mostly Done

So, here is the result of some hard work. I did not have the strength to disassemble the carriage to paint it, so that might be another project entirely. In case you are curious about the paint, I used a copper-colored Hammerite. I think it was Krylon. I could check if you were very interested.

Hermes Ambassador Pictorial

I have been working on the Hermes Ambassador renovation. I had originally intended to make it a Silver Surfer, but due to the variety of metals (both steel and aluminum) and the difficulty in making steel shine with mirror-perfection I decided to take a different tack.

Using the verdigris color of Hermes' typewriters as inspiration the Ambassador will look very different.

However, that is for another post. What I have here are a smattering of pictures of the base of this incredibly complicated typewriter. The carriage and all the shrouds have been removed for the important work, but this offers a rare glimpse inside the mechanism of this dual-ribbon monster.

Please enjoy.

Selectric Memory

This summer, so far, has been filled with teacher-y stuff. I have been revising the Junior English curriculum to ensure that it aligns properly with the new Common Core nation-wide standards. It has been an onerous task and pretty dry. I can say that Junior English now looks a lot like Junior English of yesteryear. Blessedly, not much has changed. Most of our work was done on the computer and that was a challenge.

I am not used to sitting in front of a computer for extended periods of time. The on-your-feet nature of teaching is much more my style. After hours of staring at a monitor I started to feel tired and my eyes started twitching. How do people in offices cope? Computers...pah!

In my time working in the purely digital realm, I found some time to tap out notes on an IBM Selectric still lurking in the school library. It was a joy to unplug form the digital even if I was still plugged into an outlet.

My interest in them has been piqued. That brings me to the picture above.

Typewriter Day: Reflection

This post comes by way of my Royal QDL, the first machine I ever bought. Here is a picture (the one on the left):

I Thought it was an FP

Herb Caen charmingly called his typewriter the Loyal Royal. It was a running mention in many of his columns. For the longest time I thought the Royal in question was this FP at the San Francisco Public Library:

But in a news article from the San Francisco Appeal (an on-line newspaper) it appears if Herb Caen's typewriter will go up for auction to fund a SF Police summer program. Obviously, a worthy cause but it brings up some serious questions about Caen's typewriter provenance.

This is a picture of Caen; the baldness, the smile. It's him alright, but the typewriter on which he jauntily leans is not an FP. It's an HH. Strange, no? It would be perfectly reasonable for a columnist to have several typewriters and they both my be Royals, but if I was the SF Library or the soon-to-be auction winner, I would love to know which one was more loyal; the FP or the HH.