Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with keyboard

Dealing with a phantom stuck key bug on MacBook Air

Silky Slim — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 11:22:02 -0800

I'm troubled by a mysterious bug on my MacBook Air. It manifests itself when I use Microsoft PowerPoint, but I believe it is a Mac-wide issue. It is extremely rare, impossible to reproduce on demand, and yet - when it strikes, it does so with a vengeance, and embarrasses me in front of a theater full of people. My job entails screening PowerPoint presentations. I sit in the back of a theater and advance the slides as needed, using the down- or right arrow. Usually, everything works beautifully, but last September, the phantom bug struck for the first time. In the middle of the presentation, the slides suddenly began rushing past, faster than the eye can see, as if I were pressing down the arrow key. The computer seemed to be in a trance, unresponsive to any keystroke. 5-10 seconds and several dozen slides later, the computer snapped out of it, and I was able to scroll back and resume the presentation at the point it was interrupted. The bug occurred twice that day, during two separate presentations. Retracing my steps, I realized that several other applications were open at the time, so on subsequent days, I tried the default home remedy of restarting the computer right before the presentation and making sure no other apps were open. This seemed to do the trick, and I hoped it was behind me, but today it struck again - not once, not twice but four times. The slides rushed by again and again, in front of a ticket-being audience. Needless to say, I was mortified.
I want to stress that the key wasn't physically stuck, the computer just behaved as if it were. Also, I seem to remember this problem occurring once or twice during regular use, where the computer froze for a few seconds as if a key were being pressed, only to snap out of it after about ten seconds - that's why I don't think it's a PowerPoint issue. It only happened a handful of times in the 18 months I've had it, so it's an extremely rare bug, and I've done dozens of presentations with no issues at all. But after today, obviously I'm not at ease about it.
The one idea I had today, during the disastrous presentation, was to turn off Key Repeat in System Preferences. Logically, that should help, but who knows? I also thought about using a different computer and/or using an external USB keyboard. Any other ideas would be most welcome.

Jumping to an input method in OS X

John Raskolnikov Gilson — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 01:12:09 -0800

I type in multiple languages on Mac OS 10.6.8, and I need to be able to use keyboard shortcuts to jump immediately to specific input method rather than cycle through them with Command-Space. (For example, I'd want to be able to hit, say, Command-Shift-1 to switch to U.S. Extended no matter what the current input method is.) How can I set this up?

Can you transcribe a very simple keyboard part for me?

feathermeat — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:14:33 -0800

Could a musical person possibly tell me the notes of the keyboard part in Camera Obscura's "Happy New Year"? I don't really need it in actual musical notation on a staff or anything--just the names of the notes is fine. Thank you in advance!

Is it possible to attach a sliding part for my keyboard to my table?

iliketothinknu — Sun, 05 May 2013 21:06:20 -0800

I have a table that I bought from IKEA which is a bit like this: http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/S29806818/ and the problem I have is that while the screen on the table is fine, the keyboard which is right in front of it seems to me to be too high for my arms. So I was wondering if it is possible to install that sliding part you find in computer tables like this one: http://img.weiku.com/waterpicture/2011/10/25/0/office_furniture_computer_table_634592490678635461_1.jpg and what that part is called anyway? Thanks! PS: This is my first post on askmetafilter!

I live in Canada if that can help to suggest places that could be useful.

How can I become a better piano player?

Happydaz — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:23:57 -0800

I really enjoy playing piano as a hobby. I've played in worship bands for 3 different churches, and played in a few local bands as well with live gigs. But I don't think I'm very good, and I'm not sure how to improve. I took lessons from age 6 to age 14, mostly focus on classical basics, some pop music, etc. Then I quit. I was in choir for about 10 years, too, so I have pretty solid fundamentals on how things sound good (but no theory on WHY things sound good.) In college I started playing by ear, and that's basically where I've been ever since. I'm comfortable adapting pretty much any pop song. I like playing stuff by the Killers and other similar genres. I've got the whole Michael W. Smith style of piano down pretty well.

But I don't feel like I'm actually very good. I fake my way through a lot of stuff, and can keep up with most musicians I play with, unless I'm asked to play lead. I have only a marginal understanding of jazz or blues. My honkytonk style is atrocious. What should I do to actually strengthen my play, instead of being stuck at a Coldplay level of piano mastery?

Do they still make keyboards for first-gen iPads?

topoisomerase — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 08:02:22 -0800

I inherited an old, first-generation iPad. I'd love to get a portable keyboard for it so I don't have to lug my ridiculously huge laptop everywhere. I've been doing some Googling, but it's hard to sift out keyboards that will work with the old, obsolete first-generation devices now that it's 2013. I want actual hard keys. Is an Apple wireless keyboard my only option?

MIDI controllers and the iPhone 5?

Merzbau — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:44:03 -0800

Is it possible to hook up an Akai LPK25 controller to an iPhone 5? I recently (okay, a year or so ago) came into possession of an Akai LPK25 keyboard MIDI controller. I haven't done much with it since I haven't played for a long time and, frankly, PC DAWs scare the shit out of me. Since then, I've picked up GarageBand on my iPhone, and found its an ideal way for me to get my feet wet sketching out simple melodies and drum patterns and generally screwing around. But I'm starting to get a little frustrated with the on-screen keyboard, and I'm wondering if there's any combination of inexpensive adapters/cables that will let me control GarageBand with my LPK25. I know it's possible on an iPad with the camera connector (or at least it used to be; there are worrying reports of a recent firmware update making it impossible to use certain USB devices) but I have no idea if it can be done with the iPhone. Difficulty: this is an iPhone 5 with the newer Lightning connector, not the older 30-pin model.

Trying to transfer sequencer files from workstation to computer

imposster — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:17:39 -0800

The (floppy) drive on my Korg X2 workstation has finally broken and I'm trying to transfer the sequencer files onto my computer as midi files using midi-to-usb. I can do a midi dump for the sequencer but I have no idea what to do with the .syx file I now have on my computer. Is there another way to do it, or is the solution close at hand? I used Midi-ox to capture the dump and it saves the file as .syx. Now I've reached a dead end. It seems like there are ways to convert syx files to midi, but the converters I've tried say the file is corrupt.

Something light and cheap that works like a laptop

vogon_poet — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 12:46:23 -0800

I'm sick of carrying around a heavy full-size laptop. I could replace it with a new shiny ultrabook or something, but I don't want to spend that much. Is a Nexus 7 + a bluetooth keyboard a bad solution? I basically want to be able to carry around this device in a bag, occasionally write emails and average-length (like 4-5 pages) essays, and use it to view PDFs. The Nexus 7 with an Apple wireless keyboard seems like it would let me do this. It's much cheaper than getting a full laptop. A chromebook is comparably priced, but I like the idea of the Nexus 7, because I've wanted a 7" tablet for a while just for web-browsing, ebooking, and watching Netflix.

But I'm apprehensive. Has anyone used this setup, or something comparable (eg iPad mini)? I'm confident that a larger tablet would work fine, but I don't want to spend that much money.

This should not be as baffling as it is.

Z. Aurelius Fraught — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 07:49:12 -0800

I try to tweet, but then I have to use a comma. Bad things happen. Why does Twitter hate commas? When I'm trying to type a tweet (I use twitter.com's interface), and I type a comma, my feed starts scrolling down and loading old tweets and I can no longer see what I'm typing. It drives me nuts. I often type tweets offline anyway, but I do so within twitter.com often enough.

Google-fu failed me multiple times. What, if anything, can I do to stop this? (I'm using Chrome FWIW.) I'd prefer not to have to use a third-party thing like Tweetdeck, but if it's my only option, I'll certainly consider it.

How can I reassign the apostrophe\quotation to a new key in Windows 7?

KingoftheWhales — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:29:37 -0800

Is there a way to reassign the apostrophe\quotation function to a different keyboard stroke? The apostrophe\quotation and backspace keys on my netbook`s keyboard recently ceased to function. Apparently, it is common to replace caps lock with backspace and instruction was available on the use of regedit to make that replacement. I was only following instructions, and don`t understand the significance of the binary input that made this happen. Is there a similar method by which I can remap, say, the `~ key to serve as apostrophe and quotation? I am tired of copy+pasting the two into word documents as needed. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Right power supply for a home piano keyboard?

toastchee — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 06:22:31 -0800

My daughter has a Yamaha psr-260 that we picked up at a garage sale. It did not have a power supply and used batteries to power up. Since the batteries have died, I have found a power supply that seems to match the piano's requirements on the back of the unit: DC IN 10-12V. The power supply says Input: AC 120V 60 Hz 20W and Output: DC 12V 1000mA with a matching polarity symbol (the plus is inside the minus). The original adapter's specs were found on Yahoo Answers:

The Yamaha PA-3B adapter's specifications are:

12v (12 volts)
700mA (700 milliamps)
+ tip polarity (tip polarity is positive for all Yamaha keyboards)

Just make sure your new adapter matches those three things and you'll be good to go! If you can't find one with 700mA, you can safely use any with a higher mA. Using one with a mA below the recommended 700 capacity can cause the adapter to overheat, but is is perfectly safe to go higher than the recommended mA. This just means your adapter would be capable of running a device that requires more mA, but as long as you have atleast 700mA you will have satisfied the Yamaha keyboard's specifications.

Is everything cool? I have tested the keyboard by leaving it on for hours and nothing has heated up at all.

Full-size digital piano or compact (inexpensive) keyboard for kid?

_sirmissalot_ — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 10:15:27 -0800

My young daughter (kindergarten) will be starting piano lessons soon, and the teacher wants us to buy an 88 key digital piano with weighted keys - that seems to be about $500 minimum. However we're not sure the lessons will stick, and as a bonus we are space-challenged in our small house. For about $160 we could get something that is still big but not 88 key big, touch-sensitive keys instead of weighted keys (i.e. Yamaha NP11, open to other recommendations). We are piano ignorant, so don't know how to judge the trade-off. Should we suck it up and buy the big boy, or will it not matter at this stage of learning?

What's the latest word in bluetooth keyboards?

schmod — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:25:34 -0800

My Mac's 10-year-old bluetooth keyboard is acting up, and I'm pretty sure that it's death is imminent. I'd like to find a replacement, but Apple long ago stopped making full-sized wireless keyboards -- what are some good alternatives that exist in 2013? I'm quite attached to my Apple A1016 -- in particular, I like that it

Has a full-sized layout. The numpad is nice, but big arrow keys and dedicated Home/End/PgUp/PgDn keys are actually a bigger deal to me.
Is wireless, and physically unobtrusive on my desk. It's small enough to tuck out of the way when I need to use my tiny desk for other things.
Non-chicklet keys. This isn't a dealbreaker, as I've gotten used to typing on a MacBook, but I nevertheless do prefer the feel of a "real" keyboard.
Looks nice. This is silly and superficial, but most 3rd-party keyboards that I've seen are butt-ugly.
Didn't cost an arm and a leg. Sorry, but I'm not paying more than $100 for a keyboard.

For whatever it's worth, I use the keyboard with my Macbook, a big external monitor, and a Magic Trackpad.

All of this adds up to the conclusion that I should just find another A1016 on eBay or Craigslist — however, this is my 2nd A1016 that's died in the exact same manner, and it's known to not play well with modern Bluetooth devices. I'm not sure I want to dump any more money down the drain on this outdated device. Also, used keyboards = ick.

Truth be told, chicklet keys aside, I'd probably buy Apple's current full-sized keyboard if it came in a wireless version.

What are my other options? Are they any good? Is there really no market for full-sized bluetooth keyboards?

These thumbs weren't made for typing

pseudostrabismus — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:13:50 -0800

Suggest a portable keyboard to use with my iPhone? I have an iPhone 4S.
I'd like a portable keyboard to use with it, as I'm a bad thumb-typer.

Really, all I care about is that it's small & light and costs ~$100 max.
New-fangled features like vibrational or laser keys are cool too, if they work well.

Any suggestions?
Thanks!

Google Japanese Input

theyexpectresults — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:56:41 -0800

I have just started using Google Japanese Input on Windows 7. It works fine, but I would like to be able to switch input modes (i.e. between direct input, hiragana, katakana etc) using a shortcut key. Currently I have to click on the language bar to switch, which is a pain. I looked in the properties and can't see an option for shortcuts. I tried googling but can't seem to find an answer either. Note that I don't need to switch "input langauge" as windows calls it: that would be switching between Google Japanese Input and Microsoft IME. It's switching between google's different input modes that is the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated.

How to stop random keyboard input lag in Windows 8?

gttommy — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:46:56 -0800

How to stop random keyboard input lag in Windows 8? My keyboard/mouse worked fine under XP and 7. But under win8, every now and then (few times a day) the keyboard won't respond for several seconds. Then suddenly a stream of keystrokes that was buffered during the lag flows out onscreen. So this means the keyboard is communication to the PC, but the Win8 simply does not respond during this time, however the mouse works fine.

I'm using Logitech MK260 wireless keyboard & mouse, under Windows 8 Professional.

Keyboard issues seem to be common under win8, but I haven't found anything specifically like this.

I saw a trick about opening up On-screen Keyboard during lag to 'reactivate' the keyboard somehow, but it doesn't work for me.

Easy jams for keyboard and bass

morninj — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:15:00 -0800

I've played classical piano for years, but I'm just starting out with jazz and blues. A friends is learning bass guitar from scratch. Can anyone recommend some easy riffs or chord progressions we could play together?

Replace a Mac MD313LL/A 12" Macbook Pro keyboard

Samizdata — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:31:41 -0800

Replace a Mac MD313LL/A 12" Macbook Pro keyboard for a handicapped neighbor and I know very little about recent Mac tech. I am helping a neighbor out. She spilled soda on her MacBook Pro 13" keyboard (the late 2011 2.4Ghz MD313LL/A model). I am having trouble tracking down notes on replacing her keyboard. I don't know enough about MacBooks to make any assumptions, so I want to move safely. I need to track down how to replace it and where to get a reputable replacement part.

I know MeFi's often love Macs, so I thought it might not be a bad idea to ask here.

Is to help, please?

iPad sleeve that will work with an attached keyboard

Canageek — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 16:41:59 -0800

I am looking to get my Mom and iPad sleeve or carrier, to protect it from kicks, drops, scratches and whatnot while it is in her purse. There seem to be about a zillion of these around, in so many styles that my head spins, but I think what I want is along the lines of this. The problem is it also needs to fit a Logitech Ultra Thin Keyboard Cover as well as the iPad, and I can't read that from the specs page. Does anyone have experience using a similar Bluetooth keyboard/cover with a sleeve and can recommend one that works? I'd like something small, and not aesthetically unpleasing, because Mom is going to be much more concerned about if it is light and looks nice then if she can throw it off a building. That said, I am buying it to protect the iPad. Products in question:
-Fancy new Retina iPad
-Logitech Ultra Thin Keyboard Cover (Product Dimensions: 27.9 x 20.3 x 1.9 cm ; 499 g)

I know there have been a lot of questions on this already; However most of the responses are cases that attach to the iPad, and thus won't work with the keyboard, broken links, not updated to the latest iPad, or over $100, and I am kinda on a budget ($20-30 would be my limit, though a little over would be OK I guess).

Thank you for your help

Help me find this video.

MaryDellamorte — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 14:24:07 -0800

Help me find a Youtube video I saw a while back featuring a nerdy young man playing an amazing keyboard/synth setup. It may or may not have been posted to the Blue.

I don't want to watch my fingers anymore

cameradv — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 07:25:27 -0800

Based on this thread, touch typing has changed people's lives. I have been watching my fingers type for more than forty years, so I may not be able to make the change, but I'm willing to put forth a good effort. What software-based training program is likely to be effective to help an adult fast finger-typist become a fast(er?) touch typist?

Do, a deer, a female deeeeeeeeeeer.......

Kamelot123 — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 22:51:30 -0800

I am in Japan and miss playing piano, and so am in the market for a quality - but cheap! - keyboard. Is this possible? Details inside. I need your help, Metafilter musicians!

I am far away from home, and will be here for a while. I did some major rearranging of my room and I have a perfect space to put a keyboard, and am ready to tinkle some keys! (that doesn't sound right...)

I'd love to hear suggestions, since I have never bought a keyboard before. My maxium budget is $500, but I'd prefer paying around $300-$400. I am not too concerned about different voices and sounds; I would like it, though, to have midi and decent touch sensitivity. It might help if it was smaller since my apartment is rather tiny.

Finally, as I am living in Japan - if it was something I could purchase off Amazon Japan or at a store in Japan that would be extremely helpful.

Looking forward to the responses!

Good inexpensive keyboard for Kindle 8.9 tablet?

snap_dragon — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 08:54:28 -0800

Looking for recommendations on a low end keyboard for the Kindle Fire 8.9 HD model. Hoping to get something on sale $30-40 (and i do realize this limits quality a bit...). I need to order it today if possible. Again, not expecting any whiz-bang but something rather basic and simply functional.

xbox controller you'll be the death of me

tehloki — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:38:27 -0800

Is there anything better than an xbox controller to control xbox media center running on a windows 7 HTPC? I'm currently getting pretty unsatisfied with my setup for xbmc, namely: wireless 360 controller, joy2key. Mostly it's frustrating because the controller turns off automatically / runs out of batteries often. Are there any decent windows-compatible wireless remotes or even tiny wireless keyboard type devices that have programmable buttons that are "always on" and aren't running out of batteries every month or so? I've already got a wireless keyboard + mouse but it just feels really clunky + takes up tons of space when I attempt to use it as the primary remote for the HTPC setup.