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Remap modifier keys, shut off 'Caps Lock'

uControl

uControl is a keyboard remapper and more. Meaning, those useless keys can now be reused, remapped, or reduced.

Never ceases to amaze me how profoundly one tiny change can improve your life.

See, I hate the ‘caps lock’ key. Always have. It’s a pointless artifact of typewriters that conspires to make me look like a maniac. I type quickly and wrecklessly, so it used to be pretty common to realize way too late that several lines of text were WAY OVER CAPITALIZED. Well, no more, friend.

uControl is a PreferencePane that, first and foremost, lets you set the ‘caps lock’ key to null. As if that weren’t enough, you can also remap any of your modifier keys to whatever makes the most sense to you. Powerbook users in particular may find much to like in this.

Personally I’m just glad that people think I’ve stopped YELLING at them.


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Fazal Majid's picture

DoubleCommand does this as well....

DoubleCommand does this as well.

musti's picture

Do you know about SideTrack?...

Do you know about SideTrack? As it seems, we use almost the same programs :) http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/sidetrack/index.html

QS, SideTrack and MenuMeters are the first gems I install after a fresh OS installation.

Mike's picture

I have to second the...

I have to second the motion about SideTrack, particularly for PowerBook users. Before SideTrack, I never used the trackpad button — I prefer to use the trackpad for tapping and dragging. The worst feature of the PowerBook, in my opinion, is the lack of a right-click — with SideTrack, not only can you add a scroll area to the trackpad, but you can map the trackpad button to RIGHT CLICK! Again, one of those little life-changing modifications, at least for me!

Tyler Weir's picture

uControl does keyboards right. ...

uControl does keyboards right. Control where Caps Lock is… mmm, that’s perfect.

finn's picture

SideTrack is more trackpad functionality...

SideTrack is more trackpad functionality than I need. I just use the Scroll Wheel Emulation feature in uControl with my powerbook. holding down the Function key (easy to find w/o looking at the keys as it is in the lower left of the keyboard) lets you scroll the focused window with your trackpad.

Merlin Mann's picture

I'd tried SideTrack a couple...

I’d tried SideTrack a couple times, and it seems powerful. Definitely would take some retraining for my my particular brain and hands, but it’s a brilliant hack if you can get used to it.

nick's picture

sidetrack is probably my favorite...

sidetrack is probably my favorite ‘app’/driver/hack/os x customization, followed immediately by QS of course. Coming from a windows world, ‘right click’ is ingrained. so having to hit ctrl and click was a nuisance. tapping the trackpad is a beautiful solution for me. course anytime someon use’s my computer, their feather touch on the trackpad drives them crazy with contextual menu pop-ups. ;)

alas, another AWESOME prefpane I just stumbled upon recently (sorry, can’t remember where else I’d ref the src) is autopairs. (http://www.jwwalker.com/pages/autopairs.html) it’s mostly useful for coding, but somewhat in normal typing as well. whenever you type a ‘(’ or ‘[’ or ‘”’ it automatically prints the closing ‘)’ ‘]’ or ‘”’ AFTER your cursor. it’s a little odd at first, but after a couple times it’s natural. in normal typing it’s marginally useful, but in coding it’s great for those who are forgetful about closing their brackets etc.

Mike Baas's picture

Everything in our DMBS is...

Everything in our DMBS is coded and managed in all caps. It is kind of the opposite version of your issue.

Merlin Mann's picture

Two things: I installed SideTrack, and...

Two things:

  1. I installed SideTrack, and I freakin’ love it. I think it’ll take me a few days to get used to not idly or glancingly inducing the right click, but I’ll get used to it. Makes me realize how often I would avoid right-clicking on things (just because hitting the Function key on my PBook is a carpal-tunnel bitch). Thanks to all for the recommendation.
  2. Also I can just highly recommend remapping that CAPS LOCK key to “Control.” As with Function, I think I have tended not to use it because of the position. But the combination of learning the UNIX keybindings and setting up Quicksilver triggers has me hitting Control all the time now, and that Caps Lock key is a much bigger and more convenient target.
Björn Lindström's picture

"I type quickly and wrecklessly,...

“I type quickly and wrecklessly, so it used to be pretty common to realize way too late that several lines of text were WAY OVER CAPITALIZED. Well, no more, friend.”

A friendly tip: if you learn to touch type, you can see what you’re typing - in addition to probably typing faster.

(Of course, caps lock is still evil.)

Dinah's picture

Typing "wrecklessly" (rather than recklessly)...

Typing “wrecklessly” (rather than recklessly) is my new favorite typo. Really, you’d think the two spellings would be antonyms.

 
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