Xah Emacs Blog Archive 2013-02
hot keyboard news! Logitech now also makes mechanical keyboard.
This is the best straight form mechanical keyboard for programers. See the review for my reasons why.
emacs dired tip: hiding some files
learned a new command. In dired, Alt+x dired-do-kill-lines 【k】 to hide marked files. Amazing. Using dired for over a decade and didn't know this command. This is useful when you Alt+x find-dired to show all subdirs when you want to do dired-do-query-replace-regexp, but some files you don't want to work on.
new to emacs? onto
- Emacs: File Manager, dired
- Emacs: Batch Rename Files
- Emacs Advanced dired Tips (File Management)
- Emacs: Interactive Find Replace Text in Directory
Ducky keyboard and KeyBoardCheer keyboard!
discovered that the Ducky keyboard from Taiwan makes real quality keyboards. Check out their website.
KBC Poker Keyboard, Ducky Keyboard
this gonna be a keyboard week. Lots updates, all about keyboards.
i'll also have lots to say about my new-found-love the Truly Ergonomic Computer Keyboard (TECP). I'll be telling you my experience in adopting the new physical layout.
there are lots new keyboards out there too, including from hushhush and hushhush, won't tell till i write it out.
also, exclusive news, that i'll be writing the firmware for TECP, and tell you how you can help, or sources, etc. For now, just run and buy TECP first. ☺
if you just subscribed to my emacs blog, there's lots existing articles. Do browse around for many tips. After blogging about emacs for 5 years, most generic tips are covered. A good tip is to browse one article a day.
there are still lots of elisp areas i haven't covered and need to learn myself. e.g. font system, text overlay, window/frame/buffer manipulation, deep understanding of keymap system, process manipulation, networking, minor mode, lisp macros, comprehensive coverage of emacs's completion system, etc, i'll gradually do so in the future. So far, the one elisp area i think i pretty much covered is writing interactive or batch text processing commands/scripts. This is probably the most useful.
also, i am starting to do ask emacs Tuesday again. I found that usually i won't be able to answer questions satisfactorily, because the questions are diverse, and usually not about using emacs or elisp, but rather about best modes for xyz or how to make xyz mode do abc. In anycase, i think it's still good to have ask/answer sessions. So, on every Tuesday, you can ask me on any social network, and i'll try my best to answer.
also, again, if you haven't gotten my tutorial, do buy it, as it'll help me really churn out the deeper elisp parts, and create more useful packages (they are all in ErgoEmacs project repo). Only $5 bucks.
Keyboarding: the Effect of Mechanical Key Switches on You
Programing Challenge: Replace String Pairs
should be fun. This problem started in elisp for me few years ago. Over the years, tried several elisp approaches… but overall i was stung twice. Few weeks ago, found a bug in my code. Rewrote it with a new algorithm thinking it's much better, but bang, another bug. That is, incorrect behavior.
Now i think i have a good solution, but still has certain limitations. So, am posting this as a fun coding problem, pulling on the talent pool.
am posting this as a general programing problem, not specific to emacs lisp. I do have a elisp solution, but can be easily translated to any other lang.
Programing Language Design: Why Lisp Macro Sucks (YMMV very much!)
another keyboard post.
I don't think this is for emacs users, but a fun funky keyboard, with mechanical keys (Cherry MX Black).
it uses Cherry MX Black, which is linear but require more force to press. I've tried Cherry MX Black, didn't like it at all.
there's a interesting bit about gaming keyboards. For gaming, many don't like any “click” in key press, because imagine pressing the fire button. You need to press it fast repeatedly, so clicky may not be good.
so, ALMOST ALL gaming keyboards, mechanical switch or not, are designed with linear feel.
in particular, all of Logitech Gaming Keyboards (which do not use mechanical switch)
i've tried Logitech keyboard, don't like the key feel at all.
another interesting bit about gaming keyboard is that they are actually the vanguard of keyboard tech. 6 to 20 extra function keys, robust and easy-to-use software for on-the-fly key recording, onboard memory (no need to diddle with AutoHotkey or whatnot xmodmap, wmctrl, xdotool), backlighting, built-in display, all from gaming keyboards.
also, many gaming keyboards do have mechanical keys. I think most uses the Cherry MX Black, but some uses Blue (which is most clicky), or Brown (which is kinda standard for typing). [see Guide to Keyboard Key Switch Mechanisms]
update on the Happy Hacking keyboard. I love it not. But you might. Just drew the layout diagram of Happy Hacking Keyboard in SVG. The Idiocy of the Happy Hacking Keyboard
PS if you gonna buy it, buy it from my amazon link!
One of the major developer of xemacs was Ben Wing. He also suffered from severe RSI.
I was not able to find any info about him before, but a friend helped today.
See his linkedin profile at Famous Programers with Repetitive Strain Injury
just annotated Matz's talk, with links, photos, comments, history. Ruby Creator Matz: How Emacs Changed My Life
updated. Ruby Creator Matz: How Emacs Changed My Life
Emacs Power Challenge!
another Emacs Power Challenge from jcs. These “emacs golf” problems, seemingly trivial and irrelevant in real world, but is often the most fun way to horn your skills and learn new tricks, which will then burn into your muscle memory and increase your emacs power. Check it out.
[EmacsGolf Challenge 2 By Jon Snader. At http://irreal.org/blog/?p=1712 , accessed on 2013-02-19 ]
updated. Emacs Lisp Wrapper for Perl/Python/Ruby Scripts
you can use emacs lisp as a command line script just like Ruby, Python, Perl. Here's how to: ELisp: Get Command Line Arguments.
𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔞 𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔢 𝔣𝔲𝔫 𝔱𝔬𝔡𝔞𝔶, 𝔦 𝔴𝔯𝔬𝔱𝔢 “𝔯𝔢𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢-𝔩𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔫-𝔞𝔩𝔭𝔥𝔞𝔟𝔢𝔱-𝔱𝔬-𝔤𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔠”. 𝔗𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔯𝔢𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔈𝔫𝔤𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔥 𝔞𝔩𝔭𝔥𝔞𝔟𝔢𝔱 𝔟𝔶 𝔊𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔠 𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔰𝔦𝔬𝔫 (𝔞𝔨𝔞 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨𝔩𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯, 𝔉𝔯𝔞𝔨𝔱𝔲𝔯) 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱'𝔰 𝔞𝔳𝔞𝔦𝔩𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔘𝔫𝔦𝔠𝔬𝔡𝔢 𝔞𝔰 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰. ℌ𝔢𝔯𝔢'𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔡𝔢. Emacs: Latin to Gothic (𝔤𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔠) 🚀
for Linux users. Emacs: Sync Copy/Paste Clipboards with Linux X11
tangential to emacs. aspell's Dismal Vocabulary Size
bottom line: add words to your aspell.
might be useful to emacsers. In Linux, sync X11 primary selection with clipboard, so you can copy/paste by both mouth and hand in unison. Linux: Commands Related to GUI Apps
also note, in emacs 24, a change is made to how emacs handle X11 copy/paste mechanism, so its more compatible with the rest Linux apps. see: Emacs 24 (Released 2012-06)
Control Key and Capslock Key Positions
when doing git push to github in shell inside emacs, it prints the password you typed.
Username for 'https://github.com': xahlee Password for 'https://xahlee@github.com': 123456
not sure who to blame here.
normally, typed password isn't shown in the clear. But am not sure how emacs detect that. Anyone knows?
every now and then, people will ask what's the best keyboard for emacs. I thought i'll start a article dedicated to that. Best Keyboards for Emacs
updated. Why Emacs Keys are Painful
- Using Keyboard Macro to Record/Playback Keystrokes
- Keyboard Macro Example: Adding HTML Attribute
- Keyboard Macro Example: Insert All Unicode Bullets
you can run emacs lisp as executable script from command line, just like other languages.
emacs golf at Irreal
jcs over at Irreal is thinking of starting a blog or website dedicated to “emacs golf”. I submitted a problem and Jon wrote about it.
See: [A First Emacs Challenge By Jon Snader. At http://irreal.org/blog/?p=1689 , accessed on 2013-02-09 ]
What approach would you take?
emacs: ido-mode open file tricks
learned a new trick in ido-mode. When Alt+x ido-find-file, you can use ↑ and ↓ to go to prev/next subdir. Here's a summary.
- {↑, ↓} prev/next subdir
- {←, →} prev/next file.
- {//} root dir.
- Ctrl+d open dir in dired
- Ctrl+f switch to default
find-fileinterface. - Tab explicit completion, display all files in a split pane. (this is especially useful when ido complains there are too many files.)
not sure what's ido-mode? See:
Emacs on Linux vs Windows
if you work between Microsoft Windows and Linux, this might be interesting to you. Linux: Speed Comparison: Linux Perl vs Cygwin Perl vs Strawberry Perl vs ext4 vs NTFS. (The Price You Pay for Layers and Emulations)
emacs on Microsoft Windows is much inferior when compared to Linux version. Here's quick list.
- FTP doesn't work.
- Emacs won't display images.
- File name with Unicode characters (For example, Chinese) display as gibberish in dired.
- grep, rgrep, and many others won't work.
- If you have installed Cygwin, it's very painful to get path and environment variable correct.
- even if you have Cygwin set up well, grep or cygwin python/perl etc others don't work well work with Unicode strings (or, extremely complex to setup). e.g git commit
Unicode ♥, the heart Unicode char in the message will not be commited correctly. - Calling unix rsync won't work in shell inside emacs. Same for
git push. - many unix commands won't work in shell inside emacs, that otherwise works perfectly in Linux.
- It is perhaps 5 times slower for anything going thru Cygwin.
We try to fixed many of these in ErgoEmacs, but still, many just can't be fixed.
elisp tip. You can call apropos-value to search a string in emacs variables.
more update. Emacs: Move Cursor to Bracket 🚀 If you have used the functions there in your init, you might want to update too.
Emacs users typically spit on mouse. Still, you need a mouse or similar device, because it is the best device for browsing web, or manipulating 3D objects. What interesting ones do you use?
Updated. Best Trackball Mouse
learned that the ⌘ command key and ❖ Window are really identical in keyboard hardware. They send out the same scancode. Similarly, ⌥ option and Alt are identical. Updated: Difference Between Apple and Microsoft keyboards
Just send off new version of emacs tutorial. Thank you for support.
If you like it, please tell friends.
If you bought my tutorial but isn't on the mailing list, please email me (Xah@XahLee.org). Or, if you want to be taken off the list, just reply with “unsubscribe”. It'll be send out at most once a month.
If you haven't bought, buy it here: Buy Xah Emacs Tutorial. Ask me if you have questions.
updated. How to Avoid Emacs Pinky