sen1d ago
My new-to-me Braille display (which I will post more about soon, I am very excited about it) has maybe the most satisfying charging animation of any device I’ve used. It feels very pleasant and makes a nice noise. #braille
Show threadjz.tusk1d ago

@sen

For some reason I want to pet it.

Show threadsen
@jztusk My cat felt the same, this photo is a few years old but he also wanted to pet it :)
Jun 25 at 2:21amWeb
Show thread"Miss Movie Masochist"12h ago
@sen @jztusk Nifty keyboard, though.
Show threadsen12h ago
@socketwench @jztusk yeah braille keyboards are chording and one key per dot, so you press the dots you want to be raised all together and get the character when you release them. Because there’s specific patterns not just for a-z but also like “the” and “st” and “er” and stuff, so it makes more sense. It hadn’t occurred to me when I posted a random thing about a charging indicator that people wouldn’t be familiar with how Braille stuff works, but it makes sense now that I think about it :)
Show thread"Miss Movie Masochist"12h ago
@sen @jztusk I was wondering about the keys. That actually makes a lot more sense in-context. Now I'm wondering how much wpm an experienced user can get out of it.
Show threadsen11h ago
@socketwench @jztusk It comes from the Perkins Brailler, which is essentially a Braille typewriter. When the first electronic things came out that required typing Braille, they just used the same design since it's what people were already used to typing on, and it's never really changed to this day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj51UuxwjaE
How Blind People Write Braille

YouTube
Show threadjz.tusk11h ago

@sen @socketwench

My mother taught blind kids (in the 1960s!), so we had this tool around our house. Since that's the "most recent" bit of Braille technology I was familiar with it's interesting to see what current technology is.

(As a kid I was fascinated by this thing, but I think all future hackers find tools interesting.)

#braille

Show threadsen11h ago
@jztusk @socketwench Yep, I have a handful of them around, though I'm pretty slow at doing it in part because you have to write backwards :) Handy for brailling greeting cards and quick shopping lists and things though. Agreed about future-hackers finding all tools interesting!
Show threadjz.tusk11h ago

@sen @socketwench

My little young mind was blown when I found out you had to write backwards with it!

I swear, Braille users must have incredibly well developed spatial reasoning skills.