Jeremy Nicoll wrote: > On Thu, 21 Dec 2023, at 13:36, songbird wrote: > >> i've >> already worn some of letters off the keys. :( but, well, i got >> it on sale for about $30 so i really can't complain. > > For years I've used Dymo labels to replace keyboard legends. > (Not the 1960s/1970s thick 3d labels, but 'printed' ones). After > sticking individual letters onto keytops (usually using tweezers > to position them as accurately as possible) I put mutiple coats > of clear nail varnish over them - which seems to lengthen their > life & help to hold down the edges of the stickers. > > When they eventually need replaced it's sometimes difficult > to get a Dymo letter off a key, needing something sharp (eg > a needle or scalpel) to lift the sticky label off the key. > > Then I clean the key with isopropyl alcohol (as used eg for > cleaning heads on tape recorders), & make & attach a new > label. > > Mostly I use Dymo media corresponding to the colour > scheme of the original keyboard, but - eg on a laptop > which has white legends on black keys - I've replaced > some legends with "black print on yellow tape" labels > which are much easier to see and provide me with a > few visual landmarks on the keyboard ... which helps me > when I don't yet quite need to put a room light on. > > I keep hoping that my next laptop will have a backlit > keyboard but very often the machines I choose (for > other higher-priority criteria) don't have them. > > I've also tried a few clip-on mini lights (plugged into a > spare USB socket) but many such lights come with poor > quality clips &/ cables that are too short to reach the > USB socket of choice (or indeed any USB socket).
i usually don't even look at the keyboard when i'm typing. just once in a while when i need to use a strange key. :) in the winter i may even type with my hands under a light blanket. the idea of using a sticker is a good one but i have black keys and no white ink. however, i could get by using something to just mark the key a bit in the right shape to give me a hint if i need it. so far i don't seem to need it. this would really amaze my typing teacher from Jr. High School (who is likely now long dead) as i managed to flunk it. at that time (several years before i even first touched a computer) the class was all manual typewriters and i was a bored trouble maker. i did deserve to be flunked - no excuse there at all... but what was funny is that i went on to college and having to use a keypunch and then terminals of many kinds and so with all the hours i spent at the keyboards i was forced to learn how to touch type after all, so yes, that teacher was right. :) songbird
