John, (01)
Thanks for the quick response. See my comments in the following. (02)
At 09:13 AM 2/12/2006, John Sechrest wrote: (03)
>Philip Gust <gust@NouveauSystems.com> writes:
>
> % It would be wonderful to have a new USB keyset. There are precious
> % few "vintage" keysets around. As we work towards our goal of making
> % NLS/Augment freely available for non-commercial use, we anticipate a
> % demand for more keysets that use a standard USB interface. Also,
> % Eugene Kim is leading another project with Doug to create a new
> % system based on concepts and capabilities from NLS/Augment, and he
> % also anticipates a demand for keysets.
>
> % I had planned on looking into what it would take to design and do a
> % limited production run (several dozen) of a USB keyset. Is this
> % something you'd be interested in taking on, and if so, would you be
> % able to move this to the front burner?
>
> One of the places we got stuck was the need for a driver to
> coordinate the 5 bits from one keyboard with the 3 bits of the mouse.
> That was something that we did not process very well. (04)
I'm a little confused by it myself. We wrote some specialized Java
code that processed input from the keyset, and allowed Java to
perform its normal mouse handling. I imagine that the same would be
done for any other programming language. It's not clear what the
advantage would be of combining keyboard and mouse handling into a
single driver, especially in a windowed environment. (05)
> My difficulty of getting it on the front burner at AO is just
> plain funding. It is an interesting project. We can do this type
> of work. But I can't seem to get any attention on it between
> the cracks of other projects.
>
> For AO to get it on the front burner will require finding a
> funding path.
>
>
> % I'm thinking of somewhere in
> % the May/June time frame to get an electrical and mechanical design
> % done, a single prototype built, and be ready to bid it out for
> % manufacturing. Would your schedule allow you to do something in that
> % time frame? Would you be willing to do this on a volunteer basis,
> % with grateful recognition by the NLS/Augment community?
>
>
> I personally do not have the skills to do the board and driver development.
> Gary and Phil at AO are the ones who could knock this out.
>
> I can help with the product definition.
>
> The process of getting a prototype together and the process
> of manufacturing a set of them are things that AO is in the
> business of doing. But for me to get it to happen in the AO context,
> it will not be a donated effort.
>
> It is possible that Gary might be persuadable to do it off the clock.
> However, I do not see that happening on the time schedule you
> are laying out. I will ask gary tomorrow if the things that he
> is interested in stepping up to this project by end of May or
> not. (06)
Thanks for taking this to them. There are certain promotional
opportunities that AO might be able to take advantage of were it to
do this on a pro-bono basis. However, I understand about the funding
issue as well. In that case, could you find out what it would cost
to get something ready to bid out for manufacturing in May or June by
completing the hardware and electrical design, and building a
prototype? We can probably get someone to do the drivers on a
volunteer basis if you can take care of the hardware end. I'd expect
that if we found funding, this would be work for hire that would be
whoever funded it. (07)
I'll hope to hear from you again in the next few days. (08)
>
>
> % Please let me know as soon as possible, since we'll need to find
> % someone else relatively soon otherwise. If you find that you're not
> % able to work on this project, we'd appreciate it if you could return
> % the keyset to Doug ASAP. He'll pass it on to Jonathan, who will add
> % to the pool for use by the two projects.
>
>
> Ok.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> %
> % >Return-Path: <sechrest@jas.peak.org>
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> % > id 1F809g-0001g1-Cb; Sat, 11 Feb 2006 11:11:36 -0800
> % >To: Jonathan Cheyer <jonathan@cheyer.biz>
> % >Cc: Eugene Eric Kim <eekim@blueoxen.com>,
> % > NLS Restoration Technical Discussion
> <nls-technical@chm.cim3.net>,
> % > bootstrap-nsf@ws.blueoxen.net
> % >Subject: Re: chord keyset
> % >In-reply-to: Your message of Fri, 10 Feb 2006 23:41:12 PST.
> % > <43ED9518.2050405@cheyer.biz>
> % >Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 11:11:36 -0800
> % >From: John Sechrest <sechrest@jas.peak.org>
> % >Message-Id: <E1F809g-0001g1-Cb@jas.peak.org>
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> % >
> % >Hi Jonathan,
> % >
> % >I do have a keyboard. And I have a diagram of it. It has a DB-15
> % >connector on it, but I don't remember at the moment if it is
> % >male of female.
> % >
> % >We have a background task of trying to build a USB chording keyboard.
> % >It is on my desk at work, and I am reminded of the task because of that.
> % >
> % >If you need it back, I can find a way to get it back to doug, so that
> % >you can use it.
> % >
> % >I am currently stalled on the 5 bit vs 8 bit issues that doug was
> % >asking for.
> % >
> % >Is there any value in building some replica units?
> % >
> % >What time frame do you have on needing it?
> % >
> % >
> % >
> % >
> % >
> % >
> % >
> % >Jonathan Cheyer <jonathan@cheyer.biz> writes:
> % >
> % > % Hi John,
> % > %
> % > % I'm currently working on joint projects with the Computer
> History Museum
> % > % to preserve the NLS/Augment system software and some of its hardware
> % > % artifacts (i.e. chord keysets), as well as with Doug Engelbart and
> % > % Eugene Kim on an NSF grant to do more current and
> forward-reaching work
> % > % with NLS/Augment.
> % > %
> % > % I've been trying to locate people who may have one or more
> keysets, so
> % > % we can track how many keysets are still in existence, how many are
> % > % working fully, and what pinouts the keysets are using.
> % > %
> % > % Eugene mentioned that you are currently borrowing a chord keyset from
> % > % Doug, and you had been working at some point on building a
> USB interface
> % > % for the keyset. I'm interested in hearing from you about what you've
> % > % learned so far. In particular, if you have any technical information
> % > % about the chord keyset that you could share, or other
> useful practical
> % > % information, that would be great.
> % > %
> % > % I've got the pinout information for one chord keyset so far and have
> % > % built a driver for it, but I've noticed that not all the
> keysets are the
> % > % same. For example, the single keyset that I currently have
> access to has
> % > % a DA-15 female ending, and the one that Doug uses has a
> DB-25 male ending.
> % > %
> % > % Also, if you're not actively using your keyset, I was
> wondering if you
> % > % would be willing to return the keyset soon. There are very
> few keysets
> % > % available at this point, and it would be useful for members of team
> % > % assisting Doug with his NSF grant to use the keysets during
> the duration
> % > % of the project.
> % > %
> % > % Thanks for your help!
> % > %
> % > % Jonathan
> % >
> % >-----
> % >John Sechrest . Helping people use
> % > . computers and the Internet
> % > . more effectively
> % > .
> % > . Internet: sechrest@peak.org
> % > .
> % > .
> http://www.peak.org/~sechrest
> % >
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> %
> %
> % Philip Gust
> % Nouveau Systems, Inc.
> %
> % phone: +1 650 961-7992
> % fax: +1 520 843-7217
> %
> %
> % mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com
> %
> %
>
>-----
>John Sechrest . Helping people use
> . computers and the Internet
> . more effectively
> .
> . Internet: sechrest@peak.org
> .
> . http://www.peak.org/~sechrest (09)
Philip Gust
Nouveau Systems, Inc. (010)
phone: +1 650 961-7992
fax: +1 520 843-7217 (011)
mailto: gust@NouveauSystems.com (012)
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