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Comment by gumby | Hacker News Reader

Wouldn't it be faster to just input a key accelerator (which you can do on your Mac straight from system preferences -- I would assume Windows has similar)? That way you don't have to take your hands off the keyboard, simply press command-foo.

I doubt cmd-foo is harder to remember than the bindings of blank keys on an accessory device.

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Going by the screenshot, it looks like you can do a bit more than the System Preferences keyboard shortcut page lets you! Looks more like something like AutoHotkey, I'd say, but with a non-insane interface.

Yeah, you've got it! You can type text, send keyboard shortcuts, mouse movements, media commands and numpad keys. You can also delay and repeat anything as much as you like.

Now any of that can be done in any combination and it's set up in less than 1 minute.

It hasn't got all the features of AHK - some things have to be sacrificed for simplicity but you are very right in saying it has a lot more to offer than simple key bindings. These are proper macros :)

>That way you don't have to take your hands off the keyboard, simply press command-foo.

And find out that most are taken by the system or various applications (including ones running as UI-level).

>I doubt cmd-foo is harder to remember than the bindings of blank keys on an accessory device.

It's amazing what a $2 permanent marker can do to fix the blank keys issue.

"I doubt cmd-foo is harder to remember than the bindings of blank keys on an accessory device."

Absolutely. I have a Corsair K90 keyboard with 18 extra function keys (actually that's 18x3) and never use them because I can't remember what G1, G2, G3, etc stand for.

Knowing that you've pressed a button is an issue, too. I have a Sidewinder gaming keyboard with a similar number of macro keys, and often the only indication that I've accidentally tapped one is that I start typing 'W' every few seconds (that's a macro I have for avoiding going AFK in some games).

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