deskthority

Key repeat rate should really be handled at the host, not on the keyboard, in my view. There’s nothing more disruptive than random crazy when you’re holding keys. It’s always the unintended triggers that getcha! I’d implement a faster repeat for arrow keys in Karabiner, if I didn’t already use Alt ...

Looks like an example of the twinax terminals I used in my youth, back in the 1980s; I'd assumed 5251 but I'll defer to sharktastica, not least as I was never certain. Even at that age and in that era (1980s, when keyboards were either really obviously terrible such as the ZX81 and Spectrum, or they...

As I've said before, I don't use the numpad that often, but when I enter numbers, I really miss it when it's not there. But that's probably also because I grew up with a numpad and muscle memory expects it to be there. I'm sure if I grew up without a numpad, I'd look at things differently. I wish t...

Ah, yucking people’s yums, as they say. The thing about the Model M specifically is its monumental reputation . Set aside how it got it, and accepting the fact it’s there, the result is people with some existing mech experience often dismissing buckling spring entirely when they do encounter it and...

Spraypainting it sounds like a much safer bet to me. Even without the risk of brittleness, I've seen several examples of Retrobrited stuff where the results are really inconsistent and patchy, plus the tendency for the yellow to just come back anyway. Paint is probably less prone to jaundice!

I really hate the current vibe for tiny fans: they're so noisy once they spin up. Some (e.g. gf's Intel Nug) are also in almost unmaintainable positions so as the dust gradually clogs them up they get louder and louder, and once they reach screaming pitch and can't do any more the CPU overheats and ...

DEC rebranded? Has that big "do" key. Just DEC layout. Looks like it's the same as this, with thin DCS-like double shots and MX blacks . Yikes. Don't think I've ever seen a legit DEC keyboard in black (I mean not unless you go back to the original VT100 era) and by the time the LK201 appeared they ...

Muirium wrote: ↑

06 Mar 2023, 20:40

Nature abhors a vacuum, unless it’s where the loot was. Yoink!

I am wondering how everything got in such a state, though. Everything's rustier than a Lancia Beta parked in Scarborough.

ISTR quite a few PERQ pictures on Chilton Computing's website though I'm not sure if any of them have suitable close-ups of the keyboard.

One of the things I don't think I've seen covered yet having scanned the last three pages rather hastily is the choice of keycaps; which is what ultimately drew me to using MX, as the choice is largely "MX or GTFO". And I'm kinda of my time, which is before the IBM PC really took root with its appro...

Real blisters are more satisfying to pop. Membrane is just mush. Mush. Mush. Muh… muh… muh… Makeitstop! The ones I get on my fingers after going back to bass playing after yet another hiatus aren't; they're as resilient as those Unicomp rubber-domes. OTOH I have a new electronical contraption that ...

Scratchy, scuffy, even creaky MX switches are the ones I grumble about on request. If they just made them as smooth as they did before, then I’d be pretty hip with MX as a linear switch with sterling longevity and unparalleled caps. But their tactile and clicky versions, not so much. :P I think I'v...

Blimey, seems I missed some interesting stuff during my latest absence! I need to have one of these, if I can figure out how. Last beam-spring I used was from a Twinax thing (er... 5251? I forget the computer it was connected to, which was bloody awful, but the keyboard was awesome, albeit with much...

First ever vintage keyboard I ever bought was the Datalux Spacesaver: https://deskthority.net/wiki/Datalux_SpaceSaver ... I got it for £50 NOS from eBay on the basis that I really liked the layout it had. I found out through chyrosan22 how bad these boards were but did not pay too much attention. [...

...stuff... That name seems very familiar. Hercules mailing list? I'm still waiting for that VM hobbyists' licence to materialise. D: Responding to both of the above. I’ve found that, in general, most communities are shit. Sometimes, though, you might stumble on one that isn’t. I’m lucky to have fo...

You can also go a DIY route for dyesubbing. Other membes have good experience with Etsy for this, but it should also be fairly doable at home without expensive equipment, as long as you find some nice PBT blanks. Haven't attempted to do this myself yet, but it looks tempting, if you can find someon...

Signature Plastics now does one-off dyesubs on SA profile, but they're expensive (USD5/cap) and limited to a set of standard designs, so you might not be able to get the legends you want. I'm not sure how amenable they are to extending their catalogue. I suppose it can't hurt to ask, I've found PMK...

Due to the sporadic nature of me being here (which is itself largely down to the sporadic nature of how bad my insomnia is!) I'm terrible at keeping up. And remembering stuff; while I could search, by the time I finally think "oh yeah, I should do that", things have often moved on as it can be month...

I think the next rung down on that ladder are the people who incessantly bash Unicomp Ms and insist that they're trash compared to IBM M boards. They constantly insist that the IBM boards feel/sound so much better and that anyone not shelling out more money for a used board (that may have dirt to c...

Yeah, it was me who nudged you in the unglamorous direction of MX red. They certainly get the job done. With a nice solid plate, and of course the right caps, they're good and cloppy as I like. Indeed, when I use mine, I always get the feeling they're the true proletarian Topre. Maybe if I ever lub...

What sucks is I see this going the way of guitars. A bunch of jackwagons looking to sell old crap started labeling everything old as "vintage" and a bunch of absolute schmucks that know nothing about instruments just eat it up. It's somehow been getting WORSE over the years to the point where absol...

The thing I used for the longest is almost certainly my SSK. I eventually stopped because of the noise (didn't bother me, did bother my other half when it was the middle of the night...) but it still has the best sound/keyfeel/feedback/etc of anything I've used; in spite of that, those acres of beig...

Go-Kart wrote: ↑

15 Apr 2021, 08:50

A nice SGI?

Is that a thing? I had an Indy in the mid-late '90s (well, potentially still have, but a friend borrowed it 20 years ago and never gave it back!) but I wasn't a fan of its keyboard; rather mushy-feeling thing as I recall.

I got an LCD watch in about 1978/79 exactly because of the LEDs' reputation for battery drain. What I ended up with was something that was almost impossible to make out in any light and a nickel allergy.

General/life: - Python is an ugly language to program in. - Not a fan of dogs. I much prefer snakes or spiders as pets, and so does my grandmother (she's got my tarantula currently). - I'd rather have a Rover (not Land Rover, for those who don't know what Rover was) than any other average. A green ...

Those 2260s are kinda cute, and not just by IBM standards.

Yasu0 wrote: ↑

09 Oct 2020, 00:39

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH BLADING!!!1

I've heard bad things about rollerblading tape-jockeys in computer rooms.

Yeah, pretty much! I was going to just stick with the number of times I need to use backspace* but got a bit carried away.

* this is why I got into such a panic when I re-capped my Vortex and yanked out one of the stems: it was the backspace key, the most essential one of all! D:

I type fairly quickly. Unless I subtract the number of deletions I do. And then going back and deleting a whole word because I missed something. And then proofreading it again. And editing it again. And submitting it and proofreading it again. And only then spotting that I messed up the grammar duri...

The same number as your wife has pairs of shoes. Er, I seem to be the one with all the shoes (I think I managed to get them down to double-digits... for a while at least. Some even fit) and all the keyboards, and bass guitars etc. Fortunately I'm the only devoted acquirer of stuff in our household.