Near Death Experience
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Re: Near Death Experience
The only accounts I've blocked on social media are the ones I can clearly identify as robots. Trolls get blocked a lot because they are not popular with certain groups of people, and that's the main reason I don't bother to block them. When this site was more active than it is today the block function was heavily used and many people complained to me about why they did it. The bottom line was that blocking is a form of a popularity contest. After a while it seemed petty, but most people would have left here over night if I disabled that function. Sometimes it's a good idea to know what the other side is arguing about. The key to success there is not to be taken in by the bait. Read the argument but don't respond. It's the heated response that trolls live for. In my case it doesn't make sense to participate in a social site if I'm going to ignore the people that don't agree with me. The reason I'm there in the first place is to socialize and learn about how other people think. Blocking them defeats the purpose of my participation.
Re: Near Death Experience
I had over 12,000 followers on Twitter, I've managed to get that down to around 8 or 9,000 now.
As I said, this is my author's account. So most of my followers were authors or readers.
I have numerous who are neither. I had a swarm of followers there for a while, like 100 to 300 new ones per day, which were mostly bots. You don't know on a lot of them until after you friended them.
I remember one day when I went to my news feed for followers, there were something like 250 ads for RayBan Sunglasses which flooded my feed. I could block them from my feed, and they would still appear on the main news feed. But it takes time to do that each day. Plus I had several who friended me using English text, and then only posted in hieroglyphics, or a foreign language, so they got blocked. I finally got my feed back down to authors and readers, but the main news feed was still loaded. But I could mute them without unfollowing until later if they posted to my feed, or on Farcebook to my own wall.
There are many things I don't want appearing in my news feed on any social network. Women or men soliciting women or children is one. I report those soliciting with children and block all the rest like this. I don't want to see it.
I don't block some folks, just mute them, and I use a service that lets me know if someone unfollows me, so I can unfollow them.
There are people who follow only to get you to follow back, and then they unfollow you almost right away, some do this to get their follower numbers up in the hundred thousands. But what good does it do? Most people use Lists so they never see what they are posting anyhow, unless they go to a main news feed to see. But most of the time, I figure if followed me only to unfollow a day or two later, and they have super high follower counts, I just unfollow them.
There are a few I purposely follow who never followed me back, but I usually had a good reason for doing so. They post things to learn from, or is interesting to read.
As I said, this is my author's account. So most of my followers were authors or readers.
I have numerous who are neither. I had a swarm of followers there for a while, like 100 to 300 new ones per day, which were mostly bots. You don't know on a lot of them until after you friended them.
I remember one day when I went to my news feed for followers, there were something like 250 ads for RayBan Sunglasses which flooded my feed. I could block them from my feed, and they would still appear on the main news feed. But it takes time to do that each day. Plus I had several who friended me using English text, and then only posted in hieroglyphics, or a foreign language, so they got blocked. I finally got my feed back down to authors and readers, but the main news feed was still loaded. But I could mute them without unfollowing until later if they posted to my feed, or on Farcebook to my own wall.
There are many things I don't want appearing in my news feed on any social network. Women or men soliciting women or children is one. I report those soliciting with children and block all the rest like this. I don't want to see it.
I don't block some folks, just mute them, and I use a service that lets me know if someone unfollows me, so I can unfollow them.
There are people who follow only to get you to follow back, and then they unfollow you almost right away, some do this to get their follower numbers up in the hundred thousands. But what good does it do? Most people use Lists so they never see what they are posting anyhow, unless they go to a main news feed to see. But most of the time, I figure if followed me only to unfollow a day or two later, and they have super high follower counts, I just unfollow them.
There are a few I purposely follow who never followed me back, but I usually had a good reason for doing so. They post things to learn from, or is interesting to read.
Re: Near Death Experience
The only social network I manage to some degree is Twitter. The others simply cater to my list of interests that is part of my profile, or in the case of Farcebook they force feed me stuff based on what they know about my browsing habits. The reason I manage Twitter is because of the wide variety of of content and they provide some means to manage it; lists, for example. As it so happens the basic version of Twitter is pretty much useless to me. I only use that version for the account associated with this website. It's a very small account and only has a few followers which is fine for what it is intended to be, i.e., a source of information about the status of Brainformation Forums.
Apparently a lot of people see how useless the basic account is because at one time there were dozens of apps out there that allowed you to filter and organize the content of the Twitter home feed. Twitter felt abused because people were using some other software to view their content and thus they changed their API frequently to break all those other apps. An app called Tweedeck was invented by some Asian kid back then and he was able to keep up with the frequent changes in access that Twitter imposed. In fact Tweetdeck became so popular that Twitter bought him out eventually. The beauty of it is that all those lists you make can be displayed side by side on a single page. So, if you wanted to look at music and sports and news simultaneously, you could do it on Tweetdeck.
Tweetdeck is my go-to app for all things Twitter. But, versatile as it is, there was no way to easily manage one's list of followers. Many folks filled in the software gap and I'm certain you are using one of those programs. There isn't much Twitter can do about managing your list of accounts and those other programs were causing certain problems by deleting mass quantities of users all in one shot. Thus Twitter got together with Circleboom, which is a user management application. It does way more than add and delete accounts. Circleboom can analyze statistics associated with those accounts, such as the last time a person posted, and makes it easy to sort things out by any number of criteria. They got so good at it that Twitter now owns Circleboom. LOL The bottom line is that I don't need to block or mute anything because I can filter out what I want to see using lists. I also keep the home feed running all the time in Tweetdeck just in case I see something interesting that is not in my lists.
One of the most useful things Circleboom does for me is to point out accounts that follow me, but I do not follow back. Many of THOSE accounts re indeed bots that I don't care about. But, once in a while some stray normal Twitter user (if there is such a thing) will find my tweets interesting enough to follow. I will follow back those folks.
Apparently a lot of people see how useless the basic account is because at one time there were dozens of apps out there that allowed you to filter and organize the content of the Twitter home feed. Twitter felt abused because people were using some other software to view their content and thus they changed their API frequently to break all those other apps. An app called Tweedeck was invented by some Asian kid back then and he was able to keep up with the frequent changes in access that Twitter imposed. In fact Tweetdeck became so popular that Twitter bought him out eventually. The beauty of it is that all those lists you make can be displayed side by side on a single page. So, if you wanted to look at music and sports and news simultaneously, you could do it on Tweetdeck.
Tweetdeck is my go-to app for all things Twitter. But, versatile as it is, there was no way to easily manage one's list of followers. Many folks filled in the software gap and I'm certain you are using one of those programs. There isn't much Twitter can do about managing your list of accounts and those other programs were causing certain problems by deleting mass quantities of users all in one shot. Thus Twitter got together with Circleboom, which is a user management application. It does way more than add and delete accounts. Circleboom can analyze statistics associated with those accounts, such as the last time a person posted, and makes it easy to sort things out by any number of criteria. They got so good at it that Twitter now owns Circleboom. LOL The bottom line is that I don't need to block or mute anything because I can filter out what I want to see using lists. I also keep the home feed running all the time in Tweetdeck just in case I see something interesting that is not in my lists.
One of the most useful things Circleboom does for me is to point out accounts that follow me, but I do not follow back. Many of THOSE accounts re indeed bots that I don't care about. But, once in a while some stray normal Twitter user (if there is such a thing) will find my tweets interesting enough to follow. I will follow back those folks.
Re: Near Death Experience
The only third party account I use for Twitter is "Who Unfollowed Me."
They were the only one I know of that never had problems or was ever blocked by Twitter.
I don't use their full service anymore, but check it daily to see who unfollowed me, so I can unfollow them.
I never use their who followed me part, because for the most part it was a scam for you to follow back people who never really followed you until you followed them, a bot is all it was, else all those folks the program showed me as folks who followed me would have shown up on Twitter as new followers, and they never did, until after I followed them back. So it caused me double work.
But for everything else, that site has helped me keep track of things, in the free version.
They were the only one I know of that never had problems or was ever blocked by Twitter.
I don't use their full service anymore, but check it daily to see who unfollowed me, so I can unfollow them.
I never use their who followed me part, because for the most part it was a scam for you to follow back people who never really followed you until you followed them, a bot is all it was, else all those folks the program showed me as folks who followed me would have shown up on Twitter as new followers, and they never did, until after I followed them back. So it caused me double work.
But for everything else, that site has helped me keep track of things, in the free version.
Re: Near Death Experience
It's probably obvious that who follows me on Twitter is not one of those factors I use to sort out the Tweets I'm interested in. Since I'm basically there in the read only mode, it doesn't matter to me who is or is not following my RT's. All the bots in Russia could follow me for all I care. The only time it matters is when I bother to see who I am not following after they follow me. As you say most of those would be bots but there are some regular people mixed in as well. Most of the new people I track on Twitter are obtained from references made by people I already follow. If there was one topic I was interested in, then I could search hashtags for that topic and see who is publishing a lot and possibly follow those people. But, there really isn't a single topic of interest. Well, maybe current events, but that too is very general and broad. If you ever get tired of Who Unfollowed Me, look into Circleboom. It's free for the most part and is quite versatile.
Re: Near Death Experience
I only use Twitter, mainly to hit the LIKE button on the books my promotion company posts from all their authors.
They only do like 2 to 5 on Twitter, and more like 10 to 20 on Farcebook, plus other locations.
I'll check out that Circleboom to see what all they offer on the free side.
I've tried a few of the other social sites, like MeWe, Mastodon, Tumblr, and others, but don't see anything of use there for me.
They only do like 2 to 5 on Twitter, and more like 10 to 20 on Farcebook, plus other locations.
I'll check out that Circleboom to see what all they offer on the free side.
I've tried a few of the other social sites, like MeWe, Mastodon, Tumblr, and others, but don't see anything of use there for me.
Re: Near Death Experience
Thinking back on my Internet history, there is a common if not subtle thread in my activities. That would be to learn about people's behavior. The mission statement for this very site is exactly that. We are here to learn how other people in the world think. All those other social sites I patronize have that fundamental thought behind them. Some are a bit more abstract but in the final analysis I am learning about my favorite subject, i.e., people. When I attempted to establish a professional career my first impulse was psychology. Not only would I learn about all the gory details, but there would also have been opportunities to help others solve their problems. That's what I did with astrology and even in my more nerdy moments I'm often trying to help somebody through a technical issue. Being on a lot of social sites also was a way of advertising for this site. I always made reference to us here even if it only could be in my profile or in a list of interests. Over the years I attracted no more than about half a dozen people doing that self-promotion thing. Now and days the only people who are interested in me are robots.
Re: Near Death Experience
About ten or more years ago, I joined an interesting website that sounded almost like what you mentioned.
When I first joined, I thought it was like a Trivia site, based on the early on easy questions, many at the beginning were multiple choice where the answer was sometimes not so obvious. But after a few months of dropping in, the questions now required much more thought, but there still was a right answer they were looking for. After a few more months, the questions took a lot of thought before we could answer, and then any of the answers in the list could be a correct answer. In other words, none of the answers were wrong, and you no longer got a right are wrong, they now showed you how many people answered the question with what response. After that, there were no answers to select from, and you had to give your own response to the question. The next time you logged in, there may be a comment or two from whoever it was that reviewed the responses. I apparently hit the point where they asked me to join their group sessions. I only did this a few times, because it often took a half hour or longer to become a part of what was being talked about that day. And between you, me, and the lamp post, I think about half of them were idiots, hi hi.
When I first joined, I thought it was like a Trivia site, based on the early on easy questions, many at the beginning were multiple choice where the answer was sometimes not so obvious. But after a few months of dropping in, the questions now required much more thought, but there still was a right answer they were looking for. After a few more months, the questions took a lot of thought before we could answer, and then any of the answers in the list could be a correct answer. In other words, none of the answers were wrong, and you no longer got a right are wrong, they now showed you how many people answered the question with what response. After that, there were no answers to select from, and you had to give your own response to the question. The next time you logged in, there may be a comment or two from whoever it was that reviewed the responses. I apparently hit the point where they asked me to join their group sessions. I only did this a few times, because it often took a half hour or longer to become a part of what was being talked about that day. And between you, me, and the lamp post, I think about half of them were idiots, hi hi.
Re: Near Death Experience
Way back in my beginning days on the Internet I found a couple sites similar to this one. They were run by individuals just for the purpose of creating a virtual meeting place where people could comment on whatever came to mind. There was no Facebook back then and MySpace was just a thought in somebody's mind. Most of the time I simply read what other people were saying or joking about, but when I did post something original I tried to use double entendre and see how people interpreted it. Sometimes it was a trick question, such as, "Have you stopped beating your wife?" which they almost always caught but some people didn't. It was those kind of websites that I felt was an extension of my ham radio days. I could talk to anybody in the world and get a feel for how they live differently than I do. Hams were nerdy types and rag chewers to be sure. The world, however, is made up of many other forms of humans. A venue such as this one is more general and attracted a wide variety of people. Why they all migrated to Facebook is beyond my comprehension. LOL
Re: Near Death Experience
I hear ya Yogi! Sometimes Ham Radio could be boring, since all we sent was our Location, their signal strength, and tone.
But then in the local repeater clubs, and a few other HF groups, some real rag chewing went on, hi hi.
My BBS service, of which you had to dial the phone number to reach it, got a lot of traffic, because it held a lot of good info that was shared by other BBSs. As a reciprocal, we always had a list and the end of our lead page showing topics of other BBSs along with their phone numbers.
Once the Internet came along, and our BBSs could be accessed on a web server link, things really started hopping, and also changing very fast as we moved into HTML pages hosted on the servers.
The BBS stayed up a lot longer than is should have, simply because people could use dial-up to a local ISP who would link them to the Internet, and from there they could link to the host who had links to your BBS service, so it saved them the cost of long-distance phone call.
Then as I said, our BBS was added to the server as an HTML page, and the BBS finally died. Except we kept the name BBS on our host, mine was at BBS.Galilei.com, they also had BBS.Galilei-Gelileo.com as well. I even had my e-mail suffix as @bbs.galilei.com
I'm still having problems with my keys auto repeating for no reason. Hmm.
But then in the local repeater clubs, and a few other HF groups, some real rag chewing went on, hi hi.
My BBS service, of which you had to dial the phone number to reach it, got a lot of traffic, because it held a lot of good info that was shared by other BBSs. As a reciprocal, we always had a list and the end of our lead page showing topics of other BBSs along with their phone numbers.
Once the Internet came along, and our BBSs could be accessed on a web server link, things really started hopping, and also changing very fast as we moved into HTML pages hosted on the servers.
The BBS stayed up a lot longer than is should have, simply because people could use dial-up to a local ISP who would link them to the Internet, and from there they could link to the host who had links to your BBS service, so it saved them the cost of long-distance phone call.
Then as I said, our BBS was added to the server as an HTML page, and the BBS finally died. Except we kept the name BBS on our host, mine was at BBS.Galilei.com, they also had BBS.Galilei-Gelileo.com as well. I even had my e-mail suffix as @bbs.galilei.com
I'm still having problems with my keys auto repeating for no reason. Hmm.
Re: Near Death Experience
I never got too involved with BBS because the only access I had to them was at Motorola, and, I only had that access due to my job requiring a computer. The IT guys installed Mosaic (?) for me to play with but I didn't have a lot of free time for that.
auto repeating keys ... sounds like some setting I've seen in Windows a time or two. It's been eons since I've seen it and I think I could disable it and/or set the rate at which it repeats. Never ran across that kind of thing in Linux. Also, I think some of those gaming keyboards have something like that too because they are fully programmable for things you'd never expect to be programmable. Then, too, sticky goo on the underside of the key caps would do it too. LOL
auto repeating keys ... sounds like some setting I've seen in Windows a time or two. It's been eons since I've seen it and I think I could disable it and/or set the rate at which it repeats. Never ran across that kind of thing in Linux. Also, I think some of those gaming keyboards have something like that too because they are fully programmable for things you'd never expect to be programmable. Then, too, sticky goo on the underside of the key caps would do it too. LOL
Re: Near Death Experience
BBS is about as ancient as the old wooden type presses, hi hi.
What led me to figure out what the problem was, which I didn't notice at first.
While I was on the Silver Yogi, the old Windows XP machine started making that sound it makes when you unplug a USB cord.
But I wasn't on that machine, and why I thought my KVM switch might have went bad.
My old machine with Debian on it was working just fine though, or at least I thought it was.
I went to play a game on it to see, and it acted weird too.
But I got on-line and looked up a few things and found where I should unplug the mini-receiver for two minutes.
Did that and everything started working again. Even so, I did a cold boot on all the machines.
Everything is working now. So I will stick this problem in a corner of my gray matter for the next time it happens, hi hi.
This brand of keyboard I've went through several, literally wore holes in the space bar and keys before replacing them.
They always worked just fine. Sad though, they are not made anymore.
I hate to change once I've been used to something for many years.
My wife's keyboard has one of those large L shaped Enter keys. I always hit it when I meant to hit the right shift key.
What led me to figure out what the problem was, which I didn't notice at first.
While I was on the Silver Yogi, the old Windows XP machine started making that sound it makes when you unplug a USB cord.
But I wasn't on that machine, and why I thought my KVM switch might have went bad.
My old machine with Debian on it was working just fine though, or at least I thought it was.
I went to play a game on it to see, and it acted weird too.
But I got on-line and looked up a few things and found where I should unplug the mini-receiver for two minutes.
Did that and everything started working again. Even so, I did a cold boot on all the machines.
Everything is working now. So I will stick this problem in a corner of my gray matter for the next time it happens, hi hi.
This brand of keyboard I've went through several, literally wore holes in the space bar and keys before replacing them.
They always worked just fine. Sad though, they are not made anymore.
I hate to change once I've been used to something for many years.
My wife's keyboard has one of those large L shaped Enter keys. I always hit it when I meant to hit the right shift key.
Re: Near Death Experience
I'm glad to learn you found the root cause of the sticky key problem. It could have been a lot worse.
There are keyboards I've worn off the printing on the key caps but never have eroded the plastic itself. To solve my problem I now use keyboards that are back lit and the letters are not printed onto the caps. This approach makes the keys more visible which I don't really need in that I'm fairly good at touch typing. However, it does bug me when there is a blank key on the board. I know what it is, but still ...
There are keyboards I've worn off the printing on the key caps but never have eroded the plastic itself. To solve my problem I now use keyboards that are back lit and the letters are not printed onto the caps. This approach makes the keys more visible which I don't really need in that I'm fairly good at touch typing. However, it does bug me when there is a blank key on the board. I know what it is, but still ...
Re: Near Death Experience
You wouldn't believe what my last keyboard looked like when I retired it.
The space bar hand a long oval hole in it where my thumb hits it, The L key had a hole in it, and the A key was worn down on the edge until it got thin and a narrow slit hole there too that cut my pinkie a few times. I put little stickies from address labels over it to keep it going, because I knew I only had one keyboard left in my box, and that is what I am on now.
Almost all of the keyboards I had before switching to this brand, the letters, numbers, etc. were all individual plastic pieces that went all the way through the key. But even then, as you use the keyboard for a long time, you wear out the plastic the key is made from, and since it is a softer plastic than the letters, numbers, etc. they turn into bumps on the keys, hi hi.
I did have one backlit keyboard, and it must have been made fairly cheap, basically the keys were clear, and then had a black coating over them to make them black. It was a nice thick coating, but it did wear through the black, so the clear was now allowing the light through, so you still couldn't read the letters on the keys, hi hi.
I also had a keyboard with aluminum caps over the keys. It was an expensive keyboard too. The letters were stamped into the aluminum and then filled with plastic or enamel, and they didn't wear off. I do remember cleaning out the L on that key and repainting it because it felt like a hole. Took about 8 coats of hobby enamel before it was filled back up again.
It was the old style keyboard with like 20 F-keys on it, and designed mainly for an early word program I never thought I would forget the name of, Word Perfect, that was it. Word Perfect came with a cardboard template that fit around the keys so you knew what each F-Key did, as long as you had their program open that is.
The space bar hand a long oval hole in it where my thumb hits it, The L key had a hole in it, and the A key was worn down on the edge until it got thin and a narrow slit hole there too that cut my pinkie a few times. I put little stickies from address labels over it to keep it going, because I knew I only had one keyboard left in my box, and that is what I am on now.
Almost all of the keyboards I had before switching to this brand, the letters, numbers, etc. were all individual plastic pieces that went all the way through the key. But even then, as you use the keyboard for a long time, you wear out the plastic the key is made from, and since it is a softer plastic than the letters, numbers, etc. they turn into bumps on the keys, hi hi.
I did have one backlit keyboard, and it must have been made fairly cheap, basically the keys were clear, and then had a black coating over them to make them black. It was a nice thick coating, but it did wear through the black, so the clear was now allowing the light through, so you still couldn't read the letters on the keys, hi hi.
I also had a keyboard with aluminum caps over the keys. It was an expensive keyboard too. The letters were stamped into the aluminum and then filled with plastic or enamel, and they didn't wear off. I do remember cleaning out the L on that key and repainting it because it felt like a hole. Took about 8 coats of hobby enamel before it was filled back up again.
It was the old style keyboard with like 20 F-keys on it, and designed mainly for an early word program I never thought I would forget the name of, Word Perfect, that was it. Word Perfect came with a cardboard template that fit around the keys so you knew what each F-Key did, as long as you had their program open that is.
Re: Near Death Experience
When I got the keyboard I'm now using I wondered how they made the keycaps. I think you just explained it. LOL The keys are dark but the lettering is clear so that the back lighting shows through. My first thoughts were that the cap was solid black plastic and somehow they made the lettering clear. I guess I was thinking backwards. The caps probably are clear and painted black. I doubt that I will wear out any of these keys to test out the theory but I suppose I could take one off and see what's underneath. Simple things amuse simple people. 
One of the things I like about the keys is that they apparently have no mechanical contacts to wear out. They work on something like the Hall Effect and the point at which the closure is made on the down stroke is programmable. Thus the keys can be made very sensitive where a light touch will close the switch or they can be made to not close unless the key bottoms out. There are ten steps in between as I recall. I'm not sure it's worth anything but I made the home row require nearly a complete press before the closure but the other rows of keys only require a very light touch. Some keyboards I owned with MX red switches would trigger with just my fingers resting on the keys. Talk about unwanted multiple key closures.
One of the things I like about the keys is that they apparently have no mechanical contacts to wear out. They work on something like the Hall Effect and the point at which the closure is made on the down stroke is programmable. Thus the keys can be made very sensitive where a light touch will close the switch or they can be made to not close unless the key bottoms out. There are ten steps in between as I recall. I'm not sure it's worth anything but I made the home row require nearly a complete press before the closure but the other rows of keys only require a very light touch. Some keyboards I owned with MX red switches would trigger with just my fingers resting on the keys. Talk about unwanted multiple key closures.
Re: Near Death Experience
I had a keyboard once that used infrared light, A little U shaped piece of electronics, and the blade of the key had a hole in it, so when you pressed the key down, it allowed the light transmitter to strike the receiver. I think you will find these also in the scroll wheel on meeces. It sounded like a great idea until dust gets under the plastic sheet under the keys through the slots where the keys go into the sensor. This dust builds up until the keys hit n miss. I had to remove all the keys and the plastic shield to blow the dust out of there, but it got the keyboard working again for a long time afterward.
I have no idea what they use inside the keyboard I'm on now. I don't think it is mechanical switches, nor optical switches either, and surely not sensitive pads on the board to make contact like some hand-held games use.
I've seen a couple of keyboards that use coils and magnets but they were super expensive.
So, I guess my cheap keyboard does have some kind of switch circuit, but there is no click felt like you feel with the old switch activated keyboards, or those that had replaceable keys and switches.
Heck, it might be interesting to take one apart and see how they work, except I've thrown all the old keyboards away now.
I did have one keyboard I could adjust the tension on the keys, but it was individually done per key. It wasn't hard to do, you just lifted up on the key and turned it clockwise to make it harder to press, or counterclockwise to make it lighter. It was an expensive keyboard too, and the only two keys I remember making tighter was the a and s keys, possibly the l key too. For being an expensive keyboard, it sure didn't last very long either. It was made back when they used the LARGE keyboard plugs, hi hi.
I have no idea what they use inside the keyboard I'm on now. I don't think it is mechanical switches, nor optical switches either, and surely not sensitive pads on the board to make contact like some hand-held games use.
I've seen a couple of keyboards that use coils and magnets but they were super expensive.
So, I guess my cheap keyboard does have some kind of switch circuit, but there is no click felt like you feel with the old switch activated keyboards, or those that had replaceable keys and switches.
Heck, it might be interesting to take one apart and see how they work, except I've thrown all the old keyboards away now.
I did have one keyboard I could adjust the tension on the keys, but it was individually done per key. It wasn't hard to do, you just lifted up on the key and turned it clockwise to make it harder to press, or counterclockwise to make it lighter. It was an expensive keyboard too, and the only two keys I remember making tighter was the a and s keys, possibly the l key too. For being an expensive keyboard, it sure didn't last very long either. It was made back when they used the LARGE keyboard plugs, hi hi.
Re: Near Death Experience
Those popular MX switches use mechanical parts to create the switch contact. They have some with a spring steel insert that not only adds resistance but also creates the familiar key click sound. I once read about how they do it and was amazed that they could claim a million closures without breaking. Those are the best keys for a guy like me who is a touch typist. The key word is "touch." The touch and feel of laptop keys is what makes me turned off by that design. The keys on my current keyboard have no such mechanical parts, and the feel that is missing because of it is what I don't like about this keyboard. However, they claim a life expectancy of several million closures for these keys which is believable given there is no metal flexing going on. It's all done with magnets and silicon. MX uses resistance of the metal to increase or decrease the amount of pressure it takes to close a key. These SteelSeries keys have several trip points that are programmable, but the required pressure to push down on the keys is exactly the same for all keyboards they make. So far MX brown switches are the best for my fingers, but I have yet to find a keyboard that matches that quality.
Re: Near Death Experience
I'm glad you found a great keyboard that you love!
Sorta like my cheap john's here, I love the feel, they do not click, nor can you feel a click on your fingertips.
In a way, they sorta feel like they have what I would call an over-center-spring. They are slightly harder to press down at the beginning of the stroke, but very easy after you cross the center point.
Had a keyboard once that used like rubber cups that got smashed and popped back. It didn't last very long either, but I hated that feel with a passion.
I've also used a couple of keyboards, probably more like a laptop keyboard, the keys had no travel distance at all. You just applied a little pressure and the letter appeared on the screen. It just felt weird all the way around. It didn't break, I just didn't like it so when I found these keyboards I'm using now, after using one for a few months, I went back and bought a box of six of them, which is how the store bought them. Each one was in it's own retail sale box too. But they came six to a case.
Sorta like my cheap john's here, I love the feel, they do not click, nor can you feel a click on your fingertips.
In a way, they sorta feel like they have what I would call an over-center-spring. They are slightly harder to press down at the beginning of the stroke, but very easy after you cross the center point.
Had a keyboard once that used like rubber cups that got smashed and popped back. It didn't last very long either, but I hated that feel with a passion.
I've also used a couple of keyboards, probably more like a laptop keyboard, the keys had no travel distance at all. You just applied a little pressure and the letter appeared on the screen. It just felt weird all the way around. It didn't break, I just didn't like it so when I found these keyboards I'm using now, after using one for a few months, I went back and bought a box of six of them, which is how the store bought them. Each one was in it's own retail sale box too. But they came six to a case.
Re: Near Death Experience
Can't say I love this SteelSeries keyboard, but it is a fair compromise. I once used a brand called Ducky and they had the MX brown switches. I used it for a long time and that is how I determined what I like best in a keyboard switch. The Ducky keyboard was sold as a gamer keyboard and had back lighting, but only in two colors. I started looking for a more versatile color scheme but the keyboard itself worked fine until the day I sold it on E-bay. I've been through a few of the more popular gaming keyboards and am greatly disappointed in what they lack as far as basic touch and feel. I guess gamers have different requirements, which is understandable. I'll need a good reason to abandon this keyboard, but it's not perfect. Probably the best part of it is the cable which has a cloth wrapper on it. There is a USB port on the keyboard frame for the mouse and the keyboard cable has two connectors at its end. This makes it super easy to route the cable and attach it to the tower.
Re: Near Death Experience
My wife's son has a gaming keyboard, have no idea the brand, but it has lights, and several extra buttons on it.
It has a built-in USB hub and something like 4 or 6 USB ports on the keyboard itself.
Debi hoped he would give it to her along with his old computer that she is now using, since he uses a wireless keyboard and gaming mouse now. But he told her he was still using it as a hub for is USB sticks and dongles.
I'm not certain, but I think he uses a program on a USB stick to connect to his game, so he can take that with him to work and play a little there too.
One of my writer friends bought a keyboard that looks like an old tyme typewriter. It is big and bulky, but works like a normal keyboard. It has a separate box next to it that has the keys found on a computer keyboard to the right of the normal keys. It is made to match the typewriter to a certain extent, but looks a bit more like the old Victor adding machine, hi hi.
You fold back the part that looks like the platen to get to the F-keys, and multi-media keys. And the one that looks like Victor Adder, you fold back the part that emulates where the paper would come out, and it has a digital display so you can use the numeric keys as an adding machine.
I'm sure it cost a pretty penny. I've seen a few out there that look close to what his looks like, and they were expensive.
It has a built-in USB hub and something like 4 or 6 USB ports on the keyboard itself.
Debi hoped he would give it to her along with his old computer that she is now using, since he uses a wireless keyboard and gaming mouse now. But he told her he was still using it as a hub for is USB sticks and dongles.
I'm not certain, but I think he uses a program on a USB stick to connect to his game, so he can take that with him to work and play a little there too.
One of my writer friends bought a keyboard that looks like an old tyme typewriter. It is big and bulky, but works like a normal keyboard. It has a separate box next to it that has the keys found on a computer keyboard to the right of the normal keys. It is made to match the typewriter to a certain extent, but looks a bit more like the old Victor adding machine, hi hi.
You fold back the part that looks like the platen to get to the F-keys, and multi-media keys. And the one that looks like Victor Adder, you fold back the part that emulates where the paper would come out, and it has a digital display so you can use the numeric keys as an adding machine.
I'm sure it cost a pretty penny. I've seen a few out there that look close to what his looks like, and they were expensive.