What switches does it have? Are they lubed? Are the stabilisers modded? Does it have case foam or other case mods? What type of mount is it? What about the plate? Swing weight and force curve? Linear, clicky or tactile? Silent, oring, ball bearing mod?
There are so many different variables and that’s before you even get to layout changes it’s perfectly possible to build your own keyboard that is perfect or close to it for you.
I have keyboards with different layouts and typing feel that I pick for how I want my typing to feel on any given day. It’s no different from a guitarist having multiple different guitars chasing a different feel and sound.
Not everyone is going to appreciate it, but there are significant differences with the right changes during a build.
Ashley wants two main things out of his purchases, the brand name to slap on a web store with any head start it can give into running a business in that sector, and the retail space. Any decent retail space he wants to flip into residential property while stripping any fixtures and fittings of any value, anything else will be gone or rebooted into the lowest common denominator for that area.
Pretty sure he pays cash or close to it rather than a traditional leveraged buy out. He normally only buys struggling or collapsed brands he can get cheap like Wiggle.
I use powershell by default on windows and I prefer it for scripting any day of the week vs. shell scripts. It’s not the fastest but you can always plug in .net to your scripts to dramatically improve performance. Sure, I could write the script in rust or whatever to make it even faster, but that’s way more work than I need for the lifespan of the script.
I would like to build my first keyboard, but I feel like the DIY-kits available don’t let you get your hands on the keyboard enough. For instance, I looked into the M1W barebone as it checks all the criteria I have (I would prefer a 75% board, with a knob, and wireless option), except the only thing left to do is to plug-in...
Thats more down to the case and plate than the PCB, you either need a case that supports multiple mounting types like carpool (github.com/dingusxmcgee/Carpool) or completely separate cases. For carpool you use the same PCB for all mount types and just change the plate.
I am going to build probably a few keyboards (like 3) for people to gift to. Since 100% PCB is not as popular as ergo boards, Im having a hard time finding any....
Price is heavily dependent on how many PCBs of the same type you want printed and if you need assembly or are planning on it doing it yourself and will be sourcing the components from the cheapest possible suppliers.
Shipping from the Asian shops also has to be factored in, any sort of rush printing or shipping gets very expensive.
Ive paid £40 each for a run of three 40% PCBs fully assembled/tested and with priority shipping that was less than a week. This isn’t actually that bad when you compare to a similar sized PCB from a store in the US for me in the UK when adding on the shipping and potential customs fees.
Cheapest possible will be the free PCB option from PCBWay, but you will need to do some work to get that money back from them www.pcbway.com/free_pcb.aspx
Just wanted to share the link to the livestream of the designer Matt3o looking at the first batch of the MTNU keycaps. They are made by GMK out of PBT, with double shot legends. The profile has been developed by Matt3o and GMK as a Cherry-height spherical angle shape. First batch is currently shipping out and has the WoB, Beige...
Yeah they just too expensive for 40s and not amazing kitting, no 2x3u space bars means no buy from me as most of my boards are 2x3u.
They either need to start adding basic 40s support to base kits as with GMK Cherry (it’s three keys) or go like SA and split the alphas and mods so you are only buying the mods you actually need.
Paying way more (it’s like £70 for the 40s kit, with fuck all space bars in it, on top of the mods for full size you’ll never use it just bad value.
Sure, SP SA is still expensive but at least you’re only buy what you need.
Proper 3u spaces with the proper 3u spacing for the stabs and proper 3u wires, for ALL of my boards. If you doing it properly its just as good as any of the other common sizes of space bars.
I probably have about 20 boards now that are 2x3u, its by far my preference for bottom row as I personally do not like a huge number of keys on the bottom row, its a complete waste for my workflow.
Most modern GMK Cherry and SA do not have the issue with availability and they ALL are the correct spacing. It has improved massively from when I first started getting boards with 2x3u, now you get 2x3u, its extremely rare to get 1x3u in modern GMK or SP kitting, Sure you usually have to buy the space bar kit so its not cheap, but then I have to buy the 40s kit most of the time anyway so…
If you expecting to pick up cheap sets from aliexpress or the like and have amazing 40s support complete with plenty of split space support, then its possible but highly unlikely. I have long moved passed the point I can be bothered with sets like that, I do not want to waste money on stuff I am bodging to fit as I just wont enjoy using it.
If the caps don’t have good 40s support (which is usually limited to a few designers who hate 40s) then it likely wont have 3u bars, so they aren’t getting my money anyway. I do have 40s with full sized mods and full size space bars so the option is there if I ever really want a set with shitty 40s support, but I rarely use those keyboards.
Because the first job of anybody who is responsible for green lighting game development at these huge publishers is to not get fired. Making a game that only just breaks even or even worse makes a loss puts you at risk of getting fired. Even a relatively small game from a large publisher costs a ton to develop and market and has increased risk that nobody will actually buy and play it, at least in the most profitable first few months.
Franchises are so popular with this crowd is because they do not have to worry about name recognition. Hardest thing about getting a brand new title out is just getting people to know it exists and then to be excited about it. Franchises you hardly have to to do any work for that, you know you are going to get press and gamer interest, they sell themselves right up until they release and people get the chance to see if its a house of cards or not.
Its that front loading of sales that they are after, the shops having to buy in stock, idiots who pre order or buy before its clear if the game is broken in someway. Its the most profitable time as the game is at its most expensive, and it enables rapid repayment of the development costs. Games that start slow and have a very long tail of sales do not interest them anywhere near as much as they have already moved onto the next project and already been judged on the initial (under) performance of the game.
A statement from a Google employee, Dov Zimring, has been released as a part of the FTC vs Microsoft court case (via 9to5Google). Only minorly redacted, the statement gives us a run down of Google's position leading up to Stadia's closure and why, ultimately, Stadia was in a death spiral long before its actual demise....
But it has always been that way, with first party titles and exclusives , even purchasing studios like Rare or Psygnosis, its not like a brand new situation that developed right after Google announced Stadia.
If Google had done even any research, I would have started by looking at the PS1 launch and how Sony broke into a market then dominated by Nintendo and Sega with their exclusives, they would have secured a multi year pipeline of AAA titles before launch.
This is a mess Google could have completely avoided with some basic research and discussion with the remaining independent studios. Instead they launched and assumed that they could fix this shit later, rather than making an informed decision on if they actually had a real chance.
But this is a situation of their own making, anybody even remotely cognizant of how Sony and Microsoft entered the market, even Steam has lessons to share, would have been aware that they needed that pipeline of AAAs, and exactly how expensive AAA titles are to make. Its usually public record how much one of the manufacturers paid to buy studios as well, the order of magnitude of cash needed to properly enter the market are hardly secret.
Either they thought they could bully their way into getting them or they thought they didn’t need them, which is even worse, way way worse. They could have spent the money the others are in this space but didn’t, this is the main reason this fell on its arse. They can moan all they like about the price of admission but they could have afforded to pay it if they wanted or lobbied to change it before hand rather than wasting a few billions on this.
It will be very interesting at the level Apple pitch their new gaming service if the rumors are true. Do they go after the mobile lite eco system that Netflix is cobbling together or do they go all in?
Niche Economy: The rise and fall of the group buy model in mechanical keyboards (micro.thomasbaart.nl)
Thomas Baart (of splitkb.com fame) dives into group buys:...
UK Retailer GAME To End All In-Store Video Game Sales (www.gfinityesports.com)
What is your favourite shell to use
What’s your favourite to use? Mine is Fish due to its ease of use and user friendly approach....
Looking for a truly DIY keyboard kit
I would like to build my first keyboard, but I feel like the DIY-kits available don’t let you get your hands on the keyboard enough. For instance, I looked into the M1W barebone as it checks all the criteria I have (I would prefer a 75% board, with a knob, and wireless option), except the only thing left to do is to plug-in...
100% PCB as cheap as possible?
I am going to build probably a few keyboards (like 3) for people to gift to. Since 100% PCB is not as popular as ergo boards, Im having a hard time finding any....
Matt3o on the first MTNU batch (www.youtube.com)
Just wanted to share the link to the livestream of the designer Matt3o looking at the first batch of the MTNU keycaps. They are made by GMK out of PBT, with double shot legends. The profile has been developed by Matt3o and GMK as a Cherry-height spherical angle shape. First batch is currently shipping out and has the WoB, Beige...
Leaked email reveals Phil Spencer's damning verdict on AAA games: 'Most publishers are riding the success of franchises created 10+ years ago' (www.pcgamer.com)
Stadia's death spiral, according to the Google employee in charge of mopping up after its murder (www.pcgamer.com)
A statement from a Google employee, Dov Zimring, has been released as a part of the FTC vs Microsoft court case (via 9to5Google). Only minorly redacted, the statement gives us a run down of Google's position leading up to Stadia's closure and why, ultimately, Stadia was in a death spiral long before its actual demise....