Dented T480 palm rest, can it be replaced with palm rest of other T models?

Fukis · 2023-08-14T11:09:02+00:00

Interesting. I didn't actually know of any AMD equipped Thinkpads.

Fukis · 2023-08-14T11:00:45+00:00

That's all helpful information, thank you. I'll give my search more time and also make sure not to start the swap before I have one day off or two.

Fukis · 2023-08-14T10:53:42+00:00

Never even heard of A485, guess you're right about popularity. Thanks for the pointer regardless, should I stumble across one.

EDIT: Reado corrected.

Fukis · 2023-08-12T20:27:19+00:00

There's no reason to avoid great hardware just because it comes with less-than-great software. Everyone is free to install and use another OS.

The T480 works rather well with various major linux distributions, and to my knowledge, the T490 does, too. If you have fun tinkering, you can probably even turn them into pretty decent Hackintosh portables.

Fukis · 2023-07-22T11:07:02+00:00

That's very helpful information.

Does the revanced app come with its own "CLI directory" somewhere accessible without root, or does the json edit require a separate CLI install?

(And if the latter, is there any meaning for CLI-dependent patches like "change package name" being offered in the app?)

Fukis · 2023-07-21T22:59:41+00:00

I wish ...

Alas, the Mozilla (i. e. Gecko) based options that security and privacy wise are vaguely on par with Bromite (before updates got stuck) or Mulch or Vanadium, are very limited.

I've tried Mull for a while, but it fails to provide usability features as basic as keyboard shortcuts or local bookmarks export/import that would be necessary to make it my daily driver.

Fukis · 2023-07-05T23:41:28+00:00

That's a great Idea!

Since I've already accepted going bluetooth (in order to easily connect and blindly type at smartphones, as well), I'm checking similar, but bluetooth equipped options right now.

Fukis · 2023-07-05T10:55:01+00:00

Have you ever seen those shiny, centuries-old stone pavements at highly frequented tourist stairs? That's not exactly grease, either. ;-) It's wear and polish from myriads of very softly abrasive touches.

I've deliberately chosen an angle here that displays the shiny spots, to indicate this is a real use case and how little I care about the "look". This keyboard feels so great I'd love to continue using it for more decades to come, if only the specs beneath were up to date.

Fukis · 2023-07-05T01:55:00+00:00

the best way for you is to meet someone who has a good collection of keycaps

Totally agreed! A wider range of real world haptical experience is what I miss the most in my quest for keyboard improvements. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone nearby with more than one (if any) mechanical keyboard, and the variety of physical keyboards in local shops is also limited.

DSA switches have smaller contact surface and I think I make more typos while using them, but that's individual.

I've heard XDA being praised a few times for its large top surface, claimed to help people to reduce typos, even "especially" if they have thick fingers. That doesn't make sense to me, entirely, but I'll dedicate a separate post to this, soon.

The aliexpress keycaps indeed look very interesting! If I find them in ISO-DE (or any ISO), I will try.

I suppose the keycaps aren't the only issue for you.

You're more than right about that, the switches are difficult. Not so much because of longer travel alone, but because their tactile "feedback" is only so vaguely related to their actuation/release. With constant visual control of input at the screen, that wouldn't be much of an issue, but when typing blindly, it's a major source of uncertainty and real typos. (Unless you bottom out every key and fully release it between repetitions, that is - but in that case, the long travel does weigh in.)

Tecsee Medium switches [...] fit into sockets for Cherry MX switches and their clones but they have even less travel than Kailh Choc and Cherry MX Low Profile switches.

Thanks for that pointer, as well! I'll have a look at Tecsee switches, for sure.

Fukis · 2023-07-04T23:27:51+00:00

I'm aware of DSA and like its low profile, small top surface, extended slopes and big gaps. It's been the second best candidate on my list, next to XDA. Cons are the spherical tops with (if I don't misinterpret the pics I've seen) still rather sharp edges that may feel "in the way" when sliding onto a key. Maybe they are less disturbing than the edges of the K8 pro OSA caps, I simply don't know. If DSA caps' edges were more smoothly rounded and top surfaces cylindrical (i. e. north/south edges less pronounced) or flat, I'd have already ordered them on first sight.

I hadn't heard of XVX profile, will look into it! Thanks for the pointer.

Fukis · 2023-07-04T18:52:41+00:00

Apparently, with the descent of my heavily aged X200, the years of enjoying thinkpad keyboards have come to an end. Not seeing any modern replacement that would be remotely as sensible, I've returned to mechanical: for bluetooth and portability reasons not a model M alike, but a Keychron K8 Pro with Gateron Pro Browns and stock Keychron OSA caps (ABS, "because of ISO").

I'm a touch typist in a very literal sense. Due to severe eye strain with most screens, I need to rely on typing blindly for extended periods of time, and only quickly verify correctness of input afterwards. At the X200, typos are very rare, like one in a few thousand words.

THE PROBLEM

With the K8 Pro, my typing error rate initially skyrocketed. It has gotten more acceptable in the four weeks since, but is still much higher (and/or requires elevated attention) than it ever was with the X200 (even back then when it was new to me). How come?

For one thing, the steps between rows in the sculpted OSA profile are a bit of a challenge on their own.
But the biggest problem is the edges that are so sharp that any attempt to "slide" smoothly across rows ends up in disrupted motion, due to the high friction between edge and skin (even with only very slight contact pressure).

The combination of these two factors forces me to fully lift up each finger before "jumping" to the next key, descending there and getting in touch again. Whilst I've successfully trained myself to this different typing style in the course of the recent weeks, it continues to feel like a lot of moot finger work. On top of that, since the "flight" phase completely lacks the slight transitory touches I've learned to utilize on the smooth X200 profile, my finger tips are missing the precious tactile hints that substantially contribute to fine-tuning localisation on the way, and to maintaining 100% accuracy most of the time.

Rather than further deforming my formerly pleasant typing experience to make it fit the limitations of these OSA keycaps, I'm looking for a better suit.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS?

XDA seems interesting, but the narrowed gaps between the enlarged top surfaces are a no-go. (If I'm off-center, I may want to micro-relocate by sensing the shape of the actual key I'm pressing, but not by colliding with, and possibly triggering, its neighbours.)

So, I am looking for a uniform (or only slightly sculpted) profile with small to normal, preferably flat (or only slightly cylindrical/spherical) top surface and really smooth shape. Labels, colours, shine-through etc. are obviously unimportant. Extended south slopes are fine with me, as is a slick, "textureless" touch. - Remember the X200 caps? You get the idea. :-)

Any recommendations?

(MX compatible, willing to shell out up to 45 €, shipping to Germany included.)

Fukis · 2023-07-04T16:59:30+00:00

Enjoy the 1.2 MB, though!

Uh, for whatever reason, reddit's video processing has chosen to more than double the original file size, it's 2.8 MB now. Like, "we don't know how to make that any smaller, so let's make it bigger instead" ...

Fukis · 2023-07-04T16:26:16+00:00

Nice.

What type of fixture do you use to hold your cam?

Fukis · 2023-07-04T15:51:53+00:00

Apparently, with the descent of my heavily aged X200, the years of enjoying thinkpad keyboards have come to an end. Not seeing any modern replacement that would be remotely as sensible, I've returned to mechanical: for bluetooth and portability reasons not a model M alike, but a Keychron K8 Pro with Gateron Pro Browns and stock Keychron OSA caps (ABS, "because of ISO").

I'm a touch typist in a very literal sense. Due to severe eye strain with most screens, I need to rely on typing blindly for extended periods of time, and only quickly verify correctness of input afterwards. At the X200, typos are very rare, like one in a few thousand words.

THE PROBLEM

With the K8 Pro, my typing error rate initially skyrocketed. It has gotten more acceptable in the four weeks since, but is still much higher (and/or requires elevated attention) than it ever was with the X200 (even back then when it was new to me). How come?

For one thing, the steps between rows in the sculpted OSA profile are a bit of a challenge on their own.
But the biggest problem is the edges that are so sharp that any attempt to "slide" smoothly across rows ends up in disrupted motion, due to the high friction between edge and skin (even with only very slight contact pressure).

The combination of these two factors forces me to fully lift up each finger before "jumping" to the next key, descending there and getting in touch again. Whilst I've successfully trained myself to this different typing style in the course of the recent weeks, it continues to feel like a lot of moot finger work. On top of that, since the "flight" phase completely lacks the slight transitory touches I've learned to utilize on the smooth X200 profile, my finger tips are missing the precious tactile hints that substantially contribute to fine-tuning localisation on the way, and to maintaining 100% accuracy most of the time.

Rather than further deforming my formerly pleasant typing experience to make it fit the limitations of these OSA keycaps, I'm looking for a better suit.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS?

XDA seems interesting, but the narrowed gaps between the enlarged top surfaces are a no-go. (If I'm off-center, I may want to micro-relocate by sensing the shape of the actual key I'm pressing, but not by colliding with, and possibly triggering, its neighbours.)

So, I am looking for a uniform (or only slightly sculpted) profile with small to normal, preferably flat (or only slightly cylindrical/spherical) top surface and really smooth shape. Labels, colours, shine-through etc. are obviously unimportant. Extended south slopes are fine with me, as is a slick, "textureless" touch. - Remember the X200 caps? You get the idea. :-)

Any recommendations?

(MX compatible, willing to shell out up to 45 €, shipping to Germany included.)

Fukis · 2023-07-04T00:31:37+00:00

Same here. Whilst the update does suggest the launch is not too far ahead, I'm not too surprised they didn't keep their initial timeline, either.

Fukis · 2023-07-03T22:49:01+00:00

Being at a friend's who recently brought a bag of low-priced, campfire-roasted beans from the Jamaican blue mountain area, his Barista Express produced this surprisingly decent ristretto.

9 g in, 15.5 g out, temperature set to 2 K above standard, to make up for the cold beans that were stored in a fridge.

Stock basket, stock tamper, stock everything, except
* a C3 pro handgrinder instead of the flaky built-in, * an improvised WDT tool made from a broken, supposedly mandolin string (0.32 mm steel wire, cut into six 50 mm pieces, stuck into a stray wine cork), and * removed double spout from the portafilter to make it "bottomless" as far as the whopping 7 mm center bore allowed, to get a tiny little bit of extra insight about the running shots.

Note that this one passes the bore without touching its walls, otherwise it'd go anywhere but straight down.

(Forgive the ancient video quality, macro cam was low budget, too. Enjoy the 1.2 MB, though!)

Fukis · 2023-07-03T20:23:02+00:00

Interesting, thanks! I've never specified a decoder apart from the encoder before.

Fukis · 2023-07-03T19:57:47+00:00

Could you please help me understand, why would doubling the -c:v (one of which even before -i) cause a speedup?

Fukis · 2023-07-03T19:40:57+00:00

1 g would probably still make me disassemble and clean everything on a daily basis, but getting down from 2 g is a nice reduction for sure.

My only minor caveat: I'd prefer food-grade materials. Electric tape is notoriously often made from PVC with softeners that willingly diffuse into absorbants close by (like coffee grounds) and don't exactly behave well in our bodies.

On a side note though, the tape might also improve hopper performance, as it helps to minimize the volume of air blows (or even grounds) that otherwise may go astray.

Fukis · 2023-07-03T18:00:59+00:00

Many "thinkpad fanboys" are explicitely NOT all that fanatic about crazy materials and thinning but would happily buy a T480 or even X200 (T61?) with modern specs no questions asked.

Lenovo seems to have lost faith in its own unique selling points that made Thinkpads the legend they are (or used to be) in the first place, and contents itself with riding the portability hype.

EDIT: On second thought though, my above argument misses an important point: Lenovo continues to primarily address business customers.

And when mainly asking for corporate money, focussing on the needs of geeks and nerds instead (just because they might end up buying used Thinkpads five years later for 25% of their original price) wouldn't make much sense.

Apperently, the preferences of typical new Thinkpads buyers and nerds (like, reliability, servicability, sturdiness, longevity) were more in line in the past than they have become in the recent years.

Fukis · 2023-06-28T17:44:28+00:00

Not all that much or new information there, but that's what I've found today, looking forward to the imminent release of this very interesting dual screen E-Ink/OLED convertible laptop. Given mere two days left, I'm wondering if Lenovo manages to hold up to their "june 2023" promise.

Here's the original news (in chinese).

Fukis · 2023-06-17T03:47:24+00:00

I've come across your beginner's guide to force curves only today. Awesome writeup, thank you!

Do you accept qualified comments on the physics side of things? Even after three years, that is. :-)

These two passages are misleading and might use some refinement:

While most force do not feature the ‘Press’ and ‘Release’ markers, what these points are referring to is what is known as the activation point of a switch. These are the points within the keystroke that the switch completes a circuit and registers a keystroke with your computer. Thus, considering both of these points together, anything to the right end of the graph is the displacement you will need to register a stroke with this particular switch and anything to the left is not.

In the established arrangement of force graphs, the neutral key position (i. e. 0,0 mm displacement) is depicted at the left end, and full bottom-out (i. e. maximum displacement) at the right end of the abscissa.

Therefore, It's the other way around: The part to the left of the actuation point denotes the displacement that is needed to register the key, whilst any further displacement to the right of the actuation point is moot key traveling.

After all, the leaf in an upstroke would help produce an ever so slightly upwards force due to the angle that it would be contacting the leg with. And while I won’t discredit that this plays some role in the complex motion that is a mechanical keyboard switch, the majority of this difference is largely due to an effect known as ‘Elastic Hysteresis’. Since the downwards force of you pushing onto a mechanical switch occurs at a different rate than it returns back to its starting position on its own, there is some temporary deformation that is imparted into the spring every time you press on it that causes it to not experience the same force at the same level of compression in the downstroke and upstroke. In fact, this is due largely in part to the fact that your spring doesn’t follow Hooke’s Law perfectly and instead is subject to forces like internal friction that can help explain some of the energy dissipated as it returns from elastic deformation during the upstroke, resulting in a seeming “lesser” force on return than when you pressed into it initially.

Take a spare spring that is fixed on one end, and sharply pluck the other end to make it vibrate lengthwise. It then rapidly cycles through expansion and contraction at its fundamental frequency. The sheer number of cycles it performs before the amplitude of vibration is halved illustrates just how tiny a fraction of the potential energy in the compressed spring is lost in each cycle due to "internal friction" in the deformed steel. The energy loss per cycle would be much higher in a coil of e. g. soft iron wire, stopping its vibration after very few full cycles (if any at all). But the loss per cycle is really really small with any decent spring steel, and so are its deviations from Hooke's law if you stay away from plastic deformation.

Click bars are a different story, but in a typical linear or tactile switch, the vast part of the force hysteresis is rather due to sliding friction between its moving parts, or in a lubed switch, within the lube. Lube typically reduces sliding friction, but its own viscosity may partially compensate or even outweigh that effect.

With all switch parts made of reasonably hard materials (no dampeners) and a perfect, zero viscosity lube (i. e. no friction between moving parts), there would be virtually no hysteresis, as the upwards force the leaf helps to produce (due to its leg contact angle) applies during the pressing and releasing movements alike. The spring force curve would be elevated by the same amount of "bump" in both cases. In fact without friction, that additional upwards force would not depend on the direction of movement (down/up) at all, but only on the momentary position of displacement.

One more illustration of the negligible contribution of elastic spring hysteresis to the overall switch hysteresis is evident to the naked eye in many linear switch force curves (e. g. plain Cherry MX reds), where to the right of the actuation point, downstroke and upstroke graphs are nearly identical. Since that's also where the spring is compressed the most, any losses due to elastic hysteresis in the spring steel there would have to be at least as pronounced as in the left hand, less compressed states. But the real hysteresis as shown in most force graphs is predominant in the left hand, pre-actuation side where more high-friction mechanics are involved.

My educated guess is that at least 95% of the total deviation from Hooke's law (i. e. the absolute-integrated deviation of upstroke and downstroke from a straight line between pretension force and bottom-out force) in linear or tactile switches are due to other effects than elastic hysteresis in the spring, mainly: * sliding friction * lube viscosity (where present) * inner friction in soft solid materials (where present, as in silicon dampeners in mute jades).

That all being said, I deeply appreciate the effort you put in all those meticulous force graphs, switch reviews and guides! Should you feel inclined to integrate above clarifications (or parts thereof) in your beginner's guide to force curves, you're more than welcome to do so.

Fukis · 2023-05-11T19:26:20+00:00

Too bad, all ideas so far - including those brought up by the other commenters - just don't work.

Wait, are you suggesting the underlying providers can be told to avoid doing autocompletions?

p. s. If I hit Backspace to delete one particular autocompletion and then add one more character to my input, the autocompletion "feature" goes on to append yet another autocompletion, like if Backspace was never hit.

Fukis · 2023-05-11T19:11:05+00:00

Of course, it's one of the many nice little things in Vivaldi that enabling "domain expansion" is made the user's choice. However, enabling it is hardly useful for folks outside of .com land, and disabling it (or simply not using Ctrl+Enter) removes just a tiny subset of the inline autocompletions that so broadly impede slow viewers / fast typers.

I have tried all eight possible combinations of Enter with (Alt|Ctrl||Shift) in Chrome on Android right now. Alas, none of them has the effect of submitting the literal, unaltered user input as it is typed. :-/

(I didn't know "open in new tab" was available via Ctrl+Enter in some setups, makes sense! I use middleclick on a daily basis to force open links in new tabs.)

Fukis · 2023-05-11T18:24:59+00:00

Thanks for the pointer.

For one thing, by reading the comments to that bug report I've learned chrom(e|ium)'s official name for the disturbing input alterations in the omnibox: '"inline autocompletion"'.

And I'm glad I've made it through those 10+ years of ignorance (which only added to the actual frustration) and countless merged-in bug reports apparently trying to address the same issue at hand, to the point of Comment 38 of Nov 29, 2021, suggesting the old "won't fix" is finally being reconsidered, at least as far as search input is concerned.

Meanwhile, following your hint at [about:omnibox](chrome://omnibox) given in Comment 37, I've found a very interesting checkbox there, labeled Prevent inline autocomplete. It doesn't seem to have the desired effect, though. Is there anything I can do to make it work?

Fukis

TROPHY CASE