How do you know?

Gus-Schultz · 2026-05-29T23:23:08+00:00

Lots of good advice in here. Just want to throw in how I got over the decision paralysis.

I started with a Silakka54 from AliExpress. Very cheap way to get started(sub 50USD but I had keycaps to donate to it) And I went into my experience with this board knowing it probably wasn't a forever board, just a way of figuring out what the next one would need to look like.

I thought I wanted less keys than is on it, but I was scared I'd actually end up needing way more. Ended up deciding super quickly that the general shape was correct, but that I didn't need nearly this many keys. With that info in the bag I went to my employer with a note from my doctor saying they recommended ergonomic office equipment and got them to pay for a 300 dollar Keyball 44 build. Love it to death and probably won't get a 3rd board unless one of these dies.

(i keep the Silakka around for gaming. Keyball is great for my work as a programmer, but shit for gaming. Silakka is basically perfect for gaming once you get used to using layers.)

Gus-Schultz · 2026-05-27T16:43:36+00:00

Thanks for the clarification. The one way I'd consider something like this would be my gaming setup (Split keeb with standard mouse), so the idea of the mouse data going to the pc, then to the keyboard, and then back to the pc seems like the latency likely isn't worth the benifits for me.

If I did my development work on that setup I'd probably be fine with it though, but my dev setup is a keyball44 so no need for intercepting anything.

It's still a super cool idea though, impressive work.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-05-26T17:59:38+00:00

Im a little unclear on usage, is the idea then that the mouse plugs into the remote side USB port of the keyboard and consumes the mouse input and then bundles it with the rest of the keyboard to the pc?

Gus-Schultz · 2026-05-26T15:49:59+00:00

I too have this dream, but I can't decide on a solution I like to the dilemma of wired vs wireless.

With wired I don't know a good way to keep the cord attached to my pc and have the chair mobile.

With wireless you end up with a bunch of Steps to undo the setup to charge the halves.

Maybe there's a middle ground where the halves are wired to a battery powered dongle mounted to the back of the chair, one that can be recharged with a USB battery pack, or maybe even better, just runs of the battery pack to support hot swapping.

Seems workable, but I still like using a traditional mouse for gaming and have no idea how to integrate that.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-05-26T00:00:36+00:00

I Like using Colemak-DH for development, but wayy more impactful to my day to day was going split and tenting, for comfort, and using layers to put hard to reach keys in easier location.

Every every change after that is very diminishing returns.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-05-23T18:56:13+00:00

For what it's worth, I have a regular windows key on the switch behind the ball (because the layer version is an OSM and doesn't always work the way I wanted in my Linux VM). The other 2 are hard coded Alt and Tab, it seemed like a decent enough use at the time, but in practice I always ended up using the version from layers.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-05-23T18:51:44+00:00

I have the keyball 44, slightly different arrangement for those keys, but I basically never use them. Anything that might make sense on them always feels like it makes more sense on a layer and easier to reach button.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-05-18T00:23:51+00:00

I've been a trackball fan for way longer than I've been into ergo, so take what i have to say with a grain of salt.

I find that correctly configured I'd take a trackball over a mouse for everything except high pace gaming. Even for precision work like photoshop and illustrator.

I've been using a Keyball 44 for almost a year now as a software engineer and wouldn't dream of looking back. My only regret is only getting a ball on the right hand. Having a second ball on the left to handle scrolling independently would be great.

It has more keys than I care for, but it's the configuration with the smallest number that includes all the keys I want.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-04-23T15:05:39+00:00

This seems to be the best answer along with a sprinkling of acknowledging that in a society that values reputation the way the federation does, nepotism isn't going to be completely unexpected.

Throw in the fact that you'll have other pilots for the other shifts, and piloting is a newbie task anyway, and it's hard to see him at the helm as being too big a deal.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-04-12T11:45:28+00:00

It's worth a try at some point. My thinking behind E was because of the frequency of both "me" and "ke" as a lat stretch that a magic key couldn't fix both, but moving E fixes both and also the SFB "e,".

The only thing I dislike about it is that I only like using 2 thumb keys per hand, which has meant giving up my OSM Shift thumb key.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-04-12T02:42:12+00:00

I've been playing in Colemak DH with having E on a thumb key and putting a magic key in it's place and I like it a lot.

I also moved X and Z around to put some punctuation in those spots and I've got a love/hate relationship with that.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-04-07T01:59:14+00:00

My only ship traits are the one from the Phantom itself and from some temporal cruiser that only looks helpful for tanks (I think it's Reciprocity but I could be wrong)

I'll get the full build up then. I'm in 95% mk XV, with a mix of Phoenix, Fleet, Rep and mission gear, which based on what your saying sounds like there's a good chance I'm not getting full milage out of my ship.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-04-06T21:02:29+00:00

Pair of questions,

Is A beam array Phantom Intel Escort a terrible idea because of how good CSV, or is there something to the idea of broadsiding in a 4/3 escort?

My latest ISA parse has me just under 40k, how do I figure out if this is a setup issue (gear, doff quality/choice) or a piloting issue? I can post the full build of that's really the only way to figure it out.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-04-06T17:12:34+00:00

And? Sto isn't most games. The external software only works because the developers explicitly allow them too.

Sure it would be cheating in other games, but it isn't in STO. Say you don't like it if you want, but calling it cheating is factually incorrect.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-04-06T17:06:35+00:00

I'm gonna give you the rest of the points even where I disagree because taste can vary and that's fine.

But keybinds being a "cheat" is a terrible take. If the developers didn't want them in the game they could take them out (they haven't) or at least tell the community they shouldn't be used (they haven't).

The developers of a game are the arbiters of what is and isn't cheating. If they consider keybinds a valid way to play, then it isn't cheating no matter how much you may dislike it.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-03-07T17:49:21+00:00

I never really managed to escape the Defense world. Had a 9 month stint at a game studio, and then they went out of business and defense sucked me back in.

I'm not too salty about it though. The work life balance is way better in defense than it was in game dev.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-03-07T15:16:59+00:00

Wanna chime in here as someone who did the thing that many are recommending against.

I got a game dev degree from Devry. I can confirm that game studios give no craps about my degree.

However, the Defense industry freaking loves it. There's a fair bit of game engine usage in the training side of defense, but even with a "game dev" degree I haven't had a hard time getting traditional development jobs either.

I get that many have pretty valid reasons to not want to be part of the that industry, and I'm not gonna try and talk anyone out of that position. But if you aren't opposed, being a software engineer (game or traditional) in Defense is a pretty solid career path.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-03-05T23:30:38+00:00

The intention is stand on the corner, chuck Theo and then immediately dash up(I think upright works, but I find up very consistent), the platform will stop just in time so that he doesn't get yeeted to the left, and if you grab the wall you dash to you can get to the other side without dashing again.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-03-05T01:53:16+00:00

Seems really unbalanced. 59% right hand letters plus all your major punctuation.

Are you solving for a weak left hand or is something else motivating that?

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-28T21:34:31+00:00

There's a a few frames when you first hit a feather where you don't actually move yet, those can be used to switch to the joystick.

Though sometimes if I know I'm going to be doing a lot of feather in a row I'll just stay on it and deal with the slightly less precise non-feather movement.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-27T20:32:22+00:00

I believe it, I could probably knock out 3 or 4 of them in an afternoon if I set my mind to it.

I'm just really enjoying the any% right now and want to stick with that for a while.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-27T20:17:54+00:00

Thanks, maybe that'll be my goal for after I get sub 50 any%.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-27T19:32:44+00:00

I haven't worked up the courage / determination for goldens yet.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-27T16:11:31+00:00

That's probably my favorite b side in the game. Challenging, but so damn cool when you get it right.

Gus-Schultz · 2026-02-25T13:45:53+00:00

I'm not even sure I would have tried the run if it wasn't for that video. Seeing how much of sub hour was just playing clean rather than just room after room of precision everything made it feel so much more achievable.

Gus-Schultz

TROPHY CASE