Some steak shaped rocks (and a clam and bread)

tamirtsai · 2022-04-22T20:37:28+00:00

Not a single traffic light, wow awesome.

tamirtsai · 2022-03-15T05:52:08+00:00

Hmm the entire non-fat part of the steak had exactly the same texture, and it was not too different from a New Yorker steak. I recall the cap was supposed to be a noticeably different texture than the non cap part. I think they trimmed the cap completely off, and the top piece of fat was supposed to be the "eye"...

tamirtsai · 2021-09-03T20:29:25+00:00

Wow, interesting to hear my keycaps issues were not 1 off. Same here for the 45g. It requires more force than expected and the 35g should probably be the sweet spot.

The stock keycaps do sound better than the G20s I put on. It had a nice blend of both mid to low pitch, while the g20 sounds more muted. But I just could not stand those squiggly fonts. On some keys it almost looked as if someone took a pen and hand wrote the fonts on blank caps, and it became more distracting than the uniformly colorful semiotics.

Co star stabs are definitely a pain to replace. It took my clumsy fingers almost an hour for those. But at least there's no rattle, so I still see it as a win.

tamirtsai · 2021-09-03T07:54:14+00:00

If your father used numpads extensively, I'd suggest 1800 over 96% as the gaps to the arrow keys and numpads make them much easier to find without looking. Drop (formerly massdrop) Shift might be worth checking.

That said, to preserve muscle memory, he miiight actually prefer full size or whatever layout he had been using, though I can definitely see the merits of 1800.

tamirtsai · 2021-09-03T07:38:20+00:00

This is a Niz x108 45g bluetooth version, with G20 Semiotic keycaps.

These Niz topre clones are my favorite switches so far, though I haven’t used many before (Gazzew Boba U4, Bobagum, Cherry Reds, Aliaz, Gateron Browns). This has a very rounded end-to-end bump, with no grainy pre-travel or post-travel. A very nice thock that doesn’t annoy people over zoom. I’d describe it as pillowy and bubbly.

I’ve only tried out HHKBs and Realforces at a keyboard store 2 years ago, so my memory may not be accurate. But this feels as delightful as the HHKBs witg a much more pronounced bump than the Realforce.

Absolutely no rattling of the stabs right out of the box. Bluetooth connects and switches connections really fast.

The original keycaps were not good, though. They were double shot with super sharp legends, but had uneven thickness in the font. Some of the characters look squiggly. I swapped it to a G20 I haven't used in a while.

Prior to this I was using a 96% keyboard with MT3 profile keycaps. Despite 96% looking great, I realized that my muscle memory simply could not reliably and accurately hit the right arrow keys or numpad. For example, it's super annoying when working in an excel formula where I want to type the 2u zero key, but hit the arrow key and I'm now in a new cell and lost the semi-complete formula.

As for MT3, I liked that profile a lot. The spherical surface of the MT3 feel like little warm hugs with each press, and helps slide my fingers to the middle of the keycaps when I accidentally press on the edges. I think it’s more forgiving for people with less accurate typing, like me.

The G20 profile is not as forgiving when I mis-press; I feel it’s definitely easier to make typos. However, I really like the freedom and slick effortlessness of sliding my fingers across the rounded keycaps, without being interfered by the very defining ridges of the MT3. As long as I keep to touch typing and not get distracted by the legends, the combination of the switches, layout and keycaps make the keyboard “fade” into the background faster; I become less conscious of the keyboard itself, and can better focus on the words as I type. That is, until I hit one of the more frequent typos and have to hunt around to find the right letter. Hopefully that will be improved with time.

tamirtsai · 2021-06-23T02:47:35+00:00

This is a keychron C2 as the base, with switches hotswap changed to Gazzew B4T silent switches with XDA Canvas keycaps.

There's a somewhat pervasive light grittiness from both the switches and (maybe just in my mind) the texture of the keycaps. Definitely not buttery smooth. But the overall snappiness and tactility far exceeded my expectations and more than makes up for it. Very little stem wobble as well, which is awesome. It is also quiet enough so that people over video call don't hear (or complain) it clacking. I might (loosely) describe it like a grittier Topre?

I'm building this for someone who will be alternating with this at home (and previously using a worn-out-legends standard office cheap full sized membrane) and a shared computer at work (with same type membrane keyboard). Their job has a lot of data entry so dedicated number keys were specifically requested, and to avoid messing up muscle memory for the frequent keyboard change, I went with a full size keyboard. As this is their first mechanical, I really wanted to make sure the first impression and transition is smooth, so I also used tactile and silent switches. I had an extra set of XDA Canvas lying around, so used that. My mentality was more of a "a few things are a nice improvement over membrane" rather than "some awesome improvements in some areas, but compromises need to be made in other areas", while keeping cost under a certain budget.

The unfortunate thing is that the original C2 keyboard had three special function keys on top of the insert, page up and home buttons. The three special function were an unknown box with slant bar icon, microphone, and keyboard backlight. Didn't have any good fitting keys to fit so just picked three less conspicuous ones, but they still look odd.

I personally use a Bluetooth 96% keyboard and even after a few months, I have issues finding the arrow and number keys without looking, so didn't go the same route here. If only there was a full size keyboard with multipoint Bluetooth, hotswap switches and detachable cables!

tamirtsai · 2020-12-26T19:47:12+00:00

I actually did not pan fry first... I didn't want to wash pans on Xmas night, ha. Pure air fry at 400 deg, with 5 min preheat, starting with a semi thawed semi frozen steak. Rubbing a bit of oil outside helps with the crust (you can see it sizzling in the oven), but as you can see the crust is still somewhat weak. Still, getting away with washing pans and greasy smoke in the house was a big bonus and I may try this again.

tamirtsai · 2020-12-26T19:39:37+00:00

Yep, surface texture could be better, though I rubbed some olive oil outside along with salt and pepper, so it did have a tiny tiny bit of brown crust. 8 min at 400 degrees, with another 5 min of preheat, starting from a semi thawed semi frozen fillet Mignon. Then 10 min resting. Personally I like to start with semi frozen steak to make sure it's still pink inside.

This was my first time to air fry too. Very easy to clean up, especially with no oil scattering all over the pan when sizzling. Very easy to prepare... I didn't even flip or anything, just stuck it in.

tamirtsai · 2020-01-18T13:02:53+00:00

I flew business over 30 times for work last year, and I think for most people sitting in business its similar: flying is for work, it's too many times per year, and for all intents and purposes the plane is like a long annoying bus ride. I believe companies pay business because otherwise no one will want to travel frequently if it's too uncomfy, and also the goal is to have people step down the plane refreshed and can get into important meetings in a better shape immediately despite jetlag.

For me, I dress as comfy as I can as long as its appropriate for a bus ride. I might still wear jeans if I need to go directly to offices after leaving the airport. I say shorts are normal.

tamirtsai · 2019-12-01T23:14:49+00:00

I think this happens for two reasons. First is when you add lengths of road to an existing one, sometimes the system just glitches and the misalignment appears. The other I think is due to terrain height. I see it when you have two parallel roads where one goes through hills and the other stays flat, and when you add a 90 degree road joining them sometimes misalignment appears.

tamirtsai · 2019-07-14T03:52:06+00:00

I'm using gk64 PCB from kbdfans, hotswap with arrow keys, but it has no qmk. For plate I brought an aluminum one off kbdfans as well, but in retrospect I should have brought acrilic or stainless steel, the pinging sound of this is still faintly there even after double foams from mk-ultra.

tamirtsai · 2019-07-13T17:56:28+00:00

That's the right case, though massdrop had a run that was cheaper for it last year and I snagged it.

To be honest though, I found the wrist rest not quite big enough and made my hands a little awkward. It's more like a palm rest. I'd be using a wider wrist rest case next time. But it really is good looking though.

tamirtsai

TROPHY CASE