My "new" keyboard

My old keyboard, a 1984 Tulip, sadly died. The CTRL key had already broken off once, but I had managed to glue it back on. This time the damage was too much, though, and I had to get rid of it. Fortunately I had another keyboard, the Northgate Omnikey Ultra, in storage. This is a slightly more modern keyboard, from 1989, and is actually a step up from the Tulip. Some of the keyboard layout is a bit odd (I fixed most of it by reassigning scan codes, but there are still a few areas that I need to get used to) but the typing is amazing. I had used it before at work in Rochester, but there the people complained about the noise (it is loud) so I stopped using it. A keyboard like this makes you want to type. I looked on the Internet, and generally people seem to agree (Wikipedia calls it "the best in the industry". Other websites talk about "a legend in the computer industry", "personal favorite", "best keyboard", and the leader of PC World's column "the 30 products and services we miss most").

And PC World is right. The Tulip keyboard, the Northgate, and the IBM Model M keyboards are no longer available. The only way you can buy them is used, and given their lifespan of about 30 years, they will eventually only be seen in musea. Creative Vision Technology tried to make a keyboard like them in 2006, but it seems those aren't sold anymore either. What these keyboards have in common is that they use Alps Slider Switches, rather than a membrane. This means that they are more susceptible to liquids (if the liquid gets into the switch, your keyboard is basically dead) but also that anyone typing on them will notice that they are better. They aren't necessarily ergonomic (they can still cause carpal tunnel syndrome) but they just feel extremely good. And, just faster than sound flights, they are no longer commercially available.

The disappearance of these magnificent keyboards is most likely caused by the mouse. Because the mouse became more important in the interaction with the computer, the keyboard became less important, and people were no longer willing to spend $190 on a good keyboard. Instead, they bought a $5 keyboard and a slightly more expensive mouse. Which is fine for people that never used the old keyboards. But I will miss them. Let's hope my Northgate will last a long time, still.

Risk assessment

Today I saw someone update their feed with "Stuck in traffic [...]". I'm hoping that a passenger sent the message, but it is likely that the driver, while stuck, decided an update wouldn't hurt. Oddly, in the same feed is a message "[...] school bus w/o seat belts [...] Should I just drive her & pick her up?". For some reason there are people that think that buses (even without seat belts) are less safe than cars, and that sending updates from cars while driving doesn't increase risk. Here are some statistics:

Number of deaths per billion based on one hour of risk exposure (from the book 'Dangerous Places'):
Rail or bus in the United States: 10
Traveling by car: 1200

Increase of crash risk due to sending a text message from a car: 23x.

Mosha down: visitors

Mosha is in the guest bed room, and the visitors complained about the noise, so I had to turn the server off. I should be back in at most two weeks. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Mosha temporarily down

Mosha will be brought down for the Holidays, because I am too busy having fun to keep managing the server. I will be monitoring this post for comments, and my apologies for the inconvenience. It should be up after the first week of January again.

Nanowrimo winner

I finished my novel just in time to make the deadline for the NaNoWriMo 2009. Here is my award. Of course, it will need considerable editing before anyone else gets to read it, but if you want to help edit I might be able to send you a copy. I will expect pretty serious feedback in that case, though.

Pre Technics LEGO gears

Before LEGO came with the "LEGO Technics" (of which many parts are used in LEGO Mindstorms) they experimented with different gear systems. Displayed is the one I used in Europe (I understood that a different version was released in the USA). The gears can be combined at a 90 degree angle as well. The gears have 21, 15 and 9 pins, allowing gear ratios of 7:5, 7:3 and 5:3.

Even though the axles are white, they are still compatible with Technics. Similarly the bricks, wheels and stop bush are all still usable, although they have different colours. Not all the stop bush have the same shape: some are intended to be stops, others are intended to be used with rubber bands. The metal pins are used to connect the system to the 4.5V and 12V motors that existed at the time. The threads allow attachment of regular LEGO parts, unfortunately most of the pieces of the thread got lost.

Museum expanded

After getting some feedback from a co-worker I decided to reduce the amount of rust slightly, and add more hints that it is a museum setting. I also made the floor less distracting by adding a plate, which would also ensure that the marble wouldn't be damaged by the engine itself.