Keyboard Builders' Digest / Editorial
Behind the scenes #176
September switch toplist, Glyphica giveaway, keyboard projects, quick news, Chew PCBs in the mailbox, meetups, new vendors and coupon codes!
Published October 11, 2024
Hey, what's up everyone!
Welcome back for another weekly recap and behind-the-scenes write-up.
If you are new to kbd.news, you can read how this started out and what this is all about nowadays. If you like what you see, subscribe to the newsletter (free) and donate some bucks to keep this otherwise free and ad-free project alive.
Some posts worth sharing
- You loved the September switch compilation, this latest part of this monthly overview of community favorite mechanical switches based on real sales data provided by vendors and manufacturers.
- The double-sided Gboard is Google Japan's latest crazy project, a keyboard with a twist – ie. a Möbius strip.
- SolidusHal's btrfld v3 is still a foldable tenting keyboard, but now with ultra low-profile switches.
- The Manta58/s is an update of pixljar's popular 3D-printed case for the Lily58 kit.
- Alexander Miller shared his MadMacro, a 33-key gaming macropad with wrist rest.
- T.G. Marbach released the reJESK, a diodeless monoblock split keyboard with 70 keys.
- GOOS is a Rae Dux inspired wireless 36-key keyboard by Felix Brüggemann.
- Matt Petiteau released a slightly splayed version of his 30-key Sweep Cat.
- Vitaly Volkov released version 3 of his 60-key low-pro monoblock keyboard, the Chocofly.
- A 36-key low-profile wireless split by Đức Đào with huge battery: Chocowi36.
- Florent Linguenheld shared his cute Chew(s), an awesome keyboard design with cute graphics and a bit of splay.
- Glyphica: Typing Survival is a roguelite survival game that lets you mow down hordes of enemies in a minimalist arena using your finger dexterity and your choice of weapons. I'm giving away some free Steam codes. Check out the post or read the rules below.
TIPS
- OverKeys is an on-screen keyboard overlay for learning alternative layouts on Windows. Shared by Angelo Convento.
Closed-source, WIP, etc.
- A 18-key prototype by Coding4Sheckles. Github in the making.
- A split low-pro ortho by Danbiba. Github later.
Keyboard art
- I hate posts without specs, but here's this cute pastel something anyway:
Zack helped me out with this:
Also the "cute little something" 10u ortho you posted in the last issue is a #34 (jing34) r1, a Chinese-only GB that some of us had imported to the states. It's a hotswap Bluetooth burger mounted PCB in an aluminum case with a 1000mAh battery.
- Amber keycaps with bug inclusions – by KeycapQuarry. :)
Hey Everyone! These are Genuine Amber Artisan Keycaps handmade by yours truly. I just want to show off some cool rocks on keyboards as they are my art form – Carter.
- Protieusz made a Smile36 with a Sponge Bob case designed for his daughter.
Glyphica giveaway
Glyphica: Typing Survival is a great and addictive typing game, and if you're reading kbd.news it means you are the main target audience: You kill enemies by typing, you grind, upgrade, level up, etc.
If you want a free steam key for this game, just get back to me so I can count you in in the raffle. To join, simply comment something below my tweet here or, if you really hate X/Twitter, drop me an email with the subject "glyphica" (deadline: Oct 14th, 2024, 20:00 GMT).
I cannot afford to be sucked into this game right now, so I'm probably going to give away both codes I got from the Glyphica guys.
Months ago, when I reported about this project for the first time, I couldn't stop replaying the demo despite a nasty bug. I'm sure everything has been fixed and is ready now, but let me not check it out.
In the mailbox
I received a bunch of cute Chew PCBs from Florent. Thanks, I really appreciate it! Now I know what to do with my MoErgo Cherry Blossom switches.
Donations
- A new recurring donation set up by Andres Sakk. Thank you!
- And I cleaned up my donor list. Hmm. There were some former supporters who still appeared in the list for some reason. In reality, there are 2-3 recurring donors less.
- As always, many thanks to my awesome regular supporters and everyone who helped this project thus far.
For all the donation options check out the donation page!
Meetup database
Upcoming meetups (2):
- SFxMK - 2024 Autumn Meetup, October 12, San Francisco, CA, US
- MKIT 2024, October 12, Turin, Italy
Recently added (2):
- MYMK Meetup 2024, October 27, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
As always, this meetup database serves as both a calendar and an archive, so feel free to send me upcoming events or even ones from the recent past to make this collection as comprehensive as possible.
Vendors & Discounts
Feel free to use the KBDNEWS discount code at 162 keyboard shops! And do not hesitate to report any issues.
New shops and updates to the database of keyboard vendors this past two weeks:
- Capsule Deluxe (home of Manta58/s case) offered you a 10% discount (all in-stock, non-sale items; one use per customer). Thanks Cari!
- Typeractive's Nick offered you a 5% discount, e.g. from this gorgeous aluminum Corne case.
- TheKeyCompany is closing (source).
Developments
Developments? These days are blending together, but I'm pretty sure I updated lots of scripts aiding the switch compilation and database. This was the first time with switch icons in the monthly post as well.
Coming next: standardization/normalization of the sales data and rankings as a plan B for an aggregated top list.
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That's all for today. Thanks for checking by. As always: Keep learning and building!
Until next time,
Tamás
Published on Fri 11th Oct 2024. Featured in KBD #176.
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