Darth Vader is a pansy
American country music doesn't appeal to me, but Johnny Cash atoned for its worst sins. Whitney Houston’s foghorn cover of Dolly Parton’s funeral-favourite I will always love you could finally be forgiven when Cash returned the favour with his version of Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus. But if you had turned up at the wrong …
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Re: Wot, no H2G2 references?
If you're interested, Filco also do a blank keyset option for their keyboards. I've owned two now, a Majestouch (Brown Switch) and a Majestouch 2 Tenkeyless (Red Switch), with blank keys.
I'll never go back to a non mechanical keyboard after owning one of these. They are so nice to type on, it is uncanny. People look at me like I'm mad for spending over £100 on a keyboard, but they spend £70 on a piece of shit G15... which will need to replaced much sooner than either of these Filcos, my original keyboard is three years old and going strong only needing a little clean every now and then. I made the mistake of taking my Majestouch to work then couldn't do without it which is why I have two.
Incidentally, I definitely prefer the red switch.
Black's all right but...
Pink or lime green (like the early Asus EEEs) are a lot less likely to get nicked.
Re: Black's all right but...
Why don't we make it smell like plum-ripe shit piles while we're at! For fuck's sake...
Bromine
Vader should have been beige.
Computers go yellow because of UV exposure having caused the bromine compounds used as fire retardants in the plastic turn into some other form that is brown.
(so that's probably something like bromine compound -> bromine crystals)
Read this link and it could change your life:
http://retr0bright.wikispaces.com/
labels on the keys
Labels on the keys are for wimps. Real men can touch type.
Re: labels on the keys
...or dictate to their secretaries.
Runs away. Very fast.
Re: labels on the keys
Real men have unlabeled keyboards because we've worn the labels off them.
Re: labels on the keys
Gamers just loose them on the wsad keys.
Re: labels on the keys
Aaron - you have a lot of Dell keyboards too, huh?
Re: labels on the keys
Actually, I've got a Dell keyboard on my desk, P/N SK-8110, that's seen well over a million keystrokes -- I've been using it nearly a decade -- and it has yet to lose a label; the 'S' has a tiny nick in it, but that's all. (It's one of the old PS/2 ones they used to ship with, e.g., Dimension 3000 desktops. I've got a couple of the newer flimsy USB type, but haven't used them very much, so I don't know if it's just the newer keyboards that are crap.)
Mostly I see this happen with laptop keyboards, and my clients frequently see it with Logitech wireless units; I've been thinking it has more to do with cheaply formulated ABS + acidity of skin oils, or something, especially since on my laptops I tend not only to wear off the labels but to eat divots into the plastic of the keys themselves -- I've only had this "Toshiba", actually Acer, for a couple of years, and of the EATOINSHRDLU keys, those which don't have dents have at least had the matte finish worn off. The spacebar's got such a huge dent in the right-hand side, where the first knuckle of my thumb hits it, that I'm wondering how much longer before I punch through it entirely.
@Aaron Em: Cheaply-Made Keyboards
The good keyboards were made with double-shot injection molding; the labels on the keys went "all the way through". Legendary-old-school Hewlett-Packard used to use this process on their calculator keys.
These days, manufacturers don't use double-shot molding because it's more expensive, and doesn't make sense. Usually, the crappy rubber-dome-or-whatever contact mechanisms currently made die before the cheap-o labels wear off.
I have a few old-style IBM mechanical keyboards, along with the needed PS/2-->USB converters. 30+ years old, and they still work just fine.
Re: @Aaron Em: Cheaply-Made Keyboards
God bless Model Ms! I've got one -- a proper one, model 1391401, in fact -- made a few months before I was born, and it's still as solid as a tank. Only reason I don't use it is that it lacks a Windows key -- something about which people have been grousing for years, despite the fact that a fourth meta key is actually a very handy thing to have.
Re: @Aaron Em: Cheaply-Made Keyboards
You can still get "kinda" Model Ms from Unicomp's outlet. Perhaps not quite as sturdy as the originals, but they're still really very good, and they have the extra keys. And a non-beige colour scheme!
Re: @Aaron Em: Cheaply-Made Keyboards
That's good to know -- thanks!
re: seconded
Not just an awesome movie, though a remake of a 30's Spencer Tracy movie, but an awesome score by John Barry, as well.
Supposedly...
... there's a Darth Vader action figure with a sign on it saying "Warning - Choking Hazard"...
Stones are normally slate coloured?
Maybe it's down to the geography of where you live.
Go somewhere that's primarily limestone and suddenly "stone white" makes sense.
My computer
is blood red. I'll trade it with you! It's somewhat... horrid... but it does the job.
http://tinypic.com/r/2w2gg9z/6
UV light...
...makes ABS go yellow, not just nicotine. Something to do with it releasing bromine. That is partly why the original Sony Playstation was a slightly purpley shade of light grey, so that inevitable yellowing would look less noticeable.
Coloured boxes.
+ 1 for black. Not too bothered about beige / white / whatever. The trend for everything to be silver-coloured plastic not so long ago? That was the work of Satan.
I'm still waiting for an explanation as to why all the TV and HiFi manufacturers decided simultaneously that they wanted that el cheapo, '80s Binatone/Goldstar/Amstrad look......
Re: Coloured boxes.
Its's not quite the amstrad look - for that you have to make randomly selected buttons primary colours and use really bad fonts!
Re: Coloured boxes.
I had a choice of black or silver DVD player when I needed to replace, I chose black.
Silver finish - useless Pace PVR as soon as it is cleared scrap time, a BT Vision box - yes a Freeview PVR for £30, an RGB switch box.
Everything else is black and looks better for it.
Because black is too mainstream?
Black is functional. It maximizes contrast to key glyphs, indicator lights and the like.
Colored kit look like toys. I loved netbooks when they were black and square; now that they're all smooth textures, curved lines and sissy colors I can't stand looking at the things.
But if you're really pissed with the prevalence of black kit, don't worry: for better or (in my opinion) worse the market always oscillates between all-black and all-white kit, so sooner or later it should swing around.
Re: Because black is too mainstream?
My neighbour has four cars, all of them in fashionable black. It's like living next door to an undertaker.
Re: Because black is too mainstream?
Out washing them all the time, I'll bet.
I thought white was the new cool for cars? Some manufacturers even charge for it these days - used to be the cheapest of the freebie options...
MrT Re: white cars
My friend has an interesting theory on white cars, having owned quite a few different coloured ones in his time.
He maintains that white cars have the best "police invisibility" - that is, cops pull over white cars noticeably less often than cars of any other colour, with red being the "cop magnet" colour most likely to be pulled over. His experiences in 25 years of driving seem to bear him out on this: in the 4 years he was driving his red Datsun 1200, he was pulled over 12 times; in the same period driving his white Ford Falcon, he was pulled over only once.
Not only that, he also diligently takes note every time he sees someone else pulled over, and he says he sees less white cars pulled over than any other colour, despite white being one of the more common car colours on the road where we live.
Since he's a bit of a risk-taker and a leadfoot, his driving style is more likely than most to attract the notice of the local constabulary regardless of the car he's in, so he puts it down to the colour of the car as being the major determinant of police attention!
Re: white cars
That's a good observation. I picked a metallic bluish silver because it hides muck and small scratches. The last time it got washed was when it went for a service.
Mind you, I find speed cameras to be fairly colour-agnostic ;-)
Beige plastic actually yellowed due to fire retardant chemicals added to the plastic.
'Who' is but the form following the function of 'what'
Don't forget The Master in Doctor Who. Always dressed in black, slim-fit suits with perfect cuffs and sleeve lengths. Virtually everything worn by Delgado and Ainley still looks contemporary.
And then there's Spooks. Adam Carter was like a male catwalk model sponsored by Debenhams as he colourfully strutted around The Grid, whilst Tom was seriously cool. That was because his dress sense (dark and simple) and demeanour mirrored each other.
You can't just dress in black and still behave like Alan Carr. You need to be as devoid of personality and emotion as your clothes are of colour, thus conjuring up the perception of mystery and secrecy. Then you're cool and interesting as people wonder what you're really like on the inside. Behave exactly the same way in a pair of mustard chinos and a 'James May' stripy jumper or a grey suit, and you'll just be a crashing bore.
Go on, imagine Steve Jobs giving a keynote speech and announcing the new iPad whilst looking like Eric Finch. Talking of which, V is another cool person who dresses in slim-fit black, skilfully avoiding fancy footwear.
Re: 'Who' is but the form following the function of 'what'
I wish I could dress as sharp as Sr. Delgado's Master. My God, what a good-looking man! -- and about the only one who could get away with dressing all in black, too; on most people it just looks sad.
Shaving
Back in the day (remember Miami Vice?), there was an electric razor that left stubble a la Sonny Crockett.
Re: Shaving
The Philips beard trimmer i use has the setting 'Unique Stubble Look'...
Colours
Black & red, the colours of sports cars sold to men looking to appear more potent. I think there is plenty of trick cyclist research on this but Ferrari's catalogue is probably all the evidence you need.
Personally, I like the idea expounded in "The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover" that black stuff should be more expensive because is symbolises "the mastery over death".
Technology Matte Black
You know I was just thinking the exact opposite. I actually LIKE the matte black finish and I feel all tech should be available in basic black. I was looking through the phones the other day at best buy and I couldn't help but notice how many of them failed so spectacularly at visual aesthetics. It's like cell phone manufacturers have completely lost any sense of style or taste. Not one of them was completely matte black. Either they have a back cover that's a hideously different color than the rest of they have this god-awful silver band around the outer edge (apple style). I really can't stress enough just what an eye-sore most apple products are and it fizzles my brain to see so many phone manufacturers willfully copying Apple's lack of style.
I still think it should be a crime to use the color silver without an art degree or something XD
Disagree
The problem with Max was not the color. The problem was that it was actually quite difficult to remain awake, attentive, and sane through enough of The Black Hole to actually see him. I'd willingly watch Battlefield Earth a dozen times in succession before I'd agree to sit through that turd of a movie again.
Re: Disagree
Look, I know The Black Hole is no Citizen Kane, but do you really expect anyone on this forum to seriously believe you, or anyone else with more than two discrete brain cells, capable of sitting through Battlefield Earth even once, let alone a dozen times, regardless of how bad any other movie might be?
I don't think so, sunshine!
I'll have some of what he's on
What a bizarrely rambling article. I couldn't get the image of Alistair sitting on a park bench yelling the entire thing at a bewildered pigeon out of my mind...
Re: I'll have some of what he's on
It's going to get worse. Readers seem to prefer random cult sci-fi references to the computer kit I'm supposed to write about.
Re: I'll have some of what he's on
Just so long as you avoid "Battle Beyond The Stars" - that spaceship had boobs.
But it influenced the design of Firefly/Serenity, so I guess it must remain in the pantheon.
Re: I'll have some of what he's on
"It's going to get worse. Readers seem to prefer random cult sci-fi references to the computer kit I'm supposed to write about."
A man who knows his market.
Beige kit and fags
All those people claiming it was UV which turned beige computers brown, and not fags. How does that account that some of the kit we used pull out of offices looked and felt like it had been dipped in tar!
We used to scrape the shit off and frankly you could have surfaced roads with it.
I painted my bedroom blood red...
... gives it that period feel.
Want a red computer? The SGI Fuel might be your cup of tea.
Orange and brown? Those were the colours of ICL. Some of their smaller computers were just resprays. I think the colour was called Hot Tango. Staff wore brown suits with orange ties.
'sky white’
Quite interesting, and I am sure purely by accident - but almost accurate.
Sky is not an English word, but a Viking word - it basically means grey clouds, it became synonymous with the sky as we know it for obvious reasons. And eventually the word sky became sky and a whole new raft of beautiful words for clouds were invented. (although today no actual clouds can be seen above Portman Road)
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