I remember the age of MySQL. Have you ever heard 'LAMP'? I don't know why even now, but in the age, MySQL was the shining star of web app development. I've insisted PostgreSQL from the age until now.
May 31, 2014
ESC keycap Slonik of PostgreSQL
Now new single keycap is on sale.
I remember the age of MySQL. Have you ever heard 'LAMP'? I don't know why even now, but in the age, MySQL was the shining star of web app development. I've insisted PostgreSQL from the age until now.
I remember the age of MySQL. Have you ever heard 'LAMP'? I don't know why even now, but in the age, MySQL was the shining star of web app development. I've insisted PostgreSQL from the age until now.
May 30, 2014
ESC keycap Tiger of Ghostscript
Now new single keycap is on sale.
If you are a old geek, you will remember this tiger. This is the tiger of Ghostscript. Does young people still use Ghostscript? It was a great software... It has been a long time since I've used it last time.
If you are a old geek, you will remember this tiger. This is the tiger of Ghostscript. Does young people still use Ghostscript? It was a great software... It has been a long time since I've used it last time.
May 29, 2014
ESC keycap Yuyushiki
Now new single keycap is NOT on sale... in Etsy. As you know, Etsy isn't Taobao.
ゆゆ式 (Yuyushiki) is famous anime and manga in Japan. Anime and manga tends to be Rococo-like insubstantial, plastic, particular-in-Japan piece. But Yuyushiki is hearty and universal master piece in spite of very manga deformation. I recommend you Yuyushiki as learning materials of Japanese and only for fun.
By the way, do you know 'Request Custom Order' button in Etsy? I'd like to hear your demands.
ゆゆ式 (Yuyushiki) is famous anime and manga in Japan. Anime and manga tends to be Rococo-like insubstantial, plastic, particular-in-Japan piece. But Yuyushiki is hearty and universal master piece in spite of very manga deformation. I recommend you Yuyushiki as learning materials of Japanese and only for fun.
By the way, do you know 'Request Custom Order' button in Etsy? I'd like to hear your demands.
May 28, 2014
ESC keycap Kumamon of Kumamoto
Now new single keycap is now on sale.
The official name of this bear is くまモン (Kumamon). Kumamon is the mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Sometimes Japanese mascot becomes to be recognized as demoniac character in foreign countries, like どーもくん (Mr. Domo) of NHK. Kumamon is the latest case of the phenomenon.
Domo of NHK:
The official name of this bear is くまモン (Kumamon). Kumamon is the mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. Sometimes Japanese mascot becomes to be recognized as demoniac character in foreign countries, like どーもくん (Mr. Domo) of NHK. Kumamon is the latest case of the phenomenon.
Domo of NHK:
May 27, 2014
ESC keycap Puffy of OpenBSD
Now new single keycap is now on sale. BSD has famous three successors: NetBSD, OpenBSD, and FreeBSD. OpenBSD is a security-oriented successor. Puffy is the mascot of OpenBSD.
May 26, 2014
ESC keycap Glenda of Plan 9
Now new single keycap is now on sale. Do you know Plan 9? It is an operating system. It has a famous elder brother -- UNIX. Glenda is the mascot of Plan 9.
May 25, 2014
Color management is rocket science
Let's start real science of color. These are obvious and basic but different from schoolboy's study like 'primary colors' or 'color wheel.'
Study 1: Surface roughness
Materials:
- A piece of color plastic, like Lego.
- A piece of sandpaper.
Method:
Rub the plastic piece with sandpaper. Wash the plastic piece and remove dust.
Observation:
The rubbed surface of the piece becomes whitish.
Conclusion:
The color of material depends on surface roughness.
This fact means color management should manage surface roughness. And the surface of keycap's top side is generally mat.
Study 2: Translucent
Materials:
- A piece of plastic sheet. Thin (under 0.5 mm). Not black, not transparent.
- A felt pen. Black.
- A paper. White.
Method:
Daub the half area of the underside of the test piece by the pen. Put the test piece on the paper.
Observation:
You can distinguish the daubed area from upside.
Conclusion:
Opaque plastic transmits light in some degree.
Keycap is thin plastic.
Study 3: Metamerism
Materials and instruments:
- A bowl of salad.
- A cheap LED light.
Method:
Look at the salad under the sun. Subsequently, look at the salad under the light of the LED.
Observation:
Under the light of the LED, the salad looks bad.
Conclusion:
The color of material depends on light source.
This fact means color management should manage light source. Such instruments is too expensive for personal use.
Color management starts from understanding these difficulties. It is rocket science.
Study 1: Surface roughness
Materials:
- A piece of color plastic, like Lego.
- A piece of sandpaper.
Method:
Rub the plastic piece with sandpaper. Wash the plastic piece and remove dust.
Observation:
The rubbed surface of the piece becomes whitish.
Conclusion:
The color of material depends on surface roughness.
This fact means color management should manage surface roughness. And the surface of keycap's top side is generally mat.
Study 2: Translucent
Materials:
- A piece of plastic sheet. Thin (under 0.5 mm). Not black, not transparent.
- A felt pen. Black.
- A paper. White.
Method:
Daub the half area of the underside of the test piece by the pen. Put the test piece on the paper.
Observation:
You can distinguish the daubed area from upside.
Conclusion:
Opaque plastic transmits light in some degree.
Keycap is thin plastic.
Study 3: Metamerism
Materials and instruments:
- A bowl of salad.
- A cheap LED light.
Method:
Look at the salad under the sun. Subsequently, look at the salad under the light of the LED.
Observation:
Under the light of the LED, the salad looks bad.
Conclusion:
The color of material depends on light source.
This fact means color management should manage light source. Such instruments is too expensive for personal use.
Color management starts from understanding these difficulties. It is rocket science.
May 24, 2014
$230 for TKL keycap set is very pricey. Why?
I've started to sell my product in my Etsy shop. I'd like to answer the probable or real questions from the responses.
Today's question: $230 for TKL keycap set is very pricey. Why?
In short:
Excellent design cannot live without diversity. Diversity costs ridiculously high.
In long:
In every area where people lives, there are private dressmakers. In every big cities, there are private car factories which make their own specialty cars. They are the base of Chanel and Ferrari.
I'm otaku in Japan. I know doujinshi market. Over 35,000 people makes their own booklets i.e. doujinshi. They are the base of Evangelion and Naruto.
I'll show a difficult case too; wrist watch. I think that wrist watch's design is boring and monotonous. Go to a shoe shop and a wrist watch shop, and compare them. In my eyes, the latter seems like going to ruin. This is because wrist watch market lacks the base like dress, car, or shoe, I suppose.
How about keyboard? The situation is far worse than wrist watch. The base is nearly zero. The design is...
If you live in one of G7 countries, I suppose that you have never ordered any dress to nearby dressmaker. The price is ridiculously high comparing to GAP. Private factory's specialty car, doujinshi, private shoemaker's shoe, they are all ridiculously pricey comparing to mass production stuff.
So, what price is appropriate in the case of keycap? This is a tough question.
Let's start from current status. My competitor's price, $50 to $100, is low or high? If high enough, why I cannot find hundreds of shops in Ebay or Etsy?
This is what I bet on. If people becomes to think $230 for TKL keycap set is reasonable, hundreds of shops will appear.
From the standpoint of investment, to rationalize under $140 price, over $3,000 instruments and materials are required. This is difficult investment for highly uncertain market. If shops use outside supplier for printing, the production cost should be the half of the selling price at most. I think that over $100,000 investment is required to rationalize $70 PBT dye-sub TKL set printing for very small quantity. I cannot imagine such investment occurs without certain prospect of business.
(By the way, the numbers above is on the assumption of printing on two sides (front and top) of keycap. If only top side, the numbers become about 2/3. In the case of my product, if only top side, I will sell it for $150. But printing on front side makes keycap much luxury.)
Hundreds of shops will be the base of excellent design of keyboard. In the day, you can buy beautiful keyboard from top brand like Chanel, but the price is like Chanel too.
I'm much confident of my design and I believe no future top brand can make better stuff than mine. Of course, every private dressmaker, shoemaker, car factory, etc. believes just same as me. We are the diversity.
Today's question: $230 for TKL keycap set is very pricey. Why?
In short:
Excellent design cannot live without diversity. Diversity costs ridiculously high.
In long:
In every area where people lives, there are private dressmakers. In every big cities, there are private car factories which make their own specialty cars. They are the base of Chanel and Ferrari.
I'm otaku in Japan. I know doujinshi market. Over 35,000 people makes their own booklets i.e. doujinshi. They are the base of Evangelion and Naruto.
I'll show a difficult case too; wrist watch. I think that wrist watch's design is boring and monotonous. Go to a shoe shop and a wrist watch shop, and compare them. In my eyes, the latter seems like going to ruin. This is because wrist watch market lacks the base like dress, car, or shoe, I suppose.
How about keyboard? The situation is far worse than wrist watch. The base is nearly zero. The design is...
If you live in one of G7 countries, I suppose that you have never ordered any dress to nearby dressmaker. The price is ridiculously high comparing to GAP. Private factory's specialty car, doujinshi, private shoemaker's shoe, they are all ridiculously pricey comparing to mass production stuff.
So, what price is appropriate in the case of keycap? This is a tough question.
Let's start from current status. My competitor's price, $50 to $100, is low or high? If high enough, why I cannot find hundreds of shops in Ebay or Etsy?
This is what I bet on. If people becomes to think $230 for TKL keycap set is reasonable, hundreds of shops will appear.
From the standpoint of investment, to rationalize under $140 price, over $3,000 instruments and materials are required. This is difficult investment for highly uncertain market. If shops use outside supplier for printing, the production cost should be the half of the selling price at most. I think that over $100,000 investment is required to rationalize $70 PBT dye-sub TKL set printing for very small quantity. I cannot imagine such investment occurs without certain prospect of business.
(By the way, the numbers above is on the assumption of printing on two sides (front and top) of keycap. If only top side, the numbers become about 2/3. In the case of my product, if only top side, I will sell it for $150. But printing on front side makes keycap much luxury.)
Hundreds of shops will be the base of excellent design of keyboard. In the day, you can buy beautiful keyboard from top brand like Chanel, but the price is like Chanel too.
I'm much confident of my design and I believe no future top brand can make better stuff than mine. Of course, every private dressmaker, shoemaker, car factory, etc. believes just same as me. We are the diversity.
May 23, 2014
Made-to-order customization service
I offer you made-to-order customization service. Default stuff is available at my Etsy shop, DecentKeyboard.
There are some limitations for dye-sub printing and my service.
1. Lavender keycaps are dyed. Keycap color is white (non-dyed) or lavender. No other option is available.
2. Dye-sub printing uses dye. Dye makes stuff darker without exception. It makes never paler. If you choose lavender as keycap's color, all surface becomes darker than lavender.
3. I cannot print on or dye space bar.
4. Printable side is top and front only.
5. Printing on front side is available only square (1 x 1) and short (1 x 1.25 and 1 x 1.5) keys. I cannot print on Caps Lock, both Shift, Enter, and Backspace keys’ front side.
6. Blank keycap to print is limited to Keycool 87 set. Therefore, I cannot provide non-windowed or stepped Caps Lock key. Right Shift key suitable for KBT Pure Pro is not available, too.
There are some limitations about quality, too.
1. Please don't expect that you can get the exact color what you specified. Color management is rocket science.
2. Pale color printing may result conspicuous dither. Low-end 4-color inkjet printer will simulate this limitation.
3. The printing alignment precision is ±0.3 mm at worst case. It may be noticeable depending on design.
4. In printing process, dye-sub's dye spreads 30 to 60 μm. Thin strong line becomes noticeably bold.
Moreover, there are some limitations about legend.
1. I don't change typeface, size, and position. Typography is as difficult as the naming of cats.
2. I don't accept too long legend which overflows to marginal area. In that case, please split the line. Two lines are available for command legend.
I'll explain the reasons of these limitations someday.
If you can live with these limitations, please look at the picture below.
Scenario 1:
Draw your request on the picture like this:
If you want to change legend’s color, please specify it by RGB. (255, 0, 0) is red.
Scenario 2:
Explain your request in words. Example: ‘Dvorak layout.’ This example will cost about 60 USD.
Scenario 3:
Combine the scenario 1 and 2.
Scenario 4:
If you want to specify everything, please download this template and place your images on it.
The lead time is in 5 business days when all the materials are in stock and I have no back order. Please ask me current status.
Thank you for your interest in my service.
There are some limitations for dye-sub printing and my service.
1. Lavender keycaps are dyed. Keycap color is white (non-dyed) or lavender. No other option is available.
2. Dye-sub printing uses dye. Dye makes stuff darker without exception. It makes never paler. If you choose lavender as keycap's color, all surface becomes darker than lavender.
3. I cannot print on or dye space bar.
4. Printable side is top and front only.
5. Printing on front side is available only square (1 x 1) and short (1 x 1.25 and 1 x 1.5) keys. I cannot print on Caps Lock, both Shift, Enter, and Backspace keys’ front side.
6. Blank keycap to print is limited to Keycool 87 set. Therefore, I cannot provide non-windowed or stepped Caps Lock key. Right Shift key suitable for KBT Pure Pro is not available, too.
There are some limitations about quality, too.
1. Please don't expect that you can get the exact color what you specified. Color management is rocket science.
2. Pale color printing may result conspicuous dither. Low-end 4-color inkjet printer will simulate this limitation.
3. The printing alignment precision is ±0.3 mm at worst case. It may be noticeable depending on design.
4. In printing process, dye-sub's dye spreads 30 to 60 μm. Thin strong line becomes noticeably bold.
Moreover, there are some limitations about legend.
1. I don't change typeface, size, and position. Typography is as difficult as the naming of cats.
2. I don't accept too long legend which overflows to marginal area. In that case, please split the line. Two lines are available for command legend.
I'll explain the reasons of these limitations someday.
If you can live with these limitations, please look at the picture below.
Scenario 1:
Draw your request on the picture like this:
If you want to change legend’s color, please specify it by RGB. (255, 0, 0) is red.
Scenario 2:
Explain your request in words. Example: ‘Dvorak layout.’ This example will cost about 60 USD.
Scenario 3:
Combine the scenario 1 and 2.
Scenario 4:
If you want to specify everything, please download this template and place your images on it.
The lead time is in 5 business days when all the materials are in stock and I have no back order. Please ask me current status.
Thank you for your interest in my service.
Final test, mass production, and now on sale
My ambitious is keycap DIY becomes usual handicrafts like knitting. So I've started my shop in Etsy.
Final test set:
4 sets are in stock.
And made-to-order customization service has been started too!
Final test set:
4 sets are in stock.
And made-to-order customization service has been started too!
May 11, 2014
3D dye-sub transfer film degeneration
I've reached the cause of the inconsistent ink bleed.
Example:
The cause is the degeneration of 3D dye-sub transfer film.
The film I use is packed in a silver sealing bag. The film contains some volatile substance. The bag seals the substance, I suppose. If the substance has gone from film, ink spreads. The sealing of the bag's mouse is not perfect. The substance volatilizes nearby the bag mouse. Therefore, the film around the bag mouse becomes bad, while not so bad at the other areas of the film.
Example:
Conclusion: The 3D dye-sub transfer film has expiry date. The bag's sealing is important.
Example:
The cause is the degeneration of 3D dye-sub transfer film.
The film I use is packed in a silver sealing bag. The film contains some volatile substance. The bag seals the substance, I suppose. If the substance has gone from film, ink spreads. The sealing of the bag's mouse is not perfect. The substance volatilizes nearby the bag mouse. Therefore, the film around the bag mouse becomes bad, while not so bad at the other areas of the film.
Example:
Conclusion: The 3D dye-sub transfer film has expiry date. The bag's sealing is important.
May 10, 2014
The second trial set of APL keycaps (IBM PC layout)
Now this is IBM PC layout.
The modifier keys are dyed.
There are some glitches yet.
1. Inconsistent ink bleed.
Noticeably different.
I don't know the cause yet. Insufficient pressure? Pressure drifts during dye-subbing? Temperature control is wrong?
2. Slash key's front side. In IBM PC layout, '∵' (U+2235 'BECAUSE') should be printed at slash key's front side. Yes I can, but it is a burden.
3. I forgot to print 'SysRq'. :-)
The modifier keys are dyed.
There are some glitches yet.
1. Inconsistent ink bleed.
Noticeably different.
I don't know the cause yet. Insufficient pressure? Pressure drifts during dye-subbing? Temperature control is wrong?
2. Slash key's front side. In IBM PC layout, '∵' (U+2235 'BECAUSE') should be printed at slash key's front side. Yes I can, but it is a burden.
3. I forgot to print 'SysRq'. :-)
May 7, 2014
Comparison with Unicomp's APL keycaps
I've got Unicomp's APL keycaps for the reference of IBM PC layout.
Unicomp's APL keycaps are all dye-sub. They are made recently I suppose, but remind me of 80's days.
Unicomp's APL keycaps are all dye-sub. They are made recently I suppose, but remind me of 80's days.
May 6, 2014
Nonuniformity and new challenge
I found that my 3D dye-sub machine is not so excellent.
The center and its right is noticeably pale than others.
My new challenge is keycap dyeing.
Color matching is difficult, especially at pale color.
The center and its right is noticeably pale than others.
My new challenge is keycap dyeing.
Color matching is difficult, especially at pale color.
May 1, 2014
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