Sunday, November 27, 2011

My Search for the Perfect Mechanical Keyboard

For the past month I've been trying to decide what mechanical keyboard would be perfect for me.

I'm guessing that opener leads most everyone to ask a number of questions:
  • What is a mechanical keyboard?
  • Why do I need one?
  • How could it take a month to pick one out?
  • Are you seeking professional help?
We'll skip the last question, that one is for a different blog altogether...

Before covering what a mechanical keyboard is all about, let's talk about what kind of keyboard you are most likely using.  Almost all keyboards today use rubber domes under the keys to provide resistance.  The keystroke is actuated and the bottom of the key press.  This type of key is used because it's inexpensive.  It does not have a great feel and does not last very long (relatively speaking).  Because you must completely depress the key to actuate it, this takes longer and causes finger fatigue (again, relatively speaking).

By contrast, a mechanical keyboard consists of an individual switch for each key.  The switch actuates before the key is fully depressed, and there are a variety of switches which have different levels of resistance, 'clickiness,' actuation distance, etc.  I won't go on any further because honestly I'm just regurgitating what I learned here about mechanical keyboards anyway:

Overclock.net Mechanical Keyboard Guide

That is a fantastic guide.

So why do I need a mechanical keyboard?  I absolutely do not need one.  Any attempt to justify the purchase of a keyboard this expensive - they start around $100 and go up from there - would be a bit silly.  I do work on a computer all day, but I'm not a writer and I don't type quickly enough that it can make a huge difference.  Furthermore, I'm getting this for my home computer, and I only spend a couple of hours on that one each night.

I want it because I love gadgets.  I love having a tricked out gaming rig with all the best accessories money can buy.  The pro's use it, so I want one.  I know it's silly, but it's true.  The experience is supposed to be dramatically better - if I really do end up loving it I'll get a less expensive model for work.

After deciding that I just can't live without a mechanical keyboard, I then had the difficult decision to pick out the one that was just right - these keyboards are expensive and last for years so whatever I get I'll have for a long time.  Anyone who knows me knows that I agonize over most purchases to a ridiculous degree.  I want to get something with high quality, good features, and at a fair price - and even then it's hard for me to pull the trigger.  This was no different, and fortunately for me my hesitance actually saved me from purchasing the wrong keyboard for my needs).

Which brings me to what I was looking for.  When selecting a mechanical keyboard, I had to choose which switch type I like as well as all the other features a keyboard can have (macros, backlighting, etc.).  At first I was set on the Cherry MX Black switches, regarded as the choice of pro gamers.  Backlighting was a feature I like but didn't have to have, macros don't matter much to me, I like the media keys and I think usb ports on the laptop are nice to have.

With all this in mind, I first looked at the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate.  This tricked out keyboard is backlit, offers over a dozen programmable macro keys, and many other features.  However, it uses Cherry MX Blue switches, which I decided against.  While these are the easiest of the Black, Brown, and Blue switches to activate, they have a 'clicky' sound built in.  I don't mind the noise of a mechanical keyboard, but I don't want it purposefully accentuated.  Further, there are questions of the build quality of the BlackWidow, as many users complain of similar problems with sticky keys and short lifespan.

Next I found the Tt eSports Meka G-Unit.  This keyboard is just awesome.  It looks cool, comes with a detachable usb cord, a sack to carry it in, a nice wrist wrest, and it's built like a tank.  It's gotten great reviews too.  There's just one problem - it was due in stores sometime this past summer and yet it still hasn't arrived.  I was told five weeks ago it would be available in three weeks.  I think it safely qualifies as the best keyboard money can't buy.  It worked out well for me though, because given the month to wait on this one I did some more research and realized it would not be right for me.

The Meka G-Unit uses Cherry MX Black switches, the type I wanted before I knew what I wanted.  These switches are the most durable, but also require the most force to depress.  I want to be faster and save my hands from typing fatigue, so these are really not the switches for me.

In ruling out the Blue and Black switches in favor of the Brown (regarded as a great compromise between the Blue and Black) I also had to let go of the idea for a 'fancy' tricked-out backlit keyboard.  At first I was a little discouraged about this but then realized it was far more important to me that my new keyboard feels and works great than whether it has backlighting or a fancy logo.

So I began my search for a mechanical keyboard with MX Brown switches.  For this switch being the 'sweet spot' between the Black and Blue variants, there is a surprisingly limited number of boards available using them.  Most of what is available is absolutely simplistic - a standard US 104 key layout.  I wasn't completely against this, but was still hoping for something with just a little more to it.

As I often do, I placed myself in Google's hands at this point.  I did a search for best mechanical keyboard and looked at an article called Top 5 Gaming Keyboards Mechanical Edition.  Though I didn't necessarily agree with the whole list, it introduced me to the Ducky brand and mentioned that this is what most Asian pro-gamers use.  Since Asians are the finest RTS players in the world, I figure if this is good enough for them it's good enough for me.

Some more research and I found that the 1000 series of boards is the entry level and probably not the quality I was looking for.  However, the 9000 series is top of the line, and Amazon carries several of them (Amazon absolutely rocks).  Since I know I want the ten key numpad and already had settled on the Cherry Brown switches I quickly picked out the model I wanted: the DK9008G2-B.

Nothing too fancy, this keyboard does come with some replaceable keys for those used most often in gaming.  It also enables you to disable the Windows key, a must for gaming, and has four shortcut keys: Calculator, My Computer, default email client and default internet browser.  Additionally, the usb cord is detachable and can be routed through three different channels which helps get it just right for my layout.

The keyboard should arrive tomorrow and I intend to type all my future entries here on it in nirvana (for $138 it better be!).

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Update: +1, HootSuite, and Google+ integration

As promised I headed over to Google+ to see if I could answer some of the questions I posed to myself earlier today.

What happens when you +1 something?
When you +1 something, the +1 button will turn blue to confirm that you've recommended the page, and your +1 will be added to the +1's tab of your profile. Here you can manage all your +1’s and decide whether you want to publicly display the +1’s tab.

If you’re a Google+ user, you’ll also have the option to share the webpage you +1’d in Google+. Just click the "Share on Google+" box, enter your comments, choose the circles you’d like to post to, and clickShare. Like other content you share, these +1’s will appear in the streams of the people you share with.

Regardless of the circles you choose to share to on Google+, and whether you chose to publicly share your +1’s tab, your +1’s will still be visible to others viewing the content you +1’d. For instance, your +1 could appear as part of an anonymous aggregated count of the people who have also +1’d the same thing. Your name could also appear next to the +1 button on a website, or beneath a search result or ad on Google Search. This helps friends and contacts identify which content may be most useful to them.
So, is this working?  Until now, I didn't know there was a +1's tab in my profile.  Then again, I don't usually look at my own profile.  The question is, does anyone else?  Heck if I know...  I have now made the +1's tab Public, and also enabled people to send me a message (anyone on the web) or an email (people in my circles only).  I don't know if this functionality is not intuitive, or if I just never took the proper time to figure it out.  Maybe I'm flattering myself, but I feel like if I have to search around to the answer for something, then it wasn't simple to figure out.  Having said that, Google does provide a thorough introduction to Google+ which I'll now take the time to explore.

To the claim that my +1 "helps friends and contacts identify which content may be most useful to them", I can say I have never, ever seen any site where I noticed one of my friends or contacts had given it a +1.  Even if I had, I'm already on the site, so at this point does it matter that my friend likes it?  This looks to me like a miss on Google's part.

On to my question about who is seeing my posts on Google+.  This is really just as simple as it looks.  If you share a post with one of your circles, it appears in the Stream of the members of that circle.  If you share to Public, it appears in the Stream of members of all your circles, and to anyone who views your profile.  I'm still further exploring how the Incoming stream is populated; as far as I can tell it is people who have me in one of their circles without me reciprocating.

Finally, I did try out HootSuite and at least in the free version there is no integration with Google+.  Disappointing.  In fact, HootSuite is a pilot partner of integration with Google+ Pages, a functionality aimed at enterprises and groups.  This is the only API released, and we can only hope Google will release the API for Google+ personal soon.

Here is an excerpt of a good article at Wired.com describing what's possible now and what should be possible soon:
Google’s finally unwrapped the first public iteration of an application programming interface, or API, for Google+. APIs let software programs and services talk to each other, pulling or pushing data between the two. Every Twitter client or integrated service uses Twitter’s published APIs. Now these and other developers can make use of similar kinds of data from Google’s new social network.

To be clear, they can’t use all of it. For now, Google+’s API is limited to public posts and data only. Applications can also use the open authentication OAuth 2 to allow users to identify themselves on Google+ rather than using the long numerical identifiers and authorize each app.

However, because Google+’s API is limited to public data, you can’t really build a full-featured Google+ or Universal Social Media client around it yet. We’ll probably see a lot of news skimmers, some simple integration with location, check-in, or commenting services, and a handful of somewhat more developed app prototypes. In the very near future, the API gives developers a chance to play around. For Google, it gradually and gracefully extends the overall reach of the platform. It also helps the company see possibilities it may have missed in its own development.
Call me lazy but I say the sooner the better.  As long as I manage all my social media except Google+ in one place it will necessarily remain an afterthought.

Meanwhile I'm still going to test drive HootSuite and see how it compares to TweetDeck - at first glance it looks very full featured.

Methods and Platforms to Make the Most of Social Media

I find social media to be a bit of a paradox.  There is a clever commercial Toyota came up with that shows a young adult woman lamenting her parents plight because they only have a few Facebook friends: meanwhile the scene cuts to her parents out mountain biking with a bunch of friends.  The message is clearly that they are too busy actually socializing to take part in the virtual social medium.  Clever and worth some thought.

Does this mean I'm giving up social media?  Not hardly.  However, I'm constantly looking for ways to streamline my experience so that social media adds to my life rather than interfering with it.  Social media walks a fine line: it can be informative or intrusive.

Facebook is a perfect example of this.  I had all but stopped using it about a year ago.  If I made a comment on someone's wall and someone else commented, I got an email and a notification in Facebook.  In fact, I felt like if someone in my network sneezed I got an email.  I went so far as to 'clean up' my friend's list - the horror!  It got to a point where I missed any information I would've been interested in for the flood of information I wasn't.

Then a couple of things happened: I figured out how to turn off email notifications and Facebook added the 'hide updates' feature.  I got Facebookstein back under control (in fact his table manners are excellent now).

Twitter is actually a similar tightrope to walk.  So many accounts are promoting one thing or another, if I'm not careful who or what I follow any valuable information is lost in an avalanche of updates.  The list of users I follow tends to be fairly dynamic for this reason; if I find a particular person or service I'm following annoying (for lack of a nicer term) I unfollow with extreme prejudice.  Of Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus (the social media services I frequent) I find Twitter has the highest percentage of muck to wade through for anything I'm actually interested in.  On the other hand, it's also one of the fastest ways to get anecdotal feedback on almost anything - I'm just scratched the surface of the potential to spot trends and find this pretty intriguing.

That brings me to Google Plus.  This is without question the least intrusive of the three services I use, but almost to a detrimental degree.  I tend to forget about Google Plus, which is NOT the hallmark of a great social media service.  When I do check it, there doesn't seem to be much activity.  What I've been trying to figure out is why?

The interface is clean and well-integrated with all other Google services.  It's easy to get to and as I said above not intrusive.  Most sites and articles now offer a '+1' button allowing anyone to give a virtual thumb's up to what they've read.  Here's where I think things break down a bit.

What does my +1 do?  Admittedly, I haven't done any research on this (yet), but I have no idea what purpose it serves for me to +1 something.  Yes, I see the icon turn from white to blue indicating I've given my approval, but I already knew that, didn't I?  In many cases giving a +1 allows me then the option to share the article with my Google Plus circles - but what if I choose not to?  Is there any value in the +1 itself?

I'm sure the answer is out there, but the fact that I have to look for it indicates a problem.  With Facebook, if I 'like' something it shows up on my 'Wall' and is shared with anyone of my friends who is monitoring my updates.  Pretty clear.  With Google Plus I have to take the additional step of sharing with my circles, and if I don't do so I'm unclear what the point is of the +1.

Is this what Google Plus seems so quiet?  Are my friends out there +1-ing like crazy but not sharing?  Are they sharing with circles that I don't belong too?

This is another issue I have with Google Plus: I'm rarely clear on the exact audience to my posts.  I have approximately two dozen followers that I don't know, and I'm unclear how they found me.  When I share I almost always share to my circles (rarely Public, though that's changing) so I don't know how people have found me or what information I've put out that would cause them to follow me.  Again, I think this should be clear, especially if Google wants the masses to get actively on board.

The final issue with Google Plus is accessibility.  There are dozens of applications which aggregate Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, et.al. but I haven't had one that included Google Plus.  In fact that's what motivated me to write this article (can I call it that?) today.  When I began to look for a client that would bring all my social media together it started me thinking about what I've used to this point.

I began using Facebook and Twitter in their native web form - how mundane!  For a short time I used Fishbowl my Microsoft, which showed promise but as I remember was a bit buggy.  From there I used Seesmic for sometime and that was a very solid application.  For some reason though - and unfortunately I cannot remember what - I went to Tweetdeck, which I'm using now and also like very well.  However it does not include Google Plus and so my search began today.

From a quick Google search I found the following Google Plus post from Marshall Kirkpatrick:

I feel Google Plus slipping away,,,

which echoed my feelings about Google Plus and the need for integration with a social media platform.  His post yielded many comments in a short time, some suggesting that HootSuite offers Google Plus integration and others claiming this is an invitation (or paid) feature only).

I'm going to download HootSuite out and give it a try.  I like the idea of an independent platform (TweetDeck was bought by Twitter) and it offers analytics that TweetDeck doesn't (as far as I know).  I'll report back here on the overall experience once I've used it for a fair amount of time.  I'll also see if I can get some answers to the questions I posed on how exactly +1 and Google Plus work.

Friday, November 25, 2011

The first step is the hardest...

I guess I'll do like they suggested in school and use this first entry to tell you what I'm going to tell you.

I love tech.  I love games and gadgets.  I stream netflix from my phone, roku, xbox360, and bluray player.  I'm always on the lookout for the next gadget or service that will make life better or easier or cooler.

On top of this I enjoy what social media has done for all of us.  I get 'updates' on gear and games from Twitter (via Tweetdeck).  I can get feedback from 100's of people by making a post with a hashtag.  Granted, it ain't scientific research, but crowd-sourcing information if a newborn and will only get better.  Just ask movie studios - a new flic can easily be done after opening night based on the power of social media - word gets out FAST.

So what does this all have to do with some Schmo starting another blog?  I think it comes down to the defining value of information - trust.  Let's take a recent example.

After a little under two years with Sprint I've had enough and I'm switching my wife and I back to Verizon Wireless.  As part of the process we were in the market for new smartphones, so I began researching which Android phone would be perfect for each of us.  Not so easy right now as there are some great choices with the Droid Razr, the HTC Rezound, and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.  Much of my time was spent following trends on twitter, doing searches on Google, and sharing some of my findings on twitter, facebook and Google Plus.  What I found was that I started to have trust in certain people's tweets more than others, and certain people (some I knew and others I didn't) began to ask me for feedback on the purchase I made (I got the Razr for a penny from Amazon).

Reviews from the big tech sites are great, but people still like to ask someone they know what they think about something - and for good or bad after we interact via social media we begin at a certain point to feel that we 'know' one another.  It's not a big reach to follow this line of thinking, after all this is what Netflix's entire movie recommendation logarithm is based on; they start to see similarities between user's rankings and use that to predict what else they might have in common.

Likewise, I follow someone on twitter or facebook because I like what he or she has to say, and over time I get to 'know' the person and value their opinion to some degree.

Or maybe I'm full of crap.

Nonetheless, here I am with my own little tech blog.  Next up I'll share my initial thoughts on the Razr as I continue to break it in and consider whether I'll swap it for a Galaxy Nexus (assuming the latter is ever brought to market).

That's all for now, Happy Black Friday everybody.