Yup, the PC-AT keyboard has the one true enter key in the large reverse L shape. After that things went downhill: the US layout for the Model M chopped off the top part and made Enter a thin horizontal line like Shift, and the international or ISO layout (which I normally use) chopped off the left hand part and left Enter as a rectangle: better than the US version, but still too small for one of the most frequently used keys on the board.

The biggest annoyance with the AT keyboard is the lack of F11 and F12 keys, if your applications use those (e.g. to step into statements in a debugger). The Esc key being on the numeric keypad is also odd but you get used to that.

There's also the 122-key Model F 'aircraft carrier', which has a much more modern layout, close to the international Model M layout.

But if you do prefer the US Model M layout (de gustibus non est disputandum, after all), then here's a way to modify the PC-AT keyboard: http://geekhack.org/index.php?...

Do you mean the 122-key Model F 'aircraft carrier' (I have a couple of those, but they require Soarer's Converter) or something else? I haven't heard of a 138-key version.

I have never heard of a Model M keyboard damaging a computer when plugged into the PS/2 keyboard port. After all, the PS/2 keyboard port is specifically designed for PS/2 keyboards, and the Model M is like the reference implementation. When driven over USB using an adaptor, it is true that a Model M will require more current than a newer keyboard, but still within the USB spec.

Recycle them? Noooo! Please tell us you at least gave them to a thrift store or sold them on Ebay. FWIW, the recommended PS/2 to USB adaptor is called the 'blue cube' and works well with the Model M. There's also Soarer's Converter which you can build yourself with a Teensy programmable microcontroller, and handles a wide range of old keyboards including the M.

Model Ms are great. I have about a dozen of them. But the earlier Model F (based on capacitive switches underneath buckling spring) is even better. The Model F keyboard included with the original IBM PC excels in being heavy and clicky, but it has an awkward layout. The PC-AT introduced a much better layout, and the keyboard is electrically compatible with the later PS/2 plug (you just need a $2 adaptor). I am typing on a PC-AT keyboard now.

They are "undervalued" in your eyes. In reality, they get no value because there is no more growth. This is evidenced by the increase in base unemployment since the early 1990s.

http://bilbo.economicoutlook.n...

While other countries have employment ups and downs, Japan's population has been on a downward spiral because there is no more real growth. Since the 1980s, manufacturing has moved to Korea and China, and there's not enough of a service and tech industry to cover the loss.

So yeah, for the last 20 years those people who have jobs are treated well, and the young people get the finger. Same thing is beginning to happen here in the United States, although not as massive a movement. The Japanese companies are going to either adapt, or crater and then be reborn as fast-and-lean pension-less workhouses like the US.

I once met a guy (at OSCON) who said he was on the hiring committee for Google's chefs. I certainly got the impression they are employees.

Your font looks so good. How about we get together and kern that shit?

I clicked on a Bennet hassington article. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.

The Free Market shall Provide a binding and comprehensive solution.

In Ada, you can separate numbers with underscores (they are ignored by the compiler). This allows you to create more easily-readable numbers like:

Var := 2#0011_0110#;
Var := 3_295_692_839_298_459

Not sure how many other languages allow this, but it should be every one of them :D

Amusingly enough, my desktop has a ton of icons on it that I never, ever use. Everything's pinned to the taskbar or I use the run box these days, and if I'm really "lost" I go through the start->program files. I have been amused at times to find out the thing I was looking for has an icon on the desktop...

There's quite a few here in Los Angeles. The issues here are mostly related to population density. Rich tech moguls don't really have to worry about street parking and figuring out how to charge the damned things overnight like the rest of the plebes. And, realistically, the average American is having a hard enough time paying for a mortgage (lol), much less trying to pay for a $70k car that's got limited range, requires a dedicated charging station that they don't have a spot to install, etc. I like Tesla, hope they have long-term success, but I'm certainly not in the market for one, either.

So does Indian Mars look anything like American Mars?

If only we had a way to.. automate repetitive tasks? Why, what a world we'd live in!