Anybody make double shot Majestouch keys? If not, is anyone interested

[kishy]

Got 15/20. Digital threw me off, and the red ones.

After doing it I'm leaning towards it maybe being Helvetica. I hadn't realized that it actually looks like that; go fire up a 68K Mac with built in CRT and see what it looks like there. Damned near the same as Arial Narrow bolded.

[phoenix]

http://fontfeed.com/archives/firefox-36-released-first-web-fontfont-is-free/

Oh hell, how did I miss that. (I subscribe to the fontfeed RSS.) No wonder Nuvo has been popping up everywhere. It looks out of place 99% of the time.

[ricercar]

once you pass 20/20 on this test we can argue about the diacritics.

Awesome test! I had to pause significantly at MATTEL and almost as long at TOYOTA, but scored 20/20.

[ricercar]

BASF. I used their tape in the reel-to-reel days. I still have my BASF splicing kit.

[itlnstln]

I got them all right.  I feel so ashamed.  The Mattel one took me awhile to figure out.  The rest were pretty easy.

[Rajagra]

Bah! 19/20. I failed Mattel. I'll be grumpy all day now.

[Iceman]

18/20 for me. I failed Mattel and Staples.

[ch_123]

I also hereby declare my interest if the font is good.

[ch_123]

And I don't open Word documents.  Virus ridden things.

And I wouldn't post one - amongst other reasons, Word saves your name as part of the document...

[negidaku]

I'll sign up for at least one set (possibly two). I prefer stealth but would also accept white on black.

[kishy]

And I wouldn't post one - amongst other reasons, Word saves your name as part of the document...

Only if you're one of those [strike]losers[/strike] people who use your real name with the software.

Damnit, I did too.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

And I wouldn't post one - amongst other reasons, Word saves your name as part of the document...

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA010776461033.aspx

You can remove such metadata from a .doc/.docx document.

[microsoft windows]

Only if you're one of those [strike]losers[/strike] people who use your real name with the software.

Damnit, I did too.

Most web sites know me as Nick Jones, who lives on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Texas, Afghanistan. And my phone number's 555-7410.

[kishy]

Nice. I like to go with 867-5309, or did until I realized it was actually an assigned phone number.

[Rajagra]

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA010776461033.aspx

You can remove such metadata from a .doc/.docx document.

I assume you can also find a way to remove all the document revisions, including the embarrassing things you thought you'd deleted, but were in fact still stored in the file.

It's a shame the onus is on the user to check/deal with these things.

[itlnstln]

I had to go back and study some tutorials because about 3 questions into it I realized I only really knew capital R and G.

S, s, C, c, and t are all dead giveaways.  TBH, I pretty much guessed on Mattel.

[phoenix]

Here's me and my buds trying to look at the trailing R leg.

Black on gray on the RF87u is very legible in my office, with banks and banks of fluorescent tubes above me. They only start getting hard to see when you look at them from straight above.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

I get my Filco tomorrow, I want to verify the key profiles and have the actual keyboard in front of me so I can measure the exact key sizes (Signature plastics asks how many "units" a key is, with a letter key being one unit...space, shift, enter, etc.)

If anyone could verify that the Tenkeyless keys are the same that'd be helpful (obviously the Tenkeyless doesn't have 104 keys, but are the 87 the same)

I assume you can also find a way to remove all the document revisions, including the embarrassing things you thought you'd deleted, but were in fact still stored in the file.

File -> Prepare -> Inspect Document in Office 2007. Office XP & 2003 have a plugin.

[washuai]

Question - Are there any options for changing what's on the window's key without raising the cost per set?  Making it a Geek Hack key, for example?  Is there interest in this from those interested in the double shots?

I realize there's already a bit of white versus grey lettering and font choice to agree to, so feel free to shoot this down.

[ch_123]

I'd like a Meta symbol like that on Sun and HHKB keyboards. That failing, I would accept "Meta" or "Mod" in text on the caps.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Question - Are there any options for changing what's on the window's key without raising the cost per set?  Making it a Geek Hack key, for example?  Is there interest in this from those interested in the double shots?

I'd be fine with making it a generic "super key" logo or any other cool logo if we reach a consensus.

The Windows logo is trademarked but I think we would qualify under Microsoft's guidelines (basically, if the logo isn't huge, you give MS credit, and it's to indicate compatibility instead of trying to imply relation to the OS or MS, you are clear).

[ch_123]

A lot of folks around here would not want a Windows key at all. Best to keep it neutral.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

A lot of folks around here would not want a Windows key at all. Best to keep it neutral.

We could try some ugly amalgamation that included every logo (Windows Flag/Apple logo/Meta/etc) :heh:

Seriously, if people would not like a Windows logo, I'd prefer to do something neutral. I really don't care that much. Some sort of symbol would be nicer than "Super", but whatever everyone else wants is fine with me.

[washuai]

Neutral symbol FTW.

[Rajagra]

we could try some ugly amalgamation that included every logo (windows flag/apple logo/meta/etc) :heh:

(Not my work!)

[Rajagra]

There's always this unicode character (U+2328): ⌨
Or something like a gear icon to indicate work/action to be done.

Needs St John's Arms (wikipedia entry).

FWIW, "Place of interest sign" is U+2318⌘
U+25C7 ◇

Running man icon would be logical, if not particularly attractive:

[hyperlinked]

Gag! Yeah, anything but a Windows key. I really don't care what it is as long as it's not a Windows key!

Actually, I wouldn't care anyway if it was a Windows key, but I'd certainly rather not have it.

[outofideas]

I'm in, for 2 104 key sets, possibly a 3rd, if the price is reasonable($20-$35 each or less).

The S is starting to wear off, on my most used board.  And an awful lot of keys are starting to shine.  I can't complain though, since I knew up front about the coating and wear issues.

I don't have any strong opinions on fonts, though I think a Serif font would look "off".

Thanks for putting this together.

[Bending Olympian]

Count me in for 1 87 key set.

[didjamatic]

I'll take a set, prefer stealth or something unique, but count me in regardless.

[.Logic]

A generic meta key or something similar would be perfectly adequate in place of the windows key.  I don't really want something to out of the ordinary :S

As for stealth keys, they should definitely be grey on (in) black, having keys that don't match the chassis would look quite strange IMO.

[itlnstln]

That last pic shows a pretty good font is possible with Double Shot.

I was going to say something about this yesterday when you posted the Cherry cap pic in regards to font.  Only Cherry (AFAIK) uses such a bubbly font.  The double-shots on the Northgate had a pretty normal, "square-edged" font.  There shouldn't be a whole lot of problem getting double-shots made in Futura if the tooling were available.

[Mental Hobbit]

Looking at some special charcters on the old Cherry doubleshots in front of me, *, #, $, &, §... all have acute angles, some have very fine lines, but all look perfectly clean. I doubt there's a limitation to what fonts can be used, provided the manufacturer knows how to do it right.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Alright, updated interest levels:
(If you are not on the list, please state your interest explicitly with the number of sets.)

MrBill: 3 sets (?) (stealth preferred)
hyperlinked: 1 set
elbowglue: 1 set
NOMiS: 1 set "if the font isn't ugly"
Iceman: 1 set
.Logic: 1 set (if interest, want stealth, no serif font)
bitflipper: 2, maybe 3 sets if the font is "anything but the font on the Decks or Filcos"
TheSoulHunter: 2-3 Stealth sets ONLY
Deezer: Potential interest in one if they can be sent abroad
outofideas: 2 sets, 3rd if price is ($20-$35 each or less)
Bending Olympian: 1 87 key set
didjamatic: 1 set, preference for stealth
washuai: 1-2 104 key sets (depending on price)
itlnstln: 1 104-key set, preference for stealth and "a decent font" (not "crazy Deck font")
Ripster: 1 set, no preference
negidaku: 1-2 sets, preferably stealth
Webwit: 1 set, preferably stealth
Total: 19 minimum, 24 maximum

I noted a couple people indicated a preference for stealth or only interested if stealth. If you have a preference or requirement (must be white lettering on black key, prefer stealth, etc.) please tell me.

EDIT: I have also sent an email to Signature Plastics asking if a stealth set would be cheaper if the keys were ceteris paribus otherwise (font, key profile, etc. all the same) and asking about their font options. I will let you know what the response is.

[itlnstln]

I would like 1, 104-key set. I would prefer stealth and decent font, but I'll take whatever.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Added you to the list, itlnstln.

[negidaku]

Reposting since it looks like I'm not currently on the list:

I'll sign up for at least one set (possibly two). I prefer stealth but would also accept white on black.

[itlnstln]

Just no crazy Deck fonts.  Something classy like Helvectica or Futura.

Topre double-shots might be nice, too.  

Not for me, of course.

Well, maybe.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Added ripster & negidaku.

negidaku, sorry I missed you.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Reply from Signature Plastics, emphasis is mine:

Thanks for contacting Signature Plastics! 15 to 20 sets is the common quantity these days and never too small of a run for us - you are correct in that the more sets you order, the lower the set price. To answer your questions:

1. Yes it would be a bit more affordable to purchase a second set with different character colors (we call this the 1st shot), assuming the body of the keycaps are the same color. If all ordered at the same time, we can run the two different color first shot simultaneously (again assuming that the second shot, or key body color is the same).

2. At this point almost all of our legends (characters) are run in an Arial type font. We have had requests from several companies for the font on the Filco keyboards (I am told this is a modified narrow italicized gothic Futura font of some sort). We are working on having this available, however without any immediate requests, it has been put on the back burner. To give you a bit of understanding: to create a custom font, we have to have a 'line font' or image that is then cut onto a 4"x4" piece of plexi (using our Roland CNC Engraver which has a limited font selection). This 4x4 plexi this then used to engrave the image onto a smaller 1"x1" piece of brass. The brass is what is used to create the legends in the first shot. As you can imagine this is a bit of a time consuming process, especially for 103 various legends. While we can offer different fonts (which I unfortunately don't have a list of), if it isn't something we anticipate using the future, there may be an additional charge, depending on the font. Did you have any particular fonts in mind? (my apologies for the rambling - if you were to go the Filco type font, there would not be an extra charge).

So the summary is:

• Stealth keys are cheaper to do if we get identical black and white keys (although there will be additional cost for having two different sets).
• It is possible to get another font. If it isn't completely esoteric, they may not charge us for it.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

1 for me, prefer stealth.

Added with note of letter color preference. You have any font preference?

[itlnstln]

(I am told this is a modified narrow italicized gothic Futura font of  some sort)

Epic wordiness.  I love it.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

Signature Plastics key cap format font-making expert guy

I've bolded a mistake in your post. :bowl:

[vils]

One for me too, go for the Filco font and some symbol for the win-key.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

One for me too, go for the Filco font and some symbol for the win-key.

Added.

Alright, updated interest levels:
(If you are not on the list, please state your interest explicitly with the number of sets.)

MrBill: 3 sets (?) (stealth preferred)
hyperlinked: 1 set
elbowglue: 1 set
NOMiS: 1 set "if the font isn't ugly"
Iceman: 1 set
.Logic: 1 set (if interest, want stealth, no serif font)
bitflipper: 2, maybe 3 sets if the font is "anything but the font on the Decks or Filcos"
TheSoulHunter: 2-3 Stealth sets ONLY
Dezeer: Potential interest in one if they can be sent abroad, Swe/Fin layout (is this doable?)
outofideas: 2 sets, 3rd if price is ($20-$35 each or less)
Bending Olympian: 1 87 key set
didjamatic: 1 set, preference for stealth
washuai: 1-2 104 key sets (depending on price)
itlnstln: 1 104-key set, preference for stealth and "a decent font" (not "crazy Deck font")
Ripster: 1 set, no preference
negidaku: 1-2 sets, preferably stealth
Webwit: 1 set, preferably stealth
vils: 1 set, wants Filco font & alternate symbol for win key
Total: 20 minimum, 25 maximum

I noted a couple people indicated a preference for stealth or only interested if stealth. If you have a preference or requirement (must be white lettering on black key, prefer stealth, etc.) please tell me. Please also add your thoughts on font choice.

I like the new muchadoaboutnothing avatar.

Thanks :bounce:

I'll be a good boy and not debate the choice of nubian, nubbly, nubile F and J nubs.

I'd be happy to ask Signature Plastics about circular nubs if there is interest for that over the more popular "bar" nubs on F and J.

[itlnstln]

I like the circular nubs, but the bar is OK, and either is better than the scooped caps Cherry uses.

[Dezeer]

muchadoaboutnothing you typo'd my name. I would like to add that it would need to be 105 key and fin/swe, win key should be normal flag.

[muchadoaboutnothing]

muchadoaboutnothing you typo'd my name. I would like to add that it would need to be 105 key and fin/swe, win key should be normal flag.

I'll correct that momentarily.

I'll have to see. The Swedish layout uses the "vertical" enter key that goes beyond the home row, right?

This is the US layout:

[ricercar]

I'm in for one set. What are we buying again?

[vils]

I actually have a FKB100m/JB. With vertical enter. But I can live with any layout, its just to change the keys that are possible to change.