Articles by Kristina Panos

Sometimes, a little goes a long way. I believe that’s the case with this tiny media control bar from [likeablob] that uses an ESP32-C3 Super Mini.
Image by [likeablob] via Hackaday.IOFrom left to right you’ve got a meta key that allows double functions for all the other keys. The base functions are play/pause, previous track, and next track while the knob handles volume.
And because it uses this Wi-Fi-enabled microcontroller, it can seamlessly integrate with Home Assistant via ESPHome.
What else is under the hood? Four low-profile Cherry MX Browns and a rotary encoder underneath that nicely-printed knob.
If you want to build one of these for yourself, all the files are available on GitHub including the customizable enclosure which [likeablob] designed with OpenSCAD.
Portable Endgame, If It Exists
Perhaps [Palpatine]’s one mistake in creating this 36-key portable endgame is believing in the idea of the endgame in the first place. But I’m not here to judge.
Image by [Palpatine] via redditOh wait, yes I am! I really like this keyboard, and I think it would look right at home on the desk of the centerfold below it, although it’s supposed to be a go-anywhere contraption. Be sure to check out the gallery on this one to see it folded together for transport.
It would seem that [Palpatine] learned some nice tricks while designing this keyboard. Have you heard of 10440 batteries? They’re 3.7 V and usually cheaper than the square Li-Po batteries of the same size.
This bad boy is based on the Seeed Xiao nRF52840, which [Palpatine] believes is worth spending a little bit of extra money on instead of nice!nano clones, while being cheaper than an actual nice!nano would be.
As far as open-sourceness goes, [Palpatine] seems willing to share their design files, although they don’t seem to have been published anywhere at this time.
The Centerfold: White Light Might Bite At Night
Image by [Embarrased-Yak-3766] via redditSo this one isn’t quite as wide as usual, but it’s definitely more white than usual. I suppose that wiiiide monitor makes up for the missing pixels.
What do you think? Crisp and clean, or cold and clinical? I can’t decide. I definitely feel snowbound vibes, and I want to sleep in.
Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!
Historical Clackers: the Munson
Image by [Martin Howard] via Antique TypewritersThe delight of the Munson typewriter is in the exposed internal workings, which come to life when the machine is in use. Those octagonal key tops aren’t too shabby, either.
You may have noticed that this machine has no typebars. Instead, it uses a horizontal cylinder about the size of a finger. The cylinder slides from side to side and rotates to find the chosen character. Then a hammer strikes from behind the paper, pushing it against the ribbon and the type cylinder.
Much like the later IBM Selectrics and the daisy wheel machines of the 1970s and ’80s, one could easily change the font by swapping out the all-steel type cylinder. The Munson has two Shift keys, one for upper case and another for figures, so only three rows of keys are needed.
The Munson came out in 1890 and was well-received. It won the highest medal awarded at the World’s Fair Chicago, 1893, but the machines are hard to find these days. Eight years after its introduction, the design of the Munson was acquired by the Chicago Writing Machine Co. and rebranded the Chicago.
Finally, the MingKwai Typewriter Emerges From Obscurity
So you get a Historical Clackers two-fer this week; lucky you! After more than half a century, this fascinating Chinese typewriter turned up while a couple was cleaning out her grandfather’s basement in New York.
Jennifer Felix and her husband Nelson posted photos on a Facebook group trying to ID the machine. A flurry of enthusiastic comments flooded the forum, with many people offering to buy the machine.
Photo by Elisabeth von Boch, courtesy of Stanford Libraries; image via This Is Colossal
As it turns out, it’s a MingKwai — the only one in existence. And it’s now in the hands of Stanford Libraries.
This machine was invented in 1947 by a writer, translator, and linguist named Lin Yutang. The MingKwai, which means “clear and fast”, was the first compact concept Chinese typewriter to have a keyboard that was capable of producing 80,000+ characters.
How is that even possible? Mechanical sort and search. Seriously! Check this out: the 72-key board is made up of strokes and shapes, and the characters are arranged in linear order, like an English dictionary. To use it, you would press one of the 36 top keys and one of the 28 bottom keys simultaneously. This triggered a series of rotations in the internals and would bring eight characters into view in a small window that Lin called the “magic eye”. Finally, you would choose your desired character using the numbered keys in the bottom row.
The only known prototype was built by the Carl E. Krum company. Lin was unable to drum up commercial interest to produce it at scale, so he sold the rights and the prototype to Mergenthaler Linotype Company, where Jennifer Felix’s grandfather worked as a machinist. So it never went into production, and the prototype went home with with Grandpa.
[embedded content]

Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly. […]

This week, Hackaday’s Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up across the universe to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week.
In Hackaday news, the 2025 Pet Hacks Contest rolls on. You have until June 10th to show us what you’ve got, so head over to Hackaday.IO and get started today!
On What’s That Sound, Kristina actually got it this time, although she couldn’t quite muster the correct name for it, however at Hackaday we’ll be calling it the “glassophone” from now on. Congratulations to [disaster_recovered] who fared better and wins a limited edition Hackaday Podcast t-shirt!
After that, it’s on to the hacks and such, beginning with a complete and completely-documented wireless USB autopsy. We take a look at a lovely 3D-printed downspout, some DIY penicillin, and a jellybean iMac that’s hiding a modern PC. Finally, we explore a really cool 3D printing technology, and ask what happened to typing ‘www.’.
Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Download in DRM-free MP3 and savor at your leisure.

Episode 320 Show Notes:
News:

What’s that Sound?

Congratulations to [disaster_recovered] for the glass armonica pick!

Interesting Hacks of the Week:

Quick Hacks:

Elliot’s Picks:

Kristina’s Picks:

Can’t-Miss Articles: […]

No, see, it’s what’s inside that counts. Believe it or not, [nobutternoparm] retrofitted this innocent, adorable little tikes® so-called “Kidboard” rubber-dome keyboard into a mechanical marvel. Yeah! No, it wasn’t exactly pure, unadulterated fun, nor was it easy to do. But then again nothing worth doing ever is.
Image by [nobutternoparm] via redditFor one thing, the PCB ended up being a bit too wide, so the bottom half of the case is a bit mangled. But that’s okay! Onward and upward.
Next problem: a real PCB and mechanical switches (Gateron Baby Kangaroos) are a lot taller than the previous arrangement. This required spacers, a mounting plate, and longer screws to hold it all together. Now imagine lining all that up and trying to keep it that way during assembly.
And then there’s the keycaps. Guess what? They’re non-standard because they’re for rubber domes. So this meant more adapters and spacers. You’ll see in the gallery.
So we know it looks great, but how does it type? Well… [nobutternoparm] gives the feel a 4/10. The keycaps now have too many points of contact, so they bind up and have to be mashed down. But it’s going to be a great conversation piece.

With a Little Luck, You Could Fly On Wings
Before you ask, unfortunately, Wings doesn’t seem to be open-source, at least not as of this writing. But based on the comments in the reddit thread, [MoreFruit3042] seems willing to build them for some undisclosed cost.
Image by [MoreFruit3042] via redditThat touch pad supports multi-touch gesture operations, so right there, you don’t have to use the mouse as much. And although it’s hard to tell from this picture, there is 6° inward angle between the halves and a 6° front-to-back incline, both of which are designed to match the natural angles of hands.
I really dig the lowered thumb clusters and the fact that they aren’t overloaded with keys. There are low-profile Kailh Chocs under there, which makes for quite a slim keyboard.
Wings runs QMK, has RGB lighting, and supports real-time key-mapping with VIAL. Be sure to check out the build video below.
[embedded content]
The Centerfold: A Truly Ergonomic Meal
Image by [Dexter_Lim] via redditAgain, very little detail to go off of here, but the keyboard is a totem. Couldn’t even tell you what’s in the right hand (left hand, if you go by the handle orientation) mug. Water, I suppose. But being a two-fisted drinker myself, I can really appreciate this setup, And although the sammy isn’t really my type, the extreme tenting on it is a nice touch.
Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!
Historical Clackers: To the Victor Go the Spoils
Image via The Antikey Chop
The Victor was patented in 1889 and produced until 1892 by the Tilton Manufacturing Company of Boston, Massachusetts. It was invented by Arthur Irving Jacobs.
Probably the most noteworthy factoid about the Victor Type-Writer is that it was the first production typewriter ever to employ a daisy wheel. This significant achievement showed up in typewriters all throughout the 1970s and 80s. My IBM Wheelwriter 5 uses a daisy wheel, as do my Brother machines.
The Victor is of course an index typewriter, as evidenced by the lack of keyboard. To use it, you would simply move the guide to the letter you wanted, which moved the daisy wheel simultaneously. Then you’d press the innermost left-hand key to swing the hammer and strike the daisy wheel against the paper. The outer left-hand key is the Space bar.
Victors were 8″ by 12″ in their footprint and weighed around 5.25 lbs. They came with wooden cases that were either rectangular or contoured to the shape. The Victor cost $15, which is close to $500 in 2025 money.
Finally, There’s Gonna Be a Christopher Latham Sholes Bobblehead
Image via The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum
So, this happened. Someone went and made a Christopher Latham Sholes bobblehead. You know, the guy who is responsible for the QWERTY layout.
I’m not sure if this is an honor or an insult. But hey, at least it will probably resemble Sholes more than would one of those Funko things. Plus, it’ll actually do something.
Here’s hoping the bobblehead itself looks like this image at least in part. One can only wish that there will be a typewriter involved. (Doesn’t there almost have to be?)
This thing is currently available for pre-order for the low price of $35. You can either have it shipped, or you can pick it up at QWERTYFEST MKE (that means Milwaukee, WI), being held October 3-5.
So what’s the connection? Sholes hailed from Milwaukee, where was a noted newspaper publisher, politician, and of course, a successful commercial typewriter inventor. Do I want one of these? I may or may not be nodding my head right now.

Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly. […]

Don’t you love it when the title track is the first one on the album? I had to single out this adjustable keyboard called the Protractor, because look at it! The whole thing moves, you know. Go look at the gallery.
Image by [BFB_Workshop] via redditIf you use a true split, even if you never leave the house, you know the pain of losing the good angle and/or separation you had going on for whatever reason. Not only does this monoblock split solve that simply by being a monoblock split, you can always find the right angle you had via the built-in angle finder.
[BFB_Workshop] used a nice!nano v2, but you could use any ZMK-supported board with the same dimensions. This 5 x 12 has 60 Gateron KS-33 switches, which it was made for, and has custom keycaps. You can, of course, see all the nice, neat ribbon cable wiring through the clear PLA, which is a really great touch.
This bad boy is flat enough that you can use the table as your palm rest. To me, that doesn’t sound so comfortable, but then again, I like key wells and such. I’d still love to try a Protractor, because it looks quite interesting to type on. If you want to build one, the files and instructions are available on Printables.

Present Arms: the AR-60%
Image by [Sli22ard] via redditYes I stole that joke, sort of. Don’t shoot! Anyway, as [Sli22ard] asks, does your keyboard have a mil-spec stock? I’m guessing no, although you might have a knife nearby. I myself have a fancy-handled butter knife for opening mail.
This is [Sli22ard]’s latest “abomination”, and the best part is that the MOE fixed carbine stock folds up so that the whole thing fits on the ever-important keyboard display. (Click to the second picture and be sure to admire the Dreamcast that was in storage for however long.)
The case is a Keysme Pic60, custom Cerakoted, with a 4pplet waffling60 PCB within its walls. That case is meant to have things hanging off the upper left corner, so that must have been a great place to start as far as connecting up the stock.
[Sli22ard] used Gateron Type R switches and a NovelKeys Cream Arc switch for the Spacebar. Most of the keycaps are GMK Striker, with the 10u Spacebar from Awekeys.
I particularly like the midnight-y keycaps along with that monster gold Spacebar. [Sli22ard] says it thocks like nobody’s business, and I believe it.
The Centerfold: the Quiet Type
Image by [Pleasant_Dot_189] via reddit[Pleasant_Dot_189] sure has a pleasant research-only battlestation, don’t they? Sure, there are four screens, but there’s no RGB, and the only plant can safely be ignored for weeks at a time. Why four screens? This way,  [Pleasant_Dot_189] doesn’t have to switch between tasks or tabs and can just write as they work on their fifth book.
Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!
Historical Clackers: the Malling-Hansen Takygraf
The astute among you will remember that we’ve covered the Malling-Hansen Writing Ball, the more well-known offering from M-H. Well, this here is the Malling-Hansen Takygraf (or Takygraph, depending upon where you are in the world), and it was quite the writing machine. Only one was created, and its whereabouts are unknown.
Image via The Malling-Hansen Society
Rasmus Malling-Hansen’s intention was to create a typewriter that could type at the speed of human speech. And he succeeded — the Takygraf could reach speeds of 1200 characters per minute. He hoped the Takygraf would be used for stenography.
The VP of the Malling-Hansen Society describes the function of the Takygraf as follows: “The first Takygraf from 1872 was combined with a writing ball but the bottom of each piston forms a blunt point and so it forms only impressions in the paper. The paper band was prepared to conduct electricity. Under the paper band there were metal points which were connected to electromagnets. The form impressions in the paper band are brought in contact with the fixed metal points under the paper as the paper moves along and so the corresponding electromagnets are brought into action. When the electromagnets attracted the keepers, then the types made their impressions on the paper band (through the invention of a colored or carbonized strip of paper).
In the year 1874 follows a modified Takygraf combined with a writing ball but instead of the prepared paper (to conduct electricity) and the form impressions in the paper Rasmus Malling-Hansen developed a mechanical memory-unit, which contacts the electromagnets in the right time to make the needed type impressions on the paper band. It was possible to write with this brilliant invention as fast as we talk.”
Be sure to visit this fantastic model viewer of the Takygraph on your way out.
Finally, a Keyboard for Metalheads
Actually, the Cleaver is another aluminium keyboard, not the Icebreaker from a couple Keebins ago. But they’re from the same company, and the idea is basically the same. Aluminium wherever possible, and tiny, laser-cut holes that make up the legends. At least these are more legible.
Image by Serene Industries via Yanko Design
And, whereas the Icebreaker definitely doubled as bludgeoning device, the Cleaver is much slimmer and more streamlined. Both are machined from a single block of aluminium.
Much like its predecessor, the Cleaver is a Hall-effect keyboard, which I would really like to type on someday while I consider how they can never really wear out in the traditional switch sense.
Inside the metal block, the electronics are huddled away from its raw power inside of a silicone core. This is meant to enhance the typing acoustics, protect against dust, sweat, and coffee, and has the added effect of popping out the underside to be a nice, non-slip foot.
Unlike the Icebreaker, which started at $2100, the pre-order price for the Cleaver is a mere $850. And to get this one in black? Still just $850. I’m curious to know how much it weighs, since it’s much more portable-looking. The Cleaver would be an icebreaker for sure.

Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly. […]

If you do a lot of 3D computer work, I hear a Spacemouse is indispensable. So why not build a keyboard around it and make it a mouse-cropad?
Image by [DethKlawMiniatures] via redditThat’s exactly what [DethKlawMiniatures] did with theirs. This baby is built with mild steel for the frame, along with some 3D-printed spacers and a pocket for the Spacemouse itself to live in.
Those switches are Kailh speed coppers, and they’re all wired up to a Seeed Xiao RP2040. [DethKlawMiniatures] says that making that lovely PCB by hand was a huge hassle, but impatience took over.
After a bit of use, [DethKlawMiniatures] says that the radial curve of the macro pad is nice, and the learning curve was okay. I think this baby looks fantastic, and I hope [DethKlawMiniatures] gets a lot of productivity out of it.

Kinesis Rides Again After 15 Years
Fifteen years ago, [mrmarbury] did a lot of ergo keyboard research and longed for a DataHand II. Once the sticker shock wore off, he settled on a Kinesis Advantage with MX browns just like your girl is typing on right now.
Image by [mrmarbury] via redditNot only did [mrmarbury] love the Kinesis to death, he learned Dvorak on it and can do 140 WPM today. And, much like my own experience, the Kinesis basically saved his career.
Anyway, things were going gangbusters for over a decade until [mrmarbury] spilled coffee on the thing. The main board shorted out, as did a thumb cluster trace. He did the Stapelberg mod to replace the main board, but that only lasted a little while until one of the key-wells’ flex boards came up defective. Yadda yadda yadda, he moved on and eventually got a Svalboard, which is pretty darn close to having a DataHand II.
But then a couple of months ago, the Kinesis fell on [mrmarbury]’s head while cleaning out a closet and he knew he had to fix it once and for all. He ripped out the flex boards and hand-wired it up to work with the Stapelberg mod. While the thumb clusters still have their browns and boards intact, the rest were replaced with Akko V3 Creme Blue Pros, which sound like they’re probably pretty amazing to type on. So far, so good, and it has quickly become [mrmarbury]’s favorite keyboard again. I can’t say I’m too surprised!
The Centerfold: Swingin’ Bachelor Pad
Image by [weetek] via redditIsn’t this whole thing just nice? Yeah it is. I really like the lighting and the monster monstera. The register is cool, and I like the way it the panels on the left wall mimic its lines. And apparently that is a good Herman Miller chair, and I dig all the weird plastic on the back, but I can’t help but think this setup would look even cleaner with an Aeron there instead. (Worth every penny!)
Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!
Historical Clackers: the IBM Selectric Composer
And what do we have here? This beauty is not a typewriter, exactly. It’s a typesetter. What this means is that, if used as directed, this machine can churn out text that looks like it was typeset on a printing press. You know, with the right margin justified.
Image by [saxifrageous] via redditYou may be wondering how this is achieved at all. It has to do with messing with the kerning of the type — that’s the space between each letter. The dial on the left sets the language of the type element, while the one one the right changes the spacing. There’s a lever around back that lets you change the pitch, or size of the type. The best part? It’s completely mechanical.
To actually use the thing, you had to type your text twice. The first time, the machine measured the length of the line automatically and then report a color and number combination (like red-5) which was to be noted in the right margin.
The IBM Selectric Composer came out in 1966 and was a particularly expensive machine. Like, $35,000 in 2025 money expensive. IBM typically rented them out to companies and then trashed them when they came back, which, if you’re younger than a certain vintage, is why you’ve probably never seen one before.
If you just want to hear one clack, check out the short video below of a 1972 Selectric Composer where you can get a closer look at the dials. In 1975, the first Electronic Selectric Composer came out. I can’t even imagine how much those must have cost.
[embedded content]
Finally, a Keyboard Part Picker
Can’t decide what kind of keyboard to build? Not even sure what all there is to consider? Then you can’t go wrong with Curatle, a keyboard part picker built by [Careless-Pay9337] to help separate you from your hard-earned money in itemized fashion.
The start screen for Curatle made by [Careless-Pay9337].So this is basically PCPartPicker, but for keyboards, and those are [Careless-Pay9337]’s words. Essentially, [Careless-Pay9337] scraped a boatload of keyboard products from various vendors, so there is a lot to choose from already. But if that’s not enough, you can also import products from any store.
The only trouble is that currently, there’s no compatibility checking built in. It’ll be a long road, but it’s something that [Careless-Pay9337] does plan to implement in the future.
What else would you like to see? Be sure to let [Careless-Pay9337] know over in the reddit thread.

Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly. […]

Image by [akavel] via GitHubReader [akavel] was kind enough to notify me about Clawtype, which is a custom wearable chorded keyboard/mouse combo based on the Chordite by [John W. McKown].
First of all, I love the brass rails — they give it that lovely circuit sculpture vibe. This bad boy was written in Rust and currently runs on a SparkFun ProMicro RP2040 board. For the mouse portion of the program, there’s an MPU6050 gyro/accelerometer.
[akavel]’s intent was to pair it with XR glasses, which sounds like a great combination to me. While typing is still a bit slow, [akavel] is improving at a noticeable pace and does some vim coding during hobby time.
In the future, [akavel] plans to try a BLE version, maybe even running off a single AA Ni-MH cell, and probably using an nRF52840. As for the 3D-printed shape, that was designed and printed by [akavel]’s dear friend [Cunfusu], who has made the files available over at Printables. Be sure to check it out in the brief demo video after the break.

[embedded content]
Wooden You Like To Use the Typewriter?
Image by [bilbonbigos] via redditI feel a bit late to the party on this one, but that’s okay, I made an nice entrance. The Typewriter is [bilbonbigos]’ lovely distraction-free writing instrument that happens to be primarily constructed of wood. In fact, [bilbonbigos] didn’t use any screws or nails — the whole thing is glued together.
The Typewriter uses a Raspberry Pi 3B+, and [bilbonbigos] is FocusWriter to get real work done on it. it runs off of a 10,000 mAh power bank and uses a 7.9″ Waveshare display.
The 60% mechanical keyboard was supposed to be Bluetooth but turned out not to be when it arrived, so that’s why you might notice a cable sticking out.
The whole thing all closed up is about the size of a ream of A4, and [bilbonbigos] intends to add a shoulder strap in order to make it more portable.
That cool notebook shelf doubles as a mousing surface, which is pretty swell and rounds out the build nicely. Still, there are some things [bilbonbigos] would change — a new Raspi, or a lighter different physical support for the screen, and a cooling system.
The Centerfold: A Keyboard For Your House In Palm Springs
Image by [the_real_jamied] via redditCan’t you feel the space age Palm Springs breezes just looking at this thing? No? Well, at least admit that it looks quite atomic-age with that font and those life-preserver modifier keycaps. This baby would look great on one of those giant Steelcase office desks. Just don’t spill your La Croix on it, or whatever they drink in Palm Springs.
Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!
Historical Clackers: the Odell Typewriter
First of all, the machine pictured here is not the true Odell number 1 model, which has a pair of seals’ feet at each end of the base and is referred to as the “Seal-Foot Odell“. Ye olde Seal-Foot was only produced briefly in 1889.
Image via The Antikey Chop
But then inventor Levi Judson Odell completely redesigned the thing into what you see here — model 1b, for which he was awarded a patent in 1890. I particularly like the markings on the base. The nickel-plated, rimless model you see here was not typical; most had gold bases.
These babies cost 1/5th of a standard typewriter, and were quite easy to use to boot. With everything laid out in a line, it was far easier to use a slide mechanism than your ten fingers to select each character. On top of everything else, these machines were small enough to take with you.
No matter their appearance, or whether they typed upper case only or both, Odells were all linear index typewriters. The print element is called a type-rail. There is a fabric roller under the type-rail that applies ink to the characters as they pass. Pinch levers on the sides of the carriage did double duty as the carriage advance mechanism and the escapement.
Round-based Odells went by the wayside in 1906 and were replaced by square-based New American No. 5 models. They functioned the same, but looked quite different.
Finally, John Lennon’s Typewriter Is For Sale
Image via Just Collecting
Got an extra ten grand lying around? You could own an interesting piece of history.
This image comes courtesy of Paul Fraser Collectibles, who are selling this typewriter once owned and used by the legendary Beatle himself. While Lennon composed poems and songs on the machine, it’s unclear whether he secretly wanted to be a paperback writer.
This machine, an SCM (Smith-Corona Marchant) Electra 120, is an interesting one; it’s electric, but the carriage return is still manual. I myself have an SCM Secretarial 300, which looks very much the same, but has a frightening ‘Power Return’ that sends the carriage back toward the right with enough power to shake the floor, depending upon the fortitude of your table.
Apparently Lennon would use the machine when traveling, but gave it to a close friend in the music industry when he upgraded or otherwise no longer needed it. A booking agent named Irwin Pate worked with this friend and obtained the typewriter from him, and Irwin and his wife Clarine held on to it until they sold it to Paul Fraser Collectibles. I find it interesting that this didn’t go to auction at Christie’s — I think it would ultimately go for more, but I’m a writer, not an auction-ologist.

Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly. […]

Yeah, yeah — not a keyboard. But one keyboard-adjacent topic I’m certainly interested in is that of finding a satisfying mouse. Why settle for ticky micro-switches when you could have full-on thock in both peripherals?
My own personal peripherals. Banana mat for scale.
I’ve been using a Logitech Ergo M575 for a couple of years now. As you can see, it’s a trackball with two extra buttons, which come programmed for forward and back. I find this next to useless, so I employed AutoHotKey and changed them to Ctrl+C on the up switch, and Ctrl+V on the down switch.
[Aknup] commented on the previous Keebin’ and brought up MMO mice, which, I didn’t know those things had a name other than maybe ‘multi-button mice’. And yes, there are a few trackball MMOs out there. I’ve got my eye on a couple already.
Does anyone have a trackball MMO? I hate to spend $100+ on something I won’t like. I’m intrigued that the one I found that’s the most attractive is less a thumb trackball and more a two-fingers-at-once kind of situation. That will take some getting used to, but the way my trackball moves sometimes, it could be a really positive change.

Embrace the Jank, Why Don’t You?
[VideoPuzzleheaded884] built this keyboard over a the course of a few evenings for a total cost of around $30 AUD ($18.33 USD as of this writing), as a way to motivate themselves to finally start soldering.
Image by [VideoPuzzleheaded884] via redditI for one like the look of the acrylic plate, which was worked with a Dremel and hand tools. And the wiring looks fine to me, so I hesitate to actually call this janky myself. But [VideoPuzzleheaded884] did it for me.
You can tell [VideoPuzzleheaded884] is one of us — they cobbled this Corne mini layout-having keyboard together with stuff on hand, and did a fine job of soldering one of their first projects. Hey, if it works, it works. And the use of all-black wires should be commended.
The microcontroller is an ESP32-C3 [VideoPuzzleheaded884] found in box somewhere, and the switches are Gateron Silvers from an unknown time. All in all, this project was a fun diversion from programming, and this probably won’t be the last keyboard they solder.
The Centerfold: Alas, Poor Yorick; I Knew Thee Cozy Vibes Well
Image by [Ryuk_void666] via redditThis one’s all about the vibes, and not necessarily the peripherals. The keyboard is an Amazon UK number and the mouse is whatever, but the wrist rests sure look comfy, and the padding around the edge of the desk is divine.
The moon lamp looks great along with the fill light coming in from the right, and I could totally get down with some death metal and WFH with this setup.
Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!
Historical Clackers: Oh Maskelyne, Why Can’t You Be True?
What’s a magician to do if they need something to fall back on? Sell typewriters, I suppose. Why else would a father-and-son team of illusionists named John Nevil Maskelyne (Jr. and Sr.) do such a thing?
Image via ozTypewriter
The Maskelynes’ machine was initially seen at the Paris World’s Fair, which lasted from May to October 1889. Four years later, it finally hit the market.
The main selling point of the Maskelyne was that it offered differential spacing. Most typewriters output monospaced text — the skinny ‘i’ takes up the same width on the page as the ‘w’ does. On the Maskelyne, each character takes up a different amount of horizontal space. This makes for a nicer-looking document overall.
By 1897, the writing was on the wall. Maskelynes under heavy usage were falling apart. They were not built to withstand the vibration that typewriters must endure. As a result, things would go awry — maybe the escapement clutch no longer moved far enough, or went too far, or the bars needed to make differential spacing possible clashed together.
By the third model of Maskelyne, they did away with differential spacing. But the investors were unhappy, and by 1899, the Maskelyne Typewriter concern did a disappearing act.
ICYMI: Stop Me If You Saw This Keyboard
We’re embracing the jank this week, remember? And the end result of [nomolk]’s labor? Not janky at all.
Image by [nomolk] via YouTubeAfter sawing apart a perfectly good mechanical keyboard and re-connecting about 50 wires, [nomolk] managed to get it working again, and now has a true split keyboard. Be sure to watch the video!
This labor of love took almost three weeks, between rewiring all the broken connections and testing the wiring. [nomolk] tried it out and found it wasn’t working as expected, with some keys not registering, and other keys registering two characters.
Once it was working, [nomolk] had a fine mess of all-black wires (!) to deal with. Between the zip ties and the plastic spiral wire wrap thingy, the beast was eventually tamed. That Spacebar would drive me crazy, though.

Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly. […]

This week, Hackaday’s Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up across the (stupid, lousy) time zones to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous week.
Again, no news is good news. On What’s That Sound, Kristina didn’t get close at all, but at least had a guess this time. If you think you can identify the sound amid all the talking, you could win a Hackaday Podcast t-shirt!
After that, it’s on to the hacks and such, beginning with a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation when it comes to a pair of formerly-cloud music players. We take a look at a crazy keyboard hack, some even crazier conductive string, and a perfectly cromulent list of 70 DIY synths on one wild webpage. Finally, we rethink body art with LEDs, and take a look at a couple of printing techniques that are a hundred years or so apart in their invention.
Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Download in DRM-free MP3 and savor at your leisure.

Episode 315 Show Notes:
News:

No news is good news!

What’s that Sound?

Interesting Hacks of the Week:

Quick Hacks:

Elliot’s Picks:

Kristina’s Picks:

Can’t-Miss Articles: […]

All the news that was fit to print. Image via Wikipedia
In the 1982 movie Fast Times At Ridgemont High, a classroom of students receives a set of paperwork to pass backward. Nearly every student in the room takes a big whiff of their sheet before setting it down. If you know, you know, I guess, but if you don’t, keep reading.
Those often purple-inked papers were fresh from the ditto machine, or spirit duplicator. Legend has it that not only did they smell good when they were still wet, inhaling the volatile organic compounds within would make the sniffer just a little bit lightheaded. But the spirit duplicator didn’t use ghosts, it used either methanol (wood alcohol), isopropyl, or, if you were loaded, ethyl alcohol.
Invented in 1923 by Wilhelm Ritzerfeld, ditto machines were popular among schools, churches, and clubs for making copies of worksheets, fliers, and so on before the modern copy machine became widespread in the 1980s. Other early duplicating machines include the mimeograph, the hectograph, and the cyclostyle.

Getting A Handle On Duplication
To use the ditto machine, one would first make a master copy using a special sheet of paper with a special type of waxy ink on the back that dissolves in alcohol. These types of sheets are still around today, in a way — if you’ve ever gotten a tattoo, you know that they don’t usually just freehand it; the artist will draw out your design on special paper that they can then use to lay down a temporary tattoo on your freshly-shaved skin before going for it.
Image via Wikipedia
But don’t get too excited; tattoo transfer sheets aren’t compatible with ditto machines for a number of reasons. As I mentioned, ditto sheets use alcohol to transfer the ink, and tattoo sheets use heat and pressure. They’re too thin for the mechanics of the ditto machine’s drum, anyway.
So once you’ve typed or drawn up your master sheet, you’d mount it on the drum of the ditto machine. Then, with a big crank handle, you’d roll the drum over sheet after sheet until you had what you needed. The average master could make roughly 50 to 500 copies depending a number of factors.
The rise of higher-quality master sheets is largely responsible for this wide range, but there are other factors at play, like the color that gets used. Purple was made from a dye called aniline purple and lasted longest on paper, although there was also green, red, and black. You see a lot of purple dittos because of its vibrancy and the fact that it was highly soluble in alcohol.
The type of paper entered into the equation as well: absorbent paper like newsprint would make fewer copies than smoother, less porous bond paper. And, as you might imagine, dense text and images used more ink and would wear out the master faster.
[embedded content]
As with many paper-based things from decades ago, the durability of dittoes is not so great. They will fade gradually when exposed to UV light. Although there is no citation, Wikipedia claims that the average ditto would fade in direct sunlight after about a month. It goes on to assume that most ditto machine users printed onto low-quality paper and will eventually “yellow and degrade due to residual acid in the untreated pulp”.
Not a Mimeograph
It’s worth mentioning that mimeographs are not quite the same thing as ditto machines. For one thing, ditto machines were often hand cranked, and many mimeographs were motorized. Interestingly enough, the mimeograph predates the spirit duplicator, having been patented on August 8, 1876 by Thomas Edison and popularized by the A.B. Dick Company in the 1880s.
Also known as stencil duplicators, mimeographs were a competing technology that used ink and stencils to produce 50 to several thousand copies. A special stencil sheet bearing a wax coating would be typed on a regular typewriter with the ribbon disengaged and the machine set to this mode, and/or written or drawn upon using a special stylus and lettering guides.
The stencil sheet would then be fed into the machine, which had a large drum with an ink pad. The mimeograph would then squish ink through the stencil and onto the paper. You can see all this and more in the video below, which illustrates just how much of an art this whole process was compared to makin’ copies today.
[embedded content]
Mimeographs were largely done in black, but color could be done “easily”, as the video demonstrates. You basically had to hand paint the colors onto your stencil. It doesn’t seem as though changing out the giant ink pad was an option. Unlike dittoes, mimeographs required better paper, so they should last longer in theory.
Before You Run Off
Duplication for the common man is as important as the printing press itself. While today you might just set the printer to provide the number of copies you need, the history of duplication shows that we’ve come a long way in terms of effort on the user’s end. Keep this in mind the next time you want to go Office Space on it. […]

Are you eager to get your feet wet in the keyboard surf, but not quite ready to stand up and ride the waves of designing a full-size board? You should paddle out with a macro pad instead, and take on the foam face-first and lying down.
Image by [Robert Feranec] via Hackaday.IOLuckily, you have a great instructor in [Robert Feranec]. In a series of hour-long videos, [Robert] guides you step by step through each part of the process, from drawing the schematic, to designing a PCB and enclosure, to actually putting the thing together and entering a new world of macros and knobs and enhanced productivity.
Naturally, the fewer keys and things you want, the easier it will be to build. But [Robert] is using the versatile Raspberry Pi 2040, which has plenty of I/O pins if you want to expand on his basic plan. Not ready to watch the videos? You can see the schematic and the 3D files on GitHub.
As [Robert] says, this is a great opportunity to learn many skills at once, while ending up with something terrifically useful that could potentially live on your desk from then on. And who knows where that could lead?

Holy Leather Work, Batman!
[Notxtwhiledrive] had long wanted to design a keyboard from scratch, but could never think of a compelling concept from which to get going. Then one day while doing some leather work, it dawned on him to design a portable keyboard much the same way as he would a wallet.
Image by [Notxtwhiledrive] via redditThe result? A stunning keyboard wallet that can go anywhere and may outlast most of us. The Wallet42 is based on the FFKB layout by Fingerpunch. This hand-wired unibody split uses the Supermini nRF52840 microcontroller with ZMK firmware and rests inside 2 mm-thick chrome-tanned leather in chocolate and grey.
Switch-wise, it has Otemu low-profile reds wearing TPU keycaps. [Notxtwhiledrive] is thinking about making a hot swap version before open-sourcing everything and/or taking commissions. Even better, he apparently recorded video throughout the process and is planning to upload a  video about designing and building this beautiful board.
The Centerfold: Levels, the Prototype
Image by [timbetimbe] via redditAt the risk of dating myself, this ’80s kid definitely appreciates the aesthetic of Levels, a new prototype by redditor [timbetimebe]. This is a centerfold because look at it, but also because there is like basically no detail at this time. But watch this space.
Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!
Historical Clackers: the Secor
When we last left Historical Clackers, we examined the Williams machine with its curious grasshopper-like type bars. If you’ll recall, the Williams Typewriter Company was acquired by Jerome Burgess Secor, a former superintendent of the Williams Typewriter Company.
Image via The Antikey Chop
Secor, an inventor in his own right, began working at Williams in 1899. By 1902, he was filing typewriter patents for frontstrike machines that looked nothing like the Williams grasshopper number. By the summer of 1910, Secor took over the failed company.
Though radically different, the Secor typewriters were not radically better than the Williams grasshopper. And though the typist could see more with the Secor, the only real hype surrounded the removable, interchangeable escapement.
The Secor Company produced about 7,000 machines between three models, one with a wide carriage. Between the impending war, competition, and alleged labor issues, the writing was on the wall for the Secor Company, and it folded in 1916.
But you shouldn’t feel sorry for Mr. Secor. His main wheelhouse was mechanical toy and sewing machine manufacture. He did well for himself in these realms, and those items are far more sought after by collectors than his typewriters, interestingly enough.
Finally, a Quick Guide to Cleaning That Awful Keyboard Of Yours
Oh, I’m pointing one finger back at myself, trust me. You should see this thing. I really should go at it with the compressor sometime soon. And I might even take all the steps outlined in this keyboard deep-cleaning guide by [Ben Smith].
[Ben] estimates that this exercise will take 30 minutes to an hour, but also talks about soaking the keycaps, so (in my experience) you can add several hours of drying time to that ballpark. Plan for that and have another keyboard to use.
Apparently he has two cats that sit directly on the keyboard at every opportunity. I’m not so lucky, so although there is definitely cat hair involved, it doesn’t blanket the switch plate or anything. But you should see [Ben]’s keyboard.
Click to judge [Ben] for his dirty keyboard. Then go de-cap yours, ya filthy animal. Image by [Ben Smith] via Pocket-lintSo basically, start by taking a picture of it so you can reassemble the keycaps later. He recommends looking up the key map online; I say just take a picture. You’re welcome. Then you should unplug the thing or power it down. Next up is removing the keycaps. This is where I would take it out to the garage and use the ol’ pancake compressor, or maybe just use the vacuum cleaner turned down low with the brushy attachment. But [Ben] uses canned air. Whatever you’ve got.
Everyone enjoys a nice shower now and then. Image by [Ben Smith] via Pocket-lintFor any hangers-on, bust out an old toothbrush and go to town on those browns. This is as good a time as any to put your keycaps in a bowl with some warm water and a bit of dish soap.
My suggestion — if they’re super gross, put them in something with a lid so you can shake the whole concoction around and knock the dirt off with force.
After about half an hour, use a colander to strain and drain them while rinsing them off. Then let them get good and dry, and put your board back together.
Enjoy the feeling of non-oily keycaps and the sound of full thock now that the blanket of cat hair has been lifted. Rejoice!

Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly. […]