The wiki thread

[daedalus]

I was able to move/rename it once. Can't find the option to do it again.

[sixty]

Did changes to the categories and stuff today.

Finally deleted Cherry MY and Cherry ML and created them as pages instead, like bugfix suggested long ago.
Also I deleted the ALPS Bigfoot Category and made a new one called ALPS Switches. The new article for the CM switches is in "ALPS CM".

I think we should agree on a naming format for articles and such.

Personally I think it makes most sense to not have "switch" in the article name and rather have them in a category.

Example:

Instead of "ALPS CM Switch" just name the article "ALPS CM" and have it in a category "ALPS Switches". What do you guys think?

Also, the next big step will be to add multilingual support for the wiki. Webwit is already working on setting up the wiki so it displays page titles without the "index.php" and such, and international support will be the next step. Right now the plan is to have it based on a subdomain, at least for the German one.

[sixty]

Oh yeah, I also learned that we can edit the sidebar. So I went ahead and did that!

[bugfix]

Instead of "ALPS CM Switch" just name the article "ALPS CM" and have it in a category "ALPS Switches". What do you guys think?

Good idea.

Also, the next big step will be to add multilingual support for the wiki. Webwit is already working on setting up the wiki so it displays page titles without the "index.php" and such, and international support will be the next step. Right now the plan is to have it based on a subdomain, at least for the German one.

Non English keyboard information is a big chance for deskthority in my opinion. I mean, what other German (for example) resource center would there be?

[daedalus]

Btw, I think we need to standardize on the "ALPS vs Alps" thing. Any thoughts?

[webwit]

I looked at the ALPS/Alps website, but it seems they can't make their minds up themselves.

[webwit]

I always thought ALPS was some weird acronym, but the name is actually inspired by the Alps mountains to make it sound English/Western.

The origin of the name is the Asahi–Gassan mountains, sometimes called the "Tohoku Alps." (source).

Founded by Katsutaro Kataoka and named Kataoka Electric Company, a subsidiary, Tohoku Alps (he probably liked to ski there), was established in August 1964, and the following December Kataoka Electric changed its name to the more English-sounding Alps, which was a fashionable way to make a company more marketable worldwide (like Sony) (source).

In 1966, they entered the mechanical key switch market. (source).

So my theory is that writing it as ALPS is as writing Cherry as CHERRY, which is also in uppercase in the logo. It's wrong. Only the logo is in uppercase. Alps is not an acronym. Alps themselves sometimes write ALPS because it is manned by people who don't know this, or because a style is used where every company name is written in capitals and where Cherry would also be written as CHERRY (see last link above for an example).

[daedalus]

It would seem to me that while the logo says ALPS, they refer to themselves as Alps in their text.

[webwit]

They refer to themselves as ALPS too, sometimes both mixed on the same page. But they also seem to do this at places where all company names are stated in capitals. Maybe it's related to legalese. Also, the old Alps logo is in lower case. I think.

[webwit]

Follow wikipedia? Alps.

[daedalus]

Speaking of Alps, I was thinking about the CM/Bigfoot wiki page. I was thinking that instead of doing it in a colour by colour basis, it would be better to do it in a per-design basis, and list associated colours.

Example -

Dampened Tactile Alps

blah blah blah...

Colours -
Cream
White

[sixty]

I checked with our factory and unfortunately they have confirmed that we do not have information available remaining about our keyboard switches to support your initiative.

We are sorry for this negative reply.

Sadness.

[sixty]

Btw, to make things more confusing. They refer to themselves as ALPS in their e-mail signatures also.

[ripster]

Wait a second.

You guys would question Chloe?




Feel free to copy and paste from Geekhack. It's hard to beat 100% accuracy.

[sixty]

The geekhack wiki is nowhere near complete for ALPS switches, or even mentions all possible variants.

I have non clicky whites and clicky blacks infront of me right now. I believe it will impossible to ever collect all this information.

[itlnstln]

It seems like the ALPS stem is simply whatever color plastic they have on hand rather than some kind of type descriptor. It's best just to not think about it.

[ripster]

When I finally finish the ALPS Wiki and have understood everything there is to know about ALPS in 2012-12-12 (Mayan Calendar) the world will explode.

[sixty]

Haha, nice!

[daedalus]

It seems like the ALPS stem is simply whatever color plastic they have on hand rather than some kind of type descriptor. It's best just to not think about it.

Exactly. There's not an awful lot to understand if you don't attach significance to the colours. You do have the various fake/clone/simplified/Alpsalikes that make identification a bit more difficult, but it's not difficult to write a consistent article about them.

[ripster]

Is there an explanation of how the click leaf works? I'm thinking of doing another TIL (Today I Learned) article.

[webwit]

When I finally finish the ALPS Wiki and have understood everything there is to know about ALPS in 2012-12-12 (Mayan Calendar) the world will explode.

You're doing the meme wrong.

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly how the ALPS cluster works and why it is here, the Universe will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

[ripster]

I started the Topre switch wiki here: http://deskthority.net/wiki/Topre_switches. Would be great if Lethal Squirrel has an animation for the Topre switch!

That one is certainly easy. Do Rubber Dome. Add Spring.

Now ALPS - that will bend your mind worse than a Hashish Bar in Amsterdam.
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=15937

And why not Copy and Paste the one Welly and I did together when we used to play nice with each other?

Didn't your English Teacher talk to you about the importance of the Intro?

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to provide a keyboard switch wherein constant hysteresis can be obtained without changing the operation characteristics even if an operation value is arbitrarily set, thereby properly preventing chattering, and wherein an operator can know that the operation member has been depressed to a depth corresponding to the operation value.

OH CLASS.>>>>>>>OH CLASS.......ENGRISH PLEASE! And stop touching that guy's operation member!

[webwit]

We're eagerly waiting for you to put that info the geekhack Alps wiki so we can copy it in our own words.

[webwit]

By the way, I couldn't find this Alps switch in the geekhack Alps wiki, it seems rather incomplete.

sega4.jpg (210.6 KiB) Viewed 8168 times

[daedalus]

Do those sliders come out?

Also, how are those keycaps printed? Obviously not double shot or dye sublimation... are they pad printed?

[webwit]

Sliders are attached to the spring underneath (you can see a coil through the hole left of the center).
I think the caps are pad printed.

[daedalus]

There I was thinking that there was a buckling spring keyboard with double shot keycaps. In fact, if you look at the printing of "Caps Lock", you can see the decal around it, definitely pad printed.

[sixty]

Added some new categories: clicky, linear & tactile switches. Categorizing seems to work out great for SEO so far. We beat certain other wikis already in pretty much every google search, while still having much less actual content.

When writing and editing articles, please categorize.

[ripster]

ItlnStln gets the Number One Hit when you Google Search "Topre Dip Switches".

Alas, Geekhack is nowhere to be found for "Dongle Wiki". And none of my pics show up for "Keyboard Lego".

Clearly someone needs to talk to iMav.

It's GOTTA be ALPS because Chloe said so. And you do NOT find a stranger in the ALPS.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2726955/b ... ns_do_you/
(they finally took down YouTube)

That video is how OCN mods react to my posts.

[sixty]

Alas, Geekhack is nowhere to be found for "Dongle Wiki". And none of my pics show up for "Keyboard Lego".

Yet thanks to you and webwit the google results for VALID KEYBOARD SEARCHES are filled with lego pics and nude Japanese women.