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nice things, and the no can hassing of them [Thu, 23-Apr-2009 10:12 PM]
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[music |Bauhaus -- Burning from the Inside]

I thought you might be interested in what happens to computing machinery around me. It's part of a field that I emit. Or perhaps a secretion. But I think it's a field. A failfield. I have been using this particular keyboard for just under eight years:

Yes, those keys used to say "N" and "M" on them. Wearing the paint off your keycaps? That's for amateurs. Not only do I wear the paint off, I inadvertently carve scars into the plastic. But it's the left "Alt" key that deserves special notice:

It is nearly worn through. That's just how meta I am, man.

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Comments:
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[User Picture]From: [info]megalo_matthew1
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 5:20 AM (UTC)

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Apparently you type with steak knives and brillo pads?
[User Picture]From: [info]ivorjawa
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 5:20 AM (UTC)

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Now I'm curious to see what your init.el looks like.
[User Picture]From: [info]spc476
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 5:25 AM (UTC)

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Good Lord! If anyone can destroy an IBM Model M keyboard it looks like it could very well be you (along those lines, if you do ever do consider an IBM Model M keyboard, the keycaps are replacable, but I do realize that keyboards can be a religious issue).

[User Picture]From: [info]jwz
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 5:27 AM (UTC)

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Flat rectangular keyboards are dead to me.
[User Picture]From: [info]i_e_d
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 5:36 AM (UTC)

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*sends a care package of a angle grinder with a carbide disc to help you trim those nails*
[User Picture]From: [info]perligata
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 6:07 AM (UTC)

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You have goblin nails. I am not surprised by the scratches.
[User Picture]From: [info]matt_od
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 6:19 AM (UTC)

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what do your fingers look like?
[User Picture]From: [info]discogravy
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 6:38 AM (UTC)

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[User Picture]From: [info]cfs_calif
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 6:34 AM (UTC)

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Are you a xenomorph? Do come out at night mostly... mostly?
[User Picture]From: [info]elevatordown
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 6:38 AM (UTC)

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Fun Fact: JWZ has talons.
From: [info]dennisw [yahoo.com]
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 6:41 AM (UTC)

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What is that thing at the lower left of the second picture?
[User Picture]From: [info]sheilagh
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 7:11 AM (UTC)

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A special key that lets him launch this?
[User Picture]From: [info]morbid_curious
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 7:17 AM (UTC)

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I do the same thing. My 'A' and 'S' are worn off and starting to groove, and around 40% of the 'N' and 70% of the 'M' remain. And that's a keyboard I've had for around four years.

Must be too much calcium, or something.
[User Picture]From: [info]chuck_lw
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 7:33 AM (UTC)

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>But it's the left "Alt" key that deserves special notice:

>It is nearly worn through. That's just how meta I am, man.

At first glance, I thought it was melted.

But that'd take a whole other typing talent. And possibly supernatural powers.
[User Picture]From: [info]violentbloom
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 8:59 AM (UTC)

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I think you have some acidic sweat or something in addition to your demon claws... you didn't even mention the neck of your leather jacket dissolving.


[User Picture]From: [info]pixelbeat
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 9:09 AM (UTC)

NOM NOM ...

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So you're the one typing NOM NOM ... everywhere!
[User Picture]From: [info]edouardp
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 9:04 AM (UTC)

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You could try swapping between using emacs and vi every three years. It would probably double the lifetime of your keyboard - your HJKL keys look pretty fresh still.

Or ... maybe not.
[User Picture]From: [info]bugpowered
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 11:10 AM (UTC)

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How about cutting your nails periodically?
[User Picture]From: [info]elusis
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 7:14 PM (UTC)

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You know, what you oughta do...
[User Picture]From: [info]luserspaz
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 11:17 AM (UTC)

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You should work on retracting your claws before you type. I realize the idiot content of the internet makes this difficult.
From: [info]hatter
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 11:27 AM (UTC)

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My goblin nail/talons don't actually come in contact with the keys, hence the lack of grooves on my keys. Looks like your pinkie just slides right off that alt key but it's damn impressive to have such evidence.

I don't think it's a failfield that half-kills a keyboard in 8 years though, that's likely way over the design spec.


the hatter
[User Picture]From: [info]sazzoid
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 12:28 PM (UTC)

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This happens to me too!!! i thought i was the only freak that melted and killed keys... i particularly feel sorry for mr A key... followed by S....
one keyboard was so bad if you couldn't touch type.. don't bother using my keyboard!
[User Picture]From: [info]scorpionis
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 1:22 PM (UTC)

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I'm a pretty fierce keyboard hammerer on a daily basis but I don't think I've ever worn down a key like that, though I have occasionally faded a letter or two.
[User Picture]From: [info]equiraptor
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 1:26 PM (UTC)

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The D key on my MacBook has a little dent in it. It's no where near the size of the gashes on your M and N, but the MacBook is also less than a year old.

My hands dissolve the things I touch regularly, from the silver on my flute to the "leatherette" on my steering wheel.
[User Picture]From: [info]pikuorguk
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 7:24 PM (UTC)

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My Macbook's keyboard has now acquired a nice shiny look to all the buttons, and that's from a 6 month old keyboard unit (the palm rest on the old one cracked, stupid cheap plastic - "I dunno what's wrong with them" said the 'Genius' in the Apple Store!).

My Model M is quite old and I'm only just managing to wear the spacebar down.

A lot of the keyboards where I work are knackered, but that's because I work in a school and children cannot be trusted with anything nice.
[User Picture]From: [info]ultranurd
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 1:34 PM (UTC)

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Extra-acidic sweat genegraft?
[User Picture]From: [info]pavel_lishin
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 2:54 PM (UTC)

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Maybe he's actually a Changer.
[User Picture]From: [info]bahumat
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 2:09 PM (UTC)

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Looks like some of my past space bars, heh. Cracked countless of them, and my present work on is worn smooth to a polished, mirror shine by millions of strokes of my thumb.
[User Picture]From: [info]5beroptic
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 4:04 PM (UTC)

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That usually happens to my keyboards after about 2 years. Most people complain when they visit that all the letters are missing but then I remind them that if they cannot even use a keyboard without toe tapping then they don't need to touch my computer. See it as an added bonus.

'M' and 'N' are usually the first keys to go.
[User Picture]From: [info]rivetpepsquad
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 5:47 PM (UTC)

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OMG. CUT YOUR NAILS ALREADY.
[User Picture]From: [info]ch
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 6:00 PM (UTC)

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i demand pix of your super and hyper keys
[User Picture]From: [info]derrialbook
Fri, 24-Apr-2009 8:11 PM (UTC)

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with what part of your appendage(s) do you press that left alt? i am trying to visualize the usage pattern that leads to that and i'm coming up blank.
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