Why Would I Write

  • Not giving up on ortho just yet

    Not giving up on ortho just yet

    When I got my Planck late last year, I ended up putting it aside most of the time due to my difficulty with using the ortholinear layout. I felt kinda bad about neglecting it so over the past two weeks I’ve been forcing myself to use the keyboard exclusively when working outside, and what a difference it’s been. I can actually type at decent speeds right now, and even though the bottom row is still a challenge to me, I think I can actually get used to it (I’m up to 76wpm now). Good thing humans are adaptable creatures.

    The main issue I face with this board was with QMK. I’m happy that the people working on it have been keeping it updated, and they’ve been very responsive on reddit and discord. Big shout out to them. For people who want to stick with the default layout, this won’t be an issue since you don’t need to mess around with keymaps and setting up build environments.

    In terms of build quality, you get what you pay for. I do have two screws that seem to unscrew themselves from time to time, I’m not sure why, but I’ll have to implement a fix in the future.

    For my layout, I haven’t changed much since my initial setup but yesterday I remapped it to be closer to my other 40% keyboards because I find myself going to the same hotkeys on this board, so I’ve got another retraining step to do. Having an arrow cluster is quite useful – when paired with the function key, I get a very intuitive page up/down, home/end key cluster.

    I have also replaced my BOX Royals with Gateron Greens because I find them more enjoyable to type on. BOX Royals do sound real nice in this case though. I’m still using the KBDFans XDA set I designed. May or may not replace them in the future, depending on how much I want to invest in the Planck. I’ll probably be on the lookout for a nicer case.

    Maybe I need a few more months with it, but I honestly don’t feel the benefits this keyboard has over my other 40% keyboards. 40% keyboards are already tiny, I have no issues hitting every key from the home row regardless of the stagger – the ortholinear layout only confuses my muscle memory. The best thing about the keyboard is its portability. It’s the lightest keyboard I currently own and I really enjoy traveling with it in my backpack.

  • Happy New Year, Gig #117

    Happy New Year, Gig #117

    One year ago, I started the journey to clean my room, and one year later – I’m not done. But that’s okay. It’s something I’ll have to eventually get around to, if not my room will turn into a location for a new season of Hoarders. What makes cleaning up your room such a difficult thing to do? I guess I’m just lazy. And I don’t feel like it’s worth enough of my time. I’d rather spend it doing fun stuff and goofing around. Crazy huh?

    Writing about it now makes me feel like I need to change my attitude towards having a clutter-free room. There are many cases for having a clean room, and nothing against it. There is no reason why you should have a messy room. I guess it’s more the part of me who likes to hold on to old, useless trash instead of giving it up.

    I’ve got tons of stuff in boxes, untouched since the day I moved in to my current home. I haven’t looked at them for the past 10(?) years – there’s no reason to think that I would look at them in the next 10 years. Time for them to go. Stuff for other people to make use of, or even the trash. There’s really no reason for me to hold onto so many things.

    Clean room means a healthier environment, which is great. Less stress – since you don’t come home to a messy room, you won’t have to worry about having to pick things up. It also means more storage for me to keep other things in the future. Having a clean room is a benefit, so I shall keep that in mind as I continue clearing out stuff this week.

    Happy New Year to everybody, maybe I’ll spend more time updating this blog this year. Once a week feels a bit too little. We’ll see.

    In other news, I’ve got my first gig of the year happening this Thursday – at where else, but the KL Journal Poolside Open Mic? Feel free to drop by for some cool tunes and cool beer.

    Poolside Open Mic #71 ft. Ash [Facebook Event Page]

    Time: 8 PM – 10:30 PM
    Date: 10th January 2019
    Venue: KL Journal Hotel [Google Maps]

    The Poolside Open Mic is our 3rd longest running open mic night which happens every Thursday evening right on TOP of The KL Journal! Each installation features one of our finest musicians, with this one featuring…

    ***ASH***

    Armed with just a guitar and her soothing voice, and her eclectic blend of soul, RnB and bossa nova, Ash is a KL-based singer-songwriter who has just begun her journey into the performing arts. Often spotted at indie haunts such as The Bee, The KL Journal, Merdekarya and PLOY, she uses the stage to sing stories of her personal experiences with a subtle mix of melancholy and sensuality complimented with her delicate guitar playing style. With a decent repertoire of originals and covers under her belt so far, expect to see more of her in the near future as her journey has just begun.

    Follow her: https://www.instagram.com/ashneese/

    ***OPEN MIC***

    #1 2storeyheart
    #2 Sia Nicholas
    #3 Wasif Hyder
    #4 Raymond
    #5 Adz King
    #6 Juan
    #7 Nero
    #8 Amr Mohsen

    To sign up for the open mic, email us@openmicmalaysia.org 😀

    ~

    Open Mic Malaysia is the brainchild of Shaneil Devaser, frontman of The Endleaves. Established in 2012 and currently operating in the Klang Valley, Kota Kinabalu and Johor Bahru, Open Mic Malaysia aims to create sustainable avenues for bedroom musicians, singer-songwriters and professional musicians to share their music and experiences with each other and the public, over evenings of wholesome indie goodness. In partnership with other like-minded musicians from across the country, Open Mic Malaysia aims to… Make Malaysia Great (for indie music) Again.

  • No Rat Glue for the New Year

    Earlier today, I received an email from Lazada Philippines telling me that my order of a hair straightener, rat trap, and rat glue was being processed. Hmm. Very strange, I thought to myself – considering that I had no need for any of those items and the fact that I don’t shop on Lazada Philippines. The email was legit, so I knew it wasn’t some sort of phishing attempt. But it was sent to an email address that I don’t use for Lazada.

    Curious, I decided to log in to the account (using the forgot password option). Funnily, the email address wasn’t even verified to begin with. I had to verify it in order to reset the password. Fine, I thought – I verified my email address and reset the password.

    After logging in, I noticed there was another order that I wasn’t informed about via email: a ladies bag. I checked out the profile attached to the account – there was a name, address and phone number of a lady living in the Philippines. I guess she has a rat problem and likes to keep her hair straight.

    Anyway, I did the only reasonable thing I could think of: cancel the orders she made. Unfortunately two of the four orders were already shipped out so I could only cancel the other two (rat glue and handbag).

    Why do people use email addresses that don’t belong to them? On a side note, Lazada – why do you let people make purchases without verifying their email addresses? I’m not going to do anything else with the Lazada account and all the personal information I have but someone else with malicious intent would probably have a field day with all this stuff. Hopefully that lady learns a lesson about using other people’s email addresses to order stuff online.

    Imagine if it was some live-saving medication that I cancelled (assuming I was unaware of how important the order of medication was), and the recipient died because they didn’t get it. Would I be considered a murderer? Or would the judge say, “all this could have been avoided if the recipient had used their own email address. It’s not that hard to get an email address. Also, it is free. There is no excuse not to have an email address of your own.”

    Lady – here’s to hoping rats continue plaguing you until you realize your order of rat glue has been cancelled. And that you don’t have a bag for going out to celebrate the new year. Please use your own email address next time.