Imablog

March 31, 2016May 22, 2024

Fedora + Corsair K70 quirks

This will be an ongoing post of some of the quirks I run into using this new keyboard with Fedora.

Turning the backlight LEDs off seems to behave like pressing F5. If I turn the LEDs off when a browser window is active, the browser ends up doing a refresh.
Trying to assign keyboard shortcuts in Gnome Settings/Keyboard, I can’t seem to get it to do any key combinations with the Super/Windows key. Not sure if I’m just missing something or what.
Interestingly enough, KDE recognizes the Super/Windows key as Meta.

March 31, 2016

New keyboard

I’ve decided to take the plunge into the world of mechanical keyboards and replaced my long time workhorse Logitech Wave keyboard with a Corsair K70 (non-RGB) keyboard with Cherry MX Brown switches.

It’s a pretty nice keyboard to type on, and I’m finding the keys need much less force to actuate than the keys on the old Wave keyboard do.

Each of the keys is individually lit with a red LED, which just happens to match one of the red LED fans in the computer case. There are 4 brightness levels for the LEDs from Off to full brightness.

The palm rest included could be a little bigger for my taste, but does the job. Grippy rubber feet on the bottom combined with the weight of the keyboard keep it from moving around much on the desk.

The cord is pretty beefy and has a fabric covering on it. At the computer end it splits into two USB connectors for the keyboard and a pass-through for the USB port on the keyboard.

The keyboard can be set to have all the keys light up or to a custom pattern that’s pretty easy to do right at the keyboard.

One of the issues I had with the Logitech Wave keyboard was that a lot of the special function keys were just invisible to Fedora. While this keyboard doesn’t have a lot of special keys, the ones it does have for media control seemed to work right out of the box without me having to configure anything.

Quite pleased with the keyboard so far.

March 27, 2016May 16, 2017

House progress

Lots of progress on the house since the last update. Drywall went up and got sprayed with primer. Cabinets were installed and trim was installed over the last couple of weeks. Painting is scheduled to happen this week.

Now we can see what all the rooms look like, how they feel, and think about where furniture will go.

March 12, 2016

New car time

Time to think about replacing the Camry.

The car has served me well over the past 16 years, and still runs pretty well. It’s had a fair bit of work done on it recently: new shocks and struts a few years ago, gaskets, tires and a few other things. Gas mileage is pretty decent (~23-25 mpg city driving). It handles road trips out to Atlanta and back nicely and is pretty comfy to drive still.

With the new house and longer commute coming up, time to get something newer though.

Not sure yet what we’ll do with the Camry. We could donate it, or sell it for a reasonable price to someone in need of a fairly reliable car.

As for what will replace it, we’re not sure yet. Another Camry is currently at the top of the list, but we have plenty of options to consider.

March 5, 2016March 15, 2016

Lowcountry Dog Park Tour: Wescott Park Dog Park

Learned about this dog park thanks to a tip on Reddit. The dog park is located at one end of Wescott Park in North Charleston. Enter the park, hang a left when you see the giant baseballs, and go all the way to the end. There’s a pretty good sized parking lot next to the dog park.

The dog park consists of a large dog section and a small dog section. Each section has its own entrance, and a gate allows passage between the two sections.

There’s a water spigot located in the corner of the dog park next to the large dog entrance, but no doggy water fountain inside. There is one just outside the dog park by the small dog entrance though. Buckets placed around the park allow dogs to get water when they’re thirsty.