I think the days of the solar wireless keyboard are over for me. The technology works when it works, and works horribly when it doesn’t. The Logitech K750 solar wireless keyboard, even under the best lighting conditions, locks up for no reason after only a few months of use, and works again sporadically. I believe I will be going to shop around to see what kind of keyboard I can get. I am not ruling out an old-fashioned “wired” keyboard.
This article began as a discussion on the pros and cons (mostly cons) of the Logitech K750 keyboard, but has ended up being a general discussion on mass-market keyboards and the fact that the pricing of them was done by an abstract artist. Utterly no sense of proportion or reason to the pricing in most cases I have seen. So much so that a good section of this article begins with comments on the most expensive keyboards sold online down to the least expensive, and then returning to the K750.
I am looking through the non-gaming keyboard section of a popular computer store where I live, and the priciest keyboards come without a numerical keypad. These ones which max out at $200 are called “minimalist” keyboards. They don’t even come with a touchpad. Oh, but some of them are backlit. Ooooh.
It is interesting, viewing keyboards in order of price from most expensive on down. For $100, half the price of a “minimalist” (read feature-poor) keyboard, I finally get a standard-looking one with a normal-seeming layout. It is a JLab, a brand I have not heard of. Some of the keypad keys such as Print Screen and Scroll Lock have been replaced by keys with icons printed on them. Even though some of what replaced the PrintScreen, Scroll Lock and Pause buttons are for other wireless devices (it can take up to 3), pass.
Go slightly cheaper to $89, and you can get a mechanical illuminated keyboard from Logitech. However, the keys are a bit more cryptic than normal (PU for “page up”, SL for “scroll lock”, to name two of many keys labelled this way), and will keep me looking.
Down to the $79 range, and you get an Adesso keyboard, a conventional layout and labelling, with a media selector and touchpad. I don’t care for the touchpad, as I will probably disable it in favour of my mouse. Actually, that means it has too many features at this price point, at over $120 below the most expensive keyboard discussed here.
I would like a backlit keyboard, but failing all else, I think I would end up buying the Logitech K840 “corded” keyboard that boasts an aluminum chassis. It is not backlit, but the layout is pretty standard, which is what I prefer. It is $59. A reviewer says it is missing a Num Lock light. Oh. Damn.
The biggest irony is that if I go down to the $10 range, I do finally get a traditional keyboard which has the key layout that I am used to with no unpleasant surprises. No keys in unexpected locations, no “designer” key labelling, no missing indicator lights. But the trade-off is that the keyboards are not wireless, and are not backlit. The backlit feature isn’t that important, but wireless is something I have become used to after years of coping with a clutter of wires around my computer. It is a welcome feature to have a computer without wires getting in the way.
What I didn’t want was another wireless keyboard that consumed more batteries. This is why I went solar with the K750. But these keyboards have short lifespans, and don’t generally last longer than a rechargeable battery (yes, it still uses batteries, but a very small one) inside the keyboard. Rechargeable batteries can only last so long and be recharged only so often. The rechargeable battery can be ordered online, but the replacement has not necessarily had a reputation for being successful. My keyboard that just got finicky on me is about 6 months out of the box. I am typing on it now after placing it to one side with the power off for some time, and it seems to be working right now. For some reason, the K750 is not detected under Logitech Options even as I type this, but my older K400 keyboard was. Not sure why that is.
For a long while the Logitech K750 was the only game in town for solar rechargeable keyboards for the Windows PC. I have noticed now that Targus is marketing such a keyboard now at around $90USD on their website. It boasts using bluetooth, which is not supported by the K750. The Targus “Energy-Harvesting Eco-smart” keyboard (AKB868US) is also made from recycled materials. It is on their website, and at Staples (online only) for $125CAD, which is relatively pricey compared to my K750. Lenovo proposed one last year, but I have not seen it online. With some narrow exceptions, a DuckDuckGo search for nearly all “solar wireless keyboards” point to the K750, clearly the most popular of them all if I choose to stay the course and put up with the frequent flakiness.
Just for the heck of it, I searched Amazon for a similar keyboard, and what came up were keyboards by Sequin and Arteck, but not the K750. Interesting. The Arteck and Sequin keyboards both boast bluetooth. The last time I had to shop for a K750 I recalled that it was difficult to find in a brick-and-mortar store, and I think I ended up getting this one at a Best Buy at the Heartland Town Center, the only Best Buy that had it in stock. I don’t think it was stocked at all at Staples, or anywhere else. But after my experience with this, my second K750 (both of which ended up being flaky in the same way), it is little wonder that others had the same opinion and have ended up wanting to abandon solar powered wireless keyboards for more reliable technology.
The K750 was a great concept, but it clearly needs more work before it earns the popularity it deserves.
The Lenovo ThinkVision M14 is a portable monitor, intended for use with a laptop. The only connector you can use is USB-C only; and for best results, you need to use the one supplied by the manufacturer. I have plenty of USB-C connectors, but I found with my Acer Spin 3, the monitor has trouble being recognized. Even with the supplied cord (which is just two male USB-C’s end-to-end), recognition of the monitor under Windows 10 can be very dicey.
Various ISPs have prevented the hate blog “Daily Stormer”, widely described as a “sewer of humanity”, from passing through their routers, or at least slowed it down. I applaud this move, despite the American’s love of free speech. Americans have free press, but as the cynical adage goes: free press belongs to those who own one, even in the United States. Those who own the telecommunications equipment can determine what passes through their routers and what gets blocked. It gives one a sense of optimism that society and businesses can do what the American govermnment can’t legally do, Trump notwithstanding. ISPs and domain registrars are not bound by the constitution, but instead are generally bound by their own terms of service. Hate speech is generally seen as a violation of the terms of service for most internet-based companies. In this case, the hate speech was especially tasteless, involving verbally attacking Heather Heyer, who was the one who died in Charlottesville, Virginia after being rammed by a car driven this past weekend by Alex Fields, member of Vanguard America, a hate group based in Charlottesville.
Daily Stormer had their “.com” domain name removed by their domain registrar, GoDaddy. Google Domains declined to register their domain name as well. They were even denied after they tried to register their domain with a Russian domain registrar, using a “.ru” TLD (top-level domain).
If Operating Systems Were Airlines is a popular article that predates the web, and was first seen in Usenet in the 1980s. Over time, it has undergone several revisions all over the internet. Here is a compilation as far as I can do. Most of this is sourced from 
Everybody pushes the airplane until it glides, then they jump on and let the plane coast until it hits the ground again, then they push again jump on again, and so on.
The terminal is almost empty, with only a few prospective passengers milling about. The announcer says that their flight has just departed, wishes them a good flight, though there are no planes on the runway. Airline personnel walk around, apologising profusely to customers in hushed voices, pointing from time to time to the sleek, powerful jets outside the terminal on the field. They tell each passenger how good the real flight will be on these new jets and how much safer it will be than Windows Airlines, but that they will have to wait a little longer for the technicians to finish the flight systems.
The terminal is pretty and colorful, with friendly stewards, easy baggage check and boarding, and a smooth take-off. After about 10 minutes in the air, the plane explodes with no warning whatsoever.
Just like Windows Air, but costs more, uses much bigger planes, and takes out all the other aircraft within a 40-mile radius when it explodes.
All the stewards, stewardesses, captains, baggage handlers, and ticket agents look the same, act the same, and talk the same. Every time you ask questions about details, you are told you don’t need to know, don’t want to know, and would you please return to your seat and watch the movie.
Each passenger brings a piece of the airplane and a box of tools to the airport. They gather on the tarmac, arguing constantly about what kind of plane they want to build and how to put it together. Eventually, they build several different aircraft, but give them all the same name. Some passengers actually reach their destinations. All passengers believe they got there.
The airline has bought ancient DC-3s, arguably the best and safest planes that ever flew, and painted “747” on their tails to make them look as if they are fast. The flight attendants, of course, attend to your every need, though the drinks cost $15 a pop. Stupid questions cost $230 per hour, unless you have SupportLine, which requires a first class ticket and membership in the frequent flyer club. Then they cost $500, but your accounting department can call it overhead.
There is no airplane. The passengers gather and shout for an airplane, then wait and wait and wait and wait. A bunch of people come, each carrying one piece of the plane with them. These people all go out on the runway and put the plane together piece by piece, arguing constantly about what kind of plane they’re building. The plane finally takes off, leaving the passengers on the ground waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. After the plane lands, the pilot telephones the passengers at the departing airport to inform them that they have arrived.
After buying your ticket 18 months in advance, you finally get to board the plane. Upon boarding the plane you are asked your name. After 6 times, the crew member recognizes your name and then you are allowed to take your seat. As you are getting ready to take your seat, the steward announces that you have to repeat the boarding process because they are out of room and need to recount to make sure they can take more passengers.
The passengers all gather in the hanger, watching hundreds of technicians check the flight systems on this immense, luxury aircraft. This plane has at least 10 engines and seats over 1,000 passengers. All the passengers scramble aboard, as do the necessary complement of 200 technicians. The pilot takes his place up in the glass cockpit. He guns the engines, only to realise that the plane is too big to get through the hangar doors.
You have to pay for the tickets, but they’re half the price of Windows Air, and if you are an aircraft mechanic you can probably ride for free. It only takes 15 minutes to get to the airport and you are chauferred there in a limozine. BeOS Air only has limited types of planes that only only hold new luggage. All planes are single seaters and the model names all start with an “F” (F-14, F-15, F-16, F-18, etc.). The plane will fly you to your destination on autopilot in half the time of other Airways or you can fly the plane yourself. There are limited destinations, but they are only places you’d want to go to anyway. You tell all your friends how great BeOS Air is and all they say is “What do you mean I can’t bring all my old baggage with me?”
You turn up at the airport,which is under contract to only allow XP Air planes. All the aircraft are identical, brightly coloured and three times as big as they need to be. The signs are huge and all point the same way. Whichever way you go, someone pops up dressed in a cloak and pointed hat insisting you follow him. Your luggage and clothes are taken off you and replaced with an XP Air suit and suitcase identical to everyone around you as this is included in the exorbitant ticket cost. The aircraft will not take off until you have signed a contract. The inflight entertainment promised turns out to be the same Mickey Mouse cartoon repeated over and over again. You have to phone your travel agent before you can have a meal or drink. You are searched regularly throughout the flight. If you go to the toilet twice or more you get charged for a new ticket. No matter what destination you booked you will always end up crash landing at Whistler in B. C.
Disgruntled employees of all the other OS airlines decide to start their own airline. They build the planes, ticket counters, and pave the runways themselves. They charge a small fee to cover the cost of printing the ticket, but you can also download and print the ticket yourself. When you board the plane, you are given a seat, four bolts, a wrench and a copy of the seat-HOWTO.html. Once settled, the fully adjustable seat is very comfortable, the plane leaves and arrives on time without a single problem, the in-flight meal is wonderful. You try to tell customers of the other airlines about the great trip, but all they can say is, “You had to do what with the seat?”
