Start core blog

.vscode/settings.json

@@ -8,9 +8,13 @@
         "Rclone",
         "Starlark",
         "buildscript",
+        "clicky",
+        "keycaps",
         "libc",
         "microcontrollers",
         "modpack",
+        "ortholinear",
+        "thinkpad",
         "videographers"
     ],
     "compile-hero.disable-compile-files-on-did-save-code": true

_drafts/2020-10-22-Vortex-Core.md

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+---
+layout: page
+title:  "My first mechanical keyboard: The Vortex Core"
+description: "Just the right amount of obscure"
+date:   2020-10-22 20:00:00 
+written: 2020-09-28
+categories: keyboards workflow
+excerpt: >-
+    I recently purchased my first mechanical keyboard, and decided to go "all in" with a 40% layout.
+redirect_from: 
+ - /post/XlPl0k24/
+ - /XlPl0k24/
+---
+
+About a month ago, I decided to buy myself a mechanical keyboard. I have always been a huge fan of membrane / laptop keyboards. My current laptop (the Lenovo T480) has a very nice feel to its keyboard, and my previous laptop (the Acer R11) had the best keyboard I have ever used. The switch to mechanical wasn't my first choice, although I was open to trying something new, so didn't see it as a negative. Ever since adding another monitor to my setup, I haven't had enough room on my desk to fit a keyboard. This generally is not a problem since I mainly use my laptop, but I occasionally need to use my desktop for rendering work, which requires a separate keyboard.
+
+I began to look for keyboards that could fit in the little space in front of my laptop, and stumbled across [a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofXOu7zK9IY) from one of my favorite YouTube creators, [Wolfgang](https://www.youtube.com/c/WolfgangsChannel/featured) on the [Niu Mini](https://kbdfans.com/products/niu-mini-40-diy-kit), which is a 40% keyboard (meaning it has 40% of the keys of a full size layout). The heavy use of keybindings to get work done on such a small keyboard interested me a lot, and I almost picked up a Niu Mini for myself, although ended up not getting it because I decided I wasn't quite ready to learn how to type on an [ortholinear](https://blog.roastpotatoes.co/review/2015/09/20/ortholinear-experience-atomic/) layout, while needing to learn keybindings at the same time.
+
+Instead of the Niu Mini, I ended up getting myself the cheaper [Vortex Core](https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3550). The core, made by the same company that produces the well-known [POK3R](https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3527), is a programmable 40% with a staggered layout.
+
+## Overall build
+
+The Vortex Core is built very nicely, I chose mine with the [Cherry MX Brown](https://www.cherrymx.de/en/mx-original/mx-brown.html) switches, since I dislike overly clicky keyboards, and I have had no problems with noise. The keys also feel very nice, and are effortless to type with. Interestingly, my keyboard shipped with an extra "Windows" key in place of a function key, which on a keyboard that makes heavy use of function keys, was a bit annoying. Not a huge deal though, since I just know what the key does, and I don't spend much time looking at the keycaps anyways.
+
+That being said, since the keyboard has so many shortcuts and combinations to get things done, I really like the fact that the core comes with color-coded keycaps that tell you what they do.
+
+The keyboard's baseplate is made of aluminum, and is CNC-cut, so it both looks and feels very nice. For a keyboard that I can wrap my (admittedly large) hand around, it is fairly heavy too (I seem to remember the FedEx shipment coming in at around 3lbs). In this case, heavy is not at all a bad thing. The weight of this keyboard makes it feel... expensive. Also, it never feels like the board is sliding away when I'm typing.
+
+One downside though, in terms of connectivity, the keyboard unfortunately uses USB micro connector instead of the newer (and nicer) USB type C connector. As someone who connects his life with USB-C, I am not the biggest fan of this choice, but at least I had a right-angle USB-micro cable lying around that I can use with it. Alongside the USB-micro connection, removing the backplate will reveal a [JTAG](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JTAG) connector that allows you to flash custom firmware to the keyboard if you want. @ChaoticEnigma has forked the popular [QMK](https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware) keyboard firmware as [`qmk_pok3r`](https://github.com/pok3r-custom/qmk_pok3r), and added support for many Vortex boards including the Core, if you are looking to load something more custom.
+
+## Keybindings
+
+I have been talking non-stop about this keyboard's keybindings. So, *what's up with that?*
+
+Keybindings are very common on 40% keyboards, since many keys you have probably grown to love simply are not on the keyboard anymore. No <kbd>F</kbd> keys, no number keys, no arrow keys, no symbols, and no quotations either. For this quick overview, I will explain this for a Vortex Core keyboard *without* any custom programming.
+
+Let's say you wanted to type the number `5`. On the core, this is done by pressing <kbd>fn1</kbd>+<kbd>F</kbd> (there are three function keys on the core. <kbd>fn</kbd>, <kbd>fn1</kbd>, and <kbd>pn</kbd>). While this might be a bit confusing at first, it is a fairly simple system to learn, and the color-coded keycap markings make the learning process super easy.
+
+
+## Programming
+
+There are two main things I wanted to do immediately after getting my core:
+
+ - Switch the <kbd>Win</kbd> and <kbd>Alt</kbd> keys to match the layout of my Thinkpad
+ - Remap the arrow keys to [vim keys]()