What is SpaceFN and why you should give it a try
The SpaceFN concept - setting up your space key as a layer switch when held - is probably one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby. Let me explain how it works. My SpaceFN article on kbd.news made some rounds recently - quite surprisingly given the age of this concept. This piece you're reading is a condensed version of the full post. If you're left with unanswered questions, you'll most likely find the info you're looking for in the original write-up. On my imaginary top list of the most useful keyboard features, tweaks and hacks, SpaceFN would deserve a podium finish for sure. But what makes it so special? In short: SpaceFN is easy to implement, easy to learn, costs nothing, can be used with any keyboard, and can improve your productivity instantly. I will list its benefits below, but can state right at this point that the SpaceFN concept, setting up your space key as a layer switch when held, is clearly one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby....
Apr 30, 2024
I knew from the start, however, that it wouldn't have much appeal without a matching themed case to go with it, and I originally thought that a flat aluminum case in seafoam green would do the trick. But the more I thought about it the more I felt that something more ambitious was needed, and I worked up some 3D renders of what I would want the case to look like. Little did I know how good MassDrop was at turning concepts into reality!
What you see here is everything I hoped this tribute keyboard would become, and I hope keyboard enthusiasts and vintage typewriter enthusiasts alike will be as excited as I am to have this baby on their desktops!
the keycaps do show the arrows, but now sure where we can put them on this layout.
I think he would.
In this particular case, the keycaps will be Signature Plastics VCO green and VAF green. My renders are approximations of those colors based on RGB values obtained from scans of SP's color chips that I myself did not create. You have to look at those renders and realize they are only giving you a reasonably good, but not perfect idea of what they will look like in person, to your eyes.
My goal for the case color is to try and match the VAF green color, but final aesthetic calls will generally rest with me and I make no promises that the case will match the renders 100%. It is the general spirit of the Hermes Rocket typewriter that is the goal, not perfect color matching to the concept art.