"The
Alchemist" Keyboard
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7/26/11 6/8/11 |
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This keyboard is similar to my "Archbishop" model, but features side lit stained-glass-styled inserts and keys featuring Alchemical symbols. This keyboard was originally designed for a pharmacist and is themed around Apothecarial and Alchemical icons including the Bowl of Hygeia, the Caduceus, and the Eye of Ra (from which the modern "Rx" symbol used by pharmacists is derived). |
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The side lighting
is wired into the scroll lock LED and turns on with a press
of the scroll lock key. It
is a USB keyboard, but because the lighting is hooked into
the scroll lock function, this keyboard is designed for
a PC, not a Mac. |
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The function keys display the elemental symbols of the various
metals used in the construction of the keyboard, as well as
a few others. The tilde and number keys display the symbols
for the sun, moon and the planets. |
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The symbols for
Earth, Air, Fire and Water are found on the arrow keys
and the number pad uses stylized Roman numerals. The
Enter and Shift keys are labeled with the symbols for
Alchemical processes like mixing, stirring, combining,
etc. |
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Secundum artem is
a Latin phrase meaning "according to the art." It is frequently
used to describe doing something in the accepted manner
of a skill or trade; in medicine, it is often taken to
mean "use
your skill and judgment." The brass rod on the front of the keyboard (where you can see the reflection of my camera and overhead light) is covered with a piece of transparent vinyl to prevent tarnishing from the oils in the skin of your wrists. |
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This keyboard also features a "braided
brass" cord. |
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Noncommercial users are welcome to copy my images provided they acknowledge the source. I am more than happy to help people design or create their own steampunk contraptions, but if you are a company looking to steal my work for mass-production, please know that I have design patents, trademarks, and copyrights pending or in place on most of my designs, my logo, and my name. They will be brutally enforced if necessary. |
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