fivedemands's blog

Discussion about personal keyboard in IOI
By fivedemands, history, 5 years ago, In English

While doing team contests with tmwilliamlin168, I noticed one thing. His keyboard is FUCKING LOUD. I was so distracted and couldn't think properly.

As IOI allows participants to bring their own keyboard, I think people sitting near the geniosity would be extremely unlucky. They would have to bare those noises for 5 hours.

Therefore, I want to bring out a discussion on whether you think it is a good idea to ban loud keyboards in competitions (for eg. IOI), and what are the other ways to deal with these issues (maybe allow music? idk)

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5 years ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +44 Vote: I do not like it

If music was somehow allowed, then I wonder if it would be possible to encode a template inside an mp3 file (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography ). Also, those who aren't listening to TWICE would be at a significant disadvantage. I think earplugs are better for this purpose.

You can't really judge how loud a keyboard is through a discord voice call...

Even if my keyboard is loud, the people sitting next to me would only have to bear the sound of my keyboard for 40 minutes (as I would've given up by then).

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
    ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +24 Vote: I do not like it

    1) IOI can allow people to ask what music they want and the music will be uploaded in music players which will be brought during the contest day, and the cost is not very big.

    2) If it's loud during a discord call, it's definitely louder in reality

    3) ̶w̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶c̶u̶s̶s̶ ̶m̶u̶s̶i̶c̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶c̶u̶s̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶l̶e̶v̶e̶l̶ You will likely code for most of the time => big disadvantage for the neighbors

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      5 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +10 Vote: I do not like it

      Don’t think so. I recently upgraded a mechanical keyboard. They sound the same over discord. One definitely sounds way quieter to me in person.

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +45 Vote: I do not like it

I support banning loud keyboards and allowing loud music.

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5 years ago, # |
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It looks like this year Technical Committee is taking this into account (source):

Question: Are mechanical keyboards allowed?

Answer: Yes, if they are not programmable and they don’t make much noise.

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5 years ago, # |
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How loud is a loud keyboard and how would this be measured?

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

    ¯_(ツ)_/¯

    Although I feel like if you test 10 mechanical keyboards in a row, you can definitely find worst offenders.

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -29 Vote: I do not like it

Maybe you can ask for earplugs?

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