Numbers & Symbols mode in typ.ing

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Hi *|FNAME|*,

This month we turn our attention to our typing trainer, typ.ing, introducing a new training mode for numbers and symbols. If this seems familiar it's because it's a part of our plan for this year of slowly migrating all of our Live Training modes from Oryx into typ.ing, so people can use them even without owning one of our keyboards.

As long as we're on the subject of typ.ing, here's the May leaderboard:

• First place is "eric?" whose username is a testament to our flexible username (who knew you could put a question mark in your username), with an absolutely incredible 125wpm at a 98% accuracy rate across 29 daily challenges, woah.
• 2nd place: jakewaldrip strikes again! 111 wpm with 96% accuracy across 27 challenges.
• 3rd is tbekolay, 88wpm, 92% accuracy, but all 31 Daily Challenges completed, woo!

I'm curious to see June goes, there's four more days to go this month.

In other news, I wrote a post all about my pen plotter. I've been having so much fun with this machine for the past few months, I figured I'd share. If you enjoy pens making lines on paper, you might like this one.

For Oryx we've introduced a cool setting that excludes the thumb cluster from Chordal Hold. Robin updated the Chordal Hold blog post discussing it in more detail. For me it makes a big difference and I now have Chordal Hold on all the time on my own personal Voyager layout.

Finally, this month's wallpaper comes from Jo's trip to Japan, and was taken in a store that's been around since 1656. Here's to small businesses that last.

As always, thank you for reading, and thank you to those of you who write back and reply! ❤️

All the best,
Erez

Numbers and Symbols in typ.ing

Now works with any keyboard

In the flow of typing, some characters tend to slow us down and trip us up. The Numbers and Symbols mode, originally introduced in Oryx's Live Training, now comes to typ.ing to help you with just those tricky characters. And because it's in typ.ing, it now works with any keyboard, not just ZSA boards. Yay!

Featured User Interview

Tobias Lidman-Strauss

Architect

Not a software architect — an architect-architect. Tobias says he's not cut out to be interviewed, then proceeds to produce a text full of humor and wonder. So many different fields of interest, and the photos are amazing. I love how he embraces being an amateur at many things — something I can totally identify with.

"I am a person who doesn’t value productivity (Tell that to my boss!). But I do value, well, is frictionlessness a word? I subscribe to the idea that to grow into a tool and merge with it is one of the most amazing feelings you can have."

Ergo-ANSI

Welcome!! I wanted a layout that is (1) ANSI-compatible for laptops (or as small as 3x6+2), (2) Very similar to QWERTY for easy learning, (3) Prioritized for the left hand, for keyboard+mouse work, (4) Offers fast and accessible modifier/shortcut combos (esp. text editing). I can type over 130wpm with this layout with no misfires.

Things we liked

Vert →

Files become other files

This is a free and open-source multi-format file converter. It’s a website, so there’s nothing to download or install. You just give it a file and it gives you back that same file, converted. Works with images, documents, audio, and video. Supports many different formats. No ads, no account required.

Britannica’s chatbot →

Grounded in the encyclopedia

Britannica trained an AI on all of their articles, then made it available for free. I tried it with “What’s the biggest controversy involving John A. Macdonald” and “What do you know about ZSA Technology Labs”. It only knew the answer to one of these, sadly, but fell back to ChatGPT for the other, so I did get answers to both of my questions and it made it clear when it fell back to ChatGPT.

Typing / Phonetic Drum Machine →

boom tick boom tis tick tick

This is a basic drum machine, with the twist being that you set your sequence by typing drum sounds. So you go “boom boom boom” for three beats of bass drum for example. Tcha is for clapping, and tiss is for an open hi-hat. There’s a few others— and there are other interesting drum machines on the same site, too.

Tweek →

A clean calendar/todo

TODO lists have been done to death, but this is a nice take. Not enough to get me to switch away from my beloved TickTick. That said, it’s clean and looks lovely on desktop, as well as on paper. If I’d use this I’d draft my week in softcopy first, then print it out and add stuff with a pen as the week goes on.

Unparalleled Misalignments →

Apple Home // Macbeth

This is a big list of two-word phrases that “go together” on a per-word level but mean totally different things as a phrase. Many are NSFW but there’s a toggle to hide them. Two examples are “Water bill // Welfare” and “Scared money // Chicken tender” (get it?!). It’s like a cryptic crossword but without the crossword part. There are hundreds of these.

Tip: We have a subscriber-only link archive with all of the links we shared over the years. Just for you. ❤️

Wallpaper of the month

A ZSA card on a table at Kazariya in Kyoto, Japan. Kazariya sells just one thing: aburi-mochi - traditional sweets made from glutinous rice powder, rolled in kinako (roasted soybean powder), grilled over hot charcoal, and coated in a sweet sauce made from white miso paste. They've been making it since 1656 - same family, same recipe, same store.

Thank you for reading!