Introducing Zapp and Classic Books Mode

Hi |FNAME|,

You can now flash your ZSA keyboard from the terminal, without opening Oryx! Our new open-source flashing tool, Zapp, can go to Oryx check if your keyboard is running the latest version of your firmware. If you're a big terminal user, then this is for you. Full announcement below.

Another cool thing we launched this month is classic books on typ.ing. This is a unique mode that lets you calmly type your way through the greats. We put a lot of love into this one, and you can see all the details in the full announcement as well.

Speaking of typ.ing, here is the daily challenge leaderboard for last month:

#1: Matthews, at 135wpm with 98% accuracy across 30 challenges.
#2: Gabriel, at 121wpm, 97% accuracy, and 30 challenges.
#3: Tim Howlinson, 100wpm, 99% accuracy and 30 challenges.

We've been running these daily challenges for a while, and these results are just stellar. If any of the three of you is reading this, please email me, I'd love to chat.

I mention this in the Classic Books blog post: I take requests. If there are any public-domain books you'd like to type your way through, just reply to this email and let me know.

As always, thanks so much for reading, and for writing back! :)

All the best,
Erez

Introducing Zapp

Flash your ZSA keyboard from the terminal

Our new open-source terminal app, Zapp, is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Use it to flash your ZSA keyboard instantly. It's super simple, fast, and easy to use. You could even have your coding agent flash your keyboard on request.

Classic Books Come To typ.ing

Type your way through the greats

A few weeks ago I thought to myself, "what if you could type through a whole book?". This new mode is the answer to that not-so-idle musing. It's quite different from the rest of typ.ing, and I hope you enjoy it. We'll be adding new books every month.

Featured User Interview

Tim Ivory

Piping Design Engineer

Timothy is a piping engineer, a family guy, and a poet. He shares two workspaces (home and office) in this interview, and they both look great. TIL "MegaFigs" are a thing — these are Lego minifigures, but big. Fun! Also, he uses Leica gear which is not a camera.

"For extra “protection,” I’m flanked by Forged Legion Knights—premium magnetic, modular collectibles that feel like magnetized LEGO companions, guarding the setup and bringing a creative edge to my environment."

Layout of the month

KimicalBurn's Voyager w/ autoshift

I am a software developer for mobile and web, and have very small hands and struggle with pinky strain. Accordingly, this layout prioritizes Autoshift, Vim, Tmux, and mouseless window management and app switching. Most other layouts I found eschew Autoshift in favor of tap dances and home row mods, but those never really felt right to me. I'll walk through my Mac layout for work, my Windows layout for gaming, and the one-shot layer with all my special keys that ties everything together.

Things we liked

Museum of Plugs and Sockets →

So many

I was aware of several different types of power plugs, just like anyone else who’s traveled a bit. I was not, however, aware of just how many there were. This museum is dedicated to domestic power plugs, including adapters and power cords. I’m linking to an Italian power plug I’ve never seen before, which is apparently also used in Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Ethiopia, and a few other countries. There’s another amazing Italian plug also, and lots of others as well.

Antscan →

Not just ants

Antscan is a pilot project for creating digital libraries of 3D invertebrate anatomy based on high-throughput synchrotron micro-CT. I clicked around, and before I knew it I had a 103MB STL file on my machine with an incredibly detailed ant. I’m not sure what to do with it now. Let me know if you have any ideas.

MOSS →

A painting toy

MOSS is a pixel editor with brushes that feel alive. Paint with tools that blend, spread, drip, grow, and glitch — each one behaving differently and each one completely customizable. Every cell of the MOSS canvas is a little piece of data that can be manipulated by a brush. Colors accumulate, patterns emerge, and happy accidents turn into your favorite pieces. Free, Web-based.

Once Posted →

Old postcards, beautifully presented

Once Posted is a small archive of postcards that were written, sent, and then forgotten. Many of these cards are found in flea markets, antique shops, and boxes of ephemera. They have been separated from the people who wrote them and the people who received them. What remains is the message, captured in a moment of ordinary life.