A peek at live flashing, configurator improvements, and an epic interview.

JULY 2019

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Hi *|FNAME|*

How cool would it be if you could flash your keyboard… without flashing it? Simply change something on your screen, and the change takes effect immediately on your keyboard. We're not quite there yet, but we're working on it, and this month we have a little preview to share with you.

We've also been working hard on Oryx, mainly on the fit and finish. We created a roundup showing all the little things we've improved, from user accounts to international support. Finally, we've interviewed Ivan Smirnov, a Google engineer working on the Assistant who shares a positively massive setup and lots of software tips.

Enjoy this edition of The Ergo, and let me know what you think of the new look!

All the best,
Erez

Live Flashing: A Prototype

A little sneak peek of what's to come

Live flashing is a way to update your ErgoDox EZ keymap (Planck EZ will be coming later) without have to flash it again. You flash an initial firmware, and then updates just magically happen on your keyboard as you change your setup online. It's not quite ready yet, but we have a little preview video for you.

Configurator improvements

Fit, finish, and polish

We've put together an extensive list of all of the changes we've made in the configurator over the past month or so. Also, it was definitely time for a new overview video, so I recorded one. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Featured User Interview

Ivan Smirnov

Software Engineer @ Google

Ivan went so far as creating custom QMK functions to optimize his ErgoDox EZ usage. With three towers, three laptops, five phones and five VPSes, Ivan's setup is positively massive. He rocks all three major desktop OSes, and shares lots of software recommendations and tips.

"I could be dropped naked into a desert, and as long as I had a laptop and a satellite uplink, I could restore my data."

Things we liked

Abelton's Learning Music →

Not just for kids

Much more structured than Google's Music Labs, this is a way to work through some music-making basics right in your browser.

Gitea →

A painless self-hosted Git service

Recommended by Ivan Smirnov above, Gitea is a Go-based, self-hosted Git service. Think GitHub… but yours.

Sheety →

Turn any Google sheet into an API instantly, for free.

Great for quickly developing front-end tools. Need to pull some mock (or even real) data from an API? Google Sheets to the rescue.

Button-stud watchband →

By Form Function Form

It's a watchband that doesn't have the buckle underneath, so you can actually keep your watch on while typing or using a laptop!

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

Made us think

Visit your future self: Taste your future meal, lounge in your future furniture, and sit in your future car. The experience just may change your life.

Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler

Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success

Wallpaper of the month

I love the summer, desert vibe that Mario came up with for this month's wallpaper. With the little oryx in the background, it feels like southern summer to me.

Thank you for reading!