A curvy Voyager

Hi |FNAME|,

This month I actually want to start with the layout tour. It's a layout called MoonLiquid created by Sasha Lubyansky, and it's just so impressive. It's based on something called Handsdown Vibranium, which is a super-optimized key arrangement. Sasha then further customized it with a whole bunch of combos and macros for quickly typing common words, bigrams and trigams ("nt" and friends). It's a real tour de force and shows just how far you can take a layout in Oryx.

Customization isn't just about firmware, of course: This month we have two different DIY projects, one for the Voyager and one for the Moonlander. The Voyager one comes from Robin and lets you add curvy "key wells" to your previously-flat board! It's a fun proof of concept, and it works well enough that I used a "curvy" Voyager for a month or two (I eventually did go back to a flat Voyager — it's fun to have that flexibility to go back and forth). The second is a guest blog post from Ben Milford showcasing his custom "platform" solution for the Moonlander. Both posts are interesting even if you don't intend to print anything — worth it just for the pics and GIFs alone. :)

Next — and I may be burying the lede here — we actually have a product launch this month: Our new typing trainer, typ.ing. We soft-launched it early October and lots of people already found it on their own (could it be the catchy domain?!) and have been enjoying it. It's clean and simple, and entirely keyboard-driven (you never have to reach for your mouse to change settings etc.). I suggest trying it out on a desktop computer, not on your phone.

And finally, with this being Halloween and all, this month's ZSA Loves comes from Robin who shares a spooky tabletop RPG. Happy Halloween to those of you celebrating!

As always, thank you for reading — and if you try out typ.ing, please do reply and tell me what you think about it.

All the best,
Erez

p.s: I was on the devtools.fm podcast earlier this month, feel free to check out the episode for some fun behind-the-scenes crowdfunding history.

I didn’t think about my typing improving, it just was very natural, so that was kind of a nice surprise.

- Russell Matney, Moonlander user

Introducing typ.ing

Clean, simple, focused

It started with a great domain name. Next came numerous concepts and mock-ups, followed by months of development and testing. And now, finally, I'm excited to share a typing trainer that feels uniquely "ZSA". It works with any keyboard, not just our boards. Try it out, share with friends, and stay tuned for news on this one: We've got many plans for upcoming features.

DIY Voyager Keywells

A fun 3D print

Some people are into keyboards that have "key wells". The Voyager doesn't need curvy wells because it's minimal enough that you don't have to reach for far-away keys — but you can make it curvy, just for fun. Check out this simple and reversible mod from Robin to see how.

DIY Moonlander tenting platform

A great creation by Ben Milford

Of course, we offer an official Platform for the Moonlander — but this DIY take is worth looking into. It's 3D-printable, features quick-release magnets, offers cable management, and has room for additional modules like a tablet stand. Ben's guest post is full of many GIFs and clear instructions — I love this creative solution!

Featured User Interview

Guilherme Viotti

Systems architect and sustainability advocate

Three words: Chair-mounted Moonlander. And if that's not cool enough, add a set of XREAL glasses for displaying virtual screens. Strong Matrix vibes, and just a fun setup all in all. Plus, there's a photo with two giant dogs!

"I am still trying to optimize some keys at the bottom-pinky sides, but so far the setup is very useful. I completely dropped the mouse and use only the mouse layer of the keyboard."

Layout of the month

MoonLiquid

This layout customizes Alan Reiser's most advanced Handsdown layout, Vibranium (Neu-vb), to use Autoshift, max out thumb keys with chords, chord common English ngrams and words, and much more.

Things we liked

Bunch →

Mac automation with plain text

An interesting attempt at making scripting more accessible. Bunch is a system automation tool with a syntax that tries to be clear and simple. It’s for macOS, and its business model is "pay what you can". Made by Brett Terpstra, whom I’ve actually worked with many years ago.

Nights on Earth →

A localized astronomy calendar

A beautifully-executed monthly calendar tailored to your location. You can see astronomic events and sunrise/sunset times (moonrise/moonset too!). Clicking on a day brings up more information. Great for stargazers and astrophotographers.

Afoolzerrand →

Over 1,700 detailed reviews of chocolate milk

Chocolate milk from all over the world, lovingly reviewed and then rated across several rubrics. Each entry is carefully tagged, too. Here’s a choice excerpt: "Absolutely annihilates that ideal thin-viscosity-to-high-creaminess-ratio that I covet so much, delivering a fantastic dark and slightly mature cocoa flavor to any and all nearby flavor receptors." Some of these reviews are R-rated for language.

Set Pose →

A free 3D mannequin

You know those little wooden mannequins artists use as pose references? This is that, but online and free. I’m not an artist and I still found this quite fun and interesting. There are many preset poses, but you can also adjust each segment of the mannequin individually.

Ice →

Free Bartender alternative

This is a macOS app that lets you hide menubar items and unclutter things a bit. It’s free and open-source. You can install it with Homebrew, too. It seems to be about as powerful as Bartender.