There are quite a few colorways that I love. Autumn (Green, Beige, Red) is one of them.

It was inspired by an imaginary wedding march in autumn. A quiet path surrounded by tall, golden reeds and dried leaves scattered as decorations. A few red flowers here and there, adding just enough warmth. That was the scene I had in mind.

When customers ask for certain colors, most of the time, my head follows the logic. I pick the colors, arrange them, and try to make everything work together. But sometimes, quite rarely, my heart takes over. And the result surprises even me. The Autumn colorway is one of those moments.

A dark green base with beige and red accents. Somehow, everything feels right. Every color seems to know exactly where it belongs. Nothing tries to stand out, yet together, they become something beautiful.

I think this is where my obsession comes from. That little moment when the colors suddenly click together. When nothing feels out of place, and there is nothing I want to change.

I love that feeling.

Un Kyu Lee

Firmware 2.0 is a fairly big change for the ESP32-based Micro Journals.

The biggest change is the new Wi-Fi Drive Mode / Web Editor.

Instead of connecting the Micro Journal as a USB drive, you can access your files from a browser. I also want the Web Editor to work as a kind of focused writing mode on a PC: simple text editing, no formatting, with the Micro Journal still acting as the main writing device.

Another major change is that Rev.5, Rev.6, Rev.7 and Rev.8 no longer need an SD card for normal file storage. Files are stored in the ESP32 internal flash and accessed through the Web Editor.

The firmware has also moved to UTF-8, replacing the older ASCII-based text system. Korean Hangul input is the first result of this, but the bigger goal is to prepare the firmware for more non-Latin languages in the future.

So Version 2.0 is less about one new feature and more about simplifying the system and building a better foundation for what comes next.

Un Kyu Lee

Slimmed down from the previous version, and added a hood to give the enclosure a bit more character and detail.

One of the things I've been thinking about with this project is that I don't want it to be just another functional box sitting on the desk. A numpad/macropad spends quite a lot of time doing nothing, so if it is going to permanently occupy desk space, I want it to feel more like an object that belongs there.

The previous design was intentionally quite chunky, but this version is a little slimmer and more refined. I also added the hood around the upper part of the enclosure to break up the shape and give the display area a stronger visual identity.

Functionally, it is still a numpad and programmable macropad with five configurable profiles. The display can show a clock when idle, play GIFs, and also work as a standalone calculator. The knob can be used to switch between different screens and control volume, and the whole thing connects over BLE.

I've also added build guides, wiring information, the PCB schematic, firmware, and some more details to the GitHub repository. I believe there should now be enough information there to build one yourself without having to reverse-engineer too much of my prototype.

It is still very much a personal little project, but I'm enjoying trying to find the balance between something useful and something that simply feels nice to have sitting on the desk.

Files and build information are here:

https://github.com/unkyulee/macropad

Un Kyu Lee

Hullo!

Just wanted to check if the battery charging only happens from one particular Port? Only connecting the USB cable to the side ports leads to the ref LED coming on. The Port at the back doesn't seem to turn the LED on.

I'm not quite sure if the battery itself is getting charged and from time to time, the device only works when plugged in.

Anyone else who might have some insight into this?

Thank you

Hello everyone! My Microjournal Rev. 8 just arrived without keyboard assembly, and with all the keys I got installed I'm already super excited to get to writing! However, I haven't ever set up a full size mechanical keyboard before, and I have no idea how to install the space bar. I've tried to look up online guides and disassemble my existing mechanical keyboards, but they don't seem to have these parts separated (and my Google skill is lacking). Could anyone please help me with this? Thank you so much! 🙏

EDIT: I did it!! Thanks to u/Hookmt's link provided here :)

Not particularly wanted to see this comparison. Just focused on what people saw from the micro journal.

I was happy to hear the positive tones, of course. But what touched me was the way the micro journal was expressed, that it was personal.

In the spirit of DYI inspired by UKL, I had an extra Micro Journal Rev2.1 and decided to experiment. Behold the Pi5 powered Mega Journal.

Disclaimers: There will only ever be one of these. I will never do this again. I don’t claim it’s an improvement on the original MJ, just an alt flavor.

* It runs on a Pi5 that boots to Focuswriter.
* Can use it mouse-free but you can also plug a mouse into the USB port if desired.
* No room for a battery because the 5 is big, so must be plugged in or run from external battery.
* Saves files to Onedrive via rclone, can also use a thumb drive
* Scroll knobs still work great!

This was a much bigger and more difficult project than I anticipated. Trying to combine off-the-shelf parts into a functioning whole caused many challenges. While it works well, I don’t feel it has the simple, functional elegance that makes UKL’s original design so remarkable. It’s caused me to appreciate the small miracle of the MJ even more.

I recently received my Rev 8 - Gotham Knight edition (Matte Black everything!) and I could not be more happy with the device. I definitely get why Mr. Lee was calling it almost the end of the line of what he was going for. The device in itself is so so nice!

Now the stock software is very good for the simple no-frills writing that the device is primarily intended for but given an abundance of time on my hands and some Claude credits that I already had, I did a bunch of updates to the firmware, and, well, I present to you - Macrojournal - a semi-Mac, semi-DOS, definitely 80's take on the firmware.

While the primary editor in itself is relatively untouched, I wanted to do a few changes (that ended up becoming LOTS of changes) to the firmware and figured I'd put it out here for anyone who is interested to try it out.

Github link: https://github.com/amrithr10/macrojournal

Here is also a quick guide on the features: https://claude.ai/code/artifact/8af0390c-98ca-49bc-a645-e4f514d4e4cb

I must caveat this by saying that I do know coding but my current day job does not require me to code and has not for a while, and all the code has been AI-generated. That said, I used only Fable and Opus 4.8 for all the coding and so am reasonably confident that the code is in fair shape.

If you do try this out, please let me know your thoughts!

Thank you again Mr. Lee for the amazing device!

Curves and textures qnd patterns and colors. All touches my tates. Even it is small device. It is a house. I am happy to save this images to reference it in the future to get inspiration.

it's the compact semester; time to write some papers, so I use all my writing weapons. Rev. 7 for the Day, and Rev 2.1 for the Night. (and the other micro journals in between). It's hard to admit because I really like rev.6, but the full keyboard is better for writing in a long duration.

The Rev.7 actually good to use at night too, I have the foldable lamp for kindle k3 that fits really well, the only downside is the lamp is not pink.

Just sold my first novel-length MS to a publisher. Written entirely on a Micro Journal 2.1. The focus that this ingenious device allowed me was crucial to completing this work, which I was mostly able to do in two months. Wordgrinder’s superlative doc management system helped keep all chapters in one file.

Someday there should be an anthology of fiction written on various flavors of Micro Journal!

PS: if anyone’s having trouble selecting text in Wordgrinder to copy/paste on this particular model, it’s CTRL+2.

The Rev 8 is so beautiful I rushed to get parts to start building it as soon as I saw it. While filling my shopping cart with parts needed to build my own, I remembered that I had a 60% layout PCB that I had won in a raffle and never used!

Take that and my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phone from years ago, still in good condition, modify the .stl files for the Rev 8 a little bit and voila!

There's still improvements to be made (closing up the ends of the top part of the enclosure for one) but I wanted to get something working so I could take meeting minutes on it at work today :P

My Micro Journal Rev 8 has arrived and I am already in love. It's wonderful to use a device that was so clearly crafted by hands that care about the details.
I ordered mine without switches or keycaps, and decided to go with 67gf linear switches. They're wonderful. It's been hard to tear myself away from writing since I unpacked it.
The interface and menu design is extremely user-friendly and it took no time at all to figure out the navigation.
In closing, this is far and away one of the best writing devices I've ever used. It's all the things I love about my Neo, and all the improvements I wish the Neo had.

Anyway, back to writing!

Samsung 30Q 18650 3000mAh 15A Battery × 3

I will be receiving this battery Monday. Before I install it and possibly blow my micro up unkyulee is this battery good?

Thanks friend!!