Utilities for work and play.

Instead of planned obsolescence, there should be planned longevity. viznut

trabant

This computer is my daily driver for projects and communication. It runs Linux with Ubuntu and Regolith alongside a selected range of software. For work, I occasionally dual boot into Windows.

It is usually located in my workstation but is what I currently use when on the go as well. In the future I intend to keep this computer stationary and use RASP/UTIN for mobile work.

trabant specs

Host: Lenovo ThinkPad P50, 15"
RAM: 32 GB
Processor: Intel Core i7 @ 8 x 2.7GHz
Graphics: nVidia117 / Mesa Intel HD 530 (SKL GT2)
Operating System: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Desktop Environment: Regolith
Keyboard: OLKB Preonic

tablet

Bought used in 2015. Found on the workstation. Used in combination with trabant.

Specifications

Model - DTK-1300
Connectiviy - USB 2.0 | HDMI
Resolution - 1920 x 1080
Dimensions - 374.50 x 248.10 x 13.56 mm

Configuration

To use the tablet under Linux it needs to be configured using xsetwacom. There are two bash scripts in place, one that takes care of configuring the screen and tablet buttons, another for toggling the mouse cursor mapping to a specific screen.

preonic

For day to day work on Trabant I use the OLKB Preonic v3, a 5x12 orthographic keyboard with Gateron Aliaz Silent MX mechanical switches and the Acute keycap set.

It runs the QMK firmware that allows custom key mapping. To do so, the firmware along the configuration file are compiled and flashed onto the keyboard.
To install QMK CLI run:

python3 -m pip install --user qmk

Then run the setup with:

qmk setup -H /path/to/qmk/

Set the default configuration by running

qmk config user.keyboard=preonic/rev3 user.keymap=rostiger

Use the online configuration tool to configure the mapping to your liking, name it preonic/rev3/rostiger and download the .json file.

To convert the json data to C navigate to qmk/keyboards/preonic/keymaps/rostiger/ and run

qmk json2c rostiger.json > keymap.c

Use a pin to push the reset button on the underside of the PCB. This will put the keyboard in flash mode. It is not functional in this mode and musn't be unplugged.

Build the keymap layout and flash the keyboard by running

qmk flash

planck ez

A small, portable and highly configurable keyboard that I use with RASP/UTIN and the pocketchip. It features a 4x12 layout and Cherry MX Brown mechanical switches with double ring silencers.

To make up for the few keys, it can be configured to activate different layouts with a press of the "raise" or "lower" keys.

Keymap

The keymap is configured to be as versatile as possible while leaning torwards programming.

,------------------------------------- 0: Base -------------------------------------.
|  Tab |   Q  |   W  |   E  |   R  |   T  |   Y  |   U  |   I  |   O  |   P  | Bksp |
|------+------+------+------+------+-------------+------+------+------+------+------|
|  Esc |   A  |   S  |   D  |   F  |   G  |   H  |   J  |   K  |   L  |   ;  |   '  |
|------+------+------+------+------+------|------+------+------+------+------+------|
| Shift|   Z  |   X  |   C  |   V  |   B  |   N  |   M  |   ,  |   .  |   /  |Enter |
|------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
|Extend| Ctrl | GUI |  Alt |Lower |    Space     | Raise| Left | Down |  Up  |Right |
`-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
,------------------------------------ 1: Lower -------------------------------------.
|   ~  |   !  |   @  |   #  |   $  |   %  |   ^  |   &  |   *  |   (  |   )  | Ins  |
|------+------+------+------+------+-------------+------+------+------+------+------|
|  Esc |  F1  |  F2  |  F3  |  F4  |  F5  |  F6  |   _  |   =  |   {  |   }  |  |   |
|------+------+------+------+------+------|------+------+------+------+------+------|
| RCtrl|  F7  |  F8  |  F9  | F10  | F11  | F12  |      |      |      |      |Enter |
|------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
|      |      |      |      |      |             |      | Home | PgDn | PgUp | End  |
`-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
,------------------------------------ 2: Raise -------------------------------------.
|   `  |   1  |   2  |   3  |   4  |   5  |   6  |   7  |   8  |   9  |   0  | Del  |
|------+------+------+------+------+-------------+------+------+------+------+------|
|  Del |      |      |      |      |      |      |   -  |   +  |   [  |   ]  |  \   |
|------+------+------+------+------+------|------+------+------+------+------+------|
|      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
|------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
|      |      |      |      |      |             |      |BRGTH-|BRGTH+| Vol- | Vol+ |
`-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
,------------------------------------ 3: Adjust ------------------------------------.
|      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
|------+------+------+------+------+-------------+------+------+------+------+------|
|      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |BRGTH+|BRGTH-|      |      |
|------+------+------+------+------+------|------+------+------+------+------+------|
|      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |CLRTGL|LGTTGL|      |      |
|------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
|      |      |      |      |      |             |      |      |      |      | Prnt |
`-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
,----------------------------------- 4: Extend -------------------------------------.
|      |      |      |      |      |WheelU|WheelD|      |      |      |      |      |
|------+------+------+------+------+-------------+------+------+------+------+------|
|      |      |      |      |      |LClick|RClick|      |      |      |      |      |
|------+------+------+------+------+------|------+------+------+------+------+------|
|      | MLeft| MDown| MUp  |MRight|      |      | MLeft| MDown| MUp  |MRight|      |
|------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------|
|      |      |      |      |      |             |      |      |      |      | Prnt |
`-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------'

pocketchip

A handheld single-board computer for making PICO-8 games

The PocketChip production was discontinued in 2017, the company producing it entered insolvency in 2018. By now, all documentation and data went offline, but there still is an active community around the device.

I found it used online for 40EUR.

Specifications

1 GHz ARMv7 processor
512 MB RAM
480 x 272 LED backlit touchscreen
Membrane keyboard
One USB port
Headphone jack
Wireless Internet
Bluetooth
5V DC, 500mA battery
Up to 5 hours usage

A small touch screen pen made from a bamboo chopstick

printer

3in1 printer bought second hand in 2019.

Printing

Print from command line

lp filename

Adjust columns per inch and lines per inch to control output size.

lp -o cpi=14 -o lpi=8 filename

Cancel all print jobs

cancel -a

I added a bash function to .bash_aliases for a printing template:

lpt() { margin=60; marginTB=30 lp -o cpi=14 -o lpi=8 -o page-top=$marginTB -o page-left=$margin -o page-bottom=$marginTB -o page-right=$margin -t "$1" $1; }

Refilling the Tanks

Simply open the lid and fill the corresponding color tank with ink up to the top most line. In the printer menu, head to Maintenance>Reset Ink Level and follow the navigation.