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Semi-pseudonymous maker “j_calhoun” has constructed a Raspberry Pi-powered desktop calendar and climate accent with a distinction: it is designed to imitate Apple’s basic Mac OS System 6.
Launched in 1988 for the Apple Macintosh, System Software program 6 boasts most of the options of a contemporary graphical desktop together with home windows, icons, menus, and a pointer — however all the pieces is is rendered in black-and-white, owing to the non-color show of the {hardware} for which it was written. Many fashionable ePaper shows are additionally black-and-white, or no less than shade of grey, giving Calhoun a shot of inspiration.
SystemSix goals to convey a little bit basic Apple to your desk, working on a Raspberry Pi. (📷: EngineersNeedArt)
“SystemSix is an e-Ink ‘desk accent’ working on a Raspberry Pi,” Calhoun explains. “It’s a little bit of nostalgia that may operate as a calendar, show the climate, the present section of the moon or simply be usually enjoyable to take a look at. It was written as a love-letter to my first Macintosh. Hopefully it’s nostalgic, considerably informative, and enjoyable.”
The software program’s primary person interface is a reproduction of a System 6 desktop. A “Scrapbook” utility gives reside climate updates, whereas a “Calendar Occasions” window pulls in calendar entries for the day. A remaining window reveals an image of the section of the moon — rendered, naturally, in black and white – or a puzzle. As a semi-hidden bonus: A single “trash day” could be configured, and on that day the desktop’s Trash will likely be crammed as a reminder to take out the bins.
“This challenge was my introduction to studying Python. I began from the sources of the attractive eInkCalendar submitted by 13Bytes,” Calhoun writes. “I did plenty of refactoring of 13Bytes code and added plenty of rendering code to show the desktop and icons in numerous configurations. I added the climate and phases of the Moon. A lot of the trouble although concerned making ready picture property, developing with visually enticing desktop layouts.”
Full supply code, in Python, is supplied for the challenge. (📷: EngineersNeedArt)
To complete the challenge off, Calhoun designed a laser-cut acrylic stand that mimics the looks of a basic Apple Macintosh — scaled to suit a Waveshare 5.83″ ePaper show. To keep away from seen refreshes of the electrophoretic show, updates happen solely as soon as a day — although this may be modified within the challenge’s Python supply code.
The supply code for the challenge, and an SVG for slicing the stand, is on the market on the SystemSix GitHub repository underneath an unspecified open-source license.
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