Paper console
By Andrew Gregory. Posted
Information overload is the curse of our times. We just aren’t programmed to keep on top of so much data, on screens that zap our eyes with blue light and mess with our circadian rhythms. And so much of what data we do consume turns out to be dribble anyway. Fighting back against the constant online distraction is Travis Miller, with his device, the Paper Console. At its heart, this comprises a 58mm thermal printer and a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. It prints out information from 16 modules; these include puzzles, RSS feeds, news, a daily quote, shopping lists, weather reports, and more. What it does not do is suck you into the quagmire that is social media and the dopamine-driven search for ‘one more click’.
Take back control of your online data, with Raspberry Pi.
Travis tells us that he “built the Paper Console because I wanted a way to get simple information like weather, headlines, grocery list, etc. without reaching for my phone first thing in the morning. Screens have a way of pulling you into ten other things you didn’t plan to look at. A printed slip of paper does one thing and then it’s done. You read it and move on with your day.
“I also wanted to build something hackable that other developers can extend with their own functionality, while remaining accessible to less tech-savvy users, like an ageing grandparent, who may just want something set and forget.
“I spent six years as a furniture maker before moving into digital design. This project is a bit of a merger of those two backgrounds. Inside is a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W running a Python/FastAPI back end with a React settings UI. The code for the project is open source and runs entirely on your local network. No cloud accounts, no subscriptions.”
Features Editor Andrew trawls the internet for Cool Stuff while keeping the magazine running smoothly.
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