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Hack Chat Transcript, Part 2

A event log for Cyberdeck Brainstorming Hack Chat

Tough times breed tough computers

dan-maloneyDan Maloney 08/10/2022 at 20:060 Comments

H3lixFossil12:08 PM
i think msg uses his daily? might be mistaken

back7.co12:08 PM
@Hugh Mungis I literally made a cube :) https://back7.co/home/the-open-frame-mini

cyzoonic12:08 PM
@back7.co I am trying to figure out how to get nice lettering on a lasercut peice of aluminum thats powder coated

Dan (a8ksh4)12:08 PM
I think a truly functional build for me would need a 10" display and an x86 cpu.

Dan Maloney12:08 PM

Dan (a8ksh4)12:08 PM
The smaller displays are easier to work with though.

back7.co12:08 PM
@cyzoonic you'd probably be better off with stickers

MakeNModify12:08 PM
@Dan Maloney ... working on something similar but will take forever

cyzoonic12:09 PM
@Dan (a8ksh4) I put an 11.6" into my cyberdeck but I am missing a mouse, if you need that :)

H3lixFossil12:09 PM
@back7.co that's a cube with lattice work and you can actually see some PCB and cables though, which is cool. That definitely still has points in the "form" category

Dan (a8ksh4)12:09 PM
I've wanted to do one like that but with style like a sun microsystems pizza box.

H3lixFossil12:09 PM
lol

DeltaWhy12:10 PM
I've seen quite a few cyberdecks built for SDR, any other purpose-built machines? like maybe a groovebox with custom MIDI built in alongside/in place of a keyboard

Dan (a8ksh4)12:10 PM
External mouse is okay. :) There's new stuff with trackpads starting to pop up in the custom keyboards this year.

io Tenino12:10 PM

H3lixFossil12:10 PM
didn't we have a user submit an actual cardboard pizza box?

io Tenino12:10 PM
@Michael Limiero I feel like most functional cyberdecks get used intermittently based on their functionality. I use the Joopyter for typing out grocery lists

io Tenino12:10 PM
which isn't everyday, but it can be useful

back7.co12:10 PM
I have some surprises planned but it will take me most of the fall and winter to do. I think there are yet more surprises to be had in deck design

bootdsc12:10 PM
yes there was an actual pizza box deck

H3lixFossil12:10 PM
@io Tenino gian is that you?

bootdsc12:10 PM
i think it was a pizzahut large

thesebelik12:10 PM
I imagine I will use the deck i'm building every day. It's going to replace my car radio to play music on my car speakers

Dan (a8ksh4)12:10 PM
The little keyer I'm doing is hopefully going to be a dream logger for late night typing and a general purpose calculator.

Dan Maloney12:11 PM
@io Tenino - that's the one I forgot! Sorry about that, welcome!

io Tenino12:11 PM
@H3lixFossil yes! I use the name io now

H3lixFossil12:11 PM
I'm still holding out for someone to make the literal toaster computer to play League of Legends on

H3lixFossil12:11 PM
nice

Dan (a8ksh4)12:11 PM
So not generally useful, but fits a purpose.

io Tenino12:11 PM
haha, that's alright, hi!

DeltaWhy12:11 PM
I've gone down the mechanical keyboard rabbit hole far enough that I think it would be cool to have a portable built around a nice ergo keyboard. choc switches + a cirque trackpad with like a 40% layout would be neat

DeltaWhy12:12 PM
or perhaps a small trackball instead of the touchpad

MakeNModify12:12 PM
@Hugh Mungis My brother had his computer in a toaster... and I in a mailbox ... early 2000 xD

back7.co12:12 PM
I am on a break from keyboards, we are not currently talking :D

H3lixFossil12:12 PM
there was a video a while ago of this japanese "band" that was using CRT monitors and a bunch of other very hacky "instruments" to make music. reminds me of the guitar-shaped deck that someone made

Inne12:12 PM
I have seen the occasional cyberdeck pass my feed, but am still a bit unfamiliar with the concept. Is it a portable way (device) to interface with the cyber?? Could the builders describe what the concept is to them, what is something you frequently base your project around (either

component or concept.)

H3lixFossil12:12 PM
music counts as a function right?

mike in kent12:12 PM

thesebelik12:13 PM
it seems like the mechanical keyboard circle and cyberdeck circle overlap quite a bit

back7.co12:13 PM
@Inne it's really a pretty open concept

H3lixFossil12:13 PM
absolutely

Dan (a8ksh4)12:13 PM
Is that a nerf turret, @mike in kent ?

io Tenino12:13 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0VYsiMtrNE

YOUTUBE ELECTRONICOS FANTASTICOS!

H3lixFossil12:13 PM
that's the one

MakeNModify12:13 PM
came to cyberdecks via mechanical keyboards...

mike in kent12:13 PM

bootdsc12:13 PM
ooh nice sentry

MakeNModify12:13 PM
my deck was planed as a keyboard initially

thesebelik12:13 PM
@io Tenino that is sick!

mike in kent12:13 PM
Distraction-free deck shoots interlopers

back7.co12:13 PM
@mike in kent I did something similar with a nerf fun, facial recognition, and CV, but decided not to publish it

bootdsc12:13 PM

bootdsc12:14 PM
AI is fun to play with

MakeNModify12:14 PM
hehe midjourney?

bootdsc12:14 PM
you bet

MakeNModify12:14 PM
... it just dose not get keyboards right

bootdsc12:14 PM
actually that one was craiyon

io Tenino12:14 PM
the ultimate no-keycap typing experience

MakeNModify12:15 PM

Nicolas Tremblay12:15 PM
Nice one

Dan (a8ksh4)12:15 PM
What's everyone doing for power supplies in their decks? Any good 12v solutions?

io Tenino12:15 PM
mmh, very cool.

mike in kent12:15 PM
I'm messing with depthai, it only shoots if you are more than 2-meters away for safety and within 10 meters for accuracy. Also, since it uses a neural net that searches for people, it only shoots my kids and ignores the dog.

MakeNModify12:15 PM
Midjourney suggestion

io Tenino12:15 PM
I just use a regular old USB power bank.

Tom Nardi12:15 PM
@Inne That's the big question. In the literary sense they are suppose to be a way to "jack in" to cyberspace, but given our current tech, they end up mainly being just highly personalized computers.

cyzoonic12:16 PM
@Dan (a8ksh4) I have a 3S2 Battery BMS for 18650 getting 12v out.

io Tenino12:16 PM
It's set up so it has a hole to slide in with two male USB headers that line up with the ports on the battery bank

Dan (a8ksh4)12:16 PM
What do you charge it with? External charger or have yuo found a bms tha that handles it?

io Tenino12:16 PM
gives a satisfying power-cell vibe

MakeNModify12:16 PM
Yea power is also still my main issue, is ther a good way to power a Pi4 deck? Through charging and just unplugging and go like a laptop?

cyzoonic12:17 PM
@Dan (a8ksh4) In my case the charger is in the deck and I connect high voltage (220v) to the deck

bootdsc12:17 PM
depends on your mindset. i've seen plenty of gamers who get so focused they enter the matrix

io Tenino12:17 PM
For me, my deck has ~50hr battery life, so I don't mind just poping it out once a week and plugging it in for a couple of hours.

cyzoonic12:17 PM
Here is what I used: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000648416374.html

H3lixFossil12:18 PM
I'm starting to play with the idea of having a deck that doesn't need a battery. When you think about it, most people need to take their laptop chargers with them anyway to starbucks or the library. Might as well save the space, weight, and money

Dan (a8ksh4)12:18 PM
Cool. Someone on the discord found a possible integrated usb charger for 3 and 4s packs, but I don't think it's been tested yet.

bootdsc12:18 PM
flying fpv quads you absolutely detach from your body and are inside the quad. vr can have the same effect

cyzoonic12:18 PM
@Dan (a8ksh4) that would be cool, I tried USB charging but it was too finiky getting the 12V

thesebelik12:19 PM
how do you safely shut down a sd card SBC? I worry about damaging my sd cards by constantly just unplugging them instead of doing a proper shutdown

bootdsc12:19 PM
i brought a deck with my on a trip. compute stick, vufine display and a app for mouse/keyboard

bootdsc12:19 PM
everything fits in my pockets

Dan (a8ksh4)12:19 PM
@cyzoonic thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

H3lixFossil12:19 PM
@Will Sebelik sudo shutdown

io Tenino12:19 PM
you can typically just send some sort of shutdown command if you're running an OS

cyzoonic12:19 PM
@Will Sebelik I just shutdown in Linux and then pull the plug

io Tenino12:19 PM
systemctl poweroff

io Tenino12:19 PM
there are tutorials for making a button that does that for the rpi at least

DeltaWhy12:20 PM
@Jame5 was that the pine64 logo? what board are you usingt/

scndthe2nd12:20 PM
This is such a cool thread. Ergogen folks pointed this out to me. Hopefully I can make something up next year

Dan (a8ksh4)12:20 PM
@bootdsc I'm looking forwad to flying at some point with a pocket deck, keyboard, and an avegant.

H3lixFossil12:20 PM
i use some really jagged pliers and yank the sd card and hope that i'm fast enough that there won't be much magic smoke that escapes

bootdsc12:20 PM
yeah i use a button on gpio for shutdown makes life easy

Inne12:20 PM
@Tom Nardi The "jack in" concept has been on my mind for the passed week, Just returned from BornHack Denmark. Turns out it is a bit more sophisticated than soldering a UTP connector to the pins of Badge :D. This contest might give that Idea a second wind. It would be fun to connect random UTP cables to things.

bootdsc12:21 PM
to bad everyone spends so much time jacking off. theres far more productive ways to use the internet

H3lixFossil12:21 PM
u/dungeon_master_dan made probably the sickest HMD i've ever seen but he hasn't been active in the cafe in a while. maybe years?

mike in kent12:21 PM
@back7.co Ooh. Would love to see your sentry. Sure it's awesome. As always, I'm really struggling with the power requirements ... this time it's the servos, the gun, the Pi, and the screen. I've got 2 18650's powering the Pi via an x708, 4 NiHm AAs powering the servos, and a bank of 8 Nimh AAs powering the gun. Wish I could figure out how to do it all with 18650s.

ajlitt12:22 PM
haven't built one since the ammo box thing I built out of an old arm720t eval board a looong time ago. that one took 6-24V fed passive PoE style into a watertight rj45

H3lixFossil12:22 PM
that's cool

H3lixFossil12:23 PM
i will say that modern laptops are losing a lot of points for removing ethernet ports

H3lixFossil12:23 PM
and ports in general for that matter

Inne12:23 PM
Is anyone interested in building something with silicone (or has already done so)??

ajlitt12:23 PM
but if I were to make one now I'd use 18V cordless drill batteries and an efficient buck converter - rugged, modular, and less likely to burn my house down

Dan (a8ksh4)12:23 PM
Oh yeah. and plain hdmi connectors are nice to have too.

cyzoonic12:24 PM
@Hugh Mungis exactly, they should give me an SFP+ these days.

Jame512:24 PM
@deltawhy It’s a pinephone, arduino pro micro and a bunch of resin

io Tenino12:25 PM
Having some kind of power supply that can take a ton of different voltages efficiently is the dream, that's a real feature right there.

H3lixFossil12:25 PM
@Inne what do you mean by that? sticking a computer in silicone would add a lot of heat dissipation issues

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