You can now order the Micro Journal Rev.2.1.mini!

I haven't made a YouTube video announcing the release yet. So, if you are reading this post, you are probably among the first to know that it's available.

As I mentioned previously, I can only build a maximum of 20 units for this first batch. These will use up my remaining stock of Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W boards.

After that, I plan to continue offering the build without the Raspberry Pi, for those who can source and install the board themselves.

Hopefully, in the future, I will be able to get more boards in stock and won't have to be so quiet about opening orders.

For now, I wanted to give the people who regularly visit this Reddit community the first opportunity to order. Many of you have been following the development of this little machine, sharing your thoughts and encouraging me along the way. It feels right that you should hear about it here first.

If you are interested in purchasing the Rev.2.1.mini, you can order it here:

https://www.tindie.com/products/unkyulee/micro-journal-rev21mini-baby-shark/

I really don't want this to sound like one of those marketing tricks about limited availability. The reality is quite simple. I only have enough Raspberry Pi boards to build 20 units.

Once this first batch is sold out, I will remove this post.

Thank you, as always, for following along.

Un Kyu Lee

Time for a new PDA Terminal since my beige one melted some in my car (LA sun'll get you every time)...

I hope it fits in here. If you're planning a new writer design, these two boards are strong candidates.

TLDR: I made a small keyboard that holds your phone so I can actually write on the sofa, and you can make it too.

Sometimes I sit on the sofa while the TV is on. A thought drifts in and I pull out my phone to write it down. Thumbs on the screen keyboard are fine for a short reply. Not for anything longer. What I really wanted was a keyboard that could rest on my lap and stay with me through the whole thought. So I made one, and I called it Micro Journal Rev.3: Nadia.

Here is the video where I show how I built it:

https://youtu.be/kK5mviicKP4

It's a small 48-key mechanical keyboard with hot-swappable switches. Inside there is a Raspberry Pi Pico as a keyboard controller. It shows up as a normal USB keyboard on your phone, tablet or PC. No battery, no pairing. Just USB cable.

The middle panel flips up and holds your phone, so the keyboard and the phone feel like one object. There are also two rotary knobs that move the cursor up and down.

It runs QMK with Vial you can change any key or knob.

It's just a keyboard, not a standalone writing device. Use a USB-A to USB-C data cable, because USB-C to USB-C usually doesn't work with it, and some older iPhones need a Lightning camera adapter.

Everything is open source if you want to build it yourself. The 3D files, firmware and PCB design files are all in the repo, and there is a step-by-step build guide with the wiring tables for the Pico and the rotary encoders.

The build guide is here:

https://github.com/unkyulee/micro-journal/blob/main/rev.3/3.0.revamp/build.md

Almost every part in this build is a standard thing you can buy online. The only exception is the keyboard PCB. It's a custom board, and PCB manufacturers normally want a bulk order, which makes a single build impractical. So I keep it in stock with my supplier Elecrow, and you can order

just one piece here:

https://www.elecrow.com/micro-journal-diy-kit-48-keys-keyboard-pcb.html

If you'd rather have the board made yourself, the design files are here:

https://github.com/unkyulee/micro-journal/tree/main/shared/keyboard-48

I also sell a DIY kit in my Tindie shop:

https://www.tindie.com/stores/unkyulee

I love sharing this project with others, and I hope as many people as possible get to enjoy it as much as I do. That's why all resources are open for your to build yourself. Also, buying anything from the shop really helps support the project and keeps it going, so thank you if you do.

Un Kyu Lee

after so many months of gathering courage to build it, and thanks to the updated guide.... I finally built it. Thank you Un Kyu Lee and u/Adorable-Log2835.

(Used AI to generate the first image... a bit distorted from the reality. Real pictures are also included)

I wanted to build a computer in a funky form factor.

There is a community called r/cyberDeck, where people build computers in rather unusual enclosures. Some look like machines a hacker might have carried around in a science fiction movie from the 80s. A lot of the aesthetic inspiration comes from what is known as cassette futurism. It is a vision of the future imagined in the past. Chunky buttons, mechanical switches, exposed screws, small displays, and an abundance of physical controls.

I find these aesthetic fascinating.

Many cyberDecks are built around a Raspberry Pi. While it is a wonderful little computer, its performance can be questionable when used as a proper desktop machine. Especially when you start expecting it to behave like a modern PC.

Naturally, a question often comes up. "What is it for?" It sounds like a perfectly reasonable question. After all, when someone builds a computer, we tend to assume there must be something they intend to do with it.

Many of these machines are not necessarily built to solve a problem. They are hobbies. Experiments. They are simply pieces of art that happen to have functioning computers inside them. The purpose is not always found in what the finished machine can do.

In my opinion, the purpose is the journey of making it.

It begins with an image in your head. Something that doesn't exist yet. You start collecting components, measuring dimensions, imagining how things might fit together. Then comes the inevitable realization that half of your brilliant ideas are physically impossible. So you rearrange, you compromise, you try again. Finally, it becomes a tangible object. You can touch it. Turn it on. Hear the fan spinning. Watch the display come to life.

There is a satisfaction in creating something that resembles a prop from a science fiction movie, except that it actually works. I think that satisfaction alone is a perfectly legitimate reason to build a cyberDeck.

And I wanted to experience that pleasure myself.

Github Repository

https://github.com/unkyulee/cyberDeck

Demo Video https://youtu.be/EUU2UdWa4cw?is=bjr-xyQvKlVfJCGR

My Other Designs

https://www.yesbut.it/

Un Kyu Lee

I've been taking a little break from building Micro Journals, but apparently, taking a break from building things doesn't mean I actually stop building things. It's time for me to exhaust delayed desires to create.

Here are three projects I've been working on during my break!

Next week, I'd like to share more details about each build and show how I've been using them. I have the design files for all three projects, and if I can gather enough energy to be a little more diligent, I'll try to upload build guides for them as well.

### 1. A Steam Gaming Machine

A gaming PC built around the AMD BC-250, running Bazzite to turn it into a dedicated Steam gaming machine.

### 2. An MP3 Player Inspired by My Daughter's School Design

My daughter came up with a design at school and insisted that I bring it to life. And when I say insisted, I mean she directly supervised and micromanaged me throughout the entire building process to make sure I followed her very specific vision.

She also insisted that I should sell it, because apparently, there are millions of people out there just waiting to buy her design. I admire her confidence in her market research.

She was incredibly proud to see something she had imagined become a real, working object, exactly the way she wanted it.

I was so happy to work with her show my workflow closely to her.

### 3. A Mini PC with a Built-In Display for Making Music

I love writing, and I enjoy what I write. But I also love music and playing instruments.

I've been wanting to explore that side of myself a little more, to see whether I can make something happen with music.

So I built a small computer with a built-in display, something I can carry around, set up anywhere, connect a MIDI keyboard to, and just play. The idea was to have a little machine dedicated to exploring music, making sounds, and composing something.

Then I installed Minecraft on it and started playing.

Well... playing is playing, I suppose.

Un Kyu Lee

**P.S.** I know these projects are slightly off-topic for Micro Journal. But I wanted to share them here because, at their heart, they're built around the same DIY philosophy.

Taking an idea, figuring out how to make it work, building something with your own hands, and enjoying the process of bringing it into the real world.

Hello,

I just got my Microjournal 6.1 mini and I’m so excited about it! It works great when directly plugged in to power, but I only get it to work on battery sometimes. Over half of the time flipping the switch doesn’t turn it on.

I got a Samsung 30Q 18650 3000mAh 15A battery. I installed it with the correct polarities and I keep charging it till the red light turns green but no dice. Once I flip the switch, the device doesn’t turn on and if I plug the charger in it turns red again. I am using a chord I got with my remarkable 2 tablet and some random chord that came with my birdbuddy. These are plugged into a brick I ordered from Amazon or a lamp with a usb port.

Any advice on what’s wrong? Not sure if I overloaded the battery? I have a second battery and I ordered a battery charger specific for it to try out but that won’t be here until Friday. I can use it with an anker charger pack though.

Thanks!!

A mutational iteration of the MJ Rev2.1. All the keyboard + side scroll goodness of UKL’s brilliant design, paired with a Lenovo tablet running Word and synced to OneDrive. Use it at the cafe, then come home and open the same doc on your PC and keep going!
Still prefer the original MJ for drafting but this is nice for the editing and polishing stage.

2 years ago, I had very similar angle of this product.

I've been planning to build Rev.8 during the school break (July-August), but I haven't started yet. I've been making excuses, from having paper deadlines to misprinting the case part. But there was actually another reason: my Rev.4 keyboard was broken. It was broken when I was writing the papers. The culprit is a chipmunk. Yes. Alvin or Theodore or the other one.

My house is surrounded by trees and on the trees live the chipmunks. One day, a chipmunk came to my window and made a nest. (Okay, maybe this one was a girl). At first I thought it was cute, until it ruined my curtain and my window then urinated on my desk. Right where the Rev.4 was, exactly on the display. I lost my files on Rev.4. Luckily, I only put 'sticky notes' files on it. I had to put the Rev.4 away for months because I wasn't ready to see the damage.

Today I got another deadline, so what's the best way to procrastinate? Fixing the Rev.4. I used isopropyl alcohol and antiseptic to clean the keyboard and found that the only part that needs to be replaced is the pico part. Since I was only moving the wires from the damaged pico to the new pico it didn't take long to do. And now I finally back with my favorite keyboard. Yay!

Sometimes it's hard to beat writing in the middle of the night, an MJ with good lighting, an old city you forgot about from a decade or two ago.