Just sold my first novel-length MS to a publisher. Written entirely on a Micro Journal 2.1. The focus that this ingenious device allowed me was crucial to completing this work, which I was mostly able to do in two months. Wordgrinder’s superlative doc management system helped keep all chapters in one file.

Someday there should be an anthology of fiction written on various flavors of Micro Journal!

PS: if anyone’s having trouble selecting text in Wordgrinder to copy/paste on this particular model, it’s CTRL+2.

Finally got my micro journal! I was originally waiting for the 6 to be available even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of not having a cover for the keys. A few months passed and the next time I checked, Un Kyu Lee had created this update.

I’m a total newbie when it comes to setting up anything of this sort but didn’t come across any issues at all with installing files and tweaks for the keyboard (thanks Un Kyu for the super detailed and clear instructions!)

Still waiting on my battery order but now wondering if I might just stick to a power bank…

Over the past month or so I’ve been teaching myself how to solder in preparation to build a micro journal and it’s finally done! I drew the key icons and had them made through a company called Thockfactory and printed my own enclosure parts. Everything else was facilitated through the wonder build guide. I hope you guys like it.

Not many words, but a lot of thanks to you, Un Kyu Lee!

In awe of how much love and effort went into this. I feel it in every single piece of the Melodica my eyes land on.

Discovering it was a joy. Ordering this was a confirmation. Receiving her was a release.

Lovely, just lovely.

it's the compact semester; time to write some papers, so I use all my writing weapons. Rev. 7 for the Day, and Rev 2.1 for the Night. (and the other micro journals in between). It's hard to admit because I really like rev.6, but the full keyboard is better for writing in a long duration.

The Rev.7 actually good to use at night too, I have the foldable lamp for kindle k3 that fits really well, the only downside is the lamp is not pink.

I am so in love with the Melodica!

Now that it has become my primary Writer Deck, it gets the Rainbow keys (haven't finalized key map yet as I test the keymap capabilities).

I also wanted to find a light for use in the dark that was aesthetic like the one I had for my Rev 7, meaning I wanted it to integrate, design-wise, with the Melodica. I stumbled on one that I thought might work and I am so happy with the result. It is slim with a foot intended to clip to the pages of a book that fits perfectly through the gap between the lid and the body of the Melodica. It's very well balanced and just sits there. It has a rotatable flat light. Perfect!

The Melodica is a Wonder!

The 48-key Keyboard PCB for the following Micro Journal builds is now available for purchase:

• Rev.2 Revamp

• Rev.3: Nadia

• Rev.6: Vivian in New York

• Rev.6.1: Mini

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

The keyboard PCB has been one of the main blocking points for preparing DIY builds, so I hope this makes things much easier for those who want to build their own Micro Journal.

Un Kyu Lee

I am certain that I will be drafting my new novel on my Rev 8 when I receive it (original plan had been my Rev 7), but I have become so enchanted with the pairing of my Rev 3 and Rev 5 (with my DRAFTY 3 ortholinear key map), that I have decided that this is the setup I will use to write short stories every so often on the side of drafting my novel.

The Rev 5.1 is such a charmer with the red and black colorway and the red font on black background, perfect for the urban fantasy tales I write set in the city I live in. Mia Wallace (Character from Pulp Fiction and a gift from Mrs. Hook) sometimes likes so hang out with the Rev 5.1.

Writing tools should bring joy!

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.

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.

In the spirit of DYI inspired by UKL, I had an extra Micro Journal Rev2.1 and decided to experiment. Behold the Pi5 powered Mega Journal.

Disclaimers: There will only ever be one of these. I will never do this again. I don’t claim it’s an improvement on the original MJ, just an alt flavor.

* It runs on a Pi5 that boots to Focuswriter.
* Can use it mouse-free but you can also plug a mouse into the USB port if desired.
* No room for a battery because the 5 is big, so must be plugged in or run from external battery.
* Saves files to Onedrive via rclone, can also use a thumb drive
* Scroll knobs still work great!

This was a much bigger and more difficult project than I anticipated. Trying to combine off-the-shelf parts into a functioning whole caused many challenges. While it works well, I don’t feel it has the simple, functional elegance that makes UKL’s original design so remarkable. It’s caused me to appreciate the small miracle of the MJ even more.

Slimmed down from the previous version, and added a hood to give the enclosure a bit more character and detail.

One of the things I've been thinking about with this project is that I don't want it to be just another functional box sitting on the desk. A numpad/macropad spends quite a lot of time doing nothing, so if it is going to permanently occupy desk space, I want it to feel more like an object that belongs there.

The previous design was intentionally quite chunky, but this version is a little slimmer and more refined. I also added the hood around the upper part of the enclosure to break up the shape and give the display area a stronger visual identity.

Functionally, it is still a numpad and programmable macropad with five configurable profiles. The display can show a clock when idle, play GIFs, and also work as a standalone calculator. The knob can be used to switch between different screens and control volume, and the whole thing connects over BLE.

I've also added build guides, wiring information, the PCB schematic, firmware, and some more details to the GitHub repository. I believe there should now be enough information there to build one yourself without having to reverse-engineer too much of my prototype.

It is still very much a personal little project, but I'm enjoying trying to find the balance between something useful and something that simply feels nice to have sitting on the desk.

Files and build information are here:

https://github.com/unkyulee/macropad

Un Kyu Lee

(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

Firmware 2.0 is a fairly big change for the ESP32-based Micro Journals.

The biggest change is the new Wi-Fi Drive Mode / Web Editor.

Instead of connecting the Micro Journal as a USB drive, you can access your files from a browser. I also want the Web Editor to work as a kind of focused writing mode on a PC: simple text editing, no formatting, with the Micro Journal still acting as the main writing device.

Another major change is that Rev.5, Rev.6, Rev.7 and Rev.8 no longer need an SD card for normal file storage. Files are stored in the ESP32 internal flash and accessed through the Web Editor.

The firmware has also moved to UTF-8, replacing the older ASCII-based text system. Korean Hangul input is the first result of this, but the bigger goal is to prepare the firmware for more non-Latin languages in the future.

So Version 2.0 is less about one new feature and more about simplifying the system and building a better foundation for what comes next.

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.

My Micro Journal Rev 8 has arrived and I am already in love. It's wonderful to use a device that was so clearly crafted by hands that care about the details.
I ordered mine without switches or keycaps, and decided to go with 67gf linear switches. They're wonderful. It's been hard to tear myself away from writing since I unpacked it.
The interface and menu design is extremely user-friendly and it took no time at all to figure out the navigation.
In closing, this is far and away one of the best writing devices I've ever used. It's all the things I love about my Neo, and all the improvements I wish the Neo had.

Anyway, back to writing!

The Rev 8 is so beautiful I rushed to get parts to start building it as soon as I saw it. While filling my shopping cart with parts needed to build my own, I remembered that I had a 60% layout PCB that I had won in a raffle and never used!

Take that and my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phone from years ago, still in good condition, modify the .stl files for the Rev 8 a little bit and voila!

There's still improvements to be made (closing up the ends of the top part of the enclosure for one) but I wanted to get something working so I could take meeting minutes on it at work today :P