Projects
Software
With software, I have been looking into UI design aspects more this week.
Pixel Fonts
Once again, the Pixel font series took up much more time than I wanted it to.
On June 23, 2024, I finally came up with an alternate font that would look good on my website when used with 'Pixel-12x12 Condensed', which is 'Pixel-16x16 Condensed'. This font was implemented on the website and now is used for some header text and buttons on the website. Unlike most websites, a different but similar font is used for different size text.
Website
I made some updates to the website during this week, mostly for implementing the Pixel fonts described in the section above.
Hardware
Starting Week 26, I will go into hardware development again.
MediaCow Touch 2
I have some great news: LattePanda/DFRobot would be providing development hardware for MediaCow Touch 2 "Paris". This officially switches the plan of MediaCow Touch 2 using a Rockchip ARM-based System on Module to the LattePanda Mu using an x86-64 processor.
I entered the LattePanda Mu Free Trial Event in late-May, 2024.
At around 3 AM at June 20, 2024, at the end of the application stage of the project, I received an email asking for more information on how the system on module is utilized in my idea. I have already forgotten about the Free Trial Event because I did not expect the idea to be of interest since many handheld tablets using x86 processors have existed in the past. However, MediaCow Touch 2 would be unique in many ways.
I stayed up until 4 AM on June 24, 2024 to design a quite primitive block diagram on how I imagined LattePanda Mu is used in the project. The diagram has some errors as it was rushed but it does describe what I had in mind with the idea.
On June 23, 2024, I have received an email about the idea being approved and to provide information on having development hardware being shipped to me. Some valuable ideas were given for improving the design. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity and having such development hardware would make this project possible.
The ideas that were provided were: - Using an embedded controller MCU for battery management instead of connecting the fuel gauge and charge controller directly to the LattePanda Mu - Using another MCU for volume controls, this could also allow for customizability - Use of a USB audio CODEC instead of using the HD Audio interface
MediaCow Touch 2 may now take up most of my time due to my limited skillset and the complexity of the project. In 2020, I did not expect to build the first MediaCow Touch, codenamed "Nashville", within the time period that I had but I made it happen anyway.
Since 2021, I have been coming up with ideas for MediaCow Touch 2 but none of them were feasible given my limited knowledge at the time.
PC Hardware
Since Week 23 and as mentioned in the last weekly update, I have been considering a display upgrade for a ThinkPad T430s.
The reason why I use a ThinkPad T430s from mid-2012 over the newer HP ZBook G3 Studio for most workloads on the go is that it manages to stay cool. The HP ZBook, however, does not, the CPU reaches 50-80C temperatures on basic tasks such as running a browser (Firefox, Ungoogled Chromium, etc.), updating packages with apt or running VSCodium (especially when using Rust). The ZBook overheating is likely result of putting a realitively high-power Workstation/Server-grade CPU (45W TDP Intel Xeon E3-1505M v5) along with a 40W TDP GPU (Nvidia Quadro M1000M) in a laptop while making such laptop as thin as possible.
Even now, in 2024, the T430s handles everday workloads with the cooling fan barely being heard. A noticable improvement is seen when Spectre and Meltdown mitigations are disabled with the mitigations=off option in /etc/default/grub. During this week, I have done one upgrade so far which is switching out the 2011-era OCZ 120GB SSD (Sandforce controller, Micron/Intel SLC flash and no DRAM) for a 250GB Micron Crucial MX500 SSD which has shown a vast improvement in performance and even power usage.
I have yet to start gathering parts for upgrading the display in the T430s as I am still unsure where to source the LVDS-eDP board.
Personal
This week I have started to put in some effort into improving my lifestyle.