Do you have an old monitor that’s looking for something to do?
Create a wall calendar / to do list with it!
So between my work, and Tech Futures Lab, I’m pretty busy and I wanted to create a ‘kiosk’ display that would display multiple calendars, the weather and my Todoist list. This is where Dakboard comes in. It’s all based on the Raspberry Pi hardware, which is small enough that it can sit behind the monitor and not be noticed.
You can get the thing to show a variety of information, using either pre-defined or custom layouts.
You can display the status of Smart Home Devices, the weather, traffic conditions, to-do lists, news feeds, stock quotes and more. The background pictures that it uses are quite attractive as well.
I purchased mine over a year ago, but find it so useful I thought I’d share. I’m using the Raspberry Pi 3b model, but if I were to buy one today, I’d go with the v4 model, because it supports two 4k monitors. If you already have a Raspberry Pi laying about, just buy the SD card.
It’s super handy and I totally recommend it. I’m using the essential plan which is US$5 month, but there is a free account, with some limitations e.g. single screen, but it’s probably fine for most people.
I’m using multiple screens at home in my home office to show a variety of things. I track aircraft using Flight Radar 24 and FlightAware – I have a PiAware raspberry pi, with an ADS-B flight tracking receiver plus amplifier and antenna – probably worthy of it’s own post, and I also have a weather station connected to weather underground – and I display the values from my own ‘stationID’.
Just because I’m a monitor nut, I have a 4 monitors connected to my main PC.
I’m not sponsored by Dakboard for this post by the way, but I think it’s a good product and will happily recommend. It’s great when you’re busy and you need to see what’s up next at a glance.
I reckon I can fit in a couple more monitors. Ideally 2 x 27″ 4k, but I’ll wait for the right deal to come up. My command centre is taking shape. Exploring new worlds.
Kirk out.