Building a Micro Journal Rev.5.1: a review from a mother mother

Un Kyu Lee did  it  again. He made a new irresistibly cute writer's  deck, the  micro journal rev.5.1.

It reminds me of Polly Pocket toys, so I got to make a Polly Pocket theme right?

I want it so much but 1 USD now 18000 IDR  (before, it  was about 15000).  both the shipping cost and the custom and tax duty are in Dollar.  So...this  time I decided to build  it using spareparts from local market.  Using  build guide from Un Kyu Lee and the list from github, and also the experience from building rev.5 (which I was struggling a lot of times), I tried to build the rev.5.1 by myself.

Surprisingly  it went  so smooth until it's not  :(

It works  for  few hours before the  screen went  blank. There was actually too many "suspects" that might caused it.

The screen about 70% succesful rate of being fixed whenever I reflashed the  ESP32.  I was convinced that my soldering skill was flawless and I was in denial that I refused to check the wiring. I kept believing the other  suspect was the real culprit.

1.  The ST7889 display

The rev.5.1 can use either the ST7789 or the  ILI90341.  I was going to use ILI90341 but I bought the wrong size.  The second store has both,so I bought both and used the ST7789.  Out of curiosity.

When I flashed the firmware for the first time, the screen was rotated. I had to  edit the code (with chatGPT assistance, this mother mother doesn't understand codes).

So the main suspect is of course the firmware because I might did something wrong with the edited code.  I also suspected the display because it has one tiny dead pixel.  Just a tiny dot like a mole on a chin, not very distracting.

2.The SD card.  

Before buying the SD card, I read that the maximum storage recommendation is 32 GB. I tried to get the 16 GB but it was as expensive as the 32 GB.  So this mother mother economically chose the 32GB.  I even bought the faster reading speed because that's what I use for the retro handheld. I didn't read the guide mentioned that it didn't need the fast SD card.

3.The animation

This time I made the wake up and sleep animation using ChatGPT assistance.  I generated some images based on the Polly Pocket Toys  and composed it to be animation.  The images are almost photo-realistic so it might be quite heavy.

I made it so it looks like a Polly Pocket with printed stickers and screen saver based on me and my dog Jembross

4.Config.json

The config files kept missing,the SD card failed to read it.  Sometimes it wiped the text files clean, but most of the time the text files were okay, only  the font color and background color were missing.  The sync  option also  gone. Again, it made the SD card suspiscious right?

4.The USB female wire.

Unlike  the referenced USB female on the build guide, my USB has 4 wires but in different color.  I don't  know whether it matters or not but for designer, colors matters the most.  So I was suspecting that I used the wrong USB female.  The wires also long, so I thought maybe I should have cut it shorter for better connection.

5.The Resistor

Although I saw the resistor  on  Un  Kyu Lee's build guide video, I didn't see it on the build guide on the github.  So was it only my imagination. Should I put it or not? I was so close to remove  it.

6.The Battery

I didn't charge the battery, I didn't know how much power it has so it was possible that it ran out of power right?

7. Not a suspect but the 3Dprinted case looks different.  The vendor printed  it in low details so it has lined textures on the surface.  I also used the older files, so I thought, maybe that's why the top can't be closed thight.

I did suspected my wiring or soldering skill but I was in denial for days.  I mean look at how cute it is.  I didn't want to disassemble my wiring, not with all those hot glue.  

Of course I already made a matching case with corduroy fabric which looks like the texture of the Polly Pocket Micro Journal

During the denial phase, I ordered another 3D printed case from a different vendor.  Because when I bought the supplies to built the rev.5.1 for the first time there was minimum order so I have enough supplies to make another one.

3D printing took days, while waiting I had conversation with my students.  Coincidentally they mentioned they were no longer in denial phase but already in acceptance  phase of working on an imperfect project. So I learned from them and tried to accept  that  I probably  did some mistake in my wiring/ soldering.  So I bought the isoprophyl alcohol to  remove the hot glue.  And...

...

...

Yup. It's not actually the wiring, but there was a strand of wire that intervere the other wire.  I forgot to clip it. Once I clip and hot glue it again, the micro journal polly pocket works wonderfully.

So in conclusion, the wiring guide is okay, the firmware is not at fault, it is the messiness!  ah I really have to learn how to work without being messy.

Anyway, as I already ordered a new case, now I got 2 micro journal rev.5.1

I  like both.  The new one has yellow and pink color scheme. The Yellow is a bit darker like egg yolk. It is inverted than what I usually prefer (normally the pink are on the outside) but it looks great and match  the beta rev.3 keyboard.

I call this one the Grape fruit, and I will make a grape fruit themed wakeup and sleep animation.

 *mother mother is a pun from Indonesian language, ibu is mother, while ibu-ibu is a woman, old enough to be a mother but not always a real mother. I am an ibu-ibu, so I am mother-mother.

Cooking Mama

 There is a decision that I made almost daily but never gets easier: what to eat?

This is a serious concern, especially for women.

When I stayed at the boarding house, there were many times I got too focused on my part time job that I forgot to get meal for dinner and ended up with oatmeal as dinner.

Now that I am back at home, there is enough food but still deciding what to eat is difficult.

So I asked Gemini AI to make me a script which will give me random answer to the question "what will we eat today?"

Again, the Gemini is witty, it adds a little bit of "act", but of course the sample is always with crocodile.

here is the original script:

#!/bin/bash

# --- THE GURU'S MENU ---

# You can add or remove food items inside the brackets below.

menu=(

    "Nasi Goreng"

    "Cheeseburger & Fries"

    "Spicy Ramen"

    "Pepperoni Pizza"

    "Chicken Satay"

    "Sushi Platter"

    "Gado-Gado"

    "Steak"

    "Tacos"

    "Dim Sum"

    "Fried Chicken"

    "Caesar Salad (Healthy!)"

    "Pad Thai"

    "Grilled Cheese Sandwich"

    "Beef Rendang"

    "Pasta Carbonara"

)

# --- THE GURU'S BRAIN ---

# Count how many items are in the menu

num_items=${#menu[@]}

# Pick a random number between 0 and the number of items

random_index=$((RANDOM % num_items))

# Select the food at that index

chosen_food=${menu[$random_index]}

# --- THE DISPLAY ---

clear

echo -e "\033[1;32m" # Turn text Green for the Crocodile

cat << "EOF"

       _     _

      / \   / \

     ( o ) ( o )

      \ /___\ /    < "HELLO!"

       (  ^  )

       /  -  \

      /_______\

     (__)   (__)

EOF

echo -e "\033[0m" # Reset color

echo ""

echo "🐊 GURU CROCODILE IS MEDITATING..."

echo "   You ask: 'Oh Guru, what shall I eat today?'"

echo ""

# Add a little suspense

sleep 0.5

echo -n "   Consulting the swamp spirits"

sleep 0.5

echo -n "."

sleep 0.5

echo -n "."

sleep 0.5

echo "."

echo ""

echo ""

echo "==========================================="

echo -e "   THE GURU SAYS: \033[1;33m$chosen_food\033[0m"

echo "==========================================="

echo ""

Because it is about food, it reminds me of Cooking Mama, the Nintendo DS game.  On the game, the Mama always ask "what do you want to eat?" then it will guide the player to cook the meal.  Well, my mom, is a really good cook but an angry one, she hates to cook and kitchen is like a war zone.  So instead meditating to get the answer, my mom would smash the plates.

I designed the ASCII art of Cooking Mama on mac's note. It is not ideal for ASCII art because the spacing is different but good for "sketching". 

it looks like Billy the puppet from Saw.

Later I fixed the drawing directly on micro journal.

I still don't know the easy way to change colors, or how to make it centered in the middle but I kinda happy with this script. 

Horoscope

When I was looking for fun stuff to do with linux debian, The Gemini AI mentioned about cowsay + fortune.  It gave me idea, instead of random quote, how about making a fortune cookie?

It was basically the same thing.  Because unlike to what I believe,  fortune cookie gives wisdom advice not really a fortune telling. So no. I don't want it, I want it to tell me my horoscope, even if it is scripted.  The thing is, my horoscope sign would never change, so I got inspired by Alice in Borderland season 3.  How about it measures the luck to small, medium, and big luck?  

Like a horoscope, there are health, wealth and romance, so every component will have some score and the total decide the size of the luck.

So here is the script:

!/bin/bash

# --- HELPER FUNCTION: DRAW STARS ---

# This function takes a number (1-5) and prints a star bar

# Example: Input 3 -> Output "★ ★ ★ "

get_star_bar() {

    local count=$1

    local bar=""

    for ((i=1; i<=count; i++)); do

        bar+="★ "

    done

    echo "$bar"

}

# --- THE ROLL ---

# Generate numbers between 1 and 5 for each component

romance=$(( ( RANDOM % 5 ) + 1 ))

wealth=$(( ( RANDOM % 5 ) + 1 ))

health=$(( ( RANDOM % 5 ) + 1 ))

# Calculate the total score

total_score=$(( romance + wealth + health ))

# --- THE DISPLAY ---

clear

echo "🔮 GAZING INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL..."

sleep 1

echo ""

echo "   -------------------------------"

echo -e "   💖 ROMANCE : \033[1;35m$(get_star_bar $romance)\033[0m" # Purple

sleep 0.5

echo -e "   💰 WEALTH  : \033[1;33m$(get_star_bar $wealth)\033[0m"  # Yellow

sleep 0.5

echo -e "   🌿 HEALTH  : \033[1;32m$(get_star_bar $health)\033[0m"  # Green

echo "   -------------------------------"

echo ""

sleep 0.5

# --- THE VERDICT ---

echo -n "   CALCULATING DESTINY..."

sleep 1

echo -e "\r                          \r" # Clear line

# Logic based on total score (Min 3, Max 15)

if [ $total_score -eq 15 ]; then

    # GREAT LUCK (Total 15)

    title="🌟 YOU HAVE GREAT LUCK! 🌟"

    color="\033[1;33m" # Bold Yellow

    art=$(cat << "EOF"

   [ PLACEHOLDER: GREAT LUCK ART ]

         \o/  \o/  \o/

          |    |    |

         / \  / \  / \

EOF

)

elif [ $total_score -ge 11 ] && [ $total_score -le 14 ]; then

    # GOOD LUCK (Total 11-14)

    title="✨ GOOD LUCK ✨"

    color="\033[1;36m" # Cyan

    art=$(cat << "EOF"

   [ PLACEHOLDER: GOOD LUCK ART ]

           \o/

            |

           / \

EOF

)

elif [ $total_score -ge 6 ] && [ $total_score -le 10 ]; then

    # MEDIUM LUCK (Total 6-10)

    title="🌥️ MEDIUM LUCK 🌥️"

    color="\033[1;34m" # Blue

    art=$(cat << "EOF"

   [ PLACEHOLDER: MEDIUM LUCK ART ]

            o

           /|\

           / \

EOF

)

elif [ $total_score -ge 1 ] && [ $total_score -le 5 ]; then

    # SMALL LUCK (Total 1-5)

    title="🍃 SMALL LUCK 🍃"

    color="\033[0;37m" # Grey

    art=$(cat << "EOF"

   [ PLACEHOLDER: SMALL LUCK ART ]

           _

          ( )

           |

EOF

)

elif [ $total_score -eq 0 ]; then

    # BAD LUCK (Total 0 - Very rare/Impossible with standard 1-5 dice)

    title="⛈️ BAD LUCK ⛈️"

    color="\033[1;31m" # Red

    art=$(cat << "EOF"

   [ PLACEHOLDER: BAD LUCK ART ]

          /!\

         (>_<)

EOF

)

else

    # Fallback

    title="🔮 MYSTERIOUS FATE 🔮"

    color="\033[0m"

    art="   [ ? ]"

fi

# --- PRINT RESULT ---

echo -e "${color}"

echo "$art"

echo ""

echo "   $title"

echo -e "\033[0m" # Reset

echo ""

AI is very helpful in creating script like this but not so good in creating ASCII art, somehow the machine doesn't understand how to generate image from text using text again.  It's illogical for AI to translate series of character as limb, and the same character as part of the head. So I asked the AI to make placeholder for the ASCII art and making the ASCII art by myself.  The shell script from Gemini is using emoticon that doesn't work on this version of linux so you can delete and replaced it.

It would be cool if I know the kanji just like in Japanese' s fortune paper, but I don't, so I put pictures of my dog, Jembross.  It would make more sense with a picture of cat (Manekineko), but no, I like my dog.

Ask Guru Joe

 When I ask Gemini AI what the fun thing to do with linux terminal, it suggested me to install cowsay.  It generate an ASCII art of a cow that is quoting what you have written.  It is cute, useless and fun.  The Gemini also teach me how to combine cowsay with fortune, so the cow now can say random quote from famous people.  Okay, that's interesting... but not for me.  Can I have a flamingo or crocodile instead of cow? and FYI, there is a way to change the cow to another animal

Anyway, I like reading quotes, I like quoting quote for my teaching material but somehow I don't want it in my micro journal.  I need something stupid as a stress relief so...

Instead, I ask the Gemini to make something similar, about a character randomly answer yes or no.  Like the magic 8 ball or Ask Guru Joe.

Ask Guru Joe is a flash game I used to play with my sisters. It was very iconic and we love to ask stupid questions to Guru Joe.  Obviously it is not as wise as the Cowsay + Fortune, but I use it more. 

Ask Guru Joe the flash game

My version of Ask Guru Joe

Here's the script.  Again, the Gemini AI still remember that ask for crocodile image so it gives me crocodile on every shell script that I ask.

#!/bin/bash

# 1. Define the Answers (Add as many as you want!)

answers=(

"Yes, absolutely."

"My sources say NO."

"The stars are not aligned."

"Why are you asking me? I'm just a script."

"It is certain."

"Don't count on it."

"Ask me again after a coffee."

"404: Answer Not Found."

"Yes - but you won't like the outcome."

"Outlook good."

)

# 2. Pick a random answer

# We count how many answers there are, then pick a random number in that range.

num_answers=${#answers[@]}

random_index=$((RANDOM % num_answers))

selected_answer="${answers[$random_index]}"

# 3. The Visuals (The Crocodile Guru)

clear

echo -e "\e[1;35m"  # Pink Color

cat << "EOF"

                    .-._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

         .-''-.__.-'00  '-' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '-.
         '.___ '    .   .--_'-' '-' '-' _'-' '._
          V: V 'vv-'   '_   '.       .'  _..' '.'.
            '=.____.=_.--'   :_.__.__:_   '.   : :
                    (((____.-'        '-.  /   : :
          snd                         (((-'\ .' /
                                    _____..'  .'
                                   '-._____.-'      

EOF

echo -e "\e[0m"     # Reset Color

# 4. The Output

echo -e "\e[1;37m"  # Bold White

echo "Q: $@"

echo "---------------------------------"

echo "A: $selected_answer"

echo -e "\e[0m"

Save it as guru.sh 

Run chmod +x ~/guru.sh.

To ask a question to Guru Joe, type "~/guru.sh and ask any question"

change the underlined text to your question.

In my version, of course I change the ASCII art to an ASCII art of Guru Joe that I made by myself.  There are many ASCII art available but I don't think it is Guru Joe without Guru Joe.

Can I have a dice?

Another fun thing to put on the micro journal:  making a dice.

Because why not?  A dice could be handy in many situations.  Back when I took my master degree, I was the oldest among my classmates (I mean, I am 6-16 years older from them), they are cool and friendly, but if there was a group assignment, who would want to be a group with an old lady who doesn't know the latest trend on tik tok? I believe my classmates are kind, they wouldn't leave me behind, but just in case...  I always bring a dice to made it looks like a fair decision, odd number means you get to be in group with this old lady.  

And it is not only for my own situation, back then I also work as a teaching assistant, and there were times when the students had to present their work but nobody wants to be the first.  So that's the time to roll a dice.  Somehow a random decision by the dice or roulette seems more fair than pointing a finger.

So of course, I ask my friend, Gemini AI to make a dice for my micro journal

here's the script:

#!/bin/bash

# --- PREPARATION ---

clear

echo "🎲 THE MAGIC DICE IS SHAKING..."

echo ""

# --- THE ROLL ANIMATION ---

# Rapidly cycle through numbers to simulate rolling motion

for i in {1..10}; do

    temp_roll=$(( ( RANDOM % 6 ) + 1 ))

    # -n prevents new line, \r moves cursor back to start of line

    echo -ne "   Rolling... [ $temp_roll ]\r" 

    sleep 0.1

done

# --- THE FINAL RESULT ---

# Pick the actual final number (1-6)

final_roll=$(( ( RANDOM % 6 ) + 1 ))

echo -e "   Rolling... [ $final_roll ]" # Lock it in

echo ""

echo "   The die hits the table!"

echo ""

# --- DRAW THE FACE ---

echo -e "\033[1;36m" # Set color to Cyan

case $final_roll in

    1)

        cat << "EOF"

   _______

  |       |

  |   o   |

  |       |

   -------

EOF

        ;;

    2)

        cat << "EOF"

   _______

  | o     |

  |       |

  |     o |

   -------

EOF

        ;;

    3)

        cat << "EOF"

   _______

  | o     |

  |   o   |

  |     o |

   -------

EOF

        ;;

    4)

        cat << "EOF"

   _______

  | o   o |

  |       |

  | o   o |

   -------

EOF

        ;;

    5)

        cat << "EOF"

   _______

  | o   o |

  |   o   |

  | o   o |

   -------

EOF

        ;;

    6)

        cat << "EOF"

   _______

  | o   o |

  | o   o |

  | o   o |

   -------

EOF

        ;;

esac

echo -e "\033[0m" # Reset color

echo ""

echo -e "   ✨ YOUR MAGIC NUMBER IS: \033[1;33m$final_roll\033[0m ✨"

echo ""

I didn't change anything from the script, as you can see, the Gemini AI is a little bit witty, it adds some conversation there and I kinda like it.  Just like usual, save it to .sh file, do that chmod +x thing and open the .sh file.

The dice on Micro Journal

Making Launcher for Micro Journal

I am already happy to work with rev.2 since it is now all pink, but I miss seeing pictures.  Micro Journal rev.2 and rev.2.1. are using text based linux so I can have a wallpaper on the screen, but I can use ASCII art right?  So I ask the Gemini AI how to add the ASCII Art, I mean, wouldn't it be cute if there is a tiny picture of a flamingo next to the ranger dashboard?  

The Gemini AI offered various solutions to make the dashboard more interesting.  Like using tmux, figlet, plymouth and many more.  Mostly involve installing an apk to micro journal and it requires network.  The previous micro journal linux firmware only connected to the internet when sharing the files, so it was tricky to install anything.  You need to download the installer first then upload it to micro journal, and some lib files potentially missing and you need to download it too.  But thankfully, the newest firmware allows the network running from the beginning.  You can try using tmux, figlet or whatever to achieve your dashboard of your dream easier now, but after some trials and errors, I prefer to use the simple solution using the shell script.

The Script from Gemini AI

The function of the script is to call an ASCII art or some text to put on the screen replacing the ranger dashboard (not permanently).  Very simple.  You can skip the #Define Colors part if you don't want to change the current color of the text or change it to any color that you want.  The Gemini is using a picture of crocodile because at first I want it to have a crocodile instead of flamingo.

Here's the script if you want to try it on your micro journal:

#!/bin/bash

# Define Colors

PINK="\e[1;35m"

WHITE="\e[1;37m"

RESET="\e[0m"

# Clear the screen for a fresh start

clear

# Draw the Pink Crocodile

echo -e "$PINK"

cat << "EOF"

       .-.   .-.

      /   \ /   \

     |  o  |  o  |

 ____|_____|_____|____

 \                   /

  \    VVVVVVVVV    /

   \_______________/

EOF

# Add a status message

echo -e "$WHITE   System Ready."

echo -e "$RESET"

 

As a designer, I can proudly say, AI are good in generating script but they are bad at making ASCII art.

to use the "launcher", you just need to copy the script into a text file (then save it as .sh file using Nano) or save it directly as .sh file and upload it to micro journal.

I put mine on /home/microjournal/ for easier access.  

let's say the file name is "launcher.sh", all you have to do is press "q" to go to the terminal, 

type "chmod+x ~/launcher.sh", press enter

then type "~/launcher.sh" , press enter

voila.. you can see the crocodile.

Next time you can try to modify the color, or the text, or the ASCII art.  

Micro journal has a wide screen, there might be a way to put all the image and text to the middle, but I use the simplest solution: adding spaces (using spacebar) to make all the text on the center.

For my Jurassic Park Micro Journal, I use Dino theme.

to return to the original dashboard, just type "ranger".

For my flamingo Micro Journal, I use Flamingo theme

Both the ASCII art are from https://ascii.co.uk/ while the text are also ASCII art, made using ASCII text generator.  Put the ASCII art after the ""EOF"" and before the "EOF".

What is that? Can it run Doom?

 It's a writer's deck!It looks cool!! it has linux! then what?

that's what I felt about owning microjournal rev.2

A very cool looking machines, works really well as free distraction writing tool because I was too afraid to do more with that.  The other users always mentioned how great it is to have linux on micro journal but I didn't understand how to use its potential. I would like to tinker it but what to tinker?

That question haunted me for a long time until someone on reddit mentioned we can change the color of the text.  Coincidentally my favorite color is pink so there were some extra steps required to get that pink text which involved my new friend, Gemini AI.  Some background story, I am an animator and also a teacher, I have love hate relationship with artificial inteligence, but this time I have to admit that Gemini AI did help me finding the answer to my question.  So please repeat the question again: wow, it has linux on it?  can it run Doom?

And my official (and totally scripted answer) would be: "No, it may not run Doom but it can read your fortune, tell you what to cook, and answer a yes-no question, and probably many more!"

Thanks to the journey to get the pink themed micro journal, I learned about shell script.  The default micro journal already have some shell script file to make new text document, to shut down, to share files etc. Shell script  is a file with a series of codes or commands that make the machine give you answer or respond adjusted to the condition you are giving.

once again, I am an animator, I know about script! All the character's act, situation, interaction and the sequences are all decided by the script.  In that sense, the shell script has a lot of familiarities with animation script.  The language is a little bit different, so with the help of Gemini AI, it translate my script to the shell script.  

All that I need to do is to 

1. copy the script, save it to filename.sh file, upload it to the micro journal

You can put the file on the document, but I put mine on /home/microjournal/

why.. so when I open the file on terminal I don't have to write the long directory address.

2. activate it by writing "chmod +x  ~/filename.sh" on terminal

3. open the .sh file by pressing enter, or type the   "~/filename.sh" on terminal

It would be an extra long post if I share everything in one post so I will divide the post to another posts where you can copy the shell script to your micro journal. You can access them by clicking the title.

Here are some fun stuff I made with the shell script:

1.  Launcher

Don't you miss having a wallpaper?

Flamingo Wallpaper!!!  Something like that

2. Dice

Because why not?

3.  Ask Guru Joe

Now it can answer a yes no question, don't ask complicated question.

Ask Guru Joe

4. Fortune Teller

Who doesn't like reading horoscope?

My Dog as Fortune Teller

5. Cooking Mama

There is a decision that I made almost daily but never gets easier: what to eat?

Now, a shell script can help you that.  Or ask AI, but what the fun of it?

I have some other fun things to do with Gemini and Micro Journal, I will share it here too if it works.  It's not really the narrative script I need to write for my personal project or that Academic Journal I have to write for my job, but shell script is also script and it is fun to explore what it can do.  

The Pink Themed Micro Journal Rev.2

I wasn't lying when I said Green is my comfort color

but Pink is my ultimate favorite color. 

I really like my Micro Journal Rev.2, it looks amazing right? The color is called Jurassic Park, because it is green and beige.  It is very retro, and since it has Debian arm linux, it doesn't have a desktop view like windows or mac, instead, it use ranger's dashboard.  Forgive me if I am using the wrong terminologies or words. 

The default dashboard of rev.2
picture is from Micro Journal quick start guide by Un Kyu Lee

I lived long enough, I experienced DOS.  The ranger on rev.2 gave me a feeling of nostalgia, with the green and blue text on black background.  I like that, but can I get pink text?

I have no programming skill, I don't understand linux and if I don't have to I would like to stay away from "terminal", but theoretically I can change the text color right?  But I don't know how.

Then one day in writerdeck's reddit, u/TheOriginalBeefus shared a tutorial to change the text color on microjournal.  YES, I missed that tutorial. How could I?

For the sake of the pink text that I've been dreaming of, I finally step into the unknown...

So here is how TheOriginalBeefus tips to change the text color.

or read it on reddit

Again, I like green but what about pink.

Logically, I just need to change "green" to "pink" right?

But no. By default, the only available color in Debian Linux is green, yellow, magenta, white, black, red, blue and cyan.  If your favorite color is among the default 8 colors, consider yourself lucky.

For me, the magenta is okay but... I WANT PINK, not purple.

So I ask my friend, Gemini, The AI.  Gemini has various solutions to the problem but in order to get the right solution I had some trial and errors.  I reflashed the SD card few times.  I sacrificed my miyoo mini's SD card as a backup.

and here's how I get the pink text.

PINK TEXT TUTORIAL LEVEL I

1.  type "Q" to drop out of the ranger

2.  type "sudo nano ~/.bashrc"  to open that .bashrc file with nano editor

3.  go to the bottom line of the file and type everything down:

if [ "$TERM" = "linux" ]; then

    # 1. Define the Colors (Magenta -> Hot Pink)

    printf '\033]P5FF69B4'

    printf '\033]PDFFB6C1'

    # 2. Set the Default Text to that Pink

    setterm -foreground magenta -store

    # 3. Force 'ls' to use Pink for folders

    export LS_COLORS="di=1;35:fi=0;37:ln=1;36"

    # 4. Fix the 'clear' command so it doesn't reset colors

    alias clear='clear; printf "\033]P5FF69B4\033]PDFFB6C1"'

fi

4.  then press ctrl+O to overwrite the file, press Y to confirm and ctrl+x to exit.

you are back in ranger!!!  type q to get out,

then type "chmod +x ~/.bashrc" 

you may need to shut down and restart to see the change.

what? nothing changed?  try to type q,  do you see a pink letter there?  go type "clear" and then type "ranger" again.  some texts are now in pink.

Every time the text color turn magenta or any other color, just try typing "clear".

* sorry I forgot to take picture of the micro journal on pink level 1

Now... you don't need to continue to level 2 if you already happy with that.   Level 2 is for changing the ranger's colorscheme to make it monotones.  You may noticed with the pink text tutorial level 1, only few text in pink, the other text are green or blue.  It depends on your preference, the color difference might come handy to check typos when writing script/ code, but since I don't do programming or coding or whatever, I want only pink text with darker and lighter shade. It looks more pleasing and harmonious to my eyes.

By default the ranger are using "default" color scheme.  There are actually other color schemes: jungle (if you like green?), snow (white and darker white, and darkest white, well basically monotones), and solarized (very popping color like red, yellow).  Using default is fine and recommended if you need color variations, to check typos when editing script, but if you are using micro journal only to write, snow can give you a more elegance look.

This is how the "snow" color scheme looks like

PINK TEXT TUTORIAL LEVEL II

so here's what I did:

1. the ranger colorscheme is in the configuration files so you need to create it first by press q and then type:

"ranger --copy-config=all"

then it will make that file that you need.  You are looking for the rc.conf file.

2. type:

"sudo nano /home/microjournal/.config/ranger/rc.conf"

it will open that file in nano editor

3.  Now, scroll down and find the text "set colorcheme default"

replace "default" with "snow" (or "jungle" or "solarized")

overrwrite the file by pressing ctrl+O, Y, and exit with ctrl+X

now restart the ranger (or the microjournal).  if the ranger dashbord text are all in white then you did right.  to make it pink just type q and "clear"

Pink Level 1 and Level 2 applied. SO VERY PINK :D

if you are opening any .sh file through ranger, the pink would go back to being magenta.  if that happens, just go back to dashboard, type q and type "clear" again to revert back to pink.  

Okay, that's all.

I think the snow colorscheme also looks good in another color, all you need to do is doing the level 1 tutorial but with different color code. 

Again, this is the solution I learned from Gemini AI, maybe there is more easier or safer solution. If you happen to know, just let me know :)

Weekend Project: The Real Punk Keyboard

So I got a new keyboard from Un Kyu Lee, the builder/designer of Micro Journals (Hmm I think I will make a dedicated post about Micro Journal).

Like the other keyboards,  I have to try on few set of keycaps before I decide which one is the best, visually and experience-wise.

My other Micro journals, the rev.6 and rev.2 revamp use retro punk keycaps, which are keycaps that resemble classic typewriter's buttons.  I really like the esthetic and I think it fits the retro futurism concept of Micro Journals.  The keycap set is cheap, and if you don't mind buying from 1688 you can get it in various colors, it also has Russian, Thailand, European version. BUT it is designed for full keyboard with ANSI layout.  Micro Journal is designed in Italy so, it use ISO layout, with a J-shape Enter key.  And the ortholinear Micro Journal needs some 1u sized keycaps, so the set doesn't have ctrl, cmd, opt, tab keys that are short like the alphabet keys. 

Micro Journal Rev.2 and Micro Journal Rev.6

My Microjournal rev.6 and rev.2 were using the other unused keys to replace ctrl, cmd, etc.  Since both rev.6 and rev.2 are using 40% ortholinear keyboard,  I have 60% keys that unused.

I would love to get another retro punk keycaps but money doesn't grow on trees.  Dang! I AM SO LUCKY that money doesn't grow on tree.  I am terrible at keeping the plants alive.  

Anyway.. since I have a lot of unused keycaps... I got an idea, to used the leftover keys for my new keyboard.  I am still the same as before, I still hate printing.  I can get keyboard stickers but I don't like the idea of sticking stickers.  What if I get bored?  I thought of using fabric because I like fabric, maybe I can add embroidered letter.  But I scratched that idea, considering the texture of embroidered fabric might be uncomfortable for typing.

So I took the IKEA catalog that has been sitting on the floor since... last year and making a serial killer keycaps real punk keycaps.  The texture of the catalog paper is nice and I don't mind if the paper ruined or faded later, I can get another IKEA catalog.  After all there is no guarantee that I wouldn't get bored of it right?  And the best part is, it is not sticking to the keycaps, so it is removable. Perfect for me.

And I think... It looks wonderful right.  I don't know why the retro punk keycap is called retro punk, but now with the collage the retro punk keycaps look more punk!

Now I feel bad about the Evangelion keycap set (the previous set that I used).  It is pink, it is cute but I still haven't find a keyboard that fits for the keycaps.  I thought that pink keycaps would fit the pink keyboard but I didn't like it.  The punk keycaps are not pink but somehow I like it better than the pink keycaps. It gives personality although I am not a punk.