Turn Your Old Monitor Into a Daily Status Board
My mirror doesn’t come to life and tell me about the rest of the day when I go to the bathroom with foggy eyes, as much as I want to. The always-on dashboard, relaying my calendar appointments and weather to me, will help me start my day with a better understanding of what I need to do and prevent me from walking around town in the rain. Luckily, with a little tinkering, you can turn whatever gadgets you have into your very own DIY fortune board.
Take an old PC
The best thing to do with an old computer is repurpose it. Whether it becomes a Linux box for experimentation, a laptop with a web interface for guests to play on, or an arcade machine for old-school games is up to you. Almost any computer can be turned into a status display generator if it can run a web browser. If you are using a web app, you can simply go full screen in whatever browser you are using these days and connect it to a monitor. With a Raspberry Pi, you can run FullPageOS and run it there, leaving your precious computer free to host your legally acquired retro games.
Get a smart timer
If you want an always-on status bar, you’ll need a monitor to display this. Of course, putting one in your bedroom won’t do anything wonderful for your sleep , and an always-on monitor can save you more money on your electricity bill than you’re willing to pay. This is where the outlet timer comes into play, and preferably a smart one.
I mean, of course, you can use a dumb timer and your monitor will blink from sunrise to sunset or whenever you are near it. But a smart plug (even if it’s connected to a motion sensor) will mean your monitor will be on whenever you’re in the room.
Whether you set it to a specific timer, connect to a motion sensor, or turn it on manually, the status bar should be turned on when you need it.
Here’s an idea: if you want your monitor to wake up when you walk, use a smart home sensor like the D-Link motion sensor that can connect to services like IFTTT and wake up the smart plug connected to your monitor. Then boom, your monitor is on, displaying everything from your last awful tweet to your weekly schedule.
Use dashboard software
Dashboard software is popular with businesses where metrics need to be tracked (website traffic, sales metrics, etc.). In addition to boring numbers, dashboard software usually maintains more personal data such as calendars, tweets, and to-do lists, among others. Free dashboard software like Castor and Freeboard allow you to combine different bits of information on a single display that you can display on your monitor, as they blend nicely with your browser’s full screen mode (although it might use a bit of color).
Many Primo software dashboards require a paid subscription , which is pretty crap if all you need to do is display a few tweets next to your calendar appointments and your horse’s photo gallery, Nomenclature.
Use iPad and AirPlay
Do you have an iOS device, Apple TV, or some kind of dongle? You can use them to turn any display you have into a limited status board with whatever iOS device you’re lying about. Your iOS device must be running iOS 10, the latest version of Apple’s operating system, to use Today view, the left-most pane of your home screen. From there, you can add widgets from any apps that support them and actually display the iOS screen on your TV or monitor. iOS 10 runs on iPhone 5 and later, and iPad 4th generation and later.
Sure, if your phone is in your hand, you can just swipe your finger across the Today bar, but where’s the fun?