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A project can be active, paused, unfinished or abandoned. That is useful context, not a blemish to hide.

Open Source / Cognitive Support

Omarchy Briefing

Active / Released · v0.1.0 · MIT

From ‘what just updated?’ to a published plugin. Completed package changes explained, with Omarchy news in one place.

Omarchy Briefing — Updates explained. News in one place. Green newspaper icon on a dark background.
Project artwork, not a screenshot. The plugin follows your desktop theme.

From “what just updated?” to a published plugin

I recognised Cursor in an update list. Mise? I had to ask what it was.

That became the starting point for Omarchy Briefing, a small Omarchy bar plugin built with Codex around a very simple problem: package updates were happening, but the names alone weren’t helping me remember what had actually changed.

Omarchy Updates Explained

Shows completed package changes, exact versions, plain-English descriptions and source links. It distinguishes an upgrade from a driver rebuild and says when release details are unavailable. Descriptions cover a selection of common packages; unfamiliar ones are labelled honestly.

Omarchy News

Official announcements and GitHub releases, with optional GitHub discussions and Reddit posts. Configurable refresh intervals, unread indicators, offline caching and mark-all-read help keep it useful without turning it into another inbox to manage.

The plugin follows the desktop theme and lives behind a newspaper icon. It needs no AI service or subscription, keeps package history local and never installs updates itself. News refreshes fetch the enabled sources; saved headlines remain readable offline.

Released: v0.1.0 under MIT

After several days of everyday use without issues on my own machine, I released it publicly. Fourteen automated tests pass. That is practical experience on one setup, not a promise that every system will behave the same way.

The Omarchy marketplace has published and automatically verified the submitted snapshot. Marketplace verification is not a security audit. Verification applies to that snapshot, not every future change.

Verdict

A small tool built around a real memory gap — and now available for other people who would also like their update list to explain itself.

View on the Omarchy marketplace ↗ · Source code on GitHub ↗

Ongoing build · Hardware evaluation

Waveshare × Wired Differently

Building external memory for the desktop.

Hardware arrived / unboxing and setup next

Project update:

Waveshare 10.1-inch ESP32-P4 touchscreen showing the manufacturer's demonstration interface
Product image: Waveshare, used with permission. Manufacturer’s demonstration interface shown — not the Wired Differently build.

Less to hold in working memory

I’m working with Waveshare to explore whether a companion touchscreen can make my Omarchy desktop easier to use — and easier to return to after an interruption.

The display is not there because I cannot learn keyboard shortcuts. It is there because I should not have to keep holding them in working memory.

First on the bench

The Waveshare ESP32-P4-WIFI6-Touch-LCD-10.1 arrived on 1 October 2026. The first goal is deliberately small: one reliable screen showing time, connection and device status. Then I’ll build a useful shortcut and terminal-command reference beside the main monitor.

From there, I’ll explore plugin information, system status and a simple record of the current task and next action. Useful before clever.

Touch controls for the desktop and persistent AI/project context are possibilities to test, not working features yet. An aviation-style interface may come later, once the useful parts have earned their place.

What I’ll document

Setup, code, Omarchy integration, mistakes and changes of direction — including whether this actually reduces the small memory demands that interrupt a working day. Build notes and follow-up articles will appear here and on Wired Differently on Substack.

Next: document hardware discovery, first boot and connectivity, then build the first simple screen. Arrival is a milestone, not a working prototype or a verdict on usefulness.

Hardware disclosure: Waveshare supplied the initial evaluation unit. This is an ongoing real-world build, with findings to follow testing.

View the official device information ↗

Live experiment

First Steps

Live early experiment. It keeps entries on the device, produces a printable discussion record, and does not diagnose anything.

Try First Steps
What it is testing
Can a private, browser-based tool help someone turn half-noticed Parkinson's symptoms into a calmer, better-prepared clinical conversation?
Where the working notes live
Read the Lab record

The wider work

Projects with their receipts attached.

Each project points back to the writing and Lab work that explains why it exists.