#UnlockedLaptop

type: ‘post’ title: ‘#UnlockedLaptop’ date: ‘2019-02-05 00:00:01 +0000’ tags: [] author: ‘brian’

Still traveling quite a bit, I’m always fascinated to see people in various places “just quickly getting up” and leaving their laptop unlocked. Although they usually only leave their device unattended for a few minutes, well, all of us know that’s more than enough… Thus I’ve decided to create a few little notes to leave behind…

A few years back I bought myself an Epson TM-T88IV thermal printer for printing some tickets for a raffle. Since then it’s been used for various fun and productive projects. Due to not needing any ink and working with very cheap paper, it’s the perfect setup for printing larger amount of notes. Especially, as the printer is also able to cut the paper!

But Stickers are more Fun!

Yes, they are! But sticking a sticker onto something is also against the law: damage of property! In Germany for example it is also illegal to place a leaflet behind the windscreen wiper of a car as this might damage the wiper. So obviously sticking a sticker onto something like a laptop and ruining the device’s casing might go really sour. Now the thermal paper neither has glue nor ink on it and can as such not leave any stains.

FYI

  • Have further ideas for notes? Drop me a message!
  • Want to print a few of your own? Go on!

The Code

The code is just a few lines of python using the ecspos library.

from escpos.printer import Usb
import escpos

texts=[ "Maybe that was a stupid idea?",
        "Everytime one leaves a laptop unlocked,\nan angel loses its wings!",
        "Thanks for your data!",
        "Lucky you!\nI only installed a piece of paper!",
        "Why use the backdoor,\nwhen the front door is open?",
        "Unlocked Laptops\nare killing the rain forest!",
        "Unlocked Laptops\nmake rare animals go extinct!",
        "Unlocked Laptops\nstop the sun from shining!",
        "Unlocked Laptops\nmake John Rambo hunt you down!",
        "Unlocked Laptops\nmake Brian Mills angry!",
        "Unlocked Laptops\nattract meteors!",
        "Leaving a Laptop unlocked is as bad as\nkidnapping Liam Neeson's daughter!",
        "Unlocked Laptops,\nallow criminals to watch your porn!",

]

div1="#####@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@#####\n"
div2="@@@@@################################@@@@@\n"

p = Usb(0x04b8, 0x0202, 0)

for t in texts:
  p.text(escpos.constants.TXT_ALIGN_CT)
  p.text(div1)
  p.text(div2)
  p.text(div1)
  p.text(escpos.constants.TXT_BOLD_ON)
  p.text(t)
  p.text(escpos.constants.TXT_BOLD_OFF)
  p.text("\n")
  p.text("\n")
  p.qr("https://twitter.com/hashtag/unlockedLaptop?src=hash")
  p.text("\n")
  p.text("#UnlockedLaptop\n")
  p.text(div2)
  p.text(div1)
  p.text(div2)
  p.text(escpos.constants.TXT_ALIGN_LT)
  p.cut()

Pictures

Notes Printer
Notes Printer & Notes