Binary Clock Wallpaper

A python script to generate wallpaper that shows time in binary.

Example picture when the time is 7:39 PM:

How to read it?

As you can see from the annotated picture below, the clock shows 0111 100111 1 in binary. If you convert it to decimal you will get 4+2+1 32+4+2+1 1 which means 7:39 PM.

Setting up the environment

First create a virtual environment for python and activate it:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

Then install dependencies with:

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Usage

Run the following command and a file named result.png will be created under img directory. You can use that file to set your wallpaper.

python3 binary_clock_wallpaper.py

Change colors

You can change any color to match it with your environment. A color can be either hex value or a generic color name.

python3 binary_clock_wallpaper.py --accent-color "#35d8dd"
python3 binary_clock_wallpaper.py --accent-color steelblue --wire-color gray --bg-color "#0f0f17"

Use 12 hour format

Default is 24-hour time. Change it like this if you want to use 12-hour time:

python3 binary_clock_wallpaper.py --use-12-hour

Running it as a cronjob

You can run the helper script, set_binary_wallpaper.sh, as a cronjob to update your wallpaper every minute. The helper script uses nitrogen as wallpaper setter. Do not forget to change it if you use another program.

# Run "crontab -e" and add the following line to that file.

* * * * * /path/to/set_binary_wallpaper.sh

Tip: All the arguments passed to this script will be passed to python. So you can do the following to see the changes immediately while tweaking the colors:

./set_binary_wallpaper.sh --accent-color greenyellow --wire-color gray

Some more examples

Gruvbox	Dracula	Nord

Different resolution or design?

You can find the actual design files in svg directory. If you are not happy about the current design or resolution you can modify those files using Inkscape (or a similar program) and create your own design.

Credits

• Jake@Linux for giving me an inspiration to write this script with one of his videos.
• @loicreynier for adding accent color support.