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Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard

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Re: Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard

#81

Post by timpark »

Avamander wrote: post #50
robocat wrote: post #31

An alternative might be to jailbreak a Kindle 2 or 3, looks like you just need a computer and a USB cable to do so. https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Python_on_Kindle https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Hacks_Information The original OS runs, so what you can do is limited. There are examples of changing the “screensaver” from Python, but I couldn’t see how easy it is to get data into the Kindle (maybe needs USB, w…

Many Kindles have a web browser, using that wouldn't be too hard. Webkit if I remember correctly. Though if you aren't a total stranger to C++, a 15x cheaper (4$) e-ink display that is just 50% the size, that can be controlled over SPI, would be nearly just as much effort but much less maintenance. IMHO at least.

Just to note... I've been lazy and haven't jailbroken mine yet, and tested out this weather display: https://github.com/matopeto/kindle-weather-dashboard

Now, although the concept of "screensaver" seems silly for a device where the display takes no power to update, I noticed that when I left the web browser up (disabling the screensaver as mentioned in the repo) it chewed through the battery very quickly, in about 24 hours. With the screensaver back on, it's holding a charge much longer. I'm going to have to jailbreak at some point.

Re: Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard

#82

Post by Matrixik »

dguo wrote: post #28
nrp wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inkplate may be what you’re looking for, though it isn’t shipping yet: https://www.crowdsupply.com/e-radionica/inkplate-6

I have my eye on that one. One of the creators just did an AMA on Discord an hour ago: https://discordapp.com/channels/571093131651448852/703384583... I think I'm going to hold out for the Inkplate 10 (9.7" screen), which he mentioned when someone asked about upcoming plans.

This is the proper link to Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/6EQjqNv

Re: Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard

#83

Post by cbHXBY1D »

robocat wrote: post #31

An alternative might be to jailbreak a Kindle 2 or 3, looks like you just need a computer and a USB cable to do so. https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Python_on_Kindle https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kindle_Hacks_Information The original OS runs, so what you can do is limited. There are examples of changing the “screensaver” from Python, but I couldn’t see how easy it is to get data into the Kindle (maybe needs USB, w…

A Kobo would be far easier. Some people have even written entire document readers for Kobos in Rust:

https://github.com/baskerville/plato

Re: Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard

#84

Post by derefr »

amelius wrote: post #76
Polylactic_acid wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basically every kind of ML of this kind has pissed me off. It never knows exactly what I want and every time it gets it wrong it leads to a very negative experience. I much prefer dumb and predictable UI vs black box ML UI that doesn't know exactly what I want.

Yes, plus now Google or some other BigCorp has to know exactly what you are doing all the time.

It doesn't have to be cloud ML. It can run solely on the phone itself. Modern phones have tensor cores for a reason, and hopefully that reason isn't just animoji!

Re: Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard

#85

Post by xixixao »

luka-birsa wrote: post #73
xixixao wrote: post #57

I strongly believe there is a market for a large, thin, slow-to-update e-ink display to hang on the wall, connect to your phone, and display stuff. I'd pay it for it, wouldn't you? I'm talking about an end-user product, not just a component for tinkering.

So far 100% of HN articles re: E Ink contain a comment like this. Sadly it is highly unlikely that you will get something like this at an acceptable price point. We ( https://www.visionect.com/ ) have been making non-ebook based E Ink solutions for a decade now. Except for Joan, our room booking solution ( https://getjoan.com ), we have not found a customer application that could survive the low-volume incurred high…

How much is only the raw cost of the display (say 15"), and how much would it go down with scale? It doesn't look like you guys are skimping on the other parts of the device, which I think a mass-consumer device could (should) do.

Arguing the other way: I think the other problem is that such a device doesn't make more money. Amazon can sell echos at a loss because it knows it lifts its other revenue streams.

Re: Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard

#86

Post by sq_ »

occamschainsaw wrote: post #72
sq_ wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only tangentially related, but has anyone tried jailbreaking early Nook e-readers from B&N? Noticed I have one just sitting in the back of a drawer while cleaning the other day.

Yup, old nook ereaders can run full fledged android. A couple of years ago I used one as a hacky version of freewrite[1] [0] https://lifehacker.com/turn-a-99-nook-into-a-fully-fledged-a... [1] https://getfreewrite.com/

That's awesome. Thanks for the link. Might have to take that up as a project to stave off the boredom one of the next few weekends.

Re: Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard

#87

Post by yosito »

derefr wrote: post #25
yosito wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every time I pick up my phone to check a piece of information or complete a simple task, I am presented with some other distraction that threatens to sidetrack me. When I don't want to be distracted, I often leave my phone in another room, turn it off, put it in a bag or even leave home without it. I've often thought of creating my own eink devices with focused purposes to help me get the information I need, while av…

> Every time I pick up my phone to check a piece of information or complete a simple task, I am presented with some other distraction that threatens to sidetrack me. Feels like a very good use of ML on the part of the mobile OS makers would be to decide, based on place and time and activity history, which of your active widgets should appear above the fold on the lockscreen of your phone. (E.g., when near a bus stop,…

> Feels like a very good use of ML on the part of the mobile OS makers...

The thing is, mobile OS makers, especially the ones with huge investments in data and ML, have a conflict of interest. A large majority of them are in the business of monetizing your attention and the data they can collect about you, not just helping you focus on what's most important to you.

This is a really good case for free/open OSes, and ML projects. But the resources needed to develop free and open software are much scarcer because they tend to be harder to monetize / not as profitable.

Re: Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard

#88

Post by battery_cowboy »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #79
battery_cowboy wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I liked Star Trek, where pads were commodity hardware and you'd have one for each task or report. Seems crazy at first, but it would really help with focus.

Yup. The way I understood it, PADDs weren't owned - they were just passed around, and circulated around the ship. I don't think it was ever shown, but I imagine that e.g. at the end of the day, the captain would wipe the 20-ish PADDs with reports accumulated over the day, and someone would later pick them up and carry somewhere others could pick them up again. All of this could theoretically work better with our curr…

I think the "cloud" is helping to make it seamless to go from iPad to desktop to phone with one work item (like a report for work), but it's not quite there yet, I agree.

(I think in the Star Trek universe you would just reclaim the PADD in the replicator once you're fully done with it rather than move it around to some central "PADD library", right?)

Re: Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard

#89

Post by TeMPOraL »

battery_cowboy wrote: post #88
TeMPOraL wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. The way I understood it, PADDs weren't owned - they were just passed around, and circulated around the ship. I don't think it was ever shown, but I imagine that e.g. at the end of the day, the captain would wipe the 20-ish PADDs with reports accumulated over the day, and someone would later pick them up and carry somewhere others could pick them up again. All of this could theoretically work better with our curr…

I think the "cloud" is helping to make it seamless to go from iPad to desktop to phone with one work item (like a report for work), but it's not quite there yet, I agree. (I think in the Star Trek universe you would just reclaim the PADD in the replicator once you're fully done with it rather than move it around to some central "PADD library", right?)

Within an ecosystem (MS-only, Apple-only) it sorta works; much worse, if you need something from outside, then it doesn't.

RE replicators, you're right! I don't know why I haven't thought about it. PADDs are very simple as electronics go (even as today's standards go). DS9 showed people recycling dishes and food through a replicator, so the same would work for PADDs.

Re: Hacking Together an E-ink Dashboard

#90

Post by amelius »

derefr wrote: post #84
amelius wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, plus now Google or some other BigCorp has to know exactly what you are doing all the time.

It doesn't have to be cloud ML. It can run solely on the phone itself. Modern phones have tensor cores for a reason, and hopefully that reason isn't just animoji!

Yes but they will claim they need our data for training.
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