While I was at OggCamp, I noticed a few people had repurposed supermarket eInk shelf displays as name-tags. Nifty! I wondered if there was a retail version I could hack around with. I found the HSN371. It is a colour eInk screen with a lanyard hole. The picture quality is amazing given the technology, the update speed is acceptable, and the supplied app is crap. Let's take a look! Picture Quality Colour eInk isn't designed to be as vibrant as an OLED display. But that's not why you get…
Continue reading →
I'm a little bit obsessed with building eInk displays. They're pretty cheap second hand. They're low energy, passive displays, with good-enough performance for occasional updates. Here's a new one which shows me what the current cost of my electricity is: Background After installing solar panels, a smart electricity meter, and a solar battery - the next obvious step was a smart energy tariff. Octopus (join and we both get £50) have an "Agile" tariff. Unlike a normal tariff - with a set …
Continue reading →
Behold! Thanks to the power of the Watchy development platform, I now have all my 2FA codes available at the flick of my wrist! HOWTO This uses Luca Dentella's TOTP-Arduino library. You will need a pre-shared secret which is then converted into a Hex array. Use the OTP Tool for Arduino TOTP Library to get the Hex array, Base32 Encoded Key, and a QR Code to scan into your normal TOTP generator. Add the Hex array into the code below. To check that it is functioning correctly, either scan…
Continue reading →
I have the new Watchy eInk watch. It has a cute little screen with a resolution of 200x200 pixels. How much text can we cram in there? A typical watch face looks like this: My new watch face is far superior and looks like this: That's using the GNU Unifont - which works brilliantly on tiny devices. HOWTO Download the GNU Unifont Download and compile HarfBuzz Run the HarfBuzz Font Subsetter ./hb-subset unifont-15.0.06.ttf…
Continue reading →
Last year, I blogged about how I turned an old eReader into an Information Screen. I've since updated the display to show me three different sets of transport information. At a glance, I can see the next bus, whether there are delays on the Elizabeth Line, and if my regular trains are running. Here's how all three APIs work. Bus The bus is the easiest one of all. Transport for London (TfL) have a set of free APIs. No registration required! You will need to know the ID of your local bus…
Continue reading →
The last smartwatch that I tried was some awful early Sony device with a locked-down ROM. The battery died after a day and I couldn't find the proprietary charger. It slurped up all my data. It was garish to look at. And it was expensive. The Watchy is the opposite in every single conceivable way. It is an Arduino powered, open source, eInk display, with no data guzzling tendancies. And is only £60 including delivery. It's gorgeous to look at without being distracting, has a massive battery …
Continue reading →
Previously on Terence Eden's Blog: I turned an old eReader into an Information Screen. This time, I'm taking a different Nook, and turning it into a magic gallery. Here's what it looks like in action: Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentUpcycled an old eReader into an art frame.Displays a new black & white piece of art from Flickr every few minutes.Full write-up this weekend, but pretty straightforward to do. pic.x.com/ttvrbhz3ee❤️ 137💬 14🔁 021:20 - Wed 22 September 2021 Video With the front l…
Continue reading →
(Mostly notes to myself) KOReader is the best eReader software I've found. It works beautifully on eInk screens, Android, and Linux. Just a gorgeous - and infinitely customisable - experience. There's one thing I don't like - to move forward a page, you have to click the right of the screen and, to move back, the left. That's fine if you're holding the book in your right hand. But sometimes I behave in a sinister fashion and hold it in my left. I want to tap the bottom of the screen to move…
Continue reading →
A little under a year ago, I got a Boyue Likebook Ares eReader. I use it most days. Recently, I noticed a yellowing discolouration around the edge of the screen. I've boosted the contrast of those images. It's the sort of thing the human eye can detect under decent light, but cameras struggle with. At night, it isn't noticeable. But in daylight, the yellowing discolouration is pretty obvious. To be clear, those photos are taken with the LEDs off. This is not caused by uneven light…
Continue reading →
Here's a quick tutorial for turning an old Nook into a passive display. This is an update to my 2013 post End Result An eInk screen which displays the trains I can catch from my local station. It shows the next few available trains, and whether they're delayed. It also shows how long until the next local bus to the train station. Updating the Nook Before doing anything, manually update the Nook's firmware. You can download the latest version from Barnes and Nobel Copy the .zip file to…
Continue reading →
I'll be upfront, I mostly got this eReader because it's the only one on the market with a USB-C connection. OK! OK! That's not the main reason. It has pretty good support from the manufacturer and a vibrant community around it. Masses of memory, warm lighting, and oodles of space. And, I think, pretty hackable. Quick video Specifications Android 6.0 - with a promise to update it to Android 8.0 Touchscreen with Wacom stylus 1.5GHz CPU 2GB RAM 32GB storage plus a microSD slot 7.8 inch…
Continue reading →
The other day I fished my old nook out of deep storage - only to discover that the battery wasn't holding charge. More seriously, the back had swollen out and looked like it was about to burst. Uh-oh! Inflating batteries are dangerous batteries. Taking apart the nook is incredibly simple, pop off the power button, use a Torx 5 screwdriver to undo the single screw, and then spludger your way around the edges. This is what I found in mine... VERY BAD! A replacement nook battery is less…
Continue reading →
