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E-Ink Phone: Bigme Hibreak

As Hisense quits making e-ink phones, Bigme starts producing the Hibreak, both in monochrome and color, as notebookcheck reports. So far only the basic version is available at 250 EUR, with the 5G version announced for end of 2024. Google play service is present. Liliputing, Android police and goodereader have additional coverage. See also my e-ink phone list.

Chord Keyboard: Sexy Artsey

On a chorded keyboards you press multiple keys to produce a letter or other character, so you need only few keys; however the method is rather slow. As an example, Hackaday reports on the Sexy Artsey by Gleb Sabirzyanov, a one-handed, ten-key input device with integrated knob.

Math Puzzles: Coloring

Ycombinator points to web-based coloring math puzzles by Rahul Ilango, starting with labeling countries such that neighbors always have different colors. Though intuitive, the four color theorem was difficult to prove. On the max, we arrive at torus coloring as described e.g. by Wolfram, for which only a conjecture exists, the Heawood conjecture. Also more puzzles by Simon Tatham.

Switchable RAM for Notebooks: LPCAMM2

iFixit reports on notebook RAM variant CAMM (compression attached memory module), which uses screws for pressure at contacts to allow good signal transmission for RAM pins in notebooks, without soldering but at the same speed and low power (LP) usage. Replaces the previous SO-DIMM (small outline dual inline memory module).

How to Build a Gaming Mouse

Hackaday reports on Wareya building their own gaming mouse [vid] [git] by 3d printing and salvaging a cheaper mouse because mouse manufacturers do not sell parts. See also my input devices, 3d printing and FreeCAD guides.

Surfing: How to draw a Line on the Wave Face

Surfertoday with the eminent question in wave surfing: Given a break spot near shore and a swell-generated breaking wave with a shoulder, which position and surf direction is optimal on the wave slope (face)? Depends on what you want: High on the face and smaller vertical variations for speed-up, big vertical variations for maneuvers, and straight on for relaxing.

Stationary Finger Keyboard: Svalboard

Hackaday reports on the Svalboard, a keyboard with minimal finger travel by having switches all around each finger, instead of key surfaces only pointing upwards. Similar to the datahand (1990) [archive] [hackaday] and the Azeron (2021) speedpad. Comes with a pointing stick as mouse replacement, popularized by the ThinkPad laptop line. Costs 800€. See also my input devices list.

QMK on Custom Keyboards

Pascal Getreuer writes on building custom keyboards ("hand-wired") with QMK as firmware: You can have mouse control, more Shift keys ("layers"), built-in unicode characters, and 50 words of auto correction for your favorite mistakes.

Inflatable Skate Ramp

Surfer Today and Dose report on inflatable skate ramps by Evolution Ramps that are portable and flex on impact. A velcro-attached top layer provides a rollable surface e.g. from HDPE. The high air pressure needed presumes some drop stitch variant, as used in SUP, wingfoil and bodyboards. Loosely related, S-wing fins seem a fun surfing variant.

Open Source Hardware: Ploopy Adept Trackball

Hackaday reports on the Ploopy Adept Trackball, which runs QMK so you can modify the behaviour on the firmware level; and all specs for 3d printing the parts are GPL on github. Costs 80€. See also my input devices.

Wave Surf Game: Barton Lynch Pro Surfing

Surfer today reports on wave surf games and in particular the beta stage Barton Lynch Pro Surfing (2022) [steam] by Bungarra, unfortunately Windows only. Previously, the best wave surf game was Kelly Slater Pro Surfer (2003) [review] [abandon], again Windows only.

Ergonomic Bluetooth Keyboard: Glove80

Daniel de Kok reviews the Glove80 keyboard from MoErgo having a "key well" or bowl similar to the Kinesis keyboards, while being lower and more adapted to each finger. Costs about 500€. Similar keyboards without key wells are SplitKB Kyria and Keyboardio Model 100. Hackaday also has coverage. See also my input devices list.

Electric Skateboard Motors

Dax Montilla on the motors that can go onto skateboard trucks: Integrated hub motors with reduced wheel thickness are silent and can be pushed; belt-drive motors with good torque have moving parts near the ground; enclosed direct drive motors with good torque have fixed parts near the ground; sealed gear drive motors with good torque are loud and expensive. Also use dual motors (per truck) whenever possible. See also my skate part shortlist.

Android: Banking Apps under GrapheneOS

Having an Android phone without Google is challenging when many banking apps rely on GMS. The Pixel-only GrapheneOS has better banking support than LineageOS, and comes with a banking apps compatibility list. See also my Pocket PC and Android details.

Simplified JavaScript Libraries: Un[sf]uck JS

Ycombinator points to a list of JavaScript libraries that allow gradual enhancement of websites, instead of the all-in approach that classical frameworks require. Among them: alpine.js (12KB), htmx (10KB), mithril (10KB) for single-page apps, and the slightly bigger unpoly (50KB).

Klor: Split Keyboard with Trackball

Ycombinator links to the Klor ergonomic keyboard, which includes a track ball under each thumb. The chassis is 3d printable, and all plans are open source (GPLv3). See also my input devices article.