In an attempt to reduce the amount of time I spend staring at my phone, I have bought myself another device. At least that is the lie I told myself for buying yet another gadget because it looked cool.
After seeing Max Glenister and Neil Brown speak so highly of this device I just had to buy the XTEINK X4 e-reader. Note, this is not sponsored in any way I just wanted to share it with you!
This is the 3rd e-reader that I own, so I definitely didn't need this device. I also have an old Kindle which I use exclusively for reading Kindle Unlimited books and a Kobo Clara Colour which is my main reading device.
This device though is different to the others. Its dimensions are 114 x 69 x 5.9mm which is just a little bit bigger than a credit card. It doesn't have a touchscreen but has physical buttons on the bottom and the side. There is also no backlight.
The device comes with a 32 GB SD card, some magnetic rings and a screen protector. The idea is that you stick the magnetic rings on the back of your phone case and then the device can stick to it. I have a MagSafe case anyway so the device sticks to that quite well.
This thing is really thin and light, you hardly even notice it sitting in your pocket.
Like all gadgets of this type, this thing came from China. I ordered it on 27th June and it arrived to me in the UK on the 9th July, which is not too bad.
Software #
I stayed with the stock firmware for around 15 minutes. Luckily it was in English so I didn't have to work out how to change the language but it is pretty basic.
There is bunch of different custom firmware for this device all forked from CrossPoint. I didn't bother looking around at the different firmware but I might do if I find an interesting one in future. I jumped straight to using ink. I installed it but using the web flash method and it was all done in a few minutes.
The device is really fast and the button layout is intuitive. The 2 buttons on the bottom are actually 4 buttons. On the side is the power button and another large button that is actually 2 buttons.
For turning the page you can either click the power button (you hold it down to turn it on/off) or use the side buttons or the bottom right buttons. I find myself clicking the power button the most as it sits nicely where my thumb or index finger sit.
This device is definitely fun to use and I have been using it more than looking at my phone which is a plus.
One feature I really liked with this firmware is the ability to add files via wifi. You can then navigate to the device using the IP address and add books and change the device settings. It also apparently connects to calibre but I have tried that yet.
Price #
In total the device with shipping cost me £51.90 ($70.10) which is not bad for an impulse purchase. For this price point I think this device is great. It is fun to keep in your pocket and do find myself reading more rather than just scrolling on my phone.
❤️ Picks of the Week #
🤖 AI #
AI Blog Questions Challenge - I think these questionnaires are really interesting to see how people are using AI. I plan on doing one of these soon as well.
Run a local coding model with pi and LM Studio - This is a good tutorial if you wanted to run some LLMs locally and do some coding.
CanIRun.ai — Can your machine run AI models? - This is great website to see what local models will run on your computer.
🛠️ Tools #
We are making Bunny DNS free - This is great. Hopefully this will be a good alternative to Cloudflare.
💻 Programming #
Enhancing with CSS Grid Lanes - CSS is getting masonry layouts. It is not supported fully yet but hopefully in a few years it will be across all browsers.
.gitignore Isn't the only way to ignore files in Git - I never knew there were so many way to ignore files in git. I can think of quite a few uses for a machine wide gitignore and didn't know this was an option.
🔒 Security #
A backdoor in a LinkedIn job offer - With developers getting laid off this way and that scammers are naturally feasting on people's desperation. If you have to download any code as part of the interview process be extra vigilant.
LastPass notifies users of yet another data breach - If you are still using LastPass even after their last breach please find somewhere else and change all your passwords. I now have my passwords on a self hosted VaultWarden instance that is only accessible from my home network. It is working well for me.
🏢 Tech Industry #
Ford rehires 350 engineers after AI fails to preserve expertise or train juniors - Yay, lets hope the mass layoffs due to AI are coming to an end.
🎮 Gaming #
Half-Life 2 in a Browser - I know Half-Life 2 is quite old now but it still amazes me that it can run in the browser now.
📝 Blogging #
Blogging can just be stating the obvious - I have been trying to get back into blogging more but sometimes it is hard to come up with things to write about. This is a good reminder that you can write about anything, it's your blog.
🧠 Miscellaneous #
Your ePub Is fine - It is interesting that even though files can have valid CSS they still fail to load due to Adobe using a standard that is over a decade old. At least there is an alternative by renaming the file.
W Social, public institutions and the theater of European digital sovereignty - I really don't see many people signing up to W Social. Not when there are better social networks like Mastodon.
In memory of the man who put red and green squiggles under words - Everyone knows about the red squiggles but never about the man that came up with the idea.
👨💻 Latest from me #
🎬 Video - I Tried Building a Real App With AI. It Took a Year. - I talk about the process of creating HabitTed and the dangers of using AI to code for you. This video isn't public yet on YouTube so you get to view it slightly earlier.
📝 Article - Opting for privacy in webmentions - Last time I wrote about setting up webmentions on my website. I have now tweaked them a little to make them more privacy focused.
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