💾 Archived View for tilde.team › ~smokey › logs › 2021-12-08-ereader2.gmi captured on 2023-11-04 at 12:07:58. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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Since recieving the Libra 2 a week ago, I have been tinkering and toying with it. Things are only ever new once and fortunately the novelty still hasnt worn off. This may sound cheesy, but my love of reading has been totally re-ignited by the ease at which i can sit down and read anything.
The text looks incredibly sharp and graphic novels in particular are a treat to look at. There really is something magical about the form factor and having physical buttons to press to turn the pages. The software is simple yet open, installing Koreader was a relative breeze. The look of an e-ink display compared to LCD is just so refreshing and crisp. It was always a struggle to get books loaded on my pervious android tablet, with the kobo its just drag and drop.
Speaking of the old tablet which Ill lightly reflect my experiences of here. It was a second hand used 10.1 inch lenovo tablet. Cheap stuff you can find on ebay today for 50$. I should have replaced it sooner, but I am the kind of person who uses something until it dies. It got the job done, but not really that well. Too often had I sat down with the intention to read, only to become distracted with other apps. For whatever reason the sd card needed to be formated in a certain way that made it hard to transfer files. And generally the experience was subpar if im honest. Android is like a swiss army knife. It can do a bit of everything, but none of it very well compared to the right tool for the job. The simplicity of a dedicated e-reader allows me to focus on, well... READING!
I Installed KoReader onto the libra 2. So far I am loving the multitude of options and freedoms which comes with the Koreader. It feels like a complete overhaul compared to the basic and sluggish UI of the default OS which comes with kobo. The difference between the two is night and day. There are some minor nit picks I do have. Such as it not remembering dark mode, and the calibre connect feature not working. I expect those small issues will be ironed out with time. The ablity to freely switch between Nickel and Koreader if ever the desire to go back or use the beta features.
The process of installing it was quite easy too. Ill share some links for the installation instructions i used in case anyone is interested.
koreader one click install packages
instructions for installing koreader on libra 2 specifically in middle of this fourm post page.
I discovered that by enabling developer mode, a multitude of new beta features such as solitare, sudoku, sketch pad, a word game, and a sliding block game, along with some other things I cant remember off the top of the noggin'. To enable developer mode, tap on the magnifing glass icon in the top right of the kobo home screen and type "devmodeon" in the search bar. Why was this stuff locked away? I love sudoku and solitare!
I put in some work to get the all the articles in my capsule fit to gemlog specifications. Now people can start subscribing to these little post if they have a desire to do so! The capsule itself could use a good spit shine while I was at it. Several new pages for different link collections, editing previous articles for spelling corrections. That kind of thing.
The SDF capsule creation guide in particular got a huge revision. I've learned alot since initially writing it. The next article to get a big revision will be the Fractal Compendium Sierpinski Triangle entry. I originally wanted everything in one big page, but that makes the whole page feel bloated, disjointed, and hard to parse. Splitting it up into several smaller entries will give the whole thing some breathing room and help add some new content to the FC. I want everything to be nice and presentable within limits.
Shortly after posting part 1 of this e-readers series, I got in touch with Kelbot who was gracious enough to lend me a hand in getting their script working. Ill spare you the details of everything that I got wrong. Instead, Im happy to announce that I finally got it working after fixing a few silly mistakes. Even implimented a minor bug fix that was not in the original code. If you would like to take a look at the script yourself:
keep in mind that you need to install gcat and calibre first, I covered the gcat installation in part 1.
I am quite satisfied with my experiences so far. Gemini is fun to interact with and has lead me on some fantastic journeys. All in all ive had great experiences with the gemini community. There is beauty in simplicity which breeds creativity.
The Libra 2 is to a point where I can finally relax with the tinkering and truly dig into the enjoyment of books. The graphic novels in particular are stunning to look at, and what fills most of the space at the moment. I might do some reviews on my favorite books as I read them.
And of course, the script which ties the two topics. Allowing me to read and be read by all of you! The community. Thank you for having me.