Notices by Games That I Missed (gamesmissed@mastodon.social)

@captainarcee This is on a Kindle Voyage, a model introduced in 2014. I bought it refurbished in ... might have been 2017. Either way, it's not new by any stretch.

Before you go and buy an old Kindle, check the page I linked with the instructions on jailbreaking them. At the moment it can be done on just about any hardware model, but not if it's already on more recent firmware: "Winterbreak/Mesquito does NOT work on firmware 5.18.1 and beyond."

https://kindlemodding.org/jailbreaking/WinterBreak/

@captainarcee I will recommend the Voyage *hardware* over later models for one specific reason: I believe it was the last model to have physical page turn capability. If you look at a photo, it appears that the page turn areas to either side of the screen on a Voyage are touch-sensitive sensors.

They're not. They're *pressure-sensitive*, which means you can use them just fine while wearing gloves. If you live anywhere that gets cold in the winter, as I do, this may be valuable to you.

@captainarcee Since it's a PDF of a scanned document, it can't reflow the text in any way, but it's quite readable. Oh, and it recognizes it as being OCR'd, so I can highlight a word and it'll bring up the dictionary/search function.

@captainarcee I don't know! I only just did the jailbreak last week, I haven't tried a PDF yet. Hold on, let me load a PDF on to my Kindle ...

Ok, this works quite well. I tried the PDF of "Exploring Apple GS/OS and ProDOS 8" from the Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/exploring-apple-gsos-and-pro-dos-8), a 45 MB OCR'd book. It takes a few seconds (fewer than 10) to load it in KOReader, but after that the interface is very responsive and I don't have any problems paging back and forth through the book.

If you're looking to jailbreak an old Kindle e-reader tablet (e-ink screen, not Kindle Fire tablets), I recommend the guide at

https://kindlemodding.org/jailbreaking/

I have a brief thread on the process here: https://mastodon.social/@GamesMissed/114676749049208029

If you are looking to mod a Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo Wii/Wii U, I used these guides:

https://3ds.hacks.guide/

https://wiiu.hacks.guide/

https://wii.guide/

Everything went smoothly for all devices. It had no effect at all on online functionality. In my experience, there's a lot more homebrew available for the 3DS and Wii than for the Wii U, but I figure that's just down to the install bases for the systems.

Mod your devices and add or restore the functionality you want.

#3ds #wiiu #wii

Because I will attempt to run everything possible on a Nintendo #3DS :

FourthTube (https://github.com/erievs/FourthTube) is a pretty great Youtube client. Videos load quickly, playback is smooth with no stuttering or frame drops, and the interface works well.

Running on a New 3DS XL, installed as a CIA via Universal Updater.

@codewiz I've taken two classes at Artisans Asylum over the years, the lessons have been extremely helpful. It's a good place. I haven't been to the new location since they moved, though. I need to check it out.

@scribe @NekoArc Definitely this.

Then, look into NUSspli for downloading official content, and UWUVCI for installing older games so that they're easy to access, just like any other installed software.

@thomasfuchs @TechTangents It will charge just fine off of USB, so you only need a third-party USB-to-3DS cable.

I don't know anywhere to find them these days except for Amazon, and I use these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TBV4KTY

@thomasfuchs @TechTangents This sounds like the same setup as a Nintendo 3DS -- came out in 2011 with a pair of 640x480 sensors for stereoscopic photos.

Features I would like:

• Minimum of 3 days of battery life between charges
• Always-on display (e-paper/ink like the pebble watch is fine, as is AMOLED)
• Waterproof so that I don't need to worry about it if I jump in the lake for a swim

... and, here's what appears to be the sticking point ...

• Button-based interface, not touchscreen.

With the Pebble, I could answer calls, dictate text messages, control music playback on my phone, all without needing to *look at the watch*.

Not a game thread:

My Pebble Time of 8 years set itself on fire yesterday while it was charging (no harm done to anything other than the watch, thankfully). I liked that watch very much, and I keep looking at my wrist to read notifications or reaching for the buttons today, and every time I'm annoyed that it's not where it's supposed to be.

I would like a new #smartwatch But, I am really dismayed by the current options on the market. If I outline what I'm looking for, can anyone suggest one?

Or, for music: "Long press on the middle button to open music player, short press on the middle button to resume playback, short press on the lower button to skip to the next track, hold the top button to increase volume incrementally." These aren't hypothetical, this is how I used my watch without ever needing to look at the display. The display was there when I wanted to look at something on it, rather than being necessary to much of the functionality.

I often have only one hand or no hands free - I'm carrying a child/large objects/sacks of groceries - and I need to be paying attention to the current situation and my surroundings, not a small animated display. With the Pebble, I had a smartwatch that was usable entirely through learned muscle memory, e.g., "I don't know who's calling me right now, but I am not able to take the call, short press on the bottom button to decline and dump to voice mail."

So, to anyone out there reading this: does this kind of smartwatch interface still exist? I'm ok having a touchscreen on the watch as well, but a proper button-based interface is what I want. Even watches that do have buttons along the sides, such as the Garmin smartwatches, don't describe in the user manuals anything but touchscreen interfaces for most of their functionality.

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you.

Dammit, that was a good watch.

#smartwatch #watch #PebbleWatch