I love using Kindle's as single purpose tablet/interfaces/displays. I'm the weirdo who actually prefers the LCD displays vs eInk and it's incredibly easy to set Kindle Fire's into dev mode which lets you display a webpage, never turn off while connected to power and never show ads.
You can regularly find the Kindle Fire HD10s for ~$40
I was glad to see the note about battery life down at the bottom. My biggest challenge with the old Kindles I have laying around is that most of them won't hold a charge!
Why Jailbreak the Kindle when you can just open its browser and visit a website that shows the arrival times?
The Kindle browser is surprisingly decent, I made Claude Code generate an RSS feed reader compatible with the Kindle browser, with the ability to read full articles (for those feeds that require you to visit the website), and download articles. It also supports Reddit and Google News RSS feed. This is my new favorite way of browsing the internet.
As someone who worked on kindle power consumption many years ago: One of the (by far) biggest consumers of power is the WiFi connection. It has to wake up and respond to the AP in order to not get disconnected every x seconds.
Off the top of my head, I think 'on' average power consumption was ~700uA without wifi, and about 1.5mA+/- with Wifi. This is from over a decade ago, so my memory is fuzzy though...
Obviously, page changes used relatively large amounts of power. I don't recall the exact amounts, but it was 100s of mA for seconds.
There is also an "every x pages, do a full screen refresh (black to white)" to fix up the ghosting issue that the article writer saw.
I made something like this! Except I have it plugged into an outlet in the kitchen, so no battery to deal with. It's a little hacky but it works for me.
This is great! I love seeing e-ink/Kindle related displays. I thought I saw a HN article about it 'awhile ago', turns out, time flies, that was back in 2024!
A while ago I've rewritten TRMNL's Kindle-client from Bash into Lua, optimised it a bit and when doing a refresh every 5 minutes, my Kindle Paperwhite 10th gen now lasts about 5-6 days on a charge.
I took an even simpler route. After jailbreak and ssh I just made two scripts on the Kindle, one is triggered every minute, the other every half hour. Both draw the same image from the same location, the 30 minute one just adds a full refresh. This way the display is not fully refreshed every minute, but in time image is degrading so full refresh once every 30 minutes seems work out fine.
This way Kindle has a very simple job, no apps installed no anything, just two extra cronjobs to run the oneliner bash scripts that draw the image. And I use rsync from a raspberry pi to push a new image every minute. That image is assembled with a python script, rpi side, with air quality data. Connects to local mysql server, pulls the values and then assembles it.
Score Breakdown
+0.08
PreamblePreamble
Medium F: Content frames technical problem-solving as individual agency and capability-building
Editorial
+0.20
Structural
+0.05
SETL
+0.17
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
Educational content on DIY technology empowers individual; however, tracking mechanisms present structural concern about privacy/dignity implicit in Preamble human dignity principles.
+0.08
Article 1Freedom, Equality, Brotherhood
Low F: Equal dignity implied in technical tutorials accessible to all
Editorial
+0.15
Structural
+0.10
SETL
+0.09
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
Content treats readers as equals capable of technical learning; no discriminatory framing observable. Tracking slightly undermines equality principle.
-0.08
Article 2Non-Discrimination
High P: Analytics tracking without visible consent mechanism
Editorial
+0.10
Structural
-0.15
SETL
+0.19
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
PostHog analytics present on page; no observable consent banner or opt-in mechanism for tracking. Structural implementation discriminates against privacy by default.
ND
Article 3Life, Liberty, Security
No observable content related to right to life, liberty, security of person.
ND
Article 4No Slavery
No observable content related to slavery or servitude.
ND
Article 5No Torture
No observable content related to torture or cruel/inhuman treatment.
ND
Article 6Legal Personhood
No observable content related to right to recognition as person before law.
ND
Article 7Equality Before Law
No observable content related to equality before law.
ND
Article 8Right to Remedy
No observable content related to effective remedies for rights violations.
ND
Article 9No Arbitrary Detention
No observable content related to arbitrary arrest or detention.
ND
Article 10Fair Hearing
No observable content related to fair trial and hearing.
ND
Article 11Presumption of Innocence
No observable content related to criminal law or presumption of innocence.
-0.16
Article 12Privacy
High P: Tracking analytics embedded without visible consent mechanism P: Personal data collection (contact form, PostHog events) without observable privacy notice
Editorial
0.00
Structural
-0.20
SETL
+0.20
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
PostHog tracking and contact form collection represent interference with privacy and correspondence. No observable consent UI or privacy policy link. Article 12 protects against arbitrary interference with privacy.
+0.23
Article 13Freedom of Movement
Medium F: Technical knowledge shared openly; freedom to seek, receive information
Editorial
+0.25
Structural
+0.20
SETL
+0.11
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
Content explicitly shares technical information, code, and methodology. No barriers to accessing information presented. Supports freedom of movement through technology transfer.
ND
Article 14Asylum
No observable content related to asylum or persecution.
ND
Article 15Nationality
No observable content related to nationality.
ND
Article 16Marriage & Family
No observable content related to marriage or family.
ND
Article 17Property
No observable content related to property ownership.
ND
Article 18Freedom of Thought
No observable content related to freedom of thought, conscience, religion.
+0.44
Article 19Freedom of Expression
High A: Explicit advocacy for open-source knowledge sharing F: Frames technical learning as accessible and democratized P: Free access to tutorial, code repository linked
Editorial
+0.40
Structural
+0.30
SETL
+0.20
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
Core content is tutorial sharing information freely. Code repository referenced. No paywalls. Actively enables others to receive and impart ideas on technology. Supports freedom of expression through technical writing.
ND
Article 20Assembly & Association
No observable content related to freedom of assembly or association, though online community aspect minimal.
ND
Article 21Political Participation
No observable content related to political participation.
+0.18
Article 22Social Security
Low F: Technical capability-building supports economic and social rights
Editorial
+0.20
Structural
+0.15
SETL
+0.10
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
Project demonstrates technical literacy and problem-solving that could advance economic participation. Open-source contribution model supports collective welfare.
+0.13
Article 23Work & Equal Pay
Low F: Demonstrates skilled work and technical labor value
Editorial
+0.15
Structural
+0.10
SETL
+0.09
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
Content showcases technical work and problem-solving; project itself represents labor. No observable exploitation signals, but no explicit labor-rights framing.
ND
Article 24Rest & Leisure
No observable content related to rest or leisure.
ND
Article 25Standard of Living
No observable content related to adequate standard of living, health, or social services.
+0.28
Article 26Education
Medium A: Tutorial format explicitly educates readers F: Frames learning as accessible and step-by-step P: Free educational content with no prerequisites beyond internet access
Editorial
+0.30
Structural
+0.25
SETL
+0.12
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
Content is fundamentally educational; provides practical technical education. Structured tutorial approach supports learning. Open access advances education right. No gatekeeping observed.
+0.38
Article 27Cultural Participation
High A: Advocates for maker culture and technical creativity F: Celebrates creative technical problem-solving P: Shares creative work (code + documentation) publicly
Editorial
+0.35
Structural
+0.30
SETL
+0.13
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
Project is creative technical work; author shares methodology and results. Explicitly celebrates creativity ('one of the most fun projects'). Open-source publication supports participation in cultural life and benefits of scientific progress.
+0.10
Article 28Social & International Order
Low F: Open technical knowledge supports ability to claim rights
Editorial
+0.15
Structural
+0.10
SETL
+0.09
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
Content empowers readers through technical knowledge but does not explicitly address social/international order supporting UDHR. Tracking mechanism slightly undermines protective infrastructure.
+0.05
Article 29Duties to Community
Low F: Implicit duty to share knowledge for common benefit
Editorial
+0.10
Structural
+0.05
SETL
+0.07
Combined
ND
Context Modifier
ND
Open-source publication model reflects commitment to common benefit, though not explicitly framed as duty. Privacy tracking slightly contradicts community responsibility principle.
ND
Article 30No Destruction of Rights
No observable content related to preventing destruction of UDHR rights.