M Thorne - The Gadgeteer

The Future of Publishing: Reading between the lines of Amazon’s crackdown on e-book piracy

By M Thorne / February 25, 2025 / Articles / ebooks / 2 Comments

ARTICLE – Flashback: It’s 2007, and the world is watching as Jammie Thomas-Rasset is found legally liable for sharing a small handful of copyrighted songs via Kazaa. She’s ordered to pay seven figures in damages, although both of those rulings are later overturned. In 2013, a federal court upholds the judgment against Thomas-Rasset, and she’s […]

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Adventures in Mechanical Keyboard Customization

REVIEW – I learned to touch type in the 1990s, and by the 2000s, my endless conversations over AOL Instant Messenger turned me into a very fast typist. When I really get going on something that’s on my mind, I can smash out about 120 words per minute, and the more adamant I am about

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CZUR ET MAX Professional Book Scanner review

By M Thorne / February 12, 2025 / Reviews / Scanner / 3 Comments

REVIEW – My first foray into the heady world of scanning and digitizing was way back in the 2000s when I found a Visioneer USB flatbed scanner at Big Lots on clearance. I’ve always loved scanners and photocopiers. The ability to rapidly duplicate printed (and other!) things on demand is an amazing feat of modern

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You, Me, and the Lithium Battery

By M Thorne / December 13, 2024 / Articles / Batteries and Chargers, Safety / 8 Comments

ARTICLE – One of the greatest technological advancements of our era is the lithium battery. First prototyped at Exxon in 1976, lithium technology has made it possible to pack a whole lot of energy into a tiny package, enabling more powerful computers, cordless tools, equipment, appliances, human transport devices, and toys. If you have a

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Onyx Boox Palma 2 review

By M Thorne / November 29, 2024 / Reviews / eBook reader / 1 Comment

REVIEW – After listening to me extol the amazing features of modern e-ink technology, Julie sent me her Onyx Boox Palma, thinking I’d get more use out of it than she had. It was an on-point gift, and I’ve gotten a lot of use out of my Palma. I used it to break my social media

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Boox Palma Flip-fold Protective Case review

By M Thorne / April 26, 2024 / Reviews / Cases and Covers, ereader / Leave a Comment

REVIEW – A few months ago, e-ink device maker Boox released the new Flip-fold Protective Case for the Palma e-ink mini-tablet. I jumped on this one, because I am a hardcore butterfingers, and I drop everything I own. I previously had the OEM hard shell case, which just covered the back of the device. This

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