Rotoscoping is great but pretty labor intensive and not really creative in itself, though it can obviously be part of a very creative process. That makes it a perfect candidate for AI/ML tools to accelerate and I hope they do (or rather I hope they continue to). Tons of animators and filmmakers love the roto look but don't want to deal with the roto process. Get the outlines and motion tracking done 90% with the AI and everyone can focus on the important stuff.
But the text looks good, the light is nice, and you can even install apps that aren't too demanding - a crossword or something.
I've found that even a Clara HD or BW (the latest version) can be a bit bulky when you're going out with no bag, but the Palma fits in any jeans or jacket pocket and is excellent to have when you find yourself with 20 minutes to wait and no desire to doomscroll. I hope these things get more popular and accessible.
I have both a Kindle Oasis and Palma and I like the Palma much more for when I'm laying in bed. It's lighter and easier to one-hand, but most importantly is it's easy to hold while laying on my side. The narrower screen isn't too bad if you're mostly reading EPUBs or AZW3 files where they reflow text appropriately. I have it set up to use the volume rocker for changing pages. The included case makes the buttons a little... mushy for my taste, but I've otherwise been largely impressed. The fact that it runs Android means I can install an IETF RFC app and Instapaper and sync easily, which has been a surprisingly huge plus for me as well.
The Boox e-reader I have lets you rotate the screen in 90° increments—not sure if the Palma does too, but reading horizontally probably wouldn't be too bad.
Although at the end of the day I do most of my reading on my phone anyway, and it's surprisingly fine once you get used to it.
It took a little getting used to - i had the same qualm. But honestly, I don't mind now at all. The text adjustment is very fine in the default reader and the resolution is high, so pick a font you find readable and it's really not so different from a pocket paperback page.
> even a Clara HD or BW (the latest version) can be a bit bulky when you're going out with no bag, but the Palma fits in any jeans or jacket pocket
This is such a nice but underrated feature of ereaders. I can fit my Kindle in the back pocket of my jeans without it being uncomfortable (just don't sit on it!) and it's really nice to not have to worry about shoving it back in a back or anything like that.
Go back to Suetonius and The Twelve Caesars. Amazing read, even if you can't believe everything. The contemporary (or close) historians are lots of fun.
Anecdotally, all of my friends renting have had their rents continually raised with no breaks. Perhaps there is a wider trend, but if so, their landlords do not seem aware of it.
Part of that is also a fact that renters face the pressure that real estate firms now use big data to manage the rent accross a set of units. They know people will keep paying to avoid the skids so they can keep both rents high, and vacant houses because the over under makes them money.
If you had the state / city charge rent to owners on vacant property you'd see rents fall through the floor as realestate companies would quickly pack anyone that could pay something into an structure.
There is actually currently a Seattle class action lawsuit on renting because a majority of the corporate landlords use the same big data company to set rents, and the big data company says you must use their rates (and so do the landlords instructing their property managers). It turns out you may not be able to launder price fixing using an algorithm.
Yeah, I had to work with SOs in my previous job and this sounds accurate. It's very hard to characterize this kind of thing though so if anyone else is curious it would be best to read up a bit on modern approaches.
