The wireless page-turning Kobo Remote is an absolute piece of junk. It’s made of not one but two of the worst kind of plastics you can hold — a sweat-inducing smooth polycarbonate on top and a grime-attracting grainy PET on the bottom. From the way the parts are assembled to the type of button switches used, everything seems to have been done to maximize flimsiness and creakiness. Judging by the size of its logo, Rakuten Kobo is incredibly proud of this €29.99 study in penny-pinching.
The remote is a bit small (10 × 3 × 2.25 cm) for my big hands, but the main button seems to have been modelled on my thumb. The overall shape is atrocious, though. You either nestle your index finger around the “ergonomic” divot in the back, in which case you have to overextend your thumb to press the button, or you squeeze the button in between your thumb and index finger, in which case the divot is in the way.
I’m convinced the remote has been designed around the battery compartment instead of, you know, an actual human hand. At least it uses a single AAA battery that’s supposed to be removable… if you can open the incredibly tight battery door. But you know what? In spite of everything, i found the Kobo Remote to be the perfect companion for my Kobo Libra Colour.
Once it’s paired, it reconnects in a fraction of a second and can even wake the e-reader with the press of a button. On the train or in bed, i prop up the Libra Colour with its SleepCover and then can read in pretty much any position without straining my hands. I’ve got into the habit of simply dropping the remote when i need to grab something else and let it dangle from its wrist strap.
It’s made me acutely aware of the way that my hands influence my reading — i prefer softcovers over hardbacks, e-readers over softcovers, e-readers with buttons over e-readers with touchscreens, and now e-readers with wireless remotes over e-readers with buttons. The Kobo Remote might be an absolute piece of junk, but i dearly missed it when i forgot to pack it on this week’s work trip.
Movies
Superman by James Gunn. Superman has always been a superficial hero. He’s too alien to pass as an undocumented immigrant; too messianic to function as an exemplar; too red, white, and blue to have a consistent set of ethics; and even his biggest weakness is too neat (and too external) to have any moral significance. But at least he was something. James Gunn has robbed him of everything — backstory, personality, motivation, the tiniest shred of common sense — and made him a mere casualty in the launch of the umpteenth reboot of the comically bad DC cinematic universe. Woof.
Things
Lenovo ThinkPad P16s Gen 3. Speaking of my work-provided “beast of a laptop”… David Hill has been a faithful steward of Richard Sapper’s original design, and in the ten years since he left Lenovo, not much has changed. Nothing looks like a ThinkPad except for another ThinkPad, and if i have to work on a PC, i’m not mad that it’s a ThinkPad. The build quality is excellent, the screen is fine for the price, the trackpad is more than decent, and most of all, the keyboard is outstanding.
It would be a perfectly good laptop… if Intel and Microsoft hadn’t fallen so far behind in energy management. Windows keeps such a tight leash on the Intel Ultra 7 155H chip that, most of the time, this “beast of a laptop” feels slower than the slowest of smartphones. Even after tweaking every energy setting i could find, i have to use a 4K monitor to make sure the Nvidia RTX 500 graphics card kicks in and more power flows through the system. What a shame.
About the Z1NZ0L1N dispatch system
Z1NZ0L1N is a dispatch system operated by Anthony Nelzin-Santos, transmitting from the field since January 2025. This document describes the operator, the protocol’s naming convention, its transmission history, its field office, and how it’s funded.
Operator
Anthony Nelzin-Santos is a writer at heart, teacher by instinct, flâneur by habit. He’s known to wander in search of old shopfronts, to spend an inordinate amount of time curating his music library, to craft pocket notebooks with vintage roadmaps, to keep a collection of half-repaired typewriters and half-empty fountain pens, to wear jeans and hiking shoes all year round, to watch his plants grow, to roam around with the heaviest long-tail bike on the planet, and to acquire more books than can be read. He’s married to the only person willing to put up with all of it.
Naming convention
“Zinzolin” is a shade of purple between lavender-field blue and crushed-blackberry red. The medieval Italians traced it to jujube fruits (giuggiolino). The Mozarabs, were they still around to argue the point, would insist on sesame seeds (djoudjolân) instead. The operator chose it because it’s his favourite colour — partly because it sounds like his name.
Transmission history
The operator was born before the world wide web was invented, but grew up surrounded by computers. He launched his first website in 2000, started his first blog in 2004, recorded his first podcast in 2005, and uploaded his first video in 2006. He went pro in 2008. In 2025, after years spent transmitting in French, the frequency switched to English.
Field office
Z1NZ0L1N is hosted by Infomaniak near Geneva (CH). The operator is based in Lyon (FR) but has also sent dispatches from Aachen (DE), Antwerpen (BE), Besançon (FR), Bruxelles (BE), Liège (BE), Marseille (FR), Moulins-sur-Allier (FR), Paray-le-Monial (FR), Paris (FR), Schaerbeek (BE), Seyssins (FR), Utrecht (NL), and Vienne (FR). He’s made it a goal to visit and write in every country in the European Union (8 down, 19 to go!).
Funding
Z1NZ0L1N is proudly ad-free. The operator covers hosting and the domain name — roughly €120 a year — out of pocket. The best way to support his efforts is to subscribe to the RSS feed and share your favourite dispatches with your friends. That being said, if you ever feel like sending one, a cup of coffee is always welcome.
Colophon
Tools
Notebooks: handmade. Ink: purple, one of many. Pen: a fountain pen, often a Lamy Safari, also one of many. Backup: a Leuchtturm1917 Drehgriffel Nr. 1 ballpoint, a Uniball Zento Signature rollerball, or a Caran d’Ache 849 mechanical pencil. Notes when the notebook’s out of reach: Bloom. Computer: MacBook Air. Mechanical keyboard: more than one. Writing: Lettera, formerly Ulysses. Coding: BBEdit. Proofing: Antidote. Publication: Hugo.
Blogroll
Inspirations: Aegir, V.H. Belvadi, Ian Betteridge, Mandy Brown, But she’s a girl…, Frank Chimero, Simon Collison, Zinzy Waleson Geene, Josh Ginter, Chris Glass, Piper Haywood, Nick Heer, Jon Hicks, Alan Jacobs, Keenan, Winnie Lim, Tom MacWright, Louie Mantia, Craig Mod, Manuel Moreale, Riccardo Mori, Anders Norén, The Pen Addict, Kev Quirk, Robin Rendle, Melanie Richards, and Mateusz Urbanowicz. Suggestions: please.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.