Be dumb, Ipad Mini, and Tokyo

Still in Asia for two weeks in Tokyo. I'm very happy to be back here. I got back to my habits, and it's nice.

I also ended up buying some stuff I wanted to try for a long time.

Be dumb

I started working again a week ago, and I got back to working on a program I appreciate. And it's always hard when you come back to something you left.

Something I like to do is to remember everything I went through before and test again every feature that looked weird in the first part. Sometimes, with a clear point of view, you can find interesting stuff.

Also, something I found funny about bug hunting is that it's when you get bored with an app, when you've looked at every fucking request, that you find something new.

Simply because you do the same thing, again and again, and it gives you new dumb ideas, and it's sometimes very rewarding. That's what most great hunters spend hours and years on the same target. You know it perfectly, and every change is noted in your mind. And you had so many dumb and dumb ideas on the app that one more can be the good one.

And each time I found a nice idea, it was when I got bored with the target. You just rest or go for a walk, and you come back with the dumbest idea ever that finally works.

I don't think anyone needs a checklist or a perfect methodology to start finding bugs. Just having the basic knowledge and the patience to spend hours on reading HTTP requests and responses without going crazy.

Ipad Mini

As I told you in a previous issue, I wanted to read more and more articles and write-ups. And I'm still working on Hackyx to give it the nicest possible way to do it, don't worry.

But before having a good setup with it, I wanted something for me personally to read more. I found a nice video talking about a kind of tablet I didn't know, a Boox e-ink tablet. It's like a Kindle, but with a real Android on it.

I found it crazy, and I wanted to buy one. The fact that it's a real os behind means that you can install any reading app you want; you're not limited to the Kindle app. Also, as it's an e-ink device, the battery is gorgeous.

But I ended up not buying one. Why? Simply because most of my workflow is iOS-related. I'm taking notes on the Bear app, my Todo app is Things 3, and my reading app is Matter. And all of them are only available on iOS.

The only option for me was the iPad Mini, and I bought it here in Japan as it's cheaper than in France ( thanks Macron ).

Do I really need to buy a new device to just read articles and books? Absolutely not. Am I happy with it? Definitely.

The app I'm using is Matter. I already told you about Omnivore, which is an open-source app that does the same as a Read Later app. I can just save a lot of articles in there, podcasts, and YouTube videos, and read them when I want.

As I'm reading more and more articles, do you want me to add a resource part in the article, like Monke is doing in his newsletter? Tell me if it's something you would like in the future.

Also, I will try to make a better setup to download books, maybe use Calibre, etc.. If you know any good setup about that, please let me know.

Tokyo

I love being back in Japan, simply because of having FamilyMart and being able to eat a tamago sandwich and Famichicki.

Otherwise, I have my habits there, so I'm here to mainly work and chill. I don't think I will move outside of Tokyo this time.

I will be here for 2 weeks before coming back to France, where I will attend Grehack, a very nice hacking conference.