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Show HN: Memory Hammer, An always-on Anki review system

I created Memory Hammer to address the problem of accumulated reviews in Anki. Since Memory Hammer uses an always on e-paper display we can review an Anki card as and when its due. Although the concept of Memory Hammer was in my mind for several years, I managed to build it only now. As a PoC, it supports basic cards with plain text and I hope to improve it over time through user feedback. Have you faced the problem of accumulated reviews with Anki? What's your current solution to address it, Would Memory Hammer be helpful to you?

rsanek 4y ago
I don't know if I understood how Memory Hammer helps with this problem -- is it intended to deal with the issue by making it easier / more available to do reviews? I personally don't find that to be a limiting factor in reviews piling up for me. I've dealt with the problem in my own usage in a few ways: 1. Most importantly, moving away from the core idea of 'inbox zero' for Anki. I think this is unforgiving and a totally unrealistic expectation for working adults. 2. Changing the settings such that new cards only appear after all review cards are done. This provides automatic backpressure -- since the biggest contributors to load are young cards, arresting the addition of new ones means the backlog at least stops growing. 3. Significantly decreasing my leech threshold (from 8 to 3). My model previously was that I'd get bummed when I had a card leech and I'd try hard to reorganize it in order for it to not leech. Now, I realize that either I don't actually care about the content enough to retain it, or for some reason that specific card is hard for me to remember and I shouldn't waste time on it.
- Abishek_Muthian 4y ago
  I appreciate your comment and agree with your points to address accumulated reviews. I find the act of comprehension and increasing the cards working better for me especially since the cards are not accumulating as I review them during breaks. I'm also thinking about a Random Deck mode which chooses a random deck and displays the due card which can help to review decks which we don't visit often and don't intend on creating a master deck with sub-decks.

rsanek 4y ago

I don't know if I understood how Memory Hammer helps with this problem -- is it intended to deal with the issue by making it easier / more available to do reviews? I personally don't find that to be a limiting factor in reviews piling up for me. I've dealt with the problem in my own usage in a few ways: 1. Most importantly, moving away from the core idea of 'inbox zero' for Anki. I think this is unforgiving and a totally unrealistic expectation for working adults. 2. Changing the settings such that new cards only appear after all review cards are done. This provides automatic backpressure -- since the biggest contributors to load are young cards, arresting the addition of new ones means the backlog at least stops growing. 3. Significantly decreasing my leech threshold (from 8 to 3). My model previously was that I'd get bummed when I had a card leech and I'd try hard to reorganize it in order for it to not leech. Now, I realize that either I don't actually care about the content enough to retain it, or for some reason that specific card is hard for me to remember and I shouldn't waste time on it.

Abishek_Muthian 4y ago
I appreciate your comment and agree with your points to address accumulated reviews. I find the act of comprehension and increasing the cards working better for me especially since the cards are not accumulating as I review them during breaks. I'm also thinking about a Random Deck mode which chooses a random deck and displays the due card which can help to review decks which we don't visit often and don't intend on creating a master deck with sub-decks.