Find My Phone

March 4, 2026 | Comment

I don’t know who thought of this but I will forever be grateful.

If you have an Apple Watch and iPhone for as long as I can remember you have been able to press a button on the watch and have the phone “beep” to help you find it – providing it is within range of course.

Now, however, not only do you get audible feedback but the watch shows you how far away you are from the phone. As you get closer the distance updates and the colour changes. It’s like playing with the children’s “you’re getting hotter” game!… Read the rest

How to fit the Perfect Screen Protector

February 21, 2026 | Comment

I hate applying screen protectors, but I know that they are vital to protecting the somewhat fragile screens of modern devices. Maybe you have a device that has screen protectors that come in a box – just pop the device inside and pull. Hey presto! The perfectly applied screen protector. But what happens if you don’t have a compatible device?

Applying a Screen Protector

These steps work every time for me:

  1. The Steam Room: Go into your bathroom and run the hot tap for a few minutes until it’s slightly steamy or do it after taking a shower. This “grounds”
… Read the rest

Why do e-reader Screens “Flash”?

February 6, 2026 | 2 comments

I’ve been having a bit of an e-reader renaissance recently with the purchase of an Xteink X4 reader, the tiny pocket reader. This is my first e-reader in about 16 years since my Sony Reader all those years ago. Something that hasn’t changed in all those years is the page flashing when the display needs refreshing.

If you don’t know what I am referring to, take a look at this video below, which shows page refresh in action on the Xteink X4.

Here is why that refresh (often called a “full page turn”) is necessary:

The Physics of “Digital Ink”

… Read the rest

Xteink X4 eBook Reader

January 25, 2026 | Comment

The Xteink X4 is a brand new eReader with a difference – it is tiny, about the size of an iPhone. Designed for reading on the go, this nifty little device is small enough to shove in a pocket and take with you everywhere. In this short video I unbox the device and take a look as to what’s included.

Having only received the device yesterday I haven’t spent much time with it but I can really see the X4 becoming part of my EDC. I will report back in a few weeks when I have spent more time … Read the rest

Transfering a Smart Card to Apple Wallet

December 21, 2025 | Comment

On a recent trip to Washington DC we discovered the Metro’s smartcard “SmarTrip” which can be used to tap-in and tap-out at stations and on buses too. This was pretty convenient, but it meant yet another plastic card to carry around and potentially lose.

However, there were signs up saying that it was possible to transfer the balance from a physical card to your Apple Wallet (or Google equivalent if you were that way inclined). The instructions were simple enough:

To transfer your SmarTrip card to Apple Wallet, open the Wallet app on your iPhone, tap the “+”

… Read the rest

Apple Pencil vs Metapen Pencil A8

December 13, 2025 | Comment

I’ve recently bought a new iPad A16 to use for watching films, reading magazines and for help with my family history research. My existing iPad, an M1 iPad Mini, has served me well and I will continue to use it as a Kindle but I wanted something with a larger screen.

When I bought the iPad Mini I also bought an Apple Pencil to go with it which I used along with the Goodnotes app to jot notes for both professional and home use cases. It wasn’t something that I used often but was useful occasionally. I decided that … Read the rest

Payment Security, Greek Style

October 8, 2025 | Comment

Handheld chip and pin machines aren’t as universal as I thought they were. On a recent trip to the States, I found that it is still much more likely that they will take your card away to some dark corner to produce you a paper receipt, no doubt cloning it in the meantime!

In the UK that almost never happens but the vast majority of restaurants will come to the table with a machine these days, demanding payment before you’ve even seen this bill!

While holidaying in Greece earlier this year I found in a number of places where not … Read the rest

What’s the Difference Between Matter and Thread?

July 27, 2025 | 1 comment

I’ve recently been getting into home automation and Home Assistant in particular (expect more posts on that as I get my head around it).

Words that frequently come up when dealing with home automation devices are Zigbee, Thread and Matter. I was familiar with Zigbee but was confused about Thread and Matter and how they worked together so I asked my friend ChatGPT to explain. I found it useful so decided to tidy it up and post it here.

What are Thread and Matter?

Thread and Matter are two of the latest smart home standards, often mentioned together, … Read the rest

Nanobag

June 11, 2025 | Comment

Is a shopping bag technology? Well, this one, Nanobag, was featured in Wired magazine, so I am pretty sure that it is! On that basis, I am featuring it here on my blog.

I’ve had shopping bags in the past that fold into themselves to a small form factor, but the Nanobag suggested that it took that to another level. The issue I had with other solutions was that they weren’t actually that small when folded and, when opened out, weren’t large enough to hold an LP record.

Choices

The Nanobag comes in several sizes, as illustrated in the … Read the rest