“A kind of weblogged almanac of assorted interests to keep my hand in with writing, SEO, design and developing…”

  • The story of this site. 📌

    The story of this site. 📌

    I started blogging around 2002. I wanted my own space on the web to host photography, travel notes, reviews rather than rely on another content platform (this was before social networks became a thing). It was a project that would get me in to writing code (which, to be honest, might have been 50% of…

  • Printer running costs – how do you compare between models?

    Printer running costs – how do you compare between models?

    The printer market is really opaque, so this is not easy to do. To calculate printer running costs you have to factor in the running cost of a printer in addition to the buying price up front. Some printers will come with full ink cartridges and others will come with starter ink – maybe only…

  • Car battery chargers: what to look for when buying

    Car battery chargers: what to look for when buying

    A buying guide for car battery charging My top tip is to consider the features you really need – don’t get seduced by loads of features you won’t use (apart from valuable safety features). Fewer user-selectable features results in an easier user-experience, reduce risk and fewer expensive mistakes. Safety Of course safety is top of…

  • Safety precautions for charging car batteries

    Safety precautions for charging car batteries

    My articles on car battery chargers like the CTEK MXS range, or the Noco Genius battery chargers have gotten quite popular. So, I thought I’d drop an article on safety precautions for charging car batteries. I’ll attach it as a link from those articles. Charging a car battery is generally safe as long as you…

  • Review | Lenovo G27q-30 monitor: the best at this price?

    Review | Lenovo G27q-30 monitor: the best at this price?

    Monitor review Brand: Lenovo Model: G27q-30 RRP: £312 Purchase price: £189.99 (Black Friday at Amazon) Great for: Video, media and office work thanks to its great colour, contrast and high refresh rate. Lenovo G27q-30 key specs: Full specifications: Lenovo G27q-30 product page Note: A version of this monitor is also available with an IPS panel…

  • Buying a new printer? Here’s a quick tool to work out printer running costs!

    Buying a new printer? Here’s a quick tool to work out printer running costs!

    “Buy cheap, and buy twice” – as the saying goes. So here’s a tool to work out just how much that new printer might cost you over its lifetime. Ink Jet or Laser. Mono Laser or Colour Laser? The running costs of printers over their life time can vary significantly. And it can be really,…

  • Lawnmower runs, but blade not spinning? Fix the Aldi Ferrex GLM44 Electric Mower

    Lawnmower runs, but blade not spinning? Fix the Aldi Ferrex GLM44 Electric Mower

    If your Aldi Ferrex electric lawn mower (model GLM44 or GLM44A) makes all the noise of a lawn mower, but doesn’t cut the grass, then it is likely that the drive gear between the motor and the output shaft to the blade has been damaged. This could just be a broken or worn drive belt,…

  • Discover insights to find & fix site errors, design successful campaigns and improve marketing ops

    Discover insights to find & fix site errors, design successful campaigns and improve marketing ops

    This is an easy win. The actionable insights will help you prioritise improvement efforts on your website and design successful campaigns – for free! Insights like: I recommend anyone managing a website creates an ahrefs account (at no charge) and configures a weekly scan on their site. The free tools produce a whole bunch of…

  • R-Pi Imager fails to start / complete on MacOS

    R-Pi Imager fails to start / complete on MacOS

    Raspberry Pi Imager was unable to start the write to SD cards OR would fail to complete the process successfully – a change in System Preferences will get this running properly.