~/writing/archive
Everything on tech
Every note in one place — essays on the tools, gear, and the home server behind the couch.
- self-hosting9 min readThe server behind the couchMONKEserver is an old laptop that should be in a drawer. Instead it serves this website — and taught me more about how the internet works than any job ever has.
- audio3 min readAirPods Pro 3Five years of daily use, then a replacement that wasn't a marginal upgrade. The best technology is the kind you forget you are wearing.
- cameras3 min readLumix S5IIThe full-frame hybrid that embarrasses its competitors on price. An underdog that, if you look closely enough, was winning all along.
- photography17 min readA camera, and the art of paying attentionI blew my first proper salary on a camera I didn't know how to use. What it really bought me was a way to live more deliberately.
- health4 min readAmazfit Helio StrapWhoop had the right idea, then put your own data behind a monthly paywall. The Helio Strap is the concept without the ongoing fee — and a quiet ten-year bet.
- smart-home2 min readSmart lights, finallyTen years of cheap coloured LED strips, finally made smart — every light in the flat, controlled by voice, sourced from a factory in Shenzhen for the price of a takeaway.
- travel1 min readVacuum bagsRyanair charges you to bring your own belongings onto a plane. A bag with a valve is how you refuse to pay it.
