Services I pay for

In alphabetical order: Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk - usually buy electronics here! Apple’s App Store - I use iOS & Mac heavily, buy a lot of apps! Dropbox - sync files across computers Evernote - I store a lot of notes here. Fastmail - My email, contacts, calendars Hover - great place for domain names (like this one). Lastpass - excellent password manager Newsblur - Personalized RSS for news junkies Pinboard - stores all my bookmarks (also archives the sites) Trello - I’m planning a holiday via Trello Some of these are referral links, I stand to get extra credit on these services if you use it. ...

August 26, 2015 · 1 min · Neil Grogan

Apple Watch Stand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e1DiEegB_c h/t; reddit update: I tried this myself, but I’ve obviously no talent for these things:

August 23, 2015 · 1 min · Neil Grogan

Soulver App

My favourite text number crunching app on iOS bar none is Soulver. What makes it the best? Fast to load Simple user interface that gets out of the way Contextual Keyboards (my favourite is the currency keyboard) Can reuse calculations from previous lines (and name calculations). iCloud sync Soulver is great for when a spreadsheet is just to heavy. I use it a lot for it currency conversion, makes it easy to have multiple line items in different currencies (say GBP & USD) and get a total in one (EUR). Also for splitting the bills at a resturant, each line could be a food item (so if two desserts cost the same, you can see quickly and only add lines relevant for each participant). ...

November 17, 2014 · 1 min · Neil Grogan

Drafts App

My favourite text capture app on iOS bar none is Drafts by Agile Tortoise. What makes it the best? No fluff, loads fast Simple user interface that gets out of the way Extensible actions (which you can add to from their directory) iCloud sync I’ve tried a lot of other apps like Byword (Not worth the money I think), Apples’ built-in Notes app, Textastic and so on. None felt as efficient or as flexible as Drafts. With Drafts, I can trust my text can be anywhere I need it to be. ...

November 16, 2014 · 1 min · Neil Grogan

De'Longhi Magnifica ESAM4200 Bean to Cup

I’ve had this DeLonghi machine for a year and a half now, and I possibly am slightly a little in love. It was the best rated coffee machine (at time of purchase) on Amazon and it doesn’t dissapoint. For the purpose, it’s wonderful: Make great coffee fast, without a mess. If you’re looking for more, I would have a look at the more expensive models. When I shopped around at the time, I read that the internals of this machine are just as good as the ones that DeLonghi sells that are twice as expensive. Mostly the price difference comes down to the “extraneous” features. Where this machine falls down is in a few areas: ...

November 13, 2014 · 2 min · Neil Grogan

Mac Mini Server

I recently purchased a Mac Mini Server, for this site to run on. It’s hosted on my home broadband connection, but it’s just really for small time side-projects like this site. Also it’s a way to play around with Docker, VirtualBox, Node.js and all those other fun technologies I don’t get time for. I don’t really plan to post links, but maybe I’ll review things or cover things I’ve bought. ...

November 12, 2014 · 1 min · Neil Grogan

All Music Radio

On holidays in Lithuania recently I was eating in a restaurant and noticed the music was all in English. It’s not the first time I’ve noticed a non English speaking country playing all English songs in bars, restaurants and taxis. Rather what was unusual was the very few ads and the fact it was an American station. I’m no fan of ads, and am a huge fan of audio in general - be it spoken word or music. I’m a Spotify subscriber, but I also get bored if my own playlists fairly quickly. Spotify Radio isn’t the solution and I can’t access Pandora easily outside the US. 181 fm has a huge choice of stations (although I need a Smiths/Cure type of station) and plays few ads. It takes a little time to try out feeds they have, and some songs are on heavy rotation like regular music radio but it’s a nice service. Give it a try ...

October 9, 2014 · 1 min · Neil Grogan

Going on Holidays? Check these Gadgets

I’m a big Wirecutter fan and they don’t disappoint with this travel guide.

September 13, 2014 · 1 min · Neil Grogan

Math can help you outsmart the MTA

I heard a behavioural economist on the radio this morning, he was talking about rising house prices in Dublin and the tricks the industry uses to get you to overpay. Turns out you can mitigate these tricks with a bit of knowledge, as this proves: But now, with some simple math, you can fight back! First, let’s see how the MTA tricks you out of your money earlier than you might want to release it to them. ...

September 12, 2014 · 1 min · Neil Grogan

Bell Curve is Wrong

Interesting study here: apparently performance of people in a company is never related to a bell curve, but is more like a ski slope. So the majority of people are carried by the few in terms of performance. What I really want to know is pay for these people like a ski slope? Cause I bet it ain’t.

September 11, 2014 · 1 min · Neil Grogan