A much needed lazy weekend after a packed week. Clocks have moved back so darkness for the next few months in mornings and late afternoons. Did enjoy a fantastic meal at Ka Pao in Glasgow. Sharing menu is always a favourite…which 3 of us shared instead of 4. Oops. Apple Upgrades Upgraded to the iPhone 17 Pro and AirPods Pro 3 in September and that feels enough time to scribble some thoughts down.

Feeling a bit beat up after the last two weeks. Work busy and a little bit of ill health coupled with a lack of sleep has left me feeling bust. Also entering that time of year when I start and finish work in the dark so important to get out for some fresh air when I can. Also getting increasingly frustrated with the bugs on macOS Tahoe.

A week off work was much needed. Time to recharge although sleep was awful until Friday night - grrrr. Made terrific progress with the custom NAS - now got all the basic docker images installed, Plex humming along nicely and all the data from the Synology is migrated. Thats a blog post I need to write - what hardware, why Unraid, how I've found it a few weeks in compared to Synology.

October 2nd 1995 - my first day at Yarrow Shipbuilders, then owned by GEC Marconi. Little did I know then that thirty years later I'd still be at the same firm now owned by BAE Systems. On my first day as a graduate (there were only two graduates that joined in 1995) we met the MD, Murray Easton, who assured us that the news of 125 job losses would be in the press but don't worry as it won't impact us.

I missed it by a day but yesterday was 30 years since Wipeout, and the Sony PlayStation, launched in the UK. The PlayStation had launched late in 94 so many of the UK launch titles were well known, but Wipeout was new for the UK. It was the first game I tried and its impact was immediate. The graphics a step up from the competition, the weight and feel of each vehicle was so good but the overwhelming memory is the graphic style and the soundtrack.

Been a really busy fortnight. Work full on and very little time to myself…thankfully got the next week off which will let me finish off setting up the new Unraid NAS and also finish off a post on iOS26 and the new hardware from Apple. This years Ryder Cup has been epic. Europe smashed the first two days but fair play to the USA for responding to make the final day a total butt clencher.

Lingering manflu has hung around all week. Still convinced it was covid as I felt so lousy last weekend...similar to last years covid. The test was negative although maybe post a couple of confirmed covid bouts I'm handling infections differently now. I could well do with the irritating cough cough to piss off. The death of Charlie Kirk was tragic. I'd seen the close up video on social media ahead of his death being confirmed, but it was pretty obvious from the video he wouldn't survive.

Feeling miserable thanks to a cough/cold/flu. Running since Wednesday I’ve suffered a snot explosion over the weekend with aches and pains all over. WFH for next couple of days I suspect to get through the worst. Apple event next week. Most hardware seems leaked already unlike the Jobs era when there were always surprises. What I’d want more of from Apple is to make better use of the health data it captures.

Back to work last week and as ever a holiday leads to a massive backlog of mails and tasks and one from which I never really catch back up on during the first week. For the last few years I've set myself a yearly walking target of 2000km. Usually I hit that in late October/November so with time to spare. This year I passed 2000km on August 27th, so if I keep that rate up it will be 3000km.

Thankfully got the upcoming week off...in fact this was day 1! Lots to do but it's nice to focus elsewhere fora change. Today was all about the NAS build. Mostly there as all cabling done although it ain't tidy...yet. Will finish tomorrow morning and hopefully it boots first time. Then it's onto Unraid, config and the start of the migration from the Synology.

There's a relentlessness to work at the moment. Every couple of days feels like. another management pack is required to update yet another group of people with vaguely similar information. Thankfully, a week off to recharge from this coming Friday. Will also be NAS build time - took delivery of fans, cables and a quite beautiful CPU cooler today. A 3d print is required and then I can get cabling.

August already, darker nights starting to be noticed and we've a named storm coming tomorrow - it's still summer FFS. Can't wait for a week off starting Aug 15th. I've got most of the parts for my self built NAS - some fans, cables and CPU cooler to sort and then can get it going...and wrack up the electricity bill!

I blame the weather for skipping last week. Far too hot, sore heads and a massive case of couldn't be arsedness + a wee bit too busy at work meant I passed again. Need to not let that become a habit. I do have most of the NAS bits purchased. Some fans, cables and a heat sink and then I can start the build.

Time got away from me last week. So much going on at work and just didn’t have the time to do even a quick post. This bit of graffiti at the River Kelvin in Glasgow seemed pretty apt when I stumbled on it. James Harding is an Airbus pilot but also posts an amazing amount of data and visualisations on his flights…

So hot this week but it broke today with some heavy rain. Dark nights are also on their way in - winter is coming. Craig Federighi Opens Up About iPadOS, Its Multitasking Journey, and the iPad’s Essence - Great interview of Hair Force One from WWDC by Federico Viticci. Get’s into a lot of detail on the iPad and I loved this quote from Federighi - “I think we’ve been on a journey of finding the right interface for iPad, along with our users.

Deep in financial planning in work at the moment. Tough decisions ahead but has to be done. Also need to free up more time for work/strategy and less on meetings and workshops which are all consuming. I Convinced HP's Board to Buy Palm for $1.2B. Then I Watched Them Kill It in 49 Days - insight into one of the most bizarre pivots that I can remember.

Packed week, too many back to back meetings and too little thinking time. Also full of admiration for our comms team as in the last 3 weeks we’ve had the future King and Queen and the current PM visit Glasgow. Milestone events. WWDC tomorrow. Usually look forward to it but not so much this year. Apple Intelligence has failed, Apple fighting to protect their App Store control and $$$ and considering it’s a developer conference they’ve got a tough audience.

So I picked up a Nintendo Switch 2 on launch day and I've been delving into Mario Kart World plus a couple of other games since Thursday. Here's a few early thoughts. Hardware The Switch 2 is much bigger than the original, but feels very familiar, like it swallowed a mushroom. That bigger size feels natural pretty quick and the joy cons are more comfortable for my hands now, although the right thumbstick still feels awkward to reach.

Full on week at work, diverse and challenging. Week ahead has some major events too which is always fun...if they go well...which I'm sure they will. We’re also in June so its mid year check in time. I mentioned Zen and CityFibre outage last week. Well, turns out it’s not Zen or CityFibre but my internal network. Bugger. Let myself down not investigating properly and assuming it wasn’t me.

Milestone at work as HMS Glasgow was officially named. Lots of work to get to this point and lots of pressure on the comms team to get this event right. Well done all. Week one with Zen has been fantastic although tonight - not so good. Outage for last hour with large pings and horrendous speeds. Zen or Cityfibre issue?

There’s a few things that aren’t really clicking at work. Probably a sign that the team overall are juggling too much and not focussing on the must do’s with the results that some plates are dropping. I need to carve out more think and do time and less back to back meetings. The last week has felt like the height of summer.

Shorter work week thanks to May bank holiday but the tasks are never ending at the moment. A real positive was a visit from colleagues to understand more of our business and what we do. Apple Turnover - one of my favourite pastries but this is about one of my favourite tech companies. Many have called for Apple to change direction, this one from John Siracusa nails some of my feelings about the Apple of today.

I despair at the state of politics in the UK. Seeing Reform and Farage being so successful in the last week and being given no real challenge from much of the media is a kick in the balls. What is clear is the two party system in the UK is finished. With it should also go first past the post. Labour also need to wake up.