Neil Thompson
@spokenlikeageek.com
Technology blog of Neil Thompson, developer of php2Bluesky.
Blog: https://spokenlikeageek.com
Github: https://github.com/williamsdb
Blog: https://spokenlikeageek.com
Github: https://github.com/williamsdb
I’ve written a lot of code this year and the vast majority of it I did without too much help. However, I did turn to AI (mostly ChatGPT) when I needed either a specific function written or some help with a particular issue. What I hadn’t done was use …
Vibe Coding a WordPress Plugin
I’ve written a lot of code this year and the vast majority of it I did without too much help. However, I did turn to AI (mostly ChatGPT) when I needed either a specific function written or so…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:00 PM
I’ve written a lot of code this year and the vast majority of it I did without too much help. However, I did turn to AI (mostly ChatGPT) when I needed either a specific function written or some help with a particular issue. What I hadn’t done was use …
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 …
Transfering a Smart Card to Apple Wallet
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, …
www.spokenlikeageek.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:00 PM
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 …
I wrote a plugin for our local U3A group, but I didn’t want to add it to the official WordPress.org repository as it had no relevance to the general WordPress user base. However, I still wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to install and up…
Automatic WordPress Plugin Updates
I wrote a plugin for our local U3A group, but I didn’t want to add it to the official WordPress.org repository as it had no relevance to the general WordPress user base. However, I still want…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:00 PM
I wrote a plugin for our local U3A group, but I didn’t want to add it to the official WordPress.org repository as it had no relevance to the general WordPress user base. However, I still wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to install and up…
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 …
Apple Pencil vs Metapen Pencil A8
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…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
December 13, 2025 at 5:00 PM
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 …
This is the project that I expected to do for my November 12 Apps in 12 Months challenge but, as you will see, that wasn’t actually possible. Don’t rely on someone else’s API I had two projects in mind for Day One: sync my WordPress blog posts and m…
Exporting Foursquare check-ins to Day One
This is the project that I expected to do for my November 12 Apps in 12 Months challenge but, as you will see, that wasn’t actually possible. Don’t rely on someone else’s API I had two …
www.spokenlikeageek.com
December 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM
This is the project that I expected to do for my November 12 Apps in 12 Months challenge but, as you will see, that wasn’t actually possible. Don’t rely on someone else’s API I had two projects in mind for Day One: sync my WordPress blog posts and m…
Sometimes there are simple solutions to life’s little problems. I had a need to get the thumbnail image associated with a YouTube video. I spent ages mucking around in the browser code inspector trying to work out how I could achieve this without much s…
Grabbing YouTube’s Thumbnail Image
Sometimes there are simple solutions to life’s little problems. I had a need to get the thumbnail image associated with a YouTube video. I spent ages mucking around in the browser code inspec…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Sometimes there are simple solutions to life’s little problems. I had a need to get the thumbnail image associated with a YouTube video. I spent ages mucking around in the browser code inspector trying to work out how I could achieve this without much s…
For this month’s “12 Apps in 12 Months” challenge I decided that I wanted to try and import my WordPress posts into the Day One app. Given that Day One is now owned by Automattic who also “own” WordPress I was surprised that something like this …
Exporting WordPress Posts to Day One
For this month’s “12 Apps in 12 Months” challenge I decided that I wanted to try and import my WordPress posts into the Day One app. Given that Day One is now owned by Automattic …
www.spokenlikeageek.com
November 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM
For this month’s “12 Apps in 12 Months” challenge I decided that I wanted to try and import my WordPress posts into the Day One app. Given that Day One is now owned by Automattic who also “own” WordPress I was surprised that something like this …
Over the last year I have been reevaluating how and were I store the data for my projects. Traditionally I have added a new database in MySQL for each but I thought that was a bit overkill for some of the smaller, single user, projects that I was working …
Storing Data in a PHP Project
Over the last year I have been reevaluating how and were I store the data for my projects. Traditionally I have added a new database in MySQL for each but I thought that was a bit overkill for some…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
October 15, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Over the last year I have been reevaluating how and were I store the data for my projects. Traditionally I have added a new database in MySQL for each but I thought that was a bit overkill for some of the smaller, single user, projects that I was working …
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 …
Payment Security, Greek Style
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…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
October 8, 2025 at 11:00 AM
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 …
Yesterday I wrote about my latest project — bookshelf. Today, I am going to show you how to use it. This post assumes that you have already downloaded the code and got it up-and-running. Views bookshelf has a number of different views to satisfy the dif…
Using bookshelf – a reading list manager
Yesterday I wrote about my latest project — bookshelf. Today, I am going to show you how to use it. This post assumes that you have already downloaded the code and got it up-and-running. Table of C…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
October 2, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Yesterday I wrote about my latest project — bookshelf. Today, I am going to show you how to use it. This post assumes that you have already downloaded the code and got it up-and-running. Views bookshelf has a number of different views to satisfy the dif…
As I have stated previously, I read more than the UK average (40% of Britons haven’t read or listened to anything in the last 12 months), but I get books faster than I can read them. This means that I have a backlog of books waiting to be read. I wanted…
bookshelf – a reading list manager
As I have stated previously, I read more than the UK average (40% of Britons haven’t read or listened to anything in the last 12 months), but I get books faster than I can read them. This mea…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
October 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM
As I have stated previously, I read more than the UK average (40% of Britons haven’t read or listened to anything in the last 12 months), but I get books faster than I can read them. This means that I have a backlog of books waiting to be read. I wanted…
If you use SSH regularly, you’ve probably seen this: you’re happily connected to a remote server, then you close your laptop or lose your network connection. When you open it again, your terminal looks stuck. You press keys, nothing happens, and event…
Escaping a Frozen SSH Session
If you use SSH regularly, you’ve probably seen this: you’re happily connected to a remote server, then you close your laptop or lose your network connection. When you open it again, your terminal l…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
September 19, 2025 at 7:00 PM
If you use SSH regularly, you’ve probably seen this: you’re happily connected to a remote server, then you close your laptop or lose your network connection. When you open it again, your terminal looks stuck. You press keys, nothing happens, and event…
As I have stated in previous posts I am currently trying to get my head around Home Assistant and Dashboards in particular. I am slowly working up to having a dashboard display on an old Android tablet. I decided that I’d like a project that could show …
Home Assistant – Bus Stop Times
As I have stated in previous posts I am currently trying to get my head around Home Assistant and Dashboards in particular. I am slowly working up to having a dashboard display on an old Android ta…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
September 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM
As I have stated in previous posts I am currently trying to get my head around Home Assistant and Dashboards in particular. I am slowly working up to having a dashboard display on an old Android tablet. I decided that I’d like a project that could show …
I said in a previous post that I had been getting into Home Assistant/automation and you should expect more posts – and here is the first! Baby Steps My introduction to home automation was, like many others I suspect, via the IKEA TRÅDFRI range of blub…
Not all Zigbees are created equal
I said in a previous post that I had been getting into Home Assistant/automation and you should expect more posts – and here is the first! Baby Steps My introduction to home automation was, l…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
August 15, 2025 at 8:00 AM
I said in a previous post that I had been getting into Home Assistant/automation and you should expect more posts – and here is the first! Baby Steps My introduction to home automation was, like many others I suspect, via the IKEA TRÅDFRI range of blub…
As I continue my 12 apps in 12 months journey this month’s is, by my own admission, a low effort submission! That’s not to say it isn’t useful, it is to me at least, but let’s just say it’s not going to win any programming awards. What is Discog…
Discogs Collection Clean-up
As I continue my 12 apps in 12 months journey this month’s is, by my own admission, a low effort submission! That’s not to say it isn’t useful, it is to me at least, but let’…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
August 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM
As I continue my 12 apps in 12 months journey this month’s is, by my own admission, a low effort submission! That’s not to say it isn’t useful, it is to me at least, but let’s just say it’s not going to win any programming awards. What is Discog…
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 familia…
What’s the Difference Between Matter and Thread?
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 a…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
July 27, 2025 at 2:00 PM
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 familia…
On long car journeys one of the favourite games for my grandaughter to play is something she calls “family remembers”. What she wants is for us to tell her interesting stories from our family past and mainly from our son, her father, and her uncle. Th…
Evernote Family Remembers
On long car journeys one of the favourite games for my grandaughter to play is something she calls “family remembers”. What she wants is for us to tell her interesting stories from our …
www.spokenlikeageek.com
July 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM
On long car journeys one of the favourite games for my grandaughter to play is something she calls “family remembers”. What she wants is for us to tell her interesting stories from our family past and mainly from our son, her father, and her uncle. Th…
Someone mentioned to me that you can add labels to posts in Bluesky and I have to admit that I had not idea what they were referring to. Looking at them I can understand why I’d not come across them – I’d not had any need for them but what are label…
Adding labels to media with php2Bluesky
Someone mentioned to me that you can add labels to posts in Bluesky and I have to admit that I had not idea what they were referring to. Looking at them I can understand why I’d not come acro…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
June 28, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Someone mentioned to me that you can add labels to posts in Bluesky and I have to admit that I had not idea what they were referring to. Looking at them I can understand why I’d not come across them – I’d not had any need for them but what are label…
If you contact customer support, literally any customer support, with any technical issue, depending on your device, you are likely to be met with one of the following responses: In their defence, those in customer support would say that this solves 90% o…
Customer Support BS
If you contact customer support, literally any customer support, with any technical issue, depending on your device, you are likely to be met with one of the following responses: Turn it off and on…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
June 18, 2025 at 10:00 AM
If you contact customer support, literally any customer support, with any technical issue, depending on your device, you are likely to be met with one of the following responses: In their defence, those in customer support would say that this solves 90% o…
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,…
Nanobag
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…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
June 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM
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,…
On a recent trip to Keukenhof, the Netherlands, I was struck by the crowd gathered around a windowed box. I had sort of assumed that it contained some rare plant, given where we were, but in fact, it was Ella, the Robot Barista. Ella is, apparently, able …
Ella, The Robot Barista
On a recent trip to Keukenhof, the Netherlands, I was struck by the crowd gathered around a windowed box. I had sort of assumed that it contained some rare plant, given where we were, but in fact, …
www.spokenlikeageek.com
June 4, 2025 at 10:00 AM
On a recent trip to Keukenhof, the Netherlands, I was struck by the crowd gathered around a windowed box. I had sort of assumed that it contained some rare plant, given where we were, but in fact, it was Ella, the Robot Barista. Ella is, apparently, able …
In the UK, the average adult reads approximately three books per year, according to a recent poll by YouGov. However, 40% of Britons haven’t read a single book in the last 12 months. That I have read on average 19 books a year puts me very much in the u…
bookISBN2Task
In the UK, the average adult reads approximately three books per year, according to a recent poll by YouGov. However, 40% of Britons haven’t read a single book in the last 12 months. That I have re…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
June 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM
In the UK, the average adult reads approximately three books per year, according to a recent poll by YouGov. However, 40% of Britons haven’t read a single book in the last 12 months. That I have read on average 19 books a year puts me very much in the u…
Well, that’s a surprise. Meta has (finally) released a version of their popular messaging app WhatsApp for the iPad. It has only taken then some 15 years to do so but I for one am glad that they have as using it in a web browser wasn’t a great experie…
WhatsApp for iPad
Well, that’s a surprise. Meta has (finally) released a version of their popular messaging app WhatsApp for the iPad. It has only taken then some 15 years to do so but I for one am glad that t…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
May 28, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Well, that’s a surprise. Meta has (finally) released a version of their popular messaging app WhatsApp for the iPad. It has only taken then some 15 years to do so but I for one am glad that they have as using it in a web browser wasn’t a great experie…
I wrote recently about my disappointment regarding the credit card-sized tripod, the CardPOD, which was portable but unstable, not what you want in a tripod. Undeterred, I searched for a more suitable replacement and stumbled upon the Ulanzi MA30. I was a…
Ulanzi MA30 Carabiner-Mounted Phone Tripod
I wrote recently about my disappointment regarding the credit card-sized tripod, the CardPOD, which was portable but unstable, not what you want in a tripod. Undeterred, I searched for a more suita…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
May 21, 2025 at 11:00 AM
I wrote recently about my disappointment regarding the credit card-sized tripod, the CardPOD, which was portable but unstable, not what you want in a tripod. Undeterred, I searched for a more suitable replacement and stumbled upon the Ulanzi MA30. I was a…
Back at the beginning of April I released Evernote Rules, a play on Outlook Rules, where you can define actions that are carried out when a note is created or updated in an Evernote notebook. I have wanted this for almost as long as I have had Evernote an…
Evernote Rules – an update
Back at the beginning of April I released Evernote Rules, a play on Outlook Rules, where you can define actions that are carried out when a note is created or updated in an Evernote notebook. I hav…
www.spokenlikeageek.com
May 15, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Back at the beginning of April I released Evernote Rules, a play on Outlook Rules, where you can define actions that are carried out when a note is created or updated in an Evernote notebook. I have wanted this for almost as long as I have had Evernote an…