If you’d asked me some time ago which was the best smart watch bar none – I’d have said the Samsung Gear 2 – because (despite its benefits) I never really thought the Gear 3 was quite worth the extra. Then along came the new(ish) Samsung Galaxy watch – even…
Category: General
Node Red Dashboard Template Buttons Big Update
Given a Node-Red flow – just an empty one for testing if you like…… add these two template nodes – the first is some CSS and JS which you can use for any buttons on the page – the second depicts test buttons without and with images. Sizes and colours…
ZemiSmart vs Sonoff
Many moons ago, Itead sent me one of their T1UK wall switches. As it had a neutral connection, I put it to one side as our wiring like many other UK homes does not bring neutral to thewall switch. Today the Sonof T4EU1C was brought to my attention as a…
Blog Improvements
In csae anyone has noticed the blog slowing down recently I’ve been hammering away at my blog service provider who advised me to get WP-OPTIMISE – and I’m now using a licenced version of that on the site. There are countless images in here so you can imagine that any…
November Quickie – Stress – TDM and ESP-GO
A few simples notes on probably my pet project and also some work that Antonio and I have been doing recently including a quick stress test for the Pi4, for those concerned about heat… remember I wrote about a combined heatsink/case? With this: sudo apt-get install stresswhile true; do vcgencmd…
Gorilla Heavy Duty Mounting Tape AND MORE
No, this is not an ad, nothing of the kind, nor do I know ANYONE at Gorilla nor their distributors – though I SHOULD. For many years and like, no doubt, many of my subscribers, I’ve been struggling with mounting USB hubs, cameras and mains extensions on walls and shelves…
WiFi GPS Dual Lens Car DVR Camera
To give it the full title – I just received this little number… and rather than the usual pretty stock photos here are some REAL photos to start the ball rolling. Out of the box I fitted an 8GB microSD card I had lying around (as you do)… and plugged…
Solar Wireless Car TPMS Monitor
This device – advertised as a has turned out to be wonderful. See the photo of the device sitting on my car dash (2 brackets and an adhesive pad supplied – I used the latter) which also comes complete with manual and 4 tire sensors with a claimed battery life…
ACEPC T9 Box Minus Windows
Way back in February 2019, I reviewed the little Z8350-based, Windows-based AcePC T9 Box from Banggood though they don’t seem to have that right now as my old link is dead (I think Gearbest have killed it off too). As it turns out, this inexpensive mini-computer wasn’t that good with…
Xanes X1 Waterproof Smart Band
The X1 is a low-cost bracelet but easy to use, could be a winner. Here’s the full title – . Banggood sent this to me along with a Heija B1800 which I’m struggling with (“location fail” is all I could get out of the app for the latter which also…
Node Red 1.0.2 is OUT
Not only is there a new release of Node-Red i.e. 1.0.2 – I also noted there is some new video material to go with it. Congratulations to Nick O’Leary, Dave Conway Jones and others. If you’re interested, I suggest a look here… Much more later when I figure out how…
Huawei Honor 5 Smart Band
Here we have the Huawei – as you may know I’ve had dozens of these Smart bracelets and watches in the last couple of years – and my favourite up to now remains the , however a friend of ours started me off on the Huawei bands and Maureen likes…
A9 Mini WIFI HD 1080P Wireless IP Camera
Update April 2020: the APP for this camera is no longer available on the Android Playstore and the QR Code takes you to a dead website – another nail in the coffin for cloud-based cameras? I don’t think the camera is ONVIF compatible, the picture quality is variable and it…
ijoou Smart Moxibustion Device
The ijoou-B02 is a USB-powered (5v-1amp) pearly white “Smart Moxibustion Device” made in China by Shenzen Baichuanai Technology – here’s their website… In short, two round heating units on which you fix replaceable adhesive pads (moxa patches) so you can stick the two units on your arms, back etc at…
A Blitzwolf Week including the SS1
Not a company I’ve ever associated with home control, Blitzwolf do some decent battery packs – but now they have a neat little IOT mains relay controller of their own. not to mention their own mains relay control board just like Sonoff (well, not really). So, first off the bat,…
Besiter 20,000maH Power Pack
This on’e a little more beefy than previous power packs I’ve recently looked at (I did sayI had a backlog). The is a solid-looking and only JUST pocket-sized battery pack able to handle type-C, micro-usb and full USB-S connections as well as being a Quick-Charge compatible battery pack. The highest…
A95X Android 9 TV Box
Ok, that’s done. I am more grateful than you might imagine for a speedy delivery from China – Banggood sent me the latest A95X TV box which is around £37 inc post right now. But perhaps the main reason I’m grateful is we just arrived back in the UK from…
Uninterruptible Power Field Day
I’ve been messing with uninterruptible power supply issues for years and with Raspberry Pi and similar needing (only at leak of course) 3A 5v power, I’ve looked at various alternatives. Here’s a thought for motorists who are IOT enthusiasts as well.. I just solved the issue of ninterruptible power for…
Bakeey Glass for Pocophone F1
IMHO the most important thing next to having a sparkly SmartPhone is to have sparkly screen protectors to keep the phone looking new. If you follow the blog you’ll know I’m particularly proud of my Pocophone F1 and want to keep it in the best possible condition. To that end…
Rechargeable Desk Cooling Fan with Light
To give this lovely fan its proper title… Or: I love it: “Little Sunny Baldness Fan”. And here’s the fan itself… Smashing job, 3 speeds and a white light inside. Lowest speed almost silent, overall quiet and it has no visible blades, just like an obscenely expensive Dyson. The device…