As you should know – I love to drink “real” loose leaf tea.
If I was doing this properly I would be consistently using a timer to know when my tea is perfectly brewed. Never one to go for a “standard” item, I found this:
Rather than sand falling down through the hourglass the little beads float upwards – it’s quite mesmerising to watch.
I got it from my local tea shop Pekoetea.
I have previously tried wearing a pocket square but, being a bit of a perfectionist, I was never happy that it would sit “just right” all day long – especially when I take my jacket on and off throughout the day.
Then I stumbled upon this pocket square holder on Amazon. It works a treat, you fold your square to the pattern you want, put it in the holder then put the holder in your pocket. The clasp is a bit tight, this may loosen off over time but better to be too tight than too loose.
Another photography related gadget. Historically I used only my Nikon DSLR an in all the years I used it I never lost a lens cap.
Since switching to the Olympus Pen-F I have lost three lens caps in 6 months. Rather than continually buy new lens caps I went for a lens cap keeper. It detracts a bit from the looks of the camera, and I’m not keen on having the cap swinging around but ……
Basically there is a circular disk that is permanently stuck on your lens cap and an elasticated loop that you can attach to something. I have it attached to the camera strap loop but I suppose you could put it around your wrist etc (if you remember).
Such a simple device – the Tile Tracker.
This is a small bluetooth tracker which you can attach to your keys/bag/camera/car etc. This is then paired with an app on your phone to use your GPS and record it’s location.
If you can’t find your tile, you fire up the app and make your tile make a noise. If you lose your phone, you can press the button on your tile to make your phone make a noise (even if it’s on silent).
What if you loose your item and tile further away – out of range of your phone? As soon as ANY tile user gets within range of your tile – it’s location will be recorded.
I have tried a variety of earplugs – I still use cheap foam ones for sleeping on occasion but they are not great for prolonged daily use.
I found these originally on a kickstarter site but these are now my go to earplugs for concerts, noisy environments or work.
My previous Fitbit, a charge HR developed a problem with the strap; it started to come apart. Rather than complain I thought it would be a great opportunity to upgrade to a Charge 2.
After several months, the strap on this has started to peel apart. [insert photos here]. Fitbit support were fantastic and sent out a replacement strap which arrived in two days.
However, in researching this it seems that this is a fairly common problem and most people recommend getting s third party watch strap.
I decided to go for this strap.
It is similar to the strap I use on my favourite watch, but more importantly I think that it completely changes the look of the tracker.
The best thing? The strap cost £12 from Amazon and came the next day.
Previously I was using a Timbuk2 Messenger – which was HUGE! The main problem was I would always try and fill it! I decided to downsize. I may have gone too small but this is what I’m using at the moment: an Olympus Mini Messenger bag.
As I said this is really close to the minimum I can get away with carrying.
The bag is working great for me at the moment – my only reservations are: you really need to make sure the clasp is closed (could be just because I have it FULL) and I have no space for an umbrella.
Nothing groundbreaking here but new to me.
I knew about is technology but I had never seen it in the one package before.
Plugging an SD card into a USB dongle and shoving it into your computer is hardly an innovation. Your phone also has a USB port in it but it needs to be an “On The Go” or OTG device in order for your phone to recognise it.
I have just found this:
This allows me to grab the SD card from my camera, use this, transfer the images to my phone (yes I do prefer to use a real camera rather than a camera phone) and then process and upload them to where they need to be.
This little beauty (when I purchased it from Amazon) was only £6.99.
