Unfortunately my time with the Minimal Phone is over. Sold it today, hopefully the new owner gets some good times with it. So close to greatness. I might miss this one day like I do my Surface Duo 2, but I’m not one to have phones hanging around not being used. #Technology #MinimalPhone #Dumbphone
I’m so overwhelmed by a few tiny, insignificant things in the grand scheme of life. It’s incredibly frustrating and annoying. Think I need an outlet.
New (physical) album day: Tom Misch - Full Circle I’m a big fan of Tom and have bought a few of his albums digitally before, including this one. However, I’m into building my CD collection of my favourite stuff to listen to at home.
“You don’t need that” This is the thought that has come into my mind over the years whenever I look at personal audio gear. For almost 10 years I’ve had the Zero Audio Carbo Tenore IEMs, and the Shanling M0 Digital Audio Player (DAP) for about 8 years. I know I have a bad habit of consumerism at times, with a tendency to want to play with new and shiny gadgets. I also have…
3 months later . I’m still enjoying a simple wrist watch and not looking to go back to a smartwatch.
Overstimulated. My mind is racing again and anxiety kicking in. My own worst enemy as I give into bad habits, simply making it worse. Trying to disconnect by writing this post by hand. Every unexpected noise is like a needle in my brain. It’s working though; the writing of this post that is. Well until one of the dogs just started whining, driving me mad again. Let her outside to go to the…
The Big Importance of Small Things #Photography #Technology #eReader #Xteink
It’s been a little bit since I’ve posted with regular consistency. While that’s not a bad thing, I felt like writing down a few thoughts and things in my life as of late. Work life One of the bigger reasons for the lack of posts has been an increased focus on work. Specifically, taking on a new role temporarily. While I won’t give too many specifics on who or what; pushing…
Yesterday, our son hit a milestone 11 years in the making achieving a black belt grade in karate. The happiest thing about it for me wasn’t the achievement however; despite how proud I am of that. Throughout the years we have been blessed to develop a community of friends around the club, and our kids growing and developing their craft. We’ve seen their ups and downs, seen them grow…
For context, the last time I seriously configured and ran a Linux desktop OS for a significant amount of time was probably 2001. This Chuwi Minibook X I bought a little bit ago to use as a work machine with Windows 11. However, that experience was so poor I ended up using my Macbook anyway. So instead of just having this little device stay unused, I figured it would be a good opportunity to get…
New CD day. I’ve only heard a couple of Olivia Dean’s songs on the radio, but it was enough to buy the album. 100% worth it. #Music #CD #Album #AlbumOfTheDay #OliviaDean
As per a prior post , I’ve been testing out the RUIO Joy 4G Android-based keypad phone as a distraction free phone. It’s been great, I can’t fault the phone itself in terms of what it is intended to do. However, in this journey one thing has remained a constant; I don’t want to juggle two seperate phones. I’ve noticed this a bit in the digital minimalism/intentional…
I’m reading a book at the moment and this line hit me harder than I would like to admit. I’ve been searching and seeking things a lot recently. Trying to find a way out of the rut I"m in both professionally and personally. However I know I’m spending too much time looking inwards instead of reaching out. Too much introspection when I’m just hitting the same internal…
Moving to a dumbphone (or at least trying to live with one) means I’m finally investing in some hardware USB security keys. I originally bought the SecuX, which I like. However, a client I work for only supports Yubikey so I got one delivered today.
Trying to avoid buying yet more gaming handhelds by dusting off some existing ones. Really loving playing Yoshi’s Island on the little TRIMUI Smart device, The Vita I’ve had for a while, but stopped using it when I got an OLED model. However that one now has screen burn in near the charging port, which occasionally happens with these models. So, charged up and resetting up the LCD Slim…
Already a year. Rest well Dad. #Life #Family
Sun shines then sun fades. This morning I tried to make the most of the sunshine as the next week is scheduled to be cloudy and wet, as we head towards our winter. But this isn’t the change I’m thinking about today. I normally relish in this time of year. For as long as I remember, I’ve preferred cooler weather over the Australian summer heat. As an Aussie, this is borderline…
Tl;dr - so far I’m pretty happy with the device, but you have to set expectations around a $99AUD phone with an old Android OS on it. Pros Surprisingly decent build for the price, with a good quality touch screen Australian carrier support (this seems like a weird thing to list, but we are limited for compatible dumbphone options here) Clean Android build without Google services and minimal…
Sigh. Actual attempt at being less on my phone or just another way to justify yet another gadget? Time will tell I guess. #Dumbphone #Smartphone #Keypad #Android
For those who aren’t aware, Terry Godier launched Sourcefeed recently. The idea is intriguing; an RSS feed for sharing your writing that just exists in RSS. No website or newsletter. I’ve been playing around with it through a Fragments feed, just posting random thoughts and ideas throughout my day. It’s been quite freeing compared to writing here where it lives among a bunch of…
AI is going to change everything about the workplace; adopt now or be left behind . That’s the rhetoric the CEOs of AI companies are pushing; likely to attract more funding while they figure out a profitable business model. Any AI discussion on LinkedIn is saturated with this viewpoint; with anyone demonstrating a modicum of hesitancy around AI considered a luddite. Most importantly to…
andrewmelder.com/2026/04/1… This is coming to bite me again. Car is having a couple of issues the night before we head on a mini-break. We can manage it, but now I’m going to spend the time ruminating about the f^$^ing car instead of relaxing 🤬
It occurs to me that many organisations have screwed the pooch by not doing proper Organisational Change Management over the years; resulting in a lack of value and missed outcomes for initiatives. Now, consider this in relation to the current state and reaction to AI. Regardless on how you feel about it (I’m pretty heavily on the sceptical side of the value provided vs investment costs), it…
How I react to things and events is all out of sync. I’ve noticed this for a while but it’s really come into clarity over the past half decade or so; and it’s a combination of my natural state and influences from my professional life. I ruminate, a lot. A lot more than I should ruminate about things. It leads to paralysis of action, a constant low level anxiety that drains my…
This started as a comment on Lee Peterson’s post on ‘Giving up on the smart phone’ ; but morphed into a bit of a long post on its own. So I thought I’d post it here instead. Despite the work I’ve done over the years to manage and maintain a healthy relationship with my phone; I still am prone to overwhelm and periods of time lost to the scroll. For most of this year,…