Writing
Practical guides for everyday tasks, and engineering notes on building the apps behind them.
All posts
- 24 October 2026 · 5 minFootball or Basketball Career Sim: Which Quest Should You Start?Compare Football Career Quest and Hoop Quest by career story, match pace and the decisions you enjoy, with a practical first-save checklist.
- 22 October 2026 · 5 minOrganise Birthday Reminders Without Duplicate Entries or AlertsUntangle birthdays in Contacts, Calendar and reminder apps, choose which app alerts you, and build a simple gift-planning routine.
- 21 October 2026 · 6 minWhen an Automated Coding Run Should Make No ChangesDesign scheduled coding agents with useful no-op outcomes, bounded candidate lists, explicit scope, and evidence that distinguishes restraint from failure.
- 20 October 2026 · 5 minYour First Offline AI Image Model Download on iPhoneCheck storage, model support and licences, then run a small offline image experiment before downloading more models to your iPhone.
- 17 October 2026 · 5 minCompress an iPhone Video Without Losing the Part That MattersChoose a useful video size for sharing, compare a compressed copy with the original, and check playback before sending from your iPhone.
- 15 October 2026 · 7 minHow to Set an Anniversary Reminder on iPhoneSet a yearly anniversary reminder on iPhone with Apple Reminders or Calendar, add an early alert, and choose when a dedicated tracker is useful.
- 14 October 2026 · 7 minChoose Coding Models by Cost per Verified TaskCompare coding models using accepted results, retries, verification, review time, and coverage instead of token prices alone.
- 13 October 2026 · 6 minFootball Career Quest Transfers: Contracts, Roles and Agent RequestsLearn how transfer offers, squad roles, agent requests and mandatory moves work in Football Career Quest, including what to compare before moving clubs.
- 12 October 2026 · 4 minDo Agent Skills Help? What Peer-Reviewed Research ShowsReviewed research on agent skills: measured Claude Code gains, failed transfer, generation limits and skill-file attacks, with sources and study boundaries.
- 11 October 2026 · 4 minCLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md: What Peer-Reviewed Studies Actually FoundPeer-reviewed evidence on coding-agent instruction files: measured task success and cost, common authoring patterns, and what remains unproven.
- 10 October 2026 · 6 minFootball Career Quest Beginner Guide: Position, Training and Match FitnessStart a stronger Football Career Quest save by choosing the right role for you, spending XP deliberately, managing match fitness, and reading match decisions.
- 9 October 2026 · 6 minHow to Use a Lye Calculator: Superfat, Water and SAP ValuesUse a soap lye calculator step by step: choose NaOH or KOH, enter oils and purity, understand superfat and water settings, then check the result safely.
- 8 October 2026 · 6 minWhen to Fork a Coding Agent—and When to Start FreshChoose between inherited conversation context and a fresh worker using a practical profile for task scope, evidence, tools, and permissions.
- 6 October 2026 · 7 minHow to Lock an iPhone for a Toddler: Guided Access vs AppsLearn when to use Apple's Guided Access alone and when a toddler activity app adds a parent gate, session timer and calmer content.
- 3 October 2026 · 5 minPrime Minister Sim PMQs Guide: Evidence and VerdictsWin PMQs in Prime Minister Sim by choosing the right three dossiers, matching evidence to four questions, and protecting all four factions.
- 1 October 2026 · 5 minOllama Not Connecting from Your Phone? 6 ChecksFix an Ollama phone connection by checking the server address, OLLAMA_HOST, port 11434, firewall, path prefix, and proxy authentication.
- 30 September 2026 · 6 minHelp a Coding Agent Resume Without GuessingCreate a small task handoff that lets a coding agent recover the goal, source state, evidence, and next action after an interrupted session.
- 29 September 2026 · 8 minBaby Watching Videos on Your Phone? A Safer iPhone SetupCurrent AAP and Apple guidance for a safer, bounded iPhone session: choose the content, co-view, stop autoplay, and use Guided Access.
- 27 September 2026 · 5 minWhich Documents to Keep on Your Phone, and Which Never ToA copy of your passport is useful when it's lost. A photo of your bank card is a liability. How to decide which side of that line a document sits on.
- 26 September 2026 · 7 minPacking for a Group Without Three People Bringing the Same ThingA practical group-packing system: separate personal and shared items, record quantities, assign one owner, and confirm what is packed before departure.
- 25 September 2026 · 7 minLive Captions on iPhone for Everyday ConversationsTry Apple's built-in Live Captions first, understand their accuracy limits, and compare HearBee for private nearby-speech captions and saved history.
- 24 September 2026 · 7 minWhat to Check After You Stop a Coding AgentRecover after stopping a coding agent: inspect completed writes, handle unknown outcomes, check undo coverage, and decide when a retry is safe.
- 24 September 2026 · 7 minFootball Career Mode on iPhone: From Prospect to RetirementHow a player-focused football career mode works on iPhone: training, simulated match decisions, transfers, seasons, and the four-season free start.
- 24 September 2026 · 9 minJev, Open Source Experiments, and a Different Kind of AI DecisionA look at Jev's hosted decision API, open-source examples, and a hands-on local model demo in your browser.
- 24 September 2026 · 9 minWrite Tool Contracts That Prevent Avoidable RetriesDesign AI agent tool schemas with visible limits, useful errors, and server validation. A practical MCP and function-calling contract checklist.
- 24 September 2026 · 8 minHow to Verify the Exact Code Your Agent Will ShipConnect your coding agent's checks to the exact source, build artifact, and deployment target with a practical verification receipt.
- 22 September 2026 · 7 minBasketball Sim Games vs Arcade Basketball: Which Is for You?Compare arcade basketball, realistic on-court sims, and career simulators by controls, session length, progression, and play style.
- 22 September 2026 · 7 minCareer Mode Progression Loops: Why They Feel RewardingA research-grounded guide to career mode progression: competence, choice, feedback, long-term goals, and what Hoop Quest actually does.
- 15 September 2026 · 7 minHoop Quest Beginner's Guide: From Rookie to MVPA Hoop Quest starter strategy guide: build your player, make smart age-by-age choices, and grow from rookie to MVP legend.
- 12 September 2026 · 8 minToddler-Proof Your iPhone: 7 Settings Every Parent Should KnowToddler-proof your iPhone with 7 essential settings, from Guided Access to purchase locks, that stop little fingers from causing expensive chaos.
- 10 September 2026 · 6 minFishing by Moon Phase: A Practical GuideA practical fishing moon phase calendar guide: how new, full, and quarter moons affect the bite and how to plan trips around lunar cycles.
- 5 September 2026 · 8 minWedding Anniversary Milestones: Names, Meanings, and Gift Ideas by YearTraditional wedding anniversary names by year — paper, silver, gold and more — with meanings and gift ideas for each milestone.
- 3 September 2026 · 6 min50 Dates Worth Tracking: Beyond Birthdays and Anniversaries50 meaningful dates worth tracking beyond birthdays and anniversaries — first dates, adoption days, sobriety milestones, and more.
- 1 September 2026 · 8 minAnniversary Countdown Widget for iPhone: Setup GuidePut your anniversary countdown on your iPhone Home Screen or Lock Screen. Follow the setup steps, choose your date and fix a missing or incorrect widget.
- 1 September 2026 · 6 minBest Time of Day to Fish: Spring, Summer, Fall & WinterDawn, dusk or midday? Compare fishing hours by season, then adjust for water temperature, species and local conditions before planning your trip.
- 1 September 2026 · 5 minHow to Build Huge Agent Knowledge Bases Without Huge Context WindowsUse progressive disclosure, scoped Skills, and context measurements to give coding agents depth without loading every rule up front.
- 1 September 2026 · 4 minStop Putting Everything in CLAUDE.mdA practical guide to keeping CLAUDE.md small: put invariants in the root, move procedures into Skills, and keep context useful.
- 1 September 2026 · 5 minYour CLAUDE.md Needs Tests TooTreat CLAUDE.md, Skills, and agent policies as software: version them, test real tasks, and check robustness before rollout.
- 30 August 2026 · 5 minBest Small Ollama Models for a Home Mac in 2026A practical shortlist of small Ollama models for a home Mac, with current model tags, download sizes, honest memory caveats, and a repeatable way to choose.
- 30 August 2026 · 3 minHow Many Days Have We Been Together? Count It CorrectlyCalculate how many days you have been together, choose Day 0 or Day 1, and keep 100-day and yearly milestones from slipping past.
- 30 August 2026 · 3 minHow to Learn Phrasal Verbs Without Memorising a Giant ListUse frequency, retrieval, real examples, listening and spaced reviews to make common English phrasal verbs easier to recognise and recall.
- 30 August 2026 · 4 minA Prime Minister Simulator Where Every Decision Costs YouHow a political survival game turns Cabinet loyalty, public opinion, the press and Parliament into decisions where there is rarely a safe answer.
- 30 August 2026 · 4 minSign a PDF on Your iPhone Without a PrinterScan, sign and return a document from your phone — and why print-sign-scan was never adding the security people assume it did.
- 30 August 2026 · 5 minTonight's Moon Phase, and What It Actually Tells YouThe eight phases, why moonrise shifts by about 50 minutes a day, and how to use the phase to plan photography or a dark-sky night.
- 29 August 2026 · 8 minOllama on Your Local Network: OLLAMA_HOST Setup GuideConnect to Ollama from another device on your Wi-Fi. Set OLLAMA_HOST, check port 11434 and fix connection problems on Mac, Windows or Linux.
- 29 August 2026 · 7 minRun Ollama at Home and Chat from iPhone or AndroidInstall Ollama on a Mac or PC, connect your phone over home Wi-Fi, and keep its unauthenticated API off the public internet. Step-by-step setup and privacy limits.
- 18 August 2026 · 4 minWhy Our Apps Keep Your Data On Your DeviceMost of our apps have no servers, no accounts and no copy of your data. That's an engineering decision as much as a privacy one.
- 4 August 2026 · 4 minTaking a Passport Photo at Home: Rules and Common RejectionsSizes, background, expression and lighting for passport and visa photos — and the handful of mistakes that get them rejected.
- 28 July 2026 · 4 minHow We Maintain 53 iOS AppsFifty-three apps, one shared Swift package. How a small studio keeps a large catalogue alive without a large team.