iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Watching the Giro dell’Emilio 🚲 and remembering our brilliant trip to Bologna a few years ago Walking down the hill from the Basilica was hard enough, let alone riding up it 5 times

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 10h

My new passport has arrived, disappointing colour (and looks black to my eyes rather than blue)

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 02/10/2026

Android Play Store reviews getting slower and slower My latest Yeltzland update - which is a good one too - has been waiting for 6 days and counting, the last one took just as long Android reviews used to be very quick, but this is like the bad old days of Apple reviews ☹️

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 30/09/2026

Surprisingly nice evening in #Hexham (if you can avoid the midges 🪰)

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 28/09/2026

A scene from “The Last of Us” or around the back of old Robbs of Hexham?

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 26/09/2026

Needing fresh content to test the cross-posting app I’m working on So here’s a sleepy pie from yesterday 😴🥧

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 23/09/2026

Very bright moon on the way home tonight And despite my best efforts, I can see the weeds are back in abundance down the side of our house again #LifeFindsAWay

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 21/09/2026

Been back at work today after a lovely two week break, so nothing really of interest to say However I did want to test out posting from the updated #tapestryapp (my favourite social media app by far), so here goes …

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 20/09/2026

Been trialling having a herb garden in our front yard this summer Mixed results to be fair, as it’s been maybe too hot this (every?) summer, but against all expectations the chillis came out pretty well 🌶️🌶️🌶️

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 20/09/2026

Really happy with switching to the new Siri Modular face on my Apple Watch Having the Smart Stack as the main complication is very nice, especially as it seems to be doing a good job of surfacing relevant widgets most of the time

Screenshot of my Apple Watch using the new Siri Modular face

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 17/09/2026

Made some big improvements to my Pixagogo TV app - should be live in the next day or so Looks loads nicer now, and has much improved the logic for loading images when not locally cached (so improves the rotation of which pics are shown) More about the app here: bravelocation.com/pixagogo-…

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 16/09/2026

Staycation day in Newcastle today Coffee in One Up on Dean Street, then delicious Spicy Tofu Loaded Fries at Bao Down in Grainger Market Then finally got to see The Odyssey at The Gate, enjoyed it a lot despite the length

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 15/09/2026

Watching Forever Home on Channel 5, mainly because it was shot in Hexham a while back Just seen Denise Welch drive past the top of our road (and past Hilary walking home), which is SO exciting 🤣 www.imdb.com/title/tt39319550

imdb.com

www.imdb.com

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 15/09/2026

Started the long run through updating all my apps to support iOS/MacOS/tvOS 27 I’d put it off this year as not much exciting to add Mostly so far fixing new warnings the updated compiler has found, and potentially supporting the new massive widget size, but frankly a bit bored already 😴

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 14/09/2026

Went to Northumberlandia for the first time in about 15 years. Somehow kinda less impressive now the grass has grown Then had a delicious brunch at Gran Caffe Lollo in Morpeth, and a walk along the river on an unseasonably sunny day 😎

Hash Brown, Halloumi and Poachies on top

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 13/09/2026

Glorious weather for the #GreatNorthRun today We headed to the other side of the Tyne to Whitley Bay, and the lowest tide I’ve ever seen there Also coffee and cake at Dil & The Bear inside the #WhitleyBay Metro station

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 13/09/2026

Couldn’t agree more Built a pretty decent iOS app yesterday in a morning(!) with AI help for a very niche use case (so probably only of use to a few people/me) Would never even have started it without AI, as it wouldn’t have been worth days of effort for such a limited app

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 12/09/2026

No it really isn’t 😢 Not sure what I’m doing by extracting the data from X is completely allowed, but it’s always breaking as they change things It’s an endless battle to keep it working, so I wouldn’t be happy with anyone else depending on it I’m afraid

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 12/09/2026

So I’m working on an app (probably just for myself!) that makes it easy to share Mastodon posts on BlueSky and other places So if you are seeing this on BlueSky and it’s all gone badly wrong that’s the reason!

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 10/09/2026

Staycation Day 7 - mostly keeping out of the rain, but I did manage to haggle with Virgin Media to cut our broadband costs by £40 per month 🎉 Mostly due to BT finally rolling out full fibre in Hexham rather than because of my negotiating skills, but I’ll take the win

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 10/09/2026

If you are having trouble with the fixtures in the iOS Yeltzland app, try updating it in the App Store Had to fix some issues semi-related to the spam issues the website has been having recently I _think_ the Android version is fine (let me know if it isn't)

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 07/09/2026

Staycation day 4 (day 3 was a day of rest!) A brief trip to Edinburgh, and visiting a few Outlander filming locations on the way up (Midhope Castle aka Lallybroch and Blackness Castle aka Fort William) Then a rare chance to get some food via Uber Eats (don’t get such modern things in Hexham!)

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 05/09/2026

Staycation day 2 - early kickoff match day at SJP Looking out for Adrian today, who was dressed for all weathers! Mixed performance, just about deserved the draw despite an awful referee, and great to catch up with friends over a few beers in the toon after the game

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 04/09/2026

First day of our staycation, and a very blustery drive across the moors to the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle 💨💨💨 Went to the Vivienne Westwood exhibition to get some ideas for my winter wardrobe

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 31/08/2026

More Peter Rabbit spotting in Newcastle, this time in Ouseburn and along The Tyne Some spectacular skies today

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 25/08/2026

Beginner’s error made by me on LinkedIn Was trying to see if anyone I knew had Ruby on Rails experience and was looking for a few weeks work Now being spammed by all sorts of randoms despite me clearly saying I would only recommend people I know Forgot it’s not actually a network any more ☹️

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 23/08/2026

Wonderful atmosphere today, and a really promising performance too especially from the youngsters Gutted with that last minute pen though ☹️

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 23/08/2026

I’m in the East Stand, but mainly so I could sit near my friends who already have season tickets there Had a choice of loads of seats, as I guess something like 35K are taken (so had the the pick of many of the rest)

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 23/08/2026

Thanks! Honestly couldn’t believe it when the email came through (I was 241 in the list so just squeezed in)

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 23/08/2026

First Match Day of a new era (for me as well) I was one the unbelievably lucky 250 members (out of 50000 applicants) who won the season ticket ballot at Newcastle in the summer 🥳 Big game today as well against Liverpool 🤞⚫️⚪️ #nufc

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 23/08/2026

Some snaps from yesterday’s day trip to Dumfries

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 16/08/2026

Never seen the River Severn so low in Bewdley At least they’ve finally finished the flood defences! #Bewdley #Drought

People enjoying the summer on the banks of the Severn in Bewdley

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 15/08/2026

🎶 It’s got a Spoons and an Asda… 🎶 Planet Halesowen looking resplendent tonight

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 15/08/2026

Always enjoy being at Wetherby Services on match day seeing all the fans of different teams wearing their tops on their way to a game I’m on the way South to see the mighty Yeltz in their first home game of the season 🤞

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 08/08/2026

The leaves are already starting to fall off the trees in Tyne Green in Hexham The weather is less autumnal though!

Walking under the trees in Tyne Green in Hexham

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Reposted by John Pollard

Taylor Payne @taylorpayne.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I feel a mix of sad and grateful. Sad that Eddie couldn't find a way to keep going and turn things around and grateful that he said yes to the job and gave me 5 of the best #NUFC supporting years of my life and the trophy well all yearned for. Thank You Eddie, for everything 🖤🤍

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 25/07/2026

More Peter Rabbits from around the toon

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 19/07/2026

A glorious (if blustery) day for a walk down The Tyne from Tynemouth down to the North Shields Fish Quay and back

The path from Tynemouth down to North Shields Fish Quay

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 15/07/2026

Testing out how well the new Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 works in my Sideboard app in making summaries Not really sure if it’s just being funny - or is terrible - but I enjoyed the description of the game tonight

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 14/07/2026

Year of living dangerously - decided to risk putting the iOS 27 public beta on my phone Seems fine so far, Siri working so much better (no 3rd party app access yet though) Phone still very hot though as it’s doing all the re-indexing 📱🔥

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Reposted by John Pollard

Taylor Payne @taylorpayne.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

If there's ever an asteroid heading towards earth threatening to wipe out the human race I think we just send Dan Burn out to head the thing back past Jupiter...#NUFC

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 11/07/2026

So I made a new app It’s called “Quick Add” and self-styled “The fastest way to add reminders (maybe 😀)” I also wrote about why I built it bravelocation.com/Introducing-Quick…

bravelocation.com

Introducing Quick Add

The fastest way to add reminders (maybe 😀)

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 06/07/2026

Game for the ages that. So glad I got back up 🥱🛌⚽️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 04/07/2026

Well that’s not something that happens everyday! Getting favorited by John Siracusa on Mastodon Evidence here for the doubters: mastodon.social/@yeltzland/11686076…

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 04/07/2026

Yet another spurious App Store rejection. They didn’t like a button to grant access to reminders being called “Grant Access” as that doesn’t respect the users. Changed it to “Continue” Mac App has exactly the same text. That was accepted of course So tired of this nonsense #RejectedByAppReview

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 28/06/2026

Guard animal collection in our front yard coming on nicely

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 28/06/2026

Disappointing it didn't seem to recognise the URL as a link, so didn't add a rich web card on BlueSky (worked perfectly on Mastodon) Adding it here via the main BlueSky web client works ... talrik.com

talrik.com

Talrik — One Post. Two Networks.

Talrik — One post. Two networks. Zero hassle. Cross-post to Bluesky and Mastodon simultaneously from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

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John Pollard @bravelocation.com · 28/06/2026

Testing out cross-posting to Bluesky and Mastodon from Talrik Was pondering building something simple myself to do this, but hoping this will do the job 🤞 talrik.com

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