iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 22/01/2026

As a @pcpro.co.uk bonus, here's the image mentioned in the #podcast of our 'Hot Hardware' nominee being used to gently warm a cockapoo* *Warming cockapoos is risky business. PC Pro isn't liable if man's best friend starts living a dog's life by letting sleeping dogs lie on your warm desk.

A fluffy, black curly-haired dog sits on a large pink desk mat in the center of a computer workstation. The dog looks directly at the camera with its tongue slightly poking out. In front of the dog are a white keyboard and mouse. The background features a large curved monitor displaying a login screen over a photo of a traditional Japanese street. To the right of the monitor is a black microphone, and to the left is a white desk riser holding a calculator and pink heart-shaped notes. The entire setup is positioned against a vibrant pink wall.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 20/01/2026

My youngest glanced at my new socks (from communityclothing.co.uk) & said, “Why are they in Subway’s colours”. I replied, “because they’re a foot long!”. I thought that was quite good, but by the look of utter disdain on her face, I reckon my ‘World’s best Dad’ mug is about to be rescinded.

A pair of men’s white socks from https://communityclothing.co.uk

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 06/01/2026

Customer: Will you swap my PSU? Me: I'd be delighted, sir... Time passes. Thorin sits down and starts singing about gold. I get out my favourite screwdriver. Me: AAAARRRRGGHH!!! #Repair 😩

Rear of a PC Case, with the PSU removed, but attached. There is a clear nest of messy and tangled cables within.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 25/12/2025

Someone who knows I spend too much time talking about #AI & David #Bowie got me this. Sing along if you know it: 🎵There’s a Starman, waiting in th…ske…sky 🎶 #FFS

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 21/12/2025

Mrs G is prepping for tonight’s ’Nine Lessons & Carols’. Has just uttered: “Christ give us the joys of everlasting lice”. #HolyGoat

Rowan Atkinson as the Vicar in 4 Weddings & a Funeral.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 18/10/2025

Bomb shelter hatch done 💣 Only one plaster required due to an argument with a saw. I’ve been meaning to fix this for ages & International #RepairDay was the inspiration I needed. Today is the day to fix that squeaky hinge, blocked drain or anything else. Embrace repair & it will embrace you. 🛠️💚

World War 2 bombshelter, in a garden, with no door

World War 2 bombshelter, in a garden, with new door

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 14/10/2025

I absolutely support this position. Must give a special mention to the customer that asked me to upgrade the hardware on their PC - with the strict proviso that it remained on Windows 8.1 Job done...

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 07/10/2025

If other customers are reading & also feel the urge to endorse our services with a gratuity payment then, from today, we accept sherry trifle. This sits alongside the usual wine, biscuits, chocolates, gift vouchers, cash, artworks and - strictly in front of the CCTV & a witness only - hugs. ❤️

Sherry trifle in a bowl with a spoon - sitting atop a AMD Ryzen APU.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 15/09/2025

If I ever meet Asus' product designer who hides screws under feet (with different heads 🤯) & sharpens the hidden edge of the laptop's back cover into a blade that could slice through concrete, I shall demand recompense for waterproof plasters & about half a pint of O negative. #RightToRepair #Ow!

Heavily plastered finger held above a dismantled Asus laptop

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 04/09/2025

Had a fabulous night at The Fixing Factory with @therestartproject.org for #Fixfest 2025. Watched @kwiens.bsky.social demo @ifixit.com’s fabulous new FixHub… …then held an impromptu workshop, giving some guests their first taste of through-hole soldering… 🙌🛠️❤️ #RightToRepair

Kyle Weins from iFixit demonstrates the iFixit FixHub

Learning to solder at The Fixing Factory, Hackney.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 27/08/2025

‘Your security matters’ So we’re turning it off… #Windows11 #e-waste #gaslight-marketing

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 21/08/2025

Discovered some biting political criticism from my 12 year old this morning… @privateeyenews.bsky.social

Graffiti additions to Private Eye magazine cover (Donald Trump).

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 08/08/2025

Saw this earlier. I can't help but feel that I'd neither get a glow up or a fitted bodysuit covered in flowers and fronds... 💋💐

A purple sign, saying "We Do... Walk In Bouquets" beneath is more text, "Make up whilst you shop".

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 18/07/2025

Finished my 6th year as a school 'Reading Friend' & my latest group have been beyond fabulous (& that's not because they've presented me with some yummy biscuits) If you have an hour or so free to help some kids with reading & literacy, then contact your local school. They will bite your hand off.

Whittard Salted Caramel Biscuits and PC Pro Mug — Alt-Text for Bsky
Tall decorative tin of Whittard Salted Caramel Biscuits beside a white “PC Pro Podcast: Really Hot Hardware” mug. In front, one biscuit rests on the tin’s lid. A computer monitor and keyboard are in the background, all on a wood-grain desk.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 15/07/2025

Well, that’s my productivity stuffed for the next few days…. Complaints about missed deadlines should be forwarded to Tim Danton. Isn’t there a law preventing brilliant writers publishing hotly anticipated books during months starting with a J. To avoid, don’t click this: 👇 lnkd.in/dUzfBzr9

Book called, The Computers That Made The World

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 03/07/2025

Quality work from Microsoft during a new laptop setup. Edge flags Office 365's setup launcher as suspicious - despite downloading it from the official Microsoft site which I needed to pass 840 levels of verification to access. 🤬 I miss DVDs.... 📀

Microsoft Edge not recognising the Office Setup executable....

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 24/06/2025

Hurrah for Sarah at Huddersfield's @waterstones.bsky.social for their recommendation of Hotel Flamingo by @alexmilway.bsky.social. (BTW - The Hotel Flamingo stories are perfect reads for kids. Fun stories with memorable characters given extra pizzazz by Alex's illustrations. We ❤️ Madame Le Pig 👩‍🍳)

Picture of the children's book, Hotel Flamingo, listed as a recommendation in Waterstones, Huddersfield.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 22/06/2025

General Cheeseburger rides again…

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 10/04/2025

Hang on a minute….. 🤔

Geoff Hinsliff as Donald Brennan from ITVs Coronation Street.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 08/04/2025

The trigger to reminisce about formative years can be fired by a specific song or smell or taste. For some, it's the memory of shuffling bits of plastic, hoping that disk 4 wasn't stuffed. Found these today. Suddenly it's 1994 & I'm off to see D:Ream at the Student Union. #ThingsCanOnlyGetBetter

“Four vintage 3.5-inch floppy disks displayed on a wooden surface. The disks include ‘Flight of the Amazon Queen’ (Disc 1 of 6), ‘Theme Park’ by Electronic Arts, ‘Corel Photo-Paint 5’ (Disk 1), and ‘Microsoft Windows 95 Setup Disk’ (Setup Boot Disk).”

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 12/03/2025

Have spent 10 minutes on LinkedIn and this flashed into my timeline. Finally, the permission I needed. At 9am tomorrow, my brain surgery salon will open.... I *am* good enough and if B&Q is still open, I'll be able to buy a bonesaw to prove it to everyone. 👍 🩸💀🥇

“Beige background with black text that reads: ‘STOP TELLING YOURSELF YOU’RE NOT QUALIFIED, GOOD ENOUGH, OR WORTHY. GROWTH HAPPENS WHEN YOU START DOING THE THINGS YOU’RE NOT QUALIFIED TO DO.’ The quote is attributed to Steven Bartlett, with his name in smaller, lighter text at the bottom.”

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 04/03/2025

My Nan would like a quiet word out the back….

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 03/03/2025

Highest test score since CSE Domestic Science 💪🏆

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 25/02/2025

A key component of repair is trust. Trust in the quality of the repair & the fixers skill. TL;DR: My daughter's ear piercing became infected & swelled quickly. Her flat back studs wouldn't unlock. I propsed a solution. Thank you to my daughter for being brave & trusting her fixer. #RightToRepair

Wires snips photographed next to the fragments of a flat back earring which wouldn't unlock.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 21/02/2025

I spent time this morning fixing this kite for my daughter and we managed to keep it airborne for almost 5 seconds before it was blown into a #RightToRepair nightmare. Can any passing cheeky chimney sweeps with dodgy cockney accents give me a moment for composure before approaching. 🪁

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 21/01/2025

Aside from the environmental importance of #repair, the practice also brings societal benefits. Yesterday I repaired the staff-room coffee machine from a local school. Unarguably the most vital bit of tech in the building. (🪛 Fault was a blown thermal fuse 💥) #RightToRepair #Coffee #Teachers

Underside of a stripped-down coffee machine.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 15/01/2025

"For those of you watching this edition of 'guess the stain' in black and white, the mystery splodges are just below the cobwebs". #Repair #😷

Inside of a desktop PC which has liquid stains and cobwebs.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 23/12/2024

Had a fantastic response to my @pcpro.bsky.social Christmas giveaway. This year, it's 2 signed copies of the best books of '24: 'It's a Gas' by @markmiodownik.bsky.social & 'The Long History of the Future' by @njkobie.bsky.social. So buy PC Pro #364, then send me your answers by 31/12 📚🎄

PC Pro magazine #364. It's a Gas by Mark Miodownik and The Long History of the Future by Nicole Kobie.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 23/12/2024

The circle of life... ...It doesn't seem two moments since I was needed to fix the Sylvanian Families' bus or reattach the leg of their favourite LOL doll. ...suddenly it's shavers & hair-dryers... #I'mNotCrying

An electric shaver in for repair. Broken into components on a magnetic mat.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 20/12/2024

There is something particular about the sound of Primary School piano at Christmas. No one cares that it is out-of-tune. Only one person cares that the pedals don’t work. In a room full of under 11s yelling to ‘Silent Night’, it becomes the most beguiling machine ever created. 🎶

Mrs Grant prepping for a carol service, behind a Primary School piano

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 10/12/2024

Discovered something worse than a 15.6" laptop screen held into place with adhesives. It's a 27" screen held into place with adhesives. It's taken me an hour with a 250° hot-air gun to get this out. I'm now going to wash the blood from my hands then make some tea. #RighttoRepair #ScrewsNotGlues

27" AIO screen covered in removal tools and glue.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 04/12/2024

Tell me something I didn’t know… #Spotify #DavidBowie

Spotify screen grab showing Cracked Actor by David Bowie.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 19/11/2024

I know everyone here has a data backup to (at least) one other location/medium/planet. 💡Top Tip 💡 If all your business data is on a USB stick which has just emitted an unadvertised quantity of smoke, screaming 'why can't you fix it now?' to the repair guy, won't reverse time. 😬 #Repair #Backup

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 11/11/2024

Today, I pulled the screen adhesives from a mathematician’s laptop using a terrible punchline I last heard in about 1987.

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 09/11/2024

Gotta love LinkedIn's targetted adverts. Considering how much that platform knows, people still send blind punts: "Want to see how drones can transform your projects?" Er... 🚁

LinkedIn targetted advert offering things things I can't use

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 31/10/2024

What an awesome day 🎂 Happy Birthday to the #1 Pomni fan. Also - fabulous #TADC work by Mum on the ‘Pomni brownie not-cake’. ❤️ #theamazingdigitalcircus #pomni

Photo of girl in Pomni jacket, with 2 Pomni plushies….

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 05/09/2024

"If you’ve never thought of David Bowie as an internet pioneer, we’re about to change your mind" The new issue of PC Pro magazine (361) features the fabulous story of BowieNet. With exclusives from Mark Plati, Emm Gryner, Ron Roy, Charlie Brookes & Steph Lynch. On sale now.... #Bowie

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Lee Grant @handle.invalid · 15/07/2024

Another successful laptop repair completed with the artisanal hammer and randomly-branded, non-specific adhesive compound... #RightToRepair #Mjölnir

Repaired laptop next to a hammer & tube of glue.

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