My Blog

I try and blog about things that pique my interest, something I’ve had difficulty with, or just anything in general that I either want to keep at hand or think may be useful for others to know.

You can therefore find posts covering diverse subjects such as software development/programming, writing and all things Disney.

Touring Fasthosts' new Worcester data centre

If I had a bucket list, this would be on it.

Last week I had the privilege of being invited to tour the new Fasthosts / IONOS data centre here in the Midlands (Worcester) and I jumped at the chance.

I got to see “back stage” of the purpose-built facility where Fasthosts build and host the 10,000+ servers that power the company’s web and email hosting, CloudNX and virtual server platforms, and dedicated/bare metal servers.

DevOps , Reflections Read more


Upgrading to Fedora Linux 39

The Fedora Linux project this week released their latest incarnation: Fedora Linux 39.

It is available for download now in the core Workstation, Server, Cloud and IoT flavours.

This article explains how to upgrade a previous version, such as Fedora 38, to the latest release.

Read more


Re-imagineering the event in Simply Remind Me

Rapidly approaching 500 new users this year, my free email and simple text message reminder app - Simply Remind Me - is earning a loyal following in the world.

In July, I had 131 new users that have signed up in 2023.  As of today, I've trebled this to 466.

All of these new users are bringing great suggestions and feedback - particularly from a competitor's service that stopped working earlier this year.

I'm rolling all this feedback and suggestions into a complete overhaul of the "event experience" which I'm excited to preview today.

Simply Remind Me , Software Development Read more


Simply Remind Me's Year in Numbers

I've added a new feature to the website for Simply Remind Me - my free email and simple text reminder app. The website now shows live statistics, read directly from the Simply Remind Me platform.

The statistics show the number of new users, events created, reminders sent and the number of unique timezones the app has users registered in - since the start of 2023. 

Simply Remind Me , Software Development Read more


Simply Remind Me April 2023 update

I've today released a major new version of my free email reminder app and simple text and phone call reminder app, Simply Remind Me.

This release has been nearly 4 months in the making and introduces some new features I'm excited to deliver to you, and some important bug fixes.

This article describes the new features and enhancements that are now live in Simply Remind Me.

Simply Remind Me , Software Development Read more


Hello OctoberCMS and Laravel. Goodbye WordPress.

This article - along with the rest of my website here at andysh.uk - is now being served from OctoberCMS.

OctoberCMS is a proprietary content management system built on the amazing Laravel PHP framework. This is a significant change for me both personally, and technically, for 2 key reasons.

Read on to find out more about OctoberCMS and Laravel.

Software Development Read more


Disney Parks to close for Hurricane Ian

In the worsening weather conditions reminiscent of Hurricane Matthew, back in October 2016, Disney Parks in Florida are closing again.

This time, they are closing the Disney theme parks and water parks two days for Hurricane Ian, starting tomorrow, September 28th.

Disney , Reflections Read more


Fasthosts VPS: an honest Review

I have hosted my website and applications on a Fasthosts VPS since September 2019. Each year, I have upgraded my VPS to a current model.

What has kept me hosting with Fasthosts for nearly 3 years, and confident in their services that I can recommend them to others?

This article answers those questions and dives into the Fasthosts VPS product to create an honest review from a real, current customer.

DevOps Read more


The official photograph of Queen Elizabeth II released by The Royal Family

God bless, Your Majesty

It is with great sadness the Royal Family today announced the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

She died peacefully this afternoon at her beloved holiday home in Balmoral.

Reflections Read more


Simply Remind Me: an apology about SMS reminders

Today, 14th May, I discovered that SMS messages sent from my Simply Remind Me app since 1st March were not being delivered by my SMS provider.

Because they were successfully accepted by the gateway, Simply Remind Me correctly deducted the credits from your account. But the messages failed to arrive at their intended handsets.

Simply Remind Me , Software Development Read more