Oliver Haslam
@oliverhaslam.com
I write words. Recently AppleInsider, CNET, iMore, TechRader, Pocket-lint, and more – Business: oliver at http://monkeymanmedia.com
Pixel Fun, a weekly newsletter about tech, gaming, and anything with a screen. newsletter.pixelfun.tech
Pixel Fun, a weekly newsletter about tech, gaming, and anything with a screen. newsletter.pixelfun.tech
Seeing @dannyodwyer.bsky.social and his awesome Xbox birthday cake reminded me of our Xbox 360 wedding cake from back in the day. Everyone thought we were crazy 😆
January 16, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Seeing @dannyodwyer.bsky.social and his awesome Xbox birthday cake reminded me of our Xbox 360 wedding cake from back in the day. Everyone thought we were crazy 😆
Hold the phone. Am I the only one who didn't know (or likely forgot) that you can press opt+shift when pressing the volume keys on a Mac to switch to 1/4 increments?
Life. Changed.
Life. Changed.
January 15, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Hold the phone. Am I the only one who didn't know (or likely forgot) that you can press opt+shift when pressing the volume keys on a Mac to switch to 1/4 increments?
Life. Changed.
Life. Changed.
Noah Wiley poking fun at Trump and the Kennedy we all like to forget is the best thing you’ll see on the internet this week. Maybe month.
www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/kim...
www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/kim...
TV’s Greatest Doctor and Star of ‘The Pitt’ Roasts Trump and RFK Jr.
Noah Wyle’s skit mocked the Trump administration and its dangerous healthcare claims.
www.thedailybeast.com
January 14, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Noah Wiley poking fun at Trump and the Kennedy we all like to forget is the best thing you’ll see on the internet this week. Maybe month.
www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/kim...
www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/kim...
How long before someone gets banged up because a glorified customer service chatbot thinks they should be?
UK police have blamed Microsoft Copilot for an intelligence mistake. Microsoft's Copilot AI assistant made up a non-existent football match and British police included the mistake in an intelligence report. Yikes. Details on the Copilot mistake here👇 www.theverge.com/news/861668/...
UK police blame Microsoft Copilot for intelligence mistake
Copilot invented a football match that never happened
www.theverge.com
January 14, 2026 at 1:24 PM
How long before someone gets banged up because a glorified customer service chatbot thinks they should be?
If only Chansiri was a billionaire we might not be in the mess we are. He’s proven that millionaire football club owners are a thing of the past.
January 12, 2026 at 10:11 AM
If only Chansiri was a billionaire we might not be in the mess we are. He’s proven that millionaire football club owners are a thing of the past.
I know I’m late to the game but can we talk about having to buy individual licenses to use Dolby Atmos or DTS:X with your headphones on the Xbox?
What a time to be alive.
What a time to be alive.
January 11, 2026 at 12:06 PM
I know I’m late to the game but can we talk about having to buy individual licenses to use Dolby Atmos or DTS:X with your headphones on the Xbox?
What a time to be alive.
What a time to be alive.
They’re also doing Killswitch covers too, which is good if you use one.
January 8, 2026 at 9:23 PM
They’re also doing Killswitch covers too, which is good if you use one.
Whoever thought that the Remap content that finally reminded me to sign up would actually be a productivity article? What a time to be alive 😆
January 8, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Whoever thought that the Remap content that finally reminded me to sign up would actually be a productivity article? What a time to be alive 😆
I might be in the minority, but I think this Mario Tennis Switch 2 trailer looks brilliant.
Sign. Me. Up.
youtu.be/RSyoMsWRL9I
Sign. Me. Up.
youtu.be/RSyoMsWRL9I
Mario Tennis Fever – Overview Trailer – Nintendo Switch 2
YouTube video by Nintendo of America
youtu.be
January 8, 2026 at 3:45 PM
I might be in the minority, but I think this Mario Tennis Switch 2 trailer looks brilliant.
Sign. Me. Up.
youtu.be/RSyoMsWRL9I
Sign. Me. Up.
youtu.be/RSyoMsWRL9I
I heard someone on the Game Informer podcast say the same about their print edition, too. Seems the norm, and rings a bell from buying magazines in my youth. But how that hasn't improved in the last 30 years is beyond me.
January 8, 2026 at 3:24 PM
I heard someone on the Game Informer podcast say the same about their print edition, too. Seems the norm, and rings a bell from buying magazines in my youth. But how that hasn't improved in the last 30 years is beyond me.
I've been using HA of late as a way to push non-HomeKit cams into Home and to ditch the Harmony ap but by god does it really look and *feel* open source 😆.
January 8, 2026 at 1:37 PM
I've been using HA of late as a way to push non-HomeKit cams into Home and to ditch the Harmony ap but by god does it really look and *feel* open source 😆.
I'm looking for recommendations for something that seems a bit of a unicorn. I need a wireless gaming headset that's good, although not necessarily the best. But... it needs to work with everything.
That means PC, Xbox Series X, PS5, and Switch 2.
Looking for personal recs if you have them pls.
That means PC, Xbox Series X, PS5, and Switch 2.
Looking for personal recs if you have them pls.
January 6, 2026 at 4:18 PM
I'm looking for recommendations for something that seems a bit of a unicorn. I need a wireless gaming headset that's good, although not necessarily the best. But... it needs to work with everything.
That means PC, Xbox Series X, PS5, and Switch 2.
Looking for personal recs if you have them pls.
That means PC, Xbox Series X, PS5, and Switch 2.
Looking for personal recs if you have them pls.
Picked it up last night and played a couple of hours with my oldest. Yeah, I'm going to like this! 😆
January 6, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Picked it up last night and played a couple of hours with my oldest. Yeah, I'm going to like this! 😆
Done 👋🏻. My domain sometimes falls foul of SPAM filters, though, so it might be hiding somewhere other than your inbox.
January 5, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Done 👋🏻. My domain sometimes falls foul of SPAM filters, though, so it might be hiding somewhere other than your inbox.
Are any of my followers Arc Raiders players? Tempted to pick it up while it’s on sale but I’ve heard mixed reports about the PvP element.
January 5, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Are any of my followers Arc Raiders players? Tempted to pick it up while it’s on sale but I’ve heard mixed reports about the PvP element.
I'm not one for gate keeping, but I'm also not entirely sure I'm all that interested in what Top Gear thinks are the best games of 2025.
January 4, 2026 at 12:04 PM
I'm not one for gate keeping, but I'm also not entirely sure I'm all that interested in what Top Gear thinks are the best games of 2025.
How long will it be before the rest of the planet decides it’s time to pop on over to the White House and kidnap Trump before he does any more damage?
I mean, that’s how things are done now, right?
I mean, that’s how things are done now, right?
January 3, 2026 at 4:58 PM
How long will it be before the rest of the planet decides it’s time to pop on over to the White House and kidnap Trump before he does any more damage?
I mean, that’s how things are done now, right?
I mean, that’s how things are done now, right?
Probably a surprise to nobody that the iPhone Air took a spot on the list of my five favourite bits of tech from 2025.
As 2025 draws to a close, attention is turning to all the tech to come, but before that, it's time to look back at some of the best tech Oliver Haslam has used throughout this year.
Oliver's best tech in 2025: iPhone Air, earbuds, and an iPhone Fold teaser
As 2025 draws to a close, attention is turning to all the tech to come, but before that, it's time to look back at some of the best tech Oliver Haslam has used throughout this year.
appleinsider.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:11 PM
Probably a surprise to nobody that the iPhone Air took a spot on the list of my five favourite bits of tech from 2025.
Are you, or does anyone have, a good media contact for Amazon’s Kindle PR team?
I’m working on a thing…
I’m working on a thing…
January 2, 2026 at 11:19 AM
Are you, or does anyone have, a good media contact for Amazon’s Kindle PR team?
I’m working on a thing…
I’m working on a thing…
I’m normally very much an audio podcast kinda guy, but these are must-watches for me just for the interactions between everyone. It’s obvious you all get on so well and having worked for websites with at least one “that guy” it’s great to see.
December 30, 2025 at 7:51 PM
I’m normally very much an audio podcast kinda guy, but these are must-watches for me just for the interactions between everyone. It’s obvious you all get on so well and having worked for websites with at least one “that guy” it’s great to see.
Listening to LinkedIn and Figma ads for AI features on The Vergecast when @davidpierce.xyz and co. so regularly put AI in its place suggests whatever ad tech is being used doesn’t work very well 😆
Or worse, someone is placing them and has no idea what they’re doing.
Or worse, someone is placing them and has no idea what they’re doing.
December 30, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Listening to LinkedIn and Figma ads for AI features on The Vergecast when @davidpierce.xyz and co. so regularly put AI in its place suggests whatever ad tech is being used doesn’t work very well 😆
Or worse, someone is placing them and has no idea what they’re doing.
Or worse, someone is placing them and has no idea what they’re doing.
Well, I’m all for doing that at any opportunity so <click>
December 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Well, I’m all for doing that at any opportunity so <click>
If you look veeeerry closely, you’ll see Putin’s arm up Trump’s arse.
Trump: "Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed. It sounds a little strange but President Putin was very generous in his feeling toward Ukraine succeeding, including supplying energy, electricity and other things at very low prices."
December 29, 2025 at 7:04 PM
If you look veeeerry closely, you’ll see Putin’s arm up Trump’s arse.
I can't recommend running your own Pi-hole DNS server enough. 66% of the house's requests are served by a local cache, and 8% are served by a local DNS forwarder which has its own cache on top of that.
The remainder are just blocked. Lovely stuff.
The remainder are just blocked. Lovely stuff.
December 29, 2025 at 2:00 PM
I can't recommend running your own Pi-hole DNS server enough. 66% of the house's requests are served by a local cache, and 8% are served by a local DNS forwarder which has its own cache on top of that.
The remainder are just blocked. Lovely stuff.
The remainder are just blocked. Lovely stuff.