Nine cheap Android panels were gathering dust on my walls. Then I had a shower thought. Two GitHub Copilot sessions later, I have a fully working smart home panel system with Sonos grouping, media browsing, and more.

Fixing a solenoid fault on my Sage Oracle Touch and the memories it preserves.

Discover how to build a kiosk-based event access management solution in Power Apps with hidden text inputs and external barcode readers for contact-free entry control.

I had a request from a customer who is running a 10-day event where attendees are permitted in certain areas.

Dog information - key details for vets and insurance etc.

TBC

reverse engineering the website

Bridging Windows lock and unlock events to Home Assistant via Task Scheduler, a tiny VBScript wrapper, PowerShell, and the Home Assistant REST API so my desk lights follow my presence.

I normally keep this stuff to myself and don’t share it but I thought I’d break that rule as I work towards a healthier happier mind and lifestyle.

Gist is a big part of my workflow. I've always been on the lookout for a desktop tool. Well, it turns out I was looking in the wrong place.

An autumn walk at Tatton Park where I captured rutting deer with my 500mm lens.

Highlights from a trip across southern Spain - the Alhambra in Granada, a small steak restaurant tucked away on Plaza de San Lazaro, and the Barbary apes of Gibraltar.

Along with my bike, I decided to go down the Wahoo route.

I have been working with a large government department where Microsoft Services helped them transform their intranet to SharePoint Online leveraging all the modern capabilities available as well as.

So I'll start by saying how bowled over I am by the engagement I've had after posting a tweet sharing that I had programmatically updated the new footer.

Cycle Republic £1,600.00

Waterfall. Never photographed one with a slow shutter and tripod before.

A PnP PowerShell script to switch a modern SharePoint site homepage between variations, preserving the canonical home.aspx page name. Useful for A/B testing audience-specific home pages.

Rugby @ Twickenham

Lake Como and Milan, Italy

Some five years ago now, I blogged about how to login to multiple Office 365 identities or accounts at the same time using Chrome Profiles.

A spring afternoon at Dunham Massey, a National Trust estate near home and one of my favourite places to wander with a camera.

Grown-up watching the boat race. Born in Cambridge I have to confess I'm a faithful??? Cambridge supporter. Tradition would be to watch the race on a 12" B&W 12-volt TV in the caravan.

So I have a big ass screen sat at head height on a desk stand. If I place the webcam on the intended bracket that sits it on top of my monitor all my colleagues would ever see would be my ever-growing bold head.

I'm spending more time with one of my favourite hobbies again - photography. You can browse my published portfolio over at 500px. Be sure to share your feedback.

With the recent snowfall, we decided to take a trip over to the National Trust estate Lyme Park to see the estate covered in a beautiful dusting of the white stuff. With a picnic packed and the warmest clothes, we walked over to the…

Welcoming in the New Year with friends in Manchester - a fondue and raclette grill made for an easy, conversation-friendly evening with most of the prep done well ahead.

A weeknight chicken and vegetable egg fried rice - prep 25 min, cook 15 min, ready in 40, inspired by a birthday Chinese meal that hit just the right notes.

After almost two years off the blog, a post about why - migration projects, two house renovations, a move, a break-up, and a daughter who deserves my time. Then back to the SharePoint, M365 and smart-home tinkering I love.

G920 wheel with shifter and pedals (£172 -26-Oct)

LC49HG90DMUXEN

A few hours on the farm during lambing season - new arrivals, watchful ewes, and a generous family who folded us in for a season I'll never forget.

DIY Livestock scanner

Sometimes a long, frustrating IKEA trip leaves you with the right picture frame and an idea for a Raspberry Pi. Here is how I housed a working Pi inside an IKEA picture frame.

Adding Hue lighting under our kitchen cupboards meant working around the kit's fixed lengths. Rather than buy two full kits, I hacked together my own six-core extension lead.

I finally decided to create my dream home office setup however it wasn't without complications due to a strange limitation with the new Windows 10 display settings.

Update (31/01/15): Session spreadsheet updated and now includes 275 sessions.

A long-overdue confession - I am a sucker for a well-made bag. Tour my collection and what I carry in each, in the spirit of the old Lifehacker 'what's in your bag' series.

3kg of uncrushed Maris Otter, no mill, no time to wait for one in the post - here is what happened when we tried to crush the grain ourselves with a coffee grinder.

I recently responded to a question posted to Twitter using the #SPHelp hashtag. Tim Ferro was trying to understand all the different types of email that SharePoint sends automatically.

I'm sure removing the Recent heading from the Quick Launch in SharePoint 2013 has been talked about a million times over since SharePoint 2013 was launched.

A challenge for most administrators managing more than one or more Azure subscriptions or Office 365 tenants having to continuously log in and out with different credentials to do so.

Update (15th June 2014): We may see a return of the SharePoint ULS Viewer very soon. Jeremy Thake and Office Dev indicated it is coming back to life very soon.

Often a difficult task for some, once up and running with Microsoft Azure, is how to get files in and out of Storage Accounts or Containers. For these particular scenarios there is a really simple tool called Azure Explorer.

I have just discovered that you can give feedback about your experiences using Office 365 directly to Microsoft using their online feedback form (http://msft.it/o365feedback) thanks to a Tweet from Jennifer Mason.

Let me introduce you to the Deployment guide for Microsoft SharePoint 2013. Anyone deploying, installing or configuring SharePoint 2013 absolutely must read this!

This post is part of SP14 Keynote highlights series where I provide some highlights of the next version of SharePoint. These highlights are from the SP24 Conference Keynote that Bill Baer delivered.

This post is part of SP14 Keynote highlights series where I provide some highlights of the next version of SharePoint. These highlights are from the SP24 Conference Keynote that Bill Baer delivered.

This post is part of SP14 Keynote highlights series where I provide some highlights of the next version of SharePoint. These highlights are from the SP24 Conference Keynote that Bill Baer delivered.

This post is the first of my SP14 Keynote highlights series where I provide some highlights of the next version of SharePoint. These highlights are from the SP24 Conference Keynote that Bill Baer delivered.

A simple carrot soup that originates with my Grandad Callaghan. Often a Christmas-dinner starter at home, but quick enough that it has become my go-to for dinner parties served with homemade bread.

In this post, I share information about On-Premises SharePoint, highlights of SharePoint 2016 and see how Outlook attachments (bye-bye) are changing as we know them.

I thought I'd share a PowerShell script that I've created to perform a few tasks against a Site Collection Second Stage Recycle Bin (SSRB) in SharePoint.

I've managed to pickup some reading materials while in America that are going to keep me busy for some weeks.

The SharePoint Conference has sadly finished and our holiday has started. We are currently staying in a lodge on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon for a few days...slightly different from the Venetian where we've spent the last week.

This evening I have had the great pleasure of meeting Bill Baer and his wife.

So I have an early draft of my expo hall treasure map mapped out! Do you have yours?

Update: 23/02/2014 I've updated the #SPC14 sessions spreadsheet one last time to include some missed sessions and a request to have sortable start and end dates.

A customer recently reported that they were not able to create any new Site Collections within any Web Application in their SharePoint 2013 UAT environment.

Something I have found frustrating with the SharePoint Conference 2014 website over the holidays is that you have to browse through the sessions as search results pages.

It is a very special day for me today - ClearPeople has just approved my trip to attend the SharePoint Conference 2014 (#SPC14). Thank you thank you thank you!

It's official you can now customise the Office 365 login page with your own branding \- ok not quite yet but Microsoft has just released a preview feature that will soon allow us to.

Retiring my well-travelled Canon IXUS 220 HS and treating myself to a Canon PowerShot SX280 HS for my birthday - first impressions and what tipped me to upgrade.

A customer asked me if I could help troubleshoot their SharePoint environment - they had extended a web application and configured it to use Forms Based Authentication (FBA) with SSL however they.

If you're working with Windows Azure and want to use PowerShell to perform management tasks you will first need to install and configure Windows Azure PowerShell as per this article "How to install and configure Windows Azure PowerShell".

This post describes how I configured one of my Windows Azure hosted Virtual Machines with my domain name registrars DNS - this meant that I could make SharePoint 2013 available using my domain name.

A quick walkthrough of using SharePoint's Reusable Content feature plus a touch of jQuery to give content authors easy, code-free tabs on their pages.

I can see again...I love my new glasses!

The default interval for Windows Azure Active Directory Sync (DirSync) synchronisations is 3 hours. If for instance, your Active Directory has lots of changes you probably want to consider shortening the sync interval.

When configuring Windows Azure Active Directory Sync (or DirSync as it was previously known) it's useful to be able to run various synchronisation tests.

The first batch of our sloe gin has been prepared and laid down until at least Christmas or should that be for as long as I can keep my hands off it!!!

If you're visiting Cromer anytime soon then you must try and have a meal in The Red Lion on the seafront. It was very reasonable for two of us to have two courses there - both of which were very delicious and adequately filling.

I've configured Forms Based Authentication (FBA) in SharePoint on several occasions - from 2007 right through to 2013, but until now I have never discovered a life-saving tool that Steve Peschka has.

A really good lunch at the Crab & Winkle in Whitstable - friendly staff, fish that hit the spot, and easy with a small one in tow.

A short note on reading The Wolf of Wall Street after seeing the trailer - I picked up a copy from my partner's shelf and could not put it down.

This is going to be a real quick post but I wanted to introduce you to my baby daughter Florence who was born just a few days ago. Mum and baby are doing well and keeping daddy plenty busy.

Since our Office 365 tenant was upgraded we've been experiencing difficulties with our users signing into Lync 2013.

Ok, so this has bothered me for some time - until now, there has been standalone OneDrive for Business SkyDrive Pro client. Users have had to install Office 2013 to experience the new way of synchronising files with SharePoint.

On holiday in Majorca, I was lucky enough to be invited out for a ride by the chairman - a fit, focused cyclist who was a long way ahead of me. Here is how I got on.

If you need to check what version of SharePoint server your Office 365 tenant is running especially during the Office 365 and SharePoint Online service upgrade (aside from checking through the Admin.

At the time of writing this post, I was working for a "Microsoft Cloud Accelerate" partner.

A quick post here to share a new feature in SharePoint 2013 that enables you to easily embed code such as javascript and CSS into the content area of a web part page for example.

I've been exploring SharePoint 2013 in recent days and noticed that the 'Sign in as Different User' option or action from the welcome control (user menu) seems to have been removed or forgotten from the user interface in this build.

This one's quick. There are a couple of ways to find out your SQL server version. Firstly the version is listed within the Object Explorer in the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.

I was asked to review a client environment yesterday to find out why the links in their top navigation bar were displaying for users that did not have permission to the particular sites.

My mum's chocolate brownie recipe - the one I bake for friends, colleagues and customers, and which long ago became known as the SharePoint Brownies.

On many occasion, I have been to conferences and on training where the presenter has done a demonstration and used a screen magnifying utility to enlarge part of the display.

This morning I was trying to create a new style in the itemstyle.xsl stylesheet to use within the content query web part (CQWP).

Quite a common requirement for implementations of SharePoint that I am involved in is to create new managed paths for a given web application.

When I write PowerShell scripts, I often want to step through sections. This allows me to decided whether to proceed with parts of my script or not. I achieve this by using the ChoiceDescription class as demonstrated below.

Today I had a requirement to remove all the headings and links from the quick launch navigation of hundreds of SharePoint sites.

The need to backup or download SharePoint solutions or WSPs from SharePoint come's up from time to time.

It goes without saying...but whenever you download and use any code or script from this site, or any site for that matter, you should review and understand what the code or script is doing before you attempt to use it.

When I started my new job a few weeks ago I decided I was going to introduce some new tools and utilities to help myself and my colleagues be more productive.

Sixteen molten-centred chocolate muffins, eaten warm so the middle stays gooey - perfect on their own or with vanilla ice cream and a Chantilly cream.

Many people have said to me "your using WordPress for your blog but you're a SharePoint Consultant" and my response is typical "but why must use SharePoint - I guess you also have a problem with me using a Mac?".

This green pea chowder recipe is one of my favourites. It’s so simple with a delicious result under 20 minutes. It has a beautiful colour with a nourishingly filling flavour.

Serves: 2r Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

I think I have a thing for bags...and headphones.

Series of posts

See Grammarly

useful for migrations. Some regex. Old school disk commands.

Heart rate. Ankle recovery. Strava. Park Tools. YouTube motivation.

Bulk update page author and date - #IntranetSeries

diagram with layers, toggles, filters, interactive

Refreshing my Microsoft certs

Montrose https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/640625057530781698

Fuji XT-3

64GB memory. 3TB SSD.

Link to first bag post. Go Pro bag. Horse Riding. Drone. Tackle bag. Hiking bag.

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/834137878774951936

Recommendation and long chats.

VPN + Azure VPN

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/637261180185280512

I'm a sound and light kind of guy. I love my BBQ in the summer and fitted an outdoor power socket just so I could get my Play One outside. This is a game-changer. Safe around the hot-tub too. I built a portable Sonos:1 in 2016 and…

Started with one. House move lead to TV and other rooms filled with beautiful sound from Sonos. The last move led to a house full of Sonos.

https://twitter.com/sharepointalex/status/1144634820821229568

Stream deck.

Jabra Bluetooth for home office.

Raspberry Pi MQTT Bluetooth relay

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1138212845123002370

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1137326163624415234

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1176493950577926144

Segway into a post about my bar

AI Whiskey

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1146066059432083460

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/774616723156770822

Cocktail recipes

HUE under the bed

HUE outdoors

This home automation stuff really works best when you've gone all in. Wife approval factor. Switches are a thing!

Opening the back door opens. HUE lights.

Doors, windows, internal doors (Flo, hall, bath), tuck cupboard, washing machine, fridge and freezer

https://twitter.com/neil\neilzone/status/794827359614619648

Under cupboard lights in the kitchen.

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/795324943202394112

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/831619416852930561

Farm, cottage, 208, and friends mums house

Ring

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1175509278322548748

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1093845766471180290

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1080884041077919745

Kitchen Garden

Spicy

A0 printer

Alexa

one turned into three

Drone

Go Pro's + Fusion

Chicken and Leek Pie

Rotterdam and The Hague, The Netherlands

Raspberry and White Chocolate Mousse

Fish Cakes

Taco Tuesday

Wanted to take Florence back to school.

Derek. Bakery.

Pesto Pasta

Dutch croquet potatoes

Cottage Pie

Steak and Prawn Alfredo

Chicken Supreme

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/156570524533817722/

https://www.shugarysweets.com/skinny-beef-enchiladas/

INGREDIENTS

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/156570524533817674/

https://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pressure-cooker-white-rice/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/156570524533817836/

https://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/apple-crumble

Fun with templates and math .

I feel on top of the world. Minutes before leaving tonight I rushed to create an automation to arm my alarm when I left my neighbour hood. I reloaded the automation and to my surprise to loaded without any errors. I then shot off to run…

First impressions it is so easy to get started.

Simple.

Making my connected car even more connected

Johannes Wilkens I have. I’ve also imitated their window and door open feature and shut off based on actual sensor opened rather than detected. I use presence and calendar integration to drive my heating. For example if my daughter is…

Everyone talks about their connected cars and homes.

Connected.

Spring clean Desk

I've longed for a 3D printer for some time. I kept putting off as I knew it could swallow me when I already have tons on my todo list. I also thought it could be a "fad" and something I would play with and then not use. Well, all this…

This is a quick post while I work on some lengthier posts about some recent projects.

Intro + confidence + more remote content + Rick Claus shared he uses a teleprompter

Lessons learned from previous apps / working with rapid ideation

Barcodes.

great heating.

Move from Ring to Unifi Protect.

credit system

integration with doorbell

Why I don't compromise User Experience, Accessbility and Inclusivity in my Smart Home

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1407823352866217984

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1407952423172427777

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1391881007448698900

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1391145499080658946

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1385326343508959233

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1367585898074939394

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1358915647527399425

Ding ding ding. Another one bites the dust.

https://twitter.com/jamescallaghan/status/1330161753884332032

timelapse

While supporting a customer move to Office 365 and modernising their intranet I created a number of scripts to migrate or copy the conversations and messages from a SharePoint discussion board to Yammer group that I wanted to share.…

warmer / colder outside

I'm not sure if I'm your average OneNote user but I thought I would share how I recently organised all my OneNote Notebooks for all my notes and migrated away from using Evernote.

My daughter loves her fairy lights. They've become a fun but not essential part of her bedtime routine along with her lava lamp as she goes off to sleep.

I always doubt with myself whether I have locked the door or not. In my world of routine if the door is locked then the key is on a hook where it lives. If the door is open the key is typically in the door. Sure I could throw a £200…

In this three-part post series, I wanted to walk you through how I've added sensors to my pizza oven for the ultimate smart home automation but also to guide you through building your own version.

Paw buttons Tractive collar Tile Water bowl Feed reminders

I wanted a way to track the last location motion occurred inside and outside my home to drive automation but also for reference and security purposes.

Why I've got involved this year.