FS HOT logo

Tech Zone

FS HOT's Technical Article Repository.

Technical Articles · Latest First

All Tech Zone Articles

NEWReclaiming Sovereignty: Becoming the Master of Your Own Life

Personal sovereignty has not been taken from us by force, but surrendered gradually through convenience, distraction and dependence. This is how to reclaim it.

Published: 13 Jul 2026

NEWPrivacy Is Not Obsolete. It Is Foundational.

Privacy is not a privilege. It is a fundamental condition of a free society. A considered examination of surveillance, digital data, and why the choice to protect your privacy is one of the most important decisions a free citizen can make.

Published: 13 Jul 2026

The 30-Minute Conversation That Made Me Stop Eating Meat

It was early February 2011. Over the course of a 30-minute lunch conversation, my perspective on food changed forever. This is the true story of how it happened — and what came next.

Published: 12 Jul 2026

Freedom of Speech: The Foundation of a Thinking Society

Freedom of speech is not merely a right. It is one of the foundations upon which every free and prosperous society depends — the means by which societies learn, adapt and improve.

Published: 10 Jul 2026

The NHS Wants You to Walk More. Human Nature Has Other Ideas.

Britain's proposed NHS walking rewards scheme is based on an admirable premise. The difficulty begins the moment a prize enters the equation — and a smartwatch cannot tell who is actually doing the walking.

Published: 3 Jul 2026

Why I Joined Tottington Civic Pride

This isn't about technology. It's about something more fundamental: being a productive member of your community, and why that matters more than most things we spend our time on.

Published: 3 Jul 2026

The Nokia 3310 Myth

The Nokia 3310 has become a privacy talisman. No apps, no internet, no tracking. The story is wrong. The network doesn't care what your phone looks like.

Published: 27 Jun 2026

Stop Interrupting Me

Most people don't hate advertising. They hate being interrupted. The distinction matters, and the web has spent years refusing to understand it.

Published: 13 Jun 2026

The Console That Started Everything

Christmas 1982. A Philips Videopac G7000, two brothers, and 256 bytes of RAM. It was not much. It was more than enough.

Published: 11 Jun 2026

Most So-Called Audiophiles Haven't a Clue

Vinyl offers warmth, depth and the soul of an analogue experience. Also crackle, groove wear and a dynamic range comfortably beaten by a format introduced in 1982. But by all means, enjoy the ritual.

Published: 10 Jun 2026

Octopuses, Algorithms and the Death of Scientific Modesty

Quantum AI has solved consciousness, decoded the universe and now cracked octopus language. The only thing it cannot seem to locate is a peer-reviewed journal.

Published: 7 Jun 2026

Someone Knocked. Nobody Was Home. They Tried Anyway.

An automated botnet probe hit this server on 5 June 2026. It was looking for vulnerable IoT firmware. It found a 301 and a 404. This is what it was attempting, how it works, and why unsecured IoT devices on your network are not your neighbour's problem — they are yours.

Published: 5 Jun 2026

Rank Number One. Get Quoted. Get Ignored.

For two decades Google rewarded good content with visitors. Then AI Overviews arrived and discovered the most useful thing to do with your content is answer the question without sending anyone your way.

Published: 1 Jun 2026

When the Machines Start Finding More Holes Than We Can Count

AI can now find software vulnerabilities faster than the industry can catalogue them. A future of automated patching beckons — with humans promoted sideways into management.

Published: 30 May 2026

Power to the Pocket: The Accidental Democratic Revolution

The smartphone replaced the ballot box with a thumbprint and nobody noticed. A modest proposal for doing something useful with the device already in everyone's hand.

Published: 29 May 2026

X: Nearly Completely Useless

A week on X: free speech in theory, Albanian lizard bankers in practice, Scandinavian bots in the replies, and an abyss too busy to notice. A review.

Published: 27 May 2026

The Art of Doing Nothing: How I Finally Won

A man, a set of electronic ab pads, fourteen hundred calories a day, and the slow dawning realisation that the device was working — just exclusively in the wrong direction. A meditation on civilised ambition, the six-pack nobody asked for, and the flat stomach achieved by ceasing to pursue it.

Published: 27 May 2026

Hacker News: A Field Guide to the Forum That Forgot What Hacking Was

A brief, illuminating, and ultimately terminal encounter with Hacker News — the internet's foremost gathering of people who discuss disruption without, apparently, having considered disrupting their own behaviour.

Published: 26 May 2026

The Boot Sale of Lost Causes: A Field Guide to Car Boot Electronics

From electronic chakra balancers to cordless analogue phones and an overpriced 1980s Sanyo ghetto blaster, the Sunday car boot sale remains technology's most reliable museum of misplaced optimism.

Published: 24 May 2026

Bluetooth Exploitation: How Yesterday's Parlour Trick Became Today's Conference Highlight

From Bluejacking on a Sony Ericsson to Raspberry Pi antenna arrays at DEF CON, Bluetooth 'exploitation' has a long and largely underwhelming history. Switch it off and carry on.

Published: 19 May 2026

The Invisible Witness: Smart Glasses, Ambient Surveillance, and the End of Looking Suspicious

Smart glasses have made surveillance fashionable. When AI meets wearable cameras that look like designer eyewear, the implications go well beyond James Bond fantasy.

Published: 18 May 2026

The £10 Bathroom Oracle: Smart Scales, Visceral Fat, and the Early Warning You Can Actually Afford

Smart scales use bioelectrical impedance to estimate visceral fat — the kind that wraps around your organs and quietly causes trouble. Are they accurate enough to be useful?

Published: 16 May 2026

Complexity Creates Risk: Why Simpler Infrastructure Is Safer Infrastructure

The more complicated the system, the larger the attack surface. A look at why complexity is the enemy of security — and what to do about it.

Published: 12 May 2026

The Algorithm Knows: AI, Intimacy, and the Data You Never Meant to Share

AI is quietly entering the bedroom — and taking notes. A look at connected pleasure devices, biometric data, and the privacy questions nobody is asking.

Published: 2 May 2026

Beware the Hats: A Warning from the Streets of Majorca

A humorous but practical guide to avoiding street hustler scams in Majorca — from "free gifts" to hat-stacking persuasion tactics.

Published: 16 Apr 2026

Personal Autonomy & Privacy Guide – 2025

Learn how to safeguard your digital footprint, secure financial independence, and live on your own terms with actionable strategies from our 2025 privacy guide.

Published: 13 Dec 2025