Blog on Sam Petherbridge

Chippy Tools - Featured By Telemetry Deck

Sat, 28 Jan 2023 08:01:03 +1000

Recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Lisa & Daniel from Telemetry Deck and how Chippy Tools uses Telemetry Deck to understand how our customers use our product while maintaining customer privacy. When I first launched Chippy Tools my privacy focused mind wanted to avoid as much tracking and analytics as possible. TelemetryDeck helped me to do this, without having to go to the effort of building my own basic analytics.

App Update - GST & VAT Calculator v3.0

Fri, 13 May 2022 16:01:14 +1000

The latest update to GST & VAT Calculator has been released. This update introduces the new ability to change the application’s icon. The app’s icon is now available in blue, light green, dark green, pink and yellow. Under the hood the apps third-party dependencies have been updated to ensure everything keeps working as it should.

Full Change Log

✨Added new option to change the apps icon
⬆️ Upgrade Revenue Cat dependency to v4.3.0
Change version numbering scheme. This changes from major.minor.patch to major.minor. Moving forward any feature updates will be consider major.

About GST & VAT Calculator

GST, VAT & Sales Tax Calculator, is a quick and easy to use application to calculate values including or excluding GST, VAT or any percentage-based tax. With a customisable tax rate, it is perfect for any country or situation.

Chippy Tools Update v2.1.5

Fri, 13 May 2022 14:01:14 +1000

The latest update to Chippy Tools has been released. This update focuses on the experience for users that use Imperial Measurement units. Most of these changes are under the hood and do not have visible changes visible to our users. While both metric and imperial measurement users see mostly the same interface the way calculations occur differ significantly.

Full Change Log

🐛 Fixes bug where the baluster calulator would not invalidate values when the measurement units where changed. 🐛 Fixes crash in the triangle calculator when the base is larger than the hypotenuse. 🐛 Fixes an issue where the first value in equal spacings and running measurements would not display for imperial users if it was 0. 💄 Automatically hides keyboard after manual calculation.

Introducing Media Calculator

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 14:01:14 +1000

Following a soft launch in early December I am happy to announce the launch of my latest app on the App Store, Media Calculator. Media Calculator is built from my knowledge of the media space and is an app that I wish I had in many meetings. It provides simple calculations that are used daily by almost everyone in media & marketing roles. From seasoned professionals to those just starting out Media Calculator will save you time. Best of all there are no ads ever!

From 0 to App Store Charts in 2 Months

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 06:01:14 +1000

Just over 2 months ago, I released my second app into the iOS App Store. Having had a specialised app for rowing coaches in the store for over 7 years, with many thousands of users around the world I was unsure how my new app Chippy Tools for carpenters and DYI enthusiasts would perform. While I knew there was demand for the application and it was by no means new, I dramatically underestimated the overall demand in what I had assessed in a very crowded space with strong incumbent apps.

GST & VAT Calculator

Thu, 18 Nov 2021 07:01:14 +1000

Today I am happy to announce the release of another app on the App Store, GST & VAT Calculator. GST & VAT Calculator is a simple to use application that allows you to add or remove percentage-based goods and services or value-added tax.

While there are plenty of competing apps that have similar functionality on the App Store, I found overwhelmingly that they were packed full of ads, resulting in a poor experience for the user and an unsustainable unmaintained application.

Chippy Tools

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 08:01:14 +1000

Back in 2013, I was in a car driving back from a function with my brother dreaming about releasing an app to the App Store. On that day we spoke about an app that would be useful for him as a carpenter. An app that would fill a gap in the market. After many years of thinking about it today, I can say the app has been released to the App Store!

Marketing Tech Needs Alignment To Business Objectives

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 07:01:14 +1000

Working in media over the past 5 and a half years I have seen many company’s investing in marketing technology. Indeed investment in marketing technology is significant.

Martech is a $122 billion industry that’s growing by 22% year over year; 70% of CMOs are increasing their investments in it.

— Carl F. Mela & Brian Cooper,, HBR

The investment I have seen has often existed in silos from the rest of the business or based on the tools that were available at the time, not necessarily the businesses objectives or a long term approach. Attracted by the shiny object I have seen marketers fail to define and evaluate the success of the marketing technology, which is characteristic of a bottom-up approach.

Defining ourselves by our jobs

Mon, 26 Jul 2021 07:01:14 +1000

All too often we find ourselves in a familiar conversation that starts with, “so what do you do?” The question is inherently asking about work one of the defining details that most people use to define themselves. This question is not new, though it is now no longer as easy to answer as it once was when our names defined what we did.

...it feels natural to see a person’s profession as a defining detail of who they are. It can be a clue into their values, interests or background (or simply help two strangers pass time at an awkward cocktail party). But many of us have come to actually define ourselves by our occupations – which often comes at our own expense.

Simon Sinek - How to discover your "why" in difficult times

Thu, 27 May 2021 08:01:03 +1000

Through COVID we were reminded of the importance of real human connection, the importance of friends and just how fragile we are. I consider myself lucky to have had the time to been forced to reflect on my purpose and the impacts of COVID on my mental health last year, through my studies.

Simon Sinek raises the very real point that, to varying degrees, we all suffered trauma, some of us have dealt with it and others are still dealing with it.

James Allworth - Australia’s Proposed “Fox News Tax”

Thu, 28 Jan 2021 08:01:03 +1000

Much has been said and written about the new proposed News Media Bargaining Code since the government released the draft laws in early December 2020. James captures what the proposed News Media Bargaining Code is and the significant influence of News Corp in Australia.

Freakonomics - Does Advertising Actually Work?

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 08:01:03 +1000

Each year around the world over half a trillion dollars¹ is spent on advertising, which begs the question, does it work? In a 2 part series award-winning author, journalist and podcaster Stephen Dubner asked this question, engaging with academics and industry to understand the measurement challenges and interrogate the question.

Part 1: TV

Part 2: Digital

Statista - Global Advertsing Spending ↩︎

Apple Starting To Hit The Right Spot On User Privacy

Thu, 09 Jul 2020 05:01:03 +1000

Over the past few weeks since Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote (love the 3 am start to watch live), much has been written about the new steps they are taking to protect privacy.

The discourse online over the past few years has been much the same, as digital marketers seek to find a new way to mitigate the impact of Apple’s new initiatives.

From a data and marketing side, the current tap is slowly losing pressure, from a privacy side, Apple is shining a light on the methods that some, including myself, would suggest are unscrupulous. To put this in context, what possible reason do analytics organisations have for sending information like battery, storage, memory and CPU usage, among the metrics that you might expect?¹ or TikTok, LinkedIn and others have to keep looking at your phone’s clipboard?²

The Need For More Transparency When It Comes To The Data Apps Collect

Fri, 08 May 2020 12:01:03 +1000

Over the past few years, there has been a significant shift in rhetoric from Apple and Google as it relates to privacy. While Apple seeks to use privacy as a point of differentiation, the reality is Apple is the best of a bad bunch. There is much that needs to be done.

Indeed Apple has taken many steps to improve the privacy and sought to limit the data applications have access. They have not gone far enough.

Metadata

Thu, 06 Nov 2014 21:15:40 +1000

The Australian Governments has recently introduced laws that would force telecommunications companies to store metadata for two years, under the banner of counter-terrorism. Don’t get me wrong I have nothing wrong with the work that the government does in keeping us safe, however, given that number of hacks and breaches that occur these days, there are just too many risks.

Metadata that is collected by telecommunications companies can be used to track your every movement. In the hands of the wrong people, such information can be used to tell someone if you are at home.

Aaron Swartz

Mon, 03 Nov 2014 21:17:39 +1000

Whichever way you look at it, Aaron Swartz has fundamentally changed the Internet. Aaron is one of the people behind reddit, which has been called the front page of the Internet. However, many would suggest that Aarons biggest claim to fame is as a coauthor of RSS or Rich Site Summary standard that is widely used across the Internet.

Earlier this year a movie was released telling Aarons story, his fight for an open Internet, his legal battle, and explores the questions of access to information and civil liberties that drove his work.

Print Friendly

Sat, 08 Mar 2014 20:33:03 +1000

As a university student, I’m always having to read the information contained on various websites, that are often filled with ads. Don’t get me wrong I don’t have an issue with ads. However, I do have an issue when this makes a website unfriendly to read.

I recently came across a fantastic tool, that makes it simple and easy to turn any website into a print friendly, E-mail friendly and PDF friendly format. Print friendly as it is called provides a simple easy to use interface to customise the sections of the website that you really wished print. Perhaps my favourite feature of print friendly is the way it lays out the downloadable PDF documents.