Italia Online - 2020/01/12 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
Today’s t-shirt hurls us back to the days of the very slow internet…
Big throwback to 1997/1998: the internet was something new in Italy and Italia On Line (IOL) was Italy’s version of AOL (unrelated to AOL in any way apart from “product inspiration”). IOL ran a TV ad campaign highlighting the usefulness of search. When at the SMAU consumer electronics and technology trade show in Milan I was given this t-shirt which highlighted the catchphrase of the ad campaign.
This was before the days of established search providers (Google was in its infancy and Bing didn’t exist). Altavista and Yahoo were my search engines of choice at the time, but IOL still covered the internet portal function for me.
Let’s face it, even if you did have an internet connection in 1998, it was so slow you would be bashing your face against a rock face and shouting “Open up you bastard!” anyway. Thank goodness for progression of internet speeds: my current home connection is 750 million times faster.
IOL later folded into Libero and was lost in the innards of the internet. It had a good run and gave us a good laugh with this ad campaign.
Needless to say, I don’t wear this t-shirt in public much. Even in Scotland people know that the southern european word for referee is a rude one…
Intel Developers Android - 2020/01/11 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
A t-shirt of a tech future which could have been: Intel Android…
Around 2013 and 2014 Intel, one of the world’s biggest semiconductor chip manufacturers, was betting big on Android. They spent a lot of money seeding their products and driving the adoption of Android as a platform, in the hope of capitalising at a later date. Products like the Orange San Diego and the Tesco Hudl 2 came from this push of Intel’s and they were pushing hard on the developer onboarding as well.
This is an Intel Developer Zone t-shirt from 2014 which I was given at an Android developer conference called Droidcon.
Sadly Intel’s efforts were not as successful as they were hoping and due to some internal refocusing that whole area of their business was refocused on other things. Just 5 years later it is definitely not common to see many Android devices running on Intel chips. This is definitely one of those “what could have been” stories of the tech industry. Well, I have a cool t-shirt to remind me of it…
KLM 100 Asics - 2020/01/10 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
Matteo shows off his 100% recycled polyester KLM 100 t-shirt.
This is my KLM 100 Asics tee, made out of 100% recycled polyester. This t-shirt celebrates KLM’s 100th birthday, and reminds you of the airline’s real efforts at becoming a role model for sustainability in the travel industry.
KLM is my favourite airline. They earned my lifetime loyalty a few years ago by pulling out all the stops and enabling me to arrive home in time for my sister’s wedding (with the wedding cake my better half Candice had made). Since then, whenever there has been the option, I have chosen to fly with KLM or their SkyTeam partners.
I was going to link to shop.klm.com to the store where you can purchase one of these excellent t-shirts, but sadly the store seems to be down for maintenance at the moment. I’ll keep an eye out and add the proper link when it is available again.
Niffler with Snitch - 2020/01/09 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
Matteo’s favourite Harry Potter expanded universe creature: the Niffler.
One of my favourite creatures in the extended Harry Potter universe is the Niffler. We get to meet and follow a niffler’s shenanigans in Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (2016).
This t-shirt is another one from Qwertee, which was a limited edition one. Check out Qwertee to see if you can find something else on theme: https://www.qwertee.com/r/249cd838c1 (referral link).
Don't Tread on My Internet - 2020/01/08 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
A relic from a protest of a bygone era: “Don’t Tread On My Internet”
The “Don’t Tread On My Internet” t-shirt is one from late 2011 and the protests against proposed SOPA and PIPA legislation that would have broken the internet.
Don’t Tread On My Internet
I like this design, as it is a riff on the Gadsden flag, replacing the snake head with an RJ45 connector.
By Christopher Gadsden (1724–1805), Lexicon, Vikrum - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1440653
While SOPA and PIPA did not become legislation, many similar threats are still proposed by many entities wanting to limit/break the internet as we know it.
Nobody Hugs Me - 2020/01/07 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
Another Qwertee t-shirt, this one featuring the Grim Reaper.
This is a Qwertee t-shirt which highlights how lonely the Grim Reaper must feel sometimes.
Nobody Hugs Me… Qwertee
This Qwertee tee was one I didn’t choose but that was randomly sent to me during one of their Insanitee events.
You can shop for some awesome t-shirts at Qwertee here: https://www.qwertee.com/r/249cd838c1
Pineapple on Pizza - 2020/01/06 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
Will pineapple on pizza be the casus belli for world war 3?
Pineapple on pizza. It is definitely a hot debate, often discussed on the internet. In my view it more likely to cause World War 3 than any other current global events.
OK @CensoredPixel let us settle this. Is pineapple acceptable on pizza? Please retweet for reach. #pizza #pineapple #Poll
— Matteo Doni 🇬🇧 (@Todoleo) July 19, 2018
This t-shirt was a gift from my friend and colleague Jen, who graciously gave it to me after winning our twitter poll on if pineapple on pizza is acceptable.
Bologna’s food decency police getting me off the streets….
Later that year I made the mistake of wearing the pineapple on pizza t-shirt while in Italy. Sadly this led to the local Bologna food decency police arresting me for inciting unacceptable food pairings.
Whatever your views on pineapple on pizza, you have to admit that this t-shirt is a pretty impressive item of clothing….
YouTube Dark Grey - 2020/01/05 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
Matteo dons a YouTube t-shirt. The video sharing platform may not be perfect, but for better or for worse it is where the Tech Travel Geeks share their video content.
Today’s t-shirt is a YouTube one from Mountain View, California.
YouTube Dark Grey T-shirt
YouTube is the video sharing platform the Tech Travel Geeks have been on since mid-2018. The Tech Travel Geeks YouTube Channel has been growing steadily since we set it up and we have had fun making content. Our content mainly covers consumer electronics and gadgets which make the travel experience better. Interested? Why not watch some of our videos and subscribe!
While YouTube is a popular platform with many users and content creators, it is still far from perfect. As with many other places on the internet, it is a place people behave how they would not in real life. The admin functions and analytics need some serious improvements too.
Thanks to all who've reported this!
— Michael Fisher (@theMrMobile) December 30, 2019
I've been locked out of my account for 6 days. I think this is due to an email migration performed by my publisher @futureplc – but YouTube has thus far been unresponsive (even with my Partner Manager on the case).@YTCreators, a little help? pic.twitter.com/vl08bZ1HNP
Even YouTube top creators like Michael Fisher don’t have the support they need sometimes. Michael is the Mr Mobile on YouTube. We thoroughly recommend his high quality, informative and entertaining videos. If you don’t already, go and subscribe to his channel as well and enjoy his excellent puns and Star Trek references.
For better or for worse, YouTube continues to be the best platform for creating and distributing content for the Tech Travel Geeks. 2019 was a great year for our growth, and we plan on making 2020 an even better year on YouTube.
Qwertee Pocket Tee - 2020/01/04 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
Matteo introduces us to Qwertee, one of the sources of many tee designs in MAtteo’s T-shirt A Day in 2020.
This my Qwertee pocket t-shirt and the introduction to Qwertee, a website I spend a lot of pocket money on (pun very much intended).
During Matteo’s T-shirt A Day in 2020 quite a few t-shirts will be from Qwertee. I like the puntastic tee designs they sell and their newsletter marketing works really, really well. Whenever a Qwertee design I wear is still available I’ll try and link to it.
For now have a shop around here: https://www.qwertee.com/r/249cd838c1 (referral link).
Lagunitas IPA Grey Long Sleeve - 2020/01/03 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
Matteo introduces us to Lagunitas Brewing Company and his grey long sleeved Lagunitas IPA t-shirt.
Lagunitas Brewing Company used to be a craft brewer back in 2014 when we discovered it. Now it is a fully owned subsidiary of Heineken International. Lagunitas IPA is one of my go-to IPAs, and Candice and I usually have a bottle or two in the fridge ready to be opened.
Candice and I at the TWiT Brick House with Leo Laporte and Patrick Delahanty in the background.
While looking out some images from Google Photos for this post, I noticed that Patrick Delahanty, inspiration of my T-shirt A Day series you are reading at the moment, is actually in the background of the picture we took a few hours before we visited the brewery and beer sanctuary in 2014. Just a small coincidental signal as to why this series is happening and has many links and threads in it.
Candice enjoying the Lagunitas Beer Sanctuary in Petaluma later that day.
Lagunitas was recommended to us by Leo Laporte, the Chief TWiT, when we visited the TWiT Brick House in 2014. The Lagunitas Brewing Company brewery and taproom is in the MacDowell Boulevard light industrial zone of Petaluma, California a short drive away from Downtown Petaluma. When we visited the taproom for the first time we were blown away by the chillaxed environment, good beer and tasty food.
We liked the Lagunitas Beer Sanctuary so much, we have been back quite a few times since, and often walk out with some merchandise from the store. T-shirts are a frequent purchase when there as there is quite a selection and they have good cut and are made from comfy materials.
Later in this series, we will have a whole month of beer related t-shirts and Lagunitas will feature prominently throughout the month.
Linux Outlaws Black Long Sleeve - 2020/01/02 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
Matteo pulls out a t-shirt from circa 2009 for a podcast which formed his geeky self in the years to come.
This is an oldie, but a good one: my Linux Outlaws long sleeve t-shirt. Linux Outlaws was a podcast I listened to from not long after it started in 2007 until its cancellation in 2014. Hosted by Fabian Scherschel and Dan Lynch, the show mainly focused on Linux and free and open source software.
Linux Outlaws black long sleeve t-shirt with western outlaw tux penguin. Circa 2009. “Linux Outlaws LINUXOUTLAWS.COM we aim to misbehave”
2007 was a fun year both from a travel and tech perspective for me. In September that year I visited my parents in Los Angeles, California and while there purchased the just released Apple iPod Nano (3rd generation, the chunky one). Being on an iPod and using iTunes, that is where I discovered the Linux Outlaws podcast. Don’t worry, the irony of discovering a podcast on free and open source software and consuming it on a locked down service and device was and is not lost on me.
What made the Linux Outlaws a special podcast for me was the fact that the hosts, Fab and Dan, fostered a healthy and geeky community around the podcast. I wrote in with questions or to make a point a few times and my answers were picked up and sparked conversation on the podcast. Most memorable for me was episode 19 (I think) where I asked Dan & Fab about this new Open Handset Alliance (Google’s Android) and how “open” it was going to be. I seem to remember them doubting it would be “open” and that my best bet was to go with something more like the OpenMoko. History was harsh and OpenMoko didn’t really go far as a project. Meanwhile Android ended up being the dominant mobile operating system globally. Even more ironically, the OpenMoko project then pivoted the OS for the reference device to Android.
The Linux Outlaws podcast and community played a vital role in my geeky evolution, and drove a lot of Linux distribution discovery for me. Distro-hopping, fixing stuff and learning through tinkering with technology are what then drove my life and career in the years to follow
Consider this just a taster of geeky t-shirts to come to the Tech Travel Geeks site in 2020. Almost all of them have an interesting backstory and the context the t-shirt came from contributed to my geeky self in one way or another.
Tech Travel Geeks Green - 2020/01/01 - Matteo's T-shirt A Day
Matteo sports the Tech Travel Geeks green #BananaForScale t-shirt and points us to the Tech Travel Geeks Store.
The first t-shirt in Matteo’s T-shirt A Day is a Tech Travel Geeks one (of course!).
Tech Travel Geeks is the YouTube Channel and website of, you guessed it, the Tech Travel Geeks. Formed by Matteo and Lukasz, we have been expanding gradually, and now have a range of contributors and collaborators for our content. Both the website and YouTube Channel were set up in 2018. During 2019 we focused on the YouTube Channel, covering consumer electronics, gadgets and tools to make the travel experience better.
Made out of cotton, this tee is one from the Tech Travel Geeks Store. By purchasing a product from the Tech Travel Geeks Store you will not only be embracing the #BananaForScale lifestyle and elevating your personal style, but also supporting us.
https://teespring.com/en-GB/stores/tech-travel-geeks-store
In 2020 we will be creating more content on both the Tech Travel Geeks website and YouTube Channel, so keep an eye out and if you haven’t already please do subscribe!
Welcome to 2020 and Matteo's T-shirt A Day
Tech Travel Geeks Chief Mobile Opinionist Matteo introduces us to “Matteo’s T-shirt A Day”.
2020 is here and we are looking forward to an awesome year ahead here at Tech Travel Geeks.
One thing I will be personally doing this year is endeavouring to post daily throughout 2020 about my t-shirts.
I have a silly number of t-shirts, even if I do say so myself. The reason I keep them all is that each one is associated with a memory, an event or a story. In the “Matteo’s T-shirt A Day” series of posts I will be sharing these stories, and linking to content where you will be able to read more or watch a video about the story behind the related t-shirt.
This T-shirt A Day project was inspired by TWiT.tv’s Patrick Delahanty, who did something similar in 2019. Thanks for the inspiration Patrick!
Happy 2020 to you all!