Now in its 54th year, the massive Bièvres photo fair brings traders from all over Europe and visitors from around the world. If you are into old cameras, this is a weekend to savour.....

Bob White looks at the earliest days of press photography and describes the sort of gear the professional cameraman would have had in his hands in the first half of the 20th century.

After the best part of a month in Greece with clear blue skies and temperatures in the late eighties, arriving back in London was something of a shock. Autumn seems to have landed early and today's "Summer" bank holiday was a total washout. Father Thames was perched high and susceptible areas, such as Chiswick Mall seen in these photographs, was an early casualty.

I’m grateful to reader Keith for some background on the success of Apple Pay in the UK. He sent me a useful link to a City AM article which lists all known companies currently prepared to accept Apple Pay transactions. It is clear that the number is growing by the day. While NFC transactions in England (probably also in other parts of the UK) are to rise from the £20 limit to £30 during September, there is good news that certain retailers are prepared to accept higher-value business if the more secure Apple platform is used (as opposed to the normal swiped credit card which is susceptible to use by thieves until stopped). 

This month I took my one and only Magic Mouse abroad with me as a travel companion for the new 12in MacBook. The little rodent, however, did not seem happy to be on its holidays and immediately started exhibiting strange behaviour. Repeated disconnections became very frustrating. I changed the batteries several times, even though the power indicator was showing 100 percent.

Dear Reader - The other day I read a little piece by Derwent May on email etiquette. This is a subject that has troubled me for a long time. As we make more and more use of emails, both business and personal, the angst of knowing how to lay them out gets greater. Hi, Dear, Yo and others vie for the salutation while we have a wide choice of sign offs, including Regards, Kind Regards, Good Wishes, Speak Later, Yrs, Mxx, luv and a dozen others. There is simply no accepted fixed rule that really would be useful.