Solid Monitor Redux

Music

Added some manuals to the Solid Monitor page.

(These oldies still work great!)

Wallpaper - White Balls

Wallpaper

It's somewhat like T+2000 (2000 days after I expected what would be the worst day for Corona / Covid) and my wallpaper is a silent reminder of that. Remember the lock-down? I do. Work was done over Teams (something many managers nowadays think is no longer working, duh?) and one of the Teams backgrounds was this specific image.

(Click on the image to enlarge) 

Fuck HitfFilm Express. Fuck FXHome. Fuck Artlist.

Datatalk

Fuck HitFilm Express.

Fuck FXHome. Fuck Artlist.

Fuck every piece of software that requires online activation.

Because you will be screwed at some later date.

Under an Open Sky (Chase the Dream) - Men & Machine

Column

I would never let an AI write any of my stories. And - had I been a musician - I would never use AI to compose or sing or perform.

Still, even I have to admit AI is getting impressive, though it isn't perfect.

I wrote the lyrics to this song myself, then build a prompt and had an AI generate it. (Frankly, I cannot even remember which one I used, sorry.)

Retrieve the original installation language for Windows installs

Windows

To do an in-situ upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 your install medium needs to be of the same language as the one you originally installed your Windows with... or not?

On their website Microsoft says you need to pick the language you're currently using, but when you try to do an in-situ upgrade, it asks for the language you installed your original copy with.

Personal Windows 11 Setup

Windows

How I set up my machine...

(This note is pretty much for myself, and I think it actually has some mistakes in it as well...)

Can you still find that (SF) movie, or has Enshittification (TM) taken over full force?

Science Fiction

Let's try to watch some SciFi...

Note: this isn't a 'top 10' kind of list. I was just wondering where you could watch them (legally)...

Note that I'm based in The Netherlands, and availability strongly depends on the region you live in...

Wallpaper - Dual Monitor - Forest

Wallpaper

September featured a coastline, so let's go deep into the forest this time.

(Click on the image to enlarge)

Swapping / upgrading / downgrading SSDs - You want Rescuezilla!

Windows + Datatalk

Replacing an SSD with something larger or (especially) smaller can be quite tricky. Here's a simple way to do it.

(And yes, it is using a Linux boot stick, duh 😏)

Deranged...

Column

A few days ago Donald Trump gave a speech to the United Nations, and everyone was listening in deadly silence.

If you watch it - even if you're a Republican you should watch it - and then think about it... then... then what? Be honest to yourself and the rest of the world, and check the facts...

Pin a shortcut to a batch file on the taskbar

Windows + Datatalk

Sometimes you just need a shortcut to a batch file. Now that's easy. But sometimes you want to place that shortcut on the task bar, and that is slightly more complicated.

This approach appears to work on Windows 10 and 11.

D&D - Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master - The Lazy Anthology (xe 2018, English)

RPG Book Review + Books

As Dungeon Master / Game Master, you're the heart of any role playing game. As DM / GM you run the world, play all the NPCs, and you decide which rules apply when.

That's a lot of work... sometimes a bit too much. This book tries to address that potential problem, by helping you to only prepare what is necessary.

Wallpaper - Dual Monitor - Sweetwater Coastline

Wallpaper

I suppose this is a very large lake, somewhere (that doesn't look like a saltwater coastline to me)... but it's the forever compelling combination of land, see, and water... Add a bit of reddish color, and it's hard to pay attention to anything but that mesmerizing desktop background 😏

D&D - Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master - The Lazy Anthology (xe 2018, Dutch)

RPG Book Review + Books + Dutch

Na al het uitzoeken en voorbereiden is het tijd om het resultaat te laten zien: The Lazy Anthology. Oftewel... drie de boeken tesamen in een enkele, full color hardcover.

Nuttig? Nee. Praktisch? Nee. Voordelig? Nee. Maar man, wat blijft het een goed gevoel om een hardcover vast te houden 😁 Maar ja, behalve de looks gaat het ook nog om de inhoud: waar gaat Return eigenlijk over?

POD, different bindings, and regular printing

RPG + Books

So, I completed my own 'download edit print' sequence using a POD Provider (Pumbo).

But... how do the different kind of POD products actually look?

Druk je eigen RPG handboek af - 4 - Pumbo instellingen (Dutch)

RPG + Books + Dutch

Pumbo adviseert professionele software. Helaas heb ik geen (professionele) Adobe producten, maar alleen maar PhotoImpact, Word, PFD Xchange, en IrfanView.

Maar daarmee wil het ook :-)

Druk je eigen RPG handboek af - 3 - Leveranciers (Dutch)

RPG + Books + Dutch

Okay. Ik weet wat ik wil laten afdrukken. Nou hoef ik alleen nog maar te bepalen bij wie...

215 paginas, full color, hardcover. Hmmm... wie zijn de kandidaten? 

Druk je eigen RPG handboek af - 2 - De PDF aanpassen (Dutch)

RPG + Books + Dutch

Mijn test case is The Return of the Lazy Dungeonmaster. Het basis boek is 96 paginas, en de beide aanvullingen zijn 64 en 48 bladzijden. Kant en klaar afgedrukt en verstuurd komen de drie boeken (totaal 208 bladzijden) uit op ca. 75 euro.

Mijn plan is er een enkele, dikke hardcover van te maken.

Druk je eigen RPG handboek af - 1 - Wat en Hoe en Waarom (Dutch)

RPG + Books + Dutch

Vaak is een PDF precies wat je nodig hebt. Een digitaal boek wat je gemakkelijk mee kunt nemen waar en wanneer je maar wilt. Maar soms wil je gewoon door een papieren kopie bladeren. Een echt boek in je handen houden. En da's wat lastig als er niets anders dan een digitale versie beschikbaar is.

D&D - 5e Basic Rules (5e14 2018, somewhat prettyfied)

RPG Book Review

5E is the closest thing to AD&D 2E that we've seen thus far. 5e is even easier to use, and just as much fun. And... you can start playing D&D 5E without spending a penny. My personal copy of the 5E Basic Rules has a few minor modifications, just to make it more practical.

(I have some mixed feelings on 5E24, the 2024 incarnation of the ruleset. Note that these Basic Rules are based on the 2014 set of rules.)

Viola Grace - The Covert Dragons

Audiobook Review

Once you have a Rakuten Kobo Plus subscription you're going to try to maximize its usage. Let's read / listen to tons of free books - as long as the subscription lasts - right? On top of that, I was investigating the typical romantasy concepts. Free and with a purpose, right?

Well... yeah. Right. Unfortunately, lots of the better stuff isn't free, and lots of the stuff included in Kobo Plus isn't very good... Will Viola Grace change my opinion?

Wallpaper - Fitness Protection Program

Wallpaper

I have absolutely no idea where I found this...

(Click on image to enlarge)

You may need something like WallX to make this usable.

More Wallpapers...

 

Rakuten Kobo - Aanvulling (Dutch)

Kobo + Dutch

Het inlogscherm op de telefoon van Kobo is een beetje verwarrend. Ik heb de handleiding voor Rakuten Kobo dan ook iets aangepast.

Voor meer, zie hier. 

D&D - Raise the Dead (d20 2003)

RPG Book Review

There's life after death... as long as you are a D&D character.

This book is all about raising the dead. Which might be a friend. Or it might be an enemy, to be raised to interrogated... or to be killed off again, who knows. This softcover book four adventures, all focused on raising that one dead friend.

V.E. Schwab - Shades of Magic - A Darker Shade of Magic / A Gathering of Shadows / A Conjuring of Light

Audiobook Review

This is a well known series, in which the last of the Antari (dimension hopping mages) discovers his ancestry, and fights an all consuming magic evil.

It's pretty good, but I didn't find it as exceptional as it is often made out to be. Still good though.

Wallpaper - Sigil University

Wallpaper

I've been running a few D&D sessions as a DM where the players were students at Sigil university (in the Planescape setting). And every university needs a logo and a slogan...

(Click on image to enlarge) 

Apple TV - Murderbot - s01e01..s01e06

Series Review + Apple TV

It's on Apple, and Apple appears to be doing a banging good job when it comes to SciFi shows. Severance. Silo. For All Mankind. Foundation. 3 Body Problem. Pretty good.

You can now add Murderbot to that list.

Kalayna Price - Alex Craft 1 - Grave Witch

Audiobook Review

Dabbling in romantasy lately, are we?

Well. It's only for scientific purposes. And if the story is half-decent, then why not? I can always skip the random porn inserts that seem to haunt modern day fantasy novels...

D&D - Forgotten Realms Adventures (2e 1990)

RPG Book Review + Forgotten Realms

Welcome to the Forgotten Realms. Back in 1990 TSR released Forgotten Realms Adventures, a hardcover book to help players and DMs update from (A)D&D to AD&D 2nd edition.

Content wise it's a little thin, but it was the very first TSR / D&D / RPG product I ever bought. For me, it's the book that started it all.

Homematic Maintenance / Error codes

Domotics + Homematic

Note to self: don't forget to frequently check your Homematic domotics system for any heating related issues...

2nd note to self: don't forget. But I did. Sigh.

3rd note (to visitor): skip this page. It's just for my own usage. You want to go here and see what else is on offer...