NineLizards

Niet alles kost geld! Je kunt nog steeds gratis een vriend of bekende of familie lid helpen met zijn / haar computer op afstand. Veel apps zijn betaald geworden, en sommige apps erg onveilig, maar deze optie werkt nog altijd.

Een kleine post omdat ik steeds vergeet hoe het werkt...

Lees meer...

Windows + Shuttle Pro

The older version of the Contour Jog Shuttle Pro (the v1) was also sold under the brand name Hercules back in 2002... I got one of those.

Fortunately, the old drivers still work on Windows 11 (with one caveat) so I can still use it to edit videos. Yeah!

This is how to set it up with KDEnlive.

Edge losing its voice

Windows + TTS

I'm using Immprep and Microsoft Edge's Read Aloud function for some text to speech verification of my written work (using Immprep).

I noticed that an overenthusiastic fooling around with the different voices in Edge can make Edge 'lose its voice'.

Symptoms: the 'read aloud' options are greyed out, or when started you hear nothing, and you can no longer change the voice in the 'read aloud' mode of Edge.

The Long Road - Part 3b - Testing Longer Drying Times and Cover Insulation

I used my printed drying cover to heat two spools over a longer period of time, and the results weren't impressive, so I decided to try to improve it...

1. By printing it with thicker walls, and

2. by adding some heat reflecting material.

Those two steps did the job!

Tol in Zwitserland / Oostenrijk / Frankrijk / Spanje / Italie / Nederland / Bip & Go (Dutch)

Travel + Dutch

Heerlijk toch, vakantie in het buitenland... lekkere snelwegen, een vignetje, beetje tol betalen... Duh.

Even voor mezelf wat zaken op een rijtje zetten...

Elizabeth Bear - Jenny Casey 1 / 2 - Hammered / Scardown

An accidental find, but I like it. This is hard SF, involving a world past the brink of ecological disaster (with many people unaware or actively ignoring it), the US and China in a kind of military impasse, and Canada hiring itself out as the mercenary pool for the whole world.

Cleaning up Windows shite... Onedrive / Copilot / Startup / Companion Apps / Cloud Content / Adds...

Audiobook Review + Alexandra Bracken

Let's get rid of OneDrive and CoPilot and streamline some other stuff... Who needs that crap...

Unfortunately, Microsoft may at random decide to reinstall this crapware, or re-enable some of these settings... sigh.

Sneeuwjacht - 3 - Geen Sneeuw, Maar Toch... (Dutch)

Travel + Dutch

Een nieuw jaar, een nieuwe kans 😁

Nog een poging voor de Alpen? Verleden jaar heb ik al een stukje Timmelsjoch en Stelvio gedaan... Hoe zou het zijn om alle (nou ja, alle belangrijke) passen in 1x te rijden? Kan dat eigenlijk wel?

Alexandra Bracken - Passenger 2 - Wayfarer

This is the sequel to Passenger. It's an interesting read, and the main character appears a bit stronger than before, willing to fight. Her counterpart and love interest ends up with the most important power in these two books, purely by (bad) luck.

All-in-One Table v1 - Build Plates, Temperatures, Drying Times, Glue

3D Printing + Plate Lab

Based upon my own experiences, and stuff I gathered on the internet.

Click on the image to open the table.

Note: a wrong Aruco code may affect bed adhesion!

Monday, August 3, 2026

The Long Road - Part 3 - Drying Cover for the Heating Bed - X1C / P1S / P2S / X2D

I own an AMS-HT, but not all rolls / spools fit. You can, however, also dry your filament inside your printer, using the heated printer bed. It may be slower and less efficient, it looks less sexy and it blocks you from actually using your printer for printing, but hey! It works.

Audiobook Review + Dan Willis

Lately I’m encountering a lot of detective / film noir inspired stuff. There’s Sugar on Apple TV, Spider-Noir on… euh… Prime Video? (More about Spider Noir later.) And here’s Dan Willis, who wrote a 10+ series of books, set in an alternative 30’s in the US, where (some) magic works, and dames are still dames.

Wallpaper - Jonesy

Audiobook Review + Zoe Hana Mikuta

A cat so dangerous, even a Flerken would keep its distance...

Jonesy (aka Jones) is of course the red tabby from Aliens - and one of the real survivors - but what if Jonesy would have encountered an immature, young alien, at the start of the story? In real cat style, that would have been an awfully short movie 🤔😁

Zoe Hana Mikuta - Gearbreakers / Godslayers

YA NA / FF / Post-apocalyptic / Mechas / First Person Present Tense.

Love betrayal combat mechas.

Can it get any better?

The Long Road - Part 2 - (Stacked) Peltier Elements

Peltiers are interesting things. Inefficient interesting things.

Apple TV - Sugar - Season 1

Series Review + Apple TV + Sugar

Ah... What to make of this...

Good, but...

The Long Road - Part 1 - Modifying an old 123-3D Spool Holder

Audiobook Review + Xiran Jay Zhao

"I love it when a plan comes together."

Yeah, so do I. But sometimes... It doesn't.

So, here's the challenge I set myself: design and build my own filament dryer.

Now what does that have to do with a 123-3D Spool Holder?!?

Plate Lab - X2D / P2S Aruco codes

3D Printing + Plate Lab

With the P2S and X2D Bambu made some changes to the Aruco codes. I couldn't find a detailed description yet (and I don't own an X2D or P2S yet) but this is what I figured out thus far...

Xiran Jay Zhao - Iron Widow 1 - Iron Widow

Iron Widow is the first part of a duology / trilogy / series (?) with the same name. It describes Wu Zetian's rise through the ranks, in a Chinese inspired scifi / fantasy setting featuring a mystical 'spirit power' (a kind of paranormal energy source) and very large mecha-like creatures called 'Chrysalis'.

Plate Lab - Test Objects for Testing Build Plate Adhesion

3D Printing + Plate Lab

In modern day 3D printers you have a lot of choice in build plates, filaments, temperatures, speeds, making it almost impossible to compare the actual adhesion of the different combinations.

When fooling around with buildplates (see PlateLab) I tried to come up with a way to properly (and objectively) test material / plate adhesion.

Placing a link / shortcut to a web page on your task bar in Windows 11

Sometimes Windows 11 is sooooooo annoying.

Place a link to a webpage on your desktop... works. Drag it to the taskbar... can't pin it.

Why oh why? Well, here's the work-around...

Jellyfin - Install Server and Client

Datatalk

Jellyfin is a free alternative for Plex (and as you may have noticed Plex has gotten a little top heavy lately).

Unfortunately, the people behind Jellyfin dropped the ball with the latest version - at least for Windows - as it simply doesn't 'auto' install. But fixing it isn't too hard.

Wallpaper - Red Rocks

Audiobook Review + Adrian Tchaikovsky

With the temperature outside rising and rising (we passed 35 yesterday) I present you a matching (dual monitor) wallpaper...

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Adrian Tchaikovsky - Children of Time 03 - Children of Memory

The third installment in the series, and (at first) very confusing, but in the end it all makes sense.

Again, Tchaikovsky takes a 'what if' and spins it all the way to its logical conclusion, in this case it's the Ship of Theseus concept.

Apple TV - Sugar - s01e01

Series Review + Apple TV + Sugar

Season one episode one. Very weird, but I love it. I've just finished episode one, and... this is weird.

Who is John Sugar? What is John Sugar?

Adrian Tchaikovsky - Children of Time 02 - Children of Ruin

Audiobook Review + Adrian Tchaikovsky

Book 2 in the Children of Time series. I'm probably one of the few who hasn't completed the series yet, but let me start by saying that Adrian Tchaikovsky plays the 'what if' game very well.

Book 1 featured intelligent spiders, and book 2 added intelligent octopi (?) and bacteria to the mix. (Not much of a spoiler as that's pretty clear from the start).

Frankenblocks Concept - Part 3

Frankenblocks + Concept

It's time to settle on a specific module size, and decide how a default 'baseplate' should look like.

Audiobook Review + Amie Kaufman

First person, present tense, YA. romance / science-fiction. Classic recipe, and typical Amie Kaufman.

But... Published in 2026, this book is a bit of a let-down compared with her earlier co-op work with Jay Kristoff, especially the Aurora series, or The Illuminae Files.

Frankenblocks Concept - Part 2

Frankenblocks + Concept

We settled on Lego (or the Lego dimensions and stud concept) as the basis for our own STEM system, and I've named the pieces 'Frankenblocks'. A sensible name, as we're building a kind of Frankenstein solution.

Wallpaper - Rainbow Blocks

Just a pretty picture... Looks great on (very) large screens.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Frankenblocks Concept - Part 1

Frankenblocks + Concept

So, I decided to create my own STEM system. Step number one was the decision to adapt and adopt Lego bricks. Step number two was figuring out the concept and sizing.

I got some input from an Internet contact who is a teacher, and I used quite a bit of his experience and insight. (He didn't want to be mentioned, but you still deserve the credit, mister X! We'll call you 'Fred' from now on.)

Shrinking an oversized System Volume Information folder

After an update, I was suddenly left with a 500 GB hidden folder on drive O: (this is my Drivepool storage machine), and I couldn't figure out the owner.

It turns out, the owner might be anyone, and the folder could have gone 'plus-sized' due to a (partially) failed update.

Amy Tintera - Reboot

Love. Life. And zombies.

This is a YA first person present tense audiobook exploring the 'I died and came back as a zombie' trope. Fortunately, it's better than the average wannabe-writer 'Isekai' project.

100% Human Generated Content - My stance on AI

Amazon KDP + Writing

Today I saw a commercial for a tool that would auto-generate complete books. Including all chapters, text, graphics, layout, everything.

It was tailored to non-fiction, but it's rather scary - at least to writers. What will be the next step? Will there be 100% written - and readable - novels in our future?

Will there be any writers left? Probably. But - to level the playing field - I think we should be honest about WHO is creating the work...

KDP Essentials

Amazon KDP + Writing

My 'to do' list for publishing something on Amazon KDP, including links to sources or sub-posts, whereever relevant.

Read on... or visit the KDP Essentials page...

A.J. Hackwith - Hell's Library 2 / 3 - The Archive of the Unwritten / The God of Lost Words

The third and final book of this trilogy. That, by itself, was a bit of a surprise, as these books had all the hallmarks of the start of a long, extensive, giganormous series of books.

But nope. It's a trilogy. (And there's nothing wrong with that.) Perhaps I'm over-conditioned by those endless multi-volume series. I think Hackwith could have gotten away with it, but she chose not to.

Wallpaper - Within Temptation - The Unforgiving

Within Temptation's Sharon den Adel has quite the voice, and the band has quite the reputation, but at first I didn't even know this wallpaper was actually an album cover... yet I like it.

Also, I'm a sucker for concept albums, so now I wonder if I can find the associated comics anywhere...

(Click on image to enlarge)

A.G. Slatter - All the Murmering Bones