Tuesday, March 19, 2024

GPX Bestanden en Programma's voor de PC (Dutch)

GPX / Travel / Dutch.

GPX (GPS eXport) files zijn log-bestanden / route-bestanden, en worden vaak voor wandeltochten, fietstochten en auto tour-tochten gebruikt.

Deze post gaat over mijn voorlopige ervaringen met software en hardware, en dan met name onder Windows. (Al zijn de helft van de tools web based 😏)

Monday, March 18, 2024

Rick Partlow - Drop Trooper 1 - Contact Front

Review.

Your typical, macho, space marine novel, but it's readable.

The obligatory bootcamp scenes aren't overly extended, and the techno babble is within limits and believable. Meeting up with an older woman is something you rarely see in these kind of stories, and the enemies - though still faceless - aren't outright evil, just... culturally and biologically different.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

AI Maakt Solliciteren Gemakkelijker en Recruiters Overbodig (Dutch)

AI / Column / Wallpaper / Dutch.

Zie de afbeelding hieronder, door iemand ergens 'gevonden' op het internet, en geplaatst op LinkedIn met de stelling dat AI het hele proces van het zoeken van banen tot het vinden van de juiste kandidaat 'zoveel beter maakt'.

Maar is dat eigenlijk wel zo?

AI Makes Job Applications Easier and Recruiters Superfluous

AI / Column.

See the image below, found by someone 'somewhere' on the internet, and placed on LinkedIn stating that AI would simplify the whole process from searching for a job to recruiting the right candidate.

But is that the case?

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Creating Shortcuts to Batchfiles in Windows 11

Windows 11.

Why make things easy... You can only create links to .exe files now on Windows 11, but there's a way around that as well. It just takes a little effort.

Here's how to create a taskbar shortcut to a batch file in Windows 11:

Monday, March 11, 2024

Top Network Security Security Cheat Sheet

Datatalk.

Found on LinkedIn.

Click on image to enlarge.

More cheat sheets.


Saturday, March 9, 2024

Disney+ - Shogun 2024 - episodes 1, 2 & 3

Series Review.

It's 2024 now, and there's a new Shogun in town (excuse me the pun). Shogun.

I review a lot of older stuff, so it's time to do something more up to date 😇 It's not completely fair to call watching two episodes of Shogun a 'series review', but, well, let's say a review of two episodes is still a review 😏

Thursday, March 7, 2024

The Typewriter

Music / YouTube.

The 1950 Typewriter by Leroy Anderson is by itself unique and crazy.

In 1963 Jerry Lewis used it in the movie Who's Minding the Store.

Over the years there have been multiple performances by real orchestras and other... enthusiasts.

And some of those are great. Try this one.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

De Meest Gevaarlijke Auto Ooit - De Volkswagen MK8 (Dutch)

Column / Dutch.

Nou ja, misschien niet de meest gevaarlijke auto ooit... Die 'eer' gaat waarschijnlijk naar de Ford Pinto, de Mitsubishi Spacestar (da's een raar verhaal, maar wel de auto met de meeste doden in de US), en de Reliant Robin.

Maar nu dus de Volkswagen Golf MK7. Man, wat is dat een gevaarlijk ding.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Appleseed

Anime Review.

With four movies and a thirteen episode television series many of us must have caught at least a glimpse of Appleseed. Or at leats of one of it's main characters Briareos. Aka bunny-ears. Just kidding 😇

Friday, March 1, 2024

Stitchers (2014)

Series Review.

How about diving into other people's minds... Could be fun, right? Here's the 'slip into someone's mind' 2014's Stitchers which I would rapidly exchange for a remake of VR5.

In Stitchers the main character gets 'stitched' into the memories of dead people, helping to solve crimes (typically, ttrying to find out the reasons why those people died). It's a procedural, after all...

Wallpaper - Vuur Kat (Dutch)

Wallpaper / Dutch.

Deze is getekend door mijn dochter, en werkt geweldig als wallpaper op een telefoon, maar ook op een normaal scherm.

Wil je deze afbeelding ergens anders voor gebruiken, neem dan even contact op.

Klik op de afbeelding om te vergroten / Meer wallpapers

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Joshua James & Daniel Young - Legacy of War - First Encounter / Enemy Lines / Invasion Force

Audiobook Review.

Another space opera, and unfortunately it fails in the typical areas of science and logic. The story might have been a lot better with a little more work on the technical aspects.

Here are more of my usual gripes with much of the SF Space Opera and Military SF out there:

Monday, February 26, 2024

Casey White - Silvertongue

Audiobook Review.

Last year I was (trying to) do a review per week, and haven't kept to my schedule when 2024 started... So, let's use a week or two to catch up. First target: Casey White.

Casey White is an independent self publishing author, with a number of novels to her name. I can't figure out how many, as there are multiple authors with the same name / alias 😎

How to install Windows 11 without a Microsoft account and / or TPM

Windows.

In the past you could install Windows 11 with a local account. These days? Not so. You MUST create a Microsoft Account to install Windows 11. That's... ridiculous. Can't even install a PC anymore without an internet connection.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

How to avoid being Microsoft's Bitch... Or: adding and managing Local Accounts on Windows 11

Windows.

My deepest apologies for the choice of words, but today was one of those days where I have been literally yelling at my computer screen for at least ten minutes. All thanks to Microsoft.

And today, my local accounts suddenly disappeared.

Saturday, February 10, 2024

Bedrijfseconomische Omstandigheden - Hoe ontslag een lachertje is geworden dankzij de Vaststellingsovereenkomst (Dutch)

Dutch.

In veel landen is ontslag de gewoonste zaak van de wereld. Maandag ben je aan het werk. Dinsdag verteld je baas dat je kunt gaan, en Woensdag sta je op straat.

In Nederland is dat iets beter geregeld, maar niet veel... En werkgevers maken er dankbaar misbruik van, omdat het een gemakkelijke manier is om ongewenste werknemers weg te werken.

Friday, February 9, 2024

Ikea Ivar Door (Hinge) Mod (104.530.72)

DIY.

Ikea has a new (?) product called a 'door', also known under the catchy nominator '104.530.72' 😎

Actually, they have two versions. I have used the rattan version here. Both though are not of a quality that would warrant the price. (40+ bucks, Ikea? Seriously?)

Monday, February 5, 2024

JBL Live 670NC Headset - Broken & Dead

Review / DIY.

If this was a review my advice would be: don't buy. Sorry, JBL, but you screwed up. The headphone itself is nice, *mostly* well made, with unfortunately one essential flaw: it broke down, most likely due to a design or manufacturing mistake.

Thanks JBL... 100 euro down the drain.

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Wallpaper - Druppels (Dutch)

Wallpaper / Dutch.

Soms is een simpele wallpaper alles wat je nodig hebt, zoals deze waterdruppels voor een dual-monitor setup.

Klik op de afbeelding om te vergroten / Meer Wallpapers

 

Secomber Rescan

RPG.

My old Secomber maps were scanned 20 years ago, using a handscanner. It was about time I rescanned them, especially after finding other Secomber maps.

Click on any of these images for a larger version.

Saturday, January 20, 2024

Secomber Redux

RPG.

20+ years ago I created some maps for Secomber, a small town in the Forgotten Realms. I didn't pick the place at random. I selected it because it is known, but not well documented allowing the DM lots of freedom, and it's close to lots of interesting places.

I'm planning to revisit the old document and expand on it, so in preparation I googled a bit...

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Chrome 2023 Refresh and Profile Colors

Datatalk / Chrome.

I like to differentiate my Chrome profiles by different tab colors, but the 'Chrome 2023 Refresh' enforced pastel colors on us poor users. I had not spotted that yet, but when I made a profile change, I suddenly couldn't select my original color again. Instead, we now have 'themes' that don't do what I want...

But it's fixable... for now...

Monday, January 15, 2024

VR.5

Series Review.

Outdated. Old fashioned. Geeky, nerdy, cult.

And yet, in some ways, this old one season series is lots of fun. Sidney Bloom is a telecoms technician with a talent that allows her to creep into someone else's mind, entering a kind of 'virtual reality'.

Monday, January 8, 2024

Netflix - Arcane

Anime Review.

It’s based on a computer game, but it has (fortunately) little to do with the game (besides borrowing characters and background).

Synopsis: two sisters survive in a world with lots of contrast between the rich and the poor. When a heist fails, the oldest sister goes to jail, and the youngest one goes… crazy.

Monday, January 1, 2024

Wallpaper - The Scientific Railgun Clones

Wallpaper.

I wrote about A Scientific Railgun some time ago, and here's the matching wallpaper.

Click on image to enlarge, or check out any of the other featured wallpapers...


Apple TV – Silo

Series Review.

I haven’t read the Hugh Howey novels this series is based upon, but this first season was highly enjoyable to watch. People locked in a silo-like vertical arcology need to survive on limited resources. However, there is a secretive group active in the background, controlling (and using) more advanced technology, and things might not be quite as they seem. I found it now and again a little predictable, but still worth a watch.

Sunday, December 31, 2023

2023

Wrapping up 2023, and Welcome to 2024!

The image to the left takes you to the home screen which lists all major topics.

To search this blog you have to use the desktop version of this blog.

This link will show all 2023 posts.

Countdown to 2024 - Nine Writing Tips Before Christmas - #1 - Write a Lot

Countdown / Writing.

The final tip on the final day of 2023 is very straightforward and way too obvious: write a lot. Write some more. Read a lot. Write again.

After a while building sentences becomes something automatic. You'll reach the stage where you'll effortlessly find the right words to describe the scene in your mind. This just takes practice. So write a lot, read a lot, then write even more.

Note: using a decent keyboard and some blind typing helps a lot here!

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Countdown to 2024 - Nine Writing Tips Before Christmas - #2 - Shock Yourself And Your Reader

Countdown / Writing.

Shock yourself and your reader.

What's the most exotic, outrageous thing your character would do? Would he / she really do it? Does the story lend itself to that? If so, create a situation where your character would do exactly that... the impossible, the unthinkable, the illogical (not from the character's point of view, mind you).