2022

Wrapping up 2022, and Welcome to 2023!

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 2022 posts.

My perspective on 2022, and my hopes for 2023...

Countdown to 2023... Worried yet Hopeful

Countdown / Column.

Today's the last day of 2022, and another year has gone by. It's New Year's Eve, and one is supposed to reflect on what has passed, and look  forward to what's yet to come.

I'm... confused. A little sad, somewhat lost, a little disappointed, a bit worried, and a tad hopeful.

Countdown to 2023... Solid Sound Models / Broken Amplifier / Broken Tape Deck / Marriage

Countdown / Column.

The most popular page on this blog is the Rock Solid page. I've updated the information on other related models, as I think I've finally figured out all variants.

As for 2023... I hope to enjoy my Home Theater setup for a long, long time to come. I feel no need to visit the cinema, and am considering even larger screen options... Though I'd probably have to win the lottery first. And get some stuff repaired...

Countdown to 2023... Writing... no, procrastinating (creating yet another wallpaper)

Countdown / Writing.

For a year I've been mostly at a kind of stand-still when it came to writing. It's not that I don't want to write, but it just never happened. My health wasn't cooperating, I've been busy at work, and there have been so many other things to do. So, besides some editing, there was little work done on my novel(s).

Countdown to 2023... Love Hina (1998)

Countdown / Anime Review.

Anime can be great. I love anime, though I'm not a hardcore fan. I did notice there's a lot of variation in anime, and though some of the topics have become more mature over time, anime as a whole genre seems to be moving back to its roots, ie. lately anime seems to be targeting a younger audience again.

Countdown to 2023... Corona - T plus 703 - Fxck you!

Countdown / Column.

745 days after I realized Corona was for real, 703 days after what I theoretically estimated to be the most dangerous day (I was probably wrong but sometimes that's a good thing 🤔) and I'm still alive.

I'm still alive. I had my shots. Got pretty sick of the first batch, less so from the second inoculation. Then, a couple of months ago, I caught Corona / Covid myself, in spite of the inoculations...

Countdown to 2023... Windows 11 Quadrophonic - RealTek / Asrock Ryzen 5 / Labtec 2514

Countdown / Datatalk / Windows.

My old Asrock mainboard has a RealTek audio chip onboard. I have an old Labtec 4 channel amp with its own little sub that's still going strong after 22 (!) years.

Under Windows 10, my setup would by default mirror stereo playback to the rear speakers. Not so under Windows 11. Even better: you can't tell Windows 11 that you have a quadrophonic setup. Well, you can, but it's a little hidden...

Countdown to 2023... Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff - The Illuminae Files 01 - Illuminae (2015)

Countdown / Audiobook Review / Book Review.

I'll be damned. They did it again. (Or before. Time is relative.) The Aurora Cycle was great (still have to add the reviews for books 2 and 3) and this book, by the same authors, does it again. Although, in this case, it's... different.

Countdown to 2023... Why television will never get it right

Countdown / Column.

It’s perfectly normal for a series to be cancelled when the ratings drop, and the number of viewers dwindle. It’s all about making money.

But isn't it time for the show-runners to show some respect to their (potential) audience?

Countdown to 2023... Shortcuts to webpages using Chrome profiles

Countdown / Chrome.

You can launch Chrome with a specific user profile, but, unfortunately, there's no easy way AFAIK to discern which profile number matches a specific profile name. Here's a. how to figure out the profile number, and b. how to share batch files and scripts over different machines with different profile names.

Why? Because you might use the same website with different profiles, ie. settings, and you don't want to manually log out and in again.

Countdown to 2023... PS4 Controllers / charging / registering / USB cable length and extensions / adapters

Countdown / Gaming.

I wrote this ages ago... but never posted it. And now the PS5 era has arrived 😁 and still I post something about the PS4... Whatever. Sometimes the PS4 misbehaves with controllers and (longer / weird) USB cables. Here are my personal notes and observations. This also applies to a Logitech G29 Wheel and PCs.

Countdown to 2023... VirtualBox versus Hyper-V on Windows 10 and 11

Countdown / Datatalk / VirtualBox.

The countdown to 2023 has started. And I haven't reached my one hundred posts this year yet! Well, counting down is fine, but I prefer the majority of my posts to have some kind of usefulness... Some kind. Sort of 😏

So, 11 days... Let's start with VirtualBox 6.1.40 and spontaneous freezes on Windows 11...

Alan Dean Foster - Pip and Flinx 1 - The Tar-Aiym Krang (1972)

Book Review.

In 1972 (that's a long time ago) Alan Dean Foster wrote the first of the Pip and Flinx novels.

It's an easy read, which would probably classify as a YA, with left and right a bit of exposition (and somewhat old fashioned) but it is still imminently readable. 

B&W Solid Sound Monitor... Transmission Line / Horn?!?

Music.

Look what I found on a Japanese (?) website... someone is selling his home-build transmission line / horn version of the B&W 'Rock Solid Sound' Monitor.

Hard to tell how it sounds, but the lack of dampening material, and the fact the seller wants to sell it... Oh well.

If it's still for sale (I think it's for sale, but my Japanese ain't what it has (n)ever been 😇) you'll find it here.

Wallpaper - Xbox

Wallpaper.

Okay, I'm a Sony PlayStation guy (in spite of also owning an Xbox One S) but this is a great wallpaper. (Click image to enlarge.)

I couldn't find a high-resolution version, but that doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I deliberately use dots and blur effects in WallX to make the background fuzzier so the wallpapers won't distract me from the job at hand. WallX parameters: dots blur round distort 15 expand 150 keep resident