Sneeuwjacht - 1 - Proloog (Dutch)

Travel + Dutch

Hoe zou het zijn om vanuit een warm, sneeuwvrij dal de berg op te rijden, en dan boven op de top sneeuw aan te treffen?

Geweldig!

Dus... als voorbereiding voor een komende roadtrip een paar links...

MRA in de praktijk - 3 - GPX voor zowel MRA Next (Here) als Tom Tom (Dutch)

GPX + Dutch

Met MRA Routeplanner is het eigenlijk heel erg simpel om een .GPX file te maken welke door zowel Tom Tom als MRA Next (Here) goed wordt verwerkt, en waardoor gebruikers van verschillende navigatie apparaten en apps toch voor 99© dezelfde route rijden!

MRA in de praktijk - 2 - Volg de Route met MRA Next / MRA Navigatie (Dutch)

GPX + Dutch

Doel:

1. Lees een TRACK .GPX file in

2. Maak er een ROUTE .GPX file van

3. Gebruik MRA Next om de route te volgen

A Brief History of Self Regulation

Column

Call me a leftist. A socialist. A communist.

Or a realist...

(Click on image to enlarge)

Plat plat plat... Biesbosch en Lekdijk met een GPXje (Dutch)

Car + GPX + Travel + Dutch

Afgelopen Zondag een leuke tourrit gedaan, maar... wat doet me weer realizeren dat Nederland zo verrekte vlak is...

Maar goed. Een paar weken terug had ik een .GPX beloofd van een tour rit bij mij in de buurt... Dus bij deze.

MRA in de praktijk - 1 - Track naar Route (Dutch)

GPX + Dutch

Doel:

1. Lees een TRACK .GPX file in

2. Maak er een ROUTE .GPX file van

3. Gebruik MRA Next om de route te volgen

D&D - Cloak & Dagger

RPG Book Review

Let's add another D&D product review.

This isn't the Marvel based TV show, but the TSR Dungeons & Dragons book from 2000, and it details some (hidden) factions in the Forgotten Realms setting.

Elaine Cunningham - Elfshadow

Book Review

TSR, the (in)famous creators of the AD&D role playing game (then boutght by WOTC, Hasbro, and becoming perhaps even more (in)famous for their poor handling of the OGL) also publish books based on their games. One of those is Elfshadow by Elaine Cunningham. It's set in the Forgotten Realms, but no prior knowledge is required. 

The Verdict: It's not bad. Expect regular 'sword and sorcery'.

Dapper / TellTales! #6

D&D - How Not to get Eaten by Owlbears

RPG Book Review

TSR, WOTC, and now HASBRO all seem to struggle a bit when it comes to marketing, and sometimes they release books that simply make no sense.

Take, for example, How Not to get Eaten by Owlbears.

RPG Book Scores Explained

RPG Book Review

This is part of my 'recovery effort' from the old NightLive website.

Years ago I did review a number of TSR / WOTC products, so I've dusted off the old review scheme. You'll run into some TSR / WOTC / Hasbro reviews from now on...

This is my default review / scoring scheme.

Wallpaper - Another Tomorrow

Wallpaper

Another great piece of artwork by the artist Yumei. This one works well as a dual monitor wallpaper.

Datatalk + Bufferbloat

Unfortunately, dslreports.com is no more. Are there any alternatives?

I did find https://www.waveform.com/tools/bufferbloat which is a little less clear, but seems to work.

(And yes, I know that QOS is not the right way to address bufferbloat, but it may be the only option available to many of us.)

Netflix - Damsel (2024)

Movie Review

First you see a dragon. Then you're watching some royal intrigues for 35 minutes, and only then the action starts.

Which doesn't make Damsel a complete disaster, but it helps to know what to expect.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008) and a little Summer Glau

Series Review

Summer Glau has a pendant for Sci-Fi 'nerdish' shows. Unfortunately, they're not all successful, but apparently her choice in roles matches my taste in television...

Jeffery Haskell - Grimm's War 6 - A Grimm Decision

Audiobook Review

And yet another space opera / military sci-fi series. Shades of Honor Harrington, and that's fine. Captain Grim leads the crew of his older but still powerful boat through a conflict between multiple sides, Consortium, Caliphate, Guild, Alliance...

MX-5 NC Bose Headunit vervangen (Dutch)

Car + MX-5 + Dutch

Er is vaak wat verwarring over wat je precies kunt doen om het geluid in je MX-5 te verbeteren.

Hierbij een overzichtje:

Elliot Kay - Poor Man's Fight 6 - No Man's Land

Audiobook Review

Another space opera / military sci-fi series. Main protagonist might be a little too much of an anti hero in the 6th book, but it’s quite readable.

Series starts with greedy corporations that unload endless debts on wannabe students, then moves on to an interstellar conflict between several races. 

Wallpaper - Dear Karma

Wallpaper

No comment 😶

(Click on image to enlarge)

Faith Hunter - Junkyard Cats / Junkyard Bargain / Junkyard War

Audiobook Review

Entertaining set of 3 (now 4) novels, in which a post-apocalyptic junkyard owner becomes a kind of queen bee, driven by biotech, and assisted (hampered?) by gen-engineered cats, after aliens overcame earth’s finest.

The Verdict: great read. Looking forward to book 4!

Erik Schubach - Fixit / Glitch / Vashon / Descent / Sedition

Audiobook Review

Supposed to be somewhat ‘lesbian scifi’ but - except for one scene that wasn’t even that explicit - these read as a fast paced nerd-becomes-heroine set of short stories. Does suffer a little from the Mary Sue effect.

Synopsis: dirtside engineer knows how to create sentient robots, and falls in love with a copper-without-impulse-control from the floating cities above.

The Verdict: perfectly readable, light SciFi.

Charlaine Harris / Christopher Golden - Cemetery Girl

Audiobook Review

Short story that got expanded into three short novels, about a girl who lost her memory and starts living on a cemetery.

It's an easy read - nothing too exceptional - with perhaps a somewhat unexpected plot twist near the end, where the whole story adopts a supernatural element.

The verdict: a decent, entertaining read. 

Compound Interest is a lovely thing

Column

Are you ready yet to become a millionaire?

If you are 20 years old, and you have 300 dollars to spare every month, then you are one hell of a lucky person.

If you're 59 and going on 60, it ain't that easy...

Netflix - Arcane - Season 2

Anime Review

I had high hopes for season 2 of Arcane... Season 1 was brilliant, an emotional roller coaster, great animation, and a good story to carry it all. How could season 2 be any less?

Well... it turned out it could be. Worse, that is.

Rakuten Kobo - Korte handleiding voor Kobo / Kobo Plus (Dutch)

Kobo + Dutch

Voor Engelstalige boeken ben je waarschijnlijk beter uit met Amazon + Audible, maar voor Nederlandstalige boeken is Kobo misschien de betere optie.

Check van wie je koopt bij Amazon en Bol! (Dutch)

Dutch

Koop je online, zorg dan dat je koopt van een betrouwbare (toe)leverancier. Er zijn heel veel spelers welke rotzooi verkopen, of onbetrouwbaar zijn. 

Ik beperk me dan ook vooral tot de grotere / betrouwbare namen, maar dat betekent niet dat alle (kleine) shops slecht zijn!

Koop Kindle en Audible Boeken op Amazon.DE! (Dutch)

Dutch

Elke keer wanneer Amazon (Amazon.nl, om precies te zijn) met een trotse melding komt dat je 'al je digitale producten nu op Amazon.nl' kunt kopen krijg ik hoofdpijn. Omdat ik weet dat daarmee gelijk de prijzen omhoog gaan, en het toch niet werkt...

2024

Wrapping up 2024, and Welcome to 2025!

The image to the left takes you to the index (home) page which lists all major topics.

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

This link will show all 2024 posts.

And in spite of accomplishing nothing, somehow it doesn't feel like a bad year. That's weird...

Countdown to 2025 - #1 - My forever Music Top 3

Countdown + Music

I should write a long and extensive post about the purpose of life, love, the state of the universe and everything. Instead I'm just going to give you my Top 3 in music. And damn, it turns out that that's actually hard!

Countdown to 2025 - #2 - Top 3 of Failed Intentions

Countdown + Column

It's the end of the year, so here we go again... Good intentions.

I have a few... Pretty much the same as last year and I just might fail yet again. But I'm going to try again! I'll tell you next year how things ended up...

Countdown to 2025 - #3 - Best SF & Fantasy books ever (my Top 3)

Countdown + Scifi books + Fantasy books

You may have noticed that a large part of this blog consists of nothing but SciFi and Fantasy book reviews. I'm 58 now, and I've done nothing but reading SF and Fantasy over the last 40 odd years. There has been the occaisional side trip into other genres, but in the end I always return to my roots 😇 So, what are the best books I've ever read?