Daryl Gregory - Spoonbenders (2017)

Audiobook Review.

With masturbation being a (minor) theme, some drug (ab)use, a dysfunctional family and paranormal gifted people this book won't score well in the bible belt. Nevertheless, it's quite an interesting read, and a very different take on the subject.

Daniel Wilson - The Clockwork Dynasty (2017)

Audiobook Review.

A SciFi novel whose main mechanism borders on Fantasy. It's a fair read, in which a historian hunts for automata / automatons / clockwork, and discovers some of those clockworks are a lot like human beings. I'm not entirely sure if I should classify this as SF or Fantasy, but I'll settle for SF as there is some (semi) scientific explanation for all of it.

TouchPortal - Launching troublesome applications

Datatalk + Touch Portal

Sometimes you want to launch another application from within TouchPortal, and it simply won't work, or behave oddly. I had a lot of troubles launching good old PhotoImpact X3 from TouchPortal, but thank heavens someone in the TouchPortal Discord suggested to use compatibility mode... Pfew!

Here are some things to try...

Backup / Migrate OBS and TouchPortal

Datatalk + Touch Portal + OBS

Lots of overly long explanations on YouTube. Here's my approach to backup / migrate OBS and TouchPortal settings.

This is an alternative to my previous post.

Read more...

Christopher Nuttall - Schooled in Magic - Little Witches / The Right Side of History (2020....)

Audiobook Review.

Two typical Schooled in Magic novels, both relative short, and the plot meanders a bit without going anywhere. I fear Nuttall's a bit done with this universe. Power creep has made the heroine too big to fall.

As for these two books: they should have been one. Perhaps that would have redeemed both a bit.

Andrew Seiple - Dire Saga 0 - Fate

Book Review.

A short story featuring Dire, in line with Dire Born. That one's better though...

Zero Day Protocol Handlers Exploit - MSDT (Follina) and Search

Windows 10.

Batch file to remove some protocol handlers that might be used for zero day exploits (uncomment as required).

Boomers and Zoomers, the Alphabet Mafia, and the Cancel Culture

Column

I'm not a boomer. It's a close call, but a boomer I am not. However I strongly dislike the term. It's not used as a group-name, it's used as an insult. As in, 'Look at that boomer, he's too old to understand.'

Am I? Or is there a somewhat bigger problem? Before you start taking aim and fire away, please understand that this post is not about enforcing my view on the rest of the world, it's actually the opposite. I ask those who ARE enforcing THEIR view to please consider that opinions may differ. So... ready to be insulted? Here we go...

Wallpaper - Believe!

I guess I saw too many episodes of the X-Files when I was young 😌

(Click to enlarge.) 

All Wallpapers thus far...

 

Kameron Hurley - The Stars are Legion

Audiobook Review.

Scifi with a dash of body horror, and yet another story that is hard to describe. In some far away future humanity is female only, spread over a number of ships (?) where everything is alive and build using the same basic components (variations on human genetics?).

Ed McDonald - The Raven's Mark 1 - Blackwing

Audiobook Review.

Although this is the first book in a series, it's also a perfect standalone. It's a dark fantasy, medieval when it comes to technology, where the main character is a down-on-his-luck, bad-mouthing 'black captain'. Which means he's doing the dirty jobs that nobody else wants to do, like hunting deserters in the no-men's land called 'The Misery'.

Dredd (2012)

Movie Review

The 2012 movie Dredd has no right to be entertaining, and yet it is. Also, it may be one of the few movies that's actually good in 3D. For the record, I pretty much hate anything 3D (can't stand the glasses) and this is one of the few exceptions. I normally pick the regular versions when visiting the cinema, but back then I accidentally picked the 3D version.

To my surprise, it's even entertaining when re-watching it, years later, in 2D. Just don't expect anything to exercise the brain 😅

To Smart Quote or Not to Smart Quote (also known as 'Curly' quotes), and reflow Ellipses and Em-dashes

Writing + Reference

On a computer, you typically use 'straight quotes', whilst in (real) books you mostly find 'curly quotes'.

In both Google Docs and Word you can let the word processor (is anyone still old enough to recognize that expression?) handle it.

3D Book Mockup

Writing.

There are many sites that can do this. Here's just another one producing 3D cover mockups... When reading through the small print it seems this one hasn't any strings attached, and some of the others did.

DIY Book Design 

Gerald Brandt - San Angeles 1 - The Courier

Audiobook Review.

16 y.o. girl orphan has dragged herself out of the gutter, and now works as a courier. When she is asked to deliver a package late at night she witnesses a murder, and runs away with the package, chased by one of the mega corporations controlling the world.

Django Wexler - Wells of Sorcery 1 / 2 - Ship of Smoke and Steel / City of Stone and Silence

Audiobook Review.

Street orphan fights her way up to local ward boss, and has managed to hide her magical talents from the rest of the world... until they catch her, and send her to take control over the largest ship in the world, a 500 year old ghost ship that shouldn't exist.

Wallpaper - Underground Angel

We had some angels last month, so let's add another one...

(Click image to enlarge.)

Moving a key element after analyzing Action / Tension ratio

Writing.

I have absolutely no idea if this post is going to be useful in any way 😊 but I was revising the novel I'm working on, and trying to decide if I should do a change or not... just before completion.

I shouldn't, because it took me long enough to get this far, but I'm in doubt...

Netflix - Manifest - Season 1 / 2 (2018..2019)

Review.

Discontinued on NBC, continued on Netflix. A bit similar to Lost, but Lost never did it for me. Thus far, the first two seasons of this show are available on NetFlix NL, and those are good. Season 3 isn’t available in NL because some Belgian station is still broadcasting season 3. So I’ll have to wait a bit longer even for season 4. Oh well.

Ernest Cline - Armada

Audiobook Review.

Another take on Ready Player One, another love song to the eighties. Well written, but frankly I find this new take on the same trip down memory lane a little shallow. It's well written, but it's well-written fan fiction. Yet... where some fan fiction dazzles with new ideas and fresh characters I found Armada to be somewhat meh.

Felix R Savage - Earth's Last Gambit 1 - Freefall

Audiobook Review.

Definitely (?) an indie writer, and one who isn't afraid to use real people, like Obama and Musk, as characters in his book. I'm not so sure that is a smart thing to do, because it will date the book rather quickly. Otherwise the book is more a technotriller than plain SF, with plausible technology.

Adam Wright - Harbinger PI 2 - Buried Memory

Audiobook Review.

Mister Harbinger (a blend of Philip Marlowe and Harry Dresden) finds out what actually happened in Paris, discovers his dad blocked certain memories, works together with a vampire to fight a horde of zombies / skeletons, and ends up asleep on his own lawn.

Wallpaper - Angels

Wallpaper

2 for 1... Angels are mostly girly stuff, but hey! I have a few in my wallpaper collection as well. Read on...

A.G. Riddle - Departure

Audiobook Review.

I recently watched the first two seasons of Manifest, and this book starts in a similar vein: an airplane that departs, only to arrive years later.

And that's where the similarity ends 😎

Yudhanjaya Wijeratne - The Salvage Crew

Audiobook Review.

A displaced mind (transplanted from a human body into a spaceship’s central computer) is part of a salvage team, and tries hard to keep its human compagnons / workers / assets alive. 

Read by Nathan Fillion, who does a fairly good job, and the story ain’t half bad either. The ending is a little rapid, but otherwise a fine book, and a tad different from all the other stuff out there.

Wen Spencer - A Brother's Price

Audiobook Review.

A ‘reverse world’ novel, where the men are rare, and thus valuable. It isn’t bad, but there’s little new in there except for the reversing of roles. It’s very well written, but halfway I gave up: there’s simply not enough happening.

(From Dapper / TellTales #110.)

Joel Shepherd – The Spiral Wars - Renegade / Drysine Legacy / Kantovan Vault (2015....)

Audiobook Review.

Space Opera / Military SF, but with one twist: no artificial gravity thus far, which has a lot of impact on the scenes in space. Thus far it follows a predictable pattern (rogue starship flees because it’s captain was betrayed by the space navy’s top brass) but the alien races are interesting, the setting is interesting, and it’s completely without teen angst. (After sampling as many first person present tense works as I could I can only conclude that those are mainly targeted at YA / NA, and include lots of whining.) 

Wallpaper - Dragon Mural

A mural my youngest daughter and I painted. For more information see here.

(Click on the image to enlarge.)

Maria V. Snyder - Navigating the Stars / Chasing the Shadows / Defending the Galaxy (2018....)

Audiobook Review.

I’ve been searching for more first-person present tense material to understand what I’m doing right and wrong myself. This is another YA that isn’t too bad, except for one specific scene, where the (hurt) protagonist (a 17-year-old girl) climbs onto the landing gear of a space shuttle, and then literally travels half the world, 16000 kilometers, at 600 kmph.

Alex Hughes - Mindspace 4 - Vacant

Audiobook Review.

The fourth book in the Mindspace series, and again a very good one.

I’ve read two short stories by his (her?) hand that bridge the gaps between the larger titles, and now have started this one. I liked the short stories, but prefer the full sized novels.

As I said when reviewing the earlier installments, the narration is very good, and the somewhat seedy mix of a drug addicted ex-guild telepath, working in a post-tech-war world for the local police office just kind of works, surprisingly.

Brilliant. I want more.

Tarah Benner – Lawless / Ruthless / Dauntless

Audiobook Review.

Semi post-apocalyptic setting with a strong romantic vibe. Falls a little flat because it’s not as post-apocalyptic as suggested at the start.

Why I read it? Well, it's part of my endless quest for first person present tense references... It was mentioned on a list of present tense books, but it was wrongly listed.

Update: finished all four. They're okay, but not exceptional. I think the world would have been a much bigger hell had the famish as described taken place.

(From TellTales 109)

Netflix - Along with the Gods (2018)

Movie Review

Subtitled The Last 49 Days, it’s the modern day equivalent of A Matter of Life and Death).

This isn't a bad movie either. Nothing earth shattering, but still interesting to see a Korean take on the ‘defend the good / bad guy against gods and their lawyers’.

Wallpaper - Triple Monitor - Grass and Comets

Decent 3-screen wallpapers are a little harder to come by.

Someone assembled this one by copy / pasting to their heart's content. When you watch it closely you'll notice the repeating clouds and hills. Still, if you don't pay too much attention it works well.

(Click on the image to enlarge.)
 

Wallpaper - Air

I must have been in my 'anime' phase at the time (all geeks suffer from such an epoch during their life). This wallpaper is a remnant of mine. I think I found it on DeviantArt (when it wasn't as confusing as it is now).

(Click to enlarge.)
 

2021

Wrapping up 2021, and Welcome to 2022!

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 2021 posts.

Good and bad in 2021...

Making money - the sequel

Writing

This is probably my last post this year, but who knows what can happen in the next seven hours 😁

So, let's work on the average self-publisher's depression... It's hard to get some hard numbers, so take the next bit with a bag or two of salt. 

So here we go...

Chrome Profiles - Renaming, organizing, migrating, opening pages with specific profiles

Datatalk + Chrome

Google Chrome has profile support, allowing you to use different 'identities' when browsing the web.

A practical example is to use one account to write a blog, and a second account to test the functionality of that blog with a user name.

TouchPortal 3.0 / OBS / MagicWindow

Datatalk + Touch Portal

Touch Portal and OBS Studio are the (low cost) alternative to Elgato's Stream Deck and other Elgato solutions.

(Honestly, Elgato's kit is very nice, but a tad pricy.)

This page offers a quick overview of how to install and migrate both apps.

(TouchPortal 3.1 now supports OBS 28)

The Edit Loop

Writing + Reference

Every writer has a different approach to writing and editing. Every successful writer is probably going to tell you editing is an essential.

Every great writer without the money to afford an editor has to edit him / herself. It is my firm belief that if you don't edit, then you'll get nowhere. Period.

So, here's my current approach, until I'm rich enough to afford a real editor...

Facebook / Messenger Meetings (Dutch)

Datatalk + Dutch

Corona en kerstdagen...

Wil je mekaar toch een keer zien dan zijn er allerlei oplossingen, zoals mondkapjes, hazmat pakken, buiten blijven... of je gebruikt een App zoals FaceBook (Messenger) of WhatsApp.

In dit voorbeeld: FaceBook (Messenger).

Things to look for whilst editing your story

Writing + Reference

You've finished your novel, and now comes the dreaded part... the editing.

Here are some of the things to look out for (not in any particular order)... I'll add links where I touched upon the subject, or found a better explanation elsewhere.

All tensed up today...

Writing + Reference

Many beginning writers understand the concept of present and past tense, but fail to properly apply it. They 'mix' tenses, often with horrible results.

I've been trying to find a good explanation to help ease the pain, but thus far I haven't been able to write up some decent explanation, sorry.

Below's the best I could come up with thus far.

Writing - Frequently Asked Questions

Writing + Reference

There are no stupid questions. Only lazy authors 😎

The same questions show up time and time again, on Discord and in Fora. So, I'm compiling the ones I ran into, and I'll add some of the answers I could find...

Wallpaper - Dual Monitor - Autumn Fire

Wallpaper

Nothing better than a morning wood... I mean, the woods in the morning...

This is a digital rendering of an early morning forest, but I can't remember where I found it, only that I like it. Works great on dual monitor setups.

(Click to enlarge.)

TouchPortal - Traffic Light - Cycling through different pictograms when pressing a button

Datatalk + Touch Portal

Touch Portal is a low-cost alternative to the Stream Deck.

Here's a little example on how to cycle through different pictos when pressing a button.

Wallpaper - Dual Monitor - Bamboo

Wallpaper

For your inner Zen a dual monitor wallpaper.

(Click to enlarge.)

More wallpapers...

Alex Archer - Rogue Angel 7 - God of Thunder

Audiobook Review

Simple one shot stories, with sword wielding Anjaa bashing another few heads. I do hope to see some recurring characters, some continuity.

If everything is just one-shot (which it probably is) I might start to suffer from the Next Generation effect... ie. everyone dies, but is back at the start of the next episode. (Unless they wear a red shirt 😉)

I know. False hope.

SpaceDesk - Multi Monitor 'on the cheap' using SpaceDesk

Datatalk + Multi Monitor

Multi-monitor setups are fun 😁 

Use an old laptop or tablet an additional monitor? Not a problem, and with SpaceDesk you can mix and match iOS, Android, and Windows devices (!).

And best of it all: it is (still) free.

Alex Archer - Rogue Angel 1 - Destiny

Book Review

Let's start with a spoiler. Anjaa is an historian / archaeologist, orphan, and wielder of Joan d'Arc's sword. So, with that out of the way, this is a cheap, one shot, multi-author series which is a guilty pleasure as it is entirely brainless. And sometimes that is exactly what the doctor prescribes!

Verdict: if you're looking for a break from all that 'literary' stuff this has you covered.

An introduction to WallX - by video

Datatalk + WallX

To show what this little tool does I decided to create a little video. Which was a little more complicated than expected, and I got distracted along the way 😁

So I learned OBS (to grab the screen), Magic Window (tracking the mouse pointer in OBS), looked at Stream Decks but opted for Touch Portal, added some features to WallX to simplify the handling and creation of icons, then had to learn how to edit videos in HitFilm Express.