Corona - T minus 34 - IT and homeworkers

The Dutch government has given the advice to limit social interaction to a minimum, keep 1.5 meters of distance, and only go to work if absolutely essential.

Of course, it is an advice. So many people simply don't listen. Or are forced to ignore the rules, by circumstances, or by their employers...

TellTales #100 - 25 years of Dapper

Column.

So. A historical moment. TellTales #100, my little contribution to Dapper, an APA. (The APA 😇)

For 25 years I've been unloading my rambling on the other innocent members, and they haven't booted me out. Let's look some of the statistics and facts...

Corona - T minus 42 - What's next?

Corona is here.

I made a quick estimate when the impact of the Corona virus would be largest, and that would have to be in 42 days.

The world is changing. Yet again. And though I am worried I'm an optimist: we've survived MERS, SARS, Justin Bieber, and even Trump (so far). We should be able to handle this one, though it might get hard

Windows 10 1909 on Dell Precision M2800

Windows 10.

Thanks, Microsoft. For... for... for everything!

But especially for cheating me out of all the hours I could have spend more productive. Instead, you released the glorious Windows 10, followed by the even more glorious Windows 10 version 1909. And trying to get that thing to run on my Dell M2800 has been lots and lots of fun.

Though I did get it to work in the end...

Charles Stross - Accelerando

Book Review

My first Stross novel deals with the Singularity, a 'hypothetical moment in time when any physically conceivable level of technological advancement is attained instantaneously'. (Yeah, that explanation isn't mine, it's too intelligent.)

RMB protection on web pages

Several webpages have a copy protection, ie. you cannot copy texts and / or objects by marking a section, then copy it by pressing the Right Mouse Button. Which can be very inconvenient, for example if you try to comment on something somebody else posted.

In FireFox that's pretty easy to fix. (Though it doesn't solve everything.)

Netflix - The Witcher

Series Review.

Netflix doesn't get it right all the time. In fact, there's lots of rubbish, and Netflix added their fair share to it.

Still, sometimes there's just something that's worth binging. Take, for example, the first season of The Witcher.

Juuni Kokki

Anime Review

Not well known, and certainly harder to get over here (that is: Europe) it tells the tale of a young girl who found herself in another more magical realm.

Well, nothing spectacular thus far, we've seen that before. And yet...

Ian Douglas - Semper Mars

Book Review.

Marines in space. 'Nuff said. Will appeal to some, but I found it a little flat. His work under the alias 'William H Keith' (or the other way around), for example the Warstrider series, seems to be a bit better.

My Novel Part Two - The art of the plot

Writing.

Part two is a wrap. Writing hasn't been going as quickly as I'd love to, but the good news is the overall plot is now clear, my notes show which way to go, and I thought of many evil things to do to my main cast. I cannot mention anything without spoiling stuff, but perhaps I can mention wheels and teeth...

Blade - TV series

Series Review

Most of the times I remember a book, movie or series. Perhaps not in details, but at least in some way.

Browsing through my old Dapper installments I found a reference to a television series called Blade. 13 years ago, 2007. And I cannot remember a single thing of it...

But... Here is what I wrote at the time...

2019

Wrapping up 2019, and Welcome to 2020!

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 2019 posts.

3D Printing and Ptolus? That's all?

C J Cherry - Foreigner - Visitor / Convergence / Emergence

Audiobook Review.

We're at books 17, 18 and 19 of the Foreigner series. It looks like Cherryh isn't giving up. And, to be honest, these are quite readable, though perhaps a little slow.

Netflix - Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress - The battle of Unato

Anime Review.

Netflix does bring a lot of Anime lately. Some of it awful, some of it not that bad. Some of it... euh... incomplete.

To quote Trump: sad.

Reading (old) Star Wars - 3

Book Review / Audiobook Review.

Even before The Force Awakens heralded the return of Star Wars I decided to dip in and refresh and improve my knowledge of the 'written' Star Wars universe. Would I have done so knowing most of it would become irrelevant with the changes introduced with The Force Awakens? Perhaps not...

Nerd - Level 2.1

3D Printing.

Define 'nerd'...

If it's a person who enjoys an overly complex technical solution for a problem that doesn't need to be solved... then... Yes! Guilty, your honor!

My own kids, fairly used to their father being a bit... euh... eccentric 😁 shake their heads in disbelief (and perhaps a little disappointment). Which means... Mission accomplished!

3D printing a LED driver enclosure - 3 - Click & Fit

3D Printing + DIY

I still have some issues printing large objects on my (unheated) printer bed, but the final product is taking shape. We're slowly getting there...

Reading (old) Star Wars - 2

Book Review / Audiobook Review.

In 2011 I was working on my 'classics' I guess... 😅

Let's see, Star Wars books... what did I think of them then? And now?

Netflix - Seis Manos (2019)

Anime Review.

Seis Manos is nothing but glorious grindhouse anime. Let's go back to the 70's, and throw every exploitation / revenge movie cliche in the mix. Add unique character designs, some great animation and lots of blood and gore to the mix and enjoy the show.

Yep. I like it! But keep in mind: this is anime but not for (small) kids...

3D Printer / Wall Thickness, Detail Level and Accuracy

3D Printing / Slicer and Printer Test.

This isn't about the actual accuracy of the printer itself (which depends on build quality, design, components etcetera) but about the minimal detail level that the printer can handle, and when to use what wall thickness.

Again, I'm not an expert, but got lost on my way to redemption... 😅

Reading (old) Star Wars - 1

Audiobook Review.

I've been listening to some Star Wars audio books over the years... Some good. Most bad.

The first two I read (listened to) were so bad it was almost funny. Almost...

The Star Wars movies (so far)

Review.

As every fan knows: the episode numbers don’t match the sequence in which these were made… we made it to episode VIII thus far. And now...

Are you ready for the final movie?

Cable size - AWG to mm2 / Crimping Tools / Cable Selection

DIY

In civilized (Western) Europe 😇 we (tend to) have more reasonable presidents / prime ministers / monarchs, and we use the metric system. Which makes us happy.

(Two reasons why the United Kingdom is neither civilized nor part of Europe 😅)

3D printing a LED driver enclosure - 2 - Work in progress

3D Printing + Domotics + DIY

Long ago 😅 I said I was planning to design my own enclosure for a led driver and led controller. Of course, reality interfered and lots of other things got in the way.

Still, I made some progress. And hit a couple of snags on the way...

Cloak & Dagger - Season 1

Series Review

I've read some Cloak & Dagger comics in the past. With the current superhero craze there was no way Cloak & Dagger wouldn't be turned into some small screen series.

Steven Brust - Taltos / Yendi / Jhereg / Teckla / ...

Review.

Time to check out Vlad Taltos... I'm reading the books in chronological order, not the sequence Brust wrote them. At least they were published in a different sequence... There are some inconsistencies in the series, but they don't hurt the overall plot all too much.

I've not yet read all the novels in this series. I need to do some re-reading and then try the newer ones.

L.J. Cohen - Derelict / Ithaka Rising / ...

Review.

The Halcyone Space series now contains 4, no wait, 5 books. I noticed them earlier, but didn't pay much attention to them.

What actually triggered me was the cover and the title of book 3: Dreadnought and Shuttle. I can't say why, it just... spoke to me.

Homematic - Missing messages may mess (up) my metering

DIY + Domotics

Well, actually they mess up diagrams, but this title sounds better 😅

My Homematic CCU2 collects data and displays them in a diagram. I had added an additional Temperature / Humidity sensor in the bathroom (for a future ventilation project) but sometimes an error was displayed, about some 'data missing'.

Homematic - Automated bathroom ventilation - Proof of concept

DIY + Domotics

My house is using a centralized ventilation system (a WHR950) with three operating modes. You're supposed (!) to switch to mode 1, 2 or 3, using a switch in the living room, whenever needed... which no-one ever does.

I was wondering... could I automate this?

Alastair Reynolds - Revenger 2 - Shadow Captain

Review.

Shadow Captain is book two in the Revenger series.

The sequel to Revenger. If the monniker YA (Young Adult)  applies to Revenger then this sequel would have to be considered YA as well, but Reynolds is doing his best to blur the line.

Brandon Sanderson - Skyward 1 - Skyward

Review.

Another book in another series. YA, which is fine, but it suffers from an overdose of naivety. Unfortunately.

D&D Forgotten Realms Maps Comparison

RPG

Comparing different versions of a map of a fantasy world?!?

Pretty useless, this, but hey! I always wanted to do this, so when I had a little moment of nothing better to do (actually, lots of other important things to do, but I just wanted to do something useless, for once 😅)...

Cinda Williams Chima - Seven Realms 1 - The Demon King

Review.

The first entry in what appears to be a very long series of romance / fantasy novels. Not sure yet how good or bad they are as a series.

Homematic - Vrije koeling? Zet het raam open! (Dutch)

Domotica + Dutch

De afgelopen weken was het heel warm in Nederland. Maar... wanneer is het nou handig om een raam open te zetten? Wanneer het 1. binnen te warm is, en 2. buiten koeler is dan binnen.

Even naar buiten lopen om in te schatten is een goede methode. Maar wat als we nou toch al een Domotica systeem hebben? 😎

Astrid Scholte - Four Dead Queens

Review.

Thief steals a memory and tries to stop a murderer from killing all four queens.

Okay but not exceptional.

D&D - 5e in NL - Advantage en Disadvantage, Natural 1 en 20 (Dutch)

RPG / 5e in NL / Dutch.

In 5e heb je attack rolls en skill / ability checks.

Hiervoor gooi je een 1d20, en tel je eventueel een bepaalde waarde bij je score, afhankelijk van de situatie en het doel van de rol. 

Linux Mint on Asus EeePc Netbook 1005HA

I am not a Linux expert and never will be.

But this old Netbook that's gathering dust might just get a second chance at life, so I dusted it off and gave it a spin. It once ran Windows XP well but that's no longer an option...

Brian Staveley - The Unhewn Throne - The Emperor's Blades / The Providence of Fire / ...

Review.

I’ve picked up all three on a Dapperite’s suggestion (I think it was Jan, but not entirely sure).  Let’s start with the verdict: a good fantasy trilogy, some new ideas, and an interesting world. Yes, worth reading.

The Secret

Dapper #166 has arrived (yeah, that thing)...

And I personally raised the artist who provided the front cover! Which wasn't easy 😇 (Click on the image to enlarge.)

... But... if you want to commission some artwork, drop me a line. I'll forward it to her and she'll be happy to get in touch with you to work something out.

Dungeons & Dragons - 20 years later... (Dutch)

RPG + 5e in NL + Dutch

Na een jaar of 20 (!) nauwelijks gespeeld te hebben was het afgelopen week zo ver: ik heb (eindelijk) weer een keertje Dungeons & Dragons gespeeld.

Dat was wel even wennen, maar eerlijk gezegd: voor herhaling vatbaar! Volgende week weer!

Battle Angel Alita

Review.

Great popcorn movie, and surprisingly true to its anime / manga roots. It didn’t do very well at the box office, so I fear we’ll never get the sequel it deserves, unfortunately… Still worth watching!

SR7011 - small / large / LFE / Smart Select / Pure Audio (Dutch)

Dutch

De Marantz SR6011 / SR7011 (en waarschijnlijk ook de andere modellen als de SR5011, SR7010, SR7012, SR7013 enzovoorts) hebben een 'Pure' en 'Pure Direct' stand. Maar die werkt net even anders als de soortgelijke functie op de Sony ES serie.

Hier wat algemene informatie over LFE en specifieke informatie over de Marantz apparaten, waaronder Smart Select.

Netflix - The Umbrella Academy

Review.

I’m getting a little superhero- tired. The Umbrella Academy is, fortunately, quirky enough to stay enjoyable. All superheroes involved are adopted (?) gifted kids and part of a grand dysfunctional family.

Alex Hughes - Mindspace Investigations 1 / 2 / 3 - Clean / Sharp / Marked

Review.

He's Harry, Jim, but not as you'd know it.

Sharp and Marked are the sequels to Clean. A future PI, former drug addict, working for the police with unreliable psionic powers, who's trying to escape his past.

MeetUp (Dutch)

RPG + 5e in NL + Dutch

MeetUp is an-sich niet echt bijzonder: een website waar mensen met dezelfde interesse elkaar treffen, en afspraken maken om elkaar in persoon te ontmoeten, maar dan voor hobbies...

M'n dochter noemde het 'Tinder voor nerds'... zucht.

Andrew Seiple - Dire 1 - Dire Born

Review.

What to make of this one... a fresh take on the superhero / super-villain trope, with a villain who might just be a hero. Or not.

Alan Parsons - The Secret

Music

After 15 years of of live concerts, rehashes and other activities Parsons finally went back into the studio and recorded The Secret.

And it’s much better than the previous A Valid Path which was, frankly, a disappointment. This one's much, much better!

Dennis E. Taylor - Bobiverse - We Are Legion / For We Are Many / All These Worlds

Review.

Enjoyable, somewhat nerdy space opera with lots of popular culture references and some hard SF. Include some politics, some aliens, and a twenty first century personality transplanted into a computer brain and you're there.

Cats (The Musical)

Review

Though story-wise it pretty much amounts to nothing, Cats is still a spectacle to behold. So when the London West-End cast visited the Netherlands for a kind of farewell tour I was considering going there. Didn’t go at first, balking at the price of a decent seat.

Obert Skye - Wizard for Hire

Book Review

Since Harry Potter there have been many books inspired by the tale of a young boy becoming something special in a magical setting. Some could be considered 'inspired' by, others are a complete 'rip-off'.

Fortunately, Skye's world and characters might be inspired by (and actually even refer to) the Potterverse, but this is done in a way that actually supports the story, instead of claiming some understanding of pop culture.