C J Cherryh - Foreigner / Inheritor / ...

Audiobook Review

C J Cherryh calls this the 'First Contact' series, but most websites refer to it as the 'Foreigner' series.

Inspired by a comment from Jan (of Dapper fame) I decided to chew my way through a couple of these.

It's a long series, but the main story is delivered in batches of three, and most of those would work as stand alone titles. I would strongly advise not to read them out of order though...

Roaming voor dummies (Dutch)

Dutch

Bellen en internetten in het buitenland is nu gratis! Of toch niet?

Misschien toch niet helemaal...

SqueezeBox - SQB

Datatalk + Music + Squeezebox

SQB is a small tool to modify playlists, and helps identifying and correcting missing files in your .MPU3 playlists.

SQB uses SOX to export all entries in a playlists (including .FLAC) to .MP3 for use on mobile players, in cars, or for use other devices only supporting MP3.

Marko Kloos - Chains of Command (2016) / Fields of fire (2017)

Audiobook Review

In this universe the humans have encountered a (literally) giant enemy called the Lankies. And they (the humans) are loosing...

Marko Kloos writes military SF, and is the author of the Frontlines series. Currently (2017) this series contains 5 books, with a sixth one coming up.

Xbox 360... Go for the (g)old

Gaming

The XBox 360 is dead.

So, let's buy one.

Seriously? Buying an XBox 360 when even its successor the (first generation of the) Xbox One is dead and gone?

You do know you can buy some great games starting from 2 bucks?

De Kobo Aura 2 E-reader (Dutch)

Datatalk + Kobo + Dutch

Heb ik net een uitgebreide handleiding geschreven voor de Kobo Glo met de oude software (hier te vinden) komt Kobo met een nieuwe versie 😏 Maar gelukkig is deze nieuwe software beschikbaar voor alle E-readers, dus niet alleen voor een reader als de Aura 2 maar ook voor de oudere Glo!

Wifi en de Buren voor Dummies (Dutch)

Datatalk + Dutch

Wifi problemen?

Deze uitleg helpt je Wifi problemen op te lossen en te voorkomen, voor zover mogelijk. De belangrijkste regel: 1+6+11=20...

Calibre + E-reader (Dutch)

Datatalk + Dutch

Wanneer je een bibliotheek hebt van duizend(en) boeken is het beheer op een (trage) e-reader eigenlijk onmogelijk. Het is dan beter om alle e-books op de PC te bewaren, en daar te kiezen welke je naar de e-reader wilt kopieren om later te lezen.

Calibre is een porgramma wat je daarbij helpt. Het is een e-book reader, manager en converter. Met Calibre is het makkelijker een bibliotheek van e-books te beheren.

De Kobo Glo (Refurbished) E-Reader (Dutch)

Datatalk + Kobo + Dutch

MediaMarkt en allerlei andere adressen hebben nu een 'refurbished' Kobo Glo E-reader, met 2 jaar volledige garantie, voor 69 / 79 euro.

Voor de kopers wat hints en tips, want het werkt toch net even weer anders dan een (Android) tablet...

Right-sizing a home-server PSU

Datatalk

I am running a small, Windows 7 based home-server in my home. Its primary function is to serve music to my Squeezebox music player(s), but it also serves as my file server and movie transcoder.

I needed to replace the PSU, but what is a proper size?

Duplicate events in Google Calender

Datatalk

I ran into a problem with Google Calender. On my device (phone) I saw 'duplicate' events, ie. the same event twice, but in a browser the web version of Calendar showed no problem.

Root cause: renaming a calendar......

SqueezeBox Duet - Restore wired operation

Datatalk + Squeezebox

I'm still using a SqueezeBox setup to play my music...

If the Squeezebox Duet gets disconnected from it's LAN cable it will move to Wifi... and will not move back automatically! To restore to wired operation the player needs to be reset. Here's how to do that.

Four weeks of Wattpad, one day of Scribophile

Writing

On March 4, 2017, I joined Wattpad.

I'm a month older now, and my life still sucks 😊 On the other hand, I actually wrote 40 to 50 thousand words. (After several rewrites I'm probably 30% into my first novel, yeah!)

Under Construction!

Column

(Well, kinda' column...)

Due to a variety of reasons (most of those boiling down to me being stupid) I had (and still have!) to re-create a number of posts. I'm updating bit by bit all the broken links, but that's taking some intensive manual labor, so several links might still be broken for the upcoming weeks / months / years 😕

My apologies... this is a work in progress...

(I'll keep moving this post around until most of the links have been repaired...)

Wattpad isn't funny (but BTS is worse)

Writing

Probably the two most difficult to answer questions ever: what makes people laugh when reading, and how to attract readers on Wattpad?

A tree hugger goes Faktum

DIY + Kitchen

About paper, plastic, and re-purposing Ikea kitchens... I would never call myself a 'tree hugger' (and I have a PS3, PS4, and too many airmiles to prove that) but even I think sometimes it pays to be smart... either for the environment, or just for the money.

Netflix - Iron Fist (and friends)...

Series Review

With over 90 million subscribers (and probably twice that many viewers) NetFlix stll isn't profitable yet but that doesn't stop them creating their own interesting shows... This time Iron Fist enters the MCU...

Archive

Datatalk

The old website is gone, but some materials may be useful (if only to me 😂, so I added a little section and will move some pages / files in there. It's not complete so more stuff is coming...

Strictly for nerds, obviously. Link: http://www.ninelizards.com/archive 

Aspiring Artist

DIY

Over the years I've been painting a few murals on the walls of the bedrooms of the kids.

Me and my youngest daughter (who is already more of an artist than I will ever be) set out to create something new...

Dapper

Column

The next installment of Dapper is coming up...

Dapper is an international APA (Amateur Press Association), written by and for SF & Fantasy fans. You can still join!

Obviously my poor attempt at a cover is a photoshop of the original DC comic The Flash number 22... all rights reserved etc. etc.

Have Hat Will Travel

Writing

"THEY CALL HER THE SPACE WITCH. But not to her face. Jennifer knows the universal laws of conserving energy and diminishing returns also apply to space (and love and aliens). But that is not going to stop Cadet Healer Third Class Parsons bringing her own kind magic to space..."

Inverarity - Alexandra Quick

Book Review

There is a lot of bad Fan Fiction out there. Alexandra Quick, though, isn't one of those. It is, in fact, very, very good.

Did I mention the Alexandra Quick stories are very good?

NightLive Memorial

Datatalk

Once upon a time (1994 or so) there was this idiot that had a dream: he would create a nice, well visited, popular well known bulletin board system.

NightLive was his (read: my) attempt.

Where are the other eight? / Waar zijn de andere acht?

English + Dutch

I haven't got a clue 😏

This blog is about subjects that interest me: SF & Fantasy, books and movies, computers, home automation, music, DIY... Which effectively means things may get a little... nerdy.