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 (2e 2000)

RPG Book Review + Forgotten Realms

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 (xe 2024)

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' of the materials on 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...

Here's my default review / scoring scheme.

Wallpaper - Dual Monitor - 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 + Netflix

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 - Cemetary 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 + Netflix

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...

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...)

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?

Countdown to 2025 - #4 - The MCU Multiverse versus The Kang Dynasty (and my Top 3 MCU movies)

Countdown + Movie Review + Series Review

In Marvel MCU terms there is little difference between alternate timelines and alternate universes, so I'll group them together.

And - even if you dislike Jonathan Majors - there are some multiverse installments worth watching.

Countdown to 2025 - #5 - Disney+ - The Marvels (and my Top 3 of how humanity will fail)

Countdown + Movies Review + Disney+

The preceding show Ms Marvel isn’t that bad, except for an overly short season. This one though… yeah, this one didn’t work. It’s a pity because it had some promising elements, but the end result is a hasty mess.

The verdict? Skip it.

Countdown to 2025 - #6 - Exploding Kittens (and my Top 3 Christmas Songs)

Gaming + Music

I like board and card games, though I don't play them much. It's one of those things you always plan to indulge in, but rarely do.

But... this year I bought Exploding Kittens. It's (too) expensive but a lot of fun. I just found the rules a little confusing (at first).

Countdown to 2025 - #7 - Fixing a Mouse (and my Top 3 repair jobs)

Countdown + Datatalk + DIY

It takes money to replace broken stuff. I'd rather save some money by trying to repair it first. If possible.

Which isn't always possible, but at least I managed to repair this simple computer mouse. Which made me think what else I fixed over time?

Countdown to 2025 - #8 - One year of Fahr Vergnugen / driving and modding the MX-5 / Miata (and my Top 3 in Cars)

Countdown + Car + MX-5

8 days... and today, Christmas Eve is upon us, and that means talking about presents. The New Year is almost upon us, and that means top-whatever lists. Let's talk about cars then...

Countdown to 2025 - #9 - Netflix - Orphan Black Echoes - Season 1 (and my Top 3 Television Series)

Countdown + Series Review + Netflix

Perhaps not as good as the original Orphan Black (ignoring the nose-dive and recovery near the end of that show) but still quite interesting. I wasn’t expecting the killing of such an essential character near the end though… Was it to attract new viewers, or the original plan of the creators? Who can tell?

Cheating Scribd

Datatalk + Wallpaper

Okay, first of all: don't support piracy! If you like something, then simply buy it!

Now, I can understand you want to preview something before actually buying it, and in that case I'll close one eye and consider a download for preview to be acceptable. Obviously, I expect you to actually buy the product if you like it, and otherwise delete what you downloaded.

Apple TV - For All Mankind - Seasons 1, 2 and 3

Series Review + Apple TV

This is an alternate reality, where space exploration took a bit of a different route, and humanity - for one reason or another - got way more serious about 'way up there' than in our own reality. Add some drama, and you may end up with a great television series.

(Onbegrijpelijke) Bandenmaten (Dutch)

Car + MX-5 + Dutch

Recent (nou ja) heb ik een tweede setje banden plus velgen voor m'n MX-5 gehaald, en opnieuw begreep ik helemaal niets van band- en velg-maten. Tijd om me daar eens in te verdiepen.

Amazon Prime - Beacon 23 - Seasons 1 & 2

Series Review + Amazon Prime

I binged Beacon 23. Think of a lighthouse in space, home to lots of double dealings in the current and the past. I haven't read the book(s) but the series by itself is fine and perfectly watchable, and it more or less sticks the landing after two seasons.

Tips voor Jango (Dutch)

Music + Dutch

Ik gebruik af en toe Jango om nieuwe muziek te vinden.

En voor de echte Nederlanders onder ons: Jango is gratis 😇

Lees meer...

Linden A. Lewis - The First Sister / The Second Rebel / The Last Hero

Audiobook Review

Linden A. Lewis proves that you should be careful how you title your book. Searching for 'The First Sister' on Goodreads gives more than ten pages of results 😅

After that little aside we get back to the core question: how's the book?

Past 195/55 R16 onder een MX-5? NC2 (Dutch)

Car + MX-5 + Dutch

Standaard heeft m'n MX5 205/45 R17 banden op Mazda OEM ET50 (55?) velgen.

In plaats van echte winterbanden ga ik deze winter op Four Seasons rijden, dwz. Pirelli Cinturato SF3. De bandenboer heeft 16" bandjes en bijpassende velgen geleverd, en 195/55 R16 op IT Wheels Kira S-114 ET45 velgen gemonteerd.

Road 96 on PS4

Gaming + PS4

Road 96 is an interactive story slash point'n'click adventure. (Or, on the PS4, move-the-pointer-and-sigh-and-click.) Don't expect high speed action, ray traced landscapes, or smooth character animations. It's janky, sometimes illogical, political, and might not be to everyone's liking.

But it's cheap - always a good thing - and it has style and atmosphere. So, why / why not?

Disney+ - DeadPool & Wolverine (2024)

Movie Review + Disney+

Largely entertaining, but not as good as the previous two Deadpool movies. The ending was a bit of a cop-out (with the typical super villain about to destroy the world) and I found the second half of the movie somewhat predictable and boring.

Though it is entertaining...

(Frontier gebaseerde) goedkope DAB & Internet radio's - Prijzen en varianten (Dutch)

Review (kinda) + Dutch

Een nieuwe golf van DAB+ / Internet component radio's?

Stiekum ben ik best onder de indruk, dus ben ik eens gaan kijken wat er zoal te koop is in hetzelfde formaat met soortgelijke mogelijkheden...

Bambu Labs X1C / P1P / P1S - Heated Bed 110V vs 230V

3D Printing + X1C + Chamber Temperature

All Bambu's are created equal.

Yes. And that's a problem. Not a real problem, but it poses some interesting questions, especially when it comes to heat-soaking the build chamber. (More about that here.)

Read more...

Zoektocht naar de juiste muziek... (Dutch)

Music + Spotify + Dutch

Ik heb mijn favoriete artiesten en muziek, maar soms zoek ik iets nieuws. Er zijn zelfs momenten dat ik iets vind 😂

Lees meer...

Disney+ - Agatha All Along

Series Review + Disney+

There will never be a season 2. But - in a way - Agatha All Along is a kind of season 2, as it is a clear sequel to Wandavision.

And, to immediately get to the point, it's great!