The Core Dump

The Core Dump is the personal blog of Nic Lindh, a Swedish-American pixel-pusher living in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Core Dump full archive by year and month.

See how deep the rabbit hole goes.

2023

November

Book roundup, part 36

Includes Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, Extremely Online, Number Go Up, Mercury Rising, The End of the Myth, and The Big Break.

Friday, 03 November, 2023

August

Trip report to Sweden summer 2023

Nic has travel experiences and wishes he thought he was immortal like other people apparently do.

Thursday, 24 August, 2023

July

Airport vibes are bad and you will feel bad

I have a ten hour layover at Chicago O’Hare and it’s terrible.

Wednesday, 12 July, 2023

June

Book roundup, part 35

Includes Hello World, A Frozen Hell, Powers and Thrones, Dead Country, Blitz, The Hope that Kills, and Worth Killing For.

Monday, 05 June, 2023

May

Tuesday, 02 May, 2023

March

Electric cars are fun, dammit

Let’s talk about how fun it is to have a go-cart people mover.

Friday, 10 March, 2023

February

Saturday, 04 February, 2023

2022

October

Book roundup, part 34

We pour one out for The Expanse and Sandman Slim, and we raise our glasses for a sequel to Malazan. Also, an extra-bleak Holocaust tour and a discussion of how cults control their members through language. Includes Cultish, Nein, Nein, Nein, Driven, Happy-go-Lucky, The Nineties, Fargo Rock City, The Scholast in the Low Water Kingdom, King Bullet, The God is Not Willing, and Leviathan Falls.

Sunday, 30 October, 2022

2021

September

Book roundup, part 33

Why your body hurts, lots of politics, and some truly demented grimdark fantasy in this installment. Includes Reign of Terror, Evolution Gone Wrong, The Cruelty is the Point, How to be a Liberal, The Splendid and the Vile, Deep Work, A Desolation Called Peace, Black Stone Heart, and She Dreams in Blood.

Monday, 06 September, 2021

May

Watching M*A*S*H in a pandemic

You never know how a creative expression will affect you.

Tuesday, 18 May, 2021

February

Book roundup, part 32

Includes Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You), Pappyland, Backstory, and Medallion Status.

Saturday, 20 February, 2021

January

Hummingbird Dog Fight

Hummingbirds fighting for dominance in a Phoenix backyard.

Saturday, 09 January, 2021
Friday, 01 January, 2021

2020

November

Learning English from the TV

Alex Trebek was one of the people who welcomed Nic to America, many years ago.

Thursday, 26 November, 2020

October

Thursday, 22 October, 2020

September

Sunday, 27 September, 2020
Sunday, 27 September, 2020

Book roundup, part 31

Some very good history, some very strange novels and some slick space opera. Includes Enemy of all Mankind, A Very Punchable Face, Confederates in the Attic,Ballistic Kiss, Harrow the Ninth, The Library at Mount Char, Children of Time, The Last Emperox, and Cage of Souls.

Sunday, 20 September, 2020

July

Saturday, 18 July, 2020

Feline Follies Presents: The Uninvited

We are entertained by feline drama during quarantine.

Thursday, 02 July, 2020

June

Friday, 12 June, 2020

January

Book roundup, part 30

Back once again with the sci-fi and general calamity. Includes The End is Always Near, Eat the Apple, A Memory Called Empire,Gideon the Ninth, Infinite Detail, Permafrost, Fallen, and The October Man.

Monday, 20 January, 2020

2019

December

Saturday, 21 December, 2019

September

Saturday, 28 September, 2019

Impressions moving from an Apple Watch Series 3 to Series 5

Is there reason to upgrade from a 3 to a 5?

Friday, 27 September, 2019
Sunday, 08 September, 2019

August

Wednesday, 21 August, 2019

Die in a ditch

After all these years, Nic still can’t understand the American attitude to healthcare.

Tuesday, 13 August, 2019

May

Friday, 31 May, 2019

Book roundup, part 29

A sci-fi and fantasy heavy installment that includes The Valedictorian of Being Dead, The Mastermind, Broadsword Calling Danny Boy,Tiamat’s Wrath, The Raven Tower, The Liberation, The Light Brigade and Cryptonomicon.

Tuesday, 14 May, 2019

March

Friday, 22 March, 2019

February

Book roundup, part 28

Includes The Incomplete Book of Running, Aching God, The Murderbot Diaries, Lies Sleeping, The Consuming Fire, and Rendezvous with Rama.

Sunday, 17 February, 2019

2018

December

Las Vegas trip report

Did you know Las Vegas is kind of nutty?

Monday, 31 December, 2018

October

Book roundup, part 27

Includes Hollywood Dead, Tales from the Loop, Things from the Flood, The Court of Broken Knives, and Port of Shadows.

Friday, 19 October, 2018

September

Friday, 14 September, 2018

“Cancel everything. You’re going into emergency surgery today”

Nic has a retinal tear and has his vision is saved by a laser.

Sunday, 02 September, 2018

August

Book roundup, part 26

Includes The Storm Before the Storm, White Trash, Calypso, Tell the Machine Goodnight, Prince of Fools, and Provenance.

Friday, 03 August, 2018

June

Renewing the nerd card: Installing Ubiquiti UniFi in the house

The Internet tells Nic to install Ubiquiti gear in his house, so he does, and now he has thoughts.

Friday, 29 June, 2018

May

Saturday, 26 May, 2018

Working in the pod mines

What I wish I’d known when I started podcasting.

Tuesday, 01 May, 2018

March

Monday, 26 March, 2018

Book roundup, part 25

Mostly excellent non-fiction in this installment. Includes Fantasyland, The Miracle of Dunkirk, Das Reich, The Undoing Project, Waiting for the Punch, Vacationland and Points of Impact.

Saturday, 03 March, 2018

February

Saturday, 03 February, 2018

January

A report from surveillance cylinder land as we wait for HomePod

Nic reports his experiences so far with voice computing from Amazon and Google and is a bit mystified at the reaction to Apple’s HomePod.

Saturday, 27 January, 2018
Saturday, 20 January, 2018

2017

December

iPhone X impressions

After a few weeks of using iPhone X I’m ready to join the congratulatory choir.

Saturday, 30 December, 2017
Thursday, 28 December, 2017

Smart homes for the wealthy

Nic is interested in smart homes. His contractor let him know how the wealthy are already using them.

Sunday, 17 December, 2017

November

Book roundup, part 24

Lots of sci-fi in this installment. Includes Retribution, Boomerang, The Collapsing Empire, All Systems Red, and Ninefox Gambit.

Monday, 27 November, 2017

October

Review: Bosch TV series

A longtime Bosch reader looks at the TV series.

Wednesday, 04 October, 2017

September

Getting started with podcasting

A concise guide to getting started with podcasting, including equipment, editing, mic technique and hosting.

Sunday, 10 September, 2017

Review: Novels of the Malazan Empire

A worthy inclusion to the Malazan canon and great high fantasy to disappear into in troubled times.

Sunday, 03 September, 2017

August

Saturday, 26 August, 2017

July

Sunday, 30 July, 2017

Photos from Pacific Beach

The Lindhs visit Pacific Beach and discover a huge bass system and surfers.

Saturday, 29 July, 2017

Book roundup, part 23

Includes a mea culpa, Hillbilly Elegy, Gulp, The Stars are Legion, and The Kill Society.

Sunday, 16 July, 2017

May

Putting new gaskets on the Kamado grill

Nic commits putty knife violence on his grill to replace the gaskets.

Tuesday, 02 May, 2017

April

Wings of Freedom

Remembering the cost of World War II through airplanes.

Monday, 17 April, 2017

March

Saturday, 18 March, 2017
Saturday, 04 March, 2017

The pro market, the nerds, and the vision

Apple’s neglect of the pro market is causing a lot of gnashing of teeth in Apple-nerd circles, but it’s true to Apple’s vision.

Friday, 03 March, 2017

February

Saturday, 11 February, 2017
Friday, 03 February, 2017

January

What to expect when you’re expecting a Hackintosh

There is unrest in the Mac community about Apple’s commitment to the platform. Some are turning their eyes to building a Hackintosh to get the kind of computer Apple doesn’t provide. Here’s what it’s like to run a Hackintosh.

Monday, 09 January, 2017

2016

December

Book roundup, part 22

Lots of fiction series in this one. Includes Grunt, 1177 B.C., Louder Than Hell, Smarter Faster Better, The Hanging Tree, Death’s End, Chains of Command, and Who Killed Sherlock Holmes?.

Thursday, 15 December, 2016

September

Monday, 05 September, 2016

August

Malazan Book of the Fallen

Hey kids, you like epic fantasy? ’Cause I've got some epic fantasy for you.

Monday, 29 August, 2016

The car is going digital and that’s a good thing

Car nerds are dealing with some cognitive dissonance as car technology changes.

Sunday, 21 August, 2016

Review: Kindle Oasis

The Oasis is Amazon’s best e-ink reader to date, but it’s not good enough for the price.

Friday, 05 August, 2016

June

Friday, 03 June, 2016

May

“Tea, Earl Grey, hot”

Nic buys an Amazon Echo and is indubitably happy with the fantasy star ship in his head.

Sunday, 29 May, 2016
Monday, 23 May, 2016

When the levee breaks

The Occupy movement, the Tea Party, and now Trump. America is angry.

Sunday, 15 May, 2016

It’s a content blocker, not an ad blocker

The problem isn’t ads. The problem is being stalked like an animal across the internet.

Sunday, 08 May, 2016

April

Tuesday, 19 April, 2016

Review: Synology DS416j

The DS416j is a nice NAS for light home use. Just don’t expect raw power.

Monday, 11 April, 2016
Saturday, 02 April, 2016

March

Wednesday, 30 March, 2016
Saturday, 26 March, 2016

(Nerd Note) Moving to GitHub Pages

The Core Dump is moving to GitHub Pages. This is a good thing, most likely.

Saturday, 19 March, 2016

Time traveling with Friends

Tempus fugit and all that.

Sunday, 06 March, 2016

February

The tire fire of democracy

Nic has never been more worried for the future of America.

Sunday, 28 February, 2016

Book roundup, part 21

This installment features grimdark fantasy, peppy astronauts and the Roman Empire. Includes SPQR, And On That Bombshell, The Code Book, Schiit Happened, Beyond Redemption, The Severed Streets, The Martian and Veiled.

Monday, 15 February, 2016

January

Space Shuttle Endeavour

Endeavour is a symbol of hope for a better future.

Sunday, 24 January, 2016

Review: The Revenant

A great 90 minute movie smothered in a 2-and-a-half-hour wreck.

Sunday, 17 January, 2016

Thoughts on the 2016 Prius v after a road trip

After a 1,000 mile road trip in his new Prius, Nic has thoughts and gripes.

Sunday, 10 January, 2016

Apple Watch, six months in

Thoughts on Apple Watch after half a year of daily usage.

Friday, 01 January, 2016

2015

December

It’s upgrade time: 2016 Prius v first impressions

Moving from a 1997 Honda Accord to a 2016 Prius is kind of a big deal.

Saturday, 19 December, 2015
Monday, 14 December, 2015

Review: ELAC B6 bookshelf speakers

A great value for your sound system.

Wednesday, 09 December, 2015

November

Magical thinking about encryption and privacy

Predictably, the Paris attacks brought the anti-encryption crowd back out of the woodwork. They're at best being willfully disingenuous.

Monday, 30 November, 2015
Thursday, 26 November, 2015
Tuesday, 24 November, 2015

Review: Spectre

A long-time Bond fan looks at the latest installment in the series and has thoughts.

Sunday, 08 November, 2015

October

Book roundup, part 20

Includes The Antidote, One Nation, Under Gods, Losing the Signal, The Todd Glass Situation, The Last Policeman, The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, Beacon 23, Killing Pretty and Queen of Fire.

Sunday, 18 October, 2015

Building a static site for an investigative journalism project

Things to consider when planning to build a site on a compressed time table.

Friday, 09 October, 2015

How to learn things you’re not interested in

A simple tip to help you learn things your brain wants nothing to do with.

Saturday, 03 October, 2015

September

Yearning for the Cold War

The GOP base is searching for a new Evil Empire to fight.

Friday, 25 September, 2015

The one sentence rule

Nic gets in touch with his inner life coach and offers up a simple rule to find out if an idea is good or not.

Friday, 18 September, 2015

August

Digital hygiene for online security and safety

Nic provides some basic not-too-paranoid tips for securing your digital life.

Saturday, 22 August, 2015
Wednesday, 19 August, 2015

Closing loops

It’s not how much you have to do, it’s how many things you’re doing at the same time.

Friday, 07 August, 2015

Jade Helm and the fever swamps of patriotism

Did you know the U.S. government is planning to invade Texas? Well, it’s not. Nic attempts to explain.

Tuesday, 04 August, 2015

How to install Jekyll on Amazon Linux

Installing Jekyll on an EC2 Amazon Linux AMI is easy. Here are the steps.

Saturday, 01 August, 2015

July

Friday, 24 July, 2015

Will Apple Watch be a success?

After wearing the watch for over a month, Nic has thoughts on its future. Spoiler: Depends on how you define success.

Saturday, 11 July, 2015

June

Book roundup, part 19

Lots of fantasy and sci-fi in this installment plus a book about sports! Includes Boy on Ice, Difficult Men, Restaurant Man, The Red Line, Cunning Plans, Seveneves, Nemesis Games, Bitter Seeds, The Mechanical, Angles of Attack, and City of Stairs.

Monday, 22 June, 2015

May

Wednesday, 13 May, 2015

Let’s all chill out about the iPad sales numbers

Turns out “it's just a big iPhone” is a stroke of genius.

Wednesday, 13 May, 2015
Monday, 04 May, 2015

April

Wednesday, 29 April, 2015

Find Potter and bring him to Narnia

Deal with it, nerds.

Wednesday, 29 April, 2015

Tech terms you might be misusing

Some technical terms still confuse people who should know better, like journalists.

Sunday, 19 April, 2015
Tuesday, 14 April, 2015

Book roundup, part 18

Nic is sad about Terry Pratchett's passing. Includes No Land’s Man, Idiot America, Something Coming Through, The Burning Room, Foxglove Summer, and The Dark Defiles.

Saturday, 11 April, 2015

March

Sunday, 29 March, 2015
Wednesday, 25 March, 2015

BlueBuds X and Jabra Revo Bluetooth headsets review

Bluetooth headsets are maturing rapidly and these are both good in their own ways and for different purposes.

Saturday, 14 March, 2015

Naked root domain with Amazon S3 without using Route 53

How to host a static site on Amazon S3 with an apex domain without using Amazon’s Route 53.

Sunday, 08 March, 2015
Saturday, 07 March, 2015
Tuesday, 03 March, 2015

Say hello to Brimful Podcast

Nic finally launches his own podcast wherein he explains technology to humans.

Sunday, 01 March, 2015

February

Wednesday, 25 February, 2015

Another shot of wet socks against net neutrality

The Republic prints another sad editorial about net neutrality. Nic’s regard couldn’t be any lower.

Friday, 20 February, 2015

Against net neutrality

The Arizona Republic prints a willfully ignorant editorial against net neutrality. It makes Nic unhappy.

Tuesday, 17 February, 2015
Tuesday, 10 February, 2015

As the rage rages in the Tea Party’s rage

Nic tries to understand why people choose to live lives of fear and anger.

Sunday, 08 February, 2015

January

Death Traps and Fury

Fury is a relentlessly grim World War II movie, and as the source autobiography Death Traps makes clear, it should be.

Friday, 30 January, 2015
Saturday, 24 January, 2015

New technology requires new thinking

People fear change, so new technology is used as as a faster version of the old. This makes technologists sad.

Friday, 23 January, 2015

An HTML, CSS and JavaScript lesson plan

Nic provides a lesson plan for teaching total beginners HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Wednesday, 14 January, 2015
Wednesday, 07 January, 2015

2014

December

Book roundup, part 17

Things go dark and magical in this installment. Includes So, Anyway…, Yes Please, The Mirror Empire, London Falling, Broken Homes, Perfidia, The Peripheral, Burning Chrome, and the Bel Dame Apocrypha Omnibus.

Saturday, 27 December, 2014

Introducing the Link Dump

Nic moves his link blog where it should have been all along and has thoughts about Web hosting.

Saturday, 20 December, 2014

Our little sociopathic predator fluffballs

Nic ponders our relationship with our cats.

Saturday, 13 December, 2014

The glanceable wrist in your future

Nic loves his Pebble and looks forward to the Apple Watch, but realizes he’s in the minority.

Sunday, 07 December, 2014

November

The story we tell ourselves

Us humans filter everything we see and experience through our existing narrative. Nic finds this fascinating.

Monday, 24 November, 2014

It's the words, stupid

Nic loves books, but he loves their content more.

Sunday, 16 November, 2014

Voting in America

The American voting system is stuck in a time warp. This makes Nic sad.

Friday, 07 November, 2014

October

The Kindle Voyage is a solid update with an achilles heel

Should you upgrade to Amazon’s latest e-ink reader? Nic gives it a reluctant and somewhat perplexed nod.

Saturday, 25 October, 2014

Our technology is bad and we should feel bad

Nic is worried about the fragile state of our technology and thinks you should be as well.

Sunday, 19 October, 2014

Book roundup, part 16

Lots of good reads in this installment. Includes All Hell Let Loose, Metallica: This Monster Lives, 10% Happier, Onward, Echopraxia, Cibola Burn, The Getaway God, Lock In, The Red: First Light, Terms of Enlistment, and Lines of Departure.

Sunday, 05 October, 2014

September

The WATCH is nigh, and I don’t get it

Nic tries to understand the WATCH. It doesn’t go well.

Thursday, 11 September, 2014

Apple might enter the home integration field

Nic thinks home integration could be Apple’s next major category. Read on to find out why.

Monday, 08 September, 2014

August

An Apple ebook reader would be nice

Nic is frustrated with his Kindle and would love to see Apple make an e-ink reader.

Saturday, 23 August, 2014

Flashing a Gigabyte BIOS should be easier than this

Once again user-interface ineptitude and Internet idiots make things harder than they have to be.

Tuesday, 19 August, 2014

Red immigration meat in the Arizona primaries

There are ways to fix the illegal immigration problem. They don’t involve yelling at children in buses. Nic explains.

Saturday, 02 August, 2014

July

Book roundup, part 15

Solid reads abound in this installment of the roundup. Includes Console Wars, Your Inner Fish, Flash Boys, Digital Wars, The Perfect Storm, Tower Lord, By Blood We Live, I am Pilgrim and Lexicon.

Sunday, 20 July, 2014

The rumored iWatch won’t be what you think

Why whatever Apple is about to release will not be anything like the Pebble or Android Wear.

Saturday, 12 July, 2014

June

After the empire fades

Game of Thrones and The First Law Trilogy illustrate the different ways England and America are dealing with fading empires.

Sunday, 29 June, 2014

Happy midsummer!

Nic is homesick on Midsummer’s Eve.

Friday, 20 June, 2014

Damnatio memoriae

We should forget the names of our mass murderers.

Sunday, 01 June, 2014

May

Movie roundup, part 22

Movie time, kids! Includes an excellent documentary and a lot of not-great movies. Includes Sorcerer, Generation Iron, Restrepo, The Numbers Station, Pacific Rim and 300: Rise of an Empire.

Sunday, 25 May, 2014

White privilege in extremism

It’s way easier to be an extremist in America if you’re white.

Sunday, 11 May, 2014

Further to the right

The idea that both the left and the right in America are getting more extreme is false. Here’s why.

Saturday, 03 May, 2014

April

Enter the rumble roller

Get medieval on your fascia.

Sunday, 27 April, 2014

Review: The Pet Shop Boys Electric tour hits Phoenix

Hey, you like lasers? We have lasers!

Saturday, 19 April, 2014

Book roundup, part 14

Some great reads and a huge disappointment in this installment. Includes The Loudest Voice in the Room, Hatching Twitter, Dogfight, Ancillary Justice, KOP Killer, The Circle, Working God’s Mischief and Where Eagles Dare.

Sunday, 06 April, 2014

March

Desert rose

Flowering cactuses are a beautiful sight.

Sunday, 30 March, 2014

New York City trip report

The Lindh family visits the Big Apple and it is good.

Saturday, 22 March, 2014

We all have our limit

You meet interesting people at the Apple Store. And everybody has a limit.

Wednesday, 05 March, 2014

February

Protecting straight people

The Arizona state legislature is busy protecting the freedoms of the already protected.

Sunday, 23 February, 2014

Tiny victories

Nic practices yoga. It doesn’t go well.

Friday, 14 February, 2014

The Mac, homegrown

Nic delves into the shady computer enthusiast underworld of the Hackintosh.

Wednesday, 05 February, 2014

January

My first Mac

On the Mac’s 30th anniversary, Nic reminisces about his first.

Sunday, 26 January, 2014

How to privatize a public good

The standard right-wing approach to privatizing public goods like education and health care.

Thursday, 23 January, 2014

The iPhone, devourer of technologies

The iPhone was announced Jan. 9, 2007. It now occupies a huge chunk of Nic’s life.

Saturday, 11 January, 2014

2013

December

Meet Helios the cat

It’s Caturday. Nic introduces one of his cats.

Saturday, 28 December, 2013

Movie roundup, part 21

Nic watches movies. Some are good and some are terrible. Includes Star Trek: Into Darkness, Dredd, Oblivion, Django Unchained, Hungry for Change, Bullet to the Head, Hansel and Gretel, Act of Valor, The Queen of Versailles, Indie Game: The Movie, and The Other F Word.

Saturday, 21 December, 2013

Book roundup, part 13

Some solid reading awaits you in this installment. Includes The Outpost, Masters of Doom, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, The Everything Store, Bomber Command, Gods of Guilt, and Low Town.

Friday, 13 December, 2013

Some good podcasts

Nic loves podcasts. Here are some recommendations.

Saturday, 07 December, 2013

November

2013 National Novel Writing Month

Nic types 50,000 words in a month. He’s tired now.

Saturday, 30 November, 2013

Blaming the victims

The Arizona Republic editorial board thinks the young ’uns are lazy.

Thursday, 14 November, 2013

The A7 processor is your friend

Nic is very impressed with the speed of the iPhone 5S and iPad Air.

Thursday, 07 November, 2013

October

50,000 words or bust

Nic is wicked excited to take part in National Novel Writing Month.

Thursday, 31 October, 2013

Communists in the House of Representatives

If things are in balance, there should be Marxists.

Thursday, 24 October, 2013

What the hell were they thinking?

Nic tries to understand the Tea Party. Predictably, it doesn't go well.

Thursday, 17 October, 2013

The Core Dump is 10 years old!

Nic ruminates on the changes ten years have wrought.

Wednesday, 09 October, 2013

Finding a theme for your site

Nic tells you how to find a theme for your new site.

Wednesday, 02 October, 2013

September

A fresh coat of paint

Nic gives the site a face lift and sings the praises of Bootstrap 3.

Friday, 27 September, 2013

There shall be airflow!

Nic cleans out the firebox on his Kamado grill.

Tuesday, 17 September, 2013

Trouble in Nexus 7 land

Nic encrypts his 2013 Nexus 7 and bad things happen.

Sunday, 01 September, 2013

August

Captain Incoherent goes shopping

A tired Nic makes an ass of himself at a grocery store.

Tuesday, 27 August, 2013

Book roundup, part twelve

A slimmer-than-usual book roundup is heavy on the non-fiction, including several must-read titles.

Friday, 16 August, 2013

The 2013 Nexus 7

Nic buys a Nexus 7 to test the Android waters.

Friday, 02 August, 2013

July

Rejoice, peasants

Nic is exasperated by the mania surrounding the birth of a child.

Wednesday, 24 July, 2013

A diary of Swedish weather

Nic ransacks his memories to recount a year of Swedish weather.

Tuesday, 16 July, 2013

May

Cloudy with a chance of broken

All Nic wants for WWDC is sync that actually works

Friday, 31 May, 2013

Book roundup, part eleven

Another book roundup, including some stellar athletes and soldiers, what might be the most jaded, soul-weary protagonist ever, and some grimdark fantasy.

Sunday, 19 May, 2013

Paywalls and tinfoil hats

The Internet is getting creepy, and Nic is breaking out his tinfoil hat after newspaper paywalls push him over the edge.

Saturday, 11 May, 2013

April

OK then, Mr. Gekko

Nic is tired of tech sites obsessing over Apple’s financials and business strategy. So very tired.

Tuesday, 23 April, 2013

Read this book: Salt Sugar Fat

Nic reads a book about the processed food industry and is incensed.

Thursday, 04 April, 2013

March

The cargo cult of technology

Computers are complicated. This brings out the irrational in people.

Wednesday, 13 March, 2013

Seen a Rechthaberei lately?

Nic proposes the loan word Rechthaberei be incorporated into American English.

Wednesday, 06 March, 2013

February

Book roundup, part ten

The Core Dump is back! Books were read during the hiatus. Includes The Coldest Winter, Oh, Myyy!, Tough Sh*t, The Revolution Was Televised, The Rook, Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, Gun Machine, Fortress Frontier, Standing in Another Man’s Grave, and The Memory of Light.

Tuesday, 26 February, 2013

January

The Core Dump is hibernating

This site will return in February.

Monday, 07 January, 2013

2012

December

Book roundup, part nine

From a true patriot to a world-weary detective, a dead god, and a civilization about to sublime from the galaxy, this book roundup spans the gamut. Includes Where Men Win Glory, Wild, Inside the Box, The Black Box, Three Parts Dead, Red Country, and The Hydrogen Sonata.

Thursday, 20 December, 2012

Ode to joy

Springsteen gives a concert in Phoenix. It’s fantastic.

Saturday, 08 December, 2012

November

Humungus’s Volvo tractor

A Swedish redneck discovers the joy of putting a Volvo engine into an old tractor as Mad Max smiles.

Friday, 30 November, 2012

Thanksgiving, the reboot

Nic loves Thanksgiving but, seriously, the bird’s got to go.

Thursday, 22 November, 2012

Size matters: The iPad mini is its own experience

Nic has spent quality time with the iPad mini and wants to share his opinion. Because there clearly aren't enough iPad reviews on the Internet.

Thursday, 15 November, 2012

Uncomfortably numb

Nic is oh so very tired after the election.

Wednesday, 07 November, 2012

October

Smoking spareribs on the Kamado

Nic levels up on the grill by smoking spareribs on his Kamado. Tasty, tasty ribs.

Thursday, 25 October, 2012

Arizona 2012 ballot proposition rundown

Nic provides a rundown of the 2012 Arizona ballot propositions with recommendations on how you should vote.

Thursday, 18 October, 2012

Kindle Paperlight: Amazon giveth and Amazon taketh away

Nic is ecstatic about the backlighting on the Kindle Paperlight, but Amazon has made some strange design decisions and there’s a display hardware flaw.

Thursday, 11 October, 2012

Movie roundup, part 20

Nic watches movies again. Included are Moon, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Avengers, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Coriolanus, The Grey and Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows. Nic is mostly unimpressed.

Thursday, 04 October, 2012

Lying as a rational strategy

Nic is sad after the first presidential debate of 2012 and explains why lying makes sense for the candidates at this point.

Thursday, 04 October, 2012

September

Book roundup, part eight

From the heights of athletic excellence to the depths of depravity, this roundup includes The First 20 Minutes, Double Cross, The Heroin Diaries, Tattoos and Tequila, Dodger, Farthing, and Devil Said Bang.

Thursday, 27 September, 2012

Ebook creation is still a bag of hurt

Nic makes a new ebook and is dismayed by the sad state of ebook publishing.

Friday, 14 September, 2012

Caturday Pinup: Phoebe

Nic hears there’s a lack of cat pictures on the Internet and decides to help out by posting a picture of his cat Phoebe.

Saturday, 08 September, 2012

Noises in my head: Four midrange headphones reviewed

Nic reviews four sets of midrange headphones. They all meet with approval.

Saturday, 01 September, 2012

August

Two Americas, one good one bad

Nic immigrated to an America that looks to the future and uses science and engineering to make the world as great as possible. And then there's another America.

Sunday, 26 August, 2012

“Legacy Service End of Life”

Joyent decides to screw over its VC customers and handles it poorly to say the least.

Thursday, 16 August, 2012

Book roundup, part seven

Includes Wabi-Sabi, Making Things Happen, D-Day, Tallula Rising, Blood Song, The Americans and Amped. All in all, a happy romp through the meadows of literature.

Wednesday, 01 August, 2012

July

4th of July barbecue

The great soft box in the sky hovered over Phoenix on the 4th of July, so it was time for some barbecue photography.

Thursday, 12 July, 2012

What your email address says about you

One of the equivalences of haircut and clothing on the Internet is your email address.

Wednesday, 04 July, 2012

June

The Beach Principle of productivity

Fiddliness be gone! Nic simplifies things.

Friday, 29 June, 2012

Book roundup, part six

Includes Search Inside Yourself, The Information Diet, Redshirts, The Gone-Away World, Wool, Leviathan Wakes, and Prince of Thorns. One of these may very well change your life.

Friday, 22 June, 2012

La Jolla trip

The Lindhs go to La Jolla on vacation. It's pretty great.

Thursday, 07 June, 2012

May

Movie roundup, part 19

Nic watches movies. Included are Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Haywire, Underworld: Awakening, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Guns of Navarone and Immortals. Several of these movies are bad but only one made Nic turn it off.

Thursday, 24 May, 2012

The core is weak

Nic discovers yoga/Pilates is a great antidote to middle-age decrepitude.

Wednesday, 16 May, 2012

Book roundup, part five

Includes Shadow Ops: Control Point, The Night Circus, The Hunger Games, Quiet, The Science of Yoga, and Kitchen Confidential. Lots of good stuff in this one.

Thursday, 03 May, 2012

April

Sweet, sweet BBQ

Nic loves his Kamado grill so much he makes a video about grilling on it.

Wednesday, 25 April, 2012

Enter the Kamado

Nic buys a Kamado grill and wants to share his joy with the world.

Thursday, 19 April, 2012

The new iPad: Dat screen

After a few weeks of heavy usage, Nic shares his feelings about the new iPad.

Tuesday, 03 April, 2012

March

Book roundup, part four

Includes Angelmaker, The Magicians, Magician King, Iron Council, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Distrust That Particular Flavor, and Talking to Girls About Duran Duran. One of these is the most important book of 2011.

Friday, 23 March, 2012

A good kind of hungry

Eating a low-carb diet changes how your hunger feels.

Sunday, 04 March, 2012

February

Rural Arizona 2012 Decay Tour

Pictures of hard times and decay in rural Arizona.

Saturday, 25 February, 2012

Exercise for the middle-aged fat guy

An exhortation to exercise for my fellow middle-aged fat guys.

Thursday, 16 February, 2012

Photo safari to Cleator and Watson Lake

Nic is dragged along on a photo safari to rural Arizona.

Sunday, 05 February, 2012

January

Book roundup, part three

Includes The Drop, Ready Player One, Moon Called, Among Others, Excession, Inferno, The Paleo Solution and I am Ozzy.

Thursday, 19 January, 2012

Review: Blue HR heart rate monitor strap

If you have an iPhone 4S, the Blue HR is a solid device.

Tuesday, 17 January, 2012

Movie roundup, part 18

Nic watches movies. Included are Contagion, Drive, Conan the Barbarian, Fast Five, Hanna, Priest and Bridesmaids. Can you guess which one Nic hated?

Monday, 09 January, 2012

2011

December

The dragon flies at night

It’s 1989. Nic moves to Louisiana and discovers there’s such a thing as black culture.

Thursday, 29 December, 2011

O Tannenbaum

Christmas is behind us and it’s time to get back in the saddle.

Tuesday, 27 December, 2011

Merry Christmas!

It’s once again the winter solstice. It’s time to sit back and relax.

Saturday, 24 December, 2011

Clouds over a CostCo parking lot

Arizona experiences winter rain storms and Nic commits photography.

Tuesday, 20 December, 2011

On azcentral.com outsourcing comments to Facebook

Nic outlines some of the risks of ceding comments on news stories to Facebook.

Thursday, 08 December, 2011

Fixing technology education in K12

Students aren’t being taught how to use computers. Nic offers suggestions to fix a broken system.

Thursday, 01 December, 2011

November

Book roundup, part two

Includes Sandman Slim, Snuff, The Cold Commands, Reamde, Goodbye Darkness, Steve Jobs and The Psychopath Test.

Thursday, 24 November, 2011

More contrast, please

Nic is frustrated by a design choice for a JBL remote.

Wednesday, 23 November, 2011

Cain and the Democratic conspiracy

The harrassment charges against Cain and the sad kabuki theater of the Republican nominations.

Wednesday, 09 November, 2011

October

The shibboleth of style

Nic is not pleased with the AP stylebook.

Thursday, 27 October, 2011

Thank you, Steve Jobs

We have lost a visionary.

Wednesday, 05 October, 2011

Kindle 4 first impressions

Nic buys a new Kindle and tells you what he thinks about it. Read and find out if you should buy one.

Monday, 03 October, 2011

September

Why I’m all-in on FiveFingers

Nic loves his freaky clown shoes. This post explains why.

Wednesday, 28 September, 2011

Blade Runner keyboard

Nic really can’t understand how his keyboard gets so dirty.

Tuesday, 20 September, 2011

Do not wake up

Nic’s daughter isn’t what you’d call a morning person.

Wednesday, 14 September, 2011

Book roundup, part one

Some books you might enjoy reading.

Wednesday, 14 September, 2011

Even better burgers

Nic’s dad shows him how to make even better burgers and he shares his newfound knowledge.

Saturday, 10 September, 2011

Death by PowerPoint

Endless, pointless presentations are a drag on corporate worker sanity. There is a better way.

Thursday, 08 September, 2011

The long democracy

Campaign season is gearing up in America and Nic has some thoughts on the endless primaries ahead.

Thursday, 01 September, 2011

August

Sports journalism is hurting democracy

Political news coverage in America tends to be abysmal. Nic explores why.

Thursday, 25 August, 2011

Lion and the angst of the greybeards

Nic is bemused by the sturm und drang surrounding the iOS-ification of Mac OS X.

Thursday, 18 August, 2011

Web publishing made easy

Web publishing used to require heavy-duty nerditry, but no longer.

Wednesday, 10 August, 2011

How to create an e-book

Nic is creating an e-book. He shares what he’s learned so far.

Thursday, 04 August, 2011

July

The monster of Norway

The horrific events in Norway hit home for Nic.

Wednesday, 27 July, 2011

Breaking the social back

Nic overanalyzes things again. He has no idea what to do with Google Plus.

Thursday, 21 July, 2011

The end of the artifact

Spotify is finally open for U.S. customers. Nic is ridiculously excited.

Friday, 15 July, 2011

Why We Get Fat

Nic reads a life-changing book on nutrition and wants to share it with you.

Thursday, 07 July, 2011

June

Productivity for people who don’t have ADD

Nic thinks a lot about productivity and shares some books that have helped him.

Sunday, 05 June, 2011

Gaze of the Predator

Nic attempts to reinvigorate the tradition of posting cat pictures on Fridays.

Friday, 03 June, 2011

May

Movie roundup, part 17

Nic watches movies. They mostly suck. Included are I am Number Four, Jonah Hex, Doctor Zhivago, Valhalla Rising, Bronson, Centurion and Resident Evil: Afterlife.

Monday, 30 May, 2011

Phoenix ComiCon impressions

Nic takes his daughter to go nerd watching at the Phoenix ComiCon.

Sunday, 29 May, 2011

Happy ninth birthday, Andrea!

Our daughter turns nine years old today.

Saturday, 28 May, 2011

Westward Ho

Threatening skies over the Westward Ho in downtown Phoenix.

Thursday, 19 May, 2011

Some good podcasts for you

Nic listens to a lot of podcasts on his commute. He hopes some of them might make you happy.

Saturday, 07 May, 2011

Closer to the metal

Nic switches from WordPress to Jekyll. He’s excited. Everybody else is bored to tears.

Sunday, 01 May, 2011

April

Something in the water: 10 years of the Apple Store

Nic talks about the early days of the Apple Store and how it came damn close to killing him.

Sunday, 24 April, 2011

FiveFingers help chronic compartment syndrome

Nic finds that Vibram FiveFingers help with his chronic compartment syndrome. This makes him happy.

Friday, 08 April, 2011

March

Twitter is not your free advertising

Nic gets his panties all in a bunch about how some people are using Twitter as an ad-hoc means of getting free advertising.

Monday, 21 March, 2011

Review: Griftopia

Matt Taibbi’s Griftopia is an important book, and it will make you angry enough to froth at the mouth.

Monday, 14 March, 2011

Review: The Heroes

The Heroes is an intense, wild ride into a maelstrom of violence, brutality and flawed human beings. You should read it.

Wednesday, 02 March, 2011

February

Slick, very slick

Comment spammers aren’t just leeches and the scum of the Earth. They are also bad at using computers.

Monday, 21 February, 2011

Slowing down the news

Nic explains why you don’t need Live on the Scene With Action News and why it’s so compelling anyway.

Friday, 11 February, 2011

Kinda I want to

Nic discovers Nine Inch Nails as a broke student with an IROC-Z in Louisiana. He still loves Pretty Hate Machine.

Saturday, 05 February, 2011

A panegyric to e-book readers

Nic really digs e-book readers. No, seriously, he really digs them. And you should, too.

Tuesday, 01 February, 2011

January

Your computer is becoming an appliance. Deal.

The future and now of personal computing is appliances. This post parses why you shouldn’t worry about it.

Friday, 28 January, 2011
Tuesday, 25 January, 2011

Video on the Web: Your HTML5 won’t save you now

Grab a hankie and a strong drink to help you through this discussion of the pain that awaits you if you want to put video on the Web.

Monday, 17 January, 2011

Frosty the windshield

There’s frost on the car windows in Phoenix. Confusion ensues.

Friday, 07 January, 2011

2009

December

Naked and sedated

Dagnabbit, some idiot does some dumb shit and now everybody’s air travel has to suck even more?

Thursday, 31 December, 2009

Home of the dollar

Having an economy based on housing only is a bad idea. Who knew?

Wednesday, 30 December, 2009

Hummingbird heaven

Nic loves the hummingbirds in his backyard.

Wednesday, 16 December, 2009

Morning conversation

Nic’s daughter frightens him sometimes.

Wednesday, 09 December, 2009

November

Review: Klipsch IMAGE S4i headset

Solid in-ear headphones with Apple-compatible remote.

Sunday, 29 November, 2009

New hamburger expertise

Nic shows you how to grill up a fantastic burger. Yum.

Tuesday, 24 November, 2009

Review: Anathem

An enormously ambitious novel that mostly succeeds.

Wednesday, 04 November, 2009

October

Cue The Smiths

The never-ending drama around dinner time and Nazi parents who make nutritious home-cooked meals.

Sunday, 25 October, 2009

Movie roundup, part 13

Nerdcore Rising, Rescue Dawn, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Watchmen, Waltz With Bashir, Defiance and Grand Torino.

Friday, 23 October, 2009

Infestation of raggare

Nic looks back at one of the menaces of his youth.

Wednesday, 07 October, 2009

Out of Nebraska

Springsteen brings the angst of being human like none other.

Thursday, 01 October, 2009

September

The New Barbeque Expert

Men tend to overcomplicate things, including grilling. Nic breaks down how to do it right.

Thursday, 24 September, 2009

Review: Drenai Tales

A roundup of David Gemmell’s Drenai Tales novels.

Thursday, 10 September, 2009

Seriously, what the hell?

Once again, shrill nutbags get under Nic’s skin.

Friday, 04 September, 2009

Review: The Brass Verdict

An excellent Mickey Haller novel.

Thursday, 03 September, 2009

Review: Requiem for an Assassin

Mostly for completist John Rain fans.

Thursday, 03 September, 2009

August

Not exactly Kerouac

Conversations with a second-grader are great.

Friday, 28 August, 2009

Review: 1776

Required reading for anybody interested in American history.

Wednesday, 26 August, 2009

Movie roundup, part 12

Includes Kung Fu Panda, The Wrestler, Righteous Kill, The King of Kong, Gangs of New York, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and 30 Days of Night. A bit of a good, bad and ugly.

Tuesday, 18 August, 2009

Apathy and loathing at Dulles

Dulles airport might just be the worst in the world. This post tells you why.

Monday, 10 August, 2009

In the stillness

Some languid thoughts from a vacationing Nic.

Sunday, 02 August, 2009

July

That was easy

Nic is delighted with how smooth his trip to Sweden went. In the movie biz they call that foreshadowing.

Wednesday, 22 July, 2009

Louisiana to Missouri, via tow truck

Nic’s first personal experience of driving across America, complete with a breakdown outside a motel in Blythesville, Ark.

Monday, 06 July, 2009

June

Red carpet for the apocalypse

Nic is a bit creeped out by survivalists.

Wednesday, 24 June, 2009

The first letter home

My daughter visits with her grandparents and sends a letter home.

Sunday, 14 June, 2009

Review: Terminator Salvation

Nic goes to the movies. He is not happy.

Monday, 08 June, 2009

Review: Let the Right One In (novel and movie)

Both the movie and the novel Let the Right One In kick Nic in the teeth.

Monday, 08 June, 2009

Movie roundup, part 11

Included in this movie round-up are: Tell No One, Harakiri, Babylon A.D., Death Race, Wall-E, Let the Right One In, Hellboy II, Good Night, and Good Luck and Kingdom of Heaven.

Sunday, 07 June, 2009

Microsoft and the lemonade stand parable

Nic tries his hand at a parable to explain the problem with Microsoft.

Wednesday, 03 June, 2009

May

Bass for your face

Nic likes a pair of headphones.

Wednesday, 20 May, 2009

The British Wallander

Kenneth Branagh takes on Swedish detective icon Kurt Wallander. Unfortunately it doesn’t turn out well.

Tuesday, 19 May, 2009

Review: Gang Leader for a Day

Very interesting insights into the shadow economy.

Monday, 11 May, 2009

Tower of babble

Ever wonder why parents always look tired? Here’s a video to explain it.

Tuesday, 05 May, 2009

April

It’s the sound of inevitability, Mr. Anderson

Nic lists the ways the Blu-ray experience is miserable.

Monday, 27 April, 2009

Review: Shadow of the Scorpion

Very good dark space opera.

Sunday, 26 April, 2009

One sure thing

If you know you’re right, you’re probably not.

Sunday, 12 April, 2009

A poke in the eye

Nic discovers the Blu-ray spec allows studios to not allow resume of a movie. And the studios don’t. Guess how he feels about that?

Thursday, 09 April, 2009

March

Boiling point

People are waking up to the excesses of the banking system.

Saturday, 28 March, 2009

Paid back

Nic doesn’t need proof he is the father of his child, but he gets it anyway.

Wednesday, 18 March, 2009

February

Bad film nerd. No money for you

It’s time to stop giving George Lucas money.

Friday, 27 February, 2009

Zen and meat

Nic finds enlightenment in a friend’s nervous breakdown.

Friday, 06 February, 2009

Review: American Shaolin

Very interesting and funny book about an American who travels to China to become a Shaolin monk.

Wednesday, 04 February, 2009

January

Movie roundup, part ten

In this installment of the movie round-up: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Iron Man, Payback: The Director’s Cut, Blade Runner: The Final Cut, Doomsday, Maxed Out and The Dark Knight.

Friday, 30 January, 2009

A crash course in teaching

If you teach, you should read this post.

Sunday, 25 January, 2009

Your own personal GTD

Our brains aren’t built to handle the modern world, but there are ways to deal.

Tuesday, 20 January, 2009

A pixel too far

Nic digs Blu-ray transfers of old World War II movies.

Thursday, 15 January, 2009

Review: Ready for Anything

Not as shattering as Getting Things Done, but a worthwhile read.

Thursday, 15 January, 2009

It’s ... the fuuuuuture

The future is distributed to Nic and his idolization of William Gibson grows.

Thursday, 08 January, 2009

Always be scribbling

Newspapers and technology aren’t exactly best friends.

Monday, 05 January, 2009

Out with the old

Nic discards old technology and thinks about all the money he’s spent.

Friday, 02 January, 2009

The airing of grievances

Turns out 2008 was kind of a shit sandwich. Who knew?

Thursday, 01 January, 2009

2008

December

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Christmas from drunken Irishmen.

Tuesday, 23 December, 2008

Review: Making Money

Terry Pratchett goes a bit darker than usual.

Monday, 22 December, 2008

Why so serious?

Nic is not impressed by the MPAA’s rating system but he is impressed by The Dark Knight.

Saturday, 13 December, 2008

November

Movie roundup, part nine

Includes Quantum of Solace, Control, Live Free or Die Hard, Hitman, Oldboy, and Shoot ’Em Up. Not a bad round-up.

Friday, 28 November, 2008

Magic money

Nic is not happy with the excesses of the banking system.

Wednesday, 26 November, 2008

Review: The First Law Trilogy

It’s like these novels were written for Nic.

Wednesday, 12 November, 2008

Review: The Bloomsday Dead

Brings the Dead Trilogy to a close.

Thursday, 06 November, 2008

Come together

Nic is excited about Barack Obama’s election win.

Wednesday, 05 November, 2008

October

Review: Presentation Zen

Required reading for anybody who gives presentations.

Thursday, 30 October, 2008

The competitive urge

Nic is not happy about the state of America today.

Sunday, 26 October, 2008

Arizona ballot propositions 2008

A run-down of the ballot propositions with suggestions for how you should vote on each of them.

Monday, 20 October, 2008

Dub-dub-debate

Nic is not happy about the way the presidental election debates are run.

Thursday, 16 October, 2008

R.I.P. Shiva

We lose our oldest cat, Shiva.

Tuesday, 07 October, 2008

I give up

The McCain/Palin team make Nic question his sanity.

Monday, 06 October, 2008

Go Speedracer!

The only thing Nic likes more than the Internet is a wicked fast Internet connection.

Thursday, 02 October, 2008

September

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Gritty and violent Swedish crime fiction, just released in the U.S.

Tuesday, 23 September, 2008

The Republican in winter

It must be rough to be a Goldwater Republican these days.

Sunday, 21 September, 2008

To the undecided voter

Nic can’t understand how, in the most polarized election in history, anybody can be an undecided voter.

Thursday, 18 September, 2008

Review: Here Comes Everybody

An important book on how technology is changing society.

Tuesday, 16 September, 2008

Get better

Merlin Mann on the creative process.

Monday, 15 September, 2008

Review: The Name of the Wind

Impressive first novel of a planned trilogy.

Sunday, 07 September, 2008

Review: The Last Colony

The weakest novel in John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War Universe.

Sunday, 07 September, 2008

Review: Spook Country

Not William Gibson’s finest moment.

Saturday, 06 September, 2008

Let them eat swamp water

More screwed-up priorities from Republicans.

Thursday, 04 September, 2008

August

Boiling it down

Wisdom from my great-uncle the farmer.

Thursday, 21 August, 2008

The cheese and the damage done

Nic is not impressed with Who Moved My Cheese.

Saturday, 16 August, 2008

Review: The Moment It Clicks

A must-read for anybody interested in photography.

Tuesday, 12 August, 2008

July

Review: Thirteen

Excellent noir near-future sci-fi. Read it.

Tuesday, 29 July, 2008

Too soon?

Apple gets greedy with MobileMe.

Thursday, 24 July, 2008

Movie roundup, part eight

Resident Evil: Extinction, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I am Legend, Battlestar Galactica: Razor, The Kingdom and Revolver.

Thursday, 17 July, 2008

No diacriticals for you and your yuppie toy!

The iPhone keyboard doesn’t support Swedish characters so Nic files a Radar bug.

Monday, 14 July, 2008

Review: The Overachievers

Deeply disturbing book about the pressures of high-achieving high school students.

Tuesday, 08 July, 2008

Review: Woken Furies

The third installment in Richard Morgan’s Takeshi Kovacs saga is great.

Monday, 07 July, 2008

The solstice

Nic talks about the Swedish midsummer tradition. With pictures.

Tuesday, 01 July, 2008

June

I’ve got the key

Nic muses on the blessed stillness of vacation.

Wednesday, 11 June, 2008

On through the night

Nic reports on his and his daughter’s flight to Sweden.

Wednesday, 11 June, 2008

Conspicuous consumption

Nic and his wife buy a brand-new Acura TL. It’s a beautiful machine.

Wednesday, 04 June, 2008

May

Review: The Dragon Never Sleeps

Glen Cook delivers epic, dense space opera.

Saturday, 24 May, 2008

Review: Glasshouse

Great sci-fi that’s really a meditation on memory.

Thursday, 22 May, 2008

Review: Cruel Zinc Melodies

Disappointing Garrett, P.I. novel.

Thursday, 22 May, 2008

The Great Pool of Money

You should listen to this fantastic podcast which explains the origins of the credit crisis.

Thursday, 15 May, 2008

Science night

Science night at school meets Nic’s immaturity.

Wednesday, 14 May, 2008

Review: The Sociopath Next Door

An important book about the hidden menace of sociopaths.

Thursday, 08 May, 2008

Review: Homicide

Excellent non-fiction about homicide squads from one of the creators of The Wire.

Tuesday, 06 May, 2008

New levels of disgust

Nic is pissed off about politics, including the perennial favorites the war in Iraq and gas prices.

Thursday, 01 May, 2008

April

Random nerditry

Idiots hotlink my images. That’s a no-no.

Sunday, 27 April, 2008

R.I.P. Pompe, 2001 - 008

My parents’ dog passed away.

Sunday, 27 April, 2008

Review: The Price of Privilege

Important book about how pressure from well-meaning parents hurt affluent children.

Tuesday, 22 April, 2008

Holy Docsis, Batman!

If your Internet connection isn’t as fast as you’d like, it might be time to upgrade your cable modem.

Monday, 21 April, 2008

Review: The Scar

The Scar is a great, weird novel, but it makes Nic worry he might be a steampunk.

Monday, 14 April, 2008

Review: Everything is Miscellaneous

Interesting book, but too much filler and techno-utopianism.

Monday, 14 April, 2008

March

At the car wash

Nic encounters racism.

Monday, 31 March, 2008

Shoe leather

Nic gets a visit from a door-to-door realtor.

Thursday, 13 March, 2008

February

Guest in reality

Nic explains how he managed to get engaged on Feb. 29.

Friday, 29 February, 2008

Review: Lord of the Silent Kingdom

The second installment of Glen Cook’s Instrumentalities of the Night delivers.

Tuesday, 19 February, 2008

Movie roundup, part seven

Lots of violence in this round-up. Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Smashing Machine, Slim Susie, Grindhouse: Planet Terror and Grindhouse: Deathproof.

Friday, 15 February, 2008

Super Tuesday! Tuesday! Tuesday!

Nic goes to the polls and discovers you need two proofs of identity to vote in Ariz. now.

Tuesday, 05 February, 2008

January

The worms

My daughter hears anti-semitism and blissfully misinterprets it.

Saturday, 26 January, 2008

Review: Consider the Lobster

Excellent collection of writing from the great David Foster Wallace.

Tuesday, 22 January, 2008

Review: The Overlook

Michael Connelly delivers a weak Harry Bosch novel.

Monday, 21 January, 2008

Review: Darkness, Take My Hand

Dennis Lehane manages to write a novel that is too noir for Nic.

Monday, 21 January, 2008

The nerd has flown

Reflections from Macworld 2008.

Sunday, 20 January, 2008

The nerd has landed

Nic reports from Macworld 2008.

Wednesday, 16 January, 2008

Review: The Big Switch

Nice book on the commoditization of corporate IT services. Worth reading for anybody in the field.

Thursday, 10 January, 2008

Review: Heat

Entertaining book about a man’s obsessive quest to become a professional chef.

Thursday, 10 January, 2008

Corporate communications at its finest

Cox Communications isn’t great at, well, communicating.

Tuesday, 08 January, 2008

2007

December

Review: Perdido Street Station

Excellent fantasy from China Miéville.

Tuesday, 18 December, 2007

Review: Made in America

For the word nerds.

Friday, 07 December, 2007

Lost in the woods

Nic loses sight of his daughter at the store and freaks out.

Thursday, 06 December, 2007

Say hello to my little friend

We adopt a third cat, Athena Fairy Princess.

Monday, 03 December, 2007

November

Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora

A tentative debut novel from Scott Lynch.

Friday, 30 November, 2007

Game changer: Flip Video

How the Flip Video is turning the amateur video recording industry on its head.

Friday, 30 November, 2007

Review: Nature Girl

Carl Hiaasen wants you to not visit Florida.

Thursday, 29 November, 2007

Review: Bleeding Hearts

A disappointing non-Rebus novel from Ian Rankin.

Thursday, 29 November, 2007

The G-rated Internet

Nic highly recommends OpenDNS if you have children who use the Internet.

Monday, 12 November, 2007

Movie roundup, part six

Stranger than Fiction, The Black Dahlia, Blades of Glory, Hot Fuzz, Zero Kelvin and March of the Penguins.

Wednesday, 07 November, 2007

October

Review: JPod

Douglas Coupland continues the exploration of the lives of tech workers he started in Microserfs.

Thursday, 25 October, 2007

Review: Right as Rain

Hard boiled crime fiction from one of the writers for The Wire.

Tuesday, 23 October, 2007

She rules the night

Nic’s daughter loses her first tooth and the tooth fairy is off to a shaky start.

Monday, 22 October, 2007

Review: A Cruel Wind

The granddaddy of dark fantasy. Highly recommended.

Wednesday, 10 October, 2007

Review: On Intelligence

Very interesting book about how intelligence works and the challenges we face in trying to build intelligent machines.

Wednesday, 10 October, 2007

September

The payback begins

The stupid things you say as a teenager have a way of coming back to haunt you.

Sunday, 30 September, 2007

The winged messenger swoops in

Version control is a necessity for staying sane. Nic looks at some options.

Saturday, 29 September, 2007

Movie roundup, part five

Pathfinder, Stalker, Pusher and Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny.

Friday, 28 September, 2007

Firefox downloading PDFs to Lexmark folder

A solution to a weird Firefox glitch is proffered to the altar of Google.

Wednesday, 26 September, 2007

Review: All Creatures Great and Small

Well-deservedly known as a classic.

Saturday, 15 September, 2007

Shiny Crescent

Nic moves his site to a new server. Excitement! Drama! Jazz hands!

Sunday, 09 September, 2007

Review: Passage at Arms

Das Boot in spaaaaaace.

Sunday, 09 September, 2007

Review: Echo Park

A decent installment in the Harry Bosch saga.

Sunday, 09 September, 2007

The suspension of disbelief

Nic explains why he has a hard time dealing with super hero movies and the ways his brain lets him down.

Saturday, 08 September, 2007

Review: Stumbling on Happiness

A slim volume on how we determine whether we’re happy or not. Worth reading.

Saturday, 01 September, 2007

August

The first five years from a father’s perspective

Being a dad is the best and hardest thing that can happen to a man. Nic looks back at five years of trying to figure it out.

Sunday, 19 August, 2007

Lucky 13

It’s Nic and his wife’s 13th wedding anniversary.

Tuesday, 07 August, 2007

July

You and what army?

On the joys of giving medicine to a cat.

Thursday, 19 July, 2007

Review: Twilight Watch

Brings the Nightwatch trilogy to a satisfying end.

Thursday, 19 July, 2007

Review: Day Watch

Continues the Nightwatch saga in strong form.

Thursday, 19 July, 2007

Review: Nightwatch

The first novel in the great Nightwatch saga. If you like fantasy, this is the real deal.

Thursday, 19 July, 2007

Movie roundup, part four

This round-up includes Day Watch, Smokin’ Aces, Children of Men, Paycheck and Beerfest. One of them is somewhat funny.

Monday, 09 July, 2007

June

A dark and hungry god arises

The hype about the iPhone mystifies Nic.

Saturday, 30 June, 2007

Review: Hardwired

Classic cyberpunk, well worth reading.

Monday, 25 June, 2007

WWDC Keynote Death March

Nic attends his first and last Stevenote.

Tuesday, 12 June, 2007

The end of the Y

Nic sings the praises of the local YMCA where he sent his daughter to preschool and the Reggio Emilia method.

Saturday, 09 June, 2007

Review: The Digital Photography Book

Will help improve the quality of your photographs.

Thursday, 07 June, 2007

Life in the cloud

Keeping data in sync between different computers and different people is tricky. Nic looks at some ways it can be done.

Tuesday, 05 June, 2007

May

The fairy princess Wii

Fairytopia rips off the Wii mote and it actually doesn’t suck.

Wednesday, 30 May, 2007

Review: The Ghost Brigades

Fun space opera with emotional depth.

Wednesday, 30 May, 2007

Review: The Dead Yard

The second Michael Forsythe novel is grim and fast-paced.

Wednesday, 30 May, 2007

Movie roundup, part three

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Casino Royale and Battle Royale. One of these movies doesn’t suck.

Tuesday, 22 May, 2007

Review: Bitter Gold Hearts

The second Garrett, P.I. novel is an improvement on the first.

Tuesday, 22 May, 2007

Review: Sweet Silver Blues

The first Garrett, P.I. novel is a fun mix of fantasy and noir.

Tuesday, 22 May, 2007

Voices in my head

Children are dwarves on acid.

Wednesday, 09 May, 2007

Review: Dead I Well May Be

A strong first novel in a dark and grim series.

Monday, 07 May, 2007

Review: Judas Unchained

The follow-up to Pandora’s Star is epic sci-fi at its finest.

Wednesday, 02 May, 2007

Car alarm yadda yadda

Nic gets stuck in customer service hell when he replaces the fob to his car alarm.

Wednesday, 02 May, 2007

April

Wii first impressions

Nic’s family scores a Wii. Here are his first impressions.

Tuesday, 24 April, 2007

You’ve had your car too long when...

Nic Lindh, breaker of car fobs.

Thursday, 19 April, 2007

Desert roses

Pics of the gorgeous cactus roses we get in the Sonoran desert.

Monday, 16 April, 2007

No sex until marriage doesn’t seem to work

A study finds that abstinence-only sex education doesn’t work. Nic is not surprised.

Saturday, 14 April, 2007

Review: The Sundering

The second novel in the space opera.

Monday, 09 April, 2007

Review: The Praxis

The first novel about the Shaa empire is pure and unabashed space opera.

Monday, 09 April, 2007

She’s beautiful! Let’s name her Metallica

A Swedish couple decide to name their daughter Metallica. \m/

Friday, 06 April, 2007

April Fools

You are not funny. Neither is your April Fool’s joke.

Sunday, 01 April, 2007

Done with movie theaters

Nic has (yet another) horrible experience at a movie theater and swears he’s done.

Sunday, 01 April, 2007

March

Review: 300

300’s strength and weakness are the same thing: it’s based on a graphic novel.

Saturday, 31 March, 2007

Review: The Undercover Economist

Marketed as being similar to Freakonomics, which it is not.

Tuesday, 27 March, 2007

The voice in the wilderness

College is a time for drama, as this graffiti artist illustrates.

Thursday, 22 March, 2007

My mighty, mighty navel

Nic discovers Twitter.

Tuesday, 13 March, 2007

Boosters activated

Nic’s daughter graduates from child seat to booster seat.

Monday, 12 March, 2007

More cat drama

One of our cats gets an enema. I feel her pain.

Sunday, 11 March, 2007

You know you’re a parent...

When you’re a parent your gross meter breaks.

Friday, 09 March, 2007

Early morning coffee

Nic tries to understand why anybody would stop on the way to work to buy coffee when there’s free coffee at work.

Wednesday, 07 March, 2007

Movie roundup, part two

The Departed, The Great Raid, Bastard of the Party, A Scanner Darkly, Sexy Beast, Miami Vice and Layer Cake.

Monday, 05 March, 2007

February

Doing it for free

Why the first job for any technology company is to make their product easy to use.

Tuesday, 27 February, 2007

All your podcasts are belong to us

Nic puts an iPod connector in his car and his life is changed forever.

Sunday, 25 February, 2007

Review: What the Dormouse Said

A great history of the early days of the personal computer revolution.

Sunday, 18 February, 2007

How to spot movies that stink

Nic provides an easy rule of thumb for determining if a movie stinks.

Saturday, 17 February, 2007

The tortellini incident

Getting your child to eat can be unbelievably frustrating.

Tuesday, 13 February, 2007

Review: The Tyranny of the Night

First book in Glen Cook’s The Instrumentalities of the Night series. Good stuff.

Monday, 05 February, 2007

January

The future reality TV winner

Nic’s daughter is introduced to show-and-tell at school.

Saturday, 27 January, 2007

Review: Den of Thieves

The story of the bond traders of the 80s and the damage they did. A bit of a slog, but very important.

Monday, 22 January, 2007

Welcome to the world

Nic’s niece arrives on Earth. Welcome.

Saturday, 13 January, 2007

Ice palace

A fire on an icy January day.

Thursday, 11 January, 2007

Bad Stevenote. No credit card

Nic is disappointed in the 2007 Macworld Expo announcements.

Tuesday, 09 January, 2007

Boy are my arms tired

Nic and his daughter are bumped to first class.

Monday, 08 January, 2007

2006

December

The culinary final frontier

Nic sings the praises of kebab pizza.

Saturday, 30 December, 2006

Happy solstice!

Nic celebrates the solstice.

Monday, 25 December, 2006

Remembering Carl Sagan

Nic is still sad about the death of Carl Sagan.

Wednesday, 20 December, 2006

Frost on window pane

Monday, 18 December, 2006

Dawn frost

Monday, 18 December, 2006

Airport play park

Saturday, 16 December, 2006

Arrived in Sweden

Saturday, 16 December, 2006

The MacBook and the Apple curse

Thursday, 07 December, 2006

Gardening for dummies

Saturday, 02 December, 2006

IM IN UR XMAS TREE

Saturday, 02 December, 2006

November

Review: How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk

Monday, 20 November, 2006

Review: Valentine’s Rising

Saturday, 11 November, 2006

Review: The Search

Saturday, 11 November, 2006

Voter fatigue

Tuesday, 07 November, 2006

November 1: Santa’s firing up the rockets

Wednesday, 01 November, 2006

October

Trick or whatever

Tuesday, 31 October, 2006

Awkward conversations with a four-year-old

Saturday, 28 October, 2006

Build it and they will crumble

Tuesday, 24 October, 2006

Review: A Feast for Crows

Monday, 16 October, 2006

Firefox 2 RC2 and teh snappy

Saturday, 14 October, 2006

Eat it!

Thursday, 12 October, 2006

Review: Thud!

Monday, 09 October, 2006

Fox hits nadir

Wednesday, 04 October, 2006

Review: A Drink Before the War

Sunday, 01 October, 2006

Review: Cowl

Sunday, 01 October, 2006

September

Top 10 “invisible” tech

In a rare top 10 list, Nic discusses technologies that have become so ubiquitous as to become invisible.

Thursday, 28 September, 2006

All computers great and small

Wednesday, 27 September, 2006

Review: The World Is Flat

Wednesday, 20 September, 2006

Professor Moriarty, I presume?

Thursday, 14 September, 2006

A special day

Wednesday, 13 September, 2006

Changement de Pieds

Sunday, 10 September, 2006

Review: Tale of the Thunderbolt

Sunday, 10 September, 2006

Review: Choice of the Cat

Sunday, 10 September, 2006

Review: Way of the Wolf

Sunday, 10 September, 2006

Review: The Lincoln Lawyer

Saturday, 09 September, 2006

Review: Olympos

Sunday, 03 September, 2006

August

Naturalization day

Nic becomes a U.S. citizen and is pretty stoked about it.

Friday, 25 August, 2006

Movie roundup

V for Vendetta, Nightwatch, The Matador, Ginger Snaps, Evil, Alien Versus Predator, and Ultraviolet.

Saturday, 19 August, 2006

Review: Berlin Noir

Saturday, 19 August, 2006

Review: When Genius Failed

Saturday, 19 August, 2006

10 years in the sun

Sunday, 13 August, 2006

Review: Fooled by Randomness

Wednesday, 09 August, 2006

Fear the silence

Wednesday, 09 August, 2006

Finding the right color

Tuesday, 08 August, 2006

What I’ve been up to the last four days

Sunday, 06 August, 2006

July

Review: The Skinner

Monday, 31 July, 2006

Review: Gridlinked

Monday, 31 July, 2006

Review: Century Rain

Sunday, 30 July, 2006

Review: Old Man’s War

Sunday, 30 July, 2006

U-S-A! U-S-A!

Friday, 28 July, 2006

Image spam

Monday, 24 July, 2006

Adventures in schooling

We move our daughter to a Reggio Emilia preschool

Friday, 21 July, 2006

June

It’s a good thing I’m rich

Friday, 30 June, 2006

Review: The Ancestor’s Tale

Wednesday, 28 June, 2006

No World Cup for you. Four years.

Sunday, 25 June, 2006

The little stoic

Saturday, 24 June, 2006

Review: A Question of Blood

Tuesday, 20 June, 2006

Review: Resurrection Men

Tuesday, 20 June, 2006

The angry blogger

Friday, 16 June, 2006

Review: The Falls

Friday, 16 June, 2006

Et tu, Brute?

Sunday, 11 June, 2006

Review: Set in Darkness

Saturday, 10 June, 2006

Number of the Beast

Tuesday, 06 June, 2006

Review: Dead Souls

Sunday, 04 June, 2006

Murdered 600 years ago

Saturday, 03 June, 2006

Memo to Isis the kitten

Thursday, 01 June, 2006

May

Happy Birthday, Andrea!

Monday, 29 May, 2006

Review: The Hanging Garden

Sunday, 28 May, 2006

Kitten notes

Sunday, 28 May, 2006

Review: Hard News

Friday, 26 May, 2006

New family member

Thursday, 25 May, 2006

Pain in the neck

Thursday, 18 May, 2006

Review: Secrets and Lies

Tuesday, 16 May, 2006

Pedal to the metal

Friday, 12 May, 2006

The $29 T-shirt

Friday, 12 May, 2006

Review: Black and Blue

Wednesday, 10 May, 2006

Cyberpunk rolls on

Sunday, 07 May, 2006

A window darkly

Saturday, 06 May, 2006

Review: Let it Bleed

Tuesday, 02 May, 2006

April

Let them drink oil

Saturday, 29 April, 2006

Review: The DaVinci Code

Wednesday, 26 April, 2006

An early morning gross-out

Friday, 21 April, 2006

A good year for cactus

Tuesday, 18 April, 2006

Aryan race laws in Sweden

Wednesday, 05 April, 2006

It’s not stupid

Wednesday, 05 April, 2006

Review: Mortal Causes

Sunday, 02 April, 2006

Review: The Black Book

Sunday, 02 April, 2006

Color TV in 1962

Sunday, 02 April, 2006

March

Prayer’s healing power disproven

Friday, 31 March, 2006

Pledge drive time

Friday, 31 March, 2006

Review: Caesar’s Legion

Friday, 31 March, 2006

Army of Darkness

Wednesday, 29 March, 2006

Review: Strip Jack

Monday, 27 March, 2006

Review: Tooth and Nail

Monday, 27 March, 2006

Friday silliness

Saturday, 18 March, 2006

Review: Hide and Seek

Friday, 17 March, 2006

The Core Dump after dark

Thursday, 16 March, 2006

Review: Knots and Crosses

Tuesday, 14 March, 2006

Reprieve from the drought

Saturday, 11 March, 2006

All about the Salmons, yo

Saturday, 11 March, 2006

The silence of the fans

Friday, 10 March, 2006

Begin world domination

Thursday, 09 March, 2006

Review: The Closers

Tuesday, 07 March, 2006

Review: The Smartest Guys in the Room

Monday, 06 March, 2006

Housekeeping

Sunday, 05 March, 2006

UnLinksys my heart

Saturday, 04 March, 2006

Mini me

Friday, 03 March, 2006

February

First post

Monday, 27 February, 2006

Olympic money

Wednesday, 22 February, 2006

Review: Fleshmarket Alley

Sunday, 19 February, 2006

Olympics

Sunday, 19 February, 2006

Heart tax day

Wednesday, 15 February, 2006

Water, my Bête Noire

Saturday, 11 February, 2006

Flibbertigibbet

Wednesday, 08 February, 2006

A pox on hard water

Wednesday, 08 February, 2006

Nic joins the 21st century. Film at 11

Monday, 06 February, 2006

Review: Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days

Friday, 03 February, 2006

January

Review: Moneyball

Sunday, 29 January, 2006

Review: The Broker

Sunday, 29 January, 2006

Drop the hammer

Friday, 27 January, 2006

Five top 5 lists

Friday, 20 January, 2006

Review: Jarhead

Friday, 20 January, 2006

Review: Loaded Dice

Friday, 20 January, 2006

The silliness of developers

Wednesday, 18 January, 2006

Review: Sucker Bet

Monday, 16 January, 2006

Review: Funny Money

Sunday, 15 January, 2006

Life summarized

Friday, 13 January, 2006

Objects in windshield may be closer than they appear

Friday, 13 January, 2006

A pox on all computers

Monday, 09 January, 2006

Long day’s travel to night

A blow-by-blow breakdown of traveling from Sweden to Arizona with a four-year-old. You’ll want a nap and a strong drink after reading this.

Saturday, 07 January, 2006

2005

December

Some notes on cold weather

Saturday, 31 December, 2005

Solstice

Thursday, 22 December, 2005

Random observations from Sweden

Wednesday, 21 December, 2005

Greetings from Sweden

Tuesday, 20 December, 2005

Posting from somewhere over the Atlantic

Friday, 16 December, 2005

Boy are my arms going to be tired

Wednesday, 14 December, 2005

Review: Armageddon

Wednesday, 14 December, 2005

Big it up for the Holidays

Saturday, 10 December, 2005

Curses

Friday, 09 December, 2005

Review: Tides of War

Monday, 05 December, 2005

Review: Freehold

Saturday, 03 December, 2005

WWJB

Saturday, 03 December, 2005

November

Post-gobble wrap-up

Tuesday, 29 November, 2005

The Thanksgiving conundrum

Thursday, 24 November, 2005

Thanksgiving approaches

Wednesday, 23 November, 2005

Top 20 geek novels

Monday, 21 November, 2005

It’s a long way to cat heaven

Monday, 21 November, 2005

Putting Turbo to sleep

Putting a pet down is one of the worst things you have to do. Nic cried writing this one.

Saturday, 19 November, 2005

R.I.P. Turbo, 2000-2005

Saturday, 19 November, 2005

Turbo is sick

Wednesday, 16 November, 2005

Review: Grift Sense

Sunday, 13 November, 2005

Review: Be Cool

Sunday, 13 November, 2005

Review: Freakonomics

Sunday, 13 November, 2005

A budding comedienne

Thursday, 10 November, 2005

Review: Going Postal

Sunday, 06 November, 2005

Fear the Candy Monster

Wednesday, 02 November, 2005

October

Free as a bird

Sunday, 30 October, 2005

Review: High Fidelity

Sunday, 30 October, 2005

Getting cultured

Wednesday, 26 October, 2005

Review: Gates of Fire

Sunday, 23 October, 2005

Review: Pandora’s Star

Sunday, 23 October, 2005

Flabbey Road

Saturday, 22 October, 2005

Extreme catblogging Friday

Saturday, 22 October, 2005

Charlatan survives own prophecy

Saturday, 22 October, 2005

Downfall

Monday, 17 October, 2005

I am weak

Sunday, 16 October, 2005

Weekend music

Sunday, 16 October, 2005

Happy blogaversary!

Saturday, 15 October, 2005

San Diego trip roundup

Thursday, 13 October, 2005

Freewheel burning

Tuesday, 11 October, 2005

Get your beach on!

Saturday, 08 October, 2005

Born OK

Saturday, 08 October, 2005

Quack like a duck

Friday, 07 October, 2005

Grace under fire

Wednesday, 05 October, 2005

Catblogging Friday

Saturday, 01 October, 2005

September

azcentral bites the dust

Wednesday, 28 September, 2005

Banned books week

Monday, 26 September, 2005

Review: Ilium

Sunday, 25 September, 2005

Zeitgeist

Friday, 23 September, 2005

Notes from under a blanket

Friday, 23 September, 2005

High-tech law enforcement

Sunday, 18 September, 2005

Review: What’s the Matter with Kansas?

Sunday, 18 September, 2005

Big ol’ jetliner

Friday, 16 September, 2005

Life support system

Tuesday, 13 September, 2005

At the new server

Monday, 12 September, 2005

A pox on Apple...

Thursday, 08 September, 2005

Thanksgiving

Sunday, 04 September, 2005

August

New Orleans in the crosshairs

Monday, 29 August, 2005

Coronation Day

Saturday, 27 August, 2005

Review: Chasm City

Monday, 22 August, 2005

Review: Absolution Gap

Monday, 22 August, 2005

Review: Rain Storm

Monday, 22 August, 2005

Flix from the Net

Thursday, 18 August, 2005

Review: Redemption Ark

Monday, 15 August, 2005

"What’s your car doing?"

Wednesday, 10 August, 2005

Bookstore

Sunday, 07 August, 2005

Steel anniversary

Sunday, 07 August, 2005

Review: Market Forces

Saturday, 06 August, 2005

Viagra for the nerd

Wednesday, 03 August, 2005

July

Hollaback Girl deconstructed

Saturday, 30 July, 2005

Wake and bake

Saturday, 30 July, 2005

On the road

Friday, 29 July, 2005

Cat claw implants getting closer

Tuesday, 26 July, 2005

The dawn of deception

Friday, 22 July, 2005

Think you’re having a bad day?

Friday, 22 July, 2005

I, for one, welcome our creepy fish overlords

Tuesday, 19 July, 2005

Uncomfortable movie moments

Friday, 15 July, 2005

Review: Revelation Space

Thursday, 14 July, 2005

Crematoria

Thursday, 14 July, 2005

Oy, vey

Wednesday, 13 July, 2005

Review: Blue Blood

Saturday, 09 July, 2005

Bambi trauma

Saturday, 09 July, 2005

Another day of infamy

Friday, 08 July, 2005

Three-ring circus

Tuesday, 05 July, 2005

It’s a white thing

Friday, 01 July, 2005

June

Review: King of Foxes

Wednesday, 29 June, 2005

Review: Talon of the Silver Hawk

Wednesday, 29 June, 2005

Review: Gust Front

Wednesday, 29 June, 2005

Alphabetical filing, oh yeah

Wednesday, 29 June, 2005

Midsummer’s lament

Saturday, 25 June, 2005

RIFing feeds

Thursday, 23 June, 2005

Review: Generation Kill

Wednesday, 22 June, 2005

Bill Frist, Insta-MD

Saturday, 18 June, 2005

The taste of burning bone

Nic goes to the dentist. It’s not a good time.

Saturday, 18 June, 2005

Bad Santa

Friday, 10 June, 2005

Random observations, redux

Friday, 10 June, 2005

The art of listening

Tuesday, 07 June, 2005

National day

Tuesday, 07 June, 2005

Review: The Zenith Angle

Friday, 03 June, 2005

Review: Native Tongue

Wednesday, 01 June, 2005

May

Yet another redesign

Tuesday, 31 May, 2005

Happy birthday, Andrea!

Sunday, 29 May, 2005

Home again, home again

Saturday, 28 May, 2005

At the Airport

Saturday, 28 May, 2005

Review: Revenge of the Sith

Wednesday, 25 May, 2005

Checking in from Austin

Tuesday, 24 May, 2005

Transformation

Sunday, 22 May, 2005

Faster pussycat

Saturday, 21 May, 2005

Random observations

Tuesday, 17 May, 2005

Acoustics

Sunday, 15 May, 2005

Review: The Narrows

Sunday, 15 May, 2005

Systems are go

Saturday, 14 May, 2005

Hooboy

Friday, 13 May, 2005

Nacknammit

Wednesday, 11 May, 2005

Blackout

Monday, 09 May, 2005

Mark ’em down

Monday, 09 May, 2005

Victory in Europe

Monday, 09 May, 2005

There’s a new engine in town

Sunday, 08 May, 2005

Revenge of the angry fan boy

Friday, 06 May, 2005

Your own personal drive-in

Monday, 02 May, 2005

Out with the old

Sunday, 01 May, 2005

Review: Broken Angels

Sunday, 01 May, 2005

April

The question is...

Saturday, 23 April, 2005

All of y’all

Monday, 18 April, 2005

All your lawn are belong to us

Friday, 15 April, 2005

Go Speedracer

Thursday, 14 April, 2005

Review: Altered Carbon

Monday, 11 April, 2005

New shininess

Sunday, 10 April, 2005

Just rewards

Saturday, 09 April, 2005

Mr. Histamine is not your friend

Friday, 08 April, 2005

The all-seeing eye

Friday, 08 April, 2005

Review: The System of the World

Monday, 04 April, 2005

Desert rose

Sunday, 03 April, 2005

More fun in the 100-acre wood

Sunday, 03 April, 2005

March

Easter fun

Saturday, 26 March, 2005

There’s a calm in your eye

Thursday, 24 March, 2005

Review: A Talent for War

Sunday, 20 March, 2005

Long, cold summer

Wednesday, 16 March, 2005

Review: The Confusion

Tuesday, 15 March, 2005

Bye bye, ET, we hardly knew ye

Sunday, 06 March, 2005

Viking summer

Sunday, 06 March, 2005

February

Quite a lot of pain

Friday, 25 February, 2005

Mad gardening skillz, yo

Monday, 21 February, 2005

Review: Kill Bill, Vol. 2

Saturday, 19 February, 2005

Water from sky good

Saturday, 19 February, 2005

Review: Quicksilver

Saturday, 19 February, 2005

Dagnabbit

Monday, 14 February, 2005

Review: Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Monday, 14 February, 2005

Damn their sanity

Saturday, 12 February, 2005

Fall ill, go bankrupt

Monday, 07 February, 2005

Interesting but gross

Friday, 04 February, 2005

Junk food and ’rithmetic

Thursday, 03 February, 2005

Quicksilver

Wednesday, 02 February, 2005

January

The smell of burning feeds

Monday, 31 January, 2005

Starbucks density

Monday, 31 January, 2005

Implants, dammit!

Sunday, 30 January, 2005

Review: The Devil’s Armor

Tuesday, 25 January, 2005

Final (hopefully) post-mortem on the attack

Tuesday, 25 January, 2005

Comb-over

Monday, 24 January, 2005

Do not follow

Sunday, 23 January, 2005

"The blinking lights are killing me"

Friday, 21 January, 2005

Review: The Eyes of God

Tuesday, 18 January, 2005

Two sweet letters

Friday, 14 January, 2005

Pigs can fly

Wednesday, 12 January, 2005

Blog? What blog?

Monday, 10 January, 2005

Bass for your face

Monday, 03 January, 2005

2005

Sunday, 02 January, 2005

Tsunami

Saturday, 01 January, 2005

2004

December

A new home for The Core Dump

Wednesday, 29 December, 2004

Happy Solstice!

Friday, 24 December, 2004

Cat Blog Theatre Presents: The Visitor

The joys of having another cat visit while it’s owners are on vacation.

Thursday, 23 December, 2004

Friday catblogging redux

Saturday, 18 December, 2004

Manning the barricades for apple juice

Nic’s daughter might be a socialist.

Sunday, 12 December, 2004

Review: Chindi

Sunday, 12 December, 2004

Pictures of the year

Sunday, 12 December, 2004

Review: Neverwhere

Wednesday, 08 December, 2004

Psst, wanna try something new?

Sunday, 05 December, 2004

November

Most awesomely bad metal song

Sunday, 28 November, 2004

The countdown has begun

Thursday, 25 November, 2004

Review: Hard as Nails

Monday, 22 November, 2004

Review: Deathday and Earthrise

Monday, 22 November, 2004

Throwing out the comments with the spammers

Saturday, 20 November, 2004

Catblogging Friday

Saturday, 20 November, 2004

Review: Guilty Pleasures

Monday, 15 November, 2004

Review: Just for Fun

Monday, 15 November, 2004

Review: Hard Freeze

Monday, 15 November, 2004

All right, I give up

Monday, 15 November, 2004

The IKEA experience

Sunday, 14 November, 2004

Carpe Diem

Saturday, 13 November, 2004

Gigabit and RAID, oh my

Tuesday, 02 November, 2004

October

Review: Destination: MORGUE!

Friday, 22 October, 2004

High Fidelity

Saturday, 16 October, 2004

Dirty diapers and Usama

Friday, 15 October, 2004

Review: Angels and Demons

Tuesday, 12 October, 2004

The first blogiversary

Monday, 11 October, 2004

Review: Kill Bill, Vol. 1

Monday, 04 October, 2004

Fall in the Valley of the Sun

Saturday, 02 October, 2004

September

Review: Hard Rain

Friday, 24 September, 2004

Neurons flaring like a Christmas tree

Friday, 17 September, 2004

Review: Monstrous Regiment

Friday, 10 September, 2004

Yet another sign

Thursday, 09 September, 2004

Flashing lights in the rear-view mirror

Thursday, 09 September, 2004

August

Review: The Drawing of the Three

Monday, 30 August, 2004

Review: The Gunslinger

Friday, 27 August, 2004

Tardiness

Thursday, 26 August, 2004

The Olympics

Thursday, 19 August, 2004

Most clueless spammer ever?

Wednesday, 18 August, 2004

A conversation with a two-year-old

Wednesday, 18 August, 2004

Review: Rain Fall

Monday, 16 August, 2004

It’s a hoe-down!

Sunday, 15 August, 2004

An IKEA primer

Thursday, 12 August, 2004

Water equals money

Friday, 06 August, 2004

Mystery car

Thursday, 05 August, 2004

As the clock spits clicks

Wednesday, 04 August, 2004

July

There are cars for sale!

Friday, 30 July, 2004

Caught in the web

Sunday, 25 July, 2004

Review: Blood Music

Monday, 19 July, 2004

You have been assimilated

Saturday, 17 July, 2004

Review: The Switch

Saturday, 17 July, 2004

Why don’t I?

Wednesday, 14 July, 2004

Review: Darwin’s Children

Wednesday, 14 July, 2004

Water falling from sky...

Tuesday, 13 July, 2004

Gas versus charcoal

Thursday, 08 July, 2004

The Black Company

Wednesday, 07 July, 2004

The fires of doom

Sunday, 04 July, 2004

That alien landscape

Thursday, 01 July, 2004

June

So shiny

Tuesday, 29 June, 2004

The drink of pale death

Saturday, 26 June, 2004

Midsummer’s Eve kit

Thursday, 24 June, 2004

Anti-Winter

Tuesday, 22 June, 2004

Review: The Chronicles of Riddick

Saturday, 19 June, 2004

It’s a strange web indeed

Friday, 18 June, 2004

The whole nine yards

Thursday, 17 June, 2004

Terminator 3: Snore of the Machines

Thursday, 17 June, 2004

Be kind to the apostrophe

Wednesday, 16 June, 2004

Cat update

Wednesday, 16 June, 2004

The goddamn comment spammers

Tuesday, 15 June, 2004

EU elections and the Dark Tower

Tuesday, 15 June, 2004

Review: Basket Case

Sunday, 13 June, 2004

Further proof of the unfairness of the Universe

Wednesday, 09 June, 2004

Review: Darknesses and Legacies

Saturday, 05 June, 2004

Feed logging in progress ... keep hands away from moving parts

Tuesday, 01 June, 2004

May

The peeing of the cat

Monday, 31 May, 2004

Happy Birthday Andrea

Saturday, 29 May, 2004

Review: Digital Fortress

Friday, 28 May, 2004

Wild kingdom

Tuesday, 25 May, 2004

Another semester ended

Tuesday, 18 May, 2004

Dictionary reality check

Tuesday, 18 May, 2004

The Movable Type announcement

Saturday, 15 May, 2004

Held up without a gun

Thursday, 13 May, 2004

Review: The Paths of the Dead

Wednesday, 12 May, 2004

New home for technology content

Tuesday, 11 May, 2004

Sopranos weirdness

Tuesday, 11 May, 2004

The Second Coming

Friday, 07 May, 2004

It’s time for bloooood

Tuesday, 04 May, 2004

April

Crane dance

Sunday, 25 April, 2004

What’s that clicking noise?

Friday, 23 April, 2004

What is journalism?

Thursday, 15 April, 2004

A new name for syndication

Wednesday, 14 April, 2004

Review: Pattern Recognition

Tuesday, 13 April, 2004

The ominous sound of drums

Monday, 12 April, 2004

Review: The Banned and the Banished

Friday, 09 April, 2004

FrankenPod now 20% cheaper

Tuesday, 06 April, 2004

The cow goes moo

Friday, 02 April, 2004

March

Mullet sighting

Wednesday, 31 March, 2004

Review: The Apocalypse Watch

Monday, 29 March, 2004

You know you’ve been in Sweden too long when...

Monday, 29 March, 2004

CSS tweak

Friday, 26 March, 2004

Mac OS X turns three

Thursday, 25 March, 2004

MT-Blacklist is large and in charge

Wednesday, 24 March, 2004

Anna Lindh’s assassin sentenced to life in prison

Wednesday, 24 March, 2004

The way you make me feel

Tuesday, 23 March, 2004

Review: The Grand Crusade

Saturday, 20 March, 2004

Machine politics

Saturday, 20 March, 2004

Thoughts on a really bad movie

Nic wastes his time watching an awful movie and decides to spread the pain by telling you about it.

Friday, 19 March, 2004

Blogger’s dilemma

Thursday, 18 March, 2004

Spammers show creativity

Wednesday, 17 March, 2004

AT&T upgrade open letter

Tuesday, 16 March, 2004

RSS making the mainstream

Tuesday, 16 March, 2004

Happy birthday to the Power Mac

Monday, 15 March, 2004

Windtunnels and ambient temperature

Saturday, 13 March, 2004

Old-school Internet

Nic looks back on the early days of the Internet when a 2,400 baud modem was the shit.

Saturday, 13 March, 2004

Even more AT&T upgrade

Friday, 12 March, 2004

Terror in Spain

Friday, 12 March, 2004

Feeding frenzy

Wednesday, 10 March, 2004

One ... million ... dollars

Wednesday, 10 March, 2004

More on the AT&T upgrade

Tuesday, 09 March, 2004

Anna Lindh’s killer found mentally competent

Tuesday, 09 March, 2004

Slashdot on the AT&T phone upgrade

Tuesday, 09 March, 2004

Fuhgedaboutit

Tuesday, 09 March, 2004

iPod minis selling like hotcakes

Saturday, 06 March, 2004

A trip down memory lane

Thursday, 04 March, 2004

Bring your flippers to Mars

Wednesday, 03 March, 2004

RepKover bindings are back

Tuesday, 02 March, 2004

Guessing that email address

Tuesday, 02 March, 2004

Internet users create content

Tuesday, 02 March, 2004

The number of the Passion

Monday, 01 March, 2004

More on the AT&T upgrade phone

Monday, 01 March, 2004

February

Review: Lost Light

Sunday, 29 February, 2004

Subversion looks good

Saturday, 28 February, 2004

The Word 6.0 nightmare

Friday, 27 February, 2004

Yardie II

Thursday, 26 February, 2004

Yardie

Wednesday, 25 February, 2004

Review: Chasing the Dime

Tuesday, 24 February, 2004

This is an upgrade?

Tuesday, 24 February, 2004

We don’t support that

Tuesday, 24 February, 2004

Review: Permission to Land

Sunday, 22 February, 2004

Barely a yankee

Saturday, 21 February, 2004

The BSDs have it as secure servers

Saturday, 21 February, 2004

William Gibson interview

A great William Gibson interview leads Nic to talk about other interesting cyberpunk novels.

Saturday, 21 February, 2004

Ads in RSS

Friday, 20 February, 2004

More on ApplePMU::PMU Forced Shutdown

Thursday, 19 February, 2004

Dumb GUI awards winner

Wednesday, 18 February, 2004

Blogging about blogging

Blog blog blog.

Tuesday, 17 February, 2004

John Kerry--referrer spammer

Sunday, 15 February, 2004

See download speed in Safari

Saturday, 14 February, 2004

Welcome MacSurfer visitors

Friday, 13 February, 2004

The carrot and the stick

Friday, 13 February, 2004

Virginia Tech G5s on sale

Thursday, 12 February, 2004

Die Windows Update, die, die, die

Thursday, 12 February, 2004

Headless iMac: When pigs fly

Thursday, 12 February, 2004

The chicken or the egg

Wednesday, 11 February, 2004

It’s about freaking time

Wednesday, 11 February, 2004

Top 10 reasons to not shop online

Wednesday, 11 February, 2004

Keep watching the stars

Tuesday, 10 February, 2004

A quick comparison of Gnome and KDE

Tuesday, 10 February, 2004

Keeping your GUI street

Tuesday, 10 February, 2004

Spammer shows creativity

Tuesday, 10 February, 2004

KOffice fails install

Monday, 09 February, 2004

Fink goes defeatist

Sunday, 08 February, 2004

Stress test that rig

Sunday, 08 February, 2004

The scary mug shot

Saturday, 07 February, 2004

We can see you

Saturday, 07 February, 2004

Lucida is fabulous

Friday, 06 February, 2004

Teeth red, not blue

Friday, 06 February, 2004

Geeks with torches and pitchforks

Friday, 06 February, 2004

Email that photo

Thursday, 05 February, 2004

Building a GNU autoconf static library

Wednesday, 04 February, 2004

Das boob

Wednesday, 04 February, 2004

Snorting Cocoa

Tuesday, 03 February, 2004

The first Unix virus

Tuesday, 03 February, 2004

Boohbah ... Boohbah

Tuesday, 03 February, 2004

The pain, the pain

Sunday, 01 February, 2004

Tinkering

Sunday, 01 February, 2004

January

DJ this ... or not, perhaps

Saturday, 31 January, 2004

Spam flooded

Saturday, 31 January, 2004

Apple and encryption

Friday, 30 January, 2004

The Feds on computer security

Friday, 30 January, 2004

The horrors of IE

Friday, 30 January, 2004

Crawling to the cross

Thursday, 29 January, 2004

2,048 bits of comfort

Thursday, 29 January, 2004

Car buying from the inside

Tuesday, 27 January, 2004

Shades

Monday, 26 January, 2004

Strong Bad Email

Sunday, 25 January, 2004

No anniversary for the Mac?

Sunday, 25 January, 2004

iTunes Music Store RSS feeds

Friday, 23 January, 2004

Desert rain

Thursday, 22 January, 2004

Caged heat

Thursday, 22 January, 2004

Copyright protection for databases

Thursday, 22 January, 2004

Interesting solution to comment spam

Thursday, 22 January, 2004

Permissions problems

Thursday, 22 January, 2004

Blast that Finder

Thursday, 22 January, 2004

Anna Lindh killer remanded

Tuesday, 20 January, 2004

iLife ’04 first impressions

iLife ’04 is a worthwhile upgrade.

Sunday, 18 January, 2004

When incompetence becomes sadism

Sunday, 18 January, 2004

Mijailovic trial gets underway

Thursday, 15 January, 2004

Review: No End Save Victory

Wednesday, 14 January, 2004

Email more unreliable than ever

Tuesday, 13 January, 2004

Triangle block in square hole

Saturday, 10 January, 2004

Hairtrigger

Friday, 09 January, 2004

Mini means mini

Friday, 09 January, 2004

Lightning reviews: Baen books

After spending some time with the flu, Nic reviews the novels from the Baen Free Library that got him through his epic war with the virus.

Thursday, 08 January, 2004

Review: March Upcountry

Thursday, 08 January, 2004

The schizo Apple

Thursday, 08 January, 2004

Confession from Anna Lindh’s murderer

Wednesday, 07 January, 2004

Keynote wrap-up

Wednesday, 07 January, 2004

Review: Timeline

Tuesday, 06 January, 2004

Fare thee well, PageMaker

Monday, 05 January, 2004

Spam darwinism

Saturday, 03 January, 2004

Windows and back again

Thursday, 01 January, 2004

Happy new year

Thursday, 01 January, 2004

2003

December

CSS in RSS feeds

Wednesday, 31 December, 2003

Happy Solstice!

Wednesday, 24 December, 2003

RSS is your friend

Tuesday, 23 December, 2003

Review: The Return of the King

Monday, 22 December, 2003

iDisk sync failed

Saturday, 20 December, 2003

Gift cards

Saturday, 20 December, 2003

Just say no to lutefisk

Thursday, 18 December, 2003

Balls to the Wall

Monday, 15 December, 2003

Kittens

Friday, 12 December, 2003

Reading books on the Palm

Friday, 05 December, 2003

Review: A Hymn Before Battle

Friday, 05 December, 2003

Dark November in Sweden

Thursday, 04 December, 2003

Services: A new dawn for the daemon

Tuesday, 02 December, 2003

Church much?

Tuesday, 02 December, 2003

November

Haunted G4

Saturday, 29 November, 2003

Review: Crossroads of Twilight

Saturday, 29 November, 2003

Pet peeve: logging on to site

Monday, 24 November, 2003

Review: The Lions of Al-Rassan

Monday, 24 November, 2003

Wells Fargo accounts in the wild

Sunday, 23 November, 2003

Your uptime is 0wnz0r3d

Friday, 21 November, 2003

Review: Prey

Thursday, 20 November, 2003

Horselover Fat

Thursday, 20 November, 2003

Log file parsing is addictive

Tuesday, 18 November, 2003

Review: Under the Banner of Heaven

Monday, 17 November, 2003

Backup for the average user

Wednesday, 12 November, 2003

The semantic web

Tuesday, 11 November, 2003

The meaning of unsupported

Saturday, 08 November, 2003

Jaguar usability

Friday, 07 November, 2003

Review: Matrix Revolutions

Thursday, 06 November, 2003

Apple dealers taking it in the shorts

Tuesday, 04 November, 2003

Let’s get fair and balanced

Tuesday, 04 November, 2003

Review: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

Monday, 03 November, 2003

October

Using REST with Amazon

Friday, 31 October, 2003

Hazy weather

Friday, 31 October, 2003

Lord of the Switchers

Thursday, 30 October, 2003

The network is the computer

Wednesday, 29 October, 2003

Football charity

Wednesday, 29 October, 2003

Disruptive technologies: News aggregators

Tuesday, 28 October, 2003

Microsoft Kool-Aid

Sunday, 26 October, 2003

First Panther impressions

Saturday, 25 October, 2003

Classic from rec.humor.funny.reruns

Saturday, 25 October, 2003

Coupling: Now without subtitles!

Friday, 24 October, 2003

First snow in Sweden

Wednesday, 22 October, 2003

In-a-gadda-da-vida

Monday, 20 October, 2003

Three little letters

Wednesday, 15 October, 2003

Seven bits of evil

Wednesday, 15 October, 2003

The silence of the phones

Tuesday, 14 October, 2003

Computer Scare

Monday, 13 October, 2003

What’s this then?

The inaugural post on this brand-new blog.

Friday, 10 October, 2003