#Review
59 posts2026-March Brain Dump
Bookmarks from March 2026: maps, 3D printable trail generators, tools, and references.
Read post2024 Year in review - Movies and TV Reviews
Ratings of the movies and TV watched in 2024, from Deadpool & Wolverine to Joker: Folie à Deux, with notes from the Plex server.
Read postUSB-C PD Power Bank to Resmed AirMini or Airsense CPAP
A roughly $150 DIY battery for a Resmed CPAP built from a USB-C PD power bank, a trigger cable and a 24V boost converter.
Read postWebsite Changelog 2024-Feb-26
Added /now and /uses pages, moved old /about content to a /timeline page, and made /about the new home page.
Read post2023 Year in review - Movies and TV Reviews
Ratings of the movies and TV watched in 2023, after dropping Netflix over password sharing and moving to Plex.
Read postYear in review 2022
Year in review 2022: Lori moving in, painting the townhouse, cherry blossoms, a CBC interview about the bird cards, travel, and fostering a puppy.
Read postTools and equipment 2022
Tools and equipment used in 2022: VS Code, KiCAD, Sony a6400, Sigma 150-600mm, Logitech MX Master 3S, and a Pixel 6 Pro.
Read postYear in review 2021
Year in review 2021: 31,893 bird photos, 363 species, moving from Vancouver to Burnaby, and a year of working from home stats.
Read postDo not buy from Dell
Rant on why Steven will not buy from Dell again: a failed order cancellation, lost rewards, a monitor shipped to the wrong address, and useless chat support.
Read postOnline group games
A list of boardgames, card games, drawing games, trivia, and social deduction games to play remotely with friends during COVID-19.
Read postPodcasts 2020
Podcast list for March 2020 with new picks like Clarkesworld, Stack Overflow Podcast and Hello Internet, plus Reply All and 99% Invisible.
Read postTools and equipment 2019
The 2019 tools and equipment list, with notes on the switch to PlatformIO and Firefox and away from Samsung phones.
Read postESP8266 + Neopixel + FastLED - Workshop slides
Slides from the March 2019 ESP8266, NeoPixel, and FastLED workshop taught at Maker Labs.
Read postPodcasts 2019
The February 2019 podcast list, with a starter episode picked for each show from Reply All to 99 Percent Invisible.
Read postTools 2018
Snapshot of the software and hardware used in 2018, from VS Code and PlatformIO to a Surface Pro 3 and Sony WH-H900N.
Read postTools and equipment 2016
The software and hardware used in 2016: VS Code, Fusion 360, Wanhao i3, X-Carve, Surface Pro 3, MX Master, and the Makers Notebook.
Read postMust see movies
A running list of must-see movies from Mad Max Fury Road back through Spirited Away, Memento, and Cube, with short notes on each.
Read postPodcasts
A running list of podcasts, from Radiolab and This American Life to The Dollop, 99% Invisible, and The Moth.
Read postBEWARE! ShareMouse, MaxiVista, Bartels Media == Crapwear
Rant about ShareMouse and Bartels Media selling crapware that disables itself behind a paywall after you set it up.
Read postWhy I hate TeamViewer
Why paying for TeamViewer 6 was a mistake after version 7 forced an upgrade the license did not cover.
Read postI got a RaspberryPI (a few months ago)
First impressions of the Raspberry Pi a few months after getting it, plus thoughts on the 35 dollar price point and case options.
Read postSkullcandy head phones are not compatible...
Skullcandy support told me my Hesh headphones only work with iPhone 4 and Xbox 360, which is absurd for a wire and a speaker.
Read postPlaying with app inventor for android
Building a simple sensor-reading Android app with Google App Inventor, and the features I wish it had.
Read postA web masters thoughts on mortality
Notes on writing a will that hands off domains, passwords, and a deadman switch so my sites keep running after I die.
Read postIn search for a bug tracking system
Comparing Mantis, Redmine, Bugzilla, and Trac for a new development project, and why Trac won on simplicity.
Read postSettlers of Catan: Tricks and Tactics
Settlers of Catan strategy tips: where to place first settlements, which hexes to claim, and how to build cities faster.
Read postLooking for a new host
Personal review of past web hosts (Hostgator, Dreamhost, Media Temple, Hasweb, GoDaddy) and a wishlist for the next one.
Read postThe Best of Every Day Fiction Two (Anthology)
Announcement of The Best of Every Day Fiction Two, a 316-page paperback of a hundred flash stories from the site's second year.
Read postTesting writing from Windows Live Writer
First impressions of Windows Live Writer as a desktop blog client for WordPress, with categories, live preview, and source editing.
Read postWHAT IS reCAPTCHA
How reCAPTCHA reuses the time people spend solving CAPTCHAs to OCR words from scanned books.
Read post403 - An arrogant initiative in defense of the web
A rant on Internet Explorer and an experiment with the 403day.org script that nags IE users to switch browsers.
Read postOpen DNS
Review of OpenDNS, with notes on how its NXDOMAIN redirects break utilities that depend on a real not-found reply.
Read postTwitter vs Tumblr
Side-by-side score of Twitter and Tumblr on popularity, domains, themes, posting, and data ownership.
Read postIf you build it they will come mentality...
Notes on why a new website needs promotion, with tips on search engine submission, AdWords, and outreach.
Read postFlower plug
A bathtub plug shaped like a flower that shifts from pink to deep purple once the water hits a safe temperature.
Read postWastbasket for the bathroom
A bathroom wastebasket from SnowTone with a lid you seal by dropping in a magazine, made for toilet readers.
Read postLee Krasnow - Puzzle box maker
Lee Krasnow's Barcode Burr puzzle, a six-piece burr whose notches force the pieces to move in a strict binary sequence.
Read postSong at the end of Portal
The ending song from Portal, Valve's black-humour puzzle game, embedded from YouTube.
Read postKeeping track of your comments
Comparing Subscribe-to-Comments plugins against coComment.com for tracking replies on the blogs you comment on.
Read postEvery Day Fiction dot com
Every Day Fiction publishes a new sub-1000-word story each day, delivered by email or RSS, short enough to read on a lunch break.
Read postAurgasm
Aurgasm.us is my favourite spot for full, free songs from musicians I have never heard of, with reviews and an mp3 player.
Read postJohn Chow - How to make money online
Trimming a 200-feed RSS list down to 10, and why John Chow's make-money-online blog made the cut.
Read postCard game - Munchkin - Kill monsters, steal the treasure, and stab your buddy
Review of Steve Jackson's card game Munchkin, where you kill monsters, steal treasure, and race to level 10.
Read postFinding a good web host
How to pick a web host by disk space and transfer, reliability, and the company behind it.
Read postSystem Information for Windows
SIW is a portable Windows utility that audited 30 office PCs in 15 minutes and exports full HTML hardware reports.
Read postReview - The End Cafe
A short review of The End Cafe on Commercial Drive: good live Spanish band, fun crowd, badly mixed Amaretto Sour.
Read postStephos Greek Taverna - The artificial line
A rant on why Stepho's and The Naam have permanent lineups, and the artificial-line effect that keeps them packed.
Read postVancouvers Restaurants review site - Dinehere.ca
A tiny utility that picks a random Vancouver restaurant on Dinehere.ca by rewriting the restaurant ID in the URL.
Read postWhat is there to do in Vancouver?
A long link dump of Vancouver event listings, restaurant review sites, and local blogs for finding something to do.
Read postCamilla dErrico - One of my favorite Vancouver artists
Notes on Vancouver artist Camilla d'Errico, her helmet-head paintings, and where to find her prints and gallery shows.
Read postHippo Update Checker (Windows)
Hippo Update Checker scans installed Windows programs against an online version database and lists download links for any updates.
Read postArroy-d - Best Thai in vancouver
Arroy-d on Cambie serves cheap Thai lunches under $6 with floor seating on pillows, worth the trip across town.
Read postEgglings - Plants in eggs
Ceramic Egglings look like real eggs, crack one open and add water to grow red pepper, lavender, or strawberries inside.
Read postUSBCELL AA Rechargeable Battery
USBCELL AA NiMH batteries that recharge from a USB port in about five hours, sold in pairs for $18.59 on Amazon.
Read postJulie Feeney
Irish musician Julie Feeney's album 13 Songs, where she plays eleven instruments including alto recorder, harmonium, and melodica.
Read postBirdy Nam Nam
Birdy Nam Nam, four French DJs working eight turntables as actual musical instruments.
Read postThe Prestige (2006) - A beautifully crafted film
A 10 out of 10 review of The Prestige, the 2006 film about two Victorian-era magicians locked in a deadly rivalry.
Read postPaprika trailer
The trailer for Paprika, the 2007 anime about a dream detective who enters patients' dreams to find the source of their anxiety.
Read postTool at GM place Review
Tool at GM Place opened with Stinkfist and closed with Vicarious, backed by projector visuals, rotating overhead light rings, and mirror-bounced lasers.
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