The Core Dump full archive by year and month.
See how deep the rabbit hole goes.
2026
March
Book roundup, part 40
Includes American Gun, I Want to Burn This Place Down, Blood Royal, Scorpio and Corvus.
January
2025
December
October
Book roundup, part 39
Includes Empire of AI, Crossroads of Ravens, The Tainted Cup, and A Drop of Corruption.
August
Four months of a new knee
Recovery from a total knee replacement is a bit of a bear, but so worth it for a person with chronic pain.
March
Book roundup, part 38
Includes Dark Wire, The Crusaders, Dominion, The Mercy of Gods, Livesuit, and Weaponized.
2024
October
Long-haul flight tips from a grizzled veteran of the air
A few tips that might make your next long-haul flight less terrible.
May
Book roundup, part 37
Includes Doppelgänger, Be Useful, Rose/House, System Collapse, and Empire of the Wolf.
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.
August
Trip report to Sweden summer 2023
Nic has travel experiences and wishes he thought he was immortal like other people apparently do.
July
Airport vibes are bad and you will feel bad
I have a ten hour layover at Chicago O’Hare and it’s terrible.
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.
May
March
Electric cars are fun, dammit
Let’s talk about how fun it is to have a go-cart people mover.
February
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.
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.
May
Watching M*A*S*H in a pandemic
You never know how a creative expression will affect you.
February
Book roundup, part 32
Includes Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You), Pappyland, Backstory, and Medallion Status.
January
Hummingbird Dog Fight
Hummingbirds fighting for dominance in a Phoenix backyard.
2020
November
Learning English from the TV
Alex Trebek was one of the people who welcomed Nic to America, many years ago.
October
September
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.
July
Feline Follies Presents: The Uninvited
We are entertained by feline drama during quarantine.
June
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.
2019
December
September
Impressions moving from an Apple Watch Series 3 to Series 5
Is there reason to upgrade from a 3 to a 5?
August
Die in a ditch
After all these years, Nic still can’t understand the American attitude to healthcare.
May
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.
March
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.
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.
September
“Cancel everything. You’re going into emergency surgery today”
Nic has a retinal tear and has his vision is saved by a laser.
August
Book roundup, part 26
Includes The Storm Before the Storm, White Trash, Calypso, Tell the Machine Goodnight, Prince of Fools, and Provenance.
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.
May
March
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.
February
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.
2017
December
iPhone X impressions
After a few weeks of using iPhone X I’m ready to join the congratulatory choir.
Smart homes for the wealthy
Nic is interested in smart homes. His contractor let him know how the wealthy are already using them.
November
Book roundup, part 24
Lots of sci-fi in this installment. Includes Retribution, Boomerang, The Collapsing Empire, All Systems Red, and Ninefox Gambit.
October
September
Getting started with podcasting
A concise guide to getting started with podcasting, including equipment, editing, mic technique and hosting.
Review: Novels of the Malazan Empire
A worthy inclusion to the Malazan canon and great high fantasy to disappear into in troubled times.
August
July
Book roundup, part 23
Includes a mea culpa, Hillbilly Elegy, Gulp, The Stars are Legion, and The Kill Society.
May
Putting new gaskets on the Kamado grill
Nic commits putty knife violence on his grill to replace the gaskets.
April
March
February
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.
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?.
September
August
Malazan Book of the Fallen
Hey kids, you like epic fantasy? ’Cause I've got some epic fantasy for you.
The car is going digital and that’s a good thing
Car nerds are dealing with some cognitive dissonance as car technology changes.
Review: Kindle Oasis
The Oasis is Amazon’s best e-ink reader to date, but it’s not good enough for the price.
June
May
“Tea, Earl Grey, hot”
Nic buys an Amazon Echo and is indubitably happy with the fantasy star ship in his head.
When the levee breaks
The Occupy movement, the Tea Party, and now Trump. America is angry.
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.
April
March
February
The tire fire of democracy
Nic has never been more worried for the future of America.
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.
January
Review: The Revenant
A great 90 minute movie smothered in a 2-and-a-half-hour wreck.
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.
Apple Watch, six months in
Thoughts on Apple Watch after half a year of daily usage.
2015
December
Review: ELAC B6 bookshelf speakers
A great value for your sound system.
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.
Review: Spectre
A long-time Bond fan looks at the latest installment in the series and has thoughts.
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.
Building a static site for an investigative journalism project
Things to consider when planning to build a site on a compressed time table.
How to learn things you’re not interested in
A simple tip to help you learn things your brain wants nothing to do with.
September
Yearning for the Cold War
The GOP base is searching for a new Evil Empire to fight.
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.
August
Closing loops
It’s not how much you have to do, it’s how many things you’re doing at the same time.
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.
July
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.
May
Let’s all chill out about the iPad sales numbers
Turns out “it's just a big iPhone” is a stroke of genius.
In this day and age, when the increasing complexity of modern life leaves one barely any time for reading …
—Proust (1919) (via James Gleick)
April
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.
March
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.
February
It is the folly of too many, to mistake the echo of a London coffee-house for the voice of a kingdom.
—Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) via The QI Elves on Twitter
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.
Against net neutrality
The Arizona Republic prints a willfully ignorant editorial against net neutrality. It makes Nic unhappy.
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
As the rage rages in the Tea Party’s rage
Nic tries to understand why people choose to live lives of fear and anger.
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.
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.
November
The story we tell ourselves
Us humans filter everything we see and experience through our existing narrative. Nic finds this fascinating.
It's the words, stupid
Nic loves books, but he loves their content more.
Voting in America
The American voting system is stuck in a time warp. This makes Nic sad.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
White privilege in extremism
It’s way easier to be an extremist in America if you’re white.
Further to the right
The idea that both the left and the right in America are getting more extreme is false. Here’s why.
April
Review: The Pet Shop Boys Electric tour hits Phoenix
Hey, you like lasers? We have lasers!
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.
March
New York City trip report
The Lindh family visits the Big Apple and it is good.
We all have our limit
You meet interesting people at the Apple Store. And everybody has a limit.
February
Protecting straight people
The Arizona state legislature is busy protecting the freedoms of the already protected.
The Mac, homegrown
Nic delves into the shady computer enthusiast underworld of the Hackintosh.
January
How to privatize a public good
The standard right-wing approach to privatizing public goods like education and health care.
The iPhone, devourer of technologies
The iPhone was announced Jan. 9, 2007. It now occupies a huge chunk of Nic’s life.
2013
December
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.
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.
November
2013 National Novel Writing Month
Nic types 50,000 words in a month. He’s tired now.
Blaming the victims
The Arizona Republic editorial board thinks the young ’uns are lazy.
The A7 processor is your friend
Nic is very impressed with the speed of the iPhone 5S and iPad Air.
October
50,000 words or bust
Nic is wicked excited to take part in National Novel Writing Month.
Communists in the House of Representatives
If things are in balance, there should be Marxists.
What the hell were they thinking?
Nic tries to understand the Tea Party. Predictably, it doesn't go well.
The Core Dump is 10 years old!
Nic ruminates on the changes ten years have wrought.
September
A fresh coat of paint
Nic gives the site a face lift and sings the praises of Bootstrap 3.
Trouble in Nexus 7 land
Nic encrypts his 2013 Nexus 7 and bad things happen.
August
Book roundup, part twelve
A slimmer-than-usual book roundup is heavy on the non-fiction, including several must-read titles.
July
A diary of Swedish weather
Nic ransacks his memories to recount a year of Swedish weather.
May
Cloudy with a chance of broken
All Nic wants for WWDC is sync that actually works
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.
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.
April
Read this book: Salt Sugar Fat
Nic reads a book about the processed food industry and is incensed.
March
Seen a Rechthaberei lately?
Nic proposes the loan word Rechthaberei be incorporated into American English.
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.
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.
November
Thanksgiving, the reboot
Nic loves Thanksgiving but, seriously, the bird's got to go.
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.
October
Smoking spareribs on the Kamado
Nic levels up on the grill by smoking spareribs on his Kamado. Tasty, tasty ribs.
Arizona 2012 ballot proposition rundown
Nic provides a rundown of the 2012 Arizona ballot propositions with recommendations on how you should vote.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ebook creation is still a bag of hurt
Nic makes a new ebook and is dismayed by the sad state of ebook publishing.
Noises in my head: Four midrange headphones reviewed
Nic reviews four sets of midrange headphones. They all meet with approval.
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.
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.
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.
June
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.
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.
The core is weak
Nic discovers yoga/Pilates is a great antidote to middle-age decrepitude.
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.
April
Sweet, sweet BBQ
Nic loves his Kamado grill so much he makes a video about grilling on it.
Enter the Kamado
Nic buys a Kamado grill and wants to share his joy with the world.
The new iPad: Dat screen
After a few weeks of heavy usage, Nic shares his feelings about the new iPad.
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.
February
Rural Arizona 2012 Decay Tour
Pictures of hard times and decay in rural Arizona.
Photo safari to Cleator and Watson Lake
Nic is dragged along on a photo safari to rural Arizona.
January
Book roundup, part three
Includes The Drop, Ready Player One, Moon Called, Among Others, Excession, Inferno, The Paleo Solution and I am Ozzy.
Review: Blue HR heart rate monitor strap
If you have an iPhone 4S, the Blue HR is a solid device.
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?
2011
December
The dragon flies at night
It’s 1989. Nic moves to Louisiana and discovers there’s such a thing as black culture.
Merry Christmas!
It’s once again the winter solstice. It’s time to sit back and relax.
Fixing technology education in K12
Students aren’t being taught how to use computers. Nic offers suggestions to fix a broken system.
November
Book roundup, part two
Includes Sandman Slim, Snuff, The Cold Commands, Reamde, Goodbye Darkness, Steve Jobs and The Psychopath Test.
More contrast, please
Nic is frustrated by a design choice for a JBL remote.
Cain and the Democratic conspiracy
The harrassment charges against Cain and the sad kabuki theater of the Republican nominations.
October
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.
September
Why I’m all-in on FiveFingers
Nic loves his freaky clown shoes. This post explains why.
Even better burgers
Nic’s dad shows him how to make even better burgers and he shares his newfound knowledge.
Death by PowerPoint
Endless, pointless presentations are a drag on corporate worker sanity. There is a better way.
The long democracy
Campaign season is gearing up in America and Nic has some thoughts on the endless primaries ahead.
August
Sports journalism is hurting democracy
Political news coverage in America tends to be abysmal. Nic explores why.
Lion and the angst of the greybeards
Nic is bemused by the sturm und drang surrounding the iOS-ification of Mac OS X.
How to create an e-book
Nic is creating an e-book. He shares what he’s learned so far.
July
The end of the artifact
Spotify is finally open for U.S. customers. Nic is ridiculously excited.
Why We Get Fat
Nic reads a life-changing book on nutrition and wants to share it with you.
June
Productivity for people who don’t have ADD
Nic thinks a lot about productivity and shares some books that have helped him.
Gaze of the Predator
Nic attempts to reinvigorate the tradition of posting cat pictures on Fridays.
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.
Phoenix ComiCon impressions
Nic takes his daughter to go nerd watching at the Phoenix ComiCon.
Some good podcasts for you
Nic listens to a lot of podcasts on his commute. He hopes some of them might make you happy.
Closer to the metal
Nic switches from WordPress to Jekyll. He’s excited. Everybody else is bored to tears.
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.
FiveFingers help chronic compartment syndrome
Nic finds that Vibram FiveFingers help with his chronic compartment syndrome. This makes him happy.
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.
Review: Griftopia
Matt Taibbi’s Griftopia is an important book, and it will make you angry enough to froth at the mouth.
Review: The Heroes
The Heroes is an intense, wild ride into a maelstrom of violence, brutality and flawed human beings. You should read it.
February
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.
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.
A panegyric to e-book readers
Nic really digs e-book readers. No, seriously, he really digs them. And you should, too.
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.
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.
Frosty the windshield
There’s frost on the car windows in Phoenix. Confusion ensues.
2010
December
An illustrated beginner’s guide to the IKEA food market
Have you ever wondered what all that weird stuff is in the IKEA Swedish food market? Here’s a short primer to some of the best stuff.
November
Learning English from the Boss
Thinking back on growing up in Sweden and the mysteries of Springsteen’s lyrics.
The dishwasher of doom
How our dishwasher almost burned down our house. More drama than I’m used to on a Sunday morning.
October
The Arizona Republic finds a "haunted library"
The newspaper of record for America’s fifth-largest metro area puts a story about a haunted house as the top item for its Valley & State section. Nic finds it hard to control his disgust and anger. Kind of like a vengeful ghost.
Movie roundup, part 16
In the 16th installment of movie roundup: Robin Hood, War Photographer, Bigger, Stronger, Faster, Hot Tub Time Machine, Beer Wars, Gallipoli, My Life in Ruins and Enlighten Up!
Review: Zero History
William Gibson is back in the unevenly distributed future with Zero History.
September
Thieving bastards stole my image
Being ripped off is no fun, even when it’s just a harmless image on a blog nobody reads. Feel the rage!
Building a news site with WordPress
Longish post on the creation of Cronkite News and building it in WordPress. Mostly of interest to Web nerds.
Your own nuclear reactor
Does your phone have to alert you every time somebody has a bowel movement? I posit that no, it sure doesn’t.
The inner rage of nerds
It’s easy to become disheartened with the state of technology punditry. This post examines why and suggests a quick fix that, if implemented, would improve the state of tech journalism on the Internet by about a million percent.
July
An e-mail management system that works
E-mail is a blessing and a curse. After many years of trying, I believe I’ve found a system that brings sanity back to my inbox.
Movie roundup, part 15
In this installment of movie roundup: Inglourious Basterds, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Rollerball, District 13: Ultimatum, The Brotherhood of the Wolf, Miracle, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Crazy Heart, Sherlock Holmes, Crimson Rivers, Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse, Up in the Air, Zombieland and From Russia With Love.
June
Review: The Big Short
Nic reviews Michael Lewis’s The Big Short. He likes it.
Soccer and the tyranny of the score
Nic explores why America’s attitude to soccer has a lot to do with the things wrong with America.
May
The iPad, as the dust settles
With all the sturm-und-drang about the iPad turning us all into slobbering idiots, Nic thought it might be a good idea to talk about what it’s actually like to use one.
Adios, GoDaddy
Fed up with endless upsells and sexist marketing, Nic leaves GoDaddy behind.
I have reached hamburger nerdvana
Nic grills the perfect hamburger and shows you how to do the same.
April
Does lemon juice tenderize meat?
Nic goes all MythBusters on the idea that lemon juice tenderizes meat.
Review: The Steel Remains
The Steel Remains is a stunning reboot of dark fantasy.
March
Dad is older than the glaciers
Having a child reminds you of your mortality in more ways than one.
The future: Now with more iPad
Nic pre-orders an iPad and is giddy with excitement.
The car must be blue
Policy must support the vision you have for society—it's a means to an end, not the end itself.
February
Movie roundup, part 14
In this movie roundup: There Will Be Blood, Up, Objectified, Helvetica, District 9, Coraline, The Hangover, The Golden Compass and The Gamer. Lots of definite articles.
The salting of the meat
Nic goes all Mythbusters on the idea that salting meat tenderizes it.
Googling for the login
Tragic hilarity ensues when Google gets things mixed up.
Wishes for iPhone OS 4 (or, Nic has first-world problems)
Unsolicited advice for Apple on what they should include in iPhone OS 4.
January
The iPad: It’s for education
Thoughts on the iPad after the announcement.
The State of the State
A reaction to Governor Brewer’s 2010 state of the state address. Guess who’s not impressed?
Review: Justinian’s Flea
This book provides an interesting idea about the final nail in the coffin for the Roman Empire.
2009
December
Naked and sedated
Dagnabbit, some idiot does some dumb shit and now everybody’s air travel has to suck even more?
Home of the dollar
Having an economy based on housing only is a bad idea. Who knew?
November
Review: Klipsch IMAGE S4i headset
Solid in-ear headphones with Apple-compatible remote.
New hamburger expertise
Nic shows you how to grill up a fantastic burger. Yum.
Review: Anathem
An enormously ambitious novel that mostly succeeds.
October
Movie roundup, part 13
Nerdcore Rising, Rescue Dawn, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Watchmen, Waltz With Bashir, Defiance and Grand Torino.
Infestation of raggare
Nic looks back at one of the menaces of his youth.
Out of Nebraska
Springsteen brings the angst of being human like none other.
September
The New Barbeque Expert
Men tend to overcomplicate things, including grilling. Nic breaks down how to do it right.
Review: Drenai Tales
A roundup of David Gemmell’s Drenai Tales novels.
Seriously, what the hell?
Once again, shrill nutbags get under Nic’s skin.
Review: Requiem for an Assassin
Mostly for completist John Rain fans.
August
Review: 1776
Required reading for anybody interested in American history.
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.
Apathy and loathing at Dulles
Dulles airport might just be the worst in the world. This post tells you why.
July
That was easy
Nic is delighted with how smooth his trip to Sweden went. In the movie biz they call that foreshadowing.
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.
June
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.
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.
Microsoft and the lemonade stand parable
Nic tries his hand at a parable to explain the problem with Microsoft.
May
The British Wallander
Kenneth Branagh takes on Swedish detective icon Kurt Wallander. Unfortunately it doesn’t turn out well.
Review: Gang Leader for a Day
Very interesting insights into the shadow economy.
Tower of babble
Ever wonder why parents always look tired? Here’s a video to explain it.
April
It’s the sound of inevitability, Mr. Anderson
Nic lists the ways the Blu-ray experience is miserable.
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?
March
Paid back
Nic doesn’t need proof he is the father of his child, but he gets it anyway.
February
Bad film nerd. No money for you
It’s time to stop giving George Lucas money.
Review: American Shaolin
Very interesting and funny book about an American who travels to China to become a Shaolin monk.
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.
Your own personal GTD
Our brains aren’t built to handle the modern world, but there are ways to deal.
Review: Ready for Anything
Not as shattering as Getting Things Done, but a worthwhile read.
It’s ... the fuuuuuture
The future is distributed to Nic and his idolization of William Gibson grows.
Always be scribbling
Newspapers and technology aren’t exactly best friends.
Out with the old
Nic discards old technology and thinks about all the money he’s spent.
The airing of grievances
Turns out 2008 was kind of a shit sandwich. Who knew?
2008
December
Review: Making Money
Terry Pratchett goes a bit darker than usual.
Why so serious?
Nic is not impressed by the MPAA’s rating system but he is impressed by The Dark Knight.
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.
Review: The First Law Trilogy
It’s like these novels were written for Nic.
Review: The Bloomsday Dead
Brings the Dead Trilogy to a close.
October
Review: Presentation Zen
Required reading for anybody who gives presentations.
Arizona ballot propositions 2008
A run-down of the ballot propositions with suggestions for how you should vote on each of them.
Dub-dub-debate
Nic is not happy about the way the presidental election debates are run.
Go Speedracer!
The only thing Nic likes more than the Internet is a wicked fast Internet connection.
September
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Gritty and violent Swedish crime fiction, just released in the U.S.
The Republican in winter
It must be rough to be a Goldwater Republican these days.
To the undecided voter
Nic can’t understand how, in the most polarized election in history, anybody can be an undecided voter.
Review: Here Comes Everybody
An important book on how technology is changing society.
Review: The Name of the Wind
Impressive first novel of a planned trilogy.
Review: The Last Colony
The weakest novel in John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War Universe.
August
The cheese and the damage done
Nic is not impressed with Who Moved My Cheese.
Review: The Moment It Clicks
A must-read for anybody interested in photography.
July
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.
No diacriticals for you and your yuppie toy!
The iPhone keyboard doesn’t support Swedish characters so Nic files a Radar bug.
Review: The Overachievers
Deeply disturbing book about the pressures of high-achieving high school students.
Review: Woken Furies
The third installment in Richard Morgan’s Takeshi Kovacs saga is great.
June
On through the night
Nic reports on his and his daughter's flight to Sweden.
Conspicuous consumption
Nic and his wife buy a brand-new Acura TL. It’s a beautiful machine.
May
Review: The Dragon Never Sleeps
Glen Cook delivers epic, dense space opera.
Review: Glasshouse
Great sci-fi that’s really a meditation on memory.
The Great Pool of Money
You should listen to this fantastic podcast which explains the origins of the credit crisis.
Review: The Sociopath Next Door
An important book about the hidden menace of sociopaths.
Review: Homicide
Excellent non-fiction about homicide squads from one of the creators of The Wire.
New levels of disgust
Nic is pissed off about politics, including the perennial favorites the war in Iraq and gas prices.
April
Review: The Price of Privilege
Important book about how pressure from well-meaning parents hurt affluent children.
Holy Docsis, Batman!
If your Internet connection isn’t as fast as you’d like, it might be time to upgrade your cable modem.
Review: The Scar
The Scar is a great, weird novel, but it makes Nic worry he might be a steampunk.
Review: Everything is Miscellaneous
Interesting book, but too much filler and techno-utopianism.
March
February
Review: Lord of the Silent Kingdom
The second installment of Glen Cook’s Instrumentalities of the Night delivers.
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.
Super Tuesday! Tuesday! Tuesday!
Nic goes to the polls and discovers you need two proofs of identity to vote in Ariz. now.
January
The worms
My daughter hears anti-semitism and blissfully misinterprets it.
Review: Consider the Lobster
Excellent collection of writing from the great David Foster Wallace.
Review: The Overlook
Michael Connelly delivers a weak Harry Bosch novel.
Review: Darkness, Take My Hand
Dennis Lehane manages to write a novel that is too noir for Nic.
Review: The Big Switch
Nice book on the commoditization of corporate IT services. Worth reading for anybody in the field.
Review: Heat
Entertaining book about a man’s obsessive quest to become a professional chef.
Corporate communications at its finest
Cox Communications isn’t great at, well, communicating.
2007
December
Review: Perdido Street Station
Excellent fantasy from China Miéville.
Lost in the woods
Nic loses sight of his daughter at the store and freaks out.
November
Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora
A tentative debut novel from Scott Lynch.
Game changer: Flip Video
How the Flip Video is turning the amateur video recording industry on its head.
Review: Nature Girl
Carl Hiaasen wants you to not visit Florida.
Review: Bleeding Hearts
A disappointing non-Rebus novel from Ian Rankin.
The G-rated Internet
Nic highly recommends OpenDNS if you have children who use the Internet.
Movie roundup, part six
Stranger than Fiction, The Black Dahlia, Blades of Glory, Hot Fuzz, Zero Kelvin and March of the Penguins.
October
Review: JPod
Douglas Coupland continues the exploration of the lives of tech workers he started in Microserfs.
Review: Right as Rain
Hard boiled crime fiction from one of the writers for The Wire.
She rules the night
Nic’s daughter loses her first tooth and the tooth fairy is off to a shaky start.
Review: A Cruel Wind
The granddaddy of dark fantasy. Highly recommended.
Review: On Intelligence
Very interesting book about how intelligence works and the challenges we face in trying to build intelligent machines.
September
The payback begins
The stupid things you say as a teenager have a way of coming back to haunt you.
The winged messenger swoops in
Version control is a necessity for staying sane. Nic looks at some options.
Movie roundup, part five
Pathfinder, Stalker, Pusher and Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny.
Firefox downloading PDFs to Lexmark folder
A solution to a weird Firefox glitch is proffered to the altar of Google.
Review: All Creatures Great and Small
Well-deservedly known as a classic.
Shiny Crescent
Nic moves his site to a new server. Excitement! Drama! Jazz hands!
Review: Echo Park
A decent installment in the Harry Bosch saga.
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.
Review: Stumbling on Happiness
A slim volume on how we determine whether we’re happy or not. Worth reading.
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.
July
Review: Twilight Watch
Brings the Nightwatch trilogy to a satisfying end.
Review: Nightwatch
The first novel in the great Nightwatch saga. If you like fantasy, this is the real deal.
Movie roundup, part four
This round-up includes Day Watch, Smokin’ Aces, Children of Men, Paycheck and Beerfest. One of them is somewhat funny.
June
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.
Review: The Digital Photography Book
Will help improve the quality of your photographs.
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.
May
The fairy princess Wii
Fairytopia rips off the Wii mote and it actually doesn’t suck.
Review: The Dead Yard
The second Michael Forsythe novel is grim and fast-paced.
Movie roundup, part three
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Casino Royale and Battle Royale. One of these movies doesn’t suck.
Review: Bitter Gold Hearts
The second Garrett, P.I. novel is an improvement on the first.
Review: Sweet Silver Blues
The first Garrett, P.I. novel is a fun mix of fantasy and noir.
Review: Dead I Well May Be
A strong first novel in a dark and grim series.
Review: Judas Unchained
The follow-up to Pandora’s Star is epic sci-fi at its finest.
Car alarm yadda yadda
Nic gets stuck in customer service hell when he replaces the fob to his car alarm.
April
Wii first impressions
Nic’s family scores a Wii. Here are his first impressions.
No sex until marriage doesn’t seem to work
A study finds that abstinence-only sex education doesn’t work. Nic is not surprised.
Review: The Praxis
The first novel about the Shaa empire is pure and unabashed space opera.
She’s beautiful! Let’s name her Metallica
A Swedish couple decide to name their daughter Metallica. \m/
Done with movie theaters
Nic has (yet another) horrible experience at a movie theater and swears he’s done.
March
Review: 300
300’s strength and weakness are the same thing: it’s based on a graphic novel.
Review: The Undercover Economist
Marketed as being similar to Freakonomics, which it is not.
The voice in the wilderness
College is a time for drama, as this graffiti artist illustrates.
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.
Movie roundup, part two
The Departed, The Great Raid, Bastard of the Party, A Scanner Darkly, Sexy Beast, Miami Vice and Layer Cake.
February
Doing it for free
Why the first job for any technology company is to make their product easy to use.
All your podcasts are belong to us
Nic puts an iPod connector in his car and his life is changed forever.
Review: What the Dormouse Said
A great history of the early days of the personal computer revolution.
How to spot movies that stink
Nic provides an easy rule of thumb for determining if a movie stinks.
The tortellini incident
Getting your child to eat can be unbelievably frustrating.
Review: The Tyranny of the Night
First book in Glen Cook’s The Instrumentalities of the Night series. Good stuff.
January
The future reality TV winner
Nic’s daughter is introduced to show-and-tell at school.
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.
Bad Stevenote. No credit card
Nic is disappointed in the 2007 Macworld Expo announcements.
2006
December
Frost on window pane
Dawn frost
The MacBook and the Apple curse
Gardening for dummies
IM IN UR XMAS TREE
November
Voter fatigue
November 1: Santa’s firing up the rockets
October
Trick or whatever
Awkward conversations with a four-year-old
Firefox 2 RC2 and teh snappy
Fox hits nadir
September
Top 10 “invisible” tech
In a rare top 10 list, Nic discusses technologies that have become so ubiquitous as to become invisible.
All computers great and small
A special day
Changement de Pieds
August
Movie roundup
V for Vendetta, Nightwatch, The Matador, Ginger Snaps, Evil, Alien Versus Predator, and Ultraviolet.
10 years in the sun
Fear the silence
Finding the right color
July
U-S-A! U-S-A!
June
It’s a good thing I’m rich
The little stoic
Et tu, Brute?
Number of the Beast
Memo to Isis the kitten
May
Kitten notes
New family member
Pain in the neck
Pedal to the metal
The $29 T-shirt
A window darkly
April
Let them drink oil
An early morning gross-out
A good year for cactus
Aryan race laws in Sweden
It’s not stupid
Color TV in 1962
March
Prayer’s healing power disproven
Pledge drive time
The Core Dump after dark
Reprieve from the drought
All about the Salmons, yo
The silence of the fans
Begin world domination
February
Olympic money
Heart tax day
Water, my Bête Noire
A pox on hard water
Nic joins the 21st century. Film at 11
January
Drop the hammer
Five top 5 lists
The silliness of developers
Life summarized
Objects in windshield may be closer than they appear
A pox on all computers
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.
2005
December
Some notes on cold weather
Random observations from Sweden
Boy are my arms going to be tired
November
Post-gobble wrap-up
The Thanksgiving conundrum
Thanksgiving approaches
Top 20 geek novels
It’s a long way to cat heaven
Putting Turbo to sleep
Putting a pet down is one of the worst things you have to do. Nic cried writing this one.
Turbo is sick
Fear the Candy Monster
October
Free as a bird
Charlatan survives own prophecy
Weekend music
Freewheel burning
Quack like a duck
Grace under fire
Catblogging Friday
September
azcentral bites the dust
Banned books week
Notes from under a blanket
High-tech law enforcement
Life support system
At the new server
Thanksgiving
August
Flix from the Net
"What’s your car doing?"
Steel anniversary
Viagra for the nerd
July
On the road
Cat claw implants getting closer
Uncomfortable movie moments
Crematoria
Bambi trauma
Three-ring circus
June
Midsummer’s lament
RIFing feeds
Bill Frist, Insta-MD
Random observations, redux
National day
May
At the Airport
Review: Revenge of the Sith
Checking in from Austin
Random observations
Systems are go
Nacknammit
Mark ’em down
Victory in Europe
There’s a new engine in town
Revenge of the angry fan boy
Your own personal drive-in
Out with the old
April
All of y’all
All your lawn are belong to us
Go Speedracer
New shininess
Mr. Histamine is not your friend
Desert rose
More fun in the 100-acre wood
March
There’s a calm in your eye
Long, cold summer
Bye bye, ET, we hardly knew ye
February
Quite a lot of pain
Mad gardening skillz, yo
Review: Kill Bill, Vol. 2
Junk food and ’rithmetic
Quicksilver
January
The smell of burning feeds
Implants, dammit!
Final (hopefully) post-mortem on the attack
"The blinking lights are killing me"
Pigs can fly
2004
December
A new home for The Core Dump
Happy Solstice!
Cat Blog Theatre Presents: The Visitor
The joys of having another cat visit while it’s owners are on vacation.
Manning the barricades for apple juice
Nic’s daughter might be a socialist.
Psst, wanna try something new?
November
Most awesomely bad metal song
Throwing out the comments with the spammers
All right, I give up
The IKEA experience
Carpe Diem
Gigabit and RAID, oh my
October
High Fidelity
Dirty diapers and Usama
The first blogiversary
Review: Kill Bill, Vol. 1
Fall in the Valley of the Sun
September
Neurons flaring like a Christmas tree
Yet another sign
Flashing lights in the rear-view mirror
August
The Olympics
Most clueless spammer ever?
A conversation with a two-year-old
It’s a hoe-down!
An IKEA primer
Water equals money
As the clock spits clicks
July
Caught in the web
You have been assimilated
Water falling from sky...
Gas versus charcoal
The Black Company
The fires of doom
That alien landscape
June
The drink of pale death
Midsummer’s Eve kit
Anti-Winter
Review: The Chronicles of Riddick
It’s a strange web indeed
The whole nine yards
Terminator 3: Snore of the Machines
Be kind to the apostrophe
Cat update
The goddamn comment spammers
EU elections and the Dark Tower
Feed logging in progress ... keep hands away from moving parts
May
The peeing of the cat
Wild kingdom
Another semester ended
Dictionary reality check
The Movable Type announcement
Held up without a gun
The Second Coming
It’s time for bloooood
April
What’s that clicking noise?
What is journalism?
A new name for syndication
The ominous sound of drums
FrankenPod now 20% cheaper
The cow goes moo
March
Mullet sighting
You know you’ve been in Sweden too long when...
Mac OS X turns three
MT-Blacklist is large and in charge
Anna Lindh’s assassin sentenced to life in prison
The way you make me feel
Machine politics
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.
Blogger’s dilemma
Spammers show creativity
AT&T upgrade open letter
RSS making the mainstream
Happy birthday to the Power Mac
Windtunnels and ambient temperature
Old-school Internet
Nic looks back on the early days of the Internet when a 2,400 baud modem was the shit.
Even more AT&T upgrade
One ... million ... dollars
More on the AT&T upgrade
Anna Lindh’s killer found mentally competent
Fuhgedaboutit
iPod minis selling like hotcakes
A trip down memory lane
Bring your flippers to Mars
RepKover bindings are back
Internet users create content
More on the AT&T upgrade phone
February
Subversion looks good
The Word 6.0 nightmare
This is an upgrade?
We don’t support that
Review: Permission to Land
William Gibson interview
A great William Gibson interview leads Nic to talk about other interesting cyberpunk novels.
Ads in RSS
More on ApplePMU::PMU Forced Shutdown
John Kerry--referrer spammer
See download speed in Safari
The carrot and the stick
Virginia Tech G5s on sale
Headless iMac: When pigs fly
Top 10 reasons to not shop online
Keep watching the stars
A quick comparison of Gnome and KDE
Keeping your GUI street
KOffice fails install
Stress test that rig
We can see you
Lucida is fabulous
Teeth red, not blue
Geeks with torches and pitchforks
Snorting Cocoa
The first Unix virus
Boohbah ... Boohbah
January
DJ this ... or not, perhaps
Spam flooded
Apple and encryption
The Feds on computer security
The horrors of IE
Crawling to the cross
2,048 bits of comfort
Car buying from the inside
No anniversary for the Mac?
iTunes Music Store RSS feeds
Desert rain
Caged heat
Interesting solution to comment spam
Permissions problems
Blast that Finder
Anna Lindh killer remanded
When incompetence becomes sadism
Email more unreliable than ever
Triangle block in square hole
Hairtrigger
Mini means mini
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.