Lately I have been using my 2008 Asus EEE netbook quite a bit and when I noticed this, I decided to look for an upgrade. I knew that netbooks had been largely supplanted, first by tablets and later by Chromebooks, but what I had not realised is that they have disappeared completely from the market … Read More

Als freelancer kom ik het regelmatig tegen: je onderhandelt met een werkvloermanager binnen een groot bedrijf, bent al rond, iedereen kijkt blij, maar dan krijg je nog eens een contract van 20 pagina’s voor de kiezen dat 500 % in jouw nadeel is geschreven en waar je je maar even mee akkoord moet verklaren, anders … Read More

I cannot remember much of how I ended up fulfilling my military service, except that I very much would have liked not to. As the oldest of three brothers, it was clear in the mid-1980s that I would have to go. The rule was that a third (and fourth and so on) brother would get … Read More

When I was much younger and in elementary school, I got beaten up daily—or so it feels 40 years later. In reality it was probably regularly but not every day. Having largely outgrown being bullied in my teens (which is a thing that ran parallel to the other kids outgrowing bullying, I have no illusions … Read More

I have two work computers in my home office—one a desktop PC and one laptop—and I thought it would be nice if both had access to the same set of files. Late 2016 I looked a little into setting up my own file server, but in the end I went to a store and bought … Read More

If you check in at a location on Facebook or enter the location for a photo, there is a chance that you will end up linking to spam. The main reason for this is that Facebook is crap and the people who make Facebook are idiots, but I say this in anger after hacking spam … Read More

I was born in one of the oldest surviving houses in Venlo, the Romerhuis, which also happens to be the first house in the oldest street of the city, the Jodenstraat. The Romerhuis was built around 1490 in late Gothic style. By the 20th century the building had lost lots of its charm. The step … Read More

It started with this 2014 Commodore 64 demo music by Pex “Mahoney” Tufvesson. If you were to follow that link (please come back!), you would hear an indiscriminate collection of bleeps and grunts. You will have to take my word for it that these bleeps and grunts are in some ways better than any assortment … Read More

Seventeen years ago I flunked university by working up a good speed for six years and then sliding out right at the other end. My funds had dried up and I decided it was time to go and do something else. As it turned out my invisible diploma had a negative value on the job … Read More

The question of whether you should either walk or run in the rain if your goal is to stay as dry as possible, has fascinated people ever since they realized they had more time to spend on the internet than cat videos could provide. That is a rather convoluted sentence but if you try and … Read More