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Sep 1, 2024: Watchmen Chapter I, a review

Series art for Chapter I featuring (Left to Right) The Comedian, Dr. Manhattan, Ozymandius, Rorschach, Silk Spectre II, and Nite Owl II.

What can I say about Watchmen that hasn’t already been said… is what I would say if DC hadn’t just released the first part of an …

Aug 28, 2024: Orange County California Supervisor allegedly funneled millions to daughter's non-profit We spend a lot of time focusing on the National elections. There’s nothing wrong with this, but this singular gaze has, for years now, been …

Aug 22, 2024: Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter deemed among worst deals of all time “Seven banks loaned Elon Musk money totaling $13 billion in 2022 to help him buy Twitter, now known by the obnoxiously generic name X … the [Wall …

Aug 21, 2024: Ancient Roman sarcophagus discovered being used as a bar in Black Sea resort Apparently it’s illegal to own historical artifacts in Bulgaria. Not a bad idea, to be honest. Such artifacts are snapshots of the rich history …

Aug 20, 2024: America's legal system at work... for Billionaires You know what’s great about #sarcasm? It’s hilarious and it allows us to laugh at terrible things being done by terrible people for …

Aug 9, 2024: Russia's insane revisionist pulp fiction industry If you question why the general population of #Russia supports the #war in #Ukraine there’s likely one fact you are unaware of. I certainly knew …

Aug 8, 2024: Mark my words, #TFG’s numbers will keep dropping and #HarrisWalz will keep going up. Not at the same rate, mind you. Slowly for The Dumpster …

Aug 8, 2024: The amount of free space in the Mini is a rather egregious waste of case materials and I can easily see #Apple being unwilling to continue to waste …

Aug 7, 2024: This bizarre trend of taking successful #TV and #film properties and creating #stage and #musical versions is annoying. #Japan is on a huge binge of …

Aug 7, 2024: I think it’s really, really important to understand one thing about #TFG; #Trump projects. He’s clearly unstable and he explains to …

Aug 7, 2024: Well, well, well. Here we are. Another platform, and not for lack of trying to stick one out for a long time. I started with PHPsomething-or-other, …

Jul 2, 2024: A list of things that pair well with McDonald's Szechuan Sauce

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Whilst having a conversation with a friend he wanted to give me a list of foods that would probably taste good with Szechuan sauce. Considering the …

Jun 27, 2024: I'm done with Microsoft Windows

As of May 31st, 2024 when Microsoft announced Windows Recall, I have a single physical machine, and no virtual machines, with any version of Windows …

May 19, 2024: Mastering the macOS Menu Bar

I came across the following article on Apple Insider a few days ago and was initially enthused. I'd recently written a quick guide to a freeware tool …

Apr 29, 2024: Spaced | macOS Freeware

I was a Bartender user for a few years. It was quite nice to get a handle on my Mac’s menubar. But I was paying $10 a month for SetApp and …

Feb 27, 2024: Save The Web: Advanced Dollarnomics

In the first part of this series I started last year, I spoke about the idea of Dollarnomics, describing it in some detail. If you want to get the …

Jan 17, 2024: A writer's prayer

They always do the same thing, words. They hide away under the folds of my mind, deep in the shadows, keeping as silent as death. My ability to …

Jan 4, 2024: Work arounds because Twitter sucks

Since Felon Musk has destroyed Twitter, I'm just going to blog a bit like it's Twitter. I blog on PostHaven, which is a wonderful blogging service …

Dec 28, 2023: Apple's Notes cannot be exported, and that's wrong...

Ok, this is annoying. Apple Notes is a wonderfully capable notes app that allows you to bulk import all manner of rich text file formats, even entire …

Dec 24, 2023: How J.J. Abrams broke Star Trek

Star Trek: The Next Generation 30th Anniversary Print by Dusty Abell, Copyright © 2017, Roddenberry Entertainment Inc. Reprinted with permission. …

Dec 14, 2023: Medium's stats are broken, so I left...


This is my stats page. This is not helpful.

Much like today’s other causes of cultural constipation such as race relations, government, cold …

Dec 14, 2023: Apple's Butterfly keyboard tragedy & potential e-waste disaster


Without official unit sales numbers from Apple, we have no idea how many hundreds of thousands of these machines are in the wild.

I am a life-long …

Dec 14, 2023: Advertising is dead. Please flush on your way out…


Ads are almost literally everywhere.

It is rare, but every once in a while I presume to speak for everyone. It’s not like this is breaking news or a …

Dec 14, 2023: I don't like my mechanical keyboard


The Keychron K5 SE Low-Profile Mechanical Keyboard is anything but low profile. It’s also a clicky, sloppy, error-prone mess for a writer who taught …

Dec 14, 2023: It’s time to open source MacOS 9: An Open Letter to Tim Cook

The now legendary 
Mac OS 9 desktop, a refinement of what came before and the influence for today’s macOS releases. Even to this day, untold …

Dec 14, 2023: Accelerationism is stupid


If you think Musk is going to get you to Mars, just check out how he’s been managing Twitter… er, X. This guy’s no genius. Don’t be fooled. Yes, …

Dec 14, 2023: Saving the Internet for Humanity: Dollarnomics 101


Or not…

The Internet of 2023 sucks.

Every site, every service, every entree and every destination on the modern Web of today is controlled by …

Dec 14, 2023: A short horse tale | Short Fiction



MERRY FREAKIN’ CHRISTMAS, that’s craaaaaaaazy lookin’! Photo by Mikael Kristenson on Unsplash

One day long ago, a horse I was fond of came to …

Dec 14, 2023: “Picking yourself up by your own bootstraps” is stupid.


If this were even remotely possible, people would be flying off into space willy nilly. I think, I’m not a scientist. Photo by Nik on Unsplash …

Dec 14, 2023: How to use an elevator


A bank of elevators in the lobby of a skyscraper. Photo by Edwin Chen on Unsplash

It happens all the time. You’re walking along, getting stuff …

Dec 14, 2023: I desperately want a lightweight OLED Switch


Just make a bigger one, Nintendo.

It was a mistake that when I finally bought a Switch, I got a Switch Lite. Sure, it’s a gorgeous indigo blue, …

Dec 14, 2023: Where the hell is the American Bidet Revolution!? I’m going to guess that at least 12% of you will be reading this on a toilet. Nothing makes people feel at ease more than a very public discussion …

Dec 14, 2023: An Open Letter to Blue Sky's Chris Wedge Hey look! It’s you!! Chris Wedge!!! Nice pic. Great movie.Dear Chris, I heard the news. I’m sorry I didn’t write sooner. Things have been a tad crazy …

Dec 14, 2023: The Preamble of The U.S. Constitution | Shallow Thoughts How do we define the United States of America? We call it a country, but that just means a plot of land with established borders. Land certainly tells …

Dec 14, 2023: Outlook Junkmail Arrives Flagged ... By Spammers I’ve been having a problem lately. It’s not an enormous issue, but it bothers me. As you have likely already gleaned, I am receiving junk mail in my …

Dec 14, 2023: Francis Dunnery’s Let’s Go Do What Happens | Album Stories Everyone calls him Frank. Let’s Go Do What Happens was released in 1998. I’m quite sure that it was early Fall in Vermont; leaf turning season. It …

Dec 14, 2023: The Nothing | Short Fiction The stairwell spirals down into the darkness. Well, not spiral, really, but there is no term that describes a rectangular shaped stairwell in a …

Nov 4, 2022: How to destroy Twitter in 30 days or less “The Man Who Can Do No Wrong Even When He Clearly Does” Step 1. Be Elon Musk. Step 2. Buy Twitter for $45 billion. Step 3. Tweet. Step 4. Never, ever …

Jun 3, 2022: Can we please end the stupid "Natural" vs. "Reverse" scrolling debacle? I am quite well versed in the extensive history of the operating system wars. Apple effectively created the home computer industry, and Microsoft has …

Mar 26, 2022: How to sacrifice children for a thriving weapons industry | 2022 Q2 Update Welcome one and all! Is your weapons industry suffering in the markets when there’s little direct war action to feed the coffers for your “investors”? …

Feb 26, 2022: America's most underrated musical genius | Bruce Hornsby Bruce Hornsby with The Grateful Dead performing at Soldier Field on July 4, 2015 in Chicago. Jay Blakesberg/Invision for the Grateful Dead/AP …

Feb 26, 2022: I've gone (back to) Mac & why you should, too. An overview of Apple’s technologically significant M1 chip architecture. Neato torpedo…Back in 2009, I needed to have the CPU repasted in my MacBook …

Jan 31, 2022: Hotel Transylvania: Transformania | Film Review Despite the growing recognition in the West that animation is not a medium made expressly for children, there is an expansive industry that revolves …

Jan 17, 2022: Are keyboard shortcuts really more efficient than a mouse? As a Mac user, there is one very specific admonition from Windows and Linux users I hear frequently; too much mouse! But I’m not just a Mac peep, I’m …

Jan 3, 2022: Using introspection to understand my own limitations </div> I wrote up this draft in 2018 and (clearly, nerd) didn't post it. Here it is, mostly unedited, for your potential enjoyment/derision. …

Jan 2, 2022: Dumpster Fire: The Bed! Despite being deep inside the artificially warmed folds of Holiday Happy-Ganda Season, I had to check the calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1st. …

Jan 2, 2022: Universal Basic Income in the Post Space Age I originally wrote this piece in 2017 and am reposting it now because I believe the idea is critically important to the future of humanity and the …

Dec 31, 2021: iPhone cases & an important charity for Peruvian children </div> Phone cases are a dime a dozen. Well, not literally. They cost real money, but they’re available everywhere for all kinds of mobiles and …

Sep 16, 2021: Where’s the rage? | Pandemic Edition Where is it, the rage? We should all be really, quite upset. Why aren't we marching in the streets, demanding accountability for the endless stream of …

Jan 8, 2021: Greenland (2020) | Film Review Good GOD, what a pig. Sure, Gerard Butler was a staple in mid-budget action flicks, but this dumpster fire isn’t one of his better ones, and it’s not …

Jan 7, 2021: How To Be The Most Amazing Person Ever So, you want to be the most amazing person ever. The good news is that, through the power of positive thinking, you can have anything* you want, as …

Jan 3, 2021: My father died today. My father being arrested for protesting, something he was quite happy to do. He was staunchly anti-war and would always stand up for the little guy. …

Dec 23, 2019: Does our future require Capitalism? A neighborhood in Mexico City that shows a stark divide between the wealthy and powerful and those who cannot afford to live in a safe, clean place. …

Nov 10, 2019: Spare Seat | Short Fiction The clattering melody the train wheels sang under my feet was hypnotic. It beat a staccato rhythm against the rails, countering the smooth, blur …

Jun 4, 2019: How open source software can save you from the horrors of Social Media Facebook. WhatsApp. Instagram. Adult Friend Finder. Yahoo. Marriot. Anthem Health. eBay. JP Morgan Chase. Target. Equifax. Adobe. RSA Security. The US …

Apr 29, 2019: How did we get to Trump? - The Abridged Edition The following essay is from a Quora comment that I made in response to this honest question: But I still think it is strange what has happened to the …

Jul 9, 2018: Anime and video games don't make people psychotic Western societal ideals have always been broken when it comes to animated content. First, there is the core element that states when you are no longer …

Jun 30, 2018: The Single Worst Job I've Ever Had NOTE: I started writing this earlier this year when I was fired from my first new job in four years after four months. I just got the to the point …

Jun 30, 2018: The hardest thing to do is the one thing you desire most Since I was nine I've wanted to become a science fiction author. I wanted to create worlds and explore amazing things, and over the years that has …

Jun 11, 2018: Interview with a woman named Larry | Short Fiction I'm just going to write something directly out of my head, so we'll see how it goes. -TCR I've always liked the name Larry. It feels old without being …

Nov 21, 2017: Is everyone famous a perverted asshole? So, next on the pervert docket we have legendary serious news journalist Charlie Rose... Wait, what? So, let's take the list of people called out for …

Nov 15, 2017: Amateur Egghead - Why is psychology a science? In this series, Amateur Egghead, I examine a range of different subjects on which I have no formal education or expertise of any kind. The opinions …

Nov 15, 2017: How To Kill Money “It's the person who would sell his soul for a nickel, who is loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money.... Let me give you a tip on men's …

Sep 14, 2017: Jony Ive's Innovation-Free Apple Welcome to the brave new world of DESIGN OVER FUNCTION that Jonny Johnnee Jony Ive guy has crafted at Post Jobs Apple where a glass sandwich costs you …

Sep 3, 2017: Damn You, Walter Becker Why'd you have to go and die, man. I get the news this morning from Rima via Telegram. I can't believe it, but it's true. So many people have passed …

Jun 11, 2017: Wonder Woman? Meh. So, I've seen Wonder Woman now. As was common in the Golden Age of comics, there's a lot of cannibalism. WW effectively is DC's Captain America, …

Jun 9, 2017: Apple has jumped the shark It wasn't long ago that you couldn't walk down the street without tripping over some new Apple rumor or buzz over the latest and greatest Apple gear. …

May 22, 2017: Why outrage doesn't matter anymore Here's the thing. We, as Americans, have lost the ability to lash indignant hellfire at those who violate our collective sensibilities. Cops outright …

Apr 28, 2017: America's Ghost in the Shell really sucks So, I'm watching Ghost in the Shell and the only thing I can think of is, "these gringos don't get Japanese story tells." Not that such a thing stops …

Apr 12, 2017: How Pixar killed traditional animation It's hard not to think of Pixar and, by extension Apple, as amazing American institutions built by the astonishing, guiding hand of the late Steve …

Apr 4, 2017: Disney, Stop Ruining Animated Classics So, I watched Beauty & The Beast (2017) last night. Wow. Just SUPER wow, and not for the reasons you might think. It's a dud. A flop. I hate it. …

Mar 22, 2017: Salted Wounds: The Ultimate Fuck You I've talked about this before. I don't talk about being homeless a lot. It's painful, living in hotels for two and a half years. It's a short story if …

Mar 22, 2017: Damon's The Great Wall isn't so bad You know, if more Americans watched Chinese movies, they might understand films like The Great Wall better. I'm more of a Japanophile myself, but I …

Mar 19, 2017: Why Pharah Sucks Pharah. That flying rat. The one and only flying hero in Overwatch, is the single most annoying hero of the bunch. Nobody else can fly. Mercy can …

Dec 26, 2016: The future face of computing You might not have noticed, since you’re most likely looking at your smartphone, but a significant amount of time people spend on the internet is …

Dec 26, 2016: I’ll Disable My Ad Blocker When You Stop Exploiting Me On January 8th, ExtremeTech published a piece about Forbes forcing users to disable their ad blockers in order to see any content, and guess what …

Dec 26, 2016: Support reasonable regulation of the vaping industry I was a smoker of 30+ years. I smoked a pack a day and, for a few years, I smoked two packs a day. Almost two and a half years ago, I tried an …

Dec 18, 2016: In Defence of The Grand Tour Granted, I'm not entirely in love with the first season of Amazon's highly anticipated Clarkson, Hammond, and May vehicle (that's a pun), The Grand …

Mar 16, 2016: The stupid way to delete all photos from your dumb iPhone So, I gave up on Apple a few years ago and have no ragerts. Apple has simply lost the thread of late and Microsoft is the real innovator these days. …

Mar 6, 2016: Coals on the inside Emotionally, I’m about as drained as one can be, without simply keeling over dead. Spending day after day after day just being little more than alive, …

Feb 28, 2016: In case you're wondering: Why Windows 10 Phone, HP? This isn't going to be a long read. The simple answer, and this is a guess, is that HP sees three things.  Windows 10 development is reportedly …

Feb 26, 2016: The Elegant Cape: A year in the life of America's preeminent perpetual loser optimist NOTE: The original title to this piece was "If you feel like someone's out to get you, they probably are". I decided to change it because I had just …

Feb 22, 2016: Message to HP: I really hate you, so stop trying to make me love you again In all honesty, I used to love HP, but not for the reasons you might think. Their enterprise and server gear has long been solid, including their …

Feb 20, 2016: How To Behave In Public - Water Fountains Water is the single most important component for life on Earth. 70% of the human body is made of water. If you place your ear against a person who is …

Feb 17, 2016: How To Behave In Public - Elevators Congratulations! You've discovered vertical transportation through the miracle of the Elevator!! Elevators carry 3.82 billion people over 82.3 …

Feb 15, 2016: John Oliver skewers voter ID laws The idea that a few million people can't vote in America because of deliberately misguided voter ID laws is reprehensible at best. I can't explain it …

Feb 15, 2016: The best things in life aren't yellow It's amazing the number of things that are yellow in color that are unappealing. Lemonade is pretty great, but I wouldn't say it's a best thing in …

Feb 15, 2016: RE: I already support progressive causes. Stop spamming me. Dear Progressive Friends, Look, I like you. I'm glad you're working to get the insane Citizen's United overturned and the entire raft of other things …

Feb 14, 2016: Hey, MSM! Something to say? Just say it! The flowery language. The academia polished until the shine is almost unbearable. The suggestion of an opinion. The metaphor, obscure references, and …

Feb 12, 2016: NBC's Grimm is freaking amazing Peg me as a media nerd, and I'll nod and thank you for the compliment. I love media. The various types of media I consume are just different methods …

Feb 9, 2016: Instantiation, a short story The area around me is dark, but there is enough ambient light to see that there is nothing around me. When I breath out, I can see the vapor. It's …

Feb 9, 2016: The best Science Fiction is on TV right now Science fiction has been on a downturn over the last decade. Sure, we get event movies a few times a year, but a lot of that audience has been taken …

Feb 9, 2016: There is only one option. Vote. I've been struggling against the Right for months now, and I'm already feeling burnt out by all the hate and subterfuge. While it would be enormously …

Feb 6, 2016: Dwelling inside the persistent shadow of creativity I am a writer. This is what I do. For a living. Well, not so much lately, but it's the single most salient job I identify with. Back when I was a kid, …

Feb 4, 2016: Linux, as a desktop, missed its window of opportunity Don't troll me, bro. I'm no Linux hater. I used Linux for years. I started with Caldera back when we didn't know that SCO was evil. Despite lacking …

Feb 2, 2016: Blogging is a lot like... well, something, I can tell you! I don't know why, but it always seems like when I'm confronted with the need to develop an idea for a post, I think about blogging. Weird. When I …

Feb 2, 2016: Making a murderer making me mad Binge TV. yay. Thanks Netflix. Yesterday, nothing better to do, I fired up the first episode of Netflix's Making A Murderer documini-series. OMG! …

Feb 2, 2016: XTC. You know. The band... I'm not a music critic, and I have a shitty memory, but there were some really interesting bands coming out of the late 70's and 80's. One of them was …