July 2025
Interesting Kickstarters
Jul 31 2025
Going through Kickstarter to find three items that caught my eye.
Games > Tabletop Games - Looking for board games or RPGs. So much of this seems to be STL files for 3D printers and I guess they're easy to make since no manufacturing cost.
Publishing > Nonfiction - Was thinking maybe there's a military history book ok KS but didn't really find any. Panzer Camouflage v4 is part of a series that "covers the equipment and camouflage schemes of all sides of the conflict in the interwar period and covers the events of World War II" but not really my interest.
Music - I like several genres so I looked through the whole category. Nothing caught my eye. I think here you need a really good album cover or artist picture. Too many are kind of plain. Rukatama 1994 EP (Vinyl Limited Pressing) for a JPop solo artist.
Comics > Graphic Novels - A lot of sexy and NSFW stuff. Atomic Robo and the Peril of Prometheus is part of a long-running series and I've read a bunch of them which I got from a bundle.
I've done this before and it used to be I'd find three interesting items in each category but I guess nowadays there's less of that on Kickstarter.
Games > Tabletop Games - Looking for board games or RPGs. So much of this seems to be STL files for 3D printers and I guess they're easy to make since no manufacturing cost.
Publishing > Nonfiction - Was thinking maybe there's a military history book ok KS but didn't really find any. Panzer Camouflage v4 is part of a series that "covers the equipment and camouflage schemes of all sides of the conflict in the interwar period and covers the events of World War II" but not really my interest.
Music - I like several genres so I looked through the whole category. Nothing caught my eye. I think here you need a really good album cover or artist picture. Too many are kind of plain. Rukatama 1994 EP (Vinyl Limited Pressing) for a JPop solo artist.
Comics > Graphic Novels - A lot of sexy and NSFW stuff. Atomic Robo and the Peril of Prometheus is part of a long-running series and I've read a bunch of them which I got from a bundle.
I've done this before and it used to be I'd find three interesting items in each category but I guess nowadays there's less of that on Kickstarter.
Disney+ for August
Jul 29 2025
What I may watch:
Journey to the Center of the Earth (8 half-hour episodes)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (6 half-hour episodes)
Spanish kid's shows where the main teen is a descendant of Jules Verne and everything he wrote is actually true but in an alternate dimension. Mostly got on my list because I saw the image for 20k Leagues with an attractive Latina Captain Nemo (Paty Cantú).
Big Mouth (16 hour-long episodes)
South Korean drama/thriller where a barely-managing-by lawyer gets involved in a high-profile murder case because one side thinks he's bribable.
Ironheart (6 45-60 minute episodes)
Riri Williams creates the Ironheart suit and fights crime in this MCU series. Ironheart appeared in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and is a character I have in Marvel Strike Force.
Miraculous: Tales of Lady Bug & Cat Noir season 6 is slowly being released so I'll catch it next time as I'd want to watch it completely in one run.
But I think that may be it. Nothing really interesting to see and MLS v Liga Leagues Cup has too many games to watch.
2025-08-28: I ended up watching all the above except Miraculous s6 since only the first 8 episodes are out. I also watched Eyes of Wakanda (2025, 4 half hour episodes) and L-Pop (2023, 6 half hour episodes).
Journey to the Center of the Earth (8 half-hour episodes)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (6 half-hour episodes)
Spanish kid's shows where the main teen is a descendant of Jules Verne and everything he wrote is actually true but in an alternate dimension. Mostly got on my list because I saw the image for 20k Leagues with an attractive Latina Captain Nemo (Paty Cantú).
Big Mouth (16 hour-long episodes)
South Korean drama/thriller where a barely-managing-by lawyer gets involved in a high-profile murder case because one side thinks he's bribable.
Ironheart (6 45-60 minute episodes)
Riri Williams creates the Ironheart suit and fights crime in this MCU series. Ironheart appeared in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) and is a character I have in Marvel Strike Force.
Miraculous: Tales of Lady Bug & Cat Noir season 6 is slowly being released so I'll catch it next time as I'd want to watch it completely in one run.
But I think that may be it. Nothing really interesting to see and MLS v Liga Leagues Cup has too many games to watch.
2025-08-28: I ended up watching all the above except Miraculous s6 since only the first 8 episodes are out. I also watched Eyes of Wakanda (2025, 4 half hour episodes) and L-Pop (2023, 6 half hour episodes).
Diary - Jul 19 to Jul 25 2025
Jul 26 2025
Sat Jul 19 2025
Sleep 0430 to 1230 (8 hours)
Sun Jul 20 2025
Sleep 0630 to 1330 (7 hours)
Mon Jul 21 2025
Sleep 0100 to 0845, 1230 to 1400. (9-1/4 hours)
Tue Jul 22 2025
Sleep 0645 to 1430 (7-3/4 hours)
Wed Jul 23 2025
Sleep 0400 to 0900 (5 hours)
Thu Jul 24 2025
Sleep 0200 to 1115 (9-1/4 hours)
Fri Jul 25 2025
Sleep 2315 to 0300, 0715 to 1045 (7-1/4 hours)
Sleep 0430 to 1230 (8 hours)
- DDO Started my alt account first character transfer so it also transfers account info. After a few hours it’s still going (in the background so I don’t need to keep app going).
- CSr skipped as he and family have a flight at 0600.
- DS, DW and I played Gloomhaven.
Sun Jul 20 2025
Sleep 0630 to 1330 (7 hours)
- Test character didn’t transfer. In the evening I started it again. Maybe somehow I cancelled the previous transfer.
Mon Jul 21 2025
Sleep 0100 to 0845, 1230 to 1400. (9-1/4 hours)
- Checked this morning and my DDO character transferred.
Tue Jul 22 2025
Sleep 0645 to 1430 (7-3/4 hours)
- Stayed up late watching Apple Music videos and listening to songs.
- Video call between HOA board and our reserve study analyst.
Wed Jul 23 2025
Sleep 0400 to 0900 (5 hours)
- Went to 99 Ranch in Foster City. First time there. Bought some tofu and some packs of ma po tofu sauce.
- Visited Lima for half an hour.
- Used one of the ma po tofu packs with a pack of tofu and it came out pretty good mixed with corn and over rice.
Thu Jul 24 2025
Sleep 0200 to 1115 (9-1/4 hours)
- HOA Meeting went well. I need to check the BBQs as apparently not working. Hopefully something simple like out of propane since I don’t really know how to use a BBQ.
Fri Jul 25 2025
Sleep 2315 to 0300, 0715 to 1045 (7-1/4 hours)
- DDO: Finished transferring my 12 alt account characters to Thrane and re-organizing extra items.
- Oops. Thought C3+S were flying back tonight but read the calendar wrong. They’re flying back tomorrow night. Since I thought they were coming tonight I didn’t visit Lima.
- DS, DW and I played a bit of Gloomhaven. Half of one scenario and then DW disconnected and it was after midnight so we ended and will continue tomorrow.
- Apparently I didn’t create any main account characters on other servers. I guess I remember just making characters with my alt but I thought I had made at least one with my main.
- Took me the better part of a week to transfer my alt characters and about two hours to transfer my main characters now that the transfer rush is over. Mind you for the latter I didn’t reorganize anything which took the better part of an hour for each character transferred and most of that time was juggling stuff around when you only have 60-odd free spaces in share bank.
Advanced Adventures MEGA
Jul 24 2025
Advanced Adventures Megabundle from Bundle of Holding is a repeat from Jan 2023. These are adventure modules for OSRIC (AD&D retro-clone using D&D 3.0 OGL rules).
For the most part the modules are $8 and 16 pages which is somewhat pricey for products published 6 to 19 years ago. I guess I'd rather run old AD&D modules which I have plenty of. I will pass on this bundle.
Starter Level ($10)
Bonus Level (+$26)
For the most part the modules are $8 and 16 pages which is somewhat pricey for products published 6 to 19 years ago. I guess I'd rather run old AD&D modules which I have plenty of. I will pass on this bundle.
Starter Level ($10)
- #01: The Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom ($8, 16 pages)
- #02: The Red Mausoleum ($8, 16 pages)
- #03: The Curse of the Witch Head ($8, 12 pages)
- #04: Prison of Meneptah ($8, 32 pages)
- #05: The Flaming Footprints of Jilanth ($8)
- #06: The Chasm of the Damned ($8, 20 pages)
- #07: The Sarcophagus Legion ($8, 16 pages)
- #08: The Seven Shrines of Nav'k-Qar ($8, 12 pages)
- #09: The Lost Pyramid of Imhotep ($8, 12 pages)
- #10: The Lost Keys of Solitude ($8, 28 pages)
- Malevolent & Benign I ($10, 128 pages) - 150+ monsters from various sources including Advanced Adventures
- OSRIC (free, 404 pages)
Bonus Level (+$26)
- #11: The Conqueror Worm
- #12: The Barrow Mound of Gravemoor
- #13: White Dragon Run
- #14: The Verdant Vault of Malakum
- #15: Stonesky Delve
- #16: Under Shattered Mountain
- #17: The Frozen Wave Satsuma
- #18: The Forsaken Sepulcher
- #19: The Secret of the Callair Hills
- #20: The Riddle of Anadi
- #21: The Obsidian Sands of Syncrates
- #22: Stonepick Crossing
- #23: Down the Shadowvein
- #24: The Mouth of the Shadowvein
- #25: Beneath the Heart of Empire
- #26: The Witch Mounds
- #27: The Bitterroot Briar
- #28: Redtooth Ridge
- #29: The Doom of Red Rauthim
- #30: To End the Rising
- #31: The Lost Lair of Drecallis
- #32: The Palace Beyond
- #33: The Halls of Lidless Shabbath
- #34: The Crocodile's Tear
- #35: The Desert Shrine of the Sightless Sisters
- #36: Aerie of the Cloud Giant Strategos
- #37: Under Ruined Onm
- #38: White Dragon Run II
- #39: The Dark Tower of Arcma
- #40: The Horror of Merehurst
- #41: The Forgotten Grottoes of the Sea Lords
- #42: Dead in the Water
- #43 The Warrens of Zagash
- Malevolent & Benign II ($10, 110 pages) - 150+ monsters from Advanced Adventures and original ones
Neon Lords Bundle
Jul 22 2025
Neon Lords Bundle from Bundle of Holding is a fixed $15 price for "the gonzo slime-punk post-apocalyptic cassette-future RPG from Super Savage Systems."
Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland ($10, 272 pages) - "Ultra-violent, style-matters, half medieval fantasy, half B-movie, Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland builds on old-school B/X rules for no-holds-barred to-the-max action in a post-apocalyptic Earth where magic mixes with the technology of the 1980s and early '90s."
Riders of the Burpwarp ($20, 95 pages) - "adds nearly a dozen new character classes"
Warpshine Runners ($20, 128 pages) - "An abandoned Humanoid Mining Colony south of Nueva Angeles has been up to no good!…The map has 37, that's right, 37 marked locations, each with a slew of info as well as adventure hooks." So I guess an adventure setting.
Space Bulk ($10, 84 pages) - "a random generator to build wild locations for adventures that take place on Neo-Terraxx and beyond."
Mutant Hive Warz ($7, 24 pages) - "A hex hunt for mutant hybrid BUGZ."
Sleazoid Mutant Freaks From Cannibal Island ($6, 11 pages) - adventure where you hunt for the organ thieves that stole your kidney.
B/X style riles is a plus and has a good amount of adventuring material so will probably buy.
Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland ($10, 272 pages) - "Ultra-violent, style-matters, half medieval fantasy, half B-movie, Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland builds on old-school B/X rules for no-holds-barred to-the-max action in a post-apocalyptic Earth where magic mixes with the technology of the 1980s and early '90s."
Riders of the Burpwarp ($20, 95 pages) - "adds nearly a dozen new character classes"
Warpshine Runners ($20, 128 pages) - "An abandoned Humanoid Mining Colony south of Nueva Angeles has been up to no good!…The map has 37, that's right, 37 marked locations, each with a slew of info as well as adventure hooks." So I guess an adventure setting.
Space Bulk ($10, 84 pages) - "a random generator to build wild locations for adventures that take place on Neo-Terraxx and beyond."
Mutant Hive Warz ($7, 24 pages) - "A hex hunt for mutant hybrid BUGZ."
Sleazoid Mutant Freaks From Cannibal Island ($6, 11 pages) - adventure where you hunt for the organ thieves that stole your kidney.
B/X style riles is a plus and has a good amount of adventuring material so will probably buy.
Diary - Jul 12 to Jul 18 2025
Jul 19 2025
Sat Jul 12 2025
Sleep 0415 to 0930, a couple hours napping in car (7-1/4 hours)
Sun Jul 13 2025
Sleep 0330 to 1215 (8-3/4 hours)
Mon Jul 14 2025
Sleep 0530 to 1315 (7-3/4 hours)
Tue Jul 15 2025
Sleep 0400 to 1215 (8-1/4 hours)
Wed Jul 16 2025
Sleep 0415 to 1030 (6-1/4 hours)
Thu Jul 17 2025
Sleep 0430 to 1100 (6-1/2 hours)
Fri Jul 18 2025
Sleep 0545 to 1300 (7-1/4 hours)
Sleep 0415 to 0930, a couple hours napping in car (7-1/4 hours)
- We went to Aunt Julie’s memorial service at United Methodist Church where she worshipped and was an active member.
- Then there was a reception at LogOff Brewing.
- Came home and CSr and I went to watch Superman (2025).
- Dinner with parents (Dad made roast chicken but cooked like roast duck including sauce).
- Then drive home and I slept a lot.
- DDO we did Epic Partycrashers then Dave W helped Dave S clean up his inventory since he doesn’t have a shared bank but has some character bank to offload stuff. Also he had some bad equipment which should have been switched out long ago. It helped he could stream on Discord so we could see his setup.
Sun Jul 13 2025
Sleep 0330 to 1215 (8-3/4 hours)
- Got a chance to watch Murderbot 1.10. Unexpected change of tone from beginning to end and an ending where all other characters can be jettisoned (which is I think what happened as books 2 and 3 are Murderbot on his own).
Mon Jul 14 2025
Sleep 0530 to 1315 (7-3/4 hours)
- Watching The K2 on Tubi and actually a very good show. All of a sudden maybe Tubi has better Asian dramas than Prime Video and definitely better video quality and less commercials than Viki (though more commercials than Prime Video).
Tue Jul 15 2025
Sleep 0400 to 1215 (8-1/4 hours)
- Time to start getting a Budget Committee ready and work on the Operating Budget and Reserve Study. Last year I wanted to start closer to April since forming a Committee takes a couple of months, but always had something else to do. Still, I think we’re a month earlier than last year so maybe won’t end up finishing in mid December like last year.
Wed Jul 16 2025
Sleep 0415 to 1030 (6-1/4 hours)
- C3+S dinner. We ordered from Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen and it was good. Had some of the leftover hummus with pita and it was quite tasty — better than I expected but I guess that’s fresh hummus vs store bought.
Thu Jul 17 2025
Sleep 0430 to 1100 (6-1/2 hours)
- DriveThruRPG Christmas in July Sale. I already bought my 10 debit card purchases so may try to buy two or three things morning of August 1st just before the sale ends.
- Dave W moved our DDO guild to Thrane I was doing some quests and when I tried to go back to guild base it said I wasn’t in a guild.
Fri Jul 18 2025
Sleep 0545 to 1300 (7-1/4 hours)
- We played a bit of Gloomhaven since we’re busy transferring DDO characters to Thrane.
Dungeons & Dragons Classic Bundle
Jul 17 2025
Humble Bundle Dungeons & Dragons Classic Collection
These are first gen computer games. I own a lot of this on GOG though a Steam version (still all Windows) would not be that bad and at $10 it's quite tempting.
2025-08-05: In the end did not buy because many of the ones I have on GOG are part of their Good Old Games program. In 10 years these Steam games might not work whereas the Good Old Games should.
These are first gen computer games. I own a lot of this on GOG though a Steam version (still all Windows) would not be that bad and at $10 it's quite tempting.
- Forgotten Realms: The Archives - Collection One (own on GOG) - Eye of the Beholder, EotB 2: The Legend of Darkmoon, EotB 3: Assault on Myth Drannor
- Forgotten Realms: The Archives - Collection Two (own on GOG) - Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Hillsfar, Secret of the Silver Blades, Pools of Darkness, Gateway to the Savage Frontier, Treasures of the Savage Frontier, Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures
- Forgotten Realms: The Archives - Collection Three (own on GOG) - Dungeon Hack (explore randomly generated dungeons), Menzoberranzan,
- Silver Box Classics - Heroes of the Lance, Dragons of Flame, War of the Lance, Shadow Sorcerer
- Dungeons & Dragons: Krynn Series (own on GOG) - Champions of Krynn, Death Knights of Krynn, The Dark Queen of Krynn
- Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Sun Series (own on GOG) - Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Dark Suns: Wake of the Ravager
- Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft Series (own on GOG) - Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession, Ravenloft: Stone Prophet
- Fantasy Empires - single-player 4X game
- Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace
- Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse (own on GOG)
- Dungeons & Dragons - Stronghold: Kingdom Simulator (own on GOG)
- Dragonstrike - flying dragon combat simulator
- Deathkeep - a plain go-into-dungeon-and-kill-things Wizardry-style game
2025-08-05: In the end did not buy because many of the ones I have on GOG are part of their Good Old Games program. In 10 years these Steam games might not work whereas the Good Old Games should.
DriveThruRPG Summer Sale 2025
Jul 15 2025
This is an up to 30% off Summer sale. Since they also do 40% off sales I'm unlikely to buy anything this time around.
From stuff that has been reviewed in a Podcast I follow:
The Cross Stitch ($7, 30% off) - "stand-alone adventure for MÖRK BORG that can be played as a one-shot or part of a campaign", 40 pages though MB products tend to be light on words.
Kavlov's Sanctuary ($10.50, 30% off) - "a campaign module and adventure sandbox created for Mörk Borg, with over 70 pages and 20,000 words", 79 pages.
The Valley of Flowers ($10.50, 30% off) - "ENnie Award-winning fantasy campaign setting of mythic adventure in a world gone strange, designed for use with Old-School Essentials and Cairn", 150 pages
Sanctimonious Slimes vs. Expired Epicures ($5.60, 30% off) - dungeon delve "designed for use with Errant, but is broadly compatible with your classic fantasy RPG of choice", 26 pages.
I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City ($3.50, 30% off) - an old AD&D module
The Curious Creeps in Crimson Creek - Revised ($7, 22% off) - "complete adventure and hexcrawl module for level 1-3 characters", 24 pages for Old-School Essentials.
T1 The Village of Hommlet ($3.50, 30% off) - an old AD&D module, the sequel wasn't released separately but T1-4 super module was released instead.
Buried in the Bahamas ($5.60, 30% off) - "introductory adventure for Pirate Borg and The Dark Caribbean campaign setting", 24 pages with more text than you'd expect from an x-Borg product.
From stuff that has been reviewed in a Podcast I follow:
The Cross Stitch ($7, 30% off) - "stand-alone adventure for MÖRK BORG that can be played as a one-shot or part of a campaign", 40 pages though MB products tend to be light on words.
Kavlov's Sanctuary ($10.50, 30% off) - "a campaign module and adventure sandbox created for Mörk Borg, with over 70 pages and 20,000 words", 79 pages.
The Valley of Flowers ($10.50, 30% off) - "ENnie Award-winning fantasy campaign setting of mythic adventure in a world gone strange, designed for use with Old-School Essentials and Cairn", 150 pages
Sanctimonious Slimes vs. Expired Epicures ($5.60, 30% off) - dungeon delve "designed for use with Errant, but is broadly compatible with your classic fantasy RPG of choice", 26 pages.
I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City ($3.50, 30% off) - an old AD&D module
The Curious Creeps in Crimson Creek - Revised ($7, 22% off) - "complete adventure and hexcrawl module for level 1-3 characters", 24 pages for Old-School Essentials.
T1 The Village of Hommlet ($3.50, 30% off) - an old AD&D module, the sequel wasn't released separately but T1-4 super module was released instead.
Buried in the Bahamas ($5.60, 30% off) - "introductory adventure for Pirate Borg and The Dark Caribbean campaign setting", 24 pages with more text than you'd expect from an x-Borg product.
Diary - Jul 05 to Jul 11 2025
Jul 12 2025
Sat Jul 05 2025
Sleep 0745 to 1300 (5-1/4 hours)
Sun Jul 06 2025
Sleep 0130 to 0330, 1830 to 2245 (6-1/4 hours)
Mon Jul 07 2025
Sleep 0100 to 0845 (7-3/4 hours)
Tue Jul 08 2025
Sleep 0500 to 1200 (7 hours)
Wed Jul 09 2025
Sleep 0215 to 0945, 45m nap (8-1/4 hours)
Thu Jul 10 2025
Sleep 0130 to 0930, 1 hour nap (9 hours)
Fri Jul 10 2025
Sleep 2330 to 0145, 0500 to 0945, 1 hour nap (8 hours)
Sleep 0745 to 1300 (5-1/4 hours)
- Foot feels as good as yesterday maybe better. Still swollen but I think safe to eat that last third of chicken thigh.
Sun Jul 06 2025
Sleep 0130 to 0330, 1830 to 2245 (6-1/4 hours)
- Last day of Nemo’s 100 hour streamathon. Three active moderators and we’re all tired.
Mon Jul 07 2025
Sleep 0100 to 0845 (7-3/4 hours)
- Foot feels pretty good. Maybe a little swollen but hard to tell — it is discolored darker. Went to the library and Trader Joe’s and walked ok although a bit of discomfort in my ankle. Had another 1/3rd piece of chicken thigh and a bit of canned salmon. Hopefully I can increase it a bit in a day or two.
Tue Jul 08 2025
Sleep 0500 to 1200 (7 hours)
- Foot is pretty much normal now.
Wed Jul 09 2025
Sleep 0215 to 0945, 45m nap (8-1/4 hours)
- Dinner at C3’s. Totoro Ramen and got the curry ramen (has chicken katsu). Ate a bit of the katsu and saved the rest.
Thu Jul 10 2025
Sleep 0130 to 0930, 1 hour nap (9 hours)
- Watched Murderbot 1.9. Eager for the last episode to be released tomorrow.
Fri Jul 10 2025
Sleep 2330 to 0145, 0500 to 0945, 1 hour nap (8 hours)
- Got a hair cut. Tomorrow going to Aunt Julie’s memorial service with CSr so wanted to look ok.
- Then went to Mi Rancho for chicharrones, instant coffee, and some pastries ($25).
- After dinner, went with CSr to mom and dad’s.
Star Trek Comics MegaBundle
Jul 10 2025
Humble Bundle's Star Trek Comics MegaBundle (ends Aug 2nd) I think is mostly comics I haven't read since I stopped collecting years ago. I have no digital Star Trek comics so whether or not I've read these before still worthwhile buying (and there is so much stuff for $24 it is a must buy).
Star Trek: New Visions v1
Star Trek Classics v1: The Gorn Crisis - reprint, I'm sure I've read this one
Star Trek Classics v2: Enemy Unseen
Star Trek Classics v3: Encounters with the Unknown
Star Trek Classics v4: Beginnings - I think I've read all these Classics (Classics are pre-IDW Star Trek comics)
Star Trek Classics v5: Who Killed Captain Kirk?
Star Trek: Boldly Go v1 to v3
Star Trek v1 to v13
Star Trek: Picard - Stargazer
Star Trek: Picard - Countdown
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hive
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Ghosts
Star Trek: Leonard McCoy Frontier Doctor - fairly sure I've read this one too
Star Trek: Mission's End - probably read this one
Star Trek: Khan - Ruling in Hell
Star Trek: Assignment Earth
Star Trek: Mirror Images
Star Trek: New Visions v2 to v8 - reprints Gold Key comics photo montage series (using photos instead of drawings), I've read a couple of these but pretty rare in hard copy
Star Trek: Nero
Star Trek: New Frontier
Star Trek: The Motion Picture- Echoes
Star Trek: Movie Adaptation - of the 2009 film
Star Trek: Manifest Destiny
Star Trek: Khan
Star Trek: Intelligence Gathering
Star Trek: Year Four - The Enterprise Experiment
Star Trek: Year Four
Star Trek: Burden of Knowledge
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Star Trek: Spock Reflections
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Dog of War
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Too Long a Sacrifice
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Fools Gold - I think I read this one
Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness
Star Trek: Countdown
Star Trek: Captain's Log
Star Trek: Aliens
Star Trek: Best of Klingons
Star Trek Alien Spotlight v1
Star Trek Alien Spotlight v2
Star Trek: Picard's Academy - Commit No Mistakes
Star Trek: Holo-Ween
Star Trek: Day of Blood
Star Trek: Year Five v1 - Odyssey's End
Star Trek: Year Five v2 - The Wine-Dark Deep
Star Trek: Year Five v3 - Weaker Than Man
Star Trek: Year Five v4 - Experienced in Loss
Star Trek: Voyager - Seven's Reckoning
Star Trek: Warriors of the Mirror War
Star Trek: The Mirror War
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Terra Incognita
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Through the Mirror
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Mirror Broken
Star Trek: Waypoint
Star Trek: Sons of Star Trek
Star Trek: Resurgence
Star Trek: Harlan Ellison's City on the Edge of Forever - maybe read this
Star Trek: Discovery - Adventures in the 32nd Century
Star Trek: Discovery - Aftermath
Star Trek: Discovery - Succession
Star Trek: Discovery - The Light of Kahless
Star Trek: Debt of Honor Facsimile Edition
Star Trek Classics: The Mirror Universe Saga
Star Trek: The Q Conflict
Star Trek v1: Godshock
Star Trek v2: The Red Path
Star Trek v3: Glass and Bone
Star Trek: Defiant v1
Star Trek: Defiant v2 - Another Piece of the Action
Star Trek: Defiant v3 - Hell Is Only a Word
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - The Illyrian Enigma
Star Trek: New Visions v1
Star Trek Classics v1: The Gorn Crisis - reprint, I'm sure I've read this one
Star Trek Classics v2: Enemy Unseen
Star Trek Classics v3: Encounters with the Unknown
Star Trek Classics v4: Beginnings - I think I've read all these Classics (Classics are pre-IDW Star Trek comics)
Star Trek Classics v5: Who Killed Captain Kirk?
Star Trek: Boldly Go v1 to v3
Star Trek v1 to v13
Star Trek: Picard - Stargazer
Star Trek: Picard - Countdown
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Hive
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Ghosts
Star Trek: Leonard McCoy Frontier Doctor - fairly sure I've read this one too
Star Trek: Mission's End - probably read this one
Star Trek: Khan - Ruling in Hell
Star Trek: Assignment Earth
Star Trek: Mirror Images
Star Trek: New Visions v2 to v8 - reprints Gold Key comics photo montage series (using photos instead of drawings), I've read a couple of these but pretty rare in hard copy
Star Trek: Nero
Star Trek: New Frontier
Star Trek: The Motion Picture- Echoes
Star Trek: Movie Adaptation - of the 2009 film
Star Trek: Manifest Destiny
Star Trek: Khan
Star Trek: Intelligence Gathering
Star Trek: Year Four - The Enterprise Experiment
Star Trek: Year Four
Star Trek: Burden of Knowledge
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Star Trek: Spock Reflections
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Dog of War
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Too Long a Sacrifice
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Fools Gold - I think I read this one
Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness
Star Trek: Countdown
Star Trek: Captain's Log
Star Trek: Aliens
Star Trek: Best of Klingons
Star Trek Alien Spotlight v1
Star Trek Alien Spotlight v2
Star Trek: Picard's Academy - Commit No Mistakes
Star Trek: Holo-Ween
Star Trek: Day of Blood
Star Trek: Year Five v1 - Odyssey's End
Star Trek: Year Five v2 - The Wine-Dark Deep
Star Trek: Year Five v3 - Weaker Than Man
Star Trek: Year Five v4 - Experienced in Loss
Star Trek: Voyager - Seven's Reckoning
Star Trek: Warriors of the Mirror War
Star Trek: The Mirror War
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Terra Incognita
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Through the Mirror
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Mirror Broken
Star Trek: Waypoint
Star Trek: Sons of Star Trek
Star Trek: Resurgence
Star Trek: Harlan Ellison's City on the Edge of Forever - maybe read this
Star Trek: Discovery - Adventures in the 32nd Century
Star Trek: Discovery - Aftermath
Star Trek: Discovery - Succession
Star Trek: Discovery - The Light of Kahless
Star Trek: Debt of Honor Facsimile Edition
Star Trek Classics: The Mirror Universe Saga
Star Trek: The Q Conflict
Star Trek v1: Godshock
Star Trek v2: The Red Path
Star Trek v3: Glass and Bone
Star Trek: Defiant v1
Star Trek: Defiant v2 - Another Piece of the Action
Star Trek: Defiant v3 - Hell Is Only a Word
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - The Illyrian Enigma
The Dark Eye MEGA Bundle
Jul 08 2025
The Dark Eye Mega Bundle of Holding features one of Europe's first fantasy RPGs and apparently still going strong.
$25 Level
The Dark Eye RPG (418 pp, $30)
Aventuria Armory (162 pp, $20) - equipment + hit location rules
Armory of the Warring Kingdoms (36 pp, $7)
Magic of Aventuria (240 pp, $20) - magic profession expansion
Aventuria Almanac + Map Set (266 pp, $20)
Conspiracy of Mages (68 pp, $10) - solo adventure
+$16 Level
Aventuria Compendium (240 pp, $27) - "presents many new options for Dark Eye combat"
Aventurian Bestiary (130 pp, $11)
Gods of Aventuria (242 pp, $20) - supplement + new profession packages
Theater Knights I-VI (392 pp, $60) - six adventure modules that form a campaign
Legacy of the Theater Knights (52 pp , $10) - supplementary material
The Dark Eye GM Screen (56 pp, $10) - "includes Inns & Taverns, a 48-page booklet"
A bit unusual for Bundle of Holding in that base level costs more than upgrade level. Only one campaign plus a solo adventure. Not a really compelling bundle so I'll skip.
$25 Level
The Dark Eye RPG (418 pp, $30)
Aventuria Armory (162 pp, $20) - equipment + hit location rules
Armory of the Warring Kingdoms (36 pp, $7)
Magic of Aventuria (240 pp, $20) - magic profession expansion
Aventuria Almanac + Map Set (266 pp, $20)
Conspiracy of Mages (68 pp, $10) - solo adventure
+$16 Level
Aventuria Compendium (240 pp, $27) - "presents many new options for Dark Eye combat"
Aventurian Bestiary (130 pp, $11)
Gods of Aventuria (242 pp, $20) - supplement + new profession packages
Theater Knights I-VI (392 pp, $60) - six adventure modules that form a campaign
Legacy of the Theater Knights (52 pp , $10) - supplementary material
The Dark Eye GM Screen (56 pp, $10) - "includes Inns & Taverns, a 48-page booklet"
A bit unusual for Bundle of Holding in that base level costs more than upgrade level. Only one campaign plus a solo adventure. Not a really compelling bundle so I'll skip.
Diary - Jun 28 to Jul 04 2025
Jul 05 2025
Sleep 0245 to 1100 (8-1/4 hours)
Sun Jun 29 2025
Sleep 0245 to 1130 (8-3/4 hours)
Mon Jun 30 2025
Sleep 0530 to 1300 (7-1/2 hours)
Tue Jul 01 2025
Sleep 0630 to 1430 (8 hours)
Wed Jul 02 2025
Sleep 0445 to 1045 (6 hours)
Thu Jul 03 2025
Sleep 0630 to 1200 (5-1/2 hours)
Fri Jul 04 2025
Sleep 2330 to 0730, 1430 to 1530. (9 hours)
- MacWhisper’s last update added Nvidia’s Parakeet model. Transcribing three VODs totaling 9h 8m took 9-1/2 minutes for about 57.7x speed and normally would have taken more than hour. Transcription seems accurate too.
Sun Jun 29 2025
Sleep 0245 to 1130 (8-3/4 hours)
- Checked for Electron apps I have: find /Applications -name '*.asar' -print. It is OpenVPN and Discord.
Mon Jun 30 2025
Sleep 0530 to 1300 (7-1/2 hours)
- Ate a chicken thigh yesterday. Foot hurts today. Why is meat so yummy?
- Today still had a bit of protean — half a can of salmon, less than 4 oz.
- Actually what hurts most is my left foot achilles area. Feels very stiff and flexing it at all hurts. I can clomp around but maybe that’s doing damage.
Tue Jul 01 2025
Sleep 0630 to 1430 (8 hours)
- Foot getting worse? No meat today.
Wed Jul 02 2025
Sleep 0445 to 1045 (6 hours)
- Foot walkable but maybe getting worse slowly. Ate like 1/4 can of salmon with my meal. I’m really not setup for vegetarian. Should get some veggie pizzas; tofu and sauces (black bean or ma po tofu). Unfortunately can’t walk enough to do that.
- Nemo’s 100 hour streamathon started at 1400 PDT.
- Just realized that Silo — which I’ve often thought is a show where the unlit areas are so dark I can barely tell what’s going on watching on my iPad — is actually lit well enough on my Mac monitor that it doesn’t bother me. Most of my Apple TV+ non-sports watching is on my iPad so I hadn’t noticed it was different.
- ORCL is up to $229.98. So even after selling $50k worth (at the time) my individual stocks (the ones I can sell as everything else is 401k or Roth IRA) are worth $329k and previous high was $313k. If all it does is be stable at this price for a year I’ll be happy.
Thu Jul 03 2025
Sleep 0630 to 1200 (5-1/2 hours)
- Can walk about 80% of normal speed with a little discomfort and limp.
- Ate about 1/3rd of a chicken thigh tonight. Hope I don’t pay for it in the morning.
- More about DDO 32-bit to 64-bit migration. All accounts will (automatically) get 10 more character slots (too bad I bought some in the last sale). All accounts will get (via coupon code) 100 shared bank slots (which makes up for the extraneous character slots).
Fri Jul 04 2025
Sleep 2330 to 0730, 1430 to 1530. (9 hours)
- MacWhisper with Parakeet v2 working on a 20 GB video file (26+ hours) and it’s using 33 GB memory (My MBP M4 Pro has 24 GB memory). 17 GB swap used after I quit all other apps. Is it loading the whole video file? I thought it would just load the audio.
- Splitting it up into 6 to 8 hour segments — used VLC to export audio then Audacity to split it up — and MacWhisper tops out at about 8 GB memory. And it’s a lot faster — even taking into account the time to do audio export and splits — because going into so much swap space killed the transcription speed.
- Foot felt fine today, or at least good enough I think could go grocery shopping. Had another 1/3rd of the chicken thigh for dinner.
Re: Ten best Mac games to buy during the Steam Summer Sale
Jul 03 2025
Ten best Mac games to buy during the Steam Summer Sale - An article recommending Mac games. Looking through I have six covered:
Broforce - side-scrolling shooter, runs on my Mac
Sid Meier's Civilization VII - massive turn-based strategy game. Have Sid Meier's Civilization VI, just the base game, and I think that's good enough. Runs on my Mac.
Baldur's Gate 3 - RPG. I have Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition and again should be good enough for an RPG Baldur's Gate experience. Runs on my Mac.
Cities: Skylines - CIty sim builder. I have it on Epic Game Store, just the base and there is a lot of DLCs. Unfortunately on Epic it's just Windows version while Steam also has Mac version.
Firewatch - First person investigative game. I have it on Mac App Store and works on my Mac.
Ogre - Steve Jackson Games wargame and runs on my Mac.
Of these I'd play Ogre, Firewatch, Broforce, BG3, Civ VII, Skylines in that order, to a certain extent prioritizing games I think I can finish (or are finish-able — Civ VII and Skylines are forever games).
Broforce - side-scrolling shooter, runs on my Mac
Sid Meier's Civilization VII - massive turn-based strategy game. Have Sid Meier's Civilization VI, just the base game, and I think that's good enough. Runs on my Mac.
Baldur's Gate 3 - RPG. I have Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition and again should be good enough for an RPG Baldur's Gate experience. Runs on my Mac.
Cities: Skylines - CIty sim builder. I have it on Epic Game Store, just the base and there is a lot of DLCs. Unfortunately on Epic it's just Windows version while Steam also has Mac version.
Firewatch - First person investigative game. I have it on Mac App Store and works on my Mac.
Ogre - Steve Jackson Games wargame and runs on my Mac.
Of these I'd play Ogre, Firewatch, Broforce, BG3, Civ VII, Skylines in that order, to a certain extent prioritizing games I think I can finish (or are finish-able — Civ VII and Skylines are forever games).
Wargame Design Studio
Jul 01 2025
Wargame Design Studio makes computer (Windows) wargames but they don't sell on Steam. Mentioned in Dispatches like them (or at least one guy loves them). Not flashy but good computer wargames.
They have some $0 smaller games and demos (though I guess the demos are cut down games that you can play fully rather than full games that you can only play for an hour or a set number of turns) which you can download and see if you like their UI and gameplay.
Four interesting games:
Grenada (Squad Battles) - US intervention in Grenada, 1983. 11 battles and six maps. Not sure if the scale is individual soldiers or squads. Grenada is quite unusual since the US was overwhelming which makes for a less exciting wargame.
Little Big Horn (Early American Wars) - US 7th Cavalry vs a lot of American Indians. Five scenarios and one map. I guess individual to squad level scale.
Modern Air Power Demo - US vs North Korea set today. The previous two were hex-based games but this one is a natural map — no hexes or areas or points and I guess more like playing miniatures. 29 scenarios.
Spanish-American War (Naval Campaigns) - Another game with a natural map since this is a naval game. 20 scenarios.
They have some $0 smaller games and demos (though I guess the demos are cut down games that you can play fully rather than full games that you can only play for an hour or a set number of turns) which you can download and see if you like their UI and gameplay.
Four interesting games:
Grenada (Squad Battles) - US intervention in Grenada, 1983. 11 battles and six maps. Not sure if the scale is individual soldiers or squads. Grenada is quite unusual since the US was overwhelming which makes for a less exciting wargame.
Little Big Horn (Early American Wars) - US 7th Cavalry vs a lot of American Indians. Five scenarios and one map. I guess individual to squad level scale.
Modern Air Power Demo - US vs North Korea set today. The previous two were hex-based games but this one is a natural map — no hexes or areas or points and I guess more like playing miniatures. 29 scenarios.
Spanish-American War (Naval Campaigns) - Another game with a natural map since this is a naval game. 20 scenarios.