Apps I use & Phone setup - An update.
Friday, November 7, 2025 • 7 min read
A friend critiqued the author’s phone usage, prompting a reflection on their current iPhone setup and preferred apps.
Longform
Joshua 5:13-15 - Thoughts and questions.
Tuesday, November 4, 2025 • 7 min read
Musing on a passage from Joshua describing a mysterious figure who accepts worship, prompting reflections on the identity of the Commander of the Lord’s army and its implications for Joshua as a leader.
Software I use & Desk setup - An update.
Sunday, October 19, 2025 • 6 min read
A detailed overview of my desk setup and software tools reveals a preference for Apple products and a system optimised for productivity and creativity.
KitKats made me Christian. - My testimony
Sunday, October 12, 2025 • 4 min read
A former non-christian details their unexpected transformation into Christianity through community service, Bible study, and personal reflection, leading to a profound change in their perspective and purpose.
Minimum Viable Prayer - When does a thought become a prayer?
Saturday, October 11, 2025 • 7 min read
The concept of the ‘Minimum Viable Prayer’ emphasizes that even brief, spontaneous expressions of gratitude or need can be meaningful prayers in one’s relationship with God.
Dead writers and socially acceptable crime. A Christian struggling with copyright.
Friday, October 3, 2025 • 6 min read
The text explores the ethical dilemma Christians face regarding piracy and copyright laws, emphasizing the importance of obeying secular laws as a reflection of one’s faith.
MSI Claw 8 ai+ Upgrading
Saturday, September 20, 2025 • 4 min read
A user shares their positive experience with the MSI Claw 8 gaming PC, highlighting its performance, upgrade process, and personal satisfaction despite some storage limitations.
Curse words, bad words, swear words - I was wrong.
Thursday, September 18, 2025 • 7 min read
A Christian reflects on their previous views regarding swearing and ultimately concludes, after studying Scripture, that using offensive language is inconsistent with their faith.
In defence of Reckless love. A case study.
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 • 9 min read
“Reckless Love,” a popular Christian worship song by Cory Asbury, evokes debate over its portrayal of God’s love, which some interpret as reckless, despite its positive reception in the Christian community.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (and 6:19)
Sunday, September 7, 2025 • 6 min read
Insights on 1 Corinthians emphasize that believers are collectively and individually temples of the Holy Spirit, underscoring the importance of spiritual stewardship and the implications of sin.
Ephesians 1:3-6 — A casual Bible study.
Saturday, August 30, 2025 • 7 min read
Time for another deep read, this time Ephesians 1:3-6. (if you are curious about my methodology, please check the bottom of this post.) Ephesians was written by Paul, around 62AD (though this has been challenged in recent years. It still seems likely that Paul did, in fact, author this.) The Halley’s Bible Handbook (ref 1) notes that his was a circular letter to the Asian Churches, with blank spaces, so each city could insert its name.
1 Peter 1:1-2 — A casual Bible study.
Monday, August 25, 2025 • 9 min read
Recently, a friend and I ended up having an impromptu ‘deep read’ of 1 Peter 1:1-2. We went away and did a little research and met back the following week top discuss it. While I’m sure (certain) that there are deeper dives into these verses by people far more qualified than me to do so (I’m just an enthusiastic reader), I did the study and thought I would share it, as it may be of interest, to someone else.
Fishing trip. A Final Fantasy XIV player update.
Monday, August 18, 2025 • 3 min read
The first night, two friends and I decided it was time we learned to fish. We found a delightful spot, in an old port, and cast our nets blindly. We expected the entire event to last all but a few minutes before we were going to get bored. I think it was three hours later than we finally decided it was time for bed. That’s three hours and about twenty levels.
MMOs and their place in my accidental return to gaming.
Friday, August 1, 2025 • 4 min read
After losing interest in gaming, rekindling the passion through playing with my daughter and revisiting Final Fantasy XIV has brought joy and engagement back into my life.
Final Fantasy XIV, on Mac.
Saturday, July 26, 2025 • 8 min read
I have a lot to say, and write about how fantastic FFXIV is, still. I’m currently drafting one of my signature rambling explorations, on the topic of MMOs. But, today, I’m here to drop information and little more. I own a MacBook Air and wanted to go back to playing FFXIV. I expected this to be hard, however, it was not. In fact, it was shockingly straightforward. Thanks to a website/project that takes care of it for you.
Tool Snobbery Is Not a Writing Skill
Saturday, July 12, 2025 • 4 min read
Scrivener is spectacular. It’s outstanding. It is, probably, the best all-in-one writing environment out there. I have written at length about it over the years. I respect the application, the business model and the legendary developer who works on it. I love scrivener. Though, I don’t use Scrivener. I know, shocking. And usually not something interesting to talk about; however, I have today seen a reddit post which vexed me, and, as such, required me to write a response.
Orange is the new Pepsi
Friday, June 27, 2025 • 2 min read
The single scariest moment in my life thus far was last Friday, when I went to the little fridge in my home office to find that there was, in fact, no Pepsi Max (Cherry) in there. The sadness and disappointment, combined with the shock and fear, resulted in an emotional cacophony the likes of which I had never experienced before. This recounting may well be a little on the hyperbolic side, however, the resulting unravelling and discovery was euphoric.
Book Club - All systems Red (Murderbot)
Friday, June 6, 2025 • 2 min read
Last week, looking for something to watch while I ate a massive bowl of rice and vegetables (a new staple for me. I put a lot of soy sauce in it), I pressed play on the new Apple TV show, Murderbot. I watched the first three episodes and loved it. It’s a science fiction show with a premise that is, frankly, genius. It’s from the perspective of a security robot who has hacked its mind to become autonomous and unrestricted.
Life in Sips: A Memoir in Beverages
Saturday, May 17, 2025 • 5 min read
The delineating factor in the chapters of my life has often been tangentially linked to my beverages of choice.
On my first day of college—many, many years ago (1996, if you want to get personal)—I was a nerdy kid with very few skills, deeply self-conscious, and in deep denial about basically my entire personality. I had no idea what was cool, no social skills to speak of, and my main concern was not looking like an idiot. Pretty normal for a sixteen-year-old in the nineties.
I stood in line at the college canteen—a larger-than-expected room, filled with students who all looked more interesting and more at home than I felt.
The person in front of me (whose name I sadly can’t remember) was a long-haired guitar player who wore a lot of denim and talked fast. He was on the same IT course as me. His reason for enrolling? “Because computers are more interesting than music class."
Nameless Cool Kid ordered a bacon sandwich and a black coffee.
Unlearning the Confidence Trick
Saturday, April 26, 2025 • 6 min read
Confidence carries people a long way in life, often before their skill is ever truly tested. It offers a unique kind of freedom from doubt and has a way of putting others at ease. Confidence is the tool of choice for many of the heroes we admire. When used appropriately, it’s a genuine virtue. I’ve been thinking a lot about confidence as a resource lately, ever since I heard someone describe a genre of music as ‘confidence pop’.
AI Panic: A Writer’s Eye-Roll
Monday, April 21, 2025 • 4 min read
I write, and honestly, I think I write pretty well. I’ve written five novels (all available, for free, via the ‘My Writing’ button at the top of my website.) I am specifically commenting here on AI as a writing support tool. AI has been a hot topic for a while now among creatives, hobbyists, opinionated internet dwellers, and news outlets. There’s absolutely an AI debate going on, and as with any transformative new technology, it’ll take time to figure things out.
Living with Stage Manager: Accidental Clarity
Saturday, April 19, 2025 • 7 min read
Since the advent of the modern desktop paradigm in the mid-90s, not a great deal has changed in how we interact with desktop computing interfaces. Sure, the tiling desktop interface has gained popularity in the Linux world over the past decade — DWM, for instance, has been around for about 18 years now. But for the vast majority of computer users, the desktop experience remains largely the same, whether you’re on Linux, Windows, or macOS.
The Subscription Trap: Why I’m Abandoning My Favourite Productivity Apps
Saturday, April 12, 2025 • 5 min read
Recent changes to products I use have left me suspicious of application pricing. This, coupled with the capitalistic obsession of locking users into services, has led me to overhaul almost all of the software I rely on for productivity. I’m mad as all heck about it, and I hope the following paragraphs serve as a warning to those who haven’t yet noticed this creeping trend.
I realise that what I’m about to describe is exactly why the free software movement exists—something I learned during my decade of running Linux. Somewhere along the way, I forgot that lesson. But recent demonstrations of greed from software I once adored have reminded me in no uncertain terms.
Full Keyboard Access? More Like Full Keyboard Chaos!
Friday, April 4, 2025 • 2 min read
While Apple Intelligence turned out to be less intelligent than we all hoped, my Magic Keyboard turned out to be more magical than I expected, once I changed a single annoying setting.
If you don’t care about the narrative and just want to know how I made my Magic Keyboard better, I respect that.
Go to: Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard, and turn off Full Keyboard Access. You’re welcome.
Right, back to the narrative…
Art: Sleeping in the garden
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 • 0 min read
Art: The before the last supper.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025 • 1 min read
While i usually post my art on Niceferatu.net (see comic link in title bar) I had a random idea which I decided to draw last night. Please note, this is meant to be taken as a cute (hopefully) lovingly drawn little cartoon, not theology!
Updates from the Creative Trenches.
Saturday, March 22, 2025 • 6 min read
I think I’ve said before that if asked, I wouldn’t describe myself as a creative person. Which is quite contrary to the truth when I look at the novels I’ve written, the badly drawn comic I work on almost weekly, and the years I spent making YouTube videos. I’ve never understood why I don’t feel like a creative type.
I think it’s because writing novels takes so long that sharing a finished product is infrequent — giving imposter syndrome a long time to settle in.
Despite all that, I thought I’d give my tens of followers a little update on what I’m working on. I’m hoping I can remember to make this a semi-regular thing — maybe every other month, depending on how the projects are going.
Lost in the Dark Forest of the Modern Internet
Saturday, March 15, 2025 • 7 min read
I recently stumbled across an interview with David Mitchell which opens with him declaring that the internet is as harmful to humans as nuclear weapons. Two things to note: first, this is a five-year-old video; second, he’s a comedian who often uses hyperbole to sharpen his point. But in this case, there was a sincerity to his tone that I found haunting.
We all know that at least some people want a change in the way the internet is presented and used — this is most evident in the emergence of the fediverse but the meteoric rise and sudden fall of the Gemini protocol a few years ago also exemplified the widespread desire for countercultural change. (I understand that some individuals will claim that Gemini remains popular, but those people, unfortunately, are delusional.)
From War Games to Web Gains
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 • 3 min read
For many years, particularly during my teenage years, I secretly aspired to be like David Lightman. However, considering the pickle he found himself in, I can’t help but feel relieved that my efforts fell short. Besides, Cheyenne Mountain is quite far away. I suspect that WOPR has been replaced by a big ring now, which means I probably never stood a chance anyway. This focus on grand aspirations led me to believe that WordPress would serve as the permanent home for Dandelion-Utilitarian.
Niceferatu.net
Tuesday, March 11, 2025 • 1 min read
After some consideration, tinkering, and general messing about, I’m pleased to confirm that Niceferatu.net is real! It’s just a place for my comic posts. It’s not a very good comic—but hey, at least I’m trying. This project is mainly to help me improve my drawing skills, with the hope of one day creating something more longform (like The Denouement novel, but as a comic). Anyway, this should keep dandelion-utilitarian.com safe from being overrun by badly drawn and very dry vampire comics.