# mcguire (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 3 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover mcguire. Page: Feed: --- ## [Evaluating Pinepods for Podcasts](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/08/19/evaluating-pinepods-for-podcasts/) _2026-08-19 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ A little less than six years ago, I started looking at moving from Doggcatcher to Podcast Republic . 24 Hours later I was pretty happy with my choice. Time and technology march on and, while looking at some software on Flathub, I discovered there was a not-quite-1.0 bit of podcasting software out there called Pinepods . It seems to bring together a few things that could lead it to becoming my new… ## [AI Does Better With Boba Tea](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/08/17/ai-does-better-with-boba-tea/) _2026-08-17 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ I can't say for certain that this will be my last AI post for a bit, but last night just before bed Stella asked me to ask the AIs about boba tea. I decided to indulge her and was surprised to see that, after doing such a horrible job on summarizing the Percy Jackson book or Snow Crash , it did a great job with boba tea. Based on what I know the models got little-to-none of the answer wrong. ALSO,… ## [Local Qwen Does Well With Images](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/08/16/local-qwen-does-well-with-images/) _2026-08-16 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ After spending 2 posts talking about how badly these local AI models are doing on my machine ( here and here ), I did want to show a example of the model performing surprisingly well. Using qwen 3.5 I asked it to describe the following image: A photo taken a long, long time ago Here is the description that qwen wrote after about a few minutes: ## [More Fun With Local AI Models](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/08/16/more-fun-with-local-ai-models/) _2026-08-16 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ A few days ago I mentioned playing around with local AI models, despite having low strength hardware for the task. Yesterday I was trying our some new models - tinyllama and smollm2 - and I asked each model the same question to compare the answers. After doing this for a few questions, I had the same feeling I always have when I’m doing a repetitious task: computers would excel at this! ## [New Retro Dice](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/08/14/new-retro-dice/) _2026-08-14 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ As an 80s kid, I recently got a couple dice sets that spoke to my childhood. First up is this set from 1985 games : VHS tape style dice case Example of the d20 in this set I saw this set one or two years ago on the 1985 Games site. I put it on my wishlist for a while because I loved the item for nostalgia, but I already have a lot of dice so I was hoping someone would get it for me. When it was… ## [Legal Support Via The McGuire Consulting Group](https://themcguireconsultinggroup.substack.com/p/legal-support-via-the-mcguire-consulting) _2026-08-13 · The McGuire Consulting Group · Conditions by The McGuire Consulting Group_ Hello everyone, ## [Review: Elsecaller / King Lopen](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/08/11/review-elsecaller-/-king-lopen/) _2026-08-12 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ This pair of short stories by Dragonsteel employees Dan Wells (who is also an author in his own right) and Isaac Stewart (the illustrator of many Cosmere books and head of art at Dragonsteel) was originally created for the Sanderson convention. (Nexus? I think) The first story is about Jasnah and fills us in on what happened to her between when she was on the ship with Shallan and when we see her… ## [AI Roundup (Aug 2026)](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/08/09/ai-roundup-aug-2026/) _2026-08-09 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ I used to love the Pocast Go Time , especially when they would venture into general tech topics. A couple years ago, the podcast ended and some of the hosts formed a new podcast called Fallthrough . They have covered AI extensively over the past few months in a very logical, thought-out manner. These episodes have been transformative in my understanding of how those of us in the tech world should… ## [Review: Robotic Ambitions](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/08/07/review-robotic-ambitions/) _2026-08-07 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ It’s pretty rare for me to find an anthology in which I love every story, but this one really hit it out of the park! Here are my per-story reviews: Intro: Getting Martha Wells to write the intro is an amazing get! She also does a great job pointing out what we are saying about ourselves (humanity) with our AI/robot stories. (Mostly related to slavery) It reminds me A LOT about recent… ## [I am One of the Most Courageous People I Know](https://themcguireconsultinggroup.substack.com/p/i-am-one-of-the-most-courageous-people) _2026-08-06 · The McGuire Consulting Group · Conditions by The McGuire Consulting Group_ On building from the ground up ## [Ask the crowd: AI or not (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/R5H3kqLTA5up) _2026-08-06 · **Sponsored**_ Get a transparent verdict from verified humans via web, RSS, or API. ## [Free TTRPG Day 2026](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/08/02/free-ttrpg-day-2026/) _2026-08-02 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ Free TTRPG Day Experience The outside of Games and Stuff This was my second year participating in Free TTRPG day. Last year I was in New York at the time and visited a shop in Brooklyn. This time I was home and decided to visit on of my local shops, Games and Stuff . The line had been long in 2025, but the shop in New York was tiny so I assumed the line, if one manifest would move rather quickly. ## [The Sustaining Community Fund is Now CONDITIONS](https://themcguireconsultinggroup.substack.com/p/the-sustaining-community-fund-is) _2026-07-30 · The McGuire Consulting Group · Conditions by The McGuire Consulting Group_ Announcing CONDITIONS by the McGuire Consulting Group where we explore the intersection of art and climate. ## [Murder in Metal City: Session 02](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/07/28/murder-in-metal-city-session-02/) _2026-07-28 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ Our Game How did things go? The party started off by trying to hack into the charging station from the lobby. There weren’t really any ports there for them to interface with. They then wanted to go up the elevator, but the warning about the effects of the Aballon Sun up there deterred them. Satisfied that they had taken all the precations possible, they entered the main area. There they were… ## [The Flying Harpy Session 06: A Pact and some Fun Times](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/07/27/the-flying-harpy-session-06-a-pact-and-some-fun-times/) _2026-07-27 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ Story We are bringing the White Wargs Reavers a Longboat and Trollkin. (Although there was a fight among the crew as to whether to murder the Trollkin before presenting them to the dwarves) As we row ashore, a female dwarf greets us. She tells us that the dwarf we were seeking Knudstoneson is dead. Trollkin stole an albino wharg puppy (named Snowball) from the village, a sacred animal to the… ## [The Flying Harpy Session 05: A New Quest](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/07/26/the-flying-harpy-session-05-a-new-quest/) _2026-07-26 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ After the flyting contest, we are hired by a ship merchant who wants us to help them. They need us to take the remaining ship to Wolfheim to find their cousin Knudstoneson (dwarf). From there we need to head to the White Warg Village north of Wolfheim. Once there, we need to convince him and his crew, the White Warg Reavers, to see if they can help this person. We are offered 500GP to do the job… ## [The Flying Harpy Session 04: Back in Town](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/07/25/the-flying-harpy-session-04-back-in-town/) _2026-07-26 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ We hauled all our treasure onto the ship and gave the captain what was due as members of the ship. Ghada tries to intimidate the pirates to get to keep more of the booty. The captain smiles and says “no”. The rest of us split our booty - 132 GP each. As we get closer to the shore we see that the Port of Stannisgard is on fire. A red dragon came and attacked the city. (Visandred is name of dragon) ## [Dear Art World:](https://themcguireconsultinggroup.substack.com/p/dear-art-world) _2026-07-19 · The McGuire Consulting Group · Conditions by The McGuire Consulting Group_ What Does it Mean to Be Responsible for the Death of Things? ## [Review: 1929 Inside the Greatest Crash in History--and How It Shattered a Nation](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/07/16/review-1929-inside-the-greatest-crash-in-history--and-how-it-shattered-a-nation/) _2026-07-16 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ I got a copy of the book free as part of Goodreads Giveaways. I’m a big history geek. Anyone who talks to me long enough has heard me make reference to history, whether relatively recent or in the distant past. So when this book came up on Goodreads Giveaways I already had it in my To Read list and figured it was worth a shot at getting the book for free. ## [Murder in Metal City: Session 01](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/07/13/murder-in-metal-city-session-01/) _2026-07-13 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ For the last 6 or so months I’ve been saying all over the internet (this blog, enworld, Blue Sky) that the Cosmere TTRPG’s use of the 3 action economy had piqued my curiosity in Paizo’s 2e \*finder systems. This last Friday, I FINALLY got to run the Starfinder adventure that I’ve been dying to run for my Cosmere group for the past few months - Murder in Metal City. ( Buy it… ## [KDE Plasma 6 TTRPG Activity](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/07/12/kde-plasma-6-ttrpg-activity/) _2026-07-12 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ I was an early adopter of KDE’s activities when they were first introduced in KDE 4. From what I read of various blog posts by KDE developers I’m in the minority. It’s hard enough for folks to get the concept of virtual desktops (although now with both OSX and Windows including the features maybe more folks are getting used to it), but activities creates an orthogonal virtual set… ## [Sync Bookmarks Everywhere (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/OCggVloBGD81) _2026-07-12 · **Sponsored**_ Two-way sync keeps folders and toolbar intact across Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. ## [The Ultimate Link Up](https://themcguireconsultinggroup.substack.com/p/the-ultimate-link-up) _2026-07-09 · The McGuire Consulting Group · Conditions by The McGuire Consulting Group_ The McGuire Consulting Group Links Up with The Climate Museum ## [Call the Public Into Being](https://themcguireconsultinggroup.substack.com/p/call-the-public-into-being) _2026-07-03 · The McGuire Consulting Group · Conditions by The McGuire Consulting Group_ On Money, AI, the Left, the Right, and all that's left in between ## [Starfinder 2e: Tales From the Vast](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/06/29/starfinder-2e-tales-from-the-vast/) _2026-06-29 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ Usually I do these review videos completely off the cuff. (With maybe an outline to go off of) This time I actually wrote a script so you can read the script below the video if you’d rather do than than watch the video. I did go off script here and there to elaborate on things, so it’s not verbatim what I said, but it’s pretty close. Introduction Up to this point, if you’ve seen… ## [Introducing SPIRAL](https://themcguireconsultinggroup.substack.com/p/introducing-spiral) _2026-06-22 · The McGuire Consulting Group · Conditions by The McGuire Consulting Group_ An Organizational Change Method for Cultural Institutions ## [Columbia Association Triathlon 2026](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/06/18/columbia-association-triathlon-2026/) _2026-06-18 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ Three years after my first triathlon , I finally got to do the triathlon that was supposed to be my first triathlon. When I was considering the idea of a triathlon, having one nearby where the swimming portion was in the pool seemed like the ideal first one. However, different life events always conspired to keep from from registering. This year I saw at the last minute that I would be able to… ## [I ran the Stonewalkers Campaign for the Cosmere TTRPG on FoundryVTT: My Thoughts](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/06/16/i-ran-the-stonewalkers-campaign-for-the-cosmere-ttrpg-on-foundryvtt-my-thoughts/) _2026-06-16 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ In addition to watching the video below, scroll beyond the video to see some of the questions/answers I’ve gotten on reddit and YouTube as well as some recommended extra videos to watch. Topics in the video: My background as a GM The players we had at the table Scheduling My thoughts on the story aspects of Stonewalkers A small section about how “on rails” I ran the campaign My… ## [Dice Advent Calendars](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/advent-dice/) _2026-06-16 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ In 2024 I started buying dice advent calendars from Dice Envy because I figured, of all the things I can get in an advent calendar, these would be the most useful. (Unlike chotchkeys or candies that I would eat and quickly forget about) 2024 My first year getting these dice. You can see the day-by-day posts at this series page . My favorites are the candle infinity d4, the Wee Lads set, and the… ## [Review: The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/06h/08/review-the-reverse-centaurs-guide-to-life-after-ai/) _2026-06-09 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ I blazed through The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI. It’s not too hard, as the audiobook is only 5 hours long, but it was also incredibly engaging and I didn’t want to stop listening. I first found Cory Doctorow through his fiction which was what convinced me to try ebooks . His books were available under a creative commons license for free from his own website so it was risk-free. Since… ## [You're Ok With Me Dying.](https://themcguireconsultinggroup.substack.com/p/youre-ok-with-me-dying) _2026-06-08 · The McGuire Consulting Group · Conditions by The McGuire Consulting Group_ What grows between rocks and hard places? ## [Review: Twelve Months (Dresden Files 18)](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/06/04/review-twelve-months-dresden-files-18/) _2026-06-05 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ It’s good to have Dresden back. I prefer to practice “death of the author” when it comes to reviews or analysis. To me it doesn’t matter what they intended or what kind of person they are (mostly). But this book truly seems inseparable from Jim Butcher’s experience exorcising his personal demons. We know he had a hard time in his personal life and it’s at least… ## [Meet Claude, an AI assistant (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/7szZIhBbWFRx) _2026-06-05 · **Sponsored**_ Chat with Claude at claude.ai — a conversational AI assistant. ## [May is for Remembering](https://themcguireconsultinggroup.substack.com/p/may-is-for-remembering) _2026-05-31 · The McGuire Consulting Group · Conditions by The McGuire Consulting Group_ A Grief Newsletter by Guest Author, Arielle V. King on Losing her Mother and Gaining Perspective ## [We're Cooked!](https://themcguireconsultinggroup.substack.com/p/were-cooked) _2026-05-27 · The McGuire Consulting Group · Conditions by The McGuire Consulting Group_ STORY TIME ## [Review: Starfinder Second Edition Player Core](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/05/26/review-starfinder-second-edition-player-core/) _2026-05-27 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ While this book is not structured in the best possible way to teach a newbie how to play Starfinder Second Edition, the fact of the matter is that this is a reference book. One might use it one time to learn how to play or, perhaps more likely, one will learn from YouTube videos, a Beginner’s Box product or being taught by friends around the table. As a reference book, the Player Core is… ## [Review Strange Libations](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/05/21/review-strange-libations/) _2026-05-22 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ I was a Kickstarter backer on this (or it was a stretch goal for an Apex mag kickstarter - I can’t remember). Since these are micro-fiction I am not going to do my usual per-story review for the anthology as the stories are too short for that. Perhaps unsurprisingly for an anthology themed around recipes for alcoholic drinks, the stories were overwhelmingly sad and/or angry. Since each story is… ## [Review: Pathfinder Tails: Gears of Faith](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/05/17/review-pathfinder-tails-gears-of-faith/) _2026-05-18 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ This is a fun book that takes place on Golarian, the world of Pathfinder. The author does a good job presenting the TTRPG elements - like Zae needing to prepare her spells each morning - without bogging the story down in these things. But for a few things like that, I think it could be handed to any fantasy fan and they would enjoy it without realizing it’s based on a TTRPG. ## [Review Wilted Pages: An Anthology of Dark Academia](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/05/11/review-wilted-pages-an-anthology-of-dark-academia/) _2026-05-12 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ Years after learning about the genre of dark academia and backing this anthology on kickstarter, the time has arrived to read this book. For my particular tastes the stories were a bit uneven. I loved some of them and others I hated. Also, compared to what I thought the definitely of Dark Academia was, this seemed to simply be an anthology of horror stories that took place in and around schools.… ## [Pathfinder Beginner Box: Secrets of the Unlit Star](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/05/10/pathfinder-beginner-box-secrets-of-the-unlit-star/) _2026-05-10 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ I recently got the Pathfinder 2e Beginner Box: Secrets of the Unlit Star. I did an unboxing and first impressions video. I will come back and do a proper review after I play it. ## [Review Lord of Penance](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/05/02/review-lord-of-penance/) _2026-05-02 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ A short story that moves extremely quickly but is a fun romp. You don’t need to know anything about Pathfinder other than what the creature accompanying the protagonist is. I had to look it up because I’m pretty new to the Pathfinder universe. Since it’s a short story it’s not too complicated. It’s a character being heroic and bringing us along for the ride. If you… ## [My Players Keep Surprising Me in the Best Way](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/04/21/my-players-keep-surprising-me-in-the-best-way/) _2026-04-21 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ As you know, I’ve been running a Cosmere TTRPG playthrough of Stonewalkers, the published Stormlight Archives adventure. I plan on writing a blog post (and maybe making a video) retrospective once we finish the game, but, partially prompted by my players, I wanted to write about some of the ways my players have surprised me over the last 2 sessions. My favorite thing, both as a game master and as… ## [My Favorite Rick and Morty Moment is in a Post Credits Scene](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/04/19/my-favorite-rick-and-morty-moment-is-in-a-post-credits-scene/) _2026-04-19 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ A stair goblin, the Flu Hating Rapper, and others at a house party For a show that often loudly professed to hate continuity, canon, and backstory Rick and Morty caps off the first season with an episode that both references characters from earlier in the season and sets up a bunch of characters for future multi-season arcs. Jerry and Beth go off to a Titanic re-enactment experience while Rick and… ## [Review Era of the Eclipse](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/04/18/review-era-of-the-eclipse/) _2026-04-18 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. It’s based on a TTRPG. Would it be like the novelization of a movie or some of the books from the Star Trek or Star Wars universes? Would it be cheesy or great? Well, it turned out to be way better than I expected. There were a few things that came through a little bit game-y, but they were few and far between. The two examples that stood… ## [Review: Learning the Vi and Vim Editors](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/04/14/review-learning-the-vi-and-vim-editors/) _2026-04-14 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ There isn’t much to say about an old, outdated technical manual. There’s at least one newer edition of this book released. However, whether you’re using vim or neovim, the basics remain the same. If you only have access to this edition of the book, I would focus on the chapters that teach you how to use vi and vim. In that respect, this book is very well written. Ignore the chapter on plugins and… ## [Review: Never too Old to Save the World](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/04/06/review-never-too-old-to-save-the-world/) _2026-04-07 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ As I normally do for anthologies, here is a series of mini reviews for each of the short stories: Lean In: The Lord of Hell is Coming (Ericka Kahler): I don’t want to give anything away about this delightful story. I will say that it does an amazing job of flipping many tropes on their head and, in a funny way, actually made me rethink the premises behind many of those tropes. ## [Review: Boss Fight Books Goldeneye 077 Deluxe Edition](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/04/01/review-boss-fight-books-goldeneye-077-deluxe-edition/) _2026-04-02 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ I was a kickstarter backer for this book. Back when Goldeneye first came out, the only first person shooter I’d played was a few short sessions of Wolfenstein 3D that my dad had introduced me to a few years before. I found it hard and boring and didn’t try to play all that much. When we rented Goldeneye, it was the first time I found myself enjoying the genre. A great deal of that came from the… ## [Souls of Saraku: 19 Feb - 29 March](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/03/29/souls-of-saraku-19-feb-29-march/) _2026-03-29 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ I have not been doing this calendar in the way it was meant to be played. I keep forgetting for long stretches at a time. Still, we’re only done with the first quarter of the year. Perhaps after this entry I can do a better job at playing daily even if I don’t post to the blog daily. It will probably help the story resonate better for me. Story 19 Feb I continue into the swamp, keeping… ## [Podcasts I'm listening to in 2026](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/03/24/podcasts-im-listening-to-in-2026/) _2026-03-24 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ It’s time once again for my annual podcast list. The formatting continues with the changes I added last year: Podcast Republic (the podcatcher I use) no longer provides the podcast’s official description. In lieu of that, I have the “My Thoughts” section which is part description and part opinion. If you click on the podcast’s title - that is the link for the… ## [My Year in Video Games: 2025](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/03/23/my-year-in-video-games-2025/) _2026-03-23 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ I am extremely late in posting this, but I’ve been incredibly busy in 2026. In 2025 I ended up playing 2 days (48 hours) less than in 2024. It would have been way less if I hadn’t been playing Slay the Spire while exercising. More on that below. Games Played in 2025 Slay the Spire (4 days, 22:42:57): You may remember that, a few years ago, I played a lot of Slay the Spire but… ## [Valery and the Other Two Session 05](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/03/22/valery-and-the-other-two-session-05/) _2026-03-22 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ The Story Time elapsed so far in campaign at start of this adventure: 77 days Your browser does not support the audio element. Summary the battle at the Inn After their recent adventures, the team decides to go on a vacation. They travel to a remove in called The Inn of the Last Repast. Soon after arriving, some people in robes come looking for a lost member of their group. It turns out to be a… ## [Valery and the Other Two Session 04: Home Sweet Home](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/03/21/valery-and-the-other-two-session-04-home-sweet-home/) _2026-03-21 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ The Story Time elapsed so far in campaign at start of this adventure: 63 days Your browser does not support the audio element. Summary Stuff still to sell: Mosquito in Amber - 100 GP Crab meat - 5 GP Ashes of Corrupted Pixie - 10 GP The team reads newspaper articles about the kobolds that fell off the boat when they were working for Little Timmy. They also read an article about how they helped the… ## [The Flying Harpy Session 03](https://www.ericsbinaryworld.com/2026/03/09/the-flying-harpy-session-03/) _2026-03-09 · It's a Binary World 2.0_ Story After our long rest in the library, Flint suggested we explore further. However, when we tried to go down the next hallway, a powerful wind blew us back. Flint was immediately blown back. Aghell was able to stay there, but became exhausted. Scrabble suggested that killing the creature might remove the spell on the hallway. The crew agreed with that and decided that we would use what we…