Travel, Tech, Thoughts…
-
Kubuntu 25.04 – KRunner and iBus issues
Over the last month, I have updated the three computers I use to Kubuntu 25.04. On my laptop, I ran into an issue where Wayland would just periodically freeze. I figured out a solution to that and detailed it here. I finally installed Kubuntu 25.04 on my home desktop, which is the machine I use…
-
Estonia – Suur Munamägi
Summit Date: 2025-07-08 Summit Party: Ryan Cragun and Thom Pittz This was the last highpoint on my quick tour through three Baltic countries – Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. We left Riga early that morning, stopped at the highest point in Latvia, then headed north into Estonia. It was a couple of hours between the two…
-
Latvia – Gaiziņkalns
Summit Date: 2025-07-08 Summit Party: Ryan Cragun and Thom Pittz As part of a short visit to the Baltic countries, I visited the highest points in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. This is my brief high point report for Gaiziņkalns, the highest point in elevation in Latvia. I spent the previous day in Riga. A friend…
-
Lithuania – Aukštojas Hill
Date: 2025-07-05 Summit Party: Ryan Cragun and Thom Pittz I never would have thought I’d find myself in Lithuania, but a conference I regularly attend for work was held in Kaunas. A friend wanted to tour around a bit after the conference in the Baltics. Because it’s what I do, I immediately looked up the…
-
Convert Text to Audio on Linux – Coqui TTS
In a separate post on my blog, I documented a simple way to convert text to audio using Google’s Text-To-Speech service. This works for small projects. But, during a recent conversion, I ran into an error where my requests were getting blocked by Google for using the service too much. I didn’t realize they capped…
-
Best 3D Printed Sunglasses Clip for Car Visor
I’ve needed a place to put sunglasses in my car for years. My sunglasses have typically ended up in one of the cup holders. Recently, it dawned on me that I could print a clip or holder that would attach to my sun visor to hold my sunglasses. I looked at the various 3D design…
-
On the Future of Sociology
I had an interesting discussion a few days ago with my wife. We were talking about the futures of our disciplines (hers: genetic counseling; mine: sociology). I haven’t said this publicly before, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I don’t think sociology is long for academia. Before I go down this path,…
-
Redacting PDFs on Linux
I had an odd situation pop up where I needed to redact a PDF. It wasn’t anything nefarious or super exciting, but it did involve a complicated PDF that included images and tables in addition to text. In figuring out how to redact the PDF, I ended up learning a few things and thought it…
-
Fixing Zotero Corrupt Database Issue on Linux
I use Zotero to manage my references and have for decades since it was first developed. I’m a huge fan and teach all my students how to use it. But I also don’t follow one of the programmers’ recommendations on where to store my Zotero database. As soon as I install Zotero, I change the…