Author: rcragun
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Bahamas trip – Atlantis Resort
Through my work, we had the opportunity to travel to the Bahamas and stay at the Atlantis Resort. We were somewhat excited by the opportunity, but were also a bit wary as we had some forewarning that Atlantis is expensive, and we don’t really do expensive. Even so, it was something new and I’m always up…
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Linux: Changing Date Format in Detailed Display in Dolphin File Manager
While there are many file managers to choose from when using a Linux-based operating system, the default file manager that comes with KDE – Dolphin – is pretty good. I’ve run into a few issues here and there that I wish were different, but it generally does what I need. There is one aspect of…
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Linux: Using dd to erase a hard drive (using pv to view progress)
I occasionally need to wipe a hard drive and give it to someone else. When I do, I’m always careful to make sure that I have wiped it clean. Of course, wiping a hard drive clean is a bit more complicated than just deleting everything or even reformatting it. If you really want to make…
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bypassing the “ssl_error_no_cypher_overlap” error in Firefox 34
Generally speaking, it’s a bad idea to override security protocols browsers have instituted as they are designed to keep you safe on the internet (in the “less likely to be hacked” sense). However, with a recent update to Firefox 34, a website I use all the time for my research that is run by my…
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Linux – Fixing PDFs opening in GIMP in Firefox/Zotero (instead of Evince or Okular)
I’m not exactly sure why, but with the latest Firefox updates, every time I download a PDF using Firefox or try to open one using Zotero integrated with Firefox, the PDF opens in GIMP. This didn’t used to happen, but it’s really annoying. It’s doubly annoying since you can’t solve it inside Firefox. It would…
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The Narrows – Top Down – Zion National Park
Mark wasn’t able to join Tom and I on our hike this year as he was hiking with his dad. Tom had just recently had his first Zion experience and had fallen in love with Zion National Park. As a result, he wanted to check out some of the more well-known but longer hikes in…
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Linux: Using GIMP to wrap text in an image
I’m not an expert in graphic design, but I like playing around with images on occasion. I had an itching to modify a logo recently that included text wrapped in a circle. It took me a couple of hours to figure out how to wrap text like that in GIMP and the tutorials I found…
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Linux: Creating Maps on Linux with QGIS
For my job, I occasionally need to create maps to illustrate some concept or another. For instance, it can be useful to see a the racial makeup of the US as a map color-coded to reflect the percent of the population that identifies as black in each state. It provides a quick illustration of how people…
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Stan Winston toys
I was cleaning out the closet this summer and found some of the toys my uncle Stan sent to each of his nieces and nephews. I had all of the characters in one set but was short a couple in another set. Toren saw the toys and really liked them, so I let him open…
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Florida Railroad Museum
I found a museum not far from our house that also operates a short train ride. I took Toren one day to check it out. Here we are exploring the museum (it’s an old sleeper car): Exploring the other cars: And enjoying the train ride: