Ryan and Debi & Toren

Author: rcragun

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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:  

  • Going to scare Grandma

    Toren decided he wanted to draw a picture for his Grandma after she sent him a Halloween card.  He wanted it to be really scary.  Here he is describing how Grandma will react when she opens the letter and sees the picture: And here he is drawing:

  • Linxumint or Ubuntu: How to Install MakeMKV

    If you’re extra cautious with your investments like I am and want to make sure your Blu-Ray discs are backed up just in case, you need MakeMKV.  It’s a piece of software that makes it possible to back up Blu-Ray discs.  Using it in conjunction with Handbrake is the perfect solution for backing up Blu-Ray…

  • Leon Woodfield (1934 – 2013)

    My Uncle Leon recently passed away.  He was a very kind and insightful person.  He was also very influential in shaping my career.  I spoke with him several times about academia and graduate school because he was a Professor at BYU.  At the request of my father, I recently wrote up a specific memory of…

  • California Trip – day 9 – Travel Town Museum and Griffith Observatory

    This was our last day in California.  Debi was in her conference most of the day, so Toren and I went on another adventure.  I found out that the Travel Town Train Museum was giving free tours in the morning.  Toren likes trains but doesn’t love them.  I thought it would be fun and it…