Travel, Tech, Thoughts…
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NoMachine Freezing on Xubuntu 22.04
I have a headless fileserver that runs XFCE (Xubuntu). I recently reformatted the operating system (transferring my files in a ZFS raid to the new operating system rather seamlessly). But the software I use within my local network to access the fileserver, NoMachine, started having problems. Basically, I could access my machine, but the NoMachine…
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Plex – Video Optimization & Converted Files Permissions
I was traveling with my wife and son, staying at an AirBnB a few states away from home, and wanted to watch some videos from my Plex server (server software version: 1.32.5.7349) using an Amazon Fire Stick on a Samsung TV. When I tried to play the videos using the Plex app on the Fire…
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Taiwan – Yushan (Jade Mountain)
I’ve climbed a fair number of mountains and completed many hikes, but none has been so embroiled in bureaucratic bullshit and red tape as was Yushan (a.k.a. Jade Mountain). Typically, when I write up a description of my hikes, it’s just that – the hike. But I’m going to use this page to detail how…
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Nexis Uni – Date Search Limited to 1 Year, No Issue Browsing, and No Obituaries
I’m a college professor. As a result, I have access to a number of research resources that most people don’t have, including my university’s library, which subscribes to numerous databases to help me and my colleagues (and our students) with our research. I was looking for some very specific information from the Los Angeles Times…
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Prague Day 9 – Debi’s Tour and a “Medieval” Dinner
Debi’s workshop was over and she had one day to see some of the things she had missed in Prague. I had been telling her about my adventures throughout the week. From my adventures, we came up with a list of highlights: Museum of Communism, Speculum Alchemiae, and the Waldstein Gardens. We also managed to…
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Prague Day 8 – Libraries and La Sylphide
This was the last day of Debi’s workshop. I had the day free and decided I’d try to visit two things in Old Town I’d missed: the Idiom art installation in the Municipal Library and the Clementinum library and observatory. Also, this was the first day when the weather was actually summer-like. It was sunny…
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Prague – Walking Tours (free, downloadable guides)
We had a chance to spend just over a week in Prague, Czechia in the spring of 2023. My wife was participating in a workshop and, while I had a lot of work I needed to do while I was there (I was supposed to be on vacation), I did have a chance to explore…
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Prague Day 7 – Church Visit, Recovery, and Dinner
As much as it pains me to admit it, I’m getting older. The 9-mile hike I did the day before to the summit of Snezka left me tired and sore. Luckily, with complete autonomy over my schedule, I could take the day off. And, so I did. As a sociologist of religion, I do try…
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Czechia – Snezka
Whenever I head to a new country, one of the first things I look up is the highest point in elevation. I’m weird. I know. In Czechia, that is Snezka, a mountain that is on the border with Poland. While some might find my interest in climbing highpoints obsessive or strange, it actually has a…
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Prague Day 5 – A Long Walk and a High Lunch
To date, I had only ventured into Old Town and west of the Vltava River. One of the lists I had consulted suggested a couple of interesting things to see that were south and east of Old Town. I put together a path to follow and headed out. First up was a painted nuclear bunker…