Can of Worms

More Linux Thoughts

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

When it comes right down to it, I am just a casual Linux user. I don’t use it for my job. I do write some small applications, but I am not a big developer. My main purpose is to just use my computer to run a few applications to do basic tasks such as manage my finances, browse the internet, write some articles, etc. So, the actual Linux distribution doesn’t really matter.

Notes on Switching to Linux

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Thoughts on Switching to Linux

Lot’s of articles and videos on the web advise you to switch to Linux from Windows. Here are a few things that are often not clear about the advice.

Why Are There So Many Linux Choices?

Linux is not a one size fits all operating system. It fills many different quite specific needs. Here are just a few examples:

Desktop / Laptop computing: This is what most articles encouraging switching are talking about, getting you to give Linux a try on your local computer.
Servers: Linux runs web servers, database servers, file servers, and so on. This accounts for most Linux installations. They reliably run behind the scenes delivering web pages and data.
Embedded systems: Many small devices are actually running Linux under the hood. Since the operating system can be pared down to essentials, it can be the perfect lightweight way to run routers, smart devices, and so on. In fact, when I turned on my blue ray player for the first time, it booted up into Linux.
Gaming consoles such as the Steam Deck run Linux as their operating system.
Specialty systems line scientific computing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, security systems and much more utilize Linux.
There are distributions that cater to people familiar with Windows or with Mac. If this is your first go, that could influence your decision.

Don’t get overwhelmed by the huge number of distributions. Do your research and try out a few that sound interesting. Most are able to boot up from a USB stick. So, you can play around with them without actually installing them.

Helix Cheat Sheet

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Helix Cheat Sheet

I am developing master of the Helix text editor. This document is notes relating to wrapping my head around some major paradigm shifts in learning a unique editor and in no way replaces the Helix documentation.

With vim-like-editors, there are so many ways to do things, it is overwhelming.

Be prepared to dedicate some time to get to know the editor.
Start with the basic movement commands so you can at least move around.
Then as you encounter situations where you think, “It would be nice if…”, there is probably a way to do it. Stop and add that new set of keystrokes to your arsenal.

There are four primary editor modes in helix: command, normal, insert, and select. The mode is indicated in the lower left of the statusline at the bottom of the screen. The modes you see are: “INS”: insert mode; “SEL”: select mode; “NOR”: normal mode. Command mode doesn’t have a status indicator since these commands are executed directly.

Gruvbox Color Theme Information

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Gruvbox Color Theme

Gruvbox is my favorite color theme. It is a dark color scheme that is easy on the eyes and provides a comfortable reading experience. It is a great choice for working in the terminal, and it is good for long editing sessions. Its popularity means that it is widely available for many applications.

I use the graphics below as a guide when tweaking the color themes in some of my command line applications to be a closer / better match for the Gruvbox theme.

Personal Data Management

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Doing some thinking about personal data and where it is stored, especially since starting my CLI productivity tools exploration. This is the kind of thing companies take very seriously and you should too. It’s important to keep control of your own data and to store it in such a way as to have it still available and viable many years in the future.

I have lost data because software vendors change file formats and don’t maintain backward compatibility. I have lost data for unknown reasons when storing files in the cloud. I have not had any catastrophic hard drive failures, but that’s no reason not to have good backups.

Senior Citizen Transportation Services

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Are you a senior citizen that has difficulties with transportation? I’ve been looking into that question for Spartanburg, South Carolina and it turns out, there are a number of options.

Most of these services will require scheduling pick up and drop off. In order to use them effectively will require planning your trips ahead of time.

So, there is a very good probability that there is something similar in your area.

Helix Language Support

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

To set up language support for helix, there are two things that need to be done. First, you will need to install the LSP language server for your desired language. Second, configure the language server in the languages.toml file.

The language file is stored in ~/.config/helix/languages.toml

Along the way, I started getting a TOML warning in languages.toml that my file was not set up correctly. In the end, moving all the [[languages]] sections above all the [language-server] items cleared up the issue.

CLI epub Reader

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article is one of the vault series of articles about productivity application using the terminal. Note: See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

I don’t know whether an EPUB reader counts as a productivity tool. But, I ran across these and they work for reading .epub files. Since I use Calibre as an ebook library manager, it is able to convert files into the .epub format.

Helix 25.07 Released

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Just happened to check on Helix to see whether there was any news about an update. To my pleasant surprise, version 25.07 was out.

Trying out the .deb installation package instead of the AppImage this time.

Now off to explore the enhancements and improvements.

CLI News / RSS Reader

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A newsreader or RSS reader is an application that allows you to read “feeds” from various websites. This can really help you stop blindly surfing the web, yet catch up on the latest articles from sites you care about.

Note: See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

Newsboat

I’m going with newsboat for this category.

Newsboat Documentation

Installation

When looking at the install options, it did not look pretty. From their documentation page, snap packages were mentioned, but I don’t use those with my Linux distro. Newsboat is also not available in my package manager. Their next suggestions was download and compile from source code. That would be a real pain, so wasn’t interested in that.

CLI Password Store

Sun, 13 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Several of the command line applications require the ability to interact with passwords.

Note: See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

Pass

Also known as password-store, the standard UNIX password manager.

Pass Home Page

In this case, reading the homepage is a must. Also, check out this video which walks you through most of the things documented on the homepage.

Dreams of Code Video

CLI File Manager

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A file manager is a tool that helps you keep your filesystem in order. There are some really good ones for the terminal. Sure, learning system commands for managing your files is really important, but mastering a terminal file manager just takes things to another level.

Note: See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

Yazi, Ranger, and LF have a very similar look and feel and are excellent. Midnight Commander has a much different look and feel. For that reason alone, it is worth taking a look.

CLI Accounting Tool

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Looks like there are several tools available for the command line that provide plain text accounting. I am starting out with hledger to see how I like it. Unfortunately, I really know very little about accounting practices. So, this will really be a learning experience.

So, to help with my accounting learning, my plan is to simultaneously set up the GUI application GnuCash and work with it in parallel.

Listed below are the three CLI tools, hledger, ledger, and beancount. This is such a huge topic with so much to learn, I’ve decided to start with hledger as it seems at first glance to be the robustest of the three.

CLI Calculator

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

There are many ways to do calculations from the command line. Here are a couple that are worthwhile.

Note: See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

Qalc

Qalc is the command line version of Qalculate. I was able to install just the command line version through my distributions package manager.

Qalc Documentation

It supports an interactive mode as well as a simple command line mode. Nice thing about these kinds of calculators, they can be used to do calculations in a script.

CLI Podcasts

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

CLI Podcast management tool.

Note: See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

Castero

Castero Source Code

Since I’m using uv, I installed it with uv tool install castero.

This app is simple and easy to use. It supports importing and exporting OPML files of podcasts which is the standard for maintaining feeds like this.

The default configuration file is stored in ~/.config/castero/castero.conf. The default key bindings for navigating through the application are the arrow keys. So, the main thing I did there was to change those keys to be vim motions equivalents (h, j, k, l).

CLI Music Player

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Is a music player really a productivity application? Well, if it helps you focus, then that’s a good thing.

Note: See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

Cmus

To get started, check out the man page man cmus-tutorial.

Views

There are seven different views in CMUS. Each view can be accessed by pressing a number key.

CLI Web Browser

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Note: See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

Terminal Web Browsers? Yes, you can browse the web from the terminal. But it ain’t pretty. When checking out terminal web browsers, you will definitely need to check out the fine documentation because navigating links, open new pages, going back, etc. will drive you nuts without having a handy keyboard reference.

But, really? The web is so graphics heavy and script heavy the mileage you get from a terminal browser is limited. So, unless there is a special use case like terrible bandwidth, it’s better to just use a GUI browser. So, I don’t really anticipate filling out a lot more info on this page.

CLI To Do - Task Management

Sun, 06 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

There are many ways to keep track of tasks. A sticky note is often a great choice for things that need to be done today, or for items to pick up at the store. A notebook is step up from that. As you begin to plan further ahead, and organize the tasks, you gain the ability to turn goals into accomplishments.

Note: See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

Helix Select Commands

Sun, 06 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I am learning helix and as a side effect, I’m becoming more familiar with vim. I write myself notes as I practice different things. So, instead of keeping my notes to myself, thought I’d publish them.

One of the main things that makes helix distinct from vim is the selection-first editing concept. Basically, you select some text and then you apply an action to the selected text.

Select Entire File

% Select whole file

CLI Calendar

Sat, 05 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Note: See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

As I look into terminal calendars, I remember the days when I had one of those desktop blotter calendars. When I worked for a big company, they specified the software we had to use for email and meetings. So, if you didn’t like their toolset, too bad. You had to live with it.

CLI Email

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

Terminal email clients are a beast unto themselves. It is one thing to set up the email client and another to set up the email client so it automatically synchronizes mail from various servers. And, sync calendars and address books, and provide organizing and searching capabilities for your mailboxes. Did I mention, managing your passwords?

CLI Note Taking

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I have settled on a structure for my note taking system. It is simply this:

Each note is a Markdown file. .md extension is preferred.
Notes reside in a top level folder. Let’s call the top level folder a vault.
There can be sub-folders that help categorize the notes.

This simple structure allows maintaining a personal knowledge management system with only a text editor. This is the same kind of structure that static site generators use.

CLI Database

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

What is a good productivity setup without a database? My database of choice is SQLite. It fits the bill perfectly for all my use cases. It is light, fast, ubiquitous, and very useful. SQLite comes with its own command line interface, sqlite3.

It is surprising all the places you can find SQLite databases in use.

CLI Presentation

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

I don’t have a need to do presentations at this point. I do teach sometimes, but the places I teach don’t have the facilities to do computer based presentations. When working for a large corporation, we always just used Microsoft PowerPoint.

From the terminal, I’m looking for an application that will allow me to build Markdown files and turn them into some kind of presentation.

CLI Text Editor

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

Neovim is IMHO the premier CLI text editor. It is a worthy successor to VIM and has added lua as a plugin / configuration language that allows many amazing things to be done. I have played around with nvim, but was just learning vim motions along with trying to get things set up in a way that worked for me. Being new at this, it was a daunting task and I felt like I need to have a better understanding of all the plugins before committing to them.

CLI Spreadsheet

Sun, 29 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

With the venerable history of terminal based spreadsheets, I was surprised at the lack of CLI spreadsheet tools. Programs like VisiCalc, Lotus 123, and Quattro Pro were once the killer apps of the DOS world. Sc-im seems to be the only one that may still be active at this point.

See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

sc-im (Spreadsheet Calculator Improvised)

This is a complex application that uses vim based key bindings. If you’re in the process of learning vim keys, this will make you proficient in a short time.

CLI Word Processing

Sat, 28 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

See the parent document: Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver for more about terminal productivity applications.

WordGrinder

WordGrinder is a very simple word processor. Simplicity is its superpower. It is minimal and gets out of the way of writing. It is excellent at supporting a workflow of write first, edit second, format last. I evaluated version 0.8. Currently version 0.9 is available, but not sure of the changes.

Linux Tools to Try

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This is my big list of apps that I’ve played around with or am thinking of playing around with. See Terminal App as Daily Driver for a closer look at some of them.

CLI tools

abook - Address book (system package)
atuin - Command line history replacement, puts history in a SQLite database that can be synchronized between machines.
bat - a “cat” replacement
bpytop - btop++ is a system resource monitor tool similar to top, but better.
chezmoi - Manage configuration files (dotfiles) using git to sync them between devices.
cmatrix - Matrix movie cascading letters effects for your enjoyment.
cpufetch - Display CPU information.
curl cheat.sh - A TLDR like tool that does not require installation. Get short help info on any command.
duf - Nice looking disk usage, mounted devices display. information. (df alternative)
dust - du like tool. Disk space consumption monitoring tool (du + rust = rust).
dysk - Nice looking alternative to df.
entr - run commands on file changes in a folder.
eza - ls replacement (system package)
fastfetch - Display system info (replaces neofetch).
fdfind - alternative to the find command
ffmpeg Audio and video conversion and streaming tool.
fzf - fabulous flexible fuzzy finder.
gdu - Disk usage analyzer.
glow - Read Markdown files from the command line.
helix - Post-modern text editor
hollywood - screen saver hacker type screen
homebrew - CLI package manager is awesome.
htop - Interactive process viewer.
httpie - Command line HTTP client.
httpx - Multipurpose HTTP toolkit.
inxi - System information tool.
jq - JSON processor and formatter
khal Terminal calendar application, supports CalDAV.
lazydocker - TUI for docker and docker-compose.
lazygit - TUI for git commands.
litecli - SQLite command line tool
lynx - Text web browser
ImageMagick Edit, convert, and manipulate digital images.
mc - midnight commander file manager
mutt-wizard - Automatically set up neomutt email client.
nala - alternative apt command package manager sudo apt install nala
navi - interactive cheat sheet that lets you execute one line commands.
nb - notebook nb is a Markdown note taking tool.
ncdu - disk usage analyzer
no more secrets - Sneakers data decryption movie effect.
nvim (neovim) - Massively customizable vim-based text editor.
pandoc - the universal document converter.
powertop - laptop monitoring tool, battery tuning tool
presenterm - presentations in Markdown
qman - better man pages
ranger - Ranger file manager that leverages vim key bindings.
rg - ripgrep is a blazingly fast regex search tool.
speedtest-cli - Measure your internet connection speed from the command line.
SQLiteStudiocli - A CLI tool for managing SQLite databases that comes as part of SQLiteStudio.
stow - dotfiles manager
taskwarrior - Great to-do list manager.
taskwarrior-tui taskwarrior-tui interactive interface for taskwarrior.
tealdeer - tldr implementation written in rust.
tldr - Simplified man pages.
trash-cli - instead of just deleting files, this tool uses the trash bin.
tree Display a tree view of folders. (I am using the tree view option in eza instead)
vdirsyncer - synchronize calendars and address books.
wiki-tui - view wikipedia articles from command line
yazi - My favorite CLI file manager
z - zoxide - a smarter change directory command replacement

References

Terminal Trove - Massive TUI application reference
Awesome CLI Applications
Will Webberley - various CLI productivity applications.
Pure Bash Bible - a guidebook for getting the most out of bash.

GUI Apps

Here are some GUI apps that may be a little off the beaten path but could fill a role.

Using the Terminal as a Daily Driver

Fri, 09 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Here in 2025, could you run your life from a terminal without a graphical user interface?

See Productivity Applications below for the list of terminal applications and the related articles.

This is an evergreen article that will be updated as I explore this topic. As more productivity tools are reviewed, they will be added to my list below.

I learned computing back in the good old DOS days. OK, they weren’t really all that good. Computing has always came with its share of difficulties. It was an exciting time. It was the first time to ever get my hands on a keyboard. Learning new tools and getting the computer to do stuff was fascinating.

Subscriptions

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I have never liked subscriptions. It seems like everyone wants to sell you on a subscription. Streaming services are the thing that comes into mind. But, there are others: Audible for audiobook, Kindle unlimited for ebooks, magazine subscriptions, newspapers, online services. Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, Amazon Prime, the list goes on and on. They would all like for you to pay that monthly fee to keep that streaming product coming.

I have a couple of problems with that whole idea.

Thunderbird Time Display

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A long time nuisance with the Thunderbird email client is that the time display on the calendar is shown in a 24-hour time format. This article shows how to change that.

For example: 3:20PM shows on the calendar as 15:20. Converting all the times on the calendar in my head gets a little old. Note in the following screenshot that the dates after noon are all in 24 hour time (e.g. 15:00 is the same as 3:00PM).

Learning the Terminal Command Line

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

How I learned to use the terminal, and you can too.

Many moons ago, I worked as a manual draftsman for a land surveying company. The boss hired a guy to take care of all the accounting and invoicing. To that end, they purchased an original IBM PC that supported two 5-1/4" floppy drives. I was fascinated. The operating system was DOS 3.1. There was no graphical user interface to navigate around the system. It was all accomplished with basic DOS commands.

Folder Structure

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article discusses having a consistent folder structure between your filesystem, note taking application, and browser bookmarks.

With all the fuzzy finding and searching tools available these days, I’ve seen several people that do away with organizing with folders / directory structures. They argue that they can put stuff into one or two big folders and then just search for what they want.

Applications that support tags can be very powerful in categorizing notes and documents. By using tags, you can apply multiple tags to each document so you can find them in multiple directions.

Helix Editor

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I am trying out Helix as a CLI text editor. Helix is in the same vein as Neovim, but with some differences. Two differences I noticed right off between nvim and helix.

Many of the basic vim motions key bindings are the same in helix. However, helix has a different philosophy behind key bindings. They use a selection -> action approach for compound bindings. An example of this is to delete the word at the cursor in normal node.

Life Tools 2024

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I noticed that 10 years ago, I published an article about the software tools that I use to manage everyday life. The nice thing about all of the tools are that they are free and mostly open source. The things that need to be managed fall into the categories of:

money
email
scheduling
documents
to do lists / task management
note taking
secure password management

See the article [[2014-01-14-life-tools]] for that original article.

Swap Caps Lock and ESC on Linux Mint

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Linux Mint has the very cool feature of being able to modify your keyboard layout. The specific feature I was wanting to implement was swapping the Caps Lock key with the ESC key. Since I use esc all the time, I’m thinking that is going to be very useful although it might take a little while to become accustomed to the new positions for the keys.

Remapping your keyboard is a little bit buried, so here are the steps.

2023 Reading Highlights

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The following is some of the books I read in 2023 that I thought were pretty good.

Science Fiction

Wool by Hugh Howey was excellent. It’s the first book in the Silo series of books. Lots of mystery and surprises.

A Call to Duty and A Call to Arms by David Weber: Are the first two books in the Manticore Ascendant series, a prequel to the Honor Harrington books.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

YouVersion Bible on Google Home or Alexa

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I have been using the YouVersion Bible application on my phone and tablet for quite a while now. It has proved very helpful for reading the Bible, following scripture references and church, and keeping up with daily reading goals by using the “plans” feature. The application is available on Google Play and the Apple Store; Just search for “YouVersion Bible App” to find it.

If you use the YouVersion Bible application on your phone or tablet AND have a voice device (Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa) you can also access YouVersion Bible audio features.

Ways To Worship God

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

When we talk about worshiping God and praising the Lord, many Christians think about the moment they sing worship songs during church services on a Sunday morning. However, there is much more to the act of worship than that.

Worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth

In a well-known episode from the New Testament, Jesus told the Samaritan woman what the Father is seeking in His true worshipers (John 4:23). That message of Christ taught us that worship is no longer about following outward rituals that may hide a non-committed participant, as it was in the Old Testament days. Our worship must be a truthful expression that connects us to the Father on a deep spiritual level.

Mexican Corn Bread

Wed, 22 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This is Beverly’s go to Mexican corn bread recipe and is based on the recipe handed down to her by her mom.

Ingredients

1 cup self rising corn meal
1 cup creamed corn
1 finely chopped onion
1-1/2 tablespoons pickled jalapeno slices (chopped)
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus 1 tablespoon to grease the skillet.
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1/2 lb cheddar cheese grated

Instructions

Mix ingredients in large bowl. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes.

Bible Quote of the Day

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Linux Mint has the ability to add little applications to the desktop called “desklets”. The applications are things like a disk space monitor, a fancy clock, a weather app, show your Google calendar, a digital photo frame and so on. Pretty nifty. It’s a fun thing to play around with and see if there are any things you like.

Quote of the Day Desklet

I was playing around with the desklets the other day and saw one called “Quote of the day” desklet by JessW. Sounded cool, I downloaded and installed it. Added to my desktop and … nothing. So, I went to the Cinnamon Spices: Quote of the day desklet web page to see if there was an easy fix.

Markdown File Links

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

If you use multiple markdown editors or note taking applications to edit Markdown files, it is a good idea to use relative file links with creating links to other files.

While some editors get fancy with their linking, having explicit relational links has helped me when moving between Obsidian, VS Code, QOwnNotes, and so on.

Here is an example link that uses relational file linking: Another file

The Markdown for that looks like this:

Note Taking Tool Recommendation

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

There are quite a few videos on YouTube and article on various web site these days about note-taking applications. Articles like “Top 10 Note-Taking Applications for 2023”, and so on. They end up being a list of applications they highlight some of the features, but try to remain diplomatic and not give an opinion. The article usually winds up by saying something like, “these are all great apps, decide which one you like”. That’s kind of annoying. I really want to know which ones to try first and not have to wade through 8 or 9 of them.

Thankful Requests

Sun, 06 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; Philippians 4:6 - NKJV

“Be anxious for nothing”. The Lord is letting us know that He has dominion over worry and anxiety.

1 Peter 5:7 - KJV Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

We try so hard to be in control of everything. But, how about giving God a chance to be in control?

Thankful for His Wisdom

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. Psalms 147:5 - KJV

We want to see the big picture. If we know the big picture, it helps to sort out the nitty-gritty details. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always allow us to see the big picture and we become bogged down in the weeds. The more we learn, the more we realize how little we know.

But, oh what a picture our Lord must see. His understanding is infinite. The word we use to describe God is “omniscient”, meaning “all knowing”. Today is a good day to put our trust in Him, because He understands it all even when we are confused.

Thank the Lord

Mon, 26 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

[!Bible]- Psalms 107:1 - KJV O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

I once sat on a jury where a man had done a horrible thing. During the trial, his attorneys admitted his wrong. He was guilty. The whole purpose of his defense was to try and get a lesser sentence for his deed. The court functioned as it was intended. It dispensed justice that day, he received a harsh sentence for his deeds. There was no mercy in man’s court, only justice.

SMS 2FA Security Tips

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

SMS Messaging seems to be the most common form of two-factor authentication (2FA).

2FA is a two step verification method of authentication when logging into an application or web site. It requires two different forms of identification to verify your identity. Your username and password count as the first factor of authentication. The second factor is some other form of identification. This can include things like a security token or a biometric identifier like a fingerprint or facial recognition.

Heart of Thanksgiving

Sat, 17 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

[!Bible]- Psalms 100:4 - KJV Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Have you ever gone through a dry time in your spiritual walk, only to come into church, sit down and as the singing begins, feel the loving warmth of God’s spirit surrounding you? God is saying, “Welcome home, I’ve been waiting for you.”

There is nothing quite like being in His presence. No matter how far you roam, our loving Father is watching for you. Won’t you enter into His presence today?

Where eReaders Are Better

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The big reason to use an eReader is portability. eReaders let you carry a bunch of books around in a very small package. It sure beats a backpack full of books.

For my use case, the smaller size eReaders (6"-7") hit the sweet spot between price and portability. Once you get bigger than that, they are harder to carry and the price is infringing on tablet prices. So, at that point, you might as well carry a tablet with eReader software installed on it.

Being Thankful

Sun, 11 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

[!Bible]- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 - KJV In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Do you ever think, “I’m stuck, I don’t know what to pray”? If that’s the case, start by offering prayers of thanksgiving.

The scripture doesn’t say, in every good thing give thanks. It says in every thing give thanks. Sometimes it’s hard to thank Him for the trials and the difficult times in life. But, you will find that the greatest blessings grow from praising Him through the toughest times.

Password Generator in Python

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I recently watched a Tech With Tim tutorial on YouTube about creating a little password generator application in python. I followed the tutorial and it worked just fine for me. Tutorial videos like these are mainly intended to help get new users up to speed with a language and give some actual experience with writing and debugging code.

When following things like this, you begin to notice areas where it can be improved. I consider those things as improvement that are “left as an exercise for the viewer.” So, in playing around with it I made a few improvements and am posting them here.

QCAD Cheat Sheet

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

What do you need when learning QCAD? Definitely, a cheat sheet of keyboard shortcuts. One thing that makes QCAD different from other applications is it uses two letter abbreviations for commands in addition to using traditional shortcuts like CTRL+C and CTRL+V.

Learning some of the two letter codes gives a big productivity boost in CAD, especially learning the most common drawing and modification commands. They can help you get into a flow of building out your drawing.

Bible Software

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Wanted to share a few free resources for Bible reading. These include desktop, mobile, and internet resources. Hope you will find something that will resonate with you here.

Nextcloud Synchronization Issue Resolved

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I upgraded the version of Nextcloud on my server this last week. The new version is: Nextcloud Hub 325.0.3)

After upgrading the server, my Nextcloud desktop client hung and just sat there in the system tray with a syncing message. Frustration!

First thought was, OK, I’ve upgraded Nextcloud on the server, maybe I need to update the desktop client (running on Linux Mint 21.1). In the effort to get it to work, I uninstalled the client that was available in the Software Manager and downloaded the Nextcloud-3.6.6-x86_64.AppImage file from the Nextcloud website.

BBQ Sauce

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Bill Fiorino’s BBQ Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

1 Cup Vinegar
1 Stick Butter
3/4 teaspoon red pepper
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons liquid smoke
1/2 cup crushed parsley flakes
2/3 cups sorghum molasses
1 quart catsup
1 cup sugar (modify to taste)

Directions

Combine ingredients in sauce pan. Simmer in sauce pan until thickened.

Sudoku and Gamification

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I enjoy playing sudoku. It’s a mental challenge to figure out how to fill in the blanks. I had typically played the game on my android phone or tablet. The available apps are pretty good and have lots of aids for adding ‘pencil’ marks, tracking how many of each number needs to be placed, row and column highlighting, errors, etc.

Screenshot from websudoku.com

The android games also keep track of stats such as your best time to finish a puzzle type, how many puzzles you had completed of each difficulty level, award badges for achieving milestones and so on.

Linux Mint 21.1 Vera Released

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Had a pleasant surprise this morning. Linux Mint 21.1 (Vera) showed up as available for install. I went through the upgrade process seamlessly and really like the out of the box improvements.

What’s New in Mint

I really like how Mint has been coming along in the last several releases. It is just a solid desktop experience that lets me get things done.

Guess I’ll be exploring all the improvements today.

Linux Tweaks

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I have an old laptop and also a virtual machine that are running linux flavors. In addition to playing around with the OS, it’s good to set them up so that they can do some basic stuff. The following tools serve as a basic setup to get me going. Here are a few linux tweaks when setting up a new system to make it feel like home.

Font

Got to have a good programming font that gets used in text editors and terminals. For this, my go-to font is JetBrainsMono Nerd Font. I configure my text editor and terminal to use this font.

Xiphos Cheat Sheet

Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Xiphos is Bible study software that is available for Windows and Linux operating systems. It is able to use modules from “The SWORD Project” which gives access Bible translations in many different languages. You are able to download Bible commentaries, dictionaries and other books as well. It is open-source software and is available free of charge.

I recently created a keyboard shortcut cheat sheet to help users navigate around the software more quickly. The cheat sheet can be found at Xiphos Cheat Sheet on Cheatography. Please check that out if you’re a Xiphos software user.

Python Factorial Function Time Test

Sun, 03 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This article illustrates four ways to calculate a factorial function along with how long each method takes.

I ran across an example factorial calculation in python using a lambda expression on the Make Tech Easier website. It made me wonder how the lambda function compared to using the factorial function that can be found in the math module. So to do a little comparison, I found a couple more examples of factorial calculations from the Progamiz website and wrote some code to measure the execution time for each example.

Happy Father's Day

Sun, 19 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Happy Father’s Day

Just wanted to say that I am privileged to have a good father and mother who instilled in me the values needed to make it through life. For that I am very grateful. Were they perfect? Of course not. Parenting doesn’t come with any instruction book. I think we mainly learn how to be a parent from the way that our parents raised us.

I have met several men whose fathers were lacking and did not pass along the skills of a father to their son. Their fathers were not there for them, were terrible role models, or were even abusive. Yet, in spite of their childhood upbringing, these men became wonderful fathers and husbands. I have tremendous respect for men that have overcome obstacles such as these. Thank you for reestablishing the example for the next generation.

2021 Reading Highlights

Sun, 12 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

It just occurred to me that I did not write up my reading highlights for 2021. I finished the year having read a total of 56 books.

Science Fiction and Fantasy

As usual, sci-fi dominated my reading last year. Stand outs include:

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Much better than expected. The ending was special.
Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey - The final book in the Expanse series.
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan - Put off reading any of these until I had more time. Really enjoyed it.
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi - A different take on a galactic empire.

Other favorite authors from the year’s reads included C. J. Box, Tony Hillerman, and Terry Pratchett.

Site Changes

Sun, 12 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

It’s good to be back up and running at 100%. As mentioned previously, the tool I use to build this site is the Pelican static site generator.

Pelican Site Generator Link

I tried to update my prior theme with the updated search plugin that relies on a tool called stork.

While I was able to set up stork and get it to work. I ran into issues with getting the search to integrate nicely with my pelican theme. I did do some modifications to the theme, but really didn’t want to do extensive reworking of an old theme.

Salsa

Sat, 04 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0000

My wife has been on a quest for her perfect salsa. This one comes pretty close the the Mexican restaurant style we like.

Ingredients

1/2 cup white onion - roughly chopped
1 clove garlic - roughly chopped
1 jalapeño - roughly chop, remove seeds and ribs
2 14.5 cans fired roasted diced tomatoes
1 pinch sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground cumin
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
juice from 1/2 lime

Instructions

Add onion, garlic, jalapeño to food processor. Pulse to desired chop.
Add fire roasted tomatoes, spices, lime juice and cilantro
Pulse to desired finish consistency.
Taste with a chip and tweak salt, lime juice, or sugar as needed.

Remarks

Fresh cilantro can overpower the salsa for me. So, start easy and add more to your liking.

Wisdom

Sun, 29 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

One way to look at information is that there is a progression from data to wisdom. Because we use many of these terms interchangeably, it didn’t occur to me that this can be viewed as a hierarchy like rungs on a ladder.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. - James 1:5

Searching is Down While I Retool

Fri, 20 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I use the Pelican static site generator for this site. A static site generator is a way to pre-build all of the content for a web-site. This provides faster page downloads, lower server requirements, and better security for the site.

I was using the Tipue Search plug-in to provide search for the site. I learned that particular plug-in has been deprecated and has been replaced with a different search plugin that promises to be much faster.

Reprieve - Google G Suite Legacy Continues

Thu, 19 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

It seems like google has changed its mind on forcing personal users to give up their G Suite legacy edition. I was able to opt out of the automatic transition from the legacy subscription. Since I am use G Suite to manage the email accounts for family members, I fall in the class of users that are able to opt out of the transition.

So, as of now, it seems we are good to continue using email and other Google tools as usual.

Google G Suite Legacy Discontinuing

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The Google G Suite Legacy free edition is being discontinued this May. I signed up for G-Suite way back pre-2010 and have been using it to maintain email for my family. This helps my elderly parents who are easily confused with email accounts.

So Long and Thanks for all the Phish

G-Suite is a tool that is intended for businesses and includes a ton of Google tools (e.g. Gmail, Drive, Calendar, …). The free edition closed back in 2012 (yes, 2012) and was not allowing new users. I guess they have finally tired of the free users and have given everyone a choice, switch or get out. Can’t blame them for that.

Sarcasm

Sun, 06 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I am really bad about being sarcastic. The witty, put down seems to jump into my brain all the time. My aim is to be funny. Unfortunately, sarcasm can be easily misunderstood and hurtful. It is often used to poke fun at a person who is not present. This is not good. It is something I want to change about myself.

Sarcasm:

The use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say especially in order to insult someone, to show irritation, or to be funny.

Vegetable Casserole

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 00:00:00 +0000

This is one of our go to recipes for an easy meal. One nice thing is that you can be creative with the vegetables.

Ingredients

32 oz. package frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup Sharp Cheddar cheese shredded
1 can cream of celery soup
2/3 cup sour cream
1 small onion diced
1 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 stick unsalted butter melted (1/4 cup)
1 sleeve Ritz crackers crushed

Instructions

Place vegetables, cheese, soup, sour cream, onion, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
Stir ingredients to combine and mix well.
Spray 9" x 13” casserole dish with cooking spray.
Spread vegetables mixture in casserole.
Melt butter in large Pyrex measuring cup.
Add crushed crackers.
Stir to combine.
Sprinkle cracker crumbs over top of casserole.
Bake at 350° for about 45-60 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through.

Remarks

NOTE: Any kind of vegetable assortments will work for this recipe, including fresh veggies or leftovers!

Joplin Extras and Plugins

Mon, 31 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Joplin continues to be my favorite note-taking and Markdown application. It has several killer features that make it great.

The Notebook sidebar keeps the notebooks organized and the tags accessible.
The Note list sidebar displays all the notes contained within a notebook.
Nextcloud synchronization keeps all my notes backed up and available to the Joplin Android app.

Enter Joplin Extras

When you dig into the configuration options, there are several built-in tools that take your Markdown to the next level.

Bible Reading Plan Site Running Again

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Sadly, my “Daily Bread” Bible reading site (bible.canofworms.com) has been down for quite a while. But, good news. It is now back up and running!

Give us this day our daily bread. - Matthew 6:11

The Bible reading site is very simple. It shows you a scripture selection for the current day. If you were to visit each day for a year and read the selection. Then, within the year you will have read the entire Bible.

NextCloud Update Files

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I have a Nextcloud instance that I have run for over a year. In the meantime, there have been several updates. In fact, there was one yesterday that I installed. The Admin section has a nice tool for installing the update and it has worked seamlessly each time.

Today, my web host sent an alert that I was running low on space. Looked into it some and found there is a folder under /nextclouddata/updater-xxxxxxxx/backups that contain all the downloads for versions that I had previously updated. Since the updates were successful, there is no need to keep all these old downloads hanging around.

Love Your Neighbor

Sun, 02 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

To me, being a Christian is the pursuit of becoming like Christ. That is an extremely high standard. I don’t know whether it is possible to achieve it. But, I can’t let that deter me from the pursuit.

Matthew relates the story of a Pharisee that was also a lawyer, that asked Jesus a question to tempt him.

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” - Matthew 22:36-40

Email Clean Up

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Happy New Year 2022!

I’m cleaning up my email to start out this year. I want my email to be a place where I take care of business. When I get an important email I don’t want it to get lost in the clutter. Time to clean up and organize.

Unsubscribe to Reduce Volume

Gradually, my inbox fills up with shopping emails. It’s not that I don’t like the product or the store, but I just don’t need to be reminded twice a day about the awesome sales from my favorite stores. So, time to clean this up.

Give Thanks at Thanksgiving

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

It is good to be thankful and grateful every day of the year. I am truly grateful for blessings above and beyond what I deserve.

In this season of thanksgiving, I hope that you will take some time to reflect on your blessings and perhaps share your thankfulness with others. Here are just a few of my thoughts.

I am thankful for my family. I have parents that taught me good values and set an example of loving and caring for others. I am blessed with a wonderful wife that cares for me. It is a joy as our love for each other deepens and matures. Children, grand-children, and now great grand-children fill our lives with humor and happiness.

Learning the Ropes

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The phrase learning the ropes means to learn or understand how a to do or perform a job, task, or activity.

I was wondering where that phrase came from, so of course, I did some searching on the internet. But just for fun… do think the origin of the phrase, “learning the ropes” comes from:

A - The Theater

When stage hands were learning a new play, they would have to learn the ropes that were used to raise and lower the correct scenery elements at the correct time.

Mexican Rice

Fri, 16 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0000

One of the things we miss since leaving Texas is the great Tex-Mex food. So, we have been trying to learn to make some of the dishes that we love. We tried out this recipe from the Villa Cocina channel on YouTube and it was really delicious. It turned out better than any rice side dish that I’ve eaten at a restaurant. It’s so good, you could almost chow down on just this one thing.

Word List Dictionary in Linux

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Learned something interesting today. There is a wordlist text file on my Linux Mint computer that contains over 100,000 English words. In fact, there are several word files for some common languages. Your word files may vary based on your Linux distribution or locale. The files are in the /etc/share/dict/ folder.

This file could come in very handy for some python word utilities that I have in mind.

List of word files on my computer:

Dropping Google Analytics on Can of Worms

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

I have made a couple of small changes to the Can of Worms website to improve user anonymity.

The Google Analytics link has been removed. I really don’t want to track you or anything like that. I would only glean a small amount of information while enabling Google to more effectively track you across the web. Not much point in that.

A privacy statement has also been added to our about page. Hopefully, it makes clear that we don’t intend to collect any data about you other than what gets collected by the website logging functions.

Joplin and Boostnote

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

There are some great note taking applications available these days. I want to call out two that I’ve used within the last year.

I look for key features in a note taking application. Without these, it isn’t worth using.

Supports Markdown syntax
Has Markdown preview
Allows grouping notes together
Supports checklists
Supports code entry with syntax highlighting
Works on Windows and Linux
Has a zero cost tier
Can Store notes locally
Ability to search notes

If you are interested in these applications, check out the full list of features on each one’s website.

QCAD Block Library Quick Tip

Sat, 17 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

A powerful feature of decent CAD applications is a “block” library of symbols that can easily be inserted into a drawing. This allows you to reuse groups of objects without having to redraw them each time. If you are learning CAD, make it a priority to learn how to use the application block library. Being able to create and use your own blocks is one of the keys to being productive with CAD.

2020 Reading Highlights

Tue, 26 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

2020 was a banner year for reading since I spent a lot more time at home. I ended with a personal high of 84 books read during the year.

I am usually a big reader of science fiction. Not last year. My favorite science fiction of the year was the Tao books by Wesley Chu and Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. I also continue to enjoy books in the Destroyermen series by Taylor Anderson.

Kelvin

Fri, 27 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t think the Kelvin temperature scale gets enough love and respect.

So, I’ve come up with a slogan for Kelvin, It’s…

“Kelvin: We stop at nothing”.

Hurricane Sally in Baldwin County, Alabama

Sat, 03 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Hurricane Sally made landfall in Gulf Shores, Alabama on September 16, 2020 as a category 2 storm with 105 mile per hour winds. As the storm moved inland, it passed over our travel trailer on its trek northeast. We went to my in-laws to have a more secure location to weather out the storm. We returned the next day to check on our trailer and it had managed to survive the fierce winds. The only damage the trailer sustained was a broken signal light.

So Long LinkedIn

Tue, 29 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I have closed my last social media account. I held on to linkedIn, telling myself that it was useful for finding job opportunities.

Social media just isn’t doing it for me.

Bill of Rights

Wed, 02 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The first amendment is incredibly powerful. If nothing else, please read that one. In 45 words it establishes the freedom of religion, speech, the press, and peaceful protest. Given the times we are in, I think it is worth reviewing and considering carefully.

The copy of the United States Bill of Rights duplicated below is from constitution.com.

The Preamble to The Bill of Rights

Congress of the United States

Begun and held at the City of New-York, on Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.

Thoughts on COVID-19

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

It is now four weeks (July 11) since I came down with COVID-19 and it is nine days after getting home (July 31) from my three-day stint in the wonderful Memorial Hermann Sugar Land hospital.

Here are some random thoughts.

The 16 days that I was ill before I got hospital treatment were the sickest days I have ever been in my life. Sixteen days of fever, aches, loss of appetite, alien smells in my nostrils, night sweats, etc. About five years ago I had a really bad bronchial infection that laid me up for a week or so. The symptoms of that infection were rough, but antibiotics cleared it up.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Sun, 09 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I just finished listening to the audiobook version of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer originally published in 1960. The unabridged audiobook consisted of 64 files and weighed in at 57 hours 11 minutes run time, making it the longest audiobook I’ve listened to. I read it over the course of five weeks, renewing it twice from the Houston Public Library’s Overdrive Media site.

User Preferences Dialog Example

Sun, 02 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

When building a slightly more complex application using PySimpleGUI, you may run into the need to store user preferences to a file. This allow persisting some information or custom settings for the next time the user runs the application.

UPDATE: 08/12/2020

Not sure how I missed this the first time, but the PySimpleGUI cookbook documentation has an example of saving user preferences. Check it out at this link: PySimpleGUI Cookbook Example

PySimpleGui Versus tkinter Menus

Wed, 22 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I was wondering if some advanced menu features were available in PySimpleGui. Mainly, could you have check boxes next to items on the menu to show the state of that item? The screen shot below show menu checks in action in Visual Studio Code.

PySimpleGui has the ability to create interfaces like those in tkinter, Qt, WxPython and Remi. It uses a nested list to layout menus, which makes like a whole lot simpler.

Why I Wear a Mask During COVID

Wed, 24 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Spoiler Alert - I will tell you the answer upfront. I wear a mask for you, my fellow sojourners through a strange new world. By wearing the mask, there is a slim possibility that I may protect someone from contracting this heinous virus.

The mask makes me look stupid. The mask is annoying. It fogs up my glasses. It makes my face sweat. It is uncomfortable. After wearing the mask for about 20 minutes I feel short of breath. It muffles other peoples voices and it is harder to understand what they are saying.

Cheat Sheets - Where to find them

Sun, 17 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The inspiration for this article comes from an email I received from Luke Harrison. He had created an SQL Cheat Sheet that he was rightfully proud of and was wanting to share and promote it.

It just so happens that I love cheat sheets. I find them useful for giving a high-level view of an application. And having a cheat sheet handy is great for picking up new shortcuts and becoming more proficient with my favorite tools and applications.

Stepping out of beginner mode

Mon, 11 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Beginner Level

When learning python, the first thing to do is… well… learn python. There is a lot to learn. A basic understanding of the language covers things like:

Basic expressions (variables, statements)
What is a function
Flow control (if, iterations)
Basic data types (strings, integers, floats)
Data building blocks (lists, dictionaries, tuples)
File Handling
Classes (objects, methods, inheritance)
Algorithms

There are a lot of resources on the web that can help with getting started. You can also waste a lot of time looking around. I think getting a decent book and getting serious about it will you well down the road with getting started learning python.

Publishing My First Application

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

One of my latest goals is to publish applications that I write. It’s called “Pelican Article Generator”. It spits out a template for these blogposts. Publishing an application to the world is potentially embarrassing because I’m showing my horrible code to the world. Oh well.

Here are the goals designed to shore up some weaknesses.

Publish applications on GitHub under the MIT license
Publish the corresponding documentation on readthedocs
Include testing code as part of the project
Learn to use the tools provided by GitHub
Improve the application over time

So, my first application is the one I mentioned in my previous PySimpleGUI post. I’ve settled on calling it PelicanArticleGenerator for lack of any creativity.

PySimpleGUI - I am in!

Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

A lot of my python work involves writing simple utilities. This means either writing the tool as a command line application or using a minimal GUI.

I have been working on a simple python application recently to automate creating article stubs for this blog. I had a working version using tkinter for the user interface. I wanted to add a date picker, to allow selecting the date from a pop-up dialog. Tkinter doesn’t have a date picker in its widget collection. I did find where someone has written a date picker that is available to pip install. (It is called tkcalendar).

Around the turn of the century

Sun, 02 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

For the first time, I ran into a quote where the phrase “around the turn of the century” was referring to the year 2000 instead of 1900. Up until now, I have always associated that phrase with the change from the 1800’s to the 1900’s.

Sorry, I did not capture the source where I read that. But, I like it… even though it makes me realize I’m getting old.

Course Duck

Sat, 25 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I had never heard of “CourseDuck” until they contacted me recently through email about mentioning my feeble site in their newsletter. So, I checked them out CourseDuck.com.

Course Duck allows you to search and find training courses across a wide range of training sites.

I like it, and I’m recommending it to others. Here’s why:

Finds training easily

All the sites that I have used in the past seem to be represented (Udemy, Coursera, edX, CodeCademy, Lynda.com, Pluralsight), as well of other sites I’ve heard of, but never enrolled in any of their courses. This is good since it helps your compare courses across different platforms.

Doing Tutorials - Flask

Sat, 25 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I am a life-long learner. This means I always have some kind of learning project in the works. And I find learning python and other technologies through online video tutorials to be one of the best ways for me to learn new topics. Here are some of things I try to do in order to make the learning stick.

First off, I have gotten books before and I find it very hard to stick with them and work through all their exercises. Now, If I’m going through that kind of training with a group of people, it makes it a little easier and keeps me motivated (kind of like being in a school classroom). But, otherwise, technical books have not been my best tools.

Pelican - Using the make ftp_upload command

Thu, 09 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The process for creating blogposts for this site with Pelican is working pretty good. However, once the site was generated, the process was to launch my favorite FTP application, Filezilla. Then connect to the can of worms site and copy the content to the server.

That is rather a manual process… so, there’s got to be an easier way!

When I set up Pelican, it created a “make” file that automates a lot of actions. You can find documentation about the make command on the Pelican site.

Pelican Upgrade

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 +0000

OK, I’ve been pretty slow with writing articles for this little can of worms. Hope to pick up the pace next year.

So, while thinking about it, I decided it might be a good idea to get my installation of Pelican up to date. So, I checked the version using the pelican --version command and found I was on version 3.7.1. The current version is 4.2.0; so, it seemed like a good idea to update.

2019 Reading Recap

Mon, 30 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Thoughts on the last year of book reading. Read more to find out the highlights for 2019.

Communicate Your Intention

Sat, 30 Nov 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Driving over the Thanksgiving holidays reminded me once again of a problem on our highways.
It is the lack of drivers using their turn signals. So, with so many examples of poor driving in mind, I resolve to make this one small contribution. I will use my turn signals to communicate my intentions to other drivers on the road.

We hear a lot about things we should not be doing (such as texting while driving). But, here is a simple area where we can take positive action to improve our driving and set an example for other drivers.

Training

Sat, 05 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Recently I’ve been working with Microsoft SharePoint at work and had the opportunity to get into it. So, I needed to grab some training to get up to speed fast.

Enter Lynda.com through the Houston Public Library. I’ve long been a fan of the libraries ebook and audiobook offerings, especially Overdrive Media, but never tried any of their training options.

So, I checked out Lynda.com which is free to Houston Public Library card holders. There I found an excellent course named “SharePoint 2013 Essential Training” by Gini Von Courter. This has gotten me off the mark and productive just in time.

Home Video

Thu, 08 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Update

We have sold our home! We are going to live without a mortgage for a while as part of our plan to save money.

When I returned to work the next day, my co-workers had made a special sign for me.

Thanks

I owe a huge thanks to Jonathan Aguirre for shooting this drone footage of our home. That explains the title, “Home Video”.

We are, once again, trying to sell our home. We tried last year, but it is hard to compete when new construction is still underway in the neighborhood. There is also construction happening on nearby Hwy 288.

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

Sun, 30 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve just finished reading “The Queen’s Gambit” by Walter Tevis. This novel was first published in 1983. I have not read any of his other works previously.

This is the best book that I have read in a very long time. I’m not here to review it, or give out plot details. If you are looking for a book that will move you, I highly recommend reading this one.

Look into reading this book. Here are some links to more info.

Little Things

Fri, 28 Jun 2019 00:00:00 +0000

There was a time in America when smoking was much more prevalent than it is today. Yes, people complained about second-hand smoke and how literally breathe-taking it was to walk past a group of smokers.

I remember a little thing. It was the butts. They were everywhere. In parking lots, around bushes, in planters there were cigarette butts. You would see them tossed from car windows, and at night glimpse the little shower of sparks as the dying ember impacted the pavement at 60 mph. People would just toss them down where ever they happened to be when their smoke came to an end.

The Last Breathe

Wed, 22 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000

When a child is born, it is fascinating to watch all the firsts in the baby’s life. Parents are ecstatic when baby Sally says, “Mama” for the first time. You want to capture pictures of that first birthday and that first step. What about the first time she tasted a lemon, or first learning to ride a bicycle.

I went to the barbershop a while back and a little boy was getting his first haircut. He was not happy about it and was venting his fear of the clippers with loud gasping sobs. His parents were there trying to calm him with little success. They will remember Johnny’s first haircut. I am guessing more mothers than children cry on their child’s first day of school.

Linux ls Command - Getting Started

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

I learned DOS first. Back in the day, I knew it pretty well. Occasionally, the need still arises to throw together a batch file to automate some little thing. The mainstay of DOS commands is DIR - the directory command - which lists out files and folders.

Now, I’m using Linux Mint. In a terminal window ls is the equivalent of the DOS DIR command. I sometimes get aggravated that I don’t remember the basic command line switches needed for ls. So, here’s goes an article to help me learn ls a little better written from the perspective of someone who knew DOS first.

A Bottle in the Smoke

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

“My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word. Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, when wilt thou comfort me? For I am become like a bottle in the smoke, yet do I not forget thy statues.” - Psalms 119:81-83

The phrase “a bottle in the smoke” is oriental in origin. A leather wine bottle or jug made of kid or goat skin was suspended from roof or wall of a dwelling. As most homes had no chimneys, smoke ascending through a hole in roof caused the skin to become dry, parched and to shrink.

Flask Mega-Tutorial

Sun, 17 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

If you are trying to learn Flask, then you have probably encountered the “Flask Mega-Tutorial” by Miguel Grinberg. If not, do yourself a favor and go check it out immediately.

It will take some time to work through it. Don’t just try to read it, you must work through it. The lessons you will learn in doing a deep dive into the code exceed what the code does.

Here is a sample screen shot of the tutorial site after Chapter IX:

LibreOffice 6.2 Released

Sat, 09 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

I read an announcement that LibreOffice 6.2 had been released. It features a new “NoteBookBar” and some new icon styles along with the usual mix of miscellaneous improvements and bug fixes.

I downloaded the torrent option and pulled the new release. Extracted the downloaded file, read the readme and followed the installation instructions to run from the DEBS folder:

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

It installed perfectly on Linux Mint. I ran it and it looks great.

Python Data Science Resources

Fri, 08 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

I watched this inspiring video called “Can you LEARN DATA SCIENCE for FREE? YES! I’ll show you HOW!” and came to a sudden realization - I have been working along this track and had not fully realized it.

Thank you for that “Data Scientist - Giles McMullen”. So, to get going, I’ve transcribed the links from the video.

Python Basics

Quantitative Economics with Python: This covers a lot of topics, including: Introduction to Python, The Scientific Libraries, Advanced Python Programming and the Pandas Section of Data and Empirics
Python Data Science Handbook by Jake VanderPlas
10 Minutes to pandas
Python for Data Analysis, 2nd Edition - Here are some excellent pandas code examples.

Math

Linear Algebra

Vectors, what even are they? Essence of Linear Algebra, chapter 1 - (3Blue1Brown YouTube video)
Linear algebra - (Khan Academy course)
Better Explained: An Intuitive Guide to Linear Algebra
Introduction to Methods of Applied Mathematics - (PDF eBook Download)
Mathematical Tools for Physics - (PDF eBook Download)
FUNDAMENTALS OF LINEAR ALGEBRA - Linear Algebra Reference, PDF eBook Download
Linear Algebra And Analysis - (PDF eBook Download Reference

Calculus

Essence of Calculus

Essence of calculus, chapter 1 - 3Blue1Brown YouTube video introduction
Calculus 1 - Khan Academy course
Calculus 2 - Khan Academy course
Multivariable calculus - Khan Academy course

Practice Python Projects

Project Based Learning - Links to learning projects for many languages, not just python and R
Project Euler Math Challenges - One of my favorites!

More Python

Learning Scientific Programming - Work through as many of the examples as you fancy in Chapters 6 and 7 here

Data Exploration

Probability and Statistics

Statistics and probability - Khan Academy course
Think Stats: Probability and Statistics for Programmers
Applied Statistics - Free eBook download
The Only Probability Cheat sheet You’ll Ever Need

Statistical Learning

An Introduction to Statistical Learning with Applications in R - Essential PDF book download
Learning From Data - Online machine learning course
Elements of Statistical Learning - Extremely useful - PDF book download

Python and Data Science

Chapter 5 Python Data Science Handbook - online book
scikit-learn Tutorials - collection of tutorial links

Data Structure and Algorithms in Python

Data Structures & Algorithms in Python by Grow with Google - free Udacity course
Problem Solving with Algorithms and Data Structures using Python - online book

TensorFlow

Machine Learning Crash Course with TensorFlow APIs

SQL

Intro to SQL: Querying and managing data - Khan Academy course
If you’re going to play with SQL, you’ve got to have a cheat sheet. Check out this cheat sheet from Luke Harrison.

Git and Version Control

git –fast-version-control - online book

Take This Class

CS109 Data Science

R

Tutorials for learning R

Supplemental Material

The “official” python tutorial
The python Reddit
The datascience Reddit
Stack Overflow python questions
Data Science - Stack Exchange questions
Home of the Jupyter Notebook
How to Think Like a Computer Scientist
Also, check out my other python resources.

Write a Blog

Part of the challenge is to blog about your experiences. Here is an article of one way to do it.

2018 Reading Recap

Sat, 02 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Thoughts on the last year of book reading. Read more to find out the highlights for 2018.

Today I Learned a Little About Jinja2

Fri, 25 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000

My book website tracks the books I read each year. The original site was written in PHP and now I’m in the process of rewriting it in Python with Flask and SQLAlchemy using Jinja2 templates.

In my HTML template, I want to print the books for the most recent year at the top. Then print each book alphabetically by title. Then repeat for subsequent years. It should be something like this.

Python Training and Resources

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Here are some python resources that I have found to be useful. There is something for everyone in this list.

Fun and Games

Learn by playing coding games.

Interactive Learning (Classes)

Online Books

Podcasts

For listeners…

Youtube Channels

For visual learners…

About

Sun, 09 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Welcome to my personal can of worms.

People are complex. The things in their lives are complex. This blog represents some of the complexity in my life.

The site is divided into five categories. What you will find here are thoughts and tidbits from some of those various categories. Quickly filter articles down to one category by clicking on “Categories” in the top navigation bar and select the desired category.

Mount NetGear ReadyShare Drive in Linux Mint

Sun, 09 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I wanted to be able to access my USB storage disk attached to my NeatGear WNDR4000 router from Linux Mint 19 Tara. More specifically, add it as a drive in the Nemo File Manager.

After quick internet search turned up the Samba command:

smb://readyshare/USB_Storage

I tried that in the address bar in Nemo but it did not work.

The trick was to use the router’s IP address instead of readyshare. In my case, it is the default address for the NetGear router:

Chili

Sun, 04 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000

My wife and I have been looking for the perfect chili recipe. I have tried and liked the Carroll Shelby 2 Alarm and Wick Fowler Chili packets, but I really don’t want to buy pre-measured packets of spices.

My wife found a recipe from Ree Drummond from her Pioneer Woman TV show on the Food Network and made it. We really liked it, and it has become the basis for our modifications.

Handling Places in Gramps Genealogy Software

Sun, 04 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000

After importing a GEDCOM file of my family history into Gramps, I noticed the place names were really inconsistent. I didn’t like how they looked. So I decided to clean them up, which led to a new way for me of handling places. This change does take a while, in fact, I’m still not finished with updating all my places. But, this method is so much better that it’s worth it.

Learning Curves and Procrastination

Sun, 04 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Too often, I find myself looking for additional resources. Python development is a good example.

There are great articles and web-sites online that tell you all kinds of interesting stuff. There are places that answer every conceivable question. I have free ebooks that I have downloaded. I have purchased books on the subject. There are great online classes that get you started and YouTube videos that illustrate concepts.
I receive email newsletters about python developments, tools, and software. To top it off, many python tools have great online documentation.

Gramps - Genealogy Application

Sat, 06 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000

One of my goals is to get back into doing family tree research. That means getting organized! I have quite a bit of information collected over the years. This includes GEDCOM data from using previous genealogy applications.

Yes, I know, ancestry.com is highly recommended for doing genealogy research. I’m just not willing to pay the prices they are asking to use the service at this time. Maybe if I get serious about doing research and have the time (like when I retire) then it would be worth the price to me.

Linux Mint Update and Pelican Recovery

Fri, 27 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

OK, I admit it. I goofed.

Linux Mint 19, Tara came out at the end of June and I was very excited about doing the update. I used the instructions from the ‘How to upgrade to Linux Mint 19’ tutorial to perform the steps. As instructed, I used the Timeshift tool to make a backup and proceeded. Unfortunately, the upgrade did not go well and I ended up with a non-bootable Mint installation. At this point, I should have followed the advise in section C2 of the upgrade tutorial and run Timeshift from the bootable USB drive that I was using to recover my back up files. But, I didn’t.

Elastic Search

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I am starting to learn ElasticSearch. I have recently became involved in a project at work which utilizes elastic. So, a good way to learn it is to set up my own instance at home. I also signed up for a couple of classes on Udemy that are helping me get going.

This article will contain my notes as I learn about elastic. So, take it with a grain of salt as I learn and update it.

Project Euler Level 3

Tue, 10 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I have reached level 3 on Project Euler! This means that I have completed 75 of the math challenges on the site. There are currently 633 problems on the site. I have barely scratched the surface.

Project Euler is a very challenging math/programming problem website. I am currently working on Problem 63 “Convergents of e” (you don’t have to do the problems in order). This problem has to do with continued fractions which I am not all that familiar with.
To tell the truth, I am reaching the limits of my math education. Up until know, I at least had some idea of how to approach the problems. From here on, not only do I have to expand my math knowledge, but then I also need to solve the problem.

Splitting a Calibre Library

Wed, 30 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

If you have a collection of eBooks, you may already be a Calibre user. Calibre is a powerful ebook manager that helps organize your collection of electronic books. It supports every major ebook format that I have ever thrown at it. If you have any ebook or document collection that you need to manage, definitely check out Calibre. It does a ton of stuff. Visit the calibre-ebook.com web site to learn more about this amazing, free, and open source software.

Aisleriot Solitaire

Sat, 26 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

One of the standby Linux games is AisleRiot Solitaire. I know, it’s not all that exciting, it’s solitaire. But sometimes you are just looking for something quick and light to fill the time.

AisleRiot was installed in the first Linux distribution I ever tried and I did not realize for a long time that it contained other games besides basic Klondike.

It turns out if you choose Game | Select Game… from the menu (Ctrl+O), there are 90 different solitaire games available to play! Okay, some of the games are not that great. Some can be won every time (no challenge) and others are ridiculously difficult (no fun). Some of my all time favorite games are there; Freecell, Spider, Triple Peaks. But I am finding some new favorites like Eagle Wing and most recently Whitehead.

Find A Grave

Thu, 03 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Years ago I did basic genealogical research on my family tree. My plan has always been to revisit the research when I had more free time (as in, being retired). A friend of mine recently recommended findagrave.com. I checked it out and was so happy with what I found there, it has renewed my enthusiasm for family research.

How to Find a Grave

Find a grave is basically what the name sounds like. It is a way to find the grave sites of family members. The information is built from contributions by over a million users. It was started by James Tipton as a way to engage in his hobby of visiting the gravesites of famous people.

Gooey Butter Cake

Tue, 01 May 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Save this sweet deliciousness for a special occasion. It is nowhere to be found in any healthy eating regimen.

Ingredients

Cake

1 box pound cake mix
2 eggs
1 stick butter - melted

Topping

1 package of cream cheese (8 oz.)
2 eggs (again)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 box powdered sugar
pecans - chopped

Directions

Mix pound cake mix, 2 eggs and melted butter together. Spread in a greased 9 x 13 pan.
Mix the cream cheese, 2 eggs, vanilla and powdered sugar (reserve 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar). Spread on top of the first layer.
Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Bake 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Sift reserved powdered sugar over the top.

What I Learned Today in Python

Fri, 16 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Counters

Python has a “batteries included” philosophy that means a lot of useful things are included in their standard library. By no means have I plumbed the depth of what’s included. I still run across things that are extremely useful and fit exactly what I need.

Today I encountered the ’Counter’ object which is part of the collections library.

The situation was that I had a list of items and I needed to get counts of each item. Here is an example to illustrate.

Project Euler Progress

Tue, 06 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

I have reached level 2 on Project Euler! This is a big achievement for me.

What is Project Euler

Project Euler is a very challenging math/programming problem website. It has been a very long time since I took any math classes, so these problems are definitely challenging for me. To give you an example, here is the text from the first problem (did I mention, they are basically word problems like the ones you always loved?):

Changing the Canofworms Web Site

Fri, 22 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I am moving my site from WordPress to Pelican. It is not that there is anything wrong with WordPress. It is a major tool in the web world. But, it is really overkill for my little blog. Pelican, on the other hand, is a static site generator tool written in the python language.

So why Pelican?

Pelican produces plain HTML pages with CSS. This means there is no database and no administration tool online. Since it is just HTML, there are no worries about WordPress upgrades or security patches. This also cuts out several attack vectors for hackers since it eliminates the backend database and various plugins.

Pelican Brief

Wed, 16 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0000

No, this is not about John Grisham’s third novel or a 1993 movie starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington. Instead, I’m referring to a static website generator application named “Pelican”.

Overview

So, what is a static site generator? The concept is kind of a throw-back to the earlier days of the internet when web sites were largely just a collection of HTML files. A static site generator can take text files stored locally on your computer, convert them to HTML and generate a multi-page web site from them. The resulting HTML output can then be uploaded to your web server. Pelican is one of the many available site generators out there.

Requirements.txt

Wed, 16 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This is easily found elsewhere on the web, but I did it wrong the first time. So, note to self!

The command to create a requirements.txt file is:

$ pip freeze > requirements.txt

The catch is… first, navigate to the folder where you want the file to be created. Second, activate what ever environment you are using. In my case, I’m using conda on linux: $ source activate myenv

If you don’t have the desired environment active, the command creates the requirements.txt file based on your default python installation.

More Than Grasshoppers

Mon, 01 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This topic is based on the book, “More Than Grasshoppers: Reclaiming Your God-Given Identity.” by Lee Ann Alexander and Joel Alexander.

If ever there was a time in history when God directly revealed his power, it was when he brought the children of Israel out of Egypt through Moses. The Israelites saw 10 plagues brought on Egypt, they left, only to find a sea in front of them and an army behind. God made a miraculous way of escape by parting the Red Sea for them to cross on dry land. Hollywood has tried to portray these events at various times, but the scale of the Exodus is hard to imagine. Exodus 12, says that 600,000 fighting men and their families. Estimates put the total number of people at 2 – 2.5 million at a time when the entire population of Egypt was somewhere around 4.5 million. God placed a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Yes, the children of Israel had seen God’s hand move mightily.

2017 Reading Highlights

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 03:25:56 +0000

2017 was another good reading year. I discovered several new authors and book series that kept me entertained as I completed 64 books during the year. It seemed to be a year of reading book series as you will see in some of the selections below. A part of reading series is the idea of “I liked book ‘A’, therefore I’ll probably like book ‘B’”. But, there is more to a good series than similar plots and writing style. Series also allow authors to dig deeper into their characters and provide a growing richness to the world surrounding them.

A few good books

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 03:25:56 +0000

I am a decent reader with one or two books going all the time. I have a wish list of about 400 books that I keep an eye out for when checking the library web site, gutenburg.org, etc. Most of them are classics or represent a highly rated story by a noted author.

These days, books can be found cheap or free in many cases. So, having plenty to read is not a problem as it would have been even 100 years ago.

Living the Legacy

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 16:04:16 +0000

On the way to our recent family reunion, I was thinking about genealogy and those that had passed on. They were not famous or wealthy, there was never a great inheritance handed down. They were simply decent, loving, hard-working people. Somewhere along the line, they left everything behind, family, friends, and country to make a new life in a new land.

But there has been a legacy handed down to our generation from our patriarchs. My wife claims that there is a certain kind of hair texture that predominates my family. The men tend to hang on to their hair and early morning bedhead is our curse. But, our legacy is more than genes passed from one generation to the next. I think our legacy is one of love. I don’t see my extended family very often, but when I do, I feel that deep connection between us.

Road Rd

Thu, 23 Jun 2016 02:04:30 +0000

I got a big kick out of a couple of roads in downtown Lake Jackson, TX. They are named ‘This Way’ and ‘That Way’. Guess there is someone in Lake Jackson with a sick sense of humor. I can hear them giving directions now, “Well, go straight and make a right on This Way and then go left on That Way”.

Maybe we should take it further. How about having streets named things like “Road Rd” or “Street St”? I like “Avenue Ave”. Then to mix it up some, let’s also have “Road St.”, “Road Ave”, “Road Dr.”, and so on. I could also imagine names like “Turn Left Blvd” and “Keep Right Rd”.

Reading 2015 Summary

Sun, 17 Jan 2016 00:00:20 +0000

I completed 2015 by reading 64 books. There were some enjoyable highlights.

Science Fiction “Forge of God” and “Anvil of Stars” by Greg Bear are in the classic science fiction mold. In addition, Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: Space Odyssey and Rendezvous with Rama were fascinating. First time reads for all of those. Spent time re-reading some old favorites. Three of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation books, and two of Frank Herbert’s original Dune Chronicle’s book. Also read some classic Robert Heinlein, The Puppet Masters and The Red Planet. I probably read them as a teen, but don’t really remember. There were both fun, but not too serious.

First Church Reading List

Sat, 18 Oct 2014 23:07:43 +0000

Reading is a good habit. With that good habit, we can also develop a bad habit of reading book after book in one or two genres that we are particularly fond of. In trying to combat that trap, it’s good to look for additional sources of reading inspiration. My wife and I attend a church where the pastor is definitely a bibliophile. He routinely draws sermon inspiration from a variety of literature. It also seems that visiting ministers will often mention books that inspired them. So, I began to jot down books and author that I heard at church. So, I dub this, the first installment of the “First Church Reading List”.

Configuring UltraEdit for Working with Markdown

Sat, 28 Jun 2014 01:54:29 +0000

This article is about how I configured UltraEdit to work with editing of Markdown text files. Many other editors could be configured to work similarly, but the details of setting it up would differ. Behind the scenes, this setup is also using the python programming language. So, the prerequisites for this particular setup are: Use UltraEdit, Markdown, and python.

There are some decent text editors out there that are specifically designed to work with Markdown. I have tried MarkdownPad and StackEdit which runs in your browser. My thinking has been, I already have a good editor so is there are way to integrate Markdown into Ultraedit?

Back on the Market

Thu, 26 Jun 2014 02:10:30 +0000

Update: SOLD! It’s good to be homeless for a while.

We tried selling our home two years ago, but it did not sell. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we were able to rent it to our kids for a year to aid in their transition from being a military family to becoming established in South Carolina.

Check out our new listing at Realtor.com.

Rules for Reading

Thu, 26 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Reading is a habit that needs to be cherished and cultivated. During my teen years, I always had my nose in a book. Unfortunately, I reached a point around there year 2000 where I couldn’t remember the last time I had read a book from cover to cover. That was the catalyst for me to rekindle my love of reading and make it habit once again. I came up with some guidelines to keep in mind that I’d like to share. Hopefully, this will be food for thought for others and encourage you to read more.

Keep Track of Progress

Stay motivated by keeping track of your progress. I started with a spreadsheet and eventually migrated to a web site. Google docs works great for building a spreadsheet. The fields that I used in my spreadsheet were: Title, Author, Genre, Format (paperback, hardback, ebook, audio), Year read, Series, Notes.

Goodreads is a good choice since you can track what you read and get recommendations for future reads.

Life Tools 2014

Tue, 14 Jan 2014 02:59:39 +0000

Life Tools - 2014

There are certain resources that are essential to managing the business of your personal life. When I started working, personal computers did not exist. So, the minimum things I needed to mind my own business “back in the day” went something like this.

A checking account (and the knowledge of how to keep it balanced)
Some notebooks. Spiral bound and loose leaf binders. These were for:
- Keeping track of important notes, ideas.
- To do lists
- Loose leaf binder for address book to track contact information.
An accordion file to keep track of insurance papers, tax returns, receipts, etc.
A calendar to note appointments.

How technology has changed things. What would be the basic starter kit for someone beginning to manage their personal life now? You need applications that will work across platforms (Windows, Android, Linux, …) so that the information will be easily accessible from a variety of devices. The applications need to have a version that is free. With that in mind, here is my life management starter kit recommendation for an interconnected world.

Cardinals and Red Sox

Wed, 04 Dec 2013 03:26:12 +0000

It was great to see my hometown Saint Louis Cardinals in the World Series this year. In 1968, I remember listening to the Cards battle the Detroit Tigers. The school would play the games over the public address system and the teachers gave the kids busy work while the games were on. Bob Gibson was practically unbeatable that year, and listening to those games instilled a love for the game in me. Unfortunately, they lost the series in 1968 too. But, somehow they always seem to be competitive and make their way into post season play every so often.

Home for Sale

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 23:12:10 +0000

814 Bayshore Lane, Moore SC

Currently rented out.

Five bedroom, 3 bath home for sale in Sweetwater Hills Subdivision. This is a great location between Spartanburg and Greenville, SC which means it is convenient to GSP airport. The home is in Spartanburg County School District #5 - home of the Byrnes Rebels and one of the best high school football programs nationwide. It is less than 3 miles from the new Tyger River Park and a mile from River Falls golf course.

It All

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:09:10 +0000

Where did it all begin?

Some are amazed by the wonder of it all.

Some have it all.

Some end up throwing it all away.

Some have seen it all.

Some want it all.

Some want to get away from it all.

Some ask, “what is it all about”?

Try to sort it all out.

It all adds up.

When you do it all,

Is it all over?

Try to stay above it all.

Gnome Weather Widget Woe

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 00:12:00 +0000

On Ubuntu 11.10, running the Gnome shell, there is a weather widget that can be place on the bar across the top of the screen. The default location was Innsbruck and I wanted to change it for my location. The tool uses a WOEID (where on earth ID) instead of zip code for pulling the weather information. Found some instructions on how to change it. Basically, go to Yahoo Weather, look up your city. The numbers you need will be in the URL of the resulting weather page. Sounds easy enough.

A Flash of Lightning (a story for Alina)

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Chapter 1

Mac stepped out on the front porch. The air was filled with the rich aroma of spring flowers in bloom. She smiled as she saw the gardenia’s her mother had planted by the front walkway. They were loaded with white blossoms and the little bees were very busy as they hovered over one flower and then buzzed to the next. She breathed in deeply and stretched, enjoying the warmth of the day.

Triple Homonyms

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:35:00 +0000

There are a lot of homonyms running around out there in the wild. Finding three words that can be pronounced the same but are spelled different is more rare. I’ve collected this list of triple homonyms over a period of time. They are words that are spelled differently, have different meanings, but sound the same. I’ve also avoided using proper names in my list.

Technically, calling these “homophones” may be more accurate.

On Being a Reader

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 23:45:11 +0000

During my childhood and teen years I was a voracious reader. But, as I entered my adult years with all the responsibilities of life, I gradually read less and less. It got to the point, I could no longer remember the last book I had read. I resolved to change that.

One of my life rules is: “Never stop learning.” Reading helps me to accomplish this. My goal was to always have a book going and to try and complete at least one book a month. Beginning in 2000, I started keeping a spreadsheet of each book that I’d read. I would record the title, author, genre, format (paperback, hardback, audio-book, etc.), year read, and comment for each one. Now I wish, I had started my list back when I was a kid. There is a simple spreadsheet at the end of this article to help you get started with your own.

The 360 Degree Leader

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 14:07:41 +0000

The 360 Degree Leader - Book Review

During my performance appraisal at work this year, my boss recommended I read, “The 360 Degree Leader” by John C. Maxwell. So, I did. I didn’t know how well I would enjoy the book when the table of contents indicated a rigorous, methodical layout for the book. But, as I began to read it, I came to appreciate the structure of the book.

Mother's Cole Slaw

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:52:23 +0000

This recipe was given to me by my mother the same time as the Vegetable Salad – in the 70’s.

Ingredients

Hand me down recipes like this are often lacking quantities. How much celery seed? How much sugar? Now she is gone and I can’t ask her. That is just another reminder to enjoy your loved ones while you have the opportunity.

celery seed
green pepper
head of cabbage
large onion
mustard seed
salt
stalk of celery
sugar
white vinegar

Instructions

Shred and mix cabbage, celery, green pepper and onion (set aside)

Mother's Vegetable Salad

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:44:13 +0000

She used to serve this at Christmas and/or any other special occasion. It was one of her favorites. I have the hand written copy – apparently she gave me this recipe in the ‘70’s.

Ingredients

1 large can Leisure peas.
1 can French Style Green Beans
1 cup chopped Green Pepper
½ cup chopped Onion
1 cup chopped Celery
¾ cup Vinegar (recipe doesn’t say whether she used white or apple vinegar)
1 cup Sugar
1Tablespoon water
½ cup oil (I’ll use EVO)

Instructions

Drain all liquid from peas, beans and corn. Let stand in refrigerator over night. Good for days.

Great White Chili

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 01:55:33 +0000

One of my favorites.

Ingredients

3 - 16 oz cans Great Northern Beans Do not drain
4 cups Chicken breast Cubed
1 T Oil
2 Onions Chopped
4 cloves Garlic Chopped
2 - 4 oz cans Mild green chilies Chopped
2 t Ground cumin
1-1/2 t Dried oregano Crumbled
1/4 t Cayenne pepper
6 cups Chicken stock or canned broth
3 cups Monterrey Jack cheese Shredded
Sour cream

Preparation

Boil chicken in large pot until tender, cut into cubes. Reserve stock. Heat oil in same pot over medium head. Sauté onion until translucent, stir in garlic, chilies, cumin, oregano, cayenne and sauté for about two minutes. Add beans and stock then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, add chicken and cheese to chili. Stir until cheese is melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with sour cream. Typically served with cornbread.

Healthy Shrimp Gumbo

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:03:57 +0000

This is a “healthy” gumbo recipe. The main thing it does is leave out the roux. But, with all the other southern goodness, it is still mighty tasty. Keep with the healthy theme by serving over whole grain brown rice.

Green Christmas Wreath Marshmallow Treats

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:52:03 +0000

As long as I can remember, these were a tradition at home for Christmas. Similar to Rice Krispie treats except you use corn flakes and shape them into rings. They can then be decorated with red hots or sprinkles.

Ingredients:

1 Stick Margarine
2 t. Vanilla
45 Large Marshmallows (16 oz. Bag)
1/2 bottle green food coloring (otherwise they are pale)
8-9 cups corn flakes (about 12 oz)
Red hots or similar decoration

Directions

Melt 42-45 large marshmallows in heavy pot with 1 stick margarine.
Remove from heat
Stir in abt 2 t. vanilla and green food coloring (I think I use about half a bottle)
Stir in 8-9 cups of corn flakes
Turn out on buttered Reynolds Wrap and with buttery hands - shape into Christmas wreaths - decorate and enjoy.

The Place of Transformation

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:26:13 +0000

Luke 9:28-36 Prayer doesn’t need to be boring! Jesus and his disciples went up into mountain to pray and the usual was happening, the disciples fell asleep and Jesus prayed. This night was different however, as Jesus had other company join him. Moses and Elijah dropped by to discuss his decease in Jerusalem. An amazing transformation happened as the masters clothes became dazzling white and his countenance glowed as it’s appearance was altered. Suddenly the disciples awoke to gaze upon this spectacular display of radiant glory. I WONDER HOW IT COMPARED TO THE NIGHT OF HIS BIRTH?

Christ's Resurrection - Our Signpost To Immortality!

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:02:21 +0000

I Corinthians 15:51-58 Faith is a big word in God’s dictionary ! We are asked to accept God and his word by faith! Paul wrote; ‘Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God.”

God’s kingdom is invisible to the human eye. “The kingdom of God cometh not by observation.” See Luke 17:20. We believe this also, by faith having never seen it.

The Christian today, in our troubled times, must have solid rock faith for courage. Whatever we face in trouble, trial, opposition, threats, or discouragement, there is a present help in the time of need. “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” I believe that all our living for the Lord is real, vital to make heaven. Heaven is not a myth as some would say, but is my future home. Jesus was born to save this lost world and take the saved to live in heaven. The bible calls it that blessed hope. The resurrection is a promise from God.

South Carolina: A History

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:13:54 +0000

I just finished listening to South Carolina: A History by Walter Edgar. In a way, historical books, such as this, are boring and fascinating simultaneously. The book goes in to great detail on the early history of the Palmetto State and the efforts to carve out a settlement in the American wilderness. It covers the social, economic and political aspects of the colonization of the new world.

Our Faith

Fri, 21 May 2010 03:29:14 +0000

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. - Hebrews 11:1-2

Faith in God is a way of life for Christians and grants them substance for overcoming obstacles of life. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews portrays the various ways faith is demonstrated in Christ. May the subjects posted here be read and become useful to people who need comfort in their walk with God.

Take Heed To Yourself

Wed, 12 May 2010 03:25:19 +0000

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. Hebrews 2:1

Introduction

What God has given through his word is important. Every word was given as a help to prepare us for eternity. We should pay attention to our own person in the matter of salvation. While the worldly person today is looking out for No. 1 they don’t have God and eternity in mind, so it is our duty to be sure we live right by God’s purpose. In doing so we will save ourselves and perhaps be, an example that shows others how to save themselves from the coming collision between good and evil.

Stuffed Green Peppers

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:02:36 +0000

This is an old recipe. Mom has been making these for as long I can remember. It’s your basic bell pepper stuffed with a beef and rice mixture. Using some of the other colored peppers available these days is a great way to make a colorful dish.

Roberta's Coconut Cake

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:42:25 +0000

My grandmother was famous for her coconut cake. Here is my mom’s take of grandma’s cake. I haven’t had the opportunity to sample this coconut cake. But, mom says it’s great. Can’t argue with mom. But, I can whine because she hasn’t made me one!

Ingredients

1 Box of your favorite yellow cake mix
1 - 16 oz container fat free sour cream
1 ½ - 2 cups sugar
1-2 Pkgs frozen coconut - thawed

Directions

Bake cake in 2-3 round pans at 325 degrees
While cake is baking, mix sour cream and sugar together and let set.
When cake is done, turn out first layer on plate,
Punch holes all over the top and sides
Spoon sour cream/sugar mixture onto hot cake
Top with coconut
Repeat for each additional layer.

Ubuntu 9.10 Installation Experience

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:22:45 +0000

I have been moving to Ubuntu for a while. First tried it out by installing it in Windows XP using Wubi. Next, when version, 9.04 came out, I installed it to dual boot with Windows. So, this was the final step in my migration to Ubuntu Linux

Waited for the new release of Ubuntu 9.10, called Karmic Koala. I was wanting to go ahead and make Ubuntu the primary operating system on my netbook. Friday was release day. Of course, the servers were jammed with folks downloading. When I started to download it, the status bar said it was going to take 9 hours to download over a high speed connection. No, thanks. So, I canceled the download.

Sugary Pecans or Walnuts

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:46:56 +0000

When I first saw this recipe, I thought, “Ugh - sour cream, are you nuts?” My sister claimed it was good. She made them, I couldn’t stop eating them. They are delicious.

Ingredients

1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c sour cream
1 t vanilla extract
1 bag walnuts or pecans - (it’s those medium sized bags - probably about 2 cups or 8 oz.)

Directions

Heat sugar, sour cream, vanilla to boiling. Boil for 4 minutes. Stir in nuts. Quickly spread on parchment paper. The mixture hardens as it cools.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Our journey in life began with loved ones holding our hands and guiding us along the pathway. All bumps and bruises could not be eliminated and sometimes we ended up with a scar.

As we grew, the choices and path to follow became our own. The choices we made impacted our relationships and overall journey. It was part of the learning process of life. Sometimes we felt a void in our life that was hard to fill. Instead of always taking the pathway sometimes we might take a wrong turn. Unfortunately, wrong turns can lead to getting lost and difficulty in finding our way back. A cycle begins of neglect, lies and destruction of trust of our loved ones if we fall too far off the pathway. The cycle will not stop if the behavior remains the same. The individual feels guilty for their actions and continues to attempt to fill their void resulting in an unrelenting cycle of abuse.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Thoughts

Playing “World of Warcraft” seemed so really exciting at the time. It was one of the first gaming platforms that solved the whole massive multiplayer online gaming scenario and was wildly successful. I played it a lot, probably too much. There were a mixture of real people playing along with non-player characters (NPCs) that you could interact with. But, ultimately, I began to feel the game was empty. What was I really accomplishing. Time was slipping by and there were so many other things in my life that I could be doing besides playing a game.