Cruisin'

Back in 2014, I had the chance to sail on The Oasis of the Seas. It was amazing. 

Our destination was the Bahamas, Nassau in particular. What a beautiful island. I can't wait to go back.

The Oasis of the Seas is a new ship, first sailing in 2009. It has 16 passenger decks, a casino, 5 pools, a carousel, chapel, a library, and dozens of other features. Our trip was only 3 nights, so obviously I couldn't see everything they had to offer. I never set foot in a bar and was only able to breeze through the shopping areas. On the deck was a massive amphitheater which also served as a rally point. As big as it was, I only saw it once.

The views from the ship were incredible. Even in port, the sights were amazing.

My wife and I were traveling with three small children and we were new to the ins and outs of cruising. My mother-in-law guided us through the process. Thank god for that, we would have been lost.

Even still, the Oasis was big enough to swallow us up even with help. One evening, my daughter and I got lost on the ship and found ourselves in the chapel, then a library and finally, a wonderful viewing point at the top of the ship. It was overwhelming.

The Oasis of the Seas is a massive ship. We could sail on that three more times and likely not see it all. Next time, we may take a longer cruise on a smaller ship. Or not. Depends on where we want to go. I would love to sail on the Oasis again.

Having said that, my mother-in-law is a great planner but not a professional planner. We keep telling her she should be. Maybe someday she'll retire to that life. In any event, my wife and I have a friend, Jaime Nowicki who is a travel planner. She loves Disney but also handles trips to other locales, too. Of course, Disney Cruise Line is one but she also plans for Sandals, Beaches, Royal Caribbean, AMA Waterways, Azamara, Celebrity, Carnival, MSC Cruiseline, Norwegian, American Cruise Line, Princess!

My dream trip would be to Cuba. My wife, Kitty's dream is to go to England and Ireland. We need someone like Jaime to manage these dreams and give a plan that is both incredible and budget friendly.

You can find Jaime on Facebook or Twitter, or contact her by email or phone at:

716-491-9980
j dot nowiki at magicalvacationplanner dot com

Of course, there is a website, too.

Guest Post from Jaime Nowicki @ magicalvacationplanner.com

This is my first guest post from Jaime @ at magicalvacationplanner.com.

June 19th!

Disney Vacation Dates for 2019 will be available to book.

Book soon to get your preferred Disney destination, resort, room, package...they will fill up fast! You can book a Disney Vacation Package with only a $200 deposit. I am a certified Disney travel agent, my concierge services are complimentary, and I am looking forward to helping you plan your 2019 Disney Vacation.

Contact me at: j.nowicki@magicalvacationplanner.com or check out my website.

Don't forget to like my Facebook page.

Book Review List

I am compiling a list of book reviews I plan to launch this summer. I am starting with a classic by Ritcher. Right now, I am editing the first review for publication on Friday. Check back for more updates.

Book Reviews

1. Review of Daniel K. Richter’s Ordeal of the Longhouse
2. Review of Lakota Moon by Gregory F. Michno
3. Review of Duane Schultz’s Month of the Freezing Moon
4. Review of Howard H. Peckham’s The Colonial Wars, 1689-1762
5. Review of Leo Tolstoy’s Hadji Murat.
6. Review of Richard M. Ketchum’s Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War,
7. Review of Martin Bruegel’s Farm, Shop, Landing: The Rise of a Market Society in the Hudson Valley, 1780–1860
8. Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad Paul Gwynne
9. The Storm Before the Storm Mike Duncan
10. The Delikon H.M. Hoover
11. Workers Go Shopping in Argentina,
12. Age of Youth in Argentina
13. Children of Facundo
14. SPQR Mary Beard
15. The Legacy of Conquest
16. Buying into the Regime
17. The Country of Football
18. Creating a Common Table

Movie reviews:

1. Blessed by Blood.
2. Battleship Potemkin

Ubuntu Reinstall on Chromebook

There are many guides to installing Linux on a Chromebook. What I don't see are too many guides on what needs to be done afterwards. Using Crouton gives a very basic experience with Ubuntu, so a lot of things need tweaking.

One step that I often forget is switching to Dev Mode on a Chromebook can require a restart. Also, walking through the Ubuntu install also requires a restart. You can combo these together or do them one at a time. It doesn't really matter. What does matter is the restart option in Ubuntu will turn off your Chromebook. Think ahead.

I find the best way to get software easily is the Software Center. I know it can be buggy and odd, but it is a good place to start. Under the standard install of Ubuntu via Crouton, it isn't there and the terminal is the best option. First things first, make sure your install is up to date:

sudo apt-get update

This should only take a few seconds. Now you can get the software center:

sudo apt-get install software-center

The Software Center takes much longer to download and install. For whatever reason, sometimes the Software Center doesn't work. Simply repeat the command:

sudo apt-get update

The next thing I hit is a proper browser. NetSurf is 3 years old and kind of funky. It works fine in a pinch but doesn't offer a lot of features. I like Chromium.

A good word processor is a must and I am a fan of Libre Write. Write isn't the only game in town, you could simply use Google Docs, Abiword or WPS Writer. WPS Writer has the look and feel of MS Word, Abiword is a stripped down word processor which is easy to use and distraction free.

Stay tuned for more ideas of how to extend your Chromebook's usefulness.

Using GIMP to Resize Photos to a Specific Size

This afternoon I am editing photos for a website. I would like to take some images from 4992x4000 down to exactly 620 px across. I will be using Gimp and a little math to make this happen in seven steps.

First things first, I could do the math in my head, but I want to make this a step by step process. The second thing is, unpwnd doesn't require a specific size so the images in this walkthru will not be 620 px. That is not lost on me, I happen to Blogger as my platform and it has very different tools from Wordpress.

Step one. Open the image.

Step two. Click on Set Image Canvas Size. The dialog box will open and show that the image is currently 4992x4000. That is nothing like 620 px across.

Step three. I am going to adjust the width and the height. For the width, I need to lose those to extra pixels, it is so small no one will notice. So width becomes 2992-2=2990.

Height is another story. I am going to take away a multiple of 620. I decided that I would go with 620 times 2, so what I end up with is 2760. That is 4000-1240=2760.

Before I hit resize, I clicked the Center button. It just so happens that my subjects are dead center and this works. If it did not, I could have adjusted this manually.

Step four. I want to point out that I have been working with Canvas Size and not Image Size. Essentially, I am cropping the image to a particular size based on some math rather than an eye for photographic composition. Actual photographers have a great eye for composition and would not use this method.

Anyway, I think I can trim a little more of the edges and when I do that, I want my height and width to be an exact multiple of 620. I take the width of 2990 and divide by 620 which gives me 4.822 and some change. I do the same for the height which gives my 4.451 and change.

Now for a trick. I am going to take four away from each number leaving 0.822 and 0.451. Both of these numbers need to multiplied by 620. 620 is the only number I know for this process, which is why it keeps popping up. The results are 510 and 280.

2990-510 is 2480 and 2760-280 is also 2480.  2480 divided by 620 is 4.

Again, I am using the center bottom so I don't clip away my subjects. Also, this could a manual process.

Step five. Scale the image. I could do this part 2 ways. I picked the easy way: I scaled the image to 620. I could have also used the drop down box to select percent and typed in 25. There is no difference.

Step six. This is the result, an image that appears way too small. But not really, GIMP didn't change the scale of the display and the image is actually much bigger.

 Step seven. I set my view to 1:1. Looks good.

While all of this seems labor intensive, it is. But only once. Changes are your camera always outputs the same size image so you can save this as a macro making the process automatic.

And here is the final output at 620 px.

Neat, eh?

The Gracchi, Sulla and Mike

Mike Duncan is a popular podcaster turned author. His first offering is The Storm Before the Storm, The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic and it is amazing. You can hear Mike read the first chapter, "The Beasts of Italy" on his Revolutions podcast.

I read through 50 pages at a theme park, it is more engrossing than some roller coasters. And what a ride it is. I can't wait to finish it and give it a proper review.

Tantrum Preview

     This evening, I saw them testing the Tantrum at Darien Lake. When the action stopped, I remember to take out my phone and snap some pictures. Oops.

     This coaster holds 8 riders in two row of four, is about 100 feet tall and features 90 degree climb to a more than 90 degree drop. It looks amazing.

    A little research on this model revealed that it was made by Gerstlauer and has the moniker "Euro-Fighter". It reminds me of the Motocoaster because the small footprint. This one seems more solid as it has it's own foundation rather than a frame base.

     I like these small footprint coasters, as the gee forces and excitement are crammed in a small space. They are a blast from end to end. The downside of such a system is the powerful mag brakes at the end to bring the cars in safely. As quick as they are, the ending is always rough. Don't get me wrong, I've ridden the Motocoaster at least six times this year because I love it. I can't wait to ride this one.

     It is opening Memorial Day Weekend but I not exactly sure on which day.  As you can see from the images, they have tripods and such around for construction and will likely add some nice landscaping as the season goes on.

Panorama of Darien Lake Water Park

It's few days from opening but the Water Park at Darien Lake is looking good.