Geeks advice for a new computer: part 4
How to keep your machine running well. If you think of your computer like your kitchen, it will help a little. In your kitchen, there are lots of fun things to do, and all sorts of cool gadgets and toys. BUT, as in your kitchen, there are less than fun things that MUST be done to keep it sanitary and easy to use. Things that should be done daily, like washing dirty dishes. Things that should be done weekly, like scrubbing the floor; things that should be done monthly, like cleaning behind the refrigerator; and things that should be done immediately when a symptom appears, like fixing the garbage disposal or cleaning up spills. There are also rules that need to be followed, like don't carry the rat-dog around while you are cooking (don't ask, sore subject), wash your hands before handling food, and "if it's too hot to touch, it's too hot to taste". Following those rules in your kitchen will keep you healthy. Following a similar set of rules on your computer will keep your computer happy.
Immediate Tasks:
If you notice a significant difference in the speed that your computer is operating, reboot & run your antivirus and spyware scans (make sure the signatures are current)
Any kind of hardware error message should be treated as a potential infection FIRST, and then diagnose the hardware (or call your support geek for help)
Windows GPF, BSOD, (or whatever the nom-du-semaine for windows faults is) can usually be corrected by rebooting. If they happened when you were using a specific function of an application, it's a good idea to reboot, and try the same function again. If the error continues to occur, stop doing it – and report it if you like.
Weekly Tasks:
Run a full virus scan, and full spyware scan. Also, check for windows updates if you don't have that automatically configured.
Monthly Tasks:
Back-up any important data that would cause you to cry like a little girl if it got lost. Manually create a system restore point. Run a full defragment on your hard drive(s).
Perpetual rules to follow:
If a browser window pops up and says that your pc may be infected, close the window, don't click yes or no.
Don't click on links in email messages or download attachments unless you KNOW who sent it, why they sent it, and what it is.
The Nigerian prince trying to get money out of his country is a scam. Bait them at your own risk.
Don't install apps that you don't know what they do – and read the license agreement for warning signs. Anything that says it will "display relevant informational advertising that you may be interested in" should throw up a red flag. If you think an app may be OK, search for the name of the app and the word 'spyware' in your favorite search engine. Keeping nasties off your machine is always easier than removing them once they are there.
And speaking of nasties- Many sites catering to peoples base nature also spread viruses, spyware, and popups. This includes warez sites as well as others.
Be careful out there
Unpardonable Sin?
On the Thursday before Resurrection Sunday I took the metro from the Pentagon to work. The anti-war protesters were there, which is not unusual. What was unusual was HOW they were demonstrating. I could tell something was different because of the ‘enhanced’ security (read ‘the Pentagon Police had 8 or 10 people loudly announcing for people to have their building passes ready’ ) The normally anemic group of two or three was at least 25 strong. When I came around the corner of the bus bays, I noticed that they had several people dressed in blaze orange prison type jumpsuits with black ‘Abu-Gharib’ style hoods. As I approached, I realized that one of them was on a CROSS.
I’m not normally offended by these misguided moonbats, but celebrating Resurrection Sunday with an Abu-Gharib prisoner on a cross was too much. I wasn’t just offended, I was ANGRY. So I stood there and glared for a few minutes before heading to work. (which brings up another question, why don’t these pinko-hippy-freaks have to be at work – another thought for another time)
I mulled and pondered this, and came to several conclusions. I would have posted this earlier, but I was unable to find pictures of the event. Fortunately they appear proud of themselves.
The things that I realized are:
- If there are any true Christians in that group, they are dangerously close to the unpardonable sin (Matthew 12:31-32) or at least the sin unto death (1st John 5:16)
- Christian protesters (at least spiritual ones) would have distanced themselves from this display
- The unsaved often know the ‘right’ words and can even put them in the right context, but there is no understanding of them
- Since a true, spiritual Christian wouldn’t be associated with this group, the ‘Christian’ terms used are for the sole purpose of garnering sympathy through deception (marketing at its finest – or worst)
- How easy it is for people to think that they are Christians by knowing a few (out of context) verses, religious terms, and symbols. – Having a form of godliness, but denying the (Holy Spirit) power thereof
- So many of the sins of the pharisees can be seen – praying for public consumption, dour & pious exterior, following some of the law without understanding
- I really need to study righteous anger and how to handle it
I really don’t care about your stand for/against the president or current conflicts. I know good Christians on both sides of the issue. Your opinion should be expressed in a way that edifies and provokes thought – not simply something intended to elicit a strong visceral reaction.
If you aren’t a Christian, please understand that using God’s name and words to further your political cause is dishonest.
If you are a Christian, you need to be VERY careful about who you associate with. God gave you his name, don’t corrupt it.
If you think that it is acceptable to use this kind of thing because of the ‘greater good’, then you should read this, and then spend several hours reading through the book of Romans. I’m not questioning your salvation, but I think it would be a good idea for you to examine yourself thoroughly.
If you don’t want to be exposed to images of this level of blasphemy, don’t go any further.
Prelude to Persecution
There was an article that popped up on Netscape's front page news today that surprised me. It got me digging to see who else actually printed this trash. I was surprised to find just how many 'news' agencies actually published this garbage. Apparently their editors think that it is 'news worthy' material.
In summary, a scientist has theorized that ice may have formed on the surface of the sea of Galilee, which would have allowed Jesus to walk out, giving the appearance of walking on water.
I was also surprised to find that the few news agency to printed a dissenting opinion included in the Reuters story. AlJazeera was one of them, but they failed to mention that Nof is Israeli. (Dissent provided by Darrell Bock, a professor of New Testament studies at the Dallas Theological Seminary) The other agencies that published that part of the story are: USA Today, CBS News, Pravda, Israel Insider, and AOL.
The Discovery Chanel added commentary by Robert Eisenman, Professor of Middle East religions and archaeology and director of the Institute for the Study of Judeo Christian origins at California State University, Long Beach who said "They are trying to make sense out of a nonsense. The Gospels have nothing to do with historical accounts, they are simply literature — one literary account over another," Doesn't sound like they went to a lot of effort to find someone to dispute it, does it?
Another independent dissent was found in National Geographic (Are you as surprised as I am?) Their expert, Kevin Trenberth heads the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. As unexpected as it sounds, his analysis was Biblical. He said "The Bible I consulted refers to the fishermen in a boat and 'strong headwinds' and 'waves,'"…"The boat drifted several hundred yards out and tossed in the waves and wind. So the presence of [the] boat strongly suggests there was no ice." "The arguments seem bogus," he added. "They require almost no wind and no mixing for their mechanism to work, but then they cannot get the cooling they require." By the way," Trenberth added, "the Bible also says Peter got out of the boat and walked on water but then sank. Where did the ice go all of a sudden?"
It's surprising (but it shouldn't be) how evil our world has become, and how hostile toward Christians it is getting – especially in the 'free' countries of Europe and America. I expect this kind of hostility elsewhere, but HERE? WOW! The pace of times seems to be accelerating – the birth pangs are coming quickly. How much worse will it get? If you haven't already figured out where you'll spend eternity, I invite you to think on it now. Time is short. You may not get another chance.
Here's links for you to check out – I'm sure they will die off in the next several weeks, so check them out early if you're interested.
Nof's research article (in PDF): http://www.doronnof.net/files/kinneret.pdf
His article was published in the Journal of Paleolimnology under the title 'Is there a paleolimnological explanation for “walking on water” in the Sea of Galilee?'
Netscape's home page: Science Tells How Jesus Walked on Water?
MSNBC: Did Jesus walk on water? Or ice?
Yahoo News: Jesus may have walked on ice, not water – study
Physorg: Jesus Walked on Ice, Study Says
National Geographic: Jesus May Have Walked on Ice, Not Water, Scientists Say
BBC: Did Jesus walk on water – or ice?
Discovery Channel: Study: Jesus Walked on Ice, Not Water
Science Daily: Jesus Walked On Ice, Says Study
CNN: Study claims ice, not water, kept Jesus afloat
NPR: Walking on Water: Jesus on the Rocks?
USA Today: Scientist: Jesus may have walked on ice
ABC Australia: Jesus 'walked on ice', not water
CBS: Did Jesus Walk On Ice?
Reuters: Jesus may have walked on ice?
Pravda: Scientist: Jesus may have walked on ice, not water
Iaraeli Insider: Israeli scientist: Jesus may have walked on ice, not water
AOL: Scientist: Jesus may have walked on ice, not water
Al Jazeera: Jesus' water walk put on ice
Geeks advice for a new computer: part 3
The applications that you install will depend on what you will be using your computer for. (Yes, I have an uncommon grasp of the obvious!)
If this is a business machine that you will use to keep accounts and client information on, you should SERIOUSLY consider leaving it disconnected from the internet. Even the best firewall, anti-spam and anti-virus software can not guarantee that your information will not be compromised – so any online connection should be considered a risk. If you can afford a dedicated machine, an air-gap is guaranteed protection.
For general internet purposes, you will need a browser, email, and IM client.
BROWSER
For the browser I recommend Firefox. Using InternetExploder is just asking for trouble. Firefox also has extensions that you can apply that make it much more useful – as well as tabbed browsing. If you've never used anything but IE, tabbed browsing alone is a good reason to switch.
Firefox can be downloaded from www.getfirefox.com, and extensions can be added by selecting Tools/Extensions/Get More Extensions from within Firefox. Extensions that I recommend are:
If you use web-based email such as hotmail, yahoo mail, or gmail, you can skip this section. If you are using POP3 mail that requires a client, don't use outlook. Download Thunderbird instead. It's created by the same group that created firefox, and is significantly less likely to allow goblins onto your machine.
IM and IRC
Your Instant Messenger and Internet Relay Chat client should be Trillian. It combines yahoo, msn, and aol instant messengers as well as IRC in a single application.
Special Purpose Applications
Office Suite
Open office is a free application suite that includes a word processor, spreadsheet and general office type applications. It had been Star Office, but was purchased by Sun and is now open source. If you have to use office apps on your computer, this is what you need.
Bible Study
The best, most flexable bible study app that I've used is e-sword. It's free, and good, and has more optons for plugins than you will need.
Calendar
Who doesn't need a calendar application to remind you of upcoming events. I went searching and was surprised at the lack of choices for free calendar applications. The ones that were good weren't free, and the free ones didn't have the functionality that makes a calendar useful. I finally came across ClickTray. It is free (Yay!) and does all the calendar type things you'll need. It also includes a Name & Address book to keep your contact information. Now the down side – It's not a pretty app. In fact it approaches ugly. It really looks dated too. But it works as advertised, doesn't beg for money in popups, and takes minimal system resources. In my opinion, the benefits outweigh the asthetics, but YMMV.
Audio Playing, Downloading & Editing
For listening to music on your PC, you really have all you need. If you do need additional apps to do this (or just don't like Windows Media Player) you should try Winamp. It is feature-rich, and you can get additional plug-ins such as StreamRipper to allow you to save streaming audio files.
If StreamRipper won't work for the audio stream you are trying to save, you can try NetTransport. It is not free, but has a 90 day trial that should allow you enough time to determine if it will work for you. If it works, it is well worth the money.
For Editing, I suggest that you download Audacity. It is a free application that has all the basic functionality of splitting and joining files, as well as more complex cross-fading. It does tons more stuff, but I haven't needed those functions.
Graphic & Photo Editing
The only app you need to edit your pictures is The GIMP. It is a free image editing package that rivals PhotoShop in ability. There are lots of tutorials available to show you how to use the advanced functions as well. You'll find that anything you want to do with your pictures, The GIMP can handle it.
Recipe Management
Who doesn't need a recipe manager? EGS RecipeCenter is the tool that I've found. If you tried it before and threw it away because of the crashes, download the new version. It is adware, so it 'phones home' and collects additional ads to display – but the ad frame is in the lower-right and is not intrusive. This app even lets you incorporate a picture into your recipes.
Programming
If you program, it won't take you very long to figure out that you should have a good programming editor. My favorite is Eclipse. You can get plug-ins for lots of different languages so whatever you are doing, wether HTML, PERL, PHP, or C++, this shoule be a help.
Next time – how to keep your machine running well.
Geeks advice for a new computer: part 2
The next thing we'll do is a bit of streamlining on the operating system.
For tweaking, consult TweakHound's Guide. I recommend that you go with at least level 2. I also recommend that you NOT disable the security center. Geeks can and get away with it, non-geeks usually get in trouble without it. As you work through the guide, I suggest that you:
- Skip Turning Off System Restore
- Turn Off Remote Assistant
- Skip Turning Off Automatic Updates
- Skip Move Print Spool Directory
- Skip Move My Documents Directory
- Skip everything about the Page File
- If it scares you, skip Adjust System Services – otherwise follow level 2
- If the registry scares you, skip it – otherwise apply all except the Set CPU Priority
Stop when you get to the section about X-Setup.
At this point, I also install DNSKong and E-Dexter. They work as a local DNS server to prevent bad sites from resolving. As they require a lot of maintenance to be effective, I'm skipping the instructions for them. If you are interested, information on DNSKong can be found at Sponge's Security Solutions and the software can be downloaded from the author at http://www.pyrenean.com/ – a basic description of what they do can be found at Bruce's page or Gorilla Design Studios. If you are on a dialup connection, you should REALLY look into this – it can prevent downloading advertising images and speed up your browsing.
Next, we'll look at what software you should install.
Geeks advice for a new computer: part 1
So, you bought a brand new PC. Now what?
If you're one of my regular non-paying clients, you bring it by my house and I give it back to you in a week or so. If you have free support, that's not a bad idea either.
But what goes on during that week? Until now, many have thought it involved dead chickens or magic smoke but the truth is too strange to believe. Continue if you dare, into the mystical world of geekdom. Tips that differentiate capital G Geeks from the rest of geekdom are in italics.
Resurrection Sunday
Most of you probably celebrate Ishtar with all of the associated fertility symbols like baby chicks, eggs, and cute fuzzy bunnies (with nasty, big, pointy teeth). Even Christians have been taken in by them and tried to adapt these symbols to their own purposes. Chocolate is another Ishtar tradition. I tend to agree with that one only because I know that every day is a Chocolate holiday, and it must have come first.
Some thoughts that you may want to think about this easter:
Is it a coincidence that the National Geographic society's 'gospel of Judas' made news this last week?
Is it also coincidence that an 'expert' theorized this week that Jesus walked on Ice instead of a stormy ocean? Get real, if the sea had been frozen over, the diciples probably wouldn't have been rowing.
The increasing commercialism of all holidays now has people buying Ishtar baskets with toys, the quality of which is apparent. Is this designed to cause problems when the kids feel cheated by the pretty packaging and garbage inside, and the parents have to deal with irritated kids and overpriced trash? This doesn't sound like a good recipe for a pleasant family holiday. (If you do get Ishtar baskets, at least fill them with something good – like Chocolate)
Oh joy, we get to see the rest of the church members that forgot that there are services EVERY Sunday (and even Wednesday) between Christmas and Ishtar.
God give me STRENGTH to hold my tongue, and provide a warm & friendly interaction that may bring them back next week.
Hello World
I felt that it was appropriate for a first post. Not that I understand why the first program any tutorial ever has you write says 'Hello World'
