Whatever

Not being a warrior, I have a hard time relating to David’s rantings about the evil nations, and God’s judgment upon those nations. I think, though, that it’s important to remember that God will judge the nations, and everyone, based upon the lives they live and the decisions they make. I definitely don’t have the zeal that Davd had to see my enemies crumble. I think it’s a different viewpoint; one view is of a king living in a war-torn time, a king trying to protect his people from their violent enemies. My viewpoint stems more from a New Testament perspective, which is to “love your enemies.” I don’t believe that God ever intended for us to hate our enemies (even in David’s time), and I’m not sure that He condoned David’s zeal for revenge. But I do think He intended for us to rely upon Him for our protection and eternal security, and this is one of the reasons that David was a man after His own heart. Whoever doesn’t rely on Him will surely end up (ultimately) in big trouble.

¹⁷ The wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God. (ESV)

⁹ The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
¹⁰ And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you. (ESV)

This Psalm also reminds me that we, as God’s people, are to praise Him. We forget (at least I forget) to do that. He created us; He gave us life; He deserves our praise! And apparently recounting God’s mercies in song was one of David’s favorite ways to offer up praise. I believe God loves music; there’s such an emphasis on praise through music in the Psalms.

¹ I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
² I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. (ESV)

I like the way David starts out this Psalm.

¹To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. (ESV)

How majestic in Israel? Yes, and also everywhere! I’m reminded of New Testament days, when Jesus established His kingdom upon this earth and His name was spread far and wide. Now, He is known and worshiped throughout the earth. Gentiles have been included in God’s plan since the beginning.

Psalm 8:2 reminds me of my Bible study. Kids run wild, making noise, knocking things over, even (gasp!) walking right up to Tim and sitting on his lap while he’s teaching! The nerve! But Jesus thinks quite highly of little children, as we see in Matthew 11:25, Matthew 21:16, Luke 10:21, and Matthew 19:14. We need to remember that God has chosen the weak things of this world to bring down the strong (I Corinthians 1:27). He did this when he chose lowly, uneducated fisherman to become the foundation upon which Christianity was built.

² Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. (ESV)

The rest of this Psalm makes me wonder why God has shown us favor. Why did He create us? We don’t treat Him well. Why did He bestow honor and glory upon us? Why did He give us dominion over the earth when He knew we’d be irresponsible keepers? (Did you recycle today?) It’s incomprehensible to me why God bothered with us at all.

⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (ESV)

But not only did He bother with us, He gave us everything. He gave us the ultimate gift - life - while sacrificing His own.

⁵ Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
⁶ You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet . . . (ESV)

It’s so normal to complain, to be ungrateful, and to think that life isn’t fair. But when you think of God’s gift, all that goes down the drain. And when you compare God’s generosity to our regular rejection of Him, the argument of “A fair God wouldn’t send people to Hell,” looks quite petty. He’s given us dominion. He’s given us honor. He’s given glory. He’s given us life, here, and, if we choose to accept it, with Him forever.

⁹ O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Do you have trouble playing DVDs on your computer? Are you frustrated? Ready to pull your hair out? Your problems are hereby solved. Welcome to VLC.

VLC comes from VideoLAN, a project creating free software for video.

VLC kicks all other media players’ collective butts, because, for one, it’s cross-platform. It doesn’t matter whether you’re running Windows, Mac OS, Linux - it’ll work on all platforms. So all you non-Windows people out there can thank me for this post.

Additionally, this player stands head and shoulders above the competition because it’s not proprietary. It plays almost all file types without discrimination. You don’t have to install extra codecs to get it to work. It just works.

My mom had Windows re-installed on her computer by someone (we won’t say who). They didn’t install the proper decoders for the computer to play video. So, I started looking around for a free program that plays DVDs. Well, if you’ve ever done a similar search, you may have ended up settling on something like Cyberlink or some other commercial piece of software. My search ended up being quite frustrating, because most free programs simply don’t play DVDs. We tried different solutions, but in the end, every solution required us to buy something, which I simply refused to do.

Then, I stumbled upon VLC. I installed it, slid the DVD in, pushed “play,” and voila! the DVD started playing. Since then, I haven’t found a DVD that VLC (sorry about all the acronyms) won’t play, regardless of region. It has full menu support, top-notch image quality, and is very simple to use.

So, do you really need one of those commercial products to play DVDs on your computer? Absolutely not. And VLC doesn’t just play DVDs. It plays just about every audio and video format out there.

VLC really delivers. Give it a shot.

Download VLC here.

Picasa rules the roost for free photo organizers and editors. Some people might not agree, but they’re wrong.

When you first install Picasa on your computer, you can tell it to scan your “My Documents” folder and it will quickly scan all your pictures and organize them (based on their EXIF information) by date.

If you’ve named your folders or files at all, you can use the search functionality to find whatever image folder or file you need, quickly and easily.

You can edit pictures. Cut, crop, straighten, sharpen, add some fill light, add some blur to the edges, color some parts while leaving other parts black and white . . . after downloading, check out the different options for editing. Theres’ a lot to play with.

The best part of all this (well, a good part) is that none of the organization or edits are permanent. Picasa adds a file to your image folders called picasa.ini. It stores the edits and changes made but no changes or edits are actually made to your original picture files. Your OWN method of filing doesn’t change. You can still access all your image files via Explorer. They’ll be whever you put them, and they’ll be unchanged. Your original images don’t ever change, regardless of how many edits you perform in Picasa. Everything you do is un-doable. But if you do want a permanent image from Picasa, simply export it to a location on your hard drive and voila! it will be there, permanently, with all the edits you’ve applied.

Picasa also integrates very nicely with most email clients. Simply press a button and it will automatically resize and attach the picture for you in one easy step.

It does a whole lot more than I’ve said here . . . but I’ll leave all those extra little goodies for you to find yourself.

Now, really, the best part of all this is that Picasa is free. It’s a very high quality program that’s really worth paying for. But you don’t have to. Once you get it, you’ll wonder how you got along without it.

Download Picasa here.

I thought long and hard about what this Psalm meant. And these musings of mine aren’t meant to be anything but that - musings. I don’t claim to be a theologian (as you can probably tell from reading my other blurbs) and I don’t claim to have God’s mind on any of these subjects.

Like David, though, I’m an emotional guy, and I go through times of turmoil, also like David. And that’s what I like about the Psalms. They’re real. David spills his guts. He lays it all on the line. His writings pulse with emotion. So . . . when you read what I have to say, keep in mind that I’m a regular guy, going through trials and tribulations of my own, finding inspiration in David’s words.

As I said in an earlier rant, I appreciate how David goes to God when he’s in trouble. We often don’t do that. We go through difficulties with our health, in our jobs, in our relationships, and we seek relief. Different people turn to different things: alcohol or drugs, meaningless relationships, pornography, exercise, shopping, television . . . anything to mitigate the pain, at least temporarily. Why we avoid God when life turns upside down amazes me. I do it all the time. I think we’d do well to watch David’s example and cry out to God when life begins to crumble.

But this Psalm says more to me than that. This Psalm reminds me that God rules the earth. He created us; we can’t hope to fully understand Him; we don’t have the right to question His sovereignty. God will punish the wicked; they will come to ruin. This Psalm reminds me that Hell is real and that many people are headed there. How can this be fair? I can’t answer that question. But as David says,

¹² If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;
¹³ he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.

We need to remember, like David, that being on God’s side is of utmost importance. The wicked will surely burn.

As a side note, on December 7, 1856, Charles Spurgeon wrote a sermon on Psalm 7:12 called “Turn or Burn.” I got my inspiration for my title from that sermon.

Why pay for a commercial solution when many suitable free options exist?

I use Windows Defender for my real-time protection and Ad-Aware for my on-demand scanning.

In my opinion (and an opinion is all that it is) a real-time protection program is a must. Having an on-demand scanner is just an added bonus. Scan your computer with it once in a while to see if any crap has surreptitiously bypassed your real-time protection.

There are other viable options . . . and they don’t cost a cent either.

Spybot - Search & Destroy
An effective on-demand scanner.

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition
A free anti-spyware program bundled with Google Pack (I don’t recommend Google Pack - ’tis somewhat intrusive and often contains outdated versions of software). Additionally, Spyware Doctor consumes a lot of system resources, so I don’t recommend it for older computers. This program has limited real-time monitoring options and can also be used as an on-demand scanner.

AVG Anti-Spyware Free Edition
This on-demand scanner costs nothing and removes spyware others aren’t capable of removing. Real-time protection exists on the commercial version only. This program works well in combination with a program that provides real-time monitoring services.

Spyware Terminator
This program provides real-time protection as well as on-demand scans. Like other programs of this ilk, it also consumes a fair amount of system resources, so if you possess an older machine, this program may slow it down.

Spywareblaster
Providing a different style of protection, this program “blocks installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted software.” It doesn’t have to be running in the background like other programs. This program works well for those still using Internet Explorer.

My Recommendation
On my computer I run Windows Defender as my real-time monitor and Ad-aware as my on-demand scanner. I really think, though, that AVG Anti-Spyware does a better job removing malicious spyware and adware than any other free program out there; I’ve just been too lazy to install it on my computer. If you do install it, I’d immediately disable the real-time monitoring, automatic updates and scheduled scans as they run out anyway in thirty days. I’d then use msconfig to take it out of my startup items. Then, I’d run it manually (download updates and run a scan) about once a week.

If you have an older computer, Windows Defender might slow it down a bit. Spyware Terminator might be a better option for you. Additionally, if you have Vista installed on your computer, you already have Windows Defender so you don’t really have to worry about it. I know some of you are really anti-Microsoft, but in my opinion, Windows Defender is the obvious choice for a free real-time spyware monitor. It just works.

Did you know that if you type certain characters in a WordPress blog, they will appear as little images referred to as smilies? Try typing these symbols into a comment or a post and the blog will output these pretty little pictures (or smilies).

Some are duplicates, as you can see. Why? I don’t know. Don’t ask me. Just pick your preferred method and have fun with it.

Check ‘em out.

Code	Image	Code	Image
:smile:		:evil:
:-)		:twisted:
:)		:mad:
:grin:		:-x
:-D		:x
:D		:sad:
:razz:		:-(
:-P		:(
:P		:cry:
:wink:		:neutral:
;-)		:-|
;)		:|
:eek:		:shock:
:-o		8-O
:o		8O
:cool:		:-?
8-)		:???:
8)		:oops:
:lol:		:arrow:
:roll:		:idea
:mrgreen:		:?:
		:!:

I’ll preface this by saying I’m not a computer expert. My setup (Windows-based) has worked effectively for me over the past few years, so I’ll share it with you.

Anti-Virus
First off, get rid of your fancy anti-virus software and download and install AVG. It’s free, has a small footprint, works on XP and Vista, and provides adequate virus protection. I’ve been using it for years and have not had a single virus. Check out my earlier post on AVG here. Using AVG will also improve your system’s overall performance.

Spyware Protection
For spyware protection, I run Windows Defender. It starts up with my computer, provides real-time protection (which most free anti-spyware programs do not), and integrates seamlessly with XP (it’s built into Vista, so if you have Vista, you already have Windows Defender). I also have Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware, which I run (just for fun) about once per month. It hasn’t detected any spyware on my system for a very long while.

Firewall
I make sure that Windows Firewall is always running. It’s especially a good idea if you have an “always-on” connection. Windows Firewall does a good job of keeping my PC secure. I haven’t needed to go out and find a commercial solution or any other solution, for that matter. So many people are “anti-Microsoft,” but I’m just a regular guy who likes my computer to run - safely and smoothly (meaning without glitches or overt hardship). And the built in Windows firewall does its job well. To access it in XP or Vista, go to your control panel and double click on “security.”

Safe Browsing
Use the open source Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. This may seem like a small thing, but it isn’t. When I ran Internet Explorer as my default browser, I picked up all sorts of spyware. Every time I ran my spyware program, it found 20 to 50 critical items. After switching to Firefox, the typical result when I run my spyware scanner is “zero items.” I haven’t had any spyware other than a couple of tracking cookies for the last couple years.

Windows Updates & Auto-Updating Programs
Keep up on your Windows updates! I have automatic updates turned off, but it’s important to remember (if you do have this feature turned off) to remember to manually update your computer. If you have a bad memory, let Windows do updates for you automatically. Personally, I hate leaving any auto-update feature running on my computer. I have every single automatically updating program on my computer (that I know of) turned off. It results in superior system performance and you control what you update on your computer instead of leaving that up to the software manufacturers.

Temporary Files
Clear out your temporary files once in a while. I use Ccleaner to do the job (just remember, if you install Ccleaner, be sure to pay attention to the prompts while installing; I don’t recommend the programs it comes bundled with). I use it probably once each day. It enhances system performance and gets rid of pesky tracking cookies that may have found their way in.

Email Attachments
Don’t open up any attachments unless you’re sure they’re safe. If you don’t know what it is, quell your curiosity and just delete it, even if it’s from someone you trust. Often viruses attach themselves to contacts stored in an address book then send off emails to all those contacts. So it’s very possible to get an email from a trusted source that still contains a virus. If you have any question about whether an attachment is legitimate or not, play it safe and just get rid of it.

Regular Registry Backups
I don’t recommend the following for everyone but it works very well for me. I don’t use system restore. I’ve found it to be clunky and ineffective. It uses a lot of hard drive space, and can slow things down on your system. I use a program called ERUNT (Emergency Recovery Utility NT). It’s free and fast and takes up a lot less space than system restore. It doesn’t back up as many things as system restore, but backing up the registry is what you really need for reverting back to a previous state. The point here is: make regular registry backups, whether you use system restore or another program, so that if a major catastrophe occurs, you can revert back to a previous (stable) state.

Regular File Backups
Again, if all your efforts to protect yourself fail, you still need a way to recover your data. So, make regular backups of your “documents and settings” folder. That contains all your valuable information. There are many ways to do this, which I won’t go into now. Just make sure you do it! The easiest way is to copy the “documents and settings” folder, then paste it onto a second hard drive or another storage medium.

You can do more to protect your system, but do you need to? Let me know if you have any other suggestions.

If you’re tired of Norton or McAfee getting into every nook and cranny of your PC and slowing it to a crawl, it’s time to step into the world of a much less intrusive, effective, and free (yes, absolutely FREE) anti-virus solution.

Most of you probably have already heard of AVG, but perhaps you’ve been unwilling to go from a “trusted” name to a free, no-frills option. Well, let me dispel your fears. I’ve been using AVG for the last three or four years (after re-installing Windows to erase every trace of the hated Norton from my machine) and life has been completely virus-free the entire time.

AVG works perfectly on XP and Vista, so no worries there. The free version updates automatically, runs daily scans, and integrates nicely with your email client for effective email scanning. I use Thunderbird as my email client, and the integration is seamless.

Finding the correct balance between security and performance can be tricky. For my security suite, I run AVG, coupled with the built-in Windows firewall, and Windows Defender (which I’ll talk about another time). I also use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, further reducing my risk of viruses and spyware.

Download AVG Free Edition here.

Right now I’m feeling tired. Mindless. Useless. Incompetent. Persecuted. I’m sick and tired of my job, of the negativity that pervades it. I’m disgusted with my laziness, my lack of motivation to get anything done. I lack confidence in my ability to do my job. I wonder how sincere I am in wanting to help the students. Existence seems so meaningless. Go to work. Be abused. Argue. Go home. Watch television. Sit around. Be lazy. Eat. Sit at the computer. Go back to work. Get abused some more. The cycle seems endless, and life (especially mine) seems like a complete waste.

My heart needs to be right with God. I need to seek Him and His will. I need to read His Word. I need to pray. Again, I need to look at David’s example. When he experienced trouble, he cried out to God. He recognized his sin and begged for forgiveness. He cried out in anguish; he wept; He sought God’s mercy.

When we sin, do we look to God and beg Him for mercy? Do we remember that He alone rules and judges the earth? Do we know that even in our utter weakness He listens to us? After David pleads to God for mercy and deliverance, he says,

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
Psalm 6:9 (ESV)

When our lives start crumbling down around us, we can call on God to pick up the pieces. He waits for us; He remains patient; His mercy endures forever.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:13

¹⁷ When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.
¹⁸ The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
¹⁹ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Psalm 34:17-19 (ESV)

I’ve just posted a very powerful testimony. Danielle struggled with many people in her life who treated her very badly. And that’s putting it lightly. People did things to her that I find hard to imagine.

I struggle with getting along with people at work. I often feel that my team teacher has it out for me, or that Joe Blow is spreading awful rumors about me. I then get this irresistible urge (well, almost irresistible) to put them (verbally) in their place. I ponder various situations in my mind, and I rehearse scenarios in which I back these scumbags into a corner, verbally assault them, and vindicate myself!

But when I hear a story like this, it reminds me what we, as Christians, are called to do. We’re called to follow the example of Jesus, our great God and Savior. He loved people unconditionally, even people He knew were going to kill Him. He calls us to give up everything for Him. Giving up everything also means giving up our hatred, our anger, our spite - all our ugly baggage. Being like Jesus doesn’t come easily or naturally. But being His servant means losing ourselves so that we can gain an eternity with Him.

²⁶ If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:26-27 (ESV)

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.
30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.
31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
32 If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.
35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
37 Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;
38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
Luke 6:27-38 (ESV)

Read Danielle’s testimony here.

Google Earth displays the world in living color . . . from the birds-eye view of a satellite. You won’t enjoy it if you’re sporting a dial-up connection on your computer, but if you have high-speed Internet access you’ll definitely enjoy it.

Areas that aren’t overly populated look a bit “grayed out;” in other words, they lack fine detail. If you want to see detail, look at populated areas (an area like where you live). I have no problem zooming right in on my house. Then, if I feel like flying over my old home in Alaska, I can zoom over there and check it out. If I feel like flying to England and checking out the Eiffel Tower, Google Earth zips me over the ocean and I can check it out from all angles.

Google Earth displays streets, buildings (in a simulated three-dimensional view if you’d like), landmarks . . . you won’t get tired of playing with this program, guaranteed.

One little-known interesting feature of Google Earth is its ability to act as a flight simulator. You can fly an F-22 (fighter jet) and accelerate straight up into the atmosphere) or you can fly an SR-22, a high-performance four-seat prop plane. In order to access the flight simulator for the first time, you must press Ctrl + Alt + A, or, for you Mac fanatics, Command/Open Apple Key + Option + A. Once you’ve opened the flight simulator once, simply go to Tools > Enter Flight Simulator. Controls can be found at this website.

Does Google Earth’s flight simulator compare with a real flight simulator? Absolutely not! But it’s fun, and the scenery is second to none.

Download Google Earth here.