Devotions for Thursday, August 31st 2006

The Choice You Must Make>>>more
from the Harvest Online website

Tonight is MTV's Video Music Award Show. Even as a Christian for years I would watch it from time to time knowing I shouldn't but about 2-3 years ago I finally made up my mind not to watch once and for all.

Pink was performing her song, 'Trouble' and a comment she made maybe some people caught, some people didn't and maybe some people just didn't care; close to the end of her song she yelled out to the young audience, "How many people want to go to hell with me!"...that did it for me, that was it...no more MTV music award shows for me and for that matter no more MTV period.

When coming to Christ Jesus we think we will lose out on so many 'fun' things but I beg to differ. I have never been more happier, more free, more relaxed in my life. Will there be trials: yes; will there be friends, family members talk about you, tease you: yes. I made up my mind in 2000 that if I was going to be an 'outsider', a 'misfit' I might as well be in the family full of misfits...Paul, Peter, Moses, Noah, Esther, Ruth, Abigail; I think I'm in good company.

God will hold us accountable when we meet Him in the end, I want to do the best I can because His Son gave up so much for me to have not only happiness on earth but when we get to Heaven as well. :-)

Have a great day everyone.

Praying For Our Children
from Christian Embassy Church

Boldness

I pray that my children would fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel of Christ Jesus

Ephesians 6:19

other devotions: inTouch ministries, our daily bread, parent talk

photo: google image

Devotions for Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Grafted Into Christ>>>>more
from InTouch Ministries website

This is one area in my life I have a problem with sometime, trying to do everything in my own strength. You think by now I would know that I can't live this Christian life without Jesus but my flesh tries to take over and it goes well for a short time then I hit a wall and it comes back to me, I need Him always.

I think we Christians do this from time to time but thank God for His patience and mercy with us.

Then there is the exact opposite: We pray and pray expecting God to do EVERYTHING for us but it doesn't work that way. This is partnership with our Heavenly Father. We have to be obedient, focus, have faith knowing that He will always be there for us no matter what the circumstance. He is not our 'Genie in the bottle'.

By allowing the Holy Spirit to develop the spiritual fruits inside us we have a much well balance life and we can cope with situations much better.

Praying For Our Children
from Christian Embassy Church

Prayerfulness

"I ask that my children would be committed to prayer, and not faint, lose heart or give up".

Luke 18:1

other devotions for today: rbc ministries, harvest online, turning point

photo: google image

I'd LOVE to work here

Could you imagine having almost abolute control of the interent. Well know you can get a glimpse of how it all works.

Video: See where the Internet lives

This is sooo amazing. I couldn't imagine how big this place is or just how it really looks. I bet it's cool though. It's like a nerds Disney Land. LOL...

Well enjoy.

Peace, Love and Monkeys...

Luis

Devotions for Friday, August 25th, 2006...Happy Friday

What Is The Unpardonable Sin?>>>more
from InTouch Ministries website

This is one subject I have to admit I'm still learning more and more about everyday. Reading the devotion from Dr. Charles Stanley this morning I understand a little more but I still have have a way to go. From what I'm have read there is no sin so great that our Lord and Savior can't forgive.

I know if someone has stolen or committed adultrey or even child molestation can be welcomed back into God's loving arms but 'speaking against the Holy Spirit' that is the unforgiveable sin.

It also says in the devotion that the Pharisees witness Jesus Christ miracles first hand and that is how they committed the 'unforgiveable sin' because they saw and said it was the work of Satan. But don't we witness miracles today and people doubt our Lord and Savior?

I witness His wonders day in and day out. I will be the first to admit, I'm still learning His Word and His ways and I am truly thankful that He wakes me up everyday and reveals more and more to me but I have a very long way to go.

This subject I will look more into as time goes on and by reading the devotion today gives you, the reader more insight than myself, please write me back a comment or two because learning and living God's Word is such a joy but I will be the first to admit (again) I do not have all the answers.

Have a Blessed, Safe, and Fun Weekend everyone. :-)

Praying For Our Children

from Christian Embassy Church

Hope

God of hope, grant that my children may overflow with hope and hopefulness by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

other devotions: insight for living, harvest online, turning point

P.S. Our Church, Christian Embassy Church will be having their Youth Explosion tonight at 7pm CST and Greg Laurie's Harvest '06 is on TBN tonight, Saturday, and Sunday...check it out.

photo: google image

ummm...Okay?

A Racy Twist for Survivor>>>more
story found by Luis from Yahoo! News

This is why I have switched HGTV. What's the purpose for this Survior season dividing the tribes by different races? CBS calls it creative, me personally, I call it 'cha-ching'. Viacom owns CBS as well as MTV correct? hmmmm.

The regular networks are trying so hard to compete with cable that anything goes now for ABC, CBS, & NBC. I'm 41 years of age and to many I'm a 'young buck' still, but I have seen plenty at my age and I have seen thing come back around packaged into something new.

This season to me sound like a classic 'The Simpsons' season. You know some knuckle head on the show is going to say something out of the way and you know CBS will be selling the 'unrated' DVD for the Survivor: Cook Island season.

Come on guys, be men and women enough to call this what this season really is....Money in the back baby' season.

Let the racist mud slinging begin. (now this is scraping the bottom of the barrel CBS...WAY TO GO!!!)

DarrenKeith

other articles: getting along with critical people, what women want, TiVo teams up with Cox

photo: E! Online

Back and Forth

Hui Makes Pitch For Gateway Retail Unit >>>more
fromYahoo! Tech website

I see the Gateway computers in Best Buy stores, Circuit City stores and I just can't get up the nerve to buy one. I have heard too many horror stories about getting service for their desktops and notebook computers. Gateway make you jump through hoops just to return one of their machines.

Even when Gateway had their retail stores I never been inside one...never had the desire to go inside and look around; the eMachine back in the day appealed to me more than Gateway. Come to think of it, I never looked at their website. I think once I finish this I will look at Gateway's website and eMachines.

Why does affordable computers have to look so bland? Even the wind up notebook looks more appealing than Gateway.

Ok...I take that back; but really, their computers has never 'WOW'ed me. The commercials Gateway have had in the past were pretty cool (the one Gateway commercial with the employees running on the plains delivering computers to different people is classic) and commercials are suppose to nudge you one way or another but nope, not this geek.

Hopefully Mr. Hui gets his hands on the company and turn it around and make me eat crow but until then....no Gateway for me.

If anyone thinks different about Gateway computers, please write me because I'm really not bashing Gateway it's just their machines just look like...machines.

other tech stories: aol to sell movies, myspace adds china, a divide over the future of hard drives

Devotions for Thursday, August 24, 2006

Resisting Humility>>>more
from the turning point daily website

I guess I have always enjoyed sharing information with others; whether it was devotions, tech information, showing a tech gadgets. It didn't hit me until yesterday but I remember being a lobby officer at a company and there was a place where I would put a positive message up everyday so when employees and visitors came in it would give them something to think about from time to time, put a smile on their faces.

Why did I do this because I really did not have to get up early each day, find a message to put out there on the board for anyone, I could have kept it to myself. Because that is what our Lord has placed in me to do; to give something back to people and I did this because that type of encouragement was never giving to me coming up but God has blessed me to give a kind word back to people.

Even living in Florida, I would get up early in the morning, find devotions on the web, format them in PDF form, foward them to my job and before I sent them out I would find a beautiful picture, copy and paste the picture in the email along with the PDF devotions and send them out to my co-workers.

Now I have a way of sharing these devotions not only with my co-workers but the world. I don't know how many people read this blog...maybe one person, maybe many people but one thing is for sure, I really enjoy doing this because I enjoy technology and I love getting God's Word out to people.

DarrenKeith

Praying For Our Children
from Christian Embassy Church

A Servant's Heart

"God, help my children develop sevants' hearts, that they may serve wholeheartedly".

Ephesians 6:7

other devotions for today: InTouch Ministries, Harvest Online, RBC Ministries

photo: google image

Has iPod Hit Parade Stalled?>>>more
from cnet news website

This is too funny. Not the fact that Apple's iPod creators may have hit a wall but the time frame the tech world calls a 'long time'. This article is saying 'since February' no updates has been made to the iPod. This just shows how rapid things develop in the tech world.

I have a mini iPod (6GB) and when the Nano was first revealed, I did not run out and buy it because the Nano only came with a 2GB & 4GB. Maybe by the end of this year the Nano may have a larger flash based memory but for now I'm sticking with my Mini-iPod.

I like my mini because not only the the hard drive space but just the design. True the Nano has a very sleek design but I think some things are better left alone. Apple is notorious for this, I'm still missing the very first iBooks...I miss the colors.

I wrote earlier that everyone has to tumble from the mountain top and maybe in a year or two (heck maybe by the time I finish writing this essay) the iPod will be bumped from the top spot for mp3 player.

SanDisk has come out with a very nice looking small mp3 player, Creative's Zen is not have stepping and Microsoft will be coming out with their Zune. If the interface is as simple to use as the iPod, it's number maybe up.

Maybe Chris Rock called it right a while back, 'Here today, Gone today'.

other tech articles: 100 fastest growing tech companies, dell stops selling music players, fortune smiles on space race sponser

photo: google image

Selecting Hearing.....Devotions for Wednesday, August 23rd 2006

No Substitutions Allowed>>>more
devotion from InTouch Ministries

I learn so much from our pastor, he is a true man of God. I respect pastor Griffin because he does not compromise God's Word...he let's the Holy Spirit work through him and tell the congregation what God has placed on his heart no matter if the subject is painful or not. It's amazing how we hear one thing or not another like homosexuality...most Christians hearthat loud and clear when the pastors says that's a sin (which it is) but when the pastor touches on 'sex outside of marriage', 'living together out of wedlock', it's like some people hearing just shut off. Having tough love on strangers or friends...loud and clear pastor, tough love on family members?...Huh?!? What was that again?

The book of Jonah in the Holy Bible may be one of shortest books but it's packs with so much information, knowledge in there. Disobedience, selfishness, self pity, arrogance, prejudice, humor.

When God tells us to do something, we must do it plain and simple. We can do what we want because our heavenly Father has giving us free will but sometimes He will let the flood gates of trouble flood our lives until we come back into His loving arms. I have noticed that first hand in my life. I know He has told me to do one thing and I do something else because I want to do it my way and every time I end up coming back repenting and doing His will and the results are awesome.

His love for us is so great, so merciful but he is a just God. He only wants what is best for us even if we don't understand why at times. I'm a work in progress but the more I see when obeying God the results are so nice it gets easier and easier to heed to His direction for my life.

DarrenKeith

Praying For Our Children
from Christian Embassy Church

Faith

Lord, help my children to fight the good fight of faith, taking hold of the eternal life to which they were called.

1 Timothy 6:12

other devotions for today: rbc ministries, greg laurie, leading the way

photo: google image

Arm Yourself Against
Malicious Sites>>>>more
from the csmonitor.com website

Fighting the war against spyware, adware, and other pest software that try to cling to your computer is tougher than ever. Gone are the days of just having one anti-virus software to catch everything is long gone. Two ways to fight this is 1. Having more than one anti-spyware software, anti-virus software and 2. YOU the user

1. True, Ad-Aware by LavaSoft is a great free software tool to have but I also have Microsoft Defender and Webroot Spysweeper on my system as well. Spysweeper you have to purchase but hey, would you rather spend $30 or take your machine to a computer repair shop costing you about $100 or more...you do the math. I have my anti-spyware software check my computers when I'm sleeping (and Spysweeper and Defender have real time running in the background) and I have them run a couple of hours behind one another. I also have AVG anti-virus

2. YOU...the user. Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Chris Pirillio, my buddies Luis, Javier and a sleuth of computer gurus will tell you...watch what sites you click on...period. Go to trusted sites like download.com, sourceforge.com and there are other good sites to download software. Places like limewire, kaaza are a big, and I mean a BIG no no (noticed I didn't even put them as links) these sites are loaded with spyware, adware, Trojan horses. Many of peer-to-peer sites you should not download software from because it may hurt you in the end.

Also when a pops up ad appears on your screen saying, 'you are unprotected' or any pop up ad of that nature...DO NOT CLICK ON IT!!!! Do not click on links within a email unless you know that person because he or she know the site well. If there is a link, copy and paste it in another browser window.

And finally, you may have heard me say this time and time again...don't use Internet Explorer, use Mozilla Firefox. I'm not saying that Firefox is bullet proof but compared to IE, surfing the web with Firefox is far more safer.

The web is a cool place to use, to surf but with the good will come the bad...be proactive and not reactive. software running as well. I have a firewall enable on our router. It's a shame you have to have this on your computer but I have had to reformat my entire hard drive and that is not fun. Reloading applications, running Windows update...it takes up time (sometime a day or two).

DarrenKeith

tech news & Christian articles: family life facts, bob Dylan: technology sucks, may i say...

photo:google image

Reaching Out Or Sudden Death For Mozilla?

Microsoft Reaches Out
to Firefox Developers>>>more
from ZDNet website

Microsoft for some strange reason is trying to reach out to the open source community. Why? Microsoft has waited forever and a day to add tab browsing to Internet Explorer and I know it's good to make sure your OS has the latest updates but sometime Microsoft's update has done more harm than good and so many people are used to using Mozilla Firefox. From the article, some people are kind of suspicious of Microsoft.

My thought...stick to what you're doing Mozilla, you do it well.

DarrenKeith

other articles: Vista discounts?, microsoft's mp3 players will have videos, campaign targets web crimes

photo: google image

Daily Devotion for Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Not To Get On God's Bad Side>>>>more
from Harvest Online website

I was a child that got into trouble a lot...I wasn't a trouble maker but just one of those kids that whenever I tried something I got catch; for instance, my cousin Freddie had a wind up Evil Knievil motorcycle and action figure and we were playing with it in the alley. Freddie would wind it up, let it go....it went into the streets one time and rode right under a moving car...Not a scratch on the action figure or motorcycle, we thought that was so cool. I got a hold of the action figure and toy motorcycle, wound the toy up, let it go into the street...SPLAT!!! A tractor-trailer came along and smashed it into pieces. Man I got a beating that day from my mother and earlier that day she told me not to play with his toy but by me being disobedient I did it anyway.

My mother was the kind of mom that she meant what she said when she said it, if she could buy me something she would, if she couldn't she wouldn't. If she told me not to do something and I did it, I got corrected for it and it wasn't because she did corrected me out of anger but of love (didn't feel that way at the time...LOL). Some kids she would let me hang out with and others she did not. Now at the time I thought she was being mean but later in life I had to go back and thank her because she knew best.

That's the way our Heavenly Father watches over us....God loves us no doubt about it but if you ever get on God's bad side...ummm...it's not good. Our pastor has taught our congregation that when you're God's child...He chastises you when you are out of His will...when you're are not a child of God...His wrath is upon you. Is that mean and cruel no, not at all. God is a patient God, His grace and mercy is wonderful...look at Noah, it took Noah and his sons about a 100 years to build the ark and God had Noah preached the Word to the unsaved. Just think, he build, he preach...he build, he preached and no one took heed to Noah's word for about a hundred years. When the flood came the people had no one to blame but themselves.

God wishes no one to perish but God does have a time limit...don't test Him because the consequence can be servere.

Praying For Our Children
from Christian Embassy Church

Contentment

Father, teach my children the secret of being content in every situation, through Him who gives them strength.

Philippians 4:12-13

devotions and tech article: InTouch Ministries, cnet|technology, turning point, rbc ministries

It's Only A Matter Of Time Before Apple Becomes Public Enemy #1

iTunes--->How Long Can
musicians Hold Out>>>>more
story from CNN.com|Technology website

I have an iPod, I like my iPod, but I'm getting fed up with iTunes. True, the software is cool and very easy to use but what I really dislike about it is that if you lose your songs you have to pay for them again even though their database shows you have purchased the song.

I recently used eMusic. To me that's a pretty nice site for downloading music. Granted, their library is not as large as iTunes (it's only a matter of time I'm hoping that it will grow) but one thing I really dig about eMusic is that there are different tiers to sign up for to download music, their songs or albums are in different kps so say for example, you download a song from eMusic and the mp3 is 192kps, you can save the song and bumped down to 160kps or 128kps and still have the original download song at the original compression...with iTunes it's 128kps and that's it.

Another cool thing if you lose your song (which just recently I lost about 1,000 songs do to hard drive failure...yes I know, 'why didn't I back up the songs'..that's another story in itself) when I went to eMusic to download the songs I lost, I was able to download them at no charge, with iTunes you can't do that. I heard someone say that if Apple had the market as Microsoft has Apple would be worse, I believe it.

One thing I have learned over the years is that everyone has their time in the sun and with the downloadable music it's iTune's turn to shine but if Apple refuse to be flexible with the way we download music from their site it's only a matter of time before someone comes along and bump them off the top of the mountain.

Apple is going to slip from number one there is no doubt about it...but don't lose your spot because of the hatred of your company.

other tech articles: new york times, friendster finds funding, heads roll at aol

photo: google image

Devotions for Monday, August 21, 2006

The Practical Helper>>>more
from InTouch Ministries

Allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and heeding to the Holy Spirit takes total trust on our part because we are surrendering to God's will for our live. It's hard for us trust the Lord sometimes, especially when we are baby Christians. But praying, reading God's word and being obedient to Him makes our life so much simpler.

Jesus Christ took on our burdens, our troubles with him to the cross so we can concentrate on the things our Lord and Savior need us to focus on...our love for Him, our family and friends, serving His kingdom. When we heed to the Holy Spirit, every day things will fall into place in our lives; our finances will be in order, our family will be in order, even our pleasures will be in order; but the key word again is obedience.

Praying For Our Children
from Christian Embassy Church

Responsibility

Lord grant that my children would learn to be responsible, for each one should carry his own load.

Galatians 6:5

other devotions for Monday: greg laurie, james mcdonald, chuck swindoll

photo: google image

Devotions and Wisdom For The Weekend...August 19 & 20 2006

Staying Committed To God>>>more
from In Touch Ministries

It's hard to keep your focus on our Lord and Savior when you're going through a rough patch in your life...whether it's dealing with people on your job, your finances, dealing with your children in their teenage years. We go through guilt, anger, sadness when we call on Him and it seems nothing is happening. I remember on one television broadcast when Dr. Stanley said, "when we're waiting, God is working".

We can't see what's going on in the background but let me assure you, God has not left our side. While we're going through the storm, God is making us stronger and stronger because it will get better and we will come out wiser each and every time. Sometimes our plans fall through and we knew that was the right decision or idea at the time and we can't understand why things did not work out but later on down the line we thank God that 'idea' or 'situation' did not pan out the way we thought it should go.

There is a saying which is so true: "Thank God he does not answer ALL my prayers".

Have a Blessed, Safe, Productive and Fun weekend.

Praying For Our Children
from Christian Emabassy Church

Humility

God, please cultivate in my children the ability to show true humility toward all

Titus 3:2

other wisdom tibits: teaching children about finances, overspending during the holidays, nurses assisting in patient not smoking

photo: google image

Having The Storage Space Blues For Your Notebook...Try A Hard Drive Upgrade

Upgrade Your Notebook's Hard Drive>>>more
story found on the Washington's Tech Website

This article I believe will help some people, I know me. I'm in the process of buying new notebooks (I'm looking at Apple's MacBookPro and Dells) but I'm kind of attached to my old notebooks as well (an IBM Thinkpad T20 and a little Compaq Armada m300). These two notebooks are very old in 'Tech Years' (sort of my way of saying in 'Dog Years' because most people advised to replace your computers in 2-3 years) both of these machines are less than a GHz and a Pentium III processor but they get the job done. With the hard drive space, they are really dinosaurs. But I found a couple websites that have larger hard drives and batteries for notebooks.

CMS Products sales upgrades for your desktop and notebooks (or laptop as some of us old folks like to say) and to me the prices are not bad. My Think pad has a 20GB hard drive and to today's standards....that is small, heck my m300 has a 12GB hard. I want a larger hard drive for my T20 because I haven't seen too many notebooks with the headphone, microphone and line-in jack. (thinking about bumping it up to a 100 or 120GB hard drive). I know I have to buy another notebook because this only on has one (1) USB port and I believe it's a 1.1.

A couple of other places sell products you will need down the road....like batteries for your notebook;

I have come across three websites that sell notebooks because notebook batteries are not cheap, Durcell Direct.com, PlanetBattery.com, BatteryDepot.com are just some of the sites to begin your search and one thing I have learned from Luis and Javier...do your homework and shop around. Buying from the manufacture is good but their prices sometime are a little steep (to upgrade RAM for some of Apple's notebooks to 2GB is $500....Ouch!).

other articles: high price domain names in china, next treo to be released soon,
japan & gibson guitars

photo: google image

What Ever Happen To The Old Fashion Bullies?

Cyberbullies Use High-Tech Gear
To Torment Student>>> more
story from the Chicago Tribune

When I was in grade school I worried about being chased by bullies, beat up (by hand) by bullies. Now in Illinois a growing number of children are being bullied by...the internet.

When growing up you heard the saying, "Sticks and Stones may break your bones but words can never hurt you". That people is a lie. Having a rumor spread around the school yard is one thing but post a lie on the World Wide Web where not only your school mates but everyone in your town might read it...that can be traumatic for a youngster. Being slandered sometime is worse than a physical beaten because once your self confidence is beaten down it may take a very long time for a person to recover.

other articles: Dish DVR shutdown blocked, Apple: No Sweatshop iPod Labor, How To Control Spending

photo: google image

With Profits Dwindling...Earthlink Is Looking to Regroup

A World Beyond Dial-Up>>>more
story found on nytimes.com|technology

With AOL regrouping, it seems EarthLink is rethinking which direction they want the company to go...dial up customers are still high but dwindling. I remember hearing Roger Chang on Call for Help in 2004 say, "once you go to DSL or Cable, you can't go back". For me that's very true. I don't need digital cable or satellite TV with a billion channels, just give me basic and expanded basic channels (really...as long as I have the Golf, Travel channel, Trinity Broadcast Network, HGTV, USA, A&E and UndoTV...once it hits the air waves...I'm a happy camper) but I do need my high speed internet.

My wife teases me all the time, when I first walk in the house I'm turning on my computers and surfing the web...uummm to bring you important news like this so I have to have fast internet service.

When living in Florida, EarthLink was bundled in our internet package...don't know why, I always used Mozilla Firefox browser or Opera browser...never could get the gist of using EarthLink's software, I would install it and then uninstall the software. Maybe I was just dumb but it always seems to hinder me from using the web (or maybe I was just lazy by not playing around with the settings, who knows). I never used the email addresses I set up through EarthLink, never had a need to because I would use my Yahoo! or Google GMail email accounts.


I hope EarthLink chooses which way they want the company to go because over all...it's a really cool looking company, I mean you have to admit....that orange catches your eye.

other articles: politicians chasing MySpace users, on the horizon, if Jesus were alive today...

photo: google image

Devotions From Intouch Magazine Online, Friday...August 18th

The Holy Spirit Today>>>more
from Dr. Charles Stanley's website

People who are not saved called it, 'instinct', 'a gut feeling', 'intuition' but I know him as the 'Holy Spirit'. The Holy Spirit warns you when you should or should not do something, head a certain way, to deal with a certain people.

But the Holy Spirit will make not us obey Him, that is where our obedience comes into play. Many people believe that God is trying to keep us away from things, stop us from having fun but our Savior is always trying to keep us safe and protect us because admit it, when we do something that the Holy Spirit has warned us not to do, we pay a big price don't we?

Well, this is the weekend so everyone have a Blessed, Safe, and Fun weekend.

Praying For Our Children
from Christian Embassy Church

PERSEVERANCE

"Lord, teach my children to persevere in all they do, and help them run with perserverance the race set before them"

Hebrews 12:1


other devotions: Greg Laurie, Dr. David Jeremiah, RBC Ministries

photo: google image

Just When You Thought These Things Were Dead...

Segway Redesigns Scooter>>>more
story found on CNN.com|Technology

I heard Leo and the gang talk about these motorized scooters (I believe it was TWiT episode 65) on how it really makes a person look dorky...I guess they heard the TWiT gang and they're trying to make it look sleek, good luck.


other articles: smog blog takes flight, Apple's new server, dvd notes

oh..one more thing

photo: google image

Toys To Take With You While On Vacation

Tech Takes a Summer Break>>> more
story found on The Washington Post/PC World website

I think all of us need to take a break from work, I mean REALLY take a break from work all the way. With so many tech gadgets to keep us in touch with one another at a drop of a dime, if we are going to have tech gadgets with us for work, why not for play?

photo: google image

other articles: aol queries, Samsung mobile phone worries, Apple's Intel Lineup Complete

Devotions for Thursday, August 17th 2006

The Holy Spirit’s Presence from In Touch website>>>>more
Acts 2:1-4

One pastor over the years I have watched over and over on television; even when I was a sinner I could not turn away from him when his program came on, Dr. Charles Stanley. Something about his teaching was very refreshing, informative, very understandable and a couple of years later when attending my wife's church and listening to Pastor Robert Griffin (now my pastor) I gave my life to the Lord.

Dr. Charles Stanley made me fall in love all over again with our Lord and Savior because He has never left me...I walked away from Him, but His love, patience, mercy, and grace kept me alive and help me find a home at Christian Embassy Church. I will send out his devotions as well as Pastor Griffin's virtues 'Praying For Our Children', devotions from Pastor Greg Laurie, Dr. David Jeremiah and others that have touched my life.

Two other items I wish to comment on...first, thank you everyone for the comments you have sent me, this let me know that this blog is doing something right (keep 'em coming!!!).

Second, I have two new Christian websites for you to check out; Tom Whitcomb heard me on Leo's KFI Tech show plugging my blog and he sent me his website, goodnewsdaily, I search around on it and it's a very informative website, and if Tom doesn't mind, I added his link in my blog, go check it out. :-) Second...while listening to Bott Radio Network (the link is also on my blog) I have heard the teaching of Pastor Paul Shepard's Enduring Truth, from what I have heard so far it's really good. Go check out his website as well. Well, I have ran my mouth long enough so as always, Be Blessed, Be Safe, and have a Great Day

Prayer For Our Childern

Joy

Heavenly Father, grant that my children would be filled with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 1:6

other devotions: turning point, pastor greg laurie, our daily bread

photo: google images

Sprint Nextel WiMax Investment...Will It Pay Off?

Sprint Nextel To Form WiMax network>>>> more
story by Paul Taylor: FT.com found from msnbc.com

This concept sounds nice but the number one question is: will the service cheaper and will WiMax be stable? Sprint Nextel stocks have been slipping since the merger last year and news of the price tag for investing in this project sent their stock downward but that's not the only thing Sprint Nextel should be worrying;

Do you think that their stock is slipping not only because of the merger but when you reach customer service is...ummm...crappy? I'm probably not the first and will not be the last to complain but I really hate dealing with customer service because I can barely understand the CSR (this of course comes from outsourcing and treating their employees like tools and not humans).

It's not just customer service...it's the celluar company itself. Sprint Nextel and other celluar companies remind me of pimps, they (the cell phone companies) woo us with their so-called perks, then once we sign the one or two year contract the customer service goes down the toliet.

I hope with this WiMax service is not only a top notch wireless service but the customer service is top notch as well.

On a lighter note: check out the cool gadgets at HGTV's 'I Want That! Tech Toys tonight at 9am & 1am

other articles: Intouch Ministries,MacDirectory ,Yahoo Plugs Security Hole

photo:andrew sovjani

Gaming, Gaming, Gaming, I Love Gaming....

In an extraordinary twist of events media conglomerate AOL buys video game review site Game Daily. Article.

Sounded good huh. Well that was my own line, but it is the truth. AOL has bought the site. Now what??? I don't know either. Game Daily is a pretty cool site, I've checked it out serveral times.

I've been thinking about it lately and even told Darren this, but AOL should go the way of the Yahoo!!!!

They're having problems with it's subscription base so they should just let it dwindle off slowly but surely. No one would loose their precious aol.com emails, but it'll be similar to Yahoo.

Let me mention that Yahoo!! has become a great frickin' site. They have what's called My Web where you can have all of your bookmarks online. Yahoo 360 which is like My Space but cooler. Yahoo photos where you can upload unlimited amount of photos and put them into albums. Overall just all of their services have become much better. I'm really starting to dig everything they're doing.

Anyway, check out both AOL and Yahoo they're both great sites. Yahoo more so in my opinion.

Back to gaming. Check out a couple of the sites below if you're interested in some gaming news. I love reading about the industry, not just what games are coming out and stuff.

1. Game Info Wire
2. IGN
3. GameIndustry.biz
4. Game Spot

Those are just a few but are pretty darn good.

As always....Peace, Love and Monkeys...

Luis

WooHoo....TechTv...ummm..Well Sorta

TechTv reborn As 'UndoTv'
story found by Luis from Wired News|Technology website
read the complete announcement from Chris Pirillo website

Talk about a dream come true...when TechTV was cancelled I believe in 2004 for the G4 televison show (which to me this day I have always said that network kills more brain cells than alcohol) I was really dismade because to me it just proved the point that executives that work in the television industry want to "dummy down" programs to a point where we're babbling idiots; it's to the point the only shows left for me to watch is TBN, INSP, The Golf Channel, HGTV, TLC, and the The Travel Channel (shows like Monk, Pysch,the Law & Order series, and The 4400 are regular television dramas and comedy shows I watch...oh and The Simpsons, can't forget about the Simpsons).

Fast forward to today...Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Kevin Rose, Chris Pirillo, Patrick Norton, Robert Heron, Roger Chang (man I can go on foever with this list) are more popular than ever thanks to their podcast shows and their shows on the web has taking technology to a whole new level. Guys like them and friends like Luis and Javier have inspired me to create this blog.

Now Mr. Luis, the Guru of research has found an article that has some of the old crew from 'TechTV' forming their own channel...UndoTV. 'Call for Help' & 'The Screen Savers' shows were not only entertaining but was packed with so much information. 'Call for Help' was really for the novice user (like myself at the time) and 'The Screen Savers' was geared toward advanced tech heads. The two shows was really a plus for television but was losing money and that is when Paul Allen sold the show.

Now happy days are here again with the developement of this show and if this is true , I will be proven wrong...people really do want 'intelligent television'.

other articles: new planets, sightseeing, greg laurie's devotion

photo:Aurora Page

Microsoft Throws Their Hat In The Ring with Blogging Software

Microsoft Goes Live with New Blog Software>>>more
story found by Luis from Yahoo! News website/Torre Meeks:newsfactor.com

First Blogger.com, then Yahoo! and now Microsoft. The company has their own blogging software called, Live Writer. It's still in beta but from the sound of it, Microsoft's blogging tool is wooing test users.

photograph:Jose website

Another Patch from Microsoft equals....A Pain for Everyone

Microsoft Patch Can Cause IE trouble>>> more
story found on cnet news

This is why I really love Mozilla Firefox browser. I know from time to time there will be problems with software companines, but this coming from Microsoft is nothing new. Maybe I'm being cynical but problems with Microsoft's browser is getting tiresome.

photo: nature revealed

Wired, Aglow and Ready For Class...from TechNews.com website

Reading, Writing,
and arithmetic (and a iPod)
We didn't have a backpacks as a kid (as Luis would say...I'm old as molasses), but this article is pointing out, my how times have changed. Gone are the days of regular book bags, these babies have so many hidden pockets, it would make McGyver blush. I have a Swiss Army backpack myself and believe me, that bag is attached to me like glue.

My "Must Have" items in my bag:

• My iPod
• My digital camera
• Digital recorder
• My Bible
• Extra Batteries
• Two ear buds (my Sony pair and my Apple pair)
• A couple of thumb drives
• A MP3 CD player
• Swiss Army Knife (but of course)
• Pens & Writing Pads
  
• My Journal (don't call it a "Diary")
• My cell phone

This is camp gear for the geek at heart. But for the kids now days, what they carry in their bags probably would put me to shame.

photo: terragen

War breaks online ties between Israelis and Lebanese...From the Christian Science Monitor website

Even in cyberspace these two
countries can't find common ground

Don't let the title fool you...These bloggers are trying to air out there difference in a civil way and that's the way all dialog should be....It's okay to get angry from time to time, voice your opinion and not shed blood.

I know peace will not come until Christ returns but knowing that both sides are trying makes the heart feel good.

A Profound Word For The Evening...from RBC Ministries

Behind The Scenes

Tonight while reading the devotion from "Our Daily Bread" website, it really spoke to me...I'm just getting this blog off the ground and so far I haven't had any comments left. It's kind of discouraging but at the same time, I have never been passionate about something as I am about this blog. To be honest, it's been only a week now but it feels like a lifetime.

I have to be patient, the traffic will come and I have to keep remembering the main reason I'm doing this...to get positive information to as many people I can. I am just a little man but it feels good knowing that what I'm doing with this blog will help someone....whether it's 1 person or 100,000 people, I'm doing this not just for myself but what God has placed in my heart.

photo: nordex pictures

Something Old (Protopage)/Something New (Blogger.com's beta)...sorry nothing Blue

Blogger.com has released a new beta version of their popular blogging publishing tool with a little more flexibility for us bloggers, which is a very good thing using a software called AJAX...but before I continue with the new,lets start with the old;

something old....

Earlier in the year, I heard of this new software application, protopage that uses AJAX, which is pretty cool: for example, you can make a item (they look like sticky notes) on your desktop that can show the tempature and another small window(sticky note) with your bookmarks, another with your photos and so forth; then you can move the items around on your desktop, arrange them anywhere you wish.

Amber and Leo from Inside the Net interviewed the creator of protopage, Andre Parrie. You can change the background color of each "sticky note" or widget (I don't know if I can actually call it a "widget" but bear with me, okay?). I told Luis about this cool little site (which was a first, I actually told him about a new fun tool for the computer). I haven't played around with it in a while but Luis found protopage (second time around...LOL) and sent me an invite to try protopage. Trust me, take it for a test drive (it's free...of course) you'll have fun with the tool.

which brings me to...

something new....

Google's blogger.com has released a beta version of the popular blogging tool that will let you move windows around when you are editing your blog (this too uses a form of the software AJAX). This will give us bloggers more flexibility to arrange our blog window the way we wish.

Adding Link lists is much simpler (before you had to know a little HTML to arrange your blog window...or copy and paste like I did), changing your borders, using more fonts is a added plus as well; yes sir, everyone will be their own "Daily Planet".

These two tools are making it really easy to publish our thoughts and to get them to the masses. WHOOOOO!!!! WHOOOOO!!!(my impression of Ricky Bobby) WHOOOO!!!!


both items found and submitted by Luis
comments by darrenkeith

photo: GUAPA

Open-source fans flock to LinuxWorld...story from cnet website

The Move Is On Toward Open-Source

Earlier this year I finally watched the movie, "Anti-Trust" (movie was okay but as Javier and I always say about the movie...Ryan's character was living every geeks fantasy and the home Tim Robbins' character had was cool and yes i know it was computer generated) the young characters ( Ryan Phillippe , Yee Jee Tso) believed in open-source, sharing the knowledge, the wealth so to speak than trying to hog everything (hint, hint...Microsoft, Apple); prime example, I use Mozilla's Firefox all and I do mean ALL the time for my browsing. The only time I use Internet Explorer is to update Windows. There is a beta version of Internet Explorer 7 out there but I just can't get with it...I mean, it took Microsoft forever and a day to finally include "Tabbing" on their browser. (Opera invented the tabbing inside your browser, Mozilla took it to a higher level).

I really need to start messing around with Linux, learning about this OS (Operating System) because from what I'm seeing, Gates and Jobs better get with the program because really...they don't have a choice.

photograph: landscape & nature

Dell Recall Of Overheating Batteries...from USATODAY.COM|Tech

Dell to recall 4.1M laptop batteries

A couple of podcasts back, TWiT episode 62, Leo and the group was discussing this mishap of people laptops exploding. John Dvorak thought was on this matter and probably on point is that the cause may have been defective batteries. I want a Dell but this makes you wonder.

apple laptop exploding picture: Twit episode 65

photo: clemson world online

Devotion from Paster Greg Laurie's Harvest.org website

Devotional for Tuesday Aug 15, 2006:
Heaven's Awards Ceremony

Yesterday I came across a very good, positive, and uplifting item in our church's calender (shame on me for waiting this long to bring this to you) that's aimed at parents to uplift their children because in the time of day with cell phones, smartphones, emails, over a hundred channels on our television...our children are getting negative information from every direction.

This is why this blog is so important to me; true, I really enjoy technology but getting Godly, positive information out to the masses to me is FIRST priority....so, with that said, I'm going to put in this blog every morning, "Praying for Our Children", Godly principle teachings from our church, Christian Embassy Church.

Pastor Robert Griffin and staff are true people of God and Christian Embassy Church is about teaching Godly principles to cope with worldly teachings.

The "Praying for Our Children" has a biblical virtue for each day. I hope you get a chance to read, and pray these virtues over your children's lives.

Have a Blessed, Safe, and Productive day.

GENEROSITY

"Oh Father, I pray my children would be rich in good deeds, generous and willing to share".

1 Timothy 6:18


other devotions: Intouch Ministries, Turning Point, RBC Ministries

photo: the luminous landscape

Open Office: An Alternative to Microsoft Office (oh...and did i mention it was FREE)

This is one of the reason why Luis and Javier are very good at what they do: finding software tools and applications for your computer and will cost you nada, zip, zero. OpenOffice.org's Open Office (version 2.0.3) is that tool.

This open source office suite is good for people who either can't afford to shuffle out $200-$300 for an application or like me, is just tired of paying outrageous prices for a office application that frankly hasn't really changed since Office 2000.

The size of the program is 93MB (after installation the size is over 200MB) so people who are still using dial-up...please have a friend to download this for you (you can order the program on CD from Microsystem for a donation). Once you get this program installed you will really like the performance. I use this suite more than the Microsoft Office suite...I have OpenOffice on my laptop and i really like.

The program has just about all the applications as Microsoft Office, except for Outlook (but hey, I don't use Outlook myself unless I was at work, and at home that's why I have Yahoo and Gmail). The word application (OpenOffice.org Writer) is a sweet little program that let's you save documents in a PDF form...I hear Microsoft Office 2007 will do this but this gem of an program beat them to the punch.

To me, Sun Microsystem has a winner on their hands with this treasure. Who says something for nothing is not worth a thing...not me.

darrenkeith

Katrina victims blamed for Houston crime...from Yahoo News website

By PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press Writer 37 minutes ago

HOUSTON - A letter to inmate No. 1352951 and a cell phone bill for $76.63, both found in a soggy New Orleans duplex ruined by Hurricane Katrina, led Louisiana bounty hunter James Martin to Texas. Again. more

photograph:xanga.com

The Evolution of Desktops...

Ha this is so frickin' cool. Takes you back in the day. It's the evolution of the desktops. Pretty cool. I remember Windows 3.1, that's about as old as I go. LOL.... Darren I think remembers the stone tablets that they used to write code on.

Digital distribution is starting to happen. Slowly but surely. This article on Yahoo is a testament to that. I think it's cool. As long as the ISP's don't want to start charging different tiers then we should all be able to download what we want when we want. ABC got away from iTunes and now put's up their shows for you to download and watch. Sure you have to watch a commerical or two, but it's free and if you miss a show it's the best option.

Do you like to use IM (Instant Messanger), I do. AOL bought some chat provider and it's huge staff of 12 employees. I don't know what this means or how it will affect AOL IM. But you should be using Trillian anyway. It's one IM program where you can have multiple clients logged in. For instance I have MSN, AOL, Yahoo, ICQ all logged in at the same time and can chat to anyone on my contacts. If you want to chat with me by the way contact me through my blog.

That's all, have a safe and wonderful week. Peace, Love and Monkeys...

Luis