Protection

Most computer users who haven't been living in dungeons with dragons for the last 10 years are aware of computer viruses and anti-virus software. Viruses, of course, are bad, and can wreak havoc on your computer, causing it to do many bad things, from secretly sending Spam email to everyone in your address book to erasing your hard drive files along with the 1500 photos that your son/daughter took of him/herself to post on MySpace. So it's generally wise to avoid virus infection unless you're trying to get rid of those MySpace photos. That's where anti-virus software comes in - installed on your computer, it can protect your computer and, more importantly, your data from those evil viruses running rampant across the Internet. Anti-virus software is big business, and there are several software companies whose sole purpose is producing anti-virus programs to sell to all of us virus-fearing computer users. The big players in this field for consumers are Symantec and McAfee, but there are others like Trend Micro, Kaspersky and AVG, who makes a very good free anti-virus program. Of course, all computer programs are not created equal, and some of these AV programs work better than others. Websites like Virus Bullentin rate the effectiveness of anti-virus programs - Kaspersky and Trend Micro are two programs that tend to consistently score near the top for these ratings, and they are also two of the more expensive programs. But besides effectiveness, another consideration for any computer program is the way it impacts the performance of your computer. AV programs that cause a good computer to run slower are "resource intensive", so the balancing act with anti-virus software is to find an effective and affordable program that doesn't unreasonably slow down your computer. Although Symantec and McAfee tend to be fairly effective and are the most popular AV programs, their latest versions are also two of the worst programs in terms of affecting computer performance. AVG's free anti-virus program runs effortlessly on most computers, and the price is right, but there are other AV programs that rate higher at catching viruses. While AVG is a great solution for most home users, in our home I wanted something better for our computers - Emily has her laptop, our daughter Rachel uses the computer in the kitchen area, we have a home server for shared and stored files, and in my office (Emily calls it my "cockpit") I have two computers - my Internet computer and a custom computer that I use for audio/music recording and video editing. So I went looking for an anti-virus program that is rated better than average and doesn't slow down our computers, but wouldn't cost me a fortune to install on all of my computers. And what I found was a program called NOD32, made by a company called ESET. I discovered NOD32 while reseaching ratings of AV software - I noticed that NOD32 rated pretty highly, but I had never heard of this program. So I found the website and downloaded the 30-day demo, and was very pleased to find that NOD32 didn't adversely effect performance - not resource intensive. Finally, the price was reasonable - many people will only use free AV programs, but I don't mind paying a small price to get good protection for all of the data on our family's computers. Like most computer users, our data has become too important to risk losing it. YMMV.

As a side note, many Apple computer users feel that they don't need to worry about viruses and boast that they don't even use any anti-virus software. The truth is that all computers - PCs and Macs, even Linux computers - are vulnerable to virus attacks. However, since well over 90% of the world is using Windows PCs, and the Apple Mac market is comparatively tiny, Mac users are generally spared the inconvenience of virus attacks because most viruses are written for Windows PCs and don't effect Macs. But there are an increasing number of Mac viruses circulating, and wise Mac owners more and more are using anti-virus programs.

I think it's all some evil game you're playin'...

Happy Birthday To You

Emily and I were eating out at a restaurant the other night, having a nice dinner and enjoying our time alone. We both work full-time 40-hour a week jobs and it's always nice when we get an evening to ourselves, so we were at our table eating dinner and talking, when suddenly there was a commotion in another area of the restaurant. Several of the restaurant's servers had gathered around a table of diners, and the servers began to sing the "Happy Birthday" song (you know - "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Whomever... yada yada me too"). So the servers start singing, loud and out of tune, and everyone in the restaurant could hear them and turned to watch. To anyone in the States who has ever visited a nice restaurant (and we're not talking Denny's here) in the last 3 decades, this is no surprise. I remember the first time I saw this happen - back in the mid-seventies I was having dinner with some friends, I believe that we were at a Marie Calendars restaurant, and the servers sang "Happy Birthday" to someone at another table. And my friends and I thought this was a great idea, funny and entertaining, not just for the birthday person but for everyone else as well. I don't know where this tradition started, but soon most restaurants were doing this. Many restaurants began to customize the song being sung, like singing "Happy Birthday" to the tune of the theme from The Flintstones, and the different variations have been quite entertaining for many years. But in the last few years I have been feeling that, after 30+ years of hearing "Happy Birthday" sung in restaurants, I don't find it quite so entertaining anymore. In fact, it's getting a bit annoying. Really, think about it... you're sitting in the restaurant with family/friends, talking and enjoying each other's company, and suddenly the waiters and waitresses begin singing loudly at a table near you, interrupting your meal/conversation. You have to stop talking and wait until they finish, especially if they are singing close to your table. And then several minutes later, they might do it again at another table because, lo and behold, there is more than one person at the restaurant celebrating their birthday on the same day. I've been in restaurants where the servers sang the same song to three different tables during the course of my meal, and I'm sure that in busy restaurants it happens more than that.

OK, I know this really isn't all that important in the grand scheme of life, but I like to lighten things up sometimes and not always blog about divorce or the death of a friend. And I'm really not being a crotchety old fart here, I just think that restaurants have been doing this for quite a while now, and it's become predictable and cliché. I think it's time for something new - after all, it's the 21st century... isn't there a better way for restaurants to entertain their guests? And I also think it's time for us to be able to eat our dinners in peace and quiet. Or at least Emily and I would like that.

They say it's your birthday... well it's my birthday too, yeah

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of my spouse.

I Wish We'd All Been Ready

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You probably won't read about this on Yahoo! News or CNN, or see it on "Good Morning, America". It won't be front page news in your local paper and probably won't be the talk of the office at the water cooler tomorrow morning. But this morning at 2:45 A.M., Larry Norman passed away, a little over a month shy of his 61st birthday. Today, and for several days to come, there will be hundreds of blogs and articles written about Larry and his effect on modern Christianity and music as well as testimonies to the impact of Larry's music on individuals (and I am one of those individuals). But even with all that will be written, it will still be difficult if not impossible to fully express Larry's influence on several generations of musicians and believers. He is known as the grandfather of Christian rock, but he was never comfortable with the multi-million dollar industry that developed out of the ministries of musicians like himself who simply wanted to share their faith through their music. And that message of faith is the main message you got from Larry in everything that he did - he wanted the world to know about Jesus, and his music always expressed that. Of course, as with all who obtain some measure of fame, he didn't have a perfect life - he was an extremely talented singer/songwriter/musician who, while giving interviews, would brag about himself or drop the names of famous people like an insecure sycophant, as through he needed to validate himself in some way (he didn't need to). He had a 40+ year career of selling hundreds of thousands of records/tapes/CDs and influencing thousands more who enjoyed his music and admired and respected him, yet at the end of his life he struggled to pay his medical bills. He preached about the compassion of Jesus and and the importance of giving to the poor, and he criticized corporate greed and wealth, yet he offended and broke relationship with some of his musician friends by withholding their royalty payments and the rights to their music for decades (my understanding is that he finally resolved these issues in recent years). He wrote songs with lyrics like "watch what you're doing", yet he married the ex-wife of one of his best friends. He was a hypocrite, he made many mistakes and sometimes said foolish things, but maybe that's part of the reason his songs had such an effect on so many of us - because he was just like us.

I first heard of Larry Norman from the leader of the youth group I attended in 1972. I was one of the group's musicians, and our leader asked me to play "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" on guitar. When I told her that I'd never heard of that song, she looked at me with wide-eyed amazement and asked "You mean you've never heard 'I Wish We'd All Been Ready'?. You HAVE to hear this song!". So I listened, and although I wasn't impressed on first listen, I soon understood the impact of the song's concept. A while later I picked up my first Larry Norman album, a record I found at a garage sale and still own - Only Visiting This Planet. It's still my favorite Larry album, recorded in 1972 in the time period between Upon This Rock and So Long Ago The Garden - many fans consider these three albums Larry's best work. Larry continued putting out albums, and while many of them were just repackaging of his older songs, some newer albums like 2001's Tourniquet showed that Larry still had something creative to say. Larry lived in Salem, Oregon for the last several years - it's only a 6 hour drive from where I live, and I was tempted to drive there and try to meet him, but he didn't know me and had no reason to meet me, so I never made the trip. He suffered from heart problems and bad health for the last several years, and that is what finally got the best of him, although thankfully he is no longer suffering.

Larry, I know you're finally resting like never before. To your family I offer my condolences - your fans, me and the thousands all around the world, will miss you, but we've all "got to learn to live without you".

Nothing really changes, everything remains the same, we are what we are 'till the day that we die

At The Zoo

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Comments can only be left at the new location.

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This weekend Emily and I, and our daughter Rachel, went to Sacramento for a special get-away. It was part "late anniversary present" (for us) and part "early birthday present" (for Rachel's 18th birthday). We stayed two nights at the Embassy Suites in downtown Sac, and it was pretty awesome - we pampered ourselves in our two-room suite, lounged around in the lobby listening to the indoor waterfalls and surfing the Internet, and stuffed ourselves with the free full breakfast (both mornings I had a delicious bacon/sausage/cheese omelet).



 

It was a pretty extravagant, and expensive, weekend for us, but Emily and I both felt that a weekend out of town would do us good. So we rested a bit, and also visited our oldest daughter Cyndi and her family. Our son-in-law Lunar cooked up some home-made chicken enchiladas, and Emily and I took grandkids Katie and Eamon to the Sacramento Zoo.



Katie wanted to ride a pony, and so did Eamon... at first. But when it came time for Eamon to mount up, he suddenly and firmly decided that he didn't want to be a cowboy. So he walked with Grandma while Katie rode her pony, named Ladybug, and Eamon got to pet Ladybug when she stopped for a drink.





At the tiger exhibit, one part of the tiger enclosure has a thick glass window built into the wall - viewers can look in and even stand just inches away from the tigers, just like Katie and Eamon are doing.



So we got to see kangaroos, toucan birds, lemurs, emus, penguins, lions and tigers and a chimpanzee who seemed to enjoy pooping in front of the enclosure window. But a good time was had by all.



Something tells me it's all happening ...

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

Note: I've moved my blog to my own web site - the new address is:
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Comments can only be left at the new location.

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Tonight as Emily and I were picking up a half-baked-chicken/half-combination take-and-bake pizza for our romantic Valentine's Day dinner, our conversation turned into a discussion about a friend who used to attend our church a few years ago. She was in a marriage that really was just a shell, an appearance of a happy Christian married couple that was nothing more than that. She knew something was wrong with the marriage and even tried to get help from our pastors, but her husband didn't seem to see the need to really work at getting their relationship right and she didn't seem to be able or ready to end the marriage, so they just continued with the facade, partly for the benefit of their 20ish daughter and teen aged son. Recently we heard that the husband - late 40s - had moved out and is living with a 20-something girl who is a friend of the daughter. And our friend had gotten together with a guy we all know who has just come though a divorce. Because we know this divorced guy, I am concerned about her - she's a smart and funny lady and I've always enjoyed her company, but it seems to me that with this new relationship she has "gone from the frying pan into the fire". I also commented to Emily that our friend should have divorced her husband a while ago, back during the time when it became apparent that he wasn't going to work to save his marriage.

"Wait a minute", you say. "Aren't you a Christian? Don't you think divorce is a sin? Doesn't God hate divorce? If there was no adultery how can you tell someone that they should divorce?" Yes, I am a Christian. In fact, I am a Christian who went through a divorce. In 1993 my wife left me and my 2 kids. It was incredibly horrible - I still refer to 1993 as "the year from hell". Yes, I do think divorce is a sin. So is lying, stealing, gossiping, murder, adultery and cheating on your taxes. And I believe that all of these sins, including divorce, can be forgiven. Yes, God did say that He hates divorce (you can look that one up in Malachi 2:16 if you're so inclined) and I understand that - I hate divorce as well. But I also believe that God hates other things too. And I believe that sometimes He may hate an unloving and emotionally abusive marriage more than divorce. Especially when it effects the kids or physical abuse.

There was a time in my life when I would not even consider divorce as an option - for myself or anyone else. But life has a way of slapping us in the face with reality, causing us to give up preconceptions and legalisms. And God is big enough to love us in spite of our mistakes, or in spite of the effect that the mistakes of others have on us. So these days I don't obsess so much about divorce - mine or anyone else's. I think divorce is sad, destructive and painful, and I think it is usually best if a couple can work out their differences, or at least, as Bruce Springsteen puts it, "learn to live with what you can't rise above". But sometimes in this life, or even many times, we don't get to choose between a right decision and a wrong decision - sometimes our options only allow us to choose the lesser evil, and trust that God can forgive us anyway.

All of us have a heartache, all of us have been stained

Monster Mash

Here's another of my favorite movies that will never make the list of "The Top Selling Movies of All Time". Tremors is a sci-fi flick set in the Nevada desert starring Kevin Bacon, Michael Gross, Reba McIntyre, Ariana Richards (who also played Lex in Jurassic Park) and a large underground snake-like creature that is dubbed a "grabiod". In spite of the creature's name, Tremors is actually a pretty decent monster movie, or a pretty corny one, depending on your affection for monster movies. But I think it's pretty good, with mostly decent acting and a good script (or at the very least better than the 3 sequels that followed). It has all of the elements of a good monster movie - average working folk living the simple life, mysterious events, an unknown threat, the unbelievable discovery, characters who, after being informed about the previously unknown threat, are stupid enough to walk into the unbelievable discovery, peril and hopelessness for the protagonists followed by extraordinary effort or supreme insight that suddenly destroys the threat and saves everyone who's still alive. Yes, Tremors has all of this and more, and though you might think that even people like me would grow tired of that format - to the contrary, I still enjoy a good monster movie, and I recommend Tremors if that is what you enjoy as well.

'cause this is thriller... thriller night

You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)

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Comments can only be left at the new location.

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Several years ago I noticed that the number 5 seemed to follow me around - I realized that it turns up at several places in my life in random ways that are out of my control. Now before I go any further, I want to clarify that I am not preaching numerology, and I don't believe that our lives are controlled or guided by the study of numbers. But even in the Bible there are numbers that have significance, like 3, 7 and 12, and that causes me to wonder if the number 5 has some significance in my life. Maybe someone who studies statistics could tell me the whys and wherefores of the random appearance of the number 5 in my life. Or you could say it is just circumstance or coincidence, but I'm not so sure and besides, I don't believe in coincidence. So here's my "List of 5":

I was born in 1955.
I was born on the 15th of the month.
There are 5 letters in both my first name and my last name.
My dad was one of 5 children in his family.
I was one of 5 children in my family of origin.
The address of the house where I grew up contained a 5.
My drivers license number contains a 5.
My Social Security Number contains three 5s.
My daughter is 5 years older than my son.
My wife is 5 years younger than me.
She was born on the 5th of the month.
Between us, we have 5 children.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5... let's go for a drive

Grow Old With Me

Today is the 5th anniversary of the day Emily and I were married. Five years ago, on a Saturday morning, we met with our kids and a few close friends at Rick and Pam's house and exchanged vows. Then we held a reception, and about a hundred people passed through the house - Pam was quite a gracious hostess. Afterwards we flew down to San Diego and stayed at the Hotel del Coronado for our honeymoon. It was a wonderful day, and it's amazing to me that five years has passed so quickly. At the same time, being married to Emily feels so natural that it feels like we've been together a long time. I'm looking forward to even more.

Thank you for being my wife, Emily.

The best is yet to be