Security Software

I read this article about how I.E. blocks malware and ads better than the other browsers: http://www.pcworld.com/article/194060/internet_explorer_8s_malwareblocking_madness.html? I sometimes use Firefox, and Safari for internet surfing, but prefer I.E. most of the time. So all of those Windows updates do add to better security. Well they say that this site has lots of malicious ads: http://www.zedo.com/home.htm, but I didn't get any spyware pop-ups when opening the page. I have tried to learn some of the tools from the sysinternals website, like autoruns and process explorer. These tools enable you to see all of those third party programs that are running and stop the bad ones. Today I played a round of disc golf with a software engineer. He was talking about the type of work that he does each day and asked me about my job in on-site computer repair. Knowing how to install, configure, and scan with security software is important in an office and at a home. The security software that I installed this week on machines includes Norton I.S. 2010, AVG anti-virus, and MB. I am running Avast, AVG, and MSE on my home machines. At church the network uses symantec client security. I talked with the receptionist today at church, and once had to remove lots of malware from her infected desktop. Today there was an error when trying to install an application called OCD. I wonder if it is because of all those infected files that were removed a few weeks ago. Although I worked with hardware today, that is removing/replacing PCI cards in a desktop, more than with sofware. Even with good security software installed, don't click on links or pop-up web buttons that you are not sure are safe.

Easter Message

Tonight is the most important time and the most sacred event in the Christian calendar. I attended church this morning at Hope. In the middle of the stage there was a pile of rocks with a wall about three or four feet tall on each side. In this tomb display there was a cross and a white cloth that symbolized the left behind shroud that wrapped around Jesus. He wasn't there anymore, and that is the fact that no other religion on earth can duplicate. A risen Lord that rules not one that is still in the grave. Like the pastor said today, Jesus's teachings, the doctrine of faith, and hope are not the key to the Christian life. It is the fact that Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead that is the most important part in being a Christ follower. The songs and music this morning helped to turn my attention and thoughts to God. The Ten Commandments movie was on TV and I watched as Moses parted the red sea, and cheered for God to win. The Pharoh was really against God and is a model of the anti-christ and beast of Revelations. I hope that some lost people came to the service and were saved when a prayer was offered at the end of the message. Sometimes I feel like Evan in the movie called, Evan Almighty. He is instructed to build an ARK from God but no one understands until the waters of a lake dam collapse and a flood arrives. Someday soon I think that the rapture will occur and then the tribulation will begin. The three letters of the word ARK represent Random Acts of Kindness that Evan does by building the ark and saving the people in that neighborhood. The rapture is when God takes His people to a safe ARK in heaven during that flood called the 7-year tribulation. This is not a popular message to share, and many who do look as ridiculous and un-popular as Evan does in that comedy: looking like Noah and with all those animals following him. However, every time I do more research it becomes more clear that the earth lease is about to expire and these are the last few years that earth is like it is now. The new heaven and the rule of Jesus will start sometime before the end of 2017 and a new order of life will begin without the devil and his forces of evil. Another piece of the puzzle the I read about today is that the pyramids in Egypt are built to a height that equals the year 2016. I attended a small group meeting this week and it was about a chapter of Mark. I know that many in this group have lots of questions and prayer requests. So I am turning on the google instant- prayer software to answer them, ha. Well that is going to be the end of this post for my faith journey this week, stay tuned for the next one which will be during the count down to Ascension Day and then Pentacost in May.

Enjoying the Journey

I read a blog a few minutes ago titled, Enjoying the journey and I thought it a good title for this post. This is a great state of mind to reach, where life is a fun journey to travel on. I think about the teams that are playing basketball to reach the final four. They are on a yellow brick road which involves winning and to stay on that road takes determination, good coaching, and athletic ability. I played basketball in high school and remember when the coach would say to just enjoy playing the game. When you think about making a certain move with the ball and scoring points by hitting a three point shot, it is definately fun. I hope that I will be able to stay awake because it is late on a Sunday night and I had to work today. However, I have not wrote an entry and posted it to my blog for a week. The other blogs that I read this evening were from people that also like to exercise, like ride bike races, or run in triathlons or road races. There webpages had lots of cool pictures of the outdoors and a listing of events and training journals. This week I played tennis two days, when the high temps were in the 70's and the weather was great. I also hiked around Harris Lake park in southern Wake county on Saturday afternoon. I was thankful not to run into any snakes on the trails as spring time arrived at 1:32pm that afternoon. Several times I almost stepped on a black and a brown snake at that park while hiking and my bike wheel once caught one snake by the tail while mountain biking.
I have been reading a new Christian book this week that my parent sent in the mail. I am on chapter 4 now, reading about how to have direction and purpose in my decisions. This week has been challenging because I did my federal taxes. Because of my part time tech job I will have to pay over $230 back to uncle sam in taxes. This is when my bank account has got really low and now I am living paycheck to paycheck. I did get a free breakfast, when I attended a Men's breakfast at church on Saturday morning. Also, I used several clipper coupons that saved a few dollars on the lunch money this week. I attended a church service on Saturday evening and heard a message about the trials of Christ before Pilate, Herod, and the religious leaders on His journey to the cross. They were showing scenes from The Passion movie on the overhead projection screens during the service. Today I read discussion forum posts and articles from several end times prophecy websites. There were quiet a few posts about the Middle East peace process and speculations on what could happen in the near future. I didn't copy and save any of those webpages like I did last week. Well, it is 11:00pm tonight, and I am about to wrap it up for another day. Just got to wait until a batch of clothes finishes in the dryer and then fold them up to put away in my dresser. Oh, yeah, I had to take a product back to the grocery store tonight because it didn't have the product in the box. It was an empty box, but was completely sealed up. Don't be a lemon or bad product, have direction and purpose in you to make a difference in your world today.