Worth it's weight in words

I love how sometimes the comic writers manage to be creative and funny without being abrasive or too obvious. Especially whne their is a possibly a deeper meaning in the comic. On Friday their were two of them. Of course I could just have missed the actual joke/point they were going for. This is just what I got and thought was pretty good.

BC- View It
I like BC. The write very frequently expresses his faith through the comic. Though not always in obvious ways. This one is a stretch maybe. If you think you get it in a different way let me know, I'm curious. I took this comic to be focused on how people miss the obvious and outrageous so often. The strange but acceptable bird thing sees a giant nose who speaks and is 85 years old. The bird is blown away by the noses age. But not the fact that it is a giant sentiant nose. Then to top it off the bird puts efforts into a breakdown equation to make a pointless point on, of all things, luck. This picture is certainly worth its 1000 words. Why? Because this is a very real representation of our society. People who look at things in plain light and miss the obvious. Maybe becasue of the squewed perspective of the society in general on account of the various and abundant media (generalization) or because they just don't get it. I'm sure I miss things all the time and as such am sadly to be included in this generalization, but the second half I believe myself to be exempt from now. After missing the point the bird then does some mental gymnastics to link hardly usefull information to the nose and sadly the nose agrees. Something we have seen in fortune tellers and so called modern prophets. Not prophets like those who deserve the title, but those who gather information which in the end proves nothing and serves no purpose but yet grabs the eye and ear of so many that pass by it. Vague predictions and strange coincidences. Don't get me wrong sometimes I find those things to be interesting but for the most part they are a waste of effort, IMO. Like that's what needs to be done.

Rose is Rose- View It
A little off the beaten path I suppose and maybe not intended, but I thought...Rose represents God and we are both the clock and cat (believers and unbelievers respectively). As Rose moves by on matters that need attended she notices that the clock is either not doing it's job or at least not fulfilling it's potential and so takes time to stop and make an adjustment. The cat makes the statement that the clock was doing fine and didn't need to be bothered. The clock begins ticking as intended if only for a short time. Neither seems to grasp either the purpose or need for the encounter. We don't always think we needed the change and often it seems to interupt our peacefullness or our relaxation but none the less it comes. Sometimes we were expecting it. Aware that we have been running a bit slow. Other times it seems liek an annoyance coming between us and our lives. Even us clocks aren't always supportive of being tinkered with and renewed. Seemed to just jump out at me. Rose is a comic that has had under or overtones of religion in it, but I have no idea if this is what the write was thinking.

Sunset Meetings

So Tuesday night was one of the bible studies and then tonight was the other one.

Tuesdays group spoke about many things like how we interact with non-belivers and a little bit on the end-days. Two very interesting and prevalent topics in my life. Though I'd like to think otherwise they are two topics I am not so familiar with. Dealing with unbelievers is not an easy thing by any means. It takes practice, finness, patients, and understanding among other things. Even then it is easy to mess up. By dealing I don't mean the casual conversations or hanging out with them. I mean haveing deep talks or the more frequent tense debates and arguments. Some of the people in the group shared occasions when they had to step up and say something or in some way had to face unbelivers. I was pleasantly surprised by both the way they handled the situation and who it was in the group that spoke. It is nice to see others who have had small victories in this war. Even though our roles are small it is important to struggle against the current. The semi-brief talk on the end-days was interesting if not a bit inacurate. I don't mean that I know it any better just that I know we were all only semi-familiar. Often it seemd that interpretations and theories found their way into the ring. Understandable I suppose considering the topic. Some where looking forward to it and others were not. I am, but I felt a bit alone in the conversation as I am the only one (I think) who wanted to stay after the rapture. I know that won't happen but I would if their were and option. Besides being an incredible time to be alive I can imagine the chaotic world and the obvious slap in the face that the rapture will be to many of those left behind. I can imagine those who come to realize they missed the first boat and decided to get on the second one will be reaching out for guidance and will find very little. Comparatively I mean. It would be an honor in those days to stay, as a light these days seems easily overlooked but even a small light in such a dark time would burn brightly. Though it would be no pleasure cruse in truth.

Tonight's group spoke again on Ecclesiasties and James. Mostly on interpretation of the scripture as apposed to a specific individual topic. Reading the verses and telling what comes to mind or how it may be relavent to our lives. Not that their is no focus. Their are questions that accompany the reading, but a lot of it is the group sitting around a table thinking and talking about the text. Some people don't like studies like this but I do, as much as any study really. I enjoy interpretation or analyzing texts and then relating them to me or the group. It often reveals things about individuals who are able to open up which can strengthen the fellowship. On the other hand if no one opens up then the conversation can get a little slow. Part of me enjoys it becasue its a forum to talk about myself which, other than this blog, I don't have. Funny thing is I have a hard time not talking all the time. I don't want to dominate the groups conversation or make it about me after all. I think the group has plans to go more activity oriented than study oriented. I think this is a good idea and in fact is something I have been looking for for some time. Hope it goes through.

Over all I take a long time to relax and get used to new groups most of the time and these groups are no exception. It is no fault of anyone in the groups it's just my personality. I'm an introvert. Being social isn't one of my talents, at least not at first, but I am relaxing some and enjoying the groups time more as the weeks go by. These are all good people and so is the fellowship. Their is a third study starting soon and Mascot and I are signed up but I can't be sure I will be able to follow through with everything else going on.

Day5pr1ng (dA)

So I have a small artistic side. I like to write and draw and create things in various media. Naturaly, since I'm a geek, I do it on the computer. I enjoy writing this journal when I can (sorry for being so MIA lately) and what I guess is concidered fan-fiction...mostly DnD styled stuff. I also enjoy creating desktop wallpapers and taking pictures of things. The point being that I enjoy sharing here so much that I wanted to share the rest of this stuff. Good and bad. So I went to dA (deviant Art) and created an account. It's a place where you can upload your digital media (pics, poems, renderings, etc) for free and then interact with the enormous community there. It is a slow site but very fun once you figure out how to get around. Below are my 3 basic pages.

My general info and home page here.

My main gallery which is the things I have made or edited myself.

My secondary gallery which is where I put any pictures that I liked that I recently took.

It may not always be good or what you expect but I'm sure you'll like something on it.

As for the rest of the site... Be careful in terms of what you are browsing. This site holds all kinds of peoples art. Consequently, it contains good things like real nature photos, cartoons, fractal art, self portraits but also "artistic nudes" and other strange things, so I can't say that it is clean. On the other hand their are over 14 million pieces from people everywhere so they can't all be bad. I'm just saying be aware so your not shocked if you see it.

I have been uploading things weekly and have every intent on continuing. If you are interested take a look.

Honorable Discharge

Today I have been handed my discharge papers . Dayspring[SpecOps] is retired. No more war and no more online gaming. Not for quite some time anyway.

I have been swamped with things outside of work lately. Like 4 out of 5 nights and the spare night I just want to lay down. I'm surprised I even am sitting here typing. Work is actually busy so I can't do anything there to free up evening time and at home I'm so busy I can't even get to my homework. I guess that's good in a way, but I feel like I should be doing it. It's not busy like hangin out with the guys or going to the gym or anything. It's like someone needs something done or I need to get something done all the time and I very much expect it to get worse. Their is an oportunity for a part time job coming. It's 10 hours a week which is doable and the pay it very good. I want to pay off a couple loans and save for a house if at all possible and it just wont happen as things are. So that is going to take a bite out of me later as well.

Also, It is important to drop the internet connection down to dial-up if not completely. I'll be on one of those 10 dollars a month jobies. It is better for me, trust me! So I can't really play online games anyway.

And so back to the point which is, it's been fun. I'll miss the late nights, fun games, and comrodery(sp?). It's going to be rough hearing about the adventures of Astro, Zep, Munch, Meat, Rock, and now BV. It's tough because the games these days are becoming so adept and realistic that the games from 3 years ago are simply pathetic. BF2 for instance is just amazing and they will just get better. I feel like ranting about it but I won't. At least not till the withdraw kicks in. ^_^

On the other hand I won't be wasting time doing the same things over and over collecting points that simply don't matter to reach a goal that changes nothing. And probably cursing under my frustrated breath half the way there. Yea, it's better for me that I stop. Nothing gets you riled up like a bad night of gaming. Good luck soldiers...

"YOU'RE MY BOY BLUE!...you're my boy."

Hustle Bustle

A busy week. So much going on every night that I can't seem to focus on any one thing to write about it.

Monday was a bible study which went well. I learned some things and enjoyed the fellowship. Tuesday I took a nap after work and then moved on to do laundry which was LONG overdue. Wednesday I had a second bible study which also went well. Better than it had before for me. Not every night is the same regardless of the people or place being the same. The sense of fellowship seemed to be stronger, if only for me, that night. That is something that fluxuates for me like many other things. Then tonight I went golfing again which was fun but not productive. I couldn't have done worse if I had been holding the clubs upsidedown. Now at 10:45 I am at work and will be for some time. Plotter-sitting. Bleh.

So, since I have time on my hands this is going to be two fold, forgive me if it is long.

A.) At the bible study we talked about death and how we would live if we knew we would die soon. The scripture came from ecclesiasties (sp?). This is something that I always think is a good topic to think over but is also a sad one. Not sad like "oh we are going to die lets all be depressed about it", but sad like "I would do this or I would do that" and then quite obviously missing or ignoring the point of the conversation. The point being that what we say we "would do if" is what we should do now. If it's your last wish to sky dive then do it. If it's to say your sorry to everyone you hurt then do it. If it's to sell everything and go preach to the homeless where they live then do it. But we didn't. We talked about it and then slightly aware felt guilty about the knowledge that we wouldn't be doing it today or the next. At least I do. Given 6 months to live I believe I would get my affaris in order very quickly and then proceed to sell everything I own. Then alone or with help I would leave and one at a time track those who needed Him in little or big ways. I say "would" because I currently don't have the nerve to make such a bold move despite what I know now. And so it is a sad topic for me and I assume others. I think we should all think about these things from time to time and put some pressure on ourselves. Even if it produces nothing right now.

B.) At the golf course their is a stray cat who I call skinny, slim, or tan foot. He apparently does not hunt, instead he begs for food from the golfers who are apparently less than kind in return for his cuteness. I had some animal cracker stashed away in my golf bag and I fed him/her some. I was very worked up inside, if not on the outside. I was and am concerned for the sweet natured cat. I get that way over animals. More so than people. That is what disturbs me some. I should have been brought to tears over the homeless I see every week, but I am not. Not like I am with these animals. These people should by divine order come first shouldn't they? I'm not saying I shouldn't care about the animal but it should simply be secondary. I get the feeling that this is wrong but it has always been this way. The pain and troubles of people I am often able to brush aside (though I don't mean too) but with animals I am struck to the core. Strange and certainly something to ponder.

Love That Seasoning

Seasons, an old topic. Since the world was set in motion. I had a short email discussion on seasons recently and thought I'd post it with some small elaberation.

The discussion had a start about noticeing things around us and takeing them in in appreciation. Something I've posted on before, in part. How their are so many things that we miss and also so many things we can see and still manage to pass by. A shame that we would rather invest our efforts in figuring out how to change the daily grind so that it doesn't always feel like a grind and by doing so sometimes walk right by Gods little love notes. Things like the rainbow cloud or the more recent reverse sunset which cast the sunset colors on the east while the sun fell in the west. Or something that is around a bit more often which would be the rose bushes a block away from work. I always enjoy walking out to the car from work. On the way I pass someone’s pink rose bushes. It is great for about 2 minutes. The wind moves the scent of the flowers down second street and I get to walk into it. They are a beautiful sight (in season) on top of being a pleasant scent and so I “stop and smell the roses” on those days, which makes me chuckle a little. When the roses are gone though I find that the 2 minute walk is less eventful unless I am looking for something to appreciate. We have to tune in on purpose sometimes or we will be thinking about how bad the day was or what we will do or watch when we get home, consequently missing the good stuff.

Then the topic moved to actual seasons. Not sure why. Probably because of the roses. Anyway, we were talking about how all the seasons are so nice and visual like fall and spring and winter. I said the only season that I don’t usually find to be amazing is Summer. In Fall you get what is a very colorful display of life shutting down. In the Winter you get a clean and empty feel with the snow. In the Spring you get the renewal of life all around. Summer would, in the cycle, represent the process in between life and death then, both fun but hard living under a bright hot sun. Summer is where we exist from day to day no matter what the season is outside. Keeping in context, it’s the norm whereas the other seasons are out of the norm for our existence or at least the existence we have known to this point. If I think about it like this it make sense why Summer isn’t very cool to me, excuse the pun. I am and many are interested in the things different from themselves. Not in matters of right and wrong or good and bad, but in having an appreciation for beauty in the unique. Though winter may not seem unique after living through 26 of them it is somehow fresh to me still. Representing something I have not reached yet. But one day will. Part of the cycle I will go through. Living, growing old, passing away, and rebirth (into eternal life). It doesn't hurt that I am a visual person and I generally like every season besides summer anyway. Not a fan of the heat.

Innocents Lost

In a spinoff of Astro's recent post I got to thinking about the innocents of children and its salvation. I mean (and I don't mean to argue or step on your toes Astro, forgive me if I do) I don't think that protection is the best (or perhaps only) answer (not that you said that). It has it's time and place. Like when a child needs physical or immediate emotional protection. Especially when they are too unable to understand or cope with the situation at hand. Aside from such times I think it is good that a child be introduced in as much a safe environment as possible to the world they live and will live in. Things like death, hardships, addictions, and "procreation" are very difficult for parents to talk about as well as many other things. But why really? Children are probably more capable at their young ages of grasping foreign concepts than adults and they, if instructed properly, will be able over time to build on what has become a strong foundation of honesty, trust, and information. I understand that parents have reasons for not talking about things such as;

• -feeling like they don't have the right words/answers..........but what they know is better than nothing so long as they are honest and start slow. "rome wasn't built in a day".
• -feeling enbarrased about the topic...........grow up. you need to deal with this for your kids sake.
• -feeling like they don't want to grow their children up before the time comes...........though an understandable feeling, not entirely healthy for the child depending on how far you take it. It is dangerous to deny them a friendly way of learning knowing they will face it with or without you in the future.

I am not a father and I may never be, but I am not a fool. It is better to train someone to deal and decide correctly/steadily over time and with a safety net than to (futily) shield them untill you cannot anymore and then essentially abandon them to the world. Furrow your brow if you don't agree but I am not the only one who sees it happen even if only in part.

Everyone and their grandmother has an opinion on how to raise a child and I understand it is complexe. So everyone does what they believe is right in their situation. This opinion, as most of mine are, is not an equation that is always the same and fool proof but a guidline to try and follow. I believe guidelines are better in that they are flexible while still holding to a principle. In that way they are rarely useless in real world applications.

Sailing the digital seas

It has been documented at this point how much I love music. But it hasn't been said how much I have or how I obtained it. So I guess this is just a breif history and maybe a type of confession now that things have changed for me along these lines.

I have 72 physical CDs.
I have roughly 960 mp3 albums collected.
I have no idea how many archived and/or deleted albums I have gone through.

So, I have been a very naughty pirate of the internet. It is an old habit that I know better than to do. It used to be simple to do and easy to ignore how wrong it is. Since those days when I would come into work and browse through the 3 gigs of music I downloaded overnight (P2P) day after day I have gotten to a point where I at least pay a monthly fee for my music and download it far less. It isn't really enough compared to what I download and re-record and it certainly doesn't act as payback for the thousands of songs I managed to download over the years, but it does ease my consience a bit now and for the future. I don't feel like a thief now that I am paying for the vast majority of the music. Generally, I used the P2P software to gather masses of music because I had no other way of taste testing on a large scale. Much of what I downloaded I didn't like or keep whereas now I can hear things before I download and so I only download what I like. BTW, I use napster to do this.

I was not limited to pirating music by any means. In fact, their is little on the internet that I am not able to abuse after years of digging and learning how. The problem is I fell into the same hole many before me have fall into. It's there, I can reach it, nobody will know, and (more often than not) I can't afford it. If I were starving and homeless and we were talking about a loaf of bread I wouldn't feel that it were so wrong but we aren't and it isn't. Thankfully, I never really learned how to be a "hacker", just how to reverse-engineer and troll for things. I might have been dangerous...er...more dangerous.

I thought about blogging this after watching the opening of a movie which had a brief "downloading is illegal" advertisement aimed at movies and music. I used to laugh at things like that but the truth is it was wrong to do that stuff. I was being selfish. Which is not to say the music industry isn't selfish any less than the medical, insurance, political, or other big businesses industries. It was ok for them to be greedy against consumers but when the consumers got greedy back it became an issue. Honestly, when you really dig into the topic it gets to a point where the line blurs so much thatit is hard to tell exactly what's right and wrong. It's called sharing. Specificaly what is too much sharing and what kind of sharing are we talking about. It gets complexe and though some of it can be defined it ends up being a predominantly opinionated issue. If it were otherwise the jails would be full of techno-theifs and techno-terrorists. A messy issue about money is all it is. Who is losing it and who was getting it. The safe bet in any such fight is to stop running the line despite how safe it seems and just hang up the eye-patch and peg-leg.

On the Battlefield

Last sunday my friend and I took a trip to Gettysburg for fresh air and excercise but mostly to test this new camera. Gettysburg is a strange and comforting place for me. I'm not sure I can explain that even a little. In any case it holds a lot of history and memory in an almost tangible way. Which is the part I enjoy, as apposed to the history behind it all. It was hot and sunny and I haven't had that kind of workout in to long. Parts of me still hurt.

As you walk the roads of the battlefield you can't avoid the cannons and monuments which have been erected to pay respects, serve as thanks, and remind us of those who dropped in those few days. Not the individuals as much as their leaders, not the men and boys as much as the brigades and calvalrys. Names almost lost to time as in most wars. From the view of the clouds it must have looked much like the two any armies that meet outside at the rosebush every summer. The two set up shop about five feet from one another in the sidewalk and then they grow in number for a while. At some point one scout will find another and the warriors and workers rush to battle. At first mixing slightly in scirmishes then moving armies together in a mass of twitching red and black. Going at it for hours. From way up where I look it is unimportant though interesting and somewhat tragic. But from the warrior on the fields view it is an intense struggle for life. Soldiers like you standing in the open, on the ridges and in the valleys pushing themselves for their people or their cause. If they lose all is lost. If they win all seems gained. But the fight is all their is right then. And when it is all over, for some time, their are bodies scattered and laying about. Red and Black. Not neatly placed or properly cared for, but torn and broken, smashed and ravaged. Perhaps even a wounded few who survived the fight only to die amongst their fallen comrads anyway. Both armies retreat to their strongholds, one claiming victory and the other claiming defeat. Neither one has gained much more than a few square feet and the title of power in the land. And so we pay homage to those who sacrificed in the best way we can. We right books and preserve documents and build monuments. Are we really thankfull for what they did? Are we really understanding of what they were doing? Do most of us even understand why we are still fighting? I hope we do.

I am a non agreesive (normally) person and very non-confrontational by nature. Though I do enjoy digging in for a good fight (verbal) if the purpose is right. I don't think the vast majority of wars is right but I think it can serve many purposes a few of which are necessary. Historicaly, even God has at times given right to war man against man. Though that is not to say often and never for mans own purposes and plans. And so I agree with both sides on average at least a little. Wars are no more hard to justify or understand than any other smaller scale fight. The only difference is the cost. The tragic cost.


Overall the pictures, of no specific thing, came out well though I have much to learn about how this camera works.

Pic1 Pic2 Pic3 Pic4 Pic5 Pic6 Pic7 Pic8 Pic9

A Gamers Defense

When I get to work in the morning I have a little routine to get things going. Some people need their morning coffee. Others like to check the scores of last nights games and such. I like to hit a set of webpages and comics like CAD, VGCats, Enpwnment, Flintlock, Daily Newspaper Comics at Yahoo.

Flintlock, Enpwnment, CAD and VGCats are webcomics devoted to gamers like me and have a humor that I appreciate, if not always clean in language or topic. Normaly, I just get to enjoy the nuttiness for a few minutes in the morning but today their was a post along with the comic. The post was a rant on the topic of violence and sexual content of games. The hostility coming from the gamers need to defend what they live and love as well as the (at times) misplaced blame from those arguing against the games creation or use. Seems obvious, but when you have passion for something obvious isn't always enough. I'm sure we can all understand that in some sense.

The opposition tended early on to not have a clue what was going on and consequently based opinions on hearsay and ridiculous claims. Throwing blame to anyone in an attenpt to get people to listen. Now they have come to an understanding that games are not inherantly evil and corrupting but that some games (especially in the past 5 years) have little good to offer the youth. They make the reasonable claim that a child without proper guidance who plays such a game will indeed take part of that game with him/her. No, it is not likely that the child will gun down or run down random people, but it is true that we all have taken in the games we play, more-so the ones we loved. People do this, we take in the things we love, movies, music, art, literature, games. Though most would never put soemthing as violent as modern gaming to actual use it is foolish to think someone out there won't. That is the basis for the oppositions argument in a nutshell. Are they right? Yes, it is astonishing how many parents offer no active guidance today. Some try but are not themselves capable others simply aren't interested enough in their duties to their family. Sad but true. Where will these children turn? For the sake of the topic we say they turn to games, but they do turn to many things. These "things" aren't conserned with their futures or their present circumstances, but the children don't know what they need until it's often to late.

Gamers, in general, who defend against such seemingly obvious truths argue that they should not be made to "suffer" for the screwups of others. They value their abiblity to have the things they like so much that they would allow harm to come to others over it. The "funny" thing is that most of these gamers wouldn't be effected by these rating systems that have been instituted. Yet they fight. Because they love the cause. On the other hand they are not wrong to say that blame lies with the gaurdians of and mental health of the child gamers. A truly involved parent can take a few minutes to quietly watch the game the child plays or do a little research on it. The involved parent should be able to acuratly gauge the childs state and needs. IMO. Ans so the defense is not without reason of its own.

In the end (IMO) it is just a shame that people would rather fight to defend something which is potentialy damaging or dangerous to others. Are games like Doom3 and GTA:SA corrupting? No doubt. But those who love games and those who love what they call freedom will warp such ideals to keep the floodgates open. In the meanwhile parents will continue to assume little responsability for actions of their children which could have been effected and bettered by them. It is very much the wasteful human fight considering neither side (again in general) wants to see the big picture or give more than an inch. Their are many on both sides who see the middle and the truth of the situation but such views are often over shadowed by the squeakier wheel. >[/End Rant] =P

VBS Post

VBS (Vacation Bible School) is in full swing this week. Ususally once or twice a year I am recruted to create a handful of sets for things like VBS or the drama club. I love doing it, but I always think it could be better.

VBS is a great idea though, bringing the children in from in an doutside the church so they can have fun for a week while the seeds are planted. They get to make crafts to take with them. They get to make friends which might stick when they leave. Those from the outside get to feel that the church isn't unapproachable or something to be wary of. Those on the inside get to see what it's like to include those on the outside while they continue their journeys. Their is always plenty to do and for the most part the VBS team is always trying to do their best to serve. It's sort of like a camp that is close to home and that you can go to for a few hours a night as apposed to the entire week day in and day out. The kids realy enjoy it.

One cool thing that I am glad to see was a bit of inter-church help in the form of perpetualy donated VBS stuffs. Their is a man at another local church who works in sets at the dutch apple theater down by Lancaster. He created large murels and a couple large animals which the churches have been passing around to use in their VBS decor. I was very impressed, and a bit down, about the quality of the stuff as well as how well the churches were cooperating. Not that they don't cooperate much just that it's nice to see. I'm a design perfectionist which means I get the set done in time and on budget but no matter what it looks like I always wish I had a bigger budget, more time, or better supplies. I want to make very realistic and appropriate sets because I can and they would be so much cooler. In reality I might not be able to build such sets in a reasonable time period, but I am confident that it is somethign I can do. Everything that I made so far in the past years has been enough to get the job done I suppose but I still get that itch to make it better when I stand there looking at it.

Aside from being a bit of a perfectionist with these things I want to make things so that imagination can rest. I mean we all know that kids have vivid imaginations and so the sets we have are enough, but I would like to have them not need it. I like the idea of creating in general as well as being creative. In this context it would be awesome to make rooms look like they should or did look. Like opening the door to the room and thinking for a second as you look in, "is this a portal to a different time/place". True that level of work is beyond me, but I still love the idea of creating a different time period or place where it was never intended to be...like in the phoenix room. Anyway, I'm not sure where I was going with this...so...I'll stop. Later.

Shoppers Annonymous

Sheesh, I had an impuse buying streak. I bought a Cannon digital camera and Object Desktop from Stardock (as well as other things) inside of a week. I don't normally do that kind of buying but I had some extra cash and the camera is not a one time payment so I can ease that one a bit. I can't wait for the camera to get here, some time this week, so I can get the pictures I have been missing. (ie; camp, VBS, strange skyes, buildings and people, etc...) Of course it will probably get here and I won't find anything to get pictures of, but at least it will be an option now. The Stardock suite is very cool and I am only using its more obvious features right now. The Stardock programs are basically visual and functional tweaks for windows that can't be done to windows, at least not by normal users, without some outside help. It is essentially a set of shells for the windows operating system. Some of which can be done within windows if you so choose.

• Instead of a basic windows cursor I have an animated futuristic arrowhead.
• Instead of the basic taskbar and star menu I have this.
• Instead of the basic explorer or program window I have this.
• Instead of the basic right click menu I have this.
• Instead of the basic desktop I have put a bunch of gadgets on to help me out.
• Instead of basic icons I have chosen these.

All of these things are just a taste of what it can do and all can be customized or created from scratch. At Wincustomize.com their exists a large database of other users creations for these programs that you can download as you want. Many are lame but some are profesionally done and worth a second look.

For people like me who need the consistant flow or feel of change and who spend too much time on their Compys...just changing the wallpaper every few days isn't always enough. I used to collect freeware from all around to try and get this accomplished and it was never very effective. Collecting freeware is also a dangerous job for a user these days considering the ad/spyware wars and virus/hack levels. Costing me a few reformats I'm sure. So it is well worth the fee to just download and install the programs it also comes with a years worth of updates to the suite. Still between the shopping spree and VBS I am getting low on funds for this month. Oh well, I'm sure the camera and the SD suite will keep me busy this month, besides I have to devote at least a full week to homework this month. Good thing I didn't break down and get that Lappy I have been flirting with. ^_^

Google it...

Has anyone else had a chance to play with this thing? If not you should. Someone at work came accross it a few weeks ago and it has cost the company many man hours since. Basically, it is a small program that uses your broadband connection to show real time images of the entire globe. Not realtime as in people are driving and flying around but as in you can move and zoom to any spot you want to see. It also can function as mapquest or other mapping services do which is pretty neat and it has many abilities regarding landmarks and boundary features. Over all it is has a lot of coolness factor if not a ton of purpose. It your machine isn't up to speed, which is to say more than 4 years old, it may not run very well but for the rest of us it is worth a look. It is of course free.

Google Earth Download Page

Part of the fun is its already large following at places like Keyhole where users from all over find things that they think are neat and then post small downloadable files that will zoom you into the location they are interested in. Some are neat landmarks while others are strange looking objects or happenings caught on the imagery. The images are a combination of high quality aerials (grey or color) and lesser quality color images. As you zoom in on something give it a minute or so to update the view and things should get clearer as you get close to your target. If you want to type your address in the search box it will take you straight to the spot. Cool stuff.