Good article from one of the kings of computer use. The more I use Gmail, the more I like it.

PC World – Six Easy Ways to Conquer Gmail
Six Easy Ways to Conquer Gmail
There’s much more to Google’s free e-mail service than an inbox. Here’s how to turn Gmail into a major productivity booster.

Scott Spanbauer
Thursday, December 13, 2007 10:00 PM PST

After a long courtship, I recently pledged my everlasting love for Gmail, forsaking all other e-mail systems (well, almost) in favor of Google’s free, Web-hosted service. But as in any relationship, my passion for Gmail is constrained by practical concerns. Though it possesses many excellent qualities, Gmail is far from perfect. Fortunately, I’ve uncovered some strategies that will give my walk down the aisle with Gmail a good chance of yielding a happily ever after.

I have most of these (with the exception of the last one and I concur wholeheartedly!). This is a great list of stuff to have for improving your computing experience.

PC World – The 15 Best Downloads of the Year
The 15 Best Downloads of the Year

Our downloads guru selects the 15 best utilities, productivity tools, and other apps of 2007 from PC World’s vast Downloads Library.

Preston Gralla

Monday, December 24, 2007 10:00 PM PST

As a frequent downloads reviewer for PC World, I look at lots of downloadable software every year–more apps than I care to count. As a result, each week, I encounter and test-drive the great, the not-so-great, and the feeble.

Every once in a while, a piece of software so clearly outclasses its peers that it deserves special commendation. For this article, I’ve assembled my 15 favorite dowloads of 2007, selected from a wide range of categories–everything from antivirus and security tools to system tweakers, from media managers to system speedups.

Among them you’ll probably find some old favorites, but also plenty of unfamiliar apps that you’ll grow to love.

Tags: gralla download software best 2007 year

Good article from Darrell Bock. Interesting idea. I would like to do/see more research on this topic.

Roots Matter – Christian History

Roots Matter
Defending the faith in today’s cultural climate means not only knowing our Bible but also knowing our history.
by Darrell L. Bock
from Issue 96: The Gnostics Hunger for Secret Knowledge
It used to be that when I taught class and came to Gnosticism, eyes glazed over and clock-watching began. Mentioning Gnostics in church just never happened. The digital age of niche TV and “History Channel” documentaries has changed all that. The Gnostics are making prime time appearances and have agents. I get questions about them constantly.

We are now in a period when it is not enough to know only about the Bible. The apologetics of the past is no longer adequate. Today’s questions involve not only how the Bible came to be, but even if there was originally such a thing as orthodoxy. It is a crucial question. Christians need to know a lot more about the second century. Roots matter, especially in the founding of a movement.

One question often raised is how there could be “orthodoxy” when there was no functioning New Testament until sometime between the late second and the fourth century. Doesn’t this mean that Christianity could and did go in all directions until the canon nailed down doctrine? The claim is that our history is distorted because winners write the history. My reply is that in this case the winners deserved to win, because their faith had a theological rootedness that the Gnostics’ did not.

Tags: church history gnostic orthodoxy christianity bock

MURPHY’S CHURCH LAW

1. When the Deacons talk about improving the church’s spiritual life, they are never talking about their own.

2. In a committee meeting, the authority of a person is inversely proportional to the number of pens that person is carrying.

3. There will always be empty soft drink cans rolling on the floorboard of your car when your head deacon/elder asks for a ride home from church.

4. You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard, a camera, or a Bible.

5. Everything can be filed under “miscellaneous.”

6. Never delay the ending of a meeting or the beginning of a fellowship activity involving food.

7. Any church employee can do any amount of work provided it isn’t the work he/she has been assigned to do.

8. Any great Sermon that contains no errors will develop errors when transmitted to your printer.

9. After any salary raise, you will have less money at the end of the month than you did before.

10. When you don’t know what to do, walk fast and look worried.

11. Following the rules will not get the job done.

12. Getting the job done is no excuse for not following the rules.

13. A Youth Pastor with a clean desk has way too much free time.

14. The last person that quit or was fired will be blamed for everything that goes wrong for at least a year.

(From Sermon Fodder Christian Humor.  To subscribe go to drop an email note to (Sermon_Fodder-subscribe@yahoogroups.com) Sermon_Fodder-subscribe (at) yahoogroups (dot) com.)

Baptist Press – Even at Christmas, too much is too much

Even at Christmas, too much is too much

Posted on Dec 21, 2007 | by Tammy Darling

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Is the toy box overflowing? Are your child’s closet and dresser drawers jammed beyond capacity? Is every available space in your home being utilized in an attempt to store all the stuff?

Special days such as Christmas and birthdays can quickly result in an overabundance of stuff. To help alleviate this problem, let friends and relatives know you appreciate their desire to give something to your child, but that it would be great if they would limit it to just one item.

Too many toys and gadgets and too much clothing may not be the sign of a spoiled child or even a rich family. Often it is simply the result of well-intentioned giving gone too far.

GAMBLING

In an article on “What’s Wrong With Buying Lottery Tickets?” Hal Lane observes, “Legalized gambling teaches the following principles:

1. Gambling is good. The state will give its seal of approval to a practice that has led many into addictive and destructive lifestyles. They will be sanctioning a false hope of instant wealth that has resulted in abandoned children, divorce, financial ruin, theft and suicide. They will lose the moral authority to oppose other forms of gambling that will follow.

2. Greed is good. The state will seek to entice players to take a chance on instant wealth. Instead of teaching the biblical principle that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, it will teach that the lack of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

3. It is good to educate the wealthy with money from the poor. Despite skewed statistics that attempt to say that lottery tickets are bought by a cross section of the economic spectrum, the truth is that the poor and desperate buy disproportionately more lottery tickets. “Those making less than $10,000 per year spend more than any other income group, averaging $597 per year. Furthermore, the top 5 percent of lottery players account for over 50 percent of lottery sales, spending on average $3,870 per year.” (Timothy A. Kelly, Family Research Council)

4. The end justifies the means. It is not how we raise money but how we use the money that determines the morality of the means. If citizens are OK with using revenue generated from lottery ticket sales, will state legislators next consider legalizing pornography and prostitution and earmarking those funds for students’ benefits?

Lotteries are thinly veiled cloaks for greed and selfishness. Christians can stand out as stars in a dark culture by refusing to participate in the many forms of gambling, including the lottery.”

http://erlc.com/article/whats-wrong-with-buying-a-lottery-ticket

IF BIBLICAL EVENTS WERE BEING COVERED
BY TODAY’S MEDIA…

On Red Sea crossing:
WETLANDS TRAMPLED IN LABOR STRIKE
Enforcement Officials Killed While Pursuing Unruly Mob

On David vs. Goliath:
HATE CRIME KILLS BELOVED CHAMPION OF RELIEF TROOPS
Psychologist Questions Significance of Rock Used as Weapon

On the prophet Elijah on Mt. Carmel:
FIRE SENDS RELIGIOUS ACTIVIST INTO FRENZY
400 Killed In Unprovoked Attack

On the birth of Christ:
HOTELS FULL, ANIMALS EJECTED FROM SHELTER
Animal Rights Advocates Enraged by Insensitive Couple

On feeding the 5,000:
LAY PREACHER STEALS CHILD’S LUNCH
Disciples Mystified Over Behavior

On healing the 10 lepers:
QUACK PREYS ON TERMINALLY ILL
Authorities Investigating Use of Non-traditional Medical Procedure 

On healing of the two demon-possessed men in Gadarenes:
MADMAN CAUSES STAMPEDE
Local Farmer Faces Bankruptcy After Loss of Hogs

On raising Lazarus from the dead:
ITINERANT PREACHER RAISES STINK
Will Now Being Contested by Lawyers of Heirs

(from Mikey’s Funnies)

PC Pitstop Research

50 Tips for a Super Fast PC

It’s that time again. Rid yourself of all the old junk piling up on your hard drives and make sure your settings are where they belong.Follow these suggestions to keep the old trusty box in good shape and start the New Year off right.

SIW Download

System Information for Windows
Everything you want to know about your PC.

Friend of ‘Secret Santa’ Stewart Continues Tradition of Helping Those in Need -

KANSAS CITY, Mo —  Susan Dahl had spent four months homeless in Colorado and just been on a harrowing 10-hour bus trip through sleet and snow. Hungry and broke, all she wanted to do was get back to family in Minnesota.

That’s when a tall man in a red coat and red hat sat next to her at the downtown bus station, talked to her quietly and then slipped her $100 on that recent December afternoon.

The man was doing the work of Larry Stewart, Kansas City’s original Secret Santa who anonymously wandered city streets doling out $100 bills to anyone who looked like they needed it. Stewart died of cancer at age 58 earlier this year, but his legacy lives on.

“He said `Here’s a $100 bill … and this is in memory of Larry Stewart,’” said Dahl, 56.

Making it a Merry Christmas

Making it a Merry Christmas by Suzanne Hadley

“Hi. My name’s Suzanne and I had a lousy Christmas.”

It was December 28, and I felt like I needed to join a holiday recovery support group. As I hoisted my suitcase into a friend’s trunk, I breathed a sigh of relief to be back on my own turf. With visions of “the great Christmas blow-up” dancing in my head — and trust me, three sisters in tears is not a pretty sight — I collapsed into the front seat.

I soon learned I wasn’t alone in my post-holiday depression. Out poured my friend’s own tale of holiday woe. And in the weeks that followed, I learned that nearly everyone I knew had experienced holiday unpleasantness in some form — the critical mother, the bad gifts, the boredom, the arguments. We had all gone home looking forward to warm family times and returned in need of therapy.

Good article reminding us again of our real treasures!

Life Action Revival Ministries::“A Double Grace”: John Calvin on Justification and Sanctification

Evaluating Your Church on Purpose by Tom Holladay

http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=331&artid=10893&expand=1

http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/default.asp?id=333&artid=10921&expand=1

What Leaders Can Learn from Rob Bell
His sold-out tour shows us a better way to engage listeners on today’s topics.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2007/cln71126.html