Windows 7 Starter: A Few Observations

New netbooks seem to come with either WinXP or Win7 Starter edition - "starter" being the key word. There are a lot of Win7 features that aren't available on this edition. Most I haven't noticed yet (since I've never used Win7 full edition before) but 3 are glaringly obvious.

First I can't change my desktop wallpaper from the default, which is black. Nor can I change the startup screen, although I kinda like it so that's not a problem. But I like having an inspirational desktop that I change regularly. While not exactly a problem, there are workarounds. One is that I could use the slideshow "gadget" and just have an inspirational picture. Then there are some apps that I read about yesterday. I opted to try the 2nd option first but it didn't work; I didn't get the new menu on the desktop when I right-clicked. Today I will uninstall that program and try the other one.

The other thing I don't like about Windows7 Starter is that everything is pastel. There is a limited selection of themes available; however, while I don't need the highest-contrast themes to be able to see what I need, the pastel is difficult to make out for me. I could go back to the Windows Classic theme but frankly, I want something different with this different o/s. By typing [themes] (without the brackets) into the "search programs and files" box, I get a window where I can select from the half-dozen themes allotted to starter edition users. Clicking on advanced gives me some limited color choices, and that's what I'm "messing with" to see if I can make things more visible for myself.

Of course, there's always the upgrade option that's included. For a special price I can upgrade to the Home edition of Win7, and apparently that's rather simple and quick to do using the Windows Anytime Upgrader. I may or may not do this at some point (read: I may or may not be able to afford this at some point), but it's nice knowing the option is there, quick, and easy if I can't manage the workarounds for the first 2 lacking features.

The 3rd is the lack of an email client, ie, OE, which I have used for years without a problem. I'm rather fanatic about how I archive my emails, and have an elaborate folder system that I've always used. Win7 offers Windows Live Email which is a lot different to use as far as archiving. I couldn't just set up folders, for example, as each account has its own folders. For example, I get low-carb-related emails from several email accounts, but I want all of them to be stored in a single "Low Carb" folder. Impossible with WLE. Ugh. So here's what I did:

First I set all of my email accounts to forward to a single address which I called Incoming. Then I set up my Incoming account, and added all of the folders (Low Carb, Friends, Family, LBD, Pets, Tech, etc.) to that one account. YAY! Problem solved! Um, not quite. I found out when I wanted to send an email that I still had to set up the other accounts so that I could send from them. But since I don't send from all of them, I only needed to set up 3 in WLE, and I unticked the "Include this account when receiving mail or synchronizing" box. I can still check it manually to make sure nothing slipped past the forwarding, but I only have to sync one email account, and then I can archive my mails to my heart's content.

I will post again when I have anything to add. Thanks for reading :).

#Netbook : 5 Days Later ( #acer #aspire)

In short, I couldn't be more pleased with this little machine! I'm used to the keyboard, although it took me a few days to be able to hit the backspace key without looking down, but this thing is quick, I can see very clearly even with my bad eyesight (I can't read newspapers or regular print books but I can see this, even with normal font sizes!), and it's tough, running all day every day. I haven't even used my desktop since I've had the netbook although I will have to start doing so shortly since most of my files are still on it.

I haven't upgraded the RAM to 2GB, still running on the 1GB that came with it, and still no problems even though I'm running, during business hours: Rising Sun a/v, Glary Utilities, Skype (using the video at times), Open Office, Windows Live Mail, notepad, and the Flock browser with several open tabs. In addition I often run Irfanview and Windows Media Player, sometimes at the same time. No loss of performance or speed at all.

I continue to get at least 9 hours on a full charge, even running the apps listed above.

The sound through the headset (just a <$20 cheapie) is phenomenal. I still haven't listened to music with my good headset but I know I will be blown away.

And, of course, it goes with me nearly wherever I go. I use a USB internet getter-onner-thingy that I have through my cell phone company, and it takes to that like a duck to water. No problems running the 'net and all of those apps - including the one for the USB internet getter-onner-thingy app - or loss of speed or crashing or anything else.

And I'm learning that there are workarounds for many of the features that Windows 7 Starter Edition lacks, so I may not even upgrade that...although I probably will just because :).

Lastly this wee little camera and mic do a great job for video conference OR for recording video! I might have to start a video blog, even!

When I discover a problem, or something that I don't like about this computer, I will be sure to post another blog entry about it. But don't hold your breath!

Netbook: Initial Observations

First: This thing ROCKS!

It is every bit as wonderful as advertised, and then some. Those who said that a 10.1" screen isn't even an issue have been right. With this fantastic bright screen, even with my poor vision I have no trouble reading text or photos. And the sound through the headphones? WOW!! I can hardly believe it, it's like being in a concert hall with the sound swirling around and right through my head - the best headphone sound I've ever heard, I'm pretty sure...

But mostly I want to talk about battery life. 9 hours is what was advertised. It is now after 3 a.m. and I unplugged at 6:00. It's about to die (I will full charge/discharge 3 times as recommended by the mfr) but during that time I've been running Skype continually, and also using (not just running) my browser with several windows open, YouTube, a fairly intensive gaming program, and a spreadsheet program. I spent a few hours deleting bloatware that came on the computer and installing my own programs (Open Office, Irfanview, WinAmp, etc.). I've had the wireless on the whole time, as well as a USB cellular internet getter-onner while we were out and about. In addition I've had the bluetooth running as I experimented with connecting to various devices for part of that time.

[everything goes black]

And here I am, back, after the system shut down after 9 hours and 10 minutes - but first it saved my work! Amazing...when I plugged it in and turned it back on, it came right to where I left off, with the same apps running and right down to where I was typing here!

This machine just blows me away - what a PHENOMENAL computer this is, in every way!

I will post more as I continue to become acquainted with this netbook, but so far I am beyond thrilled!

The Netbook

Seems like every year I have been acquiring a new fun gadget or piece of equipment lately. I save up my pennies, dollar bills, and the occasional twenty, and when I have enough I am able to get myself something I've wanted or needed. For example, in 2008 I got my Yamaha PSR-9000Pro; last year it was N8, my beloved Nokia N810, and later in the year I was able to get another computer, a used but excellent eMachine to use with my 9000Pro for recording, with my husband's help.

This winter my laptop computer died. There was another old laptop with myriad problems laying around, and Pete was able to get it into working order for me. It's slow and unreliable, and anything but the most basic software causes it to crash. While I'm thankful to have it, clearly a new one was in order. So last week I finally had enough saved up for a netbook and on Friday (today is Wednesday) I ordered it from amazon.com.

And today is delivery day! Amazon quoted a 7-10 day delivery; today is day 5. But I've been following the tracking, and it has been sitting at the post office a mere 1/2 mile (as the crow flies) from my house for the last 24 hours. Our mailman Rick will be here within the next hour or 2 with my new "toy".

The laptop I chose was the Acer 250AOD-1584. If you look at the specs, reviews, and price you will see why. This is a LOT of computer for the money! 250GB HD, 1GB RAM, wireless b/g AND n, dolby headphone sound, bluetooth (to connect to N8 and to my cell phone), 6 cell battery (for up to 9 hours of use!)...it has everything I wanted and more, for <$300! And of the 117 reviews, all but 1 or 2 were glowing.

No other netbook had all of these features for such a great price AND the excellent reviews on every site I checked.

And within minutes it will be here. I'm ready. I've read every single review, watched any videos I could find about it, read the manual cover to cover (figuratively speaking as it was a pdf file)...anything I could find, I've studied.

So why a netbook? First I considered where and how it will be used. I typically do my "computing" sitting in my recliner with my feet up, my computer on my lap on a heavy open-mesh (for air flow) platform, and whenever I get up I move it to the table kept next to me for that purpose. This will be light and easy to move back and forth from table to lap, and will be small enough so as not to block my view of the television across the room.

In addition, I use my laptop in the car. Since I can no longer drive, and I'm a TERRIBLE rider, my husband learned that if he plugs in the internet-anywhere-thingy from our cell phone company and puts my laptop in my lap, it will keep me occupied enough to not drive him crazy with my observations about potential hazards (which may or may not be real) and comments about how I would be doing things if I were behind the wheel. :). And, of course, I use it when I'm not at home.

Second I considered what I use my laptops for: getting online. Almost exclusively, emails, blogging, social sites, a few light games (nothing really system intensive), videos. That's it. The lack of an optical drive won't be an issue since I use very few apps, and those are already on my external hard drive; plug in via USB and I've got what I need. For music I have a good sound system on my desktop already, and any listening I might do on the netbook will be via headphones which, according to customer reviews, sounds phenomenal. And getting on the 'net is what a NETbook is for. For anything else I still have my desktop and, of course, N8.

I'll let you know how I like it after I've had ample opportunity to get acquainted :).

What if Jesus Stinks?

I was sitting in an exam room at the doctor's office recently when I overheard the doctor talking to one of his staff about an unkempt man that had been in the waiting room at the same time we had been. He was asking her to perform an EKG on him, and warned her, "He's really filthy. I don't know when he last had a shower but he smells really REALLY bad, I'm just warning you. He's really stunk up the exam room."

He was talking matter-of-factly, no hint of ridicule or derision in his voice, just stating facts, and she responded just as matter-of-factly. In the waiting room, when the man had come in, the receptionist had had him fill out some paperwork; their conversation indicated that he hadn't seen a doctor in many years and I had been thankful that he'd been able to see one that day.

What if Jesus were alive today? What if He came back just to check up on things? What if that man were Him? Obviously that's not a Biblical idea, when Jesus comes back the whole world will know it; you can hardly miss the sky opening up after all. But this whole incident did make me think.

I have seen "Christians" snub visitors to "their" (as opposed to Christ's) church, even visitors who were well-dressed and smelled fine. I have seen "Christians" address people who serve them in restaurants or other retail venues as if they were less important than themselves. I can't even imagine what these "Christians" would do if the Savior that they worshipped on Sunday mornings showed up for church dressed in tatters and smelling bad.

Jesus Himself told us, "The King will answer them, 'I tell you with certainty, since you did it for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.'" (Mt.25:40) and Proverbs 19:17 tells us that "One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed."

As I will embrace my Jesus when I see Him, so need I embrace the "least important", whether lovely, clean, beautiful, and good, or homely, smelly, drunken, and loathesome in the eyes of the world. In so doing, I can embrace Jesus now.

#Easter vs. Easter

For some reason, this year Easter was different for me. Easter didn't mean Easter. I will try to explain...

Whenever I hear the word "Easter" the Holy Spirit quickens in my heart. He reminds me Who Easter is about, and why the day is so significant in the lives of Christians. I just love the celebration of the ultimate victory - the victory over death - that Christ provided to those who will follow Him. There is, really, no greater fear, no greater life-changing event, than death, is there? And to have VICTORY OVER DEATH - well, it nearly boggles the imagination! If you don't really understand it, imagine the tightest football game you've ever attended...the last few seconds and the score is tied, right through to the very last second - then your team scores for the win. Jumping out of your seat, yelling at the top of your lungs...that is the thrill of victory. But it's just a game. Just a little game that, in a few short years, will have absolutely no significance in the grand scheme of life.

But death...death is another story. Victory over death...WOW! We don't have to die! All of my sins - everything I've ever done or ever will do that offends God - were all heaped on the back of the Sinless One, not on mine.

I've heard this described in various ways, most commonly as a book listing every sin in my life. When I leave this earth and come into judgment, and that book is opened by God Himself...all He will see when he looks at those pages is Christ's blood, covering every evidence of the words that had been written there. God won't see my sin - He will only see Christ's blood, covering it...

Another description has been the ledger, where so much is owed that I couldn't possibly repay it, ever. And Christ does. When the book is opened, the balance is 0.

But perhaps the most meaningful in my own heart is the fire. My sins (and those of everyone else in the world) written on stacks of sheets of paper. When I take Christ's work into my own life, those stacks are tossed into that fire. When I look into it, I see not only the pages curling up and burning bright as they turn to ash...I'm seeing my Savior's face, His tortured face, enduring the incredible pain and suffering as He did on earth - not in the fire, but at the hands of the people He loved so much. That degree of suffering - that amount of unbearable torture - just so that my sins can be thrown into that fire and destroyed...because He delights in His children, and wants us to be with Him for all eternity.

There is no fear of death, death has now been conquered when Jesus Himself - the Creator of all that is - rose from its grip and came out of that cold hard tomb. THAT is victory!

With all of this living in my heart, and being at the forefront of my deepest thoughts during the Easter season especially, I am so saddened by the Easter that I see all around me. Bunnies and eggs, painted baby butts in emails, chocolates and hams...is this REALLY all that Easter has become? Is this really all the world has to celebrate? Does this really have meaning to people?

You can have your bunnies and chicks, your baskets and bonnets...I will celebrate my risen Savior who loves me so much that He willingly was tortured, ridiculed, rejected, and killed in the most painful and horrendous way possible - just so that I no longer need fear death, and can spend eternity with Him.

Even The Baby's Piggy Bank #tcot

My thought on this horrific nightmare of the government spending money it doesn't have at will, and then taking it from the people who earned it: A cop comes to my door with his credit card bills in his hand; he just got a new computer gaming system, a top of the line Lexus, and a custom home entertainment system. Plus he bought the same for his family who can't afford those things. He forces his way in and takes everything in our wallets, then empties out the baby's piggy bank. Without so much as a thanks, he leaves us to fend for ourselves somehow, not knowing how we'll pay our utility bills and other necessities like food (because we can't afford a Lexus or a computer or even a new TV)...until he comes back next month to do it all again, with bigger and newer stuff on his credit cards...month after month after month, more and more and more he spends and then takes from us...and there's nothing anybody seems to be able to do to stop him.