5 Things You Should Know About Google Chrome

Why you should switch to Google Chrome . . . and why not to.

A comparison of Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome internet browsers.

The Greatest Reason to switch to Chrome:
1. Chrome handles Facebook chat wonderfully! Guys, when you were trying to sell me on Chrome, if you would have said that it doesn't have the annoying Facebook chat issues, the would have sealed the deal!
Let's face it, Firefox just doesn't handle facebook chat very well. Every time you receive an IM, it stops you from typing, even if you were trying to reply! What's worse, if you hit backspace, it's likely to go back a page, and you lose everything on the page you were working on.
Chrome, however, works like one would expect it to. No errors or problems, the chat just pops up, and you can check it when you want to. No interrupted typing; no lost data.

The other jabberings:
2. Chrome runs every new tab as a separate process. This has some benefits, such as more efficient operation on multi-processor machines, and less risk of losing all your tabs if one crashes. However, for a heavy browser user like myself, it wasn't impressive. I am often using 10-30 tabs at a time, and adding that many processses kinda fills up the task manager. (If you don't understand that last sentence, don't worry about it. Just ignore this entire paragraph.)

3. Chrome has been touted as faster and less intensive, using less system resources. Say what you like, but my experience says this point is mostly moot. Sometimes it loads faster than Firefox; sometimes slower. With few tabs open, it uses less resources; with many tabs open, it uses more. Check out these notes from my experiments:

"Chrome is using less resources right now. I'm gonna kill Firefox and see if it speeds things up ... since it's receiving all these Facebook IMs also ..."

"Hmm, ok. I just managed to stall Chrome like firefox stalls. It uses a good bit of system resources, and steadily uses more until it's closed, just like Firefox.
I don't think there's significant benefit in speed or resources."

"Now I'm using Chrome pretty heavily, and I noticed a significant computer slowdown. So I opened firefox at the same time, and opened the same amount of tabs (10). Chrome is using 77% MORE system resources than Firefox."

(Really) Odd Things:
4. Chrome seems to have been designed with Facebook in mind. It appears that Chrome can stay logged into Facebook, even when the same account is being accessed from another computer! (Yup, I tried it.)

"LOL, what on earth did google do? Firefox and Chrome are SO closely linked, that not only can BOTH be logged into the same Facebook account at the same time, but both will ALSO receive the same instant message -- as though they are exactly the same program. *Cough Cough*"

The Deal Breaker
5. There is no Ad Blocking plugin for Chrome. If you have been using Firefox with Ad Block Plus, this will be one of the first things you notice when using Chrome. There are ads everywhere, and you can't get rid of them! I did not realize how many ads there are now (and how bad some of them are, I might add), because I never see them in Firefox. Unfortunately, this is the deal-breaker for me. Chrome is nice, and I really like smooth Facebook operation, but it just can't top having complete control over your ads.

If/when Chrome has an adblocking plugin, Chrome will become my browser of choice.

How much did you spend this Christmas?

Christmas ... money ... materialism ... shopping ... greed ... money ... gifts ... shopping ... money ... Christmas.

What Does Christmas Cost?

$1.5 Million Dollars per minute on Christmas Eve. Oh, and that's just in Britain. (1)

$24.9 Billion Dollars on holiday spending (up to December 21). Oh, sorry guys, that's just online spending. (2)

$133.6 Billion -- $133,600,000,000.00 was the approximate spending last year. Oh, that's only for the US. :-) (3)

For a bit of comparison, that is the approximate equivalent of the Gross Domestic Product (for the entire year, mind you), of Morocco or Slovakia.

Or to look at it another way, Americans spend more on Winter Holidays than 135 of the worlds' nations' individual entire economic output for an entire year! (according to the CIA factbook). (4)

What Would Jesus Do?

How much did you spend? How much is it worth?

Seriously guys, "What Would Jesus Do?" Would he really spend so much on gifts!?

Wait -- maybe He would ...

Jesus gave up his house, that He might live in men. He gave up His salary. He gave up respect. He gave up fame. He gave up His security. He gave up His rights. He gave up what He knew He could do, in order to do something that only He could do.

He came to preach the gospel. He came to present a message that would change the lives forever of those who heard it. He came to change the world.

And He came to die. He knew He was going to die – that's the whole reason why He came. He was the only way; the sinless sacrifice for the sins of a fallen humanity. His gift brought life and freedom. He did it all because of the passion He had that whoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.

God spent more on His gift than the Gross Domestic Product of the entire world. Jesus became a gift whose cost is beyond human comprehension. Christmas cost a lot!

What does Christmas cost? Was it worth it?

Have you heard the good news? God came down from heaven to take away the penalty of the wrong things we have done!

Merry Christmas!!!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 NIV)

Catch the full story here.

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8430258.stm

2. http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/12/21/online-holiday-spending-hits-record-913-million

3. http://www.mindbranch.com/Holiday-Spending-R567-612/

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)

Don't Think and Drive (10)

Today's Travels were short, but found a bit of humor.

Those restricted access signs --
"Prohibited:
Animals on Foot" -- Apparently animals on motor scooters are ok?

Not sure why this struck me so funny --
The rear license plate on a brand new black Lexus: "Oh Well"

One shop was advertising their wares with a slightly confusing sign -
"Ceramic Carpet" -- Now THIS I've got to see!


Slightly later:
Installation instructions can sometimes be confusing. Tonight I was greeted with these messages, with no other messages in between:

"Important: DO NOT connect the printer ..."
"Cannot find the printer - make sure it is connected to your computer ..."

Are You Surviving?

Why get a job so you can survive in this life?
Why just live life, and tag God onto it?
Sure that's great and all -- but life is nothing if you're just surviving it. You're just making money to get along, so you can continue to survive in life.

Is it not so much better to use your life completely for God? Serving Him personally, yes, but so much more. Why not spend your life being a witness and a minister for Christ, telling others about Him? Are you actively trying to build the Kingdom?
Yes, we must "survive" life, but if surviving is all we do, what good is it? Would it not be better to "survive" only 4 years of life, and have used those 4 years completely for God?

I'm not saying that a secular career is bad. You can be a minister for God in a secular career too. But we have about 85 years here, and then we're gone. Just 85 years - it's not really much time. And for most of us, we've used at least 1/4 of it already. And it really won't matter how well-off we were. Our money won't matter and our job won't matter. One thing will matter -- Did we make a difference?

This life isn't going to matter once we're gone. Why on earth are we spending 95% of life just "surviving" life? That means 95% of everything is absolutely worthless! Why not spend all of life for God? Maybe that means 80% working with people -eternal people- and just 20% to support ourselves doing it.

Why not?
Is your life worth anything or are you just surviving?

"The length of our days is seventy years--or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away."
-Psalm 90:10

"I've never understood why people spend all day at a job they don't like, to support a life they aren't happy with, and to pay for a house they don't live in!"

The Impossible Museum

Museums have a lot of things, but
There are some things you just can't put on display --


The man who holds the Guinness book of World Records for humility.
First paper ever thrown away in Bill Gate's office.
First atom ever divided.
The first plane used in a Japanese Kamikaze mission.
The rocket upper stage from Apollo 11.
The Vanguard I.
The first ice hotel to make 1 million dollars.
Peter's first handkerchief, before they figured out they could cure diseases. (Acts 19:11-12)
The Hindenburg.
Last bomb to be used in World War II.

Giving, Thanks

1. I am thankful that there is a God, and therefore life has purpose, meaning, and responsibility.
2. I am thankful for Christ, who provided salvation and deliverance from sin, and a personal relationship with the almighty God.
3. I am thankful for my family, with a wonderful Christian heritage, upbringing, and example.
4. I am thankful for you -- my friends, who mean a lot to me; who challenge, encourage, and inspire me.
5. I am thankful to live in a free country founded on Christian principles.
6. I am thankful for peace and safety, and freedom from persecution.
7. I am thankful for abundant blessings - I lack nothing, and have more things than I need to survive.
8. I am thankful for my job, where I get to impact the lives of youth; where I am privileged to learn and grow in a caring environment.
9. I am thankful for Kentucky Mountain Bible College, and our emphasis on training in holiness; training not just to survive life, but preparing for life itself.
10. I am thankful for the ability to be thankful. We're the only ones who can - we are special in creation.

Universal Relativism

Pondering relativism recently, I was struck by a peculiar thought. I cannot build a large-scale model based on relativism, because relativism only exists in a limited scope.
Relativism is relative.

"His law he enforces, the stars in their courses
And sun in its orbit obediently shine;"
- Let All Things Now Living, Katherine K. Davis

We might believe in relativism, but why?
Let's start as far out as we know -- The Universe. Here we observe absolute law, so continuous an accurate that we (or the Mayans) can accurately predict hundreds - even thousands - of years ahead. This is true throughout the universe, the galaxy, and the solar system.

So let's come down to earth. Surprisingly, here we also observe absolute law. Gravity operates here without exception, just as it has throughout the entire universe. Everything is consistent, absolute, and reliable. Photosynthesis works - always. Respiration, the hydrologic cycle, the law of entropy, as well as recovery, and regeneration. A forest burns, and a forest grows back. Water evaporates, and water rains. It is all reliable; consistent; absolute.
Here we observe animals - something we have not seen anywhere else in the universe. They too, are very consistent, and the circle of life appears absolute. They grow; they die. But they all continue in constancy and consistency. We can predict what will happen, and it does.

Then we see a strange animal. Sometimes active during the day; sometimes active during the night. Sometimes carnivore; sometimes herbivore. Sometimes building; sometimes destroying. We cannot predict him. Each one acts differently, and each one may not act the same way every time in the same situation. Strange he is, this creature called human.
And it's the only place where we find relativism.

Nowhere else in the entire universe have we seen relativism. Nowhere else on the earth. What is it about this creature that is different? He is inconsistent; he is changeable. We cannot accurately predict him. What has given him freedom from the absolute law that governs all?

Friends, we could argue that we have evolved to this point. But how can we, who evolved by absolute law, rise above that law? How can we free ourselves from it? All of the rest of the universe is absolute -- how can we be outside it?
No -- moral relativism, social ethics, societal differences, situational ethics, and "Darwinian morality" all must come from somewhere else.
We are left with an obvious deduction: In order for us to be free from the law, we have have been freed from it. Was the human race granted freedom of choice at some point? Were humans given the ability to operate outside absolute law? Were they permitted the freedom to rebel?

Humans are different; humans are special. They are not just another animal. They are very unique. The Bible shows that it was God - the Creator of the absolute universe - who made man in His own image and gave him the freedom of choice. (Genesis 1-3) We have a privilege no other creation has. We can believe relativism and situational ethics only because God gave that freedom to us.

Friends,
Relativism shows the significance of man.
Relativism declares the existence of God.