Windows 7

WINDOWS 7

Well, it's officially here, and I personally know many people that are eager to get their hands on a copy. Personally, I'm not convinced. I mean, sure, throughout my use these last few months, the OS has been pretty solid, but my problem is that I don't see enough of a difference between it and Vista to make me want to run out and buy a copy.

Quite honestly, I think the new "features" should have been released as a service pack, but since Microsoft let Vista be shamed and slandered so heavily, they had to come out with a whole "new" operating system.

Ok, enough griping, I'll get on to what I like.

It has a slightly smaller footprint overall, and it seems a little more snappy. The speed increase is really felt in the low end laptops and netbooks. Vista was just too bulky for them, and finally people are realizing that XP is just really old. The GUI (graphical user interface) is pretty nice, and offers some cool eye candy, however, lacks usability.

User Account Control (UAC), has really been revamped, and is much less annoying than the version in Vista. Microsoft really should have thought this one through the first time, UAC on Vista was more annoying than popup adds on the internet.

The new themes are pretty cool.

Gadgets finally don't require the stupid "sidebar" to be running all the time, thus, the gadgets use much less system recourses.

Sleep and resume functions are a HUGE improvement over Vista. When I would put my computer to "sleep" when I had Vista installed, it would often (about 20% of the time) fail to wake up. When the computer did wake up, it usually took almost a full minute to be usable again. and sometimes, it would still fail to be fully functional, requiring a reboot. So far (about 60 sleep and resume cycles) Windows 7 has only failed to wake up about 3 times.

Jump lists are pretty useful, however, I still find myself using the "search" function more.

A few programs that I use often aren't operational on Win 7 (daemon tools, adobe illustrator has some issues, but so far I have been able to find workarounds)

Honestly, I would probably not pay full price for this thing. I don't find the new features worth the $70+ that it will cost to upgrade from Vista. I would suggest it for those that are finally realizing that XP is 8 years old.

Well, that's about all the ranting and raving I have for now.

I think not

An email I received from Arapahoe College.
It is interesting how they won't think twice about sending an email like this to all their students, but they can't ask for prayer or mention Jesus without preparing for the consequences.

Hello!

Need an additional class? Want to take an exciting course? Try Introduction to Atheism (PHI 275).

Introduction to Atheism (PHI 275) introduces the concept of atheism by studying definitions, history, the relationships between atheism and other areas of life, and finally introduces modern atheists and atheistic writings.

It will be a small class, so come and have some exciting debate and discussion concerning atheistic thought and atheism in general.

Introduction to Atheism will meet Thursday nights from 7-9:45. Ready to register? Log onto myACC (www.arapahoe.edu), call Admissions (303.797.5621) or visit Information Central.

Have questions about the course? Contact Mark Gowan at 303.797.5817 or mark.gowan@arapahoe.edu.


We look forward to seeing you!

Arapahoe Community College

Jurisprudence!!!

AAaaaannnnnD! the winner is!

Sure, I could use a laugh. 7 votes @ (58%)

NO, PLEASE NO! 5 votes @ (41%)

HENCE THE POST!
Well, if you didn't want it, it is too late now.





Laws are the threads that hold our great nation together. First and foremost, God’s laws: Thou shall not murder, Thou shall not steal, and so on. Next, we have the common law: don’t speed, don’t steal, and don’t invest in stock. The fact is that everyone subjects himself to the laws and government, or he pays the consequences. An interesting point is that we accept the laws that are mandated upon us because we are either enjoying the benefits of them, or we are not affected by them. Jurisprudence: keeps the strong from overpowering the weak, protects those that subject themselves to it, and benefits society as a whole. (generally speaking)





We as citizens make the laws that govern us, we should be happy with the law; the unfortunate fact is that far too many uneducated and ignorant people have the right to vote. We hear the call “GO VOTE” but if we aren’t educated enough to understand what we are voting on, then should we really vote? The obvious problem here is that the common masses are not capable to understand the consequences of their actions if they don’t understand their actions. For example, if a man votes at random because he doesn’t understand what he is voting on, he will probably never know the outcome of the law he voted on.




The problem is that too many laws are created just because they sound like a good idea. The main idea is that people may decide on what sounds good before they know the end result. The basic principle of the cell phone law is to get drivers off of their cell phones. I highly doubt this will actually solve much of the problem. I think more likely, more drivers will be fiddling with the wires on their “hands free” devices, trying to untangle a cord, or trying to figure out how to make the Bluetooth connection. This will be an undesired effect of a new law. It won’t solve the problem, nor will it keep people from dying.


I personally would love if laws worked the way they were supposed to. I would like a communistic government. It would be really nice to have everything equal, right? I mean, just think, how many times your sibling has got the iPod YOU deserve! This actually happening in reality is a joke. Power corrupts, and any governmental system is a good show of that. No, I’m not an anarchist, nor do I honestly want a communistic government. I believe that no government can exist without being ordained by God. I follow God, and I believe that he has put this government over me, so I can be subject to it. This doesn’t mean that I follow every law to the letter all the time. I mess up; I am a hypocrite.


A government that does so much to protect the innocent, yet allows abortion, is a government with conflicting interests. Our government is obviously messed up. This shows the duality of government; I.E. what government tries to accomplish with law VS. what they actually achieve.



All that to say… I believe that some laws are good because they protect me from others’ stupidity; however, what laws are going to protect me from the government’s stupidity? Laws are good, but laws that are implemented because of their wonderful “potential” are mostly worthless.

Driving and Cellphones

I think that the new mandatory hands free use for cellphones while driving law will probably be a good thing. Now, before I get attacked for being a anti-cellphone nutcase, I do own a cellphone, and I do talk on it while I'm driving. So, No I'm not a nutcase, I'm a hypocrite! I honestly think that this could be a good law.

In my travels on my motorcycle about 4000 miles, I was able to learn some very important lessons to keep myself alive.

1. Always expect the other drivers to not see you, and assume that they are trying to run you over.
2. Always look for the person on a cellphone; people on cellphones rarely turn their head to look before changing lanes. They do a really quick mirror check, and then the gun it into the other lane!
3. Know drivers blind spots.

There are a few more, but these are sufficient for this rant.



Sure, many devices take the focus of a driver off the road: phones, gps, radio, tv.. so on, but I would say that in my observation, more than 80% of the drivers that accidentally cut me off while I was riding my motorcycle, were on the phone.

I was cruising up I-25 in the left lane keeping up with the fast lane traffic. (the slow lane is usually more dangerous to a biker because of all the merging) Just after I passed I-70 I noticed a car in my left mirror that was making erratic maneuvers. I kept my eye on the car, and noticed that the driver was in a very animated conversation on a cellphone. She was flailing her arms, and pounding on the steering wheel... and getting closer.. She was in the lane next to me, and I kept myself out of her blind spots. Suddenly, seconds later, I see her blinker on, and she is changing lanes very slowly. AH! She was trying to change into my lane with me in the way! She had come almost even with me, and her front wheel was even with my rear wheel. I looked at her in horror, knowing that she was going to pin between the wall and her car very soon.. I quickly shifted into a lower gear and gunned the bike, while waving at her with my free hand, Finally our eyes locked and the look of shock and sheer surprise covered her face.

Saved. Whew.

I saw her hang up, and then while I was still on the highway, I saw her with both of her hands on the wheel.

My dad uses the phone all the time in his trips, but here are the differences; he very rarely changes lanes while he is on the phone, he almost always uses a hands free device, and if it is an important conversation where he will have to pay full attention to the caller, he will pull over.

I think that cellphones are a great tool, but once it distracts the driver from their first job (being safe on the road) then this law is warranted. I think that this law could save some lives. Giving up freedom for safety.. huh.. I'll have to think long and hard about this one.