GLENN'S PODCASTS!

INAUGURALLY ILL

Only one word for my view of the whole Inaugural Thing: disgust. O.K., maybe two- Pure disgust.

Would to God the money spent on this series of events alone would be doled out to our own poor in the U.S., sufficient body armor for our military or perhaps to some 3rd world country or the Tsunami victims.

To me, it's not Bush, which party or any of that. It's the very tradition of spending that much on such a thing. It's stewardship sick. If we in the U.S. want to crown a king or emperor, let's vote one in and do it up. Otherwise let's can the dog and pony show. End of rant. -Glenn

LIVE LINUX CD DOWNLOAD SITES & "NEWBIE" INFO.

You can find a LOAD of Linux flavors, all "live cd" here: http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php

A "live cd" means that depending on your specific hardware (your pc or laptop, specific issues with it, not necessarily Linux itself) as long as the specific flavor(s) of Linux you choose handshake with your machine's internal hardware, network interface card and/or modem and the like- my personal view is that live cds are the best way to have a look at what I consider for many reasons the best OS... and I'll also say that Mac OS (X especially) and some versions of Dos and even Windows (NT for example) have their place. But not on my machines... that's another rant I'll spare you.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, these distros. (short for "distribution", meaning the particular distro. of a particular flavor (version) of Linux, built on the basic Linux OS). are totally free. You can download 'em into your computer harddrive (no matter your present operating system) and you have a file (.iso) from which you must burn your own cd on a cd burner (of course!). I'm not going to get into how to do this, but anyone can find a ton of info. online that explains how to properly burn a bootable cd from a Linux .iso file using whatever cd burner program you have, be it a Windows, Mac or whatever cd burning program. That's important because you can't just download the file and copy it to a writeable cd and expect to boot from it. An .iso file has to be written a bit differently, and again, it's really not difficult (I can do it so believe me, so can you!!!).

When you've burnt the .iso file from your hard drive to the cd, you must set your computer bios to boot from the cdrom drive first. Many newer machines automatically do this so you may not have to bother, but if you pop the cd in and reboot your machine and get nowhere, the majority of pcs can be set to boot from the cdrom by your accessing "setup" and setting the boot order to go to the cd first, not the hard drive or floppy first.

Anyhow, then just turn off your machine, pop the live Linux cd of your choice into the cdrom, boot the machine and follow the few directions the particular distro gives you. On occasion, a particular distro will just load, even if you don't enter any info. in. They're all a little different.

But remember this- and it's important: YOU CAN'T TRASH YOUR MACHINE IN THE LEAST BY USING A LIVE CD! Even if it won't fully load the Linux OS you've tried to boot into, freezes your machine like the North Pole, you just reboot, or hit the reset button, or if it really crashes, just pull the plug out, pop it back in and when you reboot, just press the cdrom drive button to get the Linux cd out of the cd player and you're back to your original system, original operating system and all. The worse I ever saw this (and I've done this stuff on a lot of old junker pc's, believe me!) do was I had to literally pull the plug out of the back of the box, replug it in, then hit the cd button on the cdrom drive to get the Linux live cd out lest it try to reboot into it right away. In one or two cases, the machine sort of went""Huh??? ERrrr...." and it froze again... so I hit the reset switch, and the machine booted as normal. So you gotta trust me, live a little cutting edge... and have some fun.

See, a live cd never affects the hard drive, except in very rare distributions of Linux where they will create a very small file, or perhaps 3 of them, only accessable to that particular Linux version. But Winders or whatever OS you normally use only sees these as files, and won't touch them at all, no worries.

Once you find a Linux live version you like, and get used to it, you find you can do most anything you wish -and never even touch the hard drive. Translation: with the right cd, I can come to your house, load my own Linux, surf the web, do email, even write stuff in text processors, email it to myself at home, and when I reboot your computer, I was never there, didn't affect anything. See, these Linuxes load entirely or near entirely in your ram (memory). So your machine isn't affected by anything. No worries.

The only distro. I'd point you to that isn't in the frozentech list (and I don't know why not... it's one of the best...) is Puppy Linux, which you can access here: http://www.goosee.com/puppy/

Two more bits of info. here- when a Linux distro. is released, you'll find numbers after the name. Those numbers correspond to the specific "build" of that distro. I.e., you get puppylinux.0.9.7 or the like. Until the particular release gets to puppylinux.1.0 or whatever, it ain't officially DONE, mucho stable, fully cooked, you dig? You can still use whateverlinux 0.7.3 and it still won't wreck your system (especially a "live cd" version as I've explained here) but it's not considred an officially stable release until the numbers get to 1.---- O.K.?

Finally, like anything in life, there's a learning curve. There are words related to computing in general and Linux (as the other OS's) in particular that you'd need to learn over time, if you wanted to better understand what's what. Don't get discouraged. And for me and some folks, it's part hobby to be sure, so consider Linux a cyberperson's hotrod. Guys repaint and re-tweek cars, guitars or whatever, for fun, challenge, change, and to get it "just right" or simply to get a different style going. You don't have to get that deep into it, but perhaps it's helpful to understand that this is a part of the process of learning.

When an OS works well for what YOU want to do/see/produce/play with, then it's fun and not just drudgery. Linux really ain't everyone's cup o' tea, and that's FINE! I've often said if you're freaked at computers but want or must use them, and if you have the loot, buy a Mac and be done with it. But the best free OS you can get, or certainly buy dirt cheap- in an endless variety of flavors and adaptations, Linux is the way to fly... even though Tux,(over-all Linux penguin mascot) like all penguins, can't fly... Linux CAN.

A LOT MORE WITH A LOT LESS

I'm a fan of Linux, and as a matter of fact, a number of different Linux Operating System "flavors".

I recently came across Puppy Linux, a brilliant, simple little (48-64 mgs. depending on specific release) and completely free Operating System that works on most all pc's from basic pentiums and up. If interested, you can find it online easily enough.

What's cool about it would take a longer blog than I'm willing to type tonight, but I'll say this- it does all I need an operating system to do, and without all the excess junk, one-way-street of mega-bucks OS (I wonder which one I'm talking about) and without all the security leaks, viruses and attendant mud that causes older pc's to move at "slug speed" if not crash.

Anyway, it will load off of a live cd, which you can burn after you download it. Your computer just needs to be able to boot from the cdrom. I had the latest release of Puppy (with Opera Browser) booting up fully in about 2 minutes on a pentium 166. Web surfing, email, several great text editors, cd player/burner, a few games, chat and a lot more in Puppy -free.

It can take some tweaking to get it to load and work from a pen drive, pcmcia card, compact flash or network boot, but it can do all this and also boot from your hard drive with very little work and less understanding. The Puppy site gives loads of "how-to" info. and there's a forum to read as well.

In fact, Puppy Linux isn't even dependent on doing anything to your current OS or hard drive... it can simply run from the cd rom, and when you reboot, your old operating system reloads.

Thank God for smart programmers, excellent operating systems with flexibility, and a load of open source and freeware programs that work well enough on most older machines... the Third World and the poor don't have to be stuck with Big Brother or nothing!

I LOVE this stable, rocking little flavor of Linux! And it hasn't even reached the 1.0 fully stable realease just yet. Thanks to it's originator, Australian Barry Kauler (and friends), for a superb job!

I'll admit it's not for everyone, and won't have all the "bells and whistles" everyone wants... but it totally floats my boat.

REMEMBERING

The Bible holds a great many reminders and encouragements to remember, to recall all God has done for us.

One increasing hobby of mine is photography. I mean, we're talking truly not knowing what we're doing in my case!! But with digital cameras getting cheaper and cheaper, compact flash memory cards and all, it's just very fun.

A few years back Wendi decided she and I needed one for our anniversary. I'm glad she did, because I actually began taking decent pictures on occasion! This past Christmas she determined we needed a bit better one. It's digital, a mid-priced Cannon with 12x zoom, a few things the other one didn't have, but about twice the pixel rate, and a real gem. She found it online, refurbished, and it was certainly the key gift for both of us to use this year.

I've been taking a lot of pics the last several years due to to the ease, speed, good quality, immediate development of popping 'em on our laptop or pc's, and of course, color printing on decent printers a few friends have.

In fact I've made silly and a few pretty door signs of both people and nature shots I've taken, which are one of her fave gifts each Christmas.

All this to say that the more photos we have the more memories seem to stick in my mind. These reminders of family, friends, tours, beautiful places, even the weather and color of natural light and such are clear and sweet.

I learned years ago that even if I never looked at notes I was taking in Bible classes, that just writing them down and doing a quick read before putting them away somehow caused them to really stick in my mind later, often many years later. For me at least, it's the same with the photos.

As we age, we take more and more pics of our grandkids, kids, friends, and for me, times on tour, outdoor spots I've spent time in and the like are showing up in my photo directories.

God has indeed blessed us with so much. No matter the trials, temptations, disappointments or uncertainties, all He has taken us through has enriched our lives so much!

We cannot and must not live in the past, but of course Jesus doesn't change- He's the same yesterday, today and forever. He's consistent while people, places and even memories often change. I suppose that's partly why I've learned to really love photographs. They're one more reminder of where we've been and what we've experienced, all helping us make sense out of our lives and times.

If you know and serve Jesus- Happy New Year! If you don't... He's waiting for you to trust and walk with Him. I can tell you from experience, neither He nor His love ever changes- but He can change you forever for the better if you'll follow Him.

NEW YEAR'S DAY

My wife and I returned from Wisconsin too tired to stay up to welcome in the New Year... but it was a good, wonderful sort of "tired"!

Jesus saw fit to take our pastor friend, Bill (or "Wil" as many called him) home. His wife and children were of course sad... but smiled more than they cried during our visit. The night before the service we were able to spend some time with them, and hear the stories of God's preparation for his homegoing. Wil's funeral literally packed the school gym in Plainfield, Wisconsin, the town nearest the Calvary Chapel church they serve.

Wil was 48- but accomplished more for the kingdom of God than many leaders do over a much longer lifetime. I am proud to say he was a friend of mine. His wife, Jules, is a truly loving woman of God, their children treasures and their church family special folks we have been blessed to get to know during our visits there.

I was honored, along with several truly good brothers in Christ, to be included in sharing a bit about Wil during the funeral, and was also asked to lead worship. The entire service was a testimony to a great man who has deeply impacted a lot of people for Jesus, and a serious witness pointing all who came to the Lord He loved, served and now worships directly in heaven! Wil was not only a great husband, father and pastor, but also a gifted worship leader. I expect there will be a cd of his own songs available at some point in the future, and he wrote some very good ones indeed.

So it was that the year ended in both sadness and great joy... all at once! As the officiating pastor so rightly put it in the message, "Wil isn't lost! A person isn't lost when we know where they are". Amen.

None of us knows our time of departure, nor that of our spouse, children, parents, loved ones, friends, co-workers. I am once again reminded that those of us who know Jesus in a personal, saving way, MUST live, speak and pray that those around us recognize Jesus Christ for Who He IS!

Today is the day of salvation. It is always "today" for someone! May those who read this and I who am writing it LIVE His love and truth, helping to inspire others toward Jesus in this New Year. There is no greater purpose for any of us.