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Ricky Skaggs singing “Somebody’s Praying”

December 29, 2008 By 2 Comments

Ricky Skaggs has achieved great success in the music world in several genres. He is best known for his many Top-10 Country hits of course, but his real love has always been Bluegrass and Gospel music.

After making his fortune in the Country Music world, he ultimately returned to his Bluegrass and Gospel roots. We had the pleasure of seeing Ricky and his fine band Kentucky Thunder perform live a couple of years ago during “Bluegrass Month” at Dollywood, and to say the least the show was simply awesome.

While browsing around YouTube this evening I stumbled across a video of Ricky singing a beautiful Gospel number entitled “Somebody’s Praying”. This wonderful video showcases not only his amazing vocal talents, but his obvious love for the Lord as well. Click, listen, and enjoy!

Filed Under: Devotions

Back when Hollywood loved America

December 28, 2008 By 1 Comment

This afternoon I spent a couple of hours doing something that I hadn’t done in ages: I watched an old war movie on TV. As I sat there watching John Wayne mold his young recruits into lean, mean fighting machines and then lead them to victory in the 1949 classic “Sands of Iwo Jima”, I was struck by how clearly the producers had drawn the line of distinction between the Americans (the good guys) and the Japanese (the bad guys). There was no ambiguity whatsoever about who the folks watching the movie should be “rooting” for.

During WWII, Hollywood was one of our military’s biggest supporters. Big-name stars lined up to make commercials (for free mind you) in support of the war effort and our troops while the movie studios produced one patriotic film after another. But somewhere between WWII and Viet Nam they changed their stripes. Nowadays, virtually every movie they make with a war theme takes pot shots at our troops and the Commander in Chief. Modern day war movies are clearly intended to leave the viewers with a deep feeling of guilt about being a patriotic American who supports the troops.

The folks out in Hollywood have such tremendous influence that they could easily turn the tide of public opinion back towards patriotism, but they choose instead to lead our nation down a path to destruction. And like a bunch of lemmings following one another over a cliff, far too many of us are apparently quite ready to let them.

Filed Under: My thoughts on...

My grandparents’ herbal remedies

December 27, 2008 By 1 Comment

My paternal grandparents raised a houseful of children on a very meager income back in the days when cold, hard cash was quite hard to come by. They didn’t have insurance, so trips to the doctor were reserved only for the most serious of conditions. How did they manage to raise right at a dozen kids into adulthood while only rarely taking them to see a physician? By using herbal remedies that had been handed down to them by their own parents and grandparents!

My mom often recounts how Granddaddy Rouse would hike off into the woods and return home a bit later with a bag full of black cohosh, goldenseal, spearmint, peppermint, slippery elm bark, or whatever other herb treating the affliction at hand called for. And their success rates with those time-tested herbal remedies were evidently quite good since virtually all of their children lived to a ripe old age!

It’s actually rather amusing to pick up a bottle of “medicine” at the pharmacy only to discover that the active ingredient is often one of the very same herbs that my grandparents harvested and used so many years ago. Modern medicine is truly a gift from God, but all of those timeless herbal remedies are every bit as precious.

Disclaimer: Some herbs can be harmful to your health if used improperly or in inappropriate dosage amounts. My grandma and granddaddy knew exactly how to use them safely, but it would probably be wise for the rest of us to consult a physician before using any herbal remedy for the first time.

Filed Under: My thoughts on...

The common cold

December 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Well, it’s cold season again, and although I have been surrounded by people who were coughing and sneezing their heads off for several weeks, I had thus far managed to avoid the irritating little virus until today.

I began the day with that tell-tale scratchy throat and the occasional sneeze that almost always goes along with it, and by early afternoon it had developed into a hacking cough and all the other cold symptoms we have learned to dread so much. Colds are rarely life-threatening, but man are they miserable!

I have often wondered why we humans have managed to wipe out leprosy, polio, and a number of other once-dreaded diseases in most parts of the world, yet we seem completely unable to control the lowly cold virus. There are dozens of over-the-counter medications that can help ease the symptoms, but not one of them can actually cure a cold or prevent us from catching one in the first place.

I believe that some day the common cold will be little more than a footnote in history, but until then I guess we’ll just have to keep spending our money on cough drops and sinus pills.

Filed Under: My thoughts on...

My thoughts on Global Warming

December 22, 2008 By 1 Comment

“Global warming” is a hot-button issue that has transformed the political landscape and polarized our nation’s population almost as much as the war in Iraq. Scientists in the global warming camp tell us that we must act NOW to minimize the damage caused by greenhouse gases and stop the phenomenon altogether before it reaches a so-called “point of no return”. Other scientists however say the evidence is inconclusive at best, and even if human-induced global warming is in fact a reality we still have plenty of time to react before things get out of hand.

Speaking as a non-scientist, I have my own opinion about global warming. I think the concept itself as well as the movement behind it are politically motivated. Lots of cash and quite a few lucrative careers depend on our acceptance of global warming as a reality and an imminent danger.

Well, I simply don’t see any real evidence to suggest that global warming is even occurring. After all, if the average world temperature is increasing at such an alarming rate, shouldn’t we be seeing more and more record highs and fewer and fewer record lows? It seems to me that both of them are still occurring about as often as they have in the past. Also, shouldn’t areas that rarely see a measurable snowfall see even fewer of them if the world is in fact warming up? Tell that to the fine citizens of New Orleans.

Of course the global warming proponents will say that even in a period of overall warming there will be anomalies, and that is correct. But this fall we have already seen more “winter” in most parts of the country than we have seen in years, and as I’m writing this the outside air here in southwestern Virginia is cold enough to make a polar bear shiver.

The fact of the matter is the earth goes through cycles of heating and cooling, and those cycles often last for decades and longer. After all, we have had not one, but at least two ice ages where thick layers of ice and snow covered much of the world’s land masses. How do we explain the periods when all of that ice melted? Global warming of course. And the periods during which all of that ice accumulated were periods of…yes, you guessed it: global cooling. My guess is that we earthlings will see plenty more of both in the decades and centuries to come. And if I’m wrong? The swimming pool industry in Alaska will grow by leaps and bounds.

Filed Under: My thoughts on...

“Hot Wheels”

December 22, 2008 By 1 Comment

When I was a boy way back in the late 1960′s, I had dozens of “Hot Wheels” cars scattered all over my bedroom floor. And those little cars were simply amazing. They were made of tough-as-nails steel, they ran on their very own dedicated racetracks, and wow, could those things really fly!

Well, it’s been a few decades since I last laid my hands on a Hot Wheels car, and over the years I had pretty much forgotten about them. With all the new-fangled high-tech toys and gadgets on the market today, it’s hard to imagine that there would even be a market for such low-tech toys anymore. But they must still be in demand after all because while walking through Wal-Mart last night I saw them dangling from plastic strips all over the store – and after all these years, they still look pretty much the same.

I guess it just goes to show that little boys (and probably a lot of little girls as well) love playing with toy cars. I can’t really explain why, but seeing all those Hot Wheels for sale at a mere $0.97 cents each did wonders for my mood and disposition. Apparently some things just never go out of style, and it’s a good feeling knowing that they are still giving youngsters the same kind of joy they gave me so many years ago.

Filed Under: Things I like

Tips for buying a digital camera

December 21, 2008 By Leave a Comment

If you have been shopping around for a digital camera lately you have probably noticed that the choices available can be mind-boggling. There are literally dozens of brands, models, and classes of cameras to choose from, and reading all those spec sheets can quickly result in a headache. Choosing which digital camera to buy doesn’t have to drive you batty however. Here are a few things to keep in mind when shipping for a digital camera:

  • Lots of megapixels are great, but more isn’t always better. Many people mistakenly believe that the higher the pixel count in a digital camera’s image sensor, the better the pictures will turn out. This isn’t necessarily the case however. More megapixels doesn’t translate directly into higher quality images, they only allow you to make larger prints. Any modern digital camera with at least 5 megapixels will take great photographs up to 8×10 under normal shooting conditions (and even the lowest end cameras come with more than that these days).
     
  • Pay no attention whatsoever to a digicam’s claims about “digital zoom” because that feature is virtually worthless. Optical zoom is what counts. You’ll be much better off with a camera that features a 3x optical zoom than one that boasts a 24x digital zoom. 
     
  • If you plan on shooting under low-light conditions, you should strongly consider paying a little more to buy a digital SLR (DSLR) instead of a point-and-shoot model. Many point-and-shoot digicams boast that they can shoot at high ISO’s for low-light photography, but shooting at anything higher than ISO 200 is likely to result in your pictures being far too grainy for your taste.
     
  • If you want to have the flexibility to change lenses or use an external flash unit or filters, you’ll have to opt for a DSLR.

Conclusion: These days just a little money will buy a lot of camera. For regular snapshots and candid photography, a $150 digicam will yield more than adequate results. But if you hope to get heavily involved with photography, you’ll probably be better off springing for a DSLR. The good news is a great one can be had these days for less than $500, lens and a few accessories included!

For more photography tips, please visit me at www.TodaysPhoto.org.

Filed Under: Technology

Solid State hard drives

December 21, 2008 By Leave a Comment

For several decades now personal computers have used hard disk drives to store their programs and data, and for the most part they have served us extremely well. But the future of computer mass storage most assuredly rests elsewhere: in solid state hard drives.

Solid state drives aren’t really “disk drives” at all. Instead of a set of rotating platters and matching read/write heads, a solid state disk drive is little more than a massive bank of flash memory chips similar to those used in thumb drives and digital camera memory cards. Solid State drives have several advantages over traditional hard drives:

1 – The CPU can read and write to a solid state drive much faster – almost instantaneously in fact. The physical characteristics of hard drives ensure that there will always be a delay between the time the when the CPU makes a read or write request and when the operation is successfully completed. With a solid state drive there are no moving parts to set in motion which means the CPU can access the data stored on it in, well…a flash. Remember how long it takes Windows to boot up when you turn on your PC? It takes just a few seconds with a solid state hard drive!

2 – Solid state drives are lighter, and operate cooler than a hard drive ever could, which makes them extremely well suited for notebook computers.

3 – Since there are no moving parts and no heads to crash, solid state drives are more rugged than hard drives. Laptop computers are notorious for taking a beating, and dropping one often renders the hard drive unusable. Not so with a solid state drive.

But solid state drives also have a couple of disadvantages as well:

1 – While the storage capacity of hard drives now reach into the terabytes, current models of flash memory based solid state drives are limited to a relatively few gigabytes.

2 – The cost per megabyte of storage capacity in solid state drives is several times that of hard drives.

3 – The flash memory modules in solid state drives can only be written to a limited number of times, which of course means the drive’s lifespan is limited as well.

Conclusion: While the disadvantages discussed above are real, the advantages are so great that a solid state disk drive will soon be considered a must-have, at least in notebook computers. As with everything electronic, their capacities and lifetimes will increase over time as newer technologies are developed and implemented. And as always, we can expect the prices of solid state drives to drop considerably once they become popular and economies of scale in manufacturing come into play.

Filed Under: Technology

Should you turn your PC off or leave it running?

December 20, 2008 By 1 Comment

I get asked a lot of computer related questions, and the one asked most often is probably “Should I turn my PC off when I’m not using it, or simply leave it running?”

Most computer users struggle with this question, and the best answer really comes down to personal preference and how much you use your PC. Here are a few things to consider when trying to decide the best answer to this age-old question for yourself:

  • Do you use your computer every day? If you do, it’s probably best to leave it running 24/7 because the heating/cooling cycle your PC’s components are subjected to every time power is turned on and off can cause them to fail prematurely. But if you use your PC just a couple of times a week you should probably go ahead and turn it off when you finish using it.
     
  • Is your computer set up to perform daily automated backups and anti-virus updates? These tasks are best done at night when web traffic is minimal and you aren’t using your computer for other things. This means of course that your PC will have to be powered up, running, and connected to the Internet. Note: You should be updating your anti-virus definition files on a daily basis, but if you turn your PC off when it’s not in use it will be fine to do it manually every time you power it up – just don’t forget to do it!
     
  • Is saving money on your electric bill high on your priority list? If it is, keeping your computer turned off when not in use will save a substantial amount of electricity over the course of a year (this is a trade-off you must weigh against the possible premature failure of hardware components due to the repetitive power up / power down cycle described earlier).

One final thing to keep in mind: A great alternative to turning your PC off is to set it to go into sleep mode after a pre-determined length of inactivity (I have mine set to go to sleep after 30 minutes).

So there you have it. If you think for a few minutes about each of the tips listed above, your decision whether to turn off your PC or not will be an easy one to make.

Filed Under: Technology

God loves the little children…

December 19, 2008 By 1 Comment

Every few days or so we hear a news report about yet another child that has gone missing. Thankfully, some of those children will eventually be found alive, but far too many will not. It’s beyond the comprehension of most sane people how someone can bring harm to a small, innocent child, but it happens more often than most of us even realize.

I believe that God has a special place in His heart for people who do not have the capacity to protect themselves from those who would do them harm, and I also believe that goes double for children.

Like so many other little girls and boys, little Caylee Anthony is now in His holy presence, far removed from the troubles and mistreatment she had to endure during her short life on this earth. Surely the eternity she will be spending in Heaven will be sweet indeed, but the ultimate punishment of the person responsible for sending her there so prematurely will surely be severe and never-ending.

“…Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

God bless the little children.

Filed Under: Devotions
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