This morning we stopped class to go harvest grapes. It’s pretty cool to be able to walk five minutes down the road and be in a large vineyard.
Later in the day I set up the display below. We’re not to this point yet in the Ancient Israel class, but the fruit is ripe now.
Such is life here at IBEX. And some wonder why I like it so.
Last year in an average week in Israel,
9 people were killed in road accidents,
1 Israeli was murdered by terrorists,
and over 950 babies were killed by abortion.
Female soldiers in the army are told that they are allowed three free abortions during their military service. Israel has no cut-off date for late-term abortions and they are common.
Source: Friends of Efrat and Arutz-7. I can’t find a working link for the Israeli Pro-Life organization run by believers; I’m not sure if it still exists.
No, this is not a story about the latest Muslim claim regarding the Holy City. Actually, it’s the Israelis who claim in a new tourist brochure, “Jerusalem – there’s no such city!” This English brochure was translated from the Hebrew and is more accurately rendered, “Jerusalem – there’s no city like it!”. The error was caught after tens of thousands of brochures were distributed by the Jerusalem municipality.
The Jewish year 5767 begins on Friday night, which according to biblical reckoning is the first day of the seventh month, the Feast of Trumpets. Google has gotten into the spirit with a cool graphic on the Google Israel page.
Elsewhere, I found a page that makes it easy to search Google’s various categories. It’s always frustrated me that Google has such a limited selection on its homepage, and this “Simply Google” page fulfills the desire for something faster.
And I just learned about, but haven’t yet tried, a new tool from Microsoft that allows you to take multiple photos and blend them together. So, for instance, in a picture of our kids (or the students), there always seems to be one head turned or one set of eyes closed (we have a GREAT example of this with Luke yawning in a family portrait, but my wife won’t let me share it lest it cause our son lasting psychological damage). So you can take multiple pictures and pick the best parts of them and merge it into a single photo. You can download the Microsoft Research Group Shot and try it yourself.
This guy graduated college in one year. The secret: come in with 72 units from AP exams, take 23 units in the fall and 37 in the spring. I recommend it: you’ll save a lot of money, though your dating life might suffer a bit.
Continued from last week, here’s #3.
3. Not making a regular backup of your data files. This is actually the point that provoked these posts. This isn’t important in the same way that the previous two points were important, but it is important in a different way, and it must not be ignored. The reason why it is a sin: you risk losing your data if it is not backed up. But wait (again), you say: why is it anyone else’s business? Two reasons. 1) Is it really true that the data on your computer affects only you? Is it possible that you have a file that you’re working on for someone else (employer, relative, friend)? If your hard disk crashes, you have lost something that doesn’t belong to you. (That’s kinda like stealing.) Sometimes, of course, that can’t be helped. But if it’s because you didn’t put a backup plan into place, then it’s probably your fault. 2) Let’s pretend that there is absolutely nothing on your computer that could possibly affect anyone else. Still, I contend, you must have a backup system because your data is not yours. I am assuming here that you are a believer. And just as your life is not your own, your data is not your own. In other words, you are a steward. And if those are class notes, or journal entries, or financial records, or Sunday School lessons, or love letters, or fun photographs, those things were created by the use of your time. And presumably at least some of those things were done in the will of God. And for you to lose those things is poor stewardship of the time and resources that God has given you. Need a verse? See Luke 19 for the parable of the ten minas.
So, how do you do it? Again, not hard. You need these things:
1. A place to back things up to: a blank CD, a blank DVD, or an external hard disk. What is not acceptable? Another place on your hard disk or computer. If your computer is stolen or dropped, everything is gone. Your backup must be in a separate location as your computer. Personally I use and recommend an external hard disk. They are not expensive. Here’s a 300GB (refurb) at TigerDirect for $130. And more here.
2. A program to backup your data. There are lots of these. I use and recommend Replicator, which is easy and free. (I also like and use xxcopy, but that’s probably too geeky for most of my readers; it’s also not free.) This goes fast because it simply makes a perfect duplicate of your folders onto another disk. It won’t work if you choose to backup on CDs or DVDs. I don’t do this, so I can’t recommend a good program. But if you keep your data files in one (or a few) locations, you can drag and drop them into your burning program.
3. Knowledge of where your data files are. ALL OF THEM. Windows users usually have a folder with their stuff in that Microsoft has called “My Documents.” But all of your stuff may not be there. It doesn’t take long – just look through your hard disk using Windows Explorer (sorry all of you Mac users, I’m not giving specifics for you, but as you’ll just as soon tell me, it’s so much easier on the Mac, so you don’t need instructions!), and write down every folder with your stuff – documents, photographs, recordings, etc. Then make sure that those folders are included in the program that backs up your stuff.
4. Set up a schedule. If you plan to do it manually, you may forget, so if there’s a way to schedule it to run at midnight when you’re sleeping, do it. Backup programs and external hard disks are WORTHLESS if they are not used regularly. How often is it necessary, I’ve been asked? If you’re willing to lose a month’s worth of work, then only do it once a month. I think once a day or 3x/week is much better.
Some objections, answered:
1. I don’t have time to set up a backup program. My response: do you have time to lose a month’s or a year’s worth of work?
2. I can’t afford to buy an external hard disk. My response: how much is your time worth? If you lose 80 hours of work, that’s $2/hour. The time of most people I know is worth more than that. I think even minimum wage is more than that.
3. I don’t know how to do it. Your instructions are too advanced. My response: find a friend who can help you. If you go to a friend and they can’t help you, they’re probably not doing it themselves. So both of you go to another friend for help. If the third friend can’t help, well, just keep going.
4. I really don’t give a rip. My response: why do you have a computer? and why have you bothered to read this far?
5. The only thing on my computer are computer games. My response: you’ve got me. Don’t bother backing up. Instead, do this: press the off button and do this: 1) Read your Bible; 2) Volunteer at a homeless shelter; 3) Write your Mom a letter; 4) Go play basketball with the neighborhood kids; 5) Read a worthwhile book; 6) Run two miles; 7) Spend time doing nothing but talking to God.
I know few people who don’t think regular backups are necessary. I know many people who do not do it.
A good follow-up to my “God’s Love Letter to You?” post is Justin Taylor’s summary of two works on the law and the believer. He gives the essence of the writer’s thoughts and I think it is helpful. For more on the issue, I recommend Five Views on Law and Gospel. Of the five views, I think the chapter by Douglas Moo is the most convincing.
I don’t have time today to 1) finish my thoughts on “computer sins” or 2) tell you about some cool excavations I saw in Jerusalem today (and which have not made the news, as far as I can tell). #1 will happen early next week, hopefully. #2 will be on the BiblePlaces Blog, also early next week. I do have two things that I can do quickly. The first is to point you to today’s post on the BiblePlaces Blog, where I have a couple of pictures about new excavations in the City of David. The second is more scary.
Arutz-7 reports on a speech made by an expert on Islam at a recent conference in Israel. The article is worth reading in full, but I quote some of the key paragraphs here. The speaker is Islam History Professor Moshe Sharon of Hebrew University. This is not a conspiracy theorist or some evangelical nutcase. This is a university professor of Islamic history who says that there will never be peace between Israel and the Muslims.
The veteran expert on Islam says that Western officials fail to grasp that the Arab and Islamic world truly see Israel’s establishment as a “reversal of history” and are therefore unable to ever accept peaceful relations with it. From Moslems ‘ perspective, “Islamic territory was taken away from Islam by Jews. You know by now that this can never be accepted, not even one meter. So everyone who thinks Tel Aviv is safe is making a grave mistake. Territory which at one time was dominated by Islamic rule, now has become non-Moslem. Non-Moslems are independent of Islamic rule and Jews have created their own independent state. It is anathema. Worse, Israel, a non-Moslem state, is ruling over Moslems. It is unthinkable that non-Moslems should rule over Moslems….”
Sharon’s assessment focused on the danger posed by Iran. From studying Iranian culture, literature, newspapers, broadcasts and interviews with major players in the Islamic regime, Sharon concludes that a deep belief in a Shiite messiah is at the root of Iran’s nuclear project. “They truly believe that the Shiite messiah, the 12th Imam (also known as the Mahdi), is here, and that he will reveal himself… What moves the Iranian government and leadership today is first and foremost the wish to bring about the 12th Imam.”
Addressing the theological doctrine of how exactly the this Messiah will be revealed, Sharon explained: “How will they bring him? Through an apocalypse. He (the Mahdi) needs a war. He cannot come into this world without an Armageddon. He wants an Armageddon. The earlier we understand this the better. Ahmadinejad wants nuclear weapons for this!”
Sharon has in the past insisted that the Western world was engaging in great folly by differentiating between radical and peaceful Islam. “All of a sudden we see that the greatest interpreters of Islam are politicians in the Western world,” he wrote sarcastically. “They know better than all the speakers in the mosques, all those who deliver terrible sermons against anything that is either Christian or Jewish. These Western politicians know that there is good Islam and bad Islam. They know even how to differentiate between the two – except that none of them know how to read a word of Arabic.”
So, I ask you, what should Israel do? (I’m not asking you to comment here, but to think and pray appropriately.)
This post is not about what you might expect to hear – the standard sins mentioned in sermons and such. Things like time-wasting, gossip, violating copyright law, pornography, and rude behavior are serious sins, but not the subject of my concern today. No, my concern probably affects more of computer users than the above, believe it or not. And frankly, I’m not hearing many people address these sins. You’ve probably heard about them as problems, but I want to raise the stakes a bit and tell you why, if you are a believer, these things are morally wrong and in violation of God’s Word. My goal, of course, is that you will repent and stop doing these things.
1. Not having an antivirus program installed, with up-to-date definitions. Wait, you say, what business is it of mine whether you have an AV program or not? Good question, and I confess that I have strong libertarian tendencies (meaning that I hate seat belt and motorcycle helmet laws among other things). Unless you never connect to the internet, this is not a seat belt issue. That is, if you are connected and your computer gets a virus, it can easily be sent to everyone whose email address is on your computer. That may include me! Thus not having an up-to-date antivirus program is a sin because your negligence could destroy my property (see Exodus 21:33-36; the biblical ox is today’s Word document).
This is not hard to solve. You can spend some money and get highly regarded AV programs like Norton Antivirus or you can get the AVG Free Edition for no money. You have no excuse. Personally I think it should be a chargeable criminal offense for those who do not do this.
2. Not having a firewall installed. This is not so different from #1, but it is different and it is possible that some of you are in violation. The reason why a firewall is necessary is to keep evil people from taking over your computer. Again, why does this affect anyone other than you? Because those evil people aren’t going to use your computer to play games, they’re going to use it to send me a billion spam emails. Or worse. So if you don’t have a firewall installed, you may be guilty of violating the principle to love your neighbor (see Romans 13:9-10).
This also is easy to rectify. If you have Windows XP SP2, you probably already have a firewall. (Here are instructions to check if it is active.) If you don’t have SP2 or if you have some other operating system (Windows 98, etc.), you probably need to download a separate firewall. I use ZoneAlarm, which is free.
There’s at least one more major sin, which I will address at some length, tomorrow, Lord willing. I’m also hoping to go see some newly discovered Middle Bronze tombs in Jerusalem and take my boys to the Israel Museum and Jerusalem model. Yesterday I was at two cool places in Jerusalem for the first time in my life.
I don’t intend to change the world’s email etiquette by this post, but perhaps there are a few of my readers who might learn something.
1. Always include a subject on your email. This makes it easier for the reader to identify the message.
2. Always “sign” your name near the end of your email (this is one way of determining if a message is spam or not, because spoofed messages could look like they’re coming from a friend’s account but actually have a virus).
3. Don’t use an email address from an internet service provider (ISP). That would include AOL and MSN. Why? Because if you ever cancel your account with your ISP (maybe their service is terrible, their price goes up, or you decide to get DSL with another company), you lose your email address. The best way is to have a lifelong address that is not dependent upon the whims (or rates) of an ISP.
4. Make sure your full name is included in the “From” box. The people you are writing to may know a lot of “Emilys” and having your last name there can be helpful to the recipient. (I have 10 Emilys in my address book and an email from “Emily” won’t tell me enough. Are you the Emily that I like or the Emily I don’t like?)
Anything I missed?
ADDITIONS:
5. Don’t send me any emails at all if you don’t have anti-virus and anti-spyware on your computer. More on that in an upcoming post.
6. If you think you just have to forward me something, wait a few days and see if it’s still that good or critical. If so, send it. BUT…
7. Do NOT forward something (or pretty much send any email ever) with my email address visible in the “to” or “cc” along with the addresses of everyone you know. I did not give you permission to share my email address with all of the people you think are your friends. It’s not only that I don’t want your friends emailing me, I don’t want their virus-infested computers spamming me. If you must send a mass email, use the BCC category so everyone’s email addresses remain private.