Friday, April 29, 2005
Thoughts on Tiger
Since I've been reading up on Tiger (the revolutionary new OS for Macs from Apple—years ahead of Windows 'Longhorn,' which won't be released for at least a year-and-a-half) for a little time now, I thought it would be best to share my thoughts on some aspects of Tiger. By no means is what I write here exhaustive. For very advanced reading, read Ars Technica's in-depth review of all things Tiger.
Many companies, such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, have released or plan on releasing 'desktop search' tools that will let you search almost any file on your computer as if you were doing a Google search. Apple has them beat, and then runs over them like a lawn mower, with Spotlight. Spotlight will change the way I, and anyone else who uses it, works with files. Instead of navigating through ten folders to find a file you need to open, press two buttons, then type in the first couple letters of the document, image, movie, picture, PDF, etc., and you'll find it there. Spotlight also searches through your address book, mail messages, and any other third party app information, as long as there's a plugin for it.
There are comparable products to Dashboard, but none are quite the same or nearly as elegant. Dashboard allows you to have many 'mini-applications' open on your computer at all times, but hidden—accessible with the press of a button or the move of a mouse. These mini-apps (Apple calls them widgets) allow you to have a bunch of useful information (i.e. Weather, Stocks, Dictionary, Caclulator, Translator, Mini-Games, etc.) available at all times.
Most people may never use Automator, a task-automation application that is expandable and easily-usable, but I think it will be invaluable for me. Many times, I find myself exporting photos in iPhoto, renaming them, putting them in another app, processing them there, then saving them in another place, and finally treating them for posting on the web. What once took me 10 minutes to do manually could take me 10 seconds to start, then let the computer take over from there! I could do this now with AppleScript, but I'd have to spend a bit of time working on my knowledge of AppleScript to do that.
There are many, many more cool little improvements as well—many that I don't even know about yet—such as Mail 2.0, Safari RSS (2.0), and more integration with the iLife applications (like iPhoto) that will help me to not spend so much time organizing/sorting, and more time working. I am off to the Apple Store West County in a few minutes, for the first annual SEM-MUG (Seminary Mac Users Group) meeting at the Apple Store.
Conclusion Haven't ever considered buying a Mac? Well, now's a great time! You could get a Mac mini for only $499, or a fully-featured iMac G5 with an LCD display for $1,299 (the educational discount prices are even lower!) and get not only all the cool features in Tiger, but also a great suite of 'digital lifestyle' apps, iLife, and discover a whole new way of computing.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Free Desktop Picture! — "Life is Short. Pray Hard."
Today I present the first in a series (to be released over a long time... I don't know how many I will do) of totally awesome Desktop Pictures/Wallpapers/Backgrounds by Jeff®. Today's picture, weighing in at 1024x768 pixels (for maximum compatibility) in the JPEG format (so both Mac and PC users can use it), was created entirely from Photoshop CS, using a couple of clip-art images and some creative prowess.
Download the desktop background by right-clicking (Mac: control-click) on the thumbnail above, then selecting Download Linked File As... or Save Linked File As... in the menu that pops up. Then you can set it as your desktop background by going to the appropriate Control Panel (PC) or Desktop System Preference (Mac).
Monday, April 25, 2005
National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day: Tomorrow!
A reminder to anyone who may read this blog entry before tomorrow:
Don't forget! I'll be 'wearing' my shirt over my backpack tomorrow, and then wearing it after returning to the Seminary as my regular shirt (Seminarians must remember to follow dress code regulations!).
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Today's Mass Readings - Extremely Fitting!
Second Reading"Beloved:This reading from 1 Peter 2:4-9 (above is a snippet of the whole reading) struck me as extremely important. All Catholics are called to be 'living stones' - to be strong pieces of the foundation of Jesus' Church here on earth. In order to become these living stones, we will have to be well-weathered, and stand up to the harshes abuse and environments. We will bear the weight of many wounds and hateful gestures, but we must remain firm in our beliefs and faith in Jesus Christ.
Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings
but chosen and precious in the sight of God,
and, like living stones,
let yourselves be built into a spiritual house
to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
Pope Benedict XVI, I assume, will become a great example of a 'living stone.' Already, people are labeling him as 'ultra-conservative,' 'intolerant,' and the like, but he remains firm in his teaching, as does the Roman Catholic Church. He will be rejected by many, but he, I am sure, will lead our Church into the 21st century with much vigor and love.
Gospel Reading
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life.The Gospel reading, taken from John's Gospel, chapter 14, is also important. Jesus tells us, "No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus gave us the Catholic Church as his visible and living body here on Earth, and we must remain true to her and to her teachings to know the Father. This will become increasingly important as the years go on, for more and more ethical and moral relativism is seeping into cultures around the world. There is but one truth, and it is fully revealed on Earth through the Catholic Church, in Jesus Christ's body. There is but one life, and it is in Jesus.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father."
Stand firm, my brothers and sisters! The rain comes in torrents, the wind roars as in a hurricane and the sky grows dark. We must be ever mindful of our times, and remain steadfast in our great faith.
Friday, April 22, 2005
New Cardinal Glennon College Seminary Website
>I'd like to invite all of you to view the newly redesigned Cardinal Glennon College Website, which was posted on the 'Net today after a few months of development. The site is not 100% finished yet, but it is quite close to it! With all the time I've spent refining little details, I fear I may have overlooked something...
I'd like to know if anyone sees any problems or errors, so I may make the necessary changes before the end of the year (only 5 school days, exams and a retreat left!). If you'd like, you can view our old website, which, I am happy to say, is no longer linked-to and will probably vanish soon (that's what has happened if this is a dead link).
Please continue to pray for the repose of the souls of Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II, for the intentions of Pope Benedict XVI, and for my mother as she recovers from some medical complications.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Pope Benedict XVI's first Statement
Catholic World News provides an English translation of the first words of Pope Benedict XVI, spoken at his first Papal Mass with the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel.Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Abstinence Education "Dangerous" (According to PP)
Found on Planned Parenthood's Website (Thanks to Dawn Eden):"It's already clear what they don't want — dangerous abstinence-only sex education that the Bush administration is sinking millions of dollars into. One thing that's clear from the TASH program is that teens are a lot smarter than that.
I'd like to know what's so 'dangerous' about teaching children to respect the bodies of others, to respect the 'temple of the Holy Spirit.' Will someone die because of abstinence? Will there be tragic breakups of families because of abstinence? I really would like to know why Planned Parenthood continually insists that abstinence is dangerous.
Perhaps abstinence is dangerous because it threatens much of Planned Parenthood's funding: if people stop trying to get condoms, abortions and other so-called 'health services' from Planned Parenthood, I don't think Planned Parenthood could remain a viable organization. But Planned Parenthood forgot to add a line saying "abstinence is dangerous for our funding."
From "Selling Lies: Deception & the Abortion Industry"
"Carol Everett owned and operated several abortion clinics in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for six years. "The abortion industry is not about choices; it's about money," Everett says. "(It) is a skillfully marketed product sold to a woman at a crisis time in her life."And sell they do. The last month she was in business, Everett made $13,625. She received $25 per abortion. In addition, the abortionist usually makes 20-50 percent of the total cost and can perform 10-12 abortions per hour. "Remember, (the clinics) sell abortions - they don't sell keeping the baby or giving up the baby for adoption or delivering the baby."
Habemus Papam! ("We have a Pope!")
Pope Benedict XVII
Habemus Papam! Pope Benedict XVI (formerly Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger) has become the 266th Successor to Peter in the Roman Catholic Church. Read more about Pope Benedict XVI on EWTN's website (includes multimedia, biographical information, questions and answers, and more.
Watch a video of pilgrims greeting the Pope Benedict the first time (FOX News).
Please pray that Pope Benedict will be strengthened and guided by the Holy Spirit during this time in the Church's history.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day (April 26)
Wear a Pro-Life T-Shirt on April 26 to show your support for the right to life of every child and person, no matter how young or old, or in what condition they are in!
Monday, April 11, 2005
Saints Alive! - Kudos to Dawn Eden of The Dawn Patrol
"I was firmly opposed to the idea of addressing prayers to saints, as I believed the dead had better things to do than pray for the living, and I particularly resented the standard, seemingly preprogrammed line that my Catholic friends gave me about it: "Think of it as though you were asking a friend to pray for you...."I say to anyone who has a problem with the way Catholics deal with the Communion of Saints: read this post by Dawn Eden. She still struggles with the question a bit, but what she writes will help anyone—Catholic or not—better understand how important the Communion of Saints is.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Spending Your Time Wisely
Sometimes you may notice yourself get sucked into a news story. You might spend hours watching a TV news channel, and then you'll go online and read articles about the news story. You may talk to someone about the story, and you might write about it and discuss it with friends.This is exactly what I have seen happen to some people during the Terri Schiavo crisis and Pope John Paul II's last hours and death. I would caution people who find themselves enthralled by a particular news story to take a step back and think about what they're doing.
Instead of constantly trying to find the latest breaking news, try saying a prayer. Try doing something worthwhile with a family or friend—without a pager, phone, or other electronic gadget that can get the news. Think of our how our ancestors received important news: even as little as one hundred years ago, people did not have CNN, MSNBC, EWTN, sattelite communication, the Internet, blogs, etc. for finding literally thousands of pieces of information concerning a particular story in an instant!
People of earlier times waited for information and, instead of receiving twenty different news stories from twenty different perspectives in less than a few minutes, they might have only heard from a friend or relative, "The Pope has died."
I am not condemning the use of news gathering on the Internet, TV, or other media. However, I caution you to not grow addicted to news, especially when there is a very emotional and widely-reported story. Does it really profit you to spend so much time finding out every little bit of information you can about Terri's case, or the details of the Pope's death? How much more profitable to the world and to himself is the person who goes to a chapel and prays the Rosary or another devotional prayer rather than sits in front of the television, switching between channels watching a news story!
I pray that we all may become more careful with how we spend our time—on the computer, in front of the television, on the phone, reading magazines and papers.
May Terri Schiavo and Pope John Paul II rest in peace; Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them.
Monday, April 04, 2005
JPII... We love you!
I have decided that I will continue to maintain this blog, but I will spend less time doing so; posting will be less frequent, but I hope to only post more relevant, inspiring and interesting information.
Today, I would simply like to say a prayer for Pope John Paul II (Karol Jozef Wojtyla), who died on April 2, 2005:
Father, in your wise and loving care you made your servant, John Paul, Pope and teacher of all your Church. He did the work of Christ on earth. May your Son welcome him to eternal glory, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—Picture and prayer found on holy card distributed at a memorial Mass in St. Louis for Pope John Paul II.
