42: Don't Panic
2009-01-25
Download MP3 For Geekons Episode 42
Pop-Up: Windows 7 Beta
- Everything has been re-worked, from MS Paint and Calculator to the taskbar and Windows Explorer.
- Built-in ISO burning features (about time!)
- Lightweight, and feels faster than Vista Ultimate.
- Aero interface is now a useful set of tools, not just eye-candy
- Show Deskop hides all windows, leaving a thin wire frame where each window was
- Aero Peek allows you to quickly hide all windows except for specific ones, without clicking on anything
- Aero Snap makes it easy to snap windows to the left or right of the screen, and minimizing/maximizing is even easier.
- The taskbar becomes the most useful UI element Microsoft has developed in a while once Aero is turned on, allowing you to take advantage of Aero Peek, quickly tell which apps are opened and how many windows each has, and making it easy to go to a specific window with a live thumbnail preview.
- Every cool feature I've found so far has a keyboard shortcut associated with it.
- The install was quicker and easier than any other operating system I've installed. (And I've installed tons of OSes, from Linux distro's that required compiling to OS X Leopard that was simple and visually appealing)
- Install took roughly 30 minutes, but about 10 minutes was spent swapping out hard drives so I didn't mess up my Vista install.
- After I installed the network drivers for my obscure on-board NIC, Windows silently downloaded and installed all the signed drivers available for my computer.
- Considering I am using Windows 7 64-bit on a home-brew computer, I wasn't expecting much. Instead, everything but the chipset and a USB to Serial port adapter was installed and working properly, and Aero enabled itself once I rebooted.
- Audacity would crash until I plugged my microphone in, then it continued to work beautifully.
- All my favorite programs (Audacity, 7-zip, Notepad++, HashTab, Inkscape, Blender, Firefox, etc) work great.
- Playing unethically encrypted DVD's (like major motion pictures that use DRM) didn't work for me, but with the help of VLC I was able to playback the indie film "Most". (My 6 year old DVD ROM didn't even recognize modern DVDs)
- 4 out of 5 stars, The most fun version of Windows I've used so far. If it were open source and supported DVD playback (something that would be illegal in the US) I could actually be giving it a 5 star rating.
Geek-Tweak: 5 cool things to try with Windows 7
- 1: Open tons of programs, then hide all but the active window by clicking the title bar and shaking it left and right. (or just press Windows Key + Home)
- 2: Toggle through the active applications on the taskbar by hovering your mouse over them, or using the Windows Key + t to activate the taskbar then use your arrow keys to navigate all of the active and inactive programs.
- 3: Use the Windows Key + arrow keys to change the state of the Active Window (stuck to the left, right, maximized, or minimized)
- 4: Click and drag-up on icons in the task bar (as though you are going to remove them) and a context menu will appear. (or you can just right-click, but what's the fun in that?)
- 5: Set up your computer for a presentation by pressing Windows + P and selecting how you want to run an external monitor. (obviously this requires a secondary monitor port, but at least it is finally easy once you have one!)
View-Source: Don't Panic!
- As humans we love to be in control, which reveals the fact that we assume we know what is best.
- Unfortunately, when things begin to go against what we think we naturally jump to the conclusion that everything has gone wrong with the world and the end is definitely near.
- While the second coming may be near, I feel safe that the reason is God's timing, not because things aren't going my way.
- A common reaction to things not going the way we hoped (whether that is the presidency, our finances, our job, etc.) is to panic. To freak out. To worry.
- Last Tuesday was the inaguration, and many Christians have expressed that they were hoping Obama would not win the election, and still make rude jokes about his current plans and what he promised to do.
- Right now, my wife is 26 weeks pregnant and I'm still trying to make our finances work so she can stay home without needing to make too many sacrifices.
- Every day we are confronted with opportunities to panic, and this season of taxes, a new administration in the White House, and a down economy all seem to encourage these feelings of worry and dread.
- Isaiah 6 tells us about Isaiah's face to face meeting with God, and it starts out describing a bleak time period, the "year that King Uzziah died". King Uzziah was a great and God fearing King that brought prosperity to the land. His death could be seen as an end to the prosperity everyone had been enjoying.
- Reaching a bit further, his death could be seen as a bleak economic and political time that brought panic to many people.
- The first observation made by Isaiah in this passage is that "I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple."
- The train of his robe signifies his holiness. Our Holy, Just, and Loving God is still on the throne, regardless of what is going on in our lives.
- Isaiah could have complained about the current economic situation, and the impending doom on his country that has had a pretty bad track record of leadership.
- Instead, Isaiah realized that whatever was going on around him didn't matter near as much as how unworthy he was of God's attention and presence.
- In Luke 12, Jesus describes how fullish we are to worry when something as insignificant as a flock of birds is provided for.
- He poses a great question: "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"
- When a friend, relative, or even a stranger confronts you about the current economic and political climate, take the opportunity to share the stability and glorious inheritance we have in Christ.
- As Christians we should be excited about trying times, because it gives us an open door to talk with the world about why we have peace. (and if we don't have peace, it points out areas we need to trust more on God's promises and less on man's)
- I for one don't find who I voted for, what my retirement looks like, or how much money I am making to be near as important as who I pray to.
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