The NOVICE MASTER|Welcome to Uncle Che’s NOVICE MASTER. This blog is all about Science and Technology, Business and Economy, Home and Family, Personality and Self Improvement as well as personal opinions, reviews and lifestream

Are you a heavy surfer? Do you have tens of accounts on different websites? I guess you must be aving fun saving your account details (username and password) on each site so that you don’t have to retype them each time you want to log in. Cool! However, do this if and only if you are using a private computer. Never try it in public places.

When signing into a site for the very fisrt time, firefox asks you permission to save your log in details. To avoid saving the wrong password, wait until you are successfully logged in before clicking on the “remember” button.

Do I need to emphasize that photoshop is the best software of its kind on this planet? To me, it is a photo “creator”, editor and manager that is yet to be classified. Many people nowadays, however, don’t use Photoshop because it has very little to offer then. Consider a basic user who wants to do no more than just crop, resize and brighten up a picture. He/she would tell you they normally should not, and would not go in for something as bulky as photoshop for such a small task.

Really, that’s true. Photoshop is not a software to kid around with. It is a professional suit for people into serious photo stuff. This doesn’t mean you should be scared off by it. Lainy recently installed it on her PC. She is not that skilled on using it but I bet you she will take it over, bit by bit. Talking of learning, I too have to get to serious business. I am an aspiring web designer, so, photoshop is probably something I would lean on in the near future.

There are countless places on the web where one can study photoshop. Some of such places simply present tutorials that one can read, but better still, others consist of communities where one can meet with other photoshop users and exchange ideas with.

Photoshopsupport.com features the best and latest Photoshop graphic tutorials for free. It also offers tips and tricks for beginners as well as advanced Photoshop users. It’s like a site where your fellow Photoshop users can meet and share all the cool stuff and tricks they’ve discovered while using Photoshop. On this site you also get links to upgrades and guides as to what upgrades suit what you want to get out of Photoshop. You will totally benefit from this awesome resource.

I may not be as spiritual as Noela may want me to be, but I know the significance and importance of leaning on the Supreme being. The main reason I moved over to the Presbyterian (from Catholic) was that I strongly believed (and still do) that Presbyterians take spirituality more serious. That however, is not a guarantee that I have to grow at an alarming speed automatically. I understand most of the work is personal.

I understood that one of the key prerequisites of spiritual growth was reading. I made a research on very good christian books to read and this is what I found.

Joel Osteen – “Your Best Life Now”

This particular book has easily become a national bestseller and has effortlessly stirred the interest of bookworms all over the world. Joel Osteen has earned an impeccable reputation of being one of the most highly regarded writers of his generation and an authority on biblical teachings. He has shown exceptional proficiency in his knowledge, and is leading on of the biggest churches in the United States today.

I believe the man is truly appointed by the Lord, even though many criticize him for being seeker-sensitive in some of his sermons. This book will provide readers with practical knowledge and wisdom on how to get the most out of your life in the Lord with what He is calling you to do for Him.

“God’s Generals: Why They Succeeded” by Roberts Liardon

For those of you who would like to learn about some of the saints in the past who have walked with higher levels of the anointing such as Smith Wigglesworth, Kathryn Kuhlmann, Aimee Semple Mcpherson and Marie Woodworth-Etter – this book will give you all of the basic fact of their ministries, how they all got started and some of the incredible things that had occurred in their ministries for the Lord.

This book is a fascinating read into saints who were not afraid to push the envelope with God and how they learned how to walk with some of the highest levels of the anointing that any human has ever walked before. There is much to learn from both their successes and some of their failures. This is the only book I know that goes into very good basic detail into all of these people’s lives.

“The Holy Spirit” by Billy Graham

One of the greatest evangelists of all time has come up with a solid book on the Holy Spirit. Billy Graham discusses the 9 gifts and 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. He also craftily shows readers how the Holy Spirit lead sinners to the Lord and to eternal salvation. This book contains teachings on who is the Holy Spirit and how He lead us to a deeper and closer relationship with the Lord. I believe this book to be one of the best teaching books on the Holy Spirit and the personal ministry that He has with each one of us as we journey through this life.

“Maximizing the Moment: God’s Action Plan for Your Life” by T. D. Jakes

One of the greatest pastors and teachers of today, T.D. Jakes, is a truly gifted speaker. This is especially true to those who watched him preach on TV in the area of motivating the saints to become everything that God is calling them to become in Him in this life. Jakes is one of the most intense speakers of our time.

This book goes into very good detail on how to maximize with whatever God is calling you to do for Him in this life. He covers how to get released from your hurtful past and how to face and overcome obstacles and roadblocks that will come your way once you fully submit to God and start to walk in the divine destiny that He has set up for your life.

I haven’t read any of the above books yet but from the above reviews, I really need them.

Darn!
How do I get my files back?
Never you say “I am in trouble”, until you ask yourself the above question. That is really what the Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English should call “Trouble”.

I can’t stress much on the importance of a computer in our modern society. Even in my native Africa, many people have started realizing what they have missed so much for decades and are madly leaning on their computer for various tasks. A computers main functions are data communication, data processing and storage. Yeah, you heard me, “Storage”, and I think that is even more important than the other two.

We normally store the processed (and unprocessed) data on the computer’s hard drive. For us to be very confident that we can have that data any time we want, is nothing but a dream. Your computer’s hard drive, just like any other mechanical or electronic device can fail at any moment. They say prevention is better than cure. The fact that you have been using it for

Backing up your data is the only guarantee that they are safe, especially if you back them up in multiple locations. There are numerous ways of backing up files, so you can’t blame anyone if your files get lost due to hard drive failure. Most interestingly, most of the methods are well within the reach of an average PC user. Below are some backup procedures.

Manual Copying: This is probably the easiest means of creating a back up. You simply manually copy your files from your hard drive to another storage device such as CD, DVD or a floppy disk (if the data is not much). I will highly recommend you get a CD or DVD burner so that you can easily burn important data on CD or DVD and keep them in a safe place. Nero and many other burning software have made burning easy even for a caveman

External Hard Drive: The name talks for itself. These devices are just like your hard drive, but are independent of your computer. You can just simply plug them through USB or Firewire. Since an external hard drive is independent, your backed up data won’t be affected when your computer crashed.

RAID: RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. This is probably the most trusted form of backup to rely on. Imagine your data being backed up on multiple disks, all of which are independent of each other. This way, if any of the disk fails, your data will still be available on the others.

REMOTE BACKUP: If you can’t do it yourself, then maybe an online service can do it for you. One easy method of backing up your data is uploading them to a server that offers free file hosting. Some are completely free while others charge a small amount for account setup and/or maintenance fee. However, if I were you, I will like to personally take responsibility of my data. Though privacy and security is hardly an issue with online storage services, I won’t really bet on that.

It is easy, very easy for an adult to answer “Games are meant both for Education and Entertainment”, but that same adult might not be able to pinpoint even 1 thing he/she has been learning from American Conquest or Need 4 Speed. Maybe one disturbing point is that, just as in the case of movies, it is a little bit difficult to draw that demarcating line between learning and leisure.

Children play games with more curiosity at the back of their minds than adults do. They observe the game keenly and see what can make them move ahead of their opponents. Children are very fond of trying to apply what they learn from game to real life situation – that’s where the educational part of it comes into play.

Every game, being played with positive will goes a long way in feeding the body, mind and spirit. Since most of us spend most of our time in front of our PC, developers have taken advantage of that to produce games that are not just like our regular games, but geared towards education. Most of those educational PC games are targeted at kids.

Educational PC Games engage children into interactive computer based studies and training. During such interesting interactive training sessions, the child gains or improves ob very vital skills like reading, listening, writing, observing, questioning, etc…

Another class of educational games parents and educators can explore involves building fundamental math concepts. Children are given insights into basic addition and subtraction, as well as basic geometry, especially with regards to shapes and their names. As children age and their skills and understanding broaden, these educational games can provide an exciting means of learning about multiplication, division, time, and more.

While academics alone are an important element of every child’s educational experience, there are other concepts that are relevant to a child’s emotional and mental development. Emotional intellect is important to understanding a child’s emotional response to people and situations. The key concepts to be aware of are sharing, honesty, and compassion. Some exceptional software programs and games help reinforced these traits.

There are a number of benefits associated with educational software programs and games. Children can learn about basic academic concepts, and progress to more advanced concepts as they develop. Furthermore, children can learn the ramifications of sharing, team work, and responsibility. If you want to enhance the academic and emotional intellect of your child, kids educational software games can be very rewarding.

What! I can’t really believe I am asking this question. The time now is about 4:30pm (GMT) and I am in Super Fast Internet (Galax) opposite Fotabe House, Molyko Buea. When I told Mambe Nanje Churchill of AfroVisioN the title of this post and told him that is what I wanted to write on, he told me “you’re crazy, men, asking people if they have ever bought software”?

Hmmm. What was I thinking? Have I ever bought software? You really don’t expect me to answer that now, do you?

Just search Google for free software, and I bet you will find as many as you want. I believe there really is free software for almost ever application or process you can imagine. The vast availability of free software forces many people never to dream, even for a second, about paying for software.

Free software is generically classified into freeware and shareware. Freeware is completely “free” of charge while shareware is free only partly, either in functions (Demos) or period of use (Trial versions). Most people have the tendency of always going in for free software and will consider paying for software.

As long as the following points remain true, I guess 80% of web users will never ever be willing to buy software:

1. There are lots and lots of free software on the internet. Why paid when you can legally have it for free?
2. Most of the demo versions of software on the internet offer the basic functions needed by users and they therefore find no reason to upgrade to paid versions.
3. The use of some software are occasional. This helps break the 15 and 30 day limits set for free trials. Finish the job before 15 days and bang you go.
4. Most software start as freeware before going commercial. Most people still prefer using the very old versions that are free than paying for the fantastic recent releases.
5. File sharing has made it possible for two or more people to use software that was bought for just a single user.
6. Some software users prefer searching the internet for free serials, cracks and keygens, and even cracked software rather than paying for them.
7. Some software users have developed means of doing away with software limitations even without the use of cracks and serials.

Although there many ways to avoid buying software, some of the means are either unethical or illegal. It is always good to play safe and spend a few dollars than falling into trouble.

Even if you can successfully go free all the time, why not make a small gesture by tipping a few dollars top these hardworking software developers once in a while?

Isn’t it quite amazing that at the age of 6 months, a child already knows his/her mother? There may be some behavioral science in this that I can not explain, but I think it has something to do with the nine-month unconditional love that the mother gives the child in her womb, breastfeeding as the “only” choice of food that the new born has, and also the fact that the baby spends more time with the mother than anyone else.

It can be noticed that a child even less than half a year old will cry when taken away from his/her mother. If a child of that age knows this/her mother already, then just imagine what happens as the child grows older.

It is an undeniable fact that a mother is always the first “teacher” of a child. Children are always eager to learn something, be it right or wrong, and because their young brains are still very active, learning is quite an easy process. We must be very careful, therefore, on what we teach them (directly or indirectly).

A child will always strive to be like his/her parents. A strange trend can be seen where a male child will like to copy his dad’s behavior and actions and a female child goes for the mother. In any case, however, the mother still dominates because she is the one who spends (or who have spent) more time with the children.

It is always easy to blame a bad child on the mother. Not actually because the mother is irresponsible, but because people always believe the child could have been better if the mother had put in more pressure in his/her training and education in the past.

The responsibilities of a mother and father in a child’s upbringing normally should be equal but I don’t advise any woman to stick to that. Men hardly care, they are hardly available, and even when they are available the method they use in training children are usually hard and unfruitful.

Mothers, beware!
The destinies of the kids are somehow “completely” in your own hands.

Will you blame someone else for your child’s poor upbringing?