Love stories -- yuck!

Our Daily Bread
If you have ever read one of my Movie Monday posts, you can tell that I love movies.  I don't like all movies -- I don't usually like love stories (also known as chick flicks).  I joked with a straight friend of mine many years ago about the movie "When a man loves a woman".  I told him  "I don't get the premise of this flick!".  hehehe  Yes, I know, I am a silly old bear.

The devotional is about one of my favorite Bible stories -- Ruth, Naomi and Boaz.  Many think of this as a love story.  I like the way the devotional took it another direction.  It talked about how sensitive Boaz was to the the extreme needs of Ruth.  She was working in the fields, following the harvesters Boaz hired to harvest his grain.  This approach usually resulted in very little grain gathered for the follower, but it could be enough to live on one more day.

The concern shown and the action taken by Boaz is an example of the way we should be as children of God.  Watch for opportunities to help the weak and needy.  Act on those opportunities.  Look around today!

Lord, please help us be sensitive to those around us!

Technology Thursday
Lots of the same crap in the technology world this week.  Patent lawsuits, iPhone5 rumors, iPad mini rumors,  and very little interesting news.  Heavy sign...  I decided to write a little bit about laptops.

This time of year is when a lot of folks look to the Apple store, Microcenter, Best Buy, amazon.com, etc for a new or refurbished laptop for the upcoming school year.  Frankly, you can choose cheap or good.  There are tons of inexpensive laptops out there.  Some under $300.  Some decent ones in the $400 - 500 range.  What should you look for?  Here are my suggestions.

A decent processor.  The i7 processor from Intel is the current top of the line.  You probably don't need that unless you are a real geek and require the processing power.  You will probably be delighted with an i3 or i5 processor.  Go with the i5 if you can find a deal on one (like the Lenovo G570 laptop at Microcenter).

Hard drive.  I prefer SSDs (solid state drives) or 7200 RPM hard drives in laptops.  Those usually drive up the price of the laptop, so you may want to settle for a 5400 RPM hard drive.  The advantage there is you will get a larger hard drive (since they are cheaper).  Most laptops come with at least a 300 gig 5400 RPM hard drive now.

Memory.  Get at least 4 gig of memory.  Laptops can handle up to 16 gig now, but that is not necessary for most users.

Windows 7 64 bit:  I prefer Windows 7 64bit because it uses all the available memory.  Most folks may not notice a difference.

Video.  Unless you are a gamer,  you will probably be fine with a standard integrated video card.  The higher end laptops have a separate, dedicated video card.

Removable disk.  You may or may not need one of these.  Figure out if you will be burning or playing CDs or DVDs on your laptop.  Many new laptops, especially ultrabooks, do not come with a removable drive.

USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt ports.  USB 3.0 is the latest standard for USB ports.  It is backward compatible with older printers and USB drives.  You will not believe how much faster it is!  Thunderbolt ports are usually only available on Apple laptops.  Most inexpensive laptops have the USB 2.0 ports, which are fine for most folks.

Weight.  Ultrabooks can weigh less than many paper notebooks!  While they are much lighter, you will sacrifice some power to conserve battery life.  Know what you are buying.

There it is!  Good luck with your purchase!

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Let go, my friends!  God will be there to catch you and hold you in his loving arms!