Wow, over two full months since I have posted on this blog. I have not been completely silent over this period of time however, as I have been posting on both the Tech Blog and the Bible Blog. I have never posted a link to the Bible Blog from here, so consider this the official link announcement.

RedTigerOH Bible Blog

I have been posting for the entire month of March on the Bible Blog, so there are a few interesting things up to read already. Lord Willing, there will be a lot more over the coming weeks and months. The Bible Blog is very exciting, as it gives me a single unified place to easily post about various studies on the Word of God, or goings on within the Church. Hopefully, it will be useful to people, if for no other reason than just encouragement.

I have also changed my primary page at www.redtigeroh.com to be just a simple launching pad for all three blog sites. I may dress it up a bit more over time, but it''s basically how I want it. Very simple, with quick access to any of the three active blog sites.

Hopefully everyone is doing well!

Peace,
RedTigerOH

It probably seems like I have gone awol, but I haven't. I have just redirected my time in a couple of key ways recently. I started a tech blog a while back, to start posting about things in the tech world that I believe are important and interesting. I have never posted a link to that site from this blog, but I wanted to do that.

I have been devoting a lot of time to learning the Objective C programming language and writing an iPhone Game. I am making really good progress, and I hope to launch it on the App Store sometime in early March. I'm not going to post any specific details at this point, but keep checking my Tech Blog for upcoming details. This is a very exciting time for me, and this is a real personal milestone!

I hope you will visit frequently and become part of the RedTigerOH community. Here's the link to the new Tech Blog.

RedTigerOH's Tech Blog

Peace,
RedTigerOH

Every year here in America we have the great privilege to celebrate a Holiday that is dedicated solely to being thankful, and more specifically thankful to God for His great love and blessings toward us. It's one of the only true Holy Days celebrated by our Nation. It's a wonderful reminder of all the things God has done for us and is doing for us right now. Please get alone and spend some time in prayer, thanking God for every blessing, and every circumstance He has counted you worthy to endure. I promise you, that God will reward you favorably for honoring Him.

It's important to reflect on those who are not so fortunate, and hopefully have our hearts softened to reach out and help where God allows. Many are struggling in ways we cannot comprehend and they need our prayers and support to get through. Please humble yourself, get alone with God, and pray like you've never prayed. Thanking God and praising Him for His Grace!

To help get you in the right state-of-heart, please click on the following link and scroll down to the story entitled "Thank You for the Fleas".

Thank You for the Fleas (khouse.org)

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

Peace,
RedTigerOH

I have been working hard over the past couple of weeks creating this brand new site. This new site is built with the latest technologies and is less interested with remaining compatible with older browsers. I decided to use features like rounded corners and shadowing, which are only supported in cutting edge browsers, like Google Chrome. I have spent an enormous amount of time validating all of the XHTML, CSS, and Javascript, to make sure this site will work on all of the latest browsers. In most cases the features work on all browsers, but some CSS 3 features and JQuery scripts do not function correctly in IE. I'll keep working to put methods in place that allow the technology to degrade eligantly. Look at this list of technologies:

-Linux
-Apache
-MySQL
-XHTML
-PHP
-Javascript
-JQuery
-CSS
-XML

You will find links to each of these technologies at the bottom of this webpage. Most of these technologies were in use on the previous design, but this new site takes advantage of these technologies like never before. They make the site more flexible, more user friendly, and much easier on the eyes. The web is changing rapidly and it's important that our pages take advantage of these great new technologies.

I really want this site to be useful to people and hopefully provide information that is timely and interesting. There are many new features on this site that did not exist on the old site. I will list some of these new features below:

1. Blog entries placed side by side with user comments. I designed this site to emphasize the ever changing content, found primarily in the blog posts and user comments. When using the main part of the site, the entire body is consumed with posts and dialogue related to the posts. I have never seen a site that uses this configuration and I am excited to hear feedback about this setup.

2. Bible Reading - You will find a link called Bible Reading at the bottom of the page (temporary location). I have fully integrated my Bible Reading site into the new design. This will make it very easy for anyone to access the Scripture. I ask that you spend some time using the Bible Reading tools found on this site, as they have been designed to make moving around the Scriptures very easy. I am planning to add search capability and multiple versions to this site shortly.

3. RSS Comments Feed - A new RSS feed has been added to the top, so users can subscribe to the Comments feed from this site. Currently this feed monitors all comments on the site.

4. Social Links - My Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube links have been added to the upper right hand side at the top of the page. This should make it much easier to find me around the web. If I join any additional social sites, then I will add them in the same area.

5. Library - For some time now, I have been databasing many of the books in my library. I have provided a drop-down menu option displaying all of these books, and giving a link for you to get more information or even obtain the books yourself. This menu also displays an icon telling you what type of book (physical, audio, or e-book). I consume mostly physical books, but I have started listening to quite a few audio books lately, and more recently I have obtained a couple of books through the Kindle app on the iPhone. If nothing else, this list can provide some idea of the authors and titles I have read.

6. Photos menu option - I have redesigned the gallery viewing code to make it easier and more pleasing to the eye. If you mouse over the Photos option, you will see the first five images in each gallery and a link to the full gallery page. The code actually does all of the work and you are not looking at static image links. When I add new gallery directories with images, the code will display them under that option. I plan to enhance the code so it pulls five random images from the directory.

7. Tech Links - This site is sort of a mishmash of Biblical, Technical, and Political topics, so I have added links to some of my favorite tech sites. These were housed on a separate page before and I did not provide a public link, but I wanted to integrate these into the new site design. If you are interested in technology, then visiting these links once in a while should keep you up to date.

8. Administrative Tools - You will notice a login option at the top of the page. This login currently only provides access for me to reach my integrated posting tools. I have integrated the tools I use to post various bits of information into the site. This will make it much easier for me to add content. I plan to add a full user registration system, so users can edit their posts, and lock-in their favorite user name.

9. JQuery - I have started using JQuery on this site. JQuery is a fascinating javascript library, that can really make doing certain things on a website much easier. The rounded corners and the hidden comment post form are both built with JQuery. As I become more familiar with the library, there will likely be additional JQuery features configured.

10. No Clutter - Most everything that is not a blog post or user comment, has been hidden under a CSS drop-down. This streamlined approach may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it provides the most clutter free method of building websites. It is not my intention to hide things from the users, but rather to allow users to focus on the primary content and only see the ancillary options when they want to.

As you can see, there has been a great deal of care, thought, and effort put into this new design. It is my sincere prayer that you find it more useful, more accessible, and more enjoyable!

Thanks for visiting the NEW RedTigerOH Blog.

Peace,
RedTigerOH

Post to test my new posting form, which is built into the framework of the new Blog site. I will make an official post once the new site launches and highlight key new features.

This is very exciting!

Peace,
RedTigerOH

Anyone who uses a Windows based PC understands the very real threat of viruses. Sometimes, even with good effort, we can be at risk of infection from any number of different attacks. Every day that goes by the security threats grow, the amount of damage that can be caused increases, and we lose more of our sense of safety. Microsoft has long been maligned for all of the various security flaws in Windows, and in some cases rightly so. However, Microsoft is a company of innovation and even though this mighty Giant has been at rest for a number of years, their most recent technology ripples are bound to send shock waves through the minds of even their most ardent opponents.

Microsoft has finally brought free malware and virus protection to the Windows PC. This is glorious news for Windows users, which by the way, is about 90% of all desktop users around the globe. The quality of the protection is quite good as well, so it's not just some slow, cheap, and ineffective solution either. I won't go into any detail, as I am including a link to a review by Paul Thurrott.

Microsoft Security Essentials Review - by Paul Thurrott

I recommend downloading and installing this software. It's free, it's a quality solution, and it's your responsibility to keep your computers and network free of malware. Here is the link to the Security Essentials website:

MS Security Essentials Webpage

Peace,
RedTigerOH

I have uploaded pictures from my trip to Argentina to both Facebook and my web server. Here is the link to access them on this web server:

Argentina Pictures

You can access the Argentina Album through my profile on Facebook as well.

The trip went really well. It's always fun to visit other places and I generally learn things through the experience. God was very gracious to me and my colleagues on this trip. I'm very thankful for my co-workers, and it's a privilege to work with them.

If the Lord allows I will try to share a few observations from this trip over the next few days. Things like the "Rule of Law", "Poverty", and "Loving your neighbor" were heavily impressed on my heart during this trip. I would like to draw some comparisons between Argentina (much of Latin America actually) and the United States. Hopefully after reading my observations, I will be able to inspire us to be more proactive and steadfast in the things we do. It's time we make a full assessment and unclog our schedules and start to focus on the most important things now, before they slip away from the United States too.

I hope you enjoy the pictures (please forgive my lack of photographic skill).

Peace,
RedTigerOH