MIKE'S COMMENTARY
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
NEWS & NOTES BY SUE FOUST

MIKE'S COMMENTARY AND SOME BITS OF WISDOM
 

HAPPY EASTER TRADITION THE KERSTETTER WAY The pictures below feature a special tree beside the Kerstetter house at 336 East Water Street in Lock Haven.  Each year, before Easter, this particular tree boasts its unique character and bears the most beautiful blossoms.  It is then that Mary Jane meticulously decorates it with large colored eggs, 925 of them this year, and beautiful lights which supply an additional ambiance during evening hours.  This has been a 25 year annual event for Mary Jane and Ernie, except 2 years during the Lock Haven levee construction.  For visitor convenience there is a comfortable love seat for two, inviting onlookers to sit and enjoy or pose for a candid picture.  Mr. and Mrs. Cottontail are on duty to welcome visitors.  This year's display will be available to viewers during this next week.  Good advice is to visit during the day and return at night.  You will want to have a camera with you. Click on the images to enlarge.

The Traditions of Easter As with almost all Christian holidays, Easter has been secularized and commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its symbols, however, is not necessarily a modern fabrication.  Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter has had its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival.  The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre. When the second-century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations, they attempted to convert them to Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine manner. It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner. As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over. The early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter. The Date of Easter Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. However, a caveat must be introduced here. The "full moon" in the rule is the ecclesiastical full moon, which is defined as the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation, where day 1 corresponds to the ecclesiastical New Moon. It does not always occur on the same date as the astronomical full moon. The ecclesiastical "vernal equinox" is always on March 21. Therefore, Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25. The Lenten Season Lent is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday. It begins on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is a celebration, sometimes called "Carnival," practiced around the world, on the Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday. It was designed as a way to "get it all out" before the sacrifices of Lent began. New Orleans is the focal point of Mardi Gras celebrations in the U.S. Read about the religious meanings of the Lenten Season.     The Cross The Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion, as opposed to the Resurrection. However, at the Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325, Constantine decreed that the Cross was the official symbol of Christianity. The Cross is not only a symbol of Easter, but it is more widely used, especially by the Catholic Church, as a year-round symbol of their faith.   The Easter Bunny The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit. The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time. The Easter Egg As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by Christians. From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers. Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs -- those made of plastic or chocolate candy.   ~ http://wilstar.com/holidays/easter.htm ~

 
 
 

In the bonds of Death He lay Who for our offence was slain; But the Lord is risen to-day, Christ hath brought us life again, Wherefore let us all rejoice, Singing loud, with cheerful voice, Hallelujah!           ~ Martin Luther ~

PASSOVER A time of family gatherings and lavish meals called Seders, the story of Passover is retold through the reading of the Haggadah. With its special foods, songs, and customs, the Seder is the focal point of the Passover celebration. Passover begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. As the Jewish day begins at sundown the night before, for the year 2006, the first night of Passover was April 12th. The Story of Passover  About 3000 years ago the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians under the rule of the Pharaoh Ramses II.  According to the Book of Exodus - Moses, a simple Jewish shepherd, was instructed by God to go to the pharaoh and demand the freedom of his people Moses' plea of let my people go was ignored.  Moses warned the Pharaoh that God would send severe punishments to the people of Egypt if the Israelites were not freed.  Again the Pharaoh ignored Moses' request of freedom.  In response God unleashed a series of 10 terrible plagues on the people of Egypt 1.  Blood 2.  Frogs 3.  Lice (vermin) 4.  Wild Beasts(flies) 5.  Blight (Cattle Disease) 6.  Boils 7.  Hail 8.  Locusts 9.  Darkness 10.  Slaying of the First Born  The holiday's name - Pesach, meaning "passing over" or "protection" in Hebrew, is derived from the instructions given to Moses by God .  In order to encourage the Pharaoh to free the Israelites, God intended to kill the first-born of both man and beast.  To protect themselves, the Israelites were told to mark their dwellings with lamb's blood so that G-d could identify and "pass over" their homes The Pharaoh was unconvinced and refused to free the Jewish slaves Until the last plague When the Pharaoh finally agreed to freedom, the Israelites left their homes so quickly that there wasn't even time to bake their breads.  So they packed the raw dough to take with them on their journey.  As they fled through the desert they would quickly bake the dough in the hot sun into hard crackers called matzohs.  Today to commemorate this event, Jews eat matzoh in place of bread during Passover.  Though the Jews were now free, their liberation was incomplete.  The Pharaoh's army chased them through the desert towards the Red Sea.  When the Jews reached the sea they were trapped, since the sea blocked their escape It was then that a miracle occurred.  The waves of the Red Sea parted and the Israelites were able to cross to the other side.  As soon as they all reached the other side the sea closed trapping the Pharaoh's army as the waves closed upon them Then as the Israelites watched the waters of the Red Sea sweep away the Pharaoh's army they realized they were finally free Passover celebrates this history.     The Passover seder is one of the most widely observed of all Jewish customs, and at the center of every seder is a seder plate. Because of the popularity of the Passover seder, and because of the seder plate's central position in its observance, the plate has become a very common outlet for Jewish artistic expression. Most seder plates have six dishes for the six symbols of the Passover seder. These are:     * Maror (bitter herbs)     * Karpas (vegetable)     * Chazeret (bitter vegetable)     * Charoset (apple, nut, spice and wine mixture)     * Zeroa (shankbone)     * Beitzah (egg) Some seder plates have only five dishes, as there is some controversy among the authorities as to the requirement of chazeret. Plates with five dishes omit the second bitter herb (or bitter vegetable).

Special Opportunity at KCnet ICDL WORKSHOP KCnet offers workshops on computer skills necessary for the workplace (ICDL). These workshops include instruction in 4 categories of computer skills: Fundamental Concepts of Information Technology, Using the Computer and Managing Files, Word Processing, and Internet and Email. Individuals who complete the workshop successfully will receive an International Computer Driving License (ICDL) starter certification, and the opportunity to complete a full ICDL certification.  Currently there is an ICDL workshop in operation.  Interested applicants can sign up for the next ICDL workshop by calling KCnet at 893-8111.  The registration fee is $100 and includes all materials and testing fees. Advanced registration is required.  The ICDL certification program is designed to show employers that a potential or existing employee has the basic computer skills necessary to perform daily computer tasks. ICDL is comprised of seven modules that demonstrate competency in the following areas: Fundamental Concepts of IT, Using the Computer and Managing Files, Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Databases, Presentations, and Internet and Email. Upon completion of each training module, the candidate will take a proctored exam. Failed tests may be retaken as often as necessary. Once all tests have been passed, the candidate receives ICDL certification. The ICDL is an internationally accepted certificate. It can simplify employment procedures and assures the employer that the applicants and/or staff have the necessary level of knowledge and competence to use common computer applications. This workshop counts as 21 credit hours of ACT 48 continuing education credits, the full ICDL training and certification counts as 42 credit hours. ICDL certification is also worth 7 credit hours transferable to almost any college or university.    Keystone Community Network is a non-profit community technology center located in downtown Lock Haven.  KCnet is an equal opportunity service provider. KCnet's Helpdesk is available  Please call 893-8111 for a technician.

 

KCNET CLASSES

KCnet Users  Group:  Every Wednesday The starting time is 9:00 AM on this Wednesday, April 19.  We meet in Computer Lab 1 (The Big Room).  Leadership is Mike Foust and anyone that wants to jump into the fray. great days these past two Wednesday. We got rollin' with some pics sent by Advanced User viewers and others gleaned by Mike.  We then settled into our seats and took another wild tech ride.  Among the many 'puter topics covered we... 04/05/06 ... discussed the upcoming security fixes from Microsoft.  We viewed an article about political campaigns and the internet. ...  looked at You Tube a Hollywood style video blogging site that is ballooning on the internet.  Take a look at You Tube, it can be awesome but be careful it can get risque too. http://www.youtube.com/ ... explored a Power Point trick to help with embedding of music with your presentation.  Get to me if your interested.  ... downloaded and installed a program recommended by Don Miller.  It is Photo Story 2 and it is a good one.  Your can easily create videos and save them in a .wmv format for sending to family and friends.  The program is simple to use and has a bunch of out of site features.  Works on Windows XP.  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/plus/tryit.asp 04/12/06 ... viewed two small .wmv videos created by Jon Ahrens.   He used the  Microsoft Photo Story 2 program.  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/plus/tryit.asp ... Explored the Worldstart tip for safely removing a flash/thumb drive.  We also explored the differences between Flash and Thumb Drives.  Microsoft calls them Jump Drives.  BTW there are 64 gig flash drives (same physical size as the common ones we use) that sell for $5000.   The 32 gig model is a modest $1500. See the Worldstart article on the tech page for the thumb drive vs flash drive write up plus safe removal directions. ...  Jim Linn sent info about dictionaries that work with any windows program and one that is specific to Internet Explorer.  These are new.  There has been a browser dictionary available for Firefox and Thunderbird.  Information and downloads for the above is available at: We did some other interesting stuff too, but you had to be there...   We enjoyed super snacks again both weeks.  I appologize for misplacing the lists of gourmet preparers and the descriptions of their tasty concoctions.  View some pictures of the Birthday folks.  It was Happy Birthday for Jane Long, Bev Womeldorf, and Richard Novosel.  Jane was absent for the celebration.  Pics can be clicked on to view enlargement.  Close-up of the cake. Bev and Richard before wishes and cutting. Some of the class at the Arby's after class session. Thanks to John Laubscher and Sue Foust for the dandy photos. This class often becomes idea swapping and we learn by sharing our many experiences and I'll tell you all again, that really happened this week. Thanks to all that brought in suggestions, asked questions, and helped with explanations.

NEWS AND NOTES WITH SUE FOUST:

KCnet hosted visitors of the April 14th Art Walk.  KCnet's President of the Board, Bill Raco, displayed his photo masterpieces, which are hanging on the walls in the classrooms, offices and halls of the Main Street Technology Center.  The turnout was excellent.  Other displays were of "Pottery by Rebecca" and 3 beautiful genuine Amish quilts. Bill Raco, winner of various photography awards, proudly discussed his photos and the methods he used to produce them.  The evening was a success - including refreshments!  The photos will remain on display at KCnet for anyone wishing to stop in to view them.   Click on photo to enlarge image. Bill Raco (2nd from left) discusses his photos with  Art Walk participants. During the week, one more person became Certified as having earned their "International Computer Driving License." Wayne C.  Smith and Scott Schaefer have passed both Level I and Level II competency tests in computer technology.  A dozen or so other candidates are in various stages of testing.  Our goal is to certify 250 Clinton/Centre residents "computer literate." And 3 KCnet staff members have passed the first half of their A+ certifications.  They've passed their software portion of the A+ exams, scheduled to take the second half, hardware, sometime before the end of the month. KCnet is licensed and listed as an official testing center for Microsoft, Cisco and other technology certification tests. If you are interested in participating as a candidate to become computer literate, call 893-8111 and ask for Tammy Harrington, Steve Stewart or Sue Foust. If you have children or grandchildren of pre-school age, it's time to enroll them in the KC Techno-Tots program.  Call for details.  Sessions start in May. Until next week... ! KCnet Board Of Directors Officers:   President Bill Raco, Vice President Bob Rolley, Secretary Jon Ahrens,  Treasurer Don Miller and Past President Judy Yoho.   Other members of the board:  Carolyn Carl, R.  Keith Kelly, Paul Korn, Donna Lannan, Amy Lapriola, Tom Livingston,  Ray McGill, and Rich Wykoff.

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