Apparently Christianity Really is For Clowns

What an awful disgrace to the body of our savior. More proof that the wisdom of men is nothing but a fleeting whisper. In this case, a really stupid fleeting whisper.

A Nice Place to Visit?

Apparently, all the horror stories we're told about Gitmo don't match up to reality. You mean the media might have mislead us into believing something that wasn't based in reality? Perish the thought!

It Was Only a Matter of Time

Before someone decided to take a stab at Huffington. It's actually quite a bit more entertaining than the orginial.

Hitchens on the Left's Most Recent Tactic

Michael Moore's old argument is more popular, particularly in the blogsphere, than ever and Christopher Hitchens doesn't like it. (Hat tip: Althouse)

Blogger

Well, I have no idea what is causing the first entry to skip lines like that. We apologize for the annoyance of having to deal with it, but there is nothing we can do about it right now. If any other Blogger users have had a similar problem, please let us know what you did to fix it.

A Novel Way to Get the Big 10 Into the Courthouse

I found and posted this one to the website I maintain for Bible Quizzing, but it is just *TOO* perfect of a commentary on the recent contradictory court rulings on the Decalogue *NOT* to post it here as well.

How Live 8 performers could actually help Africa

I found this interesting bit of opinion about how Live 8 is most likely going to be a futile event, because of difficulties put in place by Greenpeace, which is supported by many of the Live 8 performers. The theory goes like this: Greenpeace is responsible for trying to ban DDT from Africa (among other places). DDT helps to eliminate malaria inducing mosquitoes, which in turn helps African countries economically because they don't have to pay for treatment of millions of people and those people continue to work. Secondly, Greenpeace supports a ban on vitamin A enriched rice because of its biotech nature. This rice could help to keep millions of children in Africa from going blind and thus be able to enter the workforce at an appropriate age as well as the savings from treatment of blind children. The author theorizes that since many of the Live 8 performers acknowledge that they want to see development in Africa, they should stop their support of Greenpeace or use their influence to force Greenpeace to drop their support for these policies which are helping to prevent development in Africa. You should really read the article, it's better stated their. My question is whether there are other pesticides - perhaps organic ones that GP might be more supportive of - that would do the same thing as DDT. Worth thinking about at least.

iTunes 4.9: Podcasting Goes Mainstream

I know, I know. "Podcasting" sounds like radio programs for victims from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." But it's not. Instead, it is a new distribution method for programs (i.e. music, talk, drama, etc.) that would formerly have been put out on the radio. The file is downloaded from the Net to iTunes and then automatically uploaded to your iPod the next time you connect. So, you can listen to your favorite programs whenever you want. It is almost TIVO for audio content. And it is now an automatic part of Apple's iTunes 4.9.

This does not mean any program you can get over the air, will now be available via iTunes. Some Podcasts and Broadcasts overlap, but the majority do not. Still, there are plenty of general interest Podcasts out there, and it is likely you will be able to find one that will tickle your fancy.

Fusion Power Coming to France in 2040

While the U.S. public continues to debate whether or not they support nuclear power, it seems that the heads of state of the EU, US and Japan have been seriously discussing the using of fusion (instead of fission, which is currently used) for the next generation of nuclear power plants. To that end a fusion power reactor will be built in France, with results of this experiment to be seen in 2040. The article makes it sound like the US is upset that France ended up with the reactor instead of Japan, but on the darker side of the bright side if things go wrong at least it's France that is going to be contaminated with radiation and not Japan. But seriously I don't know if this is going to make much of a difference in the energy crisis the world is facing. I guess we'll have to see.

Ring Around the Planet?

When I was a physics major for two years of college (before I came to the humbling realization that in the end a career in physics meant doing Math 24/7 for the rest of my days) I loved the theoretical side of things. Loved talking about quantum mechanics, relativity, and the really weird implications of modern theory. Like the idea that while it was impossible for you and me, quantum teleportation (going from point X to point Y without ever occupying any point in between) was a common occurrence. But I never confused "cool theory" and "workable plan."

A new article in LiveScience proves that some science folks, however, have no problem confusing theory and practical reality. Their solution to combat global warming is not to reduce emissions, sequester excess greenhouse gasses, or plant more trees. Nope. They want to create a HUGE "ring around the planet." Theoretically, this Saturnine planetary fashion accessory would block excess solar radiation from the equatorial regions and thus cool the planet. And all for the low, low price of $500 billion to $200 trillion.

Personally, I would prefer a large sombrero or cowboy hat to shield the planet. Just think! It would give us all an excuse for a siesta each day!

Supremes: Decalogue Okay, Sorta, Kinda, Maybe

The Supreme Court proved again that it is time for a change when it issued two rulings today on public displays of the 10 Commandments that are almost contradictory (not quite) and it is questionable whether they reverse or endorse past decisions on the same subject. In other words, they pretty much said "I dunno" and let it go at that.

But framed copies in two Kentucky courthouses went too far in endorsing religion, the court held. Those courthouse displays are unconstitutional, the justices said, because their religious content is overemphasized.
In contrast, a 6-foot-granite monument on the grounds of the Texas Capitol -- one of 17 historical displays on the 22-acre lot -- was determined to be a legitimate tribute to the nation's legal and religious history.
"Of course, the Ten Commandments are religious -- they were so viewed at their inception and so remain. The monument therefore has religious significance," Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the majority in the case involving the display outside the state capitol of Texas.
"Simply having religious content or promoting a message consistent with a religious doctrine does not run afoul of the Establishment clause," he said.

So essentially religious displays are okay... so long as they are not *TOO* religious. Who decides what "too religious" means? Why, the Courts, of course! After all, we don't want to have a tricky thing like giving a clear ruling that the Legislature can then pass laws to enforce or an ammendment to overturn.

Sigh. Am I just having a bad day? Or are these pair of decisions actually worse than no decision?

6 Month Anniversary of the Jakarta Tsunami

CNN reminds up that today is the 6 month anniversary of the Jakarta Tsunami. I suppose it should not be shocking, but it amazed me to read in the article that there are still 50,000 "missing" as in "not yet listed as dead." Here in the West, the disaster now seems far, far away. But in the East, it is still just today's news.

n Banda Aceh, capital of Indonesia's Aceh province, 45-year-old Muhamed Ali, a carpenter, didn't know until just a few weeks ago that his 16-year-old daughter was alive.
"I am very happy because I finally can see my daughter again," he said when the pair were reunited June 22. But the happiness of the moment was dimmed when Handayani asked whether her mother and sister had been taken by the waves. Her father could only nod.
In the chaotic aftermath of the tsunami, thousands of children were separated from their families, presenting a huge challenge for officials and agencies in charge of their welfare.

It is a reminder that the crisis is not over, just because the waters have receeded. Lives were torn apart, and we need to keep up our prayers and donations to the suvivors.

God Bless You George Shultz

I hope when God calls me home that I find George Shultz there. He has brought so much simple joy into the world with Peanuts, and even the reruns they are doing now from 30 years ago are still funny. And yet profound.

Serenity/Firefly is on the Move

I recently introduced Ward and Muse to Firefly - a sci fi show by Joss Whedon that lasted only 11 episodes on a skeptical FOX network. It is a great series about a ship of smugglers and thieves in a post-apocalyptic world that mixes cowboys and spaceships in equal measure. Well, a movie is on the way with a stealth marketing campaign that may remake the way Hollywood sells its new (relatively) small-budget genre films.

Apple PowerBooks to Get Internal Flash Drives?

AppleInsider is reporting that Samsung is pushing for Apple computer to include large large flash drives in future Apple laptops. If flash drives do manage to hit the 100 GB mark in the next 2 years, it may provide a way to include hard drives that use almost no power when not in use. That means better battery life (no moving parts to drain the power) and memory that can survive despite the loss of power altogether.

It is a neat idea, though RAM drives have always been a dream and rarely been a reality that can compete with normal hard drives. In two years, the average Hard Drive will be upwards of 300 GB. Will 100 GB flash drives really be able to compete?

Flying the Happy Skies

A friend a work passed this little baby onto me. Makes you wonder if this is the way to keep the skies "friendly" in a post-9/11 world.

Just a Quick Post

Not much time for posting, my thesis deadline approaches. But I found this while doing some research and needed a distraction. I'm shocked how accurate the results of this one were. I'd be interested in what other readers come up as.

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 86% Emergent/Postmodern 79% Neo orthodox 68% Reformed Evangelical 57% Roman Catholic 57% Classical Liberal 54% Charismatic/Pentecostal 50% Fundamentalist 32% Modern Liberal 32% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

An Evangelical Air Force?

CRChair recommended this article to me. I am not quite sure what to think of it.

It was with happy anticipation that retired Air Force Colonel David Antoon and his son Ryan, 18, arrived last year at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., for an orientation for accepted students. But their pride soon turned to perplexity. On the schedule was a visit to the school chapel. A loyal alumnus, Antoon remembered academy chaplains as a low-key group who made no attempt to press their brand of faith on others. But that day, before a crowd that probably included future cadets of all creeds, the chaplain at the microphone boasted about the huge popularity of Christian Bible studies, and several of his colleagues, Antoon recalls, responded, "Amen" and "Hallelujah."...The Antoons' experience was not an aberration. This week, after a six-week barrage of allegations, the Air Force is expected to release a report based on more than 300 interviews, addressing charges that the academy is rife with an officially encouraged religious evangelization. Critics say the behaviors violated the Constitution and Department of Defense regulations--and threatened troop unity by teaching future commanders overt religious favoritism.

Disclaimer up front, I am what some would call an Evangelical, Bible-believing, Born Again Christian. So I am often skeptical of stories like this which turn a simple prayer over a meal into "indoctrination" and which tend to make it sound like Evangelicals are comic book villains with dreams of world domination. At the same time, the armed forces - like other parts of the American government - must be free of religious bias in order to be genuinely American. We are founded on the idea that each man/woman should be free to worship in the way they see fit. But finding the balance between "freedom of religion" and "freedom from religion" can be tough.

Private Property KO'd by The Supremes

Sigh. It is a story that has not gained a lot of national attention, but over here in CT the town of New London has been trying to seize the homes of several landowners in order to build a new office building. The town's officers are using the right of "Emmient Domain" which traditionally was only used to seize property for roads, bridges, and the like. Well, the Supremes have agreed and now some CT homeowners are suddenly homeless.

At issue was the scope of the Fifth Amendment, which allows governments to take private property through eminent domain if the land is for "public use." Susette Kelo and several other homeowners in a working-class neighborhood in New London, Connecticut, filed suit after city officials announced plans to raze their homes for a riverfront hotel, health club and offices. New London officials countered that the private development plans served a public purpose of boosting economic growth that outweighed the homeowners' property rights, even if the area wasn't blighted.

Okay, maybe I overstated that last sentence. Traditionally in eminent domain cases, the property owners are reimbursed the fair market value.

You Wonder What Happened to All the Hippies?

I know, I know...Not everyone who eats tofu and soya and legumes are hippies, but it was too funny to pass up the opportunity to make mention in light of this fertility issue.

A Change in the SCOTUS Coming?

Kristol thinks he sees the signs. And it's not who you're thinking either. I'm not sure how I feel about the possiblities, but we'll just have to wait and see if his hunch pans out.

The Mind Behind Live 8

Chrenkoff has a couple of interesting quotes and his conclusions pretty much mirror my own. At least it's good to have a lefty thinking rationally. I think Live 8 is pretty much a silly idea. But if you've got lots of money and "talent" and feel motivated to act against suffering in the world, then I suppose you do what you can.

Awful

WARNING: Don't click the following two links unless you're up for reading some disturbing accounts.

Apparently, one Kansas abortion clinic is out of business after some grizzly discoveries.

We Don't Know Nothing!

Reading this telling piece about the guessing game that is economics reminds me of something CrChair said once in college. "We have no idea what the economy would do if we actually got rid of the deficit." We couldn't even predict what a world without debt would look like for our national economy. Just think about the burst at the beginning of this new century. The only reason the growth continued throughout the 90's was because we Americans believed that it could. Our faith in the economy actually allowed us to push an economic boom well beyond any reasonable expectation. Of course, eventually reality did catch up with us. But it just serves to show what a guessing game economics is.

Nutjob Watch

Sad and depressing. What a disgrace against the name of the Lord. And just remember, this is as close as many Americans will get to seeing a Christian.

And Now For Something Completely Different

There must be something about megalomaniacs. They want to rule the world and yet they seem so...disarming at at the same time. There are some interesting snippets in this piece about an article due out next month discussing Saddam.

Mmmm.... Narnia One-Sheet....

Thanks to Aint-It-Cool-News for this one.

I can't wait for this movie! But then I am a rabid C.S. Lewis fan.

Make your SUV into a low emissions vehicle

Where I live there is a high proportion of environmentalists. With such a high number you'd think that when looking at traffic there would be less SUVs and more small and hybrid cars - remarkably there isn't. In fact I've never seen so many Hummer's in my life. People love there SUVs, they commute 40-50 miles (1-3 hours depending on traffic) each way to work in their Hummer or Explorer or Suburban. There's a new idea coming out of the University of Pennsylvania - buying emissions credits, which thus make your vehicle a low emissions vehicle and thus the large amount of junk coming out of your tailpipe is nullified. It's an interesting idea. I found it also interesting that it's not the SUV owners that are buying these credits. Odd, truly odd (or as somebody I know would say awd).

The Risks of a Wireless Web

CNN has up a good story on the risks of using wireless hotspots out in the wild. Whenever you use an unsecured 802.11b/g (a.k.a. Airport for the Mac-Heads out there) hotspot, you risk exposing personal data. Especially if you bring up banking or credit card sites.

Rushing was able to log onto an unsecured hotel wireless signal in a matter of seconds. To illustrate how vulnerable such networks can be, Rushing then sent an e-mail and intercepted the entire contents of the message. He could've done the same thing to any of the dozens of people sitting nearby in the park.
"At any point in time, I can reach out and touch everyone's laptop at the hot spot, and there's usually not any way of preventing that -- from me touching and looking at other people's stuff at the hot spot itself," Rushing said.
He also demonstrated a growing concern called "evil twins" -- fake wireless hot spots that look like the real thing.

I am reasonably confident that all of my uses of hotspots have been secure - I only use our home unit, Mom's home unit, and secured hotspots at hotels and the like. But it is a reminder never to simply trust an open hotspot. You never know when that piece of cheese is just bait for a trap.

40M Credit Card Numbers Stolen from a System that Shouldn't Have Had Them

Remember last week's story about 40,000,000 credit card numbers being stolen from a business partner of MasterCard? Well, the company is now admitting it should not have kept the data around, anyway. Turns out that they were retaining data to research an issue with transactions not correctly completing or authorizing on their system. It is reasonable to keep some test data around for this kind of thing, but let's be honest and admit 40 million records is a bit excessive. I would say "Perhaps next time they'll do better," but it is unlikely that MasterCard will keep doing business with a company which has been caught in such an extreme breach.

Why Is Trust Important?

Okay, I am the unmarried one in the bunch here at Mod-Blog, so I questioned posting this one. But it is too interesting to keep away from our readers. A Danish study has been completed on how the brain and sex. What they have found is that it is critical the parts of the female brain associated with fear be deactivated in order for them to achieve climax. Men can acieve the same effect without this kind of deactivation, but not females.

Why is this important? (Other than providing a sure method of making sure your wife is not playing out a certain scene from "When Harry Met Sally"... if you happen to have a portable EEG handy.) It shows why trust is so important to a healthy and satisfying marriage and sex life. A woman is unlikely to be satisfied if she does not feel she can completely trust her partner - and infidelity is sure to remove such trust. Remember, kids, trust is critical. Never assume you can lie to your loved one or be unfaithful.

The Moon is playing mind tricks

I came across this interesting bit of science today and thought it might be worth checking out. Apparently, because we're right at the summer solstice and the full moon is hitting at the same time, the moon will appear to be bigger than it really is. If I happen to be out when the moon is out tonight, I'm certainly going to check it out.

First-Hand Account of Nagasai After "The Bomb"

It is amazing to now learn that days after the Atomic Bomb fell on Nagasaki, there was an American reporter on the site to record the effects of the bomb. The Allied Generals were furious, and the report was censored and never put into print. But now it has been released by a Japanese news agency.

What is most amazing to me is how much in contrast this report is to the apocalyptic images that Hollywood and Japanese film has presented over the last 50 years. When we hear "Atomic Bomb", we think of images from The Day After, Akira, and other films which make it seem that the area around any bomb is made suddenly lifeless and forever an ash desert. Not so here, where like any normal bomb raid, many targets were missed entirely, and life goes on in the shadow of this death. Not to say that we should be encouraged by this to start up a new nuclear arms race. But it reminds us that a nuke is not the end of the world.

No More Wandering...For a Little While Anyway

Well, blogger remembered my login. That's good at least. 2800 miles, 10 states, and 7 days later and Muse and I really enjoyed sleeping in a little bit this morning. We have lots of pics which we just have to upload from the camera and then we'll have a few cool shots to pass on. At least, we think they're cool and hope that you'll enjoy them too. It's almost sureal to splash your feet in the Atlantic ocean in the morning and ride past mid-western corn fields that night. And I think Muse even has something she wants to blog about...so maybe I just need to take her traveling more often since she usually blogs after a long trip.

You Gotta Love FoxTrot

Why do I think that kids are actually trying this in pools all over America?

I'll Take "Not An Authentic Example of Christ's Love for $1000, Alex."

There are days when the Christian faith feels like it is on the cutting edge of philosophical sophistication and religous purity. And then there are days like this. There are reports out of Romania that a priest has crucified and killed a woman whom he believed was demon-posessed. This does not look like the love of Christ to me.

A Romanian nun has died after being bound to a cross, gagged and left alone for three days in a cold room in a convent, Romanian police have said.
Members of the convent in north-west Romania claim Maricica Irina Cornici was possessed and that the crucifixion had been part of an exorcism ritual.
Cornici was found dead on the cross on Wednesday after fellow nuns called an ambulance, according to police.
On Saturday a priest and four nuns were charged in connection with her death.
Police say the 23-year-old nun, who was denied food and drink throughout her ordeal, had been tied and chained to the cross and a towel pushed into her mouth to smother any sounds.

In all of the scripture I have read, nothing like this was ever put forth as a method of dealing with demon posession. Instead, prayer and fasting is mentioned, along with calls to the one living God. I suppose it is reasonable to withhold final judgement until more details come out, but this seems like superstition and hysteria to me.

And that comes from an Evangelical Christian who does believe in demon posession.

EU Crisis

It seems that the European Union is in a bit of a crisis these days. First French and Dutch voters rejected the proposed constitution, now the union is unable to create an agreement on budgetary issues. This is an old alliance, so I have no doubt that they'll find their way out of this current spat, but it does seem precarious for an organization that is in many ways trying to make itself into the second superpower. It will be interesting to see how they get themselves out of this situation, especially since it has degraded into verbal denigration and name calling.

Failing Students Wish College Understood the Proper Use of BCC:

Here is a tip to the Financial Aid office of the Univeristy of Kansas, and anyone else out there who sends mass e-mails. In order to keep everyone on your e-mail list from seeing everyone else on your e-mail list, simply put your name in the TO: field and everyone else's name in the BCC: field. BCC stands for Blind Carbon Copy, and by design ensures that recievers can not see any addresses in that field - not even their own name. Thus ends this public service announcement. And no, I am not a student of U of K, nor am I affiliated in any way other than knowing a graduate.

Due to an e-mail mistake by the University of Kansas, 119 students who failed all their classes during the last semester found out who shared their misfortune.
The students were notified earlier this week that they were in jeopardy of having their financial aid revoked. The e-mail sent Monday by the Office of Student Financial Aid asked for additional information to determine if they were still eligible for aid.
The e-mail address list included the names of all 119 students, with the result that everyone on it could see the names of all the others...University policy, Cohen said, is that financial information is to be communicated to students individually, not through a group e-mail. He said the financial aid department is getting training on privacy and security issues related to e-mails.
"This certainly will be a reminder to anybody who is ever pasting e-mail addresses into a message," he said.

Of course, as a matter of social policy, I am not sure it is a bad idea to notify the community of who failed a class. Those with valid reasons (family issues, health issues, or bad teachers) can easily defend themselves, and the rest are given a nice dose of shame to keep them from letting things get out of control again. Then again, this was a violation of law and that is never okay, even if there might be positive social consequences.

40M Credit Card Numbers Stolen, Where M = Million

This has simply not been a good year for banks and credit companies. Earlier in the year, several companies had issues with credit or debit cards stolen while tapes were in transit between sites. Now, MasterCard has announced that over 40,000,000 card numbers may have been compromised by a hacker that infitrated a third party's computer system. MC's macho response? "We'll tell the member banks and let them worry about it." Sigh.

A security breach has occurred at a third-party processor of payment card transactions that affects over 40 million credit card accounts, Mastercard International said Friday.
Of the cards involved, 13.9 million were MasterCard-branded cards, which include Maestro and Cirrus, and 22 million were Visa cards, said Visa spokeswoman Rhonda Bentz.
The breach took place at the Tucson office of CardSystems Solutions, which processes transactions on behalf of financial institutions and merchants. CardSystems said in a statement that it identified the breach on May 22 and contacted the FBI the next day.
Mastercard learned the final details of the breach this week, according to spokeswoman Jessica Antle. "It looks like a hacker gained access to CardSystems' database and installed a script that acts like a virus, searching out certain types of card transaction data."

Makes me wonder how close we are to a day when there is a strong national movement back towards paper checks and cash transactions. Financial institutions need to understand that security is not just job 1, it may be the ONLY important job they have.

Teleporting...sort of

Ever since I first watched Star Trek I've been intrigued by the transporter technology they used. This is a true statement for most sci-fi geeks, but some of those geeks are actually working on it. The difference is that this teleporting wouldn't actually transmit a person from one place to the other, instead it would transmit the likeness of the person to the other place and requires a computer network. It's an interesting idea and it'll be interesting to see if they can actually get it to work.

Nomad's Monstrous Melon Means Something... Maybe

Those who came down to visit us on our vacation trip to New Jersey already know this, but I have to make a revelation to the rest of you. Nomad had a big head. I don't mean that I think too highly of myself (though I think Sean and Ward occasionally would disagree). I mean I have a huge melon sitting atop my neck. When I first joined cub scouts, one of the things they did was to use an elastic strap and a feather to give each new scout a faux indian headband. Everyone else used one elastic strap. I used two and *STILL* got a monstrous headache out of the deal. And you know those "One Size Fits All" hats they sell? THEY LIE!!!

Anyway, finally I have something to feel good about in regards to my oversized novelty cranium, scientists from Virginia Commonwealth University have completed a study which claims to show that large brains mean high intelligence. So it appears my maxima cabeza is just a sign that I am a really smart guy.

Or else I just have a REALLY thick skull.

PETA members charged with animal cruelty

In an interesting bit of irony, to PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) employees have been charged with animal cruelty. It seems that for some reason they were dumping dead dogs and cats in the garbage at a parking garage. I'm not sure what this will result in or if it will have any long term effects, I doubt it does. Generally I think that PETA takes the wrong tact on many of their issues, so I find this quite funny - that's it's happening to PETA not that dogs and cats had to die... well at least the dogs.

MacOS X 10.4 "Tiger" Deal - Web Objects Free (a $50,000 savings)

Some of you may not have heard of Web Objects, but it is a website creation technology that came out of the NeXTStep operating system that was the precursor of MacOS X. As of 2000, it cost $50K and it was used to create such rich web applications as the iTunes Music Store and the Dell online store. Well, now it is free with every purchase of Tiger, the newest version of the MacOS X.

Not sure if this is a sign that Web Objects were not selling, or if it is a sign that Apple has something better on the way. But either way, you gotta love the savings!

Just What Is a Mosquito Eater?

I had heard the term mosquito eater before and recently heard that they only live three days. A Google search brought back mostly devices for capturing mosquitoes. Turns out that my information was partially correct. The adults only live a few days. So just what are mosquito eaters? They're flies, specifically the crane fly. Kudos to the blog to end all blogs for giving me the name.

What do moderate Christians believe?

John C. Danforth has written an interesting op-ed piece about what moderate Christians believe. I agree with the spirit of the piece, but on some of the issues he cites I heartily disagree. In the end I think that the fact that I agree with the spirit and disagree with some of the issues is exactly what he's getting at - Christians don't have to agree on politics or even all of theology and that's okay.

Pillars of Heaven

Pillars of Heaven
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

This is a picture I captured today in Mount Laurel, NJ. Check out the amazing pillar of cloud just on the horizon there. It is not a tornado, despite the appearances. The cloud fragments here are moving straight up and down here, and may well have been a literal wall of rain. I took this pic with my Sidekick II cameraphone. I ran inside to get something better with my Digital SLR, but by time I got back, it had moved beyond sight. Amazing.

Amusing Little Video

Got this link from a friend. Quite humorous, but warning, it might get stuck in your head! Unfortunately, it is Windows Media Player only.

Mod-Blog Mini-Review: MADAGASCAR

Today, I saw the new Dreamworks movie Madagascar with my brother, mother, and an unusual audience segment - a large contingent from the local group home for the mentally disabled. It provided an interesting backdrop for the movie. Before diving into the details, let me say that this one thrilled the group home attendees - both those living there and the nursing staff - and it also provided a good time for my family. It is not a particularly memorable movie, but it is a fun one! and pretty much clean.

A good tagline for this film is "Be careful what you wish for." The movie opens with 4 stars of the New York City Zoo - a lion, a zebra, a hippo, and a hypochondiac giraffe. Each is played by a comedian (Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jade Pinkett, and David Schwimmer respectively) who do a great job of giving life to these quadrapeds. After another day of performing for the locals, the zebra wishes wistfully for a chance to see "The Wild" - an imagined place of open spaces and green grass sadly different from the concrete jungle of NYC. After a brief run-in with some hilarious Mission Impossible penguins, the zebra finds a way out and seeks to find the only "wild country" he has ever heard of in NYC - Connecticut. (For those not in the know, I live in CT. The wild part of Shelton, right under the Route 8 overpass.) Zany adventures, yada, yada, yada... and some animal rights activists decide that the zebra's escape is a sign that the zoo animals really want to go back to the jungle. Well, they get back to the jungle and quickly learn that being "born free" is not all it is cracked up to be... especially when it suddenly becomes apparent that the lion is a carnivore and the other three are... well... carne!

This one is recommended to all viewers, but definitely NOT a must-see in the theater. It will be equally effective on the small screen on DVD. But aside from some cartoon violence and a few words that come close to profanity - close enough that any 8 year old will figure it out - it is a clean and safe family film.

The Worst Possible Abortion Story

Warning to those with a weak stomach - DO NOT CLICK THRU to the linked article. I debated for about an hour whether to post this story, but finally decided I could not NOT post. Take it with a grain of salt, as it comes from WorldNetDaily, an unapologeticly ultra-conservative web rag. But there appears to be enough here that it is probably (sadly) real.

A Kansas City abortionist is out of business after investigators discovered a grisly house of horrors at his clinic...The unsanitary conditions in Krishna Rajanna's clinic prompted legislative approval of new abortion regulations in Kansas, a bill that was vetoed by the governor. Rajanna's activities have reportedly been the subject of law-enforcement investigations for nearly two years...
With Rajanna's case pending, abortion opponents won legislative approval of a bill requiring abortion clinics to obtain an annual license from the Department of Health and Environment, hire surgeons as their medical directors and report patient deaths to the state within a day. The measure also mandated that the department set standards for equipment, medical screenings, ventilation and lighting...But Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, an abortion-rights advocate, vetoed the measure, saying medical professionals – not legislators – should set standards.

I repeat do not click thru unless you are ready for some of the worst horror stories you have ever read. I have edited out and left just the key parts here. But if you are ready to read about a house of horrors far worse than anything you have seen on the silver (bloody) screen, here you go.

I should note that this story is not a norm among abortion clinics. It appears the majority are clean medical establishments. But you will note that the governor here was so dedicated to defending unlimited abortions that she would not sign a no-brainer bill noted here into law. To cook hamburgers the board of health must be involved, but to do an invasive surgical procedure, not so much.

Ironies

In other news, I am spending today pondering how I can have something called a "cold" when it is 93 degrees and sunny outside.

Defector Returns to the U.S.

Reuters is carrying an interesting piece about an army sergeant that defected 40 years ago and has just come back to the U.S. He defector to North Korea, but eventually moved to Japan and turned himself into U.S. and spent 25 days in a military prison. Unfortunately, the article waits until the second page to tell you that he did server his penalty. On the one hand, I look at this and say that he's done what a court stated was just punishment and should be allowed to reunite with his family. On the other hand, he was a traitor, which is punishable by death.

Microchips in World Cup Balls

Here's a bit of soccer news that even Nomad might find interesting. FIFA (the world governing body for soccer) is experimenting with implanting soccer balls with microchips that will indicate whether the ball has crossed the goal line or not. No indication of exactly how they work, but it seems like there would also be a microchip in the goal post of the net that would sense the chip in the ball and send a signal indicating a goal. Nonetheless it's an interesting application of tech to help make sports a little more fair. Maybe they'll start implanting these chips in footballs and hockey pucks in the future, but for now it's only in the testing phase.

I'd like a McFish and Finding Nemo to go

McDonald's is trying out a new service, in selected markets, of DVD vending machines. The cost is $1 day for the rented movies, then you can return them to any other McDonalds that has the same service. It seems interesting, though I wonder if it will actually help their profits, which have been lagging quite a bit in the past few years. Not so sure I would really want to rent my DVD from a fast food place either, but I can understand why it would be appealing. I guess we'll have to see.

Some sanity about the Patriot Act and Privacy

I know that there is a general boycott of the NY Times on Mod-Blog because of their decision to start charging for content sometime in the near future, but I couldn't resist posting on an Op-Ed piece. Ted Koppel has written a piece called Take My Privacy, Please! in which he goes about showing all the other places where privacy is forfeited either on purpose or accidentally. Nonetheless, it seems that there are more dangerous things to worry about than whether the federal government knows what books we've taken out at the local library.

Homemade Air Conditioning!

This little site is just one of those where you read it once, read it twice, read it three times, and then it finally hits you just how incredibly cool it is. This poor college student was unable to afford a decent air conditioner, so he took his engineering knowledge and put one together out of common stuff lying around the dorm. It runs on hose water and a common fan, and if it works at all then it is a great idea!

Here's the basic setup. The garbage can is filled with ice water, which is then fed by gravity (a siphon) through the copper tubing coiled along the back of the fan. The hot air passing through the tubing warms the cold water, cooling the air. Waste warm water is then pumped outside.
The system will cool an average room to a comfortable level in approximately 15-20 minutes. Depending on flow rate, a full bucket of water will last approximately 1-3 hours.
It doesn't rip quite as hard as central air, but for less than $30 CAD I'm not complaining.

You have got to love ideas like this on the net. It proves just how powerful it can be to get small but profound ideas out there for the masses.

Apple/Intel: MacOS X for Intel Leaked on the Net!

MacDailyNews is reporting that the development version of MacOS 10.4.1 on Intel has been leaked on the internet. Allegedly, it runs on pretty much any standard Intel-based system with standard hardware. The columnist wonders whether this is a theft or strategic leak from marketing to being to woo Windows geeks eager for an alternative.

"According to reports, Apple’s bundled iLife applications, major selling points for the Mac operating system, are already Intel-native and run at full speed... Given Apple’s experiences with software piracy, particularly the rampant software piracy that spread developer builds of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger all over the Internet this past spring, Apple’s management from the top down knows full well that this developer preview will be in the hands of every kid with a cable modem within days of its release. Most of them will be able to install it on their own computers and run it and the full suite of iLife ’05 applications at full speed, and run most existing Mac software in translation. As a result, Apple will give thousands, possibly millions, of people a taste of Mac OS X running full speed on their own PCs. Apple’s giving their potential future customers a free taste, that’s what they’re doing. It’s a try-before-you-buy deal," Harrell writes.

Vacation Tip: StudioPlus

Our Hotel
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Here is a tip from our vacation this year. StudioPlus is a cheap alternative to other hotels which provides large suite for less than half the price of other hotels in the areas we vacation in. The price? No free coffee in the room, they only replace towels/sheets once a week, and only clean the room twice in the week. But, if you are like us and don't live a generally dirty life, it is an easy way to save some money! Plus, wireless internal in the room!

Apple/Intel: Nomad Needs To Get Over It

Yet another article on the Apple/Intel nexus for you. This one specifically answers the predictions made in the last one (the biggest of which was that Apple and Intel were preparing for a merger) and is a good move of bringing people a little back to earth on this particular issue.

...Jobs doesn’t want to take over Disney — he wants to turn Apple into a Disney-esque company. Not in terms of the products it produces, of course, but in terms of cultural impact, brand power, and worldwide financial success. Jobs thinks of himself as a peer to Walt Disney, a visionary who creates something of his own. Nothing at all like, say, Michael Eisner — an executive who simply comes in and runs a company founded decades earlier.
Disney is always going to be Walt Disney’s company.
And Apple — his decade-long exile notwithstanding — is always going to be Steve Jobs’s company.

Yes, yes. I know I am still paying WAY too much attention to this. But it is just SOOOOOOOOOOO weird. And as an Apple fan, Intel has been the devil for way too long for me to suddenly welcome them as a savior. More like an antichrist.

How Does Star Wars Look to the Prequel Generation?

Most of us who have been pontificating about the new Star Wars films are... well... old farts. We all are looking at them from the perspective of the original trilogy - and that's the only way we can, because after all we had 30 years after reading the ending to try to think up our own beginning. But it is worth examining the film from the point of view of a kid who started the trilogy with "The Phantom Menace" and is only now getting to "A New Hope" (or as most of us old farts think of it "Star Wars).

- after recognizing the Tantive IV corridore, "Hey, they didn't have all those people in there before. Where did they get them."
- later in that same scene, "Are the Republic troops clones too? They all look the same?" (Of course, by Republic troops he meant what we've always called Rebels. But being on an Alderaan ship... who is correct?)
- "Wow! Is the Death Star done already? I guess that's how you know that a long time has passed."
- "Look... Obi-Wan is pretending he doesn't know R2-D2."

And of course, I can't help wondering what the series will look like to someone after 7, 8, and 9. (Hee-hee!)

Enemies at the Gate Redux

Do you think Amnesty International's comparison with Gitmo to the Soviet Gulags was just a rare bit of hyperbole? I had hoped so, but it appears that's not the case. Especially since they've now called for the kidnapping and trial of American leaders.

More on Those Extremist Judges

This review of Janice Rogers Brown is from the People For the American Way. It clearly intends to scare far left liberals into action against her. I couldn't really find anything I disagreed with, and I'm hardly an ultra-conservative by most measuring rules. Her biggest crime in their eyes appears to have something to do with her desire to follow this unimportant document called the Constitution and to curb big government in favor of personal liberties. Pretty dangerous stuff there.

What Liberal Media?

John Hawkins has up an excellent piece about the Washington Post's hatchet job on the Iraqi military. But remember, they're not anti-American as much as they are pro-insurgency.

Nomad's Obsession with the Apple/Intel Nexus Continues

Okay, I admit it is now starting to border on the edge of a mental illness. But I still do not understand the deal putting Intel chips into Macintosh computers. It seems like the strangest of all moves by Apple, and one that has no particular immediate benefit to Intel. But one columnist thinks he gets it. And his theory is - at the least - interesting.

Microsoft comes into this because Intel hates Microsoft. It hasn't always been that way, but in recent years Microsoft has abused its relationship with Intel and used AMD as a cudgel against Intel. Even worse, from Intel's standpoint Microsoft doesn't work hard enough to challenge its hardware. For Intel to keep growing, people have to replace their PCs more often and Microsoft's bloatware strategy just isn't making that happen, especially if they keep delaying Longhorn.
Enter Apple. This isn't a story about Intel gaining another three percent market share at the expense of IBM, it is about Intel taking back control of the desktop from Microsoft.
Intel is fed up with Microsoft. Microsoft has no innovation that drives what Intel must have, which is a use for more processing power. And when they did have one with the Xbox, they went elsewhere.
So Intel buys Apple and works with their OEMs to get products out in the market. The OEMs would love to be able to offer a higher margin product with better reliability than Microsoft. Intel/Apple enters the market just as Microsoft announces yet another delay in their next generation OS. By the way, the new Apple OS for the Intel Architecture has a compatibility mode with Windows (I'm just guessing on this one).
This scenario works well for everyone except Microsoft. If Intel was able to own the Mac OS and make it available to all the OEMs, it could break the back of Microsoft.

Whatever Happened to the Pony Express?

I recently received a letter from the IRS stating that I owed $30.19 in penalties and interest even though I had paid my tax bill in full. First off, it's very interesting how they calculate penalties and interest. They charge you interest at the rate of 4.50% against the amount owed for filing late and then another 0.50% against the amount owed for paying late. That, of course is just the penalties. Then you have the interest at 6.0% which includes not only the amount of tax owed, but also the penalties.

I've got my Certified Mail Receipt, dated April 12, 2005 so I'm all set. I call up the 800 number to figure out what is going on. Apparantly, they can get rid of the penalties, but not the interest. So I gather all my data to send out a letter to the IRS and found out:

Your item was delivered at 11:14 am on April 25, 2005 in SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94120.

Here is what happened earlier:

• ARRIVAL AT UNIT, April 24, 2005, 11:07 am, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94188
• ACCEPTANCE, April 12, 2005, 1:46 pm, AUBURN, CA 95603

Apparantly it takes the USPS 10 days to deliver a letter from Auburn, CA to Sacramento, CA! This is a distance of about 180 miles give or take a few depending on where you're going.

All should be well once the IRS receives my letter, but I'm left wondering just which mode of transportation the USPS used to get my letter there. The current theory is wheelchair.

The Politics of Big Business

Let me say that I don't believe that businesses should be treated as if they were an enemy. They are powerful and provide many basic needs and desires for the American people. In that regard, I completely support the GOP position. However, in this case I believe the GOP is dead wrong.

A Texas Congressman has introduced a bill that impose a nationwide prohibition on municipally-sponsored networks.
Dubbed by the Author, Representative Pet Sessions (R-Texas), the Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005, the bill prohibits state and local governments from providing any telecommunications or information service that is "substantially similar" to services provided by private companies.

This is simply awful legislation. Americans pay double, and sometimes triple, the price for high speed access that many countries do. We're being ripped off and the business don't want to lose any of their piece of the pie.

I have no problem with them making a buck, but the squashing of public works in order to make it strikes me as the worst kind of business. And the Republicans should not be helping to crack down on municipal wi-fi networks. At least, not unless they want to leave the American people far behind the rest of the developed world in our new technological age. (Hat tip: DailyKos)

Just For a Laugh

That poor girl...

If You Can't Beat Them...

I'm not sure just yet what I think of Warner's decision to begin releasing DVDs in China on the same day they premier in the theaters in America. They believe that it will help to cut down on piracy. I would hate to see that become the trend here, where piracy is also a problem. Movies just wouldn't be the same without the option to see them on the big screen.

Feeling Imbalanced?

Did you know that more than a half of the American population is apparently headed for some sort of mental illness? Maybe it's time to get into the mental health business. Just One Minute has the story, in one of the best titled blog posts of all time.

The End of Blackboards

When I was in second grade the reward for good behavior was to clean out the chalkboard erasers. We'd be good all day just so that we could go outside and bang the erasers together and get chalk dust all over ourselves and have a great time doing it. Well, it seems that the days of cleaning out the erasers are nearing their end. As if whiteboards weren't enough, new giant, touch-sensitive computer screens are replacing the beloved (or not so beloved depending on how much nails on chalkboards annoys you) chalkboards. Interactive whiteboards is probably a better name for them since they are essentially a whiteboard attached to a computer that can work as a screen.

"It helps kids build the big picture and learn the meaning of almost anything," Bang [a teacher] said. "If a kid wants to research boats they can do a PowerPoint presentation, a Word document or they can do a movie or slide show to show to the whole class."

It seems that the reward for good behavior is now being able to watch Black Beauty on the board rather than cleaning the erasers. I have a few reservations about these boards. I know and understand and love that we live in an interactive culture/generation, but it seems like these boards could be used to weaken education. Let me explain. I used to hate doing book reports, but they were good for me because they made me read, write and think about a book and its meaning. It seems to me (and I accept all possibility that I'm wrong here) that a PowerPoint presentation isn't quite as all encompassing as having to actually write a report. Sure you have to think about the book and doing a good presentation is still dependent on you reading the book, but you don't get the benefit of having to write -- using good grammar and spelling. Powerpoint, iMovie, and Google are wonderful tools, but I don't think they should be used at the expense of critical writing and reflection. It's possible that these students still have to write out book reports, I think it would be a shame if they didn't. Ultimately my issue isn't so much with the board as it is with how we're teaching these kids to think --short-term instantaneous gratification skills or long-term critical thinking skills. I welcome the boards as a future teacher, simply because I can't write on a board to save my life. I guess it's all in how you use them.

Apple/Intel End Results

Andy Ihnatko, my favorite Mac Op-Ed writer (now there is a niche market if I ever saw one), has posted his thoughts on what the end result of the Apple/Intel deal will be for Mac users. The technical details of how and what is going to be happening inside of the Mac is interesting, but lets be honest what we really want to know is - how is this going to affect me? This is a good, to the point piece on what the end result of this move will be for us - the end users.

How did Jesus die?

Simple, Jesus died on the cross. No, no, no not where did he die - how did he die? Oh, that makes a difference? Well, yes if you're a scientist and you have to over analyze everything. It seems that a researcher has come up with the theory that Jesus died of a deep vein thrombosis. I like scientists, for the most part they're good people, but sometimes it seems like they miss the point completely. Granted theologians could be accused of this as often - if not more often - than scientists. I understand the curiosity surrounding the physiological reasons for Jesus' death, but it seems like a waste of time that can't actually be verified. Wouldn't it be a better use of time and money to research something of use to society rather than speculate on the exact reasons for Jesus' death? Maybe I'm just too spiritually minded to be any earthly good.

Priceless

Bus tickets to a political protest: $69
Materials for protest posters: $20
Realizing that your a liberal sheep led to the wrong site by MoveOn.org...Priceless.

Mac on Intel - First-hand report

Xlr8YourMac has up one of the first hands-on reports with an Intel-based Apple Macintosh. No, it is not a production unit that any of us is going to be able to buy. It is one of the units made up for Apple Developers, so they can begin working on converting their code for the eventual launch to the mainstream. XLR8 doesn't have a way to directly link to the story, so I'll paste more than usual here as a blockquote.

First, the thing is fast. Native apps readily beat a single 2.7 G5, and sometimes beat duals. Really.
(I asked about real-world apps - if any were already available in native code-Mike)
All the iLife apps other than iTunes, plus all the other apps that come with the OS are already universal binaries....
They are using a Pentium 4 660. This is a 3.6 GHz chip. It supports 64 bit extensions, but Apple does not support that *yet*. The 660 is a single core processor. However, the engineers said that this chip would not be used in a shipping product and that we need to look at Intel's roadmap for that time to see what Apple will ship...They run Windows fine. All the chipset is standard Intel stuff, so you can download drivers and run XP on the box.
Rosetta is amazing... The tests I've run, both app tests and benchmarks, peg it at between a dual 800 MHz G4 and and a dual 2 G5 depending on what you are doing.
(I mentioned to him the limitations of Rosetta (posted below)-Mike)
It's true Rosetta does not support Altivec, but most apps run on a G3, right? Rosetta tells PPC apps that it is a G3. Apps should fall back to their G3 code tree. Everyone I tested did.
The UI tests in Xbench exceed a dual 2.7 by a large margin. (other specific tests are much lower than a G5 per Xbench site results.-Mike)

Rosetta is the code that Apple bought from Transmeta that allows a Pentium 4 to act like a PowerPC in order to run existing Mac code. It does appear that every time Apple makes their customers do a conversion (680X0 to PowerPC, MacOS 9 to MacOS X) they make it easier on us users.

But I still can't get over the choice of Intel. It feels like a chicken choosing a fox as their henhouse guard.

The Trend Continues

The line of liberals now willing to proclaim Communism as the awful failure it was has grown by one. Even Oliver Willis now admits that Communists are dangerous and anti-freedom. The reason he's the newest one to come around? President Bush gets along with President Putin. Obviously Putin is an evil and vile Communist thug since the President likes him.

Well, whatever it takes to finally get the left to admit the evils of Soviet Communism.

More Star Wars Thoughts

I enjoyed Episode III quite a bit. It was certainly the best of the new trilogy and might even work it's way into the top three upon further viewings. We'll see. But that doesn't mean there weren't serious problems. My own issues are reflected in this piece. Lucas ultimately did show us that he has no real directing ability. He can dream up a fantastic world and he can put some amazing ideas down. But he can't work with people. We know this from scores of tales about him. It shows on screen.

And he also can't write to save his life. If I passed on a story of mine with writing on par with Lucas' quality to Nomad for reading, he would tear it apart. Actually, I would never pass on something as awful as some of these lines. I might write some clunckers here and there, but I usually clean them up before I let them see the light of day. But some of the cringe-inducing lines from this prequel trilogy (thankfully cleaned up a little because of an editor in Episode III) could have probably been managed if Lucas could direct actors. It's these two traits together, bad writing and bad directing, that hamper Lucas' efforts. Much as is argued in the piece linked to, many stories grow with time even from medicore ideas. In Lucas' case, the charcters nearly 30 years later seem more flat and under-developed than those from the original trilogy. Where once Lucas created movie magic (a bit cheesy but magic just the same,) now he has given us a trilogy of ho-hum story telling and acting and lots of special effects that fail to create a real universe.

Enemies at the Gate

Enemies? What enemies? More failure to face the realities of our world. I realize that politics is sometimes compromise but when it comes to terror we must expect more. Especially from a President who has made such bold claims as this one has.

Those Extremist Judges

A succinct review of what makes President Bush's choices so radical. (Hat tip: Young Pundit)

Sometimes You Gotta Laugh

I did not take or make this picture. Just recieved it via e-mail. But you have to admit it is hilarious. Or it is just about to be, anyway.

Tom Cruise: Freak

I found this interesting piece on Relevant and thought that it was a worth a read. Pretty much all of us have heard about Tom Cruise being a freak on Oprah recently and this article gives some good advice to live by - or at least think about.

But for the first time in the pretty boy's life, it didn'’t work for him. This time, his big toothy grin didn't keep us from thinking, "You'’re a freak, Tom. No, really, you're a freak! And now that we're really looking, your grin is kind of crooked."

I actually missed the show where this happened, but it sounds like Tom either let loose or simply snapped. I'll have to see if I can find a copy of it on the web some place to witness the lunacy.

Top Ten Reasons why it is "Good" that Apple is Going to Intel

This is my first attemptive to exercise the proper GroupThink on Apple's announced transition to Intel chips.

10. It is the best test yet of Steve Jobs’s "reality distortion field."
9. It reminds us of the value of competition in the CPU marketplace. Or rather the lack thereof.
8. It will drive the sales of cold weather gear in Hades.
7. It confirms that Steve Jobs’s use of Intel chips in his NeXT machines was no mistake. Or at least it is a mistake he’s willing to make twice.
8. It gives half of the Computer columnists in the industry a chance to say "I told you so." That would be the half that has been wrong on everything regarding Aple for the last 20 years.
6. It gives Boeing a chance to measure the aerodynamic qualities of flying pigs.
5. It reminds us all that CISC chips are better than RISC chips. Or is it the other way around?
4. It paves the way for Apple to release their first version of the MacOS X that runs windows natively. They will call it OS/2.
3. It opens the way for Apple to replace Airport cards with Centrino chips. Which offers less than no advantage to current users.
2. It allows us to see Intel and PowerPC compete head-to-head in the Apple space. Apple vs. Apple has always made for compelling theater.
1. It adds credence to conspiracy theorists who claim that the real Steve Jobs was replaced last summer by an android which will soon be marketed under the brand name iCEO.

Citigroup's Idea of Secure Transmission: Send Customer Data Via UPS

Sigh. Why is it that everyone is panicked about electronic security, but it is the physical security of customer data which gets banks and financial services companies in trouble again and again and again?! It was just announced that Citigroup has lost 3.9 million customer's personal information. How? They sent the tapes by UPS who promptly lost the package. That's right. The shipping company that you don't trust to ship your used fishing pole in an eBay auction was the method of choice for transporting identity theft information.

Norman Black, a spokesman for the world's largest package delivery company, said a "small package" containing data storage tapes was lost while being transferred to a credit reporting bureau.
Experian, a credit reporting agency, told CNN that it was the intended recipient of the tapes. Don Girard, a spokesman for Experian, said the company alerted Citigroup in the last week of May that its regularly scheduled delivery did not arrive. Girard said the tapes were headed for its Data Center in Allen, Texas.
Black at UPS said his company and Citigroup are launching internal investigations, adding there was no evidence of theft or fraudulent activity. UPS ships some 14 million packages a day.
CitiFinancial is inviting customers to enroll via a toll-free number, 1-888-469-8603, in a free credit monitoring service for 90 days. It said it earlier enrolled the customers in a separate service to help prevent identity theft.

As for me, I am hoping my financial institution uses a more secure method... like carrier pigeon!!!

Confirmed: ApTel vs. WinTel... Uh, I mean Apple on Intel

Rumors indicate that weather reports from Hades predict unseasonable snow. Steve Jobs has announced that the next generation of Apple Computers will... will... run on Intel chips. Ironically, this comes only months after Microsoft announced their new XBox would run on PowerPC chips.

Apple® announced plans to deliver models of its Macintosh® computers using Intel® microprocessors by this time next year, and to transition all of its Macs to using Intel microprocessors by the end of 2007. Apple previewed a version of its critically acclaimed operating system, Mac OS® X Tiger, running on an Intel-based Mac® to the over 3,800 developers attending CEO Steve Jobs’ keynote address. Apple also announced the availability of a Developer Transition Kit, consisting of an Intel-based Mac development system along with preview versions of Apple’s software, which will allow developers to prepare versions of their applications which will run on both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs.

For those who may not be familiar with the Apple Macintosh culture, this is the equivilent of Al Gore announcing a presidential run with Jeb Bush as his vice president. Actually, it might be more like having Howard Dean agreeing to be the vice presidential candidate for Rush Limbaugh. Or... Well... you get the idea. I am simply not sure what to make of the news. As Ward said earlier, I would rather they had gone to AMD... but then I have stock in Apple and AMD and none in Intel.

Apple Moving to Intel

The rumors have been circulating for weeks now and Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) has made it official - Apple is moving from PowerPC based processors to Intel x86 based processors. It seems that these will be special Mac/Intel machines and the Mac OS won't run on just any x86 machine that you pick up at Best Buy. It also seems that we will be forced to use Intel chips and not have a choice of using the cheaper (and arguably better) chips being put out by AMD. Personally I'm quite sad about this move. For the past 10 years we've been told that the PPC architecture is so much better than the x86 architecture and all of a sudden the x86 processors are better. I don't quite understand how that happens, but it's not like Jobs hasn't pulled this before - remember the firewire vs. USB 2.0 debate. Ugh.

Dilbert Hits the Mark Again

This is another one of those it would be funny if it wasn't so true. Of course, we're on the receiving end of the phone call.

The Power of the Force

Thanks to Wacko for pointing out this site. It's amazing what you can do online for free these days.

My Issue With Libertarians

Some excellent thoughts on the short-comings of current popular libertarian thinking. I agree with all five points and it's another reason why I increasingly cannot see much benifit to siding with the libertarians, from a Christians perspective.

Exegesis, Ixegesis, JustJesus...

There are any number of really lame seminary jokes. None more referenced around our school than the old joke that you can have Exegesis, Ixegesis, and JustJesus. For those who might be shaking your head and wondering what that means, it's referring to the fact that there is proper exegesis (what the text actually said), ixegesis (what I think the text said), and JustJesus (I don't care what the text said unless it came from the mouth of Jesus.) These are very common attitudes within the Church. Sadly, those interested in exegesis are the vast minority because, let's face it, it's all about what the Bible means to ME.

If you are a reader who tends to let your Bible study fall away from the proper exegesis and linger on the other two, than I would like to post a word of warning. Not in condemnation, but in a spirit of honesty. Consider the new book Judith of Nazareth, now available from LBI Institute. Why do I mention this book? Because it is a perfect example of what happens when we stop caring what the Bible actually says and instead choose to believe that it was written just for us. Judith of Nazareth is a loose copy of the Gospels with a simple Find and Replace function run. Jesus is now Judith, and several parables have been changed. We now have the Prodigal Daughter. And worst of all, we no longer have the Lord's Prayer. We now have the Lady's Prayer. Virtually all references to any maleness have been eliminated in favor of female language.

The reason? Because the Bible is too patriarchal and women find it offensive. We are told by LBI that this will allow more women to come to God through a new understanding. Now, women will truly be able to understand the Bible. Never mind that Christ's words were nearly heretical in his day, that women received more rights among his followers then anywhere else in the era. Forget that the New Testament is already a virtual compendium of vibrant women. Don't concern yourself with the fact that even the Old Testament has nearly as many brave and bold women as it does men. Women need to be told the story through a truly feminine perspective. But at what cost?

This is an awful example of what happens when we become convinced that we are more important than the text. We allow our own race, sex, disposition, etc to dictate what we will believe rather than the Bible. We are no longer a people of the Book. Instead, we are a people for ourselves who want to make the Book, and God, in our own images. Now you might say, "You're a white male, it's easy for you to say." To which I reply, "Bull." The Bible wasn't written for white men. It was written half a world away by cultures greatly differing from my own. Have too many people tried to make it "white?" Certainly. But there are sections of the Bible that challenge me as much as they do any female. And what do I do about it? I grow up. I let God do what he seeks to do through me and to me. Why? Because the Bible isn't about what I want, it's about God. There is no doubt in my mind that soon enough I will open my Bible again and be challenged by something I read. And the process will start again slowly (so slowly) giving up my will and allowing God to change me. Not the other way around. The call of Christ is to be formed in his image, not to make his image my own. That would be one seriously flawed God.

Those who seek to change God because of their own weakness are false teachers who lead others away from the truth. They have no life in Christ and they have no inheritance in the Kingdom.

Now What's Next?

It is now official, I am a graduate of the world's largest non-denominational seminary. I know what you're all thinking (because I am obviously the most important person in all of your lives) - you're thinking 'what is Sean going to do next?' Well it's a summer full of GRE prep then applying to post-grad programs and hopefully a move to a certain university in North Carolina.

"Curvier" Women Live Longer

It is amazing how many studies now out there indicate that living in a way - and looking a way - that has been considered normal for centuries, is far healthier than trying to chase an impossible goal of thinness, musculature, or beauty in general. This newest one shows that women who actually have curves - contrary to the current Hollywood ideal - actually live longer.

The researchers say hip fat contains a beneficial natural anti-inflammatory.
They said this anti-inflammatory, called adiponectin, prevents arteries swelling up and becoming blocked.
The hourglass figure has been made famous by women ranging from Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren to Kelly Brook and Catherine Zeta Jones today.
The Danish researchers examined almost 3,000 men and women aged between 35 and 65 from 1987 to 1988
They measured height, weight and body mass index - calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by the square of your height in metres.
They then looked at Danish health registers up until the end of 1998 to look at how many of the men and women had cardiovascular problems, and up to 2001 to see how many had died.
Compared to the group of women with the smallest hip circumferences, women with the biggest were found to have an 87% reduction in deaths.

This is not to say that being obese is good for you, or that women should avoid regular exercise. Not at all. But it shows that the traditional feminine figure is traditional for a reason - it works, and it lets the body take care of itself.

British to be Taxed by the Mile

It is a scheme that Libertarian have been dreaming about for years: charge for the exact use of roads, rather than taxing business or people in order to keep them up. But now, Britain is looking to take the idea to an extreme. They are planning to use satellites to track every car in Britain and charge them by the mile for the privilege of driving.

In an interview with The Independent on Sunday, Mr Darling warned that unless action is taken now, the country "could face gridlock" within two decades.
Official research suggests national road pricing could increase the capacity of Britain's network by as much as 40 per cent at a stroke, he said.
The rapid uptake of satellite navigational technology in cars is helping to usher in the new "pay-as-you-drive" charge much sooner than had been expected. Figures contained in a government feasibility study have suggested motorists could pay up to £1.34 for each mile they travel during peak hours on the most congested roads.
Although a fully operational national scheme is still considered to be a decade away, Mr Darling said local schemes could be up and running within five years. Manchester is considered a front-runner, with local authorities in the Midlands and London also pressing to be considered for a £2.5bn central fund to introduce the change.

In some ways, this is an expansion of the old toll road idea. But it will mean that the government will always know exactly where every motorist is, and there will be no way to be a commuter without paying thru the nose. It scares me just how many rights are being surrendered here, in the name of easy billing.

CNET Says, "Apple's Going Intel"

Apple is the only computer manufacturer to successfully change the family of chips that its operating system has run on. It made the change from Motorola's 680X0-series of microprocessors back in the 90s, in favor of the far-more-powerful PowerPC chips made by an alliance of companies including IBM and Moto. It was a hard time to be an Apple computer user - and even harder to be a software developer for fruit-flavored computers. Do you stick with the fastest of the old, or accept the new without knowing it would really succeed? Emulation helps, certainly. But in no way is it a cure-all. A fast PowerPC was slower than a moderate 680X0 when running emulation. But we got thru it. And now the G4 and G5 chips are burning up the world.

But, they are lagging behind Intel in the Megahertz Wars - now the Gigahertz Wars. And the PowerPC alliance was supposed to give Apple choices in chips, but the reality is that IBM and Motorola are not interested in direct competition. Compare this to the Intel world where Intel, AMD, and Via (and others) are all vying for the PC space with pretty much fully-compatible chips. Well, CNET is claiming that appls has seen the same things we have, and has concluded it is time to make the jump to an Intel-based architecture. They report Apple will make the announcement as soon as Monday, and may release the first Intel-based Mac at the July MacWorld Expo.

My take? This is a case of rumor-mongering run wild. There is no particular reason for Apple to make the jump at this time... rather than around Christmas, for example, when parents might be ready to buy a lot of these cross-compatible systems (assuming they would also run Windows). The Moto to PPC switch was tough. This would be even tougher. Not impossible. But tough enough to perhaps end Apple as a company that primarily makes computers.

But then, in the face of the iPod, maybe that is the point.

New Poll

Han won the last poll (no shock there, he is the coolest character in Star Wars, after all.) Staying with the Star Wars theme, let us know which episode was your favorite.

Libertarian Watch

Lee of Right-Thinking, who I no longer link to because of the hate found on his site, has finally made the sad trip to the dark side. What makes me say this? In discussing the AFA's new boycott of Ford Motors (an absolutely dumb idea), he labels them the "American Taliban." Now where have we heard that before? Oh, just about every radical leftist blog from Kos to Oliver Willis and everyone in between.

That's right, a rightist libertarian proudly proclaims a few over-zealous Christians equivalent to the Taliban and officially joins the left's war on anything Christian. Even worse, in the comments he says this:

I think that, given a situation where they were in absolute power as the Taliban was, that people like these would start doing all kinds of evil ****. There isn't a doubt in my mind that if they were operating in a situation where no law could touch them they'd have all the fags rounded up in cattle cars before sunset.

That's right, if it weren't for the law protecting America from those radical Christians, all the gays would be rounded up and gassed before the end of the day. The far right secularists Libertarians and the far left have become almost impossible to tell apart.

Far Left Watch

John Hawkins reflects my own thoughts in this piece. Indeed, only a liberal could be disturbed that the majority of Americans trust their police and soldiers. The Christian question? Is it even surprising that Christians would be seen as equally complicit in creating a fascists police state? Not for a lefty.

At Least Something May Come of It

Chrenkoff sees the silver lining of the Gitmo/gulag comparison. The good news? The left is actually finally proclaiming the evils of Communism. Nothing helps paint something as vile in the liberal's eyes so completely as casting it in the same light of conservatism.

In Defense of Certainty

Charles Krauthammer discusses the attack on deep-held beliefs that contradict liberal thinking.

New Jersey: Bad For Business?

That's what one disgruntled businessman thinks. I'm not sure I completely agree with him, but I wish I was back home so I could ride up and take a picture. It would just further highlight the pollution producing stacks that dot the NJ border as you come across from Delaware. And it would serve to reflect how silly the state's claim is that allowing this guy to build a truck stop would be disastrous for the environment. If they're interested in saving the wetlands, they would have a lot of bigger fish to fry. As a side note, we've eaten at that Cracker Barrel several times when heading north because my dad loves them. It's a nice place, for a Cracker Barrel.

Shocking!

Wait, you mean you don't want to see Britney anymore? You say she's too last millennium? Well, maybe there's still hope for her music career. Yeah, I know. I thought that was funny too.

You Might Be an Evangelical If...

From Common Grounds Online, a humorous rip-off of Jeff Foxworthy's well known bit. I certainly know people that fill the criteria but don't take it too seriously, unless you've found yourself doing all of these. Part one is here and part two is here.

Dutch to EU: "Nee!"

First, it was the French who rejected the EU soundly in a referendum on the superstate's Constitution. Now the Dutch have followed suit with a 62% "Nee" vote. This is bad news to the politicians who have banked their futures on the emergence of a "United States of Europe" to become an economic and military superpower to balance the United States of America. Then again, this is good news for Americans wanting to do business in Europe, as it is finally strengthening the dollar against the Euro.

"The idea of Europe has lived for the politicians, but not the Dutch people. That will have to change," he said. "We will need to bring across the message that there are doubts here about the fast pace of change, the Dutch identity and other, financial, concerns."
The vote was seen by some as symbolic of an introverted attitude by the Dutch in recent years as they struggle do deal with issues such as integration, a shrinking economy and fears over Islamic radicalism.
It was the first vote held in the Netherlands on the Dutch involvement with Europe, and opponents spoke of a breakthrough for European democracy. The extent of the opposition was a shock to the political establishment, which campaigned for the charter until the final hours of voting.
The treaty must have the backing of all 25 member states to enter into force in 2006. But with the clear rejections by two founding EU members this week, there seemed no hope for salvaging the constitution in its present form.

My optimistic side says this is a much needed brake on the run-away politicians who want an EU. My cynical side says this will only ensure that the next Constitution they release will not rely on direct referenda for ratification.

Would you support the Coca Cola Celtics?

CChair (el brother de mio) brought this post from Mark Cuban's website to my attention. I am not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand, I feel that the NBA is a private organization that can do what it wants. On the other hand, I always found the "cover every square inch with advertising" of NASCAR to be repulsive.

7 or 8 million people saw the Spurs play the Suns Monday night on ABC. Far more saw the game and highlights around the world. We can’t sell ads in 212 broadcasts around the world, we can sell branding on our uniforms that will reach those viewers around the world.
Putting a logo(s) on our jerseys is the way for us to open the door to every major international company who may only do limited business in the US, to become a customer of the NBA and its teams.

What do you think? Would you go to a Toyota Nets game? Would you rather root for the Enron Lakers or the Haliburton Nuggets?

Homework bad for learning

After years of knowing it in my bones, researchers have confirmed that greater amounts of homework given does not equal greater intelligence by students. This is a rather large study with some very interesting results.

Their findings indicated a frequent lack of positive correlation between the average amount of homework assigned in a nation and corresponding level of academic achievement. For example, many countries with the highest scoring students, such as Japan, the Czech Republic and Denmark, have teachers who give little homework. "At the other end of the spectrum, countries with very low average scores -- Thailand, Greece, Iran -- have teachers who assign a great deal of homework," Baker noted.

Ultimately the article shows that teaching and learning require more than a teacher's involvement, it involves the whole family.

Hitler's Nuke

Researchers have found Nazi schematics for a nuclear bomb. While the drawings are rather primitive, it does add fuel to the fire as to whether or not the Nazi's were close to building a nuclear device.

Hitler was desperate for weapons that would turn the tide of the war

I think that this shows that it was only a matter of time before Hitler got a bomb. It took 50 years for us to discover this, what will we find out about the Iraqi regime under Sadam in 50 years? Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to accept our quick search as definitive.

Memorial Day Thoughts

Since Muse and I were out of town, we didn't get the chance to comment on the passing of Memorial day. However, I've found a piece that says it well. It's a short read about the nature of America, and how that is in danger.

There is something not just ridiculous but unbecoming about a hyperpower 300 million strong whose elites -- from the deranged former vice president down -- want the outcome of a war, and the fate of a nation, to hinge on one freaky jailhouse; elites who are willing to pay any price, bear any burden, as long as it's pain-free, squeaky-clean and over in a week. The sheer silliness dishonors the memory of all those we're supposed to be remembering this Memorial Day.

It reminds you that with friends like these, who needs enemies?

Is the Abortion Rate Rising Under President Bush?

Factcheck.org has done the work and the numbers don't lie, only the politicians do. (Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan)