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Listing of blogs.

Graduation, Egyptian Sandwiches, and Irony

Time for another update of random thoughts. First, my daughter will be graduating High school within a few days -- mid-term. Her mother and I are so proud of her. She has always been an A-B student. She will be going on to college after about a month off.

There is a local submarine sandwich shop my workmates and I like to frequent. It is ran by Egyptians -- Coptic Christian Egyptians. I usually like to have short discussions with them about the situations in Egypt. When the so-called "Arab Spring" began in the Middle East we talked about the changes in Egypt. They were hopeful. But now it seems Egypt, like many of these Muslim countries will become more radically Islamic. However, we spoke how we believe that there is a large segment of the "revolutionaries" that wanted true liberty and will become upset when it obviously doesn't come under Islamic rule.

Omni Aequalia


Ω-Α

Christian Atomism is the underdeveloped notion that "everything is the same", that is, at base level, at the atomic or subatomic level everything is the same. While this may sound more like a philosophy or some sort of Gnosticism or Hellenistic/Neo-Platonic influence, there is strong biblical warrant for this notion.

First, the biblical Creation account has God creating the universe out of "firmament". (Gen 1:1-9) Eventually God creates humans from the humus or dirt of the reorganized firmament called planet earth. As we know, as any organic thing; be it humans, animals, or plants degrade - they return to "dirt". Or as the Bible puts it: "Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return." (Gen 3:19)
Is this not the epitome of Atomism?

The Black Friday Tryptophanic Dream

After all the last bites, those left in tupperware tombs and tinfoil firkins. Passes passed and touchdowns danced. Aunt Sandy sighs and waves and hugged. Rug rolled up, door last shut. Another years gathering gone.

The couch calls the listless lingerer. Final sip of watered-down tea. Eyes heavy shades falling fast.

Comfy corner pillows piled high. Palms wrap the waning light. Sleep quickly comes. Dreaming of teaming doors and well wax floors.

Waiting in another line as signs mural. Another register opens by the girl in white. I'm next! I'm next! Cutters creatures and all. Brown hats and baseball bats, all things new.

Forty-five percent off. Scarves and knives for haves and have-nots. Get a receipt for things bought to return on Monday. Black Friday! Black Friday!

Alarm goes off. Wives and kiddies jiggle. Wake up! Wake! it is 12AM. Time to go. This place and that. Baseball bats and brown hats. Fifty percent off shoes.

Tryptophanic Dream. Extra piece of pie, whip cream. Rub your eyes. Time to go. Stretch and yawn to the approaching dawn. Black Friday! Black Friday!

LibreOffice, Howlin' Wolf, And Teaching Capitalism to A German

Well, it's time for another installment of my random blogging. These are bits of stuff I've been thinking about or doing.
First up, let's get the geeky stuff out of the way.

Canadian Thistle, Wild Yarrow And Theology

WeedsLast year, I had to battle the problem of Canadian Thistle invading my gardens. I relentlessly sprayed every sign of this pest until it was virtually eradicated from my yard. But this year, a new menace has emerged; Wild Yarrow.

As with everything, I see a theological or philosophical connection.

LunaScape Browser: Better than FireFox?

lunascapeSo, I used to be a die-hard FireFox user, having long abandoned Internet Explorer. But FireFox eats up a lot of CPU and Physical Memory (RAM) usage -- yep, a bunch of geek-speak. This was drastically slowing down my computer. Most people say, "We'll just buy more RAM". I say, I shouldn't have to. I tried out Google Chrome, but it was even worse than FireFox in that it didn't like it when you had other browsers open. Well, I resumed using FireFox for a while but it was consuming 500,000 to 900,000K and would consistently rise to those levels after the initial 40,000K at launch. That is outrageous. I even removed most of the add-ons, but it is still a memory hog.

A SOLUTION?

Surely there had to be someone out there making a better browser. Enter; LUNASCAPE.

Feed Me Feeds

FeedsTKC has a pretty good collection of "feeds" from other websites (see here) but I'd like to give people the opportunity to contribute more. Send me a feed or more via the contact form and if it is a sound, historic Christian site or a site that is not contrary to sound, historic Christianity I'd be happy to add it to the feed collection.

Oddly enough, I never added a feed to my other ANTI-Hyperpreteristi site until today -- (see here).

Lasik Eye Surgery & Calvinism

Yes, that is a strange combination for a topic but you'll see it ties together. On Friday October 8th, 2010 I had the Lasik (laser) eye surgery procedure done to correct my vision. I've only worn glasses for about 10 years but my eyes had reached a point where they weren't getting any worse and I decided now was the time to do this procedure and gain independence from glasses.

What's Legal Versus What's Right

This question has been hounding me more and more in my life as I experience and see real injustices against myself, my friends and others. Is what's right merely subjective? It reminds me of the movie, The Crucible where character John Proctor (and his entire town) experienced the question of what is "legal" versus what is right. Granted, the original screenplay was addressing the so-called "McCarthyism" of the 1940s-50s, and ironically enough what Joseph McCarthy feared would happen to America in the 1940s-50s is actually subtly and insidiously happening today with all the political and societal socialism that is creeping into America. However, back to the movie.

Hawaiian Vacation: Theological Perspective

hawaiian_vacationWell, I was away from July 27, 2010 to August 8, 2010 on a vacation to Hawaii for my 20th wedding anniversary. Although it was a vacation, I'm constantly looking for how life relates to theology and theology relates to life. So, while sharing a little about the vacation, I'd also like to share some interesting theological perspectives about Hawai'i.

Catch Up, Mustard

Okay, time again for a little catching up with blogging. Blogging is typically just a person's rambling about their everyday life. So here I go.

I've been working over at my dad's house. His backyard is small and completely shaded. This causes the grass not to grow very well so I am putting in a cobble-stone "plaza" with surrounding shade-flower beds. He has a little bit of sun areas; one is where he has a little pond.

You Got Ninged!

Ninged

Ning has been a popular, FREE website platform that allows for building a social site. Many people have used Ning to build their own little personal network of "friends" (or "followers", depending how you look at it). But now there is a problem. Ning is discontinuing the FREE version (ref).

So, what will happen to all these Ning sites where the administrators have built up a following?

Somethingishicallicalasious

Victoria Beckham trams in the a.m. with Celine Dion's mustard cars.
Stars fly by Bugatti Type 57SC, Betty White's space ship hip replacement.

Up from the basement, King Ptolemy IV drafted by the Oakland Raiders, fading into the past at last.

Prince Harry in a box wearing Jerry's socks since E. coli came.

Kelly Clarkson's has no son named Casey Affleck, Beckham or Zack!

Rebel dog digging Greece Greek, sneak peak at the week ahead.

El Sid is dead! So he said, flooding flew through and through, dow dow and down.

Wall Street, Main Street met the meet we wii on bees knees. Die!

Spell spill oil in the gulf, flags aloft in Mexico show no immigration toleration in the nation.

Nashville, Capitol Hill will feel for parliament's meal milling around.

Iron man can fans flame, in a name Bible Tagalog too.

What's it all mean?

Why I like Wikipedia

Open-Source sources

I have sometimes been ridiculed for linking to Wikipedia or using it for reference. Wikipedia, for those who may not know is an online, open-source encyclopedia. Open-source in this case means that anyone can edit the entries. And it is because it is open-source, that people sometimes ridicule me for using it, since the implication is that the information is supposedly not professionally established and may be unreliable.

However, to me Wikipedia's strong point is exactly because its entries can be challenged, by anyone. Think of the "professional" media for example. They often put out information which we have little ability to challenge, let alone verify. The same can be said of school text books. Look at any public school text book on say history or science and you'll see hypothetical concepts that are presented to children as if they are fact.

Poetry or something

Something I wrote -- Is it poetry? Could it be song lyrics?

I'll run thru fire, climb o'er mountains, swim thru seas for thee.
Desperation, Dedication, Adulation

I'll ring round earth, fly the sky, zoom to the moon for you.
Contemplation, Adoration, Asphyxiation

I'll be born anew, suffer sacrifice, die and die for thy.
Incantation, Celebration, Termination

I'll run thru fire, climb o'er mountains, swim thru seas for thee.
Desperation, Dedication, Adulation

Roderick's Artwork

How to Improve Your Computer's Performance (Windows)

First, be very, very careful. If you googled how to improve your computer or make it faster, you probably got many pages of suggestions and many of them are scams. Some even will put viruses or spyware on your computer.

After many years of trying different programs to improve my computer's performance, I have found a few things that really help. From time to time, I have been asked by friends for advice on how to improve their computers. Well, I've decided to put all of that advice into one article.

Everyday Life

Just some more random updates. Today we opened our pool. In Indiana, that is something special since we experience all four seasons. Swimming season is short. From what I hear, it is actually cooler in Florida right now. Anyhow, I always look forward to Spring and Summer as I am an outdoors person. My family likes to garden, host cookouts, go hiking, camping, and canoeing.

The next bit of news is that after having helped my 16 years old daughter get her drivers license, we are now working with her on driving the highway. She is doing pretty good.

Life Before the Internet

Okay, I'll admit it, I'm a geek.  Well, I'm sort of a geek.  I began using the Internet when all the Internet was was a loose collection of college BBS's (bulletin board systems).  These were text-based, menu driven formats that looked like the screen shot below.

BBS example

The commands to navigate from screen to screen were not always the same with each BBS.  And no, there were not any graphics, no pictures beyond "ASCII art" (see example #1, #2).  Joan Stark's work will live on forever!

The Christian Psychosis

By psychosis I don't mean to imply Christians are crazy per se, after all I am a Christian and I hope I'm not crazy -- however as a humorous aside, how would a crazy person really know they are crazy?  Anyhow, by psychosis I do mean that many people who claim to be Christian do seem...well a bit odd.  I know, I know.  Define odd.  But I think most people know what I mean. 

Many Christians behave in an unstable or socially untenable manner. For example, many Christians while supposed to be well grounded in source-able biblical precepts are instead champions of vagaries.  Did I just prove my own point? 

Google Advanced Search Tutorial

Search HelpWho knew Google could be so powerful?  I was searching around for some data and I came across a very helpful Google page called "Search Features".  This page gives examples how to use Google to find information faster and more accurately.  Suppose you wanted to know the conversion factor between the euro and the dollar.  You don't have to google "conversion euro to dollar" but simply input into the search field; 1 eur to usd This will return the conversion.  You can do other neat tricks like; movies 46220 (replace 46220 with you own zipcode), or unit conversions like 1 cm to inches, or as a calculator 5*15+2, or to find current time in any city in the world, time Indianapolis (replace Indianapolis with any city), or to see instant stock quotes MSFT, or to find things on sites that might not have a good internal search method, you can use something like Obama socialist site:cnn.com

I tried some of the same tricks with bing.com, Microsofts search engine and it seems to operate about the same.  So, get to it!!!  Get out there and get informed.

Microsoft Office: 2003 to 2007 Training Wheels

As a geek who made his bread and butter by knowing how to use the old style Microsoft products, I've felt a little frustrated trying to use the new versions.
Well, here is the solution.  Downloading and running these interactives allows you to carry out the commands you know from the old interface and then immediately be shown how to do the same thing in the new interface.  After a while you can take off the training wheels.

  • Excel -- http://www.microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/details.aspx?familyid=89718ABD-2758-47B3-9F90-93788112B985
  • Word -- http://www.microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/details.aspx?familyid=9044790B-4E24-4277-B714-66D7B18D0AA1
  • Powerpoint -- http://www.microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/details.aspx?familyid=BEF41DC3-8E28-4282-82D4-CEC2F416CD40
  • Access -- http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b9574c72-657f-438c-9de9-f8f70dd2d40d

Biblical Blogging?

Some of the theological forums I read recently adopted a list of rules created by a seminary president. At first blush, the rules seem to be good -- at least "good" at keeping peace. But then I started thinking, why do these forums need and want these rules in place? The forums in question claim to be "Christian" forums, yet the rules were triggered in part by the very people who remain at those forums (I purposely have no desire to join these forums because, rules or no rules most of the people there behave unChristian, due in part to their heretical hyperpreteristi theology). I want to post the rules here and then break each of them down, especially since these rules are being called Scripture-based.

Sweet Chariot: a prayer

Sweet ChariotDear Lord, I am 41 years old.  I have so far spent my time on this earth, being the husband of one wife, the father of one child.  I have endeavored to live my life by biblical precepts, failing at times as all sinners are apt.  I have employed the biblical ethic of doing all things in an orderly manner.  Even in my battles with heretics, though they may call me a "jerk" or whatever names they like, even there I have tried to conduct myself with ingetrity...because it is not my name which suffers, as I have no name.  It is the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord and King.  There is shame when we speak beyond and when we don't speak when needed.

Google Voice, Sweet 16, & the Future

Ok time for more random stuff as a blog entry.  I was recently invited to try out Google Voice. It is an integration of telephonics & the Internet. (see video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Q9MJdT5Ds)  Basically, what it does is allow you to have one number that you can use to ring any other phone AND it will record voice mail messages as audio & text transcript.  I'm still trying it out but so far I like it.

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