rare bird

The end of the year is a good time to reflect on what has happened. It's also a good time to reflect on the end of other things, such as this world.

They spam!

Every Monday, NPR promotes the series "This I Believe," originally done by Edward R. Murrow. (BTW, if you haven't seen Good Night and Good Luck, go see it right away.) Can you encapsulate what you believe in five minutes or six paragraphs? (Before you say no, think of the Apostles' Creed.) This particular story resonated with me, as does Murrow's original introduction to the series. What seems to be most important is that it is belief, not doubt, that defines who we are. (Unless you're Penn Jillette).

It is more important to gain full comprehension of one test that it is to have a surface understanding of many tests. Step through one test, and watch its progress, to understand how an application works.

File under shameless self promotion cross referenced with pointless vanity project. The journal of my month in China this Spring is online. Hope you can read my handwriting... and have decent bandwidth. I was there working from February 20th to March 20th. Quite a time.

It doesn’t, at least not at first. They are two separate, yet related experiences. The knowledge of God can come about without Scripture; the knowledge of Christ cannot. At the same time, they are not in completely different realms. The link between the two is the Holy Spirit, who is a Person in the Trinity, and who speaks to us of God’s existence in our experience. Through Scripture, he speaks to us of Christ. If you read the gospel of John, and/or the letter to the Romans, the link between your experience of God and the reality of Christ is made manifest through listening to the Holy Spirit. After that, the reality of Christ begins to be proven to you through your experience of Him, just as the reality of the Father was proven to you through your experience. But experiencing Christ is somewhat different. You are made aware that God is personable, not merely an overwhelming force. You can speak with God; this is the beginning of prayer. You can speak with God and are not bl

My wife had an interesting comment on the Supreme Court yesterday. She said that she approves of the Court being the ultimate arbiter of legislation, because of its supreme competence. She said she can tell by watching Roberts that he is a competent man. I told her that his nomination probably means that the Court will overturn decisions that have struck down legislation from the states, returning the decision-making process to the states' Supreme Courts on important issues. She said she would not want this to happen. I then asked her if she would rather have a Court that overrides the decisions of Minnesota, giving decisions she did not agree with, rather than a court that defers to Minnesota, that would give decisions that she would agree with. She said she would rather have a court that decided to strike Minnesota decisions down if they thought it necessary. She said the Minnesota Supreme Court is less capable of making competent decisions than the national Court, because the

Your original Thomas Kelly post was by far the best posting on your blog. I've always thought this was strange (and always kept it to myself) but the only thing that makes me believe in the presence of God is scattered clouds on a sunny day. In fact, today I can look out the window of my cube and see just such a cloud. But I have a question for you that I have struggled with for some time... if these are the only time that we feel a divine presence then how does that equate to the "secret heart of Jesus". To me, I don't make the jump that Jesus has any place in my spirit. He was a tremendous historical figure and I'm a little embarrassed to admit how often the words "what would Jesus do" offers me guidance or helps me form an opinion (which by no means says that I actually follow up on those thoughts, I'm also embarrassed by how often I do exactly the opposite). But I can't rightfully say that I'm a Christian when I don't believe in one

Richard J. Foster: Have you ever experienced what Thomas Kelly describes as "a Light within," or "a speaking Voice," or "the Divine Center"?  Describe. YES.  I have experienced it near the ocean, near lakes, near streams, near rivers.  I have felt it in the thunderstorm.  It is the awesome power and presence of the Living God.  It is larger, wider, and deeper than any church.  It is the secret heart of Jesus, shown to those who open themselves to Him.  It does not force; but it overwhelms.  It is what Schleiermacher called "The feeling of absolute dependence."  Dependence - on an omnipotent, omniscient Lord of the universe whose ways cannot be known, but who stoops to reveal Himself to us. Why? I have struggled with this question.  I have asked God why he would give me such a feeling - it seems to have no relevance to the world.  If one other person disturbs this reverie, it is gone.  At work it is the farthest thing from my mind.  I would like t

This caught the eye of Boing Boing, king of the blogosphere: Guns, Germs and Steel on PBS The TV series Guns, Germs and Steel, based on Jared Diamond 's Pulitzer Prize-winning sci/history book, premiers tonight on PBS. The companion Web site covers a lot of thought-provoking ideas that are interesting whether you read the book, never heard of it, or, um, didn't finish it. From the overview: Inspired by a question put to him on the island of Papua New Guinea more than thirty years ago, Diamond embarks on a world-wide quest to understand the roots of global inequality. * Why were Europeans the ones to conquer so much of our planet? * Why didn't the Chinese, or the Inca, become masters of the globe instead? * Why did cities first evolve in the Middle East? * Why did farming never emerge in Australia? * And why are the tropics now the capital of global poverty? Link UPDATE: Jared Diamond is speaking in San Francisco this Friday as part of The Long Now Foun

My wife is from Ukraine. My mother-in-law just got her permanent resident alien visa. The only glitch in her interview was that they did not believe the Canadian marriage certificate between my wife and I was real . When she tried to say it was, the officer (obviously, a Ukrainian) said "Why didn't you get a full size copy?" (Our marriage certificate is larger than a driver's license, but not by much. That's the official size of Canadian marriage ceritificates.) When my mother-in-law said, "Well, it kind of is full size," the officer said "Them, marriage certificates, don't come in no tiny sizes like that! Now I know it's fake!" Finally the officer went to the consular and was told that the certificate looked OK. Thanks to my wife for the anecdote.

Before War Of The Worlds blows Episode III into box office history, I had better get this review out there. This review will be focused on content , not technique. I'm not going to debate the merits of Lucas as a director, for example. I'll write a technique review after this one (assuming I have the time). Like the folks over at TheForce.Net , I have also read the book, by Matthew Stover , and recommend it to anyone disappointed by the movie, in any conceivable way. In 1977 I was five, and so truly grew up with STAR WARS. These movies have created an American mythology for my generation that previously had none. Having seen Episode III, I am forced to watch the originals with different eyes. Palpatine is downright satanic as a tempter. He rivals Screwtape in his delicacy. He hardly needs to do anything but nudge Anakin towards the path he wants the Jedi to take. It is a brilliant, persuasive, and contemporary portrait of evil. I think Lucas intended to do this with Vader in

Here is the link to the mp3 by the Dutch priest who reviews Episode III.

Here is a podcast by a Catholic priest in the Netherlands who went to see Episode III. He just gushes over the thing, he was more impressed by it than anyone I know. He also provides a theological analysis.

Free as in beer... One hundred years ago, in a single "miracle year," Albert Einstein astonished the world by publishing major works in diverse areas of physics including the quantum nature of light and special relativity. To commemorate that landmark year in the history of science, The Teaching Company is releasing two free online lectures. "Einstein’s Miraculous Year" and “Relativity in a Nutshell” are presented by Professor Richard Wolfson of Middlebury College. I put them on my iPod and listen to them in the car.

ROTS trailer on tonight during the OC on Fox, 7 Central. Plus: Lucas is in the episode itself, playing himself.

You'll never guess who I had lunch with last Saturday. I was at a 3 day Java programming symposium and I was eating lunch with one of the panelists Ben Galbraith . It turns out that he an IT director for the Church of Mormon . Did you know the Church of Mormon has the largest Cisco network in the world? I did not! His opinion is that the reformation was caused partly by the inability of the central Catholic church to communicate and preach effectively over the vast empire of Catholic states, and the Mormons are now consciously focusing on technology to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to them. He said he has 15 projects, the smallest of which is 10 people. That's a ton of IT! (Now you Mormons know where your 15% goes). Not only can you download all the Mormon scripture from the lds website, but you can also have it read to you through your speakers. And the yearly meeting of the Prophet and apostles is simulcasted on the Internet almost in real time! Pretty impressi

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Tired: FBI intelligence gathering Expired: CIA intelligence gathering

Interesting - the Economist favors another Labour victory in the UK's general election.

Wired magazine's cover story this month is on George Lucas. This is an online exclusive interview with the man behind the Star Wars franchise.

Check out these video previews for the coming game Auto Assault. They were edited by our friend, Matt James. If you have need of an incredibly talented video editor, email him: peacejames at aol.com .

Awesome... two free lectures from the Teaching Company . Kind of bad timing to release these though, at this point I'm pretty burned out on the whole Pope thing. I've been listening to the free lectures at ITConversations.com instead. Download it, transfer to mp3, and listen on your commute.

"The world of the Bible comes to life in this campaign setting for the d20 System. Play a wandering Babylonian magus, a sorcerer in the service of Pharaoh, a Canaanite maker of idols, or a prophet of the God of Israel. Walk the streets of ancient Jerusalem, stand beside King David as one of his Mighty Men, smite Philistines, ponder the mysteries of gargantuan tombs, look upon the dwellings of the gods, and battle demons, dragons, plagues, and the legendary beasts of Babylon." There is also a decent review at this blog Is it a sin to play as Jesus Christ? What do you think his stats would be?

Quench your thirst for knowledge.

Note: this is a 'semi-hostile' takeover.

Who will control the commanding heights of file sharing? Governments or markets?

Even better - if you increase individual and corporate sales taxes, not only do you not have to cut anything, you can cut income taxes, increase services, and still have a 1 million dollar surplus. Meet Minnesota's obligations without giving employers reasons to leave the state. Try the Budget Balancer for yourself!

Gov. Pawlenty's budget cuts health care and aid to local communities, and expands gambling. Mine doesn't.

NPR featured this band on St. Patrick's Day, so I ordered their album, The Kinnitty Sessions . It just arrived. If you like Irish/Celtic music you'll enjoy this album!

This is an article by Robert V. Rakestraw, professor of theology at Bethel Seminary. It was written in 1992, but seems especially appropriate now, given the Schiavo situation. Dr. Rakestraw is an evangelical Christian, yet argues that in PVS situations it is morally appropriate to remove food and water from a patient.

89.3 The Current just played Trip Shakespeare to commemorate our new snowfall. That's beautiful.

This is a Beatles-Metallica parody band. Some of the most hilarious music I've heard in a long time. Sony was not amused, however - afraid this would somehow take away from Metallica sales, they issued a cease-and-desist order that shut Beatallica.org down. But never fear - this site is streaming their songs. Oh, brings back headbanger memories.

Led by former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA), this organization reflects the ideals I spoke of in "The Ring of Doom in the Postmodern World," but has an eminently practical application. Sam Nunn should be president! I can heartily endorse this org and everything they are trying to do.

Let the significant women in your life know.

Now contains the best movie trailer in history, downloads, concept art, and news.

Tolkien proved more right every day!

Reformation!

J.R.R. Tolkien did not like it when people tried to find analogies in LOTR or any of his other writings. He wanted people to take his books at face value, not try to read meanings "into" them from the outside. Regardless, many people have found analogies in LOTR, most commonly images of world war. Despite Tolkiens' protestations, this makes sense because he did fight in World War I. After seeing Peter Jacksons' films, particularly the "Council of Elrond" scene in FOTR, a new analogy arose in my mind - that of the Ring as the terrible power of nuclear weapons in our postmodern world. The scene is like a mythological IAEA - all the races of Middle-Earth gather to debate the fate of the Ring, and to decide who will be the Ringbearer. There is a lot of argument and conflict over this issue; jealousy and suspicion abounds; precious unity is sacrificed to the thought of using the Ring as a weapon to defeat Middle-Earth's enemies. In the meantime, the Ring aga

It's Yahoo's tenth anniversary. Check out their page circa 1995.

Pacifica, CA February 27, 2005--Jef Raskin, a mathematician, orchestral soloist and composer, professor, bicycle racer, model airplane designer, and pioneer in the field of human-computer interactions, died peacefully at home in California on February 26th, 2005 surrounded by his family and loved ones. He had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Raskin continued to work throughout his life - his working project when he became sick was "Archy," a text editor that will embrace many of his principles. This line especially caught my attention: "Archy also replaces mouse movements, which many text editing programs require, with much faster "Leap" keystrokes, reducing the likelihood of carpel tunnel syndrome." This is important to me since I suffer from CTS. Bravo!

Why do people put multiple punctuation marks in their emails? This one is from a customer: "What do you think about that??? Let me know. Thanks!!!!"

This is a fantastic tool. I had forgotten the definitions of the fields on a new report I need to write Help for, and this allowed me to find a cache of the doc from Feb. 11 that has the information I need. It found the cache in my Recycle Bin! Otherwise I would have had to go and bug the developer again to send me the doc. Saved the day. There are concerns about security, since the tool indexes one's hard drive, but for now, I think the risk is worth it.

Google now has a movie search. Enter your ZIP and you can sort alphabetically or by theatre. Very cool! Click on the movie title and you get reviews. Holy crap. Google rules.

On ABC tonight, 7 pm Central. Jennings was on Jon Stewart last night to promote the 'investigation'. One of the interesting things he said was, if there is nothing to these stories, why is the government so paranoid about it? Maybe one of his interviews can tell us what's going on in Iran. ;)

At work I have an 'Acceptance' test. I named it that because if our software passes the test, it should be Acceptable to our users. I'm starting to think it should mean that if the software fails, you will learn to Accept it.

The answer might surprise you.

Michael Osterholm, infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, said on Gary Eichten's "Midday" that another flu pandemic is inevitable: "This is not a matter of if. This is a matter of it will happen. And it's really a situation of planning how we are going to get through it." A caller asked what his chances of living through a pandemic would be. Osterholm said 95%. However, he said that the chances for pregnant women would be 50%, as they have weakened immune systems.

"The Cabir virus mainly targets three mobile operating systems - Symbian, Windows Mobile and a third used by NTT DoCoMo, a mobile phone operator in Japan. It then destroys files and data, dials calls top-rate numbers and emergency services, and drains the battery of the cell phone. Infected mobile phones then scan for other vulnerable phones using Bluetooth wireless connection and send a file that contains the worm to such phones. The latest variants of the virus – Cabir.H and Cabir.I – spread rapidly when new phones come into contact with each other." Now that's [un]wired.

If global warming hits the world full force, it will make the 2004 tsunami look like a baseball game. The best documentary I ever saw on this subject is After The Warming , by James Burke. He projects what the world will go through until 2050, if the warming started in 1998. (The film was made in 1991.) Droughts in America, disasters in the Third World, the rise of Japan and Asia as the pre-eminent superpowers, a global carbon trading system - a revolution in history to rival WW2 and the atomic age. Granted, the changes are coming more slowly than he projected, but given what we know now, this should make prophetic watching.

Get ready for another browser grudge match. MSFT is not going to give up on the browser war just because of Firefox. IE 7.0 is coming, and it will try to compete with Firefox's security features. Will it feature tabbed browsing?

It was my Dad's birthday yesterday. Just for fun I googled him and found these patents in his name from when he worked at 3M. Pretty cool to realize your Dad is an inventor.

It's not an important holiday simply because it happens to be your dating anniversary (Sean) or wedding anniversary (Hamlet). The Teaching Company is giving away a free lecture from their High Middle Ages series about the origins of this holiday and how it became associated with love and courtship. Listen to it with a loved one. Or listen to it alone and laugh at us foolish neo-pagans.

"Shortly after the fall of Baghdad, the U.S. government hired South African mercenaries as bodyguards and police trainers. The contract later proved embarrassing when two of the former bodyguards were arrested in Zimbabwe on charges of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea."

Niebuhr was one of the most important theologians of the 20th century. As this program demonstrates, his influence only seems to grow with time.

Apparently, this was causing a surge in UFO sightings. The X-Files comes to Iran.

STAR WARS The magazine's interview with the film-maker and a great photo portfolio, including the original stars (my gosh, they've gotten old. Oh yeah, that's right; I was a kid then).

Like 99.9% of technical writers out there, I use Arial as my primary font. Today I received a document in Helvetica, which I haven't seen for years. Just for fun I googled it and found out there is a fierce anger in the typographic world over the fact that Arial is a knock-off (and a bad one at that). This is also thanks to MSFT, since Windows chose to adopt Arial and Apple chose Helvetica, and Windows won. Of course only professionals can tell the difference. But that's the whole point, isn't it?

Don't know if anyone saw this in Sunday's Star Tribune (free registration required). "Remember James Watt, President Ronald Reagan's first secretary of the interior? My favorite online environmental journal, the ever-engaging Grist, reminded us recently of how James Watt told the U.S. Congress that protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. In public testimony he said, "after the last tree is felled, Christ will come back."" By the way, in Minnesota the last Friday of April is Arbor Day. Go plant a tree.

Every generation brings along a person who re-discovers the gospel of God for their time. Paul did it - he set the stage; Augustine did it; Luther and Calvin did it; Edwards did it; Wesley did it; Barth did it; C.S. Lewis did it; Stott and Packer have done it; and now I believe Brian McLaren is doing it. "More to come," as Johnny Carson would say...

Rare Bird welcomes Vision Man, our Lifestyle and Entertainment editor! He is chief sound engineer at a liberal arts college whose expertise ranges far and wide. Listen, those with ears to hear.

What a great idea - learn from professors with Harvard and Yale quality without having to go there! Follow the link for an excerpt on Luther.

One of the issues reported by Jon Gordon is that the song "Happy Birthday" is used in the film. Apparently it is also under copyright and cannot be used without a license. If any song should be in the public domain, it's "Happy Birthday."

The browser wars are back! Will open source prove to be the development model that can actually challenge MSFT's decade-long dominance? If you don't already have Firefox, get it here . Even if you run OS X, or don't speak English! Let's show the world that open source can compete.

Finally , a music radio station that is not owned by someone out of town, with DJ's that have personality and are allowed to express them. These guys are from RadioK and Rev-105, classic Twin Cities "modern rock" formats that have a mind of their own. And ... no ... commercials! Pinch me.

Rare Birds worldwide are very happy this has finally come to pass. Hopefully the oligarchic (now) opposition will not make too much mischief while the new Mr. President is globetrotting. First item on the domestic agenda: picking a prime minister. Apparently Yushchenko has promised the post to Julia Tymoshenko, who is kind of a Ukrainian Howard Dean (but a lot more clever). This decision is very important, because in approximately nine months the new laws Yushchenko agreed to will take effect, and they give the prime minister and the Duma much of the power currently enjoyed by the President.

Link : Daily Show. As Jon says, " Have pride in a government that allows for such a peaceful non-transfer of power ." (Seriously, does it make any sense to have an inauguration for a second term?) The Freedom 27 - Liberty 15 final score that Hamlet refers to was part of the show yesterday, where Jon commented: " It was a noble effort by Liberty, which as you know has been playing hurt since the PATRIOT Act ." If the result of Bush's rhetoric is a foreign policy that promotes liberty throughout the world, this is a vital mission. Given the success of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine (BTW, Yushchenko's inauguration is this Sunday! Link .) we need to ramp up support of democratic / libertarian movements everywhere. I wish Bush had spoken out more openly about Ukraine than he did. I hope that he will speak out more in the future, when it comes to movements in other countries. My hope is that we will create the greatest diplomatic push in history to carry out

George W. Bush was sworn into office yesterday, making him only the 16th president to ever be elected to a second term. In this 23 minute inauguration speech he used the word freedom 27 times and liberty 15 times (thanks Daily Show). Already the Bush dynasty has lasted longer than the Kennedy dynasty, and there is already talk of a Jeb Bush in '08 campaign (he is the taller and smarter brother), with rumors of a George P. Bush to follow (he is the son of Jeb who George Sr. once referred to as "one of the brown ones"). I for one welcome our Bush overlords.

I will be watching. They've been re-airing the mini-series this week and it looks quite good. Producer Ron Moore: "Our goal is nothing less than the reinvention of the science-fiction television series." I think they will continue where Star Trek: TNG left off, and go even further.

Got this from Hamlet. As he says, "What a collection of great quotes." Luther was a neverending source of great 'table talk.' I hope I get the chance to meet him someday.

My Galileo Themometer tells me it's 68 degrees. Inside the office.

It took me some frustrating digging, but I found an RSS feed for Microsoft security bulletins. This way you can keep up to speed when Windows Update is really necessary without getting a bunch of emails.

"Now that Apple Computer has shown it plans to go after new, low-cost markets for its Macintosh computers and iPod music players, investors will turn their attention today to the company's top and bottom lines when Apple delivers its 2005 first-quarter results."

Scobleizer is reporting that Apple has released the Mac Mini, an honest-to-God PC with no peripherals. He says "looks like a great place to run Windows" and laments that the price of Wintel machines at Wal-Mart is still lower. While I would argue that's completely missing the point, if he buys a Mac Mini I won't complain. What is more important is that Apple is finally willing to release themselves from their insistence on PC-peripheral linkage-bondage and is acknowledging the reality of the market. This means they've got a fighting chance against the other PC makers to win over consumers who are not going to stop using Windows and can't ditch their Wintel PC, not to mention their monitor and keyboard (like my family). Using a KVM switch, my wife and I could use the same monitor and keyboard but different PC's. I could have a Mac without finding a new room to use it in. It also shows Apple is a serious technology company, not just a fashion company w

Rare Bird is proud to have Hamlet D'Arcy as our Foreign Affairs editor. He's just returned from a trip to Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and - simply put - has traveled more than anyone I know. You can also check out his blog at mi vida poco .

Holy Day After Tomorrow ! Seriously, though, the NOAA defines a Wind Chill Watch as when temperatures plunge below -35 deg. F. We're not going to reach that, so it could be worse. That makes me feel a whole lot better.

This is a reference to the last time this happened.

John Kerry has refused to join the challenge - the result will not be changed - but Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has agreed to sign a challenge from House Democrats so that a spotlight can be shined on voting problems that arose in Ohio. Discuss.

J.R.R. Tolkien did not like it when people tried to find analogies in LOTR or any of his other writings. He wanted people to take his books at face value, not try to read meanings "into" them from the outside. Regardless, many people have found analogies in LOTR, most commonly images of world war. Despite Tolkiens' protestations, this makes sense because he did fight in World War I. After seeing Peter Jacksons' films, particularly the "Council of Elrond" scene in FOTR, a new analogy arose in my mind - that of the Ring as the terrible power of nuclear weapons in our postmodern world. The scene is like a mythological IAEA - all the races of Middle-Earth gather to debate the fate of the Ring, and to decide who will be the Ringbearer. There is a lot of argument and conflict over this issue; jealousy and suspicion abounds; precious unity is sacrificed to the thought of using the Ring as a weapon to defeat Middle-Earth's enemies. In the meantime, the Ring ag

This template is perfect. The star represents the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and the other hues represent my Blue America sympathies. It's also cleaner in terms of organization and feel.