Saturday, March 29, 2008
Caption Competition Part II
Technology Gets Truly Scary
Another leap forward for technology and thus for humanity. It's incredible to watch how almost lifelike & conscious this robot is. But these inventions will be used both for good and for evil. There is not one piece of technology created in humanity's history that is not first pressed into the business of making war more efficient & violent. I can quite imagine how this could become a tool for the worst kind of apocalyptic repression & terror.
Still, enough of the doom and gloom. It really is incredible isn't it? But just think, only now are we beginning to make things that merely mimic the technology hidden in the codes of nature for millennia.
Truth Gatecrashes Clinton Campaign
Her reminiscences grew more fanciful when she recalled making a dash for cover under gunfire at Tusla Airport while helping to spread her peace-making abilities to Bosnia. This proved one step too far when CBS uncovered footage of Clinton supposedly 'dodging the bullets' at Tusla Airport. The reality looked far different, and Clinton rather less than honest.
These gaffes are not without effect. The Clinton Campaign Team had been running ads trumpeting Clinton's reliability, asking 'Who would you like to see in the White House answering calls at 3am?', the inference being Clinton as the heavyweight choice so Americans could sleep easier in their beds at night.
Clinton realised the Bosnia story was damaging her campaign and was forced to admit that, contrary to popular belief, she was only human at times and had been tired on the campaign trail. Perhaps she had been taking too many 3am phone calls.
The Clinton Team fight to keep the wheels on their bandwagon.
It hasn't helped that the girl in the 3am advert (assisted by the Obama team) has come forward saying she 'doesn't approve the message'. Internetters have been mercilessly lampooning both the 3am advert and the claims of 'War Leader Hillary'. You can see the responses below.
World's Earliest Recorded Voice Prompts Fit of Giggles
Friday, March 28, 2008
Human Body Parts You Have But Don't Need
Mum, Can I Go Up to the Cockpit and See the Controls?
Caption Competition Part I
World's Worst Uses of Metaphor
She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again.
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty Bag filled with vegetable soup.
From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and "Jeopardy" comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30.
Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.
Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the center.
Bob was as perplexed as a hacker who means to access T:flw.quid55328.com\\aaakk/ch@ung but gets T:\\flw.quidaaakk/ch@ung by mistake.
Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
Her date was pleasant enough, but she knew that if her life was a movie this guy would be buried in the credits as something like "Second Tall Man."
Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can.
They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth
John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play.
The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon.
Multimedia is Changing. Have You Noticed?
Andrew Sullivan
By television being over, I mean the classic television experience: the ritual of coming home after work, flopping on the couch and simply allowing “what’s on” to flood over you. We still do it of course. As an avenue for the moving image, however, the passive, network-driven model has clearly changed beyond recognition and will soon change still further.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
7 Quick Tips To Using Google You'll Wonder How You Ever Managed Without
define: palaeontology
Notice that that Google returns not only a definition but also
- links to the explanatory pages
- and related phrases it can also define for you.
6. Use Google as a calculator. Type your numbers using +, -, / for division, * for multiplication, etc, then press search. Hey presto. As sure as 1+1=2, Google just got more useful.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Sometimes I'm Tempted To Despair
Seeing photos like this, while depressing, is a reminder that we still have a long way to go in combatting anti-intellectualism within the church. Anti-intellectualism manifests itself just as strongly in subtle ways. For instance, whenever you hear the word 'theology' or 'theological', in church just take note as to whether it is being mentioned in a positive or negative context. If my unofficial straw poll is to be believed then you will find almost 90% of references to theology to be pejorative. Theology is the bedrock of our Christian faith. Yet people who spend their time studying to deepen the roots of their faith are decried from the pulpit over and over again.
Another test for anti-intellectualism is when a false distinction is set up between being led by the Spirit and using one's intellectual faculties. (There should of course be no distinction. If you are truly led of the Spirit, this should mean that all your intellectual faculties are engaged in the process of being led of the Lord.) This is particularly dangerous because, very subtly, leaders in the church who feel threatened by those who engage their minds encourage their flock to be unthinking sheep. It's a recipe for disaster.
So for the record, my faith is totally inherently reasonable. In fact, that's why I believe in Christ. I am unashamed to be a thinking, Spirit-filled Christian because God gave me the brain I use to know him. I will never check my brain in at the door of the church.
Reason is the bedrock of my faith in God. So there.
What Do You Get When You Ask A Computer To Design You a Maze?
Never Lost, but Found Daily: Japanese Honesty
But here in Tokyo, with 8 million people in the city and 33 million in the metropolitan area, these items and thousands more would probably find their way to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Lost and Found Center.
Read More
Sunday, March 23, 2008
In Honour of the Snow Today
Reporter Owned By Sled - Watch more free videos
The moral of the tale is threefold. Firstly, when timing a sled race, don't stand at the bottom of the hill; secondly, if you are going to flip out, leave yourself just enough headroom; and thirdly, always, always sign off your reports. It's only professional.
Here's a Time to Pull the Speech of your Life
Saturday, March 22, 2008
How to View the World 80x Slower
Take a few seconds to watch this super-slow motion camera shot of a man bursting a balloon. Fun.
Kinematic Typography - Very Very Vivifying
Friday, March 21, 2008
Good Friday is an Unusual Day
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Brevity Key to Good Writing
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Sometimes Even If It Is Your Day, It's Not Your Day!
A 15-year-old girl who stopped her out-of-control school bus was hit with a Saturday detention because she was supposed to be in class when the accident happened.
Marina High School student Amanda Rouse was on a bus with 40 elementary school students Wednesday morning when the driver fell out of her seat after a turn and hit her head.
Rouse jumped up and applied the brakes, bringing the bus to a halt after striking two parked cars. No one was injured.
But Rouse said she was punished because she wasn't supposed to be on the bus in the first place.
Rouse said she fell ill on the way to school, but instead of calling in sick, she asked the bus driver for a lift back to the bus yard before the accident happened. She must attend Saturday school as punishment for failing to call in sick that day.
"She is in trouble with school because she made the wrong decision," said Rouse's grandmother, Sally Correll. "But I can't help but believe that she was where God wanted her to be."
A spokesperson for the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District could not immediately be reached Saturday.
___
Information from: The Monterey County Herald, www.montereyherald.com
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Good Cop, Bad Cop
This video clip of a policeman has become an Internet phenomenon in a matter of a few days. It is unusual apparently in two ways. Firstly because it shows a policeman being respectful and polite to protesting members of the public. Secondly, because people have been so blown away by how well-mannered and caring he was that, since it was recorded on the 15th April, it has been viewed over 350,000 times, commented on 1,700 times and added as a favourite clip to watch by 1,146 people!
Either this chap is extraordinarily brilliant in the way he deals with people or he is standing out from the usual behaviour of the rest of his colleagues, which wouldn't be so positive from a police-force point of view.
Either way, isn't it nice when people resurrect old-fashioned principles such as concern for others and good manners? Well done, that man.
I Have Pets
Photography by foreversouls
Monday, March 17, 2008
I Wouldn't Say I've Bought You the Most Compact of Cameras, but it takes a Good Quality Picture...
A fascinating article on the world's first ever photograph, first ever captured human portrait, first photomontage, giving the origins of the word camera & photography, etc, etc.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Taking it Literally: A Year of Living Biblically?
Jacobs bought his own collapsible chair. Julie, who isn't religious either, says she still "felt like a leper". She adds: "When it comes down to it, the Bible is very sexist. It was written a long time ago and to follow it literally now is crazy." '
Saturday, March 15, 2008
How Do You Describe the Glory of Creation?
And God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
And this one in the Gospels (link goes to the same place):
For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.
Friday, March 14, 2008
How to Keep The Woman in Your Life Happy (Apparently)
I'm one of the guest speakers at my first ever women's conference soon and one of the potential topics is 'What Men Wish Their Wives Knew'. So I just came across this article from pooma.com giving ten ways to keep the woman in your life happy.
Since the dawn of mankind, men and women have boggled their minds trying to understand one another. Moreover, men have struggled to figure out what it takes to make the women in their lives happy.Honestly guys, while women can be very complex, most don’t require much to keep them happy. I asked both single and attached women alike, “What does it take to keep you happy in a relationship?” In no particular order, here’s how they answered in the form of ten helpful tips.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
There Will Be Blood
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
I'm so amazed by this. Just think of the possibilities in terms of content! I can't wait to get hold of one.
Here is how it works: BOOK™ is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of ordinary recyclable paper, yet each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. Pages are then locked together with a custom-fit device - a 'binder', which keeps sheets locked in their correct sequence. Opaque Paper Technology (O.P.T.) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs. Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of your finger takes you to the next sheet. BOOK™ may be taken up at any time and used merely by simply opening it.
BOOK™ never crashes or requires rebooting. The Browse feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward or backward as you wish. Many come with an Index feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval. An optional "BOOKMARK™" accessory allows you to open BOOK™ to the exact place you left it in a previous session, even if the BOOK™ is closed. BOOKMARKS™ fit universal design standards; thus, a single BOOKMARK™ can be used in BOOKS™ by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous BOOKMARKS™ can be used in a single BOOK™ if the user wants to store numerous views at once. The number is limited by the number of pages in the BOOK™.
You can also make personal notes next to BOOK™ text entries with an optional programming tool, named: "Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus"-or-"PENCILS™."
Portable, durable and affordable, the BOOK™ is being hailed as the precursor of a huge entertainment wave. BOOK'S™ appeal seems so certain that thousands of content-creators have committed to the platform and investors are reportedly flocking to the new phenomenon. Look for a flood of new titles soon.