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Fuel cells for real? ... finally?

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Samsung claims they'll be shipping a fuel cell at the end of '07.... We'll see. It's been a long, long wait with lots of hype and lots of promises.

http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8305/53/

"A minature [sic] version is under development which can power a laptop for more than 15 hours on a coffee cup's worth of fuel," doesn't sound all that "miniature" to me... but maybe the author drinks from smaller cups than I'm accustomed to.

[bookmark] The Dawkins Delusion and the Trilemma

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Victor Repert responds to Dawkins' delusional treatment of the Lewis Trilemma: http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/2006/12/da....ma.html

Decent work by Repert.

[bookmark] Massive Cosmic Explosion Has Astronomers Stumped

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Massive Cosmic Explosion Has Astronomers Stumped

Great, short article. It brings me back to the philosophical problem of purpose....

[quote] Space

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Spaceflight is risky. Landing is risky. Anyone involved in the space program will tell you space is a risky business.
- Gina Sunseri (ABC News)

[quote] Anger

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"I wonder what it's like to have squirrels living in your skull."
- Scott Adams/Wally
(today's comic)

Theology Rocks Show No. 30, "The Truth Hurts (a correction)"

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It stinks to be wrong. We were planning on publishing our Christmas edition this week, but we felt like it was more important to correct our errors from last week. (We'll publish the Christmas edition next Tuesday, instead. Maybe the lingering effects of Christmas will help you enjoy it.)

Sometimes it comes down to speaking the truth or leaving a brother in error. Sometimes we know that speaking the truth to someone is not going to result in warm feelings and joy. Sometimes is comes to making a stand and choosing to "throw down" with a brother in error. In the end, speaking the truth may offend people, but it's not the offense that's the point (as we incorrectly focused on last week), it's the truth, and how that truth is delivered.

Theology Rocks Show #30, "The Truth Hurts (a correction)"

Send us feedback at feedback@opendiscipleship.org

You can subscribe to this podcast at iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.w....3409871
You can subscribe to our RSS feed: http://www.opendiscipleship.org/taxonomy/term/6/0/feed

We are going to give away an iPod Shuffle on January 30th (2007), so go sign up now!

Beware the Wildflower!

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heresy alert! Bowling for Wildflowers.... heh! I like it.

Theology Rocks Show No. 29 - "The Gift of Offense"

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Is there a 'gift of offense?' Is there a 'ministry of offense?' Given that we all get offended, and given that some of us are better at offending people than others, and given that sometimes we don't hear the word we need to hear until it slaps us in the face, isn't it reasonable to ask the question? We thought it was.... we probably had too much fun asking it, but you'll forgive us for that I'm sure.

What do you think? Does it offend you?

Theology Rocks Show No. 29 - "The Gift of Offense"

Send us feedback at feedback@opendiscipleship.org

You can subscribe to this podcast at iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.w....3409871
You can subscribe to our RSS feed: http://www.opendiscipleship.org/taxonomy/term/6/0/feed

We are going to give away an iPod Shuffle on January 30th (2007), so go sign up now!

RFID Personal Firewall

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Bruce Schneier posts about a RFID Personal Firewall today. Very, very good new for those of us with a "highly developed sense of paranoia."

Links:
* http://www.cs.vu.nl/~melanie/rfid_guardian/p.....06.pdf (paper)
* http://www.boingboing.net/2006/12/06/persona....fo.html commentary
* http://www.rfidguardian.org/ info

2006-2007 VCA Memory Verses

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1. Genesis 1:31
2. Deuteronomy 16:17
3. Joshua 24:24
4. 1 Chronicles 16:9
5. Psalm 56:3
6. Psalm 119:11
7. Prov 22:1
8. Isaiah 6:8
9. Isaiah 45:5
10. Malachi 3:10
11. Matthew 28:19-20
12. Luke 2:52
13. Luke 19:10
14. John 4:24
15. John 13:35
16. Acts 4:12
17. Romans 10:9
18. 1 Corinthians 3:16
19. Ephesians 2:8
20. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
21. 1 Timothy 4:13
22. 1 Timothy 2:15
23. James 1:22
24. 1 Peter 4:9
25. 1 John 4:21

About this ministry

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Show No. 28 out is out!

"This is a Ministry"

A little bit about the podcast, and how we view it as a ministry. Our hopes for the podcast and the listeners.

We hope you'll be blessed. Please send us feedback

OH! Oh! And we're giving away an iPod Shuffle! so, even if you don't listen to the show, go sign up for a chance to win the iPod Shuffle we'll be giving away on January 30th!

sign up to win

[bookmark] Love Books?

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Check out LibraryThing.com. They have a Book Suggester as well as an "UnSuggester." I think it's pretty cool....

Modeling thought crime

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Bruce Schneier posted a fascinating blog entry today about modeling thought crime, and taking it seriously.

But before that can begin in earnest, the public has to decide how many false positives it can afford in order to head off future killers, and how many false negatives (seemingly nonviolent people who nevertheless go on to kill) it is willing to risk to narrow the false positive pool.

So, to use predicted, preemptive murder prevention, we have to decide if we're going to trust an algorithm (and the programmers).

The more I think about it... the more I think, "creepy."

Firefox 2.0

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Firefox finally has inline spell checking! I prefer Firefox as my primary browser, but I liked the fact that Konqueror has had built-in spell checking for years. Firefox 2.0, has spell checking as well as a huge host of other great features.

It's a happy day for the spelling-challenged Firefox fan.

(The only reason I hadn't upgraded earlier was pure laziness.)

I am a theistic realist

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Barry Carey at withallyourmind makes the great point about being a Theistic Realist. I like it. I like it very much.

I only differ in that I do not claim that I have some knowledge which is wholly exclusive of naturalism. I can make inferences. From naturalism, logic, math, observation and philosophy I have very strong reasons to infer that there is a God. I can look at the historicity of the New Testament and conclude that they are real and reliable, that Jesus was a real person in a real body who did and said real things which have been passed down reliably. None of this is supernatural -- even the secular historians plainly record "wonders."

I can look to the best science which says the universe started some 12-15 billion years ago with a very finely tuned, finite beginning (i.e. "big bang"), and I can conclude that whatever caused that was, by definition, super natural (because whatever caused it was beyond the universe... beyond nature).

I can, furthermore, test the creation stories of all religions, and I find that only the Genesis account is the least similar to the big bang theory, and I find that it would be an accurate description for an author writing 3400 years before the discovery of the expanding universe.

No. 27 - "Why is Grace So Hard to Understand?"

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Theology Rocks - truths to stand on

Theology Rocks Show #27 - "Why is Grace So Hard to Understand?"

22:58 minutes (5.26 MB)

What is it about grace that is so difficult for the Church to understand and share with others? Why do we struggle so much with this central issue of Christianity? Maybe you can help us explain it to those who are starving for it....

Be bold enough to listen. Then send or leave us some feedback.

Dan and Jody

F.F. Bruce on John and his Gospel

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I thought this was beautiful... it's right at the end of Chapter 4, "The Gospels," in The New Testament Documents: Are The Reliable?.

In his old age he realised more than ever that, although the conditions of life in Palestine which had formed the setting for Jesus' ministry before AD 30 had passed away beyond recall, that ministry itself - indeed, the whole span of years that Jesus had spent on earth - was charged with eternal validity. In the life of Jesus all the truth of God which had ever been communicated to men was summed up and made perfect; in Him the eternal Word or self-expression of God had come home to the world in a real human life. But if this was so, the life and work of Jesus could have no merely local, national or temporary relevance. So, towards the end of the first century, he set himself to tell the gospel story in such a way that its abiding truth might be presented to men and women who were quite unfamiliar with the original setting of the saving events. The Hellenistic world of his old age required to be told the regenerating message in such a way that, whether Jews or Gentiles, they might be brought to faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, and thus receive eternal life through Him. Yet he would not yield to any temptation to restate Christianity in terms of contemporary thought in such a way as to rob it of its essential uniqueness. The gospel is eternally true, but it is the story of events which happened in history once for all; John does not divorce the story from its Palestinian context in order to bring out its universal application, and at the heart of his record the original apostolic preaching is faithfully preserved.

Cool things for kids to build

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http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/explore/....ids.htm

A Great Essay on Mormonism

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Dr. Repert at dangerousidea.blog, has republished Steve Cannon's Essay on Mormonism. If you deal with Mormons, it's well worth your time to read. It also does a good job of pointing out the importance of the fact that Christianity is a historical religion.... unlike Mormonism.

[bookmark] F. F. BRUCE's THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS

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THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS, by F. F. BRUCE.

cool.

HT Dr. Reppert

Raw Therapee - now converting RAW for Linux

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http://www.rawtherapee.com/

At Linux.com: Review: Raw Therapee 1.1 promises robust photo conversion

I need to look it over and get it added to the Linux and RAW Digital Photography page. Maybe I'll have time to get that done tomorrow.... well. I have time... Maybe I'll get it done tomorrow.

[bookmark] Mormonism - problems

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http://www.unconventionalideas.com/reasons.html

I haven't finished reading through it, yet. It's detailed. It's thorough. It's long.

.... it seems fair minded, and fair in spirit. It doesn't have the air or attitude of retribution or "ungrace." I'm bookmarking it in hopes of returning to it later.

When I read through things like this, I like to ask myself the same questions about Christianity. Can Christianity pass the same tests that Mormonism fails so miserably? ... well, so far, "yes, it can." Judaism and Christianity are, in fact, a uniquely historical religions.

fascinating!

Something big...

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and I mean REALLY big... bucket-wheel excavator used in modern surface mining.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061122.html
http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Workshop/T....her.htm
http://www.google.com/search?lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe....avators
http://images.google.com/images?lr=&ie=UTF-8....&tab=wi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucket-wheel_excavator
http://www.mtfsa.co.za/products_frm.htm
http://www.worsleyschool.net/science/files/e....rs.html

Theology Rocks #26 - "Is the Church reaching toward the reachable for Christ?"

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Theology Rocks - truths to stand on

Theology Rocks Show #26 - "Is the Church reaching toward the reachable for Christ?"
9:40 minutes (2.22 MB)

Are we even trying to reach the reachable, or are we spinning our wheels and wasting Kingdom resources by trying to win the people we feel comfortable with? Our ineffectiveness in our culture, and the directions we're going trying to reach people certainly begs the question.

We'd love to get some feedback on this short podcast.

Dan and Jody

Today's word of the day: fillip

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fillip \FIL-uhp\, noun:
1. A snap of the finger forced suddenly from the thumb; a smart blow.
2. Something serving to rouse or excite; a stimulus.
3. A trivial addition; an embellishment.

http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday....03.html

hmmm.....

Wikidiction

No more Hillbillies

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Just wanted to let the world know that Dan and I have discontinued Hillbilly Theology. It seems that people are threatened by the word "Hillbilly."

The "audio show" (i.e. podcast) is now known as "Theology Rocks -- truths to stand on." We hope people will actually listen to it now. (No Hillbillies were killed or maimed in the renaming process.)

I have made the decision to keep the existing show numbers, and show #22, "When God calls your name," was double-published under both "Hillbilly Theology" and "Theology Rocks."

We hope that people will feel less threatened by the new name, and maybe even listen to a show before rejecting it now. You can find the show at http://www.opendiscipleship.org/ . I would love to get a little feedback on the show.

more Mere Christianity

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I'm supposed to start a discussion group tonight with some high school kids. We'll be starting with Mere Christianity. We were supposed to start last week, but it didn't happen. I hope they come, and I hope they bring their brains. This is not going to be fun if I'm just talking to myself in front of a group of uninterested kids.... We'll see.

My Sunday night discipleship group is well into the book. We've been taking it one chapter per week. The kids want to hit it at two or three chapters per meeting. If they'll engage, we should have a great time!

[quote] Quotes from Dr. Francis Collins

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The following quotes from Dr. Collins are from an interview on Reasons To Believe's 17.Oct.2006 Creation Update web cast:

I believe in 'intelligent design' in the sense that I believe God is the most remarkable intelligence that one could ever imagine. And that he had a design for humans to appear on this planet, in his image. Creatures with whom he could have fellowship, who would seek to find him. In that regard, with a small 'i' and a small 'd,' I am a follower of 'intelligent design.'

Dr. Francis Collins
Director of the Human Genome Institute

I don't know, of course, exactly how God accomplished this amazing goal of creating the diversity and wondrous forms of life all around us. But it is most consistent, for me, with the idea that God, who is outside of space and time, was able, at the very moment of creation of the universe, in that flash we call the “big bang,” to provide the gifts to the universe that would allow the process of evolution to bring forth life forms, and ultimately life forms in his image. And I don't, therefore, see it necessary to also postulate that he had to step in along the way, in sort of fix-it mode, to try to, actually, make sure it that it turned out right. I think if God is all powerful, and if God is outside of that tyranny of time that we experience, he could, at the very moment of creation, also be aware and be confident of the outcome... as a consequence of his creative genius. While that boggles our minds, because we are so limited in so many ways, it doesn't seem to me that it would be a challenge for a God who is all powerful and omnipotent.

Dr. Francis Collins
Director of the Human Genome Institute

If one's going to argue against god-of-the-gaps theories, you better be careful you're not falling into one at the same time.

Dr. Francis Collins
Director of the Human Genome Institute

Thoughts on probability

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http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3410....3825555

Designed? ..... nah!

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