Truth Project - Conference Schedule

Here's what to expect (view the conference agenda) ...

• Dr. Del Tackett teaching The Truth Project Curriculum
• Understanding and living the Christian worldview in daily life
• Knowing the nature and character of God
• God's design for all of life: work, science, family, government, art, ethics and more
• How to thrive in a hostile culture
• Participants will receive the complete DVD set of 12 Lessons. (These professionally produced DVDs are only available by attending Focus on the Family's The Truth Project conference.)
• Access to our password protected learning support site that features lesson outlines, bonus multimedia content, discussion forums, worldview articles and more
• Conference hours: Friday, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Upcoming Conference and Training Events:

Spring 2007

• San Antonio, Texas, February 2-3, 2007 (Trinity University)
• Sacramento, California, March 23-24, 2007 (Bayside Church)
• Kansas City, Missouri, April 13-14, 2007 (First Baptist Church of Raytown)
• Orange County, California, April 27-28, 2007 (Yorba Linda Friends Church)

Fall 2007

• Louisville, Kentucky, October 12-13, 2007 (Highview Baptist Church).

Other Planned Event Locations, 2007 (dates to be determined)

• Colorado Springs
• Phoenix
• Toronto
• Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Vancouver, British Columbia

Amazing Juggling Finale

Chris Bliss performing an amazing juggling routine.

Mozilla Virtual Patching

I've always wondered if you could create a useful "virtual" patch extension for Firefox. What I mean by this is real patches, or security updates are not released until their fully tested to not break core features or external plugins, and some security improvements involve creating new GUI's, and modifying default preferences, and the coders what to solve it "correctly" the first time at the root of the problem and not just band-aid the fix and have to solve it over and over again. But what about the time it takes to get a real "fix" and do it correctly? Between the time the problem is discovered and fixed it can take a few weeks for critical security bug and literally years to make some security enhancing fixes. What if I'm willing to live with a band-aid or imperfect GUI's between those times, in the name of security? What if a corporation is willing to live with these band-aid as well?

Design ideas
1. Simple extension where a user can optionally enable/disable security related prefs on a per site or global basis (like noscript but more granular and moving beyond javascript and plugins.). I believe Mozilla does have the ability to disable particular javascript commands on a per site basis, there is just not a GUI For it.
2. If possible I would not want to change the original code at all, just override functions externally (can I do this through an overlay? Like a wrapper class in a java filter, wrapping a function, changing its behavior as needed but not having to modify the original code) and allowing the altered functionality to be disabled or enabled per site. If the new/altered functionality breaks something you care about turn it off for that site.
3. If possible, do all of this using only cross platform languages, javascript, XUL, etc so someone doesn't have to continually recompile the solution for multiple platforms.

Update 1/1/2007:

I'm now wondering if this should be more of an library and API rather than a product. Then each patch will be javascript & xul files which call the api.

1. Use Cases (Some based on http://www.squarefree.com/2006/12/14/sgwant/ and http://www.squarefree.com/securitytips/users.html)

• HttpOnly
• Gmail contacts vulnerability

http://cyber-knowledge.net/blog/2007/01/01/gmail-vulnerable-to-contact-list-hijacking/

• block known bad sites by default as black list or white list
  

2. Functionality required from API

• warn or Blacklist/whitelist specific domains
• warn or Blacklist/whitelist Block specific pages
• warn or Blacklist/whitelist specific URL Parameters
• warn or Blacklist/whitelist specific POST Parameters
• Encrypt specific param values or cookie values so they become useless to scripts, but get decrypted before being sent back to the server
  
• Scan params for cross site scripting type code, (javascript, SQL, etc)
• limit get/posts and specific params to particular URL's by referrer
• Clipboard monitoring???

Existing functionality to study

httpOnly-extension
noscript-extension
adblock-extension

Configurable Security Policies
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/components/ConfigPolicy.html

Cheap ways to stay warm this winter

Check out this link from the Get Rich Slowly Blog

Examples from the page.

1. * Let in some light. Open blinds on south-facing windows during the day to let in the sun. Close them in the evening to add a bit more insulation. This provides just enough mid-day warmth that we don’t need the heater.
2. * Use rugs on bare floors. We have hardwood floors above a poorly-insulated basement. These floors are cold in the morning and the late afternoon. An area rug does a fine job of keeping my feet warmer.
3. * Block drafts. This is best done with weather-stripping or other forms of insulation, but even a blanket in front of a door helps. Because our house is so old, nothing is level. This makes it difficult to install weather stripping. The bottom of our mudroom door, for example, has a one-inch gap on one end but is flush with the floor near the hinge. By laying a blanket in front of the door, we can mitigate some of the heat loss.

etc.

Biblical Dating - An Introduction

Biblical Dating: An Introduction

Beginning of a series of articles on Christianity and dating. Scott Croft attempts to address how to apply Biblical principals to find a person to marry.

Excerpts from the article ....

Biblical Dating

OK. Let's take care of some basic definitions. We may define biblical dating as a method of introduction and carrying out of a pre-marital relationship between a single man and a single woman:

1. That begins (maybe) with the man approaching and going through the woman's father or family;
2. that is conducted under the authority of the woman's father or family or church; and
3. that always has marriage (or at least a determination regarding marriage to a specific person) as its direct goal.

....

Modern Dating

We may basically define modern dating as a method of introduction and carrying out of a pre-marital relationship between a single man and a single woman:

1. that begins with either the man or the woman initiating with the other;
2. that is conducted outside the formal oversight or authority of either person's family or church; and
3. that may or may not have marriage as its goal and is often purely "recreational" or "educational."

Crisis Counseling - What to do or not to do

These items are quoted/paraphrased from the "His Presence in Crisis Evangelism Conference" Training Guide by Billy Graham Ministries. These are things to not say immediately after a crisis to the person you are counseling.

Do Say

1. These are normal reactions to a disaster.
2. It is understandable that you feel this way
3. You are not going crazy. This is just a abnormal situation which is beyond your ability to cope [right now].
4. (If the statement is true.) It wasn't your fault. You did the best you could.
5. Things may never be the same, but you will get better and you will feel better.
6. Would you be willing to tell me how you feel?
   

Don't Say

1. It could have been worse.
2. You can always get another _______ (pet, car, house, spouse, child).
3. It's best if you just say busy. (Don't use over-working to self-medicate and so avoid dealing with the problem).
4. I know just how you feel.
5. You just need to get on with your life.

Luffa Sponge Garden

Who knew that a luffa sponge was a vegetable?????

GroovyGreen.com - Start Today :: Save Tomorrow : Blog Archive : How To Make (and grow) A Luffa!:

"For the third autumn in a row I am pleased to be harvesting my shower sponge for next year. Now I know that must sound like a strange statement but it’s true. Many people are surprised when they find out I grow my own Luffa sponges. “Don’t those come from the sea?”, is the standard question to which I respond that the Luffa is a vegetable you can grow in your very own garden."

Despair.com

De-Motivational Videos

Satire on what not to do in the office.

http://theater.despair.com/disconfirmationwmv.html

http://theater.despair.com/powerofstorieswmv.html

http://theater.despair.com/013006icbwwmv.html

Memo to Bosses

Do's and Don'ts of being a good boss.

Huge list of 100 item - here are a few.

1. Make your employees come in on their days off even when you know there is no real work to be done.
2. Call them when they are on vacation, not unless the office has burned down, in which case the call is moot anyway.
3. Be biased, play favorites or show partisanship when dealing with your subordinates.
4. Hog your employees’ limelight, or more specifically, take credit for ideas that are not yours.
5. Monitor every aspect of your employees’ work. Peering over their shoulders every few minutes, or worse, hooking up hidden nanny cameras to spy on them in your absence is as good as wearing a sandwich board saying “Hate me, I deserve it”. Remember, just as a watched pot never boils, an over-supervised employee’s creativity and productivity are stifled.

Serial Hybrid Cars from GM

KurzweilAI.net

EcoWorld, November 19, 2006

General Motors has announced plans to sell a serial hybrid car, with a prototype available early next year.

A serial hybrid means that the car has two engines, but only one engine is connected directly to the drive train, hence it is a "serial" hybrid.

It is less complex than conventional hybrid cars, because only the electric motor, with its huge range of usable RPM, is connected to the drivetrain.

Another huge advantage is that serial hybrid cars have their second motor, a small, ultra-low-emission gas or diesel engine, connected to a generator to recharge the battery pack while the car is being driven. By doing this, a cheaper and more reliable battery pack can be used, and there is no need for a complex heat management system.

Read Original Article>>

Should Google Go Nuclear? Clean, cheap, nuclear power (no, really) - Google Video

Should Google Go Nuclear? Clean, cheap, nuclear power (no, really) - Google Video:

"ABSTRACT This is not your father's fusion reactor! Forget everything you know about conventional thinking on nuclear fusion: high-temperature plasmas, steam turbines, neutron radiation and even nuclear waste are a thing of the past. Goodbye thermonuclear fusion; hello inertial electrostatic confinement fusion (IEC), an old idea that's been made new. While the international community debates the fate of the politically-turmoiled $12 billion ITER (an experimental thermonuclear reactor), simple IEC reactors are being built as high-school science fair projects."

Dr. Robert Bussard, former Asst. Director of the Atomic Energy Commission and founder of Energy Matter Conversion Corporation (EMC2) is presenting to Google. Dr Bussard is in need of $200 Million to produce a full size Fusion reactor using a style of fusion abandoned by most researchers 20 years ago. But Dr. has been working with a team quietly and without publication for 17 years attempting to make the technology viable.

This sounds like a project for the Google Foundation

Hotel Rwanda

http://www.calvaryabq.org/events/event.asp?EventID=469

Join M88 and KNKT for a FREE movie.

Ten years ago, as the country of Rwanda descended into madness, one man made a promise to protect the family he loved--and ended up finding the courage to save over 1200 people. Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager in Rwanda, secretly used his position and intelligence to shelter over a thousand refugees during the genocide crisis. While the rest of the world closed its eyes, Paul opened his heart to prove that the human spirit can make us stronger than we’d ever imagine.

When:	Saturday 11/18/2006 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Where:	Lobo Theater

Are You a Man of Prayer?

Are You a Man of Prayer?

Interesting Article on Men and prayer in America

by Jim Clayton

'The sheep are never so safe from the wolf as when they are near the shepherd.' - Charles Spurgeon

Fast Facts: Although 90% of Americans say they pray (60% say they pray every day), the ways they pray vary significantly, according to pollster George Barna. Two out of three unchurched Americans (63%) pray regularly, but only one out of three (34%) is sure that praying makes any difference. In contrast, nearly 70% of the 'born-again' respondents think God personally responds to their prayers."

Sample Accountability Partner Questions

This is a list of sample questions for an accountability partners. I'm unsure where they originally came from but they were given at R at church a few weeks ago.

Update: These questions are from the Men of Integrity Web site. The lists on this site are good as well.

SAMPLE ACCOUNTABILITY QUESTIONS

Regardless of the accountability questions you choose, the last question should be "Have you been truthful about everything we have discussed?" There will be times when that question is necessary, and true accountability demands it.

- Have you spent time with God on a regular basis?
- Have you compromised your integrity in any way?
- Has your thought life been pure?
- Have you committed any sexual sin?
- How much time did you spend in prayer this week?
- Did you pray for the others in this group?
- Did you put yourself in an awkward situation with a woman?
- What one sin plagued your walk with God this week?
- Did you accomplish your spiritual goals this week?
- Are you giving to the Lord's work financially?
- How have you demonstrated a servant's heart?
- Do you treat your peers and coworkers as people loved by God?
- What significant thing did you do for your wife and/or family?
- What was your biggest disappointment? How did you decide to handle it?
- What was your biggest joy? Did you thank God?
- What do you see as your number one need for next week?
- Are you satisfied with the time you spent with the Lord this week?
- Did you take time to show compassion for others in need?
- Did you control your tongue?
- What did you do this week to enhance your relationship with your spouse and/or child(ren)?
- Did you pray and read God's Word this week? What did you derive from this time?
- I what ways have you stepped out in faith since we last met?
- I what ways has God blessed you this week? And what disappointments consumed your thoughts this week?
- Did you look at a woman in the wrong way?
- How have you been tempted this week? How did you respond?
- How has your relationship with Christ been changing?
- Did you worship in church this week?
- Have you shared your faith this week? How?
- What are you wrestling with in your thought life?
- What have you done for someone else this week?
- Are the "visible" you and the "real" you consistent?

Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide

Article on beating newbies in Rock Paper Scissors - and no this isn't a joke, the tournament seems to be real.

With the 2006 World Rock Paper Scissors Championships coming up in November in Toronto and $10,000.00 on the line (not to mention bragging rights of being able to call yourself "World Champion of RPS"), trying to get some sort of edge on your competition is becoming a focal point for a lot of players.

NPR : 2003 World Rock Paper Scissors Championship - and No I'm not kidding

NPR : 2003 World Rock Paper Scissors Championship: "Just as the World Scrabble Championship wraps up in Kuala Lumpur, another major gaming competition is starting in Toronto: The 2003 Rock Paper Scissors World Championship. Tournament organizers claim that 1,000 competitors will face off this weekend in a tense drama pitting fist against splayed fingers against outstretched hand."

Emergency Response

The Calvary of Albuquerque Rapid response training conference is one of the coolest projects I've seen from Calvary for a long time.

I assume that it may be a push to get people to take some of the additional training linked to below.

Additional links

National Incident Management System
The International Critical Incident Stress Foundation

Pilfered directly from the calvary abq site.

His Presences in Crisis - Rapid Response Training
Posted: Friday, November 03, 2006

Calvary of Albuquerque is pleased to partner with Billy Graham Evangelical Association in the training and deployment of Chaplains to offer hope through Jesus Christ to those who are affected by man-made or natural disaster.

SIGN UP ONLINE!

Individuals signing up for our Rapid Response Teams will be trained to assess disaster incidents for the appropriate response and recovery services in the following capacities:

• They will assist First Responders and displaced families.


• They will provide emotional and spiritual care to support personnel and will facilitate resources for police, fire, EMS, pastoral, and other First Responders, as well as displaced families, with the goal of stabilizing needed services in response to any particular incident.


• They will provide Christ-centered intervention through prayer and sharing God's love and hope.


• They will provide trained, licensed counselors for public school systems.


• The will provide International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF) trained chaplains for First Responders.


• The will facilitate FEMA, Red Cross, and other organizations to meet the needs of First Responders and displaced families.

ANY individual regardless of age is invited to train for certification to respond at one of four levels. If you have a heart to serve, we have a need for you.

Training Sessions:

• BGEA (Billy Graham Evangelical Association training) hosted by Calvary, December 1st and 2nd.

Other Training Sessions:

• NIMS (National Incident Management System)


• ICISF (International Critical Incident Stress Foundation)

For more information on how you can get involved, please contact Jo at 344-0880 or email your questions to jo@calvaryabq.org.

Geeky Electronic Bumper Stickers

I've never been into bumper stickers but I might change my mind. Why should the city bus be the only vehicle with with a fancy, shmancy LED light up sign on the back.

1. LED Bumper stickers

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/06/led_light_pick_and_led_car_mes.html

2. LCD Bumper Stickers

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9661617-1.html?subj=Crave&part=rss&tag=rss

Christian Courses and Training

1. The Truth Project

   Focus on the Family's truth project, series for small groups of 12 DVD's given in small groups for 12-2 hour lessons on a Christian Worldview. I've got a co-worker going this this. He says it is VERY good. I want to go to either his church when they give it again, and then I can give it myself from my home or through the church or they have big conferences around the country where you can go through it in 2 days. Next big conference is in Orlando, next week. Probably gonna miss that one. But it will be in Texas in February.
   
   

   http://www.thetruthproject.org/events/A000000068.cfm/
   

   The Truth Project Lessons
   Lesson 1 - Veritology: What is Truth?
   Lesson 2 - Philosophy and Ethics: Says Who?
   Lesson 3 - Anthropology: Who is Man?
   Lesson 4 - Theology: Who is God?
   Lesson 5 - Science: What is True?
   Lesson 6 - History: Whose Story?
   Lesson 7 - Sociology: The Divine Imprint
   Lesson 8 - Unio Mystica: Am I Alone?
   Lesson 9 - The State: Whose Law?
   Lesson 10 - The American Experiment: Stepping Stones
   Lesson 11 - Labor: Created to Create
   Lesson 12 - Community and Involvement: God Cares, do I?


2. Christian Online Learning at Christian Courses
   By the publishers of the "Our Daily Bread: Daily Devotional" A ton of free comprehensive bible and Christian history courses. Looks very good.


3. Answers in Genesis on line courses

Creation apologetics. These courses run only a couple of times a year with about 6 hours of homework a week.


4. Update: Centurions by Breakpoint
   
   Created by Chuck Colson, the Centurions Program is a one-year distance-learning course that equips Christians to engage a starving culture with the choice fruits of biblical truth. Studying under Colson and other great biblical worldview thinkers, students learn to handle accurately the word of truth as it applies to every area of life and culture—including politics, education, mass media and the arts, bioethics, business, and marriage and family. And they gain confidence to speak truth persuasively and winsomely amid the stew of distorted beliefs and values.

Truisms

Funny forward from V.

1. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
2. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
3. He, who laughs last, thinks slowest.
4. A day without sunshine is like, well, night.
5. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
6. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
7. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
8. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.
9. It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them.
10. If the shoe fits, get another one just like it.
11. The things that come to those that wait may be the things left by those who got there first.
12. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer.
13. Flashlight: A case for holding dead batteries.
14. The shin bone is a device for finding furniture.
15. When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of 12 people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.

LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS):

Funny forward I got from M.

-----

1. A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
2. A will is a dead giveaway.
3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.
6. A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
7. If you don't pay your exorcist, you can get repossessed.
8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
11. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.
12. A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.
13. You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
14. Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.
15. He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
16. A calendar's days are numbered.
17. A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
18. A boiled egg is hard to beat.
19. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
20. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
21. The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison: a small medium at large.
22. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
23. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
24. If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.
25. When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.
26. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
27. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
28. Acupuncture: a jab well done.
29. Marathon runners with bad shoes suffer the agony of de feet.

Note: No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a
large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

Mark Herron

Google.org for profit philanthropy?

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 13 — The ambitious founders of Google, the popular search engine company, have set up a philanthropy, giving it seed money of about $1 billion and a mandate to tackle poverty, disease and global warming.

.....

The philanthropy is consulting with hybrid-engine scientists and automakers, and has arranged for the purchase of a small fleet of cars with plans to convert the engines so that their gas mileage exceeds 100 miles per gallon. The goal of the project is to reduce dependence on oil while alleviating the effects of global warming.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/technology/14google.html

Tutorial: How to Sabotage Yourself

Tutorial: How to Sabotage Yourself - Associated Content: "Tutorial: How to Sabotage Yourself
Finally, a Tutorial that is Designed Especially for Self-loathers

This tutorial is designed specifically for self-loathers. Follow these instructions carefully to become extremely unhappy, poor, disrespected, lonely, and better yet, to hate yourself even more."

Funny.

Examples

Use credit cards to pay for everything.

When a credit card "stops working," apply for a new one.

Always look ---- off or upset when you're at work. You want to make sure everyone knows how much you hate your job.

Borrow money from friends and family, and never pay it back.

Top Ten No Sympathy Lines

Top Ten No Sympathy Lines: "Top Ten No Sympathy Lines (Plus a Few Extra)

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

I heard all of these in school. Interesting rebuttal from a teacher on the top complaints of students.

Best Free Stuff Online

Best Free Software

Browsers

firefox
http://www.mozilla.com/

anti-spyware tools

spybot search and destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Windows Defender Anti Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

adaware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Personal Firewalls

ZoneAlarm
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en

If you are a comcast high speed customer you can get a free version of macafee's firewall

http://www.comcast.net/security/

Anti Virus

Free Anti Virus Products
anti-vir - annoying messages on machine restart but seems to work better than AVG

http://www.free-av.com/antivirus/allinonen.html

For AOL Users out there this might be cool

http://www.activevirusshield.com


If you are a comcast high speed customer you can get a free version of macafee's antivirus

http://www.comcast.net/security/

Zipping/Unzipping (Compression) Utilities

z-zip
http://www.7-zip.org/

Web Email

gmail
https://mail.google.com/mail/

Add ons

Quicktime + itunes
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html

Flash
http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

Image Editors

Paint.net (Really nice - recommended)
http://www.getpaint.net/index.html

The Gimp (Unintuitive interface makes this somewhat of a bear to use)
http://www.gimp.org/windows/

Photo Organizers

Picasa - google product

Word Processors/Spreadsheet/Database/Presentation

OpenOffice

More Obscure Products

Web Based RSS Readers

Google Reader

Bookmark sharing

del.icio.us

Todo list management

Remember The Milk

Comparing text documents (For programmers only)

WinMerge

Text Editors (For programmers Only)

vim

Compilers

Microsoft Visual C Express
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualc/

Free Training

Quick HTML Overview
http://www.draac.com/html.html

Good Free HTML Course
http://webdesign.about.com/c/ec/9.htm

Christian Courses
http://cc.christiancourses.com/

Lulu.com - Self Publishing

Easy route to becoming a published author.

http://www.lulu.com/

Interesting idea. A book publisher who will accept any manuscript, prints on when an order is received and doesn't keep the copy right. Anyone can upload a book and never be charged, it is just markup on the book if it sells. Lulu makes 25% of the amount you set as the royalty plus the cost of printing or you can sell or give away a digital copy of the book from their site at the same rate, or free if you choose.

The Simpsons Maker - AbcArcade.com

The Simpsons Maker - AbcArcade.com: "The Simpsons Maker"

I sent a few of you a link to this a while back. It still makes me laugh. Make your own Simpson's character.

What does your browser reveal about you?

Terminally Incoherent » Blog Archive » What does your browser reveal about you?:

"What does your browser reveal about you?"
Firefox vs IE

I often tend to judge people based on the type of browser they use. Believe it or not, the choice of your favorite browser reveals a lot about your personality.

IE 5.0:

You only use your computer for IM, email and Myspace. You stubbornly refuse to upgrade that ancient Win 98 box that you are using because you don’t need some fancy computer and in your opinion the one you have works just fine. You also probably don’t use antivirus or antispyware either. You just let your son/nephew/friend clean it out every month or so." ....

And its pretty accurate look of the definition of the browser I use.

Firefox 2.0 Beta:

You are a developer by day and open source developer by night. Either that, or a huge Firefox fan. You are all over Bugzilla reporting all the issues you encounter with the browser. You have probably summited at least one patch to an open source project at some point in your life. You love to tinker with your applications, and you don’t mind running beta software on your machine. After all, it is fun to discover new bugs, and to work little kinks out of the new cutting edge programs.

And this one is for M and D.

AOL Suite:

You most likely either still use AOL as your dialup ISP. Either that, or you somehow figured that you still need AOL even after getting broadband connection. Someone told you you can actually use the internets without starting AOL but you haven’t figured out how is that possible. It seems really difficult though, and you suspect it might be illegal.

And yes, I stoled this link from guitarchick9. http://guitarchick9.livejournal.com/ C, this is a test of whether you and your hubby actually read my blog (and whether you read the posts all the way to the end and in really, really small print)

Snopes

I told a few of you about snopes. They investigate urban legends and email forwards. It researches whether they are true or not and then documents their research.

http://snopes.com/

Examples

Claim: Monkee Mike Nesmith's mother was the inventor of Liquid Paper correction fluid.

Status: True.

Origins: Bette Nesmith Graham
A guitar's all right Michael, but you'll never make your living by it
Bette Nesmith and young Michael
(she was divorced from Michael's father in 1946 and remarried in 1964) came up with the idea of using a small bottle of tempera waterbase paint to correct her typing errors while she was an executive secretary with Texas Bank & Trust in Dallas in 1951. She supplied bottles of the fluid to other secretaries at her workplace (under the name "Mistake Out") for several years; then, in 1956, she improved the formula, changed its name to "Liquid Paper," and set out to trademark the name and patent her product. After IBM passed on her offer to sell Liquid Paper to them, Bette started marketing the product on her own. Liquid Paper, Inc., did not become profitable for several years, and it was not until the mid-1960s that Liquid Paper correction fluid began to generate subst...

http://snopes.com/music/artists/nesmith.htm


Claim: Static electricity is the cause of an increase in gas station refuelling fires.

Status: Multiple — see below

* Static electricity can cause fires at gas stations: True.
* Static electricity was actually the cause of a number of gas station refuelling fires: Undetermined.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002]
....
http://snopes.com/autos/hazards/static.asp

Your Mom Goes To College [Napeon Dynamite Quote]

I'm I the only one that thinks this t-shirt is funny?

http://www.snorgtees.com/yourmomgoestocollege-p-198.html

They've got some funny tee-shirts at this site.

Chuck Norris Facts

For those who haven't seen the Chuck Norris facts. Here are a few. These were picked as the favorite by none other than Chuch Norris himself (as the story goes .....)

http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/

• When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.


• Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.


• There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.


• Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris.


• Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.


• Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.


• Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.


• Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.


• There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.

Bruce Schneier Facts

Bruce Schneier Facts a take off of the Chuck Norris Facts
http://geekz.co.uk/schneierfacts/fact/1

Funny stuff, but only for people who appreciate computer security and cryptography humor (a much smaller group of people than I'd like :-(

My favorite of all ........

Bruce Schneier can solve NP-Complete problems in NlogN time.

Google maps + all locations in the Movie Napoleon Dynamite

Google maps + all locations in the Movie Napoleon Dynamite

http://www.dynamitemap.com/

Does anyone feel like a road trip? ;-)

Shakepeare sonnets reviewed by order of the court

Funny punishment for a crime through the "sensitivity through poetry" program.

"Some guy from New York, who has been ordered to remain anonymous, has been instructed by the courts to conduct a line by line discussion of each of the sonnets.

...

If you've ever wanted to learn what Shakespeare was really saying in his spine-tingling poetic cycle, you’ll be hard pressed to find a friendlier, more forthright guide or one as jargon free.

Shakespeare wrote for the masses and, believe me, there's no one more "masses”"than Some Guy From New York!"

-http://www.podiobooks.com/podiobooks/book.php?ID=81

EXPLICIT: May not be appropriate for younger listeners

Original site (Easier to download from)

http://www.fiddleandburn.com/bardny/

Voice Recognition

Warning: Nerdiest post yet.

I've always thought it would be cool to use a voice recognition interface to a computer. The question has always been what would I do with it (and a bit of AI)? Well in previous years continuous voice recognition wasn't up to snuff, it was hard to get data from different sources including the web that was machine parsable/understandable, and AI was terrible.

Most of these restrictions are now at a level where this may be possible.

Continuous Voice Recognition - Now 95+ % if you are willing to wear a voice canceling microphone - a pain but doable.

Data from multiple sources - web services, and XML.

AI - hmm, still researching this one. Also perhaps I don't really need AI, just software that can parse the english language with a specific set of commands.

How would I use it?

Voice Control
1) Over Phone
2) from hands free device - cordless noise canceling mic?

Calendar Data - Google Calendar
1) Alarm Clock
Wake me up tomorrow at 6:00 am to go to the park
2) Reminders
Remind me on Thursday to buy a birthday present
Remind me to pay my water bill tomorrow evening
3) Add a birthdays to the calendar.
4).Ask questions
What bills are due this week?

Movie Listings (xml source????)
1) What is playing at Rio at around 10 pm?

Email - Google Email
1) New email notifications
2) Read email messages to me

Map Data - Google Maps
1) I'm at Eubank and Montgomery Where is the nearest Sonic?

Note Taker - with tags
1) Keep track of todo lists
2) Ability to tell it random but interesting facts I may want to later recall
3) Add Items to grocery list

Home Security Monitor
1) Has the repair guy been to my apartment yet?
2) Asks repair people to identity themselves and notifies them that they are being video and audio recorded - web cam goodness along with motion sensors and voice/facial recognition

Phone Number lookup
1) What is the phone number of my car mechanic?
2) What is the phone number of Chili's?

Search for files on my computer
1) Show me my todo list
2) Show me receipts generated for purchases online from radio shack

TV Listings?
1) What time is Smallville on?

Tape Shows
1) Tape Smallville

RSS Feeds
1) Notify me of updated blogs from friends

Christians and Politics

A friend of mine, "C" sent me an article from the NY Times about why Churches should stay away from political agendas. I don't know if I agree with this view or not. I do agree that the Republican party can and do do stupid immoral things at times and Christians back them because they also push Christian goals. Then, they deny that anything immoral is happening because they believe so much in the good things that the leader is doing. But are some evils, ie abortion, so evil that Christians should back the party no matter what else they do, or what else they believe? This article was very timely as several of us where pondering the question recently of if Jesus where around physically today (and an American), would he vote? I don't know what I think the answer is yet, and I highly suspect that it is some how the wrong question, but I'm starting my research with these articles. Being that I'm cheap and don't read books, I'm going to start listening to the free original 6 part sermon linked to at the bottom.

Article being discussed
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/us/30pastor.html?_r=1&ex=1154404800&en=c2f83bd1edc3c799&ei=5087%0A

The Myth of the Christian Nation - More background and a link to his book
http://www.whchurch.org/content/page_676.htm

Free 6 part audio series about why the pastor believes what he believes
http://www.crossandthesword.org/

Why english teachers die young

Stupid forward I received. Stupid... but very funny.

Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country.

Here are last year's winners....

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room- temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. 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 7:00 p.m. Instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. 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.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

Uncommon Business

Interesting blog about people making good money in unconventional (ie strange) ways.

http://uncommonbusiness.blogspot.com/

Paintball Equipment

I got one too many welts playing paintball yesterday. I've been looking into more safety/protective equipment.

I was surprised by the number of items out there for this.

• Body Armor - For stomach, back, and side shots
• Neck Protection - Could you imagine getting hit in the throat?
• Gloves - But getting hit in the hands was pretty common but I'm going to use some cheap gloves I already own
  
• Complete Head Mask& goggles - I actually have a welt on my forehead
• Complete Exo-skeleton - for the completely paranoid out there
  

There are some other non-safety items I need they include

• CO2 Tank
• Holster for holding additional Paint or Air
• Paintball sleeve - I have plastic paint ball plug but it takes the first 10 seconds of the game to put it away so you don't loose it - you could be dead by then. The sleeves are cool because they are attached with an elastic band, you just pull them off.
  

GPS Info

I'm looking for a portable (non-in dash) Car GPS Receiver. Feature list I'm looking for

Requirements

• 2d and 3rd Maps
• Complete US Maps can be loaded all at once, ie don't need to load maps per region
• Good POI (Point of Interest) Database
• Touch Screen
• Easy interface
• USB connection to computer
• Good Maps
• Audio voice giving directions
• Accurate Directions
• Good battery life
• Battery Powered and Car Charger
• Multiple destinations\way-points
• Quickly updated instructions if I pass the correct road or destination
• Knowledge of U-Turns (I'm king of U-turns.)
• *Small enough to carry in pocket or backpack
• Compass

Nice to have

• Read street names (ie "Turn left on Pine street in one mile") not just "Turn left 1 mile"

*I'm interested in hiking with a GPS as well, but am considering getting a simpler GPS with better battery life for this purpose.

Update:
Best GPS Reviews http://gpsinformation.net/
NuVi http://gpsinformation.info/nuvi/nuvireview.html
Quest http://www.gpsinformation.us/quest/questrev.html
I3 http://www.gpsinformation.org/i3/i3.html
I5 (no link yet)

NuVi discussion forum
Magellan RoadMates

The problems with the Nuvi I've seen is that they only offer 1 via point, which I'm assuming means specifing a particular route that you want to take as part of its calculations, but it does allow multiple way points. Once you reach a point you can tell it to proceed from there to a different one. Also while it sounds as if it isn't good for geocaching because it may not show GPS cooridantes on the map. Just on a separte page. Also its unclear if you can put GPS coordiantes as a destination on the map. It also provides no trackback feature to allow you to follow your path back. It also doesn't appear to have a built in compass screen. It only has a battery life of 4-6 hours and is not waterproof but but that is forgivable since its primary for car use. Battery is built in and can't be replaced (I'd at least like to be able to carry a backup pair of batteries if possible).

Postives for the Nuvi included tiny size, best GPS chipset in general use, 3d, says street names, rechargable battery (unfortunatly no-removable).

Some of the new roadmates appear to be direct competitors for the Nuvi and new models are coming out now for a lot cheaper than the Nuvi. I'm looking into those now.

TravelMate 760 & 860 T http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=51884
Bigger than the Nuvi, but still hand held with similiar features. One huge plus of these devices is that since they run Windows CE they can be tricked into running other apps for CE, divx players, and support for http://www.oziexplorer.com/. Which is the coolest moving map program for hiking I've ever seen. Just scan in or download any map, upload it and the software will help you calibrate your position on the map. It doesn't do routing but it moves the map under you and points you in the direction of your next waypoint.

Don't get any of these from normal sites, the prices vary a ton on the web
http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Garmin_nuvi_350_Personal_Travel_Assistant,__11841514/sort_type=price

A fetus crying ?????

You have to put up with a stupid commercial first. All I can say is wow! It doesn't have any audio of the baby, but the video looks good.

"When sound was played through the uterine wall of this fetus' mother, the fetus startled and turned the head.

Then the fetus showed all the characteristics of crying: an open mouth, increasing head tilts, a quivering chin and several irregular breaths before exhaling and settling with a turn of the head, mouthing and swallowing."

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/media/fetalcryingvideo.html

Christianity vs Humanism Comparison

Differences between Christian World View and Secular Huminism

http://www.aboundingjoy.com/humanism_chart.htm

Motorcyle information

NM Motorcycle Manual

Motorcycles listed by seat heights

Beginner motorcycles

Motorcycle Safety Foundation Documents

Motorcycle Safely Foundation Rider Course Handbook (Course Curriculum)

NM DMV Practice Tests

Invisible Children

NOTE: If you care about this topic email, blog, or send a link to these events to your friends. If nothing else just send a copy the text below. I don't know the same people you do and everyone can help to get the message out.

Watch the story of the Ugandan Civil war and the children kidnapped from their beds by the rebel soldiers during the night. Join the Global Night Commute this Saturday April 29, by making the trek to sleep in your local city to commemorate the children in Uganda which travel miles every night to hide away from the Rebel armies who seek to kidnap and forcibly recruit them. Help get the message out showing the press and government officials that its time to put pressure on the Ugandan government to end this war.

Facts

• NORTHERN UGANDA CALLED THE WORST HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN THE WORLD TODAY BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF ATTENTION
• 1.7 MILLION PEOPLE FORCIBLY DISPLACED AN ESTIMATED
• 20- 50,000 CHILDREN ABDUCTED TO FIGHT AS SOLDIERS
• TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN COMMUTING NIGHTLY 130 PEOPLE DIE PER DAY IN NORTHERN UGANDA DUE TO VIOLENCE

Who is going from your city?

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMovement/globalNightCommute/

Watch the whole video on line
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3166797753930210643

Order the DVD
http://www.invisiblechildren.com

How can you Help?
1. Sign up for the global night commute in your city (Sign up early so the scale of this event is known to the press in advance and others you know will know you are going.)
2. Order a DVD, buy a bracelet, or contribute money to the cause
3. Email or blog about the topic - if nothing else copy my blog entry in its entirety into your blog or email and send it out. I don't know the same people you do. Help get the message out!

Various Religions and Christian Denominations by Region

Religion Map of the United States

Web Hosting Service

I'm looking for a place to host a web site. These are the basic requirements

Runs on Linux
Mysql databases (at least 5, but 20 or more would be good)
Perl support
PHP support
Ability to run cron jobs
SSH Access
SFTP Access
Ability to connect to outside sites using wget from cron
Preferably < $10 a month What am I going to call my new web site? TopherCentral of course... just kidding. I'm not sure what I'm going to call it yet. Besides creating a page which aggregates blogs of everyone I know, I'm kicking around creating a place where anyone can submit me an article of a Christian blogs from any where on the net and I'll link to them with discussion boards. Possibly a kind of Christian Slashdot. Or maybe a community of communities site. For example why do sites like slashdot only relate to one theme with one type of reader. Why don't they create a site where anyone can make a new community based sites. Well the obvious answer would be money but if the new sites were ad supported it could be designed to pay for itself.

Update:

I found this page thefreecountry with a lot of links to hosting sites. After I narrowed down possible candidates from their list I did my own up to date research below.

This is the list of hosting services I'm looking into

• liquidweb
• Too Expensive
  
• go-daddy
• Blocks out going connections :-(
  

These are the most promising

• bluehost
• $6.95 a month
• 10 GB site size
  
• 250 GB/mo max transfer (what happens if you go over?)
  
• 50 mysql databases
• Size Restriction on databases?????
  
• PHP support 4 or 5 my choice w/ optional zend optimizer
  
• Perl 5
• Python
• Ruby on Rails
  
• SSH Support
• Don't know if they block outgoing connections
• Streaming media support
• 5 addon domains
• 20 parked domains (what is this????)
  
• 20 subdomains
• Don't support mod_php (do I need this?)
  
• Free Domain name
• Cron support
• Web stats
• ability to change MX records but must call support (Do I need this?)
  
• Bunch of free click to add apps
• Nifty FAQ page to go to instead of calling their support

• ipowerweb - Business Pro Package
  
• $7.95 a month for 1 year - Business Pro Package
  
• 10 GB Storage
• 250 GB Monthly Transfer
• No mention of SSH Support
• crontab support
• Perl
• PHP
• mysql
• Limits on number of databases?
• Limits on database size?
• Free subdomains 200
• External domain name pointing unlimited
• Don't know if they block outgoing connections

• websitesource - all in one plan
• Annual $7.83/mo for all-in-one plan.
• 5 GB Size
• 50 GB per Month Transfer
  
• 5 MySQL Databases
• Max 200 MB per database
  
• SSH Access
• 5 Database Users
• Crontab
• Can do outgoing connections (includes a similar program to refeed)
• Perl 5.6.1
• PHP 4.3.4 with Zend Optimizer
• Pay extra for additional bandwidth used (a little scary, I want a cap).
• Streaming Media Support
• Extra apps with easy set up (free apps any way but it would save time)
• Free web stats package
• fancy web stats package additional $10 set up fee
  
• Free domain
• Unlimited URL Forwarding
• Unlimited Domain Parking
• Unlimited SubDomains

• midphase
• $7.95 Month
• Host only 1 domain name
  
• SSH May be extra
  
• Perl
• mysql
• mysql user count?
• mysql database count?
  
• Python
• PHP
• crontab
• Unlimited bandwidth don't pay extra (how can they do this?)
• Web statistics package extra?
• Free domain name

• 1and1 - Business Plan
  
• $9.99 a month 1and1 business plan
  
• SSH
• PHP 3,4,5
• Perl
• cron support
  
• 50 mysql databases
  
• 100 MB limit on database size (total or per database?) This seems too small.
  
• 200 subdomains
  
• 100 external domains (what is this?)
• ability to set DNS settings through a GUI
• Space 100 GB
• 1000 GB - monthly Transfer Volume
• Don't know if they block outgoing connections
• includes 3 free domain names
  

Contagious Media

What is the best way to spread an idea or trend? I was talking a friend about communications tools which would be useful to home church community and how to get the message out.

I'm looking for web sites on tools on spreading a message or communcations tools which would be useful for home churches.

http://www.contagiousmedia.org/

Site which brags about serveral projects they've started which have received national attention.

Tipping Point Book How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Book about the spread of absolutely anything. I read this book around Christmas I'll need to do a book summary here.

forwardtrack

From the site ...

ForwardTrack is a new system created by Eyebeam R&D (redeveloped with the assist from Stamen Design) designed to promote on-line activism. The system tracks and maps the diffusion of email forwards, political calls-to-action, and online petitions. It can trace email forwards, map the impact of blogs, and facilitate web-based sign-ups and social networking. Our goal is to help people understand decentralized networks and see the power of "6 degrees of separation." ForwardTrack technology helps prove that one person can make a difference.

Book Review/Summary: Blink

Blink : The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
http://www.gladwell.com/blink/index.html

This is a book about the relatively new field of psychology called rapid cognition. The psychology of first impressions, or what happens in the first few seconds you are experience someone or something new. It is a very interesting and well written book. It teaches that first impression often can be trusted and often under certain circumstance make for BETTER decisions than long drawn out decision with more information. How can that be true? This book describes an event where an art collector buys a statue for millions after months of examination by scientists, and is told by an art expert who looks at it for a few seconds that it is a fake. How did he know it was a fake? He didn't know at the time it just looked too "fresh". Its true under these circumstances

1. Only relevant data is used - consciously or unconsciously you know what to look for
2. Additional information ignored - You don't allow extra, related but irrelevant information to bias your decision no matter how much that information seems to point in a certain direction. Example the quickest and most accurate formula for diagnosing whether someone is having a heart attack in triage situation does not involve weight, age, or sex.
3. Don't fall back on stereo types - warren Harding became president because he looked like he would make a good president, tall, dark. According to historians was one of the worse presidents in American history.
   
4. Correct circumstances- The Pepsi Challenge - Pepsi wins a Sip Test, Coke wins if a whole can is drank. Which is more relevant to what consumers continue to purchase?
   
5. Not under too much stress- At high heart rates cognitive abilities break down. Training can reduce stress.
6. Not Rushed

Other interesting tidbits

• How a doctor treats his patients is the best predictor of malpractice law suits, how good a doctor is almost irrelevant.
• People with Autism can't do mind reading, i.e. reading faces and body language
• IAT Tests which test how fast you make associations. The most interesting is race https://implicit.harvard.edu/. Most blacks and whites test to being able to more easily associate whites with positive things than blacks. Unless the person is primed first with thoughts of positive black role models such as Martin Luther King.
• People will pay more for ice cream in round containers because they believe it "tastes" better.
• People will pay 10 cents more for a can because a picture of parsley on the label makes it "taste" fresher.
  
• Taking surveys - Asking questions in areas where consumers don't usually think will "lead the witness" into second guessing their first impressions and often invalidate the results.
• Putting a map and store hours on a flyer may help a person figure out their schedule and when and where they will be during the event. This can increase attendance.
  
• People confuse something completely new and different as something they do not like
• The music industry because of its market testing methods is inherently biased against anything new and different
  
• The Pepsi Challenge - Pepsi wins in sip tests, Coke when a person drinks a whole can
  
• During WW II radio operators could recognize and track troop movements by German troops by recognizing the "fingerprint" or style of particular German Morse code operators.
• Improv comedy uses the rule of agreement. If you start a story and a person poses the question always answer yes, to keep the story going

reblogging

From my earlier post ultimate small group collaboration

Blog aggregator - A one page view of the latest blog entry of every member of the group (or just leadership)Ability to add approvals to blog aggregator. Did someone write an interesting blog you think everyone would be interested in? Approve the blog entry for publication onto the main site. Allow comments on the blog entries.

I knew someone must have developed this. From the site http://www.reblog.org/

What is a reBlog?
A reBlog facilitates the process of filtering and republishing relevant content from many RSS feeds. reBloggers subscribe to their favorite feeds, preview the content, and select their favorite posts. These posts are automatically published through their favorite blogging software.

Why should you reBlog?
reBlogs are useful to individuals who want to maintain a weblog but prefer curating content to writing original posts. They can also enable organizations to tap the contributions of their employees, members, and communities-at-large in order to easily redistribute relevant content.

Book Review: Delivered from Distraction

Book Review/Summary I'm reading lots of books so you don't have to.

I'm going to start writing more book reviews as I finish books and touch on the highlights and hopefully point out some interesting books for others to read. As my friends will quickly point out reading for me = audio books ;-)

Delivered from Distraction: Getting the most out of life with Attention Deficit Disorder by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. and John J. Ratey, M.D.

WARNING: I am not a doctor so never take my advice on anything, ever. Even when I claim to be quoting or summarizing someone else.

It is a very interesting book about living with ADD as a child or adult. I'm writing this summary to note the highlights and show some of the helpful tips in the book if you have trouble being distracted on a regular basis. I would recommend it for anyone interested in learning about ADD to help yourself or others in your life. It touches on lots of differences between ADD and related disorders/personality traits. It also touches on the importance of diet/exercise and feeling connected to others and society.

Foods to help treat ADD

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin B12/Folic Acid
• Vitamin E/Selenium
• Blue Berries/Grape Seed Extract - anti-oxidants
• Super Blue Green Algae
• Lots of water
• Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Vitamin's A,D,E,K are fat soluable, build up in the body and can become toxic if you take too much.

Life Tips for the ADD'er

• Marry the right the person - someone who loves you for who you are
  
• Find the right job
• Keep a basket near the door for keeping car keys
  
• Don't expect perfection
• Attack piles of clutter slowly if needed
  
• Buy lots of waste baskets and trash cans
• Do what you are good at
• Pay attention to diet
• Find someone to encourage (coach) you to finish tasks/jobs
• Delegate
• Don't stop doing what worked before
• Don't repeat the same failed strategy
• Listen to others you trust - often
• Don't trust everyone
• Progressive Alarm Clock to slowly wakeup
  
• Watch a little mindless TV
• Get Exercise
• Learn to listen to books on tape while driving
• celebrate victories
• set up reminders, notes, calendars
• Put positive reminders where where you will see them
• get a figit toy
• know yourself

Other helpful tips

• Physical exercise
• Cerabeller stimulation - special exercises which stimulate the cerebellum
• Juggling
• Balancing on a balance board
• others ...

Additional book recommended by the author - Art of Living Book by an ancient Greek philosopher on being happy

Google's Toys

I thought I would show what tools Google has in the works for each of the items listed in my previous post.

• Mailing Lists - Google Groups
• Blogs - blogger.com
• Calendar - CL2 - Secret Beta Project at Google Document Leaks
• Wiki - No known google project but a google web page editor for personal web pages
• Document Repository - No known Google project exactly but possibly gdrive.
• Collaborative Editing of Documents - Google recently purchased writely
• Portal - Google has personal portal, but no public ones, and a web page editor in the future but nothing like this.

Ultimate Small Group Collaboration Site

I've been reading a lot about Googles upcoming projects and it started me thinking. What would be the ultimate small group web site? What tools would it have for communication with its membership?

Goals:

• Communication of up coming events
• Christian Fellowship though out the week
• Keep in touch with members of the group no longer living in the vicinity
• Encourage Christian's over the web who don't have similar Christian groups in their own communities.
• Ease of administration of the site
• collaborative editing by the membership
  

Tools:

• Mailing Lists
• Announce List
• Discussion List(s)

• Blogs of all interested members or friends of the membership
• Purpose: Make friends, Live by example, & Give encouragement
  
• publicly viewable Calendar
• Access Control which allows any member of leadership to alter
• Ability for non-leadership to create a calendar entry on the page and have it sent to leadership for approval
• Auto publish on approval
  
• CalDav feed of the calendar so members can subscribe to calendar and import into their own calendars.
• Import/overlay of other CALDAV feeds. For example an overlay of the whole church calendar.
• Changes to the calendar can provide emails to one of the mailing lists mentioned above or to email of addresses of individual subscribers
  
• Wiki - group editable web pages with built in workflow to allow any member to edit but approvals must come from leadership before the page is actually changed
• Purpose: Project pages/sub ministries for example a Evangelism guide page, or a Ministries leaders guide which anyone can propose editing or adding to
  
• Document Repository
• What form did we use for last years ski trip? What did the flyers look like?
  
• Version Tracking - What did last years mission statement look like? What was our old Logo
• Ability to display as HTML or PDF no matter what the original document type
• Collaborative Editing of Documents
  
• Change tracking - for example a person writes a new ministry statement for the group. All of the leaders see it, one person makes a change, then the original author has the right to accept the change or reject it.
• Publish to Document Repository on acceptance
  
• Portal - Bring all of the above together under a few master pages (could be a wiki itself)
  
• Blog aggregator - A one page view of the latest blog entry of every member of the group (or just leadership)
• Ability to add approvals to blog aggregator. Did someone write an interesting blog you think everyone would be interested in? Approve the blog entry for publication onto the main site.
  
• Allow comments on the blog entries
  
• Display current document from the from the document repository for certain areas of the template. For example if the mission statement was changed in the document repository and marked as "released" then it would appear changed on the main web page.
  
• Links to various wiki pages
  
• Links section for outside pages
  
• Links into the document repository. For word document approval forms or other documents which don't lead themselves to publishing as HTML. (like Ski trip approval forms).
  
• Aggregate other RSS feeds - For example Church news, Answers in Genesis Articles, etc.
• Provide the page itself as an RSS Feed so people can subscribe to it.
• View of upcoming events which automatically updates itself with information from the calendar.
  

ahh ... sleep or how to be an early riser

How to be an Early Riser and How to be an Early Riser II
both by Steve Pavlina

Articles on how to get up early and not feel tired.

Summary

1. Go to bed when you are tired not a set schedule (but the writer claims it will happen within a 1-3 hour span every day anyway.)
2. Get up the same time every day 7 days a week
3. Don't use the snooze alarm - get up!
   
4. Don't use caffeine
5. Prepare for bed by reading or doing something relaxing rather than something active
   
6. Some people suggest not getting into bed until you you are tired enough to sleep within a couple of minutes
7. Try it for 30 days to make it a habit.
   

Extra suggestions from article comments

1. Drink special teas which help you sleep
2. There may be an optimal time for eating before sleeping - not sure what time that is or if it depends on whether you eat meat or are a vegan like the author

The articles suggest that letting your body choose how much sleep it gets, may actually reduce the amount of time you sleep, giving you more free time.

Time Management

I've been looking for a way to track of projects at work and home. Traditional paper todo lists get too long and then it gets easy to miss things or the long list itself just appears overwhelming. Additionally, when I become stressed its tough to figure out the best thing for me to be working on "right now" when so many tasks need done and I end up switching back and forth between multiple tasks without accomplishing much.

I started reading this book:

Getting Things Done by David Allen

Its an interesting book about lists and organization but I've put off finishing it for about 3-4 months now. It is as expected very slow and dull and requires a fair amount of concentration to figure out how it applies to me and what I have going on.

I'm going to try out a software program called life balance. It sounds what I've been looking for. It has a windows and palm OS version which sync up. Additionally, it syncs with the PalmOS calendar so it should indirectly sync with MS outlook. It's description suggests it should give me what I was asking for a todo list which shows what I should be doing "right now". You create projects and their associated tasks. If tasks must be done in order then it only shows you the tasks which you need to work on first. Additionally, it has the concept of places. Meaning you can have todo lists which only apply to Home, work, work trips, grocery store, vacations, shopping, church etc. Then you change the view of the todo list to match where you are. I'm going to play with the free trial and then write a review of it here.

Name Calling

Nothing worse has been said of you then has been said by God -- He has called you a sinner, and nothing better has been said of you then has been said by God -- He has called you his child.

-Some guy (Dr. Terry Mortenson) on a video I just watched (Millions of years: Where did the idea come from?) quoting an unnamed guy he heard once

Small Group Leadership Resources

I'm researching small group leadership. Here are a few resources which I'm examining

Willow Creek Small Group Leadership Site what a leader is and tools for being a leader.

Making Small Groups Work by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend

Really interesting book. I'm about 1/2 way through. It takes about small groups in a way I'd never heard of before. As a type of Christian support group, which encourages and keeps people accountable to their faith. I didn't believe the small group I was in was ready (or would even desire) to do anything like this but I was really surprised. We had one Bible lesson similar in philosophy to this book and people really responded positively. The leaders of the group said that they interested and willing to provide more opportunities for spiritual growth within the group.

One sided arguments

Rarely, do I ever hear a non-one sided argument, That's why I've started to believe the only way you can get the "truth" is to listen to both sides and then make up my own mind. After all when is the last time you saw an article which wants to "prove" something ever touch on points that it can't explain? Also, when is the last time you read a article on a topic you where new to where you didn't come out convinced the author was correct? Now, read an article from an author with the complete opposite view, or a critique of the original view. What do you believe now? Usually I just end up confused and realize I don't know enough about the topic from reading just two articles and start researching further.

The other reason I believe this study method is so important is evangelism. I don't believe I can defend my position on any thing without understanding the arguments of those with opposing views. Not, just superficially studying what others I agree with have to say about the views of the other party, but actually listening to those who disagree explain their views in their own words. I found it really hurts my arguments when I find myself arguing against a simplified version of the argument of my opponent is using and it turns out to not be what they actually believe. Or sometimes my simplification of their argument may be correct, but since I'd never heard their actual side before I can't explain adequately why it is correct.

If any one in my (currently almost non-existent audience) knows of a good book on critical thinking, arguments and debate I'd be interested, especially if its an audio book.

Fasting

I've been speaking with (W) about fasting. He has been doing it off and on and is very exiting about explaining the benefits. He sent me this link http://www.freedomyou.com/fasting_book/juice%20fasting.htm about juice fasting. It's an interesting site explaining some of the religious and physical benefits of fasting. The part I find strange about this site and all alternative medicine/health information is that it they have their own vocabulary like removing "toxins" from the body? What exactly is a toxin any way? Do MD's ever use that word? Or are their medical articles on the benefits of fasting or is it all hearsay and the placebo effect? Even if it is just the placebo effect, does it matter?

Also, not this site specifically but other health books hate normal medicine, saying its just in the business of issuing prescription drugs and not regularly prescribing a special diet or exercise which is what often causes or allows illnesses to happen. From experience this characterization appears true, but health/home remedies often appears to be at the other end of the spectrum not requiring studies, or any statistically significant evidence to its claims. Not that it isn't helping people, and it may have even found several natural remedies which traditional science has not yet studied, I just take much of it with a grain of salt.

I'm interesting in fasting from a spiritual perspective, but as yet unconvinced of the health benefits. I'm going to do some more research on the topic.