Livin' the life...

As we haven’t had any comical articles lately, today I intend to resolve that! Below are a few amusing church signs that I found. I hope they bring some joy to you and yours today and this coming week!

 

Before ending this article, I’d like to ask you to remember Chile in your prayers. The recent earthquake has left hundreds dead and seriously affected the country’s infrastructure. Today also officially begins a 3 day period of mourning (Link).

Have a great week, and God bless.

Let me see the devil beat that!

Garbage Truck.

One day I  hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving  in the  right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space   right in  front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and   missed the  other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his  head around  and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved  at the guy.  And I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and   sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now   call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run  around full  of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of  disappointment.

As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and  sometimes   they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish  them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other   people at work, at home, or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take  over their day. Life's  too short to wake up in the morning with regrets,  so..... 'Love the people who treat you right. Pray  for the ones who don't.'

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a great week!!

Countless times in the past, I have written the TFTW based on something not-so-great that has happened to me, and has thoroughly tested my patience and even faith. By sharing these experiences, I firmly believe that this allows God to work through me, and us all to benefit (maybe you can learn from my mistakes, silly choices, or my occasional impatience regarding God’s word!). Well, last week, guess what? Nothing “not-so-great” happened! Actually, last week was a fabulous week, and tomorrow’s one of the biggest days of the year for me. Here enters the problem – What do I write for this week’s TFTW?! Lol. *Brief panic attack*

Well actually, no. Not a problem at all – let’s not forget who our God is! After some quiet reflection, the topic of for this week’s article was as clear as a bright summer’s day. The topic? The Good and the Bad.

Have you ever recognised that sometimes you cruise through life and everything’s great, and other times, life is just plain rough? Why can’t it always be great? Why can’t we always get what we want, how we want, when we want? .. Simply put, that’s just not how it is suppose to be (in this word anyway). You won’t always have good times, but you’re also unlikely to always have bad times. Life, and especially a Christian life, is about taking the good with the bad. Job is one of the most perfect examples of this fact. Defending the Lord, to his wife, Job said “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10). This is an amazing passage, because even as Job was being tested beyond anything anyone had ever imagined, he still defended the Lord’s actions with an undying faith. His eyes remained focused on the Lord in times of prosperity and times of hardship. He accepted the good and the bad/adversity. No wonder the Lord could say, “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” (Job 2:3)

May we all strive to be like Job, and accept the good and the bad/adversity. And through it all, give thanks and praise to the most high. After all, admittedly, bad times purify us, build character, transform us, and ultimately, make us ready for our eternal homes.

“If heat rises, wouldn’t heaven be hotter than hell?” – I saw this quote a few days ago and I can’t help but say that it made me chuckle. After all, heat does rise, but I’m sure hoping that heaven isn’t hotter than hell! Apart from this obvious reaction, this quote lead to me reminiscing about times as a teenager in Sunday School, when we hotly debated topics such as (i) the existence of heaven and hell, and where exactly they might be (for example, is heaven above the clouds? The upper mesosphere maybe?); (ii) whether people spend eternity in hell, or if God gives them a break after a while (we *did* debate this!); and even, (iii) where do we go when we die – do we stay in a ‘waiting area’ until Judgement Day, or do you get judged at the moment you die?

All these were very interesting topics for discussion on Sunday mornings, and indeed still remain somewhere lurking in the back of my mind, and maybe also in the back of yours. One thing I’d like to point out however, is that right now, we have much more pressing matters to attend to. For example, our ministry and mission in this world. Rick Warren captures the meanings of these two words aptly in his statement, “Your ministry is your service to believers, and your mission is your service to unbelievers” (Purpose Driven Life). Fulfilling these aspects are critical purposes for our lives. These require us not to get unduly preoccupied in topics that add little value, and might be considered esoteric (such as the positioning of hell, or the temperature of heaven!). Instead however, we are to focus on living for Christ now, in everything we say and do, and our service to others is a key part of that.

I leave you with a few questions for this week therefore: Who can you serve in this coming week? Whose life can you touch in a Christ-like way? What is your ministry for this week? And what is your mission?

Finally, something disposes of Titanic! Here’s a excerpt from the BBC:

Sci-fi spectacular Avatar has surpassed Titanic to become the highest grossing movie of all time, figures from distributor 20th Century Fox show.

Avatar's worldwide takings in just six weeks stand at $1.859bn (£1.15bn), versus Titanic's $1.843bn (£1.14bn). ...

Earlier this month, it became the fastest movie ever to achieve $1bn (£623m) in ticket sales around the world, and took over second place from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

It has proved a worldwide sensation, dominating the box office from North America to China and Russia.

The science-fiction adventure, about a disabled marine who infiltrates a race of giant blue aliens, mixes live action with digitally-created performances.

It was reportedly the most expensive film ever made, with a budget of at least $300m (£185m).” BBC article

Only 300m? A bit surprising.. I’m not that pleased about it taking over from a LOTR though! *Arg*

A seven-year-old west London boy has now raised more than £130,000 for Haiti quake victims in a sponsored bike ride.

Charlie Simpson, from Fulham, had hoped to raise £500 by cycling five miles (8km) around South Park on Sunday for Unicef's relief efforts in Haiti.

A day after his five-mile ride Charlie said: "My legs are a bit sore after the ride, but it was really fun."

His effort led to donations pouring in on the JustGiving website from as far away as New Zealand and Hong Kong.

Charlie, who went back to school earlier, is still unaware of how much he has raised but Unicef said he will be told when he visits its office later.

Charlie's father Dan Simpson said: "We cannot believe the incredible response from the UK public.

Source: BBC

Fab!

Hey all! Hope you had a nice, peaceful weekend.

This week’s article links to a set of photos from Haiti that I came across a few days ago. I found them very moving and I know you will too. I implore you, if you can help, please do.

Haiti 6 days later (in pictures)

I read a quote recently saying, “Before the earthquake, Haiti was one of the poorest nations in the world. About 70% of Haitians live on less than $2 a day, and now they have lost everything.” (Ref)

I can help, you can help, we can help. If we truly believe in the Body of Christ and our duty to our fellow man - we must help.

Here are a few inspirational stories regarding Haiti, people’s efforts for Haiti and amazing rescues.

Seven-year-old raises £30k for Haiti | Telethon raises 'record' $57m for Haiti victims | Haitian man rescued from rubble after 11 days | Earthquake survivors get solar-powered audio bibles | Haiti quake: Survivors' stories

Have a great week and God bless!

I won’t even pretend to focus on anything else. Let’s face it, all of our eyes and hearts are focused on Haiti. The earthquake that ravished Port-au-Prince, has resulted in thousands of deaths, millions of dollars in infrastructure damage, and now, likely even more dire situations as disease takes hold of the survivors. I don’t intend add to the BBC, CNN, and AP by giving you yet another recap, I just want to point out two things.

First, the sudden nature of death, or rather fickle nature of live. How many persons you think knew that was their last day alive? That a magnitude-7.0 earthquake, the country's most severe in over 200 years would strike and end their live? My point? None of us knows when we will die, or when Christ will return. Thus, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Mat 24:42-44. Watch, be ready!

My second point speaks to the response to this disaster by countries and individuals alike. At the international level, I’ve been elated to see the response from countries that these days, can’t see eye-to-eye on much in terms of foreign policy, or international relations – I shall call no names! Maybe I am naive in thinking that this situation wasn’t used as a publicity stunt, to show-off to countries’ skill sets or the size of their wallets, but regardless, I was very pleased. I heard about teams from all over the globe sending supplies, doctors/nurses, medicine, search-and-rescue dogs, and specialist search tools. I imagine some of the most skilled folk in search-and-rescue from all over the world are in Haiti right now, working together! How amazing is that? This care for human life reminds me of the words in Mat 25:37-40:

““Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

Let’s join in these efforts for Haiti, and contribute whatever we can. Below are a list of sites you can use to donate online or via a mobile phone.

American Red Cross, British Red Cross, Disaster Emergency Committee, Digicel Haiti Relief Fund (Facebook link), Amazon.com, and the UNICEF Appeal. I’m sure there are many, many more links so please give what you can. (A warning however is to ensure you give to a reputable organisation/website! I’d advise you stick with well-known names.)

Have a great week, and remember Haiti and all the other places in this world where there is suffering and constant pain, in your prayers.

This week’s article has a bit of a Caribbean twist to it. It’s a song and I hope you will enjoy it. It’s from Donnie McClurkin and called Caribbean Medley, I’m sure some of you know it. The lyrics however never get old!

Have a great week!

1. Give God what's right -- not what's left.
2. Man's way leads to a hopeless end! -- God's way leads to an endless hope.
3. A lot of kneeling will keep you in good standing.
4. He who kneels before God can stand before anyone.
5. In the sentence of life, the devil may be a comma--but never let him be the period.
6. Don't put a question mark where God puts a period.
7. Are you wrinkled with burden? Come to the church for a face-lift.
8. When praying, don't give God instructions - just report for duty.
9. Don't wait for six strong men to take you to church.
10. We don't change God's message -- His message changes us.
11. The church is prayer-conditioned.
12. When God ordains, He sustains.
13. WARNING: Exposure to the Son may prevent burning.
14. Plan ahead -- It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.
15. Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory position.
16. Suffering from truth decay? Brush up on your Bible.
17. Exercise daily -- walk with the Lord.
18. Never give the devil a ride -- he will always want to drive.
19. Nothing else ruins the truth like stretching it.
20. Compassion is difficult to give away because it keeps coming back.
21. He who angers you controls you.
22. Worry is the darkroom in which negatives can develop.
23. Give Satan an inch & he'll be a ruler.
24. Be ye fishers of men -- you catch them & He'll clean them..
25. God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Have a great week! And I wish you God's richest blessings in the new year!

Hmm.. :\

This week is a game. Yep, a game! I list Bible verses and you get try to guess where they are from! I’m generally using NIV. All the best!

1. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

2. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

3. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the..."

4. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

5. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

6. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

7. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'"

8. "Commit thy way unto the Lord: trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."

9. "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."

10. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Right! That’s it! How did you do? Feel free to look up the ones you didn’t get. But of course, the most important thing is to remember them, not where they are from. They are particularly useful in situations where problems arise and you need reassurance that God will handle it. Every day, of every week, of ever month, of every year, I try hard to remember #5 i.e. "Trust in the LORD..". I believe He will direct my paths and yours.

Have a great week! And, may God be with you!

Hey all! Hope you are well. This week’s article uses a joke of sorts, to convey one of the main tenets in our faith. I hope you enjoy BUT most importantly, I hope that you get the message!

A man dies and mets St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. Peter says to the man, "Here's how it works. You need to have one hundred points to get into heaven. You tell me about all the good things you've done. They are all worth a certain number of points. If your total is one hundred or more, you can come in."
"Well," says the man. "I was happily married to the same woman for 52 years. I never looked at another woman. I was attentive and loved her dearly."
"That's great," says St. Peter. "That'll be two points."
"Hmmm," says the man. "This is going to be harder than I thought. Well, I attended church regularly, volunteered my time and tithed faithfully."
"Wonderful," says St. Peter, "That's worth another point."
"One point!" says the man. "Okay, okay. I was involved with a prison ministry for twenty-five years. I went into the prison, at least monthly, and shared Jesus with them."
"Wow!" says St. Peter. "That's another two points!"
"Only two points!" says the man. "At this rate, it'll be by the grace of God that'll I'll ever get into this place."
"Bingo!" says St. Peter. "That's one hundred points! Come on in."

Remember, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Have a great week and God bless!

The TFTW is a song, or rather a video featuring a song by Tim Hughes called We Must Go. I heard the song for the first time last week and I think it's amazing. I hope you enjoy it, and accept its challenge to go out in the world and work for Christ.

The video:

 

The related verse:
"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
      "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
      Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
      He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
      Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
      Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. " John 21:1517

Come on people.. We must go. May the Lord be with you.

Well folks, Group G looks to be the most exciting for now (and aptly so it’s been dubbed the “Group of Death”, but I’m sure it’s going to be a fab tournament over all. A pity the Irish missed out..

Hmm.. I’m normally a Brazil fan, but I am yet to pick an underdog team. Who.. shall.. it.. be!

One of the biggest misconceptions I had when I was under the age of 16, was that “church” was the well-architectured, highly decorated building, which you visited for a few hours on Sundays. I say ‘misconception’ because, as I’m sure we all know, “church” actually refers to the gathering of people for fellowship and worship. Therefore, there is a clear difference between “church” (somewhat conceptual) and “church building” (very physical!).

I began with this brief background on the word because I’ve noticed that many people seem to be constantly missing the underlying purpose of church, and how pivotal it is to our Christian lives. After researching this topic for a while, I found a very interesting article titled Why go to church? In that article, the author looks at the key reasons why people don’t go to church and debunks them one-by-one with some pretty strong counter-arguments. For example, a number of people cite that church is boring (however, arguably so is your life – it is up to you to make it more enjoyable), or that church hints towards a hypocritical ‘one-day-a-week holiness’ for church-goers (however, what others do should not deter you, and for you personally, it’s your own decision to act holy once a week, or everyday!).

My favourite excuse is “Church is unnecessary since private prayer and Bible study can be done without others.” This excuse completely misses a key fact of Christianity. Hebrews 10:25 states, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” The fellowship side is CRITICAL in our lives, and Christian walks. By meeting for church, we share common beliefs, share ways to overcome problems, and support and encourage our brothers and sisters in their walks. I can’t count the number of times, I have been lifted by hearing that someone else is going through what I’m going through. Or, even better, that they’ve been through it and I can handle it by doing X, Y or Z. Each one of us has a part to play as we all constitute the body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12:12-27) and fellowship is one necessity in practising this membership.

Reflecting back on the article, the author states, “There are three spiritual pillars to have a strong Christian life: personal prayer, Bible study and fellow believers. To rely on less than all three is like trying to sit on a one or two-legged stool. Three legs are needed for a firm foundation and proper function.”

There is a need for church, or Christ would not have emphasised it time and time again in His teachings. Anyone remember, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18).

Could you imagine a Christianity where everyone did their own thing individually, and never met for communal fellowship or worship? *Shudder* I couldn’t!

Just by seeing the title “Be still”, I’m sure a lot of you have already cleverly deduced where I’m headed with this week’s article. Yes, it is from the scripture in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God”. Contrary to what you ‘smarty-pants’ may think however, I am not going to write out a lengthy lesson on that Bible passage. Instead, I am going to challenge you to spend 15 minutes (yes, an ENTIRE 15 minutes) sometime during this week, to sit in a quiet place and opening your mind to God. The way I did this was first to clear my mind of all other things, secondly say a prayer to God asking Him to come onto me, and finally, being still and waiting on Him speak to me or enlighten me as He wishes.

I hope you can find the time to take up my challenge. For me, I actually had a very pleasant surprise at the end. And knowing God, I’m sure He’s got a surprise waiting for you too!

Have a great week and God bless!

How true! Have a great week!

Hey all!

Hope you had a great week, and you're relaxing a bit today in preparation for the new week starting tomorrow! It would do you well to recognize that I'm sending the TFTW one day earlier than usual. There's no particular reason for this, I just thought I would mix things up a bit. After all, I don't want you to view the TFTW as a Sunday-based, boring thing! It's due to be fun, eye-opening and a blessing not only for the week ahead, but for the week passing.

The TFTW is based on a nice poem I read previously, and the Bible verse that complements it. I hope you enjoy.

God’s Word was given for our good
And we are to obey,
Not choose the parts that we like best,
Then live in our own way. —Hess

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 (New International Version)

Living to Please God

Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

 

May you have a blessed week!

You’ve got to check out this article folks.. They’ve got options such as, Samurai Pork Burger, Thai Spicy Fish McDippers, seaweed flavoured fries, Green Tea and Red Bean Ice Cream Sundae, and the list goes on..!

“The internet regulator has approved plans to allow non-Latin-script web addresses, in a move that is set to transform the online world.

The board of Icann voted at its annual meeting in Seoul to allow domain names in Arabic, Chinese and other scripts.

More than half of the 1.6 billion people who use the internet speak languages with non-Latin scripts.

It is being described as the biggest change to the way the internet works since it was created 40 years ago.

The first Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) could be in use next year.

Plans for IDNs were first approved at a meeting in June 2008, but testing of the system has been going on for two years.” (Full story)

This is quite a shake-up, and I do admit that there are key reason for this change, but as one person put it, the Internet will be “irreversibly fragmented”. Each country will probably end up only having sites in certain languages dedicated to their ‘expected’ readers. No longer will everyone be able to easily access the WWW as before.

Hope you enjoy story chosen for TFTW this week.. It’s title is A Teenager’s View of Heaven.

17-year-old Brian Moore had only a short time to write something for a class. The subject was what Heaven was like. "I wowed 'em," he later told his father, Bruce. "It's a killer. It's the bomb. It's the best thing I ever wrote.." It also was the last.

Brian Moore died May 27, 1997, the day after Memorial Day. He was driving home from a friend's house when his car went off Bulen-Pierce Road in Pickaway County and struck a utility pole. He emerged from the wreck unharmed but stepped on a downed power line and was electrocuted.

The Moores framed a copy of Brian's essay and hung it among the family portraits in the living room. "I think God used him to make a point. I think we were meant to find it and make something out of it," Mrs. Moore said of the essay. She and her husband want to share their son's vision of life after death. "I'm happy for Brian. I know he's in heaven. I know I'll see him."

Brian's Essay: The Room...

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Girls I have liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was.

This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.

A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed." The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird "Books I Have Read," "Lies I Have Told," "Comfort I have Given," "Jokes I Have Laughed at ." Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've yelled at my brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents." I never ceased to be surprised by the contents.

Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my years to fill each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.

When I pulled out the file marked "TV Shows I have watched", I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of shows but more by the vast time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts," I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content.

I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it.

Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh.

And then I saw it.. The title bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With." The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.

And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt. They started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key. But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him.

No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own.

He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one? Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card. "No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side.

He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished." I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."-John 3:16. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."-Phil. 4:13.  If you feel the same way, forward it so the love of Jesus will touch their lives also. My "People I shared the gospel with" file just got bigger, how about yours?

This is *quite* worrying. Article excerpt below..

“A major international health study has shown that excessive mobile phone use can be linked to four different kinds of cancer.

The research, which has taken 10 years and cost £20million, found that heavy mobile users suffered up to 50 per cent more tumours.

Scientists now say there is a "significantly increased risk" of people developing three different kinds of brain tumour and one of the salivary gland. News of the findings, which are to be published within the next eight weeks, has led to calls for mobiles to carry health warnings. ...

What you need to know:

Is it safe to use my mobile?
Studies of people who have been using them for 10 years or more are coming out, showing worrying trends that heavy users are more likely to get brain tumours, so try to restrict calls or use hands-free.

Will a mobile in my pocket damage sperm?
Yes. One study shows heavy use lowers sperm count by 30 per cent.

Should my child sleep with his mobile under his pillow?
No. Phones should be kept at least a metre away, where the radiation they give off drops dramatically.

What about keeping a mobile by my bed as an alarm clock?
It is best to switch it off completely. Even just sitting there, it sends a signal to the nearest mast every few minutes.”

Full story.

Some weeks ago, I remember hearing about some floods in the Philippines, I think it made headline news. I must admit however that I did not investigate into this news any further. It is not that I didn’t care, but rather that I was quite consumed with my own life, the various tasks to do, issues and problems faced, etc. I’m sure you all can empathise with the busyness of our modern-day lives!

To my surprise, this week one of my friends (thanks PP) forwarded me some photos from those floods and I was simply gobsmacked. Here I am thinking that my life is so busy, I have so many things to do, and almost every other week some huge problem arises that demands to be handled immediately. Yet, people in the Philippines are having to wade through muddy water (often polluted!) up to their chins, lose everything they own (houses, cars, furniture, clothes), and just barely hang on to their lives and lives of their family members. And to think that events such as this, and even more catastrophic, happen in some areas every few months!

This made me pause for some time, and reflect on my life and how thankful I should be for the lifestyle I live and the ‘problems’ I have. Actually, a comment of one of my friends comes to mind: We were walking through the shopping center, and I was moaning about course assignments and getting pretty down on myself (if you know me, you know how I can get!). To reply, my friend pointed out a man in a wheelchair passing us by, and said very kindly, “Jason, you don’t have problems, you see that man? He has a problem”. Life in many ways is based on our perspective of it. Often we give little things too much importance and forget the blessings God has generously placed on us and those around us.

Below I have included some of the photos from the tragedy in the Philippines (hover over photos to see descriptions). I ask that you mull over these photos for a while, and use them to (1) remember all the people in this world who faced real problems and ask God to help them and give them the strength they need, and (2) give thanks for your lives and the blessings that are, as the song goes, ‘new every morning’.

 

 

Take care and God bless! Hope you have a fabulous week!

“We're not exactly sure what's going on here, but it certainly seems like at least some Google Voice voicemails are being indexed and made publicly available somehow. If you punch in "site:https://www.google.com/voice/fm/*" as a search string you get a few pages of what appear to be test messages, with a couple eye-opening obvious non-tests scattered in there as well.” Full Story

This is a bit worrying .. I’ll assume that the voicemail creators checked a box to make these public?

The TFTW is based on one of my favourite passages in the book of Hebrews. Take a read below..

Hebrews 4:14-16 (New King James Version)

Our Compassionate High Priest
"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Can you imagine that Jesus faced the same temptations that you faced? Really, think about it for a few minutes - the Son of God, whom we pray to and who presents us with a way back to the Father, faced similar problems and temptations that you face. Jesus felt what you felt! And because of this, Jesus can sympathize with each and everyone of our weaknesses. To me, this is actually a bit comforting, as when I’m going through some *real* pain, I know that Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, can appreciate how I feel.

Jesus, and God the Father know the trials of our lives, the pains we will face, and the times we will tend to stumble and lose our way. Knowing these issues/weaknesses, and the need for reconnection to the Father, Jesus was sent to provide forgiveness for us all. He was the pure, unblemished, lamb (who was tempted, but without sin) that was sacrificed to provide a path to eternity. That was Jesus’ purpose. Through Jesus, the new covenant was created, a new lifestyle outlined, and a clear path of forgiveness for all who believe in Him, laid down.

To conclude, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Thanks be to Christ!

Have a great week!

Roughly three years ago, I became an author within the Blogosphere. So far, so good I think. Blogging is a great way to release you thoughts, feelings, and almost everything you're interested in, to everyone on the Internet. Some may argue that this is what Facebook is for, but Facebook typically limits your content to “friends”.

Well, take care, thanks for visiting, and I look forward to many more years to come!

I quite enjoyed this email, sent to me by a good friend. It caused me to stop and reflect on my life and what I wanted to get out of it. That was the first real peace I’ve felt in a little while now. I hope you like it.

Life Explained

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican fishing village.

A tourist complimented the local fishermen
on the quality of their fish and asked
how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long." they answered in unison.

"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"

The fishermen explained that their small catches were
sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children,
and take siestas with our wives.
In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends,
have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.

We have a full life."

The tourist interrupted,

"I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!
You should start by fishing longer every day.
You can then sell the extra fish you catch.
With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?"

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring,
you can buy a second one and a third one
and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.
Instead of selling your fish to a middle man,
you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants
and maybe even open your own plant.

You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City,
Los Angeles, or even New York City!

From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?"

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting,"
answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big,
you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!" 

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.

"After that you'll be able to retire,
live in a tiny village near the coast,
sleep late, play with your children,
catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife
and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

And the moral of this story is:

........ Know where you're going in life...
you may already be there!! 

 

 

Have a great week all!

This week’s TFTW is a simple, yet very important Bible passage. I hope you can set aside some time to meditate on it, and remember it in times of frustration and bewilderment.

Matthew 7:7-11

⁷"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

This is the word of the Lord, .. Thanks be to God!

Have a great week all!

Children who eat sweets and chocolate every day are more likely to be violent as adults, according to UK researchers.

The Cardiff University study involving 17,500 people is the first into effects of childhood diet on adult violence.

It found 10-year-olds who ate sweets daily were significantly more likely to have a violence conviction by age 34. (Full story)

Interesting..

For this week’s TFTW I’ve chosen a comical article, I trust you will like it. I chose it hoping to put a smile on your face and gear you up for the new week. Secondly, I want to stress the fact that as  Christians, laughter isn’t to be avoided. It fits perfectly into our lives and God loves a joyful heart.

Now the TFTW..

Most of us have now learned to live with voice mail as a necessary part of our lives. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if God decided to install voice mail? Imagine praying and hearing the following:

Thank you for calling heaven.
For English press 1
For Spanish press 2
For all other languages, press 3

Please select one of the following options:
Press 1 for request
Press 2 for thanksgiving
Press 3 for complaints
Press 4 for all others

I am sorry, all our Angels and Saints are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and we will answer it in the order it was received. Please stay on the line.

If you would like to speak to:
God, press 1
Jesus, press 2
Holy spirit, press 3

To find a loved one that has been assigned to heaven press 5, then enter his social security # followed by the pound sign.

(If you receive a negative response, please hang up and dial area code 666)

For reservations to heaven, please enter JOHN followed by the numbers, 3 16.

For answers to nagging questions about dinosaurs, life and other planets, please wait until you arrive in heaven for the specifics.

Our computers show that you have already been prayed for today, please hang up and call again tomorrow.

The office is now closed for the weekend to observe a religious holiday.

If you are calling after hours and need emergency assistance, please contact your local pastor.

Thank you and have a heavenly day.

 

Lol. Have a great week all! . The joke above was taken from Christian jokes site.

“The International Day of Peace ("Peace Day") provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982.

In 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.”

Read more.. at http://internationaldayofpeace.org/ and http://www.peaceoneday.org/

Last week, I watched to one of Joel Osteen’s broadcasts online titled, Being fully persuaded (you can get it here if you’re interested). In Joel’s sermon in that session, he emphasized the need to focus on Your God (and His omnipotence), instead of your problems. When tough times come, don’t focus on them and analyze them and identify every way in which they will destroy you, or your health, or your life. Focus on your God! Is it not your God that controls time, built the universe, and knew you even before you were born?

Apart from focusing on your God when you face your problems, another thing one must also do is keep the right company. Other people’s constant negativity will bring most of us down. Note however that I am not saying/suggesting to abandon friends when they are at low points in their life, you should be right there to help them up! Love your neighbour as you love yourself!

What I’m referring to above is constant negativity, which regardless of your attempts, ends both of you in the same depressive state. People have to be willing to be helped, and have to have a willingness to change or adapt or trust for themselves. If not, to be honest, there’s not much you can do besides to keep them in your prayers.

To end, I’ll paraphrase a joke story given by Joel to highlight the need for focusing on God and keeping positive acquaintances.

Fed up with life and the problems he faced, Larry climbed to the top of a bridge, intending to jump off and end his life. Trying to counsel him, Frank goes up on the bridge close to Larry and asks Larry to come down. Larry angrily shouts to Frank that he has so many problems, and life is just not worth it anymore. Frank then figures that maybe he can get Larry to talk about his problems and that he’ll feel a bit better afterwards. So, Frank asks Larry to tell him some of his problems. Larry quickly beings to list job issues, family issues, health issues, and so on.. After listening to Larry’s problems for about 3 hours, Frank is so depressed that they both jump!

 

Keep your eye on the prize folks. God is waiting!

If you’ve been on the net from the mid 90’s this link is for you - Popular Search Engines in the 90’s: Then and Now. It does bring back some memories! Back then, I used AltaVista, WebCrawler and Yahoo! – ha.. I remember scrolling through Yahoo! directories many a time as doing “searches” often returned irrelevant items (I do accept that maybe I didn’t pick the best of search terms!).

I received this email a few weeks back, and I think it’s a good lesson for the TFTW.. hope you enjoy.

The Coffee or The Cup!

This really is profound, I am going to try and keep this in mind the next time I feel "stressed".....

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups.. . And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us." God brews the coffee, not the cups.......... Enjoy your coffee!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything." Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

 

Don’t get caught up on what won’t last. Invest in your eternity. It’s what we were all put here for.

Have a great week! And thanks for the TFTW PP!

Bosses are planning to introduce limits on the amount of time employees spend maintaining their social lives when they should be working and are set to impose the breaks, similar to those granted to smokers.

It follows research suggesting that Britain's economy is suffering thanks to workers surfing social networking sites. (Full story)

If you can’t beat’em ..

Well, this doesn’t happen every year does it! 09/09/09. Actually, Yahoo! reports that “it also represents the last set of repeating, single-digit dates that we'll see for almost a century (until January 1, 2101), or a millennium (mark your calendars for January 1, 3001), depending on how you want to count it.” (Full story)

I’m not superstitious but I do find it a bit cool. Regardless of what you do on 09/09/09, have a nice day! And remember, the next one of these is in a thousand years!

10 Most Awesome Car Commercials <- not.. bad at all. My favourite is the Honda: “When Things Just Work.” That is a jaw dropper. No wonder it took 605 failed attempts before they got it right!

This week’s TFTW is a Bible passage. As I read it earlier this week, I couldn’t help but be in awe at God’s love for us. Its words somehow made me feel peace, in knowing that our God is always there for us and His love transcends all. I hope this passage will bring you the same peace today and in this coming week.

Romans 8:31-39

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
   "For your sake we face death all day long;
      we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Have a blessed week!

Biggest Movies of Summer 2009 - I actually agree with most of the movies highlighted here. Ice Age 3 and Transformers, (Y)!

A short-term study of Twitter has found that 40% of the messages sent via it are "pointless babble."

Carried out by US market research firm Pear Analytics, the study aimed to produce a snapshot of what people do with the service. Almost as prevalent as the babble were "conversational" tweets that used it as a surrogate instant messaging system. ... [The study] found that 40.5% could be classified as pointless babble, 37.5% as conversational and 8.7% as having pass-along value. Self promotion and spam stood at 5.85% and 3.75% respectively. (Full story)

This is a surprise??

This is.. really, just AMAZING.. wow.. I guarantee you watch all the way to the end!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of spending some time with two of my younger cousins – one is 3 and the other, 8 years old. Beyond getting reacquainted with their almost ever-present energy store, one thing that astounded me, especially with the 3 year old, was her trust in me. I just had to stick out my index finger (her little hands would hold me there) and I could lead her just about anywhere – ok well maybe I would have to promise candy, or chocolate first. The relationship of my cousins with their mother was of course much more trusting, and at various times throughout the weekend, the kids exercised full dependence in mom to do some task, or make things right.

This complete trust, i.e. the trust comparable to that displayed by a child, is how Jesus expects us to come to, and trust in Him. In Mark 10:15, Jesus says, “Assuredly, I stay to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” To explain this verse, my study Bible comments, “The kingdom of God is only for those who come to Jesus in the humble dependence and trust of little children. The kingdom of God belongs to them, not because of merit, but because God wills to give it to the humble, and the apparently insignificant or unimportant.” Amazing isn’t it??

Therefore, when we’re faced with problems, hurtful situations, and in times of hopelessness, let us trust in Jesus to sort it out. Remember, the trust I mean here isn’t where you hand it over to Jesus yet still worry, and be anxious. It’s where you give it to Him and leave it with Him. As the popularly forwarded email notes, put your situation/problem in the SFGTD (Something For God To Do) box! Put it there and forget it.

To conclude, I can’t help but reflect on that popular Anglican hymn that goes, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Have a great week!

Well, that time has come and I have updated the main page of my website – i.e. http://www.jasonnurse.com/. As some of you would have recognized already, there are no longer the hand-chosen photos created and modified by me. The setup now feeds on the beast that is the Internet and pulls output from Web applications (largely via Google gadgets) together for display on my main page (Web 2.0 anyone??).

I won’t tell you directly how many different applications are used on the page, but I will guarantee you that you will never be able to tell what will load next on the main page! It’s all dynamic and in some cases, rather random. I will say however that it will appeal to a range of people including Christians, LOLcat fans, techies, photo addicts, news fans, and Liverpool FC supporters!

Hope you enjoy! A screenshot...

:-)

Welcome to the world of surprising patent lawsuits. A Texas judge ruled Tuesday that Microsoft cannot sell Word – yes, Microsoft Word, the cornerstone of Microsoft Office – in the United States.

Toronto-based i4i Inc won an injunction against Microsoft regarding the company’s XML patents. In the words of i4i, the injunction “prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML”. Microsoft has been given 60 days to comply, reports Seattle PI. 

...

Needless to say, Microsoft won’t pull Word off the market. The company has said it plans to appeal, and i4i actually sells XML products for Word, making that company reliant on the ecosystem. An agreement will be reached: probably one involving Microsoft signing a big check. (Full story)

That will likely be a very “big check”!

This week’s article is sourced from Our Daily Bread devotionals. When I read it on Wednesday, I knew it was definitely something I wanted to pass on. The article is titled He Is Enough, and you can read it here.

To reiterate its ending, “Whatever our circumstances, Jesus is present with His love, compassion, and grace. He is proof, presence, and provision enough to carry us safely through. - David C. Egner”

Blessed be to His name!

:\ The things I see.. (original source)

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine made the observation that she was spending more time on Facebook than reading her Bible, or generally, spending time with God. As I pondered over that realisation, I remembered the ubiquitous notion of Facebook. People can post messages to their “walls” at any time, about anything, and these days, from any device connected to the WWW. What this means is that people post messages at work, at the beach, at parties, at dinners, and belief it or not, even in the hospital! (You know who you are!)

Now, while this is all fine and good – hey I’m not against people posting every moment of their lives online for their friends to see – I can’t help but be concerned about the amount of time people put into sites such as Facebook, and now, Twitter, as compared to the time they spend with God (via Bible reading, meditation, evangelism, discussions, etc). I’m not saying that I know what time people do and do not spend with God, but as an outsider making informed observations, I am concerned! I’m well aware that FB can take up hours of one’s time, I even have a few friends that have closed their accounts because it was consuming too much of their time!

My point is that God values us, and the time we spend with Him. If one spends too much time being preoccupied with other things (Facebook or otherwise e.g. money, fame, pride), its just as if they are your fake idols i.e. you were replacing God with them. And even though I may be stepping out onto a ledge on this statement, I don’t think He’ll be too pleased.

I suggest we all consider these things, as in the end, God won’t ask you how many Facebook friends you had, or how many times a day you updated your status, or how many photos you had, or were tagged in on Facebook. Let’s get our priorities right! None of us know what time we have left. None of us!

Take care and God bless!

LOL!

The open source VLC video player has finally reached version 1.0 after more than a decade of development. The popular media player delivers an extraordinary set of features and can play nearly anything. (Full story)

VLC is truly an amazing program, and it is freely available to everyone. *Hats off to VLC!

101 uses for a man. It’s a bit of a female-driven list, however it does highlight some of the key jobs us guys are good at, and females, are, generally not-so-good at.

Thirteen things to remember:

0. The love of your God,

1.  The value of time,

2.  The success of perseverance,

3.  The pleasure of working,

4.  The dignity of simplicity,

5.  The worth of character,

6.  The power of kindness,

7.  The influence of example,

8.  The obligation of duty,

9.  The wisdom of economy,

10.  The virtue of patience,

11.  The improvement of talent,

12.  The joy of origination.

Google has taken direct aim at Microsoft’s core personal computer software business, with the announcement of a PC operating system to rival Windows.

The system, based on Google’s Chrome web browser, is designed for all classes of PCs, “from small netbooks to full-sized desktop systems”, and will be available in machines from “multiple” PC makers in the second half of next year, the company said.

Google also promised that the new software would solve many of the frustrations felt by users of Windows-based PCs, from slow start-up times to threats from computer viruses. ...

Google said the Chrome OS would first appear on netbooks in the second half of 2010, and that it was announcing the software now because it had already started discussions with hardware makers that wanted to use it in some their machines.

The new software, based on the so-called kernel, or core, of the open-source Linux operating system, had been designed to run Web-based applications such as those developed by Google itself, the company said, making it the first PC operating system developed from scratch for the internet age. (Full story)

This should be fun..

You’ve all heard these already but I thought a “Bible shot” containing these verses, will be a nice reminder of the commandments we are expected – as Christians - to live by.

“The first of all the commandments is:  ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall  love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this:  ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

You can’t want it any clearer than that. Meditate on scripture, it was given for our edification.

Apparently, popular low-cost airline Ryainair, is set to cut the ‘frills’ they offer once again. This time they are looking to get passengers to carry their own baggage to the plane! As one writer notes, “So there's no dropping things off at the desk, you cart it through security, round the duty-free shops, across the huge expanse of airport, and to the waiting plane.” (Source)

Sounds like fun doesn’t it! Beware..

Anchor -Hebrews 6:19
"Adverse circumstances surrounding us could easily drive us into despair. And yet we have a hope that keeps us from sinking. That hope rests on Jesus, and what He did for us on the cross” - Michael D. Waters (Source)

What more do we want!

Not with a bang, but with a whimper. Yahoo! is unceremoniously  closing GeoCities, one of the original web-hosting services acquired by Yahoo! in 1999 for $2.87 billion. In a message on Yahoo!’s help site, the company said that it would be shuttering Geocities, a free web-hosting service, later this year and will not be accepting any new customers.  (Full Story)

Ah.. another one bites the dust. I remember back in days gone by, when I was at Tripod (now Lycos Tripod), with my 25mb of space, and popup ads everywhere. I wonder if that will be next.

This article was interesting...

“Most people don’t really know how many calories their every day food contains. Or how hard they actually have to work to get rid of that extra energy. So make 2009 a year when you make conscious decisions and stop the weight sneaking up on you (Source)”

Pizza is just ridiculous! Shessh!

Enough said! Have a blessed week, and thank you M.C. for sharing this poem with me.

LOL!! (Source)

I trust you’ll enjoy this little poem for this week’s TFTW.

Sometimes I ask the question,
"My Lord, is this Your will?"
It's then I hear You answer me,
"My Precious child . . . be still."

Sometimes I feel frustrated,
'Cause I think I know what's best.
It's then I hear You say to me,
"My busy child . . . just rest."

Sometimes I feel so lonely
And I think I'd like a mate.
Your still small voice gets oh, so clear
And says, "My child . . . please wait."

"I know the plans I have for you,
The wondrous things you'll see;
If you can just be patient, child,
And put your trust in Me.

I've plans to draw you closer.
I've plans to help you grow.
There's much I do you cannot see
And much you do not know.

But know this, child . . . I love you!
You are precious unto Me.
Before I formed you in the womb,
I planned your destiny.

I've something very special
I hope for you to learn.
The gifts I wish to give to you
Are gifts you cannot earn.

They come without a price tag,
But not without a cost;
At Calvary, I gave My Son,
So you would not be lost.

Rest child, and do not weary
Of doing what is good.
I promise I'll come back for you
Just like I said I would.

Your name is written on My palm,
I never could forget;
Therefore, do not be discouraged when
My answer is . . . "Not Yet"

(Author Unknown)

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV) says:
"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."

 

Have a great week!

English has now acquired its millionth word, according to a website monitoring the extraordinary emergence of new English throughout the world, including slang, word-marriages with other languages and the thousands of new terms spawned by the internet. ...

The Global Language Monitor, however, accepts as a word any coinage that has gained sufficiently wide usage: this includes hybrid words in Chinglish (Chinese English), Hinglish (Hindi English), Spanglish (Spanish English), Hollywords (terms created by the film industry), computer jargon and words forged by the internet.

Appropriately enough, the 1,000,000th word accepted as genuine yesterday was “Web 2.0” which was defined as “the next generation of web products and services, coming soon to a browser near you”.

Three other terms narrowly lost out to “Web 2.0” in the race the million mark: “Jai Ho!” a Hinglish expression signifying a major accomplishment; “slumdog” (made popular by the film Slumdog Millionaire), meaning a child slum dweller, and “n00b”, a mixture of letters and zeros which is a mocking term for a newcomer in the online gamer community. (Full story)

Web 2.0 .. ha.. sounds rather staged! I think n00b would have been more appropriate, as it’s been around muuchhhh longer!

What kind of company would try to start a new search engine now? Years after most people have grown accustomed to plugging queries into Google or, less often, Yahoo, anybody hoping to shake up that state of affairs had better bring both persistence and a pile of cash to the table.

In other words, it might help to be Microsoft, which launched a search engine called Bing (http://bing.com) on Wednesday.  (Full story)

I .. don’t really see why MS did this, but, I guess we’ll see how it goes. I heard it started quite strong, even coming before Yahoo! in some categories, but I’ve also heard that its ratings are dropping rapidly.. seems users are over the hype? Anyway, we’ll see how it goes!

Last night, whilst watching a movie I saw a little boy, probably the age of 12, risk his life to save his younger brother. When asked why he did it, he simply responded, “It’s Alehandro [my brother], he’s family!”. This willingness to put another before oneself reminded me of a real-life incident in Barbados recently, where two young lads drowned, one trying to save the other. I don’t intend to take away from this tragedy, but really, how great a love is that! Love that was willing to sacrifice it all to come to the aid of another. Hmm.. wait a minute, that sounds like the story of Jesus’ sacrifice all over again! Actually, during His short time on this earth, Jesus spoke at length about such unwavering love. One of His most well-known remarks is, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13, NKJV).

Serving others, and putting others before ourselves was one of Jesus’ primary teachings. Don’t take my word for it, open your Bibles to Matthew 20:26-28, or Matthew 25:33-40. In whatever area you can imagine, we as Christians are expected to serve each other. Frankly put, it’s a very serious expectation of our lives here on this earth, and one I don’t think we should take too lightly as Rick Warren highlights in the excerpt below..

“At the end of your life on earth you will stand before God, and he is going to evaluate how well you served others with your life. The Bible says, ‘Each of us will have to give a personal account to God’ (Rom 14:12, NLT). Think about the implications of that. One day God will compare how much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared with what we invested in serving others.
At that point, all our excuses for self-centeredness will sound hollow: ‘I was too busy’ or ‘I had my own goals’ or ‘I was preoccupied with working, having fun, or preparing for retirement’. To all excuses God will respond, ‘Sorry, wrong answer. I created, saved, and called you and commanded you to live a life of service. What part did you not understand?’ The Bible warns unbelievers, ‘He will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves,’ (Rom 2:28, NLT) but for Christians it will mean a loss of eternal rewards.” (Rick Warren: Purpose Driven Life, pp.231-232)

Remember your purpose here and work actively towards it, none of us are guaranteed a tomorrow. We are commanded to love and to serve, nothing should keep us from these tasks. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you have a calling, get to it!

Facebook today integrated OpenID, crossing a major landmark in the openness of social networks. The step is even more significant as Facebook, the biggest social network of them all with over 200 million users, was considered resistant to being "open" -- until now.

If you're planning on joining Facebook, then OpenID integration would make the biggest difference. If you already have a Google Mail account (which supports OpenID) then all you have to do is enter your email credentials and your new account will be populated automatically with your data.

Existing users get this benefit as well with an account-linking feature, so you can link your MySpace, Gmail, Yahoo and other accounts with Facebook, reaping the benefits of automatic login. This means a whole lot less passwords to remember. All your OpenID enabled accounts will use the same login credentials and all your contacts will be automatically searched on Facebook.

Another advantage OpenID integration in Facebook brings is that once you are authenticated into Facebook, you are automatically logged into into every site using Facebook Connect (including your blog, if you have one). So far, the big focus in on Google, helping you friend on Facebook all your Gmail contacts. (Full Story)

Interesting. It would get an A for convenience, however I wonder a bit about what statements such as “your new account will be populated automatically with your data” really mean. Exactly, what data is shared? ...

“What a mighty God we serve, what a mighty God we serve! The angels bow before Him, heaven and earth adore Him, what a mighty God we serve!” These are the words to a common jingle uttered by Christians all over the world. Personally, I know God is awesome, I know He is omnipotent, I know He is capable of wondrous works, but a few days ago I was blown away once again by what I think is an amazing, breath-taking scene – which I’ve included in this TFTW. I took it from a plane, as we were flying over what I believe to be The Alps. I’d like us this week to meditate on this photo and all of the other scenes you know about that help give an idea of how wonderful God and His creations are.

We can never fully comprehend God, or all His wonders, but we can definitely use them to appreciate our lives, and all He has put under our dominion. Thanks be to God!

Helen Slatter, a practising Catholic, says she is being forced to choose between her job and her faith after her NHS employers demanded that she remove the religious symbol, which she wears beneath her uniform.

Ms Slatter, a phlebologist who collects blood samples at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, in Gloucester, was told at a disciplinary meeting that her position was at risk if she continued to wear the one inch-tall crucifix.
The NHS Trust insisted that their demands were due to a uniform policy and not down to religion. ...

The mother-of-one, from Gloucester, added: "They have told me that for health and safety reasons and for infection control I must take it off or I will be sent home.

Full story.

Recently I’ve felt like there is a vicious, and epic battle going on in my mind. When it isn’t the common ‘good vs evil’-themed fight, it’s centred around doubt, frustration, anger, impatience, hopelessness, and feelings of injustice. There seems to be always something pulling me one way or another, and it really is one of the most frustrating things. So this week when I read the Daily Bread for Tuesday, I was quite shocked when it said, “In the book of Revelation, we read of the endtimes: “War broke out in heaven . . . . [And Satan] was cast to the earth” (Rev. 12:7-9). That future war is being preceded by an earthly conflict on the battlefield of our minds.” Wow, where did that come from? That statement is slightly comforting, because (i) I know what’s happening in my mind isn’t unique, and also I’m not going crazy! and (ii) these battles in our mind are quite real, but rest assured, in the end we know which side wins. But to be frank, that statement is also scary. It more-or-less states that we’re going to fight these fights in our mind possibly for all our lives. There will be this constant struggle, the flesh vs. the Spirit, if you wish.

If you’re like me, your next question probably therefore is, “Can anything be done to help it?”. And in reply, fortunately there is! We must strengthen the side we want to win! Prepare for the battle! I always like using the school analogy.. when it was exam time at school, how did you pass/ace an exam? By hoping your mind would recall all that happened the preceding term/year? Or, by hitting the books, pulling all-nighters, and burning the candle at both ends? The answer? You read the books, and studied them. Simply put, you prepared. With the battle in your head, the preparation is quite similar, instead of reading the textbook however, you read the Bible, and additionally pray for understanding and guidance. Supporting material such as guidance books, study Bibles, also are quite useful in helping you sharpen your wits. In some situations, the Bible needs no support or ‘middleman’ as it’s quite explicit. For example, the fruits of the Spirit in Gal 5:22-26 are stated as plain as day, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”. These are the things we should aim for and try to always reinforce in our minds.

Directly focused on the mind and supporting God’s side of the battle, we can take courage from these words in Phil 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things.” Consciously focusing our mind on the good, and praying to God for His help is a must if any sign of peace is to surface in your mind, or mine.

Prepare with God’s word, because regardless of what you do, the battle awaits..

“Wolfram Alpha, the latest alleged Google killer, is not a search engine. Rather, physicist and software entrepreneur Stephen Wolfram's long-awaited new Web project is a "computational knowledge engine." The difference is important. A search engine tells you where to find stuff on the Web. Type "box office goodfellas" into Google, and you get a list of links; it's up to you to figure out which page to click on to find how much money the Scorsese film made in theaters. Wolfram Alpha, which launched over the weekend, tries to give you a direct answer—ask it the same question, and you get the result without having to look on any other site: $46.84 million. The site's best trick is its sometime ability to make calculations on the fly. Type in "box office goodfellas + box office casino" and it'll tell you that the movies made a combined $89.35 million. Think of it as a calculator attached to a reference library—or your own personal HAL 9000.” (Full article)

Good article! Really clarifies Wolfram Alpha (esp. as it relates to the “vs Google” topic)! I must agree with the author though, even though the concept is quite cool, at times.. it is quite useless in what it “knows”.

Popular US breakfast cereal Cheerios is a drug, at least if the claims made on the label by its manufacturer General Mills are anything to go by, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said.

"Based on claims made on your product's label, we have determined that your Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug," the FDA said in a letter to General Mills which was posted on the federal agency's website Tuesday.

Cheerios labels claim that eating the cereal can help lower bad cholesterol, a risk factor for coronary heart disease, by four percent in six weeks. (Full Story)

A drug… really now!

Veteran games developer 3D Realms has closed down because of a lack of funds.

Founded in 1987, the firm popularised the concept of shareware gaming and published the seminal Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein 3D first-person shooters.

The company was working on a follow-up title, Duke Nukem Forever, which after being in development for 12 years has become the object of industry derision.  (Full story)

No Duke Nukem Forever.. ? :-(

As I read through the first few chapters of Acts this morning and saw the works of the apostles and disciples, I could not help but wonder about myself and my passion, and/or purpose in this world. This pondering also reminded me of the ‘lukewarm’ feeling that has come over me lately regarding my Christian walk. By ‘lukewarm’, I simply mean that at times my Christian life seems to be made up of just going through the paces – I don’t feel “on fire” for Christ, nor do I feel as if I neglect Him completely. For example, my days almost always goes like this: pray when I wake up; do a devotion from Our Daily Bread; during the day if/when I’m faced with problems I pause and ask God for help/guidance; in times of success or relief, I’m sure to thank Him for His aid; then, before I go to bed, I kneel and pray. On Sundays, I spice things up a bit and head off to church, read my Bible a bit more, and – as you well know – do the TFTW.

I’m sure many of you can empathize with the set of daily tasks mentioned above, but is this all Christianity is about? Is this all we were put here to do? Just go through the paces? Surely not, we must have a bigger purpose or, if I dare say, passion! Regarding the word ‘lukewarm’ highlighted above, Jesus speaks strongly against it in Revelations, i.e. “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” Rev 3:15-16. In reading the notes given in my study Bible for this passage, it states, “Avoid lukewarmness; stir up your zeal for the Lord.” To put it plainly, we must be “on fire” for Christ in some regard. Whether that be evangelism, prayer, teaching, administrators, etc. – all of which are identified as valid members of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27-28). All of which are important!

To believe in God, there is an implicit belief that we were put here for a purpose. We all have personal mandates to fulfil. Do you know yours? Are you working towards it? I think Christ will be very interested to hear about it on that Judgement day, which is coming very soon.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable in your sight, our Lord and our Redeemer. Amen!

The Barbados Perfect Weather Guarantee gives travelers cash back when the weather in Barbados isn’t “perfect.”

Travelers booking their vacations with the Barbados Perfect Weather Guarantee from May 1-June 7, 2009 for travel during May 28-December 18, 2009 will receive $100 for every day the weather falls below an average of 78 degrees Fahrenheit and accumulates more than a quarter-inch of rainfall.

Those who book a five-night stay or longer, will enjoy an instant credit of $200 per booking.

As an old time Barbadian saying goes, “The devil and he wife fighting for the cou-cou stick,” meaning the rain is falling and the sun is shining brightly at the same time, is something travelers booking the Barbados Perfect Weather Guarantee won’t have to worry about. (Full story)

Well I never.. :\

Just a quote to ponder this week:

“The devil is content to let us profess Christianity as long as we do not practice it.” (ODB)

Think about it.

Analyst Opinion - It’s been two-and-a-half years since Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion. At the time, the 18-month-old online video sensation was struggling to figure out how to convert its immense popularity into sustainable revenue. It’s still struggling. Which begs the question: Will Google’s patience eventually wear out? Full Story

I wonder this daily. Here’s a well-presented and reasoned article on that topic.

Today whilst in Church, I gazed outside briefly at some passers-by. Some seemed to be busily rushing to get somewhere, whilst others were taking their time and enjoying the great weather today (for once it’s actually sunny!). As I saw them, I remembered a question that had captivated my mind a few weeks back regarding people in general, but specifically our loved ones. The question was; If we go to heaven, and some of our loved ones don’t, how will we feel in heaven? Will it have any impact on our joy? Imagine you’re there, but a brother, a sister, a father, a mother, a close friend, a wife, or even a husband, isn’t. Will this affect us at all once through the Pearly Gates? Should it?

I don’t know how I would feel then, but based on my thinking right now, I’d surely like to know that they are all in heaven! So, what can I do about it? Well, evangelize! Tell them about the gospel, speak to them about Jesus! Great! Job done! .. With some people however, this is easier said than done. And of course, just telling them isn’t the real goal, it’s for them to believe for themselves.

I remember sometime ago conversing with a colleague about Jesus, His sacrifice, our salvation, etc, and, to this day I can call to mind their response, “you came to Christ and your belief in your time, I will do it in mine”. You know what? That’s exactly true. As much as it may hurt you as the believer trying to ‘convert’ someone (especially not knowing how long either of us have alive), you can talk all you want, but they have to make that conscious decision or, ‘no dice’ as they say. But, thankfully, all is not lost. Actually, we’re quite within our limits!

Our duty as believers is to spread the word, whether by mouth, or by actions – Mark 16:15 reads, “And He [Jesus] said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’”. Frankly put, I don’t think it is our responsibility to convert people. As much as we would like to, we simply can’t. I can send out these TFTWs ‘till the cows come home, and you could chose to ignore every single one. But one day, if you’re actively looking, searching to find real purpose in your life, God may open your eyes, and let one TFTW, speak directly to your heart. Conversion is God’s job. Knowing this, instead of being disheartened by the fact that all is not in our hands, let’s be comforted in the fact that God is in control, and let’s continue to do our part by spreading the word. I’m very sure, God is good for His part!

Remember Paul’s words.. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Cor 3:6-7)

Have a great week ladies and gents!

This article surely puts spam into context..

A study into spam has blamed it for the production of more than 33bn kilowatt-hours of energy every year, enough to power more than 2.4m homes.

The Carbon Footprint of e-mail Spam report estimated that 62 trillion spam emails are sent globally every year.

This amounted to emissions of more than 17 million tons of CO2, the research by climate consultants ICF International and anti-virus firm McAfee found. (Full story)

wow..

First let start off by wishing you all a Happy Easter! What a glorious day!

Around this time of the year, especially on Good Friday itself, I try to watch a movie centred on the ‘Passion of Christ’ theme. This extends a tradition practiced in my household for many years during my quickly abating ‘youth’. (I’m sure many of you would empathize - with watching The Passion, I mean!) As I watched The Passion (Mel Gibson’s adaptation) this time around, even though I squirmed and twitched at how Jesus was ‘butchered’, I could not help but wonder about the range of titanic decisions made (by Pontius Pilate, Judas and the chief priests), and the motivations behind these choices.

Starting chronologically..

Taking Judas for example, he was one of the first 12. Can you imagine being one of the FIRST 12? Sitting with Jesus, preaching Jesus’ word alongside him, being sent out by Jesus in the flesh? That is quite.. ‘wow’ to me. But yet, Judas chose to betray Jesus, and deliver him to the chief priests (we covered the 30 coins last week). I’ve been reading a bit on this and scholars have attributed greed purely for Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. Quite frankly however, this scares me. Why? Because at times, we all can be greedy. No matter how holy we are, how many times a day we pray, how often we fast, or how many church services a week we attend. And, who knows what’s the real, long term cost of some of our greedy actions.

Considering the chief priests, I think they just could not accept that the Messiah could come in the form of a humble carpenter from Nazareth. They desired more splendour, and more glory. Therefore, they chose to ignore all the signs of Jesus’ majesty, His good works, and His teachings, and chose to have Him crucified as a blasphemer. I’m sure Jesus didn’t gain any points in their eyes when He spoke regarding them either, for e.g. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.” (Matt 23:14). But now, once again, I wonder. When you think of the coming of the Son of Man, don’t you think of splendour and glory? Unimaginable splendour and glory? If your resident plumber (suddenly) claimed that He was Jesus at the Second Coming, what would your response be? (Not the greatest example but I’m sure you get my point.) In general, these really were some big decisions and in some regards decisions we shouldn’t overlook as being straight forward.

I would go on to Pontius, but you know what he chose to do, so I’ll [spare you the recap.

Generally, these three choices helped to shape our faith. We may condemn, or look down on these people, and maybe rightly so. However, let’s just make sure we see their choices, learn from them, and make the right choices when its our turn to make our big decisions, or simply in everything we do. Remember Paul.. “For to me, to live is Christ, ..” (Phil 1:21)

Have a blessed week knowing that Christ is Risen! The battle is won!

I haven’t posted stuff related to Visual Basic Development in ages but no time better than the present eh? Here’s a great article – titled Custom Tab Control Layout - I found on customizing the layout of the Windows Forms TabControl so that the tabs are placed horizontally on the left (believe it or not, the TabControl does not allow this by default!).

Malware 2.0? Social network spam? Mobile computing hacks? Here's an intriguing prediction for top threats for 2009. See ITPro's Top 10 security predictions for 2009.

Thirty silver coins (Matt 26:14-16). That was the price Judas Iscariot was paid to betray Jesus. That was the price put on Jesus’ head. To put this into context for you and me, I thought it would be interesting to check a few sites online to attain a rough value of how much 30 silver coins is worth today. Thus far, I’ve been presented with answers ranging from $240 USD (Wikipedia-assuming they were Tyrian shekels), to a month’s wages (Yahoo! Answers-assuming they were denarii). Since, the latter answer is higher, let’s be conservative and go with that one.

A month’s wages. That is the value that was placed on Jesus Christ back then.

Here’s a question, what is the value put on Jesus now? Or better yet, what is the value YOU have attributed to Christ today? We may not be offering Him up for crucifixion for a month’s wages, BUT in our actions, and our life, can a comparable meagre value be seen to have been placed on our Lord?

Is He viewed as the guy we meet on Saturday/Sunday, but by Wednesday, forget? Is He the one that will let us do as we wish for all our lives and then forgive us at Heaven’s gates? Is He the one we cry out to in tough times, “God why me”, and when showered with His blessings we forget He exists?

Or is He the one that demands that “'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment” (Matt 22:37-38). And also, don’t forget, loving and valuing our Lord goes beyond just Him, it also extends to all others: (1) “..And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'” (Matt 22:39); and (2) “'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me'” (Mat 25:31-40).

Remember, in your life, in every aspect of it, especially your actions, you show what Jesus means to you.

Have a great week.

Like a thief in the night... IE8 has been released. There has been very little hype, and marketing. Unlike with IE7, I actually had to be told by word-of-mouth, that it had been released. No big ads on Yahoo!, no huge publicity stunts, nothing. I wonder why it’s been that secret. Is it... worth the download? Worth the switch from IE7? Comparable to the now somewhat bulky FF3? As sleek as Google Chrome? Hmm? ... I wonder! Interested in finding out, check the office IE8 site.

A few weeks ago I posted about a new, snazzy Masters programme at Liverpool Hope Univeristy. Well today, I’m doing something similar and posting about an even cooler Masters programme being introduced by Birmingham City University – M.A. in Social Media. Commenting on the topic, the course convener stated,

“During the course we will consider what people can do on Facebook and Twitter, and how they can be used for communication and marketing purposes. There has been significant interest in the course already, and it will definitely appeal to students looking to go into professions including journalism and PR.” (Ref)

What’s interesting is that the university seems to be very highly rated in that field (“currently ranks second in the Guardian's Media studies, communications and librarianship table” according to here), so surely they must know what they are doing!

Seems that you can study anything these days! Surely that’s.. a good thing.. ..?

Ah, life’s problems, issues, difficulties, trying situations.. There are so many of them! At work, school, or even when trying to relax, or go on a vacation. Even if we don’t have direct problems, sometimes it’s almost as we relish in the desire to worry, to think “what if”, to compare ourselves to more “fortunate”. I wonder, do we really want to be happy, and content? Anyway, this week’s TFTW is a simple cartoon picture. It illustrates that no matter what we have weighing us down, Jesus is always there offering to help us. Regardless of what it is, He is there. Our problems were not meant for us to carry alone (if at all!). Our bodies and minds are to frail.. heart attacks, strokes, and cases of depression clearly exemplify this fact.

Therefore during this week I beg you to remember these words.. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:7.

Have a great week, and I beg you.. remember this verse when those problems, issues, difficulties and trying situations hit you this week.

If you are into any kind of development where drop-down menus are required (online or even on desktop), the Designing Drop-Down Menus: Examples and Best Practices article offers great guidance.

I got this email a few weeks back, and I enjoyed it, I hope it will bring some joy and insight to your life as well.

The Healing Power of Laughter

One of the greatest stress relievers God has given us is laughter. It not only makes us feel better, but it actually releases healing throughout our system. When we laugh, it restores and rejuvenates what the pressures of life have taken out.

Proverbs 17:22 puts it like this, "A happy heart is like a good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing." Notice, when we're good-natured and full of joy, taking time to laugh and play, it's like taking a good medicine. That's what helps us to stay healthy. People that laugh regularly are 40% less likely to have a heart attack than people that don't laugh regularly. Laughter triggers the right side of the brain, which helps release creativity and helps us to make better decisions.

There is too much sickness in our world today. Much of it is related to sadness. It's directly related to the fact that we don't smile enough. We live uptight and stressed out.

But even during trials and hard times, God says to us, "I've got a solution. In difficulties, cheer up. In famine, laugh. Keep your joy." You can laugh your way to victory, to better health and to more energy.

God knows the end of the story. He knows the final outcome. The good news is you and I win. God always causes us to triumph. We should have a spring in our step, a smile on our face, joy in our hearts and unshakeable faith. God's plan for our lives is for good and He has the answer to our every question. Knowing this, we can laugh at the days ahead! (attributed to Joel Osteen)

More laughter people.. it has a very worthy purpose! Laugh Laugh Laugh!

Extensions undoubtedly have helped to make Firefox the browser of choice for millions of people out there. Well, it seems that Google has caught onto this, and now, coming soon are Google Chrome extensions. I must admit, I don’t really use Chrome, but I’m quite eager to see what extensions they come up with. After all, Google is very well known for its innovative mentality!

Check out more on the Chrome Extensions story here.

My msn nick for the latter portion of this week contained the words from a popular reggae song back in the Caribbean. Specifically the words were, “Haven’t I told you Jah go bless us, and make us strong..”. On Friday, a friend instant messaged me and queried the use of the name Jah in my nick, as opposed to the full name, Jehovah. Their query was particularly related to the shortening of the word Jehovah (to Jah), and the possible disrespect to our Lord, that this might connote. This was all under the assumption that Jehovah, and not Jah, is a name used to refer to our Lord in the Bible.

Being very confident in the authorized (and not disrespectful) use of Jah as a shortened version of Jehovah (I had this discussion with someone a few years back), to respond to their query, I quickly did a (online) search of the Bible. To my surprise however, I could not find Jah! At this point, I must admit, I started to sweat a bit, because (1) Jah is commonly used by Rastafarians in a slightly different context (the song above is sung by a Rastafarian), (in using the words of the song in my nick, I assumed my meaning of Jah instead); and (2) simply put, disrespecting our Lord is not something I’m too keen on doing!

After searching a bit more, to my comfort I found the name Jah, neatly tucked away in the (“old school”) King James Version (we were initially only searching NIV and NKJV). After discovering this, I also remembered a few other names that are commonly used to refer to, or represent God’s name so I decided to dedicate this week’s TFTW to them. Below I list the most common ones and where you may find them i.e. Bible versions and chapters/verses. Hope you find it useful! Oh, and it’s always important to remember The Trinity in discussions such as these! (For reference, I used BibleGateway as the main source of information.)

LORD – (this should need no justification!) (notice it is capitalized)

JEHOVAH - Psalm 83:17-18, Isaiah 12:1-3, Isaiah 26:3-5 (KJV) (notice it is capitalized)

JAH - Psalm 68:3-5 (KJV) (notice it is capitalized)

YHWH – seems to be Hebrew for LORD. For example as a footnote for LORD in Exodus 6:3 (NKJV), they write, "Hebrew YHWH, traditionally Jehovah" (Ref). Also, in Exodus 6:2 (NLT), it states, “I am Yahweh—'the Lord.'[a]”; the footnote for [a] reads, “Yahweh is a transliteration of the proper name YHWH that is sometimes rendered “Jehovah”; in this translation it is usually rendered “the Lord” (note the use of small capitals)” (Ref)

Yahweh - Exodus 6:1-3, Exodus 17:14-16, Exodus 33:18-20, Exodus 34:4-6 (NLT)

YAH - Psalm 68:3-5, Isaiah 12:1-3, Isaiah 26:3-5, Isaiah 38:10-12 (NKJV) (notice it is capitalized)

 

It’s only a few names, but I think these are the most commonly agreed ones. For further study, you may also want to have a look at a few other names (some of which are Hebrew) i.e.: Yeshua, Abba (Aramaic for Father - Mark 14:35-37 - NIV), El-Shaddai (El-Shaddai, which means “God Almighty,” is the name for God used in Gen 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3. - Exodus 6:2-4 - NLT), and Adonai.

Have a blessed week!

(Thanks for the idea for the TFTW topic J.H.)

A British man fed up with his wife's complaints advertised her for sale -- and got a number of offers.

"Nagging Wife. No Tax, No MOT. Very high maintenance -- some rust," wrote Gary Bates, 38, in a small ad in Trade-It, more usually used to buy and sell cars or household goods. (Full story)

Lol! I wonder... *heh

Internet giant launches Google Voice phone service.

Google has your Web searches. Now it wants your phone number.

The Internet search giant on Thursday is announcing a service called Google Voice that assigns users a phone number that consolidates voice mails and text messages from their various phone numbers and stores them a single location that can be accessed remotely. Google Voice also lets users make phone calls over the Internet. (Full Story)

There's no stopping this lot!

University programmes seem to be getting more and more diverse, to cater to ANYTHING under the sun. I remember when I saw The University of the West Indies (Cave Hill, Barbados) offering an M.Sc. in Cricket Studies, I was quite shocked! The West Indies has been known for their cricket for decades, but still, an M.Sc.?!

Anyway, today I found another very interesting programme being offered by the Liverpool Hope University. It's an M.A. in The Beatles, Popular Music and Society. Imagine that! Assuming this university did their research, this means that there was actually demand for such a course! Why.. it bewilders me! I've also heard talk from a friend that some other university plans to start up a B.Sc. in Manchester United Studies. Now... really??? :| Anything goes it seems. Talk about "specializing".

"Life is hard, and then you die", these are the words that I have been constantly tempted to confess over the last few weeks. It seems like every time things look as if they could go my way, a HUGE roadblock emerges that makes my life, just, plain HARD! Last Friday was the straw.. no wait, the last 200-ton brick, that broke the camels back. While attempting to get a necessary (and arduous) task done over the last few days, I made a silly mistake, which ended up costing me time, money, and "peace of mind". I prayed beforehand for things to go fine, after things flopped, I asked God all day that things would get better, but in my opinion things got progressively worse. And unfortunately, there will likely be setbacks from my mistake. At that time, what else could I scream but, "Life is hard, and then (..after a few years..) you die!"?

Some of you may comment, "But Jason, you write these TFTWs every week, and you have even commented on issues such as this before and highlighted options to help during these times; why didn't you call them to mind when in the scenario on Friday?" My reply? I tried. I tried very hard, but with barely any sight of light at the end of the tunnel, I simply lost it. I got frustrated, and lost it.

After explaining my situation to a friend on that same day, I got a text reply saying, "Just remember this. God is always in control. Whether situations go the way we want or not. He is in control." Guess what.. For some reason, this really helped. It proved an eye-opener, and I immediately started to think, well, then, there must be some purpose for my troubles, maybe a lesson to be learnt? The timing wasn't right? (God's time IS perfect!) Or maybe it is to teach me that when I'm faced with constant pain, instead of throwing my hands in the air and shouting, "Life is hard, and then you die", I should confess, "I have tried to do things right, however things have not worked out, but Lord, with your help, I'll try again!"

When we're faced with problems, or sticky situations, even when we think we've perfectly done "our part", or "all we can do", let's remember Bible verses like this.."but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:3-5) Yes.. there is purpose to our struggles and tribulations. Let's remember this well.

May we all have a great week, regardless of what is thrown at us!

5 Great Microsoft Web Services You Probably Don't Use - is a pretty useful article from PCWorld that looks at 5 of Microsoft's better services online. These include Windows Windows Live SkyDrive, Live Sync, Live Mesh, Microsoft Office Live Workspace and Microsoft's Virtual Earth 3D. I suggest you especially take a peek at SkyDrive and Microsoft Office Live Workspace. Enjoy!

It gets worse...

A psychologist is urging people to get off Facebook and other social networking sites, and get a life instead. Skip related content

Dr Aric Sigman says the amount of time we spend with each other has slumped dramatically and in turn is damaging our health.

He says our devotion to such sites could alter the way genes work, upset immune responses, hormone levels, and the function of arteries, and influence mental performance.

Levels of hormones such as the "cuddle chemical" oxytocin, which promotes bonding, altered according to whether people were in close contact or not. (Full Story)

hmph!

As this Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, which signifies the start of Lent, I thought that this week's post would be based on Lent. I hope you find it useful.

Lent - A Time Set Aside

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. Matthew 4:1-2

Just as we set aside time to spiritually prepare for Christmas Day, it makes sense to set aside time to prepare for the two most important days of the Christian year. Lent offers us an opportunity to come to terms with the human condition we may spend the rest of the year running from and it brings our need for a Savior to the forefront. Like Advent, Lent is a time to open the doors of our hearts a little wider and understand our Lord a little deeper, so that when Good Friday and eventually Easter comes, it is not just another day at church but an opportunity to receive the overflowing of graces God has to offer.

But unlike the childlike joy associated with the season of Advent, with it's eager anticipation of the precious baby Jesus, Lent is an intensely penitential time as we examine our sinful natures and return to the God we have, through our own rebelliousness, hurt time and again. Lent is also an opportunity to contemplate what our Lord really did for us on the Cross - and it wasn't pretty. But ultimately, the purpose of Lent does not stop at sadness and despair - it points us to the hope of the Resurrection and the day when every tear will be dried (Rev. 21:3). [Full Lent 101 article here.]

Have a great week all, and I hope to see you in Church on Wednesday getting the cross marked on your forehead. taa

I knew it!

People's health could be harmed by social networking sites because they reduce levels of face-to-face contact, an expert claims.

Dr Aric Sigman says websites such as Facebook set out to enrich social lives, but end up keeping people apart.

Dr Sigman makes his warning in Biologist, the journal of the Institute of Biology.

A lack of "real" social networking, involving personal interaction, may have biological effects, he suggests.

He also says that evidence suggests that a lack of face-to-face networking could alter the way genes work, upset immune responses, hormone levels, the function of arteries, and influence mental performance.

This, he claims, could increase the risk of health problems as serious as cancer, strokes, heart disease, and dementia.

Full story here..

If you remember, a month ago I posted about a job dubbed the "Best Job in the World". It was for an 'island-sitter' post for 12 months, with a salary of £70,000. Well, the deadline for applications has passed and a reported 18,000 people from nearly 200 countries have applied for the post! In fact, the competition is so strong that, "Potential applicants have sent out press releases, sourced their own media coverage and established websites dedicated to their applications" (Ref). Well, what can I say but 'may the best'.. person win! (Full story here)

Skype 4.0 is out and to me, it seems pretty sweet. They did what seems to be a complete overhaul of the old interface so it may take a few seconds for the keen among you, to get used to. Currently I'm testing out the video quality, but I doubt it will disappoint. Skype has always been my no. 1 choice for voice or video calls (Skype, NOT Microsoft's MSN, I say!). If you are a fellow "skypeR", I advise you to get the new version!

Researchers believe that the ability to understand and share the feelings of others is at least partly innate and built into our bodies at birth.

While upbringing and the environment can modify our behaviour, scientists believe that in extreme cases the gene or lack of it could play a key role in conditions such as autism where the ability to empathise is often non-existent.

The study by a team from the University of Wisconsin and Oregon Health and Science University, showed that friendly and gregarious individuals tended also to have the gene. (Full story)

Gotta love research..

Sometimes when you think you're guessing, your brain may actually know better.

After conducting some unique memory and recognition tests, while also recording subjects' brain waves, scientists conclude that some gut feelings are not just guesswork after all. Rather, we access memories we aren't even aware we have. (Full Story)

Nice read.

This week's TFTW is a simple photo. I wrote the words in the snow today, and I had the idea that this pic may be used as a desktop background (it's 1600x1200) for all of you who are interested.

I hope you enjoy!

Man, YouTube just gets more and more fun! Here's an interactive, 30-level Youtube game in which you just really, find the differences in photos (based on the 2009 Oscars).

It's a bit of good fun, especially if you're a stickler for detail! I got to Level 17 on my first try a few minutes ago (it's 2:30am by the way!). My proof...

Think you can beat me? Let me see!

This morning as I was walking home from my Sunday church service at Uni, I passed by a poster on one of the walls that read,

"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." - Jesus in Luke 14:26

Warwick Atheists

These posters in general aren't unusual, but it's interesting every now and then to pause for a moment and have a read. In this particular poster, because they bolded and enlarged the font of the word "hate", I guess their aim was to make this passage seem like a rather nasty one. After all, Jesus, encouraging to hate one's father and mother, wife and children?

Fortunately, we don't have to worry too much about this passage, and view it out of context as done above, because we are fully aware of Jesus' two new commandments, i.e. "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39.

In special response to their poster however, my trusty study Bible [New Spirit Filled Life Bible] had a few comments on that passage, that are of great importance. It notes "A disciple must subordinate all earthly relationships to loyalty to Christ. Jesus' remark is an example of Hebrew hyperbole to emphasize the subject being discussed. To hate one's family is therefore not a command or statement of face but a way of expressing the importance of allegiance to Him." .. let that sink in for a second or two..

Now, let's briefly consider the word "hyperbole". You being intelligent folks know what it means, but let's look it up in Oxford Dictionary anyway.. Ah! Found it! (I adore the Internet; oed.com!) It states, "A figure of speech consisting in exaggerated or extravagant statement, used to express strong feeling or produce a strong impression, and not intended to be understood literally" (Oxford). Hmm, need we continue? Especially noting that Jesus did so commonly speak in parables?

As stated in the comments section of my Bible (shown above), the aim of this passage is to express the importance of allegiance to Jesus. Jesus is not telling you to hate your parents, or friends and love Him instead! If that were the case, why would the Lord (i) have a commandment about honouring your parents? i.e. Exodus 20:12, or (ii) in the New Testament command that we love our neighbour as ourselves? i.e. Matthew 22:39. In this passage our Lord is speaking to the importance of following Him, being totally committed to Him, and allowing Him to work His purpose for our lives.

If you ever come across one of these posters, or any comments similar, which attempt to somewhat distort what you know to be true about Christ, take a moment to let it sink it, ask Christ to guide your response. He may ask you to respond to the poster/comment, or He may direct you to your Bible for further analysis of the topic. Listen for His guidance and allow Him to work through you!

Have a great week all!

Here's an informative little slide show on which part of your brain does what.

"My Comforter, my All in All, Here in the love of Christ I stand" - In Christ Alone hymn!

Like me, I'm sure you've seen it. Well, if you're interested, here's a BBC article that discusses the possible thinking behind this simple favicon.

These photos are simply exquisite. A must see!

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/us_world/Inauguration_Day.html

Today's the day...

"Legoland presents a replica of the 56th [USA] presidential inauguration, including the Capital building, more than a thousand mini-figures, the presidential motorcade and the Obama family."

Who ever did it, hats off to them! Here's the link for the photos.

Peace, mercy, justice.

The world needs works of mercy and justice:

- 750 million people go to bed hungry each night
- 2.1 billion people live on less than £1 a day

.. not works of war and destruction:

- World military spending for 2007 was £680 billion - that is £102 for each person in the world
- 26 million people were forced to leave their homes as a result of conflict in 2007

Jesus said, "love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; ... For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:43-48.

Somewhere along the line, we all lost the plot. I beg you to light your candle for peace; peace in your life, and peace especially in war-torn areas where war, death, hatred overshadow Jesus's words, and any notions of peace, mercy, justice and love.

(Figures above sourced from a Pax Christi pamphlet.)

With a salary of £70,000, just 12 hours work a month and a free home on a palm-fringed island, it's hardly surprising it's been called the "best job in the world".

Tourism chiefs in Australia are advertising for the post of caretaker of Hamilton island, in the Great Barrier Reef, the "jewel in the crown" of the Whitsunday islands, where work requires "minimum effort" and involves "relaxed" duties such as feeding turtles, watching whales, and picking up the island's post.

Applicants require no academic qualifications, but must possess good swimming skills and a love of snorkelling, scuba diving and other water sports, say tourism chiefs who want to raise the island's profile as a holiday destination.

The successful applicant will live in a three-bedroom house with "unbeatable" views, ringed by white sandy beaches. (Full story)

Anyone interested?!

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Lol!!

This week's article is very related to the one from last week. I cover this topic again because this week I had a very interesting conversation with a fellow Christian colleague in which the following question emerged, "How do I tell people about Christ, and about what they maybe should and should not be doing, when my life itself is far from perfect?" This is a good question because if you don't practice what you preach (in the general sense) how do you expect others to do take your words seriously? Hypocrisy I believe is the term!

Before answering this question, I must say that I reflected on my life, "am I perfect?" I asked myself. My reply? "No at all!" Then, I put forward my point to my colleague, "Well since I'm not perfect either, I guess I should stop my TFTWs (i.e. these weekly articles)! After all, how can I speak when I am a sinner?" Or maybe, let's go to the Bible, is it not Paul, one of the greatest evangelist that said, "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice."? What if Paul, or any of the other evangelist had just given up because they knew they were prone to sin? Well, we would surely be lacking a few books of the Bible!

The point is that yes, we sin. But as was commented last week...

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

Beyond this, as I explained to my colleague, we must continuously work towards making ourselves better; evaluating our lives, seeing where we should be working on, and ACTIVELY working on these areas. One way to view it is that being a Christian is not an end in itself, it's more of a path we walk every second of everyday. Instead of not being able to talk to people because we ourselves are not perfect, lets (i) remember that no-one is perfect, (ii) take courage in the fact that we are working on our imperfections, and (iii) let the love and care we have for our friends, transcend our worries about being hypocritical in this regard.

Have a great week!

Here's an interesting article on 13 Predictions for 2009. It's focused mainly around technology matters, and includes predictions on the beloved Google, Twitter, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Facebook.

The following poem has probably been through millions of inboxes in its lifetime, but it thoroughly exemplifies my thoughts on being a Christian.. so I post it on the Internet once more below.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Being a Christian, is not easy. Because of our human nature we stumble and almost implicitly tend to do things contrary to what we should do. Often our hearts will convict us, and the Law (from the OT) condemn us, but in those times, let's remember that somewhere out there, in our grasps, is God's good grace through his son Jesus Christ.

I wish you the greatest of things in 2009. May the good Lord keep you.

Check this out...

Images from the same spot through one year. Audio captured at the same place.

Coool..

I wish you and yours great things for 2009! (photo from here).

It's that time of the year again, when we start to have tons of "<input your term of choice> of the 2008" articles. To start us off, here's a link for the 2008 Pictures of the Year: People's choice (Pixcetera). My favs are 1/49 Chilean Volcano, 2/49 Mexico City, 38/49 Stilt fishing (this is amazing), and 43/49 Lightning off Lebanon.

Well, to be honest, it didn't really "take off" at any point, so the demise of Yahoo! Live was imminent really. I enjoyed my one or two broadcasts, but to me, the poor quality of broadcasts in general was the real damning factor. Being able to take user feeds, upload them to the net, and have them available for broadcasts is clearly no trivial task!

If you want to know more check its Wikipedia entry. But for now, RIP Yahoo! Live!

 

May God bless you and keep you through this wonderful season!

Hi all!

Ah, it's that joyous time of the year once more. If I were back home, I'd be either painting, carefully decorating the house with Christmas lights, or busy cleaning up the dust that has accumulated on furniture, ornaments, or windows, over the last 11 months! Or, better yet, I'd be doing all three, as my Dad and Mom can attest to! I'm sure many of you will sympathize.

Even though beautifying one's house is necessary however, we all know it's not what CHRISTmas is really about. Actually, this past week I experienced a very comforting albeit fleeting event that can be linked into the meaning of CHRISTmas, and I'd like to share it with you for this week's TFTW. The event occurred when I went to a CHRISTmas supper. At this supper, attendants were from various parts of the world, and undoubtedly, numerous religions and cultures were represented.

After we ate, song sheets were distributed and we were informed that we'd be singing some CHRISTmas carols. To be honest, I can't remember which exact ones we sang but a number of them boldly acknowledged and glorified our Christ. Here it was that people from across the world, from religions and cultures that transcend my imagination, all sang in one joyous song to our Lord. That, felt, great. And I do know... Yes, it may be fleeting, yes, people may just be singing and not understanding, yes, words must be supported by action. But, CHRISTmas was the conduit for this gathering, and for this unity. Isn't that one of Christ's purposes on this earth? :-)

I leave you with a few words from one of the songs I believe we sang..

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" written by Charles Wesley 1739

Have a blessed week, and a great CHRISTmas season.

Well, as usual, the English and Italian teams get the most interesting draws.  Actually, 3 English to 3 Italian! The toughest draws in my opinion maybe the Inter vs ManU, Chelsea vs Juventus, and Real vs Liverpool. I can't wait! Check out the Official UEFA site for more details.

Two days ago I blogged about the security flaw found in IE - a flaw so 'serious' that experts were suggesting people switch to different browsers until it was fixed! Well today I'm posting a link to the fix for that flaw. Some instructions to download the fix can be found here. Happy surfing!

Why “Open Source” misses the point of Free Software - good article by Richard Stallman for anyone who's still a bit unclear of the difference.

Users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer are being urged by experts to switch to a rival until a serious security flaw has been fixed.

The flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer could allow criminals to take control of people's computers and steal their passwords, internet experts say.

Microsoft urged people to be vigilant while it investigated and prepared an emergency patch to resolve it.

Internet Explorer is used by the vast majority of the world's computer users. (Source)

Eek?

Well, a few days ago I slightly blasted Yahoo! for Zimbra, but once again I must comment on their persistence to innovate. Today, as the title suggests, I'm directing you to an article that gives some information on Yahoo!'s plans for a social (i.e. like FB and MySpace), extensible email box. Check it out here - Yahoo begins rolling out social, extensible e-mail inbox. There are some screenshots too!

Quite odd story, but interesting nonetheless - ;-) trademark claim makes us go :-o and then >:-[

One by one, my friends seem to be hanging up their boots (or high heels) and entering in to the marriage realm. "Tying the knot" seems to have somehow infiltrated its way into my generation! Rather appropriately therefore, a few weeks ago, a friend directed me to an article called Who Should I Marry? This article takes a Christian perspective (with references to the Bible) on the subject, and even though some of its points you may find debatable, it provides excellent food for thought on this very important matter. Some of the questions it seeks to address are: Should I marry at all? Must a marry a Christian? And, So who is a believer?

As some of you may be close to taking the plunge, or even just considering entering a relationship, I suggest a peek at this article, it may just help answer some critical questions.

Have a great week!

Whether they HAVE (because of google & ms) to or they want to (as one of the biggest portals online), Yahoo! keep on 'innovating'. Today I'm here to let you know about Zimbra, "next-generation [free, open source] email application" for the desktop (Source). In this right, it's similar to MS Outlook, and Mozilla Thunderbird, but Zimbra boasts more robust features, especially its ability to handle multi-gigabyte storage. Additionally there is an in-built calendar and tagging of mails is supported. One of the best things in my opinion is its use of AJAX to make things all the more streamlined and user friendly.

My only reservation about Zimbra is Yahoo!'s logic behind it. Sure another desktop email client is great, and its especially great that it's FREE, however what's the sense if people who use the FREE Yahoo! mail can't use it? Oh, right, I forgot to say, Zimbra "Works for all POP/IMAP email accounts (work, Gmail, Yahoo! Mail Plus, AOL and more)" (Source). As Yahoo! mail users would know, "Mail Plus" costs £! £11.99/year to be exact. Maybe, Zimbra is a push for persons to sign up for the Mail Plus, who knows... But, all I'm saying is that it would have been nice if Yahoo! had found some sneaky way to pull mail from free accounts into Zimbra, to accommodate its many, many free subscribers.. but alas.. no dice.

On Monday, Microsoft launched Oxite, an open-source blogging platform.

However, the software maker was quick to underline that the product is aimed at developers and not intended to directly compete with popular blogging software such as WordPress or Movable Type.

Microsoft posted the Oxite code on its CodePlex Web site on Friday and made an official announcement on Monday. The software, described as an alpha release, is available under the Microsoft Public License, one of Microsoft's OSI-certified open-source licenses.

Oxite is a standards-compliant, extensible content-management system designed to support either blogs or larger Web sites, Microsoft said. The platform includes support for features such as pingbacks, trackbacks, anonymous or authenticated commenting, gravatars (globally recognized avatars), and RSS feeds at any page level, the company said.

Users can create and edit a set of pages on a site, add customized HTML into pages, and support multiple blogs on a single site.

Oxite is also able to integrate with Microsoft developer software such as ASP.Net MVC, Visual Studio Team Suite, and Background Services Architecture. The project began as a way of demonstrating the capabilities of ASP.Net MVC to developers, Microsoft said. (Source)

hmm.. Something to tinker with!

One of the main reasons I use YouTube is for the playlists feature. I set up a number of playlists and depending on what I'm doing, I find one, click "Play All", and I'm sorted for the next hour. Well, actually, sometimes I'm NOT good for the next hour. Why? Because as videos are removed from YouTube for what ever reason, the playlist stops at those videos. I can understand this, after all the videos are no longer there, however for AGES I've wondered as to why YouTube, or rather GooTube just doesn't SKIP the removed videos and continue the playlist. After all, this is Google we're dealing with, I'm sure we all now expect the highest of standards and coolness!

Well my friends, today is that day! I'm pleased to announce that I've just seen the following message at the top of the web page with a pick background "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by a third party. Skipped to the next available video."

Woopie!! Ah, back to seamless music streaming. :-D

Today’s the day that Facebook makes their big press push for their Facebook Connect service, which was first announced last May. The NY Times has a story giving a broad overview of Connect as well as competing services from MySpace (Data Availability) and Google (Friend Connect).

All three services are platforms for third party sites (Digg, Twitter, Citisearch, CBS, whatever) to let users sign in via their favorite social network instead of the normal approach. Some profile information flows with the sign in, which the sites can keep for a period of time. And activity that occurs on the site - Twitters written, Digg stories voted on, restaurant reviews on Citysearch, etc.) can optionally flow back to the user’s activity stream. (Source)

My concern is over the data sharing going on... hmm

As Mr. Waters, the cartoon's creator comments, "This world can seem as a dark, impenetrable jungle of various doctrines and beliefs. But, we have the map of God's Word, and we have a guide, the Holy Spirit, to help us find the path of truth." (Joyful 'toons)

Let's keep both - the Word and the Spirit - close in our hearts and minds today. Have a great week.

The plot looks somewhat similar to previous versions, but hopefully the action saves it. We'll see!

Everything from email, to wikis, to the Internet, and even pac-man. Check out the  Top 25 days in computing history.

It's been the case for as long as I can remember, I wonder if this report will make any difference..

In their recent Living Planet Report for this year, the World Wildlife Federation is suggesting that this planet's resources won't be enough for us.

"The Earth’s biocapacity is the amount of biologically productive area – cropland, pasture, forest, and fisheries – that is available to meet humanity’s needs.

"Since the late 1980s, we have been in overshoot - the Ecological Footprint has exceeded the Earth’s biocapacity - by about 25%.

"Effectively, the Earth’s regenerative capacity can no longer keep up with demand – people are turning resources into waste faster than nature can turn waste back into resources.

"A moderate business-as-usual scenario, based on United Nations projections of slow, steady growth of economies and populations, suggests that by 2050, humanity’s demand on nature will be twice the biosphere’s productive capacity [graph]."

Science fiction writers have worked out the answer - agricultural worlds like those envisioned by Isaac Asimov's 1951 classic Foundation (Source)

*hmph!

Ever wondered how the iPod, BlackBerry, Firefox, Twitter, Windows 7, ThinkPad, Android, Wikipedia, Mac OS X, and Red Hat Linux, got their names? Check out this informative article on CIO.com - How 10 Famous Technology Products Got Their Names. The BlackBerry in my opinion has the best story.

Google pushing Chrome via Youtube - really, it was only a matter of time... I also note that G1 is advertised on Google.com as well.

If FlickrDown works as it says it does, this is definitely going to be a useful app.

This small Windows application provides a simple way to pull down a large portion of your Flickr photos at a time. You just give it your Flickr credentials, pick which sets of photos you want to download and it does the rest--putting them in tightly organized file folders on your local machine. Sure you could just download the original of each shot from Flickr's pages, but that doesn't scale.

The app requires at least version 2.0 of Microsoft's .NET runtime, which you might already have installed if you're a user of Paint.NET. Also worth noting is that the tool cannot pull down any videos you've uploaded. If you want to do that you should check out a tool called Orbit++. (Source)

For you persons who've uploaded hundreds of photos to Flickr, then suffered a pc crash, you can easily use this to archive those photos on your pc after your reinstall.

10 Social Networks and What They Say About the People Who Use Them - This is an excellent article, and from what I can tell, so so accurate!

It covers popular sites like Digg, Flickr, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Del.icio.us, and Myspace. Sites I'm sure that most of you guys subscribe to!

With just a few days left before the newest version of the hugely popular Ubuntu i.e. Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex), hits the streets, I've found a list of Linux music players that are rather handy. Check them out here - 15 Linux Music Players. My preferred options are Songbird and Rhythmbox. Enjoy!

Just a few more days now... (cool graphic that countdowns automatically!)

Qualities Needed in Trials
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Doers—Not Hearers Only
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. - James 1:19-27 (NKJV)

Reflecting on these words, many topics come to mind, however the one I'd like to focus on this week is being doers of The Word, and not hearers only. It's like what I tell people when they proudly confess that they are Christians, and believe in Jesus Christ; it's not simply reading your Bible, and being on the exec committee of your church group.. oh it's soo much more. To believe in Him, we must live how he would want us to live. When we read the Bible, it's not just a meaningless duty, we can read to learn how to live. By reading the Bible, we see what to do and what not to do, we see our sins, in effect, we see how we should live our God-given lives. Yet often, we read then, put down the Bible, and sometimes, forget, or do what we think benefits us, mangling the Bible and its words. This should not be so, and this week I would like to invite you to pick a passage in the Bible, and try your best to live it out - every second of everyday, whether it be 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 or Philippians 4:6!

Let's take that step, to show God we love Him, as He - time and time again - shows how much he loves us. Have a great week, and God bless.

This MSNBC post - Top 5 best video game quotes - is great! And just by the topic, I knew my guy below would HAVE to be included.

Duke Nukem ROCKS!!! This is probably the only game EVER, that I've managed to become somewhat addicted to! Anyway, out of those 5 games, I've played 3 - MK, Duke, Mario.

"Apologies - our website is struggling to cope with the unprecedented
demand for the new release 3.0 of OpenOffice.org. The technical teams are
trying to come up with a solution.

Thank you for your patience.
OpenOffice.org download"

This was the message on OpenOffice.org at 12:41am Tuesday October 14th GMT. Just because of this - after all, a few hundred people don't bring a site like this to its knees - I'm quite interested to see what the new release is like. Anyway, it's a free office package, *woopie* for that!

Just when you thought stories couldn't get more weird, I read 10 Ways to Eat More Bacon.  To give you a 'taste' (ha ha!) of what's in that article, they're reports of Chocolate-Covered Bacon, Bacon Chocolate-Chip Cookies, Bacon-and-Egg Ice Cream, and even Bacon Vodka!!

You can guess for what movie...

Johnny Depp is to become the highest paid actor of all time after it was reported that he will be earning £32 million for starring in the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film.

The 44 year old is to make the record breaking amount for reprising his role as the eccentric pirate Jack Sparrow. It dwarfs the previous record setter - Tom Hanks' £29 million for forthcoming The Da Vinci Code sequel Angels & Demons.

An insider told The Sun, "It's a lot of swag but they just can't make another without Sparrow."

While Depp is integral to the swashbuckling franchise, which has made Disney £1.5 billion, it's been reported that the fourth outing won't feature Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. It's been rumoured the film will instead focus on Sparrow's journey to find the fountain of youth.

Pirates of Caribbean 4 is to be released in 2011. (Source)

If it's like part 3, it's a bit of a waste in my opinion. This goes for talks of Shrek 4 as well!

The first mobile telephone using Google's Android software has been unveiled.

The T-Mobile G1 handset will be available in the UK in time for Christmas.

The first device to run the search giant's operating system will feature a touch screen as well as a Qwerty keyboard.

It will be available for free on T-Mobile tariffs of over £40 a month and includes unlimited net browsing.

Other features include a three megapixel camera, a 'one click' contextual search and a browser that users can zoom in on by tapping the screen.

The handset will be wi-fi and 3G enabled and has built-in support for YouTube.

Users will also have access the so-called Android Market, where they will be able to download a variety of applications. (Source)

A few months, no.. weeks ago we got the Google Chrome web browser, now, Google presents Android. The "online Microsoft" I think is a good name for Google these days! You can check out a video that shows the software in action at BBC here.

Based on that video, the G1 handset looks pretty cool. I especially like the Qwerty keyboard compared to the keyboard available on the iphone. Regarding the zooming however, the iphone wins hands down - pinching and tapping is MUCH more gq!

Vint Cerf, the man who helped invent the system and one of the world's leading computer scientists, said that the web does not have enough unique codes that allow computers to communicate with each other.

He said that when the internet protocol (IP) addresses do run out, the connectivity of the internet will be damaged and some computers will not be able to go online. "This is like the internet running out of telephone numbers and with no new numbers, you can't have more subscribers," he said. Preparations had to be made now, he said, to switch addresses to a new system. 

When the internet was founded in 1977 there were 4.2 billion addresses available under the internet protocol version four (IPv4) system.

Each of the IPv4 addresses has a series of 32 binary numbers, but with the rapid expansion of broadband across the world, it is estimated that these addresses will run out by 2010.

A new system called IPv6 has been ready for a decade and is already used in Japan to connect thousands of earthquake sensors through a computer system that sends automatic alerts to television programmes and turns traffic lights red.

IPv6 addresses are 128 bits long and so provide a possible 340 trillion, trillion, trillion address space.  (Source)

I reiterate, the Internet is a monster.

In Britain, tea's definitely the way to go. Whether this is linked to the average temperature/weather, or the British natural taste for tea, I'm not quite sure. One of my mates even referred to it as "the answer to all your problems"!

Well in addition to drinking it purely for pleasure, I've found an article online from Reader's Digest that claims tea has many (23 to be exact) more uses! Of course, I'm not sure if all of these uses are true however, if they are, "wow"! These uses range from shining your mirrors and relieving tired eyes, to conditioning your hair and tenderizing tough meat! Read the full story - 23 Ways to Use Tea - I'm sure you'll be shocked at some of the uses!

If you're using Google Chrome, Lifehacker's Power User's Guide to Google Chrome should prove somewhat interesting. Enjoy!

Do you text whilst driving? This is especially for you to read...

Texting behind the wheel is more dangerous than driving while under the influence of alcohol or cannabis, researchers said Thursday.

Research carried out on young drivers (aged 17-24) using a simulator found that reaction time slowed by 35% when they were writing or reading text messages while driving. In comparison, reaction time deteriorated by 21% for those under the influence of cannabis, and by 12% at the legal alcohol limit.

Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) -- which carried out the study for the RAC Foundation -- also found that steering control worsened by 91% for those who were distracted by texts, compared to 35% when cannabis was involved. ...

Nearly half of all drivers aged 18 to 24 in Britain admit to texting while driving, according to an earlier RAC poll of 3000 young drivers. (Full story)

Intriguing, and worrying findings..

Since I got back yesterday, I tried logging in to MSN messenger but unfortunately I was getting the error below..

We were unable to sign you in to the Messenger at this time. Please try again later. To let us try and troubleshoot the problem, click the Troubleshoot button.
Error code: 80048820
Extended error code: 80048416

I tried troubleshooting, and one or two other things but nothing seemed to work! Anyway, this morning, with my strength and patience renewed, I searched the official messenger site and found a fix that seemed to work rather perfectly.. hence the need for this post!

The fix can be found in this article: Error 80048820: You can't sign in to Windows Live Messenger, and the step that worked for me was Check your Windows Internet Explorer proxy settings (i.e. Start IE -> Tools menu -> Internet Options -> Connections tab -> LAN Settings -> Clear the Automatically detect settings check box -> Click OK, and then click OK again).

Hi folks!

I apologise for not posting lately but I took a trip to Scotland with some friends, and only returned today. I hope to have pictures for you sometime in the near future including a full post on what touring we managed to get done.

Until then!

The Women In Games 2008 conference held at the University of Warwick (10-12 Sept) came to a close today, and all-in-all, it was a grand time. As I was a helper, I only attended a few of the talks, but based on the comments from the delegates, everyone enjoyed themselves and found it a useful experience.

Of particular enjoyment was the conference dinner held at Warwick Castle. We got a chance to do a bit of touring (and wine, and ale sampling) before we had our four course, themed meal of bread and broth, appetizer - a salmon quiche with salad, main - chicken and potatoes, and lastly pudding - custard and apple.. something. While this was served we were entertained by a lord, a jester, wenches, and a laundry lady - all in with the 15th century theme of course!

Anyway, it was a grand time, and I'm sure photos from it will appear online (maybe on Flickr, Facebook) in the next few days.

"Virgin Atlantic has called for a review into restrictions on what passengers can take on planes.

The company said it was time to reassess hand luggage regulations.

British Airways (BA) mirrored Virgin's call and said it was "sensible" that the rules governing the restrictions were kept under review.

Rules about what could be taken on to planes were changed in August last year following the arrest of a number of men accused of plotting mass murder on transatlantic aircraft.

Eight men were tried over an alleged plot to blow up planes. None was found guilty of the aircraft plot but three were convicted of conspiracy to murder, following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court, in south east London.

The Government has ruled that restrictions on carrying liquids and gels in hand luggage on flights must continue despite the inconclusive verdicts.

But Virgin Atlantic director of communication Paul Charles said: "Maybe now is the time for a review to be held on whether the restrictions in place on hand luggage and liquids should still take place. Passengers are still confused, there are different rules all over the world." (Source)

It's about time! Suitcases and briefcases should not be considered a piece!

20 Useful Tools to Make Web Development More Efficient - I'm sure this article will come in useful for us developers. :-)

Yes that's right.. Google now has a browser, and of course it's freely available. Below I've included an excerpt of a very interesting article discussing Chrome..

As of this morning, Google still had not launched Chrome Beta, but it promises to be an innovative piece of software. (We’ll turn around a review soon after it’s posted.) On the surface, Chrome will act like a tabbed browsing architecture similar to pretty much every other browser. But it will treat each tab as a separate process, meaning that if one tab hangs or crashes out, it can be terminated without closing the entire Chrome application. Likewise, each tab will be “sandboxed” to prevent it from accessing files on the user’s computer. In essence, Chrome functions much like an operating system, managing resources and each Web page’s access to the computer’s vital functions dynamically. (Source)

Under duress (*eh hem*), I downloaded Chrome a lot sooner than I would have liked, and my review thus far is that it's an ok lightweight browser. I especially like the ability to see tabs hogging memory and to end them as necessary and, the search function in the address bar (albeit not that extensive).

All-in-all, I'll stick to FF, and probably use this as a secondary browser (IE just always seems so heavyweight!).

PS. I recommend this article - How Google's Simple Chrome Could Steer Web's Complex Future: Analysis - it was well written and very informative.

We all know that different people get different amounts of email “spam“. Some of these differences result from how careful people have been in hiding their address from the spammers — putting it en claire on a webpage will definitely improve your chances of receiving unsolicited email.

However, it turns out there’s other effects as well. In a paper I presented last week to the Fifth Conference on Email and Anti-Spam (CEAS 2008), I showed that the first letter of the local part of the email address also plays a part. (Source)

Interesting piece of research.

A few days ago, I had this overwhelming urge to document all the movies I've ever watched (I think I was trying to remember one and was totally lost :$). As a result, over the last couple days, I've been busy scouting sites and picking my brain to remember all the movies that have graced my eyes, and compile them into a nice little list.

If you're interested, you can check out that list here. Remember, it's a work-in-progress.

You would notice that it's on The Internet Movie Database (IMDB). I chose this as opposed to sites like Flixster mainly because IMDB just seems like IT when it comes to movies online. Also, they have an extensive, almost never-ending movie collection. I am yet to search and not find a title! What amazed me the most is that I found a title from 1938! Then again, that was staring Sir Robin of Locksley!

Variety, she is the spice of life!

Therefore, for this week's thought, I'm including the Tim Hughes- Here I Am To Worship video. It's a lovely song, and I think this video was excellently put together - it's based on The Passion.

I hope you enjoy it, and also that you have a beautiful week.

This is more of a note-to-self, but if you use Gnome, check out these nice desktop icon sets.

Microsoft officials have confirmed that the company is to introduce a way for users to surf the Web anonymously.

As part of the upcoming Internet Explorer 8 release, Microsoft is incorporating 'inPrivate' - a mode that will not record visits to the user's history and will not allow sites to place cookies on the user's system. Apple currently offers a similar service with its Safari browser. ...

There have also been questions raised over the helpfulness of the latest release, which could make it harder for police to track Internet users that are viewing harmful or illegal websites. ...

Obviously the new Internet Explorer will have pros and cons but my question to you is: Should the Internet be completely private or should our movements be traceable? (Full story)

This debate should be quite interesting. Although with Safari already supporting this feature, I guess the real concern about it now is that with IE, it'll be 'used' by the masses.

Just got back from watching Hancock and I must say, it wasn't that bad at all.

It definitely rates higher than I Am Legend, both in plot, acting, and action (see my review of that). Plus, it has a few twists that had me somewhat impressed. And, with its happy, albeit ideal ending, I recommend it as a movie to add to your shopping cart when strolling through Blockbuster.

In total, I think 7/10 is a fair score.

The next movie for me will probably be either The Incredible Hulk or The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

For some reason, I've never managed to get the native Vista weather gadget to work. I always get "service not unavailable" no matter what location I put in. Because of that I've downloaded and tried Met Office Weather gadget, and even though this works great, it does not give me an option to put in my exact location-I guess that clearly Leamington Spa, furthermore Coventry are not big enough for coverage.. ?

Anyway, today I report that I've found a great gadget that works lovely for weather. It is from Weather Underground and displays current temperature (F and C), the day's max and min, location, and also gives a nice pictorial representation of what it looks like outside (e.g. clouds, sunshine, etc).

I recommend you check it out! Also worth noting is that it doesn't seem to restricted to one country, thus far I've tried out UK, Barbados, Paris, USA and India.

One thing I like about Yahoo!, it's a one-stop-shop, and arguably the best portal to the Word Wide Web. Whether it's day-to-day news from around the globe, or big events such as the World Cup, Euro, or the Olympics.

This time I'm writing about the Olympics and Yahoo!'s photo coverage of the opening ceremony. In my opinion, it's a pretty good slideshow and I recommend you view it here.

Well, the Beijing Olympics has now (i.e. today) officially started and what an Olympics it intends to be! The official site states:

Program of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad - The Games will take place August 8-24, 2008, in Beijing. The Games will play host to the 28 summer sports currently on the Olympic program. Approximately 10,500 athletes are expected to participate in the Games, with around 20,000 accredited media bringing the Games to the world.

Out of all the sports, my favourite ones are diving, gymnastics, and water polo. I would watch these all day long!

Below there's one of the many photos of a Lego Sports City (apparently created by the The Hong Kong LEGO Users Group within 100 hrs), aimed at recreating the 2008 Olympic grounds.

As a past lego-maniac myself (I actually still have a box full of past 'projects', lol), I fully appreciate this Lego Sports City. Very cool and well done!

Anyway, let's all hope and pray that things go well this Olympics with regards to security, natural disasters and athletes doping up.

After viewing the trailer, I was adamant that this new version of Batman was the same old overplayed story and hardly seemed to impress. However, because a number of my friends (K,A,M) said that the Dark Knight was the "best movie they've watched in a while", I decided to give it a go - especially since one friend (K) commented that it was action from beginning to end.

My review? Just above 'good'. The best thing about the movie in my opinion was the plot; the storyline and the characters were very well developed. Conversely, that development was stretched just a bit too much making that 2hrs and 30mins of film, not for the faint of heart - my sister can attest to that. The action scenes in the movie were sparse and I think only about three times there was cause to make some noise.

Possibly the highlight of my evening was the attempt at a Morse code conversation between someone else in the drive-in and myself, as we used our bright lights to flicker on the movie screen between films.

Anyway, all-in-all, I would give the Dark Knight 7.4/10. To me, it is not as good as films like 300 - that had action, plot, and was short - and more recently, No Country For Old Men - which, albeit a bit disturbing, and much less straight forward than Dark Knight, was a great movie.

I guess this just proves that 10,000 French men can be wrong. Or.. that those French men watch bearrr junk movies.

Ever wanted to find a font just like the one used by certain publications, corporations, or ad campaigns? Well now you can, using our WhatTheFont font recognition system. Upload a scanned image of the font [or direct it to a URL] and instantly find the closest matches in our database. If WhatTheFont can’t figure it out, you can submit your image to the WhatTheFont Forum where cloak-draped font enthusiasts around the world will help you out! (Source)

Interestinnngg....

Along with the update to my blog, I've also updated the jasonnurse.com homepage - a snapshot of which is below.

The new links are:

1. Ph.D. Research - this links to my University of Warwick ePortfolio which gives a brief bio (mainly academics) and also outlines the area of research for my Ph.D.

2. Flickr - it was a hard decision, but I've finally abandoned the development of my own photo sharing web site and joined up with Flickr. In my opinion, Flickr is an excellent and very professional web site, and I'm glad to be one of its newest members.

3. Codeyard - the main purpose of this codeyard is to display some of the better projects I have worked on over the years, and in some cases to provide code for general public (but non-commercial) perusal/use. (Most of the stuff I'll try to put under some open source license.)

Bye bye old setup (see below)..

 

Hello, new setup!! (See current blog layout)

Ok ok.. so it's not that comprehensive.. but, I've been meaning to do this for ages and I'm glad I finally got the chance! Instead of having a photo of Barbados (even though the beaches really are picturesque), I thought it appropriate to have a photo of England - Royal Leamington Spa to be specific - as this is where I've spent the last year of my life.

So, please, leave a comment and tell me what you think. Which one looks better? Why? Is this one horrible? (You better not say that *grr) Let me know! :-)

Ah, the Internet: you use it every day for school, work or fun. In such a short period of time, the Net has grown into an essential every day thing that it's hard to imagine life without it.

But how much do you know about the Internet? Did you know that you have the Soviets to thank for this wonderful invention? Or that despite the flack that he got for inventing the Internet, Al Gore actually did play a major role in the creation of the Net?

Here are the 10 Things You Should Know About the Internet!

One of the most important ones identified in this article which people always mix up is the fact that the Internet ≠ World Wide Web!

Techie website Lifehacker reports, "Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth (who we interviewed last year) announced that he's out to make Linux a better-looking operating system than Mac OS X—within two years. An ambitious goal! At O'Reilly's OSCON conference this week, Shuttleworth said:

"I think the great task in front of us in the next two years is to lift the experience of the Linux desktop from something stable and usable and not pretty, to something that's art," Shuttleworth said. "Think of the way the iPhone uses a pure software experience, it abstracts away all the hardware," he said. "You can paint anything on the screen because it's all software.""

Full story here..

Even though this is all fine and dandy, I'm slightly confused as Ubuntu can already be 'tricked out' to great proportions with Gnome add-ons (as I did and displayed a little while ago). I guess Mr. Shuttleworth's aim is to make it prettier straight of of the box?

As the writer correctly states, "If not for these shiny, happy inventions ... the past 25 years would've been a lot less fun"! Check out .. The New Classics: 25 Tech Innovations

My picks are the Gameboy (1989), Realistic Computer Generated characters (1991), Netscape Navigator (1994), Bullet time (1999), Body Motion Capture (1992), Amazon (1995), Polyphonic ringtones (1998) and last but not least YouTube (2005)! What are yours?

You already know about Firefox 3's marquee new features, but now it's time to dig deep and unearth the shortcuts, tweaks, and even Easter eggs that Mozilla marketing doesn't mention. In honor of today's official release of Firefox 3—at 10AM Pacific Time—let's dive in past Firefox 3's most talked-about feature-set into its lesser-known power uses, tricks, and customizations... (Source)

If you're a firefox 3 user, I recommend you view the full article - Power User's Guide to Firefox 3 

Even though this article uses Google search Trends to make its conclusions, I think it is worth a read for those of us who are interested in Linux distros.

See full article -> Which Linux Distributions Are Dying?

Following up from my previous post on this subject, BBC News reports...

Mozilla has officially made history with a new Guinness world record for the largest number of software downloads in a 24-hour period.

The final record breaking 8,002,530 downloads for web browser Firefox 3.0 took place in June.

"The enthusiasm and creativity of Firefox fans was key to making this happen," said marketing head Paul Kim.

Gareth Deaves of Guinness World Records called it "an extremely impressive accomplishment".

The official figure was confirmed after logs from download servers were audited and checked to ensure duplicate and unfinished downloads were not counted. (Source)

Congrats Foxy!

If you've ever spoken to me for any extended period of time, you would know that I love to mix in other languages in my speech. Other languages meaning French and Spanish! Well just now, I've stumbled across a rather worthwhile article listing 8 FREE online resources for learning languages. I must say that some of these are anything but extensive, but they provide a reasonable foundation. And, let's be honest, if you really want to learn a new language, you'll probably do a course!

So enjoy the article! I know I will. Adios amigos! Y, hasta la vista! Or.. En Francais; Au revoir, a bientot!

I stumbled across the following USB stick lately, I could help but come to the conclusion that this is strictly created for soldiers or well, forest dwellers!

Here's the photo of another more snazzy looking one! It's amazing what USB sticks are being combined with these days. Then again, I guess that follows on quite nicely from the weird USB devices that are available in general!

Very thought provoking, albeit aged video, discussing the Internet, net neutrality, and the scary perspective or 'fact' that our Internet is under attack. This video is NOT meant for 'techies' but rather, for anyone that uses the Internet. [See savetheinternet.com for more info.]

I also recommend this video response. It's a few minutes longer but it is worth it, as it is about twice as comprehensive and descriptive.

Woopie!

I must say however, it is a real shame England got eliminated.. the atmosphere over here just isn't the same! It lacks that sense of joy, and patriotism that was so prevalent during the World Cup in 2006. England was so alive then! Well, that's before Portugal eliminated them. eek!

[Image above sourced from the Official UEFA Euro 2008 website. You can get a PDF, pin-up version of the matches from UEFA here.]

Even though a friend informed me that the trailer trumps the movie, because it was on my list of movies to watch for 2008 I decided to follow up on my post and watch Iron Man anyway.

My result? A wee bit too unbelievable. I think I would believe the Spiderman story, or even the Batman or Joker story of how they came to be, before I swallow the one purported in Iron Man. I must admit that I have no clue of if this is how he came to be in the comics, but regardless, I find it a little unbelievable. Being able to make an "Iron Man" prototype in a cave? Largely by yourself? That has a flame thrower? Probably I'm getting too old for this stuff to be accepted so easily!

Objectively however, it was an OK movie, but I would say one definitely for the teens or anyone who treasures any comic-gone-movie title from Marvel. In this right, I would give it 6/10.

The official death toll for Burma's cyclone disaster has jumped to almost 78,000 people, with nearly 56,000 missing, according to state TV. ... (Full Story; my previous report)

Barring a terrorist attack on a major city, today is the first day I have seen the same story being covered on the front page of three of the top news articles I read. BBC, Yahoo! and Metro were all keen to cover the plummeting of the wild life populations alluded to in a recent report.

The BBC reports, "Between a quarter and a third of the world's wildlife has been lost since 1970, according to data compiled by the Zoological Society of London. Populations of land-based species fell by 25%, marine by 28% and freshwater by 29%, it says. Humans are wiping out about 1% of all other species every year, and one of the "great extinction episodes" in the Earth's history is under way, it says" (Source).

What are the core reasons you ask? The authors seem to squarely blame it on pollution, farming and urban expansion, over-fishing and hunting. But of course, that can't be a surprise for us. I believe it was the Metro (on the paper's front page) that said that human population was up 60%. In their report online they state add to this point and state, "The declines [of the wild life populations] come at a time when humans are consuming ever more natural resources, and are now using 25% more than the planet can replace" (Source).

Having read this post, I'm positive you will agree that the polar bear photo (from the Metro) illustrates the current state of affairs quite accurately.

If I didn't know better, I would think Mother Earth is getting upset.

A massive search and rescue operation is under way in south-western China after one of the most powerful earthquakes in decades.

Troops have arrived in Wenchuan county at the epicentre, which was largely cut off by the quake - but heavy rain is hampering rescue operations.

Elsewhere in Sichuan province, frantic efforts are being made to reach thousands of people under the rubble.

The death toll is now more than 12,000, officials say, and looks set to rise.
Chinese rescuers search a collapsed building for survivors in Beichuan, Sichuan province, on Tuesday

In one city, Mianyang, near the epicentre, more than 18,000 people are said to be buried under the rubble, state news agency Xinhua reports.

In the nearby town of Mianzhu, at least 4,800 people are trapped, and massive landslides have buried roads to outlying villages, state news agency Xinhua says. (Source)

Here's more information including videos and photos from Google, Yahoo!, and CNN.

Please remember China and Burma, and all others in which there is extreme tragedy, in your prayers.

Somewhat random and likely inaccurate, but blog-worthy nonetheless.

Online source of image.

From the sky... Before and after: extent of flooding clear in Nasa satellite images

(BBC)

 

On the ground...

(Telegraph)

 

Regardless of where you are in the world, surely you have heard about the tragedy currently affecting Burma. Well below is an update taken from the BBC.

Experts say that a massive aid operation is needed to help those affected by Cyclone Nargis, which smashed into the low-lying Irrawaddy delta region on Saturday.

But the Burmese government has spurned some offers of aid, such as one from the US to deploy navy ships, and many foreign aid workers are being held in a queue for visas. The government has approved some UN air shipments, but these are still being delayed.

A Bangkok-based UN official said that World Food Programme planes loaded with 40 tons of high-energy biscuits were stuck in Dhaka and Dubai because they had not yet received permission to land in Burma.  ...
On Wednesday, the top US diplomat in Burma said that the number of deaths could be much higher than reported. Burmese state media said on Thursday that 22,980 people had been confirmed dead and another 42,119 were missing.

But Shari Villarosa, the charge d'Affaires of the US embassy in Burma - also known as Myanmar - said the death toll could reach or exceed 100,000, based on information from a non-governmental organisation that she would not name. (Source)

Please remember this country, and all others in which there is extreme tragedy, in your prayers.

Back in 2005 5% of the Internet users said they were using RSS aggregators or XML readers to get the news and other information delivered from blogs and content-rich Web sites as it is posted online (according to the Pew Internet Project).

Feedburner recently reported that they track around 60 million RSS subscribers. Even if we bump that number to 70 million RSS users (counting people that use RSS with other applications or platforms) this would still convert to a meager 5,4% of the Internet users around the world, as of today.

What is the takeaway message? Only a very small percentage of the Internet population is aware of the RSS format and its benefits, and that number is growing slowly over time.

By creating the RSS Awareness Day and celebrating it every year we should be able to get the general public exposed to this format, hopefully increasing the usage of RSS feeds and related applications among Internet users. (Source)

Well.. Happy RSS Day!

A few days ago whilst browsing the Web trying to locate where a quote (i.e. "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion") I had heard earlier that week had originated, I stumbled upon a rather fascinating blog post titled "19 Eponymous Laws Of Software Development".

In that blog post I found the aforementioned quote - also known as Parkinson’s Law or the law of bureaucracy - and a ton of other pretty snazzy entries (not all related to software development). I especially like: Postel’s Law, Pareto Principle, Hofstadter’s Law, Linus’s Law and Wirth’s law. It's a nice article, I suggest you check it out.

Etymology of A Distro..

"On the flipside of things, there is a whole different world of OS names, some are funny, some are insightful, some are romantic, others are cute, some are too small to fill their creators’ huge egos, and finally some are like their proprietary rivals, just boring. So if you ever wondered what your favorite Linux distro means, you will probably find the explanation here. (or BSD, I know they are not the same but I decided to add to the diversity of this article.)" (Ref)

Great article. I have used Ubuntu and Red Hat. What about you?

For the last few years, the 'big boys' of the Internet have made some interesting Earth Day logos out of their usual emblems; this year was no different. This post is mainly for my records; I want to see how they change next year. So here they are in no particular order.

I checked live.com, altavista.com, digg.com but they haven't done anything. If you know of any others to add, please let me know!

Also check out, the Earth Day home page, fact sheets, and some other enlightening toons [1] [2] (the one above was sourced from here).

Here's a very interesting article I read in Friday's Metro.

"The internet has much bigger problems that slowness (Metro, Wed) - the real issue now is the total amount of data we download today.

Thanks to the recent boom in popularity of streaming and downloading video from the internet, we are all downloading far more data than before. BBC's iPlayer has come under pressure from British internet service providers as the chief culprit thanks to its high-quality video and peer-to-peer network causing an unprecedented increase in data traffic.

As a result, 'unlimited download' packages are no longer financially viable for any ISP, even big names such as BT and Virgin. It's just a matter of time before they start tightening limits, hiking up their prices or even going bankrupt." Edward Noad, London SE1.

Even though some of this guy's comments make things sound a bit gloomier than they are, I do believe in certain cases, he does make some valid and rather pertinent points; one good example is unlimited packages!

Case in point: I remember lately some flat mates and I were perplexed at why our Internet connection was going SUPER slow between the hours of 5pm-12am,.. then we got the word of a possible 'cap' on our downloading between that time. Normally that would not be a problem HOWEVER, last time I checked, we're paying for UNLIMITED Internet! Then again, these days, I guess nothing is 'unlimited', companies (such as my former mobile service provider!!) throw in a 'Fair Usage Policy' which, at its heart, is a mechanism to limit your unlimited access.

Ah well, what can we do? BBC iPlayer is an excellent idea. Possibly we need to get this faster Internet in place asap? Or will we have to revamp every 10 years or so? After all this has the perfect makings for a classical cyclic problem!

Since I posted a Top 10 listing for 2007 yesterday, today I figured that I would drag us back to the present i.e. 2008. Therefore, here's Yahoo!'s 10 Most-Anticipated movies for 2008. My picks are Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Wanted and The Dark Knight. I can't wait!

"50 Top 10 Lists of 2007" - This is definitely one of the best articles I have seen in a while. TIME, (in partnership with CNN) has published 50, Top 10 Lists of 2007. These span categories from news and entertainment to science and technology. At first glance some of the ones which peek my curiosity are listed below.

News: Top 10 News Stories, Top 10 Underreported Stories, Top 10 Religion Stories, Top 10 TIME.com Most Popular Stories
Arts & Entertainment: Top 10 Movies
Science: Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs, Top 10 Scientific Discoveries, Top 10 Natural Disasters
Business, Tech & Sports: Top 10 Gadgets, Top 10 Websites
Pop Culture: Top 10 Quotes, Top 10 Buzzwords, Top 10 TV Ads

I would brand this article a 'Must Read' for anyone!

Wooppieeee!!!

"One of the final hurdles preventing Europeans from chit-chatting on their cell phones while hurtling through Euro airspace has been cleared, as UK regulator Ofcom (akin to our FCC), has given the OK for cell phones to be used on planes, as long as they're above 3,000 meters. (Many of the other approvals required across Europe have already been granted.) ...

Of course, in the U.S., no such plans are underway, though those hopeful for getting Internet access while airborne are in for a treat. This week, the FAA approved plans for American Airlines to offer in-flight Wi-Fi service, and that approval can potentially be applied to any U.S. airline that wants to offer the same type of technology (provided by Aircell). No news on a date when such services will be turned on, but many are hoping to have live Wi-Fi rolled out on at least a few planes by the end of the year." (Ref)

On a more tangential yet similar note though, check out this article: Airliner showers: A very guilty pleasure.

Cell phones, Wi-Fi, showers.. what next?!

Just was doing some research which lead me to GE's web site and as I was browsing, I stumbled across a GE fact sheet that shows that NBC - a channel I knew well back in Barbados (Law & Order, Las Vegas, Scrubs) - is one of the six businesses which constitutes GE!

We learn something new everyday.

Happy Easter!!!

I must say, in England the season of Easter seems a bit more publicised and widely - dare I remark - 'accepted', than it is in Barbados. By 'accepted' however, I do not necessarily mean that everyone is jumping for joy that Jesus is risen! (even though He IS!) but the point that even non-Christians are eager to wish others a Happy Easter.

(Regarding Easter eggs - I had tried to find some authoritative and official Christian source to explain the origin, and purpose of Easter eggs.. however none I found were up to my standards.

It is my belief however that Easter eggs within Christianity are a symbol of new life. So yes, it's more than just a big lump of Cadbury chocolate!)

Have a blessed Easter.

Well, even though the ending of the movie was "leaked" to me (thanks to a certain female- M!!), it was still a largely enjoyable experience! This Drama, Thriller, Western Adaptation is likely one of the better movies I've watched in a while, a bit.. gory and senseless at times but, pretty alright.

One comment I must make though is that I think some scenes could have been expanded upon, to facilitate a more 'complete' story (eg. how the Llewelyn Moss met his end). BUTT, I fully appreciate why such was not done - and no, not because the movie was already scheduled to be ~2 hours long!

My take is that it's all in keeping with the title of the movie.. *here I pause to let you ponder*. If you take the title, "No County for Old Men" at face value, you'll see that it was not really about Llewelyn (hence why his .. 'departure' was not shown), or about the Chigurh (and the fact that he got away scot free). As the movie progresses you can see that Sherrif Ed Tom Bell is just struggling to fathom the crimes, killings, and generally 'the times'. Lastly, look at how the movie ended with "Old Man" Sherrif Bell's reflections on his dreams. *pause for effect* .. get me?

I suggest you watch the movie once more - if you've watched it previously, keeping my comments in mind, I'm sure it will be better the second time around.

33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”
38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:
      THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

I must say, Google is one of the Top 3 sites I visit online. And that's not only because of its market-leading Search, but also its many other cool and fun gadgets. Dare I say it, I actually thought that I had, to a good extent, explored all the "kingdom" of Google! However, today PC world outlines some other things (they call "pranks, goofs, and put-ons") that definitely slipped my eyes. Here are the "best of the bunch"!

"The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show. In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the "burn" rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book.

Beyond 2008, working with "best-case" and "realistic-moderate" scenarios, they project the Iraq and Afghan wars, including long-term U.S. military occupations of those countries, will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion — or more — by 2017.

Interest on money borrowed to pay those costs could alone add $816 billion to that bottom line, they say." (Ref)

...

Today is Palm Sunday. The day commemorates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in the days before his Passion, reported by all four Canonical Gospels Mark 11:1-11, Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19.

Last year June, I reported on a commandment listing from the Vatican which highlighted a list of Ten Commandments for drivers. Well, the Vatican is at it again, but not for drivers this time, now it's more focused on sins in the societal context as you can see below.

"VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of "new" sins such as causing environmental blight.

The guidance came at the weekend when Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti, the Vatican's number two man in the sometimes murky area of sins and penance, spoke of modern evils.

Asked what he believed were today's "new sins," he told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the greatest danger zone for the modern soul was the largely uncharted world of bioethics.

"(Within bioethics) there are areas where we absolutely must denounce some violations of the fundamental rights of human nature through experiments and genetic manipulation whose outcome is difficult to predict and control," he said.

The Vatican opposes stem cell research that involves destruction of embryos and has warned against the prospect of human cloning.

Girotti, in an interview headlined "New Forms of Social Sin," also listed "ecological" offences as modern evils.

In recent months, Pope Benedict has made several strong appeals for the protection of the environment, saying issues such as climate change had become gravely important for the entire human race." (Ref)

Some of the other newly purported sins include: polluting the environment, causing social injustice, causing poverty, becoming obscenely wealthy and taking drugs (Ref).

These sins of course are to be added to the old (more personal) list of: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride.

To be fair.. New times.. new sins..

As the author writes.. "Here are listed 10 categories of devices you can buy to make you feel like a James Bond, from laser beams that cut things to x-ray goggles that see through clothes to CSI grade forensic lab hardware." (Ref)

My favourite two gadgets are shown below.

Laser	Virtual Secret Surveillance

(Please note that it is your responsibility to follow the law in your country with respect to the purchase and use of these gadgets. I neither (a) am endorsing any of these products or (b) accepting any responsibility for your use of them. Use them at your own risk!)

This person's post is simply excellent, exquisite even! (And it's not just me that thinks so, it's got over 800 diggs!) Here's an excerpt..

"Recently, the blogosphere echoed that sentiment with news of “Facebook fatigue”.

1. In January, The Register started by saying “Whisper it, but numbers from web analytics outfit comScore have confirmed what the chatter in bars and cafes has been saying for months - people are, just, well, bored of social networks.” About Facebook, they added that “behaviour seems much the same; join, accumulate dozens of semi-friends, spy on a few exes for a bit, play some Scrabulous, get bored, then get on with your life, occasionally dropping in to respond to a message or see some photos that have been posted.”
2. A few weeks later, Techcrunch also looking at ComScore data said “The number of people who visit Facebook has been leveling off over the past few months in the U.S., and even dipped by about 800,000 individuals in January. (…) Maybe all that friend spam has something to do with the decline. Will the Facebook fatigue get worse, or is this just a temporary dip?”
3. Adding his grain of salt, Rory Cellan-Jones from the BBC added: “The general feeling is that the kids, with their minute attention spans, have already tired of the social networking site and moved on to something more hip and happening. I think the opposite is true - that Facebook’s new wave of older users have decided it is just not worth the bother and are now leaving it to the kids.”

..." (Ref)

Cellan-Jones' comments (above) grab my attention the most and you can check his full post titled, "Facebook - back to the kids?".

This entire FB thing has been quite amusing I must say! But I do wonder if Twitter is.. really the next "best thing since slice bread" to invest in. To be totally honest, I'm more interested in the comments made about FB that I am in the original author's comparison of it with Twitter.

Anyway, in a couple months we will see the outcome (personally, I doubt Twitter will reign, it's quite limited in functionality and prospective audience compared to MySpace, Hi5 and their current successor, FB).  Whatever the grand result.. I'm sure MILLIONS of you out there are can't wait to hop on this cyclic bandwagon whatever tomorrow's new thing will be! No offense meant of course.

A blast from the past!

As you'll see the video I've embedded above is not the real music video, but on the positive side, it does have the lyrics! Anyway, I also suggest you check out the real music video! Seeing the guys and noting the year it was done - probably around 1995 - definitely adds more feeling and passion to an already great song. Enjoy!

I found the following story a bit of an eye-opener.. I'm sure I had heard of a similar regulation/guideline before, but I had never actually heard of it preventing a video! Read below..

"The video for Gnarls Barkley's new single, "Run," may feature a cameo from Justin Timberlake, but it's still not quite ready to air on MTV.

That's because of its strobe effects, which caused the clip to fail the Harding Test -- guidelines established to prevent TV images from triggering epileptic seizures.

However, the video is available on various online outlets, and Gnarls Barkley member Danger Mouse was hopeful the situation could be resolved shortly.

"I don't know exactly what's going on, but we're having issues. I think (the video) is cool. It works for me. But I'm not necessarily that easily seasick," he told Billboard.com. "We can't predict how people are going to interpret it."" (Ref)

"Scientists working with Antarctic ice have found that the level of greenhouse gases is at the highest level in over half a million years. Carbon dioxide is 27% higher now than any other time over the last 650 000 years. Methane, an even stronger greenhouse gas is 130% higher. The period of time studied covers eight full glacial cycles including a time when the earth's position relative to the sun is the same as it is today. Other scientists have found that the annual rate at which the sea has risen since the industrial revolution is twice that of over the last 5000 years. It is predicted that by 2100 the sea level will be 40cm higher. These results provide strong evidence that human activity since the industrial revolution, rather than just natural processes, has strongly altered the world's climate. As one of the scientists involved in the research put it: 'The levels of primary greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are up dramatically since the Industrial Revolution, at a speed and magnitude that the Earth has not seen in hundreds of thousands of years.'" (Ref)

Just something to ponder about.. Hey, with that in mind, have any of you watched the movie An Inconvenient Truth? If you have, here's an interesting follow-up BBC story I found titled "Gore climate film's nine 'errors'".

I love photos, they tell exciting stories and capture a moment in time forever. Here are a few photos that a writer says, "Changed the world".

Just a few songs I like..

The Hoosiers - Worried About Ray

Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music

Kate Nash - Foundations

Basshunter - Now You're Gone

Blue October - Into the Ocean

(These links were all working at the time of this post but we all know how that goes. :\)

After seeing the poster I did guess that this was another "Scary movie"-like film and therefore, really should have avoided it! However, I am such an avid fan of 300, I simply HAD to watch its parody in Meet the Spartans.

But, as with the two Scary Movie films I watched (1 and 2), it left me totally disappointed. Rather than making me laugh, a great deal of it just seemed offensive and poorly done - also come on! A dance off?? A "yo momma" competition?? (n)!

In general, the movie mostly relied on vulgarity, especially "strong language", and anything that seemed even remotely "funny" to the writers/directors/producers.

But, to be honest, I did not expect much.. either from the movie itself, or from the 13 great Spartan warriors Spartans who set out to defend their homeland against the invading Persians (whose ranks include Ghost Rider, Rocky Balboa, and a hunchbacked Paris).

Rating: 3/10. The plot gave it that high score.

Maybe missing an "if ($unread > 1)" statement somewhere Yahoo!?

Time for a refresher of sorts. This post mainly acts as an update to previous posts.

Documented civilian deaths from violence: 81,269 – 88,720

Deaths in each week from 2003–2007

Deaths per day from vehicle bombs

Deaths per day from gunfire / executions

 

The preceding statistics were taken from the Iraq Body Count web site, or more specifically, this page.

A few nights ago I finally got around to seeing this highly spoken of film - namely I Am Legend - and for me, three words sum it up - not worth it.

There just seemed to be a lack of real depth to the story and at times I honestly could not tell if I was watching Resident Evil or not!

Mr. Smith's performance in general was OK but the movie, to me, did not do his talent justice. If you compare this movie to another one, such as I, Robot, I'm sure you will agree.

All-in-all, as I said, this movie was disappointing. On the bright side though, I like the official website. Well done!

This is a follow-up story to my original MicroHoo? post.

"SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc.'s board will reject Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6 billion takeover bid after concluding the unsolicited offer undervalues the slumping Internet pioneer, a person familiar with the situation said Saturday.

The decision could provoke a showdown between two of the world's most prominent technology companies with Internet search leader Google Inc. looming in the background. Leery of Microsoft expanding its turf on the Internet, Google already has offered to help Yahoo avert a takeover and urged antitrust regulators to take a hard look at the proposed deal." [Continue reading...]

Well, we're all entitled to an opinion and here is one person's take on the 10 Best-designed web sites in the world! To be fair though, he also does give some fairly decent reasons!

• Apple.com
• Mozilla.com
• Iconbuffet.com
• Boldchat.com
• Circografico.com.ar
• Enhancedlabs.com
• Protolize.org
• Bearskinrug.co.uk
• Corkd.com
• Sumagency.com

For me, I do agree with most however Boldchat... not so much. :\ If I were to swap that with something, I'm tempted to drop in Yahoo! - even though I do think it is about time they do a redesign. I say Yahoo! mainly because of the amount of content they have available and how well they designed the layout and present it. One other aspect I appreciate is their largely unobtrusive integration of ads (especially in the narrow layout).

At some point in time though, I think I'll try to pull together a Top 10 of my own.. Hmm, only problem is, I probably only visit about 10-15 sites! :\ lol! Anyway, let me know what you people think! Is this person crazy or what? I think Apple.com is a must for all Top 10 lists. Surely we concur on that?!

"3D Realms president Scott Miller commits to a new Forever release date after 11 long years of delays and beating around the bush. Xbox 360, PS3, and PC versions being planned." (Ref)

If you've known me for any extended period of time, you would know that in my "gaming life", there has only been ONE GAME, that has EVER, captivated me to enormous proportions. That game is Duke Nukem. I honestly enjoyed playing that game SO much, I could do it for hours. And, when I found out you could download maps, and also play with friends online, !!! Well, you can imagine what happened.

The thing is though, all that stuff that I mentioned above, happened between the years of 1999-2004; so in essence, quite a while ago! More recently I had tried playing one of the newer versions of Duke - Manhattan Project to be exact - but I didn't like it too much.. (To me, it seemed very much a 2d-ish game where you largely go back and forward. Also, I found it a bit difficult to find exactly where you need to go to get accessories/keys and finish the stage. I do take the point though that Duke was always like that, however, now it's much more complicated!) So now,  with this news, I have Forever to look forward too! That is one demo I'll definitely be giving a go!

Very lately I have actually been considering purchasing a game - you know just for 'fun' - and since I've tried Ghost Recon on Xbox, that has jumped to the TOP of my "desired" list! I can thank my flatmates for that one! Anyway, I'll postpone the decision until I give this 2008 release of Duke Nukem Forever a shot! If it's anything like the Duke Nukem 3D of the old days - of course with better graphics, and game play! - that may just edge out Tom Clancy's army-based blockbuster. taa!

By the way, here's the Official Duke Nukem Forever Teaser!

"May 4, 2007 -- Stung by the loss of Internet advertising firm DoubleClick to Google last month, Microsoft has intensified its pursuit of a deal with Yahoo!, asking the company to re-enter formal negotiations, The Post has learned.

While Microsoft and Yahoo! have held informal deal talks over the years, sources say the latest approach signals an urgency on Microsoft's part that has up until now been lacking.

The new approach follows an offer Microsoft made to acquire Yahoo! a few months ago, sources said. But Yahoo! spurned the advances of the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant. Wall Street sources put a roughly $50 billion price tag on Yahoo!. ..." (Ref)

February 1, 2008 - "Unable to topple Google Inc. on its own, Microsoft Corp. is trying to force crippled rival Yahoo Inc. into a shotgun marriage, with a wager worth nearly $42 billion that the two companies together will have a better chance of tackling the Internet search leader.

Microsoft's audacious attempt to buy Yahoo, spelled out in an unsolicited offer announced Friday, shows just how much Google threatens the world's largest software maker's grip on how people interact with computers. ...

Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li expects Yahoo to resist, predicting the company "will do everything possible to stay independent," even if it means swallowing its pride and rehiring Google to run its search engine and sell ads on its site. ...

Google already controls 62 percent of the worldwide search market, and has been widening its lead, according to the latest data from comScore Media Metrix. By combining, Microsoft and Yahoo would have a 16 percent share of the worldwide search market, the Web traffic tracking company said. ...

The fate of Yahoo's brand also is unclear if Microsoft takes over. Both Ballmer and Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's platforms and services division, hailed Yahoo's strong brand value but did not commit to keeping the name alive." (Ref)

Tomorrow -  Who knows? Definitely, to be continued.

As it seems that every other person has a Gmail account, but few know its real 'power', I find this article quite appropriate and useful!

Check out the 11 Power Tips for Gmail!

Sometimes, I think the readers of my blog really need to get a blog of their own! Not, meaning anything bad of course, just that they do have "things to say" and I would really welcome the company in the Blogosphere! Why I say this you ask? Well, after seeing the following story, one of my readers suggested that I carry this article as a follow-up to one of my previous posts - namely, the one on the song from Plain White T’s - Hey There Delilah.

Anyway, on with the story! Definitely check it out if you know the song.

Bet you didn't think she was real!! I didn't.. It's a pity she has a boyfriend.. Wonder how long that will last,

(Thanks for the suggestion J! :-))

"Once again, Mac delivers!". If you're a Mac fan, I'm sure after Mr. Job's annual keynote speech a couple days ago - or more specifically, after feasting your eyes on that sweet-looking MacBook Air - that was your unanimous conclusion. If you're a shareholder however, I'm not sure you'd be so happy. Why? Well, let's read together:

"Apple's stocks took a beating on the stock exchange on Tuesday 15 January following Steve Jobs' annual keynote speech at Macworld2008 in San Francisco. Although shares in the company peaked as the CEO took to the stage they soon started to drop until Jobs announced the MacBook Air where they recovered slightly.
However as the news sunk in of what had been said the shares went south even further hitting $165 before a final rally before 4pm brought them back to a closing $169, down $14.88 (around 6%) at the end of the trading day from $180." [Source]

Oh well, I'm sure they'll be back up soon, after all, "HAVE YOU SEEN THE MACBOOK AIR?!" ...

Doing this should be really simple but MS, for some reason has chosen to integrate it with Windows Internet Explorer thus making additions of new feeds counter-intuitive at best. Anyway, to get it loading your feeds of choice, browse to the Windows Sidebar and gadgets (overview) page and scroll down to "How does Feed Headlines work?". After a few steps you'll be up-and-running! Enjoy!

PS. Don't forget to add my blog to your Feed list!!

Here are a few news clips I found noteworthy as I browsed the newspaper on the bus this morning.

"About 151,000 Iraqis have died in the three years since the US invasion, a study has concluded. The latest estimate, based on surveys of nearly 10,000 households by the World Health Organisation and the Iraqi government, is the most accurate study of the death toll since the war began, experts believe."
Me: *sigh, so sad. I wonder how many were civilian casualties.

"Waste from the new nuclear power plans is likely to be buried 1km (3,000ft) underground in secure vaults, the Government said."
Me: Sounds good! We need to get rid of waste (which is probably toxic), so dig a _deep_ hole, pack it the earth, and cork it shut! Excellent! ..

"First-Class degrees were handed to students in record numbers last year. One in eight students graduated with a first, while half scored 2:1s [Upper second class in B'dos]. It comes as academics said they had to alter courses due to the rising amount of school leavers being poorly prepared for studying independently."
Me: Am I to assume that 'alter courses' means that degrees were made easier so students could score higher? Or just that they were structured in a more useful manner which lead to students getting on better with their work? (I think there is a difference and that one of these approaches is a better approach to things!).

And finally..

"Being a Newcastle fan must be the worst job in football."
Me: lol. The english really take the topic of football so, so seriously!

All of the above articles were sourced from Today's Metro newspaper (check them online at www.metro.co.uk).

Just a little while ago I was reading a post from a friend over at tech-barbados on the topic of online TV and how in his opinion, great it was. In that post he informed me, that by using a third party web site persons such as myself - who are not in Barbados - could now view our "home town" channel online and, for free. (Not that the channel is that, or any good, it's more that it's a small taste of home. )

After reading his post, I started to do some browsing and I found an entire host of sites offering TV, especially in the UK! So, as a prelude to what I hope will be a more thorough post at a later date, here is some of the stuff I have found. I hope it's useful!

http://www.jumptv.com/ - Watch TV worldwide (football games too!) including Barbados' very own CBC Channel 8. (This is the one that was mentioned to me.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/ - BBC isn't missing out on this online tv action! Check out their version in the BBC iPlayer. Overview: essentially the iPlayer lets you watch shows or news that was televised previously on any of the BBC channels. The caveat however is that I _think_ they choose which shows and they are only available for a certain time (number of days) after they are initially broadcasted on local TV. To be honest I'm a bit fuzzy on the particulars myself but when things are clearer, I'll be sure to update you! (I think there is an option to download as well!)

http://www.channel4.com/4od/index.html - The best of Channel 4, on demand! To quote their web site, "4oD is simply another way to get your TV hit, 24/7. Download thought-provoking documentaries, award winning drama or great comedy." There are "Loads of the latest TV to watch instantly or as a download." and you can even "Rent films from our specially selected range for £1.99". Sounds, freshing. Note that for this it seems like you have to download additional software.

http://www.itv.com/Watchnow/default.html - I have not tried this out but it seems practical. Worth noting is that iTV is definitely one of the better channels on basic English TV.

http://download.five.tv/ - To round up the lot, here's Five.tv's adaptation. It appears like they have gone for the strict pay-per-view model i.e. you buy what you want, no free viewing here. On the bright side they do have CSI episodes (Las Vegas, Miami and NY) going for a cool £1.49-£2.49/each or entire seasons for around £30-£40. Grey's Anatomy also features as a downloadable programme.

Ah, with TV directly on my PC, how, oh how, will I get any work done now? .. On the bright side, there's less reason to move from my desk!

Here are some articles worth reading for any of you who, well, go online! And, especially those millions of you who can't seem to pull yourself away from social networking sites.

Cyber thieves target social sites: "It is not just the average net user who is a fan of social network sites, so are hi-tech criminals. So say security professionals predicting what net criminals will turn to in 2008 to catch people out.
The quasi-intimate nature of the sites makes people share information readily leaving them open to all kinds of other attacks, warn security firms.
Detailed information gathered via the sites will also help tune spam runs or make phishing e-mail more convincing.

Friendly faces
There was no doubt that 2007 was the year that sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, Orkut rose to prominence as millions of people signed up to use them and started posting information about themselves and what they were up to.
But in 2008 these sites will become an attack vector for the hi-tech gangs who are now behind the vast majority of cyber crime." [Full story]

Boom times for hi-tech criminals: "Starting a career as a cyber criminal got much easier in 2007. So say security experts looking back on 12 months in which hi-tech gangs took control of the net's underground.
The economy supporting these groups has matured so much that now everything from virus-writing kits to spam-spewing zombies are available for rent or hire." [Full story]

Finally, here's a noteworthy Glossary which you may find helpful in understanding some of the terms mentioned above.

Check out the celebrations for NYE around the world (video)! Hmm.. I didn't know New Zealand was the first country to enter '08; you learn something new every day! Enjoy the video!

Firstly, Happy New Year! I wish you the best for 2008.

To start this year, I would like to share with you a Daily Bread reading taking from RBC Ministries 'Our Daily Bread' Dec07-Feb08: December 31 2007. It reads..

"Which of the following quotes are in the Bible?
1. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
2. God helps those who help themselves.
3. Confession is good for the soul.
4. Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
5. Money is the root of all evil.
6. Honesty is the best policy.

Believe it not, only one of those quotes is found in the Bible. The fourth one is from Job 5:7.

George Muller, a pastor and orphanage director in the 1800s, wouldn't have had trouble knowing which of those quotes ere from the Bible. Why? Because he read through it more than 100 times! He said: "I look upon it as a lost when I have not had a good time over the Word of God. . . . I have always made it a rule never to begin work until I have had a good season with God and His Word. The blessing I have received has been wonderful."

We don't need to feel guilty if we don't read the Bible as much as Muller did. But consider with me reading it through at least once this coming year-not so that we can answer some tricky questions about it, but because it was given to us by God and is profitable for our spiritual growth (2 Tim. 3:16-17). - Anne Cetas

Read the Bible to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy."

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you. Ta!

We're not even into 2008 as yet - albeit a matter of hours away - and Yahoo! has already published their "10 most anticipated movies of 2008"! The ones that appeal to me the most are: Rambo, Iron Man, Wanted (Angelina Jolie!!!) and The Dark Knight! Check out the trailers at the site referenced above. Enjoy!

After reading this forum post and being somewhat lost as I have not watched most of those pics (no way I was watching Hairspray!), I though appropriate to compose a list of 'My Top 10 movies for 2007'. So, without further adieu, here's my list - and for once, it's in order!

1. 300
Live Free or Die Hard
Shooter
Disturbia
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Simpsons Movie
Transformers
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
I Am Legend (still to watch)
American Gangster (still to watch)

Feel free to let me know what you think. In my humble opinion though, the top four were excellent movies. I'm sorry I have not gotten to watch 'I Am Legend' and 'American Gangster' because I feel that these would have rated higher - definitely above Pirates and Transformers.

I just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas!!!

If I may, I would like to ask you to pause, just for 15 seconds and think about CHRISTmas, moving beyond all the commercialisation and sales and thoughts of old men in red suits, to its real meaning *hint* I think we are celebrating the birth of someone *hint*.

All the best. :-)

Yours sincerely,
Jason

I was just speaking to a friend about Wireless connections and the fact that having, or just even connecting to these types of networks -generally all connections and pcs probably can be seen -can always be risky business. To exemplify my point, and also for the benefit of you guys and gals, I found this nice video for you to view. Take a gander!

Hardcore stuff huh? Not really, anyone can do it. Be vigilant, be veryyy vigilant!

"Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has said teachers who refuse younger students access to the site are "bad educators".

Speaking at the Online Information conference at London's Olympia, he played down the long-running controversy over the site's authority.

He said young students should be able to reference the online encyclopaedia in their work.

Mr Wales said the site, which is edited by users, should be seen as a "stepping stone" to other sources.

As long as an article included accurate citations, he said he had "no problem" with it being used as a reference for younger students, although academics would "probably be better off doing their own research". " [Check out the full story where they talk a bit about the new procedures which aim to make Wikipedia more trustworthy.]

Re. article: *darn.. *grumble* :-\

I actually watched this on tele and found it totally astonishing and therefore must let you know about it! See the video clip and article excerpt below.

Another interesting article which is related to the one above is this one, where it is reported that Mugabe has told European leaders that he will not be lectured on how to rule Zimbabwe and "On human rights and good governance, Africa sets its own agenda, of its own free will,"" [Ref]

Sounds fair enough right? After all no one tells US or UK governments how to run their countries, right? But then what about the repots of .. "racist dictatorship" as mentioned by the Archbishop? Are such claims to be ignored? .. Up to last night I was watching Black Hawk Down (on Five movies!!) and well.. forgive me if this sounds distasteful but certain parts of Africa seem like very worrying places.. May God help us all.

Since I came to Warwick, I have been constantly inquiring about opportunities to play some football. Ideally I wanted something not too demanding, but which would probably let me play a game I love, at most two times per week. While asking around one day, I came across a lecturer who was pretty sure there was a Comp Sci team (*yey for me), and he told me he would ask around and inform me of whatever information he found.

Well yesterday was, "that day"! When he saw me he came over and said that there was indeed a team, and that he was also told exactly how to find out more about it, and even how to get involved! He then proceeded to say two of the most dreaded words I've heard in... oh, the last 15minutes! i.e. "Check Facebook"!

Would you believe that?! (Then again, being people of the 21st century, you probably would.) The only way it seems like I can find out more is by signing up to Facebook and searching for the Warwick Comp Sci team (group)! Surely this is discrimination of some sort! Actually, check the definition, that's my proof!

I do not know about you guys (and gals), but I think it's a real shame when real-life social gatherings have, presence and activity in the 'virtual-world', as an outspoken prerequisite!

I saw this commercial on TV only yesterday and it reminded me that I simply could NOT, not blog about it! If you have not viewed this advert yet, please check it out below. I guarantee, it will be worth it! (Also bear in mind that £10m was spent to produce it!!)

Background info..

"The 90-second "tipping point" TV ad is Guinness' most expensive campaign work to date, was filmed in a poor Argentinian mountain community.

It features an intricate domino cascade watched by the villagers, involving books, burning hay bales, cars, oil drums and household furniture, which ends in a tower of books transforming into a giant pint of Guinness. The ad is topped off with Guinness's long-standing "Good things come to those who wait" strapline. ...

Around 6,000 dominoes were used for the ad, around 10,000 books, 400 tyres, six cars and 45 wardrobes, while 24 hours of footage was captured despite the dominoes taking just 14 seconds to topple." [Ref]

I'm tempted to say, "Another year, another World AIDS day", but that just seems so callous and totally misrepresents my thoughts. AIDS.. *sigh, serious business. As I sit here reviewing some statistics and facts, it's just plain scary!

Again though, in the back of my mind I'm thinking, we can put a man on the moon [Ref], control machines (robots or satellites) from hundreds of miles away [Ref], even develop WMDs that can obliterate entire nations, yet, AIDS and Cancer are taking us to the cleaners! Now, please do not get me wrong, I know this view in itself is probably rather ignorant and possibly even naive but geez, HIV-related deaths in 2007 so far total 2.1 million, of which 330,000 were children under 15 [Ref]!

Check the stats (quick or full) people! Also, here's the England PM Gordon Brown's message.

Last night I was buried in work and this morning I'm a bit of a rush to get to Uni! But.. I think this earthquake (or tremor depending on which island you're in) is worth just a really quick post.

Here's an excerpt from Barbados' CBC website:

"Several Caribbean islands were jolted Thursday when a powerful 7.3 per cent earthquake centred 25 miles south of Dominica hit the islands, sending thousands of people scampering from shaking buildings.

According to the University of the West Indies Seismic Centre, the earthquake, centred at 14.9 north, 61.2 west, affected Martinique, Dominica, St Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, Guadeloupe and Anguilla. There were also reports of tremors as far south as Guyana and as far north as Puerto Rico."

You can read more about the quake on these following sites: CBC, Nationnews, Caribbean 360.com Yahoo! News and Google News.

Here's some rather interesting news!

Apparently, MDA, an industry group that promotes the use of mobile data, says that people in the Briton send over a billion text messages a week! In their report they also noted that persons in the UK sent 4,825 billion texts during September 2007, an increase of 25% on last year! Roughly this translates into 4,000 SMS messages every second, or 70 per person per month. The MDA now forecasts that 52 billion texts will be sent this year!

Amazing ain't it! Oh, and just for general knowledge, the UK is within the TOP 6 of the global league of countries sending SMS messages!
(Post Source)

"Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah" is a reallyyy nice song.. ! As my pal Marlon says, you're guaranteed to hear it at least once a day here! So I think it's something that grows on you even if you don't like it the first couple times you hear it. Anyway, enjoy!

In general though, not sure I was falling for a girl called Delilah though... considering Sampson and all.

Since I've hit the UK, both in my flat and at university, I've encountered Facebook junkies (users). I've even been somewhat threatened to sign up or run the risk of not being informed of parties and limes and such! So once again, I have had to open up and face the, "To join" or "Not To Join" question.  In my attempt to decide on whether to sign up or not I came across some intriguing facts reports. The following was adapted from this BBC website:

Facebook has gone viral in the last 12 months, with more than 50 million users worldwide and a user base that is growing faster than great rival MySpace. According to Facebook, it adds 200,000 new users each day. [200,000? REALLY NOW?]

US research reveals that Facebook users come from wealthier homes and are more likely to attend college than MySpace users.

According to a report, 233 million hours of work are lost each month in the UK due to staff looking at social networks. [THIS... I believe.]

*sigh.. *Resume FB evaluation*.

One year ago today I joined the Blogosphere. To be completely honest, it has really been a fun experience, and at times - believe it or not - even exciting! I thank you all who read my blog and I look forward to your continued subscription in the future. Especially since I'm scheduled to be in England for some time to come.

Take care! And thanks again.

Further to yesterday's post which was somewhat related to World of Warcraf (WoW) I just found this interesting and.. crazy news item on ubergizmo.com. Check the following snippet:

How much money would you spend to pick up a high level character or items in World of Warcraft? Apparently, somebody figured out that saving on all that time levelling up and searching for an elusive weapon is worth $9,500. (Ref)

I did mention that WoW is called the "crystal meth of online gaming" didn't I?

Everyone that knows Jason Nurse, would know that I spend .. well, that I'm at my computer a lot. When I'm here it's either for work, chat or miscellaneous personal projects. Lately though, I've made the decision to look more into gaming. Interestingly there are only two games that have ever caught my eye, namely Duke Nukem 3D (pc) and Crash Bandicoot (playstation).. so straight away you can see I have very unusual appetite.

Anyways, in this pursuit of some good games I downloaded what has been dubbed the "crystal meth" of online gaming - World of Warcraft (see picture). So far it's been pretty captivating.. the graphics are Excellent, game play is smooth and it being an online multi-player game that boasts 9 million members worldwide isn't a bad thing at all! (Ref) The only problems I've had so far are that: (1) I think there could be a bit more .. direction to the game, instead of leaving new users to roam or hope they find a friend in the game who's willing to give tips (trust me, you can roam FOR HOURS, there's that much 'scenery'!) and (2) to continue playing it's about $14.99 USD per MONTH (Ref).. That's correct, $14.99 USD. That one definitely broke the camel's back for me and I'm back looking for another game.

Another game that was suggested to me was Half Life 2. I've just finished downloading that one so as soon as possible I'll give it go and let you know what I think. For now, see ya later!

What's all this about Peace Day you ask? Well, to explain I've including an excerpt from http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org .

"What: The International Day of Peace provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of Peace on a shared date. Use the International Day of Peace annually to highlight the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World, 2001 to 2010.

Established by a United Nations resolution in 1981, the International Day of Peace was first celebrated September 1982.

When: Annually, 21 September - The International Day of Peace

Where: Wherever you are.

Who: You and all who care about building Cultures of Peace for the children of this and future generations.

Why: To mark our individual and collective progress toward building Cultures of Peace, and serve as a reminder of our permanent commitment to Peace, above all interests and differences of any kind. " (Ref)

Now that you know what it's about, I'm sure you'll appreciate it's cause! Next step? Head over to Peace One Day and Make a Commitment and Spread the word! I'm spreading the word by using an IM display picture (the one I've included in this post) and I think I'll email a past.. friend just to say hi.

Enjoy the day and remember the focus is Peace. If you'd like, please leave a comment with what you're going to do today in the name of Peace.

Men Are From Google, Women Are From Yahoo.. Nice article.. It gets my recommendation. Here's a snippet.

"On the Internet, as in life, men and women have different motivations for doing what they do. According to a recent report from Pew Internet and American Life, women view the Internet as a place to extend, support, and nurture relationships and communities.

Men tend to see it as an office, a library, or a playground--screw the community, this is about function not family." (Ref)

Hmm.. An office? True.. A library? True.. A playground? .. FUNCTION!!!!! lol

I've been hearing questions about blogging ever-so-often therefore in this post I just give a quick overview into your options to start blogging toDay!

Once you've decided you want to blog, the next question is - are you about free stuff or do you wish to pay? Now this may seem an easy decision - who'd want to pay if you can do it for free?! - but just remember that when you pay, (1) at least there's _some_ guarantee that tomorrow when you wake up your stuff is still there (yea I know, far fetched but still realistic!) and (2) you have the option of easily doing backups (of the SQL database or XML files)!

Now if you've decided on the free route, for a nice blogging tool that only requires you to add content, I suggest using any of the following sites:
- Blogger.com (Google-owned)
- WordPress.com

Setting up an account with these sites is relatively simple and you'll be on your way in no time! Another benefit with those sites is that if you wish, you can register a domain name and then have the domain name point to your free blog as my pal Ramal has done here.

On the other hand, if freeness isn't for you and you've decided to pay for your site, you have the following options:
Under Linux hosting:
- Wordpress (yes, they have a downloadable file as well..)

Under Windows hosting:
- DasBlog (what I use, for now...)
- SubText
- BlogEngine.NET (directly from MS I think)

Please note though that all these software are FREE, you only need to pay for the domain name and hosting then simply install setup one of these software within your hosted space. All of them come with setup instructions as well, so no need to panic!

Before I head off though, I'd like to bring something to your attention.. it's a nice little tool that I think is PERFECT for people who are not into heavy blogging but just like to post links, small articles, random photos etc. It's called tumblr and as they state when defining it, "To make a simple analogy: If blogs are journals, tumblelogs are scrapbooks." (Ref) As usual, you can find more info on tumblr at it's official website or at Wikipedia.

Enjoy!!!

This article was just shared with me, so now I'm sharing with you.

"Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Information Services (IIS) continues to narrow the gap with the open-source Apache Web server, with a survey firm suggesting that the longtime second banana could surpass Apache as early as next year.

Microsoft, which added 2.6 million Web sites in the last month, grew to 36.2 percent of all active Web sites, according to figures released Monday by U.K.-based research firm, Netcraft Ltd. Apache lost nearly a million Web site names, as its share of active Web sites fell to 48.4 percent." Full article..

My comments? .. None really.. But then again, I'm largely a Windows lad, so this may be good news.?

Even though it's been POURING rain here in Barbados for the last couple days, I managed to get myself out the house and into the movies to catch Simpsons and Ratatouille. To me.. Simpsons was.. generally OK, but really, too short (6.89/10). Movies these days should be at least 1 hr and 30/45mins. Ratatouille was well.. a good kids picture [full stop!!!] (6/10). Certain parts were "lol" funny, others were a bit juvenile. All in all, I'm glad I only paid $10 to watch them both.

As I close this post though I have one thing to say... "spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does, can he sling from a web, no he cant he's a pig, look out he is a spider pig!" L O L!!!

I was keeping tabs open with these two links for about a day or two so I think it's about time I just share them.

Top 11 Yahoo Mail Tips and Tricks. - Pretty good stuff for persons using Yahoo! Mail (Beta). My only prob is that  I'd like to find a way "trick" to get my mail over POP free! Like.. Gmail.. ..

7 Clever Google Tricks Worth Knowing - This one is definitely interesting. Sad to say I haven't gotten onto any good worldwide webcams yet, but I hope to keep trying!!

Think about it.. how many things is Google really into.. and how many of those things do you use, anonymously or not.. For me, I use about 60% of the apps Google has made publicly available, everything from Gtalk, Gmail, Gdocs, IG, Gmaps, I've tinkered with. These days when it comes to searching, I hit Google, for an online Office? Gdocs. Videos? GooTube. Mail? Gmail. Unauthorised chat? (*snicker*) Gtalk. If I hear there's a fire in Calif, what else but GEarth??!

Plain and simple, this company is just.. "cooL". And they're expanding by the minute.. both geographically and in the "GLabs". But ok, I know you'd like to know what sparked this sudden.. "praise", (if you wish,).. In summary, it's this article, Google vs Everyone: 10 Markets Where Google Wants to Win.

The write-up compares Google to a number of other popular market leaders in WWW areas such as Chat, Search, Advertising, Video and Start Pages. What I find most interesting though is that no other company has branched into all the areas Google's in. Yahoo!, I imho is the one to come the closest but sadly they fall short in the online Office suit and blogging categories.

When it comes to the competition I think Google has it hardest in the Chat/Communications market. AOL, MSN and Yahoo! Messenger are some big hitters there.. especially noting the IM partnership between MSN and Yahoo!. Either way though, I figure the boys over in pretty G will find some way to push Gtalk.. sommmee way.

Anyway.. enough of Google monsTer for now! Hope you enjoyed!

"Iraq beats Saudi Arabia 1-0 for Asian title" was the title of the article that caught my eye just moments ago.. I must admit, it's nice to see that even though many consider Iraq to be a nation in almost complete turmoil, that these players shook it off and won this football title. Congrats indeed Iraq!

Actually, this reminds me a lot of ... the entire Italy situation at the World Cup last year.. yet Italy still were the ones to lift the World Cup. I guess it all just goes to show..

Well, I'm back from my sabbatical! And back safely, thank you Lord!

For those of you who didn't know, I took a trip to the land of many waters, aka Guyana. Sad to say it was mostly a business trip, so I don't have that many pictures to share. The few I have shown below are pictures of random streets (the first row) and the Guyana sea wall (the second row).

I especially like the one on the bottom left, that was a really nice photo, all the conditions were great! In that photo to the left, that's the Atlantic Ocean.. The sea wall is significant because since Guyana's coastline is just below sea level, there is the constant threat of the Atlantic Ocean swamping the place. The Dutch are credited for erecting the sea defense system (sea wall), extending for most of the coastline. (Ref) 

As usual, if you'd like a copy of the photos, let me know and I'll hook you up, . Bye for now!

Was just doing some random browsing and found a VERY interesting article that documents an interview with Tim Berners-Lee (yesterday) titled, "The future of the Web as seen by its creator". In this article, Mr. Berners-Lee discusses popular topics such as Semantic Web, Web 2.0 and also Web 3.0.

Techie or not, I think everyone (who uses the Web) should at least give this article a look through.

This weekend it was all about (Live Free or) Die Hard! I finally got the chance to watch it and what can I say but, excellent work guys. I expected it to be great and I was not at all disappointed (9/10 may be?). As for the picture it was doubled with i.e. Next with Nicholas Cage, to me that was the real shocker for the night. The reason being that usually when a "blockbuster" film like Die Hard shows, some "krappy" movie doubles with it, but Next was top notch film as well! It surely didn't get as much coverage as the Bruce Willis film but it did hold its own. I give it a 7/10.

On a side note though, if you ever think you had courage or probably you think you did something really silly, I DOUBT it is to the level of these guys - check out this article on San Fermin Festival where there's the running of the bulls! Or.. go directly to the slideshow!

Enjoy!

That's right! New wonders announced yesterday in Lisbon, Portugal!

And they are: The Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal, Peru's Machu Picchu, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer, Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid and Jordan's Petra.

Believe it or not, it's estimated that 100 million votes were cast originating from every country in the world (I wonder who in Barbados was contacted!!), to select these new wonders! Hmm.. I've never actually thought about visiting any of these though.. that's a definitely a thought for the future.

For the video of this news check Yahoo!, for some other info check Wikipedia or if you wan all the info on it, the official New 7 Wonders site is your best bet.

"Do you have a really bad memory, or past heartache, that you would prefer to forget?

Researchers at Harvard and McGill University (in Montreal) are working on an amnesia drug that blocks or deletes bad memories. The technique seems to allow psychiatrists to disrupt the biochemical pathways that allow a memory to be recalled." (Live Science)

Wow! That would be sommeethiinng wouldn't it! Being rid of all those bad memories that seem to stick in your mind no matter what. I can definitely think of a couple I'd like to DEL. One interesting thing about this story is that they have already tested it on humans and had somewhat positive results... It will be fascinating to see how this all goes!

I haven't put up anything funny in a while, but I think this makes up for it! Check this out!

X

Enjoy!!

Yep! That's right! I couldn't believe the headline myself until I browsed to the article.

"The Vatican on Tuesday issued a "Ten Commandments" for motorists to keep them on the road to salvation, warning drivers against the sins of road rage, abuse of alcohol or even simple rudeness." (Yahoo!)

Some of the commandments are:

• The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm. (#2)
• Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events. (#3)
• Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin. (#5).. [I think.. all males break the first part of this one .. ]

Check the full list here! Enjoy!

On April 18th 2007, I decided to start doing an Iraq Death Toll. This was mainly just to highlight the value of life for all of us, by comparing how easily life is lost in places such as Iraq. Sad to sad, work has me so busy lately, I haven't posted any counts for the last month or so. So, I'm sorry for that.

On the bright side though, I've found a site which is dedicated to providing just this information and on a daily basis! The site is iraqbodycount.org and I find it to be a pretty well-arranged information source. In commenting on the Iraq Body Count Project, Wikipedia writes "The Iraq Body Count project (IBC) is an attempt to record civilian deaths attributable to coalition and insurgent military action, sectarian violence and criminal violence in Iraq since the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq." (Wikipedia)

So, right now you're probably wondering if I'm going to get the information from that site and post it on this blog or if I'm going to stop my posts on Iraq and let the IBC site handle it. To be honest, for now, I'll leave it up to IBC, they are much more thorough and have more time. I hope I didn't disappoint. :\

Google Earth's is undoubtedly one of the best FREE, MAP products on the market today. When I was heading to Uni in UK, dad and I used it to find the Uni, determine how far Uni was from my accommodation, plot out routes from my flat to town, friend's houses etc.! Truly, Google Earth is just plain COOL! (That's not only the techie in me talking... .. .)

So.. considering all of the above, my suggested article today is How Google Earth Works from the renowned Howstuffworks.com. It goes through some basic functions of the program, some fun stuff and also shows you how to customise it. I recommend this article for anyone planning on taking a trip (even within Barbados!) or just someone who's interested in Cities, technology or maps. One feature that just blows me away is the 3-D Views.. that you MUST check out! The only concern I have though is.. the amount of free information which is now so easily placed in the hands of .. "bad people".. :\ Mazal Tov to us all!

On the 23 April 2007, I blogged about Akon and his actions with a young girl in a night club in Trinidad. Since then I haven't listened to any of his songs as I really don't think he's a "good influence"... even after his apology. It is with my greatest regret now that AGAIN, I'm forced to post about Akon and more krap that he has apparently done...

Some of you may have heard about his new episode in the news where he allegedly tosses a kid off stage at one of his concerts. Well... HERE IS THE VIDEO. The reason I said "he has apparently done" above is that there have been some theories that this was part of Akon's "bad boy" act.. you know, give the crowd something to scream about (kids.. *sigh.)

Anyway, it'll be very, very interesting to see how this one turns out!

Last night was a great show! I thoroughly enjoyed myself! Especially after seeing Miss Barbados directly behind Vanessa Minnillo (the female host)!!! The only thing that would have made it a bit better was if Miss Brazil instead of Miss Japan (pic on the right) had won. But.. no use crying over split milk right? Right!

Another thing about last night though which shocked me a bit was that the top 15 girls were ALL extremely beautiful (IMHO)!! Well... cept 1.. :|. In my opinion they were excellent especially in the evening gown section (even the now notorious Miss USA).

Anyway, that's over.. Congrats Miss Japan!

Check the Official Miss Universe site or/and random ramblings on the pageant by Bajan guys.

"A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.

The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's. ...

Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper. It is also added to pickles and sauces." (Ref)

Arg! This is just.. arg! Especially since my favourite fizzy drink is Cream Soda (contains E211)!!! I suggest you definitely take a look at this article though, anything that "switches off DNA" is no joke. For me .. I guess it's back to (the over-priced, 'all-natural') juices. Nothing like a good Bajan Cherry, Blackberry or Passion Fruit juice!

I just got back home from watching Pirates 3 and I... honestly didn't like it that much. It had it's good parts but.. overall, it was not as good as I expected. One of my biggest issues with it was the point that at times, it just seemed to disjointed. At one time you'd be at point X, then you'd jump to some other point (scene) and you'd be left saying, "huh.. does this follow on? .. ?!". Also.. the constant deceit by everyone (including the parrot!!) does not help much either!

Don't get me wrong though Jack Sparrow, oups, Captain Jack Sparrow did deliver his usual good performance, with all the laughs etc.. and the film does have an interesting twist with the boy Will Turner! But .. for some reason I was left wanting..

Counting all of this, I give Disney's "At World's End" a 6.9. This means that still, the best picture I have watched lately is 300. Shrek 3 is to debut next week so I'll see what that has to offer!

Woo hooo!!! Shrek the Third is out today!! I've been waiting for this movie for a while so I really hope it does not disappoint (like Spiderman 3 did!)! The first two parts were classics and as I see from the trailers, this looks great as well.

Sad to say though, it looks like this movie will start in Barbados on the 23rd (in the theatre) and the 30th at the drive-in!

If you're looking for the trailer(s), downloads etc, check out the Official site (or Yahoo!). Then again, I'd recommend you check out the site just to see how excellently it's designed!!! All (Adobe) Flash of course .. gez.. without Flash, where would the Web be??

"The music-download service Amazon.com Inc. announced yesterday represents the latest attempt by a digital retailer to meet one of the biggest challenges facing the industry: how to sell music that consumers can play on a wide variety of devices, including Apple Inc.'s dominant iPod." (Ref)

So Amazon's to join the market.. 'so what!?' you ask.. Well the main reason I commented on this is because I'm hoping that Amazon makes music downloadable from OUTSIDE the US/UK/CA! This would at least give us persons in smaller regions the ability to get music (or rather, specific tracks) legally!

Anyway, I'll follow this story and hope that Amazon are different from iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody and the rest! (Even though.. I doubt they will be.. )

I found a James Brown compilation vid yesterday on youtube and it is just SOOOO (Y) I had to post the link to it. Enjoy! I did!

JAMES BROWN: ITS A MANS WORLD, OUT OF SIGHT, I FEEL GOOD

PS. I would have embedded the vid here but for some reason that feature is disabled (by youtube).

I was reading an article titled "Why Google Is Making Us Dumber" a couple secs ago and I began to SERIOUSLY think about the truth in this.. The article suggests that because of us not having to remember thing such as web site addresses, capital cities or even conversion factors (because we can easily "google-it") that Google is making us Dumber.

Really, I don't agree with the suggestion that it's making people Dumb(er), but what I do agree with is that it moves a good set of "need to remember" for some of us. Actually, it probably removes some "need to think" too! For example, yesterday I was helping out someone with some code and instead of writing the code myself, I simply "googled-it", showed the person and cited the source. Why re-invent the wheel.. you know? ... 

Anyway, check out the article and let me know what you think. Or at least.. If you don't think Google is making you Dumb(er)... Do you agree it removes the "need to remember/think"?

Iraq.. May 11th: "The bombings at the bridges, which cross the Diyala River, a Tigris tributary, killed 23 people, including 11 police and 12 civilians, and wounded 57 others, including 26 police, police said." (FoxNews); May 13th: "A homicide truck bomber crashed the offices of a Kurdish political party in northern Iraq and detonated his explosives on Sunday, killing at least 10 people and injuring 60..." (FoxNews); Today: "BAGHDAD - Gunmen opened fire on a police checkpoint, and mortar rounds struck an outdoor market, killing eight people..." .. "Two policemen and four civilians were wounded.." (Yahoo!)

Mild-mannered Microsoft asp.NET developer by day and rogue, happy-go-lucky linux anomaly by night/weekends! That's how I'm living my life these days! And I completely dig it!

Over the last couple days I've spent a lot of time tweaking and customising my linux desktop and hopefully soon, I'll publish a screenshot or two. And if you're just a Windows user, I tell you, you WILL be blown away! The freedom in linux is amazing.

Iraq.. May 8th: "A homicide car bomber tore through a busy market in the Shiite holy city of Kufa on Tuesday morning, killing at least 16 people and wounding 70.." (FOXNews); May 9th: "A suicide truck bomb blamed on al-Qaida linked insurgents exploded outside the Interior Ministry, killing at least 19 people and wounding 80..." (MSNBC)

Like about 70% of the world, I watched Part 1 and Part 2 and now it was time to catch Spiderman 3. Usually the flick starts around 6.30pm so, I can leave home around 6 and get in to see the movie within good time.. This Saturday however was unlike any other Saturday! Cars were backed up to get into the drive-in from soo far it was ridiculous! THEN when I finally got in, almost all the spots were gone! To be honest I was pretty frustrated however, what could I do? (I didn't feel like getting back my $ and leaving like I saw a couple other people do.)

Now.. the movie itself left much to be desired.. at times I found Peter way too cocky even before he got "infected" by the mysterious black guu. Fight scenes between himself and Venom were probably the most fun to watch. Especially since Venom is played by Topher Grace, aka Eric from one of my favourite TV shows, "That '70s Show". Overall, I give the movie a 6.5/10.. some other critics aren't so generous. Regardless of the critics thoughts OR mine though, "“Spider-Man 3,” smashed box-office records with $148 million in its first three days, according to studio estimates Sunday." (MSNBC.com) Crazy huh? Anyway I'm sure this is because: (a) it's a classic; (b) kids can watch; and (c) if you watched the first two, you can't help but watch part 3. Well.. hit up here for the official site and if you've watched it, drop me a comment, tell me what you thought!

Iraq.. May 6th: Car bombs cause 56 deaths in Iraq (FOXNews); May 7th: "Homicide Car Bombers Kill 20 Near Ramadi..", about 40 wounded.. (FOXNews)

I was so busy yesterday I forgot all about posting a review on my trip to the movies Monday night to watch the movie, Shooter. I was really out on a limb when I went to catch this flick because I didn't watch the trailer and therefore hadn't a clue what it was about (well apart from the its name). At first as I saw the plot unfolding, it seemed pretty boring and mundane, essentially, just another attack on the President's life (but this time by a sniper/shooter)... however, when I saw the *twist*, I was more than pleased!

What I also liked about this movie is that even though it did include some 'close' men+ladies situations, it didn't turn into a love-story or something driven by passion, sex etc. It stuck to the core plot and I give it full props for that. Anyway, I won't ruin it for you but I recommend it as a movie to watch.

Here is the official Shooter movie site , you can get photos, IM icons and of course see the trailer.

As today was a bank holiday some friends and I made it our business to leave our homes! The result was a day spent beach hopping, playing racket ball, some dominoes and generally chilling out. All-in-all, it was a nice day. One of the guys brought his camera so when I receive the photos I'll upload one or two for you all to see what we were up to.

Iraq / Today.. "... The attacks against the travelers began at 6:45 a.m., when gunmen took aim at a minibus, killing 11 Shiites and wounding three, as it passed near Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad in a predominantly Sunni area dubbed the "Triangle of Death" because of frequent insurgent violence." (FoxNews)

I'm sure the majority of people would say that Australia had the World Cup in-the-bag from a while ago and today in Bridgetown Barbados, those thoughts were officially confirmed. "AUSTRALIA WIN ICC CWC 2007" I'm seeing on a number of web pages and news casts.. Now I don't dig cricket much but I must take my hat off to the Australians.. I believe they've gone 29 matches unbeaten (today being 29th).. and this is the third consecutive World Cup they've won. Congrats indeed! Check the official site for video, photos etc.

Iraq / Today.. "At least 58 people were killed in a car bomb attack Saturday between two Shiite shrines in the Iraqi city of Karbala, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. The Interior Ministry called the attack, which also injured more than 100 people, a suicide bombing." (CNN)

This week Champions League is back on Tuesday/Wednesday and the semis feature AC-ManU and Pool-Chelsea respectively!!! However.. this post is not mainly to note that, it's more to give you a glimpse of some serious football talent by none other than Barcelona's Lionel Messi. In the game this weekend against Getafe, Messi scored two EXCELLENT goals!!

In the first goal he starts from around the half way line and takes on about 5 Getafe players then the goalkeeper (GK) and scores a beauty from a tough angle. This goal's so good that it's being compared to the legendary Maradona strike where he does essentially the same thing.. The main difference though is that Messi is 19 years old! In the second goal, he shows some great control and "ROOFs it" giving the GK no chance! Anyway... enough talk, check out Messi's goals!

Yea, I like a couple of Akon's tracks, especially Lonely, Locked up, Pot of Gold and more recently, Don't Matter. However Akon's actions in a Trinidadian night club as can be seen here have me a bit worried.. I never thought of him as this type of 'artist' and now it seems I have to add him to the category with Elephant man, Mr. Rick and the rest.

But the strangest part of this isn't really with Akon but it's that: 1. The girl is 14 years old; 2. Her father is a Pastor; and 3. Her father seems to be "cool" with his 14-year-old daughter going to a club and participating in dance competitions (I deduce this from a comment the father made i.e. "She likes dancing and won a competition," (Ref)). [Paragraph Source: here]

I don't know... this story sounds a bit incomplete, ah well.. this is another example of the "uses" of YouTube and sites like it (the story appeared first on youtube a day after the incident).

Iraq / Today.. "Three suicide bombers launched attacks in different parts of
Iraq on Monday, killing at least 27 people and wounding nearly 60 on Monday, police and politicians said." (Yahoo!)

Little under a week running Ubuntu and a new version (Feisty Fawn) is out for me to download/install! So far my experiences with Ubuntu have been good more than bad.. getting accustomed to the (cmd line) commands is probably the hardest task.. but the simplicity of finding and installing software matched with the appealing GUI and the "OS freeness" make up for it!

Anyway! So today, Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) is released and unless I hear something horrid about it, I'll try to have it on by Saturday. Right now as I read a digg post, I'm seeing that servers are overloaded with hits to download the OS! My my.. it is really popular! I hope the upgrading process (from version 6.10, that I have, to 7.04) is (a) existent and (b) smooth! I'd dislike to think I would have to format and do a fresh install... not after all that configuration I've done!! We'll see though, we'll see!

Ah, and if you want the download link (torrent) my bud at tech-barbados found it. So you can check that out.

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Iraq / Today.. "A suicide car bomb exploded in central Baghdad's Jadriya neighborhood on Thursday afternoon, killing at least 12 people and wounding 28 others" (CNN)

As I peeked at MSN messenger today, I looked at my nick and my little "remembrance" *Candle* for the people who were killed in the Virginia Tech massacre in the US.. and I remembered something I was to do a while ago.. Hence.. this question came to me.. "What about the hundreds of people who innocently lose their lives in regions like Iraq each week?" ... I know.. it's not exactly the same but I think in both cases one needs to focus on the value of a life.

Therefore... I'm going to start the "something I was to do" from today... what is it? 

From today, April 18th, I am going to try to record how many people die (and probably are injured) each day in Iraq or at least keep a tally. I'm not sure about what sources I'll use but I think CNN, Fox, BBC, Google and Yahoo! will be top candidates.

I hear some of you asking Why... why do this, what use does it have.. To answer... I think it'll help some us to appreciate the life we have.

Iraq / Today.. "Four large bombs exploded in mostly Shiite areas of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 164 people and wounding scores" (Yahoo!). CNN notes that it's approximated right now at least 207 people wounded.

There're so many things I want to post about, I'm lost where to start! Topics range from 300 (which I watched this weekend) to the trials I've had while trying to get Ubuntu to work "for me".

Anyway, for this post I think 300 will take the floor (as you guessed from the topic!). This picture is G R E A T! On Saturday I got a chance to watch it and I was not disappointed at all. The action, the dialogue, the entire plot: (y)(y)! If you're considering this pic, I surely recommend it, I think it's even a contender for me to purchase the dvd! (.. lol, I just remembered when the Spartans fought the "immortals", lol, yea.. that name was really suiting.. lol!)

I'll leave you with a couple links: Official site (where you can get wallpapers, screensavers, photos, a synopsis of the movie & lastly, even preview the PSP game) and a Yahoo! site (for more photos). (Of course both these sites have trailers.) .. So now... to end this post fittingly...

Madness? ... THIS IS SPPPPPPARRRRRTTTTTAAAAAAA!!!!!!

I came across some interesting photos online and thought I'd share. Do enjoy!

	As it's Holy Week.. Here's a photo from Holy Thursday aka Maunday Thursday in 2006 I believe. It's a Children's procession in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Photo from: mightieone's collection.
	On 2nd April, BBC News reported, "At least 12 people have died in the Solomon Islands after a tsunami swept ashore following a strong undersea earthquake in the South Pacific." (Ref) Tsunami's aren't any picnic at all.. as this lad to the left would attest to. Photo from: this Yahoo! site.

So I went from "waP Plans" to "waP on the waY", and now, I'm posting "waP uP and running"!

I'm stating all of this to say that I've finished the wap site and it's available to all (but only from your mobiles). If you've got the net set up on your mobile, type in http://wap.jasonnurse.com .

Mainly, this site is to act as a "central" news point to supply information "on the go". It contains news from Barbados and the World, but not only that - i.e. by location - it has news by genres from Christian to Humour, Science to Technology. All at your fingertips! I've also included 2 other small features which I found "neat" and useful, however I'll leave them for you to find out. . By the way, you can see a pic I took of the site on my mobile on the left.

To ramble a bit on the development of mobile sites in .NET, I must say that it is really quite simple and fairly easy to learn, given the right resources (sites, msdn library, software mostly).

Sadly however, there are some drawbacks I must note.. First, I don't think any improvements were made on the development tools/controls/documentation in moving from .NET 1.1 to .NET 2.0. So really I can't help but think that I'm working with "ancient" technology.

Secondly, the asp net forum.. to help me through my work on the site, I posted a couple what I consider, "n00b questions"... to this date, I'm still waiting for a reply. Doesn't seem like that "Mobile and Handheld Devices" forum gets much attention at all.

Finally, somehow.. .NET does not recognise my mobile as a mobile device.. This therefore rules out the use of "nice" properties such as IsMobileDevice (for redirects).

Anyway enough of that.. hmm, I think that overall this is my third "Personal Project" thus far... the other two being the Photo site and the Mashup. Three personal projects in a couple months? Hmm.. I can't say that's a bad average.. I wonder what else I'll be able to get myself into now! Well.. besides the updates of the other 3 projects.. *eek*!