Livin' the life...

EURO 2008 soon!!

Without a doubt, I can comment that I am introduced to a variety of new music mainly via my alarm on mornings. Some of the most notable of these in order of preference include: The Hoosiers - Cops and Robbers, Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars, Mika - Relax, Take It Easy and Scouting For Girls - Elvis Ain't Dead. These are all some great tracks.

My most recent tune, is "Jack Johnson - Better Together".. Below I've embedded a live performance of the song. I encourage you to listen to this track, I doubt you will be disappointed if you have good taste in music !

Tell me you didn't start singing along! (8)It's always better when we're togethherrrr(8)

PS. If you have not caught on already, I usually lay in bed for a WHILE after my alarm goes off, .. lol. Ah, the joys of being a student!

Ever so often, I do something a bit different, and this weekend in particular was pretty extraordinary. Saturday was spent mostly studying, but on Sunday I took a trip to Star City complex in Birmingham. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Star City is a entertainment complex with everything from arcades to cinemas. With that said, you can appreciate that the first thing I hit was the arcades!

My first target was putting my driving skills to the test in an arcade racing game - one of the PROPER ones - called 'The Fast and the Furious'. All-in-all I thought it was a.. good performance by me but, sadly, even though I did not take my foot off the gas, I somehow could only manage a 5th place! Ah well, I'll get them next time!

Apart from the racing and a few other miscellaneous machines, I also played two games of bowling. The photo inserted in this post is of the bowling alley, and yes, it is really that fluorescent colour! (The pins are still white though.) That was good fun, even though I'm yet to find my 'perfect ball/weight'.

Today I finished up the long weekend (Monday was a holiday in the England) with a movie (Ronin to be exact; I give it 6.9/10) and as would be expected, some work!

"If you only do what you know you can do- you never do very much." - Tom Krause

Last week we spoke on "why" God seems distant at times, today we will cover "what we should do" when that happens. Again, the main point of reference for this discussion will be "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. So, what should our response be when God seems distant?

We Praise Him: Mr. Warren writes, "How do you praise God when you don't understand what's happening in your life and God is silent? .. You do what Job did: 'Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.'[1]'" That is, you keep praising Him all the way! God is so pleased when we keep praising Him regardless of what happens! This shows that we are holding tight to our faith and is exactly why God is testing us in the first place. I know this is not easy, but our God is very wise and patient, and appreciates how tough this can be for us. Therefore, He gives us many chances to show that we are ready to "step up to the plate". When we make this step, it signifies that we are maturing in our relationship with Him.

We tell God exactly how we feel: Rick in [PDL] states that pouring out our heart - including our doubt, anger, fear, grief, confusion and questions - to God is in itself a strong statement of faith. One of the reasons I think this is done is to show God that we regard Him, not only as our God, but also as a close friend. We implicitly: (a) show belief in Him; (b) show that we know He is there for us; and (c) express that we know that He loves when we are open, honest and hold Him as our rock and refuge. I think these things make God smile.

We focus on who God is - his unchanging nature: God never changes, from the beginning He was for you and it will remain that way! To put it more eloquently, "Remind yourself what you know to be eternally true about God: He is good, he loves me, he is with me, he knows what I'm going through, he cares, and he has a good plan for my life. V. Raymond Edman said, 'NEVER doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.'" [PDL] Here are some verses in Job that shows this very point i.e. regardless of what happened to him, he still found things that he could praise God for; See [2,3,4,5,6,7].

We remember what God has already done for us: Last time I checked, God's son died for us. He died for You, the person sitting behind you, the person who's in the kitchen preparing a pot of Earl Grey tea, even the lady who nearly hit your car this morning! The fact is that Jesus Christ came, lived a perfect life and suffered a violent, ghastly death for every one of us. All for the purpose of rebuilding that bridge to the Father, and enabling us to one day be with Him in heaven. Mr. Warren sums things up nicely in the following; "Jesus gave up everything so you could have everything. He died so you could live forever. That alone is worthy of your continual thanks and praise. Never again should you wonder what you have to be thankful for." [PDL]

This brings to and end our extended discussion, I thank you for sharing in it with me and wish you a blessed week. Before I go I would like to leave what I think is a totally appropriate statement to take away from our discussion that perfectly exemplifies the type of maturity we should all be aiming for. It is from Job 13:15 and states:

"God may kill me, but still I will trust him."

Amen! Have a great week!

For years, video games have been blamed for turning kids into idle layabouts who only venture off the couch to fill up on potato chips and soda.

Nintendo Co Ltd now aims to shatter that image with a game that aims to get players off the couch and lead them to stretch, shake and sweat their way to a healthy life.

"Wii Fit," which arrives on U.S. store shelves on Monday, is expected to draw new customers to Nintendo's wildly popular Wii video game console. (Source)

Numerous online social networks, 24/7 delivery (from almost every place; pizza shops to supermarkets) and now in-house exercise games? It's no wonder some people don't leave home.

Another year, another glorious final lined up. UK fans, you can catch it live on iTV or, of course, your nearest pub from around 7pm. Barbadian fans, if you're free (i.e. you're a student), ESPN Deportes should be televising this around 2.45pm. Otherwise (i.e. you work) you may have to follow live textual coverage on Soccernet or your favourite IRC channel (I remember #soccer on DalNet being a good option).

If time permits, I'll be wat... wait a minute.. CL final? No no, I WILL be watching this on iTV tonight AND wearing my Liverpool F.C. jersey! All ManU and Chelski fans, my regards!

If you're from the Caribbean and have listened to dub (or what foreigners tend to call 'reggae') - Bounty Killer specifically - you will find this photo particularly amusing.

In Barbados, May usually means a next batch in a constant wave of exams for most undergrads, but for some fortunate or unfortunate folks, it constitutes the final wave, and a graduation ceremony in October. This year around, one of my colleagues over at tech-barbados - a graduate of UWI himself - has provided what I consider some excellent advice to the graduates of this year.

I recommend that any final year undergrads check out this article - Advice To The 2008 Graduates - even though it is given with the slight focus towards the Computer Science / I.T. fields.

Sometime ago I had considered writing a post on this topic however yesterday morning I read a very insightful chapter in "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren that addressed this issue perfectly, so I will adopt that work as the main basis for this week's thought (aka TFTW). Today I will present Part 1 which will look at the "why" at times God will seem distant. Next week for Part 2, we'll cover the "what we should do" when it happens.

To be honest, the "why" is all broken down into a single core point.

Separation is vital for the development of our faith. To mature in our friendship with God, He will test it with periods of seeming separation - times when it feels as if He has abandoned or forgotten us.

As Rick notes, "When you are a baby Christian, God gives you a lot of confirming emotions and often answers the most immature, self-centered prayers - so you'll know he exists. But as you grow in faith, he will wean you of these dependencies." Moving on from this, our God is concerned with one main question; "Will you continue to love, trust, obey and worship God, even when you have no sense of his presence or visible evidence of his work in your life?" This is a key question to determine our spiritual maturity.

Here it is important to consider that you are not the only one being tested, even if when you look at fellow Christians, all seems well in their lives. No no, don't think you are alone at all, we all are tested! From those just passing that 'baby Christian' phase to those who are far along in the Christian path. If we reflect on the Bible, we see examples of the latter in both David and Job. Surely everyone remembers the story of Job, but even David - probably one of the closest to God - struggled: "Yet David frequently complained of God's apparent absence: 'Lord, why are you standing aloof and far away? Why do you hide when I need you the most?'[1]  'Why have you forsaken me? Why do you remain so distant? Why do you ignore my cries for help?'[2] 'Why have you abandoned me?'[3]"

But we know as did David, that God would never leave us or forsake us [4,5] so WHY does He seem so distant?! My brothers and sisters in Christ, it is all for the development of our faith. The email signature of one of my friends comes to mind as it notes, "The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials". The Biblical - and likely original - version of this phrase can be found in James 1:2-4, as it states, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing". How true is that!

So, it's all about our development and maturity, all about the edification of that relationship with our God. When faced with trials myself, and not knowing where to go, or what to do, I often remark, "God knows what's best for me, much much better than I do anyway!" Therefore, let's just keep loving, obeying, worshipping and trusting Him to direct us and carry us!

Have a great week and Lord willing, we will continue this discussion next time with Part 2.

Update: Here's the link to Part 2!

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.

A few moments ago I was attempting to run a .bat file in MS-DOS, but I kept getting a barrage of "Access Denied" messages. As I figured this was because I needed to run it as Admin, I simply right-clicked on the file, clicked Run as Admin, and.. well.. nothing happened!

Well, as per usual, I headed over to papa Google and after one semi-swift search (0.34secs), I found out that to run these type of files, you actually have to run the Command Prompt ('aka' MS-DOS) as Admin (Source)! Once you do this, all the commands you enter into the prompt will inherit this and run under Admin privileges!

.. Ok ok, yes, I agree, this is quite simple, and I probably should have deduced this on my own! But, the point is, it happened, and I'm putting this information out there (again) just in the event that someone else falls into the same predicament!

Dispatcher:  9-1-1 
Caller:  Yeah,  I'm having trouble breathing. I'm all out of breath. Darn...I think  I'm going to pass out.
Dispatcher:  Sir,  where are you calling from?
Caller:  I'm  at a pay phone. North and Foster.
Dispatcher:  ! Sir,  an ambulance is on the way. Are you an asthmatic? 
Caller:  No 
Dispatcher:  What  were you doing before you started having trouble breathing? 
Caller:  Running  from the Police.

Lol!

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.

"Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be." - Thomas Kempis

This week's TFTW is related specifically to a comment posted on my blog regarding sin and forgiveness, and the fact that 'the blood of Jesus Christ covers all sins, ... and all we gotta do is turn to Him and ask for forgiveness and move away from the sin' (Source). To best exemplify this point, I have chosen the graphic below..

I think this fits some of us - myself included - perfectly at times, but we must learn to try our best to focus on the scripture and move away from that sin. I urge you to meditate on this thought during this week.

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

Online source of image.

A free satellite television and radio service from the BBC and ITV is being launched across the UK.

Freesat is available to 98% of homes, including those that are unable to receive Freeview through a TV aerial. It will carry 80 digital TV and radio channels, including free high definition programmes, with that number due to rise to 200 by the end of 2008.

Users will make a one-off payment for a dish, set-top box and installation, but will not pay a monthly subscription. The price of a box will start at £49, rising to £120 for a high-definition (HD) version. The cost of installation, including the satellite dish, will be a further £80.

The BBC, ITV and Channel 4's digital services will feature on Freesat, with news and children's channels among the others on offer. The BBC's HD channel will appear on the service immediately, while ITV HD will launch soon. (Source)

Hmm.. If you're a tele fan, this is definitely a noteworthy development. One should also know that Freeview seems to be going HD as well. I'm not quite sure if this will mean any increase in the price of the box, but I doubt it.

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.

Well, today was a scorcher! And it looks like tomorrow will be the same! 21 deg C! Fabulous! A vest and baggies to Uni tomorrow!!

Tell me, what was your church sermon about on Sunday? Or.. if you did not make it to church last weekend, what about the last time you went! What was that sermon about! Surely you can remember! I've heard a few people say the sermon is one of the main reasons they attend church; the sermon is really the "meat" of that early morning outing. Therefore again I ask, what was your last sermon about?

To be honest, I personally do not remember pass the Wednesday in the same week! And this is not something I am too proud of at all! Actually, at times I it concerns me greatly. Once or twice I must admit that I asked myself, "well Jason, what's the PURPOSE of going!" Luckily I came across the following story sometime subsequently and it fixed me right up! Check it out below! If you have seen it already, please just give it another look over, it really is worth that at least.

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday.

"I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons.  But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them..

So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor.  It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now.  In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals.  But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals.

But I do know this...

They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work.  If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today.

Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

Point taken indeed! So, I emphasise, don't give up because you seem not to remember or because at times, it all seems in vain. Our minds are amazing things and you'll be surprised what they remember when you find yourself in certain testing or difficult situations.

Have a great week!

Ah, Barbados is truly a paradise. I dare you to guess the beach where I took this photo!

Not quite sure that this trumps pausing and rewinding live TV but it is definitely a move in the right direction!

For the first time, the popular download service, which allows viewers to catch up on BBC programmes such as Dr Who and The Apprentice, will be available on TV.

The move will be welcomed by the cable network’s 3.5 million customers, who will be able to watch more than 350 hours of TV programmes from the past seven days.

The iPlayer, which until now has been available only on computers, has proved immensely popular, attracting 17.2 million visits last month. (Source)

(Y)!

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.