My brilliant genius whiz-kid older cousin (more whiz, less kid these days) has a new web app thing out - could you guys sign up and see how you like using it? It's something like del.icio.us, for those of you who know, but more robust and pop-app friendly.
From a book I was reading earlier this year (I will come back and attribute when I remember where):
Our strengths make us useful, Our weaknessess make us usable.
And another thought around the same time: Ends and Means: the methods we use to accomplish our goals are as important as the attainment of those said goals.
1. Properly secure a wireless router. 2. Crack the WEP key on a wireless router. 3. Leech Wifi from your neighbor. 4. Screw with Wifi leeches. 5. Setup and use a VPN. 6. Work from home or a coffee shop as effectively as you do at the office. 7. Wire your own home with Ethernet cable. 8. Turn a web camera into security camera. 9. Use your 3G phone as a Wi-Fi access point. 10. Understand what “There’s no Place Like 127.0.0.1” means.
11. Identify key-loggers. 12. Properly connect a TV, Tivo, XBox, Wii, and Apple TV so they all work together with the one remote. 13. Program a universal remote. 14. Swap out the battery on your iPod/iPhone. 15. Benchmark Your Computer 16. Identify all computer components on sight. 17. Know which parts to order from NewEgg.com, and how to assemble them into a working PC. 18. Troubleshoot any computer/gadget problem, over the phone. 19. Use any piece of technology intuitively, without instruction or prior knowledge. 20. How to irrecoverably protect data.
21. Recover data from a dead hard drive. 22. Share a printer between a Mac and a PC on a network. 23. Install a Linux distribution. (Hint: Ubuntu 9.04 is easier than installing Windows) 24. Remove a virus from a computer. 25. Dual (or more) boot a computer. 26. Boot a computer off a thumb drive. 27. Boot a computer off a network drive. 28. Replace or repair a laptop keyboard. 29. Run more than two monitors on a single computer. 30. Successfully disassemble and reassemble a laptop.
31. Know at least 10 software easter eggs off the top of your head. 32. Bypass a computer password on all major operating systems. Windows, Mac, Linux 33. Carrying a computer cleaning arsenal on your USB drive. 34. Bypass content filters on public computers. 35. Protect your privacy when using a public computer. 36. Surf the web anonymously from home. 37. Buy a domain, configure bind, apache, MySQL, php, and Wordpress without Googling a how-to. 38. Basic *nix command shell knowledge with the ability to edit and save a file with vi. 39. Create a web site using vi. 40. Transcode a DVD to play on a portable device.
41. Hide a file in an image using steganography. 42. Knowing the answer to life, the universe and everything. 43. Share a single keyboard and mouse between multiple computers without a KVM switch. 44. Google obscure facts in under 3 searches. Bonus point if you can use I Feel Lucky. 45. Build amazing structures with LEGO and invent a compelling back story for the creation. 46. Understand that it is LEGO, not Lego, Legos, or Lego’s. 47. Build a two story house out of LEGO, in monochrome, with a balcony. 48. Construct a costume for you or your kid out of scraps, duct tape, paper mâché, and imagination. 49. Be able to pick a lock. 50. Determine the combination of a Master combination padlock in under 10 minutes.
51. Assemble IKEA furniture without looking at the instructions. Bonus point if you don’t have to backtrack. 52. Use a digital SLR in full manual mode. 53. Do cool things to Altoids tins. 54. Be able to construct paper craft versions of space ships. 55. Origami! Bonus point for duct tape origami. (Ductigami) 56. Fix anything with duct tape, chewing gum and wire. 57. Knowing how to avoid being eaten by a grue. 58. Know what a grue is. 59. Understand where XYZZY came from, and have used it. 60. Play any SNES game on your computer through an emulator.
61. Burn the rope. 62. Know the Konami code, and where to use it. 63. Whistle, hum, or play on an iPhone, the Cantina song. 64. Learning to play the theme songs to the kids favorite TV shows. 65. Solve a Rubik’s Cube. 66. Calculate THAC0. 67. Know the difference between skills and traits. 68. Explain special relativity in terms an eight-year-old can grasp. 69. Recite pi to 10 places or more. 70. Be able to calculate tip and split the check, all in your head.
71. Explain that the colours in a rainbow are roygbiv. 72. Understand the electromagnetic spectrum - xray, uv, visible, infrared, microwave, radio. 73. Know the difference between radiation and radioactive contamination. 74. Understand basic electronics components like resistors, capacitors, inductors and transistors. 75. Solder a circuit while bottle feeding an infant. (lead free solder please.) 76. The meaning of technical acronyms. 77. The coffee dash, blindfolded (or blurry eyed). Coffee [cream] [sugar]. In under a minute. 78. Build a fighting robot. 79. Program a fighting robot. 80. Build a failsafe into a fighting robot so it doesn’t kill you.
81. Be able to trace the Fellowship’s journey on a map of Middle Earth. 82. Know all the names of the Dwarves in The Hobbit. 83. Understand the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel. 84. Know where your towel is and why it is important. 85. Re-enact the parrot sketch. 86. Know the words to The Lumberjack Song. 87. Reciting key scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 88. Be able to recite at least one Geek Movie word for word. 89. Know what the 8th Chevron does on a Stargate and how much power is required to get a lock. 90. Be able to explain why it’s important that Han shot first.
91. Know why it is just wrong for Luke and Leia to kiss. 92. Stop talking Star Wars long enough to get laid. 93. The ability to name actors, characters and plotlines from the majority of sci-fi movies produced since 1968. 94. Cite Mythbusters when debunking a myth or urban legend. 95. Sleep with a Cricket bat next to your bed. 96. Have a documented plan on what to do during a zombie or robot uprising. 97. Identify evil alternate universe versions of friends, family, co-workers or self. 98. Be able to convince TSA that the electronic parts you are carrying are really not a threat to passengers. 99. Talk about things that aren’t tech related. 100. Get something on the front page of Digg.
Have you ever had a sense of missing home so much that it hurts, all the time when you're sitting at home?
The melody of this song always makes me feel that way.
A Case of You (Joni Mitchell, covered by Diana Krall) Just before our love got lost you said / I am as constant as a northern star And I said, constant in the darkness /Where's that at? If you want me I'll be in the bar
On the back of a cartoon coaster / In the blue tv screen light I drew a map of Canada / Oh Canada And your face sketched on it twice
Oh you're in my blood like holy wine Oh and you taste so bitter, but you taste so sweet Oh I could drink a case of you I could drink a case of you darling And I would still be on my feet Oh I'd still be on my feet
Oh I am a lonely painter / I live in a box of paints I'm frightened by the devil / And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid I remember that time that you told me, you said Love is touching souls / Surely you touched mine Cause part of you pours out of me / In these lines from time to time
I met a woman / She had a mouth like yours She knew your life / She knew your devils and your deeds And she said / Colour go to him, stay with him if you can Oh but be prepared to bleed Oh but you are in my blood, you're my holy wine Oh and you taste so bitter, bitter and so sweet Oh I could drink a case of you darling Still I'd be on my feet / I'd still be on my feet
A rather passionate discussion with my mentor today re-started my thinking about the church and my own congregation - specifically, about teachers within my congregation, and about church discipline.
This was particularly interesting because my former Pastor, AG, had recently sent along his weekly pastoral note - but the most recent note was not one written by him, but rather a note from another pastor:
Tonight, I participated in something that I have never been a part of in the 22 years that I have known Jesus Christ. The reason for this is twofold: I have never been in a church before that took seriously the biblical practice of church discipline, and I have never been in a church where the pastor has faithful discharged his duties of gospel preaching and pastoral ministry for over two decades. So what happened, you might ask?
In 1988, God saved a man named Steve who soon became a baptized member of Grace Baptist Church (where I serve). A few years after his conversion, Steve fell into sin and came under the discipline of the church which he refused to accept. As a result, the most severe decision a church body could ever make was practiced as Steve was excommunicated from the membership of Grace. For the next 14 years, Steve spent his life committing immoral acts, including drugs and alcohol. At one point in his life, Steve said he spent an entire month in seclusion drinking alcohol with the jaded hopes that he could die in his own misery and insanity.
It was during this time that he found an old Bible as he was reminded of what Tom had told him when he first came to Christ, “Read the Gospel of John.” After six months of prayer, Bible reading, and personal repentance, Steve emailed Tom because he struggled to believe that there would be a church who would accept him. The first person he knew he could to turn to, the person whom he said he trusted the most, was the very person who 14 years ago committed the most severe act of discipline–his former pastor, Tom Ascol.
Through a series of emails, Tom helped Steve get plugged into a gospel-centered church where he is living (which happens to also be a Grace Baptist) and shepherded him in gospel reconciliation that culminated this evening when we were able to fly Steve down to be with us in our bi-lingual Lord’s Supper service. This evening I listening to a brother’s confession of prodigal repentance saturated with tears mingled with the joys of heaven. It was extraordinary grace on display as the Great Shepherd pursued and captured one that had strayed, fallen, and wallowed in the pit of emptiness.
So many thoughts were going through my head as this was all taking place. For instance, how many pastors minister long enough to every see an excommunicated member restored in the same tenure? Given that there are so few churches today that practice church discipline, how many fewer ever see the most extreme (and painful) measures come full circle in the restoration and reconciliation of an excommunicated church member? Why was it that the person Steve wanted help and trusted the most was the pastor who 14 years ago would not let his blatant sin go unaddressed?
So many churches today do miss out on experiencing the kiss of extraordinary grace and celestial joy when the gospel not only reconciles sinners to God but also to one another in the context of a repenting and believing community who is covenanted to be a pure witness as the bride of Christ. So many pastors miss out on one of the greatest blessings of seeing Christ rescue fallen sheep because they do not hang around long enough, or aren’t willing to do love deep enough, to embrace fallen sheep and see Christ rescue them from their prodigal ways. So many wayward sinners wander into the hidden paths of prolonged rebellion without the legitimate discipline of a loving church because there is no commitment either on the part of the member to pursue holiness or the church to pursue those who fall in trespass and sin.
When I hear reports of God-moments in churches, I often hear of x number of people professing Christ, being baptized, etc., and they are all praiseworthy. But how often to we hear church members walk away from the gathered congregation with a God-moment where shameful acts of sinful rebellion is renounced in humble hearts of repentance and the forgiveness of Christ is communicated with joy and gratitude to God?
There was a time when experiences like the one tonight were not uncommon, but I have a strange feeling that this God-moment is one of which I would have a hard time sharing, except with brothers of yesteryear. But it does not have to be that way. We do not have to have undisciplined churches, meaningless membership, and cowardly pastors who are unwilling or afraid to do what Christ has commanded. I would not have had the privilege of joining angels in heaven with shouts of joy were it no for a pastor 20+ years ago committed himself to the biblical principles of regenerate church membership, church discipline, and faithful gospel preaching–marks all of which should make us Baptist. Unfortunately, my experiences leads me to believe that are marked as being weird.
As I consider myself on the beginning chapters of my pastoral ministry, I am reminded of how blessed I am to serve under the leadership of Tom Ascol whose love for church members causes even the excommunicated to call upon him first, and whose love for the church causes the angels in heaven to rejoice over the warrior shepherd that refuses to let one wayward sheep go their own way. It’s a love that does the hardest things and receives the sweetest expressions of reconciliation this side of heaven. It’s a love that is not always reporting the 99 to the church growth department but is radically pursuing for the 1 because each member counts in the church health department.
There are a lot of lessons I’ve learned about pastoral ministry and being a true church, but this one is just too good not to pass along.
Oh, for my congregation to develop true spiritual maturity! We have fallen into the trap that so many smaller congregations fall into: leading the church with who is AVAILABLE, rather than who is ABLE.
James 3:1 - Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
Oh, that we would take this injunction from God more seriously! Our teachers in Sunday School, in Wonderkids, in the Hands-On Bible Class, in our various cell/care groups - how many take this warning seriously enough to treat the Word of God with the care and diligence that is needed for good, strong, biblical teaching? How many leave preparations till the last minute, or worse, not bother to prepare at all, relying on "discussion time" to help pass the minutes till the lesson is over?
For their inner lives, what do we know of them? How many are living upright personal lives, continually sanctifying themselves through prayer and petition? How many of them are living good family lives? How many are walking together with their partners in the right fear of the Lord? Indeed, how many are actually praying for the church and their friends - or perhaps, the question should be: are they even praying?
There have already been examples of leaders who have disappointed with their behaviours. Will we have the strength to do what needs to be done, and to effect church discipline? The dead branches need to be pruned off, and the outlying branches brought and bent back into the fold. Will we have enough strength to impose sanctions and censure our wayward teachers, much less the rest of the congregational flock? Or will we be easy with ourselves, easy with the egos and people, easy with people's souls?
"In order to change you must take snapshots of yourself like a dispassionate camera and discover how you really are. And you must become conscious of how rarely you are conscious."
K. R. Kernspecht
This is very, very important. We must know that most of the time, we are asleep - for if we are awake for most of our decisions, we would be in pain all of the time - unbearable.
Yet, continual self-reflection is needed in order to know where you're going, and why. So we must know that we are asleep for the most part, and rouse ourselves from the depths of apathy and sloth (our natural states), and think about how we do things, and why.
"There is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted and has its wellspring in the thoughts of people. People are unique in the inner life of the mind – what they are in their thought world determines how they act. This is true of their value systems and it is true of their creativity. It is true of their corporate actions, such as political decisions, and it is true of their personal lives. The results of their thought world flow through their fingers or from their tongues into the external world. This is true of Michelangelo’s chisel, and it is true of a dictator’s sword.
People have presuppositions, and they will live more consistently on the basis of these presuppositions than even they themselves may realize. By presuppositions we mean the basic way an individual looks at life, his basic world view, the grid through which he sees the world. Presuppositions rest upon that which a person considers to be the truth of what exists. People's presuppositions lay a grid for all they bring forth into the external world. Their presuppositions also provide the basis for their values and therefore the basis for their decisions.
'As a man thinketh, so is he,’ is really most profound. An individual is not just the product of the forces around him. He has a mind, an inner world. Then, having thought a person can bring forth actions into the external world and thus influence it. People are apt to look at the outer theatre of action, forgetting the actor who "lives in the mind" and who therefore is the true actor in the external world. The inner thought world determines the outward action.
Most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society the way a child catches measles. But people with more understanding realise that their presuppositions should be chosen after a careful consideration of what world view is true. When all is done, when all the alternatives have been explored, "not many men are in the room" - that is, although world views have many variations, there are not many basic world views or basic presuppositions. These basic options will become obvious as we look at the flow of the past."
Schaeffer, Francis A. (2005). How Should We Then Live: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture. Illinois, USA: Crossway Books. (pp. 19-20)
A logical breakdown, based on facts taken one at a time: 1.. We mostly operate automatically/not at full thinking capacity. 2. We mostly operate using presuppositions. 3. There are not many world views around.
Therefore, it should be of utter, paramount importance that we ensure that we've got a correct world view, and that we set our internal alarm clocks to rouse ourselves once in a while to check our life courses; to ensure that we've still got the correct goal set in our sights.
"How Should We Then Live?" is both an excellent book, and a question that separates the living and dying. At the heart of it all, there really are two ways to live.
I didn't know Transformers had to have egg sacs like Aliens. The Fallen Prime (there could be sooooo many bad jokes about prime numbers in Transformers, my mind goggles at the possibilities) looked like the queen Alien in Alien 3. Everything went organic - the All Spark Shard (which got lost after they zapped Hot Rod? What? Premise for T3?)
Best line, ever:
"My ancestor was a wheel, do you know what he transformed into?"
In my last post about how I'm a heartlander, I posited that I am a heartlander because it's about how comfortable you are in your own skin within that HDB-dweller sphere. I refuted claims that I had to be excluded from the heartlander category because of my zip code, or because of my proximity towards certain "gourmet" supermarkets, or because I am able to stand apart from the scene, and appraise/analyse, as objectively as I can, the entire situation.
In this next post (I have a feeling this might become a series of posts!) I want to deal with the flip side of the coin - people who CLAIM to be heartlanders, but are really high-society debutantes masquerading as heartlanders.
I picked up the SkinnyDrummer two nights ago, as I wanted to make a run to AMK Central to explore wiring possibilities (long explanation, has to do with my birthday party.) She got into the car, and asked me why I wanted to go to AMK when she was the one who was the "true heartlander". This of course sparked off a massive argument (I AM A HEARTLANDER!) which continued through the drive, the parking, the coupon-tearing, and the walking into AMK Central.
The first sign that supports my theory that she's no heartlander was when we got to the big square outside ValueDollar/This Fashion - there was a pasar malam (PM) in action! (Sorry about the unfortunate acronym.) Not that the PM was trouble - rather, it was our reactions to them. I was pretty pleased to see the PM because it was a break from the monotony of the regular stores in AMK Central, and because, well, PMs are always carnival-esque, which is cheap welcome relief and entertainment, especially in this dreary economic climate.
SkinnyDrummer, on the other hand, was all blase about it. "Please don't stop, please don't stop, please don't stop," was all she could say when we walked past the garishly flashing lights of the game stalls.
Aren't heartlanders supposed to fall for this sort of gimmick? I'm not saying that PMs sell snake-oil (some, quite literally, do), but the carnival is a global phenomenon, meant for the peasants, or in the modern context, the heartlanders.
The spoilsport pseudo-heartlander was very reluctant to look around the place, grumbling when I picked up a S$1.80 clear folder for my song worship leading that "You just HAVE to buy something right?" Not really, was my reply. I have been waiting for a PM so that I can get cheaper clear folders, which are often hideously expensive at Popular. I delay my gratification for a super duper cheap deal; how is that not a heartlander-ish trait? If I were really atas, I would drive to Takashimaya the instant I wanted a clear music folder, and buy a branded one.
So that was strike 2 against the so-called self-proclaimed heartlander.
But she got one back at me though - when I was paying, she stood beside me, but a lady approached her and tapped her on the shoulder to ask her "Got sell scotchtape or not?" SX was all like "DUUDE, I DON'T WORK HERE." Then she turns around and claims that she's a heartlander because she was mistaken for a PM stall helper.
I think I'll give this one for her; the incident afforded many, many minutes of gut-busting laughter.
We next move over to the clothes, where I tried bargaining in Bahasa (fail fail fail) for an embroidered top, then got fed up and went to buy food instead. The pseudo-heartlander then starts to moan about the heat and no aircon.
Lest you tell me that heartlanders should be complaining since it's a national pastime, it really wasn't a very hot day - it had just rained, and this was past 8pm at night, when it's cooler. So why was this so-called "heartlander" bitching about the heat and running to any place which had the bare minimum of air-conditioning - like, say, the entrance of a store - and stand there flapping her arms and her t-shirt to let the cool air in?
Then we walk to the food. And this girl does NOT like 茶叶蛋. And she's never eaten muah chee. And a lot of other stuff at the PM.
Now, if I'm not a foodie, and she's a heartlander, how is it possible that I have eaten and love 茶叶蛋 and muah chee while she doesn't like and has never tried all these quinessential "heartland foods"?
So my friends, if you won't let it go that I am an "atas-face", then at the very least, please disabuse SkinnyDrummer of the delusion that she is a heartlander. Let her know, NOW.
Objective: Are you mean and sarcastic? Have you ever answered people ‘meanly’ and sarcastically? If yes, show us how mean and sarcastic you are! If no, then you should try at least once in your life with this note. Rule: Respond to these as sarcastic/mean as you could. (YR stands for Your Response.)
If an annoying person says: 1) I am cute. YR: Of course, how could there be any doubt?
2) I am the most beautiful/handsome... YR: Definitely.
3) See, everyone likes me because I am rich and famous! YR: Of course!
4) Unlike you, I am perfectly multi-skilled. I do everything very well from sports to academic thingy... YR: Definitely so true, especially the academic thingy.
5) You don’t know me? I am a Bruneian artist; I have albums. YR: *puzzled look, walks away*
If an annoying pretty woman/handsome man says: 1) I know you like me. YR: Of course I do, I can't get enough of you.
2) What are you looking at? I am not interested in you! YR: The aesthetics were good until the acoustics kicked in.
3) Sorry, you are nice but seriously not my type! YR: I'm B+, it's not very common.
4) Unless you are rich, then don’t dream that I'll offer/get a ride with you! YR: I have my own car *with you know, The Look of Durh*
5) Look, I am pretty/handsome; I can make people hate you! YR: Sorry, I hate myself too much already, I don't take notice of other people's hate.
If an annoying extremely ugly woman/man says: 1) I think you and I can make a good couple. YR: Couple of what?
2) May I have your cell phone number? Please please please? YR: Sure thing! (I would give it out and exchange numbers, only to ensure that I never ever pick up his calls/texts.)
3) Hi, wanna make out? YR: My make-up is in the car.
4) What do you like about me? YR: Your absence.
5) I want you to say that I am pretty/handsome and you like me sooooo much! YR: Sure thing, "I am pretty and you like me soooo much!"
The National Environment Agency (which I will forever mentally tag with "Ministry of the Environment") has an excellent database of car fuel efficiencies: http://els.nea.gov.sg/mfels/vehicle.asp
According to them, my car's fuel efficiency in urban areas is 8.5l/100km, which works out to be 11.8km/l, which is a lot less than I had calculated it for! My initial calculations were 15km (I was driving VERY conservatively), then it went down to 13/12 (as I started to press the pedal more outrageously.) The 15km/l is attainable, if I take the "mixed areas" calculations (6.7l/100km).
"It's CAUSAL - BECAUSE I tell you the truth, you do not believe me.... the truth is so offensive, it guarantees unbelief... articulating the truth is going to harden their hearts... we still remain faithful, and leave the results to God... the Gospel will still be an aroma of life to some, even if it turns out to be an aroma of death to others..."
It's sometimes very hard to listen to D.A. Carson, for fear that my head will either (a) explode from the sheer knowledge that he sprouts, or (b) fall off from all the nodding-in-agreement I'm doing!
Stuff I'd Like
Lake Tahoe
Borobudor Pyramids, Egypt
Laos
Boro Boro Cambodia (Ankor Wat)
Taj Mahal
Bali Great Ocean Road
Maldives to DIVE!
Great Barrier Reef to DIVE!
Christmas Island
See a penguin in the wild
Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil