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Couple quick links for an afternoon snack.

Resolution?

All we have is the ILLUSION of security.

That is all.

A whole lot to think about. Not too much to say.

second post of the day. when it rains it pours.

but I simply had to post this because when I saw it I had two distinct thoughts that I wanted to share. A guy in England, who is from Nigeria, is creating a Manga bible. In it he portrays “Christ [as] a hard guy, seeking revolution and revolt, a tough guy.”

Immediately two things came to mind. The first and most animal response was: I must have this. The second and much more thoughtful reflection was that I don’t feel this is a technically correct or helpful view. Christ was lowly and humble, patient, loving, kind, unassuming, and peaceful. Nowhere in the actual physical life of Christ is he violent or revolutionary. He would even say things like give to Ceasar what is Ceasars. Telling the oppressed Jewish community that they should peacefully cooperate with the government and instead of focusing on the physical world and it perishable riches, they should concentrate on achieving spiritual goals that store up treasures in heaven. On the other hand in Revelations we are shown a violent, perfectly judgemental Christ. But he isn’t at war with man or man’s rulers. He is clearly at war with Satan and Satan minions. In that sense I would say the manga author is right on. When Christ came to save, he was at perfect peace with His creations, wanting only to give His life so that we could re-unite with Him in spirit and in truth. At the same time He was at perfect peace with man He was in the midst of an all out, take no prisoners war with an enemy who for centuries held the human race in utter depravity and captivity.

But like I said, as soon as I can find this thing, I’m going to try and get me a copy.

Stumbled on this site in digg. Possibly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Next project: Do this to my eyes to see what they look like.

Spring-Ford Reporter:

To the Editor:

Halloween. I like it. Lot’s of people like it. There’s much to do with Halloween. From decorations and cooking to costumes and candy, people busy themselves with preparing much for the merrymaking involved with the holiday. Decorations have always been a great way to communicate the holiday spirit. But to my recollection, the decorations of Halloween never rivaled the intensity of Christmas decorations, that is, until recently.

Houses and store windows alike are now full of pumpkins and gravestones, ghouls and monsters alike. They draw the attention of the passer-by and capture the imagination of children seeking out their Halloween treasures of candy. One particular store had windows that absolutely blew my mind to pieces. After a pleasant night of said Halloween Merrymaking, a small group of my friends and I decided to have our own Halloween parade along the sidewalk of Main St. in Royersford. During that walk we passed a store that many of us had passed countless times before without much scrutiny. Its windows are usually decorated in concert with the season and are always pleasant to look at in passing by. But this night my friends and I were intent on finding entertainment and so, I was surprised at the gravity with which this store’s windows held our attentions and our wondrous amazement.

Not that many store’s don’t make windows worth examining, but to me I think there was something more, something that made these windows worth more than just examination, something that made these windows special. Something so quotidian to the daily by-passer, but so sublime when one slowed the pace of their life to really take in the artful arrangement that actually spoke with such a beautifully haunting narrative. Windows done well will always have a narration, but windows that narrate with a voice that has no other purpose than to whisper the haunting prose of the artist’s visual memory have the ability to enslave the viewer’s mind’s eye and wholly capture their imagination.

But how could such a simple and everyday window arranged with simple and everyday objects be arranged for a holiday to speak with such a voice? I would say that this is an example of the idea that the sum of the parts will always have a greater effect that the parts themselves. With dolls and chests and lace, ghosts and ghouls and picture frames, the obvious elements simply looked like Halloween. But with more examination the details became the basis of the haunt. Dolls that hid in a chest beside an over-sized hand and seemed to be peeking out on a world that was totally foreign to them. A ballerina on point refused to face her audience. Perhaps she was in the middle of a spin, but most seemingly, she was not interested in her audience or she had something to hide. Faces of famous people like Michael Jackson painted in gaudy exaggerations of facial color then framed as if they were the masterpiece - stared out into the window scene. At the center, a woman whose face was unspeakably rotted was comforted by a headless husband as she sat silently on her rocking chair. But behind it all was the orchestrator of the scene. It was the silent partner that stared straight into your soul, but could not be found. And when you did find that head hidden in the far back corner of the scene, you spent all your energy not to reel away in complete terror at what you had found.

Here’s the afternoon edition because I somehow forgot that Ahmadinejad is here in the states, talking to students at Columbia U. (The bastard) The question I would like to ask is this: are non-citizens afforded the right of free speech in America? They aren’t afforded the right to work or make wages, are they? IMO, if the US believes that democracy is the way for the world to go, we should be the big people and put our freedom where our mouth is. So here’s some pics of the circus of the day. (I would check out the source blog, but as an opinionated, experiential source. Not necessarily a factual source. Also, the newyork daily news has an interesting opinion of the Iranian. Finally, the transcript of the A-man’s interview with 60 minutes. A read that makes me wish I could believe him. But he’s so shady on some of the key questions that, IMO, I can’t believe him anymore than I believe the US gov’t. (I don’t). But you can’t ignore the fact that he’s damn intelligent, making the reporter eat his ill-thought words right from the start.

Strangely enough (or not) MS has released a downgrade patch for vista. I’m not surprised if there is a patch, but I’m not totally convinced that the source is solid.

Finally, for a bit of monday fun: the relative/comparative sizes of sci-fi vessels. WHERE’S FIREFLY YOU HOES?!?! (I know, I know, the Serenity is probably only like one or two pixels comparatively, but surely that alliance ship could go on there)

this is quite possibly the most interesting and hopeful thing i have ever read about man-in-space-exploration. a private (from what i can tell) company bigelow is sending up a series of inflated satellites that will eventually be manned, probably as early as the 2010’s. their next version of ship will have an environment management system onboard to test out livable conditions for crew. i’m really excited by this.

filesharing ring!? those criminals. they’re destroying the moral fabric of british society! scoundrels! bbc reporting on a raid on a honeywell plant for illegal filesharing. screw that why don’t they solve some murders and bust some criminals who actually harm other people. once you’ve got the crime rate low enough that people don’t have to lock their doors at night, then maybe it would be appropriate to waste man hours on this crap. and don’t think for a second that i don’t feel the same way about america. the RIAA and MPAA can bite me. they’re rampant crybabies unable to adapt to a changing marketplace so screw off.

the headline from digg for this article read something like “the end of internet shopping”. i didn’t waste my time reading the comment drivel, so i’m not sure where they’re connecting the dots on this one, but basically the supreme court has just overturned a ruling that has supported the sherman anti-trust act for nearly a hundred years. i’ll hold my tongue until i can see how this plays out.

where should you buy a new iphone today? NOWHERE. just wait you morons.

new on the “projects i’d like to do, but probably never will” list is this multitouch system that uses a projector and a video camera.

insane comic on a dog pondering the end of the earth/universe. cool visuals of the earth.

learn useful latin for things like “what does i.e. mean?”

WHAT THE HECK IS EMAIL??!?!?!? i have no clue. i’m clueless. i’m speechless. this is awesome. the guy’s totally freaking out. i’m totally freaking out. that mail hasn’t combusted yet. but my face has.

this mirror-based painting is quite possibly my favorite post of the day. this is a painting that can only be viewed correctly with a round kind of mirror. and they did this by hand! in the 1700’s! very awesome.

is america’s technology sector going overseas? this editor at cnet thinks so. and based on what he presents, i’d have to agree. i’ll have to brush up on my russian or japanese. d’oh! those aren’t on his list.

keeping it really real on flickr, this person points out a nice fat finger argument against the iPhone. but looking at the picture of how it will be normally i have to ask, why not both ways?

DON’T FLUSH YOUR UNDERWEAR DOWN THE TOILET. EVEN IF YOU POOP IN THEM.

i haven’t see this guy in so long. i heard they were canceling the production of this or something or other to that effect. i hope this becomes a big screen reality. come to think of it, i may watch some indiana jones this weekend. too bad i can’t download it on my xbox.

Funny graphic for those of you who know my emo side. Gotta love those girls that shout “I love you!”

This was on reddit, but I have no idea where the pictures are from, save they’re most likely rednecks.

New electric car with some nice-looking specs. Unfortunately I’m assuming this is out of most people’s price range and the tech won’t trickle down for sometime.

and now for the instructable-icious edition. The first is for all you clue lovers out there. I give to you, the hidden bookcase door. (I don’t think there was an actual bookcase in the clue movie. I think they used a fake wall in the conservatory, a fireplace in the lounge(or study?), I think they used a cabinet or closet in the kitchen, and a painting somewhere else… but i digress). The circumstances for this project are pretty specific, but if I ever have a situation where this would be appropriate, you can count on me to build it. (or just think about building it.)

Next up on the DIY massacre are SLAP BRACELETS. That’s right those insane pieces of metal that they banned from elementary school because of rumors of slit wrists. Oh man, do I love/hate the 80’s. Also, dear brother, notice that the name of the article submitter is the name of one of your favorite 80’s songs.

And finally for the audiophile/yard sale addict in us all - the speaker/headset in an old phone receiver. a must for any dj or musician that’s bored with typical instruments… or just likes to goof around.

Next up is a great entry on Belorussian movie posters. I love Belarus. Nuff said.

A new translation of the bible! IN LEGOS! (Ok so not really a translation, but you know, whatever) Actually I think I saw this some time ago floating out there in space, but I just recently clicked through to it on some blog or another, so I thought I might share it with the crew. Now study up!

And from the factoid department comes the coldest place in north america. Along with a really spiffy picture of a guy and his frozen beard/companion