Just Today's Thoughts

So, I was at work today, and I was walking with a co-worker to take care of an issue. As we were making the walk from Plaster to Legget-Platt we were engaging in small talk about classes and finals. My partner brought up the subject of his final in a philosophy class, and how it was writing intensive. Without much prompting from me he said that, basically, the subject of the final will be a two thousand word argument proving or disproving the existence of God. I was kind of shocked that he even mentioned this to me because I assumed that he knew of my belief in Christ, but perhaps he did not. Anyway, I used the opportunity to see what his perspective was on the matter. Apparently, he is a deist, at least that is what he claimed at the time. He said that he believed there was a god, but not the “Christian God.” Basically, he said god does not interact with creation, but instead god is like a watchmaker who made everything and then sat back to watch everything unfold. Also, he said the only reason he thought a god existed was to justify everything human knowledge has not understood thus far. Honestly, I do not know if he was trying to convince me of anything, or just simply stating his opinion. Personally, I have an interest in hearing what people think about God and existence. Philosophy is a topic I find very interesting indeed. However, it seems that most of the time people are trying to convince me that their perspective is the correct one when it comes to such topics. I feel that this is not exactly the right way to go about such conversations. I mean, if someone has an opinion I am willing to listen, but that doesn’t automatically insinuate that I will concur. I believe for the most part I just listen without much input, and this is mistaken a lot for agreement. I like to examine what people say, and see if I can understand where they are coming from on the issue. Usually, I will give a reply on the subject if I have a disagreement, but I did not today. This makes me wonder, how much do people think I try to force my views upon them? This is kind of an interesting situation because it begs the question, “why is it that whenever a Christian expresses their views they are, as some would say, ‘shoving religion in people’s faces’?” Personally, I do not think I can really talk about the deep issues of life without talking about God, because that is who I am. I mean, if someone believes a certain way everything they do and say reflects that belief. I believe it is completely possible for two people to have completely different views, and respect each other even though they disagree. Perhaps, this is wrong though. The Bible does present the idea that darkness and light have no communion together. I guess, it goes back to spiritual warfare. All I know is that when such topics come up I want to seek after the truth, and not simply try and convince someone I am right. I have said before that I do not believe anyone knows everything, but I still think that there is an absolute truth that gives foundation to everything. My hope and faith is that the foundation is Christ.

Today

Well, today was a pretty laid back day. I did not really do too much, or at least it feels that way. I mean, I went to class and work, but even though both classes had lectures it seemed like everything went by quickly. After, class I went out to the Oval to find that they were finally doing the free food I had been anticipating since I saw the tent propped up earlier this week. There was potato chips, pulled pork sandwiches, pasta salad, and barbeque chicken. A pretty nice lunch, especially since I was just planning on getting a muffin with some juice to eat. Though, I only had the chicken and pasta salad because I choose not to eat pork, and the potato chips were not all that appealing for me today. Anyway, to my surprise I met up with some friends that I never see on campus except at work or bible study. It was a good time of relaxing, though at that time it was cloudy and windy causing it to be slightly chilly outside. Another perk to the little outing was that there was a Frisbee decorating booth as well as someone making balloon animals. I definitely took advantage of the Frisbee creation opportunity, and found it pretty enjoyable. Apparently, there was tie-dye t-shirt making at the last Oval gathering at the beginning of the school year, but I missed that because I did not know about it at the time. Anyway, after the free food I had to go to work, but fortunately there were not many tasks that needed to be done, and the tasks that I did do went by quickly.

So, the finish of the last full week of classes has come, and I still have a decent amount of work to do for my other classes. However, I am confident that next week will not be all that bad as long as I get through my tests alright. Really, what I want to do is just take a break from school this weekend, but I know that would be a really bad idea. Thus, the nose must go to the grindstone. At least after finals I will have some more free time, and not have to worry about deadlines until summer classes begin. Also, I will be working more, so I will earn more cash to put back for fall semester. Even though I will be working I look forward to the intersession because I would rather work more, and not have the pressure of doing assignments. Not to mention I will be able to finish playing final fantasy, since because of the increased workload in my math classes I have not been able to play more than an hour a week. To be honest, I really want to finish it this weekend, but I must resist the temptation and be diligent to accomplish my responsibilities that I happen to be paying to have. Who knows, maybe I will get a chance to wield my controller for at least a couple of hours this weekend.

Dark Matters (PS)

Once again I went in search for a subject I find interesting to blog about this week, and what I came up with was dark matter. The first article I came across was about a research project being done in Italy that is seeking to produce results of the exotic particles that are claimed to be the majority of the substance of the universe. As of yet there has not been anything that confirms the existence of these particles, but the article explained why there was some hope of getting positive results. After, reading through the piece I was compelled to look for more information on dark matter. What I found was pretty interesting. Apparently, in the realm of the universe as we know it there exist phenomena that are unexplained by what we have observed. Specifically, the speed at which stars in galaxies rotate around the galaxy is greater than should be possible for the amount of mass that is measured in the galaxy. In physics, the mass of an object exerts a force called gravity on the objects around it. This force becomes less as the distance between the two objects increases. Therefore, stars at the edge of a galaxy have less gravity acting on them than inner stars. Well, according to measured speeds of these stars’ orbits they should not be able to stay within the gravitational pull of the galaxy. That is, there is not enough mass in the galaxy to create a gravitational force strong enough to hold them at the speeds at which these stars travel. Thus, scientists believe there is a component that has not been accounted for called dark matter that surrounds the galaxies. What exactly is dark matter? Yeah, no body knows what it is. There are two main ideas which boil down into the acronyms MACHO and WIMP. I gleaned this information off of a fairly easy-to-read article. Basically, a MACHO can be considered something like a black whole or a brown dwarf, which is a ball of hydrogen gas that did not have enough mass to cause the nuclear reaction to become a star (i.e. the planet Jupiter). One cannot really see either of these if they are outside a galaxy, but they can be detected using some fancy observations and calculations using Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which proposed that light bends around super massive objects. In fact, I watched an hour long video about a guy discussing this possibility of dark matter. Ultimately, the observations of MACHOs has concluded that there are simply not enough of them to make up the entire mass needed to justify the observations of the “missing mass.” Thus, scientists are now looking for WIMPs as the remaining ingredient. Basically, a WIMP is a particle that does not react with matter very often, but according to the theory they are everywhere moving through everything. Because they only occasionally interact with known matter they are very hard to measure, and impossible to see. Basically, the research in the first article and particle smashing are the types of experiments being used to discover what exactly these dark matter particles are. I found a nice article that simplifies a lot of this information, and it is kind of funny as well. Personally, I am just waiting for someone to come along with an accidental experiment that blows all of the observations out of the water, and everybody scratches their heads saying, “huh?”

Weekly Adventure

This week is coming to an end and I do not really know what to blog about. Thus, I thought I would relate one of the events that occurred during this week. This particular occurrence happened on Monday. I was working in the shop at around four-fifty in the afternoon when I got a call from one the kids in the youth group I help lead. Basically, they wanted to know if I could take them and a couple of the other kids “exploring.” By exploring I mean walking through the storm tunnels under Joplin around the Main Street area. Well, I am always up for new things, most of the time, and I told them that after I got off of work at five I would come and pick them up. They were hanging out at the church all by themselves for whatever reason, and I had to go over there to get them. After loading up we headed down Main Street to around Fifth Street where the entrance was to be found in an alley behind the first row of buildings. After parking, the kids showed me where exactly the opening was, and it looked like at one time the area had been fenced off, but someone had clipped the fence and rolled it back. Anyway, we jumped down into the place where the entrance was, and proceeded into the gaping dark hole. For the most part the tunnel was pretty clean and dry, but it became cramped as soon as we were inside. Well, at least for me being six foot it was pretty hindering. Thus, I was doubled over for the first few minutes or so, but the passage eventually widened and the ceiling rose to the point in which I could stand up straight. I thought it would continue at the same dimensions for the rest of the way through, unfortunately, I was wrong. After about another ten minutes the tunnel size started to decrease, and remained the same for most of the rest of the way. The entire time we were traveling two of the kids were pretty nervous because they happened to be girls, but for the most part I think they did pretty well. Every now and then we would hear the scraping and scurrying of animals, but we never saw any. At one point we came across a fairly large object some distance from us in which we could not perceive what it was exactly. We thought it could have been an animal because the kids thought they saw it move. I thought it was a guy sleeping in a blanket at first, and proceeded to call out to them. However, there was no noise or response being made. So, I had to go ahead of everyone and see what it was in order for us to keep moving. As I got closer I realized it was a huge log sitting off to the side of the tunnel. This was really kind of funny at the time because we had sat for a good fifteen minutes discussing whether we should continue forward for fear that it was some wild beast that would maim us all. Eventually, after an hour and a half we made it through to the end. Indeed, it was a pretty interesting time.

The Aliens are Coming! (PS)

Life on other planets, does it exist? I do not know, and really am not very focused on the possibility. However, when I came across an article featuring Stephen Hawking warning if life does exist elsewhere in the universe humans should be a little worried, I thought it would be an interesting topic to blog about. Basically, Dr. Hawking was portraying aliens to be similar to humans in their way of thinking of gathering resources. He likened any possible encounter with aliens to Christopher Columbus coming to the “New World.” Except this time, the natives are everything on Earth. I mean that could make sense assuming that these aliens moved in a similar development of society. However, I am not completely convinced of this view (or with the existence of aliens.) Anyway, if aliens have achieved a level of ability that would give them the capability to travel throughout the universe I think that they would have matured along with their technology. This is because having such power means the destructive abilities of such a race would have been first turned upon themselves. That is of course assuming, like Dr. Hawking, that their social development would be like the history of man. The only reason weapons of mass destruction are made is to wage war upon our own race, thus any advanced aliens would have had to go through a stage of extremely destructive warfare, and after such a war in which neither side would have emerged as the victor there would probably be a maturing in society towards a peaceful way of living together. Thus, through peaceful efforts they would achieve their super-advanced status. Hence, instead of exploring space in a nomadic fashion looking for resources, as Dr. Hawking explains in the TV show Into the Universe, the aliens would have learned to be good stewards of their world, and would explore space for more civil reasons. A couple of these motives for space travel could be seeking other life to commune with, cultivating new life on planets showing promising signs, and the exhilaration of exploration. I mean, “To go where no ‘alien’ has gone before.”

I found it interesting that an earlier article talks about Dr. Hawking giving another opinion about life in the universe. Essentially, he was saying that if life does exist elsewhere in the universe most likely it is primitive. To be more exact, he was saying that primitive life is more abundant than intelligent, because such is the example we perceive here on Earth. Of course, I do not really think it matters too much. The thing about any theories of extraterrestrial life is they cannot be taken much further from the theory stage at this point in time.

If you want to know more about Stephen Hawking he has an official website. I checked it out because of my interest of finding out more of his ideas, and there was some interesting information. However, for the most part I think Dr. Hawking and I have some different perspectives on the fundamental workings of the universe. Though, he certainly has better credentials and experience than myself, but even so I think it is possible to go an entire lifetime asking and answering the wrong questions.

Wildlife

If I had the ability and the free time, do you know what I would do? I would go out on a walk-about. That’s right I would take a lesson from Dundee. I have always wanted to go into the forest and live out in nature for a while or for good, which ever one suits me at the time. I think I first started thinking about this when I was in high school. At the time though I just wanted to escape from reality, I did not like the world or anyone in it, so, I thought it would be good to live away from everything. Of course, I never really built up the courage to do such a thing. I mean, I had crush at the time, and then there was the idea of having to find and cook my own food. I think the latter is probably what deterred me the most, because I was pretty lazy back then. (Though, I still get lazy these days too.) Also, another reason for my desire to live in the wild at that time was I wanted to experience some pretty fantastic adventures. By adventures I mean, the kind of quests that are displayed in the world of fantasy. For example, I would daydream of finding a forgotten place of old with hidden mysteries waiting to be discovered, and possibly meeting an adventurous gal that I could fall head-over-heels for. Alas, nothing ever came of those fancies accept procrastination.

When I came to know the Lord, I still dreamed of living in nature. I would say, probably even more so than before. This was because, I desired to escape from what I believed was a world without hope. I thought I should just live alone and wait for the Lord’s return because I believed there was nothing that could be done for this world to steer people away from the path of destruction they walked. I was pretty pessimistic. Fortunately, I know that is not true because even one person coming to know Christ is enough to make the world better. Really, I would say that was the reason I did not abandon society, because of the command to live among people to be salt and light.

These days I would like to go out into nature for a short while and live. Mostly, I think of Jesus fasting for forty days and nights as my inspiration for this. I would be fasting from the world more than from food. Though, I guess in a way I would be fasting from the foods of society. However, I mostly would want to get a way to focus myself on God and grow deeper in Him. Also, I would like to foster a discipline of going out and appreciating the daily task of survival. Yeah, I definitely feel like getting out there and making a walking stick that could double as a spear to go fishing with, that sounds really good right now. I will definitely have to do that sometime.

iPhone Prototype (PS)

I am assuming that most people have heard about the drop-of-the-year involving the lost prototype of the new iPhone. If not, I will relate some of the details. I learned from an article that the person who happened to lose the priceless piece of equipment was an Apple engineer by the name of Gray Powell. Apparently, he had gone out to a bar about twenty miles from Apple’s base site, and was testing it while having a drink. Well, according to the article I read he said, “I underestimated how good German beer is.” This was because, he happened to simply leave the prototype sitting on the table when he left. If someone has not said this yet I will, “Epic fail!” Seriously though, I feel a little sorry for the guy. I did not really check to see if Apple gave him the boot, but maybe they did and maybe they did not. Though, I think it might be safe to say that if they didn’t Mr. Powell got a pretty good reprimand, but who knows. I mean, to be trusted with a prototype of the new iPhone says a lot about his position and capability. Anyway, after Mr. Powell left someone noticed the prototype, and an unknown person claimed it was theirs. At this time no one suspected that it was a prototype because it was in a cleverly designed case made to look like an older iPhone. However, once this person found out what they had I hear they actually tried to call Apple and give it back, but because customer service, obviously, does not know anything about prototype iPhones they wrote the call off as a joke. Thus, the guy takes his offer to the people who run a site called Gizmodo, and they pay him five thousand dollars for this thing. Now, at the time they do not know if this is the real deal, but they still paid the guy a good chunk of cash. Once in their possession they dismantle the device, and play around with it for about a week before posting an article on their site. The article goes into pretty good detail about the device, and some speculations about new features. Needless to say, Apple is most definitely not happy. Another article I read talks about the police investigating on behalf of Apple to see if they have grounds to take legal action over the issue. According to the article there is a law that calls what happened theft because they knew whose property it might have been.

Personally, I think Apple has legitimate excuse to prosecute, but at the same time I do not think they should. I say this because they got the item back. Sure, I see they might have lost some edge on the competition because of the leaked information, but that happens all the time. I do not think it is worth giving someone a hard time over, especially after they gave the item back. Besides, Apple is most definitely got some hardcore publicity for free from the Gizmodo website. Really, the real culprit is the person who played the finders-keepers game, and got 5k out of the deal. Then again, I guess he did try to give the prototype back according to what I was told.

Anime Interest (PS)

I am going to use this week’s blog to talk about an interest of mine that I have had since I was just entering into adolescence, namely, anime. Yes, I am one of those guys. Really though, since I play RPGs like Final Fantasy, this should not come as a huge shock to anyone.

One of my main things about anime is they are just fun to watch, and there are so many different genres of anime that anyone could find something they like, story-wise. Whether you like watching people with over-exaggerated features is, obviously, a completely different subject. Apparently, this was one of a few reasons why no one else in my family wanted to watch anime with me. Another, being not able to get into the storyline, but my favorite excuse was because they thought anime was for kids.

Wait a second; I am sorry, I did not give a proper definition of anime. That happens sometimes when I get into a subject; I forget to explain things to those who might not know what I am talking about. Anime is actually a Japanese word. I’ll give one try to anyone who wants to guess the meaning…if you guessed animation that would be correct. Basically, Japanese cartoons are the best way to think about anime. However, anime is not considered in the same light in Japan as cartoons are in America. In Japan, anime is more like another form of media medium, rather than shows mostly for kids. Sure there are a lot of anime generated for kids, but a good portion of it is not. Though, it is true a lot of anime that comes to the U.S. is pretty much child oriented.

In truth, there are many different styles of anime both good and bad. I found a decent site that has some definitions of different types of anime. (Warning: some of the definitions will describe genres that are, in my opinion, perverse, and should be avoided.) My favorite style is called Shonen, which is geared toward young boys under eighteen. Okay, so maybe there was some legitimate claim to the “that’s for kids argument” when it comes to what I like to watch. Though, in my defense I have to say the stuff for men between eighteen and middle-age has elements I do not think anyone needs to watch. That could be said of a lot of cartoons these days as well. Besides, the general plot for Shonen is the coming-of-age storyline, and there are a lot of good lessons depicted in them. This is especially true of my favorite title Naruto Shippuden. The official site for this show is through Vizmedia, which is responsible for bringing Shonen Jump, the official producer, to the United States. The site has a lot of information about the show and plot line. For those not aware of Naruto the anime is about a young bright-eyed-gung-ho ninja and his pursuit to become the best ninja and leader in his village, the Hokage. Hokage is the title of the head ninja, in Naruto’s village, that means “dancing flames.” Come on, how can anyone not want to know more about that!? Well that is my brief plug for anime; I hope it sparked some interest.

Late Night Thoughts

The funny thing about me is that I think a lot when I am in bed about to sleep. Sometimes it is good, and at other times I wish I didn’t because I just want to get some rest. Tonight, I happened to be thinking about what I needed to do for this week’s assignments in my classes. Naturally, blogging popped into my mind as a close second to my math assignments. Thus, I started thinking about what I talked about last time on my blog. This happened to be of parallel thought with what I was doing before I hit the sack, which was reading the Bible. I was reading in Hebrews the last part of chapter eleven and beginning of twelve. Basically, the subject was the great cloud of witnesses, which are all those believers who came before the present (whether now or back when it was written) that demonstrated their faith even to the point of suffering. This made me think of how timid I really am when it comes to sharing Christ with others. Yeah, maybe I share over the internet pretty boldly, but, honestly, it is easy to talk about Christ when I am not sitting in front of anyone else. It is similar to Paul when he talked about being bold in letter, but not in person. Although, his situation was about correction, where mine is just being scared of what people might think or say. I mean, I always look for the moments where it is easy to bring up Christ to say something. The funny thing is there are almost never any easy moments. When I thought about that, the next thing that occurred to me was, “why would Satan make it easy for you Joe?” It is really easy to forget that this world is a war zone ranging from spiritual to physical. Though, I think it might just be spiritual because I think physical war is the result of spiritual war. Paul said we war not against flesh and blood, but against evil powers and principalities. Eventually, my thoughts brought me to the realization that each encounter is a battle. That is because everything in this world is at odds with Christ. I cannot expect to have it easy when it comes to sharing Christ, because the opposition hates when Christ’s Love is displayed. I mean, the truth is we wouldn’t have to ban certain subjects from being talked about if it were not for Christ. Because everything He represents goes against what the world says or rather what the world wants. The creed of the world is to do as one pleases, “It is okay to do whatever I want as long as I do not hurt anyone or get caught.” Where as the Lord says, “follow me and my ways, do as I command it will be well with you.” For a long time I thought those were just commands of whim. I thought, “Why are those ways better than what I want to do as long as no one is hurt?” However, I bought into a lie. I was blinded to all the hurt and calamity that already existed because of that way of thinking, and to increase the irony of it I even blamed God for all the suffering of the world. Answer me this skeptic that dwells in my mind, “If everyone does what they want in such a way that no one gets hurt, why does suffering abound?” Yeah, maybe some stuff just happens, but how much effect would that have if everyone lived for everyone else in the knowledge of eternal security. The power of charity is best shown in calamity, but what if society was like that all the time? Why does it take something like 9/11 or Katrina to band people together to help others? Thus, what I have found is that God commands us to live His way because it is the best way to live. It is the only way to live in peace with no suffering for eternity. Some ways may be good for awhile, in fact even centuries. However, there is a way that seems right to men, but in the end it only leads to death. I pray I love people enough to tell them that being separated from Christ leads to eternal destruction even knowing that they will hate me for doing so. I hope I have the strength to tell them Christ wants to be with them no matter who they are or what they have done. That everyone would be together forever.

Thoughts about Truth

So, I cannot think of a subject to blog on for this one, thus I think I will just talk about the basics of my understanding. I used to think a lot of things were true based on my perceptions of people, but now I know not everything or everyone is what they may seem. Honestly, this is pretty baffling to me because it just makes sense that honesty is the best road. I realize that hiding ones true self is a defense mechanism, but I think this is sad. Also, some would say that the truth can be hurtful at times, but I think that I would rather heal from a wound of truth than fester under the sickness of a falsehood. Actually, for the most part I find the truth is eventually revealed, and sometimes to even greater detriment than would have been if it had been displayed from the beginning.

Obviously, I believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. That verse says that no one comes to the Father except through Christ Jesus. This is definitely a hard truth for people to except at times. I believe this is probably the truth that brings up the most contention over Christianity. The question is, “why should there only be one way, and how do you know that this is the right way?” The answer is pretty simple, by faith I believe what Jesus taught to be the absolute truth. Many people believe faith is not a justifiable answer or means to claim something to be true. I used to believe this too at one point. However, then I examined what I believed at the time and why I believed that way. (This is another reason why Christianity is disliked I believe, because in order to trust in Christ one has to examine everything about oneself, and realize everything they based reality on was actually false.) I realized what I believed in was not a result of intricate research for the truth, but accepting what I wanted to be true from what other people said was true so that I could live the way I wanted. I did not realize it at the time, but everything I believed to be true at that time and thought was based on fact was actually based in faith. This is because I did not actually test to see if those things were true, but I accepted the opinions of others as truth. Thus, I had faith that those people were correct even though I had never met them and had never tried to see if what they said might be false. I believe everyone is biased, as humans we cannot escape being so, thus even the most objective view has a foundation of bias based on what that person wants to be true. I wanted to do as I desired, and not be bothered with what others thought. The truth is this is the very essence of pride and selfishness. In the end, I believed in Christ not because of what other Christians said about Him, but because I met Him myself. I had an encounter with His presence and love that I could not deny. I did not see His face or hear His voice, but I did feel His presence. One day I will see His face and hear His voice, and maybe that will be while I am still in this body. I pray that anyone who reads this will feel His presence and love as well. God loves you so much.

Memristors (PS)

“I love technology, not as much as you, you see, but still I love technology.” I was checking out the technology section of the New York Times for a topic to blog, and came on a sweet article about something called a memristor. This “new” technology is typical of a lot of our societies discoveries in that someone figured out what it was before there was any way to apply it that we knew about. His name is Leon Chua, an electrical engineer from the University of California, Berkeley, and he proposed the idea of memristors back in 1971. If you are wondering what these things are, then you should check out this article from IEEE Spectrum for some better understanding. However, I’ll give the definition I gleamed from reading. Basically, this thing is on the level of the basic elements of electronics (i.e. transistors, capacitors, and inductors). If you do not know anything about these things, that is not a problem. Okay, the basic rundown of how computer processing works goes something like this; all the calculations done are stored in some type of memory form, that form takes shape as what are called gates that have two states, on and off, thus ones and zeros which are known as binary code, all of a computers operation comes down to storing and calculating these ones and zeros. Now what these gates are made of and how many there are is a key component to the processing power of a computer. Many processors today are engineered to fit more and more gates onto a smaller chip. Thus, the processor, which is essentially the brain of the computer, has more speed and power to calculate.

Memristors are considered to be a break through because of their size and what they can do at that size. Essentially, they can store memory after being shut off. Normally, a small amount of power is needed to maintain memory. This is why when a computer is completely shutdown the machine must be rebooted, but one of the supposed uses of memristors is a computer will not have the need to reboot after being turned off. Also, memristors are extremely tiny. The example given in the New York Times article hypothesized that three years from now the development will have a device that can store 20 gigs per square inch. Some techy is drooling after reading that I’m sure.

Another interesting note, and I’m sure this could be pretty controversial if it is not just whimsical fancy, is that this technology could be used to simulate the human brain. This is because the memristor is similar to the functionality of a synapse, which is how nerve cells communicate signals. This could have some really big implications for diseases related to the nervous system if proved able of integration.

Oh, if you are wondering who is spearheading this research, then look no further than HP. Here is a link to their website if you want to know more about the company go to the HP Labs link on the homepage to check out more research topics. Honestly, I never gave HP much thought before, but my grandma likes them a lot. I guess that means something.

Peeps! (PS)

It is the time of year in which the Lord’s death and resurrection are celebrated in the holiday of Easter. This is an excellent point in the year for candy sales, and really big rabbit costumes. Really though, does anyone else find the idea of a rabbit going around and hiding multi-colored eggs slightly creepy? Anyway, if you are not familiar with the sweet marshmallow delights called Peeps I do not think you can really be considered American. Sorry, that is just the way it is in my mind. Once, again I ran across a story on Yahoo, and this time it was over how people are using peeps in interesting ways from recipes to dioramas. I found this to perk my interest because I have always enjoyed peeps, perhaps to an unhealthy extent.

Apparently, one of those uses includes the Washington Post’s peep contest. From what I could pick up this is the fourth time they have done this competition, and there were some pretty interesting entries which can be viewed in the photo gallery. The big winner for this year was a piece entitled “EEP” which was a model of the house and balloon invention from the movie UP. Overall, I think the contest was a pretty interesting idea though the reason behind it eludes me, but obviously people really got into it since there were one thousand one hundred entries. Personally, I would be too tempted to eat the peeps before I could do anything artistic with them.

The edibility of peeps was another subject I read about in the article. There are a lot of different recipes listed on the peeps official site. These recipes include the peeps in a decorative type fashion on cakes, cookies, cupcakes, and even lollipops. An interesting thing I learned from the official website was that there are peeps for Halloween, Christmas, and Valentines as well as Easter. Also, there are flavored peeps including chocolate mousse and strawberry crème. By the way, I have to say I really liked the snow globe cupcake idea from the recipe archive, and was pretty entertained by the sight.

One thing the article on Yahoo mentioned was the shelf life of peeps being pretty much forever. I have to say that I cannot consider this to be a good thing. Though, I also have to say the source cited as a link in the phrase “scientific fact” in their article is a little “weird.” In fact, the link leads to a piece on Weird Science, which, according to the author, is what science professors do for fun. I did not find the article to be to supportive of the claim, but then again I did not read the last few paragraphs because of lack of interest.

As a final note, I would just like to say that the only way to truly enjoy eating peeps is fresh out of the box. For a reason unknown to me some people like to wait to let the peeps harden and then eat them. I feel this is just not right. Why would anyone want to stick a hard marshmallow in their mouth? I do not understand it at all.

Back to school, back to school...

And we’re back! Spring Break was good, though I worked all week it was nice not thinking about classes for a whole week. I have to admit I did not get a chance to play final fantasy at all which I found to be slightly ironic. I contemplated finishing the third paper, but in the end could not bring myself to do it. By the way, what was up with the snow storm on the first day of spring? Talk about some crazy weather, it was nice outside the day before, and then SWUUUUSHHHHHH. I guess old man winter decided to go out with one great gust before it was all said and done. I am reminded of the old Christmas movie The Year Without A Santa Claus with the Heat Miser and the Snow Miser (I am not sure I spelled those right).

Well, now that classes are going again it does not seem all that stressful as it did before. I am caught up with all my work, and though I did not work ahead during break I find that I feel confident in my ability to finish this semester strongly. Though, I am now looking ahead and believe that I am going to take some summer courses so that I can possibly finish up my degree next year. I think I need to take two cores and I would be done with general required classes. That would be nice because I really want to focus on the classes in my field. Though next year’s fall and spring semester will be crammed with all of my upper-division courses, but I think I can do it. At least I hope that I can because I would really like to move on to graduate school after next year. Hopefully, I will be able to get a good job and move out on my own again. I feel like a bum living with my family, but when I did live on my own I just kept acquiring student loans because the job I had could not cover my living expenses and tuition.

So, I hope everyone else had a great Spring Break. I know a lot of my friends went on a missions trip which is pretty awesome. Actually, this year is the one year that I did not do the same. I was kind of bummed, but you have to have money to do it and I did not have the cash. Working was pretty fun though. I got a position as a student technician and started last week. I was surprised how fast time went by because I was enjoying what I was doing. I like computers, but I have only a basic knowledge of them. However, with this new job I have already learned a lot of things I did not know before, and there is still more to learn! I once heard that true success in the workforce was when a person can call their job fun not work.

School lunches (PS)

I would like to bring some attention to the state of school lunches. This subject is definitely one that needs to be addressed with more consideration in our country, and every other place where nutrition is tossed to the wayside. Honestly, I think a person’s nutrition should be one of their top priorities, and as should follow their child’s. Really, I believe everyone knows that eating healthy is what they should do, but that is the problem. Instead of putting nutrition into practice it is just taught out of a book. I would say most if not all bad eating habits are learned, and in like manner so are good ones. I am bringing this up because I ran into an article on Yahoo about a teacher who is anonymously posting a blog about her endeavor to eat the lunches served at her elementary school. She herself states that outside of work she eats healthy, and started the blog out of concern for the children’s health. While admittedly she is not an expert on nutrition she comments about how the food looks and tastes, as well as details about any negative effects that occur after eating lunch. Also, along with her posts there are installments by guest bloggers with their take on the subject.

Initially, the original story I ran into on Yahoo was talked about from the perspective of a person who makes lunches for their children, and stated how the blog on school lunches had increased her motivation to continue the act. Personally, I think homemade lunches are a good way to select healthy food for children. However, this only works well if one can afford buying the food. Honestly, I think it is a shame that people even have to consider this option. Why should people have to buy healthy food for their kids’ lunch when we pay for the food distributed by the schools with taxes? Should not the money spent in tax dollars be used in such a way to provide food that is already nutritious? I do not know how this tax money is allotted to the schools and who is making the decisions on what to spend it on, but I think some priorities should be reexamined. I looked up a site after seeing a link in a similar article on school lunches that mentioned the Child Nutrition Act. This site had some information on how this topic is being addressed at the government level.

In the end, I think this is an important issue to consider. Children need to be taught by experience not just through head knowledge. Personally, I think as one grows up a person tends to favor foods they are familiar with, and because of this children should be given food that is nutritious so that they will tend to have healthy eating habits as they get older. Thus, kids need to have nutrient filled lunches at school. Obviously, the school is not the only place, but unfortunately some kids only get a decent meal when they are at school, and if high-calorie-low-nutrient items are the only thing served, there is a problem. Lastly, I think a majority of all of the health problems seen today have a link to what people eat. So, developing good eating habits would help prevent sickeness.

Almost there! (OP)

Yeah! Spring Break is almost here! List of things to do; sleep, worship Jesus, and play some FF. That sounds like an excellent way to spend my time. However, before I get there the dreaded midterms stand before me like menacing giants, but I am ready with my sling and stones. I have two midterms and both of them from my math classes. Honestly, I was feeling a little unprepared this weekend until I finally set down my game controller and started doing my homework. I have come to the conclusion that I would rather get all my work done and then enjoy my leisure time rather than procrastinate. This is because when I put off my work, because I feel the game calling my name, I feel guilty about it, and a rising dread of falling behind in school or even failing fills my being. I would rather get all the work done than have it constantly looming in the back of my mind driving me to the edge. When I say the edge I mean I get depressed. Seriously, like it is a cloudy day and all I want to do is sleep, but I can’t seem to be able to even do that. Thus, I toss and turn all day and night. It is just not a good feeling. However, now I am ready and can see the ray of sunshine peeking through the clouds. Putting my nose to the grindstone and wielding the ever-sharp pencil in hand I have been conquering the homework assignments. At least that is what I would like to be happening. It seems like those math problems just get more monstrous as I go along. I spend way too much time on homework that should probably only take twenty minutes. Oh well, maybe stamina is more important than speed. Diligence is something I have had to learn over and over again.

Anyway, spring break should be a nice rejuvenating time. I hope to do some projects around town to help people out. Campus Crusade student leadership usually has stuff they do with the different organizations around town. If they have not planned anything I will probably go to Watered Gardens and help out around there. I have done that a couple times before during Christmas time. Watered Gardens helps out the needy around town by providing some meals and clothes as well as doing other stuff. Other than that, I will probably be in my room sleeping /playing FF or at the International House of Prayer (IHOP) here in Joplin. I find that place to be excellent for just going to be with the Lord. It is very calming to be there and put on a good soaking CD to listen to while I meditate with the Lord. Other than that I don’t have much planned for the next week. I have usually done a mission trip during the break, but I think I will simply use this one for some R-and-R.

Game Tech Wars (PS)

Yes, the gaming competition continues. I came into the gaming mode in the late 90’s when I played FF VII. This is definitely fairly recent in relation to gaming history, but I was not interested in games until that time. Before then gaming was gaining a steady momentum in becoming a leading form of entertainment for people all over the place. I have to say that I have favored Sony since the time I started playing because that was the console for FF. I never thought back then that there would be a hot competitor for gaming consoles, and then along comes Microsoft with the Xbox. I thought it was pretty nice especially with the dawn of Halo, but honestly I never thought that it would rise above the Playstation line. That was until the fatal next generation era. There is really no doubt that Sony has definitely been exchanging punches with Microsoft, and seems to have lost its place as the preferred system. Really, the fatal error was the initial price of the PS3, but what is done is done concerning those times.

Now, there is a interesting concept that I ran across as I was pulling up the home page of the computer I happened to be searching with. A story on Yahoo about Playstation Move. A “new” controller for the Playstation that incorporates sensor technology in two remotes that look very similar to the Wiimote. The design is kind of interesting, the controller is round and has a bulb that lights up at the top. Supposedly the technology is supposed to be better than what Nintendo has offered so far. Overall, I have to say that it looks cool, but there are some definite draw backs to this. One, the timing is late. People are bound to view this as a knock-off of the Wii controller system. Though, thinking about it, maybe people will want to get a PS3 so they can play fun interactive games without buying a Wii, as well as have the ability to play blue-ray and PS3 games. Another problem is the bulb. I do not really know the specifics, but it seems like that thing could break pretty easily. Finally, how is this going to make the transition to the system? Are they planning for this controller to replace the regular sixaxis or is it supposed to be an option for certain games?

As I was looking at the comments for the story I kept seeing the phrase Project Natal linked to Microsoft. This caused me to do a Google search. Eventually, I ran across a website that has a lot of video links of the introduction of this system. Basically, this system is fully interactive without the need for controllers. Instead, it uses a sensor that scans in 3D the area around it, and reacts to motions and voice commands. This is pretty interesting technology, but from what I could gather it is still in the beginning stages. That is to say, this is possible, but the games are not there yet. Again, I do not know the specifics, but I did come across a blog that had some good information with a link to another blog for Playstation Move.

Any input on the subject is welcome.

Playing around in the pre-dawn hours. (OP)

Right now I am very tired. I just want to lay my head on a soft pillow and float off to the land of dreams. The reason for my tiredness is simple I stayed up until four-thirty in the morning playing a video game, and got up to go to work at seven-thirty. Not a very smart move on my part, but it is not everyday that a highly anticipated game that I actually want to play comes out. Personally, I used to play video games whenever I had free time. However, these days I have not really been too interested in them because of wanting to put my delight in the Lord. Nevertheless, I found myself glued to the television from midnight to four-thirty in the morning after buying a copy of the new Final Fantasy XIII.

I have to admit, I really debated on whether I should have allowed myself to give in to my desire to play this game. In the end, I decided to indulge. It has been a very long time since I have played a new game, and this game is actually my first for the PS3 that I own. Really, I would say that besides the blue-ray capability this game is the only reason I wanted to get a PS3.
In the past, I would say that I was definitely addicted to video games. This was to the extent in which if I did not play once a day I did not feel like the day was complete. I would literally spend hours upon hours in front of the TV. Also, I only played a certain genre, role-playing games or rpgs. The amount of time to really get anywhere in one of these games is enormous. One could possibly spend five hours playing and only get through maybe less than ten percent of a game. Though, this really depends on the game, because rpgs will last for around twenty-four to over a hundred hours of game play. I think anything less than twenty-four hours is really short, and a good game will last at least forty hours. So, it is easy to see how one can get lost for hours at a time in one of these games. Though, this isn’t necessarily healthy. There is a genre called MMORPG which stands for massive multiplayer online role-playing game. The most famous title of this category is World of Warcraft or WoW. I have heard about people actually dying from playing this game for three days straight without any sleep. That is sad and ridiculous at the same time. Personally, I did not enjoy WoW much, but I did enjoy Final Fantasy XI which took that series into the genre. The problem with these games is the amount of time one puts into them is gargantuan. When I stopped playing FF XI I had about a couple weeks worth of playing time. That’s right, just playing time, this means the amount of time I spent actually playing the game added up to around three hundred thirty-six hours. I played that much and I had not even begun to go into any depth of the game.

Fortunately, I have learned discipline with my time. Well, accept for last night. Man, I am really tired.

Campus Issue on Discrimination (PS)

There have been three articles over an interesting issue that has been addressed in The Chart recently. They have to do with protestations of the discrimination clause of MSSU not including sexual orientation. The first two stories I ran into while going to work. I saw a stack of the school newspapers in the hall and thought, “why not?” I flipped through until I found the articles over the organized protest that caught my eye. Mostly because I have an interest in what people with different world views have to say. The first protest was a sit-in of about twenty people at Hearnes Hall in which individuals put duct-tape over their mouths to make a point. In the articles it said that this was not a direct result of a comment made by a now former member of the Board of Governors who resigned shortly afterward. However, they did say that the comment was proof that the issue needed to be made more public. The third article addressed a second protest similar to the first, but this one had a growth in number to about sixty people. Here are the links to the first, second, and third articles.

Personally, I do not think these people should be discriminated against. However, it is hard to say that, when I come from a point-of-view that believes theirs’ to be wrong, and sound sincere at the same time. One might think my very state of mind discriminates against the entire way of life, and honestly I do not really know how to address someone who is homosexual about the subject.

I am not a homophobe I’ve worked and interacted in a friendly relationship with people of different orientations. Really, the situation is not all that different than working with anyone else who is not a Christian. So, I do not really see why people have a problem giving them equal footing with everyone else.

If the same type of mentality in the discrimination of homosexuals was applied to every other category of sin people might see things differently. Basically, Christians discriminate against same-sex orientation because it is called an abomination. However, believers sometimes forget that everyone is a sinner deserving of judgment including them. Thus, in the same respect of denying homosexuals their rights because it is a sin, everyone else deserves to be denied rights of life because of sin, including Christians. (Funny, I think it says that in the Bible.)

The main argument I have heard against this is that if homosexuals are given equal footing with everyone it would suggest that Christians condone homosexuality. I can see how this is true, but at the same time I don’t really think it is completely valid. My view comes from God giving us the will to choose between His will and our will. Basically, that means that we can do anything we want if we are willing to face the consequences. Obviously, many people do not even believe in the consequences, thus they do as they please. My argument is if God gave them the choice. So, who am I to deny their choice and/or rights. I can only make them aware of the consequences in the most loving way possible, and if that is considered discrimination there is nothing I can do about it.

Love is more powerful than discrimination my friends.

Getting over the slump. (OP)

I do not know about anyone else, but for me there is always a point in the semester where I just want to give up. Maybe it is the stress of classes getting to me. However, it never fails that after the first few weeks of classes I tend to slow down. I am tired all the time and just do not feel like doing any work. Fortunately, I know better than to give in to this temptation. Nevertheless, it feels like each time I sit down to do an assignment I am forcing energy to be awakened from the deepest parts of my being. Perhaps, I just need a break. Yes, spring break is just on the horizon taunting me with its promises of rest and relaxation. At the same time, I chide myself for my laziness and procrastination. Life is work indeed. I really feel like I need to pray for more joy in work. I mean, when I think about it I feel really good when I accomplish something I set out to do, but starting the task is really hard. I understand that the Lord created us to work and that after the fall work became difficult, but I really wish I could overcome this negative mind-set towards difficulty. I wish to be joyful instead of discouraged at the thought of working. I am reminded of some videos I had to watch for job training. One of the main themes was to “choose your attitude.” I really think it is possible to do that, though very hard at times.

Sharing about it has made me feel a little better. However, I know I am yet to have my second wind on the matter. I believe the main reason for my slothful attitude is my desire to be finished with college. As a fifth year senior with two more years left I feel somewhat ashamed that I have not been more diligent in my college career. Thus, I feel some regret for past mistakes. However, I refuse to let such self pity keep me down. Indeed, I must get a hold of my thoughts and stay focused. I think I just need to pace myself and not let myself get down.

Honestly, thinking about the reasons behind my foggy perspective. I am seeing that it is more from the amount of work I have to do this semester. This is actually, one of the harder semesters I have had for the past couple of school years. I guess adjusting to the work load is getting to me.

I know the best thing for me is to focus myself on the goodness of the Lord. Whenever I feel disheartened spending sometime in prayer always helps me realize the goodness of the life I have been given. All fear of inadequacy falls away and I know that I can do anything because He is with me. Yeah, I kind of feel like a psalmist right now. Starting off with a gloomy attitude and then focusing on how God is good. It is kind of a joyful thought to be in agreement with those ancient song writers.

Really, cars run by air? (PS)

I really like technology. Thus, I have been looking for new innovations to blog about. I found some interesting information on what they are calling air cars. I first encountered these things through a video through fox news’ website being pushed by Pat Boone. Initially, I thought this would be awesome, though, some doubts came to mind. My main question referred to how could a car run on air and still be as powerful as regular gas powered vehicles. Supposedly, a French engineer named Guy Negre is behind the invention. Basically, Guy has been working on an engine that runs on compressed air for several years now. I really didn’t get too much of the mechanics, but they seem somewhat true. The only thing with this is it doesn’t have a very long range at high speeds. Negre’s answer to this is to do a dual powered system that uses gas to heat the air. I am guessing this causes greater pressure allowing for pressure, which I suppose results in longer range per tank of air. However, all of this seems too good to be true. There wasn’t too much more information to be conclusive about much. Though, they are claiming to have models that are produced in India produced by Tata Motors. For more information I would suggest checking out the website for the company backing this production called MDI.

After, finding out about this I kept scouting around the web. Eventually, I started reading some comments about the subject that got my brain going. I figured on my own intuition that it would be tough to integrate such a product into society when so much of our economy revolves around oil and gas. Though, I think it is possible to do this. At the very least, if they can get such vehicles to compete with the main companies in the nation there would be cause to start to recognize the potential. (I feel more or less indifferent on this matter. Honestly, my idea of economy isn’t one that can be fulfilled as things are now.) However, all of this is yet to be seen. I found an article about the air car coming to the states that had some interesting comments. Most of these were addressed at the particular article and its claims. This made me question the reliability of these products. (One particular comment that specified some causes for concern was posted by the username karenrei.)

In my opinion, I think we need revolutionary technology that will preserve the earth. After, all God commissioned us to subdue the world. To me this means to maintain it and respect the environment. Quite frankly, I do not think that this is being done with diligence. I’m sure ingenuity can help our society move towards this, but in the end it comes down to what is desired. Does society desire pollution free cars enough to start the process of eliminating the need for fossil fuels? Is it necessary to do so? Maybe and maybe not.