Month: September 2005

Alarmingly, a Factual Error was Found on the Internet! This little news blurb is from 2002, somehow slipping under the radar for three years before the major news services picked it up.

OK, I’m joking, the Onion is a fake news site. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t abundant factual errors on the Internet. They abound, everywhere. Even here (though I’m hard-pressed to find a link).

But Christy and I were just talking about this yesterday. A side-effect of the Internet is that more and more people will use the Internet to express their freedom of speech. In China, they make no bones about arresting people for expressing opinions on topics the governmet disapproves of. In the US, we satisfy our need for censorship by banning books in the name of “the children” and throwing webmasters of free sites in jail for not knowing that explosives information was on their site.

But this pure, unadulterated ability to, within reasonable limits, set up a web site and say what you want is a fantastic innovation for putting power in the hands of the people, without precedent since the invention of the Gutenberg press. I work with it every day, and yet I still think it is amazing, and the impact far-reaching. I can chat on a message board with anybody, anywhere in the world, for almost free as long as we both have Internet access. And carry on conversations in almost-real-time, the back-and-forth and witty repartee an unending stream without interruption.

Compare that to just twenty years ago, where if you wanted to correspond with someone in Great Britain, your choices were either time-consuming or expensive: post, telegram, fax, or long-distance phone call.

And yet… Sturgeon’s Law applies. 90% of everything is crap.

In this day of instant access to information, how do you filter what you read so that you’re not overwhelmed? Do you rely on major news sites? Blogs? Magazines? Or do you just randomly read, relying on your intuition to guide you as to what to believe and what to write off?

I have to post this blog, because the story needs to be recorded where others will see it, in the hopes that they might reference the story as a clear manifestation of spiritual involvement. Like fate. Or Nabu, the Assyrian god of knowledge and destiny.

This story is absolutely true. There is no embellishment for shock purposes.

Dan C. was a goody buddy of mine in high school. On weekend nights we would drive over to the Silver Diner on Rockville Pike dressed up in tuxedos. We would assume our regular position in the corner booth and send drinks to girls at other tables. Accompanying these drinks were napkins with pickup-lines scribbled. When the girls didn’t respond, we laughed at their missed opportunity, and heralded our premier position at the corner booth by slogging down french fries dipped in Old Bay sauce. We had a waitress named Ellen who we thought loved us. Now that I’m an adult, and can reflect on the situation, I bet Ellen hated our guts and secretly spit in our fries. We were some obnoxious teens. And we had driver’s licenses and a curfew past midnight.

I graduated high school back in 1991, the last year that U.S. teenagers spoke English in complete sentences. That was also the last year I ever saw Dan C. I went off to college, and while we spoke a couple times afterwards over the phone, we never reconnected. At least I have the memories of the good ‘ole days.

Fast forward to 2005, a year during which the majority of U.S. teenagers have identified the term “literacy” as a form of cancer. I’m in the process of cleaning out my basement. I’m going through all kinds of old boxes when I come across my high school yearbook from 1991. While flipping through the pages, I read where friends signed my yearbook from 14 years ago. I see Matt’s writing. And Kevin’s. Even Ben.

Then I come across Dan C.’s writing AND IT IS THE EXACT MOMENT THAT THE PHONE RINGS AND IT IS DAN C. CALLING ME AFTER 14 YEARS.

I recall that after the basement stopped spinning, my first words to Dan were, “Is this some kind of joke? Are you for real? What?”

So you can all have your 5,000 word posts on religion and faith. Based on my experience, Dan C. is a god.

I have to say I feel smarter for reading this blog. Seriously. To have a place where I can go and read people having enlightened dicussions without resorting to flaming, shouting, or name-calling is a wonderful thing.

I need to start posting more because you guys do a wonderful job of expressing your opinions. I feel like I tend to ramble and miss points I wanted to make. Maybe its because I only post when I have a few moments of peace between work and kids and, uhm, well, work and kids 😉

Gracias, mes amigos! Weed

So I am curious, I know we have a lot of science buffs out here, and people that don’t believe in the christian account of creation, and that is fine. I was curious tho what your take is on the intelligent design theory?

Here is a link that discusses it briefly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design

many thanks

Curt

As a youth, I desparately wanted to be a pro basketball player. I seemed to have the height–at thirteen, I was already about 5 feet, 9 inches tall–and I practiced endlessly.

For a year solid, I walked down to the local blacktop, rain or shine, even with snow, snow-shovel in hand, to shoot hoops for at least an hour a day. Sometimes other kids would join me, and sometimes not. I would shoot from all over the court, aiming for that perfect “swish” through the hoop.

A year, and much hard work later, I still sucked. Winners never quit, they say. I say, if you never win, and never quit, you’re insane. So I quit. I was a terrible basketball player. Still am, I suspect, but I stopped even trying to play about a decade ago because it seemed like I twisted my ankle every single time, and spent two weeks in crutches to pay for my fun.

But you know what? Sometimes, you find out there are things that you are good at, and you just didn’t know it.

Well, I recently discovered that I’m good at flying model airplanes. I guess all that time playing video games paid off. Really, flying is just two joysticks. Rather like Robotron with wings. And a nasty, expensive crunch if the robots get you.

I suspect the skill would translate to full-scale airplanes, too, but it may take a while before I can save up the money for a pilot’s license.

What about you? What new skill have you learned in the last year or two and discovered you’re good at something you didn’t know you were good at?

So I went looking at my syndication list, and I happened across Jen Gagne’s “What Cute Animal Am I?” Meme post. So, being the follower that I am, I decided to try for myself. I thought the results were humorous, given that I was following Jen’s lead…

I just love these useless quizzes! I don’t know why I always find them so entertaining. Probably because they’re all about me talking about me.

Watching today’s developments – the evacuations of the Texas coast cities and towns, the situation in New Orleans and other hard-hit areas of Louisiana – I think it’s fair to ask that we all take a moment to think of family and friends in the affected zones.

And not just that, but think also of all our neighbors, since when it comes down to it, that’s the essential character of the republic in my mind–we’re neighbors, and we look after each other, and there are disagreements, certainly, but when it comes to times like these, if we’re treating each other as neighbors in need of help, we can make it through anything. Only a few days ago, we were crowing about the Redsksins victory over Dallas, and lording it over anyone from Texas we could find. Today, the people of Texas, and Louisiana, whoever they are, wherever they are, they are in our prayers. I also think something my oldest, Sarah, said to me the other day while we were watching the news during a rare break from the Disney Channel. She got worried about all the kids and babies she saw on the screen, and asked ‘Are they going to be all right?’ I told her, ‘Yes, and since they are our neighbors and friends, even though they live far away, we’re going to do what we can to help them,’ and that seemed to make her feel better. She knows I give blood pretty regularly and that we’ve been contributing to my organization’s Blankets for Babies campaign, but knowing that somehow we’ve instilled some sense of compassion in a four-year old, it was nice to see.

Occasionally, my web site is simply a dumping grounds where I put notable stuff so that I don’t forget it. Here is one such case: The Old Astronomer to his Pupil, a poem written by Sarah Williams, written in 1868.

Reach me down my Tycho Brahe, I would know him when we meet, When I share my later science, sitting humbly at his feet; He may know the law of all things, yet be ignorant of how We are working to completion, working on from then to now.

Pray remember that I leave you all my theory complete, Lacking only certain data for your adding, as is meet, And remember men will scorn it, ’tis original and true, And the obliquy of newness may fall bitterly on you.

But, my pupil, as my pupil you have learned the worth of scorn, You have laughed with me at pity, we have joyed to be forlorn, What for us are all distractions of men’s fellowship and smiles; What for us the Goddess Pleasure with her meretricious smiles.

You may tell that German College that their honor comes too late, But they must not waste repentance on the grizzly savant’s fate. Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.

Since religion is such a big topic on this board, let me state what my many personal searches have led me to believe:

No one wants to die. Death is a very scary thing. Before we had science, it must have been even scarier, since there were a lot of other things we couldn’t explain, like lightening, disease, and why fireflies light up.

So our ancestors made up things to account what they couldn’t explain. Gods, myths, etc…and in what is human nature, certain people took advantage of this to control the masses. Hence, religion.

“You don’t want to die? Then believe in this, subject yourself to this, and you will get to heaven and live forever. By the way, I’m the representative of God and you should grant me according power.”

That’s my explanation of religion today. Simplified, but pretty much dead-on.

I cannot stand how religions say if you’re one of us and behave this way, then you’ll go to heaven, but others won’t simply because they’re not part of our group. My heaven has Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Atheists, Catholics, Jews, and anyone else who knew the difference between right and wrong and tried to stay on the side of right, just because they knew it was the right thing to do.

What, you want me to believe in your religion, but animals don’t go to heaven in your religion? Huh? Didn’t God make them before us?

Didn’t Jesus say in the Bible (which is just another book to me, btw) “Love one another as you love yourself, and love God above all else?” Isn’t this the Golden Rule, to superced all others? Where in that does is say “except for gays”? Where does it exclude someone who’s from Iran, who just tries to live a good life each day, doesn’t denounce America or blow up themselves? It says be nice to each other. How is hating someone simply because their religion is different loving your neighbor?

I HATE HATE HATE the part of religion that says you have to be like us and not like anyone else. It reeks of Junior High clique-ism. It’s an extension of the selfish human nature, where we think we’re special just because we’ve made it to the top of the food chain. God did all this just for us? Huh? Or are we just the latest evolutionary beast to make it to the top and have spare time to think about it? It appeals to my base instincts to think this is all for us humans, but it doesn’t appeal to my logical side. My logical side tells me we just made it up to make ourselves feel better about the world we live in we really have no control over….yet.

We have no clue what is out there. There may be life that we can’t even perceive. It might now be carbon-based. We only exist in four dimensions (l,w,h, space-time). How do we know there aren’t others? Just because we can’ perceieve them, they can’t exist? We may be one little cog in a vast machine. Why should we be special? But we are looking, we are trying to find out. What happens to religion if we find other sentient life out there? God put them there for us to find?

Religion is good on a personal level IF it teaches you right from wrong. But when you get people in a group, human nature mars the intent of religion and twists it into something I wish to stay away from.

Not that all religion is bad, or that to be part in a religion makes you a bad person. But it’s not for me, hence this is my theory. All of you who participate in a religion and you do good things in the name of that religion, I’m truly happy for you. But respect my belief to not participate in that religion and still be a good person. It can be done.

Science is the way for me. I know the difference between right and wrong, and don’t need the idea of a higherdeity to keep me on the side of right. I can stay there by myself with willpower and the help of those who love me. I’m humble not because I’m little compare to God, but because I’m little compared to the universe. To the stars, to the oceans, to the sky.

My $.02 Weed

I have only one thing to say:

Best revenge on eBay scammer ever (or you can try the original link here. Apparently, the main site has gone offline from time to time). As you might know, I have some small interest in exposing eBay scammers, and reading this just brought a smile to my face, a tear of laughter to my eye, and a satisfied head-nod for the lousy scammer who got his comeuppance.