Weird picture of the day - a kitten with two faces!

I know kittens are cute, but this is just plain weird! A kitten with two faces!

Lil' Bit is a darling two-faced kitten. He lives in Arizona. From The Telegraph:

Vets believe the cat, which has two mouths, two noses and four eyes, may have two brains, as one face can go to sleep while the other remains awake and it can blink independently on each one.

Link

What are the 10 most popular pages on Wikipedia? But look at the strange listings for 'Conservapedia'!

There are not too many surprises here.... Nonetheless, this is an interesting list! But boy, take a look at the 'conservapedia' listings, that sure is strange!

[UPDATE: The Conservapedia Top 10 list is probably the result of click bots skewing the results. See Seth Finkelstein's blog entry and the comments below.]

Wikipedia is "The Free Encyclopedia." What's on the mind of Wikipedia its readers? Here are the top ten most viewed pages on Wikipedia:

1. Main Page [30,090,900]
2. Wiki [904,800]
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [413,400]
4. Naruto [401,400]
5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock [396,000]
6. United States [330,000]
7. Wikipedia [329,400]
8. Deaths in 2007 [321,300]
9. Heroes (TV series) [307,500]
10. Transformers (film) [303,600]

Conservapedia is "The Trustworthy Encyclopedia." What's on the mind of its readers? Here are the top ten most viewed pages on Conservapedia:

1. Main Page‎ [1,906,729]
2. Homosexuality‎ [1,572,713]
3. Homosexuality and Hepatitis‎ [517,086]
4. Homosexuality and Promiscuity‎ [420,687]
5. Gay Bowel Syndrome‎ [389,052]
6. Homosexuality and Parasites‎ [388,123]
7. Homosexuality and Domestic Violence‎ [365,888]
8. Homosexuality and Gonorrhea‎ [331,553]
9. Homosexuality and Mental Health‎ [291,179]
10. Homosexuality and Syphilis‎ [265,322

(Via Why, That's Delightful!)

Technorati tags: [tagname], wikipedia, top 10, conservapedia

Death by Powerpoint..... and how to fight it!*

* A brilliant resource to create BRILLIANT Powerpoint presentations!

Here it is.... This is an incredible presentation that will help you to create better powerpoint presentations!

| View | Upload your own

Let me know what you thought.... I thought it was fantastic! It was clear, helpful, and I could even follow the gist of it without notes or some boring person droning on and on, and on, about nothing in particular!

Don't you hate those crazy EULA's at the end of corporate emails

I have quite a few friends who work for large companies. I always chuckle when I read the end of their emails where the "disclaimer' is appended (very often that text is more than what is actually IN the email. I have often wondered what the REAL TERM cost is in bandwidth to the company for those disclaimers.

Well, here's a guy who said hogwash! Here's what he has to say about EULA's (ps a EULA is an End User License Agreement)....

Javier sez, "Russell Coker has published his Conditions of Sending Email, which are his rules for accessing his SMTP. If you send him an email, he has preemptively disclaimed any unilaterally made-up claims in your .sig:"

The conditions of sending mail to my server are now as follows:

1. A signature will in no way restrict my use of your message. You sent the message to me because you want me to read it (it was not mis-sent, my mail server does not accept mis-addressed mail). I will keep the message as long as I like either deliberately or because I forgot to delete it.

2. I reserve the right to publish any email that is threatening (including any threats of legal action). I don't like being threatened and part of my defence is to publish such threats at an appropriate time. Anyone who is considering the possibility of threatening me should consider when their threat may re-appear.

3. I reserve the right to publish any email that is abusive/profane, is a confession of criminal or unethical behaviour, or is evidence that the sender is a liar or insane.

4. I reserve the right to forward all amusing email to my friends for their enjoyment.

My mail server will now provide the URL of this page to everyone who connects at the first stage of the SMTP protocol. When a mail server continues the connection that indicates acceptance of these conditions.

Link (Thanks, Javier!)

Technorati tags: EULA, honest

How the times have changed.... Early episodes of Sesame Street are now marked 'for adults only'

This is truly a bizarre insight into the changes that have taken place in society. Of course not all change is bad. When you read the report below you will come to realise that some changes needed to be introduced to protect children from sexual predators... I'm sure they were around in the 1970's, but perhaps they were not quite as calous and bold...

Here's the story:

Virginia Heffernan has an article in the New York Times about the first seasons of Sesame Street being released on DVD. Interestingly, the DVDs come with a warning: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

Nothing in the children’s entertainment of today, candy-colored animation hopped up on computer tricks, can prepare young or old for this frightening glimpse of simpler times. Back then — as on the very first episode, which aired on PBS Nov. 10, 1969 — a pretty, lonely girl like Sally might find herself befriended by an older male stranger who held her hand and took her home. Granted, Gordon just wanted Sally to meet his wife and have some milk and cookies, but . . . well, he could have wanted anything. As it was, he fed her milk and cookies. The milk looks dangerously whole.

Live-action cows also charge the 1969 screen — cows eating common grass, not grain improved with hormones. Cows are milked by plain old farmers, who use their unsanitary hands and fill one bucket at a time. Elsewhere, two brothers risk concussion while whaling on each other with allergenic feather pillows. Overweight layabouts, lacking touch-screen iPods and headphones, jockey for airtime with their deafening transistor radios. And one of those radios plays a late-’60s news report — something about a “senior American official” and “two billion in credit over the next five years” — that conjures a bleak economic climate, with war debt and stagflation in the offing.

The old “Sesame Street” is not for the faint of heart, and certainly not for softies born since 1998, when the chipper “Elmo’s World” started.

Above, an example of old school Sesame Street. Link

Technorati tags: Sesame Street, Adults only, sexual abuse, change, video

Victims of Congo's Rape epidemic - how you can help.

I have been following this story on various news sources. We have two Congolese refugees as part of our community, and so we also get first hand news from their families and friends. This is such a sad and violent issue.

Soldiers in the DRC have been using rape as a weapon to subdue and destroy communities in the Congo. Their acts of abuse and violence have multiple effects. First, they rob young women of their lives since the rape victims are often infected with HIV. Second, they rob them of their childhood since the young women often fall pregnant and spend the rest of their young lives raising the children of their abusers. I cannot imagine the torture of such a life.

Here's more on that story.
Earlier in the year the New York Times ran a story entitled - "Rape Epidemic Raises Trauma of Congo War." Susannah Breslin tipped Boing Boing to that story, and she provides an update.

The [NYT] piece painted a horrifying portrait of mass rapes in war-torn Eastern Congo. According to the UN, 27,000 women were raped in the South Kivu Province in 2006, and “[t]he sexual violence in Congo is the worst in the world." These rapes are particularly brutal: "Many have been so sadistically attacked from the inside out, butchered by bayonets and assaulted with chunks of wood, that their reproductive and digestive systems are beyond repair," wrote Jeffrey Gettleman, the East Africa bureau chief of the Times. "'We don’t know why these rapes are happening, but one thing is clear,' said Dr. Mukwege, who works in South Kivu Province, the epicenter of Congo’s rape epidemic. 'They are done to destroy women.'"

(...) In the [Boing Boing] comments, a reader asked: "Does anyone know of anyway people could help?" So, I wrote an email to Gettleman, asking if there was something people could do. Gettleman suggested I get in touch with Erika Beckman, Project Manager of the Female Victims of Sexual Violence project at the Panzi Hospital. I've posted her email in full. Let others know how they can help stop the Congo rape epidemic by posting about it on your blog.

Information on how to make financial donations and provide other forms of support are detailed in the full text of Susannah's post: Link.

Previously on BB:
Africa -- rape epidemic in Congo war worsens

Reposted from Boingboing.

Technorati tags: Congo, Rape, sex as a weapon, destroy, fear

Feeling discouraged... How I deal with it.

I like words (I don't mind Paris Hilton, but I prefer Paul Teutul... Don't worry it will all make sense once you read this post).

Like the little picture I posted yesterday, words can be understood from many different ways. They are rich and symbolic.

A word carries some inherent meaning (for example the English word 'dog' could make one think of an animal that barks). However, the hearer or speaker of the word also adds their own meaning (often called an inferred meaning) to it (for example when Paris Hilton says dog she thinks of one of those tiny little doggies (hers is called 'Tinekerbell' that you can put in your handbag. Whereas Paul Tuetel thinks of a dog he thinks of his dog 'Gus' - a pitbull of sorts).

The word for today is discouraged.

adjective
	1	demoralized, demoralised, discouraged, disheartened
				made less hopeful or enthusiastic; "desperate demoralized people looking for work"; "felt discouraged by the magnitude of the problem"; "the disheartened instructor tried vainly to arouse their interest"
	2	discouraged
				lacking in resolution; "the accident left others discouraged about going there"

The word is made up of two elements, courage, and the condition of being without courage. To be dis- couraged is to have your courage removed or dis-located. Of course the antonym of dis-couraged is to be en-couraged (to have courage placed within you).

I was shaken by Pete Grassow's post 'Shame on you'. At first when I read it I was dis-couraged. But then I realised that this is no a post of discouragement - in fact it is a courageous post (a post of en-couragement). It reflects a reality that is filled with hope, it is the hope that says there is a better way for humanity, shame on those who do not choose it. In fact, whilst it may sound discouraged, it is filled (from my perspective) with a sentiment of hope for what things could be like.

But, words can be powerful that way...

Sometimes I loose my courage to live on the side of hope. Sometimes I feel that darkness will overcome the light (like when I read posts such as those about Bishop Tutu below). But, that is NOT the truth!

The truth is that this is God's universe. I am God's servant, and all of us (even those whom I don't particularly understand or like) are loved by this courageous God. There is no greater hope than that!!

So, I pray for courage - the kind of courage from which I cannot be separated. I pray for the courage to do what is right, even when others loose hope and give up around me. I need it!

I remind myself that everyone lacks courage to do what is required from time to time. That is why I need to live in commuity with the God of courage and the people who courageously choose to live for that God. They 'en-courage' me. So, it is about keeping the courage in, and not letting too much of it run out...

That's how I deal with it... What do you do?

Technorati tags: Paris Hilton, Paul Tuetul, discouraged, words

A conservative Christian's, unChristian, reaction to Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

He was hailed as a mighty prophet when he spoke for the dispossessed. Now, however, those who are facing his critical insight have turned against him with the kind of ferocity that is uncharacteristic of those who are followers of the Prince of Peace.

As many of you know Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been outspoken about his affirmation and acceptance of Christians who have a same sex orientation. This last week has been a particularly difficult time for the Bishop since many conservative Christians have taken great offense to some of what he has had to say.

It does not surprise me that many have turned against him. All of us like to point fingers at others when 'they are wrong'... We will take the moral high ground and easily show them their error. However, when we ourselves are the subject of scrutiny we often become quite defensive. Soon our prophets become our enemies, and those who so clearly spoke on behalf of God are labeled as misguided and delusional... I can write easily of this because sadly I have done it, and just as sadly I have often been treated this way...

Here is the scathing comment that Dr Michael L Ford lashed at Bishop Tutu:

God Is a Righteous God

Dr. Michael L. Ford

19 November 2007

For quite a long time I have been suspicious Archbishop Desmond Tutu was serving a different God than the one I serve. The reason I have thought this is because of the multitude of times he has made pronouncements and taken positions contrary to those consistent with what one should expect from a man who is representative of and has a calling from the Most High. As a matter of fact my file of his deviations from the way of truth has now grown quite thick.

The world of course applauds him, which should be a warning to any Bible reader (Luke 6:26) for this is the way of the world with false prophets. But who can fail to remember Tutu’s 1999 appearance on the Larry King show in front of the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.? It was there he endorsed Mormonism as being Christian. He said he was there…to celebrate the coming of God into a world where God is saying, "I love you...I believe in you." It was plain he was observing a different reason for God coming into the world than I was, not the love part, but He came to redeem sinful men who need to believe in God not have God believe in them.

Now Archbishop Tutu has said, "If God, as they say, is homophobic I wouldn't worship that God." Well I have news for Tutu. God has no fear of homosexuals or any other man including him, and He is not concerned about Tutu’s attitude toward His position on sodomy. It is not Tutu’s prerogative to pass judgment on God but God will ultimately exercise His option to pass judgment on him. God is not constrained to have his approval but he should rather be concerned with God’s approval of himself.

Archbishop Tutu is not the only man possessing credentials from some denomination who has forgotten that Jesus Christ is LORD, not they themselves. If a person does not submit to Jesus Lordship willingly He is not their Savior even though at the Great White Throne Judgment they will bow and confess His Lordship before Him as The Righteous Judge. At that time I suspect a good many men wearing collars or robes will go into eternal condemnation because they were religious but not saved.

And then there is this press release from the conservative Anglican publication 'Anglican Mainstream':

Disappointed by Desmond Tutu

Anglican Mainstream SA Press Release: Disappointed by Desmond Tutu

November 20th, 2007

Anglican Mainstream Southern Africa wishes to put on record its disappointment with recent statements reportedly made by the retired Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu. The statements indicates a failure to understand the nature of the crisis, which faces the Anglican Communion, a crisis that is inhibiting our ability to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to all.

The present crisis in the Anglican Church is about the centrality of the Bible to what members of our church believe (our doctrine) and how we live out that belief in our daily lives (our moral standards). Sexuality is merely the presenting issue. In fact the decisions by Anglicans in the USA to distance themselves from the official province of that country has to do with the conscious vote at the convention of 2003 not to affirm basic Anglican Articles of religion. One of which states: “However, it is not lawful for the church to order anything contrary to God’s written Word.” This Resolution B001 was defeated 84 to 66 at the 2003 convention. In addition its liturgical practice, sacramental discipline and doctrine of God have also departed from Anglican teaching and formularies.

Many faithful people feel that they can no longer continue living and worshipping in a church that has departed in such a major way from the historic faith. The question of Bishop Robinson could really only have come up once that motion was defeated.

Archbishop Tutu claims that the Church has appeared homophobic. That claim cannot be substantiated. As Anglicans we believe that the God we worship loves every human being, that that according to the scripture, he makes the same demands of all those who love him: that we should “keep my commandments” Jn 14:15. In Anglican Mainstream SA we seek to encourage ministry that welcomes all, while upholding the revealed truth of scripture in a “grace filled” way.

The particular issue around Gene Robinson hinges on what the Bible teaches as the standards to be demanded of leaders in the church. These include holiness of life, and either celibacy or faithfulness in marriage between husband and one wife.

Finally, it saddens us that the questions of racial genetics and sexual orientation are being equated. Such an equation is at best spurious and indeed offensive. The origins and development of homosexuality are complex and our concern is with holiness of life and therefore behaviour, whatever its origins. Bp Bethlehem Nopece of Port Elizabeth sates: ” I am offended at the equating of being born black and being born homosexual, there is no scientific evidence for the genetic origin of homosexuality at this time.”

Monday, November 19, 2007

Revd Gavin Mitchell

Convenor Anglican Mainstream Southern Africa.

mainstreamsa@gmail.com

Both posts are kindly reposted from ContactOnline (Fr David MacGregor)

Technorati tags: Anglican, same sex, homosexual, Desmond Tutu, Prophet

Have you ever taken a photo where no photography is allowed?

I have visited quite a few places in the world where photography is strictly prohibited (in fact most Cathedrals and Churches in Europe apply that rule). But, of course, there are many other places where they would rather have you buy the 'official postcard' of the monument, statue, or shrine, than take your own photograph. In almost every place where I have seen a 'no photography allowed' sign I have seen people trying to take photographs! And now, with the advent of Cell phone Cameras it is even worse!

Well, here's a site dedicated to pictures taken in places that prohibit photography.

A 'psychological' optical illussion - the power of the mind to creat (or distort) what we see [Picture]

This is an amazing example of the power of the human mind to create meaning from our subconscious and our memories.

I shall be using this optical illusion when I next teach my first year students to consider how powerful their own tacit perceptions, memories, and socialization can be in warping their reading of Biblical texts (hence the need for good study tools and responsible exegesis if one is going to use the scriptures to teach, preach, offer advice and counsel to others).

Amazingly this discovery was first made by a Missionary in Malawi in the 1880's

The influence of culture and environment can have an effect on our visual perception. This theory was first explored by Robert Laws, a Scottish missionary working in Malawi, Africa, during the late 1800's. Take a look at the picture below. What you see will largely depend on where you live in the world. After you have examined the picture, scroll down for a more detailed explanation. So What Did You See?

What is above the woman's head? When scientists showed a similar sketch to people from East Africa, nearly all the participants in the experiment said she was balancing a box or metal can on her head. In a culture containing few angular visual cues, the family is seen sitting under a tree. Westerners, on the other hand, are accustomed to the corners and boxlike shapes of architecture. They are more likely to place the family indoors and to interpret the rectangle above the woman's head as a window through which shrubbery can be seen.

Technorati tags: power of the mind, meaning, Biblical Interpretation, Hermeneutics, optical illusion

What does your brain process faster? Reality or your memories?

My fascination with the human brain is never exhausted... In fact I hope to prove that I actually have one of these [a brain that is] one day! Perhaps that will be the topic of another doctorate ;-0 ha ha!

However, here's a very interesting post from boingboing.net:

Memories processed 7 times faster than reality.

Scientists have show that when rats sleep, they play back memories as much as seven times faster than the events really transpired. The research, conducted at the University of Arizona, may shed light on how memories are processed. From a University of Arizona press release:

Memory stores patterns of activity in modular form in the brain's cortex. Different modules in the cortex process different kinds of information - sounds, sights, tastes, smells, etc. The cortex sends these networks of activity to a region called the hippocampus. The hippocampus then creates and assigns a tag, a kind of temporary bar code, that is unique to every memory and sends that signal back to the cortex.

Each module in the cortex uses the tag to retrieve its own part of the activity. A memory of having lunch, for example, would involve a number of modules, each of which might record where the diner sat, what was served, the noise level in the restaurant or the financial transaction to pay for the meal.

But while an actual dining experience might have taken up an hour of actual time, replaying the memory of it would only take 8 to 10 minutes. The reason, (professor Bruce) McNaughton said, is that the speed of the consolidation process isn't constrained by the real world physical laws that regulate activity in time and space.

The brain uses this biological trick because there is no way for all of its neurons to connect with and interact with every other neuron. It is still an expensive task for the hippocampus to make all of those connections. The retrieval tags the hippocampus generates are only temporary until the cortex can carry a given memory on its own.

Link

Technorati tags: brain, neuroscience, memory, reality

Are you a World of Warcraft addict!? This cartoon may scare you out of it! [Pic]

I have never been much of a gamer myself. In fact, even though I own a PSP I can't say that I have every actually sat down to play a game! However, I know a few folks who have spent days (and nights) trying to get just that next level of World of Warcraft (WoW) done....

I was going to repost the cartoon on my blog, but then when I followed the link I realised that it was very rude. So sorry for that! I won't post that kind of stuff....

Here's the cartoon from boingboing.net. Click here for the Link to the original post.

Please note, this is not polite! As the 13th century heresy would have said pious auribus offensiva (this is 'offensive to pious eyes')....

Technorati tags: WoW, World of Warcraft offensive