Entertainment of the future?

So, it looks like Microsoft is envisioning a really cool future for us.  I don't know if I should be creeped out or excited at the prospect of some of this stuff.  Check out the video and post your thoughts in the comments below.

Surprise Painting

A friend of mine sent this to me.  Check it out ... pretty neat if you're an artist.

Trip to Carlsbad

My family and I took a vacation (finally) and went to Carlsbad Caverns this past weekend.  Here are some pictures of the trip.    http://no1nate.shutterfly.com/

--Nathan

Mike Ditka  - "If God had wanted man to play soccer, he wouldn't have given us arms."

All 172 Star Trek Voyager Episodes Played Back at Once

Star Trek Voyager Singularity (fast version) from Artie Vierkant on Vimeo.

Paralyzed Veterans of America: Thank You Veterans

http://www.pva.org/site/PageServer?pagename=thank_main

Thank You Veterans

Using Twitter for Business Information and Advice

Well, I found a pretty cool tip from PC World News about using Twitter (which I have but have never used) for keeping up with the latest from your favorite companies.  Well, okay.  Big companies.  

Lists

Here's a pretty good idea I found from some guy on www.lifehack.org

Malware Removal

Another great reason to read Lifehacker:

Five Best Malware Removal Tools

As Seen on Fark.com

Baby Boomers complain that they are being hit hardest by the economic crisis. Some are being forced to actually have a job, while others face the agaonizing decision to sell their second homes just to get by

My Meeting in Shawnee on the 12th

There really isn't a point in posting this, other than testing technology and seeing how to post a map/directions in my blog.


View Larger Map

Marriage Contracts?

Apparently, in the absence of morals and common sense, people are speculating in Australia about ditching the "'til death do us part" length of marriage contract, and instead thinking about 5 or 10 year loans ... uh, covenants.

But, I guess that's what you get for using your Bible as a coffee cup coaster.

Another Reason to Distrust All Companies

Woman's husband is shot and killed. Her attempt to get his life insurance payout is denied by the insurance company. Because he had Hep C.

Fired Field

About a mile from my house, there was a "controlled burn" of a field on Tuesday night. Wednesday evening, I drove down the road to see what all they'd messed up when I saw this funny scene. Here it is, right by the field that was burning and burning (controlled, mind you ... someone started it on purpose to kill the weeds in the field or whatever) for hours and into the night. And what should I see, obvious as can be, a sign warning of the gas pipeline. I just had to get a picture of it.

Oh, and my mother-in-law, the night of the fire (which we could all see the smoke that afternoon/evening), drove down there to see if the fire was heading toward our houses. She said that there was the one person watching the fire in this big field, and his pick up was parked RIGHT BY THE FIRE. Wow. Am I missing something? Don't vehicles still fuel in them?

Our Family Trip to New Mexico

Easter 2009 Pics

Shackles (Praise You)

Tiger Safari

Dirk Valentine

Dirk Valentine Save Europe from the Evil Baron Battenberg!

Play this free game now!!

Community of Veterans

Article on Rick Warren

Today I read (well, okay, I skimmed it) an article online titled, "Rick Warren to deliver Obama invocation - gay community furious." I saw it in my RSS feed and thought it might be funny. Apparently, this guy I've never heard of is making some people mad. What's he doing? He's a preacher at some church somewhere and he has the feux-important job of leading the prayer at Obama's Inaugural Address.

Anyway, this pastor, who's "obviously" some kind of radical nut, terrorist, criminal, or something else as vile (as implied by the first couple of paragraphs in the article), has been chosen by President-elect Obama to lead a prayer. I kept reading to see what heinous crimes the man has performed (perhaps even torturing rats with some kind of experimental shock therapy?).

Listen to this, from the article:

"He’s the “absolute worst” pick, according to The Nation magazine’s Sarah Posner, who said that his selection is a “slap in the face”.

'Warren vocally opposes gay marriage, does not believe in evolution, has compared abortion to the Holocaust and backed the assassination of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,' she writes."

Well, I don't know anything about assassination attempts, but from the rest of the list ... I LIKE HIM! Against abortion? A preacher against abortion? You don't say! Duh, people! I don't think any church-goer, let alone preacher, could honestly support abortion, and not claim to be going against God's Word. Gay marriage? If there is anything spelled out more clearly than "homosexuals ... [will not] inherit the kingdom of God."

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." -1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (New American Standard Bible)

So, a preacher condemns homosexuality and abortion, and people are taken aback. Wow. What has this world come to?

If you have the stomach to read on through the rest of that garbage, you'll see more hilarity thriving in one article than should be allowed. What a joke. I got to thinking, "who writes this moronic stuff?" Then I looked at the top of the page and saw that it's an article written on the web site of The Christian Monitor. 'Nuff said.

Kids Dancing

Here's a video of the kids dancing and being themselves ... silly!

Privacy

In an article on PC World's online magazine, "Court Allows Spyware Program to Go Back on Sale," we see that common sense is again lacking in the US Congress to allow such laws to be vacant.  The court, in merely upholding the law, had to allow the company to continue selling the program.  The program, if you haven't read the article, allows people to spy on other people by putting spyware (keyloggers, monitor IM messages, etc.) on their computers.  They even have instructions on how to how to email this program (think "virus") to other people, discuised as a picture file, so that secret monitoring can take place.  

What can possibly go wrong?  It would be one thing for a place of business to monitor their public-use computers, or the government to catch criminals, but this program, available to the public, is definately a bad idea.  Well, what do I know?

Wind for the Future

Abe Again

President Lincoln once stated "Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." I think that this can be held true for abortion as well. Just think about it.

Ole' Abe

Abraham Lincoln once said "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." So to me, that says that one of the ways that God tests us and tests what good we have within us is to give us power or good things happening to us.

This, then, gives us a chance to prove to God that we are indeed good people. Good on the inside, through adversity, trials, good times, and lean times. It shows that we can handle power, even on a smaller scale, and are ready to be good servants for Him.

Tell me what you think?

Save the Last Dance for Me

America the Beautiful

It's not easy

Facing off

Today, I've stepped even deeper into the Social Networking thing that Generation Y is so adamant about. This time, it's on Facebook. I still have my MySpace page, and this blog (obviously), but I'm broadening my spectrum to include another site to see if there's anyone on there that I'd like to talk to that wouldn't use the teen-oriented MySpace. Facebook does seem more for professional-ish people, like me.

In other news, I deleted Ubuntu again last night. There's a couple of things bugging me about it, and now there's one thing that we need that I can't make Linux do. So I put Vista back on the computer so my wife and I could talk with our friend from Turkey (and I don't mean the town in Texas). She's a really wonderful lady, almost exactly like my wife. They were best friends when they were younger, and now she has found my wife again. They're like two twins, peas in a pod, et cetera. I really like to get to talk to her to, as I've always gotten along better with girls than boys. Anyway, the point is, Windows is now installed so that we can use the webcam to do video chatting with.

Between all this, hopefully I can make some friends online and not be so bored.

El Fine

Inspirational Song

Five for Fighting: Freedom Never Cries

I took a flag to a pawn shop
For a broken guitar
I took a flag to a pawn shop
How much is that guitar
I took a flag to a pawn shop
I Got me that guitar
What's a flag in a pawn shop to me?

I Saw a man on the TV
In a mask with a gun
A man on the TV
He had a ten-year old son
I Saw a man on the TV
His son had a gun
He says that he's coming for me

I never loved the soldier until there was a war
Or thought about tomorrow
'til my baby hit the floor
I only talk to God when somebody's about to die
I Never cherished Freedom

Freedom never cries.

I Wrote a song for a dead man
To settle my soul
A song for a dead man
Now I'll never grow old
I Wrote a song for a dead man
Now I'm out in the cold
What's a song to a dead man to me?

I never loved the soldier until there was a war
Or thought about tomorrow
'til my baby hit the floor
I Only talk to God when somebody's about to die
I Never cherished Freedom

Freedom never cries...

You can cry for her
Die for her
Lay down your life for her
Kiss and wave Goodbye to her
Anything at all

You can cry for her
Die for her
Make up your mind to her
Anything at all

There's a baby on the doorstep
Wailing away
There's a baby on the doorstep
Longing for the day
There's a baby on the doorstep
Who'd give his life to take
A flag to a pawn shop
A flag to a pawn shop

May he forget why he is crying some day