http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33990163/ns/us_news-faith/

Normally I wouldn’t find this information that interesting or surprising except that I came across this bit of news the same day.  SheikhRadd Salah, leader of the Northern Wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel, makes the following statement at a conference organized by website Islam Online in Doha, Qatar:

“Netanyahu is about to build the false Temple, and when the Jews build the Temple they will do so upon the ruins of the Al-Aqsa [Mosque].”

On the ruins of the mosque?  It is still standing as of today; I am curious as to how SheikhRadd Salah believes it will end up in ruins.  In light of the fact that Al-Aqsa mosque is only the third most sacred site for Islam, and that first most sacred site (Mecca) may be receiving a major upgrade, it could be that a time is soon coming in which the Arab world will decide to forfeit/abandon/leave their claim to the Temple Mount.  As much of a bargaining chip as the Temple Mount is for the Arabs, Radd Salah’s statements and Mecca’s re-design tend to make me believe that their forfeit or forcible removal from the mount is not that far-fetched, and may come sooner than later.

 1. Of or relating to Laodicea.

2. Indifferent or lukewarm especially in matters of religion.

 It is the second definition that is of most interest to me. In Revelation Jesus instructs John to write seven letters to seven churches, one of them being the church of Laodicea. Generally the message is one of judgement with a call to repentance.

 Revelation 3:15-16 (New King James Version)

15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

 Revelation 3:17-18 (New King James Version)

17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

I can’t help but look at the sad state of the church in America and think that Jesus is speaking directly to us (I’m sure I am not alone in this opinion); I also don’t believe for a second that the word Laodicean came up by chance at this point in our nation’s history. Looking through all of the Scripp National Spelling Bee winning words, there have been only two proper nouns selected that were spelled correctly: Laodicean, and interestingly enough, the other was Purim. Hmm. The word, with its associated Biblical meaning and ramifications, has been “injected” into the American conscious again out of the mouth of a child. I just wonder if anyone is listening.

I ran across this in National Geographic last night; the PEACE symbol is 40 years old this year.  It was created by a British designer, Gerald Holtom, in 1958 for anti-nuclear demonstrations.  The origin of the symbol is very interesting and can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_symbol#The_peace_symbol

PEACE -

What motivates us to do anything?  What is worth pursuing?  In the end, will anything that I have done have any eternal worth or am I just plodding along in vain?  These are obviously not easy questions to answer, and every person usually has their own answer.  I have read the first chapter and I really like Piper’s approach and style; he is a very educated man and I sure he could make a small fortune off of all of his writings.  It is the fact that he gives it all away for free that gives me so much joy.  Here is a man who is striving to live a life that is not wasted, following God’s will for his life the best he can, and putting his purpose before his prosperity.  Anyways, if this is a topic that strikes a cord with you, his book “Don’t Waste Your Life” can be found here: http://www.desiringgod.org/media/pdf/books_dwyl/dwyl_full.pdf.

All of his (and others’) books are available in PDF form here: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/OnlineBooks/ByTitle/

Jeremy.

I was searching for a simple and free application to do folder synchronization on my computer.  I wanted a tool with a little more flexibility than having to manually “select all”, “copy”, “paste”, and then pick and choose what should be over-written, copied as new, etc.  In my search I came across a free tool from Microsoft called “Sync Toy”. 

Sync Toy is tucked away on Microsoft’s site under “professional photography downloads” and a simple application for copying, moving, renaming, and deleting files between folders and computers (particularly photographs).  There are many options that let you decide which folder acts as the source and which acts as the recipient (you can create just about any combination that suites your needs).  Basically you create a paring between the “left” and the “right” folder, and then define the type of “relationship” that they should have to one another.  When you want to sync, just pick the pair from the list and hit “run”. 

Sync Toy is a very powerful little tool and the only trace that it leaves behind is a hidden text file called “SyncToyDirectoryId.txt” in both of the paired directories.  It is free so try it out.

Stable v1.4 Release: Here

Beta v2.0 Release: Here

 Video: http://universaltorah.com/programming/2008/01/31/exclusive-temple-mount-footage.htm

Also – here is an overhead view of the Temple Mount from Google Maps:

View Larger Map

Ask ten people what Helvetica is and you will most likely get this response: 7 will tell you they have no idea, 2 will say that it is a font, and 1 will tell you it is a typeface.  Although “font” is technically correct, “typeface” is probably more accurate, and if you know this, you might be a snob. 

So why watch a documentary about a typeface?  Strangely enough, though few recognize or admit it, typefaces (fonts) have a significant effect on us everyday.  Every printed letter exists in some typeface (what your reading right now is Times New Roman), and that typeface effects not only the read-ability of a text, but the emotion that it conveys as well.  Wait a minute…

Did he just say fonts effect my emotions?!  No, I said typeface effects your emotions (cause I just might be a bit of a snob on this topic).  If you strongly agree or disagree with this statement, you should watch this documentary.  I was fortunate to grow up with a close friend who became a graphic artist and industrial designer, who opened my eyes to the power that something as simple as a “font” can have on a viewer.  Helvetica, the documentary, does just this; it tells not only the history of the Helvetica typeface, but also conveys the power of typography, graphic design and global visual culture.  It is a very concise and visually beautiful film that just might make you think twice the next time you pick a font and start typing a report for work.

 Here is a link to the film’s website: http://www.helveticafilm.com/

Check it out – watch it – and next time we meet we can have a few beers and debate once and for all whether “serifs” or “sans serifs” rule!

If you haven’t visited http://www.ted.com/ yet, then you need to right now!  Who is TED, you ask?  Turns out, TED is no-one; TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design.  What started out as an attempt to combine these three fields into one harmonious meeting of the minds has grown into something truly wonderful.  TED conferences, currently held yearly in Monterey California and other global locations, bring together many speakers from very diverse backgrounds from all around the world.  In the true spirit of sharing knowledge, TED makes these talks available by streaming and download for FREE on their website!

 Talks are generally 20 minutes or less, and therefore, very to the point.  Topic range wildly, from science, economics and design, to art, literature and mathematics.  You can search for talks using common queries like subject matter or speaker, or in more interesting ways, like “most inspiring” or “most ingenious.”  You would be hard pressed to not find something that turns your crank.  One feature I particularly like is TED’s built in video viewer.  You have all the common features like play, stop, pause, forward/reverse and volume, but you also get an interesting overlay when you place the mouse over the video.  An overlay pop-up appears at the bottom of the video and shows the content of the talk in a time-line fashion.  This time-line allows you to skip to a particular part of the talk that may be of more interest to you, and definitely helps if you want to show someone else just one part of a talk in particular. 

There are so many good speakers and topics its hard to know where to start; my personal two favorites are:

#1: Ron Eglash: African fractals, in buildings and braids - this one is awesome!

#2: Vusi Mahlasela: “Thula Mama” – my favorite new artist, this guy is amazing (I reviewed his latest CD here)!

 There is a wealth of free knowledge available on the web, but rarely is it presented in such a fun, clean, and creative manner.

I pondered this for a while and concluded that very little gets invented, or done for that matter, without a “need” first existing.  The “need” provides a focus and/or a direction for our creativity.  Creative thoughts, ideas and contraptions that pour forth from a person are largely just novelties until they meet a need of someone else – then they become inventions.  There are exceptions to the rule, of course, like pet-rocks and Chia pets (no one needs this stuff, but these inventors created a market for themselves), and sometimes inventions happen by mistake.  But generally it is a need that must be fulfilled which acts as the reigns for that wild horse creativity.  Together, need and creativity (freedom) get things done.  Maybe this grossly over-simplifies things?  It seems like a bit of a paradox, though.

Creative thinkers “think outside the box.”  But usually we use this term about people when we are trying to solve a well defined problem.  The problem exists, it has definite borders and limits, it is quantified; kinda like a box.  So a good solution to a “box” problem is to think “outside the box.”  That’s wacky.  It’s been said that “Creative problems require creative solutions.”  This is a bit more accurate of a statement I think, but I would argue that a “creative problem” is just like any other problem, it’s just that it has not been exhaustively researched yet.  After close examination and good research, I believe a “creative problem” becomes a “box” problem and again, creative thinkers think “outside the box” to come up with a novel solution.

I made a statement earlier (be it right or wrong), that the spewings of creative people are really just novelties until it meets someones need and becomes invention.  Novelties is probably the wrong word, though, so how about art.  I would gladly put pet-rocks and Chia pets into the realm of art, because I think that is what they really are.  You could argue that we “need” art, but I don’t think my love for art as a need, as much as a passion.  Art, for me, elicits feelings, emotions and desires; but it does not meet a need like an invention does.  What happens when you combine art and invention?  Masterpieces are born!  I use to drive a Subaru Justy; it was a great basic car that met my needs.  A Ferrari, on the other hand, is a masterpiece; it would meet my need for basic transportation, but it is also a thing of beauty, a work of art.

OK, OK, OK so what does any of this have to do with Haikus?  Well it’s probably not accurate or fair to say that all creativity without a need is just art.  Take the Haiku for example (wikipedia).  Here is an art that “imposes” some relatively strict guidelines but is wide open to creative implementation.  Traditionally an English style Haiku has a 5, 7, 5 pattern, separated onto three lines.  The 5, 7, 5 pattern is generally created with sounds.  Those are the “rules”, so now what?  That’s it – you can do whatever you want.  It’s actually quite beautiful.  Your given a “box” which has an inherent necessity to be filled.  How do you fill it?  You think “outside the box.”  The Haiku represents a necessity, or is itself a necessity.  Therefore, “Haiku is the mother of invention.”  Hmmm…I’m not sure if I buy any of this. 

 1) Exact Audio Copy: Exact Audio Copy is basically the “front-end” for the whole operation.  The program started off as a very high-precision tool for ripping music tracks from CD’s into WAV files.  Over time it has evolved to support WAV ripping, MP3 conversion (through external programs), image ripping and writing.  Without getting too technical, EAC gives you the ability to rip the finest and most accurate WAV files from a CD possible.  This of course is the first step in creating a MP3: 1) rip the track from the CD to a WAV file, and 2) create an MP3 file from the extracted WAV file.  While many free programs already do this for you, usually in one seamless step, the combination of EAC with an external MP3 conversion tool gives you total quality control over the entire operation that cannot be matched.  The actual MP3 conversion takes place using a second program that integrates behind the scenes with EAC.

 2) LAME: LAME is an open source encoding project that has also evolved over the years to become probably the most respected and high-quality MP3 conversion utility that there is.  Fortunately for us, EAC provides a beautiful front end for the command line LAME program, through a few simple configuration items in EAC’s menu.  Once EAC has been configured to use LAME as the MP3 encoder, ripping a track from CD to MP3 can now be done in one easy step. 

The whole process goes like this.  Download EAC and LAME; read the installation instructions, install both programs, and setup LAME as the MP3 encoder that EAC is to use (this is all very straight forward).  EAC gives you many options to configure the way that the MP3 tracks are to be named, if you want to save the WAV files after conversion or delete them (I delete them), MP3 bit rate and a slew of other things.  After you get it all setup the way you like, you simply put in a CD, EAC retrieves the CD info from freeDB online database, and you hit the “MP3″ button on the side menu.  A few minutes later you have incredible sounding MP3 tracks ready to go with complete and accurate tag info.

A note on sound quality.  Sound quality is a very subjective matter.  What sounds great to one person may sound like crap to another.  I am very picky when it comes to sound, and if I must compress my music (all compression reduces the quality of the original – except lossless), then I want it to sound the very best that it can for the size of file I am shooting for.  To me 128kbps is terrible, period.  I feel that 192kbps is the lowest I am willing to go.  With LAME I have found that 192kbps sounds significantly better than any other conversion program I have heard up to 256kbps.  Since flash is getting cheap and plentiful, I have started to re-rip my collection at 320kbps, and with the combination of EAC and LAME, I cannot tell the difference between the original and the MP3, at least with the audio gear that I have.  Yes you pay a price in file-size for 320kbps, but you have to find a trade-off between sound quality and size that is acceptable to you.        

Well I hope this helps any of you music lovers out there who love the portability of MP3’s but are unwilling to compromise too much on sound quality.  While this write-up is not intended to show you the nitty-gritty on how to use EAC and LAME, it should put you on the right path, as both programs are well documented and very easy to setup and use.

Never heard of Vusi Mahlasela?  Neither had I until about two weeks ago when I happened across him while watching some videos on http://www.ted.com/, and what a find it was.  All it took was one listen to “Thula Mama” from his new album Guiding Star and I was hooked.  Vusi has the body of a bouncer but the voice of an angel and his guitar work is amazing.  From what I have read on Vusi, he grew up under apartheid in South Africa, and spent his early life fighting it, largely through his music.  Though his beginnings were very humble, playing on homemade guitars, he has come a long way and Guiding Star represents his second release on Dave Mathew’s label ATO (Dave also appears on the album), and his sixth overall. 

Songs on the album are sung in a mix of English and Zulu (? I believe), and each is a masterpiece.  Vusi’s compositions are beautiful, his lyrics are powerful and touching, and his influences are all over the board, from South African, Jazz, and Reggae to Pop.  I could try to describe his music all day but I would only do it an injustice, your best bet is just to listen to it for yourself.  My three favorite songs right now are ”River Jordan”, “Heaven In My Heart”, and “Thula Mama”.  I play this album several times a day, everyday, and don’t see myself ever getting sick of it.  Listen for yourself, push your musical boundaries, let me know what you think.

Facts:

His Website: Here

Album On Amazon: Here  

1) an utter distaste for all things work related, or 2) a great appreciation of hard work and a true sense of the value of a dollar.

Most of the people in our impromptu discussion fell in the 2nd category. First jobs which involved very hard work with a minimal amount of pay, made us appreciate the value of a dollar, and generally resulted in us being thankful for the jobs we have today whether they require us to use or minds or our backs.

I would like to make it very clear that I highly value manual labor and in no way diminish the need for work which involves our backs and hands. Having spent innumerable hours picking fruit, digging ditches, building fences, re-roofing houses, thinning forests, cutting wood and the like, I completely appreciate the need and benefit of what I consider hard work. But I also appreciate that God has blessed us with minds that we can use to earn a living, create and invent, paint, write poetry and the like without ever breaking a sweat.

In the end we do what we love to do, and what we are good at. One writes beautiful prose, another assembles a wall of brick and mortar, and another creates a song that we cannot get out of our head. All of these require talent, training and a mind. Thank God for our minds.

What do you do for a living today? What was your first job? Did your first job(s) make you love or hate work? Is it time for a change of work, venues, or careers?

Rite In The Rain makes tough waterproof notebooks and paper that come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors and bindings.  Their products are perfect for the outdoor enthusiast or urbanite who wants to sketch, write, or journal no matter where they are or whatever the weather.  As soon as I saw these I knew I had to have one, so I ordered model 964 (shown above) which measures 6″x3.5″ and has 112 pages (56 sheets).  The notebook is bound with a “Field-Flex” cover, which is basically rip-proof, and each page is laid out with a “Universal” pattern (standard lines with a faint grid).  This particular notebook also features useful conversion information on the inside front cover, and even has several different rulers printed on the inside and back covers.  As long as you use their products with a waterproof ink pen or pencil, your written musings should last a very long time.  Rite In The Rain has numerous color, size, page-layout, and binding options so check them out.

The facts:

http://www.riteintherain.com