Wednesday, December 31, 2008

"Watchmen" Mini-Primer


The up-coming movie Watchmen is based on a graphic novel by genius writer Alan Moore in 1985. And when it was published, it changed everything about the way superheroes are thought of and depicted. That's as much as I knew about it...up to now. You see it was also very mature (ie not for kids) and I was a kid in 1985 so no one would sell it to me then, let alone would my parents have let me read it. And now well into adulthood, I just haven't read it yet. But I will. In the meantime, a neat feauturette has hit myspace showing clips from the movie (most of which I've seen already) but interspersed with an interview with the director, Zach Snyder, who gives background on the story, and the characters. He even tells us the names of each actor.

Watchmen Exclusive

See? The PS3 Is Not Just A Toy



I came across an article that shows that Sony's PS3 is not just a toy for amusement it can actually be used for good things and bad things. Some hackers proved that connecting 200 PS3s into a network, called a "cluster", and using them to work on the same problem: cracking SSL (secure sockets layer) certificates and generating "a rogue Certification Authority (CA), a breakthrough that allows the forging of certificates that are fully trusted by all modern Web browsers." The idea is called "distributing computing". This means that each computer in the network works on a pieces of a problem. It's like solving a complex equation with more than one person on it at the same time. A single PS3 by itself is powerful. One PS3 console is capable of running billions of calculations in a second. That is why it so great at doing video games. If one console can do that imagine what 200 can do. You ineffect have a super computer that outpaces the CRAY computers of 1980s. Like any technology, it is not good or bad. It depends on how you use it. I have found lots of atricles about how to do it. For example, PS3 clusters are used in scientific research like cruching data for NASA over the Internet. I think I will do that when I get my PS3 (of course when I'm not playing with it).

IPod Touch Tablet?


G4TV have reported on its blog that there is a rumor of tablet version of the Ipod touch. It will have all the features of the smaller hand held version but maybe by Fall of 2009 we can have a unit with 8-9 inch screen. This news makes me the think that I should wait for that version instead of jumping to get a new Iphone, Ipod, or Ipod Touch. I prefer watching movies on the largest screen possible and 8-9 inches will ensure that it is portable. The article refers to it as a netbook because as I discussed earlier, a netbook uses the internet for a lot of it's processing. This means than this Ipod Tablet would not need a lot of hardware to carry out the functions it is designed for: interacting with multimedia applications and web browsing. In a sentence: I WANT ONE!!!!

There are no words....

Just when you think you've heard of every kind of crime imaginable, some idiot in Oregon invaded an elderly woman's home. Unfortunately, that in and of itself is not unheard of. However this man was naked. Why? The article does not say. The man forced the woman into her living room and pushed her face down into a chair. The 88 year-old woman had the presence of mind to reach around squeezed his crotch. The man thankfully ran away. He must have thought that she was easy pickings, but he was wrong! The man was later arrested. What goes through people's minds?

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Ill. Gov. Blagojevich Sure knows How to Bob and Weave


Illinois Governor Blagovich stands accused of trying to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat to highest bidder. So what does he do? Does he resign? No. He appoints a man than no one in their right mind would fight his appointment, Roland Burris. If he isn't confirmed there will be no other African-American in the Senate. Also he was the first black popularly elected official in the state. Also he was an Attorny General (can we say qualified?). He was one of Blagovich's rivals. He lost one of his bids to become governor to Blagovich. This is a mark in Burris' favor because considering the corruption of that state, Burris must be less corrupt because he lost. To top it off, Burris had been a Black Panther when he was younger! Can you think of a more unassailable candidate? Looks like Blagovich has some serious gall to think that that he can appoint a senator after the mess he's in. Yet he seems to have tried to deflect some of the scrutiny by making a responsible choice and a politically savy choice. No one is gonna wanna block the only Black person from being in the Senate. I read a great article about it on Black Snob's Blog.

Mystique and Me

Here is a webisode that I thought was really funny. It stars Jerry O'Connell and Rebecca Romijn (who played Mystique in the X-men films). You've got to see this:

Sony Is Being Accused of Homophobia


Sony has a Playstation Home service accessible with a PS3. It's social networking service so that users can interact with another with animated avatars. Users can chat in forums and buy things in an Online store. There are a list of words that cannot be used in the service. It makes sense that you can't use profanity so that people don't get offended. People are not complaining over that. What some people are complaining is that the words "gay, bisexual, lesbian" cannot be used. Sony is being hammered for "discrimination". My question is: "It is a virtual playground, why would a person's sexual orientation or tastes be an issue or come up considering the kind of service Sony is intending to create?" My answer is that it should not matter. Of course, the writer of the article I read disagrees with me.

Sony has issued a statement:

"'The key message is it's a beta and it's evolving on a daily basis. We've said early on that user behavior and feedback will shape where we go with Home.' In the case of the censored words,Seybold said, Home employed filters to prevent defamation in Home's closed test version. But when the service went public, he said, it should have started allowing those words."


It sound like to me that Sony will cave in under the pressure. I hope they won't. But considering that PS3 is bringing up the rear in the current console war, they can't afford to alienate anyone. Sony is loosing big time against Nintendo and Microsoft. That combined with the global economy means that they have to make every sale count. Personally, I wish I could get a PS3 now myself, but it's too expensive to afford one at the moment. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in the same boat as I.

Embarrassing Christians


One question that many "Christians" run into that trips them up is when people ask "Why does God allow bad things happen to people?" Instead of giving a Biblical answer people say what they think. Thing like "Bad things happen as a punishment by God." This always begs the question, "what about when Christians suffer?" This dialogue has been waged for centuries. It's recently come to light again for me today from reading an article on G4TV's blog. The author is not making a theological argument so I don't know where he stands. He is instead talking about the views of Jack Thompson who sent an e-mail to Dennis McCauley in which he states that the Video game company Take Two stocks plummeted because it was being punished by God. I will post the e-mail exchange as G4TV did, but I need to provide some background so you know who these people are. Jack Thompson is a lawyer who has been crusading against the violence of video games. He was recently disbarred in Florida for the following reasons:

The Florida Bar filed the disbarment proceedings against him over allegations of professional misconduct. Mr. Thompson has a history with others who file claims against him for defamatory, false statements with attempts to humiliate, embarrass, harass or intimidate them.
Here is the e-mail exchange

--------------------------

From: Jack Thompson
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 6:44 AM
To: Dennis McCauley
Subject: Spin this, Strauss...


GOD STRIKES TAKE-TWO DOWN

Take-Two dropped $2.35 to $9.72 in extended trading after the announcement and fell as low as $9.60. The shares... have declined 35 percent this year. The results contrast with comments Zelnick made in an interview on Nov. 3, when he said sales of the company’s video games hadn’t been hurt by the recession...

-------------------------

From: Dennis McCauley
To: 'Jack Thompson'
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 6:52 AM
Subject: RE: Spin this, Strauss...


So, if T2’s business reverse was God’s vengeance, does that mean that God struck you down too when you were disbarred?...

--------------------------

From: Jack Thompson
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 9:10 AM
To: Dennis McCauley
Subject: Re: Spin this, Strauss...


...If you had any understanding of the Bible and of God you would understand that persecution comes Christians' way, and we are blessed by it. There is no blessing for Zelnick, who is not a Christian, when he gets what he deserves...

---------------------------

From: Dennis McCauley
To: 'Jack Thompson'
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 6:54 AM
Subject: in relation to your Take-Two shareholder revolt...


...Are you saying that problems for Christians are blessings, while problems for non-Christians are vengeance from the Almighty? Also, how do you know what Zelnick’s religion is?

---------------------------

From: Jack Thompson
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 7:11 AM
To: Dennis McCauley
Subject: Re: in relation to your Take-Two shareholder revolt...


Here's another passage of Scripture that you don't understand and never read: "All things work to the good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose." That group would include me and not Zelnick. Zelnick is not a believer in the Gospel. How do I know? Because the man who got us together [secretly in Manhatten in 2007] is a Christian, with a massive ministry in Hollywood and the rest of the entertainment industry. It was because of the spiritual aspect of this struggle that he got the two of us together, and Zelnick failed the test.

If you knew anything about the Gospel, you would understand further that Paul, whose writings are considered part of the canon, tells Christians, not unbelievers, that we are to "count it all joy" when trials and tribulations come our way.

I have been persecuted for my faith, not because I did anything wrong, by those committed to evil. Glad to clear it up for you. And as it now stands, Mr. Zelnick's problems at Take-Two are minuscule [sic] compared to the eternity of punishment that is coming his way unless he repents and accepts Christ as I did 32 years ago this month. You might do well to read the Gospel of John yourself. Come to think of it, I'll write Strauss about all this and send you a copy...

---------------------------

I don't know if Jack Thompson was rightfully disbarred or not. What I do know is that you can't talk about suffering is such simplistic terms. He in-effect says that if Christians suffer it's persecution and if non-Christians suffer it is the Judgment of God for the sins they commit. I agree with him that God's promises are for his people and not everyone else, but you can't say someone else isn't or is or will never be one of His people. It embarrasses Christians and the Gospel we are supposed to spread by giving such a non-answer. What I know for sure is that such an explanation does not explain Job's experience in the Book of Job. Job was perfect. God said so. Yet he suffered and it had nothing to do with what he did or said. The book of Job is the best apologetic to explain suffering. Of course, no human being really likes the answer God gives us but we do have an answer. There is no formula to explain it. There is no chance of "calling God down to the Carpet" and expect him to answer to us for the circumstances we find ourselves in. Besides for about 90% of the crap we find ourselves in is self-inflicted anyway.

As for Thompson's views on video games. I disagree. I agree with Adam Sessler when he said that violence in video games can not be fully correlated with violence in the real world. I mean there was horrendous violence well before movies, television, and video games. Face it, video games are violent because the world is violent

Here is a video from G4TV's show X-Play that explain how the show views Thompson. In order to reach people we have to provide better answers by rooting what we say in Scripture.

A Year In 40 Seconds

Here is a stunning Video showing a forest go through a year of seasonal change.

Notebook Vs Netbook


Today I came across a relatively new class of computer called a Netbook. The difference between a Netbook and a Notebook is that a Netbook is more "stripped down". It has the bare minimum hardware to run. Wikipedia has great article defining what a Netbook is and I like this line:

Netbooks trade features, processing power[1] and the ability to run resource-intensive operating systems — to achieve their small form factor, low weight and affordability.

It think it sums up the difference between the two kinds of computers in a single sentence. This trade off is not neccessarily being cheated out of anything. The truth is that not everyone in world needs a lot of processing power or a lot of features. I think the majority of the world today needs low weight, affordability, long battery-life, and small energy consumption. I'm realizing that I did hear about this computer a few years ago when people were talking about the One-laptop-per-child program in poorer countries so that we can bridge the economic and "digital divide". Net computers would be perfect.

Turns out that several computer manufacturers see the value for many other people too. Everyone agrees that they want computers with long battery-life, low weight, and consume less energy, but what about the fewer features? Today, if you are not doing heavy calculations or a lot of graphics and multimedia you could probably get away with a Netbook. Face it, majority of time on computers at home is spent reading and composing e-mail, surfing the internet, interacting on social networking sites, playing online games, and watching movies. Not much hardware is needed for that. Just 2 or 3 USB ports, a reasonably fast processor, and a stable operating system and web browser.

I'd suggest several USB ports because netbooks don't have a lot of hard drive space. So it would be great to be able to use a usb hard drive or flash drives to make up for lack of storage. This is one of the trade offs for lighter weight and less energy needed to extend battery life. The reason why many of the newer netbooks can pull off these feats is because they are not using traditional hard drives (HHD). They use "solid-state" hard drives (SSD). They have almost no mechanical parts, use less energy, and very, very light-weight. Traditional HHDs have a magnetic disk spinning inside, being read by a lazer! A lot can go wrong. In contrast SSDs use the miracles of quantum physics to store and retrieve information (I'll do some research and post on that later).

The exciting thing is that there is a new solution for the user who wants the portability, long battery life, and power conservation of a netbook but the storage of a traditional hard dive. MSI announced that they will be selling the world's first "hybrid" laptop. It will be able to use both kinds of hard drives. You can read the following articles: The World First Hybrid Laptop and
MSI Unveils The World's First Hybrid-Storage Netbook: The U115

Addendum: 12-31-08

I forgot to make the point that although netbooks do not have enough memory to handle many everyday memory-intensive software like Microsoft Office, there is a solution: Google to the rescue! Google has a free office suite that is entirely online. Write documents. Make presentations. Make Spreadsheets. The product is referred to as Google Documents. All you need to use them is a Google account and an internet connection (oh and a computer). It even allow you to easily collaborate with others. I really like it, personally, however I still use Microsoft Office. Also, there are many online storage sites that allow you to securely store files. Some of them are even free.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Satire or Racism?

The weekend I came across a video on YouTube called "Barack - The Magic Negro" but I haven't had time to look into its origins until today. Considering the pervasive racism and stupidity in the United States, I wasn't surprised to find such a thing. What I'm finding more amazing is the thought that is being put forth as satire. Rush Limbaugh and other "conservatives" are amazed that some people would be racially offended. I mean the writer of this song has managed to insult, Obama and Al Sharpton and other black Americans in one fell swoop. Here is the song set to a video montage:



This was discussed on MSNBC and Kate Obenshain attempted to defend the song by saying that it was against Al Sharpton and not Barack Obama. I'm glad the African-American woman conducting the interview would not let her get away with it. You can read an article about it and I posted the Here is what Rush had to say about it:

Japanese Trailer for New Street Fighter Movie


Well, here is a trailer for the new movie coming out next year in 2009. It's called Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. I'm going to give it a chance. From the looks of the trailer it seems better than Dragonball movie and nearly infinitely better than Van Damm's Street Fighter movie from 1994. I guess we will just have to wait and see. The bar has not been set very high for video games to live-action film adaptions.

If I had an Iphone:


If I had an Iphone this game would be something I'd download quicker than almost anything else. A quality Iron man game with great graphics. Almost makes me wanna run out and buy an Iphone.
Here is Marvel Comic announcement at the following article.



500 Years of Women In Western Art

I came across a great YouTube video this morning where someone took the greatest examples of women depicted in western art. It's a great example of art. I found a hyperlink that lists each art clip, the artist, and the year. Here is the video:

Slavery or Wellfare?


I ran across the following article about Child Maid Trafficking. Being a descendant of people who went through what the young lady in the article went through, gives me a very negative view of the practice. It seems to be part of Carribbean and African culture. It bothers me because it seems akin to slavery. The thing is not all the circumstances are as exploitative as the young woman's experience in the article. Not all the children are denied treatment as human being or education. Shiyama's treatment was horrible in my estimation because I think a child's childhood should be full of play not of labor. I would not want my daughter treated the way she was: living in a dark garage. According to the article, Shiyama's parents thought that she had it great because she was living high according to Egyptian standard for poor people. And the couple's defense that Shiyama was part of the family seems like a lie. They didn't treat their own children the way they treated her. Not allowing her to wash her clothes with the family's or sit on the furniture and the verbal abuse makes me think they treated her like a dog - a beast of burden - a slave. I don't care if it is their culture or not or that Shiyama's standard of living was better than back at Egypt. Shiyama was not being treated as full member of the household or a person. No wonder she's angry and cut ties to her family whom I'm sure she resents for putting her in those conditions. It's truly catch-22 because her parents only wanted to give her better opportunities. I don't think that there are any easy answers. When I look into my own heart, it just does not sit well with me. I'm not far enough removed from slavery and the truth is that in my opinion we will never be. For those people who are part of that culture, I only wanna know if you would put your child into servitude and would be fine with him or her being treated the way Shiyma was treated?

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Extracting Images From A Mind


Japanese Scientists have managed to figure out how to capture images from a person's mind and reconstruct them into a form that is recognizeable on a computer screen. The article I read has the following:

...by using a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine the researchers were able to map blood flow changes within a human brain's cerebral visual cortex when exposed to specific control images. Subjects were shown 400 random 10 x 10 pixel black-and-white images for a period of 12 seconds each, which allowed the scientists to map the changes associated with images, essentially calibrating the machine. Then, when the test subjects were shown a completely new set of images, such as the letters N-E-U-R-O-N, the machine was able to recognize and reconstruct the images in a recognizable, all be it low-res image.

So far, the system can only recognize simple, black and white images, but scientists are confident the technology will advance so much in the next 10 years that reading a person's mind with some degree of accuracy will be possible. This technology could be used in the fields art and design; imagine being able to see the images inside an artists head! It could also be used to treat mental conditions that exhibit hallucinations, allowing doctors to see exact what their patients think they're seeing. ATR chief researcher Yukiyasu Kamitani says, “This technology can also be applied to senses other than vision. In the future, it may also become possible to read feelings and complicated emotional states.”


My take? It's a small step from reading minds to implanting thoughts and images into them. It's a technology like anything else: not evil or good by nature. It is how it is used at to whether it's good or bad.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Biblical Numerology


I found a video on GodTube trying to tie Barack Obama to the prophecies in Daniel 11. Okay,I'll wait until you are done laughing....done? Good. Numerology is using number in the Bible to find information. I'm not sure what to actually say about numerology. One thing for sure is that number are important and God has used many numbers over and over again like 2, 12, 24, and 40. Not to mention the number that show up in nature. Factors of 2, 3 and Pi show up everywhere when you try to mathematically model the world. Does this mean anything? I'm not sure. It could be just God signing his creation. Some people think the numbers in the Bible is God sending secret messages to us. Some even believe we can figure out the time the world will end, or the identity of the antichrist, or future events. I have found that many people who study numerology in an attempt to unravel mysteries, often miss the plain truths of scripture. Watch this to see what I mean:

"Religuous" is Ridiculous


Bill Maher has been very clear as to what he believes "religion" is. He is wrong. I can't speak for other faiths but I can categorically assert Christianity is not about embracing the end of the world or wishing for death. It's about embracing and hanging on to life the only way possible: Jesus Christ. All the evils of the world montaged at end of Maher's movie can be traced to only one source: sin. If you want to be free of it faith in Jesus is the only way. Maher expresses the exact opposite of what the Bible says. Trust in God is the answer not doubt. Faith is not equivalent to shutting off your brain and not thinking. God has given us enough evidence that your faith can be based on reason. His and Christopher Hitchen's definition of faith is wrong. The Bible does not give us all the answers, just enough so that we can put our faith in the right place. I disagree with the following video in more ways that I can count. None of his arguments stand up to any kind of scrutiny.



One of the most important problem I see that Maher has is that he believes that he is angry that it appears that Christians believe that we have the answers. He thinks that we think we are better than those who confess that they don't know. To be honest, we know that we are not better than anyone else. It's only because of God's grace and mercy that we know what we do. We know what happens when someone dies only because God told humanity what happens.
So much of what the Bible teaches can substantiate by archeology, history, and science. As for everything else it cannot be refuted.

C'mon Now, We Gotta Be Fair


On James White's Blog, he made the following brilliant observation:

I noticed some of the websites/blogs I read regularly were complaining about this banner that has been hung in Nazareth:


I have not the slightest complaint about Muslims hanging this banner. This is Surah 112, Al-Ikhlaas, "the Purity." It is as close as you can get to a creedal statement in the Qur'an. I have referenced it often on this blog and in my YouTube videos. As such, if I were a Muslim, I would want Christians to know what the Qur'an says about Isa (Jesus), and hanging a sign with that text on it would be just as valid as my hanging a sign outside an Islamic event with a text such as the Carmen Christi (Phil. 2:5-11) or John 1:1 and 18, or something like this. I would, however, like to point out a few rather obvious things. First, the hanging of the banner once again reminds us of the fundamental nature of Islamic theology: at its core it is defined by its opposition to the central assertions of Christianity. Though Islam has promoted its own mythology about how all the prophets were Muslims and Jesus and the apostles were Muslims, etc., the fact is Islam comes six hundred years after Christianity, and as such, had to fight to define itself as the "newcomer." Its scriptures give witness to this battle. Notice, for example, Surah 5:116-117:
And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah'?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wo uldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, though I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden. Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord'; and I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things.
The essence of Islam as a denial of Christian belief cannot be ignored. Which leads us to my second observation. In the large portion of the world's nations Christians would not be granted the freedom to hang a sign similar to this one. Surely in no Muslim nation would they be allowed to, and in many Western nations today, a riot could quite possibly break out if it happened. Some places in France, or in England, would be very inhospitable places were a Christian to engage in such an act. Yet, if a Muslim chose to show up, say, outside one of our events with a sign bearing Al-Ikhlaas, how would we respond? We'd go witness to him! We would want him to know the Gospel, and we would make sure he realized that the sign he was carrying shows that his prophet contradicted himself! We would proclaim the biblical truth of the relationship of the Father and the Son, and make sure he realized what we really believed. But no true Christian would ever threaten the man, would never wish ill upon the man. We would pray for him and for his salvation. So at this Christmas season, pray that the Gospel would go forth with great power into the hearts and minds of the Muslim people. Oh Lord of the harvest, save these precious people! Reveal the glory of Christ to them, and bring them to yourself!
I thought it was important to post the whole thing. What is important to remember is that we can't silence Muslims just because we don't agree with them. That is what many try to do to us. Dr White is correct. Instead of crying foul because a Muslim challenges our faith, we should be able to stand up to them and explain what we believe and why we believe it. Anyone who honestly investigate the Bible will have to agree that it is unassailable. The Quran...not so much. If we stand for the truth, God will not let us down.

Apollo 8 Christmas


I found the video on YouTube. On Christmas 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 celebrated Christmas as they orbited the moon. They read the book of Genesis. What better way to celebrate Christmas?

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Honda Foiled


I found a video on YouTube and it was funny....in a way. I felt sorry for the poor woman doing the presentation too. Apparently during a demonstration of human-sized, two-legged robot, the robot failed to walk up stairs. It walked across the stage just fine however. It's in Japanese but trust me you don't need to understand the narration to appreciate this. Take a look.



I noticed that the stage had the Honda logo. Could it be that Honda may shift gears to Robotics Research and Development? Considering the way the automobile industry is going in the United States, focusing on Robots my not be a bad idea.

Madea Goes To Jail


It's been announced that Tyler Perry's newest movie will be released February 20, 2009. It's called Madea Goes To Jail which is based on the play of the same name. Is it going to be exactly like the play? I don't know. I liked the play. Tyler Perry's work is wildly popular among Christians especially black Christians. A lot of Christians believe that it's wholesome entertainment because of the morality being taught and the fact that Christ is looked to as the answer for life's problems. I agree. You can completely see that when you see the plays. However, the movies are a little different. Perry has had to tone down the religious truths in the movies to give them more mass market appeal. I'm not really willing to "throw him under the bus" because of this. The movies still have good moral and Christian values. There is somethings that can't be ignored. God says in his word that men should not dress like women and women should not dress like men in order to pass as the other gender.
Deuteronomy 22:5 says:

The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.


This is the bottom line. Based on this I'm not sure if I can, in good conscience, condone this movie. It's something I will be praying about. Here is the trailer:



Tuesday, December 23, 2008

New Clips from "Hulk vs"


Marvel.com has released new clips from the new DVD this January. I'm really excited about it. I'm re-posting two of the clips. I think they represent what will be final on the DVD. I'm amazed about the violence and ferocity of the Wolverine chapter but being familiar with the characters leads to the realization that it could be nothing else. Only criticism I have is that the Hulk's blood is green not red. And I'm not sure if Wolverine could really take that much punishment without being turned into jell-o. Here is a clip from the Wolverine chapter:


Here is a clip from the Thor chapter:

Trailer for Street Fighter IV


Here is a trailer for one of the characters in Street Fighter IV named Gouken. Gouken is interesting because I have never seen him before in a game. He is huge and he is the one who taught Street Fighter staple characters Ken and Ryu all of their moves. Fighting Gouken will never get old.

Street Fighter II is the seminal video game of my life. Without it,I would not have gotten into video games or engineering. It was the first game of its kind. There had been other head-to-head fighting games but I bet that most people would agree that Street Fighter was the tipping point for that genre of video gaming. Combining large characters, 6 buttons and a control stick, great music and graphics, with interesting characters made the game series a success. This success lead to all the other great fighting game franchises. Thankfully, Capcom followed up Street Fighter II with more games in the series. The lastest is Street Fighter IV and to be honest I'm excited. Makes me wanna run out and buy a PS3 right now (I won't). In terms of a legacy, I think Street Fighter may be one of reasons I am so attracted to MUGEN. Much of MUGEN is based on the look and feel found in Street Fighter II. Well, while I wait for the opportunity to own Street Fighter IV, let-alone play the game, I can enjoy the earlier versions of the game I do own and enjoying MUGEN.


Movie Trailer: PUSH


There's a movie coming out next year called "PUSH". It's in the vein of X-men and Heroes. Young people with mental powers are running from the government, trying to get out of their control and live free lives. It looks really cool. Check out the trailer.


Sunday, December 21, 2008

Church Discipline


More and more often the following situation is coming up in America: Churches are being challenged - are we going to do what God has commanded despite what the liberal media and society says - or will we compromise? I just found out from Dr. James White's YouTube channel that FOX News is reporting on a woman complaining against her church because they are going to publicly admonish her for engaging in premarital sex with her boyfriend who is not a church member. She says that they have no right to publicly disclose her private life and that they should leave it alone because she resigned from the church. The church followed Biblically mandated steps for restoring a member who has fallen into sin. Again, it's interesting to compare what secular sources report versus Christian sources. Fox News calls it an "outrage" and "extortion". Here is that article. I like the articles on the Christian blog called Church Matters. The bloggers there are correct. The idea of a church holding a member accountable for the choices they make in their day-to-day lives seems foreign in a world that tells us that you can do anything you want and live any kind of way and no one has the right to judge you. This is exactly opposite what the Bible teaches. A Bible-based church will be persecuted for taking this position. We must be. This world is not our home. We are merely passing through. The world considers it strange that what this woman does outside of church would affect anyone who goes and it does. Although she resigned, the church must still deal with situation. Just because she left, does not mean it's over. The church leaders must also consider the ones who are left in the church. They must make a public declaration that sin is sin and can't be tolerated. It really is "Holiness or Hell". The Fox News article tries to make the woman out to be a victim. "Look at the bad, intolerant, and unloving church!" I'm reminded of the snarling monkey from Family Guy that is always pointing a finger. Such is the state of our society. Interesting enough the actual letter the church sent to the woman has been posted on the Internet. I can't find anything mean or unloving in it. It appears that they are pleading with her to all them to help her restore her relationship to Jesus. Here is the letter (just Click on it to read it):




Here are Dr. James White's Comments

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Tribute to Majel Barrett-Roddenberry


If you haven't heard the single actor to have participated in all 7 television series, webisodes, and 11 films (yes including the one that hasn't been released yet) has died. Majel Barrett-Roddenberry was not just married to the creator of the Star Trek but she was also a producer in her own right and an actress. She played the voice of the star fleet computer in every series and movie and she has also play major recurring roles in front of the camera. Remember Number One from the Pilot? What about Nurse Chapel in the original series? Deanna Troi's mother in Next Generation and D9? Yup, all her. One story I would have loved to have seen was about her reaction to Worf dating Deanna at the end of Next Generation. How would that I have gone down? Here is a tribute to her found on YouTube.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Update: Obama Picked Rick Warren to Participate in Inauguration


Barack Obama has come under fire for inviting Pastor Rick Warren to speak during the inauguration. Warren will be delivering the Invocation. I am amazed at how the same people who will accuse Christians of being intolerant and close-minded are so violently opposed against the Christian worldview. People who are for gay marriage are infuriated that Warren will be allowed to speak because Warren is against gay marriage and abortion. Why would that be? If America is supposed to provide freedom of expression, then why can't people like Warren be allowed to speak? Just because I disagree with you doesn't mean you should shut up. They act like they can't stand to hear anything contrary to what they have convinced themselves is right. Chances are he would not even bring up either abortion or gay marriage during the inauguration...it would be inappropriate in that context.

Thankfully, I like to see that Obama is not going to let these "supporters" push him around. I foound an article online in which he defended his decision. In a calm, well-reasoned manner he told them how it was going to be and that he was going to remain consistent.

Obama replied, "let me start by talking about my own views. I think that it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans. It is something that I have been consistent on, and something that I contend -- intend to continue to be consistent on during my presidency.

What I've also said is that it is important for America to come together, even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues. And I would note that a couple of years ago, I was invited to Rick Warren's church to speak, despite his awareness that I held views that were entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues like abortion. Nevertheless, I had an opportunity to speak. And that dialogue, I think, is part of what my campaign's been all about; that we're not going to agree on every single issue, but what we have to do is to be able to create an atmosphere when we -- where we can disagree without being disagreeable and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans.

"So Rick Warren has been invited to speak. Dr. Joseph Lowery, who has deeply contrasting views to Rick Warren on a whole host of issues, is also speaking. During the course of the entire inaugural festivities, there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented. And that's how it should be, because that's what America's about. That's part of the magic of this country, is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated. And so, you know, that's the spirit in which, you know, we have put together what I think will be a terrific inauguration. And that's, hopefully, going to be a spirit that carries over into my administration."

After I read this, I gained even more respect for the man. We need someone to regain credibility and honor for the office of the President of the United States. Looks like Barack Obama is off to a good start.


Here is a video of the above comments:

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Unfair Criticism

I have recently come across a video where Pastor Rick Warren is criticized for telling an audience of unbelievers that people should not worry about pleasing themselves but work to improve the lives of people around us. The critic is upset because Pastor Warren did not tell them that they need to be saved and give their lives over to Christ. The video is just a clip. I don't know if that he did or did not tell them about sin and the need for repentance but I know for sure that in his book Purpose Driven Life, Warren does talk about sin and the need for repentance. This I am sure about. I don't think that there is anything wrong in telling unbelievers to find out what God has purposed for them. I mean what higher purpose does God have but for us to trust Jesus and be saved from our sins. Warren is trying to inspire a world that denies the need of God to search for him. We know that if people search for God he will show them Jesus for only through Jesus will we reach our full potential and fulfill God's purposes for us.

This Is Separation of Church and State?


I just heard about a Muslim woman, named Lisa Valentine, who was arrested in a suburb of Atlanta, GA because she would not remove her head dress before entering the court room. She was sentenced to 10 days in jail for contempt of court. She said that she feels like her civil and human rights were violated because her religion dictates that she keeps her head covered.

I have found two articles on the incident. The first one is from the Associated Press and from Muslim Matters. It's interesting to see what information is shared and what isn't. They both explain and agree about the facts. The Muslim writer believes that the woman and all Muslims have been slighted and that they must push for the right to practice their religion. The Associated Press article tells us that when the bailiff told Valentine that she could not go into the court, she explained that she has been in court with the scarf before. She turned to leave and "uttered an expletive". At the point she was arrested and sentenced. Now, I understand that she was angry. However had she not cursed the bailiff, she probably would not have been arrested.

Here is my question: Where does "Separation of Church and State" begin? Where does it end? What I'm getting at is that right now prayer in public school is illegal under certain circumstances. Why is a teacher leading a Christian prayer in a school wrong, yet it's a human right for a woman to keep her head covered when everyone else in the court have to take their head gear off? I'm not saying that keeping the head gear on is wrong. I just wanna know why is one a right and the other isn't. I would like more information on this case. Could a Jewish man keep his head covering for religious reasons in the same court room? If so, the Valentine was being treated unfairly. I think that stinks. But if it is the policy that no one wears head gear than that changes things. This is a tough question. Is it a human right to be allowed to practice your religion despite the rest of society. It seems like America and Europe have become increasingly secular and Christianity is being relegated to second-class status. However, Islam seems to be protected. I think it's out of fear. In America, most people seem willing to allow Muslims a lot of latitude, after-all they think that if we don't they will be violent. On the other hand, society thinks that Christians are doormats and know that we are not supposed to be violent. They expect Muslims to be confrontational and violent. Not all Muslims are violent but is a stereotype.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Heroes: The Recruit


As I have already written, the last part volume 3 of Heroes just aired in North America. Volume 4: "Fugitives" will not start until February 2009. When I heard this I was vary, very upset because I want to know what will happen next. Fortunately, God, in his infinite forebearance and mercy, has moved upon the hearts and minds of the people who run NBC and make the series to give us another webisode series to tie us over until February. Here is the first part:

Monday, December 15, 2008

Bible GIS Using Goggle Earth

I have used the KML files for Genesis and Exodus and loaded them into Google Earth to get the following movies. The GIS data is from Bible Geocoding.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Ultimate Disrespect

Okay, I came home from church and was greeted with news that I never thought I would hear: The President of the United States was assaulted...with shoes!!! You can't make this stuff up! George Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq today. What amazed me was that I'm sure it was just politics. He was saying "Look, I made Iraq so safe I can visit." Bush refuses to admit that invading Iraq was a mistake. For an Iraqi journalist to throw his shoes at Bush ans shout "Here is your farewell kiss, you dog!", you have to admit that he must not like Bush very much. Added to the fact that in Islamic culture, hitting a person with your shoe is a high insult...akin to slapping someone upside the face with an empty glove in medieval and classical Europe or giving someone "the finger" today in American culture. It shows complete disrespect. I don't know how we should respond. But I don't think that this is something we can ignore. This is not just a slight against Bush but against the Presidency and America. I'm not happy about it at all.

Family Portraits 12-13-2008

My wife and I took Makayla out to make family portraits. I thought I would post them below. I love the technology that allows you to post your pictures in a virtual gallery. You may have to download the latest plugins for your browser to see this but it's cool to see.

Latin Comedy's "300" Spoof

I saw one of the most funniest parodies I have ever seen on YouTube. It made me fall out laughing.




I have to say that it not only perfectly reminds me of the movie "300" but also comments on the immigration problems of the United States. "Tonight! We dine in....San Diego!"

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Wolverine Trailer


Here is the trailer playing in front of the 2008 version of the "The Day The Earth Stood Still".

Friday, December 12, 2008

Biblical Geography

One of the best apologetics (defense of the truth) for the Bible is the fact that as near as anyone can tell the places it describes actually existed or exists the way the Bible says it did. Since the Bible is real and tells things that actually happens a great deal can be better understood by looking at the geography it describes. It used to be that you would need to use books that had to be constantly updated as new information is learned but now the Internet and Google's mapping technologies you can study Biblical geography very, very easily. I found this site called BibleMap.org and it is a Biblical Geographic Information System (GIS) where you choose a book and chapter into a search field and each point mentioned in the passage you referenced is displayed on a map and the passage is displayed. It's great. It leverages GoogleMaps and is a great tool and based on Sattllight data.

Another great tool I found is a site called Bible Geocoding. Geocoding is a technique used in GIS where locations and data about that location is assigned to its appropriate coordinates on a map. I did a lot of that in my first job when I finished college. Now it has been done just about every single identifiable location found in the Bible. If a Biblical location is unidentifiable it is only because after so many centuries, we can't find it any more. This site does show us that there are many location where we know where they are now. This site also leverages GoogleMaps, but it also allows you to download Kmz files that are input files for GoogleEarth. Why is that awesome? Glad you asked. KML files are XML files that contain geographic information. The files can be loaded in GoogleMaps and GoogleEarth. GoogleEarth is a 3D mapping system. With it, you can look at Biblical locations in beautiful 3D and even fly over and through those locals as if you were in an airplane. Excited yet? Bible Geocoding also allows you to view or download the data by books of the Bible or all the data in one file.

The one drawback for both tools is that you have to have a live internet connection to use them.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

"Rent-A-Negro"

I just read an insightful and humorous post about how Black people are being invited to attend rich people's parties. I think everyone should read it.

http://blacksnob.blogspot.com/2008/12/damali-ayos-vision-finally-becomes.html

A Possible Explanation for Genesis 1:6-8


At my church's Bible Study we have been looking at Genesis again. Chapter 1, verses 6-8 has gotten my attention:

And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

The question that came up for me is that the Bible says that God made the sky separate water from water. The water underneath the sky was gathered into "seas" (vs 9 and 10)

And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

What about the water above the sky. We know that this water comes into play during the 40 days/nights flood of Noah's day. Genesis 7:11-12 says:

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.


But before the flood where was this water? I read a paper back in 2002 that attempted to address this problem and it tried to equate Neanderthals with the Nephilim from Genesis 6. I'll save the Neanderthal question for another post. However, I think the article did make a good stab at explaining what the Bible means about "water" above the sky. The theory set forth was that it was a giant ice sheet in orbit around the earth - a canopy. It was further theorized that the this canopy of ice shielded the earth from a lot more cosmic radiation than what is filtered out today. This would not only explain where the water that flooded the earth came from, but also why before the flood people aged extremely more slowly than after the flood.

I don't think the answer is a canopy, but a ring - like the rings around Saturn. Some astronauts and scientist report a faint ring even today. Saturn's and Uranus' rings are made of mostly ice, dust, and rocks. If the earth had a ring, and if were mostly ice, it could more than explain where some of the flood waters came from. This isn't something scientist agree on. Some who do hypothesize a ring, think it was only temporary and was formed from a meteor impact hitting the earth and tossing debris into orbit. Another theory was that a small comet could have gotten too close to the earth's gravitational field, broke into pieces and formed a temporary ring. Don't forget an object orbiting another is just caught in is gravitational field and is slowly falling into it.
Eventually, both theories end with the contents of the ring burning up in earth's atmosphere.

It's just a theory. But whether or not you reject the idea that a ring of ice used to encircle the earth, there is good evidence that there was a ring of some kind that affected the climate and life on the earth at some point in the past.

There is such a thing as several invisible rings that circle the earth. The earth has a core of mostly made of iron and nickel. This make the earth attractive to charged particles like electrons. This is why we "ground" electrical systems by running a wire to the ground. What we have is a spinning, hunking-huge charged-metallic sphere which gives rise to the earth's magnetic field called our magnetosphere. This field is not just fun to play with - magnetizing smaller pieces of metal to make toys, speakers, microphones, and what-not, but it also helps protects us from cosmic radiation and high-energy radiations that would be deadly to life on earth. God knew what he was doing.


References to look at:
Would a Saturn-like ring system around planet Earth remain stable?
The earth's ring
Running Rings Around Earth
Rings around Earth shaped past climate: study
Can Planet Earth Ever Have Rings?
Does the Earth have rings?
Magnetosphere

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Our Son


Well, God is blessing my wife and I with a new bouncing baby boy! It was confirmed yesterday when Mitsouky took her ultrasound. I thought I would share his first pictures! I would have done the same with my daughter's ultrasounds but I did not have a blog then. So permit me this indulgence. I thank God so much. I only desire that my children love God and dedicate their lives to His service. Name? Oh, his name will be Matthias Ezekiel McElhaney. Here is a little special way to show his first pictures.

Herose Webisode Series 1: Destiny

Well the webisode series called Destiny, set in the the same world as the Heroes television series is now complete. I have created a playlist that contains all 4 episodes. Enjoy them below.



Also it has been announce that to fill in the gap left between Volumes 3 and 4 in the main series, another webisode series starts December 15, 2oo8 called The Recruit. Here is a promo for the series below.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

SNL: Finally Parodys Obama

I was reading the Black Snob blog and it was brought to my attention that Saturday Night Live has finally made a joke on Obama. They did it by using the one quality that makes it extremely hard to make fun of him: his unflappability. It's extremely difficult to make fun of someone who's feathers are hard to ruffle.

"A Day That Will Live On In Infamy"

On December 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. It's one of the watershed events in History that defined and affected everything that came after it. My paternal grandmother had a cousin that was stationed there during the attack. When he was ordered to stay at his post on steel-hulled ship, risking his life, his feet were badly burned yet his life was spared. When he was later sent back home to Georgia, he was given special shoes that he had to wear until his feet healed. He was persecuted and mistreated by white people when he returned to Georgia. They ridiculed him because of his shoes. There were many American heroes that day at Pearl Harbor. Some of them were African-American. At that time the Navy and the rest of the American military was segregated and although they never experienced the freedom they fought for, African-American soldiers and sailors still fought for America.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Tron: A Metaphor for Christ


I recently had the chance to see the movie Tron on the G4 Network. It's part of their "Movies that Don't Suck" series. Although Tron was released in 1982, it still holds up well, extremely well. I'm going to write this as if you have seen it already. It's the first movie I remember in where a person enters into a computer generated world inside a computer. Long before the characters in Matrix, Flynn played by Jeff Bridges was digitized into a computer and saved the digital world populated by "programs". Each program was represented by an actor wearing clothes that light up. I still think they look cool. Further, each programs looks like the human character that wrote it. A couple of days after seeing the film again, I realized that it is a great metaphor for Jesus. Like Flynn entered into his own creation and "sacrificed" himself to distract the mainframe so Tron could destroy it, Jesus entered our dimension...his creation, becoming like us so he could die in our place to pay the debts we have incurred for the sins we have committed, that we do commit, and that we will commit. This is the gospel in a nutshell.


Tron - Movie Trailer - The most amazing bloopers are here


Here is a clip for you...one of my favorite scenes, followed by a flash game base on that scene.




The game: