A most excellent week this week. Performances by the children at school assembly, taking my youngest on foot through the church’s drive-thru nativity so he could pat the animals (including the llama dressed a a camel) and see the rest of the family dressed up, got the sign-off from my supervisor on the final draft of the thesis so I can now submit when I’ve printed and soft-bound it, shared a long birthday party with the youngest yesterday with lots of friends (his, mine and ours) dropping by through the day, and many other things.

The stuff of Darwin Awards. See Good book drives doctor to distraction.

Dropped by my comic shop today to collect a couple of Christmas presents I’d ordered through them (games, in this case). Reminded me about the way they organize their customer files. If you have subscriptions for comics etc. with them you have your own folder in the filing cabinet behind the counter. The folders are organized by first name, and then surname. So, within a short time they remember your first name when you come into the shop, adding an extra dimension of hospitality to their service.

It’s only a small thing, but it makes you feel that you personally, and your custom, are welcome.

It’s like the church we joined when we moved towns once. I visited one church (among several), filled out the ‘visitors card’, and had a very brief chat with someone who approached me. Then, later on that week the church found someone in the congregation who worked in a related field to phone up to see how we were settling in and to see if we needed help with anything. The fact that they a) bothered to get back in touch, b) had remembered who I was from the brief conversation, and c) found someone to contact me with whom I had a vocational connection, made me feel like they had something good to share.

Getting the final bibliography into shape. EndNote’s behaving oddly though – could be a race against time…

Update – The old G3 iBook hard disk is also making a strange clicking noise from time to time… Backups in progress.

Stayed up last night working on the thesis bibliography, which gave me an “excuse” to watch Jonny Reid win twice at the Gudang Garam A1GP Sentul. The first time in the sprint race, and the second in the feature event. The latter had all the things that make motorsport exciting – aggressive driving, variable weather conditions, leads eaten away by the safety car, pit stop dramas, the lead changing several times and the odd collision. Great stuff, and now the New Zealanders have put their first wins away it’ll be interesting to see if they can maintain the pressure. Might be worthwhile going down to Taupo in the new year to see them.

More at:
A1GP World Cup of Motorsport: NEW ZEALAND’S DOUBLE WIN AT SENTUL.
A1Team.NZL

Wired News: Firefly Reborn as Online Universe.

I’ve tended to avoid MMORPGs, but this one might be irresistible.

A large cardboard box can be many things. A boat, a rocket ship, a toy box, a stable for ponies or a zoo for animals, but combining boxes robustly for kids’ games never seems to work well. Saw this today and wondered whether there’s something similar in NZ. Must check the next time I’m at the hardware shop.

Cool Tool: Mr. McGroovy’s Box Rivets

Recent BBC World “Click” programme had a slot on strange USB devices for your PC. See BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click | USB talk. Just right for Darren over at planet telex » One of my new toys….

A conscience vote in the Australian House of Representatives passed legislation opening the door to human embryonic research (particularly therapeutic cloning) in Australia. See Embryo cloning gets the go-ahead – National – smh.com.au.

It’ll be interesting to see how that shapes discussion in NZ over the same issue.

A recent essay by theoretical biologist and complex systems researcher, Stuart Kauffman, on the need for a secular spirituality that goes beyond reductionism. See Edge: BEYOND REDUCTIONISM: REINVENTING THE SACRED By Stuart A. Kauffman.

Some interesting points for engagement based on the quick skim I did of it.