To add to my mostly Mac OS X based list of writing tools –
Bean: An OS X Word Processor.

(Oh, and I think I left NeoOffice (based on OpenOffice) off the original list too.)

Adobe make a version of Photoshop – Photoshop Express – available as a free web-based application adding yet another application type to the burgeoning area of free web apps offered to allow companies like Microsoft, Google and Adobe carve out their own corner of the internet – and hence a source of consumers to manage and advertise to.

After being initially released (see Adobe’s Photoshop Express and the big picture | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com), the terms of use has quickly been updated in the face of criticism from potential users – Report: Complaints trigger rewrite of Photoshop Express terms | Tech news blog – CNET News.com.

Ernesto comments on using it over at Ernesto Burden | Photoshop Express — Sweet, Free Photo Editing Tool With Social Media Extensions.

I’ll be interested in checking it out – I don’t know how many times I’ve been away from home or the office and needed to edit an image and had an internet connection but no image editing application in the computer I’m using.

We recently picked up the first season of Amazing Extraordinary Friends on DVD and the kids (plus some older ones) are loving it. A locally-made teenage superhero series that doesn’t take itself seriously, with the kids yelling out when they see a location in ‘Central City’ that they know. The effects are a little corny and a selection of familiar faces fill the adult roles, but it has a certain charm, pays homage to the genre, and has a soundtrack heavily influenced by Danny Elfman (from my ear anyway).

Think Heroes (with way less violence) meets The Greatest American Hero meets Who Wants to Be a Superhero? (and I’d also throw in elements of Zenith, Mystery Men and Ben 10).

We never saw the series when it first played on NZ free to air TV, but will look out for it in future.

You can find the trailers for seasons 1 and 2 at:

• YouTube – Amazing Extraordinary Friends – Series 1 Trailer
• YouTube – The Amazing Extraordinary Friends – Series 2 Trailer

On a related note – other TV series the kids have enjoyed on DVD recently include:

• Maddigan’s Quest – YouTube – Maddigan’s Quest Trailer
• Shoebox Zoo – both seasons 1 & 2 (though season 1 was the favourite)
• Jane and the Dragon – Trailer and clips here.

A selection of the book that are piled up waiting to be read – though given time constraints I’ll have to skim read more than I’d like to.

• Online Church? First Steps Towards Virtual Incarnation by Mark Howe. P112 in the Grove Books Pastoral series and discusses insights from www.stpixels.com.
• Godly Play: An Imaginative Approach to Religious Education by Jerome W. Berryman, published by Augsburg/Fortress Press. Picked up from a sale table after recognising the title from conversations with Steve Taylor. There’s also a handbook with activities in it – see Augsburg Fortress | Teaching Godly Play.
• The Ethics of Human Cloning by Neil Messer. E122 in the Grove Books Ethics series.
• “In Conversation” published by Azure. A collection of interviews originally published in Third Way Magazine.
• Practical Theology: On Earth as It Is in Heaven by Terry A. Veling. Published by Orbis.
• Minding the Spirit: The Study of Christian Spirituality edited by Elizabeth A. Dreyer and Mark S. Burrows.
• Spiritual Traditions for the Contemporary Church edited by Robin Maas and Gabriel O’Donnell.

There is another pile waiting on my work desk, and still more waiting to be collected from various libraries.

Here’s the details of the next University of Auckland School of Theology public lecture.

Reaching the Well: The Preacher’s Creative Process
Dr. Jana Childers

VENUE: Algie Lecture Theatre, Law Building, The University of Auckland. [9-17 Eden Crescent Auckland]
DATE/TIME: Monday 31st March, 6.00 p.m.
COST: Koha (donation).

In her School of Theology Lecture Dr Jana Childers will note that few preachers avoid the dry well. Writer’s block, faith struggles and fatigue affect many. Most spend at least the occasional sleepless Saturday night second-guessing themselves, wondering where fresh inspiration is to be found.

This lecture examines the creative process and explores links between human creativity and the work of the Holy Spirit. It points to models of creativity, patterns of practice and skillbuilding exercises that can be sources of increased creativity in preaching.

Click on the picture below to download the PDF with more details in it. There’s an RSVP date in it but I imagine you can RSVP late (or just turn up if all else fails)

Love to share is a downloadable resource from the World Council of Churches that aims to give some direction and guidelines for churches when considering intellectual property rights and copyright and looking at alternatives to the current situation. At some point I’d like to have some students theologically investigate these ideas so I’ll be downloading it to see what it says. [Hat tip to Tensegrities]

On a related note I’ve also been reading the WCC booklet – Globalization of Communications – by Chris Arthur. It’s about 10 years old now, but there’s some interesting starting points for further discussion in it.

But wait, there’s more…

WCC and new and emerging technologies: Able-ism: A prerequisite for transhumanism is a discussion paper on new technologies by Gregor Wolbring, who blogs over at Nano, Bio, Info, Cogno, Synthetic bio, NBICS.

And there’s also the WCC report Science, Faith & New Technologies: Transforming Life, Volume 1 : Convergent Technologies, which has some stuff in it relating to transhumanism.

I’m always keen in finding resources about biblical interpretation aimed at the wider church, so I’ll be downloading this book by Stephen Dawes now available from connexions » Blog Archive » Why Bible-believing Methodists Shouldn’t Eat Black Pudding. Anything with a title like that is worth having a look at.

Hat tip to Ben at Faith and Theology

Tim puts out an open invitation to those going to be around at the SBL International meeting in Auckland in early July:

International (and indeed national, of any and all nationalities) bloggers with an interest in academic study of the Bible and/or Theology in any other of its (subsidiary?) forms are invited to share a meal and chat.

More at: SansBlogue: SBL International Bloggers.

Al Hsu (over at The Suburban Christian) had a couple of interesting posts recently.

The first, The Suburban Christian: Planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence, links through to The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard and ponders Christian responses to consumerism.

The second, The Suburban Christian: On role playing and creating culture, notes the recent death of Gary Gygax (co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons) and the need to be creators of engaging culture rather than just critics of culture. I can identify with Hsu’s point the Gygax created an attractive immersive and social environment. Certainly, when I was at high school in the early 80s D&D (and to a lesser extent Rune Quest) were all the rage amongst my classmates.

Personally, I enjoyed Traveller (a science fiction role playing game) because it came with rules for starship and solar system generation, a developing historical context (detailed in the supporting journal), and series of board games that fitted into this history (e.g. Dark Nebula).

Related links: Wired – Dungeon Master: The Life and Legacy of Gary Gygax and Dylan Horrock’s Gary Gygax R.I.P. – Vox (with link to Horrock’s 95bfm interview about D&D).

Not that I’m going to buy a MacBook Air in the near future, but this might make some people think twice – Wide Awake Developers: Steve Jobs Made Me Miss My Flight.