March 2008

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.

I’ve just gotten around to starting to watch the third season of the new Battlestar Galactica. So far, so good - the planet-side setting adds a different dimension to the show for a bit, while the socio-political commentary continues.

Related to this are several links I’ve come across recently.

Firstly, FlowTV - ‘a critical forum on television and media culture published by the Department of Radio, Television, and Film at the University of Texas at Austin’ - recently had a focus on Battlestar Galactica with a selection of articles and posts about the new series. You can find it at FlowTV | “Battlestar Galactica” Issue.

Secondly, I found that link via Confessions of an Aca/Fan: Resources for Science Fiction Fans.

And lastly, Paul Walker, over at Out of the Cocoon had a post Out of the Cocoon >> Science Fiction and the emerging church. I’m not sure I’d agree with his comment that religion is toned down in the new version of BSG, rather that is has become more complex than the religious dualism - humans (religious) / cylons (secular) - present in the original series. Certainly, both human and cylon in the new series seem to have to wrestle with issues surrounding religion in interesting ways.

Related link: Greenflame · The Theology of Battlestar Galactica’s Cylons

Later this year I’m co-lecturing a course called “Spirituality in Aotearoa New Zealand” (which will also be offered in onsite and online modes). My bits focus particularly on Christian spirituality, the theme of peace-making, and connections with the ‘everyday world’. Somewhere in there we’ll be looking at how some Christian traditions that have tended to ignore things like contemplative spiritualities or spiritual disciplines from the wider Christian community.

For example, this sort of thing: The unexpected monks - The Boston Globe (Hat top to Ian Mobsby).

Clearing out old web links I’d saved over the past few months I came across this one.

John La Grou’s reflections, microclesia >> AI Jesus, on interacting the AI Jesus over at www.godsbot.org.

We went down to Hamilton today to watch day four of the NZ-England cricket test. Great day all round - though the excitement of the NZ second innings collapse could have been done without. Armed with deck chairs, rugs and our chilly bin the 6 of us, plus another 5 staked out an area on the bank and sat back to watch the game. A slow start, which picked up after lunch and then the excitement of the final session.

Is it unique to the Waikato to have people with drenching packs of sunblock walking through the crowd squirting out free sunblock to anyone who wants it?

Highlight of the day for the kids was playing on the field at lunch time. See photos below.

An interesting post about a set of interviews with US scientists about religious and spiritual beliefs and practices. Part of a follow-up to a larger survey and indicate that religious/spiritual inclination might be much higher than is commonly portrayed in a science vs. religion conflict model.

See The Immanent Frame » Blog Archive » Beyond The God Delusion

Related links:

• CTNS–Science and the Spiritual Quest
  • “Science and the Spiritual Quest: New Essays by Leading Scientists” (Phillip Clayton)
  • “Faith in Science: Scientists Search for Truth” (W. Mark Richardson, Gordy Slack)
• Counterbalance : Science and the Spiritual Quest - Interviews

Three weeks into the new job and it’s been very, very busy.

So far I’ve been to a large number of meetings (School of Theology and University), met faculty (incl. a nice lunch at the Catholic Institute of Theology (next door)), helped lots of students with course selections and enrollments, organized my courses for this semester (including a new online course we’re offering this year), come to grips with the university IT systems, familiarized myself with the uni’s online learning management system (CECIL), continued my predecessor’s work on a new online course on spirituality for second semester, attended various training sessions, attended various orientation events (including a nice commencement chapel service), organized a powhiri for new students next week, attended a powhiri for myself (and another one next week), run the undergraduate section of the School of Theology orientation day on Friday, and put in a proposal for the AAR consultation “Transhumanism and Religion”.

I’m very tired but I think I’ve won more than I’ve lost, and I’m really looking forward to teaching starting next week now all this preparation work has been done. My fellow faculty and staff have been brilliant at helping me get established.

Next time though I’ll hopefully start a new position with a little more time before the start of the academic year, and with a more graceful transition into the job.

In the next few weeks we’ll be wanting to get a basic Windows notebook computer for home for Kim to use for the various things she does. Looking around the place there seem to be a plethora of low-end models selling from between $800-$1000 depending on the rebate given by the manufacturer.

I was wanting to know if anyone who reads this blog has had any advice to offer on minimum specifications or brands that worked (or didn’t work) for them. We’ve had good experiences with our Acer Aspire desktop (including very responsive servicing) in the past, but I know that different companies load a heap of third-party ‘rubbish’ on PCs which you end up having to cull off when you get the machine.

In a perfect world we’d find one running Windows XP Pro (which we quite like), though most seem to have Vista Home Basic (VHB) on them. Moving to Vista Home Premium (VHP) adds between $200-$300 to the price of the computer, and my understanding is that VHB runs find in 1GB RAM, but VHP really feels better in 2GB of RAM.

The notebook only needs to do this kind of thing: word processing, spreadsheet, Windows media player, web browsing. No real need for DVD authoring (though burning DVD backups would be very useful), nor will it be playing any recent games (so video requirements are low). Hard disk requirements are modest too, as it won’t have games or lots of media loaded on it.

Basically, we’re looking for a reasonably well-made, reliable budget notebook PC that can do the above. And preferably one we can see in person first at a store so we can check out the keyboard feel.

BTW - If you want to make a Vista PC look like XP (and reduce the processor requirements) then this video is useful: Quick Tips: Make Windows Vista look like XP video - CNET TV.

P.S. To all the Mac-heads out there (including myself ), a MacBook isn’t the right choice for this job. Firstly, cost-wise it’s $800-$1000 more expensive, Kim wants to use Windows (so bootcamp would require buying the OS on top of the PC), and we have an unused Office 2003 package so we don’t have to buy Office. Now if I was buying one for me, then I’d be keen on one of the new MacBooks with the extra RAM.