Weather again ...

You must be wondering "What's going on?". The weather has gone completely crazy as if an angry Gaia were attacking its passengers. Does God hate us and if not, what is He trying to let you know?!

People ... this weather thing keeps coming and coming. I've said this before (here and here), but as a Christadelphian, I believe these things are signs. God is sending us sign after sign after sign that "something is rotten in the state of Man".

Christmas ... The tsunami
January to August - Weather records fall world wide
June 1 - First ever snowfall ... in Somalia!
August 10 - First snowfall in Melbourne in over a decade, heaviest snowfall since 1951 in other areas
August 29th - Hurricane Katrina wipes out New Orleans
September 8 - Typhoon Nabi kills 18 in Japan

Toss in a generous mixture of snowfall in Saudia Arabia and France in mid summer and Brazil, droughts causing huge fires in Southern Europe (20,000 fires in Spain, the worst since 1947) and you have a weather pattern gone mad.

God is demanding that we look up. That we get our lives in order. That we be those servants watching and waiting for His Son's return. Jesus is returning to earth and soon. Get ready. So do it, already!

Arielle Carder is a babe! Arielle

Been away...

Well, I haven't been around lately. In fact its been over 3 weeks since I last posted anything ... Did you miss me? Of course not. Didn't even notice that I was gone. Sigh! Anyway, one piece of news for today ... Apple have released the Apple Nano ... Sweet!

The Dream ...

In all my dreams of a post apocalyptic future, I see one device as being the epitome of "future-ness" ... The Internet toaster. For some reason, while almost every other home appliance has made a point of rushing headlong into a high tech future (images of a internet screen bearing fridge urging on its small compatriots, irons with legs that stop it from burning your fav. #insert garment name here# , kids toys that talk and are almost sentient and the like), the toaster has remained defiantly lo-tech. With its rattling interior and its thin glowing wires, it provides us with toast ... some times over done (read incinerated), occasionally undone (read raw) and just now and agian, perfect ... Anti-Luddites rejoice, the future is here ... The Internet toaster ... No doubt the beginning of SkyNet.

Crazy Weather ... Again

A month or so back, I posted on the crazy weather that is going around ... Well, it hasn't stopped, and I just thought that if you had maybe managed to get your head jammed under a very well weather proofed sand pit, you might like this little heads-up ... Anouncement, announcement. Ahem! The weather is nuts ...

For example ... It snowed on the Parliament today ... And by the way, I am not refering to the Parliament of some TPLC (Tin Pot Little Country), but the Parliament of this Tin Pot Big Country ... Aussie land. Yep, think beaches, searing heat, snakes, kangaroos and big skies ... And snow in our capital ... More info at SMH, but just a quick quote ...

"Freezing Antarctic winds have dumped snow at Parliament House in Canberra and on at least two low-lying south-west Victorian towns.

Canberra was showered with a series of flurries about midday, while the Victorian towns of Heywood, just 27 metres above sea level, and Winchelsea, which is also close to sea level, have also acquired white blankets.

Both towns are less than 40 kilometres from the ocean.

"It's very unusual," said Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Scott Williams.

"If you look at it on a Victoria-wide scale, it looks set to be the coldest day this winter."

So there you are ... The point is this. We know that the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is not at all far away. Luke 21 tells us that when Jerusalem is no longer trodden down by non-Jews, and when peoples hearts begin to fail for fear and when there are signs in the sun, moon and starts, then get ready for the return of the Lord. In 1967, the Israeli people regained control of Jerusalem after its 2000 year caretakership by non-Jews, we see people in all countries assailed by terrorism (those that make fear) and now, the weather has become very unpredicatable ... Are these the signs we are looking for? Leave me a note ...

Arielle Carder is adorable!

How to Post a Google Sitemap from Blogger

As most of you probably know, Google has released a tool called Google Sitemaps to help them index our sites ... Those good public spirited souls. However, if you are like me, you have had no end of dramas trying to get your Blogger site indexed to start with, and almost as much trouble posting a sitemap to Google.

So I thought I would tell you all how I did mine ...

Step 1) Create an XML Sitemap. I used the sitemap tool here. Yeah, the interface looks a bit 1983 but it works well, and charges the best of all prices ... Free!

Step 2) Once you have created your sitemap, cut and paste the XML bit to a new text document (Right click on your desktop, select "New" and "Text document"). Save the text document as something like "Sitemap.xml" or, if you want, "Elmos_BloggerSitemap_That_Has_Cool_Stuff_Please_Index_Me_ Google_Lords_Please_Please.xml" ... Hey, it's up to you)

Step 3) Upload this file to somewhere on the web. The most simple and easy site I have found is Filehut. It has the outstanding qualifications of qorking properly, being completely free and providing you with a standard URL to the file, not some smarty-pantys uber-hidden-internet-type-magic link.

Step 4) Tell Google you have the site map and let them index it.

Of course, the other way (and much easier), is just to point Google Sitemaps at your rss feed ... For example, point Sitemaps at http://grailboy.blogspot.com/atom.xml (You might want to change the "Grailboy" bit, but if you don't, hey, I'm cool with free publicity...)

Let me know if it works for you, or if you have found a better way (I bet you all have, and not told me ... Sheesh!)

Arielle Carder is a babe! Arielle

For the Fridge Afficionados Out There

(Is there such a thing?)
This is very very sweet (and completely insane, by the way). Its called the Dios (God) and it's an eye full of flashed out food chilling goodness ... LG have gone to the time and effort to completely bling bling out a fridge! The ultimate accessory, looks good with your Rolex and your Platinum Plated Audi ... The sort of fridge one wants to take to parties ... But is it too much? Can one ever have too much ostentation? Product suggestion here ... they need to work out a way to make the food inside look sparkly too!

Arielle Carder is completely loveable!

The Coffee of Love

Yep, that is possibly the world's most "twee" title. Tough! Anyway, I was kind of thinking of getting my girlfriend a coffee machine for her birthday. She really likes coffee, I really like coffee, I want a coffee machine and I think she might like one...

In case you are wondering, the coffee machine in question is Rancilio Miss Silvia ... A very nice device indeed ... So that bit of it is not cheap. and I have been contemplating purchasing myself a coffee machine for some time now. The question is, would it be completely scrougley and cheap of me to buy her a coffee machine seeing I wanted to buy it for myself (buying it for her, after all, is a back handed way of giving myself one) ... What do you think, people. Bless me with the benefit of thy wisdom.

Quick update: Boing Boing has got a big post on the Silvia today ...

Arielle Carder is a loveable!

Sent packing

Have you ever noticed how that whenever one goes travelling somewhere, nay, anywhere, some small and easily forgotten but vital piece of equipment gets left behind. It will never be something obvious and "mission critical" like your trousers or wallet ... but will be something very very inconvenient ... All your socks, one of your running shoes or perhaps a single dredit card from your wallet ... the one that is used most ... Sigh!

Well, perhaps if you are geeky enough (and I know that you are ... you want proof of that? My best mate downloaded instructions off the Interweb for performing that most 1800s of digitally challenging exercises ... tying the full Windsor tie ... What is the world coming to ... But I digress.) you could use this little web toy to create a packing list for yourself, and ensure nought is forgotten.

BTW, if this site provides you with a faulty or unsatisfactory packing list, I take full responsibility and will happily refund your click ;)

Dear all ...

Please accept my deepest apologies and sincerest regrets for the errors in the inscription of the text in the previous missive ("concealled" ... sigh. Don't they teach these kids anything anymore?). I gave the clearest dictation regarding this but my typing pool let me down and not one of my proof readers picked it up during revision. I’ve expressed my disappointment to them in the strongest of terms and emphasized this by having them all taken out and executed ... It may interest you to know that I used this as a trial run for the Death of 472 Goldfish Bowl Ornaments... A method of execution that exceeded all my wildest expectations ... The expression on their faces when I solemnly pronounced their doom was priceless. I hope this placates your wrath ;)

Just out of interest ... if you were an evil dictator, just how would you keep the hoi polloi in their place? What would your chosen means of "deterance" (we malignant dictators like our euphemisms)?

Oh, by the way (and this completely unrelated) ... found this cool link. A web app thats shows you what's hot at the mo. on del.icio.us ... give it a whirl ...

Google is driving me crazy ...

OK, so those of you who know me, will know that that is a gross exageration. Google is driving me to a destination called "Slightly more crazy". I've been trying to get this blog listed on Google. The site appears, but merely as a most well concealled web link with no key words or anything. Well, at least that was the situtation for the 6 months up until late last week, when after adding a sitemap to Google SiteMaps, suddenly, this site, Naaman's Life was appearing in the listings ... Hurray.

However, as with all things on the Infernal Interweb, my rejoicing was short lived. Lo, swiftly did come sorrow, chasing the heals of gladness like the dreary wet puppy of sorrow chases the big bone of delight (the sad simile is a freebie ... I was inspired by reading the WWW - World's Worst Writer Awards today). Today, I'm back to square one ... Sigh! Its a difficult line I walk, trying to maintain Net Anonimity and get web fame for my site ...

Ubiquity and Blaming the Box

#An old article copied over from my blog at 20six#

"Woah!", I hear you say. "What's with the hip mounted Oxford dictionary" ... I'm far to lofty to answer that question. But (for your information) ...

Main Entry: ubiq·ui·ty
Pronunciation: -kw&-tE
Function: noun
Meaning: presence everywhere or in many places especially simultaneously : OMNIPRESENCE

Pretty straight forward, huh! Having bored you with a dictionary definition, what's that got to do with Tech/Geek stuff? Read on dear one ...

Technology is working to make media ubiquitous. In other words, the technological direction of our world is moving to make the global media stream available everywhere. Lots of really cool devices are being produced that do just this. MP3 Players that transmit on FM (you can listen to your MP3 player in your car over the car sound system), mobile phones that can receive streaming video (you can watch TV on your phone), Centrino laptops (connect to the internet without plugging in any cables or wires).

What does this mean to us (as Christadelphians)? It means we have to stop blaming the box. For years we have blamed a box for many problems in the ecclesias. We have argued against TV in the home. We have railed against evils of TV. Time to be smarter ...

As long as we continue to blame a specific box (like TV or your internet connected PC), we as Christadelphians will always be just that little bit behind the 8 ball ... you know the situation where you consistently arrive just as everyone else gets up from the table and leaves you the bill ... The technology will keep improving and getting better and smarter. Better and smarter at what? Providing you with whatever media you (read, your non-spiritual self) want/s, wherever you are. We blame one box, and we will be blind sided by others.

So what can we do? Time to start talking, not about TV, or the internet ... but media. The world's media is (as we all know, c'mon now, admit it) is the speaking of serpent minds. It's there to gratify, please and entertain the 3 lusts John describes. Nothing more, nothing less. So lets get with the program people, and start educating ourselves on the danger of the real danger, and stop blaming the box.

Update: It's been some years since I wrote this post, but I was mailed this article today, which repeats exactly what I was saying back then. Not that it was anything that profound ;)

Too geeky

I dunno about you, but I can tell when I've spent too long in front of a screen. It's when you are driving home and see the setting sun glinting on the shining skin of a distant skyrise, filling the horizon with warm lit haze ... And you (in this case, I) think "Awesome ... How do they do those graphics?" ...

Theres other clues, but thats a goodie!

For the love of ...

Been trying to buy myself a snowboard. One of the few sports I am very keen on ... Anyway, do you have any idea how hard that is? Nooo, I thought not ...

Well for me here in Australia, its like this. I live in one of the driest states in perhaps the driest country on the planet ... We recycle 20% of our water here, for crying out loud ... Snow? Not a chance. So unsuprisingly, it would be cheaper for me to buy a medium size ocean going yacht complete with leaping dolphins, that to purchase the middle of the road snowboard I am contemplating.

Luckily, there is this neat thingumy-jig called the internet ... It allows me to see the bargains available to snowboarders in the US and to be shattered by either the price of postage (I've been quoted US $200) or the fact that "we don't ship out side the world ... and by world, we mean the 48 contiguous states of US of A" ... Isn't the world wide inter-shopping mall fabulous ... It encourages my desire and then crushes me, all in 3 clicks ...

(Incidentally ... heres what I want ... Nay, need, my friends ... 156 cm of shiney, snow carving goodness )

Shamus's grave discovered ...

A crime has been committed. We have all received the evidence ... In fact I get emailed the evidence about once a year. Once there were 13 mates, now there are but 12 ... Where did the 13th go to? Who killed him? And why?



I've been baffled many a time, and after a signicant amount of detective work (like about 30 seconds), I usually give this one up as a dead-end case with no leads, my face filled with a cross-eyed look of wonder, tongue out, village idiot style ... Well, someone with way too much time on their hands has actually taken the time to disect the evidence, perform autopsies and the like and come up with the answer to where the 13th man (lets call him "Shamus", shall we?) got too ... After the jump ...

Going to visit her ...

Going to visit my girlfriend on the weekend. Can't wait. Anticipation bubbling up and I feel somewhat edgy. Isn't bizzare how similar loving someone is to feeling ill?

The God's Must Be Crazy

Anyone but me noticing the very strange weather ... worldwide?
Here's some records that have fallen so far in 2005...

• Switzerland – Coldest since records began
• Perth - Wettest autumn in 38 years
  
• Croatia – Coldest night since 1963
• Czech Republic – Most snowfall in 40 years
• France – Colder than record in 1971
• Germany – Coldest in 100 years
• Victoria – Coldest February since 1954
• Victoria – Wettest February since 1973
• South Australia – Worst wild fire in 22 years
• South Australia - Dryest autumn ever
• South Australia - Warmest autumn since 1923
  
• California – Wettest February in over 100 years
• Kenya – Hottest February in 20 years
• UAE – First ever snow fall (Dec 30)
• Boston – Most snow in a month (January)

On their own, none of these is particularly convincing, but together ...

Personally, I think we are being told something ... Are you ready? Am I ready? Let me know what you think!

Naaman's Life Home

Announcement!

I've done it ... I told her I love her ... And it's one of the best things that I have done.

Naaman's Life Home

And Mum always said it was art ...

Remember when you were little? Weeks and weeks ago now, and you drew ... sorry, "drawed", a picture for mum, and it was sooo good that mum asked you to give it a title that she would write on it for you and you said, "OK, it's Super Man and he's jumping off our roof" and she said, "That's so good!" and "I wondered what that green swampy looking object was ... a roof! ... That's art!" and you smiled proudly at your handy-work, there on the Gallery of the Fridge? Remember? OK, so you don't but I still reckon this is way cool ... Go on, have a peak ...

Bus Etiquitte

Have you noticed how there are clearly defined rules of behavoiur for some of the most mundane activities in life that are never discussed yet seem to be widely known. The evidence of the general acceptance of these codes of societal rules is the way "normal people" respond to those who don't obey them. Some examples include the rules of male and female bathroom etiquitte (these two a substantially different) and the rules of bus behavoir.

Take the bus behaviour for example. Have you noticed how its considered rude to look those already seated in the face while coming down the bus towards your seat, while it's perfectly OK for those already seated to look you over? Or how careful we have to be not to touch the other person we are seated next to, even if that means we are hanging pecariously off the seat? Or how you can communicate with the person beside you, but until pleasantries have been exchanged, you can't look at them, necessitating a kind of out of the side of your mouth "Hello?"

Maybe we need to codify these rules for the socially inept. Perhaps we need to document them so that new migrants integration into society is a little less bumpy. What do you think? What are the rules you have noticed that amuse you, and should we have advertise them? Big signs on buses saying "Don't touch and make a friend" or signs in toilets "Look straight ahead!" Either way, let me know ...

Weary yet pursuing

Very tired at the moment. Like ridiculously so. Been studying the Book of Esther for the last few weeks and its been pretty hard work. I am just starting to break into the subject now and get an appreciation of the wonder of this little book. I've always enjoyed Esther as a story. It has all the elements of a gripping tale : a mighty king, a passionate romance, an evil Vizier, a wise leader, a beatiful princess, all blended with a dash of treachery, a splash of oriental charm and enough eastern obliqueness to entertain a Arabian shiek. Great stuff ... but I'm finding that digging any deeper than the story is hard work.

For starter, the book does not mention God once. In fact, no type of religious observance, utterance or words are mentioned at all (excluding fasting which is not necessarily a religous exercise). That makes it tricky given it's a Biblical book. Then there is the fact that no one quotes or references it. The rest of scripture gives neither validation or rejection to the Esther record. Finally(for this post anyway), I've found that all the bible commentaries are at odds with each other, on almost every verse. There appears to be little or no consensus among scholars on this book. A bit of an enigma all round really, and one that has consumed my time and my mind for the last month or so. Still, its a worthy exercise, I think. After all, seeking the mind of God hidden in His word, has to be the best use of time around, dont you think?