tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-258844842012-01-20T12:36:17.377-05:00the random musings of ben perrygapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.comBlogger591100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-30302074517930500722007-09-09T02:59:00.053-04:002007-09-09T04:12:20.968-04:00

Since gambling was officially banned in Second Life, economic activity was completely devastated - it dropped by nearly 50%, as I had predicted earlier. In just about any normal economy, this would cause a complete collapse. But thanks to the tight control Linden Labs has over the primary means of trading lindens to dollars, Linden Labs was able to maintain the value of the Linden to 270ish per

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-17851634907093379772007-07-26T17:24:00.050-04:002007-07-26T17:44:18.755-04:00

I am a gambling man. Not exactly a high-roller kind of a guy - the largest bet I've ever placed was a $2 lottery ticket. But I have written all kinds of gambling simulators and players to study betting strategies, playing strategies, and etc. I've got pages after pages of graphs and charts. My simulators have played billions upon billions of games. The end result? Well, depending on the

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-11701091173657351042007-06-18T15:59:00.000-04:002007-06-18T16:01:07.231-04:00

IBM and MIT teamed up together to present the Virtual Worlds consortium last Friday, June 15 in Cambridge. Here are some of my notes:Frank Moss, Director of the MIT Media Laboratory, opened up the session by asking, "Is the 3D internet over-hyped?" From my experience on various virtual worlds (There, Second Life, Active Worlds, etc.), I think it is over-hyped at the current stage of development,

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-28014842961200515882007-06-07T09:08:00.000-04:002007-06-07T09:13:29.920-04:00

I had a conversation recently with an extreme right-wing Christian who insists that global warming is a farce and is nothing but a money engine for researchers who must continue to claim doom and gloom to keep their funds flowing. They go so far as to say, "If you all believe that the Bible is the infallible word of God then according to Revelations Jesus will return to earth someday and take us

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-47328270496843611062007-05-18T15:47:00.002-04:002007-05-18T16:44:50.988-04:00

Since I'm a notorious windows user, I alternate between using Cygwin's (or any *nix variant) openSSH client and Putty to connect to various SSH hosts. The only problem is that the openSSH-generated private key is not compatible with Putty.Private keys with SSH allow you to access a remote host without typing your password if the place you're logging in from is a place you trust enough to say, "

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-2847917917297584222007-05-02T16:49:00.000-04:002007-05-02T18:11:41.438-04:00

When I read this headline, I was absolutely appalled. A school discovered that one of its students had created a map of the school's campus for the video game "counter strike" and completely freaked out. Counter strike is a FPS where you basically blast terrorists. Yes, it's a violent game involving guns. But is this something for a school to freak out about?!?When I was an undergrad at a

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-24225347099583925422007-04-26T13:36:00.000-04:002007-04-26T13:39:09.046-04:00

Original article hereI have to admit, this is among the most absurd AFA fear-uncertainty-doubt articles (FUD) I've ever read. The bill in question, which enjoys co-sponsorship from republicans and democrats, is a very good hate-crimes bill that in no way, shape, or form lays any groundwork for silencing any viewpoint whatsoever. The bill doesn't protect "certain classes of people" or prevent

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-55138554877212273262007-03-15T10:22:00.001-04:002007-03-15T10:22:45.438-04:00

I'm confused as to why American Christians want to make climatechange--specifically ignoring or even rejecting climate change--areligious topic whereas the rest of the world doesn't. There's noBiblical reason for Christians to be polarized against this issue.Moses did not record, "Thou shalt ignore scientists when they preachethdoom and gloom." Jesus did not say, "When the scientists

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-79319875652180750682007-03-15T10:18:00.000-04:002007-03-15T10:22:00.197-04:00

in the past two months, several life-changing events took place: -I took the prelims. -I passed the prelims. (WOOT!) -We had to move out of state. -I took a new job. -I started work with a professor. -We started selling our house. -We started looking for a new house / apartment. -We are traveling back and forth frequently between MA and DE.that's about it.

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-35056844627608977412007-01-15T13:53:00.000-05:002007-01-15T13:54:49.714-05:00

Eric wrote:I think personally that God created the universe indirectly, meaning that he used science, like the Big Bang. I mean, let's face it, if you believe in God, when's the last time you ever saw him come down here on a cloud? He doesn't do things himself.by definition, all things in this universe would be possible for a transdimensional, omnipotent, and omniscient intelligent agent (namely,

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1167786666058170502007-01-02T20:08:00.000-05:002007-01-02T20:11:06.070-05:00

I was perusing some boards today and came across a post where an atheist claims that science disproves God. Being both a Christian and a scientist, I found this statement somewhat laughable. God is neither provable nor disprovable. That's the simple truth. That being said, science and Christianity can and do coexist peacefully. God can work through science. Consider, for example, the notion

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1164907269069261512006-11-30T11:13:00.000-05:002006-11-30T12:21:09.246-05:00

I've been somewhat jaded of late with college basketball. Growing up in Kansas, we had every reason to love college hoops - Larry Brown, Roy Williams, and now Bill Self have brought much success to the Kansas basketball team, and Kansas State has improved quite a bit with Jim Woolridge and potentially with Bob Huggins. Even Wichita State is doing rather well! Both Williams and Self are

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1164717499276495892006-11-28T05:31:00.000-05:002006-11-28T07:38:19.473-05:00

I love violent video games. Blowing things up and shooting everything in sight with guns of all sorts - ah, great release of frustration and escape from reality. I have no moral objection against owning a gun - they have several legitimate uses, such as overthrowing governments, killing "game", and committing suicide. Natural selection at its best. Several of my friends and relatives own guns

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1161982536964184822006-10-27T16:38:00.000-04:002006-10-29T21:50:38.796-05:00

With all the talk about hacking electric votes and dubious individuals stealing elections, I thought I'd present a very simple solution for avoiding election fraud.The polling booth houses a secured machine that is protected by steady-state alarm. The underlying OS would be tightly coupled with the voting software - meaning that the OS is practically nothing but the voting software itself. The

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1161190201760961952006-10-18T12:37:00.000-04:002006-10-18T12:50:01.776-04:00

verse in mixolydian (sometimes borrowing the third), chorus in harmonic aeolian. strings, piano, bass, distortion guitar, drums, and accoustic guitar. I'll put up an mp3 minus the vocals because everyone knows I can't sing.suggestions welcome.v1:I'm so cold, I've lost any feeling.I can't stand being so alone.I don't have any choice in the matter.To make everything better, my sin must die.Pre

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1161100679364877812006-10-17T10:50:00.000-04:002006-10-17T11:57:59.833-04:00

One area of the Christian doctrine that I've never really truly grasped is the trinity. The word "trinity" appears in the Bible a grand total of zero times in the King James version, the New International Version, the New American Standard version, the Message, the Modern English Translation, the New King James version, .... you get the idea.The doctrine of the trinity wasn't even established

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1161024380958894062006-10-16T13:58:00.000-04:002006-10-16T14:46:22.510-04:00

I was reading through 1 Samuel in church yesterday while droning out the preacher and I was shocked at what I read. I'm not talking about the gratuitous violence - I mean, it doesn't get much better than reading about heads being lobbed off and armies getting annihilated while droning out sermons. The body count in 1 Samuel alone makes the entire collection of Friday the 13th movies look like

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1160507378260588062006-10-10T15:07:00.000-04:002006-10-10T15:09:38.270-04:00

On our trip back home from Maine in October of 2006, Jessica and I had to keep each other awake somehow, so we came up with a series of what-if scenarios that went like this: An angel dressed in white comes to visit you and asks you if you could relive any day of your life, what day would it be?An angel dressed in red comes to visit you and asks you if you could change any one major

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1160450054833555852006-10-09T22:11:00.002-04:002009-04-23T14:18:45.656-04:00

On an average day, if I were to be held up by some dude with a gun, he'd be pretty disappointed. I could offer him some pocket lint, but I wouldn't have a single greenback on me. I was among the early adopters of a cashless society several years ago, and today I only go to places that accept credit cards.Credit / debit cards offer conveniences both to the consumer and to the merchant. For the

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1159825169528943362006-10-02T17:21:00.000-04:002006-10-02T17:39:29.536-04:00

Alright, just what I was waiting all year for.... christmas music in OCTOBER. Oh, the humanity!! I am embarking on a national campaign to make playing christmas music any time before December 1st a felony offense. For once, I would be GLAD to support the death penalty for violating this most holy law. Speaking of time of the year, we are blessed enough this year to have a Friday the 13th in

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1158867764859773152006-09-21T15:15:00.000-04:002006-09-21T15:46:25.110-04:00

As if I didn't have enough distractions taking up my time, I have discovered a really cool toy. I have no idea how I found out about this.. I guess you can say I just "stumbled upon" it. But basically, it's "Stumble Upon" - www.stumbleupon.com . I've seen these kind of things in the past, but I have to say, this one does it right. The main premise is that you select which categories interest

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1158162348548381922006-09-13T11:43:00.000-04:002006-09-13T11:46:42.056-04:00

US citizens are increasingly turning to the internet and cell phones instead of the TV for their main source for entertainment and information. The national emergency broadcast system should evolve to include the internet and cell phones as mediums for emergency communication. There are two easy plans that the emergency broadcast system could implement. First, internet service providers in the

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1157305077143711792006-09-03T13:09:00.000-04:002006-09-03T13:37:57.153-04:00

Being a semi-professional musician, I like to listen to live performances from time to time. Jessica and I went to a renaissance festival in Pennsylvania last weekend and had a really good time even though the weather was somewhat threatening. Anyway, as with most renaissance festivals, live musicians were everywhere. I sat in on four different performances throughout our trip, mostly for

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1157134658669546092006-09-01T13:45:00.000-04:002006-09-01T14:17:38.936-04:00

It's sometimes the little things that get me. Like putting a decimal point in the wrong spot, and then explaining to the bank why they owe me $700 instead of only $7. X11 forwarding is one of those things. I use X11 on my windows box for cygwin and remote *nix apps. I write in java a lot, so I port my apps over to a local beowulf cluster and fire up some slaves to cary out my world domination

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1157035591275966362006-08-31T10:43:00.000-04:002006-08-31T10:46:31.286-04:00

I’m a simple guy. I like it when things simply work. This is why Linux is just not for me. I gave it an honest try … again. And again. And again. Each time, there was something else that I had to waste hours scouring the boards trying to find fixes for some obscure problem. My latest problem was trying to get all three monitors up and running. In Windows, it’s extremely trivial. In Linux

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1155849053324140562006-08-17T17:00:00.000-04:002006-08-17T17:10:53.336-04:00

I have another chance to go to Hawaii again next January. I'm really struggling with the decision, though. My paper featuring the Root Evidence Sampling algorithm was accepted at HICSS, but I don't think that going in January just a few weeks before prelim round 2 is all that smart. I don't know.. I could probably pull it off. I feel really confident about the prelims, but if I miss on one of

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1155211376586721502006-08-10T07:10:00.000-04:002006-08-10T08:02:56.656-04:00

Your thoughts, your intentions, your desires, your very self is truly expressed in what you search for on the internet. The average person, according to AOL's "screwup" data, searches for help, advice, or current events. And porn. Lots of it. But we'll overlook that. AOL recently published three months' worth of data on what people searched for, albeit with the identities changed to

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1153936874219492142006-07-26T13:55:00.000-04:002006-07-26T14:01:15.316-04:00

Andrea Yates found not guilty by reason of insanity. Postpartum psychosis is no joke. Combine that with other mental illnesses, and you get some really bad news. I am so relieved that a Texas jury could actually find someone innocent. Not only innocent, but innocent by reason of insanity. Andrea will be committed to a mental hospital for a few years--perhaps longer, perhaps shorter--but she

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1151872450688142962006-07-02T16:16:00.000-04:002006-07-02T16:34:10.736-04:00

If you're into chat rooms and online social stuff, you might want to check out a massive online somewhat-RPG called Second Life. Second Life has a lot of potential - you can build things, hang out with interesting people, run a virtual business, .... and yes, you can even gamble. But there's only one small problem: in Second Life, the house really does always win. There is absolutely nothing

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1151449851814602222006-06-27T18:57:00.000-04:002006-06-27T19:10:51.906-04:00

Instance after instance of US government secret monitoring programs keeps surfacing, all of which were authorized by the Bush administration, and all in the name of national security. Terrorists. Threats. American lives. Danger. Paranoia.Why exactly does the government want us on a constant state of paranoia and terrorist alert?One of the more recent programs monitors financial records of

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1151005626195335792006-06-22T15:41:00.000-04:002006-06-22T15:47:06.256-04:00

It's officially official, especially since Fox News is covering it - global warming is real and humans are at fault.Something I had predicted:"Other new research Thursday showed that global warming produced about half of the extra hurricane-fueled warmth in the North Atlantic in 2005, and natural cycles were a minor factor""The Bush administration has maintained that the threat is not severe

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1150476732543143972006-06-16T11:43:00.002-04:002006-06-16T12:52:12.546-04:00

One of my wife's friends had a birthday party the other day and I somehow got suckered in to going to this party. Now don't get me wrong here - I like Jessica's friend and I would have gone regardless. But still, I ended up going even though I'm not much of a party goer. I'm not really that much of a social butterfly. I would put me somewhere closer to a social rolley-polley. So when the

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1149274570117531352006-06-02T13:31:00.000-04:002006-06-02T14:56:13.606-04:00

Every once in a while, Jessica and I like to go camping. We're not really outdoorsy-types, at least I'm not, so camping is really a big deal. And when we camp, we really don't rough it that much.. several camp sites have electrical hookups and we just go to have fun, which usually involves some electrical toy.So we've been planning for the past month to go camping at a place in Rehoboth, DE

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1148783659098990442006-05-27T22:14:00.000-04:002006-05-28T09:54:09.480-04:00

Wow. According to a news story, republican New York mayor Bloomberg wants to keep DNA dibs on every single US worker. That idea is so bad on so many fronts, it's hard to know where to begin.Your DNA information tells a lot about you. Your health, your ethnic background, insight into your genealogy, your life expectency... it gets kind of silly. Sure, the idea would be to prevent DNA from

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1148780396386727802006-05-27T21:07:00.000-04:002006-05-27T21:39:56.440-04:00

Neural networks are a cool tool for what amounts to regression of data. In implementing a simple feed-foward, three-layer neural network and trying to get it to learn the majority function (are more than half of the inputs active?), I made a few interesting observations. I still have a lot to learn about neural networks, but in my novice jump into them, I've found that:- The simple

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1147955394304729852006-05-18T07:54:00.000-04:002006-05-18T08:29:54.376-04:00

Why anyone would grant the government power to determine who can and cannot live together is beyond me. According to a few stories out there, the people of Black Jack, MO have vested in their government the power to evict groups of three or more people living together who aren't related by blood or by marriage. I'm all for people getting married before popping out kids and moving in together

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1146593295754023962006-05-02T12:24:00.000-04:002006-05-02T14:08:20.483-04:00

Illegal Immigrants are a hot issue today, but I really don't see what the fuss is about. To be fair, though, I'm a white american male and that probably sums it up. But still, it seems pretty simple. On the one hand, illegal immigrants are simply that: illegal. So naturally, a law that makes being here illegally ... illegal ... makes sense. I'm actually surprised that the lawmakers from

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1146319109833332522006-04-29T09:23:00.000-04:002006-04-29T09:58:29.916-04:00

Rebates suck. Plain and simple. They are industry's best scam. It's a win-win-win-win-win-lose scenario, and guess who's on the losing side... that's right, it's the consumer.First of all, you pay an inflated cost. The salespeople win out on commission, the store wins out on profits, the store and the manufacturer wins out because a product appears to be a lot cheaper and thus more

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1146054802021166742006-04-26T08:12:00.000-04:002006-04-26T08:33:22.073-04:00

Sources have confirmed what we've always known: Fox is in bed with the republicans. Fox has brown-nosed the republicans so much that the white house finally gave in and brought one of Fox's top commentators on board. Tony Snow, known for his conservative rants, has accepted the press secretary job in Bush's team. This was all done in a shakeup to improve record low approval ratings for dubya.

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1146063392788705362006-04-25T09:24:00.000-04:002006-04-26T10:56:32.986-04:00

No, really. Jade doesn't quit. Jade is the java multi-agent platform that follows FIPA specs pretty tightly and it actually isn't too bad of an agent platform. But the stupid thing refuses to shut down. You'd think it'd be really easy, like invoking a single method call called "shutdown" within the Runtime instance. That doesn't kill the VM for whatever reason.After following a maze of

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1145702004950498592006-04-22T06:03:00.000-04:002006-04-22T06:37:49.000-04:00

From an AP post:A small plane crashed while trying to land in the fog, killing five students from Indiana University's school of music, a university spokeswoman said Friday."This would be a tragedy for the school," spokeswoman Susan Williams said. "It's an important school. Some of the best music students in the world come here."Wow. Can you believe that?!? Five students and presumably the

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1145630410953019712006-04-21T09:42:00.000-04:002006-04-21T10:40:11.016-04:00

Hollywood financers are brave. They love to earn money by sticking their necks out on untested waters. Their extremely mind-boggling creativity has resulted in the amazing summer lineup of Rocky 6, Indiana Jones 4, Superman 4, Mission Impossible 3, X-men 3, and probably Harry Potter 5 (or is it 6 by now? I've lost count). A quote by Joel Siegel wraps it up:"The average budget for these

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1145459192072854012006-04-19T09:12:00.000-04:002006-04-19T11:06:36.626-04:00

Programming is a very creative art, no matter how technical it seems on the outset. Programming is pure-thought stuff. It's the closest thing to transcribing the contents of your mind. Learning how to be an innovator is all about being creative. So the question is, "how can we be creative?" While I don’t have the silver-bullet answer to this question, I’ll try to share a little insight from

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1145314300891503292006-04-17T18:48:00.000-04:002006-04-17T18:51:40.903-04:00

Let's play a little game. I'll give you a bunch of facts and you try to guess the person I'm thinking of.Ready?1. He was one of the most powerful persons in the world throughout all of history.2. He claimed to be a devout Christian.3. He was the leader of a great military.4. He ignored international law and launched a preemptive war.5. His war was against an enemy whose threat was either

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1145209392025239812006-04-16T13:41:00.000-04:002006-04-16T13:43:12.036-04:00

Since it's Easter Sunday, I thought I'd share a snippet from a song called "That's Why We Praise Him", which pretty much wraps up the Easter message:He came to live, live a perfect lifeHe came to be the living Word of lightHe came to die, so we'd be reconciledHe came to rise to show His power and might[...] He gave His everythingHis name is Jesus. He gave His everything for whoever believes in

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1145016843888946202006-04-14T08:13:00.000-04:002006-04-14T08:21:23.930-04:00

An AP news report was released yesterday about a person who died after health complications stemming from a Disney World rocketship ride. As tragic as that sounds, the tragedy is how the story was conveyed. You see, it’s not the overall story – it’s little bits here and there that seem hardly noticeable until you consider the big picture. For example, consider this quote: “Disney

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144785830208758572006-04-11T15:55:00.000-04:002006-04-11T16:27:13.113-04:00

Okay, so after I published the "why video games are not all evil" post, I got sucked into Oblivion. The game, you insensitive clod.One of my friends back in Kansas was raving on and on about the game, and he's usually been pretty fanatic about games I usually wouldn't enjoy that much, so I was a little skeptical. But apparently, Oblivion is the game to get these days. It's like World of

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144773788323084982006-04-09T19:57:00.000-04:002006-04-11T12:45:41.906-04:00

One of the more popular news stories hitting the rounds is one of a recently discovered and translated account of the gospel from the perspective of one of the most vilified persons in all of history: Judas. Extensive tests have revealed that the manuscript is a genuine copy of Judas' account. The copy, presumably from an authentic source, was written a couple of centuries after Judas hung

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144774003885453582006-04-06T17:48:00.000-04:002006-04-11T12:47:33.430-04:00

Some Christians I know are completely anti video games. Me? My motto is "Shut up and frag." I love games. I play all kinds of genres - rts, fps, rpg, simulation games, turn-based games... the whole enchilada.Games that involve magic or wizards or dragons or ghosts are supposedly so evil that one risks excommunication if one were to reveal that he took first place in a frag fest. For the record, I

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144774101367639332006-04-04T12:47:00.000-04:002006-04-11T14:53:25.810-04:00

"Change is inevitable. Change is constant." -Benjamin Disraeli"In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes." -Benjamin Franklin"Some things never change - Hollywood plots, for example." -Benjamin PerryOh, okay, so maybe I'm not as well-known as Benjamin Disraeli or Benjamin Franklin, but I've got to be honest with you - forget Franklin and Disraeli - some things really never change!

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144774153557821592006-04-03T12:48:00.000-04:002006-04-11T14:52:50.696-04:00

A scientific study was recently published - you've probably read about it in mainstream news - saying that prayer simply doesn't work. At least, not for people in hospitals who aren't aware that complete strangers are praying for them. Now, I'm not one to say that the scientific method is bogus since I use it quite frequently, but trying to test God in the process of prayer seems kind of silly. I

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144774215451932832006-04-02T12:49:00.000-04:002006-04-11T14:52:04.106-04:00

Dogs are supposedly man's best friend. A friend of mine pointed out that dogs can lead the blind, help police do their job, learn all kinds of tricks - they can even be movie stars! Cats? Well, cats just look pretty. We finally got a dog about a year ago. "Yankee" is part Pembroke welsh corgi and part spawn of evil. He knows so many tricks, but he also knows exactly what to do to be evil. Like

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144774264438457772006-03-30T12:50:00.000-05:002006-04-11T14:51:30.246-04:00

Have you ever noticed that guys are incapable of being lost? It's true - we have an uncanny sixth-sense of locale awareness. To even suggest that we might not know where we're at is grossly offensive. Besides, stopping for directions is a sign of weakness. We might not always know where we're going, but we always know where we're at. Well, there was that one time when Jessica and I were driving

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144774332790864692006-03-29T12:51:00.000-05:002006-04-11T14:50:53.113-04:00

Skydiving without a parachute is all fun and games until the abrupt end, which will most likely end with unfavorable results.We live in a society where a lot of our behaviors are driven by impulse. Fast food, credit cards, loans, more, more, more! Greed is often used as an advertisement tool. Everyone needs more now, and companies with products to sell know this. They advertise "faster", "better"

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144775017389316792006-03-28T13:03:00.000-05:002006-04-11T13:40:49.520-04:00

Women are a mystery to me. They do the strangest things sometimes, like overheat and spontaneously go into different gears. Did I say women? I meant cars, my bad. About the only thing I know about cars is that the oil needs to be changed every 3,000 miles or so. A friend of mine told me about a person who bought a brand new car and drove it for over forty thousand miles before the first oil

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144775068601763562006-03-25T13:04:00.000-05:002006-04-11T13:37:58.716-04:00

I don't know about you, but I love going to the dentist about as much as I love getting a kick in the pants. I freely admit that I am a pansy when it comes to anything dealing with my teeth. Technology hasn't yet advanced far enough to make teeth cloning a viable dental plan, so I reluctantly visit my orthodontist as infrequently as possible, which amounts to once every six months. Last time I

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144775094102486242006-03-24T13:04:00.000-05:002006-04-11T13:40:11.596-04:00

They say that the passage of time is a function of age.. that is, the older you are, the faster time passes. I don't know who this all-knowing "they" is, but they're right. I gotta tell you - I'm kind of worried because I'm 29 and life is already on fast-forward! When I was a kid, Christmas Eve was an eternity. Okay, so maybe Christmas Eve is still an eternity now. But most other days today go by

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144775150292762282006-03-23T13:05:00.000-05:002006-04-11T13:37:24.240-04:00

I love aggressive drivers. They're really fun! Growing up in Kansas really mellowed me out in terms of driving mannerisms. Honestly, an aggressive driver in Kansas is considered as someone who doesn't wave back. But here in the east coast, aggressive drivers are so common that there are literally signs, and I am not joking at all here, that say "Beware of Aggressive Drivers!" Aggressive drivers

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25884484.post-1144775228635544872006-03-21T13:06:00.000-05:002006-04-11T13:36:50.183-04:00

I have grown up leading worship in the church in various forms. Playing piano, playing guitar, singing (although that's certainly not my forte), bass, drama, and etc. I've always considered this as part of my ministry. But while I'm leading worship, I often find it hard to focus entirely on God. There are times when I can put my music playing on auto-pilot and actually focus more on God, but for

gapidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13536004531526583121noreply@blogger.com0