Disqus - Latest Comments for alan

Re: BETTER TOGETHER x GREEN GALERIE

alan — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:01:13 -0000

et bien c'est un vrai plaisir de recevoir dans mon shop ces 4 pirates des pinceaux et ce encore jusqu'à la fin du mois d'Aout.

Ils ont,avec leurs oeuvres,réaliser une superbe exposisition

Re: First-Person Shooter Disease!

alan — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:31:00 -0000

Detta gott folk är humor... Även alla kommentarer är ju klockrena!

Re: Ron Currie Jr. Interview

alan — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:24:00 -0000

Thank you for for crisp, intelligent thoughts and comments throughout your blog. I had a very enjoyable visit and I will see you again. So glad I found you guys.

A

Re: http://www.lagrandt.com/2009/03/pacha-se-le-escapo-la-cucaracha.html

alan — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:36:00 -0000

Con el tema del minuto 25 te matan a veces, bertolo esta fecha y sand en la anterior entraron al mismo momento, bertolo fue puntuado y sand no (recuerdo esto porque esta fecha tenia al forro de formica en el banco)
muy buena la pagina

Re: http://www.lagrandt.com/2009/06/fichas-de-partidos-del-domingo-fecha-13.html

alan — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:34:05 -0000

la figura fue migliore despues lo de hoy todo bien lo anterior la normalidad los puntos del sabado dan asco

Re: LA GRAN DT APERTURA 2009 - PUNTAJES GRAN DT - ESTADÍSTICAS - EL BLOG DE EL GRAN DT: Fichas de Partido del VIernes - Fecha 2 Gran DT

alan — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:04:47 -0000

29 con 4 jugadores voy muy malll

Re: Radiohead: not OK, Computer

alan — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:33:00 -0000

I clipped it from tuaw.com, usually a reliable source, but I guess it wouldn't have taken too long to check iTunes Store for myself. Apologies.

Radiohead may be smart guys, might be getting along just fine, and are almost certainly better off without a major record label, but my accusation of pretension still stands. If it's really about refusing to sell the music unless the music is sold as a complete album, it still seems like pretensiousness to me.

Re: Radiohead: not OK, Computer

alan — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 01:33:00 -0000

Re: Hello? Are you still there?

alan — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:21:00 -0000

noooo! i wanted to be the first!

Re: Hello? Are you still there?

alan — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:21:00 -0000

noooo! i wanted to be the first!

Re: T-Shirt nirvana! All the internet’s tees in one place!

alan — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 07:05:00 -0000

No doubt! Your Agent Smith shirt rocks, but your Social Engineering Specialist shirt rules. All I have is these few on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigyahu/264616953/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigyahu/329563148/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigyahu/315523558/

Re: T-Shirt nirvana! All the internet’s tees in one place!

alan — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 07:05:00 -0000

Re: TiVo coming for Australia! Be still my beating heart!

alan — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 02:29:00 -0000

Oh, I'm not so sure about that. TiVo's got a lot of coolness your average Aldi PVR doesn't got, like being able to only record first-run episodes, and being able to record a program even if it moves day/time from week to week. It also (in the US at least) offers recommendations, and will record shows including your favourite actors, or along genre lines.

All of that hangs on the detail of the EPG data, of course, which may be out of Seven's control. But without it, I'd agree with you - TiVo might be too little, too late.

Re: TiVo coming for Australia! Be still my beating heart!

alan — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 02:29:00 -0000

Re: Nooo! Pandora closes to international users

alan — Fri, 04 May 2007 02:01:00 -0000

bennyboy, you are the fastest commenter in the west. I can barely get the Publish button depressed before you've read, thought, and commented.

Yeah, I can spoof from home, but not from deep within the bowels of the new corporate employer. At least, I assume I can't...

Re: Nooo! Pandora closes to international users

alan — Fri, 04 May 2007 02:01:00 -0000

Re: Broadband bandwidth leapfrog leaves us behind again

alan — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 02:38:00 -0000

All good comments Ian, the problem's not solely Telstra's. It only becomes a problem when content producers just assume we have high bandwidth connections because, where they come from, high bandwidth connections are the norm. So the problem is partly to do with the producers. But only Telstra can solve the problem.

Re: Broadband bandwidth leapfrog leaves us behind again

alan — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 02:38:00 -0000

Re: The hardest way to make mashed potatoes

alan — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:52:00 -0000

Ack! What a n00b! It's http://gourmet.electricorange.com". Cheers Chops!

Re: The hardest way to make mashed potatoes

alan — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:52:00 -0000

Ack! What a n00b! It's http://gourmet.electricorange.com". Cheers Chops!

Re: Bluepulse starts up the marketing engine

alan — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:03:00 -0000

urk, i like the convenience of clipmarks.com, but that green-on-white text formatting gets illegible fast. there's times you want to reinforce your brand ID, but there's times you just need to let people read what they clipped.

Re: Jobs admits: DRM doesn’t work for music

alan — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 19:02:00 -0000

No less a learned journal than The Economist now says that Jobs is right and it would be best for the music industry to sell their content DRM free - yay!

Re: Bring David Hicks home

alan — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 17:35:00 -0000

Hear, hear, anonymous all-caps shouty person!

By the way, I heard something very witty from David Koch on TV recently; he referred to John Howard as "Bonsai" (as in "a smaller version of Bush)

Re: Bring David Hicks home

alan — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 17:35:00 -0000

Hear, hear, anonymous all-caps shouty person!

By the way, I heard something very witty from David Koch on TV recently; he referred to John Howard as "Bonsai" (as in "a smaller version of Bush)

Re: Nerds FC cast in St Leonards!

alan — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 11:09:00 -0000

Wow, comments from the Nerds! Wait till I tell the development team at work!

I will be watching Series 2, as will 9 out of 10 of the people I coerce.

Re: Nerds FC cast in St Leonards!

alan — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 11:09:00 -0000

Wow, comments from the Nerds! Wait till I tell the development team at work!

I will be watching Series 2, as will 9 out of 10 of the people I coerce.

Re: STIRR Sydney a stirring success

alan — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:25:00 -0000

rofl! shit, new i forgot to do something this morning!

Re: STIRR Sydney a stirring success

alan — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:25:00 -0000

rofl! shit, new i forgot to do something this morning!

Re: Can’t have it both ways? We need it more than two ways!

alan — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 06:20:00 -0000

Hey Willi, don't you think I want to say? I really want to! But I can't, not yet. Check back here (or use the email subscription form to get my blog RSS feed in your email inbox) and I'll disclose the name of the startup and the big tech company as soon as I'm able.

Re: Can’t have it both ways? We need it more than two ways!

alan — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 06:20:00 -0000

Re: Going Beserk in Berserker

alan — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 03:48:00 -0000

yeah, that'll fool some of the people some of the time ;-) g'day mr warner!

Re: Going Beserk in Berserker

alan — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 03:48:00 -0000

yeah, that'll fool some of the people some of the time ;-) g'day mr warner!

Re: It had to be said: MYOB is a worst-case in software design

alan — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:54:00 -0000

Oh no! I feel your pain!

Re: It had to be said: MYOB is a worst-case in software design

alan — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 19:07:00 -0000

Thanks for the advice Heather. I'd suggest that any product needing so much additional training could be better designed. You touch on one point that I think needs reinforcing: MYOB tries unsuccessfully to satisfy two very different audiences with one product.

Book keepers and accountants have similar needs to small business people but the two groups have vastly different competencies, training, and level of involvement.

MYOB's lower end products are made by stripping functionality from the main product, when they should instead strip the jargon and assumed knowledge.

Re: It had to be said: MYOB is a worst-case in software design

alan — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 01:44:00 -0000

Thanks for stopping by Natalie, I'm a big fan of your blog. Actually, I'm interested to have a play with MoneyWorks - it's even an NZ product!

I'll report back on whether it's worth a try.

Re: It had to be said: MYOB is a worst-case in software design

alan — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 08:38:00 -0000

Hell yeah Bronwen! Tell it like it is!

Re: It had to be said: MYOB is a worst-case in software design

alan — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:54:00 -0000

Oh no! I feel your pain!

Re: It had to be said: MYOB is a worst-case in software design

alan — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 19:07:00 -0000

Re: It had to be said: MYOB is a worst-case in software design

alan — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 01:44:00 -0000

Thanks for stopping by Natalie, I'm a big fan of your blog. Actually, I'm interested to have a play with MoneyWorks - it's even an NZ product!

I'll report back on whether it's worth a try.

Re: It had to be said: MYOB is a worst-case in software design

alan — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 08:38:00 -0000

Hell yeah Bronwen! Tell it like it is!

Re: 3×3 Consumer 2.0 breakfast, 20 June 2006

alan — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 20:45:00 -0000

...a new, improved recipe that's 99% zestier!

Re: 3×3 Consumer 2.0 breakfast, 20 June 2006

alan — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 20:45:00 -0000

...a new, improved recipe that's 99% zestier!

Re: Watch me do a DSLAM-dunk!

alan — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 09:36:00 -0000

jeez, i was hoping i'd get at least one call from a blog groupie by now, but not a one... sigh... please ring me doug, i'm hot and waiting...

Re: Watch me do a DSLAM-dunk!

alan — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 09:36:00 -0000

jeez, i was hoping i'd get at least one call from a blog groupie by now, but not a one... sigh... please ring me doug, i'm hot and waiting...

Re: How about the black cables, Steve?

alan — Tue, 30 May 2006 07:54:00 -0000

Well, your mileage may vary ;-) I dunno, I only tried a black MacBook for the first time today in store (left my 4y.o. son's beaten-up old 12" powerbook for repairs... again!)

But yeah, that shared graphics chip's gotta weigh heavily on video editing, put a dent in gameplay, and may not support dual monitors in anything other than mirror mode (ie no virtual desktop across two screens.)

Re: How about the black cables, Steve?

alan — Wed, 24 May 2006 19:38:00 -0000

I want a black MacBook where the keyboard letters are painted with glow-in-the-dark paint.
Mike, you are a dead-set marketing legend, mate! (and that was a bothersome Australianism, but a heartfelt one.)

Re: How about the black cables, Steve?

alan — Wed, 24 May 2006 19:14:00 -0000

Having different style headphones would mean less automatic recognition on the street.

I've heard that argument but I doubt it was deliberate, more something that Apple realised once iPods were everywhere.

If you're prepared to create a new buzz around the choice of black or white in iPods and now MacBooks, it's silly to think that people won't recognise black iPod headphones once they've seen a few pairs.

Hi Macnn.com readers, there's another Mac source I didn't know existed. Nice site (does it come in black?)

Re: How about the black cables, Steve?

alan — Wed, 24 May 2006 19:09:00 -0000

Learn to speak english! or sorry is this just one of those bothersome Australianisms...?

Neither, i think he felt it would be more ironic, making me look a bit dumber too, pot calling the kettle black (with white utensils of course.)

Re: How about the black cables, Steve?

alan — Wed, 24 May 2006 02:45:00 -0000

Come on Joe, cables is cables, and I'm sure Apple doesn't manufacture them; it outsources all that to component manufacturers in the thirld world who supply cables etc for a fraction of the price it can be done in the US.

One possible reason why there's no black cables could be because it turns one order for 50 bazillion white cables into two orders of 25 million white cables and 25 million black cables, at which point Apple loses some kind of volume discount.

Thanks for the kind words about Australia too. I know I speak on behalf of all my fellow Australians when I say you're very welcome to come visit. Staying is another matter, however!

Re: How about the black cables, Steve?

alan — Tue, 23 May 2006 21:14:00 -0000

By the way, no response yet from my email to Steve Jobs. Could he be looking into it? ;-)

Re: How about the black cables, Steve?

alan — Tue, 23 May 2006 20:42:00 -0000

Aha, macaddict. Wonder how i popped up on their radar?

Re: How about the black cables, Steve?

alan — Tue, 23 May 2006 18:33:00 -0000

i've never had so many comments on a post before, where are you all coming from?

anonymous2: spray paint? two more words for you: "won't stick"

anonymous3: with my head in my ass, everything looks black! thanks, you've solved the problem!

postzavtra: ROFL! i like it, but i worry that only you and me would get it.

Re: How about the black cables, Steve?

alan — Tue, 23 May 2006 03:58:00 -0000

oh please, even by Paul McCartney standards, that was a stinker of a song!

Re: Gidol - ohgodpleasenohelpitstooawful

alan — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 20:05:00 -0000

sorry, it should have been www.googleidol.com

Re: Gidol - ohgodpleasenohelpitstooawful

alan — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 20:05:00 -0000

sorry, it should have been www.googleidol.com

Re: Zookoda - blogger’s best friend

alan — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 16:46:00 -0000

Thanks John-Paul!

Re: Zookoda - blogger’s best friend

alan — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 03:47:00 -0000

Sorry Clay, I blew my PowerBook yesterday and I'm only just catching up with correspondence now. Thanks very much for subscribing! What Yorke says is basically right - my RSS feed includes the full content of each post, but Zookoda is setup to lure you back to the webpage.

If you want to reach me directly rather than via comment, you can use alandotjonesatyahoodotcom

cheers

Re: Zookoda - blogger’s best friend

alan — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 18:40:00 -0000

Hehe, whatever refreshes your browser dude, but you'll never convert all of humanity to RSS, we're all different. For everyone who likes to read their stuff in an RSS client there's another person who likes everything to land in the one email inbox (including me.)

Don't know about you, but I'm not on a mission to convert the world to RSS, I'm on a mission to increase my audience. However they want to consume it is fine by me if it doesn't add to my workload, and Zookoda seems to be set-and-forget so far.

Re: Zookoda - blogger’s best friend

alan — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 16:46:00 -0000

Thanks John-Paul!

Re: Zookoda - blogger’s best friend

alan — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 03:47:00 -0000

Re: Zookoda - blogger’s best friend

alan — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 18:40:00 -0000

Re: Major strategic announcement for "Why are we surrounded by idiots?"

alan — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 21:49:00 -0000

yeah, just as well i love ya lil bro! well, not only do people read my blog, it's now apparently worth about $565.00 according to Technorati (see box in right hand column) and that's greenbacks, not Australian lire.

anyways, the reason why blogs are important is the same reason that desktop publishing, the MP3 and the gutenberg press were important - they allow anyone to say what they think and promote their ideas and passions, removing the remaining obstacles to self-expression on the web, no programming required.

services like Geocities came earlier and let people build web pages, sure, but blogging takes it a step further and makes it a publishing model, with audiences, marketing, distribution and even media and subscription revenue.

sometimes the revolutionary nature of an incremental change is only apparent when you look back on it from the future. my bet is this is one of those times :-)

Re: Major strategic announcement for "Why are we surrounded by idiots?"

alan — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 21:49:00 -0000

Re: It’s a big ad!

alan — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 19:59:00 -0000

Yeah, i'm sure it was shot in NZ, some of the extras look a bit Maori to me. I'd certainly never considered drinking Carlton Draught before, but I'm definitely more aware of it now. Your home brew is, at best, an acquired taste, Bro!

Re: It’s a big ad!

alan — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 19:59:00 -0000

Re: Real dollars for Aussie online media company

alan — Mon, 01 May 2006 00:46:00 -0000

According to Wikipedia:

Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations such as NATO, laser, or scuba, written as the initial letter or letters of words, and pronounced based on this abbreviated written form.

Now the only remaining mysteries are (a) why you thought I didn't already know that; and (b) why you're so friendly and charming when you're commenting on other people's blogs.

Have a nice day. No, on second thoughts, don't.

Re: Real dollars for Aussie online media company

alan — Mon, 01 May 2006 00:46:00 -0000

Re: http://artbydiahn.blogspot.com/2008/08/17-days.html

alan — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:32:00 -0000

I have yet to try the pink or for that matter any other color hair thing. It used to be red naturally but now that I have zipped way on by 40 and 50, it is getting grayer by the day. Now, I can say that I often do the ponytail thing. There are just other things I would rather do than get my hair cut.

Re: Pastor Arrested In Prostitution Sting - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 18:43:00 -0000

R. Hoeppner wrote:

Also what do you think of the ACLU's attempt to help promoters of child pornography?

You're joking, right? The "evidence" in your link is a statement (with no supporting facts) from an enthusiastic Amazon customer review of an anti-ACLU book written by the president and vice-president of the Alliance Defense Fund, the two guys who brought us "The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today."

Re: Jesus Person No More - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:55:00 -0000

Anonymous wrote:

So in my opinion, you can run away as far as you want, and refuse to believe anynore, and possibly lose some rewards, but you cant become, "unborn again" if my reading of the new birth in the bible is correct.

That which was implanted in you is sinless and will last till you die and then God will reveal His grace to you

So in other words, once you are "born again" you can sin all you want and still get into heaven. Thanks for the clarification, it explains a lot of the behavior of "born again" types.

Re: A righteous anger - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Tue, 30 May 2006 06:06:00 -0000

Thank you to everyone who has made the time to comment on my original testimony. It is reassuring that I am not the only one to have had a delayed emotional reaction to the whole Christianity thing. I suspect that some of my anger may well be anger at myself for being gullible enough to fall for it. But at least I am not alone.

One thing I was intending to say in my original post (but forgot) was to comment on the whole "Christianity is a relationship not a religion" thing. If Christianity really was a relationship then we would miss it when we left. After all, we get upset when friendships fail, or when family members lose touch with us. But leaving Christianity was not like that. The part of the brain which creates feelings of relational emotion and attachment simply didn't register that anything had changed. Therefore, it could not have been a real relationship at all.

There is a better term for it, and it is the term "religion."

Re: I think for myself now! - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 13:13:00 -0000

John:

Good for you, keep asking the hard questions. If you can't get good answers that's not your problem. And threats, guilt trips, and "you just have to believe" are not good answers.

Anonymous:

How can you call yourself a Christian when you laugh at other people and think you are superior to them? Isn't that the exact opposite of what a Christian should do?

Re: The perfect religion - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 12:03:00 -0000

Hi Andrew, good testimony. Dawkins' Blind Watchmaker ultimately kickstarted my disbelief, too. I realised at gut level how natural selection worked, and how incompatible it is with supernatural design. I once knew some Christians who said "God created us using natural selection as the mechanism" but once you've read Blind Watchmaker you realise what cock this is.

Re: A Mother Now - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 11:47:00 -0000

Athey:

You ask a tough question, how do you protect your daughter from the blind ignorance that religion promotes, since even as adults we can't get away from it. Your daughter will have an advantage however, she won't be raised to believe in something that doesn't make sense, so she won't be mentally handicapped by religion at an early age. Make sure she gets the best education you can provide, and teach her to use her brain.

Anonymous:

There is a difference between the common usage of the word "theory" and how it is used in science. A scientific theory is supported by evidence and is testable. So you are contradicting yourself when you give the good advice to avoid unproven ideas (such as religion) then go on to ignore the huge body of evidence supporting evolution.

Re: Bluepulse starts up the marketing engine

alan — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:03:00 -0000

Re: 3’s X-Series: I’m underwhelmed…

alan — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:44:00 -0000

:-)) Nice one Tom! Talk about outside-the-square thinking! There's more than one Aussie business that's made a dollar or two taking advantage of these price disparities for other products and services. It's usually referred to as "parallel importing" and is often not illegal.

Have to watch out for import duties and hardware warranties though, and 3 might require you to have a credit card with a UK billing address. Perhaps my friend in the UK (and by "friend" I mean "Tom") would be OK with me putting it on his UK credit card and paying him via PayPal when the bill is due? ;-)

Tell you what, if all you want is a 3-labelled Dopod, I'm sure I can sort out one of those for you mate!

Re: 3’s X-Series: I’m underwhelmed…

alan — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 05:58:00 -0000

No doubt, a choice of one handset is no choice at all, but lameness doesn't excuse lameness. And at least the E63 actually supports the applications offered with the plan - not one of the handsets offered in AU supports everything in the feature list.

Unfortunately the pricing difference is bigger than you imagined: a silver plan in the UK is £5 a month if you bring your own voice plan (none of the AU plans include voice minutes or TXT) and you get unlimited Skype, Yahoo! Go (which is better than the Yahoo!7 offering in AU) websurfing, mobile email and Mobilcast (not offered in AU).

The Australian silver plan is A$20 (£7.50) - seems like not a lot more, but it comes with those caps, which apply to everything except ebay (lol!) and IM. The UK's fine-print on 'fair use' is more generous than AU's caps, though I suppose I'd prefer the option to continue at 10c/Mb than having my service suspended until the end of the month.

Crucially, in Australia the caps apply to websurfing too - all your usage outside 3's own content, email, IM and eBay counts towards your cap.

There's no information on either UK or AU sites about whether they permit you to download and install signed/unsigned Symbian or Java apps such as Bluepulse or Widsets.

Re: 3’s X-Series: I’m underwhelmed…

alan — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:44:00 -0000

Re: 3’s X-Series: I’m underwhelmed…

alan — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 05:58:00 -0000

Re: At Google you can’t get there from here

alan — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:58:00 -0000

like this ;-) i guess!

Re: At Google you can’t get there from here

alan — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:58:00 -0000

like this ;-) i guess!

Re: The non-glocalization of Web 2.0 (updated)

alan — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:46:00 -0000

Update: Travis from TeamCowboy emailed me about my team this morning. He says in part, "I noticed that you are using Guam as your region, but based on your team roster, it looks like you might be located in Australia. As a result of this, the list of regions on the site has just been updated to include other countries in the world (outside of the United States, Canada, and US territories that were already in the list)."

How about that? Travis wasn't aware of my blog post, of course. Gotta love a business that checks what its customers are doing with its website.

Re: The non-glocalization of Web 2.0 (updated)

alan — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:44:00 -0000

Fair point, and it's usually only possible to infer a site owner's overall vision from what they display on the website. So a little "US teams only" or "Beta" badge on the front page might help the audience infer that kind of information.

Re: The non-glocalization of Web 2.0 (updated)

alan — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:46:00 -0000

Re: The non-glocalization of Web 2.0 (updated)

alan — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:44:00 -0000

Re: Jobs admits: DRM doesn’t work for music

alan — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 19:02:00 -0000

No less a learned journal than The Economist now says that Jobs is right and it would be best for the music industry to sell their content DRM free - yay!

Re: Farewell To Religion (addendum to What Am I?) - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 15:44:00 -0000

Congratulations and welcome to the reality-based community.

I wouldn't worry about the burning in hell crap, if a Christian can't lead by example (and few if any do) then the "eternal life" carrot and "lakes of fire" stick is all they've got left. They sure can't point to any credible evidence to support their worldview (unless you believe the Virgin Mary's face miraculously appeared on a grilled cheese sandwich.) And anyway according to the Bible most people are going to hell:

Matthew 7:14: "Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

So basically God created man so that he would go straight to hell, with a few exceptions. Nice, huh?

Anonymous wrote:

"He is so close to my every move, my every thought that He lives through me."

That's great, anonymous. So what are you doing to help your fellow man? Or is it just about you?

Re: Farewell To Religion (addendum to What Am I?) - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 10:47:00 -0000

Anonymous:

Thanks for the further clarification. A lot of Christians have a tendency to come here and tell us we're all going to hell and then disappear, so I think some, including myself, can get a little confrontational. Expanding on what Thackerie said the theory of evolution is not another religion or belief system, it is a scientific theory. You and I are free at any time to offer a better theory or produce evidence that refutes it. As far as your statement that God lives in you, my problem with most Christians is they go on and on about how their religion makes them feel, and never mention how their religion has led them to actually do something to help their fellow man (which is what you are supposed to do as a Christian, right?)

Vynette wrote:

"Well, be troubled no longer because the 'concept of Hell' has no basis in the Bible"

Vynette, there are plenty of references to hell in the Bible:

Deuteronomy 32:22: For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Mark 9:43: And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched

Revelation 20:14: And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Rev 20:15: And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

etc etc

It is not described as a particularly benign place.

Re: Farewell To Religion (addendum to What Am I?) - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 16:24:00 -0000

Looking at the SAB page on free will it doesn't look good, 2 verses say we have it, 7 say no.

Re: Farewell To Religion (addendum to What Am I?) - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 13:23:00 -0000

Anonymous wrote:

"You are going to see whatever you want to see in the bible."

That's exactly right, because there is no evidence to substantiate the various claims made in the Bible. These are claims about the very nature of reality, and none of them can be verified. Christians are constantly moving the goalposts regarding scientific proof of Biblical claims, now they are talking about unknowns in quantum mechanics. And no one has come ever back from the dead with an eyewitness account of angels in heaven or lakes of fire in hell. So strictly from a practical standpoint the Bible doesn't offer much anymore, the parts about behaving ethically are good but you don't need to follow a religion in order to act ethically.

Re: Double Deconversion - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 11:14:00 -0000

Circumcision of an infant is a medically unnecessary procedure performed on someone who is incapable of giving informed consent, and is therefore unethical. That it continues to be done is a yet another testament to religious stupidity, and I thought the "intelligent designer" knew what he was doing, so why the need to alter the design?

Re: Double Deconversion - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 11:09:00 -0000

JC

I'm just saying its unethical to perform a medically unnecessary procedure on someone without their consent. The benefits are dubious and it does have an impact on the person's life.

Anyway my apologies for going off-topic, thanks RubySera for sharing your story.

Re: A Personal Odyssey : from RC to Protestant to Atheism - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 13:45:00 -0000

Anonymous wrote:

We are saved by grace, not by good works.

Can't you guys ever get your story straight?

James 2:17: Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

1 Peter 1:17: And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work...

There is only one mediator between God and man and it is Jesus Christ.

1 billion Muslims can't be wrong:

[5.51] O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people. - The Koran, The Dinner Table

Re: A Personal Odyssey : from RC to Protestant to Atheism - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 13:53:00 -0000

Gareth

With all due respect you don't show any credible evidence of God's existence. Beating a drug habit or depression, or finding comfort in religion have much more plausible and mundane explanations that don't require a divine being. As far as your claim that someone was pronounced crippled for life, was prayed for, and minutes later started to walk, well you are going to have to supply the details of that event. The human body can occasionally surprise with its ability to heal itself, but just because something can't be explained doesn't automatically mean God did it. And I'm sure those involved are (relatively) sane and nice people, but that doesn't mean their interpretations are correct.

Re: It wasn't easy for me to face the reality that I'd been lied to - Testimonies of Ex-Christians

alan — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:58:00 -0000

I just happened to find this site and was really schocked by the hostility exumed by "ex-christians" @ Damian when he merely replied to people.

Re: Proof that there is no god - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:20:00 -0000

Anonymous wrote:

You can't ask science to prove the existence of God for science is within God.

Anonymous, you absolutely can ask science to prove the existence of God. The studies that have been done, like the Harvard prayer study, have not produced any evidence whatsoever of God's existence. Most religious people think God is an active force that causes or influences events here on Earth, if that is true then we can examine these effects in a scientific way, just like any other phenomena. Unless of course you think science doesn't really describe reality, in which case you are free to read the Bible instead of seeking medical care next time you are sick, or you think everything around us is an illusion, in which case you are free to step in front of a bus and see what happens.

Re: NO TRUE CHRISTIANS! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 09:33:00 -0000

Nao:

Are you trying to convince us that one is a Christian for life, or are you trying to convince yourself? And why would God give you the most advanced thinking machine there is (a brain,) then make not using it a requirement to know him? You're basically saying that you have to make yourself stupid in order to be a Christian.

Re: Dear Believer - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 12:43:00 -0000

Steven:

What you are calling for in your own verbose way is a civil discussion, and I don't think anyone can argue against that. I haven't read through this entire thread but typically talk about religion causes emotional reactions, and one should be careful not to stereotype any group based on selected individual behavior. We are free to ignore the emotional responses and concentrate on the debate over ideas.

You are correct that the Bible contains truth and wisdom, but because it contains some truth, it does not necessarily follow that it is all truth. We have no scientific evidence to corroborate a Biblical worldview (personal psychological events are not adequate evidence,) and dismissing science altogether is convenient but not very convincing. Its difficult to have a rational discussion with a religious person about their beliefs because those beliefs are inherently irrational, and it is natural to become defensive when one's core beliefs are challenged. To make matters worse Christianity is not about live and let live, it requires its followers to "spread the good news," and those that don't heed the message are going to hell, end of story. Also Christians often claim that they have "knowledge" about their religion that somehow transcends mere reason, which is another good way to end a debate. A great deal of time and energy has been expended to apply a veneer of rationality to religious belief, but we will always come back to the problem of lack of credible evidence and the need to believe in the veracity of a 2000 year-old text.

Re: Dear Believer - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 12:33:00 -0000

Steven:

You don't bring anything new to the table, except perhaps your distinctive writing style. Intelligent design is not a viable scientific theory. The supporting evidence is not credible, there are only a small number of papers on the subject and they have not led to any serious research, one of the founders of the ID movement, Phillip Johnson, has admitted that ID is not about science, and since ID is going nowhere in the scientific community advocates have to claim that they are being persecuted by "Darwinists" in order to maintain their following.

There is a world of evidence to support atheism, for example the billions of prayers uttered daily that go unanswered. Scientific studies such as the Harvard study show that prayer has no effect, and there are no documented cases of the laws of physics being altered due to divine intervention. If you can devise a legitimate scientific experiment that proves the existence of God the world will beat a path to your door.

There is some truth in the Bible, namely the parts that call on man to behave fairly and ethically. The parts that describe a God-driven created universe with its heaven and hell cannot be verified, make little sense, and are often contradictory. You can argue that life was created but the creator has since moved on and does not interact with our world, but without any evidence its just a nice idea that doesn't get you anywhere.

Re: Becoming an Ex-Christian - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 11:19:00 -0000

Believer wrote:

Do you deny that Christians have started many worthy organizations and charities?

Christians have indeed founded many worthy charities, and there are also many worthy charities that have not been founded by Christians. Christians do not own a monopoly on charity. In fact I would argue that if the US really was a Christian nation there wouldn't be a need for homeless shelters in the first place, as the poor and needy would already be well taken care of. FEMA actually was a functioning and useful government agency before the "faith-based" administration came into power, and gov't programs such as food stamps and Medicaid help huge numbers of people, no religion required. Whether our "faith-based" administration manages to gut those programs as well remains to be seen.

There are many who benefit greatly from the teachings of Christ, so why try to turn people against it

But you don't need to follow any religion to get the benefits, many of the teachings in the Bible are good things to live by (such as not killing, not stealing, etc,) but you don't have to believe in a supreme being in order to follow them.

Re: Becoming an Ex-Christian - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 13:11:00 -0000

Believer wrote:

"Does Isaac Newton, Louis Pasteur, Johann Kepler or Gregor Mendel ring any bells? They were all creationist christians who believed science was a system of discovery of how an intelligent designer put things together
..."

Apart from the poor little Discovery Institute modern scientists don't assume there is an intelligent designer because there is no evidence for one.

"Have you heard of Francis Collin who became convinced of the truth of christianity from the evidence? "

That is incorrect, Collins says he had a "vision" while hiking in the Cascade Mountains, he has not uncovered any scientific evidence for intelligent design.

"It seems that when 'self-proclaimed' christians commit atrocities, then according to you, yes they are indeed christians..."

Can you tell us how to tell the real Christians from the fake ones?

Re: The Bible is true - I'll prove it! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 13:40:00 -0000

Estvold wrote:

"But it [the Bible] doesn't say the Christian body should demoralize the anti-Christian body"

Sorry, you are incorrect:

2Th 3:14: And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.

"...I believe his reasoning for asking for proof that there is no God was so that the proof FOR God could be revealed."

Prove to me that aliens aren't living in the Alpha Centauri system. If you can't does that reveal proof of their existence?

I appreciate that you are attempting to be a "reasonable" Christian, but reason and religion just don't mix.

Re: Mike Shermer/Kent Hovind - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 11:01:00 -0000

Hi AndRay, thanks for your post. I hope you will answer my question: can you please point to something, anything, apart from what is described in the Bible, that is an effect of something happening in God's realm? You state: "we can observe only what He does," can you please point out something that God did, hopefully within the last 100 years? If what you say is true there has to be some proof somewhere of God's existence outside of the Bible.

Re: Mike Shermer/Kent Hovind - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:25:00 -0000

Hi AndRay

It looks like we will have to agree to disagree. I would say that it is not up to atheists to prove that God does not exist, as Carl Sagan said extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Nature can be very beautiful but also very ugly, I used to think the way you do but I came to realize that any positive feelings one may have when looking at nature, while very nice, are also subjective and could be due to human psychology rather than divine creation. If evidence is all around us, and God's work is so obvious, why isn't there any scientific proof of God's existence? We should have found that centuries ago. Does God hide when he sees a scientist coming? The theory of evolution explains a great deal of what we see in nature, is constantly being expanded, and is testable. A recent study of prayer found that it had no effect on patient's medical outcomes, if what you say is true why wasn't any effect seen? Why aren't devout Christians more healthy than the rest of the population? And again, being set free from your fears could be entirely a psychological phenomenon. What if when you die you are dead, and that's it? You will have spent your life believing in a comforting fantasy, hopefully no harm done in your case, but plenty of harm has been done by others in the name of religion.

Re: It's like Cancer - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 08:18:00 -0000

Hi Ian

Great post.

I am particularly struck by your comment that your anger has increased since you left the faith, which reflects my own experience (though my own submission to this site wasn't half as eloquent as yours).

I hope your fear of hell does go away. Although faith is like cancer it's not really cancer, because faith is ultimately just an arrangement of chemicals in the brain, a meme. Which gives the possibility of hope.

Alan

Re: Saying goodbye - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 11:08:00 -0000

David wrote:

I don't believe this because of the merit of the Bible alone, but because of miracles that I have experienced and witnessed in person. I have been healed of two incurable neurological diseases (medical proof is there), just to name one.

David:

What diseases? What was the explanation given to you by your doctors? Do they agree that it was a miracle? Is there an alternative explanation for your healing? Has this ever occurred before, or are you unique in the history of medicine? You say the proof is "there," where is there? Will your case be published in a medical journal?

The rule is: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If you've got proof that God exists then you need to show it to everyone, because you have something that people have been trying to find for thousands of years.

Re: The Greatest Story Ever Told and Ignored - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:04:00 -0000

Doug:

You wrote:

"Many many hardcore scientists are prepared to admit that the universe cannot have come about by chance because of its incredible complexity. They may not choose the Christian God but they think there is a higher intelligence."

There is really nothing to admit. There is no reason why the complexity of the universe couldn't have arisen from natural processes (and evolution is NOT just some random events happening.) You may be referring to Intelligent Design, but to-date whatever evidence they have put forth is crap. No example of their so-called irreducible complexity has withstood criticism (don't even think of talking about the flagellum,) and the best they have is either some obscure information theory mumbo-jumbo, or the subjective feeling that "I am in awe when I look at a landscape, therefore it must have been designed."

The scientific method is not a prison, it is the best tool mankind has ever developed to understand the natural world. Quoting Einstein is not really relevant as he was part of an earlier age and would not accept quantum mechanics (with its emphasis on probability,) which is now a widely accepted part of physics. If God exists and he acts upon the natural world why is there no evidence whatsoever of his existence? There are many things in the universe which are still unknown, but the fact that a phenomenon cannot currently be explained by science does not mean that there must be some "supernatural" explanation (the God of the Gaps, if you will.)

Alan

Re: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 12:15:00 -0000

"Emanuel Goldstein" wrote:

SCIENCE has provided the weapons of mass destruction.

Well what else have those evil scientists been up to lately?

-developing cures and treatments for disease

-increasing human life expectancy

-decreasing infant mortality

-raising our standard of living

-exploring the universe

-advancing knowledge and reducing ignorance

Only fools put guns in the hands of children.

Only fools allow themselves to be led by children.

Re: When Moderation is a Bad Idea - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 14:11:00 -0000

Good article. I expect that the real number of Liam Griffin's "miraculous healings" and "unexplained cures due to faith" is 0, especially considering the source of the data. Christianity is always going to be a trainwreck due to the nature of the Bible, and it is past time to move on. I would say however that for priests and politicians religious dogma is still very useful, providing a means to control their various "flocks." As long as people believe in religion they will be manipulated by those pretending to be religious authorities, and very often manipulated to do things against their own best interests. One only has to look at the Vatican and the "faith-based" Bush administration for examples.

Re: Finding my way back to church -- and getting kicked out: The struggle over what it means to be Christian today - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 13:22:00 -0000

This guy is wasting his time and ours (you'd think a journalism professor could write a concise article.) The folks at St. Andrew's are not pondering and struggling with a "fundamental rethinking of theology in the modern age" (could we be just a little more pretentious?) They are pondering and struggling to try to make sense of something which is basically nonsensical, and I wish them the best of luck. Nowhere is actually doing something about society's problems mentioned as an option, I guess once they are done rethinking theology that will happen automatically. There is one thing they could do - they could split off from the Presbyterian Church USA so we could have 1501 denominations instead of 1500. Robert writes: "Most of us accept the results of the Enlightenment and the application of the scientific method," then goes on to say he is "fundamentally ignorant -- just like all of you" about how the world works. Sorry Robert, you know a fair amount about how the world works as do we all, but apparently you don't want to accept that because it might conflict with your religious beliefs. It seems to me Robert is really looking for some comfortable place to sit around and play theologian without actually doing anything about the problems he sees around him.

Re: The Omnipresence of God: The evolution of my thought - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 10:27:00 -0000

Lorena

I'm glad you have been able to get past the paranoia and guilt that you were taught to have by those "doing the Lord's work." If you got involved with some small group worshiping space aliens once you got out you might see that you had been in a cult, but when Christians use the same mind control techniques on their fellow Christians people tend to look away and ignore it. Its not some undetectable god that wants to know your every move and thought, its your pastor and your fellow churchgoers. Their belief system is a house of cards, and if a believer starts using his or her brain and questions the 2000 years of accumulated crap the whole thing falls apart. If this stuff were actually true then the more you use reason to examine it the more it would make sense, but as we know that doesn't happen.

Re: Reinforcing the Fairy Tale - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 09:48:00 -0000

Tyrone is absolutely right, non-believers should make themselves heard. Here in the US the separation of church and state (along with the rest of the Constitution) is under attack by the right wing and their fundamentalist Christian allies. If they succeed we would be on our way to a theocracy (a tried and true way to control the population,) and atheists and agnostics would be 2nd class citizens or worse. Religion is anti-democratic, it promotes blind obedience to a "king," and we are seeing more and more of this, with leaders portrayed as "chosen by God," while conducting an idiotic holy war.

Re: Reinforcing the Fairy Tale - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 10:53:00 -0000

Anon wrote:

"I am a Catholic and a far cry from any religious extremist as they do not represent the true meaning of having faith"

Anon, you are pointing out one of the fundamental problems with Christianity and religion in general, which is that it is highly arbitrary and non-verifiable. You believe your denomination is the right one, a born-again type would say you aren't a real Christian because you haven't been "saved," and we have something like 1500 denominations, all believing they are right. So you can pretty much believe in whatever you want, ranging from an aloof spirit that might watch our world but does nothing to a fire and brimstone God that constantly intervenes in human affairs and tortures non-believers for all eternity (pretty confusing, wouldn't you say?) There is no way to test any religious claims, any "proof" will only be "revealed" after one is dead, which is very convenient for scammers and con men. Its one thing to believe in something for which you have no proof (apart from a highly revised 2000 year old text and some questionable anecdotal evidence,) and quite another to accept facts that can be tested and verified.

Re: Atheist opposes act - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 12:14:00 -0000

Anonymous wrote:

"...I wish I could do more to show Gods' Love for you in a practical way..."

Anon, all you have shown is a religious belief based on fear and intimidation and your own desire for revenge. Whatever religion it is you follow, it sure doesn't have much to do with love. However you do remind us of why separation of church and state is so vitally important.

Re: Atheist opposes act - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 15:13:00 -0000

Peter/Kurt/Anonymous:

Instead of threatening people with lakes of fire, why don't you show us how you help the poor and tend to the sick because of your religious beliefs. You know, leading by example. You do those things, like a good Christian, right?

Re: Jesus Christ has returned! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:13:00 -0000

Peter wrote:

"Like evolution stating that we date the fossils by the date of the rocks thier foundin. and we date the rocks by the date of the fossils...."

Peter, do you have any idea what radiometric dating is?

Re: 16 Common Myths About Atheists - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:08:00 -0000

pitscan wrote

What if I told you that I have personally experienced multiple miracles? What if I said that I am certain God exists based upon personal, observable, concrete events that can only be explained as supernatural in origin? I’m loathe to put words in your mouth, but I’m fairly certain that you (and almost every other atheist) would reject my experience as ignorant, misinterpreted, wrong, delusional, or some other such term.

pitscan, you are mistaken, many of us have an open mind and would like to see your evidence. The problem with the typical evidence presented is that it is psychological or medical in nature, and can be explained without having to invoke a "supernatural" being. If you have real evidence of God's existence than that evidence will withstand scrutiny, and it won't matter whether the observer is a believer or not. If your evidence is so fragile that you are afraid to reveal it then its not good evidence. I would add that its not up to us to prove God doesn't exist, the burden of proof is on you, since extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Re: 16 Common Myths About Atheists - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 10:17:00 -0000

pitscan wrote:

I would argue that it’s not really relevant who proves what to who and in what order the proving must done.

Presenting extensive, extraordinary evidence also seems beyond the scope of this blog entry

...as I understand miracles, they are not designed to create faith where none is present, but to reinforce it where it is already present....

I’m not afraid to admit that faith is important … and necessary

Bottom line: you don't have any evidence.

Re: 16 Common Myths About Atheists - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 20:13:00 -0000

pitscan-

If you're still here my sincere condolences for the losses you have suffered, and thanks for your honesty and being a gentleman.

Re: A Christ-less Grave - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 11:02:00 -0000

contratimes wrote:

I am saying that if we accept competition as a given -- rooted in biology -- and if survival is our goal, then someone needs to tell me what advantage atheism has over the fundamentalists who have been surviving just fine.

You are confusing the theory of evolution with Social Darwinism. There is nothing in nature or human society (leaving aside eugenics) that would select fundamentalism over atheism or vice versa. Also evolution is about natural selection and genetic drift, competition plays a role but it is not the only factor at work.

Re: A Christ-less Grave - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 14:14:00 -0000

contratimes wrote:

Every statement I've read in the philosophy of science concerning this matter merely concedes that science has a priori decided that God is not allowed in the laboratory; but not because he is not able to be examined, but because we have a materialistic assumption in science that God is not one trace or tidbit material.

The existence of God is a perfectly valid subject for scientific inquiry, in the studies that have been done, like the Harvard study of prayer, no evidence has been found. You then say that science makes a materialistic assumption that God is immaterial, which makes no sense.

There is not a single scientific experiment, not a single lab experiment or scientific study, that has shown that Intelligent Design is not science...

It is up to Intelligent Design advocates to follow the methodology of science, which they cannot. ID has not produced any experimental work, and in fact ID advocates don't even have a scientific definition of design.

We can't say that God is or is not falsifiable. We can only say that we have NO idea how we can show either

This is incorrect. If you define God as a being that effects our physical world then that is testable. If you define God as a being in another dimension that does not effect our world then that is outside current scientific methodology, and is more an exercise in philosophy.

When excavating a cell, or an ancient artifact, you MUST NOT LOOK for any explanation that does not come from a closed materialistic system

You don't define what a "closed materialistic system" actually is, but you can offer any hypothesis you want to explain the data.

When someone tells you that God cannot be proved, they are speaking, not from science, but from religion

No, they are speaking from experience. People have been trying to prove the existence of God for thousands of years with no success.

You see, God MIGHT be proved, and we are marching toward that momentous discovery right now.

How are we marching toward that momentous discovery?

What we don't know now should never be absolutized.

Science constantly challenges our assumptions and adds to our knowledge, things that are true withstand scrutiny, those that don't are discarded.

Scientists, whether atheistic (Carl Sagan) or theistic (Darwin, Pascal), have both aided and hampered the advance of humanity.

You might as well argue that knowledge has aided and hampered humanity. The imprudent use of knowledge has caused harm, but saying we can blame science for Chernobyl or Three Mile Island, or a plane flown into a building is disingenuous.

Do the atheist and the theist practice medicine differently in the trauma center?

No, they both behave like atheists.

Christians who committed violence were not REALLY acting out their Christianity

If you have a guidebook for telling who is a "true" Christian, please let us know.

Re: A Christ-less Grave - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 15:26:00 -0000

contratimes wrote:

I have said that all we can say is that we do not know how to test for God

You need to define what you mean by "God." A being that causes changes in our physical world can be tested for.

And I have intimated that we may have already found him and not known it

That is an absurd statement. You can't find something without knowing that you found it.

Blaming theism for impeding humanity is disingenuous...

That is not something I addressed, however I would disagree.

Re: A Christ-less Grave - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:25:00 -0000

contratimes wrote:

Alan, you see, agrees with me. He might not have meant to, but I can't help that.

contratimes, I'm not sure I even know what you are talking about. I should have said both the atheist and the theist doctor will behave the same, using reason and logic, as that is what they are trained to do and that is what will provide the best possible outcome. Away from the operating room the religious doctor may lead his life and raise his kids in a totally different way than the atheist, religious people can often compartmentalize rational thought and irrational belief.

As for your claim that "any atheist who is not a nihilist is fooling himself or herself," according to Merriam-Webster nihilism is:

1 a : a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless
b : a doctrine that denies any objective ground of truth and especially of moral truths

I don't think that describes very many atheists.

Re: A Christ-less Grave - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 14:43:00 -0000

BG wrote:

Suddenly, Alan doesn't know what I mean

Bill, there's nothing sudden about it, your writing didn't make sense to me from the beginning (and your lack of brevity didn't help) but it all became clear when I took a look at your website. I'll just echo what Dave said, instead of long drawn-out intellectual hair-splitting just show us some tangible evidence of God's existence, and we'll go from there.

Re: Ouch! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:34:00 -0000

Anonymous wrote:

A few of us, however, aren't so much defending our faith as we are firmly convinced that those who don't believe are doomed.

Here's hoping one day you might see the absurdity of that conviction.

Re: http://igorandandre.blogspot.com/2009/09/carousel.html

alan — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:10:54 -0000

I went to school in Irvine and used to go to the spectrum every so often. I live in D.C. now with my partner. Your video is beautiful and made me homesick for California.

Keep up the good work!

Re: http://www.offendedblogger.com/2008/08/caption-this-very-naughty-wordless.html

alan — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:54:00 -0000

Creationists, Check and mate.

Re: http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/2009/01/9-city-special-hamburg.html

alan — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:08:58 -0000

Hamburg is the only proper city in Germany? That is sad. Germany then is a completely city-less country then you say?

Re: Premiership Preview–15. Wigan Athletic

alan — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:35:53 -0000

'Your field was falling apart last year, I understand you had a new one laid, but that isn’t what I said.'
What you actually said:-
'Their field surface is undoubtedly the worst in the Premiership '
As I understand the language 'is' is the present tense meaning 'now': apparantly you don't bother reading what you have written
As for 'a 71-year-old chairman with questionable financial know-how.' is this the same man who turned a £400 compensation pay-out for a broken leg into a multi-million pound fortune? I wish my finacial know-how was as questionable.
You are entitled to your opinion, whether right or wrong, but your sloppy 'facts' are an insult to anyone who bothers to carry out a little research.

Re: Bodegas Alvear

alan — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 16:01:07 -0000

I have drunk these wines in Spain and England in the last 3 or 4 years. They are all of very high quality and superb value. I really must do a winery tour there!

Highly recommended

Re: Iberian Wine Myth Busters - Why Vintage Doesn’t Matter

alan — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:23:18 -0000

With a cellar of 1000 I qualify as a geek, I suppose. I like to think of myself as passionate about wine, if not a little obsessed! Anyone talking of `brands` or even `Bordeaux` does not need to know anything about vintage. As most people buy wine, take it home, then drink it straight away any small differences will never be detected by them. Any obsessed passionate geek can TASTE and SMELL differences in the wines they drink. I sat next to a guy at a blind tasting who stated that a wonderful sweet wine (loved by 12 other obsessed people sat there) had been chapitalised, and he was right, I know because I bought the sugar for the winemaker! (It`s illegal to add sugar in the region of France but the VINTAGE had diabolical weather). So, if you want to know about a wine you need to talk to locals, at least, to appellation level, preferably village level and, for perfection, to be with the wine maker at harvest time. I`ve seen one producer loose most of his crop to hail, whilst the guy next door made superb wine as his vineyard was untouched.

The fact that most wines are sold at a level that ranges between chemical to nice glugging wine is irrelevant to any site claiming some KNOWLEDGE of wine, lets face it most people dont like Picasso or classical music, does this make Robert Mitchum and Madonna greater artists? Theres not much point in learning too much about run of the mill wines as super market shelves will provide you with hundreds of types that fade from the memory pretty quickly. A 25 year old bottle from your own cellar (mine`s literally located in a toilet!) that is in perfect condition takes wine drinking to great sensual hights. Thanks for reading this rant, I can`t easily stop talking wine!

Re: spiderman 3 villains

alan — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 20:23:20 -0000

all u people r wrong its new goblin

Re: Wack-a-Mole 2036

alan — Sun, 26 Sep 2004 18:03:51 -0000

OK -- I think there may be a little problem with your advice. See, I have a sinus infection (I think) that eliminates all possiblity of thinking right now. I started up this game and was like "What? What am I supposed to be doing?" I had no clue, so I think some level of thinking may be required for this game. My brain function presently would be similar to a cold rock.

Re: Making the Symbol Library Yours

alan — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:08:37 -0000

Thanks for the info.
I just created the surface finish symbol and want to share it here. : )

I create this because I could not insert surface finish symbol to Dimension Text.

*R0_8,R0.8

A,TEXT 0,1.7,0.8

A,LINE -0.6,1.1,0.1,0

A,LINE 0.1,0,1.4,2.2

*R1_6,R1.6

A,TEXT 0,1.7,1.6

A,LINE -0.6,1.1,0.1,0

A,LINE 0.1,0,1.4,2.2

*R3_2,R3.2

A,TEXT 0,1.7,3.2

A,LINE -0.6,1.1,0.1,0

A,LINE 0.1,0,1.4,2.2

*R6_3,R6.3

A,TEXT 0,1.7,6.3

A,LINE -0.6,1.1,0.1,0

A,LINE 0.1,0,1.4,2.2

*R12_5,R12.5

A,TEXT 0,1.7,12.5

A,LINE -0.6,1.1,0.1,0

A,LINE 0.1,0,1.4,2.2

Re: OhGizmo! » Archive » The RSStroom Reader, Feeds On Your Toilet Paper

alan — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 00:19:42 -0000

LOL this is too funny!

Re: OhGizmo! » Archive » Lock-Pickin’ Business Card

alan — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 22:57:42 -0000

that would neat to hand out at a locksmith trade show/convention, but not effective as a business tool otherwise. The concept of a business card is to generate business, not give it away for free.

Re: OhGizmo Review: Virgin Mobile’s Kyocera Wild Card Phone

alan — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:31:34 -0000

this phone sucks balls!

Re: The Technology Liberation Front » Archive » Buffy Escapes the Censors

alan — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 13:45:42 -0000

All depends on whose cause it is. Any bets on whether Mel's Passion is allowed to air? It's violence in the name of *good* so it's ok no?

Re: My weekend in Suck-n-Fuck

alan — Mon, 23 Aug 2004 21:28:00 -0000

Camp It is great fun. I was there this weekend as well. Had a great time, too.

Re: Bursting the Bubble and Other Tricks

alan — Tue, 26 Oct 2004 14:48:00 -0000

I've had the same problem with our cats and a certain area of our living room. 1) they make a great product in a white bottle with a red cap (OK, it's great, but I can't remember the name), Natures somethingoranother. It de-oderifies the spray. (It's likely that your cat wasn't peeing on your sofa, but spraying...usually this is territorial) Is your cat fixed? If not, that might help.

They also make a spray that's supposed to keep them from areas, but it's kinda nasty smelling, full of ketones. I wouldn't recommend it for furniture.

And, they make a house airfreshener thing that's full of pheremones that's supposed to keep them from spraying. I've heard these work well, but haven't used them.

In the meantime, if it is indeed spray, its a good idea to find out why. If there's a stray in the neighborhood that's hanging around your house, they make powders you can put down outside to discourage cats from coming around.

If it's pee, and your cat does this a few more times, it could be a sign of a urinary tract infection.

Hope that helps...

Re: Take the Christian QUIZ! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 15:21:00 -0000

Tizso wrote:

The kind of proof you are looking for, the kind you would find acceptable in your limited version of reality---isn’t there…

Tizso, you must realize that is exactly what someone with no proof would say. You claim to have had a vision, shouldn't that give you a little more material to work with than the average Christian? You were above the earth - where exactly? The stratosphere, in orbit, on the moon? Did you notice any other celestial objects? How were you "shown" that what is in the Bible is true? Was there an entity showing you this? You said: "we have been at it for some time, and out fathers before us." Are your parents Christian, if so what denomination?

Re: The Three Keys to Heaven - By azsuperman01 - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:41:00 -0000

Ryan, I can clear this up in 2 seconds. The Bible proves Jesus is right. OK, so how do we know the Bible is true? Because its the word of God, silly. However, if you happen to be an alcoholic fornicator with a heroin habit once you hit rock-bottom you are allowed one visit from God, Jesus, or an angel of your choice, which will provide even more proof that the Bible is true. You would then be qualified to be a pastor and be eligible to skim money from a faith-based Bush administration program. Does that answer your question?

Re: 300 million year old rock - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:03:00 -0000

Just to set the record straight, Paul's pseudo scientific critique is a copy & paste from an Answers in Genesis article. Only the abstract of the Nature article is available for free. The oldest rock article at Wikipedia refers to a paper describing a zircon dated at 4.4 billion years old, and I can't find any mention of that article at AiG, no surprise there. Another confirmation of the 4.5 billion year age estimate for the Earth is at the US Geological Survey.

Re: Atheist Bullshiters - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 10:54:00 -0000

matthew wrote:

3. I never said that anyone who believes those 5 points are saved.

Matthew, you conveniently avoided salvation in your "5 points," yet salvation is the biggest freaking "point" of the entire religion. Christianity is a great scam, it convinces you that you have a disease (original sin,) then sells you the cure (salvation.) Problem is, Christians can't even agree how someone is "saved." Is it through faith alone or faith and works? Do you have to be "born again," or is that not necessary? Do you have to believe the Bible is the literal word of God, or can you let that slide? No doubt you think you have the "true answer," but the bottom line is with religion, you make it up as you go along. That's why there are so many denominations, because there is nothing objective to refer to that can resolve these discrepancies.

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 12:43:00 -0000

Craig wrote:

God is provable both evidentially AND experientially ...

Craig, can you prove God exists?

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 15:00:00 -0000

Craig

It appears you are saying I would have to assume God exists before I can see the evidence that he exists, which means developing a confirmation bias. Do you have evidence that can be examined without having to make that assumption? If a supreme being is causing physical changes to our world or influencing human behavior then those changes or influences should be observable, whether or not the observer believes in God.

Re: How do we know that Christians are delusional? - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:00:00 -0000

Craig wrote:

God is being communicated with every day by millions of people. The burden of proof is provable and testable over and over again with these ones

Craig, why is this proof limited to believers? Evidence is evidence, it doesn't care who is looking at it. If I said I have proof the Earth is flat, but only members of the Flat Earth Society will understand it, its not very good proof, is it?

Re: Believe on the Lord Jesus and... - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 13:42:00 -0000

The difficulty in talking about faith is the word itself is ambiguous. From the American Heritage Dictionary:

1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.

2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.

Definition 1 allows for belief based on evidence, definition 2 does not. Dave can have "faith" that his car will start in cold weather, since he has experience with the car. This "faith" may be just an idea in Dave's head, but he can give the car to me, I can gain experience with the car, and it is likely that I will develop a similar "faith." People in general can develop a "faith" in this particular model's starting ability based on accumulated individual experience because the car is an objective entity whose properties are independent of whoever is examining it.

On the other hand if you are religious, what you have is a book (which has to be interpreted,) various secondary teachings, and the subjective psychological experiences of others. There is nothing objective to refer to, except perhaps the body of "evidence" created by religion to legitimize itself. You might pretend there is evidence, or else think there is some way of knowing that doesn't require evidence. You can compartmentalize your mind, so your religious beliefs don't follow the same set of rules that you use to understand the everyday world, or you can place yourself in a magical world, where you see everything around you as evidence that God exists. Either way you are operating with a self-imposed mental handicap.

Re: If There Is A "Loving" God, I Hate Him for His Silence - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 10:17:00 -0000

We have to move beyond the idea that either God exists or there is no purpose in life. Its one of the ways religion justifies itself but its a false dichotomy. Its a way of framing the question about purpose and if you put it that way then religion always wins. The reality is we create our own purpose, whether its through religion or society or individual awareness. And when you think about it, the purpose of life for a Christian is ultimately meaningless - its all about a fictitious "kingdom" that cheapens the reality that we live in everyday.

Re: Thompson Woos Conservatives, but Huckabee, Romney Remain Favorites

alan — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:08:24 -0000

Fred Thompson in 2008! Senator Fred Thompson is the only major candidate that gets it. He makes decisions based on principles. You have to stand for something and not change who you are based on the polls. That is what Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have done and all of the Democrats do it. Give me a leader that will stand by his principles anyday versus someone that stands for everything.

I know many, many Republicans that will stay home if Rudy Giuliani is the candidate in the general election. He does not represent our values as Conservatives, and never will. Mitt Romney is a RINO (though I'm sure a very nice man) that simply has everything else and nothing to do.

Re: Rudy: Illegals Not Illegal

alan — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:13:47 -0000

Why Fred Thompson should be our next president Senator Fred Thompson is the only major candidate that gets it. He makes decisions based on principles. Principles don

Re: Wadhams: Off The Mat And Into The Game

alan — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:17:18 -0000

"Seven Minutes of Wisdom from Wadhams?" Ick. That's like "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." In hell.

Re: Senate 8 Race Headed Into Extra Innings

alan — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:20:45 -0000

Long ball hit? Al has no need to look out for Hasan's game. He represents his district well and I have little doubt they will elect him throughout the process.

Re: ‘What if’ Doesn’t Pass Ethics Amendment Sniff Test

alan — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:04:42 -0000

Rubbish Jim Spencer does the same thing here that he did at the Post, where it went up in the daily news section as a (wait for it) news columnist. The only one confused about that is you.

As for Amendment 41, it hasn't affected anything, except to produce a fat load of melodramatic waaambulance bull-puckey (based on deliberately nonsensical readings of the law) because the steady supply of free stuff from lobbyists to public officials in exchange for "nothing whatsoever" has been threatened. I for one am amused by the idea of Peter Groff swearing at his computer with the rest of us last week instead of ringing up some lobbyist buddy for Rockies tickets, but thanks to Judge Habas there was no problem I'm sure.

Gifts shouldn't make a legislator want to talk to somebody. Money isn't speech, so it's absurd to claim that Amendment 41 has "stifled speech." That's been the right's claim for years, money=speech, conveniently since they had all the money and we had all the people. It's funny because you accuse Spencer of appropriating a right-wing tactic, but you're arguing their corrupt case --

Re: iPhone 1.1.3 ’soft upgrade’ faq from NateTrue

alan — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:01:29 -0000

unzip ’softupgrade.zip’ in the jbreak folder, copy the files to the iphone (via winscp), start putty.exe and connect to the iphone, start update.sh

i cant connect to winscp. the openssh thing isnt in the installer app anymore... well it wasnt where its supposed to be and ive checked all over the installer app. this sucks, sucks hard...

Re: Conversation starter

alan — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 15:28:00 -0000

I think absinthe could certainly work: they do say that "absinthe makes the heart grow fonder." That's the polite version of that saying - there are one or two ruder versions which are even more supportive of my argument!

Re: A Dirty Little Secret and Mental Modeling

alan — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:20:00 -0000

Wow, everyone's so complicated..
I just say "I'm here to have a great time, and spread fun like wildfire. If you're cool, you can have some fun with me too.." and it works great. I'm all over the place talking to everyone and having a good time, which just makes me more visible and makes other people want to talk to me more. Night game is a snap.

Day game on the other hand.. I just psych myself out. I'm thinking "She's hot.. but I have nothing to say. I guess I'll just keep reading my book/working on my laptop and checking her out from here..".

Re: To Be Young Always

alan — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:43:31 -0000

NicoleKiss looked as if she just came out of "sua tu" aka "a village". Either that or she is ready to show us her irish riverdance skills!

Re: Guestbook

alan — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 08:59:30 -0000

TC, So happy to hear you are back with my favorite podcasts..SPACEMUSIC LIVES! I am eager to hear the new format and continue to listen to all of my archived spacemusic podcasts of course. I have been listening to the between realities podcast quite a bit lately. Very mellow atmospheres indeed. Keep up the fantastic programming...I will keep listening.Thanks again.

Name: Alan Lauer
From: Ohio,USA
E-mail: alanlauer@yahoo.com

Re: Guestbook

alan — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 09:49:40 -0000

Name: Alan Martin
From: Germany
E-mail: alanrvmartin@aol.com

Hi TC,
"discovered" Spacemusic after buying myself an IPod and searching for cool music for my vacation in Gran Canaria. I was always atracted by spacy chill out music and I must say, the tracks you compile are really a delight. Especially #57, THE SHY, THE SAD AND THE BUSY is a good hour for spending on the hammock somewhere out there in space... Your comments and background info is also very welcome.

Thanks a lot for all that ! Please let me also criticize the spacemusic.nl site a little. I find it not very nicely done and also not very clearly and spacy arranged. Maybe you can do something about that, so it will better match the cool music you present so well.

Good Luck !!!
Your new fan
Alan

===

Admin reply: Well new fan, thanks for your message. Good to hear about the holiday destinations combined with the podcast. What about the site? Well, it matches the content in terms of content. For the rest, there's simply no time to design and maintain a hi-tec website. Then again, the more simple the site looks the better we think it offers information.But of course, it's a continuous process...... ~TC

Re: CEO Evan Williams on Orthogonality of Twitter and Facebook Status (and is Xumii on track to provide an answer?)

alan — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:02:00 -0000

I use www.ping.fm to selectively update various sets of services with one message. It updates a very wide range of services from one platform.

You can use its default categories of 'statuses, microblogs, blogs, all', update just one of your services, or make your own groups of subsets of services and update only those. It uses the '@' char as the label, so "@freq' might be the group of services i want to update frequently, for instance.

Ping.fm supports image attachments and stores them on ping.fm not on a 3rd party service like Twitpics.

You can update ping.fm via your mobile from a WAP version - m.ping.fm and there's an iPhone-optimised version at i.ping.fm. You can ping via email or ping from all the common IM services.

My only disappointment with ping.fm is it's one way - it doesn't try to be your one-stop shop for messaging, only your outbound service.

Disclaimer: I've done some work recently for Xumii, so I won't comment on the product other than to say I think their idea of a 'mobile social addressbook' is a very powerful one, and the first company to let me bring together all my real-world and online contacts on my mobile and lets me message two-way with all or a subset of them as if they were on one network, wins hands-down.

Re: Resident Evil : All PS3 Themes

alan — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:04:37 -0000

niiiiiiiice gota get this

Re: GTA IV : All PS3 Themes

alan — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:11:52 -0000

thank you

Re: Never Email Anyone Over 30

alan — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:32:07 -0000

I dont think Facebook will ever be used as the primary collaboration method within business. Apart from maybe a few, Which are internet based businesses.
The idea of it overtaking email, to me, is ludicrous.

Re: PMQs Cancelled

alan — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:28:00 -0000

12.15 "i actually had tears during browns statement."

I bet you were one of the infantilised, over-sentimentalised cretins weeping crocodile tears over Diana too.

Re: Building Multi-TTY Emacs from CVS on Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon

alan — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:11:48 -0000

These instructions worked for me. I was a bit confused by the instructions for repacking. I guessed and filled in the blanks with things I DO understand, and the final result is ok so far. I am running amd4, so the directory was not correct. I guessed and whatever I did it seems to have worked. This is a good how to but needed at least that much more explanation.

I also uninstalled auctex and reftex, and installed from CVS. It worked also.

Re: Golden Lancer & Hammerburst Giveaway!

alan — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:29:45 -0000

<a href="http://gearsofwar.xbox.com/photogallery/default.h... Gamertag: Dihybrid Lancer

Re: Simple Desktop File Sharing with Giver

alan — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:44:03 -0000

Hi Tom,

The ubuntu theme you're using looks great, what's it's name? can I have it?

Re: Fake Google.com has Pagerank 4…What the heck!?!

alan — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 07:52:00 -0000

This domain has nothing to do with google better to stay away could carry a Virus seen these before.

Re: A walk through the Köller Müller

alan — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 15:20:00 -0000

A video with insight! Appreciate the commentary, it's like me being toured around.

Thanks.

Re: A walk through the Köller Müller

alan — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 18:39:00 -0000

My favourite is the sculptured 'black & white' garden. I imagined myself walking around it and being in a black & white cartoon.

It reminded me of a 'black & white' lanscaped room in Pompidou Centre in Paris.

Re: BEC Rant - July/August 2008

alan — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:17:00 -0000

I took the BEC exam last weekend for the third time!

I made a 71 on both of my earlier attempts. I hope this time I pass..

Re: Fixins

alan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:57:00 -0000

Thanks! I had a great comment sometime last week, and it wouldn't take. Appreciate your efforts!

Re: Dear Wallyhood

alan — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:25:00 -0000

I appreciate the clarification about what is Wallingford and what isn't. I've lived in Wallingford since '64 (on 54th & Kensington, then 50th & Latona). Went to McDonald Elementary (Wallingford), Marshall Jr. High (Greenlake) and Lincoln High (Wallingford). I hadn't heard the "Tangletown" name until the Zoka Coffee House moved in and developed their "Tangletown" blend, pulling the name from a little historical research. Zoka is so confused, listing their location on 56th as "Greenlake Zoka". Talk about reinventing the neighborhood through ignorance, then having others believing it 'cause it is on the web. All Zoka had to do, and newcomers could do, is ask someone who has lived in the neighborhood for 3 - 4 decades and they'll probably give you a better answer than a coffee shop. Welcome to Wallingford, everyone!!

Re: Dear Wallyhood

alan — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:41:00 -0000

Well, the City of Seattle has Wallingford over to Aurora for a bit, down to 45th. Enough that Kid Valley is definately ours!
If we annexed all the way to the ship canal, we would have that very strange space under Aurora, with the Fremont Troll.....that would be a little to spacy for Wallingford. That is definately a "Freakmont" area.

But Woodland Park Ave N is a part of Wallingford!!

http://www.seattle.gov/util/stellent/groups/public/@spu/@csb/documents/webcontent/spu01_003630.pdf

Re: What’s Wrong with Social Media?

alan — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 15:18:00 -0000

“Social media has yet to reveal its impact,” great post Brian and certainly good job done on finding some balance among the cries and laments.

I do believe that as semantics/web3 comes more into the main stream of considerations, it must, note, Google’s Larry Page let it slip in London this week that they are working at AI, and getting close whatever that means.

Also Radar networks http://novaspivack.typepad.com/nova_spivacks_we... truly pushing a model that is already being used very successfully in some industrial and commercials environments, on a small scale.

The use of semantic web combined with the huge amount of social, cultural and economic will that is being exerted “is” going to considerably change the landscape and the way we transverse it!

Alan.

Re: Doc Searls and Robert Scoble on What’s Wrong with Social Media

alan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:50:00 -0000

I believe that language is a precursor to consciousness and the naming of things harkens back to a time whence to name was to truly know.

With the advent of more recent web technologies, social media, user generated content, crowdsourcing and other myriad virtual realities, a new generation of participants are aboard this vehicle called the web who now gravitate to a process rich experience. This impulse, however named, is being examined and I can’t wait for the details to burgeon forth.

Add to the above list an example of research and development that’s taking place in semantics.

http://novaspivack.typepad.com/nova_spivacks_weblog/2007/02/steps_towards_a.html

Fantastic attempts by Lessig and others to shape political attitudes.

http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/Spectrum_small.mov

The landscape is not only going to change but the ride is going to be wild.

All cultural/social/technological paradigm changes create new phenomenological experiences and those are what I am interested in.

Alan.

Re: Doc Searls and Robert Scoble on What’s Wrong with Social Media

alan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 20:12:00 -0000

Sorry, posted wrong link for semantics.
This one should be better:

http://novaspivack.typepad.com/nova_spivacks_weblog/2007/02/web_30_roundup_.html

Re: Twitter Me This, Is Jaiku a Threat? Let’s Ask Those Defining the Landscape

alan — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 00:31:00 -0000

Hi, well Scoble was right, we joined the party a little late but we're here now and just when things are getting hot! Loopnote lets people send alerts out to people, whether its about the person or a specific topic. Our focus has been letting different types of groups send alerts out to their community. We think that has a lot more staying power than getting alerts only about personas - plus with loopnote you can make "loops" open so others can send messages as well. Come check it out, let us know what you think.

Re: The Social Media Manifesto – Integrating Social Media into Marketing Communications

alan — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 23:17:00 -0000

Brian,

This is truly an impressive effort. It's the most comprehensive, informative and practical commentary on Social Media that I have seen on or off the web.

Great job!!

Alan Levy

Re: What’s Wrong with Social Media?

alan — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 15:18:00 -0000

“Social media has yet to reveal its impact,” great post Brian and certainly good job done on finding some balance among the cries and laments.

I do believe that as semantics/web3 comes more into the main stream of considerations, it must, note, Google’s Larry Page let it slip in London this week that they are working at AI, and getting close whatever that means.
Also Radar networks http://novaspivack.typepad.com/nova_spivacks_we... />Graph:
http://novaspivack.typepad.com/RadarNetworksTowardsAWebOS.jpg

are truly pushing a model that is already being used very successfully in some industrial and commercials environments, on a small scale.

The use of semantic web combined with the huge amount of social, cultural and economic will that is being exerted “is” going to considerably change the landscape and the way we transverse it!
Alan.

Re: Doc Searls and Robert Scoble on What’s Wrong with Social Media

alan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:50:00 -0000

I believe that language is a precursor to consciousness and the naming of things harkens back to a time whence to name was to truly know.

With the advent of more recent web technologies, social media, user generated content, crowdsourcing and other myriad virtual realities, a new generation of participants are aboard this vehicle called the web who now gravitate to a process rich experience. This impulse, however named, is being examined and I can’t wait for the details to burgeon forth.

Add to the above list an example of research and development that’s taking place in semantics.
http://novaspivack.typepad.com/nova_spivacks_weblog/2007/02/steps_towards_a.html

Fantastic attempts by Lessig and others to shape political attitudes.
http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/Spectrum_small.mov

The landscape is not only going to change but the ride is going to be wild.

All cultural/social/technological paradigm changes create new phenomenological experiences and those are what I am interested in.

Alan.

Re: Doc Searls and Robert Scoble on What’s Wrong with Social Media

alan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 20:12:00 -0000

Sorry, posted wrong link for semantics.
This one should be better:
http://novaspivack.typepad.com/nova_spivacks_weblog/2007/02/web_30_roundup_.html

Re: Twitter Me This, Is Jaiku a Threat? Let’s Ask Those Defining the Landscape

alan — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 00:31:00 -0000

Re: The Social Media Manifesto – Integrating Social Media into Marketing Communications

alan — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 23:17:00 -0000

Brian,

This is truly an impressive effort. It's the most comprehensive, informative and practical commentary on Social Media that I have seen on or off the web.

Great job!!

Alan Levy

Re: Windows XP Home → Windows XP Pro

alan — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 00:54:44 -0000

when starting win XP pro the log on comes up and i never had this happen before. I dont want to log on or have a pass word. Never did before. Is there a way to get rid of or bypass this log on procedure. Help

Re: Commitment

alan — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:27:39 -0000

Absolutely amazing! That's pure love right there.

Re: Sprite Liquid Freedom Falling Away in Basketball Pool

alan — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 05:51:00 -0000

do u know the name of the song and the ones who sang it? cuz i'm really addicted to it

Re: What’s wrong with IDE’s?

alan — Sat, 02 Aug 2003 15:28:00 -0000

I'll tell you what's wrong with IDE's? They don't go far enough!

What I want is an IDE that will let me create applications with NO programming. Why? Because everytime I want to use my computer to do some simple

task that's slightly different from what an existing program can do, I to have to:

a) Devote my life and most of my waking hours to staying facile with some programming language just so I can write a program now and then.

or

b) Pay a programmer $$$ for each stupid little thing I want to do - and it probably still won't be what I wanted. And then, when I want to change it a

little...more $$$.

or

c) Put up with pre-written software that behaves the way the author wants, but not the way I want it to.

What I want is to be able to sit down for a few minutes (hours, even) with a visual, menu-driven IDE, and wind up with a program to do whatever task I

had in mind and then get on with my life.

Alan

Re: DSR - Drugs, Tits and Carjackings

alan — Sun, 29 Dec 2002 18:26:12 -0000

Sounds like a good weekend

Re: New Britney – Womanizer (First Single)

alan — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:13:31 -0000

so far Womanizer is better than Gimme More

Re: Aside: New Look

alan — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:18:47 -0000

site looks really good, as per usual

Re: A Dirty Little Secret and Mental Modeling

alan — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 01:20:00 -0000

Re: Absence of Lepsis promotes Pears

alan — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 10:13:34 -0000

Manning is the best quarterback in football. Sure he picked apart Willaims. Willaims will only get better and yes he will be a great back. pick your poison blitz or cover........

Re: New Music: Charles Hamilton, Asher Roth & B.o.B

alan — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:46:53 -0000

I never listened to BOB before but I assume he's the first person on the song? It sounds good. All 3 artists are really good.

Re: New Music: Charles Hamilton, Asher Roth & B.o.B

alan — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:31:22 -0000

Thank you Skeet. Im french so I sometimes do not hear everything in english rap. They are all 3 very good rappers

Re: Vista Aero Glass Buttons

alan — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:25:00 -0000

Tnx mate for great tutorial.
It really helped me since I'm programmer(and not designer :P ).

I was looking for this kind of tutorial - clean and simple ;)

Tnx & keep up with gret tuts,

Alan

Re: Anouncement of BTI (Blogger Template for iPhone)

alan — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:22:00 -0000

This looks clean,light and beautiful

Re: The MY List

alan — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 13:58:00 -0000

hei,hw 2 link?can u link mi...http://myspacecar.blogspot.com/thanks.

Re: Lily Allen and Ladyhawke Cover Britney Spears, and So Should You!

alan — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:24:22 -0000

Lol, I would totally love to see this ploy actually work!

PS: Love the covers. Sort of like when Katy Perry did "Electric Feel" -- its a nice listen, but you can't change a song TOO much.

Re: pmaCAST #6: The “F*** My Life” Episode

alan — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 16:38:35 -0000

Ha, I love this. Great post. Great podcast. Iâ€™m currently on the Christian Bale song â€” hilarious.

Thank you for this PMA!

Re: More Than 50 Percent of Americans and British Still Don't Believe in Evolution

alan — Wed, 20 May 2009 06:43:05 -0000

No one here would know whether evolution and creation actually happened since no one here has actually seen it happen. People who state that creationism is fact would not know for sure that that is true unless they've created their own universe to prove it.

People who stated that evolution is fact and is supported by an abundance of scientific discoveries are ignoring the fact that most of the so called "evidence" are either forged or tampered with. The fossils that were discovered are never in their "complete" form and are usually skewed to favor the views of darwinistic anthropologists. Carbon dating was ignored and the faulty potassium-argon dating was used to create false estimates. Last note.... experimentation of microevolution never lead to the evidence of macroevolution... Please do not mention the experiments with the fruitflies...

>Back On Subject.

I don't know if the statistics are correct, but if it is correct than obviously people do not want to believe in evolution. Now, many people are pointing fingers at the creationists for this disappointment, but might I remind you that many of the people here on earth do not care for neither sides of the argument. Can you blame them for not believing in Evolution? Is it essential for them to learn about such things? Personally, I don't think such things should be taught in public schools. I would think that educators would focus more on bringing up the pitiful math grades of the average American teen instead of worrying about whether or not they believe in such and such beliefs and such and such facts. Evoultion will not pay my gas bills, and neither will God.

Re: Spray-On Solar Cells, Printed Like a Newspaper Being Developed by Univ. of Texas Researchers

alan — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:59:52 -0000

Nanosolar has had a very similar product available for a couple years now, and with efficiency nearing 20%.

Re: Extreme makeover- Genetically Modified Apples

alan — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 13:48:55 -0000

My favorites are Jonathans, but man, I love Macintosh apples! Can't stand Red Delicious, though. I'm not terribly partial to Empires, either. Am I ruining the curve...?

Re: Push-Button House by Adam Kalkin

alan — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:05:06 -0000

Fill the bathtub up with water and fold it. I can see some big flaws here.

Re: Polycrystalline Silicon Shortage Extended: Bad News For Solar Power Pricing For Up To A Decade

alan — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:38:55 -0000

There is no conspiracy to raise prices. It takes 18-24 months to plan and build a new feedstock plant, and considerably less to plan and build a solar cell plant. That makes it pretty easy to have more solar cell manufacturing capacity than silicon refining capacity. Not to mention that the last time the silicon feedstock industry made a major expansion it got burned badly by a downturn in the microchip industry. This time around, they refused to expand until the PV industry agreed to take on some of the financial risk of expansion. The PV industry dragged its feet, plus the shortage hit about a year earlier than predicted, resulting in the mess you see now.

What the article is saying, in essence, is that new feedstock plants are being built, but not quickly enough to meet demand.

On the bright side, the shortage has given PV makers a kick in the pants when it comes to designing products that use less silicon. They're progressing faster than a lot of people would have expected, and just how thin the cells can get is sort of a wildcard in determining when feedstock supply will catch up with demand.

The shortage does not really affect amorphous silicon, even though the gases used for amorphous silicon come from a similar product stream as those used to produce crystalline silicon feedstock. It wouldn't surprise me to learn their material costs had gone up, but capital costs are the primary driver amorphous silicon PV manufacturing costs. Not so with crystalline silicon, where material costs are the primary driver, and silicon is the single largest material expenditure.

As for the price of microchips, I wouldn't worry too much about that. They use, at most, a few cents worth of silicon (remember, you can put hundreds, or even thousands, of chips on a single wafer -- but only one solar cell). A 500% increase in silicon prices is inconsequential where microprocessor prices are concerned.

Re: Economist: Climate Change=Higher food prices

alan — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 20:29:25 -0000

Considering that no one energy source, renewable or otherwise, has ever powered America, I think it's unrealistic to expect such from any future energy source.

Re: Thin-Film Solar Technology Could Be Seriously Clobbering Fossil Fuels in Ten Years

alan — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 14:23:35 -0000

One thing not mentioned is that PV panels are only part of a PV system. That $3-4/W quoted for "solar power" only includes the PV panels. Throw in inverters, hardware, and installation and you're talking $8-10/W. As a result, if the costs of the inverters, hardware, and installation don't drop it doesn't matter how cheap the panels get -- they could be free and PV would still be uncompetitive with fossil fuels.

My point is that PV cannot "clobber" fossil fuels based on development of the PV panels alone. This is significant because a number of companies are promising super low-cost modules in relatively short time frames and claiming they will meet the magical $1/W milestone required for cost-effective PV. What they neglect is that this milestone depends on other components of the PV system reaching cost milestones of their own, and accelerating the timetable on a single component -- in this case, the PV modules -- will not do much to accelerate the timetable for PV systems as a whole.

In short, if they claim they will "clobber" fossil fuels on an accelerated time schedule on the basis of PV module cost alone, their goals are critically dependent upon other companies doing half the work for them. That's not to say that pursuing low cost on an accelerated timetable is a bad thing; rather, it is to say that even if we have modules at $0.80/W in five years, PV will not necessarily be clobbering fossil fuels. And modules for $0.50/W will most certainly not undercut coal and nuclear by 50%, though that might be the case if the entire PV system costs $0.50/W.

I have much more faith in manufacturers who are looking at the entire PV system, even if they do not themselves manufacture or install the other components. Crystalline silicon manufacturers are much more mature than their thin-film counterparts in this regard, and I don't think thin-film companies will be as competitive as they can be until they collectively learn this lesson no matter how low their module costs are. Some of them do -- First Solar comes to mind -- but it appears that Flisom does not.

And on another note, it drives me nuts when writers authoring a science and technology column don't know the difference between silicon and silicone....

Re: Thin-Film Solar Technology Could Be Seriously Clobbering Fossil Fuels in Ten Years

alan — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 21:38:34 -0000

Anonymous:

Non-module costs for PV systems currently run about $4/W, so if you take out the inverter and installation costs (which can run as high as $2/W, though I think $1.50/W is more typical) you're still left with something in the neighborhood of $1.50/W. That's a typical, benchmark value of course, so your mileage may vary, and if you're going to do the design and installation yourself you can also deduct engineering fees and the like from that. But in addition to hardware, which I'm skeptical you could get for anywhere near $0.30/W, you have to pay for permits, inspections, and grid connection. And if you're unfamiliar with the NEC electrical codes, installing yourself could end up being more expensive in the end than just hiring a professional from the get-go. (It also implicitly assumes that your time has no value.)

As for your cost calculation, a proper financial analysis needs to account not just for the time value of money, but interest paid on loans used to finance the system and a suitable discount rate (essentially an opportunity cost, though it has very little effect on the analysis). And assuming that increases in utility rates will cancel out the time value of money is dubious, particularly if you pay cash up front for the system (thereby spending all of your money when its value is highest). That said, 6.2 cents/kWh is not that far off for a system costing $2.10/W installed. But in my opinion, without improvements in the non-module costs, that price is unrealistically low even if the modules become free and you do the installation yourself.

I'm in complete agreement with you on batteries -- without some efficient storage medium, PV will be limited to peak power applications. It can still provide a very significant fraction of our electricity needs without storage, but it will never be suitable for baseload. And in that sense, it is inappropriate to compare the costs of PV to those of coal or nuclear. Residential users will always compare its cost to retail electricity prices, but without storage utilities will compare its generation costs to natural gas turbines, hydro, and the like.

Berkana:

Yes, $1/W means the PV system costs one dollar for each watt it is rated to produce. The "rated" power is essentially the amount of power it will produce on a cloudless day with the sun high in the sky, so it's often referred to as "peak" power. If you look hard enough, you'll find cost per watt figures for all types of power plants, not just PV. It can be a misleading number, though, since a coal plant can run at peak power 24/7 while a PV plant usually produces substantially less than its rated peak. As a result, PV plants must be must cost much less per peak watt than a conventional power plant in order to be economically competitive with one.

Re: Thin-Film Solar Technology Could Be Seriously Clobbering Fossil Fuels in Ten Years

alan — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:34:11 -0000

G. Smith:

When folks say "X dollars per watt" what they really mean is "X dollars per peak watt". This is true whether they're talking about PV, coal, nuclear, natural gas, wind, or whatever. Each of these types of plants operates at or near peak generation under different conditions are for different amounts of time. For this reason, different types of plants cannot be meaningfully compared using this metric. Think about it like this: The capital cost of a coal-fired power plant is somewhere around $2/W, but it has a very significant ongoing cost in that it must continuously spend additonal money on fuel. The cost of a PV plant, on the other hand, is all capital -- ongoing costs are quite small. So which do you suppose is cheaper, coal at $2/W or PV at $2/W? It's a meaningless comparison.

As for needing the generation capacity to meet your peak load, that isn't necessarily true. Your inverter must be sized to meet your peak load, but your PV panels do not unless they're your only source of power. It's entirely feasible for, say, a 3 kW PV system to meet all of the energy needs of a home whose peak load is, say, 6 kW, provided the home has stored energy available (generally the grid, in a grid-connected case, or batteries, in an off-grid case) and a 6 kW inverter. The size of the PV array is based solely on the amount of energy the home consumes.

toff:

As Brian says, if you connect that cheap inverter to the grid, you're going to have problems. The circuitry required to synchronize to the grid and disconnect from it when your PV system could pose a danger to line workers is expensive. I also suspect the cheapie doesn't give you a true sine wave, which can cause problems with your appliances if you don't select them carefully. It might be suitable for an off-grid system, but if you're going to store power in batteries you'll still need a charge controller (which can be found built into inverters, but it will bump the price up a bit). Inverters for off-grid PV use are more expensive than the one you point out, and those for grid-connected PV use are more expensive still.

Brian:

Unfortunately, the kind of data you are seeking is difficult to come by, at least in any sort of a detailed sense, and much of what's available is for special, one-off projects as opposed to standard, run-of-the-mill residential PV systems. That's partly because the entities who have the data are private and don't like to release it, but it's also partly because there are so many site-to-site variables, different mounting schemes, etc., that collecting it in a detailed, yet systematic way is tricky. I'm told the Department of Energy is working on a more detailed assessment of these costs, which would then certainly be published, but in the meantime you'll have to settle for backing the information out from other data, so to speak.

You can download a database from a project with the rather unweildy name of IEA PVPS Task 2 that provides information on several hundred PV installations around the world, some of which have cost information broken down into module, inverter, and other. The California Energy Commision also makes available databases of all of the installed PV system costs for systems making claims under California's subsidy programs. These only give the installed system cost, but based on knowledge of module and inverter costs it's pretty easy to see what's left over. Finally, the Department of Energy has done some benchmarking and published the results in various places. The benchmarks are "average" or "typical" values, and some installers will break the costs down a bit differently (though they generally get a similar total). The benchmarks have appeared in their Photovoltaic Program Plan documents, and their latest benchmarks have appeared in various documents related to the Solar America Initiative. Sorry for the lack of specifics, but if you Google on those titles or check the NREL web site you should find what I'm talking about without too much trouble.

Re: Ask the EcoGeek: Walking Worse than Driving? No.

alan — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:21:21 -0000

Actually, your Forth[SIC] argument may not be all that true -- at least in Wal-Mart's case. I live in Suburban NY. There are two Wal-Marts less than 5 miles apart. You could walk to either.

I mentioned this to my wife and she said she has read that Wal-Mart tries to build their stores within walking distance of the largest portion of the target customer in dense population areas. This, apparently, because many people in ther demographic don't own automobiles.

Re: How to Choose Outdoor Solar-Powered Lights

alan — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 10:55:59 -0000

Heh .. not only do solar cells degrade rapidly, but they also create a massive amount more pollution to create than they ever save .. still they do give you the warm fuzzies.

Not true on either count. Properly encapsulated solar cells are typically warranteed for at least 20 years. Pollution is minimal -- most waste from PV manufacturing consists of acids and/or bases, both of which are easily neutralized (the end product being nothing more than saltwater). And it is well documented that GHG emissions per kWh produced are lower than just about every other energy technology. That's not to say there's no room for improvement, but PV manufacturers tend to be pretty conscious of recycling and the nature and quantity of waste they produce.

The problem with the lights is the shoddy construction of the stuff around the cell -- the plastic that covers them degrades rapidly, and either the batteries or the charging circuits seem not to do well when exposed to the elements.

However I did hear of an organic based solar cell, which may or may not generate less pollution to create, but has the distinct advantage of becoming more and more powerful over the years rather than degrading

Organic solar cells to date degrade rapidly and are notoriously short lived. They do have the advantage that they can be "recharged" by replenishing the liquid electrolyte they contain, but packaging that can be opened to allow replenishment tends to fare poorly when exposed to the elements for years on end. So it's a catch-22: You can extend the life of organic solar modules by replenishing the electrolyte, but to replenish the electrolyte you have to use a module design that is inherently short-lived.

If you want to really make an impact and use solar, click on my name below!

No, don't. It's more spam from Citizenre, who don't even have a product to sell (nor do they have one in sight). If you want to "make an impact and use solar" you need to do business with someone who actually has solar panels.

Re: Toyota iQ: Less is More for Small Urban Car

alan — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:05:50 -0000

Why would Toyota not make this a Hybrid, or better yet a plug-in hybrid? Its seems like a natural for the technology. If your goal is to make an vehicle economical to run and environmentally friendly this being a hybrid would knock it out of the park.

Re: It's A Good Time For America To Go Metric

alan — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:47:49 -0000

.90 Cents/ litre... ahhh, yes, I remember it well. Would that I had a ferry going to Rochester, it might be worth my while to fill up the tank regularly those few kilometers/ not so fewer miles (undivisible easily by 10) across Lake Ontario. $1.28/Litre today on this side of the pond, with parity.

Re: More Than 50 Percent of Americans and British Still Don't Believe in Evolution

alan — Wed, 20 May 2009 03:43:05 -0000

Re: Spray-On Solar Cells, Printed Like a Newspaper Being Developed by Univ. of Texas Researchers

alan — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:59:52 -0000

Nanosolar has had a very similar product available for a couple years now, and with efficiency nearing 20%.

Re: buBle is More than a Tent, Less than a House

alan — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:45:52 -0000

An unbelievably stupid idea. People are going to extremely uncomfortable in these hothouses unless they cover the walls with cardboard to block the sun out, which is of course what will happen.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2009/07/werribee-assailant-in-trouble-again.html

alan — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:34:00 -0000

No one ever gets the maximum here. it'll probably be between 4 - 6 years at the most. Hope i'm wrong but I doubt it

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2009/04/werribee-ringleader-did-not-learn-his.html

alan — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:04:46 -0000

This is a link to the article that Cat mentioned.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25339700-5000117,00.html

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2009/04/werribee-ringleader-did-not-learn-his.html

alan — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:55:21 -0000

Rob,

Whatever, you have your views, I have mine.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2009/04/werribee-ringleader-did-not-learn-his.html

alan — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:18:47 -0000

Firstly Victorian Law really only allows Juveniles to be charged as adults for murder, attempted murder, rape, arson, manslaughter and culpable driving. Juvenile in Victoria means 18 and under. Even if the were sentenced to jail they'd get a YTO (Youth Training Order) for a maximum of 3 years for which they serve normally half.

Secondly, it's not the ringleader, it's someone else and only one of them appears to be involved.

Thirdly, some of the commentary on our local newspaper site about this scares me more than the rap song (which is stupid, idiotic offensive, but not illegal)

Re: Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Let's look at Miguel's Idea: Positive Screensaver for Ed?

alan — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:20:00 -0000

No reason to download-- There are windows and mac screen savers that draw images from flickr;

http://www.google.com/search?q=flickr+screensaver

I use on my Mac Flickr Shufflesaver
http://homepage.mac.com/holtmann/eidac/software/shuffelsaver/shufflesaver.html

Re: Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Is the edublogosphere a closed, elite cocktail party?

alan — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:05:00 -0000

Eeech. Who wants to be at some snooty cocktail party? I'd rather be sitting on the tailgate with a cold one.

If you are blogging seeking comments as some sort of ego stroking, I'd adjust your intents. We blog to share, to connect, but mostly to express our own ideas. Seeking some sort of valuation based on comments is symptomatic of some other needs.

More people read and and never leave comments and that is just fine. its not about strutting feathers, that is so transparent.

Re: Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Micropresentations Part II

alan — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:01:00 -0000

These are amazing events- truly, the key points of most presentations can be condensed into 5 minutes!

NMC has done this since first summer conferences in the 1990s as the "Five Minutes of Fame" - at the 5 minute mark, the presenter is "gonged" and must stop.

Need to work on a web archive for these, for now, google
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Five+minutes+of+fame%22+%2Bnmc

Re: Interactive to the max

alan — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 08:32:45 -0000

i really like pandora but i don't see the chat box anywhere

Re: I am going to be a programmer!

alan — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 08:31:55 -0000

good luck!

Re: Welcome to the light side..

alan — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 08:31:26 -0000

I love it too so sexy so minimal just plain perfect!

Re: http://jeayese.com/blog/?p=41

alan — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 08:31:01 -0000

i tried to get into the beta a while ago but didn't get in oh well all i can do is wait :(

Re: Naro Messenger Minimode Concepts!

alan — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 08:30:26 -0000

i think i am in love

Re: More Pipeline Concepts

alan — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 08:30:09 -0000

wow they look good

Re: New interactive Sig!

alan — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 08:29:54 -0000

OH MY GOD That is just Freaking HOTTTT!!!

Re: Making Windows Live Messenger Faster

alan — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 10:52:02 -0000

I downloaded the new windows live messenger 8.5. I went to the folder (C:\Program Files\Windows Live\), then I deleted those 6 files then created a shortcut for msnmsgr but once i clicked on it it automatically updates and the files come back. Is there any way to stop this? Also, are there any other ways to reduce the wastage and the hogging of resources by windows live? Thanks a lot!

Re: More Invites to TorrentLeech!

alan — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 20:02:51 -0000

Thanks a bunch for your generosity. I'd really like a TorrentLeech invite if it ain't too much trouble. Your site also looks interesting, so I'll subscribe. I have some BitHQ invites, and willing to trade (if that's even allowed here and/or anyone is interested, as long as it's for TorrentLeech invites). I have proof of a decent ratio, if you would like it Jase. If there's a waiting list, I'd like to be put on it if necessary.

Email: asiaminor2k (at) yahoo (dot) ca

Re: Layanan SMS Gratis Ke Mana Saja!

alan — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:08:00 -0000

kalau masih pengen sms gratis dengan nomer yang berbeda??
bisa di coba nih:

MauSMS.com atau

SMSWae.com

Re: Take my advice: be sincere in your search - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:20:00 -0000

Listen up Charles,while the discrepancies of the bible played a part in my loss of faith, my biggest reason was purely philosophical. The idea that an omnipotent being, who knew everything, purposely created intelligent beings knowing they'd "fall" and then damn any of them who didn't worship him and the ones who did only did out of terror of him.

An all powerful being doesn't need anything and certainly isn't so cheap limited and petty that it etermally torment it's creations just because they didn't kiss it's ass.

Never mind the supposed evidence, the absolute absurdity of the universe being created by a cosmic tyrant is what did it for me.
As it stands I'm a deist. I don't know what it is that created the universe this or powers it, but I'm certain it's not run by an omnipotent psychopathic egomaniac.

Tabula Rasa

Re: You need an encouter [sic] with God! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 08:03:00 -0000

You would raise your hands to God, humbly admit that you're confused and lost your way and ask Him to Reveal His existence to you. If you don't do this, then you're just not interested in finding out if God is true or not.. and you prefer instead to babble all day long about something you know nothing about.

PLEASE don't insult us. We did exactly what you have suggested, when we became Christians in the first place. We raised our arms to this God and we implored him to reveal himself to us, and we discovered that in fact God does not exist at all. It is all fictional, and the gospel is cock.

Re: IMPERICAL PROOF SCIENCE - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 10:48:00 -0000

Spirula

lol, sad but true. But don't forget there's super secret research going on at the Discovery Institute, far away from meddling Darwinists, that's going to prove ID once and for all, or something like that.

Re: IMPERICAL PROOF SCIENCE - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 21:00:00 -0000

Mr. Salt wrote / plagiarized:

The origin of new systems such as sight, which begins with irreducible complexity of a light-sensitive cell, cannot be accounted for by mutation or natural selection alone.

I remember the good old days of Intelligent Design when the human eye itself was "irreducibly complex," now we're down to eyespots on single celled organisms. If you ID folks aren't careful you're going to move the goalposts right off the playing field.

No cosmological information (i.e., finely tuned cosmological constants) results from mutation or natural selection.

Ah, so the speed of light is not the result of mutation. Glad you cleared that up.

The similarity between such information in nature and the production of information by human intelligence argues persuasively for an intelligent creator or designer.

Or serves as a good example of anthropomorphism (attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena.)

Re: You have a little mind & your life has always been centered around yourself - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 21:16:00 -0000

Preston, about these "healings" you witnessed: there are plenty of Christian physicians, so why don't they ever go to these events and document what's going on? If these "healings" are real why don't Christian doctors prescribe worship services for their sick patients? If diseases are actually being cured wouldn't it be common knowledge in the medical community by now? Did you tell your own physician about what you saw, and if so what did he or she say? Would you ask your own physician to attend one of these events so he or she can see what's going on?

Re: Don't condemn Jesus! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 15:23:00 -0000

shohn wrote:

I've had way too many prayers answered to even worry about that one.

Shohn, you also have to take into account people who have prayed just as you do and have received no answer, including many people who post here. You also have to take into account the largest study to date which showed that prayer has no effect.

My guess is that you would ask me to pray for something ridiculous like having this web site shutdown, and then if god didn't answer immediately you would go "see - your god is dead"

Why would I ask you to pray for something ridiculous? Pray for something meaningful, like an unmistakable sign that God exists. But if you prayed to have this website shut down and God answered by actually doing it, that would be far from ridiculous.

I've since started the practice of documenting most of my prayers to see how long before an answer occurs, but I digress.

You're not digressing, you're doing something to support your position - gathering data on the outcome of prayer. I would be interested to see what you come up with.

Re: Don't condemn Jesus! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 11:19:00 -0000

shohn wrote:

...we can't measure the Creator scientifically either...

Shohn, you're wrong, we certainly can "measure the Creator scientifically." We can test whether prayer does anything - it doesn't. We can test whether the Bible contains accurate information about the universe - it doesn't. We can test whether artifacts like the Shroud of Turin are evidence of the existence of Jesus - they aren't. We can test whether "having the spirit" means one behaves better - it doesn't. We can test whether Christians live healthier and longer lives than nonbelievers - they don't. We can test whether "this was created" is a good explanation for a biological structure - it isn't. If God is out there doing what Christians say he is doing then we can "measure" those deeds. If Christianity is true then science would confirm it.

Re: Don't condemn Jesus! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 13:16:00 -0000

shohn wrote:

Amon Ra, Zeus, the sun gods, the list goes on, I have no idea where some of those came from...

They were developed, along with Christianity, Islam, and other religions, to explain reality and to give absolute authority to the king. We have finally devised a testable, verifiable method to explain reality, and as science progresses, religion retreats. Unfortunately religion is still a very effective way to reinforce political authority.

Can they all be right or is just one right?

You left out one question: can they all be wrong?

I have been touched by something spiritual that I can not begin to explain...

If you can't put it into words, it can't be discussed.

...Do you have kids?". If so, could you understand that it is impossible to explain to someone who doesn't have kids what it is like to have them?

Its not impossible to explain. I don't have kids, yet I can understand to some degree what its like to have them. Not the same as the actual experience, but it is still an understanding on some level.

There are scientists and students of the universe that have concluded that yes there is a God...

Did they conclude there is a God by using the scientific method?

The evidence you seek is in people's lives. I'm talking about the kind of people that are willing to be feed to lions or act as human shields to demonstrate their belief with conviction.

That's still not evidence that a spiritual world exists. People can and do have that kind of conviction over political or ethical ideals.

how do you deal with the emptiness and unanswered questions about what happens when we die?

There's only emptiness if you believe there is a God, and then try to imagine the universe without him or her or it. When you die, you die, end of story. You have to make the most out of your life here and now, instead of living for some imaginary "second life." Thinking that things will be wonderful in your "second life" lets you avoid making this one better. You are the one that gives your life meaning/purpose/whatever, within the context of society, however it seems most people don't want to accept that, so they use a proxy (religion) which lets them think their meaning/purpose/whatever comes from a "higher power."

Re: Don't condemn Jesus! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 13:13:00 -0000

shohn wrote:

I suppose it is just has hard for you and others of like mind to accept the possibility for a spiritual world to exist...

shohn, you supposed wrong. I think it would be great if a "spiritual world" existed. Where is it?

JC, good to hear from you.

Re: Don't condemn Jesus! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 20:20:00 -0000

shohn

Please don't take this as an insult, but the impasse here is that you "know" there is a God. Unless you are willing to take a long hard critical look at that particular bit of "knowledge," the impasse will remain.

Re: Don't condemn Jesus! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 22:02:00 -0000

shohn:

When you say "came from nowhere" you must be referring to the big bang, since everything is traceable to some extent after that. As far as what caused the universe to exist I am perfectly happy to say "I don't know" and follow the developments in science as best I can. My sense of purpose or meaning or whatever you want to call it does not depend on knowing why the universe came into being or why humans exist on the Earth. I not saying it doesn't matter but like I said earlier, these are questions that people have been asking for thousands of years and we still don't have the answers, and I think we waste too much time trying to "figure it all out." There are a number of mythologies to try to explain "why," including Christianity, and none of them are credible IMO. And if you just absolutely have to know "why" before you can feel you have a sense of purpose or meaning or whatever in life, then you are going to have to subscribe to one of those mythologies, or make up your own.

You mention a false dichotomy that either there is a God, or else we are just the result of random processes. From what I understand of physics matter does organize itself, there are large-scale structures in the universe that are not random, and obviously we are not random chemicals, we are thinking human beings. Evolution is not a random process (although random mutations play a part,) it is an adaptive process. The good parts of Christianity you mention are good. But you don't need a supreme being in order to love others, prohibit crime, not be a hypocrite, and behave in a positive and responsible way. In fact I think these good things are better if there is no supreme being, since they are proof that the human race is capable of behaving in a civilized fashion without a "cosmic parent" to enforce the rules. Maybe you can explain to me why man can't be good or meaningful or have a purpose without this supreme being. And science and God aren't mutually exclusive, there's just no evidence that God exists. The only "proof" is the Bible, which is a questionable document at best, and various psychological phenomena, which can be explained without invoking spirits or the supernatural.

What's the problem with believing in a religion? Well first off, not all Christians are like you - many are into the fire-and-brimstone thing and they want to shape public policy accordingly. Religions in general are anti-democratic, they promote an obey-the-king mentality. Religion gets people thinking in simplistic terms of black-and-white and good-and-evil, and has them looking for simple answers to complex problems. Religion wants to deny science, since science keeps making it look bad. And with Christianity there is this idea that the Earth is just a temporary place, so if we wreck it, well that's just part of the grand plan, right?

Re: Don't condemn Jesus! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 18:01:00 -0000

shohn wrote:

Conceeding that there is at least something behind our existence is better that we "just exist"

Shohn

Why? Why does there have to be something "behind" our existence?

Re: Don't condemn Jesus! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:55:00 -0000

Shohn

I'm not saying that at all, I guess I didn't make myself clear - you can describe man as a collection of chemicals, as you can describe a car as a collection of parts, but obviously it misses the point. You seem to be hung up on the idea that some external someone or something must have created man in order for him to have a purpose or "meaning." Why not accept that we just are, and realize that it is we who give our lives purpose? And that does not mean that purpose is therefore arbitrary or trivial. A professor once said something that has stuck with me: if we have been asking a question for thousands of years and still don't have an answer, maybe we're asking the wrong question. And it should come as no surprise that Christianity (and religion in general,) has us constantly asking the wrong questions.

Re: Don't condemn Jesus! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 11:30:00 -0000

shohn wrote:

We're all just an "evolved" collection of chemicals...

Shohn, that's true, but you could also say a car is just a collection of metal and plastic parts. I think what you are saying is that from your Christian perspective, without God there is no purpose in life. But why do you need someone else to give you a purpose? And what is the "purpose" of life for a Christian? Well you don't really know, since that's up to God, but generally its worship God, read and believe the Bible, and go to heaven. But what about being good stewards of the Earth so that we don't wreck the planet, having tolerance for other beliefs (or atheists,) controlling our fertility so that we have sustainable populations, democracy, science, critical thinking, exploration of the universe, etc? The Bible doesn't address these issues, or does so very poorly; these are things we need to address in order to survive in the long term and grow as a species. Instead of living for beliefs for which we have no real proof, we need to start facing reality and improve the human condition here on Earth.

Re: Dear Friends - Atheists and Questioning Believers, - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 21:49:00 -0000

Let's face it Brian, if you have to scare people into believing in your religion, it makes you and your religion look bad. Do you have anything to offer besides fear?

Re: Hell is very hot! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:57:00 -0000

Anonymous wrote:

I don't see you getting anywhere because neither side can prove or disprove god or hell or whatever

Anon, first of all its not up to atheists to prove God doesn't exist, although every other Christian seems to think so. Remember Carl Sagan's famous words: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Second there have been scientific studies looking for the existence of God and they all came up negative. I lost my reference on that (its somewhere on talkorigins) but recently there was the Harvard/Templeton study, which showed prayer doesn't do anything to help patient outcomes.

Re: Hell is very hot! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 21:48:00 -0000

preston wrote:

i've seen teeth grow back and tumors fall off when someone commands the name of Jesus.

preston, whose teeth grew back and which teeth were they? How old was the person, and how long did it take for them to grow back? Did a dentist examine this person? Who had the tumor, how old were they, where was it, and how did it "fall off?" Was the person under a doctor's care, and if so how did the doctor react to this? Since you don't supply any details and seem very casual about what would be absolutely extraordinary events I have to conclude that you are making them up.

Re: Satan is blinding you to the truth - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:13:00 -0000

I would say D O'Hara is not a very good Christian, as he or she is bearing false witness by deliberately distorting the theory of evolution.

Re: A prophecy for the webmaster - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 13:02:00 -0000

David wrote:

I have experienced God in ways that defy human logic.

David, if you really have experienced God then that experience won't defy logic, it will be validated and confirmed by logic. Otherwise you're just saying you can't explain something, therefore God must have done it.

Re: I'm living proof! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 10:08:00 -0000

R Hoeppner wrote:

I know that mutation has always been observed to be deliterious to a specie...

That is incorrect, one only has to look at the development of drug resistant bacteria.

I also know that species appear abruptly and that many species appeared all at once in the Cambrian period

The Cambrian explosion was at least 5-10 million years long, so "all at once" is a substantial length of time.

It's also true that when Johnson found Lucy that it came just in time because his grant money was about to run out.

Even if that is true it has no effect on the scientific merit of his discovery.

Re: I'm living proof! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 14:28:00 -0000

What Justin and all the other Christians with their various proofs never seem to realize is that if their proof was credible, documentable and able to withstand scrutiny they would have the greatest scientific discovery in the history of mankind, and they would probably convert a billion people to Christianity virtually overnight. Shouldn't producing some irrefutable evidence be their highest priority? They are describing an event that actually happened, right? And there are plenty of scientists who profess to being Christian and would no doubt love to see that proof, so they really can't complain about some scientific/atheistic bias against them. However no such proof has ever been produced despite the thousands of claims.

Re: You are not an x-Christian! - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 10:41:00 -0000

Lonnie, you are totally wrong. I do have hope. I hope you go away. And I do have faith that you will do so. So I have hope and faith, and yes, I do have a future. Right now I'm trying to figure out what to have for lunch, so pray for me. After lunch I will no longer be empty, and you can be happy knowing that you have helped another person who was facing a difficult decision in life.

Re: What next? - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 13:58:00 -0000

Anonymous wrote:

"I think that in a democracy like America, submitting our authorities should be on the top of the list of priorities"

Assuming you meant submitting _to_ authorities, then you really don't understand what democracy is. In a democracy we the people are the authorities, and it is up to us to constantly evaluate what our elected officials are doing, and if we don't like their actions we vote them out of office. Obviously there are serious problems with the current system in the US, but that is how it is supposed to work. This is why separation of church and state is so important, since religion promotes unquestioning obedience to a supreme authority, the opposite of democracy.

Re: What next? - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 22:27:00 -0000

Steve wrote:

"If it is mean and hateful it is unlikely to be Christian, even if it claims to be and is promoted under its banner."

So do something about it. Don't sit around reading scripture, go out and show the world that Christians won't tolerate hatred, meanness, lies, fraud, torture or murder under the banner of Christianity or any other banner. Then you might have something worth following.

Re: What next? - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 22:07:00 -0000

"Or does it require no effort at all on your part and lead nowhere?"

What it requires is the effort to develop critical thinking skills, become educated, and attain some degree of scientific literacy. Where it leads to is reality.

Re: Eternity in hell - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 10:12:00 -0000

Anonymous wrote:

"...we can all sound real smart if we change the definition of things to fit our arguments."

No, we all sound real stupid if we make up definitions of words that aren't in any dictionary:

"...faith is based on evidence. We all have faith in something. But it is only as good as the evidence it is based on."

Re: Eternity in hell - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 10:50:00 -0000

Anonymous wrote::

It easy to defend your position when you redefine terms for your argument.

OK, lets look a definition of faith:

"Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence."

Considering that definition of faith the rest of your argument makes no sense. A chair is a physical object, you do not have to have faith that it will support you, you can test and verify that it will do so (apply test weights to the chair to see if it breaks, for example.) In fact if it is a relatively new chair the manufacturer has already done that for you by testing the various materials of construction. On the other hand you have no testable or verifiable evidence of God's existence (no one has,) psychological events such as being "born again" don't count, as they can be explained without any reference to the "divine" .

Emanuel Goldstein wrote:

But, in the end, hell will still be waiting.

Again, show us the evidence that supports your claims. Anything other than Bible verses would be extremely helpful.

Re: Desperation - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:08:00 -0000

cbpastor_1:

Do you actually do anything to help your fellow man? Or is your religious conversion just about making yourself feel better?

Re: Are you really looking at yourself? - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 12:14:00 -0000

Nunya trolled:

"...it doesn't matter who says what the truth is or isn't, we all find out when we die."

That's great, you go first.

"What matters is the amount of love and caring you can find to give and share with the people that matter to you"

So lets see some love and caring instead of self-righteous scolding. Are you really looking at yourself?

Re: Leaving Another Myth - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 12:44:00 -0000

island

I'm not saying that the universe is the result of random processes. I'm just saying that randomness is one factor at work. In other words chaos and order coexist.

Re: Leaving Another Myth - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 10:39:00 -0000

Anon:

The Earth isn't adapted to us. We are adapted to it. Our adaptation is still a natural phenomenon that was ordained at the
beginning of the universe.

I would agree, if by "ordained" you mean subject to the laws of physics (including laws we don't know about yet.) Saying that someone or something chose specific values for the force of gravity or the speed of light according to a plan is
anthropomorphism (attribution of human characteristics or behavior to natural phenomena.)
I think many people can't accept that meaning and beauty can exist in the universe independent of a creator, and that appears to be one of the main arguments of the ID camp: "I see beauty in a flower, therefore someone must have designed it." Also I think that true randomness exists, therefore it would have been impossible to know exactly how the universe would unfold at its inception.

Re: Leaving Another Myth - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:44:00 -0000

Dave

I'm glad you refer to Intelligent Design as a belief, because that's what exactly what it is. Those that are trying to claim it is a scientific theory (Behe, Dembski and Wells for example) have yet to come up with any plausible evidence. Talk Origins does a great job of debunking ID, and since the ID people have no real evidence for their theory they like to pretend that mainstream scientists are persecuting them, when in fact if they were really on to something they would have a Nobel prize by now. Its also interesting that most ID advocates try to avoid talking about the "designer," since they would have to admit that its equally likely that some random aliens from another planet (not God) created life on Earth.

Anonymous wrote:

"Why does the universe work that way? Science will never answer that..."

If the universe was "designed" by someone or something then what makes you think that science will never find evidence of that design? Science is about understanding reality. Think about it - we could possibly uncover scientific evidence of the existence of God. On the other hand if you believe in a fantasy then yes, science will never find evidence for it.

"The are certain numbers in the universe that if they were off by even the tiniest bit, life would be impossible."

What you are describing is the weak anthropic principle, a good rebuttal is here.

Re: I'm a pastor in Indiana - Letters to the Webmaster

alan — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:27:00 -0000

UnBlinded wrote:

Gog [sic] would easily take the soft heart being presented to Him and infuse it with a healthy fear of God. This fear comes from acknowledging His holiness and respecting Him as your creator

Not surprisingly there are some Bible verses that say you are totally wrong:

2Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

1John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2008/08/bebo-could-get-7-years.html

alan — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:08:33 -0000

Just as a point, the maximum penalty is 7 years, it is extremely rare for the maximum penalty to be given.

Given the penalty given to this guy.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=10521796

Freed hacker could work for police
5:00AM Wednesday July 16, 2008
By Shenagh Gleeson
Owen Walker. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Owen Walker. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Nine months ago Whitianga teenager Owen Walker faced the possibility of extradition by the FBI for cyber crime.

Yesterday he walked free from the High Court in Hamilton with the prospect of a career with the New Zealand police or an overseas computer company before him.

In an extraordinary move backed by police, Justice Judith Potter discharged the 18-year-old without conviction on some of the most sophisticated cyber crime seen in New Zealand.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2008/07/puking-dui-killer.html

alan — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:09:49 -0000

Somme of the comments here quite frankly make me sick particularly this

The sooner he is either given the jeffrey dahmer treatment (killed in prison) or the sooner his two cellmates, two 300 hundred pounders, are violating him sexually

countenancing rape and murder..how quaint

Re: Nude pics of 13-year-old girl posted to MySpace

alan — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:31:15 -0000

Just one point, the girls and the guy live in Australia not New Zealand

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/11/werribee-teens-convicted.html

alan — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:07:03 -0000

This might give some insight into the program.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/judge-opts-for-rehabilitation-and-education-over-punishment/2007/11/05/1194117959955.html

The order requires the teens to report for up to six hours a week to a youth justice worker, who will counsel them and, in some cases, order them to perform community work for the period dictated by their sentence.

Two of the teens who played lesser roles in the attack were sentenced to a probation order for 12 months, which requires them to report weekly to a youth justice worker.

All of the boys were ordered to complete the Male Adolescent Program for Positive Sexuality, an educational program run by the Royal Children's Hospital that is designed to prevent re-offending, which the judge said was not "an easy option".

Victoria Police and Department of Justice records showed only 5 per cent of participants over a 4 ½ year period went on to commit further offences.

The judge hearing this case was compelled to sentence the teenagers according to the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005. Sentencing of adults in Victorian courts focuses on rehabilitation as well as punishment and deterrence, but the primary goal of the Children's Court is rehabilitation.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/08/don-like-green-i-blow-up-school.html

alan — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 03:10:35 -0000

Clearly to many kids have access to guns, knives etc, clearly schools need to be careful.

I understand the problem, its the response that's got me worried, it appearsto me that it's sometimes over the top.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/08/don-like-green-i-blow-up-school.html

alan — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 23:00:01 -0000

What are you people on over there?

I'm really concerned that you people take everything so damm seriously. And criminal charges really aren't the way to go. How about sitting down with the kid and talking to him.

But no, that would be to sensible.

Total over reaction by people.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/08/westerville-teens-not-killers-say.html

alan — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:53:16 -0000

Bah.. as Roosevelt said..you have nothing to fear but fear itself.

If you allow these guys to influence your behavior then you've given them a victory.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/07/joe-meredith-pleads-guilty.html

alan — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 23:06:52 -0000

ddin't he have an alleged accomplice?

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/07/packer-fans-lock-kid-away-during-games.html

alan — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:13:39 -0000

What have you got against Bears..why would you want to give them food poisoning :)

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/07/werribee-teens-plead-guilty.html

alan — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 01:19:52 -0000

Well having been here all my life may I make an observation.

Firstly I suspect the other four will also plead guilty once the level of offending is determined.

I was rather suprised that the prosecution supported this.

The proposed sentence is lenient, no doubt, but the law in Victoria and elsewhere is quite clear, young people should only be sent to goal at the last resort. As rehabilitation is seen as more important..plus it saves taxpayers dollars.

As for Steve's comments on criminal bloodlines, these days there's a certain pride in being a descendant of the first fleet, rather like the descendantsof the Mayflower Pilgrims, however most of the defendants in this case are first or second generation immigrants.

I wonder if this wasthe caseof a Lord of the Flies
moment for these guys, they were drunk possibly drugged up.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/07/more-on-fry-cook-plot.html

alan — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:26:36 -0000

to Jim

It has ever been thus

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/06/gin-and-juice-from-sippy-cup.html

alan — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 13:03:29 -0000

Very Hogathian.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/06/tyler-dumstorf.html

alan — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 09:04:11 -0000

"Its over. He is dead is there a need to keep bringing it up."

It is not over. This one officer's family who is devestated. There is another who is injured. No one has a perfect life. Yet it is the very rare exception who kill others cause they can't deal

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/06/tyler-dumstorf.html

alan — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:03:47 -0000

Sorry for the loss of the officer. He might have been a good kid on the surface, but obviously he was one screwed up kid. It is very hard to defend the kid and seperate him from this action. We are a sum total of our actions, and some actions speak multitudes about our character.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/06/werribee-teens-get-additional-charges.html

alan — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:10:30 -0000

It depends if it remains in the Childrens court then the absolute maximum they could receive is three years for all charges. Presuming of course that they're founsd guilty of them.

This whole thing reminds me of William Golding's "The Lord of the Flies"

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/06/winslow-twp-shooting-plotter-released.html

alan — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 01:54:27 -0000

It has nothing what so ever to do with race.

Getting back to this kid. Hopefully he does mean it, and sucessfully re-integrates back into normal life, benefitting himself and the rest of society.

Re: http://www.crimene.ws/2007/06/winslow-twp-shooting-plotter-released.html

alan — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 23:36:42 -0000

One can only agree with your self assessment :P

Re: Preference rules proposed

alan — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 21:00:06 -0000

The fundamental problem with State government is its Personnel function which is a failure. There is no desire to fix it, as it seems to work well for those who run it.

Managers have told new hires: "Look, we are hiring two engineers. I get to hire one and the Governor's Office gets to hire the other one. So I'm going to need you to do the work of two people, you understand that?"
Or because when the State hires managers, the jobs are not placed in the newspaper or on the Internet, they are placed on a few bulletin boards, and the State's Intranet for a mere five days, or maybe four and a half. So Managers literally will call around on their own to get someone to come in interview, because "I am scared of who personnel will send over if I don't shake the bushes for a few decent qualified candidates." A personnel system where 1/2 of hires are not expected to work and where managers fear the dysfunctional personnel function.
I meet a gentleman in college who told me: "I didn't know how to type when I applied; my degree is in political science. But my daddy plugged me in through politics, he dropped my application off at Republican HQ...I guess political science and computer science is easily confused in the State's personnel system. And it has been a couple years and my wife and I have a baby now, so I thought taking a computer class at night would get me out of the house."
Or in another instance we interviewed five of eight candidates and ranked them 1 to 5, with 1 being the most desirable and 5 the least, and there was a range of salary to play with in the budget. But you know, our time was wasted as the hiring was done by personnel, not the manager who needed the work done. So personnel hired candidate 5 at the maximum salary, because these two ladies knew each other outside the office socially.

Look at the hiring website of Arizona and Florida and compare it to our system. We need to take a serious look at our State's personnel function. Job's should go to the individual a Manager wants to hire to get the job done. Jobs should be posted so the public can bid on them. And yes, that should mean posting to the internet. And five days posting for manager positions...ha ha, what a sick joke on the taxpayer. It is the failure of the State to hire managers which prevents it from effectively carrying out its duties.

Oh, and what happens when someone gets a call from a bush shaking manager and then gets a call from a Personnel function which wants to sell the job to someone else, or give it to an old family friend, ...they offer you the lowest possible salary for the job position regardless of your education training and experience. An organization will seldom succeed beyond the capabilities of its managers, and neither party seems to be offering us much. The thing which surprises me is the public thinks hiring Veterans is some kind of law or policy. It was just a campaign gimmick, they were joking; it is not how Illinois does government. It is like saying Ã¢â‚¬Å“The Lottery funds go to educationÃ¢â‚¬ÂÃ¢â‚¬Â¦
Alan

Re: Question of the day

alan — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 20:32:25 -0000

Will the Revere Group and Donna Simmons study of the State's personnel systems ever see the light of day?
Or were they just schemes to skim money off of the public treasury?
What changes to the personnel system have been implemented as a result of these expensive studies recommendations, if there were any?

What is the progress on recovering the millions given to the Campaign worker created IPAM?

Re: Trucking company to create hub, 400 jobs

alan — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 20:38:58 -0000

Raising taxes to created a bloated government and chase out everyone...but the ball players who in effect, get a tax rebate. Economic Opportunity, DCCA or whatever you call it serves the State poorly...just look at the cost for the employees who administer it and you find they are the greatest beneficiary...especially when you take into account the unreported future insurance benefits of the retirees. It is just a trick for governors to hire campaign workers and steal our money in the name of good to give out to the 'players'.

Re: Question of the day

alan — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 20:57:22 -0000

1) Eliminate the income tax, so there is less money to steal from the public treasury.
2) Have one Senator from each county. Reduce the house reps to 102 and allocated upon proportional representation. This may not make things better, but the current system screws the many counties without the large population center of Chicago.
3) Hire competent managers. Yes, this means gutting the personnel system in its entirity and those who abuse their positions in a criminal and unethical fashion. Managers want to hire good people on the front-line to get the job done. Take hiring decisions out of the hands of the mysterious and corruptible personnel system and place it in the hands of those responsible for their units work getting done. We are tired of people showing up without so much as a job even being posted, let alone interviewed.

Re: Morning shorts

alan — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:24:33 -0000

The press gets bamboozled by Bobbie Steele (see "Send in the Clowns" above), misleading readers into thinking she gave Stroger's patronage chief "the boot."

Now the newspapers are getting suckered again--this time by Daley, who jumps on public opinion to ridicule aldermen for passing the foie gras ban. As this column points out, WHY DIDN'T DALEY VETO IT? Last time I checked, he was considered a powerful mayor with the veto pen sitting on his desk.

Do you think even one reporter, other than Rich Miller, mentioned this rather dramatic inconsistency? Why aren't reporters covering the aldermen who voted against this Nanny State measure "ridiculing" Daley for having gone along with it?

Rich, you need to take over the Chicago media. You're the only one pointing out the obvious truths that press institutions with armies of reporters can't figure out!

Re: Send in the clowns

alan — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:12:45 -0000

Tom, not your fault that you thought Steele was actually doing something. The news stories, especially the Sun-Times, was incredibly misleading.

I thought this patronage guy really had gotten "the boot" as the headline and the lead of the story said. I was almost through reading the rather long story when the writer casually mentioned that the guy had simply been moved upstairs and would receive his same $114,000 salary for apparently doing nothing.

Shame on the Sun-Times and the other newspapers for printing this so-called "story." It's only a story when something changes. And nothing has changed in Cook County. That's for sure.

Re: Karate-do - aikido - same thing?

alan — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:32:12 -0000

Karate-do+cold showers+sake=Shotokai seems pretty clear to me.

Re: http://www.mokurendojo.com/2008/09/another-way-yall-can-help-me-out.html

alan — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:34:00 -0000

My name is Alan and I'm a lurker. Love the articles. The page looks very nice as well.

Re: http://www.dailyautocad.com/2008/09/autocad-2008-material-definition_18.html

alan — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:06:31 -0000

Hello Erhan,

I'm impressed of your mapping tutorials its very good for the new learner. i am a interior designer I'm using 3D max before but it takes long time, that's why i decide to use the autocad for rendering, but my problem is i haven't figure out a good result and id like my work look like a realistic, and my other problem is how to adjust the lighting.

Thank you,

regards,
Alan

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/two-week-giveaway-sex-and-city-complete.html

alan — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:40:30 -0000

I've entered on twitter

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-replicant-blu-ray.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:53:27 -0000

Enter me please, JCVD is awesome

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-choas-blu-ray.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:34:11 -0000

Let me win

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-see-no-evil-blu-ray.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:36:02 -0000

i want to win

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-ninth-gate-blu-ray.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:52:16 -0000

Please enter me

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-cutthroat-island-blu-ray.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:37:23 -0000

Enter me please

Re: GIVEAWAY: Apple's Brand New iPhone 3GS!

alan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:32:19 -0000

supports the troops...send us free iphones ;) @tazam80
http://www.abrandt.org

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-coraline.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:41:11 -0000

Enter me please

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-great-buck-howard.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:42:38 -0000

I've entered

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-agatha-christie-poirot-marple.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:43:26 -0000

Entered, thanks

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-mafia-cold-blooded-history-of.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:44:12 -0000

I've entered

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-madoff-and-scamming-of-america.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:45:26 -0000

Entered, thanks

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-ancient-aliens.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:46:23 -0000

entered

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-state-complete-series.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:47:36 -0000

Count me in

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-sunshine-cleaning.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:50:50 -0000

entered

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-global-metal.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:48:33 -0000

Entered

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-echelon-conspiracy.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:51:31 -0000

count me in

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-dragonball-evolution-z-edition.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:55:28 -0000

me too

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-gi-joe-real-american-hero.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:53:27 -0000

Entered

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/07/giveaway-power-rangers-rpm-vol-1.html

alan — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:52:21 -0000

Power Rangers, brings back memories

Re: Codice coupon 100$ in omaggio per Google Adwords

alan — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:27:46 -0000

interessante, ma... dove posso trovare questo codice per l'attivazione del coupon?? non lo vedo da nessuna parte...

Re: http://www.tribodomouse.com.br/2008/12/inovao-e-o-fim-da-escravido.html

alan — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:38:00 -0000

Casualmente eu assisti esse programa no dia em que ele foi transmitido, e realmente esses 5 minutos do vídeo mostram a síntese da realizade atual para muitas empresas e pessoas. Bom post.

Re: Atheist Pride - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 11:16:00 -0000

Sorry, Anonymous, I couldn't let this go by:

Terrorism is requiring the world leaders to start moving in on civil liberties, in order to create a more secure environment.

This is a very dangerous misconception. Ben Franklin's warning about giving up essential liberty for temporary safety was never more important than it is today. Liberty and security are not a tradeoff, as various "leaders" and the media would have you believe, I could go on at great length about this, but just ask yourself: if we allow our hard-won civil liberties to be taken away, exactly when are we supposed to get them back?

Re: Is your God supremely different from anyone else's God? - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 10:13:00 -0000

Lectim wrote:

...it's more you should follow what the teachings are and the other things that are taken to be his word, and act on that.

Problem is, at least for Christianity, is that teachings are often confused, arbitrary or downright nonsensical, depending on what "authority" you listen to, and can change over time. So for example when you read two passages in the Bible that contradict each other you have to do some interpretation, and how are you going to do that? Its very likely you are going to fall back on your "understanding" of God to try and figure it out. Saying God cannot be understood means: a) man can never really understand reality, b) science and reason can be ignored when it is convenient, c) man for all intents and purposes lives in an arbitrary universe, and d) believers with always be able to explain events with "he works in mysterious ways," including the classic problem of evil in the world. If God exists and he cannot be understood then isn't religion ultimately an incredible waste of time and effort?

Re: An Atheist Tries Jesus - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 10:59:00 -0000

Speaking of death, why aren't Christians looking to die as soon as possible? Since most of them are convinced that they will go to heaven, shouldn't they be drinking, smoking, living on junk food, not wearing a seatbelt, and avoiding doctors? Why prolong life on this Earth, with all the crime, mortgage payments and bad music? Why not get right to the milk and honey, and the streets paved with gold (72 virgins if you're a Muslim.) Why not rejoice when parents or children die, since they will just be meeting up with them again in heaven? Plus they get to gloat while all the people they don't like are tortured for all eternity. Seems like a great deal to me, so why wait?

Re: An Atheist Tries Jesus - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 13:10:00 -0000

Anonymous wrote:

"More people have been killed by atheists than any other single group. Hitler, Stalin, Chairman Mao were all dogmatic atheists and adherents of Darwinian evolution"

You are incorrect. Hitler was a Roman Catholic (depending of course on your definition of Roman Catholic, although the church at the time did nothing to stop him,) and he didn't support Darwinian evolution. It appears he believed in Social Darwinism, which is a separate theory popularized by Herbert Spencer, not Charles Darwin.

I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator. -Mein Kampf volume 1 chapter 2

People and Fatherland. What we have to fight for is the necessary security for the existence and increase of our race and people, the subsistence of its children and the maintenance of our racial stock unmixed, the freedom and independence of the Fatherland; so that our people may be enabled to fulfill the mission assigned to it by the Creator -Mein Kampf volume 1 chapter 8

Stalin was a Marxist dictator and an atheist, but it would be hard to prove that he was motivated by atheism. Stalin rejected Darwin's theory of evolution and the theory of genetics in favor of Lamarckism a theory which has since been discredited.

You also conveniently forget about the Christian persecution of Jews, which has resulted in countless deaths.

"Jesus Christ came out of that grave and was seen by over 500 witnesses over the next forty days"

Once again we have to assume that the Bible is factual. Are you sure it was 500 witnesses, and not just 120?

And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) -Acts 1:15:

Re: Pastor Admits Sex With Teen Girl - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:26:00 -0000

merbear -

Your conception of God is exactly that, a conception, an idea, a mental construct. It is what you think God should be, but others have described God differently, and I can find Bible verses that support your view and others that contradict it. Nobody is saying man is perfect or is in control of the universe, or that we are a race of gods. But religion holds us back by promoting the idea that we have to be "saved" by an external being. YOU are the one that is improving yourself by trying to behave morally, and although you may need to believe a higher power is at work, the truth is you are the one with that power. Its easy to assume that only religion can confer ethics and morality, but that is not true, and we are capable of moving beyond our primitive superstitious beliefs and living according to reason. You say you have evidence of God's existence despite your unanswered prayers, but the only "evidence" anyone ever has is psychological in nature and can be easily explained without referring to any divine being. If you absolutely have to believe in the supernatural no one can stop you, but perhaps one day instead of accepting what you have been told you will apply some critical thinking to religion. You will find it does not hold up under scrutiny, which it would if it were true.

Re: Minister already on sex offender registry faces new charges - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 15:28:00 -0000

Elder T.W. wrote:

It sounds as if some of you fellows would like to do that not only to fallen believers, but to those who are living according to God's Word

Let's face it Elder, you're the one who wants to watch people you don't like roast in hell for eternity. And the threats, false accusations and self-righteousness aren't helping your cause.

Re: Supreme Court to decide if atheist groups can sue Bush - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 10:10:00 -0000

TC Mom:

If I were in your situation I would consult a lawyer, or contact the ACLU or the Southern Poverty Law Center. It sounds to me like the court ordered rehab is unconstitutional, if that is the case you have grounds for legal action.

Re: Fraud in the church - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:04:00 -0000

Since religion itself is a fraud it should come as no surprise that churches are havens for conmen and hucksters. And because so many parents feel the need to indoctrinate their children there is always a fresh crop of sheep ready and willing to be fleeced. Individual scientists may commit fraud, but science is self-correcting as it is an attempt to describe something objective, namely reality. With religion you can just make it up as you go along.

Re: Convert or die! - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 16:34:00 -0000

What would Jesus shoot? AK-47 or M16?

Re: 10 myths -- and 10 truths -- about atheism - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 13:32:00 -0000

Paul wrote:

You atheist morons in America, you have been given freedom in this Christian America because we love all human beings.

Paul, if we happen to call you a dumbass, remember its just an expression of love for a fellow human being.

Re: The Blasphemy Challenge - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 10:11:00 -0000

Tizso, your post makes no sense. You end up saying that science is conjecture, which is absurd, you have the scientific method backwards (hypothesis comes first,) hypothesis is not a "mere assumption or guess" and we don't live in a little room, we are on a planet moving through the universe. Nice try indeed.

Re: Former pastor and youth minister faces sexual assault charges - ExChristian.Net - News and Opinion

alan — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:12:00 -0000

angela wrote:

We're all just a bunch of sinners who have been given hope that there is something more than just this life.

In reality you're a bunch of people who are too afraid to accept your own mortality, so you believe in a fantasy that tells you you're going to live forever, just as long as you do what you're told and don't think too much. The problem is, with your fixation on the "next world," you just might end up destroying this one and screwing us all.

Re: A Christ-less Grave - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 10:17:00 -0000

Hi Bill

Maybe you can clear something up. You write:

THERE IS NO GOD

Yet on your website you write:

Grace abounds in Christianity, from sea to sea, star to sun, earth to hearth, Heart to heart. There is no peace without forgiveness, the forgiveness of God toward man, and man toward God

You also write:

I can't speak for God: God can do amazing things.

Seems like an odd contradiction.

Re: A Christ-less Grave - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 13:48:00 -0000

Bill wrote:

It does NOT matter what I actually believe.

Sorry Bill, I don't buy that, and your behavior here says just the opposite (your glee that I fell into your "trap," for example.) Also, if you had incontrovertible proof of God's existence it would be: a) the most significant discovery in the history of mankind, b) your duty as a Christian to share it with the world, and c) all you would ever need to "destroy" atheism. The "you wouldn't accept my evidence because your mind is already made up" defense is a common refrain from Christians on this website and carries no weight. If there is anything we can determine from your writing, it is that you believe the universe is meaningless unless a supreme being gives it meaning, you can tell me I'm mistaken until your keyboard wears out but its plain as day.

webmaster: my apologies for feeding any trolls ;)

Re: Conversion, Spiritual Epiphanies and Mystical Experiences - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 12:42:00 -0000

mj wrote:

At its essence one can choose to believe that there is logic behind the universe or it has come in to being out of chaos.

You imply that evolution is equivalent to chaos, which just means you don't understand evolution. The "logic" behind the universe does not require a supreme being or intelligent designer.

The arguments I read here are foolish...

The arguments here are perfectly valid. People are asking for proof, not in a highly revised 2000 year-old text, but in the here and now. Psychological phenomena don't count, they are only proof of the power of the human mind.

That is completely understandable when you consider the natural mind is an enemy of God, it hates God.

This is wrong in so many ways, I'll just say it shows the handicap religion imposes on the human intellect.

Modern man feels so superior to those of past centuries. He thinks that man used to believe in these things because they were somehow less intelligent than he

No, what previous generations didn't have was our level of knowledge. Assuming we don't destroy ourselves, future generations will look back at our time and wonder about our ignorance. You are welcome to reject our current "superiority" and read the Bible instead of seeing a doctor the next time you are sick.

...but what he doesn’t realise is that the same arguments have been used by men for thousands of years

People have been asking for proof of God's existence for thousands of years. Here it is, almost 2007, and still no proof (except for psychological phenomena that don't prove anything divine exists.) All you have is a Bible verse that says man is foolish to question what the Bible says.

Then almost 20 years later I had a “But God” experience...

Another psychological event, or do you have some physical evidence?

..but I say you never knew Him or the power of His resurrection

I say you are afraid to let go of your superstitions.

Re: Evolution is a religious belief - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:33:00 -0000

OK Roger, here you go:

-The half life of Carbon 14 is only 5730 years; How can you date back to hundreds of millions of years with this element?

You don't use carbon-14 to date anything older than about 60,000 years, you use uranium-235, Potassium-40 or rubidium-87.

-The salinization level of the oceans; If the earth was billions of years old, at projected rates of salinization, the oceans wouldn't be able to support life.

Who is projecting the rate of salinization, Austin and Humphreys? Their work has been discredited.

-Dust on the moon

NASA wasn't expecting 20 feet of dust due to observational data, the 20 ft estimate is way out of date, you can't latch onto something that is obsolete and pretend it is still valid.

-Evidence of a global flood

What evidence, do you have a reference for this, besides Lee Strobel?

-The explosion of fossil data in the same time period

If you are referring to the Cambrian explosion it was at least 5 million years in duration, and possibly 10 times that, not exactly an overnight event.

-lack of transitional fossils

sorry, totally and outstandingly incorrect

-Repeated occurences of finding very small fossil fragments and conjuring up incredible pictures to suggest magic transitional fossils, but with no backing

Can you rephrase this to make sense?

-Earth's magnetic field

Earth's magnetic field is currently declining (or becoming more diffuse) because we are heading towards a long overdue reversal in polarity. The field is not a constant, it varies over time.

All this stuff has been debunked, you can see it all at talkorigins. If you don't like talkorigins you can go on to read their references. The question for you Roger, is do you have the honesty and integrity to admit that your arguments are not valid?

Re: Peace on Earth, good will to men - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:42:00 -0000

Paul wrote:

If ACLU and atheists have any problem with Christmas they might better think of establishing their own colony on the northpole...

Paul, if there is a problem in this country you work to change it, you don't have to go off and establish your own "colony." Its called democracy, perhaps you should look into it. The ACLU and atheists don't have any "problem" with Christmas, but there is a problem with government establishing any particular religion. If you weren't blinded by hate speech you might realize that the ACLU does a lot to defend freedom of religion:

The ACLU of Louisiana (2006) filed a lawsuit defending the free speech rights of a Christian who was protesting based on his religious beliefs.

The ACLU of Rhode Island (2006) filed an appeal in federal court on behalf of an inmate who was barred from preaching during Christian religious services...

The ACLU of Rhode Island (2003) interceded on behalf of an interdenominational group of carolers who were denied the opportunity to sing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve to inmates at the women's prison in Cranston, Rhode Island.

ACLU Defense of Freedom of Religion and Religious Expression

Whether the US was founded by Christians or not is irrelevant, what we are supposed to have is freedom of religion, which includes freedom FROM religion. We have this freedom because the founding fathers wisely decided to separate church and state. What you apparently would like to see is the establishment of a state religion, which would put us on the path to becoming just as intolerant as the Islamic states you don't like. Without separation of church and state the government can criminalize those with unapproved beliefs. Get it?

CyborgX;

The ACLU wasn't defending Phelps's views, although freedom of speech means idiots like Phelps have a right to express their beliefs. What they were against is the law itself, which would have made it a crime for someone on public property to sing, yell, congregate with others, or display any image that someone in a private funeral service might find offensive. In fact the law appears to say just walking on the street within 300 feet of a funeral could be a misdemeanor:

(1) A person is guilty of interference with a funeral when he or she at
any time on any day: . . .
(b) Congregates, pickets, patrols, demonstrates, or enters on
that portion of a public right-of-way or private property that
is within three hundred (300) feet of an event specified in
paragraph (a) of this subsection; or
(c) Without authorization from the family of the deceased or
person conducting the service, during a funeral, wake,
memorial service, or burial:
1. Sings, chants, whistles, shouts, yells, or uses a
bullhorn, auto horn, sound amplification equipment,
or other sounds or images observable to or within
earshot of participants in the funeral, wake,
memorial service, or burial; or
2. Distributes literature or any other item.
(2) Interference with a funeral is a Class B misdemeanor.

ACLU complaint

Re: I admit it. I was wrong. - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:42:00 -0000

I think what keeps most Christians from critically examining their beliefs is fear. Fear is the cornerstone of Christianity: fear of death, fear of hell, fear of angering an incomprehensible father figure, fear of judgment, fear of taking responsibility for one's own actions. Most Christians want to believe that the religion is really based on love, but its impossible to reconcile that with the belief in hell. Once fear of nonexistent spirits is cultivated in someone it can become very difficult to remove, and Christianity offers coping mechanisms to deal with this induced fear, thus reinforcing itself. Reason can overcome fear, but it seems most Christians would rather cling to their superstitions.

Re: I admit it. I was wrong. - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:35:00 -0000

Matthew, its all very simple: just provide some evidence that backs up the claims made in the Bible. Let the evidence speak for itself. You are talking about reality, are you not? If I told you there are aliens living on Mars, would you want to see my evidence, or would you accept my claim on faith? If faith is good enough then I've got some waterfront property for sale that you're going to love.

Re: I admit it. I was wrong. - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 14:12:00 -0000

Matthew

Saying "I believe" is not evidence, surely you can see that. I don't want to predict your reply, I just want to see some proof. If the proof is in church history then let's hear it. If there is evidence then we can dispense with belief and talk about facts instead.

Re: Take the Christian QUIZ! - ExChristian.Net - Articles

alan — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 11:01:00 -0000

Tizso wrote:

Life must be pretty bland without the fantastic and the magic.

Tizso, fantasy and magic are fun to think about, but they don't get you anywhere. They can provide the illusion that we are more powerful than we actually are, but its just an illusion. You had your "vision," and now you believe in a 2,000 year-old text which has been a consistent obstacle to human progress. There's no denying the benefits of reason and science, they deal with reality. You say there is some "ultimate truth," but in fact there is only truth and falsehood. You had your "vision," but you don't demonstrate any wisdom as a result of it.

Enjoy your boring, little, limited existence. I’ll wave to you on the other side; I’ll be the one with the big smile…

I'm surprised (and disappointed) that someone who "experienced God" would say something like this.

Re: TWITTER GIVEAWAY: TiVo HD!

alan — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:54:06 -0000

I'm in it also. looks great

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/05/one-month-giveaway-ipod-touch.html

alan — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:37:43 -0000

If its free, its for me! Always wanted an ipod touch, but can't afford such frivolities on my military pay! http://abrandt.org

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2009/05/giveaway-rob-thomas-live-at-red-rocks.html

alan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:33:07 -0000

I just entered! i wanna see this concert BAD!

Re: TWITTER GIVEAWAY: iPhone 3G 16GB Version!

alan — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:21:25 -0000

I could really use a free Iphone! My wife has been begging for one!

Re: TWITTER GIVEAWAY: iPhone 3G 16GB Version!

alan — Sat, 02 May 2009 23:59:00 -0000

Always wanted an iPhone. @Alansofreshh

Re: TWITTER GIVEAWAY: iPhone 3G 16GB Version!

alan — Sat, 02 May 2009 23:57:00 -0000

Always wanted an iPhone

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2007/08/kinsey-movie-dvd-review-2004-by.html

alan — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:26:00 -0000

This sounds like an interesting movie. It will definately be one of my next picks for movie night.

Re: http://www.weekinrewind.com/2007/08/serenity-collectors-edition-dvd-review.html

alan — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 23:03:00 -0000

Very psyched!

Re: Pencil the Nuggets in at No. 7

alan — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 11:30:08 -0000

It is hard to be a Nuggets fan because year in year out they will disappoint you. It is their track record since the ABA folded. the organization has always made stupid moves ever since they traded Bobby Jones away in the 1970's.What they need to do is hire a coach that can lead them to the NBA championship. George Karl is not a big time coach. His track record proves that.

Re: http://digitalemerald.blogspot.com/2009/07/svelata-la-copertina-del-nuovo-album-di.html

alan — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:36:30 -0000

Photoshop fa miracoli !:-)
ho in anteprima il nuovo singolo...non mi soddisfa

Re: http://www.romneymarshtimes.com/2009/06/putting-lydd-on-false-promises.html

alan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:48:10 -0000

A big YES to extend the runway and with it a new Airport building! There has been an airport...and a busy airport at times...at Lydd for what must be 50 years? Granting approval will once again offer much needed employment and growth to the economy and although there may be an environmental reaction...evolution will adjust and re ballance the changes. If the 'hoops' that Lydd has already jumped through to seek this application, then I am confident about how they will conduct themselves in the future! In addition...even if 50% of the employment went to locals that is a lot more than now and will continue to allow long term locals the opportunity for their families to stay in the region rather than migrate to other areas for work. I along with many of silent observers hope the approval is granted.

Re: http://www.romneymarshtimes.com/2009/06/putting-lydd-on-false-promises.html

alan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:48:10 -0000

Re: Happiness Is…

alan — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:02:00 -0000

That was one hell of a gun counter. Sarah Brady was crying and didn't even know why.< />< />Work is making me miss the shooty fun today, or I'd see you there.< />< />Next time for sure.

Re: I Don't Know How I Went This Long Without Doing It…

alan — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:01:00 -0000

Man, if I'd not been reading Breda, I just stay quiet and hope she didn't notice.

Re: Idle Observations From This Afternoon:

alan — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:34:00 -0000

That's some serious cute overload there AD!