Glimmerings: September 2004 Archives

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September 29, 2004

Quote

What we Are is God's gift to us. What we Become is our gift to God.

As seen on Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters

Posted by thdyck at September 29, 2004 | Comments (0)

September 25, 2004

Yoda's philosophy

"Yoda's philosophy was quite simplistic. 'If you get angry, you're gonna lose.' 'Don't try, do.' He has a basic philosophy that is very charming. Not very profound, although young people consider it profound. I wish they would read more."

CNN.com - Naked Wookiees and broken R2-D2s - Sep 21, 2004

Posted by thdyck at September 25, 2004 | Comments (0)

September 22, 2004

How healthy living 'extends life'

It is already known that drinking a little red wine and cooking with olive oil may help us to live longer.

Now experts say adopting four simple lifestyle measures more than halves an elderly person's risk of dying.

Being careful about diet and alcohol, exercising and not smoking cut death risk by 65%, the researchers from Wageningen University found.

BBC NEWS | Health | How healthy living 'extends life'

Posted by thdyck at September 22, 2004 | Comments (0)

September 20, 2004

Tracking down Kenya's 'miracle babies'

Lucy nods. The little boy, dressed in an over-sized sweatshirt, resembles her son, Christopher, who vanished from the family farm in the Rift Valley in 2000.

Kenyan police found the child at the home of the Oderas, a couple linked to the London-based pastor, Archbishop Gilbert Deya, who claims to be able to make infertile women pregnant through prayer.

He was one of 11 children seized. A further nine were taken from the Nairobi home of Mrs Deya, the archbishop's wife.

Kenyan police say DNA tests show only one of the children belongs to Mrs Deya.

BBC NEWS | Africa | Tracking down Kenya's 'miracle babies'

Posted by thdyck at September 20, 2004 | Comments (0)

Rwanda 'genocide' priest on trial

The Catholic hierarchy in Rwanda had close ties to extremist politicians in the run up to the genocide and some priests like Father Seromba are accused of actively assisting the Hutu militias.

In 2001, two nuns were found guilty of taking part in the genocide in a Belgian court.

The Vatican accepts there are individuals in the church who committed crimes, but controversially, it says the Church as an institution cannot be held to blame.

At the time of the genocide, some 60% of Rwandans were Catholic but some have since converted to Islam, saying the Church failed them in 1994.

BBC NEWS | Africa | Rwanda 'genocide' priest on trial

Posted by thdyck at September 20, 2004 | Comments (0)

September 17, 2004

BBC: Religious persecution in Eritrea

The government seems to have decided that anyone who does not follow a certain standard is an enemy of the people, is an enemy of the state.

It is afraid that people who consider their highest allegiance to be God, at some point may not be patriotic and follow the state's instructions.

At a time of growing tension, both with Ethiopia and Sudan, it seems the Eritrean government is determined that nothing, not even religion, should fall outside their control.

BBC NEWS | Africa | Religious persecution in Eritrea

Posted by thdyck at September 17, 2004 | Comments (0)

Xeni Flies Zero G #10: goodbye, gravity

Waiting, your face becomes newly dense. You're a chipmunk carrying cheeks full of bullets. Your blood strains. Your veins are streams carrying too much silt.

And then, when the weight is worst, the invisible hands cramming your spine into the plane's padded floor lose interest and lift away. What was concrete becomes cotton. The hands reach beneath you, and lift you up into nothing, and you float. And all there is to do when this happens for the very first time is to laugh. Because it's impossible. Because it's unnatural.

But the joke in your bones is that it feels perfectly natural, like all your life you were intended to float. After all, just before you came into the world, that's what you were doing in liquid. And when your life ends and you leave, there you are again, becoming vapor. Breaking down from matter to dust to air. Floating.

Boing Boing: Xeni Flies Zero G #10: goodbye, gravity

Posted by thdyck at September 17, 2004 | Comments (0)

September 8, 2004

BoingBoing fortified mailbox thread

I found this thread really funny. I never knew mailboxes were such hot targets!

Michael Green sez: How typical that people would overlook the fun they could have with this and instead go for the brut-force approach. I have a buddy who lived in a similar area and, after losing two mailboxes in one week, went for the "Q-Ship" approach. He found the most noticeable, but flimsy looking, mailbox available, painted it day-glo orange, filled it with cement, and mounted it at radiator level. Fortunately no one was killed, but he did manage to demolish the engine compartment of a Ford F150 pickup that tried to take it out later that evening. He never had another problem after that.

Fortified mailboxes, part 2 (from BoingBoing)

Posted by thdyck at September 8, 2004 | Comments (0)

September 7, 2004

Netflix online: very cool idea!

Netflix and TiVo want this digital nirvana to arrive as soon as possible, and they are about to join forces to make it happen. Later this month, NEWSWEEK has learned, the companies plan to unveil a simple but significant partnership that could shake up the media world. Subscribers who belong to both services will be able to download their Netflix DVDs over the Internet directly into the TiVo boxes in their homes, instead of receiving them in the mail. Spokespeople at the companies refused to comment on what they called rumor. But an insider who was close to the negotiations says the straightforward partnership is all but a done deal, pending only the approval of the TiVo board this week: "You don't need a lot of creativity to figure out the details," the insider said.

MSNBC - I Want a Movie! Now! (from BoingBoing)

Posted by thdyck at September 7, 2004 | Comments (0)