Under The Sun

Redeeming the Time Visit The Death Clock website, answer a few questions and see your very own personal Day of Death — it’s probably nearer than you think! As you watch the remaining seconds of your life count down, ponder this: there is only one thing in life more inescapable than the Inland Revenue: man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. Death has no sting for those trusting in Christ, for The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, as Christians, how do we spend those precious, decrementing seconds? Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity [redeeming the time in the Authorised Version], because the days are evil.

What about the hours we spend in front of the television? Try the Zen TV Experiment - at least, read the article. No, it’s not about Zen Buddism, but it may change the way — and how much — you watch the box.

What would Jesus drive? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? Jesus would use public transport.

Someone at work used to have a card pinned to his cubicle wall saying Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part. If only.

According to UK Tourism Minister Kim Howells, most Americans believe the UK is in the Middle East:

“Very often people do not understand the title of the country,” Dr Howells told MPs of Commons culture select committee yesterday. “In America, people had heard of London, some had heard of England, no one had heard of the United Kingdom - they thought it was somewhere in the Middle East.”

I suddenly started to feel distinctly nervous…

In a recent survey, 11% of young adult Americans were unable to point to the USA on a map of the world. Out of 9 countries “tested”, Britain came 5th and the USA 6th.

Harry Potter for US President? Glenn Reynolds finds parallels with the present incumbent:

What he brings to the table are personal qualities rather than talents. He’s loyal, and more importantly he inspires loyalty. And he has a clear vision of what matters. Everyone else is able to forget, or to convince themselves to ignore, the threat posed by Voldemort. Harry, on the other hand, never forgets. Potter even has to deal with purblind Eurocrats, like Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic.

Something new on the sun? Swedish astronomers have published remarkable images of sunspots:

The 1-metre solar telescope at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ observatory on the Canary Island of La Palma, installed in spring of this year, is providing astronomers with images of sunspots showing unprecedented detail. The latest images reveal previously unknown fine structure in the form of long, thin dark cores within the bright filaments of the sunspot penumbra, or outer region. Here, fundamental physical processes are occurring in the solar photosphere on scales of less than 100 km–a challenging phenomenon for theoreticians to tussle with.

You learn something new every day (in this case, by visting the very cool Chad): Internet Explorer can display text upside down— the question is, why?

Keeping Languages Alive a group of scientists and engineers are crafting a modern Rosetta stone that will preserve more than 1,400 of the world’s 7,000 languages on a 3-inch nickel disk.

Information will be presented in plain text — not 0s and 1s. Future generations will need only a 1,000-power microscope to read the microprint.
The disk contains vocabulary lists, phonology, writing systems, sample texts, grammar and numbering systems for each language.
It also displays translations of the first three chapters of the book of Genesis in eight major languages, from Arabic to Swahili.