Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Fixing my house on Google maps

How to fix a wrong address on Google maps

I hope this works, Google now lets you edit the physical location of an address.

Our address has been mis-mapped on Google, at least since we moved in. We've lost packages for delivery; we've had people skip parties; and we've had utility people give up finding us. So I really hope this works.

Convergence towards the World's Last Two Remaining Religions


I think C.S. Lewis predicted this: history is closing in on just two religions--"many paths to God", which is the essence of Hinduism; and Christianity, which says Jesus is the only path that a sinner has to God.

I think we are getting there quickly.

Survey Shows U.S. Religious Tolerance

(although from the data, perhaps the direction we are going is 3 religions--Tolerance, Christianity, Cults)

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Do Hard Things on Wall Street Journal blog

Buzzwatch : Stealth Sellers: Why 'Do Hard Things' Appeals to Teen Book Buyers

I'm 27, this is one of my new favorite books--Do Hard Things a book written by Christian teenagers for teenagers. The Wall Street Journal "Buzzwatch" blog picks up on the book.

I've changed my mind--repented if you will--about my vision for the years of youth. Are they a vacation--a prized time of low responsibility, a lots of "fun"?--or are they an amazing window to have productivity, creativity and impact?

Our expectations for young people are very low, and I'd like to be apart of anything that reverses those low expectations and points to higher calling.

Credit to the kids that wrote the book too: some of the best writing, in terms of voice, simplicity, organization of thought, keeping the reader's interest, use of examples I've read in a while. The literary quality of the book is a great example of what young people are capable of doing.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

After Years of Effort, Dark Energy Still Puzzles Scientists - NYTimes.com

Article in NY Times

Physics-people are going crazy. Their observations of the stars are straining their worldview.

What they observe is "it looks like stars are racing away from us; and the farther they are; the faster they are going!"

Their conclusion: known matter in the universe is only a small percent of matter, some theoretical matter "dark matter" is causing reverse-gravity to expand the universe.

I propose a new worldview (it's not really my idea) that accounts for the Scriptures and the observations Physics-people can't explain: something crazy happened to slow speed of light in the past (and is perhaps still at work).

The reason we can see stars that look like they are dashing away from us is that the light from those stars has slowed down.

What caused this: Adam's sin affected all creation, causing it to have "bondage to decay" (see Romans 8, middle of chapter).

Adam could see the stars in the beginning, but now it takes millions of years for light to travel to earth from the stars. What happened? I think Romans 8 has the best clue.

This is dismissed by most contemporary scientists.

But why not consider it? None of us were around to take measurements in the distant past. But God was. He hasn't told us everything about the stars, but He has spoken to us in the Bible authoritatively. We can trust what He said.

The Bible doesn't say "the speed of light slowed down in the past". "Light slowed down" is just a theory within a Bible framework. There are good reasons for trusting the Bible. If God wrote the Bible AND God made the world; the Bible is an awesome tool for understanding our universe.