$500 for Proof of a Mac Virus

That's right. Wil Shipley, co-Founder of Delicious Monster (makers of the incredible Delicious Library) is offering $500 to anyone who can prove that a virus exists for Mac OS X. Wil is a bit tired of all the people out there who are afraid of saying it like it is. The most recent was an article that called the Mac "relatively virus-free." Um, zero is relatively less than, say, ANYTHING!! Most of us are still using no anti-virus software on our computers...Mac users that is. Windows users had BETTER be using anti-virus software. Add to that the fact that I just cleaned off a computer for one of my employees (their personal computer, not a business computer) and pulled over 300 pieces of malware off of it in my first check (with outdated malware definitions, no less!).

So, anyone need $500? Too bad you won't be able to get it this way!

What is a Hamburger?!?

Apparently its just me, but when I go to a restaurant and ask for a hamburger, that means that I do not want cheese on it. If I wanted cheese on it then I'd ask for a cheeseburger. What are the practical implications of this? Simple. My son is allergic to dairy products. I'm not talking lactose intolerance, I'm talking about full-blown allergies. Tonight we went through the drive thru at Dairy Queen and I asked for a hamburger for the boys to split. Apparently DQ does not agree with my distinction between hamburgers and cheeseburgers. Guess I'll have to start explaining the difference between to the people at DQ.

Becoming Conversant with Fundamentalism

Andrew Jones (again) has a great first post, and lots of outstanding comments all reflecting the grace of God, on what Fundamentalist Christianity in America is, especially in comparison to the emerging church.

Storm Pics

These are not pics of Rita or Katrina, but they are some of the most incredible pictures I have ever seen of storms. Mike is a storm chaser in Nebraska (from what I can tell).

Andrew Jones Defines "Idiot"

Staying in Houston just to blog? You're an idiot, and you're not alone.

First Quiz

I just finished my first quiz in my stats class. Like I've mentioned, stats really isn't that great as far as online classes go. I'm thinking a classroom is a better way to take it. Anyway, I came into my office to take it since I had a four hour window in which to take it, but I can't quit and log back in later. Since I needed some peace, the office at night was a good place to be. I logged in on my pc at work, but brought my laptop (iBook) along so I could access notes that I had on my network at home while taking the quiz (online classes do give open book tests, of course). So here I am in the middle of my quiz, using Internet Explorer on a pc, when all of a sudden I'm getting little windows popping up telling me that IE is blocking a pop up. It shifts the entire page as I'm typing and makes it rather difficult to focus on my school work. Is there a reason IE tells me its blocking a popup?!? If I wanted to know, I wouldn't BLOCK them!! Next time I'll use the iBook for the quiz and just copy my notes onto the pc so it doesn't have to go online. I had thought about using Firefox, but this was too important to take a risk since I have to use a spoofing extension in order for Firefox to log on. Safari works just fine, so next time, Safari it will be.

Bono & Jesus

HT to Sven for pointing out this article from World Magazine. It's based on a book called Bono: In Conversation. The book is simply a series of conversations that the author has with Bono over the years.

The World Magazine article focuses specifically on the issue of faith and Jesus, and the fact of the matter is that Bono gets it. He is evangelistic in his zeal to share who Jesus is and why he believes in Jesus. A highly recommended read!

Dell Starts Selling Lighters

Not really, but the new Dell Ditty bears a bit too much of a resemblance.

2 Down, 1 To Go

Apart from Labor Day, we are spending our Monday nights in September traveling into the suburbs for our adoption orientation. This means that we've finished two out of the three orientation sessions. I have to confess that its been pretty hard on me simply in terms of lack of sleep. Starting out a week by being out until almost midnight is never easy. Add to the first week the fact that I had classes to teach on Tuesday and Wednesday, and there was some serious family deprivation. This week I'm trying to get ready for a quiz in my statistics class. I've decided that statistics is much harder online than in person...of course, I've never really taken it in person, but doing it online is very tough. I've seriously thought about dropping it, but I'm too far into the semester at this point (I checked). This is one I just get to work my way through.

The adoption sessions are going very well. After we finish these, we'll have to do a second set of classes that are specific to transracial adoption, specifically for adopting African-American children. For our first adoption we went through the first set of classes, but not the second because they weren't offered at that time. For our second adoption we went through the second set of classes, but not the first because Baby Boy came along a bit too quickly. This time we're hoping to go through both sets. Our second adoption was so fast and sudden that we really didn't have time to process the process, so to speak. We're hoping to move a bit slower this time around so that we're better prepared emotionally. Of course, this means that we're also a bit more willing to turn down adoption opportunities if we don't feel like we're prepared. We've done that a couple of times this summer. Hopefully we won't have to do that again. That is a very tough decision to make, but its one we feel like we have to make this time around simply for our own good.

Playing Horsey

Nathan kicked me out of the family room/office this morning so he could play. He then announced that he was a horse. He used some blocks to build a little wall in the doorway as his fence. He then announced that I couldn't use the other door into the room because that was where all the horse poop was! I could hear my wife laughing in the kitchen.

Originally posted at The Dad's Group.

Honeymoon Over?

George thinks the Firefox honeymoon is over. Of course, that raises an interesting question. Since Mac OS X has been out for about 5 years, and still doesn't have many (if any) vulnerabilities, does that mean it is still in its honeymoon period? Or maybe, just maybe, it actually is more secure than its competitors. When, oh when will the honeymoon end? I know its not considered good protocol, but I'm still computing without any virus protection or any other system utilities designed to detect and deal with exploits. Why? Exactly. If I don't have anything to fear, why should I fear it? Of course, the first thing I do with a Windows machine is download security updates and virus updates. Can't imagine touching the internet on a Windows machine without all the latest updates. Pretty scary stuff for Windows users. Meanwhile, I'll stick with my honeymoon period!

Think Different

Nerd Vittles is a great place to learn how to implement some of the coolest technology with your home computer. I've fallen in love with Ward's Mac mini series that delves into some very cool uses for the mini (web server, audio server, movie server, home automation center, etc.). Now, in the post-Katrina months, Ward asks some very good questions about technology. Turns out there's an easy solution to communications that no one is willing to implementing, and yes, this is serious technology using that leftover Pringles can. Hmmm...is Microsoft or Apple or Sprint or AT&T reading this column? If so, there may be some serious challenges to our current way of doing things. Nerd Vittles is truly implementing Apple's old slogan: Think Different!

Finally Catching Up To Sunday

I'm finally catching up to last weekend's football action. Sounds to me like they should not have played Monday night's game. These people are "professionals?" Sounds more like a bunch of junior highers at recess. Get a life folks!

Recovery Mode...When?

After working more than 40 hours this week, a week with a holiday, no less, ushering my one full-time employee out the door for a hospital stay, overseeing two classes, two volunteer service projects, and the taking part in the kick-off of our church's new Saturday night service, I was really looking forward to doing nothing on Sunday (well, except all the school work I have not done this week). Now we may be having a lead paint test and we are definitely attending a birthday party for my nephew. Ah well, parties are always a good thing. We should be able to put off the lead test until Tuesday AM, and since we're going to church tonight, there will be no pressure to be there Sunday morning. Jill thinks it would be weird not to go to church on Sundays. I'm hoping to make it a practice! :-) One day of rest will be a good thing.

I'm finally getting caught up on the blogs I read. I've got a few minutes of peace while the rest of the family sleeps in. The boys decided to get up for a while at 4:30. They were back to sleep by 6, so Jill will sleep in with them while I get ready to go to our service project at a local public housing development. Its a first-of-its-kind project locally. Love, INC is coordinating it and hoping to do it every month. They've got churches lined up for the first year, but we're the first, so its a bit of an experiment and Love, INC will be learning a few lessons this morning to make it easier in the future. I don't mind heading up things like this, but the timing really isn't very good for me (I didn't have any say in that part of it). Perhaps at some point I'll comment on my visit to DC a few weeks ago. I will say that meeting up with Jack and being introduced to his lovely bride was a outstanding. If you're ever in DC and just want to hang out and talk with cool people, I'll get in touch with the Boeve's for you! While I really enjoyed my class, hanging out with the Boeve's was far and away the highlight of my week. I came back with some great ideas for church services after visiting their church (Jack heads up the web site team, so make sure you visit it!. I've always loved the idea of communion every week. That comes from my mom's Plymouth Brethern background. Implementing it in a way that is laid back and meaningful was very good for me to see. Ah well, I'll post more later (when I'm needing a break from the schoolwork!). Have a great weekend, and relax for me, will ya?

On Being Poor

A long but powerful read about poverty.

Katrina and Politics

Mr. ICTHUS has a post that you should read. I'll just leave it there.

Still Want Anarchy?

Ambra describes it well, " I firmly believe that what we are seeing right now is only a glimpse into the complete and utter insanity that would be present in a lawless society." To all the anarchists in the world, is this really what you want?

Rebuild New Orleans?

My blogging has been highly sporadic of late, but I want to pose this question: Is it worthwhile to rebuild New Orleans, and why? I'm really not convinced it is at this point. Rebuild a city that is: a) below sea level; and b) in a hurricane zone? I don't really understand why it was built in the first place. Now we want to sink billions of dollars into rebuilding it PLUS building new infrastructure to protect it? If there are 1.5 million people in New Orleans (I heard that number, but don't remember where, so don't hold me to it), it would cost the gov't 7.5 billion to give everyone $5,000 to move away. Of course, property owners would also have insurance settlements to go with that, so most people would have more than the $5,000. If everyone moves away then we wouldn't have to spend billions to rebuild New Orleans the next time a hurricane hits. Isn't it an investment in the future?

That's all crass economics, which is easy to do from afar, but you know someone will sue their insurance company if their rates go up because of the New Orleans losses. I don't live in a flood zone. I don't live in a hurricane area. Why should my rates go up because other people do?

My question isn't about all of the areas affected by the hurricane, only New Orleans specifically due to its location below sea level. I've lived in a home that got flooded. I live in an area that could be affected by a tornado. I understand that natural disasters can occur anywhere. But there is something about choosing to live someplace that is most certainly going to be destroyed by a natural disaster at some point. If it wasn't a certainty then it wouldn't have been the subject of discussion prior to "The Big One."