Archive for December 2004

December 28, 2004

Now I’m Free

1:23 pm | My Life | Comments: 0

The Family has safely returned from visiting the relatives in the True North strong and free, otherwise known as Canada. An interesting note there is that when we visit Canada, we go straight east. All geographical puzzlahs aside, it was a good time. After participating in the fez-tivities (very old-school pun), I came back to find the world in chaos. That’s pretty typical.

Today I have a job interview with a video surveillance company for an IS internship. This, folks, is the proverbial it. Further bulletins as events warrant.

December 23, 2004

Another IT Failure

1:08 am | Sci/Tech | Comments: 0

So I recently was offered an free upgrade to MusicMatch Jukebox 10, the latest version of my desktop audio player of choice. That’s cool, I thought, since I’ve been using Jukebox since version 3. The library organization of MMJB is unmatched in my opinion and it is great for ripping, burning, and working with external devices. So I install everything and bam, it fails to start. It just quits half a second into the loading screen. At this point I seriously need my music; what am I going to do? I’ve tried using Media Player and Creative MediaSource Player, but they’re so clunky and it’s almost impossible to organize a large number of mp3s. Plus there’s this weird database issue with Creative’s stuff. My next step was to hit up www.winamp.com and get their latest version, WinAmp v5.07.

WinAmp is pretty cool so far. The media library is not nearly as clean-looking as MMJB, but the program as a whole works alot faster and the user interface looks super cool (plus there are hundreds of skins to download). It’s also got good randomization ability (key for a library like mine). I haven’t tried any ripping/burning, but I noticed it said there was a max of 2x rip speed (which is almost neanderthalic). Anyways, check it out if you haven’t already. Thank goodness for Christmas Break, giving people like me time to worry about piddly little things like this.

December 15, 2004

Tangled in the Falling Vines

3:10 am | Relationships | Religion | Comments: 0

A young person’s life is full of uncertainty. Often, that can turn into all-out doubting. I think it’s important for young people like me to remember that every aspect of our lives is controlled completely by God. For young adults, this applies more than anything to relationships. That’s one special area of life where we tend to feel the strongest desires. My approach to it is to recognize that God knows my desires. He knows what I want, and why. Wanting to find a girlfriend/boyfriend and get married is great, but when you get impatient with God, it becomes coveting. As a christian, I think that desperation is a sign of unwillingness to submit to God’s plan. We need to subject our will and desires to His, for that is our calling and the only path of true blessing. In the meantime, don’t let love get you down, baby. It’s going to be alright.

December 13, 2004

So what’s the deal with Christmas?

1:50 pm | Culture | Thoughts | Comments: 0

Consider this my official Christmas post. A buddy of mine and I talked about this the other night. A lot of people in my peer group have been born and raised observing and celebrating Christmas. I think it might be a Dutch/European thing. You sing sappy songs, you get a tree, you get gifts, you go to church on Christmas morning, and so on. There’s lots of talk out there about how people are taking Jesus out of Christmas, and how it’s becoming too commercialized. While that may be true, I think there are deeper issues here.

The Westminster Standards, embodying the doctrines of the historic Presbyterian church, are firmly against the observance of “special days”. Why? Because they come directly from the Roman Catholic church, and more importantly they have no warrant in Scripture. In fact, the word “Christmas” comes directly from the Old English Cristes Maesse, which means the Mass of Christ. Thus, I believe there is no Christian or biblical history behind celebrating Christmas. I haven’t quite gotten there yet, but I think there may be reason for Reformed Christians to not only set the celebration of Christmas aside, but also speak out about celebrating the day.

To elaborate more on the senselessness of the “Christmas season”, let’s talk about gift giving. I can’t think of anything more fake. If people were truly generous and thinking about others, they would give gifts at any time during the year. When Christmas comes along, people feel obligated to give gifts, more often than not expecting something in return. Next up to bat is Santa Claus (sometimes known as “Satan Claus”). I shouldn’t have to say much about this guy. His status as folklore is fine with me, but we have so many idiots these days teaching their kids that he is real. This is simply lying to your children, and the consequence is that a figure of folklore and fiction is blown way out of proper proportion in our culture. Then there’s the Christmas tree. What is the point of that? Drag a freaking big plant into your house (unless you go for the boxed-up fake one) and pimp it out with all manner of lights and bobbles and other what-not. Why do you need to glorify this organism in your house? Senseless.

All that being said, we must not undercut the importance of the doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ. Our salvation is completely dependent on God becoming man and living on the Earth. It is the essential first step, as promised at the very first to Adam and Eve in Genesis. We as Christians should not need any special occaision to remember or celebrate this, though. Especially when such a day is to be found nowhere in the Bible. For those in other countries where Christmas is completely foreign, this whole season must seem like much ado about nothing - for in America these days, it truly is.

December 6, 2004

Flashback: 1995

1:25 pm | Random | Comments: 4

(This was the end of greatness.)

Dear Editor:

I will be stopping Calvin and Hobbes at the end of the year. This was not a recent or an easy decision, and I leave with some sadness. My interests have shifted however, and I believe I’ve done what I can do within the constraints of daily deadlines and small panels. I am eager to work at a more thoughtful pace, with fewer artistic compromises. I have not yet decided on future projects, but my relationship with Universal Press Syndicate will continue.That so many newspapers would carry Calvin and Hobbes is an honor I’ll long be proud of, and I’ve greatly appreciated your support and indulgence over the last decade. Drawing this comic strip has been a privilege and a pleasure, and I thank you for giving me the opportunity.

Sincerely,
Bill Watterson

December 2, 2004

SIO Health Awareness Notice

4:53 pm | Health | Comments: 0

Today we have some shocking research to share with you. Apparently, smoking Marijuana (sometimes referred to as hemp, cannabis, weed, pot, dope, grass, or Mary Jane) is bad for your health. According to a recent study done in England, smoking Marijuana moderately increases your likelihood of developing psychosis later on in life. Here at SIO, we do not encourage substance abuse. Therefore, we recommend that all our readers abstain from smoking Marijuana and underage drinking, as both are equally illegal and unhealthy.