Web/tech

(Tim) Interesting information on patents Apple's been granted for what many think will be a new iPod video headset. Just what we need...

(Tim) For about five years I've been using the Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones (Black) and loving them so much that, about two years ago, I bought five pair for my sons and one dear missionary friend. Why the missionary friend?

Because these earphones fit in the ear canal and make flying almost bliss. They can be plugged into your iPod or the airplane's headphone receptacle. These headphones work much, much better than those the airlines hand out (or rent) because the Etymotic ER61s cut off all ambient noise. And I mean all. If there's a screaming baby or you're near the whining jet engines, you'll barely hear them.

The reason I'm putting up a link to them today is that Amazon is selling them right now for $48 and that's about half price. It's a great buy that only comes along about once a year...

 (Tim) Here's Church of the Good Shepherd's new web site, running in Drupal. Check it out. The work that's gone into the Drupal code, but also all the design, pics, and text, was a labor of love for many--as some of you know. Thank you Lucas and your wonderful team...

If you have questions about the Drupal code, feel free to send Lucas Weeks an e-mail. And if you have a suggestion or find an error, please let us know. Thanks.

(Tim; this just in from Son Joseph, the analytical one) He writes: You've got to check this out.

Don't miss the slider at the bottom. Life expectancy shows countries being decimated at particular times. Go back to 1992 and you will see the effects of the Rwandan genocide. 1977 shows Cambodia.

Also, don't miss the fact that you can change the data you are looking at. Click on the blue triangle at the end of one of the axis. You can compare anything you want, and track it over time.

Here's one I just created that compares fertility rate to infant mortality rate, grouped (with color) by income level.

(Tim) The latest New Yorker has an article by Ken Auletta chronicling the death throes of bookstores and traditional book publishers. People are still buying books, but there's a hostile takeover of these legacy hard copy businesses being waged by authors and their strong allies: particularly the explosion of e-books and the pricing structure and self-publishing services of a number of companies; most especially, Amazon. 

It's been a long time coming and nothing but good that authors are regaining some authority over the marketing and distribution of their work.

Take, for instance, self-publishing. In the old days, traditional book publishers cultivated the notion that anything worth publishing would be recognized and put under contract by a reputable publisher. If you weren't able to interest the big name publishers and went the vanity press route, it was because you were vain and wouldn't listen to the simple truth acquisitions editors kindly sent you by letter--that your book had no market. So hardheaded authors who wouldn't take "no" for an answer went off to a vanity press and paid, rather than being paid, for their book to be published. They spent money out of their own pockets to purchase a few hundred copies they could pawn off on business associates or family members.

But no serious man with serious credentials and serious things to say would be caught dead going that route. That's what was meant when you heard the suits say "he went with a vanity press."

Of course those who live in the publishing world know how fallible acquisitions editors and publishers are. John Grisham had his first mystery turned down by twelve publishers and sixteen agents before he found someone willing to take him into print...

(Tim) We were asked, recently, how we set it up so Scripture texts automatically appear over the top of Scripture references on Baylyblog? I was hoping someone would answer because I wondered about it, too.

To this date, it remains a mystery. Maybe my brother David did it? Or maybe Joseph, Ben, or Lucas?

Anyhow, whoever it was, thanks.

(Tim) Speaking of Android and iPhone, here's a good article about the dangers of playing with Verizon. It's left me hoping Apple chooses Sprint:

Apple gets a lot of (nasty words) for not being as “open” as Android. But as always, things aren’t as black and white as they seem. Verizon’s repurposing of Android is starting to show this very clearly. That level of outside manipulation, wrapped in the faux cloak of “openness”, is something that Apple is never going to allow on a device that they make.

And no matter how badly we all want the Verizon iPhone, we don’t want that.

(Tim) A notice on my screen tells me Firefox has an update I should install. I'm obedient and, after installation, restart Firefox. Immediately I'm presented a screen that says it's quite important I update to the latest version of Adobe Flash Player. I push another button and then another and another and another... Finally, I'm presented with a screen saying "This program will install Adobe Flash Player 10.1. Usage subject to the Flash Player Software License Agreement." Then there's a checkbox next to the statement "I have read and agree to the terms of the license agreement," and two buttons--"QUIT" and "INSTALL."

If you click "INSTALL" without checking the "I have read and agree to the terms of the license agreement" checkbox, you'll notice it's grayed out and won't be functional until you...

WRONG: The bird is beautiful.  Look at the bird's coloring.  See the bird fly.  The bird flies high in the sky.  Look at the bird's nest.  See the baby birds.  The baby birds want to eat.  See how their mouths are open?  I wish I were a bird so I could fly.  Do you want to fly?

RIGHT: The bird is beautiful. Look at the bird's coloring. See the bird fly. The bird flies high in the sky. Look at the bird's nest. See the baby birds. They want to eat. See how their mouths are open? I wish I were a bird so I could fly. Do you want to fly?

WHY?

(Tim) By now, it's likely there are over 4,000,000 words on Baylyblog and I've written, edited, or read all but a very tiny fraction of them. Edited?

Yes, edited—including our good readers' comments. At times I correct spelling and some of the more obvious typos. Too, I remove spaces.

Why remove spaces? Because many have the habit of treating their computer like a typewriter and it mucks up  readability...

For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.

For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power. What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness? (1Corinthians 4:15-21)

(Tim) In our semon this past Lord's Day, I was showing how utterly intimate the New Testament is, with names attached to commendations and failures, with I'm-your-father, you're-my-son declarations. The letters of the Apostle Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit are built around his knowledge of the particular sins of particular people. When he writes, he's not collecting royalties off his latest book or speakers fees for his participation in the latest intellectual debate among big Reformed brains disagreeing with one another over how many covenants can fit on the head of a pin. Rather, he writes his letters for the purpose of caring for souls, and thus the letters are fatherly, pastoral exhortations and admonitions and rebukes and threats--as well as ad hominem attacks on his own personal, pastoral opponents in Corinth and Galatia (for instance).

Doctrine has a point. God's prophets have always been accused of being impertinent because they're painfully pertinent in every last sentence and word. So the Apostle Paul might say:

"You're my beloved children. I'm not just a brain or a pedagogue; I'm not just a teacher, but I'm you're Daddy. You're not my sycophants or pupils; you're my beloved children. Now, dear sons, I command that you honor me as every son honors the father he loves: imitate me! I'm sending you Timothy. Like you guys, he's also my dear son. He'll help you imitate me."

But today, whether we have two or three hours a week in a megachurch or a small, tight Reformed congregation, it's unlikely we have anything close to early church intimacy. Tragically, though, with us it's a principle...

(Tim: This from John Dvorak, nicely complementing E. Michael Jones' Libido Dominandi: Sexual Liberation & Political Control demonstrating the utility of pornography to keep citizens' docile. And believers? If we're drinking the grace patter tweeted by our Reformed luminaries--e.g. here and here--we're likely as fast asleep as the rest of them. How much more helpful the Gospels and Epistles would be if they were that short and graceful.)

'The Internet is now the opiate of the masses, replacing religion. People are riveted to their Facebook page. Do you really think that they can be made to "take up arms" as a flash mob to overthrow the government? Any government?

The Chinese recent action tells me that China's leadership doesn't get it, at all. This is ironic, because the Chinese culture was once forced into opium addiction, but they don't realize that this is a similar situation.

If they understood the opiate mechanism, they'd let the Internet flourish uncensored. It would quickly sedate the public into somnambulance. Cutting it off is like cutting off a supply of drugs, which angers the addicted and could cause a revolt...

Please VOTE!!

Readers will note Baylyblog doesn't sell its content. There are only a couple links to stores in the sidebar to the left and those are links to Amazon lists we think readers may be interested in--specifically books written by our dad, Joe Bayly, and another list of recommended books on sexuality. Also, because of our appreciation for...

Dear Friends,

I agreed to a friend request that came to me an hour ago and my e-mail got hacked. So all my e-mail addresses are getting friend requests that I didn't send or ask anyone else to send. I'm sorry. Please disregard any friend request you get from me. I've never sent one in my life and likely never will.

With apologies,

Tim Bayly

Although it's written for iPhones, here are instructions for saving any electronic device that falls into a pail of water (or some other similar place).

Key point: pull it out of the water and turn it off, as soon as possible. TURN IT OFF! And if at first it doesn't respond to your efforts to turn it off, keep trying! (TB)

Although I've always used Macs and am pounding the keyboard of a 2011 Air, this article is good news. Which is to say, Apple's pride is insufferable and I'm guessing the company is about to go the way of IBM and Microsoft... (TB)

Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. (Mark 12:4)

A reader personally unknown to me and my brother David wrote of his appreciation for Baylyblog, and then asked this question:

Having seen some of the comments you have made (on Baylyblog about anonymity), I wanted to ask if you believe it is wrong if I post a comment only using my first name? The reason I do so is that I am an engineering student and will be graduating ...and it would probably make it quite difficult for me to get a job since employers google names and mine is a rare one... Is that a bad reason?

To which I responded:

Dear John Doe,

I have mixed feelings about this, dear brother...

The only Mac publication I read is the Engsts' (not Angsts') TidBITS. If you use a Mac or iPhone, go ahead and subscribe now. It's free so just do it and you'll thank me. I've read TidBITS for maybe twenty years and it's the first place to go for accurate information on all things Apple.

The latest issue links to an interesting chart showing the relative obsolscence of Android and iPhone handsets by tracking their ability to take operating system updates. In other words the chart shows how long this or that phone is able to run the current version of its OS.

But once you look at that chart, keep clicking on Michael Degusta's other charts. Fascinating...

Anyone with $185,000 to buy dot reformed? I'd make a donation.

I'm sure many readers of Baylyblog consider my opposition to Christian organizations and publishers' claiming copyright on works in the public domain as quixotic, tilting at windmills.

But it's not tilting at windmills--not at all. Rather, it's a serious case of theft and you can get a better understanding of this evil by reading this article showing that the real piracy today isn't your teenage son using Limewire to download a song or movie. That's shoplifting and it's sin, but the real piracy is done by the large corporations abusing copyright law for their own profits. And Christian publishers are not speaking out against these abuses. I have yet to see or hear of them taking a Christian stand against such theft.

If a reader can point me to a place where they have opposed it, please do so. (TB, w/thanks to Lucas)

A brother who's ordained to pastoral ministry wrote: "I'd like to hear some real-life examples of how you and the pastors of Clearnote Church, Bloomington (or Christ the Word) are 'playing the man' for their flocks. Not the blogosphere stuff, important as it is...."

"Not the blogosphere stuff?"

The web is our lives, today--all of us. We do FB and e-mail and get our news and views there. Or should I say here?

So David and I view the web as a wonderful tool through which it's possible to bypass the suits of the publishing corporations and radio and conference ministries who will never do anything to jeopardize their moneymaking. We use the web to feed and guard and protect and admonish and warn our flocks.

The printing press was a central component to Luther and Calvin's reform of Geneva, bypassing the coffers of Rome. And the web is, we pray, a central component to the reform of Bloomington and Toledo...

This Wednesday Baylyblog's new design will go live. To help with the transfer we'll be shutting down comments for a day or so, likely starting Tuesday evening. So if you run into problems commenting Tuesday night or Wednesday, please be patient.

The work that's gone into the new design has been heavy since we're not simply switching from one blogging software to another--TypePad to WordPress, for instance. Baylyblog is being transformed into a site running on the open source content management platform, Drupal.

There are a number of features this will allow, but search is the big winner...

In my previous post, I introduced BaylyBlog readers to a few of the new features of the site. In this post, I will introduce a few of the technical details:

Can I say this gently? If your site is down right now, it serves you right for living with Bob Parsons' Go Daddy. We made that mistake for a while but our consciences got the better of us and we switched. I'm thankful. Everyone should switch. (And yes, I know Parsons sold the company recently.) Still.