Life, The Universe, And Everything In It
One of my favourite passages is in Psalm 8. Maybe it’s because science and technology are an area of interest for me–I cannot help but marvel when I read what David penned:
1O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.2From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.3When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,4what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?–Psalm 8:1-4 (NIV)
I’m sure the stars seemed brighter in David’s day. At least they would have been easier to see (with the naked eye) then than today living in a brightly-lit city. Of course David’s “consideration” of the heavens, moon and stars would have been different from ours. David didn’t have access to all the space telescopes we have today. For me this only solidifies that David’s words were divinely-inspired.
I happened to come across an interesting article on Popular Science’s web site. In it they share a video that was created for an exhibit at the Rubin Art Museum. The video simulates, to scale, the journey light takes as it travels from Earth through space. All the way to the edge of the known universe (then the video reverses). I generally take things from Popular Science with a grain of salt, given their prejudicial favour against Creation, but this video simulation really helps put into perspective just how small we truly are in light (pun intended) of all that God has created. It lends credence to David’s closing words in Psalm 8:
O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!–Psalm 8:9 (NIV)
Click the link to watch the video. Read more
Can A Genius Replace A Worship Leader?
I’m thinking it may be able to. I say, “it,” and not, “him,” or, “her,” because I’m not referring to a person but rather a piece of technology.
Many months ago Apple introduced a new feature in iTunes called Genius. The (simplified) premise behind this new technology is that iTunes reports your library of songs, artists and albums, along with a record of your listening habits to Apple’s online servers. It sounds big brother-ish but really the goal is that when this information is collected en masse it allows Apple to analyze and build associations between songs based on the collective listening habits of… everyone.
I’ll admit I’m a bit late to the game. I never actually tried out the Genius feature when it was first introduced. I decided lately to give it a shot. What did I find?
The Genius was able to take the song I had selected, Starfield’s I Will Go, and build a list of 25 songs from artists in my library. The result? I had a playlist that started with some great rock songs that eventually progressed into those famous “transitional” songs worship leaders like to use. Of course, no worship set would be complete without the obligatory finale ballads.
What about those times when the Spirit of God moves after the worship leader finishes his or her last song and all of sudden we feel drawn into a state of majestic worship with songs that cannot be described as up-beat nor slow, but rather as intense and powerful? Genius has you covered. My playlist wrapped up with just those songs.
Eerie? Maybe. Perhaps the Spirit of God moves through my iPhone.
Facetiousness aside, the playlist was well put together. The accuracy of the playlists does seem to reinforce that human beings are creatures of habits. The beauty of Apple’s implementation is that as time goes on the lists will only ever get more accurate and better-suited to the style you want to listen to.
So can a Genius replace a worship leader?
Heh, no. Of course not. But if you’re a musician on a worship team it will definitely get you a song list sooner! 
z-Lightview Updated to 1.3.0
I’ve just released version 1.3.0 of my z-Lightview WordPress plugin. This update fixes a few bugs and provides additional options with how Lightview will be used on your WordPress site.
Full details and a download link are available on the z-Lightview page.
Laridian’s PocketBible Approved
For awhile I was not optimistic that Laridian would be releasing any iPhone or iPod Touch Bible application. Having used their software for years on my old Palm devices, losing a full-featured Bible application was my biggest regret in moving to iPhone.
I tried Laridian’s web-based iPocketBible service. Even though the web application was feature rich, it wasn’t available when I had no Internet connection and it was a bit slow to use. For the last several months I have been using Olive Tree’s BibleReader [iTunes link]. It is a great piece of software. Simple, fast, and easy to navigate (I can get to any verse in only four taps). The downside, of course, is that with Laridian I had purchased a significant library of translations and study notes. Replicating the same material with Olive Tree’s line up would have cost me several hundred dollars.
Now Laridian’s PocketBible for iPhone and iPod Touch is set to be available tomorrow (September 16). The free application will include the KJV and allow users to log in to their Laridian account to retrieve purchased titles (both newly purchased and previously purchased ones). Material is available off-line, so an Internet connection is not required.
I have not been following Laridian’s blog to the extent of knowing what their software will feature; however, if it is anything like their previous offerings it should be pretty good. I am looking forward to being able to have my entire library of reference material with me again.
My only complaint (yes, I can have a complaint without having used the software) is that Laridian is late to the game. If you search the iTunes Store you’ll find a plethora of Bible applications. Some are garbage, but some have tremendous offerings. I think Laridian’s only saving grace is their pre-existing customer base.
I will update this post with a link to their software when it becomes available.
Update: The application is now available [iTunes link].
New Site
Well it took significantly longer than I originally anticipated, but my new site is finally complete.
Take a look around. Hopefully you find it easy to navigate and don’t run in to many errors!
Printers: The Worst Part of A System
Having worked in tech support for several years, I can attest that if anything is going to give an individual trouble, it’s going to be the printer. I stumbled upon the following YouTube video and couldn’t help but get a laugh.
Note: There is some mild language in the video.
z-LightView Updated to Version 1.2
I’ve just released version 1.2 of my z-LightView WordPress plugin. This plugin utilizes the excellent LightView software by Nick Stakenburg to create smooth image galleries in WordPress pages and posts.
This update improves functionality by using the latest JavaScript libraries for LightView. It also improves how these are included on web pages to avoid potential conflicts.
Get the update here.
New Twitter WordPress Widget
Today I’ve made available a simple WordPress plugin that adds a sidebar widget featuring your Twitter tweets. This new plugin is available for download here.
Bible Verse of The Day Plugin Updated to 2.1
I’ve updated my BibleGateway.com verse of the day plugin to version 2.1.
This update fixes an issue where the Title entered when using the sidebar widget would conflict with other widgets.
The update is available for download here.
BibleGateway Verse-of-the-Day Plugin Updated to 2.0
I’ve just updated my BibleGateway.com verse-of-the-day plugin to version 2.0.
The updated version now enables WordPress users to include Bible Gateway’s daily scripture in the sidebar of any widget ready theme.
The original functionality of inserting the verse using a shortcode is still included and this version is completely reverse-compatible with its predecessor.
Visit the plugin’s page for all the details and to download the update.