Category: News & Entertainment

A reasonable question…

Karl Fisch, a high school technology director has put together a presentation on our shifting culture – towards technology. The presentation is now available on YouTube…

It’s an interesting look at technology and our shifting culture.
For instance, did you know…

  • Today’s 21 year olds have spent 20,000 hours watching television, 10,000 hours playing video games, 10,000 hours talking on the phone, and have sent and received 250,000 emails or instant messages.
  • More than 70% of U.S. 4 year olds have used a computer.
  • 1 out of every 8 couples married in the U.S. in 2005 met online.
  • The amount of technical information is doubling every two years. By 2010, it is predicted to double every 72 hours.
  • If Myspace was a country, it would be the 8th largest country in the world.

So here’s the question: How is your church handling the change?

Hat tip to Churchrelevance for the heads up.

Treehugging according to The Simpsons

My brother-in-law Brian and I took our nephew Jake to see The Simpsons movie last night. Funny stuff. I felt like maybe we were a little off or the humor was a little smarter than the rest of the audience (that’s what I want to think) as I felt like we were laughing at more of the sight gags and jokes than anyone else in the theater.
I thought it was smart (sometimes crude) satire/comedy that poked fun at the EPA and well, everyone else as the show typically does.
My favorite scene was a picture of the Springfield church next to Moe’s bar. When the folks discovered the end of Springfield was near, those in the bar and church ran out screaming and those in the bar ran into the church and those in the church ran into the bar.
Later in the movie as the “end of the world” was at hand, the church marquee was changed to say, “We told you so.”
Ha! Good stuff.
Slate has put together a video looking at the show’s history on environmentalism that’s quite good… take a look.

Photos tomorrow

So… because this is the way we roll.. Laurie and I are going to go take some more wedding photos tomorrow. Yeah it’ll be three months since we were married on Saturday but we thought it would be fun to get our tux and dress on again and go take some more cool photos. The downside is… it’s supposed to rain tomorrow. DOH.
We were debating on going back to Las Colinas (see our engagement photos) or going to downtown Dallas somewhere to take pics.
We might do both – but we’d love to hear some suggestions for cool locations from you guys.
Send us your ideas – hurry! quick! jump on it!

Religion beat writer loses his faith

From NPR:
Los Angeles Times religion reporter William Lobdell was an evangelical Christian when he took the job, and during his time on the beat he almost converted to Catholicism.
But he says after covering religion for eight years, he has lost faith in Christianity and left the religion beat. Lobdell talks with Alex Cohen.
It’s a very interesting story. Be sure and listen.

Media coverage

Dallas has seen some HUGE explosions near Industrial Blvd. in downtown Dallas today.
Here’s some interesting thoughts on media coverage.
WFAA.com has had live video running on their website. I’m still watching it.
Fox 4 also has live video running.
CBS 11 has a live video feed as well.
NBC 5 now has live video running but I didn’t see it right off. Their main story rotates so if you just come to the page you may not actually see the explosion story but instead a story about school lunches.
Nationally, CNN.com has live coverage on their website as well with live video from WFAA.
Everyone’s beloved Fox News has no mention of the explosion but instead a story about the “bad girls of Hollywood.”
foxnews.jpg
So there you have it. I applaud WFAA for their coverage and posting their live feed on the web right away.

Merger of Sirius and XM may increase package options

From CNet: If the proposed merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio goes through, the combined company plans to offer packages of channels at reduced rates, including a 50-channel offering that’s almost half the price of today’s lowest-price option.
Read an official press release
CNet says that while the FCC is debating the merger of Sirius and XM, the companies have said they will offer several packages that give consumers a variety of listening options from both of the satellite radio providers, including an all inclusive package that would give programming from both companies for less than $17 a month.