Everything That's On My Mind

Monday, February 06, 2006

OK, I admit it. I'm a techno-geek. I own one of the original PalmPilot PDAs. I still have it in a drawer somewhere…cracked screen and all. Technology is all over my life. Every now and then, however, I'm uncharacteristically slow in adopting a new technology. I've been hearing the term RSS for years, but never really took the time to understand the technology. Now that I do, I wonder why it took me so long. RSS (and ATOM) feeds are great time-management tools if you know how to use them.

I'm a voracious reader, particularly when it comes to news items and magazine articles on topics that interest me. Long ago, I learned about the benefits of pre-reading and skimming. Pre-reading is a technique for quickly determining the topic and general content of an article to determine if it is worth spending time reading it in depth. Some people call this skimming but in my opinion skimming is a different skill, somewhere between pre-reading and normal reading. Both pre-reading and skimming are important time-management techniques. If you read as much as I do, you need learn them.

With the advent of the Internet, we have access (and most of it free) to more information sources than anyone could have imagined just a couple decades ago. For someone like me, this can create a time-management nightmare. There are easily 50+ web sites that I visit on a regular basis, from The Detroit News to Christianity Today to Rotten Tomatoes, not to mention all the other bloggers I read. That’s where RSS comes in. Most online publications (including bloggers like me) now offer an RSS feed, which provides the title and the first few paragraphs of the content. With a good RSS reader/aggregator, you can be notified when a new article is posted and quickly determine if it’s worth reading or not. This can save you lots of surfing time.

So I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’m just now getting up to speed on this technology, but better late than never, right? If you’re an information-aholic like me, you need to check out this technology. I haven’t actually calculated how much time I’m saving, but I’m confident it’s significant. Here are a few of the RSS aggregators I’ve tried, with some comments. Since I’m a cheapskate, these are all free.

My Yahoo lets you add RSS feeds to your home page but you only get article titles, so I didn’t find it all that helpful.
The Firefox browser has some RSS support (called Live Bookmarks) built-in, but it’s not very feature-rich. Habari Xenu is a plug-in for Firefox that is much superior to the built-in support.
There are stand-alone Windows applications like Feed Explorer and Sharp Reader. They’re nice, but I prefer something that’s integrated into software I already use regularly.
Right now, I’m using intraVnews (thanks for the tip, Bob), which is a plug-in for Microsoft Outlook. Since Outlook is always running on my PC, this has been the most convenient aggregator I’ve tried. Until I find something better, I think I’m sticking with this one.

If you’re a patient soul, Internet Explorer 7 and Outlook 12 are supposed to have built-in RSS support, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Besides, why wait? You could be saving valuable time right now.

P.S. In case you haven’t noticed, the link for my RSS feed is on the right, below the calendar.

Technology

Monday, February 06, 2006 - 03:04 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Thursday, February 02, 2006

Super All Year

Whether he knows it or not, Mitch Albom is doing God's work. If you haven't read his recent articles in the Free Press, check them out. I love football as much as anyone, but Mitch is right. It just seems so wrong that all these decadent parties crammed with millionaires are going on in downtown Detroit this weekend when so many homeless are crammed into shelters just a few miles away.

I hope having the Super Bowl here is a great boost for the city of Detroit, but I pray it also raises awareness and lots of money for the folks who care for the homeless. Mitch has started the "Super All Year" campaign to raise funds for the Detroit Rescue Mission. You can donate online here.

Community | Current Events

Thursday, February 02, 2006 - 03:04 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Good news from Narnia

Prince Caspian Given Go-Ahead

Movies

Thursday, February 02, 2006 - 03:03 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Thursday, January 26, 2006

Justice, mercy, and humility

I'm starting this blog entry without knowing exactly what I'm going to say. It's going to be sort of stream of consciousness blogging. The impetus of this entry it the news of the day regarding the victory of Hamas in the recent Palestinian elections. It's a troubling event for the state of Israel and for world peace in general. I'm troubled because I don't know how this development will affect the peace process, but I can't imagine how it could be a positive change.

The Israeli/Palestinian situation has always created great conflict in my mind. I'm not one of those "support Israel no matter what" Christians. Some American Christians seem to forget that Israel has rejected their Messiah, and that many Palestinians are fellow believers in Christ that are being oppressed and threatened. In their desire to see biblical prophecy fulfilled within their own narrow interpretation, they seem to be willing to sacrifice justice and mercy for an entire group of people. I cannot see how Christ would be pleased with such an attitude. That being said, it is also true that Hamas and organizations like it are a direct threat to the peace and safety of the Israeli people. Bombs and bullets are flying in both directions, and innocent people on both sides are suffering and dying.

Both sides in this conflict have done wrong, and continue to do wrong. We can debate all day long which side is "more right" but in the end that doesn't accomplish anything. The reality of the situation is that both sides deserve to live in a land where they can live in relative peace and safety and have a voice in how they are governed. I don't see how the election of Hamas is going to improve the chances of this happening. Hamas is still an organization at war with Israel and committed to its destruction. They are not likely to repent that position any time soon. Their rise to power will not encourage Israel to continue the peace process, they will likely refuse to negotiate with them altogether. Given the history of Hamas, I can't say that I would blame them.

I belive that it is the responsibility of every Christian to pray for and support peace in the Holy Land, for both Israelis AND Palestinians. No matter what view of end-times prophecy you take, you must admit that God is sovereign and His will is accomplished on earth by His power and in His timing. We do not know how or when He is going to fulfill what He has promised. Trying to push the peace process one direction or another is not going to bring about God's timing any sooner, and may actually be working contrary to His plan. We are called to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before our God. I think many American Evangelical Christians (including myself) need to meditate on this verse and apply it to their politics and attitudes toward world events.

Politics | Current Events

Thursday, January 26, 2006 - 02:57 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Monday, January 23, 2006

Another reason why Supreme Court nominees matter

When most evangelical Christians think about the Supreme Court only one word comes to mind: abortion. Most probably don't even know what eminent domain means. This article is enlightening...and frightening. Especially since our church sits on prime strip mall real estate.

Politics

Monday, January 23, 2006 - 02:52 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Sunday, January 22, 2006

Katrina's continuing aftermath

Reading this article reminded me once again that Hurricane Katrina hasn't stopped affecting people and churches. It also reminded me of one of the benefits of a fellowship of churches like the A/G. Lately, many churches have left their demoninational structures or have been started outside denominational structures. While in some ways it's attractive to be unencumbered by bureaucracy, there are definitely benefits to the structure provided by a fellowship of churches working together. Especially in times of crisis, it's good to have a safety net of other churches caring for you.

That being said, I'm sure there are many churches like the one mentioned in the article above that don't have those support structures and they still need help rebuilding. I did some Googling and unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any central place where support for non-denominational churches is being coordinated. If I find one later, I'll post it. In the meantime, you can contribute to the A/G Disaster Relief Fund for rebuilding A/G churches.

Current Events

Sunday, January 22, 2006 - 02:52 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Saturday, January 21, 2006

It's nice to dream

We made our annual pilgrimage to the NAIAS today. Since I'm turning 40 this year, I've already decided how I'm going to handle my mid-life crisis. One of these would do it quite nicely...

Lori found a nice little number for herself, too. As usual, her choice is much more practical and within the realm of possibility. How boring!

Of course, Bekah picked out a vehicle of her own. She's operating under the foolish assumption that I'm actually going to let her drive someday. Silly girl.

Silly

Saturday, January 21, 2006 - 02:50 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Friday, January 20, 2006

Purpose-Driven Football?

This is great news!

Warren to buy Saints

P.S. Note to the comically-impaired...this is a joke.

Silly

Friday, January 20, 2006 - 02:46 PM Eastern Standard Time

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Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Blogging is harder than I thought

My wife was teasing me last night about not having written a new blog entry since Friday. Boy, she can be demanding. Seriously, I don't know how some guys find the time to write as much as they do. For example, Mark Roberts, who seems to blog a dissertation every day. I'm glad he has that kind of time, though. I've been enjoying his series on biblical inspiration.

Theology

Wednesday, January 18, 2006 - 02:45 PM Eastern Standard Time

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