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Tonight, Cyndi, Lydia, Isaac, and I are going to the Brockham Bonfire to celebrate. Celebrate what? Bonfire Night. Guy Fawkes night. What’s that? Watch the clip above for a taste. There is going to be a huge bonfire and fireworks. We’ll post pictures and more later.
[Update 11-07-2010 08:45:43] A post with pictures and more can be found here.
WIth Christmas approaching, I’ve been asked by several people about the Kindle. Why? Well, I got Cyndi one last year for Christmas. I liked it so much, I ordered one for my birthday.
Why would I buy a kindle over another e-reader? I have more in this post, but here is a summary:
What does this mean? If you are going to buy a 3rd generation kindle
, get the 3g version. Why? Free internet access from wherever you are. This one thing is what differentiates the kindle from other ereaders.
If you are worried about book selection, don’t worry. Amazon has tons of free books (check every Thursday and you’ll find new free books). If you don’t want to get books from Amazon, you can get anything in a variety of formats (basically the kindle supports every format EXCEPT epub). But, I doubt you’ll have to go anywhere but Amazon…of the 700+ books in our archive, we’ve spent < $20 on books.
Image from srharris via flickr
[Update 12-02-2010 06:04:43] Edited the Kindle link to use my new affiliate link. For information why, see this post.
[Update 2012-12-26 16:26:55] Edited some internal links to clean things up
First off, let me say that I don’t agree with everything the US Government does. I have lots of problems with so many things that happen around the world. BUT, I want to go on record…this is bunk. The US isn’t perfect–in fact, I’ll go so far as to say we are far from it–but countries like Iran, China, or Saudi Arabia don’t have any business telling the US how bad we are at human rights. The US should immediately withdraw from the council!
Image from kjd via flickr
Still not encrypting your e-mail? Do you need another reason? Well, if Obama has his way, encryption products will have to give the gov’t backdoors. Better get your copy of GNUPG now.
For more information on how to encrypt your e-mail with Thunderbird and GNUPG, click here.
If you need more reasons to think about encryption, look here and here.
[Update 2012-12-26 15:38:27] My howto link changed.
Image from mikebaird via flickr
I read Way of Life literature fairly regularly and get updates from them. While I don’t agree 100% with everything that they say, in general, their views are very biblical and solid. In the Sep 3 2010 Friday News Notes (a collection of news items and comentary from the previous week), there was this:
DOES EVERYONE GET A CHANCE TO PLAY? (Friday Church News Notes, September 3, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The following is by Brian Snider : In many cases, Baptist churches tend to use one church pianist to the exclusion of anyone else who might be able to play an instrument. Having had long experience in independent and Southern Baptist churches, we have seen where this can cause friction and unnecessarily exclude someone from using their talents and abilities for the service of the Lord. One way that this can overcome is by rotating musicians so that everyone has an opportunity to play their instruments in church. One large independent Baptist church in Alabama, for instance, has a head pianist who is in charge of scheduling and music selection for the various instrumentalists. Musicians of any age are allowed to play as long as they meet certain standards of ability and as long as their musical selections are appropriate. They can play offertories, specials or fill in other areas as needed. By using all the musicians in a church who want to play, you give the younger musicians experience playing before an audience, and this practice can eliminate jealousies and other issues that arise when only one person does most or all of the music.
I think that most churches I have been in fit the one described (where one pianist and/or organist) plays regularly. I thought Brian’s suggestion was a good one. Not only does it give others the opportunity to use their gifts, but it lets others hear someone new and lets the player gain experience.
[Update 2012-12-26 12:44:56] The link to the friday news notes was wrong. I updated it.
Image from samhong198 via flickr
Today we decided to go for a little drive and see something new. So, we decided to head to the Bluewater Shopping Centre (we’d probably call it a Mall in the US). This place has to be the biggest mall I’ve ever seen. We have a few pictures we’ll get posted later. In the meantime, here are some other pics off flickr of the centre:
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| from davepatten via flickr | from adam tinworth via flickr |
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| from kenjonbro via flickr | |
Yes! My Kindle 3rd generation shipped!
[Update 12-02-2010 06:04:43] Edited the Kindle link to use my new affiliate link. For information why, see this post.
We have internet. Here are some details about the speed:
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Serbia |
England |
In my dippy eggs quest, I tried something new today. Instead of using the hob (that’s what they call the stove here) I thought I’d just boil the water in an electric kettle, then pour it over the eggs. I let them wait for 5 minutes. When I cracked the first egg, they were dippy alright….they weren’t cooked at all!
So, here’s the latest: I’ve made about 1/2 dozen hard boiled eggs so far and 2 raw ones.
Image from hugovk via flickr
Cyndi and I are still trying to figure out where to worship here. We’ve visited several churches, but haven’t really felt God leading us one place or another. This morning, we decided to take the opportunity to visit a church we’d never really go to, but one that has TONS of history behind it.
We went to the Metropolitan Tabernacle really close to downtown (center/centre) of London (have a look at this google map to see where it is). If you don’t know the name, perhaps you know the name of one of the former pastors: C. H. Spurgeon. Don’t know him? Shame!
Anyway, if you are in London on a Sunday, I’d suggest you go. The people were nice, the music was great, and the Bible Teaching was superb!