I just saw this video on Facebook, It definitely puts thing in perspective.
Pretty crazy huh?
Overhauling Our New Yard..
6 years ago
As most of you know, I’m a Mac-user-wanna-be. So it comes as no surprise that I absolutely love those Mac/PC ads. However, I never was able to see them all in one place. On YouTube there’s all the spoofs you have to sift through that are crude or stupid, and you can only find the old ads from like, 2006.
No, that won’t do for me. So I went looking on Apple.com and of course, they’re all there. Go to Apple.com (URL: http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/ ) to see all the old, new and in-between Mac/PC ads.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
I meant to take my mom’s camera with me to the CH Conference so I could take some pics of all the volunteer… stuff. But, I completely forgot on both days, so the only pictures I got were of the Chorale singing on Saturday night.
Jonny’s there in the middle. You can see the top of my head there too down in the bottom left-hand corner.
There’s me!
All of us
I always end up standing next to someone really short! Last year it was David, this year is was William!
Hi Matt :-)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Directed by: Andrew Grieve
Written by: CS Forrester (Books), Russell Lewis, TR Bowen, Patrick Harbinson, Mike Cullen, Chris Ould, Niall Leonard, Ben Rostal, Stephen Churchett (All Screenplay)
Starring cast: Ioan Gruffudd (Horatio Hornblower)
Supporting cast: Robert Lindsay (Sir. Edward Pellew), Paul Copley (Matthews), Sean Gilder (Styles), Jamie Bomber (Archie Kennedy), Denis Lawson (Capt. Foster), Ian McNeice (Tapling), Cherie Lunghi (Duchess of Wharfedale), Antony Sher (Col. Moncoutant), Samuel West (Major Edrington), David Warner (Capt. James Sawyer), Nicholas Jones (1st Lt. Buckland), Paul McGann (Lt. Bush), Lorcan Cranitch (Wolfe), Julia Sawalha (Maria Mason), Barbera Flynn (Mrs. Mason), Tony Haygarth (Master Prowse)
What’s It Rated?: USA not rated (I Give it PG-13 to R for violence, language, sensuality, thematic elements, some nudity and sexual themes)
Genre: Action, Naval, War, Romance, Adventure
Synopsis: Horatio Hornblower joins His Majesty’s Navy as a midshipman and quickly, through many adventures, Hornblower shows his ability to rise to various occations.
My take: I watched this series on Youtube (call me cheap) a few weeks ago and quite frankly, I thought they were pretty good. You may be surprised that I wrote my rating including all that it did and then turned around and say that it was pretty good. Well, the stories were good, the acting was relatively good, and aside from a few scenes of intense violence or innapropriate situations, the rest of the scenes are pretty good. With something like a Clear Play box, obviously, you could change this series however you would want it to be and in that case only would I recommend this to almost anyone.
However, as it stands, those scenes are there, and most people don’t have a Clear Play box so I will have to take those few scenes into consideration in my review.
The stories were excellent when compared to a lot of movies and TV mini series’ and that’s probably because it’s based on a series of books. It does get a little predictable at some points, but for the most part, the story telling was very good.
Once again, be very careful when allowing younger audiences see this series; They’re pretty good, but as with almost anything, you must take it with a grain of salt and be careful what scenes you watch.
Story: 5 to 8 out of 10 (depending on which episode)
Action/Suspense: 6 to 9 out of 10 (depending of which episode)
Humor: 5-7 out of 10 (depending on which episode)
Overall: 5 to 8 out of 10 (depending on which episode. 1,2, and 7 are the best. Be careful with 3, 4 and 5)
Monday, April 27, 2009
We're headin' off to the Christian Heritage Conference! I'll see if I can post some pics later!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Written by: Charles Bennett, Joan Harrison
Starring cast: Joel McCrea (Johnny Jones)
Supporting cast: Loraine Day (Carol Fisher), Herbert Marshal (Stephen Fisher), George Sanders (ffolliott)
What’s it rated?: Not Rated (I’d say PG or PG-13 for violent images, mushiness, and intense scenes of suspense and/or torture)
Genre: Thriller, Conspiracy, War, Romance
Synopsis: Johnny Jones, dubbed Huntley Haverstock, is just an investigating reporter trying to get the scoop on the impending war in Europe, but he can’t help but get pulled into a enemy conspiracy group and uncover the story of the century.
My Take: OK, here’s the thing. I like thrillers. I like black and white classics. I also like suspense in my movies. And all that in one film with some humor and a taste of a war movie thrown in are dynamite. But, I’m afraid the message didn’t go over too well with me. As some of you know, I’m an avid Ron Paul supporter, and thusly believe in a noninterventionist foreign policy, and Foreign Correspondent states quite bluntly the idea that when war comes up, neutrality doesn’t work. I, as I said, do not believe this, but whether you think so too, is up to you. I’ve stated my views, and now I’m going to review this movie without my beliefs factored in. I do this mostly because a lot of my readers don’t have my exact views as far as foreign policy, and they just want to know whether the story/suspense/humor make this a good movie for them to see.
Anyway, on with the review.
As with most Hitchcock thrillers, the story, suspense, and pretty well everything else you can think of were well thought out and well presented. I personally thought that it was a tad too long, but if you’re a fan of this genre of film, or just a casual moviegoer with a lot of time, that’s not a big deal at all :-)
The blend of slight, subtle humor with the suspense was excellent as well. Somehow, Hitchcock manages to squeeze in enough jokes and funny circumstances to offset his signature tense situations. Any other director probably wouldn’t have pulled it off, but somehow, the King of Suspense has a way to change all the rules and flip suspenseful filmmaking on it’s head to bring forth yet another classic thriller.
If you’re looking for an old classic thriller to make your heart pump a little faster, Foreign Correspondent is for you.
Story: 7 out of 10
Humor: 6 out of 10
Action/Suspense: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8 out of 10
Monday, April 20, 2009
Check out these great videos Jonny found on Youtube a few weeks ago made by a genius with a very witty mind.
The first one is called Animator vs. Animation.
The second one's title on Youtube is Funny Virus, but I think it's made by the same guy as a sequel.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
I’m running through a book we picked up recently put out by Answers in Genesis called Evolution Exposed by Roger Patterson, and I just finished reading this article which was in Chapter 5.
Could monkeys type the 23rd Psalm?
In 1860 a debate between Thomas Huxley and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce turned the tide in the public’s acceptance of evolution. Bishop Wilberforce had published a review of Darwin’s book of which Darwin commented, “It is uncommonly clever; it picks out with skill all the most conjectural parts, and brings forward well all the difficulties.” Bishop Wilberforce presented several scientific arguments, and Huxley suggested that, given enough time and material, six monkeys could type the 23rd Psalm simply by randomly punching the keys. It is reported that the bishop had no response, despite his training in mathematics. So what is the answer to Huxley’s argument of time and chance?
Assuming a 50-key typewriter to accommodate letters, numbers, and punctuation, the chance of typing “THE” is one in 50 x 50 x 50 (50-3), or one in 125,000. At a rate of one strike per second this would take 34.72 hours. For the phrase “THE LORD” the chance becomes 50-8 and requires 1,238,663.7 years. The entire Psalm requires 9.552 x 101016years to complete on average. The age of the universe is only 15 billion years according to evolutionists, so the probability is clearly outside of the realm of possibility. (It is possible that the event can happen at any given point in the trials, but the difference in time needed and time allowed is unreasonable.)
When considering the probability of the assembly of a DNA molecule, the same problems arise. Harold J. Morowitz, professor of biophysics at Yale, has calculated that the formation of one E. coli bacteria in the universe at 10-100,000,000,000, or one in 10 to the power of 100 billion. Sir Fred Hoyle has offered the analogy of a tornado passing through a junkyard and assembling a Boeing 747, “nonsense of a high order” in his words. Natural selection cannot be the mechanism that caused life to form from matter as it can only work on a complete living organism.
<-- Despite many different calculations that demonstrate the virtual impossibility of the formation of even a single piece of DNA, there are those who accept evolution as a fact of nature.
The idea of an eternal universe has been proposed to allow for enough time, but the second law of thermodynamics states that the universe would have reached “heat death” at some point in the infinite past. Alternate universes and dimensions have been suggested, but there is little evidence to support such claims.
Another major problem with the probability argument is that the chemical processes that supposedly formed life are also reversible at every step. As water is released in the formation of amino acids, the water is then available to break the bond in the reverse reaction, which is actually more favorable. Oceans are the last place amino acids would form. Huxley’s typewriters would have to include a delete key for each other key in order for the analogy to be complete. No matter how much time and matter was available or the rate of interactions of atoms, the probability remains zero for the reversible reactions involved. The many distinct interactions within living systems clearly point to the presence of a designer, the God of the Bible.
________________________________
Another article written on the same subject but written another way can be read here. Link leads to answersingenesis.org
-Graydon
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Directed by: Byron Howard, Chris Williams
Written by: Dan Fogelman, Chris Williams
Starring Cast: John Travolta (Bolt), Miley Cyrus (Penny)
Supporting Cast: Susie Essman (Mittens), Mark Walton (Rhino)
What’s it Rated?: PG for some mild action and peril
Genre: Family, Kids, Animated
Synopsis: Bolt, the superdog lives in a grand deception. In the only life he knows, he has super-strength, super-speed, laser-vision, and a nuclear bomb like super-bark. But Bolt finds out one day that what he thinks is real is just a lot of Hollywood Wizardry and he must travel across the entire nation to get back to his beloved person.
My Take: Disney had got something good on their hands with the new movie Bolt. Nothing ticks me off more than when some new movie comes out that claims to be family friendly turns out to be just another dirty-jokes-fest. However, generally speaking, Bolt actually holds true to it’s commitment to be good clean film with a pretty good story, however many times basic concept has been used before. There is one scene where Bolt meets some other dogs and find out about their habit of sniffing each other in inappropriate places, but it’s pretty short and isn’t really that bad.
The story, as I said, isn’t necessarily original; there have been plenty of movies about animals that travel across the country to find a certain person, as well as a fair share of films where the main character doesn’t know he’s the star of a TV show. But the combination of both in a family friendly animated movie that is genuinely funny, is actually pretty good.
The animation, as usual, is fantastic. The explosions look great, and definitely rival those of The Incredibles. It’s hard to really expound on something as subtle as the animation, but I just gotta say that is was very good.
As for the humor, I almost have never laughed so hard in my life! The instructions of Mittens the cat teaching Bolt how to be a real dog makes for some hilarious lines and scenarios.
Summing up, If you’re looking for a great funny movie everyone will love, Bolt is a fantastic option.
Story: 6 out of 10
Humor: 9 out of 10
Action/Suspense: 8 out of 10
Overall: 9 out of 10
Monday, April 13, 2009
After much deliberation, saving, and budget squeezing, I have finally purchased an iPod.
It’s a refurbished iPod Nano 4gen 16 Gb. I got it refurbished because it’s basically a brand new iPod, but with $50 knocked of the price just because it was returned. When it’s returned to Apple, they give it a new outside skin, a brand new battery and fix whatever the reason it was returned for. I decided on orange because black looked a little too goth, and green was too white looking. All the other colors were too girly.
I’m expecting it to arrive between Wednesday and Monday (next week)
Here’s yet another article I found online, It’s basically comparing firearm-related deaths to automobile-related deaths. Naturally the message in this article isn’t that we shouldn’t do anything about gun violence, but mostly to point out that people are directing their attention towards the wrong problem for the wrong reasons.
Countering Couric: More People Die In Traffic Accidents Than Gun Violence
April 8, 2009 - 12:26 ET
By Mike Sargent
CBS’s Katie Couric, formerly queen of “Today” show sunshine, has written a very anti-gun piece on her blog, Couric & Co. It seems worthwhile to do a point-by-point response, so below, please note that italics are from Couric's blog, and the response is in normal font.
Thirteen people shot dead in Binghamton, New York.
Four people crushed to death near the Georgia-Tennessee state line.
Eight killed at a North Carolina nursing home.
Four more people crushed or burned to death in Polk County, Florida.
Ten murdered across several towns in southern Alabama.
Seventeen people killed in Coalinga, California.
In the last month, seven mass shootings have claimed the lives of 53 people.
We all know the dangers of driving, but not many of us stop to think about it. Sometimes, a really bad accident can claim the lives of multiple people.
The enormity of these tragedies makes them front page news. But, on average, 32 people die every day in gun-related violence.
The enormous tragedy is, it's not front-page news. But, on average, 113 people died every day in a vehicle-related death in 2008. This is down about ten percent from the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Gun control advocates say it is too easy for the wrong people to get their hands on a weapon.
Some say that it is too easy for the wrong people - young and inexperienced, old and physically unable, illegal immigrants, or even those convicted of driving under the influence - to get behind the wheel legally.
Background checks are meant to keep criminals from owning guns. But just
about anyone can walk into a gun show and buy a weapon from a private dealer, no questions asked.
Testing is meant to keep the woefully incompetent from driving. But in reality, just about anyone can walk into a state's Department of Motor Vehicles office and pass a basic proficiency test - no questions asked.
The Brady Campaign to prevent gun violence reports that 83% of Americans favor background checks on all gun sales.
There is no comparable campaign to prevent driving-related deaths. There are niche groups, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, but nothing that deals with the entire problem of vehicle deaths.
Legislators have an obligation to protect the Constitution.
They also have a responsibility to protect citizens from more of the tragedies that keep replaying themselves in communities all across America.
But government has no obligation, or right, to deny firearms to law-abiding citizens for the sake of weeding out the minuscule amount of people who are depraved enough to go on murderous rampages. Like owning a vehicle, its proper operation and use can be beneficial and enjoyable - and improper operation and use can be deadly.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie, your notebook is biased.
________________________
To visit the web page I found this on, click here. Link is to NewsBusters.org
Friday, April 10, 2009
On my way to the orthodontists office the other day I happened to look out the right side of the car… I saw this sign:
Then, just to see the other side of the road, I looked to my left…
Either somebody came up with a great April Fool’s Day prank, or a construction team just wasn’t paying attention :-)
These are real signs that were both place on opposite sides of the same road. No Photoshop here! LOL!
-Graydon
Thursday, April 9, 2009
You may have heard recently about the idiot who stole a plane from an airfield in Thunder Bay and flew it over the Can-Am border, across Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and finally Missouri. Well here’s an article I just found about the incident, I think you’ll find it enlightening.
Pilot of Stolen Cessna Wanted U.S. Fighter Jets to Shoot Him Down
By LISA STARK, PIERRE THOMAS, LUIS MARTINEZ and SARAH NETTER
April 7, 2009
The Canadian man who led fighter jets on a chase across six states Monday, flew his stolen plane into the United States. in hopes the military would shoot him down and kill him, according to a Missouri state trooper who apprehended the rogue pilot.
Yavuz Berke, who allegedly stole a Cessna plane from a Canadian flight school and was pursued for hours across the Midwest by fighter jets, was taken into custody after he landed on a Missouri highway late today and took off running.
(ABC News)
Missouri state trooper Justin Watson told "Good Morning America" today that 31-year-old Yavuz Berke, formerly known as Adam Leon, wanted to commit suicide, but didn't have the courage to do it himself.
"His idea was to fly the aircraft into the United States where he would be shot down," Watson said. "He stated several times that at any time he thought he was going to be shot down."
And he came close several times, Watson said.
________________
What an Idiot.
-Graydon
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Directed by: Jared Hess
Written by: Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess
Starring cast: John Heder (Napoleon Dynamite)
Supporting cast: Efren Ramirez (Pedro), Aaron Ruell (Kip), Tina Majorino (Deb), John Gries (Uncle Rico)
What’s it rated?: PG for thematic elements and language (I’d say PG-13 for language, crude humor, and sensuality)
Genre: Comedy, School
Synopsis: A listless and alienated teenager decides to help his new friend win the class presidency in their small western high school, while he must deal with his bizarre family life back home.
My Take: Okay, so it’s like this: everyone I’ve ever asked about this movie says either that it’s the funniest movie ever made, or that it’s the stupidest movie ever made. I wouldn’t put myself under either of those extremes, but I’m definitely leaning towards the “stupid” option. The characters had a lot of potential, but the story and some of the support acting didn’t do justice to a potentially okay film.
I do have to give credit where credit is due though, it wasn’t all bad. Some of Napoleon’s mannerism are pretty funny, and the “scattered” film style was actually able to pull the extremely weak story a little higher in my opinion from slime-covered-public-school-vehicle to the slightly higher kinda-quirky-story-that-you-kinda-don’t want-to-hear-more-than-once.
Anyway, to wrap up, I would say if you have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE TO WATCH, you may, maybe have a small, teeny, tiny reason to watch this generally stupid movie.
Story: weak, bland, simple, 3 out of 10
Humor: Okay in places, stupid in others, 5 out of 10
Action/Suspense: Big time N/A
Overall: pretty dumb, 3-4 out of 10
Monday, April 6, 2009
Here’s a slide show of the rest of the San A pics, scroll down to see my new model B-17 that I just finished!
I also finished making another of my wood airplanes. I chose the B-17G because the B-29 and B-52, although cool, don’t fully represent the idea of American air superiority like the B-17 does. I wanted to make a bomber just for the change and the B-17 has become the “representive” of all bombers throughout history.
This particular B-17G called the “Thunderbird” and actually still airworthy!
This is actually my first model that I’ve ever made that features the landing gear extended! Much harder than expected :-P
The two images above are the two pictures I did most of my research from. I got my color scheme mostly from the one on the top, and I used the one on the bottom just to put perspective to my three-view profile diagrams (below) that I used for the actually shaping of the plane.
Well, that’s all I’ve got right now. I’ve got to go and get some dinner now, so I guess I’m signing off!
-Graydon
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Here’s some pics of a 3D model I made for Jonny a while ago. it’s a small wooden box with a special mechanism that makes it so you can’t open it unless you slide a secret panel sideways. He was going to make this out of wood and wanted to see if I could make it in my computer first just to see if it would work.
Here it is closed.
Open.
Open, looking down into the mechanism.
Closer in on the mechanism. I actually made that third panel from the front slightly transperant so things would be a little easier to understand.
Same deal here, except the almost the whole thing is transperent.
It’s a little confusing at first, but just concentrate and I think you’ll be able to figure out how it works.
Well, that’s it! I’m still getting used to my 3D modeling software, but I think I’m catching on pretty well! If you want to get started with 3D modeling, I highly recommend Google SketchUp. There are loads of touturial videos and also a gallery of completed models to check out and even change!
-Graydon
P.S. I’m compiling all my favorite HTML tricks for you, Sam. That way my last post will have a little competition as “Nerdiest Post of the Year”. Just kidding :-D
Thursday, April 2, 2009
I found this article on Google News today, It’s pretty interesting. If you haven’t heard, Conficker is a Worm (a type of virus that only infects unprotected PCs) that basically creates a massive “internet” network using infected computers. This could be used to farm financial info, email passwords, and other personal information. One of Confickers strong points is the ability to block users from accessing virus protections sites like McAfee.com and Microsoft.com. This is a bit of an Achilles heel though, because it makes the worm somewhat easy to detect. Anyway, Here’s the Article by Ian Paul.
Conficker D-Day Arrives; Worm Phones Home (Quietly)
Ian Paul
Apr 1, 2009 8:32 am
The Conficker worm today has begun to phone home for instructions but has done little else. Conficker was programmed to today begin actively visiting 500 out of 50,000 randomly generated web addresses to receive new instructions on how to behave. Conficker has begun to do this, according to security company F-Secure, but so far no doomsday scenarios have emerged.
Among security experts, the consensus seems to be that very little will happen today. This may be in part because of the high amount of publicity Conficker has received, but then again April 1 is not the first time Conficker has been programmed to change the way it operates. Similar trigger dates have already passed with little change, including January 1, according to according to Phil Porras, a program director with SRI International. Security experts at Symantec, the maker of Norton Antivirus, also believe the threat is overblown and says Conficker today will "start taking more steps to protect itself" and "use a communications system that is more difficult for security researchers to interrupt."
Technology companies and experts across the globe have been working together to halt the spread of Conficker, disrupt its communications and uncover who created the worm. Microsoft has even issued a $250,000 bounty for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Conficker's authors. Despite the security sector's best efforts, very little is known about the origins of Conficker or its purpose. Nevertheless, some breakthroughs have been achieved. On March 30, Security experts with the Honeynet Project discovered a flaw in Conficker that makes it much easier to detect infection. IBM researcher Mark Yayson also believes he has discovered a way to "detect and interrupt the program's activities," according to The New York Times.
Since the Conficker worm was discovered in October 2008, the malware has only received programming updates from its author and worked to infect other computers. Conficker is believed to have infected 10 million computers worldwide mostly in Asia, Europe and South America. According to IBM, only 6 percent of North American computers have been infected.
While today may be a non-event, Conficker could be used to create harm in the future. Possiblities include a massive botnet, which would give Conficker's authors control over millions of computers worldwide. The botnet could then be used to attack corporate or government networks, commit identity theft, or deliver massive amounts of spam. Security experts warn that all Windows users must make sure their operating system and antivirus programs are up to date with the latest patches and virus protections. So far, Windows is the only operating system known to be vulnerable to Conficker.
For more information on how to protect yourself consult PC World:
Conficker Set to Strike: Protect Yourself with These Tips and Tools
Protecting Against the Rampant Conficker Worm
Conficker Worm Attack Getting Worse: Here's How to Protect Yourself
See more like this:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
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