A Battelstar Galactica perspective on the things God prepares us for

** SPOILERS BELOW **

Final episode of Battlestar Galactica (BSG) has been released, and I finally got the opportunity to watch it last night and WOW what an experience. It had to be the most emotional, intense as well as satisfying end of a TV series. The music was as usual overwhelmingly immaculate. There's one part that stood out to me. Throughout the entire BSG series Gaius Baltar and Caprica Six have been on this journey, that would seem like the "god" of the BSG universe is guiding them and preparing them for something bigger. They have doubts, they have challenges and on numerous occasions it just seems like yes maybe they are pawns in some greater plan but chances are they're no different to anyone else but just obsessed with an idea of some greater power.

In the final episode they both indeed fulfill on what they had been prepared for. Due to all their preparation they are in the right place, at the right time to save, Hera Agathon, the young half-human, half-cylon girl and rescue her returning her to the CIC (the main command centre of the ship). That act that god had prepared them for was so insignificant compared to what they imagined it might have been, in a flash it was done and gone.

Baltar: "Hera, will she be alright?"
Angel Six: "She survived, thanks to you."
Angel Baltar: "Both of you."
Caprica Six: "And that's it, that's all god wants of us?"
Angel Six: "God's plan is never complete."
Baltar: "Great."
Angel Baltar: "But I think it's safe to say from now on your lives will be less eventful."

The reason such an act was unexpected in the show, is because we don't think something God would be preparing us for could be so insignificant. We relate to God preparing us for things that are bigger and better, things that are newer, things that are going to stand out bright compared to all our preparation. But it should be obvious to us now, the things God prepares us for, may seem so insignificant to us we might not even realise we've fulfilled on our training. God has a bigger plan than we'll ever understand in this world, so never underestimate the smallest things you do.

Photo of Gaius Baltar from TV Series Battlestar Galactica, downloaded from BattlestarWiki. This is a promotional photo falling under the fair use clause, which includes photos from press kits and used in promotion of the series.

Safari 4 - How to Set your Top Sites URLs Manually

One thing that I love about Safari 4 is the Top Sites page that you get. I love the Opera interface, so along with Safari intergrating tabs into the titlebar, and the new Top Sites I'm right at home. The thing I've been frustrated about is that I couldn't figure out how to set the Top Site buttons to specific URLs. The only way I could get the sites pinned on there that I wanted was to delete each one, until the ones I wanted showed up.

Well finally I just stumbled across the solution. If I open the URL I want to put in the Top Sites, and open it in another window. I can easily drag the URL from the address bar onto a Top Sites button (in Edit mode), and that becomes the new URL for that button. See the video below.

AMCA Blacklist leaked on Internet

The day after I blog about the AMCA's blacklist and it's $11,000-a-day fine for linking to any of the pages on it, and here in the news the blacklist has been leaked on the Internet.

According to the smh article, Colin Jacobs, spokesman for the Electronic Frontiers Australia, has said the Government could be considered a "promoter and disseminator of links to some pretty unsavoury material." And it's true, here the AMCA are claiming that this list, and it's fines and regulations that go with it are here to protect people but they've essentially found all the bad websites on the Internet and put them all in one place. Curious kids, or even adults will now search and find the list and the AMCA's blacklist will actually encourage the visiting of these websites.

Unfortunately though it seems the list isn't all about the bad websites. There's plenty of unexplained content on there, including stuff from YouTube, religious websites including Christian websites and even a tour guide operator and Queensland dentist.

AMCA Fine you for Linking to Blacklisted Content

The latest in the news regarding the AMCA's interest in filtering internet content is the news that you can be fined $11,000 a day that you host content in Australia which links to websites on the AMCA's blacklist. At this point in time the list includes mostly illegal content, but has already expanded to include some 506 legal R18+ and X18+ rated websites, and it is well-known that any form of filtering on the Internet will result in more than just illegal/really-bad content being blocked, just look at what's happened elsewhere in the world. Today they block child porn and tomorrow we have China-like censorship.

From the smh article, to which I agree, "The Government would serve the country well by sparing themselves, and us, this embarrassment."

The biggest problem I see with any sort of internet censoring is that once a government body takes responsibility for blocking illegal/inappropriate content, it creates a sense that if something isn't blocked then it is approved. Once that pattern of thinking sets in someone will come up with the bright idea of banning more content, and more content, and before we know it we have websites being blocked for saying the wrong thing.

I agree with the AMCA that child porn and alike shouldn't be available online, however I don't need AMCA filters and fines to choose not to visit those types of websites. And in regards to keeping kids safe from such content, it is your job as a parent to monitor your child's online interactions, no one else's!

One thing to take from the AMCA's intention to fine websites $11,000 a day, is to realise it's a great time to move your website to a web hosting firm that house their servers elsewhere, like the US, UK or Sweden.

P.S.: According to a related article on efa.org.au the full Australian blacklist is kept secret, so good luck avoiding the $11,000 fine.

Projection

Linked from Battlestar Wiki and copyright by Universal Studios. Use of it here is believed to be fair use.

In the TV series Battlestar Galactica (2004), cylons do something they call projection. No matter their environment or experiences they project an environment they find more pleasing. So walking down a dark, uninteresting, cold hallway in a spaceship for them they can experience, as did Tricia Helfer as a Number Six, a beautiful rain forest.

This science fiction concept of projection isn't far from how we already, knowingly or not, experience our own reality. The main difference being we aren't aware that what we experience as reality is in-fact a projection, and we aren't aware that we actually have a choice.

You won't physically see, hear and feel a rain forest while walking down a dark, cold hallway. But what you would experience walking through a rainforest, you are capable of experiencing anywhere, anytime and with anyone. It just requires you choose that experience.

What we experience is defined by us not by our circumstances, but we neglect to choose our experience resulting in a default to whatever our circumstances have to offer. Think of Paul (Philippians), in prison he was able to feel joy, peace and love. His experience weren't defined by his circumstances but instead he chose to look elsewhere, to look at Jesus. Through knowing, remembering and thinking of Jesus and knowing and experiencing who Jesus is Paul could experience joy, peace and love.

Google Suggests Suicide

My wife recently discovered that when typing the words "best way to" into the Google search tool in Firefox, Google provides the following search suggestion high on it's list, "best way to commit suicide." Click on the image above to see the full window shot.

My understanding with Google Suggestions is they are provided based on other peoples common searches. If millions of people search for "ice cream" then entering "ice" will result with Google suggesting "ice cream." It's an interesting technology I assume based on the idea that if someone has searched for it once, someone else will search for it again. But this suggestion above proves to complicate things. Suggestion tools usually serve to turn popular searches into exponentially popular searches.

Firefox on it's own, and Google should be safe for kids/teens. When monitoring our kids and teens using the internet we're usually very interested with what websites they're going to, but not other information displayed in the browser that isn't a webpage. For teens depression is rather common place, with some going as far as suicide. But for a kid whose in despair and looking up online "best way to something else," and it comes up with "best way to commit suicide" that search suggestion could be detrimental.

If you have kids, turn off the Google Suggestions in your browser. You don't know what ideas it's putting in their heads.

Online File Storage

I've recently fallen in love with the idea that online file storage would be cool to setup for easily sharing files between my wife and a few friends computers. It's not uncommon I need to send a 20-30MB file, and email doesn't handle that well. Or sometimes I just want to make a file available quickly on a URL to a group of friends, or maybe even an album of photos.

Now I know there are services that already exist for emailing last files, and I own a web hosting business so I have plenty of webspace I can FTP a file to, and yes I know about Flickr and Facebook for sharing photos. But what I've discovered transcends all these pre-existing services when it comes to ease and integration into my computers user interface. With the drag of a file I can do all of the above thanks to the new service, Dropbox.

Dropbox seems to be based around the concepts of a versioning system like Subversion rather than your typical online storage. Files are stored locally and then synchronised immediately with the server upon changing, using diffs of the files instead of transmitting the entire file on each sync. Files even have revisions based on previous syncs, and you can recover deleted files too. Your Dropbox contains a Public directory allowing you to quickly share a file with anyone via URL, and it also contains a Photos directory where photos and directories within it immediately translate to albums and photos you can share using direct links.

Dropbox does it not only with features, but with grace. Syncs occur immediately and quickly, especially compared to other services like Apple's iDisk, and if you're transferring large files it's easy to find out how long it's estimated it'll take to sync. So in short I'm in love. Give it a go, Dropbox works on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Style - What are we missing?

Hey so in the world of successful entrepreneurs, Nikki Lee is the one I see having the most fun. She's taken on designing, inspiring young adults and with her sister, Anita, discovering your unique style.

Their business ZaZaZu is odd and foreign to me, although that's probably because I'm a software engineer who on an average day has about as much style as a wild animal. But regardless of that, I can't help feel inspired when reading about their business. An article on their website caught my eye. It's looking at the "Golden Era," and really taking a look at what we miss from it. It's an enjoyable read, and something I feel like I now miss and want too.

Article: http://www.zazazu.com.au/soapbox/articles/20-the-lost-age-of-elegance.html

P.S. If you want to checkout the sort of thing they do at ZaZaZu, checkout this video linked from their facebook page.

An Inspiring Method to Studying the Bible

There are several problems with the commonly used methods of studying the word. If you've ever used the S.O.A.P. method, you'd agree it's good however they miss a step for the sake of making a catchy acronym. If you've ever used the Swedish method, you'd probably also agree it's good, but it has too many steps to remember them all and lacks simplicity.

The last time I prepared a bible study, I decided to come up with my own approach to studying the word. One, yes, inspired by these previous two methods, except following a set of requirements, much like how I define requirements for software I develop. These requirements were:

• Short
• Simple
• Inspiring
• Action Encouraging

The method I invented/re-invented/whatever is not an acronym, sorry, you'll just have to remember the 4 steps in total. P.S. If you notice, 'acronym' wasn't in my list of requirements.

1. First Impressions - After having read and absorbed the passage, what stands out, what observations can you make. Note: as a "first impression" you are to be looking at this passage with no preconceived ideas, even if you have read it before!
2. Concerns - What is there that needs to be explained? What doesn't make sense? Or, why does it make sense?
3. Revelation - What is there to be discovered?
4. Action - What is there to do? To declare? To commit to? Or to pray about?

Steps 1 and 2 create an appropriate context for step 3. By giving up any pre-conceived ideas, and truly getting a 'first impression' of the passage, Step 1 allows you to see the passage in new light, and Step 2 will then allow you to understand it. So don't rush through them quickly to get to Step 3.

Hope you find it as useful as I do :).