KERUFF

Let's avoid a clash of faith and reason

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 08:40:00 +0000

Let's avoid a clash of faith and reason:

The Observer, Editorial:

Religious faith, whether Christian, Muslim, Sikh or Hindu, cannot be wished away from public life just because life would be more “rational” without it. A plural, liberal society is one in which openness to difference is a principle that is also practised. That means disagreeing, at times strongly, but always carrying on the conversation. Of Dawkins’s 54% of self-declared Christian, 58% told pollsters that being Christian meant “trying to be a good person”. Isn’t that worth exploring, whether or not one believes in the Resurrection?

Interesting and pretty sensible take.

Folding 'Mu' plug launches in Britain

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:11:19 +0000

Folding 'Mu' plug launches in Britain:

Glad to see this is going into mass production. Very cool!

First Look: OS X Mountain Lion

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:48:27 +0000

First Look: OS X Mountain Lion:

Nice breakdown of what we can expect from Apple’s next version of it’s operating system. It has been called Mountain Lion and will be available this summer.

The cult of unbelief

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:05:39 +0000

The cult of unbelief:

John Gray, reviewing Alain de Botton’s book ‘Religion for Atheists’:

Religion has caused a lot of harm but so has science. Practically everything of value in human life can be harmful. To insist that religion is peculiarly malignant is fanaticism, or mere stupidity.

I’ve not read Botton’s book yet but it’s on my virtual pile of books to read. Of course, I don’t expect to agree with him in many areas, but I think it’ll be well worth reading. This review that I’ve linked to is well worth checking out if you think you might want to check the book out.

This particular quote above emphasises the very different tone you can expect from Botton as opposed to you more militant atheist types like Dawkin’s and Harris. Botton sees religion and, though disagreeing with the beliefs, does see religion has having something to offer and something that atheists can learn from. In short, he’s not driven by an aggressive agenda of riding the world of religion and I think his observations will be very interesting.

The King Jesus Gospel: A Conversation with Scot McKnight

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:54:00 +0000

The King Jesus Gospel: A Conversation with Scot McKnight:

Scot McKnight responding to a question about the difference between what he calls a “soterian” gospel and the full evangelical gospel:

In brief, it works like this: the soterian gospel is a message of salvation without the Bible’s Story (Israel fulfilled in Jesus as Messiah and Lord) and the Story gospel I am pleading with us to consider more carefully has both the Story line and the salvation message.

The alternative is not “Story” vs. “salvation” but Story with salvation vs. salvation with no Story.

This is a really good interview by Ed Stetzer with Scot McKnight about Scot’s book ‘The King Jesus Gospel’ (which I really enjoyed). The interview dives right into to some of the tough questions that Scot raises about what the Gospel really is. Well worth a read.

"You look like you’re talking into a piece of toast"

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:35:00 +0000

"You look like you’re talking into a piece of toast":

Walt Mossberg reviews the Samsung Galaxy Note:

As a mobile phone, the Galaxy Note is positively gargantuan. It’s almost 6 inches long and over 3 inches wide. When you hold it up to your ear, it pretty much covers the entire side of your face. You look like you’re talking into a piece of toast.

The size - to me at least - seems all wrong. Which is why this snippet from Mossberg jumped out. Now, of course, there will be some for whom this size is exactly what they want. But I am 100% sure this will prove to be more of a niche product than a mainstream one.

What Sony meant to say about hiking the price on Whitney Houston's album

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:14:18 +0000

What Sony meant to say about hiking the price on Whitney Houston's album:

The Guardian reporting on Sony’s statement:

“Whitney Houston product was mistakenly mispriced on the UK iTunes store on Sunday,” Sony told Billboard, the US music industry newspaper. “When discovered, the mistake was immediately corrected. We apologise for any offence caused.”

Of course, if they were telling the truth, the statement would have read more like this:

“After hearing of Whitney Houston’s death, we decided to deliberately and cynically raise the price of her album in order to make a ton of money by milking everyone who wanted to buy her music and remember her. Once we had made enough money off of these impulse purchases we lowered the price back to its original amount.”

We can be pretty sure that my version of the statement is more accurate than Sony’s as, if they were truly sorry, they’d be refunding everyone. But they’re not.

Steve Jobs: "We should only go into markets where we can make a significant contribution to society"

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:13:00 +0000

Steve Jobs: "We should only go into markets where we can make a significant contribution to society":

Tim Cook, talking about how Steve Jobs shaped the culture at Apple:

Steve grilled in all of us over many years that the company should revolve around great products and that we should stay extremely focused on a few things rather than try to do so many that we did nothing well. We should only go into markets where we can make a significant contribution to society — not just sell a lot of products. And so these things along with keeping excellence as an expectation of everything in Apple.

This is a really insightful take on Apple’s approach to bringing products to market.

Rush to judgement

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:47:00 +0000

Rush to judgement:

New Statesman:

Questions of whether someone is truly Christian, or Muslim, or Hindu, or, for that matter, secularist or humanist are rarely straightforward and to categorise the world into those who are the real deal and those who are not is to do a disservice to the sheer messiness of human nature.

Sensible take on the fallout from Richard Dawkin’s latest research on the state of Christianity in the UK.

Saint Valentine

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:14:00 +0000

A good reminder of the origin of Valentines Day:

Saint Valentine was beaten, stoned,beheaded and buried on 14 Feb 269 AD for helping persecuted Christians and marrying Christian couples!
— Nicky Gumbel (@nickygumbel) February 14, 2012

Not a good day for Richard Dawkins

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:38:19 +0000

Not a good day for Richard Dawkins :

Politics Live Blog:

It’s a bad day for militant secularists - but not because Lady Warsi, the Conservative party co-chairman, is attacking them in a speech at the Vatican. The real problem is that Richard Dawkins, Britain’s militant secularist in chief, has been on the radio. And it seems to have been a bit of a disaster.

I’m against fundamentalism in all its varieties and Richard Dawkins is as much a crazy fundamentalist as any far right Christian. He of course fails to see this. It’s good to see that other atheists and secularists are at least distancing themselves from the militant approach of Dawkins.

Apple is hardly a villain – it wants to raise the bar on workers' rights

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:01:00 +0000

Apple is hardly a villain – it wants to raise the bar on workers' rights:

The Guardian:

Portraying a company like Apple as a villain when it currently leads the industry in transparency and remediating child labour will solve nothing and ensure that the real problems continue to remain hidden from view.

A very level-headed piece by someone who actually knows what they’re talking about.

Fair Labor Association Begins Inspections of Foxconn

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:00:44 +0000

Fair Labor Association Begins Inspections of Foxconn:

Apple Press Release:

“We believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment, which is why we’ve asked the FLA to independently assess the performance of our largest suppliers,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The inspections now underway are unprecedented in the electronics industry, both in scale and scope, and we appreciate the FLA agreeing to take the unusual step of identifying the factories in their reports.”

I suspect the results won’t all be pretty, but I’m pleased to see Apple taking this step. Let’s hope other tech companies follow suit.

"Better"

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:26:00 +0000

"Better":

Merlin Mann:

What makes you feel less bored soon makes you into an addict. What makes you feel less vulnerable can easily turn you into a dick. And the things that are meant to make you feel more connected today often turn out to be insubstantial time sinks – empty, programmatic encouragements to groom and refine your personality while sitting alone at a screen.

This is a great little essay.

The Dilemma of Cheap Electronics

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:59:08 +0000

The Dilemma of Cheap Electronics:

David Pogue, NY Times:

The issue is complicated. It’s upsetting. We, the consumers, want our shiny electronics. We want them cheap, yet we want them built by well-paid, healthy workers. But apparently, we can’t have both.

Sooner or later, we’ll have to make a choice. The fault, dear Brutus, is not just at Apple, or in China — it’s also in ourselves.

If you buy electronic goods of any kind, this is worth a read.

"Let not our longing slay the appetite for our living."

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:38:00 +0000

“Let not our longing slay the appetite for our living.”

- Jim Elliot

What a great reminder. It is good to have hope and dreams and plans, but we mustn’t get so caught up thinking about the future that we stop living life to the full in the present.

Cameron should scrap NHS bill and drop Lansley, says influential Tory blog

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:13:00 +0000

Cameron should scrap NHS bill and drop Lansley, says influential Tory blog:

The Guardian:

Tim Montgomerie, the editor of ConservativeHome, said in a post published on Friday that Lansley, the health secretary, had failed to win public support for the legislation and that, if the Tories did not back down, every problem with the NHS over the next three years would be blamed on the bill.

Even if everything in the government bill is not a bad idea, the bill has now reached such epic scales of disapproval (some justified, some less so) that it seems folly to press ahead. The political damage from a u-turn will be far less then pressing ahead with a bill which clearly doesn’t have the level of support from both health professionals and the general public. Come on Cameron, show yourself to be a true leader and change course.

Apple to Announce iPad 3 First Week in March

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:37:50 +0000

Apple to Announce iPad 3 First Week in March:

John Paczkowski, All Things D:

Sources say the company has chosen the first week in March to debut the successor to the iPad 2 and will do so at one of its trademark special events. The event will be held in San Francisco, presumably at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple’s preferred location for big announcements like these. No word yet on a street date for the iPad 3 (assuming that’s what it’s called), though my guess is retail availability will follow roughly the same schedule as that of the iPad 2: available for purchase a week or so after the event.

Just in time for my birthday!

Facebook’s ‘sponsored stories’ have gone too far

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:02:38 +0000

Facebook’s ‘sponsored stories’ have gone too far:

Emma Barnett, The Telegraph:

The reason why my friend felt so comfortable to put photos of her baby on Facebook in the first place, is because up until now, she felt she was only sharing them with all of her friends. By adding sponsored stories into the border of such personal photos, takes away the personal and friendly feel of the site. It is invasive, as many people have been tweeting.

Totally agree. It’s all well and good having some ads on the side whilst we scroll through our friends updates, but with Facebook now starting to embed their ads into the more personal elements (like they are doing with photos), they are going to start driving people away. I don’t want pictures of Eloise having any advertising placed alongside them. It feels like a step to far.

Even in 1940, Britain was not united on the side of good against evil

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:51:53 +0000

Even in 1940, Britain was not united on the side of good against evil:

Jonathan Freedland:

It was not inevitable, still less our destiny, that Britain and America would fight the good fight against Nazism. It was a choice that, at times, hung by a thread; that could, had the politics played out even slightly differently, gone the other way. The year 1940 was epic, but not as clear-cut or straightforward as our collective myth-making suggests. Which only makes it more intriguing.

This is a really fascinating essay by Freedland and gives an intriguing snapshot into the true state of affairs in Britain in 1940.