I'm still here
Well, it's been over a month since I posted here, so I thought I should say something. There, I said something. What? You want me to say something actually meaningful? Well, okay…
I've been busy the last month, I went on two trips down to the Table Rock Lake area right outside of Branson, MO, worked on a number of articles for Open for Business, and I've been busy working on various client projects. That combination has kept me pretty busy, preventing me for the most part of doing other tasks such as working on OpenMoz.
Speaking of OpenMoz, depending on my amount of free time, I hope to get some stuff done on it this week. My current goal is to write some command line apps to take care of basic administration until the web-based interface is complete. The first such tool will be a short script to add users to the database and htaccess password list. More on this later…
With Hope
That is not at all how / we thought it was supposed to be We had so many plans for you / we had so many dreams
And now you've gone away / and left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say / and nothing we can do
Can take away the pain / the pain of losing you We can cry with hope / we can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end
We can grieve with hope / because we believe with hope
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again
— Steven Curtis Chapman, With Hope, Speechless
My cousin passed away yesterday, and it is just hard to actually believe. She had been basically fine until about two weeks ago, and had even been improving a bit last week. Unfortunately she went in to a coma last Monday, and tests showed she was basically brain dead, so she was removed from life support. I do not know if she had accepted Jesus prior to her death.
My family has lost a number of people this past year, and it really makes one focus on the brevity of life. It certainly is something that can be snatched away so quickly - it definately should not be taken for granted.
Which brings me to an important point - if you are reading this, and have not come to faith in Christ - I urge you to consider the evidence for Christianity now, and not put it off. If you are already convinced of Jesus' claims but have not accepted him, I urge you to read The Steps to Faith and learn how to be reborn in Him - don't wait until it is too late.
Addendum to last post.
I forgot to cover the second subject I mentioned in my subject yesterday. I wrote a paper on the problems of Jehovah's Witness doctrines entitled The Evidence Against “What Does God Require Us?”. If you are currently wondering if the Watchtower organization is right in their publications I urge you to read the evidence that states the opposite. You can also find more information on this subject in the free resource section of CRI's eQuip.org.
MandrakeSoft and JW's
It's been awhile since I posted, but I'm still here, I just haven't had much worth musing about on here. Anyway, MandrakeSoft has taken a small excerpt out of a review of MDK 8.2 I did back in February, and included it in the MDK 8.2 shipping announcement and on their front page. It was a nice surprise when I found out they were interested in doing that. Anyway, I hope this release goes well for them, they seem to be a company more focused on the customer rather than the cash - something truly unusual these days.
Hmm...
What happens when you are puzzled about exactly what you are puzzled about? Well, while that question is puzzling in itself, I've been wondering that (I get weird thoughts like this sometimes).
Anyway, I thought I would mention why I never posted the photos I mentioned in my post about the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast. It occurred to me that I probably shouldn't start sticking people's photos on the internet without their permission, and so I decided it would just be easier to skip the whole thing. Sorry.
In other news, I'm looking for a good POS (Point of Sale) or similar program that could do online invoicing and balance tracking for clients (that runs under Linux, I might add). Do you, dear reader, know of such a program?
It's BibleTime!!!
Well, it seems BibleTime 1.1 is unofficially out right now. The main site still does not mention the final 1.1 release, but RPMS for SuSE and Mandrake (and of course, source code) is now available on the SF project page.
This release, unfortunately, is still only for KDE 2.x, and not the new KDE 3.0. However, from what I understand, BT 1.2 with KDE 3 support should be out soon. Hopefully by the time this next release is out I will have successfully finished the rest of the new icon set for BibleTime too (the finished part is included in BT 1.1).
From the stuff-I-shouldn't-be-wasting-time-on-dept
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
-Author Unknown, Be Thou My Vision
I forgot to mention in my last few posts that I've slowly been moving my site over to a new design since last weekend. If you can not remember what the old design looked like, you can see it here (courtesy of Archive.org). I think this is a definate improvement over the old look. My site began with an even more simplistic look, and being a web designer, I slowly realized I was never going to be happy with this site until I switched to something less bland.
Day of Anniversaries
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet And a light unto my path. When I feel afraid,
And think I've lost my way.
Still, You're there right beside me.
Nothing will I fear
As long as You are near;
Please be near me to the end.
-Michael W. Smith, Thy Word
Today marks a number of both good and bad anniversaries for me, so I'm not quite sure what to make of it. My grandmother past away on this day last year which is rather rough. The flip side is that I launched my company's script archive (Uninet Perl Company) five years ago today, and I launched this personal site of mine (in a much smaller form) one year ago today.
Happy Easter!
Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia! Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!
—Charles Wesley, Christ the Lord is Risen Today
Happy Easter! Christ is RISEN!
Good Friday
To the darkest day in A.D. 33
Came the mercy and compassion of eternity
Sent there by a Father with love beyond His tears
Blameless One, the only Son
to bear the guilt of all these years
And as I watch Him struggle up that hill
Without a thought of turning back
I cannot help but wonder What did He die for?
When He died for you and me
Made the sacrifice
So that we could all be free
I believe we will answer each to heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty
Look inside and ask the question
What did he die for?
When he died for me
-Twila Paris, What Did He Die For?
Ah, what a great night. Good Friday services are always uplifting in a solemn way, with the promise of Easter just a day away. Pastor Friz did a touching solo of “Where you There?” during the drama only added to the effect of an evening service (I love evening worship services!).
Speaking of drama, that kept things interesting the last two nights. For the second year in a row I was a projectionist for the Maundy Thursday/Good Friday services. This time it was a bit more interesting with two ten foot screens - one operated by me, one by our A/V extrodinaire at church (not knowing if he would want to be mentioned online, I won't say his name here). All this was happening while our four Pastors (including Pastor Emeritus Pollmann) and several congregants participated in the drama The Cry of the Whole Congregation. Great stuff.
Anyway. Enough boring details probably no one outside of St. Paul's cares about.
It's also worth noting - on a technical note, that is - that the K Desktop Environment (KDE) 3 should be out probably April 2nd. I think they'd have it out on Monday, if not for the potential for becoming the aim of jokes beings that Monday is April Fools Day.
