Happy 2015
I hope you have the happiest of 2015's! And, that any ideas you may have during the year will turn out just like those in this GE commercial. I'm excited about what this new year holds. Are you?
Mixing Up Kindles
The Daily Mail has a problematic article on the disruption light emitting devices can cause to sleep patterns. In part, it states:
And they [those using electronic devices] took nearly ten minutes longer to fall asleep after reading an e-reader compared to reading a printed book. They also had a lower amount of rapid eye movement sleep — a stage thought to be crucial because it is when memories are consolidated.
This seems to reflect research I have read for years. Unfortunately, the article seems to misuse the term “e-reader,” applying it to the Kindle Fire tablet — tablets were the subject being researched — and not the actual Kindle e-readers that most people would expect they are referring to. This confusion of terms led the Drudge Report to link to the piece with the title “Reading a Kindle in Bed Ruins Your Sleep.” Reading closely, however, this piece would seem to say quite the contrary: instead of showing how a Kindle ruins sleep, it would seem to argue for why e-ink e-readers like the Kindle are justifiable along side much more robust tablets. Yes, you can do more with a tablet, but e-ink displays really are much more enjoyable (and, perhaps, healthy) to read off of.
12/13/14
Several of my friends have pointed out that today, 12/13/14, is the last day during this century in which we will have a date that is made up of sequential numbers. A date may be entirely arbitrary in the grand scheme of things, yet it makes me rather melancholy thinking that most of us will not see another day that has one of the interesting numerical patterns in it that have shown up throughout the year during the first thirteen years of the new millennium.
Enjoy 12/13/14 while it lasts!
Pioneers of Grace
An apt observation from Philip Yancy in a recent Christianity Today interview:
Sociologist and researcher Amy Sherman has said that Christians tend to have three models for interacting with society: fortification, accommodation, and domination. To put that in layman's terms: We hunker down amongst ourselves, water down our witness, or beat down our opponents. For many reasons, those aren't New Testament models.
So what should we be? We need to create pioneer settlements that show the world a different, grace-based way of living.
Apple Seems to Get Encryption Right
Gruber makes a good point — the handringing that law enforcement figures are doing with regards to iOS's new encryption suggests that Apple may have successfully interfered with the government's attempts to constantly collect everyone's data. I'm encouraged.
Happy Fourth of July!
Happy Independence Day! If you are still looking for some fireworks to use for today, check out my 2010 post on St. Charles fireworks stands which mentions the details on my two long time favorite stands, one of which I've been shopping at since the early 2000's and one since it opened in 2007. Both have their own, interesting inventories of fireworks, a few of which have become family favorites that are must haves each year. Both offer massively better bang for your buck (pun intended) than the big chain stands. Here's a sample of new and old favorites:
- From Red Dragon: Lava Lamp, California Sunrise, Pacific Paradise, Funky Fountain, Havana Heat and 2 Cool.
- From Powder Monkey: Attack, Evil Stairs, Bees in a Thicket, Angry Alligators and Smoke and Mirrors.
Also consider some classics that have been around for decades and virtually all tents stock, such as Happy, Golden Silver Flowers/Flowering Peach, 96 Shot Colored Pearl, Cuckoo, and (naturally) long lasting mammoth smoke.
I hope everyone has a blast today!
Late Night Haiku XLVII
CXXXIV. Softly, soothingly,
The winter wind sails about
Answers not questions.
CXXXV. Awakened long past,
A postage stamp sits unsent,
Bought on a cold day.
CXXXVI. O fair wind which blows,
Here and there unanswered, flows.
By whom have you passed?
Merry Christmas!
To all of my friends in the blogosphere, I hope you have the merriest of Christmases. May Christmas Day be a joy for you as we reflect on the joy of Christ's coming and may the days beyond glow richly with that same good news.
5.
Jayson Stark writes:
So settle in for a memorable evening — as two tough, talented baseball teams empty their tanks for the right to keep playing, and keep dreaming. Yeah, it's “just” Game 5 of a tremendous National League Division Series. But in truth, you know, and we know, and they know, it's much, much more.
It is going to be quite an evening.
30
I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
—T.S. Eliot
