Late Night Haiku XXXIX

CIX. The rain falls softly,
Unspoken sorrow waters
The coming year's plants.

CX. Rain in January
Paints a picture of autumn,
Not winter, nor spring.

CXI. The bleak midwinter
Melts the dried tubers which lack
Rosetti's snow sheet.

Big

David Goldman reports on Apple's most recent quarter results, announced today:

It was one of the most profitable quarters ever for any U.S. company, trailing only ExxonMobil's (XOM) record-setting $14.8 billion quarter from the fall of 2008, when oil prices were at an all-time high.

That is an incredible quarter reflecting Apple's really compelling lineup of products versus the competition.

HT: John Gruber

With a Bang

The first day of the semester went wonderfully. I really find “syllabus day” rather enjoyable, because it is an opportunity to start weaving in the basic framework of the course and start the process of getting to know the students. I'm looking forward to day two, come Wednesday.

And, It Starts

At 1:00 p.m. today, I finally get to resume teaching. While I've been keeping plenty busy with the winter quarter of Ph.D. studies and work around church — so the last six weeks haven't been exactly “downtime” — I have been looking forward to another semester of college teaching. As I told my students last semester, what can be better than getting to spend a semester discussing “great ideas”?

Without further ado, in about twelve hours, it all starts again…

Medieval and Reformation in Parallel

This week has moved at a breakneck pace. Presbytery on Tuesday was definitely the highpoint, of course. Nonetheless, the rest of the week was also enjoyable enough. I've spent it wading through some really fascinating materials on Martin Bucer, Philipp Melanchthon and medieval religious movements in England for my coursework.

Intensely studying medieval and reformation theology at the same time really helps to remind oneself of just how interrelated the two are. Clearly something significant changed when Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door. But, I think Protestants and Catholics alike — for different reasons — do history a disservice when we portray the Reformation era as essentially entirely different from the medieval era.

The Reformation was just that: reform.

Momentum

Oh, why not? I haven't made any predictions on here concerning politics in ages. While refraining to comment on who I'm rooting for, I'll say this: after Newt's performance in Thursday's debate, his notable endorsements, etc., I think South Carolina will go for the former speaker tomorrow.

iBooks Textbooks

Besides being interested in Apple technology generally, I am very intrigued by the new iBooks textbook functions premiered today from the standpoint of a teacher. The idea of being able to produce a highly interactive textbook that tie in with iTunes U sounds marvelous to me. That Apple seems to be working hard to drive down the price of textbooks only makes the whole proposition sound even better.

I think the one thing that is disappointing (though I can hardly expect Apple to fix it) is that the iBooks platform remains iOS-only. To me, a truly good e-textbook platform needs to work at least on Macs and PCs in addition to tablets and phones. Being able to use the Kindle app on my Mac to quickly cite materials I have highlighted is invaluable.

Relatedly, mobile device compatibility is also an issue. While iBooks works on iOS, the Kindle book platform works on iOS, Android, WebOS, BlackBerry OS, etc. In as much as one must have an iPad to use the new iBooks functionality, it seems to me that professors could only take advantage of the technologies Apple showed off if all students received an iPad as part of their tuition package.

That's unfortunate.

The Internet Blackout

OFB participated in the Internet Blackout today, an event which involved many sites replacing their normal content with information on stopping the dangerous bill known as SOPA from continuing through Congress. Overall, I think the blackout was a success. According to one statistic I read, approximately 1 billion people encountered part of the blackout today, most notably through Wikipedia's participation in the event. By my count, 18 senators have turned against the act over the course the day today.

Let's just hope they stick to their new found principles.

Thanks

Thanks, everyone, for your prayers. To understate it, it was a surreal day in a very good way.

Prayer Request

I have an interesting day tomorrow (Tuesday, 1/17). For now, I'll leave it at that, but I'd appreciate your prayers.