Minutes to Midnight
Jason Ukman writes on the “Doomsday Clock” moving closer to midnight:
BAS said not all news was bad over the past year. The group's members say they were heartened by the Arab Spring, the Occupy movements and political protest in Russia.
I think the clock's message is becoming diluted. Obviously, it has always been quite subjective, but when the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is factoring in points such as the Occupy movement, they've not only made it even more subjective, they have also boldly positioned themselves chasmal distance from their area of study.
Including the Arab Spring is nearly as bad, showing that atomic scientists make lousy political scientists. To the extent that the Arab Spring has affected the coming of “doomsday” in the nuclear sense the clock was suppose to symbolize, I would wager it moved us closer to midnight. (Not because I am against middle eastern democracies, obviously, but the parties looking poised to take control potentially could destabilize the region further.)
iBorrow, Part II
Given my last post, I find it doubly interesting that Samsung has introduced two services as part of its CES announcements: AdHub and SwipeIt (the latter name is particularly fitting). Of course, if one is going to shamelessly copy industrial design, one might as well offer parallel services and APIs, right?
iBorrow
A lot of bloggers who are not Apple users have been rather cynical about Apple's attempts to stop Samsung's cloning of Apple's designs, despite Samsung copying some parts of iOS down to icon placement and color on the Galaxy Tab. Well, if Samsung's often blatant ripoffs weren't enough, check out Acer's new cloud offering and accompanying product slides.
No wonder Apple spends so much on R&D. They are providing R&D for at least three different companies.
HT: John Gruber
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas
We celebrate the arrival of the Magi to see Jesus on this day. Of course, the “three kings,” as they are often referred to as, did not arrive until much later after Jesus's birth than the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany. Yet, to think too much about that is to miss the point. The big point is that God can call people to himself wherever they might be and whomever they are. By his Spirit, he led the Magi to Christ — an incredible event.
* * *
On a different note, as often is the case, my whole family usually ends up getting together for our Christmas celebration in January and this year it falls on the 2nd day of the Feast of Epiphany (i.e. tomorrow). Onward to the Thirteenth Day of Christmas!
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas
Applying the term Eleventh Day of Christmas to today seemed odd. The temperature rose above 60 degrees (F) this afternoon. If I had been blindfolded and had been in a cave for the last several months, walking outside would have led me to think it was at least late March if not early April.
This is just too weird feeling. While I'm thankful I don't have to drive in the snow, I really do miss the usual winter weather this year.
On the Tenth Day of Christmas
Everyone who has followed asisaid for sometime knows that I make a habit of blogging the 12 days of Christmas each year. That's one of my peculiar holiday traditions, perhaps. But why should I have all the fun? What's one of your more off the wall traditions for the season?
On the Ninth Day of Christmas
While the decorations come down all around, I was relieved today to find that the seminary still had its decorations — including a very impressive tree made of books in the library — up. I do wonder why people are often in such a rush. Wouldn't it be nice to have the beauty of twinkling lights for more of January?
Remember: we are still three days away from Epiphany (January 6), so the season isn't over yet!
On the Eight Day of Christmas: Apple iBooks Rumors
Right on cue, the January Apple Rumor Season has begun on the first quasi-back-to-work day after Christmas and New Year's. Today, various sources have been reporting rumors of an impending Apple media event. The interesting twist to the rumor is that it will focus not on new iPads, but on the iBooks bookstore.
What might Apple be up to with iBooks that is worthy of its own event? Given that the Kindle store is often cheaper, has a larger selection, and, unlike iBooks, (ironically) allows me to read books on my Mac in addition to my iPad, I've always found iBooks to be a non-starter. Maybe that will change?
On the Seventh Day of Christmas...
Don't forget, if you made a resolution to read more literature and you want a good place to start, how about reading Twelfth Night? That is one of Shakespeare's most delightful comedies — not to mention one that follows the events of the evening of the twelfth night of Christmas.
