The Cool and the Stupid

The Death Star Home Theatre:
Dillon Works will apparently install any sort of home theatre setup you want; their portfolio includes this amazingly cool Death Star themed setup, which even includes a THX sound system. (I should note that, in the interests of geekiness, the stars in the starfield displays shouldn't twinkle; "twinkling" is caused by atmospheric interference with the light waves, and there's no atmosphere in space...) Still, a way cool design.

Amazing Race Placemarks in Google Earth:
This is cool if you're a fan of The Amazing Race ... and if you're not, then please leave quietly before you embarass yourself further. There are links to threads with the placemarks for Seasons 6, 7, 8,and 9. Check it out.

Most Egregious Misuse of POV tech to date:
Pimpstar LED rims for your car. They have a wi-fi connection so that you can update them from your laptop, and then you have glowing images on your rims. "Our favorite rim image from the video has to be "Hey Baby, Call Me". I can imagine the mad-dash for the cell phone when a lucky girl happens to see that on your rim." Heh. Nonetheless, take a look at the video.

The City Manager of Tuttle, OK? Is an idiot:
He thinks that the OS on their webserver is something a hacker put on, and threatens to get the FBI involved. If I had been the guy from CentOS (and had had access to the machine) I would have removed my software, just like he demanded - then let him figure out how to boot it up again. Seriously, not recognizing the page he was getting I can understand; not everyone is technical enough to spot what that is. But after the guy at CentOS explains it to him and tells him to contact his IT guy or his ISP, and the manager doesn't, that's when he slid into idiocy.

Abdul Rahman has been freed

The charges against him have been dropped for lack of evidence. I suspect that "lack of evidence" is the code the Afghan government is using to get out of a sticky situation. They've been facing a lot of pressure to release him from other countries, and there was a very real chance that proceeding with his execution would have resulted in a signiifcant loss of foreign aid.

Note that he is still in prison; it is quite likely that when he is released he will be in danger from muslim fanatics. I'm not sure if he will be able to remain in Afghanistan, or if he will have to leave.

The Star-Telegram has more details.
from that article:

"'I am serene. I have full awareness of what I have chosen. If I must die, I will die,' Abdul Rahman told the Rome daily, responding to questions sent to him via a human rights worker who visited him in prison.

'Somebody, a long time ago, did it for all of us,' he added in a clear reference to Jesus.

'In Peshawar I worked for a humanitarian organization. They were Catholics,' Rahman said. 'I started talking to them about religion, I read the Bible, it opened my heart and my mind.'"

Dean has some thoughts on the matter:

"...the elected government of Afghanistan felt that it should answer to not just its nearby theocratic neighbors, but, also to its fellow democratic nations, including governments from places like France, Germany, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Think on it: President Karzai of Afghanistan actually felt the need to take phone calls on this matter from the Canadian Prime Minister. And the American Secretary of State. And the German Prime Minster. And the leaders of many other democratic nations."

LaShawn Barber has some good thoughts as well:

“Christians, unless you live in the Middle East or Africa or anywhere Muslims rule, it’s doubtful that you’ll be murdered for believing in Christ, but remember the saints who are. Pray for them to remain strong and encouraged. Ask God to give them a calm heart and mind, knowing that he can use even evil for his divine purpose.”

I think he's left out a good part of the world - India, Vietnam, North Korea, China spring to mind - but overall he's right. Many of us are safe, and it's so important that we "Remember those in prison as if [we] were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if [we ourselves] were suffering."
[UPDATE]
The publicity surrounding the case has apparently sparked interest in Christianity among Afghans. Hussain Andaryas, an Afghan Christian leader living in the US, says that emails to his group have increased to the point where 13 people are tasked with dealing with them.

"The majority of emails are negative and many are abusive, coming from Muslims who felt that Rahman and other apostates -- including Andaryas himself -- should be severely punished.

But there also are many messages of support, he said.

And then there are emails coming from Afghans wanting to know more about Christianity, asking where they can get a Bible in the Dari or Pashto language, or sharing the news that they had become believers in Jesus Christ.

Among the most stirring messages are those from Afghan Muslims marveling about a faith for which a man was willing to die and wanting to study the Bible further.

'I strongly believe God is using this situation for His glory,' Andaryas said. 'One man's bold step has shaken the world.'"

The Koran says (Surah 8:30): "And when the unbelievers plotted to imprison you, or slay you, or drive you forth, they plotted well; but God plotted too, and God is the best of plotters." It wouldn't surprise me greatly to see the Afghan Christian movement strengthened by this. If the Bible could open Abdul Rahman's heart and mind, it can do the same for his fellow Afghans.

The Weird and the Cool

There is a time for therapy. There is a time for healing a relationship. And there is a time for establishing a DMZ with Marine enforcers. (I note that the story comes from an Australian newspaper, but is about a Mexican couple ... may not be 100% accurate. The Diario de Yucatan did have an article about a Juan Espinosa being jailed for the attempted murder of his ex-wife, Irma Contreras, but it has expired and isn't cached anywhere I could find.)

Some people shouldn't have guns. Some people shouldn't have kids. This woman should have neither. Fortunately, she's the one who paid for it, and not her son. I would like to point out that this took place in Minnesota and not somewhere in the South, proving that redneck is a state of mind, not a geographical location.

I don't *always* follow the rules about setting off fireworks. Sometimes, I'm not as careful as I ought to be, although I've never seriously injured anyone else or caused a lot of property damage. But maybe that's because I never made a habit of letting them off inside the house. Don't do that; it turns out to be an amazingly bad idea.

Want to know how to measure the speed of light? Sure, we all do. But many of us think that we don't have the equipment that we need. Well, it turns out that you can do apretty decent job of measuring it with nothing more than chocolate chips and a microwave. (And a ruler. And a plate. And a calculator. Or a lot of paper.) If anyone needs a science fair project, here it is.