How to avoid being "that guy" in class
We all know who "that guy" is in your seminary class. He's the one who can't resist the opportunity to ask a question or make a comment. He's the one trying to show he knows more than the professor, and perhaps more than the apostle Paul himself. He's the one who thinks that your class of 40 students is really just his personal independent study that everyone else is observing.
Starving North Koreans ‘are forced to eat their children’
January 28, 2013 – NORTH KOREA - Hungry parents in North Korea have been caught eating their children to avoid starvation, according to reports. One father is said to have been executed by firing squad for killing his two kids for food. And it has sparked fears there could be further cases of cannibalism in the country. The Sunday Times told how undercover reporters recorded several horror stories from inside the poverty-stricken nation.
The Decadent Lifestyle – The Adastra Superyacht
Almost a year after its launch in China, and I still can’t get over this $15m superyacht, owned by billionaire businessman Anto Marden. Imagine, the Adastra is so high-tech that it can be controlled up to 50 meters away with an iPad! Now, for me, the iPad itself is pretty high tech on its own, but controlling a yacht with one is just another whole ball game on its own!
Don’t get me wrong I do appreciate technology and advancement and all that jazz, but $15m for a stupid boat! Okay its a yacht, granted, but it’s just so completely…useless. Yes I know its his money so he can spend it however the hell he wants to, and he did make his fortune in the shipping industry, so spending (wasting) money on a yacht would probably make sense if you were a billionaire looking to throw your mullah around.
So whats so special about this superyacht (apart from its luxurious interior design)? Well lets see.
For one it took 5 years to plan and build. The hull is built from glass and Kevlar which is pretty impressive since Kevlar is super strong. It can get up to 22.5 knots at its max, and at 17 knots it has a range of 4000 nautical miles. That’s enough for a trip from Beijing, China to Cairns, Australia without stopping to refuel!
It’s pretty massive too, measuring 42.5 meters in length, 16 metres in width and weighs 52 tons, and has space for nine passengers and 5-6 crew members. A 3rd world country would fit 500+ people in there but that’s just me and my happy thoughts!
If you want to get technical for all you techie freaks out there, then here’s some tidbits that you might appreciate:
Length - 42.5 metres
Beam - 16 m
Hull Draft - 1.12 m (1.6m to tip of rudder)
Main engine - 1x Caterpillar C18 -1150 hp @ 2300 rpm
Outrigger engines - 2x Yanmar 110hp @ 3200 rpm
Generators - 2 x 36 kw custom in the outriggers linked to 110 Hp Yanmar engines, and 1x 26 kw Northern lights in main engine room
Non crew – 9
Crew - 5 to 6
Displacement light - Fully equipped and full stores and crew, no fuel and no water – 49 tonnes
Displacement cruising max - (normal operational load) 15000 litres fuel – 64.8 tonnes
Displacement ocean passage max - (only for occasional long ocean passages) 32000 litres fuel – 77 tonnes
Speed max - 22.5 knots
Range at 17 knots - 4000 miles
Fuel consumption at 13 knots - 90 litres per hour.
Fuel consumption at 17 knots - 120 litres per hour
The courage to try something new!
Life can be so monotonous sometimes! If we don’t watch it, a whole year goes by and we are exactly where we were 12 months before this, just a little bit older and a little more worn out.
The daily mundane tasks and self-imposed obligations eat up our day, week in week out, and sometimes we forget to live a bit. What holds us back? Is it because we are creatures of habit? Is it because we are afraid? Afraid of what? Afraid of freedom?
Afraid of freedom! Absurd you say! But think about it. We are all slaves to some god. And when I say god I don’t mean a divine being. I mean that thing that holds power over us and dictates our life. Most, if not all, are slaves to money. Many are slaves to beauty. To music, and food and cars and sex and fame and … the list is long and in so many ways too familiar.
So what am I trying to say here? The thing is, we, I, can get so caught up in searching for that god, for that ultimate prize, that I completely lose touch of this incredible thing called life.
Everyday I know that the sun will rise and that I’ll take 1 teaspoon of sugar with my tea and I know what god I’m chasing and the tried and tested methods of how to get there, and I stick to these methods and break my back and drive myself crazy trying to make everyone happy and compromise my values and raise my blood pressure and lose sleep and think crazy thoughts that make Ally McBeal look like a G rated movie!
And when I do stop, and breathe, and listen, and feel, I wonder “There’s got to be more to life than this!” I’m going to get up and do the exact same thing that I did yesterday, last week, last month, last 3 years! And when I get to this point I do something so random that it brings back that elusive ‘zing’. Not something big and outlandish. Just something new, something different, something not part of the daily program.
I’d bake a cake. A super sickly rich chocolate cake. That doesn’t sound like much and would probably sound drop dead boring for many, but for me it’s new. I’m not much of a kitchen person, but trying something new, like baking chocolate cake gets me out of my rut. But there’s one thing to overcome every time I decide to try something new. Fear. Fear of failure. Honestly who in their right mind would be afraid of baking! Well…me! What if the cake doesn’t rise, or turns out bitter or tastes like mud? What if my family hate it?
Fear fear fear! Self doubt! The big unknown! Treacherous thoughts!
But I persist despite myself, blast some music to drown out the enemy in my head, and dig out that old cake mixing dinosaur of a machine and long unseen baking trays, troll through some old recipes and get down to it.
For a short time I’m focused, in the present, not rushing through my head. For a moment I’m at peace with the world and with myself. The poof of flour as it slides into the bowl, the skip of a heartbeat when the egg is cracked without the shells falling in, the sweet smell of cocoa, the calming continuous whiz of the old dinosaur. And that divine smell when baking in the oven. Heavenly! The satisfaction of a job well done when all but the crumbs are left on the tray from happy tummies.
And when I’m on the other side, after coming out of that little frightening new journey, I wonder, “Why did it take me so long to do this?” Then I start thinking of all those small new things that I have never tried because I simply was just too afraid of trying something new!
All I want to say here is life is too damned short to be living like a programmed robot. We are not robots, we are humans! That has to count for something right! I’m tired of feeling like I’m here but I’m not really here. Of waiting for life to start!
I’m learning to appreciate the small things in life. Because it’s these small things that make me happy. When I can’t think of something new to try that won’t cost an arm and a leg, I turn to my 2-year-old nephew and marvel with him. At all his new discoveries. At the gecko on the wall, the big toad on the lawn, all the nice bubbles when he empties my new bottle of hair conditioner in the sink!
The one thing that I know about myself and amazingly only just realised this recently, is that I feel truly present and alive when I go out of my way to learn something new. This is when I pull at whatever courage I have buried deep in my being to get past myself and my negative thoughts and to just live a little.
And in these moments when I do get the courage to try something new, for a moment, just a brief moment I’m happy. At the end of the day, happiness is that god we all search for, and sometimes if we allow ourselves, for a fleeting moment, we meet that god, and we embrace, and we let go, for that chance to meet again.
Google Launches Google Fiber – Now An Internet Provider
I have to admit, I’m a big Google fan. So when the mega giants launch a new product, I’m one of the eager beavers queuing up to get my paws on them. Good news just in, they’ve launched a new product today!
If you’re looking for the full Google experience, then you may not have to wait for long. Google has just launched Google Fiber, where we not only are able to access the internet at 100 times faster than today’s broadband (or so they claim), but we will also be able to access all our favorite TV channels (see full list here)! How cool is that?!
If that’s not enough, customers get the new Android tablet, the Nexus 7, free with the Google Fiber package! In addition, customers will be able to access to Google Fiber all over their homes by directly connecting to one of the four 1 Gbps Ethernet ports, or by accessing the high-speed Wi-Fi, and stay safe with the gigabit firewall.
On top of all that, with 2 terabytes of storage, customers are able to record all their favorite TV shows without worrying about having enough memory or storage. Even better, you will be able to add your own music, photos, and videos, and access them from any connected device in the house.
Unfortunately, this service has at this point only rolled out in Kansas, USA, with the first 2 lucky cities being Kansas City, KS and Kansas City MO. The focused roll-out is due to the scale of the ground work activity needed to get this product out on the market, with the Google Fiber team installing fiber optic cables in the various neighborhoods.
Here’s a video from the Google Fiber team about what to expect from their installation team:
For prices and packages, as well as pre-registration, go to Google Fiber for more information.
Don’t know about you all, but I can’t wait for these guys to come to my neighborhood! In the meantime, check out the Google Fiber Offices:
The Google Fiber Space
Fiber in Action
Attend Free Fiber Events
Fiber Café
Toy Car World
BREAKING: The 'secret' list of the BBC 28 is now public - let's call it 'TwentyEightGate'
UPDATES ARE CONTINUOUSLY BEING ADDED at the end of this story. Check below.
WUWT readers may recall this post last week:
The Secret 28 Who Made BBC ‘Green’ Will Not Be Named
Posted on November 10, 2012
The BBC pits six lawyers against one questioning blogger, Tony Newbery of Harmless Sky, who was making an FOI request for the 28 names.
What Do They Say About A Clown’s Shoe Size?
Clowns Shoes
Freddy Getting Fresh On Scooby Doo!
Scooby Doo
BUYRAL – Professional Clicking
When you come across something brilliant and hilarious, it is the law of the jungle to share it, so that we can all laugh our guts off together, and watch in awe at the wit and creativity unfolding!
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Kiti Bolea: The Wicked Eye!
Somewhere far far south I sit and think and scribble and think...
