Month: April 2006

Brain upgrade

Are you looking for a way to learn without moving off to Universityville?
Do you thirst for knowledge but haven’t the coin to pay college?
Do you want to learn but do not care about the sheepskin?
Do you need more structured learning than reading a book (ie, Audible.com)?

The solution has arrived. Turn off your TV, get all the brain pacifying music off that iPod and load it up with college courses for FREE! That’s right, college courses and complete lectures are now available, free of charge to anybody and everybody.

If you want to be educated, head on over to UC Berkeley
If you want theololy, head over over to Biblical Training.org

There are other free resources on the internet but most are worth what you pay for them. The two sites I just cited are both real colleges courses taught by honest accredited college professors. UC Berkeley’s content is obvious. Biblical Training is an excellent resource put together by Bill Mounce, the fellow who wrote the Greek textbook we learn from at DTS. He has collected courses from seminaries who voluntarily make their courses available.

This is a welcome trend and I preduct we will be seeing more of this in the future. Of course, learning from these courses will not earn you a degree but they will certainly enrich your mind.

To refurb, or not to refurb?

Today I have been asked again about the purchase of reburbished computers. Since I have answered this question in emails before, I have summarized those emails and published it here for the edification of others.

I have had mixed results with refurb gear. I had one arrive DOA and other with intermittent hardware failures that required sending it back. My “get a good one the first time” success rate is around 50%. I feel that whether or not a person should buy a refurb boils down to several key factors.

1. In exchange for saving some cash, you are taking the risk that your system is not going to arrive in “new” condition. This could include the inconvenience of sending it back and getting another one, costing you a week or two extra where you do not have use of the new computer. Further, it is possible that your computer has an intermittent hardware fault that passes Q.A. testing but still causes sporadic problems for you.

2. Technical savvy. If you are not familiar with how the computer should be working, then it could be faulty without you knowing it. For this reason, I do not advise new or less technically savvy computer users to get a refurbished computer.

3. If this will be another computer and you will not “need” it immediately, then you can risk getting a less than perfect computer the first time. The annoyance of sending it back and getting another one sent to you may not be as significant as $200.

I’m technologically savvy enough to know if there is something wrong with the hardware. I also have plenty of “extra” computing hardware so if a new computer arrives DOA, it is a slight inconvenience. However, I still almost always buy new. By exercising patience, I can usually score a system for enough of a discount that a reburb is no longer attractively priced.

How the Irish saved civilization

As a student, I have been forced to read many more books in the past year than I would have otherwise chosen. On occasion, a book is just so good that I can’t help but think that everyone should read it.

How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History)How the Irish Saved Civilization is just such a book. It is masterfully written and is a complete joy to read. The author, Thomas Cahill provides a very insightful background of Europe, the forces that lead up to the fall of the Roman Empire, and how the Celts of Ireland preserved much of the scholastic works and literacy that were decimated by the hordes of barbarians that swept across Europe in the fifth century.

It is the most enjoyable book I have read since reading How to Read a Book.

Not April Foolin’

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I can certainly understand why some of you were reluctant to believe a post I’d make on April 1st. That fact was part of the reason to make the announcment on April 1. “Is he serious?” would certainly be a valid question. In February the “all day” nausea settled in and there was strong suspicion. It didn’t take long to confirm.

Junior 2.0 is for real.

Kayla’s little sibling is on his way. The 10 week ultrasound was on March 24 so Junior is due in late October. The gag order has been lifted so I can shout it from the rooftops. We do not know the sex. As with last time, I’d prefer not to know, but I got my surprise. It is Jen’s turn and she hasn’t decided yet if we will find out.

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It also seems a post with a Kayla photo is past due. She has passed the 10 month mark and is now inch-worming across the floor, which she uses out of necessity. She is just starting to crawl but doesn’t care for it at all. Instead, she scoots over to something, nearly anything, and uses it to pick herself up. Once standing, she’ll follow any wall to anywhere in the house.

She is well past the, “she’s right where I left her” stage. She eats just about anything, particularly so if she watches daddy eating it.