I’ve been tweak­ing my design a bit in my allo­cated blog time today — rather than post­ing. Check out the funky new drop down menu in the top right of the design, and first time (and reg­u­lars com­ing back for the first time) vis­i­tors will get a nice lit­tle wel­come mes­sage from now on.

Try it and tell me what you think.

Off to open­ing night of the Aus­tralian Fes­ti­val of Cham­ber Music now. I’ll come back more cul­tured, but don’t worry, I’ve got a heap of triv­ial things to post tomor­row to get you through your weekend.

NASCAR is the world’s dumb­est motor sport. Here’s a flow­chart guide to suc­cess.

For those not inter­ested in US race pol­i­tics here’s a quick snap­shot of a story going on in the US now that will make this post make sense…

An African Amer­i­can pro­fes­sor was arrested in his own home recently for break­ing into his own home. The police were called by a neigh­bour, who didn’t recog­nise the guy as the home owner. The guy told the police that he was the home­owner, estab­lished this fact, and was still taken to the police sta­tion – Barack Obama com­mented on the sit­u­a­tion, which is inap­pro­pri­ate given the sep­a­ra­tion of pow­ers between exec­u­tive and judi­cial arms of gov­ern­ment. Every­body got mad. Then Obama invited the pro­fes­sor and the police man around to his house for a beer so they could have some laughs and move on with life…

Pretty cool hey. It’s a bit like To Kill A Mock­ing­bird – because it’s about Racism, and a guy who knows the law really well doing his bit for rec­on­cil­i­a­tion and to bring equal­ity to the legal system.

Any­way, XKCD has pro­duced this comic strip – which was funny.

Why is it that as a Chris­t­ian I am sus­pi­cious of any­body who forms their entire world­view — sci­en­tific, polit­i­cal and escha­to­log­i­cal — on the basis of Gen­e­sis, Daniel, and Revelation?

They seem per­fectly nat­ural places to go for such issues…

• Thank you face­book
  Face­book sus­pended Mark Driscoll’s fan page for some rea­son — they restored it. This is MD’s response… I can’t help but think he’s call­ing Face­book a great gift (rather than his restored pro­file) in this quote:

  ”Rumor has it my face­book account is back up. I want to per­son­ally thank the folks at Face­book for resolv­ing this and giv­ing the world such a great gift.”

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• Mis­un­der­stand­ing Markup: XHTML 2/HTML 5 Comic Strip
  It’s all so much clearer now.

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• Syn­chro­nized blink­ing dur­ing movies
  Amaz­ing.
  “Due to blink­ing, view­ers of a 2.5 hour-long film like the lat­est Harry Pot­ter will have their eyes shut for up to 15 min­utes. But researchers have found that movie goers syn­chro­nize their blinks”

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• What Hap­pened to Jimmy Hoffa?

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• BREAKING: Schu­macher to return to Fer­rari F1 for remain­der of sea­son
  Oh, but I thought he was the Stig…
  Yesterday’s rumors have been con­firmed: Michael Schu­macher will take Felipe Massa’s place for the remain­der of the 2009 For­mula One season.

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• Ten types of peo­ple to unfol­low on Twitter

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• Lyr­i­cRat Names that Tune with What­ever Lyrics You Can Remem­ber [Lyrics]

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• Become a Bet­ter Proof­reader By Dis­tanc­ing Your­self from the Text [Writ­ing Tips]
  Hear, hear: “Even if it’s just your own soli­tary voice bounc­ing against the walls of an oth­er­wise empty room, you should ALWAYS read your work out loud. Read­ing out loud will help to high­light any errors, miss­ing words or lapses in syn­tax you might have oth­er­wise missed.”

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• 6 Ways to Backup And Recover Impor­tant Data

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• Never Use Hot­mail Inac­tive Web­mail as Your Sec­ondary Email Account

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• Share Your Exper­tise in Our Tricks of the Trade Series [Tricks Of The Trade]

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• 3 Steps To Find Similar-Minded Peo­ple On Flickr

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• Catch Phrases That May Tip You Off to a Lie [Communication]

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• Should chil­dren take communion?

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• Because Nathan is bored

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• Shock Jock

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• Gen Y Watching

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• Is this the demise of great Ethiopian coffee?

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• That’s why they call him ‘Sky­walker Guy’…
  I was going to post this — but Phoebe beat me to it. It’s funny.

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• High school reunions

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I must find out what sort of doc­tor Dr Paul is. Espe­cially since now I’M GOING TO VISIT HIM IN GHANA. Yes. That’s right peo­ple. That’s wor­thy of a “shout” I think…

Actu­ally, I should spell out — I am not stu­pid. There is no way known to man that I will be vis­it­ing Ghana any time soon. Dr Paul thinks dif­fer­ently. Because I made him… Evi­dently the wild goose chase I’m send­ing him on – back and forth to the West­ern Union office – is tak­ing its toll.

Dear
Thank you very much for your mail. my friend am go to west­ern union now if i came back i will get back to you. my friend if i have any prob­lem i will let you no because since last night am so worry about this prob­lem. my friend i want to go now and meet the man in west­ern union if i come back i will let you no. Am look­ing for­ward to hear from you soon.
Yours Friend
Dr Paul

West­ern Union didn’t come through with the goods – so he called me again – and then sent me this email…

Dear.

Thank you very much for your mail . my friend am not happy for all this that going on now. my friend since that time i call you on phone i want to west­ern union to meet the man after the check again the told me that the money is not there.

please my friend this type i never see it before that some one  send me money i did not see. my friend am please you in the name of God come back to that  west­ern union you send this money col­lect this money back and send it to any order west­ern union again and send me the infor­ma­tion please because this one you send i have try all i can do to see that i pick this money but no way please.

my friend this can of ward i never see it before since i have being in this office. my friend please try do very thing today so by tomor­row diplo­mat can come and deliver this fund to you.  my friend as am send­ing this mail to you am so worry about this prob­lem that come out now. since morn­ing here the cus­tom there call­ing me to burn the money i told them will have big now by col­lect the money.

once again my friend because of the way i love you makes me being run round since last night for you to col­lect you fund. my friend as i told you try do it this way it help you and me so all this prob­lem will do fast. i want very thing been round up this week so you can feel happy. Am lok­ing for­ward to hear from you today.

Yours Friend

Dr paul

Some­thing is wrong. All the details I sent him were correct…It’s time for me to sort this out, in person.

Dr Paul,
I have been to see West­ern Union — they say the money has def­i­nitely been sent. And their records show it has been col­lected in Ghana.
Now you are claim­ing that you did not receive the money and ask­ing me to send it again. I am con­cerned. The lady at West­ern Union said I should be care­ful because she has seen peo­ple tricked out of money by peo­ple from Ghana before.
I told her that you are my good friend. And that I trust you to be truth­ful to me because you are a Chris­t­ian brother.
Dr Paul, I hope this is true. I will not be send­ing money again by West­ern Union. If you have not received the money that I have sent then I think I must arrange a trip to Ghana to sort this out.
I will book flights in the next few days. Will you be able to meet me at the air­port and arrange accom­mo­da­tion for me — I must stay in a hotel with at least a 4 star rat­ing and a reli­able inter­net con­nec­tion.
Please can you book this for me. I will send you through my flight details shortly. I will come to your coun­try for 5 days. That should be enough to sort out this mat­ter. I will also bring a sig­nif­i­cant sum of money to ensure any prob­lems with this sit­u­a­tion can be ironed out.
Please let me know as soon as pos­si­ble if the money has turned up — if I don’t hear from you in the next 12 hours I will book these flights.
Regards,
Nathaniel

Appar­ently it’s all West­ern Union’s fault and I should now use Mon­ey­Gram instead. Dr Paul is call­ing me every 20 min­utes today – and I’ve ignored most of his calls.

Dear.

Thank you very much for our phone dis­cuss. my friend am not happy for all this prob­lem but my God grace all this prob­lem will done very well my friend. about to come to Ghana am not advice you for that because it will col­lect you much money so what you will now go to money gram and send it money please. my friend try to do it now please. my friend what makes me  i told you not to  come ghana i done want you to have prob­lem i will use my hand here do very thing for you . This is the infor­ma­tion you will use to send it on money gram now onbelow

1. NAME; EMMANUEL ONYEKWERE

2. ADDRESS; ACCRA GHANA

Am look­ing for­ward to hear from you today.

Yours Friend

Dr paul

What? He doesn’t want me to come… I thought kid­nap­ping and extor­tion would be more lucra­tive… I best give him a carrot…

My dear Dr Paul,
I am a wealthy man. Pay­ing to visit your part of the world, my friend, would not con­cern me. I have not been there. Per­haps there are busi­ness oppor­tu­ni­ties I can explore.
I am con­cerned. I am wealthy because I do not take being ripped off kindly. I will no doubt be able to sue West­ern Union for lots of money — includ­ing my travel costs — if I get to Ghana and find they have stolen my money.
My friend, I think that I will come to Ghana rather than pay more money to Money Gram. I will book my flights and let you know the details.
The only thing that will stop my arrival is if you receive the West­ern Union money in the next few hours. Per­haps there has been some delay in the trans­fer clear­ing from Aus­tralia.
Please let me know if my travel is unnec­es­sary for this rea­son. I will not invest a sec­ond sum of money until I know what has hap­pened to the first.
Kind regards brother,
Nathaniel

Now I need to give him $500 to smooth the way for my trip…

Dear.

Thank you very much for your mail once again. my friend as you told me that you will come to ghana no prob­lem is good. As i told you on phone about this $500 please go now and send it so my morn­ing time here i will go and col­lect the money and get this doc­u­ment for you. This is the infor­ma­tion you will use it to send it through west­ern union money trans­fer onbelow;

1. NAME; EMMANUEL ONYEKWERE

2. ADDRESS; ACCRA GHANA

Am look­ing for­ward to hear from you today.

Yours Friend
Dr paul

That sounds odd. What is this $500 for?

Dr Paul,
What exactly is this money for?
I will not trust West­ern Union with my money again until I have been to Ghana to sort out this prob­lem.
In fact, I don’t feel com­fort­able wiring money via any ser­vice until I get to the bot­tom of things.
I will bring the $500 with me, and fur­ther funds to cover emergencies.

He replied…

Dear.

Thank you very once again. my friend i no you are not happy what west­ern union do before. but i want to assure you that you will not going to have any prob­lem again. please try send this money so i will go and burn this doc­u­ment and send to you before you come to ghana.

my friend this docum­net i want to use this money it is very impor­tant . so my friend if you can not send it to west­ern union please go to money gram and send this money fast because this $500 is very impor­tant so i will get this doc­u­ment and send to you because this doc­u­ment you will show them in air­port because you come in. Am lok­ing for­ward to hear from you today

Yours Friend

Dr paul

He needs to burn some doc­u­ments? How droll. Now, I want my photo. The promise of sig­nif­i­cant funds might be enough…

Dr Paul,
I can not answer more phone calls today. My col­leagues are already sus­pi­cious. My friend, I do not want peo­ple to know about this deal they will want money from me.
Dr Paul — it wor­ries me that this money has dis­ap­peared — per­haps you should try West­ern Union again just in case — I have spo­ken again to the local lady, I don’t think she has any idea what she is doing.
My Friend, please, can you go to West­ern Union and explain the sit­u­a­tion and ask what could pos­si­bly have hap­pened to my money.
I will not send more to your coun­try with­out deliv­er­ing it in per­son. The lady at West­ern Union, she said that it’s prob­a­bly a scam. That you have taken my money and want me to send it again so that you can take more.
I don’t believe her — but you remem­ber we had some prob­lems ear­lier where I believed you to be a crim­i­nal. Dr Paul, I think, before I invest more money in a trip over­seas, or send you more money by wire, I think you need to at last, take a step to demon­strate good faith.
I need you to send me a photo to reas­sure me that you are who you say you are. I need this Dr Paul, or the deal is off. I have already spent $850 for noth­ing. When you are as rich as me that is not a lot of money in the big pic­ture, but you don’t get rich like me with­out being care­ful with your money. And I am a pru­dent and care­ful man.
You must do this. Send me a photo hold­ing a sign like I asked to begin with, or the deal is off. As a Chris­t­ian brother I ask that you hold a sign with your favourite verse from the Bible.
Please Dr Paul. I can not tell you how impor­tant this photo is to secur­ing this deal and my travel to Ghana.

Com­ment spam is wildly entertaining.

Here’s some­thing from Ger­al­gora…

“what a poor grammar :)”

I love how he/she insults me and includes a smi­ley face as though that val­i­dates his/her statement.

It’s the equiv­a­lent of adding “no offense” before say­ing some­thing you know is offen­sive to somebody.

• Pas­tor laments, #39;My son won#39;t raise hell#39;
  Pas­tor Sean Welch and his wife Eleanor are con­cerned that their 16-year-old son isn’t turn­ing into the hell­raiser they thought he’d be.br“We’ve always heard how much trou­ble PK’s are, so we spent years read­ing par­ent­ing books and attend­ing sem­i­nars,” said Eleanor. “It looks like all that prepa­ra­tion is wasted.”

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• Fish­ing net calls when it#39;s full
  Clever– “Engi­neer­ing at the Uni­ver­sity of Nairobi, Kenya, devel­oped an elec­tronic device that ‘auto­mates’ fish­ing. The trap employs ampli­fi­ca­tion of the sound made by fish while feed­ing. The acoustic sig­nals are radi­ated and attract other fish who head toward the direc­tion of the source think­ing there is food there.brOnce a good catch is detected by a net weigh­ing mech­a­nism, it trig­gers a GPRS/GSM device attached to the sys­tem and the fish­er­man gets a call/sms inform­ing him that his catch is ready.”

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• How to Buy a Mat­tress: Advice from a Mat­tress Sales­man [Household]

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• Free Visual CSS Editor

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• How To Track Your Favourite Author’s New Book Releases Online

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• Cre­ate An iPhone Doc­u­ment Scan­ner From Cardboard

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• Why the Manager’s Sched­ule Blows Cre­ative Productivity

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• The Per­ils of the Subheading

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• The Times really really really regrets the error

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• The Case For A Four-Day Workweek

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• When some­thing you read online really both­ers you, do you try to let the author know?

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• Does sci­ence have all the answers?

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Peter Costello has a piece in the SMH on pro­posed changes to the dis­crim­i­na­tion laws, he chooses to focus par­tic­u­larly on the ram­i­fi­ca­tions of chang­ing this leg­is­la­tion for Chris­t­ian schools.

“At present, dis­crim­i­na­tion statutes don’t apply to reli­gious bod­ies and their schools on the grounds of free­dom of reli­gion. So a par­lia­men­tary com­mit­tee has rec­om­mended options to extend the power of the state over the province of reli­gion. One pro­posed change is to restrict the free­dom of reli­gious schools to choose their employ­ees on the basis of their reli­gious faith.”

I’m not apol­o­gist for Chris­t­ian schools – they can cre­ate unhelp­ful mono­cul­tural micro­cosms that can cause prob­lems for peo­ple engag­ing with the world later in life. On the flip­side, they are really help­ful insti­tu­tions where chil­dren receive a bet­ter than aver­age edu­ca­tion at the hands of teach­ers who actu­ally care about their development…

Forc­ing reli­gious schools to make employ­ment deci­sions free from pref­er­ence to reli­gion sounds equi­table – but there’s no way a Chris­t­ian School would hire an athe­ist teacher – they’d find other rea­sons to not hire them. It’s almost impos­si­ble to police. So it’s not a concern.

It is dumb though. And it’s the rea­son that Chris­tians should push for a clear sep­a­ra­tion of church and state. It cuts both ways.

Simone hasn’t posted since Mon­day. Stuss has posted just once this week, while Ben has posted just once today. Izaac has posted twice. Tim and Ben (Bathgates.net) once. The usu­ally reli­able Craig has posted only nine times this week. The man known around these parts as “The Moff” (I saw some­where that some­one called him that to some con­ster­na­tion) – has posted four times.

Amy and Tim are off to a promis­ing start with six posts since Mon­day. Ali, who I missed out in the last lit­tle round up post, has posted three times this week…

Maybe the threat of traf­fic induced by this post and all the other bored desk jock­eys out there will cause these peo­ple to update their blogs soon…

And the rest of you… what are we pro­cras­ti­na­tors to do?

Com­ment­ing would be a start. Lets talk.