Ron Lusk's Radio Weblog

Sunday, September 01, 2002

Bloggers uncover the implicit and make it explici. (SOURCE:Mathemagenic)-Great idea! Bloggers build stories to make the implicit explicit.

I've been trying to articulate out what these professions have in common that could explain why weblogging has become an especially popular practice in those areas. I'm not finished thinking about it yet, but I think the commonality has to do with uncovering the implicit.

Software developers patiently explain to a machine things for which humans wouldn't need an explanation. Journalists take threads from different places and build a coherent story out of them. Teachers patiently explain to students things for which trained specialists wouldn't need an explanation. Librarians gather and organize explicitly material that is only implicitly connected. Lawyers, whenever they seek to correctly interpret the intent of a law, need to uncover its spirit which is almost always implicit. All of them are not just pattern recognizers, they are also pattern explainers.
[Roland Tanglao's Weblog]

5:21:48 PM

Thus far, I have seen very little in Weblog land (I know they're out there, though) that uses the word Christian that doesn't also adhere to nearly everything right-wing. I linked to a couple of sites today that I found that didn't spout it quite so much. Places like Sojourners (I know the Webmaster there, perhaps I should write him and ask "You Blog?"

For any of you out there who feel a little isolated in amongst the multitudes of "Christian Blogs" who speak a different language and spout a theology which is more Chrisitianity American-style rather than , well, things usually other than that. I'm on a mission to find you. I hope that as I bring some of my initial intros of Christian theology that I used when I ventured out on the Web in 1994 (and got flamed constantly by people out to save me), that I can connect with the fellow Webloggers who look for the same, or have already found some and are spreading the word.)
[Dale Lature: Theoblogical]

Perhaps we have met.
2:31:09 PM

I have been so immersed in this or that, that I haven't been thinking too much about the Bible Study idea (but I have some, and I was thinking to myself, "I bet Frank ( see comments in an August post entitled Weblogs as sound communication tools for a Theological Community)
Read more in Online Intimacy and Discipleship
[TheoBlogical Community]

There have been so few people that I have encountered looking at the interaction between blogs and the local church, whether as “Knowledge Sharing” for staff (with its confidentiality problems) or as presenting a human voice in the marketplace (a la Cluetrain)—so few, that I want to record my discovery of those working this out in their lives.
2:27:02 PM

Sunday Morning Thoughts.
stories added Sunday morning Blog ....

"a place where my visions as a Web developer might somehow aid in enabling the church to express its personality and mission in the "place" called ......what is it called?....it's not "cyberspace" anymore, although that had a nice ring to it "a place called cyberspace". Now it's just "The Net" or "The Web".

and Getting a Clue in the Church

Somehow, I feel that there is a whole lot of possibility for online communication to be a place of aggregating reousrces and conversaton around missions which are run by people who have been called to do something, and to do this in community which has the needed ftf elements, but is "extended" into online technologies that provide what seems to me to be an "extended presence"; that the immeidate and constant availability of others for dialogue and conversation and resource suggestions makes this mission community seem to jump out of time constaints and into a context where the door is always literally open, and people can talk at literally any hour of the night, even when most of the participants are asleep.
[TheoBlogical Community]

Good questions (if I read—or interpret through my own grid—aright): can we make use of the Web, the Net, a "third place" in cyberspace, to tell the prodigals to come home to a party, and to get the elder brothers out of the back room and into the party, too?
2:23:07 PM

The Social Medium - from JOHO.

Weinberger said some things in his NPR address that he reposted today which get at the points about the differences in ftf and online....mainly here, the ongoing conversation vs "regular meetings" which are constrained by schedule, distance, and on and on........Churches need to sit up and notice how many worthwhile conversations that typically die out due to the passage of time and the constraints mentioned...but are "kept alive through archive"; and yet not "archived" in a "past, no longer relevant or pressing" sense, but as key points that distill the something of the essence of one person's insight or comments, that speak to another in what could be a much later time, but with a personal relevancy that reaches forward in time to connect that piece of that person who wrote the original entry, to a relevant piece of another person, and join their journeys across the bounds of time.

Studies have suggested that the Internet is making us less social, because we're spending more time tanning by the light of our computer screens and less time with others. And yet, the Internet is a profoundly social medium, what with email and discussion groups and chat and instant messaging. So is the Net making us more social or less social? As with every great question, the precise answer is: It depends ... in this case on how you define "social." But we should be careful, because the Net is rewriting some of the basic rules about social forms as fundamental as groups.

.....So, is the Net making us more social? All I can say is that while I'm sitting alone, eyes on my monitor, for many many hours a day, I'm meeting and talking with a literal world of strangers in groups held together by nothing but raw interest. Social? Absolutely. More social? Better social? I'm not even sure it's a sensible question any more. Permalink

[TheoBlogical Community]

2:15:41 PM

M e t h o d X
I found this site through Dale Lature's TheoBlogical Community. There is a “Spiritual Types Test” on this site as well (I appear to be a “Lover”—given the choices of Sage, Prophet, Mystic, or Lover).

If nothing else, this last reflects the changes that maturing has brought in my life. I would once have spurned the title, preferring “Sage” or “Prophet” (that I don't list “Mystic” might also be diagnostic to those who know me).
1:55:42 PM

Great Developers.

Some great discussion on Great Developers from Brad Wilson, Greg Reinacker and Justin Rudd.

One of the bullet points Brad makes is so critical (in my opinion):

"Unafraid to express their opinions when they think others are wrong, and capable of accepting when others are right (must be capable of doing it without being confrontational)"

I've seen many sharp developers fail this -- they could not accept criticism. It's unfortunate when this happens. I enjoy debating software design with others -- it's a great learning tool. Why anyone would refuse to listen is beyond me... [Wrinkled Paper] 12:44:00 PM

Building Bridges.

Today I was reading Jeff Lander's article on Continuum Mechanics in Game Developer Magazine. In the article he mentions Alex Austin's Bridge Builder game. We downloaded it and we're immediately hooked! It is such a blast! It's like being a kid again in science class...able to play with different ideas =)

[StronglyTyped - Richard Caetano's weblog on software development]

Thanks alot Richard! I didn't have the use of my computer for about an hour last night as my 5-year old played with this... :) [Wrinkled Paper]

12:43:33 PM

Oops. Wrong sort of suds.

eSuds.
Reuters reported that IBM is rolling out new technology that may be powerful enough to stop college students from bringing laundry home to mom and dad for the weekend. The system is called eSuds and it was developed by IBM and USA Technologies. Instead of the usual chasing all over to find quarters, this new system allows students to swipe a credit card or punch a code into their cell phones to pay for the washing machines or clothes dryers. (read more)

[John Patrick's Weblog]

12:40:50 PM

Helpful discussion of Live Journal and its culture.
[Instructional Technology]
7:39:35 AM

Good summary of views of blogging (among the Science Fiction minded, at least):

Blog This at Con José.
...
[Instructional Technology]

7:38:14 AM

Abridged, read the whole entry on Computer Folkore (I left off the extended punch line):

Computer Folkore.
Computer Folkore

Saturday I attended the Con José panel on "Computer Folklore: Tales from the Geekside," featuring... Computer folkore is, by the way, a genuine folkloric academic study, despite much of the humor involved.
...

Come on people: you are all missing the most obvious upgrade path to the most powerful and satisfying computer of all. The upgrade path goes:

Pocket calculator

Commodore Pet / Apple II / TRS 80 / Commodore 64 / Timex Sinclair (Choose any of the above)

IBM PC

Apple Macintosh

Fastest workstation of the time (HP, DEC, IBM, SGI: your choice)

Minicomputer (HP, DEC, IBM, SGI: your choice)

Mainframe (IBM, Cray, DEC: your choice)

And then you reach the pinnacle of modern computing facilities:
... [You'll have to read the rest yourself...—rl]
[Instructional Technology]

7:36:30 AM

Sponge abuse is a terrible thing. There are no doubt organizations to help prevent it.

I'm back. I came home to find that, despite being sick and allegedly bedridden for most of the week, my beloved fianceé had managed to buy and install a sponge organizer in our sink. I had previously been unaware that sponges were one of the myriad of things in this world which needed organizing. Upon wondering aloud—in a roundabout sort of way—whether this was an example of suburban consumerism run amok, I was informed in no uncertain terms that sponge organizers are specially designed to allow sponges to dry more quickly, and are therefore good for the sponges' health. Never let it be said that I wish my sponges ill health. They might go out and buy people organizers while I wasn't looking. [dive into mark/September 1, 2002]

7:24:19 AM