Date:	2009-05-15 17:41
Subject:	One Laptop per Child (OLPC)
Security:	Public
Mood:	amused
Music:	The Princess Pleads For Wallace's Life - London Symphony Orchestra (Braveheart)

I've been thinking a lot about technology and education lately. Especially the thought that computers make schools better simply by having them there. Of course it's a completely false thought! For example, they have discovered porn on a number of the OLPC computers in the hands of children in the 3rd world, where they were deployed. A computer without the appropriate guidance ended up resulting in the computer being used for (what I and probably many others consider) completely wrong things, and "learning" about things that aren't the aim of the program!

So, what is the aim of OLPC? I have been digging, and have been saddened by what I have seen so far. Originally I was quite excited, years ago, to hear that it was happening. I thought it would have the resources to fix the issues I saw with P3 (that I used to work for in HK). Unfortunately, it seems that they have solutions to some of the issues I saw, but they have major holes that P3 seemed to have sorted out! :(
And for all their vision about education arising from getting laptops in the hands if children everywhere, it was very funny to be reading their website. Typos (or bad grammar - I'm not sure which it is, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say it's a typo) on their Education Vision page made me laugh. :)

Anyway, back to my thinking about the use of technology in the classroom. Enough thinking about the world-wide use of technology in regards to education in general!

Writing my last essay for the year. I type and I'm discovering that I'm ignoring my typos even when I know I've done them... Normally I'd fix them straight away and it's all good, but I'm now so used to using my iPhone! It will pick up on typos and auto-magically fix them for me, so I have learnt that I don't need to go back and edit... It's quite important on the iPhone and is probably the biggest factor that makes the small keypad very very usable - when keys are rather small and close together, you often hit the key next to the one you want, but you don't care, cause in 95% of cases, it will auto-magically make it all ok. :)

ahh, if only all of life could be as good as the iPhone... ;) :P

ps: yes, I could blog this from my iPhone, but I'm not, cause I'm procrastinating while doing my essay, hence blogging from my laptop. :P

pps: yes, some things are crappy about the iPhone, such as the camera (going from a 5Mpixel one on my old phone to this one is a bit painful!), but such things can be overlooked for the whole package it offers. :)

ppps: yes, now I'm just adding another ps in order to procrastinate more. :P

Date:	2008-11-10 23:12
Subject:	Passion Conference part II
Security:	Public
Mood:	satisfied
Music:	Between the Cherubim - Misty Edwards (Relentless)

So, Passion Conference was a long time ago, I know. But I have more to say about it. :)

Was chatting to a friend about it last night, and he said some of the time it felt more like a concert than a worship set. I agree, but I also think that it has a lot to do with how you approach it.

Anyway, the day in question . . . was feeling the flu coming on, but that wasn't gonna stop me. There was moshing involved, and by the time it was over, I was very ready for bed. But it was very much worth it. In fact, CF + the flu + the late and energetic night made for a very sick me! The days that followed, I felt as sick and unable to do anything as I did last December/January, at the worst of my Glandular Fever... Even though I felt that bad, I still felt it was worth it. :)

Knowledge that DCB will be back in January has me rather excited. :D

Date:	2008-11-03 17:06
Subject:	Passion Conference part I
Security:	Public
Mood:	bouncy
Music:	Roots - Shawn McDonald (Roots)

Well, Passion Conference was here in Sydney 2 weeks ago, and I'm only just getting around to blogging about it!
Is it bad that the number one reason I was looking forward to it was that David Crowder was gonna be here? But it was so much fun having him here, and given I was right up the front, I had a great view. :)
I threw up a few photos on Facebook, so go look there, but I must warn you: they are taken with my phone, and hence rather bad quality! :P

Date:	2008-10-18 00:04
Subject:	The Call
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative

It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
'Til it was a battle cry
I'll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

Just because everything's changing
Doesn't mean it's never been this way before
All you can do is try to know who your friends are
As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light
You'll come back when it's over
No need to say goodbye

You'll come back when it's over
No need to say goodbye

Now we're back to the beginning
It's just a feeling and no one knows yet
But just because they can't feel it too
Doesn't mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
'Til they're before your eyes
You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say goodbye

You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say goodbye

Date:	2008-09-04 15:04
Subject:	Love.
Security:	Public
Mood:	contemplative

God loves us.
God loves us so much that He gave His Son for us.
And He does this in order for us to Glorify Him.

Is that self-centred of him? Does that mean we give up having perceivably more fun^[1] doing other stuff rather than glorifying him?
Curious thought struck me today.
He's saving us (again with the saving!) from being self-centred, and helping us to be other-centred (especially^[2] God-centred).
He knows that we can get the most fun^[1] from being other-centred (and God-centred) rather than any other source of fun^[1].
So, if we're doing what He'd love us to do (and saved us to do!^[3]), we'll be the most satisfied with life.

Then, why do we seek fun^[1] in other things?

This thought struck me and I decided I had to write it down, so I did. And it ended up here. :)
Thoughts/comments/theological arguments are all welcome. :)

^[1] "fun" may be the wrong word, but I'm using it here anyway. :P
^[2] Tossing up between using "especially" and "primarily"...
^[3] Eph 2:10

Date:	2008-08-30 15:09
Subject:	things we do for kicks
Security:	Public
Mood:	amused

So, I was bored, and was wondering if there was any stuff I wanted from Amazon. Of course, if I was cleaver, I would have ordered all this stuff about a month ago, when the exchange rate was much nicer, but not that organised.
So, I ordered it all, and then was looking at the various shipping methods. And decided that since I wasn't doing much, and that it was still cheaper ordering it from the US with the most expensive shipping rate, I'd pick that one. Then it'd arrive sooner, and given I am at home so much atm due to sickness, I'd get to enjoy it sooner. :)

But I just discovered an unknown advantage of paying the extra. :) This type of shipping has tracking, so I can see fairly clearly where it is in the world. :)

1 hour ago it left Mather, in California. Where's that? I used to have no idea, but thanks to google, I can tell you it's next to Yosemite National Park, near San Francisco. :P

Date:	2008-07-30 15:09
Subject:	grrr...
Security:	Public
Mood:	annoyed

So... the "evil" cleaning lady came over today. We have 2 sets of cleaners (mum decided a long time ago that if she worked 1 day a week, that meant she could get in a cleaner, as we don't need the money, but she'd rather work a day than clean for a day!), and one set I really like (and the pets love them), the other set is a real pain (and the pets hate her) . . .

So, she came over and I heard her arrive . . . and I was still in bed, and that didn't help me in getting motivated to get up. :(
The whole point is that she was really really annoying today . . . not only is she a pain, she likes to ask lots of questions. Dunno if you're allowed to tell someone who's a grandmother to shut it, but anyway...
There was an envelope on the kitchen bench with her name on it (but she can't read), and it had cash to pay her with. I'm the only one home atm, and last night before going to bed, the envelope was still on the bench. By the time she got to leaving, it was gone. Noone else around. So where did it go? We trust her enough to not just take it and lie about it . . . I mean, she can't even read her own name! After 15 mins of looking (thought she may have knocked it onto the floor by accident, and then the dog may have stolen it and hidden it somewhere), I found it in the cupboard with "spare" envelopes. How it got there, I have no idea. But I didn't put it there, there's noone else around, and the pets aren't cleaver enough to do that. So, by a process of elimination, it was the cleaning lady.
Now I'm very annoyed that I had to figure out how she'd stuffed up and lost her own pay!

ok, end rant. :P

Date:	2008-07-02 23:59
Subject:	God's Love
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired

So, in the last week I've been reminded about God's Love. Specifically how He loves us no matter what. And when we approach Him, He's there. He wants us to come, and is waiting for us... We might ignore Him for a bit, but that doesn't mean He'll then ignore us in return.
It blows me away that He is like that......... :)

btw, photos from Fuzhou:

from the Great Wall:

and from Sal and Glynn's Wedding:

Date:	2008-06-27 19:17
Subject:	la la la
Security:	Public
Mood:	annoyed

so, haven't blogged for a very long time.

still not doing much. have investigated studying for next semester. have investigated getting a job.

made it to home group for the 2nd time this year, last tuesday. that's a big achievement for me - haven't made it out the door much.

started going to a gym, have been 4 times in 9 days. that's probably too much, cause, well, my body is complaining a bit, and I didn't feel up to it today. But I'm hoping going to the gym will give me more energy? or at least get me to the point where I can do things and not get so tired?

was rereading blog posts since when I got sick, and there haven't been many, but one was about how you get used to things . . . and how I was "used" to being sick, after just one week. strange. I'm very much over not being able to do much, and made a conscious decision last week to force myself to try to get going again . . . hence the gym (never been a member of a gym before!), and making it to hg again for the first time in forever! even went out a couple of times on the weekend... :P

but it's strange, when things were the worst, I cut myself off the most. Think that may have annoyed and/or hurt some ppl, some of the time, but it was my (bad) way of trying to cope. This past week has actually been much harder than the previous couple of months (well, it seems that way?) simply cause I'm trying. Trying to get out, trying to get in touch with ppl, trying to do stuff again. And I've been forcing myself not to retreat back into my shell (altho, have been retreating into bed, and hiding under the covers, but I consider that a step forward atm).......

I've decided this long-term sickness stuff really sucks. And would be very thankful for anyone who can figure out why God lets this sorta stuff happen. :P Perhaps for some ppl it brings them closer to God, but in my situation it hasn't (in fact, the opposite?). Perhaps for some ppl it forces them to stop what they're doing, but given that I seemed to have only just started to be doing some really cool stuff, why stop?

I'm annoyed cause I thought I had the next 6 months or so planned out. The Saturday after I flew back to Sydney (which was a Friday), I was meant to be flying into China. I was gonna look into moving there for a while, and had (what I thought were) nice plans up until semester 2 started this year. Here we are at the very end of semester 1 (semester 2 starts in 3 weeks or so?), and all those things that I had been anticipating and excited about . . . have been reminded that they were coming up, and been able to (unfortunately, and not purposely) compare them to what I have actually done for the last 6 months.

Anyway, let's see if I can blog some more now? Altho I assume, given the very large amount of silence from me here, noone reads this anymore. :P

Date:	2008-04-04 21:36
Subject:	hmmmm...
Security:	Public
Mood:	bored

So. more tests. :)

Started a 24 hour urine test yesterday, which was "interesting" . . . was happy to be able to pee into the toilet again. ;) storing it in the fridge was fun, too... :P

then, today, had the largest number of blood tests I've had yet! and this is 3.5 months after getting sick... :)

Those were all in response to a fun CT scan last week, where I had my first ever IV drip . . . which wasn't that bad!

anyway, results should be in next tuesday, which should be fun . . . that many blood tests and that much pee has gotta have some answers... ;)

Date:	2008-03-26 00:58
Subject:	hmmm...
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired

opened my email just then . . . 218 unread messages... perhaps I should check my email more often?
NetNewsWire had a few hundred items, too. just spent half an hour going through those, still have some more to go through.
still sick, still not doing much. The biggest achievement of the last week was getting my D3 set in WoW. yes, lame existence atm. :P

Date:	2008-02-22 19:31
Subject:	hehehe
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired

7 Reasons the 21st Century is Making You Miserable

thanks, Nick.

Date:	2008-02-21 22:14
Subject:	new photos
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired

not much happening atm. spending most of my time doing not much. still trying to shake this and get better.

in the meantime, go take a look at the latest photos I've put up on flickr... They're from our holidays last year, in Macau. Photos from China are still to come...

yes, I know they are very late. deal with it. :)

Date:	2008-01-23 19:17
Subject:	Belly Butons
Security:	Public
Mood:	amused

well, there's a blog tag going on at my church atm, and it fell to me to write the next post. I've now posted it, as it's meant to go on the church's blog, but I'm reproducing it here, for all your benefit. :)

--------------------

Let's start with the Belly Button Song from Veggie Tales to set the mood.........

Mr. Lunt: Baby I know your eyes see right through my disguise
Boyz: (Larry, Jimmy, Junior): And no one can deny
Mr. Lunt: Baby that I’m the one whose love is no surprise
Boyz: And he can’t tell you no lie
Mr. Lunt: But there’s a secret I’ve been hidin’ I can’t keep it no more
Boyz: There’s this thing about himself he’s never told you before
Lunt: Baby!

Chorus:
Boyz: He needs to tell you something
Mr. Lunt: I don’t got a bellybutton
Oh I need to tell you something
Boyz: Have you figure it out
He don’t got a bellybutton
Boyz: Bellybutton no, oh no no


I was thinking about what to write for this blog tag post, and I've had a lot of time to think about it! Sorry, being sick for however long has delayed the next post in our blog tag, but I have something to say now. :)

Belly buttons are something that I really love. I guess I don't find them especially sexy or anything like that, but it's what they mean to me that I really love. If you travel around the world, you see many different people, different races, looks, clothing styles, attitudes, beliefs, and colours. There are a few things that are common with every human being (ok, let's not bring up the question of whether or not Adam had a belly button, that's outside the scope of my poor little blog post!) and having a belly button is one of them.

Yes, we each have a nose, ears, hands, etc, etc, but each person has a belly button cause each person was once a small insignificant little baby (ok, don't tell the parents that their baby is insignificant, but in the grand scheme of things, a little baby is fairly insignificant!). They are helpless, defenseless, unable to do anything for themselves (well, ask Ty and Sare as to what exactly a baby can do when it's under a week old!) and only survive because of others completely caring for them.

Each human being was once like that. They started that way.

By looking at how a precious life starts, we can see how fragile it is. And yet so many people around the world don't value human life the same as we do. I look at a person's belly button and remember how they started, as a little baby, and remember how valuable and delicate their life is.

Of course, we know that each person is valuable simply cause they are made in God's image, and we should treasure each individual due to that! He is our author and creator, and the one who made us in such a way that we end up having a belly button -- he put it there, and I use it as a reminder of how he did all that, too. :)

Date:	2008-01-03 14:48
Subject:	quick update
Security:	Public
Mood:	content

I haven't blogged for a while, so, Dr has diagnosed me with Glandular Fever. Extra stuff, but that's basically it. Yesterday I had another blood test (oh, in Sydney now, so Sydney doctors, etc, but you all should know that by now!), and it says that my liver function is almost completely back to normal! it had some blood indicators (from a blood test on the 22nd of Dec) showing it was 22x over the "normal" range, which was, well, bad. now it's only 1.5 times over, or something like that, which is extremely good! :)

So, that explains why I'm feeling so much better, but I'm still rather tired, and get tired rather quickly and easily. :( I want to go and do something physical, but I'm assuming that that would be a rather bad idea... ;) going out to dinner tomorrow night, and that should be interesting. hopefully I don't die or anything... ;) I've now been home sick, in bed, for 3.5 weeks, but I'm now going to venture out and start doing some stuff, in order to figure out exactly how much I can do. This time, last week, I went for a short walk to the end of the street and back (at Pearl Beach), and that was enough to wear me out! :(

oh well, today I'm doing nothing but watch tennis, read, and blog! ok, the blogging bit is fairly insignificant, as I'm now going to go have a nap. :)

Date:	2007-12-18 20:15
Subject:	"getting used to it..."
Security:	Public
Mood:	thoughtful
Music:	Turkish Delight - David Crowder Band (Music Inspired By The Chronicles Of Narnia)

It's interesting that the longer something goes on, the more you get used to it.

Take, for example, how this thought started -- me being sick! I was so used to it, last week, that I decided I may as well go in to school on Friday. I'd been sick for several days, and mistook the fact that I was now "used" to being sick for the thought that I was on the up. I was wrong, and was still sick! :P

Then my thoughts progressed to thinking about . . . ok, let's cut to the chase: things with God. If things are starting to go bad with your relationship with God, at first it's all terrible, but after a while you start to "get used to it". It can become such that you don't realise you are "sick" anymore, but still know there's a problem. Like me, with last Friday. Shouldn't have gone to school, but did. So, with God, shouldn't think "oh, it's ok!" but instead should be continuing to think how you thought at first, and that's along the lines of "bugger, gotta do something about this!"......

ok, that's more than enough thinking for this sick brain, think I might start getting ready for bed! :)

Date:	2007-12-18 15:41
Subject:	rant about being sick...
Security:	Public
Mood:	angry
Music:	None But Jesus - Hillsong United (United We Stand)

So, it's been over a week since I've been sick. Today is the 6th day of work I've missed, with no end in sight... And this is me, who is very rarely sick... :(

If I knew what was wrong, if I was on the correct meds, if I was improving, I don't think I'd be as annoyed as I am right now. Because I rarely get sick, and when I do I mend rather quickly, I ignored it and waited to get better for the first while . . . actually, I first went to the Dr on the Saturday after getting sick, which was monday night.

• Doctor #1
  

  
  So, wandered along, got him to check me out. At all points of the visit, it seemed like he was 2 seconds from being fast asleep. not a good sign! He asked questions, took my temperature, and couldn't figure out what it could be. He ended up suggesting it could be brain cancer, and I could get a brain scan to rule that out, but I should go home to do that, because it costs so much! He gave me Panadol, pain-killers, and some pills to help me sleep.
  

  
  

• Doctor #2
  

  
  This one was in a good hospital, and so I had much more respect for him from the get-go. His English was fairly good, and his degrees were from the UK. :) The quick check-up, before actually seeing him, showed a temperature of 38.8, which was good, cause I was, apparently, 37 when I went to see the other guy. I dunno what happened in there. Did he take one look at me, bleached dreads, multiple piercings, and decide what was wrong? It seemed that he basically decided it was all in my head, and that I should see a shrink. Hey, I may be crazy (insane even?), but I have something wrong with me that is giving me a huge headache and a high temperature, and, while it's fun to consider that I can make my temperature go up without even being sick (something I should have taken advantage of in school, to miss out on tests and the like! altho I doubt this is true!), I'd like to know what's actually wrong with me, and to start to get better!

Date:	2007-12-11 18:34
Subject:	sad day!
Security:	Public
Mood:	melancholy
Music:	Daffodil Lament - The Cranberries (No Need To Argue)

Today my pen died! :(

I've had it since the start of 2005 -- when I got it, I was extremely protective of it, and that's why I've had it ever since! Never lent it out (had other pens that I lent out, but never that one!), or anything like that. It was simply a disposable pen, but I really liked it. :)

Oh, Pen, you shall be missed! :(