May 02, 2005
Redaction Continued
When I wrote this piece about how people inadvertenly reveal the truth while trying to hide it, I thought I was picking up a small, cute example as an exceptional occurence.
Seems the problem is not small, is not cute, and could be endemic to the US bureaucracy (via Slashdot). Seems if you want the full story on the shooting of an Italian Spy by US Troops in Iraq, you can reveal the censored sections with a little cut and paste. Will people get the message, soon?
Look! Your secrets aloft on the wind of your arrogance! - Cook
Posted by bonwag at 12:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 26, 2005
Lani Scores Big
I've just been informed that Allanah has captured a Pikachu in the Safari Zone of Pokemon Sapphire.
I have no idea what that means, but Caleb seems to think it's worthy of some sort of recognition.
So here it is.
Posted by bonwag at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2005
Dave's Theo-Tech: Redaction, Republishing, Redemption
It's been interesting to follow the recent trials and tribulations of the US Library of Congress as they struggle to come to terms with 21st century technology.
It occurs to me that there are some interesting spiritual parallels with their current problems.
The Big Issue is with the way they're handling electronic documentation attached to "Orphan Copyright Works". Without going into detail (like they do here) the office provided online documents which contained sensitive data relating to old copyright applications. Their solution was the cyber-quivalent of 'sticking white paper over it'. Naturally enough, the techies quickly found a way to steam the glue off and get to the information. (UPDATE: It seems the LoC has fixed the problem.) Here's an example of how NOT to hide a document's text.
The main problem here is that although the information is obscured from view, it still exists somewhere in the document, and will one day bubble to the surface. (Highlight the previous paragraph with your mouse to see what I mean.) There are many cases where companies have sent out documents containing 'hidden text' which communicates a very different message to the one the company intended.
The solution is to delete the information completely, or better still, republish the document from a source which doesn't reveal the information. (Instead of sending the document with the white squares on it, you print it again, or photocopy it. In the LoC's case, they should have just deleted the text.)
Uh, yeah. OK. So what's the spiritual parallel?
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
It took a while for me to start to understand that concept in relation to sin in my life. If you accept that teaching, it means that God 'redacts' you - he 'republishes' you - so that it was as if sin didn't exist in your life. There's no 'white stickers'. It's not like the sin of your former life is hidden away somewhere, to re-emerge some day, in some awful public expose. Like the LoC.
However, that republishing comes at a price. Just like it costs to reprint a book, your redaction comes at a set, flat fee. The price is exactly: Jesus. And the printer is prepared to honour that fee until you get it right. In most cases, we get our money's worth, and then some.
The 'new creation' is a powerful, popular concept that not many Christians - myself included - fully comprehend, much less take hold of. Once you can accept that your life is really washed clean by Christ's blood, and all things have become new, not just covered over, you can stand in the light.
You'll probably also end up with a smaller file size, too. But we'll leave that for another Theo-tech lesson.
Posted by bonwag at 08:24 PM | Comments (2)
January 04, 2005
Tsunami Survival: The Animals' Story
An fascinating snippet of information which has escaped many reports on the tsunami tragedy in South East Asia: despite the massive, and rising, human death toll, workers are yet to find a dead animal in Sri Lanka.
Posted by bonwag at 04:04 PM
A Modern Ethical Dilemma
One of our 'Big Hit' Christmas presents every year is the traditional 'family game' which makes sure we get the chance to play together and, according to the experts, stay together. Usually, it's a board game, but this year, to commemorate the family's introduction to Karaoke at my Mum's 60th birthday, we got ourselves 'Singstar'.
By way of introduction to the un-console-able, it's a karaoke machine (with microphones) for the Playstation 2, with the big bonus that the technology gives you a score based on how well you sing. That's right. It analyses your pitch, your tone and your timing and presents you with a score at the end of the game, which you can compare with your brother/sister/wife/husband and use for bragging rights for oh, let's say, the next few weeks. Or until someone practices some more.
It's great fun.
Now, let's propose a hypothetical situation. You're a music director of a large church. You're responsible for auditioning singers for the worship team. Do you use this technology?
Why do I use the church example? If I were a 'secular' band leader or director, I would have no qualms about calling it as I saw it - if you're a bad singer, you're out, sunshine. However, in church circles, there's always pressure to work with less-than-perfect musicians, because, really,it's the ministry that counts. (I'm not interested in a debate about ministry and talents, but I can deal with that off-line, if you'd like.) Having been in both situations before, I know that there's real pressure in the church to accept musicians based on qualities beyond their appreciation for pitch and rhythm.
Wouldn't it be great to have a dispassionate, standard measure of vocal talent beyond your own opinion, so that you would not be blamed of favouritism or any one of a number of other partialities when the teams are announced? Would it not be better to reduce a vocal ability to a number which you could treat in isolation to a myriad of other abilities? "I'm sorry, but your pitch rating is way off. That's not my opinion, by the way: look at your score"
Of course, the mere idea of asking singers to audition to a machine is a Horrific Thought. I should dismiss it straight away, shouldn't I?
But what about any one of a number of other areas of life where the rich complexity of our capabilities and talents are reduced to a single number? Finance applications. University entrance scores. Income. And, of course, there's the big one, Age.
Given that this is probably one of the first times this sort of technology has been made available on a mass-market scale, it will be interesting to see whether it creeps into any other areas of life. Would Australian Idol auditions be more productive with this technology? Can you envisage Channel 10 bringing back 'Dexter', of Perfect Match fame, to give a rating of each contestant on their scientifically monitored pitch and timing? Can we borrow Channel 9's 'election debate worm' so we can actually see the moment someone falls off the note?
I'm not saying that pitch, quality and timing are everything. (cough cough BOB DYLAN cough.) It'd just be sooo cool to have something to compare people with, other than the opinions of Dicko, Holden and Hines. Or myself.
I think I get some idea of how those mad scientists feel. Here we have the power to advance the music industry in strange new ways, all of which are too icky to contemplate.
Posted by bonwag at 03:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 29, 2004
"Good News" from South East Asia
While the death toll continues to rise in South-east Asia, there's some good news to be found: I quote from ET Online:
Popular 'Oprah' Guest Survives Tsunami
December 27, 2004
One of OPRAH WINFREY's most popular guests, celebrity interior designer NATE BERKUS, was in Sri Lanka when the devastating tsunami struck the tropical island.... Berkus, who's appeared on the "Oprah" show numerous times, reportedly said that he and a friend were sleeping in a beachfront cottage at Arugam Bay when the roof was torn off and they were swept into the ocean with debris. Berkus found refuge on the roof of another home with about 50 other survivors, but his friend has gone missing.
Just noticed these other headlines on CNN
* Swimsuit model survives tsunami
* Tsunamis shatter celebrity holidays
Boy. It's good to know McClurg's law is alive and well.
UPDATE - Dec 30: It's not just America. It seems Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also has a case of misdirected priorities. Quoted by Msnbc, the newly elected president says
The last three days have been the most difficult days of my presidency, and a most trying moment for my nation
At this time, I'd suggest the world is disinterested in your workload, sir.
UPDATE - Dec 30: George Bush sure loves a stoush. To quote his latest scripted pronouncement on the tragedy
We will prevail over this destruction.
Who writes these slogans? Does anyone care that they don't make sense?
Man, this guy loves fighting stuff. Stay tuned for the 'War On Nature'.
Posted by bonwag at 12:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack