OpenBible.info offers us lists of places mentioned in the Bible with associated with their locations. Or as OB's first post (kind of the opposite of the "Last Post"?) puts it, answering the question "Why this site?":
What this means now is a series of small files you can plugin to Google Earth (the post "How to Add KMLs to Google Earth" explains how) and double click to zoom to places mentioned in the Bible. So I started with Amos 1, and away I went.... I wonder could I record Google Earth animations of swooping from one tro another of the places in the Oracles against the Nations in chs.1-2, that could be fun and interesting... Meanwhile here's one that pictures the phrase "from Dan to Beersheba" ;-)Simple. It’s weird that no one’s ever collected basic biblical data—such as the locations of all the places in the Bible—into an accessible format.
Wow!
[Incidentally for those with Windows, or who are willing to download VLC the great media player for most OS here's a Windows Media version of the file that gives better quality for small file size ;-) Here's the link to view it on YouTube, or get the code to embed it in your blog.]
Now, having got the "wow" out of the way for a few minutes, here's why it is really important. This data, linking place names with locations has been collected, and made available under a Creative Commons licence. Which means that as long as they attribute the data people can correct it, and reuse it in new ways in new applications... Sean explains it well with lots of detail, so if you can't instantly see why this is significant read the post!
Scholars are inveterate examiners of the standards of dentistry in complimentary equines. So, I'll note that on the OpenBible.info front page their goal is expressed like this, to present: "The location of every identifiable place mentioned in the Bible." Now, inevitable there are many judgement calls in such a list. Is Tell es-Seba`the biblical Beersheba? Or Tell es-Safi Gath? The fact that this data has been presented under a CC licence means that someone can produce a more cautious list, or a more adventurous one, depending on their needs and the use they plan for the data.
Data is used to grow knowledge, and knowledge can be used to develop understanding... BUT if the data is held in proprietary formats it can only be used by some privileged people... So, not merely "Wow!" but also grateful thanks for a fine job begun...
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Now, there is much (If only it had footnotes!) that you or I might argue with. There is also much in the clip that looks strikingly different when viewed from NZ rather than USA. And we could, and perhaps should, argue for hours if this kind of "video" was the best format for the information. Where it seems to me there is no room for discussion is that we are educating students for change.
Well we aren't... Actually we are educating them for the 1990s (an average figure taking into account that we do, a little, expose them to 21st century ways of doing things, but that on the other hand we mainly expose them to traditional ways!), but, since the world in which they will live, work and share their learning, the world they will live in will have changed hugely almost before they graduate... We should be educating for change.
Education though is past focused. It repackages knowledge and understanding already gained. Theological education invites students to read books that summarise and restate previously acquired understanding. Inevitably theology, of all disciplines is past focused. Yet, there is something significant in the traditional claim that degree level education should be taught by active researchers. Because then it will also have a future edge... Education for a change!
Incidentally, students should also be encouraged to explore and research for themselves. Because that will prepare them to remain educated for the next decades of their lives.
But we don't. At just the period when future-focused, research-driven education is more vitally necessary than ever before, we are busy "dumbing down". The rise of distance learning (which I welcome and enjoy) has led to a mere packaging of information and ideas, which the student can "learn". (OK I know, we do try - quite hard sometimes - to do more, but in practice we seldom really achieve an exploratory future focus in our teaching.) And, the onsite students "benefit" too, because they also increasingly get these bite-sized, prepackaged chunks of information and ideas, rather than being stimulated to learn.
And "the culture" does not help, students (with growing debt burdens) need "qualifications", so they focus on passing courses. But a focus on passing courses hampers education for a change!
Labels: culture, education, internet
¶ 6:52 PM
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The setting has no street appeal, Eiffel en Eden occupies a large shed alongside a bed factory. It backs onto a large hole in the ground where gravel has been quarried for so long that the entire neighbourhood has fallen measurably because the soil is drying out from the water that is pumped out of the hole! However, the decor is good, light and airy with the food cabinets as the focus. It was a nice morning, so we sat outside and people-watched, lots of folk come for a takeaway from the patisserie.Coffee: Not bad. My long black came (bonus points) with a separate jug of hot water (though a steel jug which cooled quickly - so less bonus). The beans are (I believe) from Atomic roasters, which I think are among the best. However, the brew though rich was slightly bitter. So overall, not really good, but not bad either.
Food: could do better - but maybe we could have chosen better. Perhaps, judging by the takeaway clients, we should have chosen patisserie.
But I didn't. I chose bacon and eggs. The bacon fat (it was streaky bacon so lots of fat) was not crisp, but soggy white. The eggs were OK, though the yolks were only semi-soft and I do like a really gooey yolk over my spinach and toast. The toast was some soft bread, perhaps corn bread, which did not offer the crispness that poached eggs need. (It would have been better to toast rounds of baguette...)
I am not convinced by the patisserie claim though, because Barbara says her croissant was cold (as in straight from the chill-cabinet) and "not quite as good as the ones from the Vietnamese baker up the road" - he's almost on the corner where Mt Eden meets Duke St, or Landscape Rd, and his baguettes and croissants are superb). However, the patisserie cabinet did look mouthwatering, and all those takeaway people must know something...
Maybe it's a case of good pastry chef, let down by poor service? Or maybe we'll try it again and take away a different impression...
Labels: auckland_cafes, food, review
¶ 5:46 PM
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As you might expect, I don't agree with any of the four, who were:
- Bart Ehrman (apocryphal gospels) lost his faith study,
- James F. Strange (archaeologist) a quite untypical Baptist,
- Lawrence H. Schiffman (Dead Sea Scrolls) Orthodox Jew
- and William G. Dever (archaeologist) evangelical preacher, who lost his faith, and then became a Reform Jew.
Ehrman exhibits clearly the danger of placing one's faith in the Bible, rather than the Lord of History.Bart Ehrman — Biblical Archaeology Society
Bart Ehrman — Biblical Archaeology Society
James F. Strange — Biblical Archaeology Society
Strange: I suppose so, but I’m not really much interested. If I’m passionately in love, I hardly ever want to discuss the attributes of the person I’m in love with. Or if I do, I wind up saying superfluous things for everybody listening. “She’s wonderful.” “Can you give me some more information?” “Yeah, she’s really wonderful.” [Laughs] When you’re in this state, you don’t utter propositions.
James F. Strange — Biblical Archaeology Society
I agree with his point, I just disagree with his conclusions. His central historical conclusion is that the resurrection did not happen. By contrast it seems to me the only sensible explanation for the descriptions of the disciples' behaviour after the crucifixion. I do not imagine that these descriptions of a terrified group huddling and hiding are deliberate "spin". Yet this fear is followed by an explosion of evangelism that, within a generation, takes faith in Jesus around most of the Mediterranean world.
Bart Ehrman — Biblical Archaeology Society
Beyond this I can't get overly excited by history. It seems to me that here Strange is closer to the mark, it is about loving and being loved. And as he says:
Or, as Isaiah puts it:
James F. Strange — Biblical Archaeology Society
It is all in how you look. Just do not expect comfort and joy in this life, and you will be blessed like Job to see God at work and to learn:
Isaiah 44:18
Isaiah 30:20
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In addition to the source mentioned in the post I also read the anecdote in: Faithful Witness: The Life and Mission of William Carey by Timothy George.
What conventions did you throw overboard when you went overseas?
By 
lingamish, at
March 24, 2007 2:41 AM
Hmm, I'm not a very convention-bound person, more likely to try to find ways to challenge them ;-) so I think for me it was more the reverse, I learned a whole new set of conventions, and discovered that there was some point in following them.
By Tim, at
March 24, 2007 6:16 AM
The neatest thing about tumblelogs is that unlike regular blogging - which confronts you with a large, empty textarea to type your thoughts into - there are 6 distinct types of posts that have their own visual format: a "traditional" blog post, a photo, a quote, a single link, a conversational transcript, and a video.
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And are you going to give us a link to the new account?
Let me know how it goes...I've also considered adding it to my online arsenal.
Cheers - Craig
» PortableApps
Labels: software
¶ 3:44 PM
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Text criticism is not everyone's cup of tea (odd expression! but one I grew up with...) indeed, the discussions that get specialists in the field excited often leave others yawning. And yet, it is vital to any and all biblical interpretation. A bit like a visit to the dentist, no fun (sometimes far from it) but important and not to be avoided!However, John's substantial and argumentative review of the new fascicles of Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ): Taking Stock of Biblia Hebraica Quinta (and perhaps inevitably also of the whole field of textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible) makes interesting and even entertaining reading.
Not long ago the Targuman had a post Ehrman @ PSU that included the subtitle "Making Text Criticism Sexy". This is what John achieves, though perhaps for a different audience ;-) Writing like this:
According to James Sanders in his review of BHQ 18, a review more rambling, believe it or not, than this one, “Another highly commendable trait of BHQ is that of presenting the text honoring the te’amim or masoretic accent marks.”Will hold my interest, even when the topic is text criticism!Would that this were true. [9]
Once again, I am left wondering, bewildered at the attachment of biblical scholars to the codex as tribal totem. As John points out, thanks to the explosion of information about earlier (than Medieval) forms of the text in the last century or so, printing such works has become a massive task:
Upon completion, BHQ is slated to be issued as a single volume containing text, masorah, and apparatus. An accompanying volume is expected to contain the other components of the fascicles that are now coming out: an introduction to each textual unit, notes on the masorah parva, notes on the masorah magna, notes on the critical apparatus, and an index of cited works.Oh, goody! A three volume Bible to carry into class... Not only this, but John also points out the need for "Updateability" (in a section of that title). Any reference work of this sort needs to be updateable, information available changes... So, you ask - well I do even if you didn't! - is this magnificent opus being produced and disseminated electronically, thus allowing me to subscribe to the latest edition. Well, no. We scholars produce "books", so we'll be stuck with the out of date, three volume (how practical!) but beautifully bound codex edition. Or, after a decent delay, in case the electronic edition diminishes sales of the (horrendously expensive to produce) print edition, we can buy at an inflated price (though happily now a little lower than the
That may not be realistic. Text, masorah, and apparatus of the two BHQ fascicles published so far exceed by 20 and 60 per cent in cumulative girth their equivalents in BHS. A single-volume edition is still imaginable, but will be bulky. Based on the fascicles published to date, it seems likely that the commentary to the single volume edition will require three volumes, not one.
Oh, boy, how the primitive culture (Late Mechanical Age III) of these biblical scholars causes them to suffer in order to maintain their signs of tribal allegiance!
Labels: bible, digital, text criticism
¶ 6:40 AM
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One thing print editions don't need is a power cord or battery. They are 100% energy independent. They are totally portable, and their batteries never die. I'll take that over the unreliable and unstable electronic versions any day.
By 
Jim, at
March 21, 2007 7:39 AM
Hmm... my phone (includes a 640x480 screen and PocketPC so could "run" a complex text like this) runs for days on a charge, the XO (One Laptop Per Child $100 laptop) runs for 10 mins for each minute someone spends pulling its string. Either is FAR more portable than a three volume (plus another if you want the extra information) set print edition... I'll take cheap, portable, more up to date and accurate etc. etc. over the luggable codices!
(BTW my laptop ran this morning while I was [among many other things] composing the post for 4 hours on battery alone. Admittedly the meter only claimed it had under two more hours left, so if I planned to be more than 6 hours or so without access to any power point I might need the codex as a backup - if it will fit in my backpack with the tent etc... ;-)
By Tim, at
March 21, 2007 8:15 AM
Again the menu is short and straight forward. I had "Bacon and eggs" and Barbara had pancakes.
Coffee: OK
The coffee was OK, Barbara seemed to really enjoy her Moccachino (choice of glass or mug) but my Long Black was neither as strong, nor as smooth, as last week's at Okra I was offered hot water, but the coffee was already pretty wet, so I declined ;-)
Food: Good value
The eggs (poached) were done well, though the eggs were not as fresh as they might have been so the shape was poor. [A really fresh egg will pull itself into a nice round shape when it hits the boiling water, so you can always tell!] The bacon was nice thin enough to be crisp, but not too thin, smoked and tasty. Accompanied by a tangy tomato relish/sauce. BUT take off points for white toast, and no choice offered.
Barbara's pancakes were reportedly good, with a good variety of fruits.
The total bill, at about $26 was good value.
Boost!
245 Dominion Road
Mt Eden
Auckland
Phone:
0-9-630 0103
Verdict: OK no prizes, but a competent and good value small cafe - and a big plus it was the only one open on Dominion Road at 8:30am!
Labels: auckland_cafes, food, review
¶ 8:22 AM
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For example:
- How is a collection of essays, which most of us would call a "book" different from a similar collection that appears as one fascicle of a Journal?
- Some of our "books" today existed already in the manuscript age, were they "books" then? Are manuscript texts not books today?
- Some even existed as scrolls, so should the notion of book be technology agnostic?
- What is the relationship between a "phone book" and its electronic equivalent?
In a thought-provoking post, "the network made visible - some thoughts on the present continuous of books", Sebastian Mary (one of the interesting bloggers associated with the Institute for the Future of the Book) offers this list of "common and often unexamined assumptions that underpin the tradition of the book.
The whole post/essay is really worth reading, please do not be satisfied with this chunk alone, torn from its context.Physicality - Books are physical: text and sometimes pictures organised in a linear form, and collected in physical libraries.
Authority - Books are time-consuming and expensive to make. Their ‘authority’ exists in proportion to this scarcity. The implication is that no-one would bother laboriously to typeset, print and bind drivel; so if a book doesn’t make sense then the fault lies with the reader. , and hence failure to comprehend a text lies with the reader, not with the text. This principle of authority in proportion to scarcity can be seen by comparing the medieval reverence for hand-copied books, through to modern offhand treatment of mass-produced ‘airport novels’. Authoritative texts reinforce their authority with reference to one another.
Fixity - The physicality of books perpetuates the impression of text as something immutable. This physicality also give rise to a tradition of books holding otherwise ephemeral knowledge in fixed form for posterity, and thus of books’ being timeless in a way that human life is not.
Universality - This is the trope most heavily challenged by twentieth century theory. The traditional ideal – and arguably the central proposition of the canon - is that books marked thus are of value to everyone, regardless of who, when and where.
Boundedness – Being a physical object, a book cannot contain everything.
The opening paragraphs of the section "Whither Authority?" lead me in a different direction fro that Sebastian Mary takes, though that is probably the more interesting and significant direction (so, again read the post!) since my direction is different, after quoting the paragraphs I will diverge and follow my own nose!
Whither Authority?I am tempted by this dystopian vision, of a net that diminishes everything to a level morass of equal and opposite worthlessness. (Which is not quite what SM means, but provides a neat caricature of this tendency.)
On the Net, readers write, and writers read. Anyone can self-publish. So, following the principle that the status and authority of a text is in direct proportion to its scarcity, to write is no longer to be the privileged accessor and producer of canonical, authoritative texts. Notions of authorship and any but the most provisional and conversational kind of intellectual leadership become meaningless.
The boundary between ‘worth reading’ and ‘worthless blah’ is blurred by the visible, trackable emergence of content from the swamp of chatter. And, watching content emerge, it is plainly impossible to posit for the Net a set of human-centric values as (however speciously) the literary canon allowed. The Net has no transcendental signifier except itself, no cohesion to celebrate except that of technologically-enabled pseudo-diversity.
Except, it ignores the imperial power of Google. (Using "Google" as a convenient shorthand for "Search Engines and other means of sorting and finding material on the net".) Google prioritises pages. If I am looking for material: population statistics, poetry, pictures... I never trawl the net myself, and nor do you. We always use some meta-site (like NT Gateway or iTanakh ;-) or search engine/directory like Yahoo to begin our "surfing".
This "beginning" also orients us. It provides an authoritative list. Explicitly: because the contents are selected (meta-sites) or ranked (Google) and implicitly: because in the past I have found the material they list, or that ranks highly, to be useful (more often than not, the occasional foray down to page three of the Google list is strangely rare, hence all the brouhaha over SEO).
Which brings me back to SM's post...
The grammar of the Web is not one of human languages or literary forms, but one of computer languages. Online, the Writers (in the sense of those invested with weight, status and Authority) are software developers. No text writer may have the final word; nor will he shape the grammars he works with. Coders, on the other hand, create the enabling conditions for interaction.For in the net it is the composers of Google's algorithms who confer "authority", and not mere authorship - which belongs to all without fear or favour. And yet it is not! For, given the complexity of the net, the algorithms can hardly take account of each page, or author, or even site. Rather, as well as the material itself:
- the material itself:
- is it coherent?
- focused?
- tight? etc...
- how others have viewed this material:
- How many link to it?
- Do these pages use similar keywords?
- Are those sites "authoritative"? etc...
In a way it is the reverse of the old culture, which authorised by excluding. As SM put it the economics of print or manuscript writing creates "principle of authority in proportion to scarcity". Publishers, in other words authorise this work by excluding others. In a sense the old Vatican Index Of Forbidden Books - a list intended to ensure certain books were/are not read - was the eputome of this approach. By authority by exclusion cannot work on the net.
Except if Google (in this case meaning both the broad category of search facilitators and the particular eponymous example) were to select and exclude on grounds other than the views of the mass of netizens. Which is what in fact happens. Google does censor the data. Authority in the net is powerful, if Google bans you who can find your work, yet hidden and secretive. Big Brother may no be watching you, but whether you know it or not, whether he is intent on "doing no evil" or not, his censorship has unauthorised works you might wish to see.
Quis custodiet Google? Although it may seem that the net is egalitarian, once the "whither" of authority is recognised one can see that it has not "withered", but merely disguised its hegemonic tendency behind a benign smile.
Labels: internet
¶ 1:28 PM
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- we also use Moodle which works well, is fairly intuitive, free, has lots of modules and is scalable (the British Open University uses it for their 154,660 students)
- I have found online machine marked "quizzes" brilliant to check that students have done their reading. Basically I use them as a reward for reading the set texts and it turned the 80/20 rule on its head - before 80% actually read only 20% of the material (I suspect ;-) now 80% read almost all the set readings!
- I too have some reservations about totally distance teaching - though we do it - as the face to face personal component has been important to me over the years.
This extensive encouragement of discussion forums (which email the posts to students as well) has produced some of the most obvious personal growth I have ever seen come out of the interaction of students. In a class on the prophets one student began with a narrow judgemental approach that assumed that anyone who was desperately poor had to be lazy. Another student was working in Southern Asia and began to describe small events from is family life, like the way their son felt for the boy selling flowers on the road side... through their interaction the first student over several weeks evidently came to change their understanding of the world, and therefore their attitudes.
Real personal growth through purely online communication. What's more I suspect that in the faster world of a face to face classroom little change would have taken place. Because:
- the student with Asian experience would be speaking about last year not last night (the breadth would be less immediate)
- the interaction requires an instant response, I've seen it in the past a knee jerk "the flower seller was just pretending to be in real need, like all the false beggars" - more thought and perhaps follow up questions undo the knee jerk!
- Face to face macho males take "sides"
- Face to face the extrovert and aggressive dominate the "discussion"
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On Friday I posted requesting help with ideas for Sunday's service (the first in our missionary society self-denial programme) I needed to make one small room at church smell really bad.I had several really good suggestions on the blog. I was not convinced church incense could really be called "stinky" - in my youth I spent a fine Easter at Mirfield and got to appreciate scented worship! In the end I did not have time to search the $2 shops for Stephen's "fart bombs" - I wasn't sure anyway how some of the congregation would respond ;-)
And then... I remembered seeing Durian for sale frozen in the local Chinese supermarket. (While there is apparently a World Durian Festival, most sources warn that this fruit is banned on Asian Airlines because of its smell like "rotting flesh".)
So we set up four prayer stations:
- stinky prayer: a small enclosed room in which one of our Durian-loving members cut up the fruit, whilst others prayed first for local concerns, and then for people whose lives are lived in smelly cities
- noisy study: in the church Bob led a Bible study using the KJV, whilst industrial and crowd noises were played in stereo over the loudspeakers - then people prayed for people living in noisy crowded slums
- information exchange: this group tried to get information related to our theme, they phoned my daughter who had researched the info, the trouble was she was at work at Parnell Baths - a great place for a swim, but a nightmare phone system - then prayed for people who do not have our easy access to the information we need
- hot work: this group moved rocks large (adult size) or small (large pebbles) from one side of the lawn to the other in the sun - then prayed for people with hot repetitive jobs
The sermon included the line that "Take up your cross" (Matt 10:38) does not mean we lean against it hoping for sympathy! These ideas were all based on Tranzsend's always excellent Self Denial pack.
I hope that we manage to generate even more interest and money this year than last :) ¶ 5:48 PM
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That sounds awesome! Way to be creative and meaningful with worship. I guess the critical comments are to be expected for people who are comfortable in their lives and their worship. One hopes that people take a moment to ponder those who cannot just "go to another" church, job, city, etc. But I admit, I probably would've laughed if I heard the anonymous critic make the comment.
Very inspiring post. Thanks for sharing.
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Ask Paul Nikkel, he may be able to help you out.
Yesterday we visited Okra Espresso Lounge a narrow fronted corner shop on Sandringham Road. The menu is as narrow as the shop-front (but as you will see below, this is no bad thing), but has a reasonable range of standards, often with an interesting twist.
We chose to sit on a couch while reading the menu and waiting - you order from your seat, not at the counter (there's hardly room!) and then moved to a table for the serious business.
Coffee: excellent
The coffee got extra points from me even before I sipped, they served my "long black" with the extra water in a jug on the side, and in a china jug so it would keep its heat till I was ready to add it. (A nice touch, so often even cafes who realise that not everyone who orders a "long black" wants their esspresso drowned in a liter of hot water, serve the water in metal jugs, which though they look nice cool fast!)
Barbara said her cappuchino was "a bit strong", but surely this is a good failing :) mine was near perfect, strong dark and fragrant!
Food: Good (small menu but done well and with some nice inventive touches)
Although the menu is fairly short, there were some inventive touches. The basics were well done, poached eggs soft, but not too soft, frying crisp and not too oily, presentation good...
My Eggs Royale (poached on toasted bread, with spinach and smoked salmon) came with a "hash brown" actually a mashed potato croquette - but the mash was fresh and lightly spiced (corriander and cumin I think) the frying crisped the outside nicely. Yum.
Barbara's pancakes with blueberries were good, and large enough that she was in doubt if she could finish the whole helping.
Okra Espresso Lounge
161 Sandringham Rd
Morningside
Auckland
Phone: 09 846 6662
Verdict: We'll be back! (apparently Okra won an award from Metro in 2006, I'm not surprised.)
Labels: auckland_cafes, food, review
¶ 5:32 PM
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For Sunday's service (the first in our missionary society self-denial programme) I need/want to make one small room at church smell really bad. But there are conditions:- I'd like the smell to go away fairly quickly after the service
- I do not want to create a health hazard
- I only have till Sunday
Way back when I'd have gone to a "joke shop" and bought a stink bomb, do such delights still exist? ¶ 3:01 PM
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go to the nearest high Anglican church and get some incense
By Bob MacDonald, at
March 9, 2007 4:42 PM
You can buy 'Fart Bombs' around the place. My kids have had them from time to time. Thin red foil packets that you stamp on and they swell up, explode and stink the place out. I guess, try the Warehouse.
Also, $2 Shops often have a joke section/stand. Might have something there, or in one of those shops in the malls that sell party stuff (balloons, cups with 'humorous' slogans, etc.)
By Stephen G, at
March 9, 2007 9:47 PM
Bob, on this occasion I'm looking for a bad smell, the idea is to give people a small taste of some of the conditions in which millions live and work, so that they can then pray for them!
Stephen, thanks I'll try these ideas. I thought stink bombs had gone they've just gained a new name :)
By Tim, at
March 10, 2007 6:23 AM
Whatever happened with this?
By Chris Weimer, at
March 14, 2007 1:34 PM
Thanks, yes, I should give a report back... so, Stinky Worship II coming up after I take Barbara to her seminar and Nathan to work... It's unseasonally wet here today!
By Tim, at
March 14, 2007 1:50 PM
That day was foreseen back in 1993 (the year I started at Carey) by a cyperpunk called "Stranger", and recognised as a significant insight by Nathan Cobb, "Cyberpunk -- Terminal Chic?," Boston Globe (24 November 1992, pp. 29, 32), now online in various places. [Hat tip to Alex Soojung-Kim Pang of The End of Cyberspace and his "former student Josh Buhs".]
It was nearly midnight deep inside Venus de Milo, a dark and sweaty Boston dance emporium. The Shamen, a British musical duo augmented by an assortment of digital gewgaws, was unleashing a storm of high-energy technopop that was cyberpunk through and through. "We can see tomorrow in each other's eyes," they sang at one point as the bouncing crowd raised its collective fist, presumably in the direction of cyberspace.Meanwhile back on planet Carey... it's the start of the year, and students are facing the challenging world of networked electronic communication. Some arrive already literate, but others - mainly the over-forties - are illiterate by 21st century standards. Like 19th century factory workers or farmers who could not read or write a letter, they have difficulty reading and writing online. "Discussion forums" are frightening, online multi-choice tests terrify... today they are illiterate, even if their spelling and punctuation are hugely better than that of their, usually younger, literate peers.
...
A handful of computer jockeys have spawned a style and an attitude. It's no coincidence that Mondo 2000, a glossy quarterly magazine that trumpets the pop version of cyberpunk, likes to talk about "surfin' the new edge." Way cool.
And consider: Cyberpunk is only a corner of a much broader cyberculture- at-large, which includes an online worldwide population of middle-aged couch potatoes, wheezy academics, corporate pooh-bahs, govermnet drones, and on and one. "In the future it will be everywhere, but it won't be called cyberculture," says Stranger, a 17-year-old Miami high school senior who, like most hackers, prefers his computer handle to his real name. "It will just be called culture. A few years ago, people used to talk about 'the emerging TV cuture.' We no longer talk about a 'TV culture' today. It's a given. Somdeay soon, no one will talk about 'emerging cyberculture.' Because it will be a given, too."
Oh, for the day when networked communication technology is ubiquitous, and as invisible to us as the complex and esoteric technologies of alphabets, pens and paper have become. In the meanwhile, we'll muddle through, and try along with Job and Genesis to help you gain the basic skills for educated survival in the current century!
(Shame most of you cannot yet read this blog post, and God forbid I should podcast the ideas ;-)
Labels: culture, digital, literacy, network
¶ 10:58 AM
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And yet, when a technology becomes ubiquitous (and part of the environment) it ceases to be seen as a machine, or something that can be understood as a system; it becomes opaque. And that then opens the door to 'magic'. No longer do you have to understand a technology to use it, rather all you need to do is remember the incantations, rituals and actions required to make it work.
And, at that point, those actions become divorced from the actual technological understanding of the task at hand, and become instead part of a new narrative world and mythology about why things work the way they do.
By Stephen G, at
March 9, 2007 9:54 PM
There is a LOT of magical thinking around already about computers ;-) With many users learning the sort of rituals you describe. So, I suspect it is the opposite, few people treat driving a car as magic, we just do it, semi-unconsciously even. But stick the same person in front of a screen even a diddy telephone screen and they start to require incantations and rituals...
So, I think ubiquitous technologies (like paper) become transparent rather than opaque, we see through them and focus on the tasks...
By Tim, at
March 10, 2007 6:29 AM
And yet, the car is an opaque technology. It's a blackbox. You learn to fill it with petrol, have the 'priestly' mechanics service it, and the actions of driving are disconnected from how the machine actually works. More so in an age where the engine etc. is electronically monitored and controlled.
Perhaps, the problems you describe are more to do with some people being unwilling to learn the incantations to make something work without the other knowledge, while others are quite happy to do so.
By Stephen G, at
March 10, 2007 12:42 PM
Perhaps it's more that, as a technologist, you'd like people to understand how things work; while as a teacher I want people to use them - and if they can do that effectively then I'm happy whether they understand or not. In the age before the model T people needed to understand cars, and many (of the few who actually had access to cars) also had professional help to maintain and drive them. Now people drive them from A to B and back via C, and if (rarely even compared to the 70s, let alone the 30s) something goes wrong then mechanics are nearly ubiquitous.
I'll be delighted when networked communications become as black boxy as cars, and all most people need to know is how to put the petrol in, or as paper and once they leave primary school all they need to know is where to buy refills...
By Tim, at
March 10, 2007 3:58 PM
It may well be that, in the future, most biblical commentaries will follow Bulkeley’s model at least in its technical aspects. One can only hope that the author continues his wonderful project.Amen!
The journal was formerly known as Internationale Zeitschriftenschau für Bibelwissenschaft und Grenzgebiete and is of good repute ;-) so now all we need is lots of libraries to order copies... ¶ 2:56 PM
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It is also in this week's RBL.
By Tyler F. Williams, at
March 7, 2007 7:34 PM
Ehud Ben Zvi's review for RBL (noted in the comment above by Tyler) was much less positive. Although no author likes a stiff review(!), Ehud usefully points out a number of small errors which will be corrected soon in the changeable version of the commentary (at bible.gen.nz), and therefore in a second edition of the stable commentary (at hypertextbible.org/amos/), as will any other errors people point out to me. That is one advantage of electronic editions! He also points out that now there are audio files of the Hebrew Bible available on the Internet, though the link in the review seems no longer functional, if these are not subject to copyright restrictions that will save a lot of work recording for future volumes. And avoid possible errors!
Ehud also criticises the brief comments on the wording of Amos (accessed by clicking on the words in the text). He rightly points out that the information given is not sufficient to help readers capable of following the Hebrew text. What he does not say, but I have concluded is that this feature involves relatively small benefit for those readers not capable of following the Hebrew either, for whom it was intended, and so it will not appear in the future "volumes". The work involved is not justified for such small benefit.
Like the other shorter review his conclusion is gratifying!
"We all owe a debt of gratitude to Tim Bulkeley for all his work in this important project. I see this Amos commentary as a version 1.0 that will, I hope, lead to further and better versions in which many of the problems mentioned here will be solved. I am aware that even this version represents an improvement over previous versions (notice, e.g., the wise removal of the term “postmodern” from the title of the series; cf. http://bible.gen.nz/), and I confidently hope that this process will continue and even accelerate."
By Tim, at
March 8, 2007 5:44 AM
John had difficulty posting this comment and so emailed it to me:
"Congratulations, Tim, in making the headlines (such as they exist in our field) twice over. Even constructive criticism hurts, but that's all the reviewers are giving you, because your concept is a slam-dunk.
As for audio files of the Hebrew Bible, there are lots of places one can find them. I prefer Gary Martin's site: http://www.aoal.org/hebrew_audiobible.htm
But take a look at www.bible.ort.org and learnhebrewprayers.com for other great stuff.
By Tim, at
March 8, 2007 12:02 PM
My colleague George has tried it, and his guest post on the TWB blog includes this gem:
The Gospel really Works!¶ 12:05 PM
For me, as a product of Christian influence filtered through many centuries of Western culture and assumptions, it was startling to see the tangible effects of embracing Christian faith seen in a very short period of time, with cleaner villages, better health, valuing of education, improved housing, etc. From my own context in which church growth is slow, incremental and individual, seeing families and communities that have come to faith was very refreshing.
Time and again I found myself thinking, what if B hadn’t pressed on with that translation, and there had been no NT for the churches mushrooming in the 80’s and the communities continuing to come to faith today? What if the pioneers and others in their wake… had just not bothered? I’ve always believed that “your labour in the Lord is not in vain” but it was thrilling to have the chance to see such fruit from service in the (relatively) recent past, and I’ve come away with renewed desire to invest wisely whatever gifts and opportunities I have and work diligently.
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For a long time I have held my peace,Stephen Cook has a couple of interesting posts responding to a paper given recently at VTS. ("The presenter was Dr. Juliana Claassens and the paper looked at the image of God in Isaiah 42.")
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labour,
I will gasp and pant.Isaiah 42:14
Stephen concludes his first post, God "Like a Woman in Labor" (Isaiah 42)
A woman's helplessness and frailty during labor is nothing less than power, the power to bring about new life--something a "powerful" male cannot do! This theological theme that vulnerability and frailty is a source of true, marvelous power is a big one throughout Isaiah 40-66. I think Juliana is really on to something here.Which captures one of the ways in which this passage fits so well with traditional Christian theology and preaching, though using an image that did not become a major part of the tradition - at least since the Middle Ages, I've argued that various sorts of mother imagery for God was more common earlier than 1450AD!
In his second post Whence Comes God's Pain in Labor (Isaiah 42)? Stephen says:
Dr. Claassens in her paper interpreted God's pain in labor as God's work of entering into the trials and trauma of the people, who have been exiled to Babylonia as prisoners of war. In my response to her paper, I suggested another possibility that to me seems more in keeping with the overall theology and thinking of 2 Isaiah.Stephen locates God's pain in this passage in the idea that "In 2 Isaiah God is seen to put aside God's right to justice, to put aside what's fair and deserved." His discussion provides a good theological entry point into the passage in Isaiah 42. It is one that fits well with the description of the "servant" at the start of the chapter.
However, it seems to me that this discussion rather misses the immediate cotext of verse 14. The preceding verse presents God as a (male?) warrior:
The LORD goes forth like a soldier,and in the following God declares:
like a warrior he stirs up his fury;
he cries out, he shouts aloud,
he shows himself mighty against his foes.Isaiah 42:13
I will lay waste mountains and hills,The verse about pregnancy, labour and birth is thus set in a context that is surprising, at least in a world of sanitised congratulations cards and Baby's First Blog's! Fury, destruction and war seem out of place in such a world. But these images are not so strange in a delivery room. Mothers can speak for themselves, but to a husband and lover standing, almost helplessly, by these images fit the event. So, in my reading of this passage vv.13 and 15 need to be heard. The terror, cries and anguish you are seeing - says YHWH - are the birth pangs of something new, to which I am giving birth!
and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands,
and dry up the pools.Isaiah 42:15
Labels: god, is.42, isaiah, mother
¶ 11:50 AM
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