- Genesis 22 (Powerpoint)
- Genesis 1 (as a pyramid):
Labels: biblical.studies, gen 1, gen 22, teaching, video
¶ 6:59 AM
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The BBC has a report on the welcome announcement that the generals who rule the country they call Myanmar will at last allow humanitarian aid in to the 2.5 million worst affected by the cyclone on May 2. Read between the lines it tells of the perverse priorities and and care behind the generals earlier refusal. I've said before and will say again these men are not stupid, just evil.
Yes it would have been a shame if foreigners should witness the "referendum" they might be confused by the armed soldiers present at polling booths to make sure there was no misunderstanding. They could get the impression that this important referendum designed to ensure the generals' grip on power and dress it with a fine cloak of "democracy" was less than free and fair.
In Thailand UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opened a new base to speed
up aid for victims of the cyclone, which killed 78,000 and left 56,000
missing.
Meanwhile polls closed in the final stage of a controversial Burmese referendum on a new constitution.
The UN estimates that only a quarter of the 2.5 million Burmese affected by the cyclone have received the help they need.
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The chapters are podcast using PHP to read the directories and create both the RSS feeds and the corresponding web pages. So... what I need is someone who can help me create a blog using the same (sort of?) mechanism.
If you know someone who might (a) be interested in helping and (b) might have the necessary skills please let me know!
Labels: audio, bible, digital, internet
¶ 5:58 PM
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So for our cafe we tried Kings Garden Cafe St Lukes at the local garden centre. You enter through the rows of plants. I spotted small figs on special, so we now have two to plant on pots on the deck, since small though they are they arready have a couple of tiny figs each I am hopeful that next year we might get to eat fresh figs! (Does anybody know how long figs take from small to fruiting?)The cafe is surrounded by plants so does have a pleasant "garden" feel, and there were some beautiful orchids being used as a divider. The space is open and airey, the sparrows love it, and a couple of beautiful fluffy young ones came an sat on the chair backs near us. Cocking their heads as they examined the new-commers. Garden centre cafes presumably attract a lot of customers with children, as there were a good supply of high-chairs. And indeed while we were there several families did stop by.
Barbara's pancakes with bacon and banana were pronounced good, though to me the "pancakes" looked more like giant pikelets. The bacon looked very good, especially as we have been eating nearly vegetarian for the last few weeks ;-) My mushrooms on toast (with tomato and "creamy spinach") were tasty, the spinach with a dash of cream delicious. But, Mrs King, six small mushrooms is not enough! I am still ravenous. If the flat mushrooms had been good big ones six would have been plenty, but I have never seen such small field mushrooms... why is it that we call mature flat mushrooms "field mushrooms" when the tight round young ones are "buttons"?
The coffee was very good, not bitter, but strong. I was asked if I wanted extra hot water with the black.
So all in all:
- Food - pretty good, but skimpy portions on the mushrooms make it expensive.
- Coffee - very good
- Millieu - gardeny and open
:846 2073
Labels: auckland_cafes, review
¶ 11:11 AM
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Love your reviews Tim. I can smells the bacon from over here where it is as scarce as...
Can't help you with growing figs. Had a big fig tree when I was young. My father gave us figs as punishment and I still don't like them.
By 
Geoff Pound, at
May 24, 2008 10:14 PM
Fresh figs are delicious. But bananas with bacon is an abomination.
A Man of Means is a collection of six short stories written in collaboration by P. G. Wodehouse and C. H. Bovill.You can download it to listen to in the car, or wherever you do your leisure listening from Archive.org (this link is to a search page that will lead also to other readings I've done in case Wodehouse is not to your taste ;)
The stories all star Roland Bleke, a nondescript young man to whom financial success comes through a series of “lucky” chances, the first from a win in a sweepstake he had forgotten entering. Roland, like many a timid young man seeks love and marriage. In this pursuit his wealth is regularly a mixed blessing. The plot of each story follows its predecessor, sometimes directly, and occasionally refer back to past events in Bleke’s meteoric career.
The writing style is crisp and droll, and shows much of the skill and polish of the later Wodehouse. The disasters that befall the hapless Bleke are entertainingly recounted and his unforeseen rescues surprise and delight. In the character of the butler, Mr Teal, we meet an early draft of the ingenious Jeeves.
The stories first appeared in the United Kingdom in The Strand in 1914, and in the United States in Pictorial Review in 1916. They were later published in book form in the UK by Porpoise Books in 1991; the collection was released on Project Gutenberg in 2003. (Summary by Wikipedia adapted by Tim Bulkeley)
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Sadly this does not work for blogger :( so I can't demonstrate it here, but you can see it at work here http://asiabible.wordpress.com/ so, if you have a WordPress blog, how about it?
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This collection of sources supplements a bibliography published by Baker under the auspices of the Institute for Biblical Research: D. Brent Sandy and Daniel M. O’Hare, Prophecy and Apocalyptic: An Annotated Bibliography (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007).
In the process of compiling sources, hundreds were entered into our data base (many of which were annotated), but in the end they could not be included in the final selection for the printed edition of the bibliography. Hence, those sources are here made available.
Which is great, a sort of bonus for those who have the print book. Well done! However, they also write:
One advantage of thisWhich is not so great... because what it means is that I can easily search the supplementary material, but the material in the print book must be inconveniently searched by hand. In other words the bibliography would have been better published online or at least electronically in the first place! BUT some criterion other than the advantage to the user caused it to be published in print, and now in order that the print book may sell the online more convenient and usable version cannot contain the full dataset.
digital version of the bibliography is that you may search for specific
words pertinent to your research.
The scholarly prejudice against e-publication strikes again!
Labels: digital, internet, open.access.scholarship, open.biblical.studies
¶ 5:54 PM
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I chose to watch Merlin Mann's Inbox Zero talk. Watching him speak, as well as hearing the talk with slides should be so much richer, I thought. And some intelligent comments from other previous watchers would be added value. In fact it is the worst of multimedia meets the worst of "Web 2.0". Since you have good sized video and good sized slides, with OK sound the presentation did not so much stream and trickle with frequent annoying hiccups. Make the video smaller, maybe compress the sound a little more and that combination would be great though (or deliver it from a DVD for real quality). The comments, of course are not intelligent, they are anonymous and crowd out the video with such gems as "Great!!!" repeated 16 times at various apparently arbitrary points. It might have been interesting to know that the chair (that almost appeared in the video) was Ikea, but it was irrelevant and so just another blot on the video. All in all a big disappointment.
Now before you think I am a multimedia Luddite, or a Web 2.0 sceptic, hear me out...
The multimedia aspect is brilliant, the combination of video and slides has the potential to offer so much more than slides and audio alone. Except in this implementation it does not work. Both slides and video are smallish (about 480px wide each) which is unavoidable for web delivery, but they are not small enough (at least on NZ's rather narrow "broadband"). Bigger slides with smaller video in one corner (think Camtasia with a webcam) would download faster and give a fullscreen experience.
Or, deliver it on DVD...
Web 2.0 is great, when users contribute usefully. The "wisdom of crowds" works (at least often) and applications like Google Earth and sites like Flickr use publicly contributed resources brilliantly to provide a growing and useful body of material. But do not give me the folly of "Anonymous" once humans are sure they will not be identified we tend to give reign to our baser instincts - in this case a plethora of useless, annoying and occasionally rude comments. Which proliferate like rabbits, at times almost hiding the presenter behind a barrage of meaningless verbiage.
Make users login, identify them and provide their email address so that particularly crass and stupid "comments" can get the feedback they deserve, and you'd have a brilliant opportunity to interact with the video. (Probably you'd need to put most comments outside the video and only put those which like the "Ikea chair" comment relate directly to some visual element on the video itself.) But you can't do that, because of spam, once again spam ruins a potentially useful tool.Labels: multimedia, spam, teaching, web2.0
¶ 10:03 AM
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Sorry the Omnisio experience wasn't up to your expectations. Admittedly we have optimized for consumers with reasonably fast internet connections - I would recommend opening the window in the background and letting it buffer before watching it. Also note you can click the icon in the top left corner of the slides or video to adjust the size (e.g. if you want to get the small video + large slides layout that you describe). The fullscreen button should also help.
We are working on the anonymous commenting issue.
Cheers,
Ryan
CEO and Co-Founder, Omnisio
By 
Ryan, at
May 21, 2008 8:47 PM
Thanks Ryan, I hope I did not sound too negative, and after the event I realise the "clever" title might increase that danger I think the idea is great. The speed issue will resolve itself given time ;) I think that the commenting issue is the real killer, at present it makes the system simply unusable :( So I'll be delighted when it is fixed. Maybe a "view only signed comments" feature?
By Tim, at
May 22, 2008 8:41 AM
The juxtaposition is ironic, in the case of Burma at least, since following independence the Karen soon began to be targeted by ethnic militias. Sixty years on they are targets of a genocide attempt by the military dictators. The same guys who are refusing to let aid into the cyclone victims.So, we'll celebrate my birthday, with a party that tries to raise money for a school for the children of displaced people in Burma. The photo shows one of the school dormitories, the girls dorm needs a new roof, but the donor who was sponsoring this has pulled out, and the rains are starting... anyone who can't get to the party could always make a donation for the roof, just transfer money to "Partners NZ" at Westpac Bank (Upper Hutt branch) 03 0774 0598181 000 marked "PhoPra roof"
Canadians wishing to obtain a receipt for tax purposes should make donations at the Partners Canada website. www.partnersworld.ca
Americans wishing to obtain a receipt for tax purposes should make donations at the Partners USA website. www.partnersworld.org
Norwegians can find the information needed to make donations in Norway at: www.partnersnorge.no
Australians can find the information needed to make donations in Australia at: www.partnersworld.org.au
UK Residents can find the information needed to make donations in the UK at: www.partnersworld.org.uk
¶ 9:08 AM
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Congratulations!
By puzz, at
May 16, 2008 5:49 AM
Happy birthday. You know, you have a depressing way of announcing this :)
By Eric Sowell, at
May 19, 2008 2:09 AM
Sorry, it wasn't meant to be be depressing. And as I'll be writing in a post soon, we raised money that will really help loads of Internally Displaced People's children to have a roof over their heads. The reasons they, and loads of others round the world need help (rather than being fully able to help themselves) are depressing, but I find the fact that a bunch of people do take an interest in them encouraging - after all 59 of the 61 people at the party have never met any of them! And quite a few had never met me bofore either ;-)
By Tim, at
May 19, 2008 9:49 AM
Labels: cyclone, human, nargis
¶ 1:00 AM
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It also lets you map them on Google so that people on the Panoye site can see panoramas that others have created of nearby places.
But, I can't work out how to display them in asiabible.wordpress.com since Wordpress does not allow iFrames.
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Hi Tim... I'm glad you like panoye ;)
The first panoye blog was hosted on wordpress.com. But, you are right -- WP don't allow iframe ;( That's why I moved it to blogger.
By puzz, at
May 16, 2008 2:12 AM
Which, I guess, just goes to prove that (despite the Wordpress evangelists out there - you know who you are!) there is no such thing as a perfect blogging tool!
By Tim, at
May 16, 2008 5:36 AM
Well, you are probably right... Wordpress as a standalone installation don't have this (iframes) restriction. But, to have a installation of WP is a pain - you have to install new security patches every few weeks.
(And, what's more important, blogger's mail-to-blog option actually works :)
By puzz, at
May 16, 2008 5:51 AM
Both explain my lack of posts here recently:
- since Cylcone Nargis hit Burma/Myanmar I have used my blogging time to provide updates on the relief effort, and as I get information how the Karen people have been impacted.
- because my writing time this sabbatical was shortened by teaching elsewhere I am trying to finish polishing an article on the coherence of Amos 7:1-8:3
1. Burma is the country whose military rulers have chosen to call "Myanmar" both English versions refer to the same geographical location, but may indicate a political, or - in view of the generals' behaviour - humanitarian, bias.
Labels: burma
¶ 8:31 AM
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Oh, yes it works like this:
- Jer 31:31-34
- Amos 1:1
- 1 John 3:16
Labels: bible, bibleref, biblical.studies.online
¶ 3:04 PM
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In "Documents and Settings" under "Application Data" and hidden under "Mozilla" in the "Firefox/Profiles" directory is one for "Zotero" just COPY that to a CD or memory stick and you are safe(r).
Labels: study-skills, zotero, zothelp
¶ 9:33 PM
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Labels: gen 1, genesis, open.biblical.studies
¶ 2:12 PM
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Thanks for those links. As you have noted earlier they're intriguing - especially the בָּרָא discussion. I wish I could have more time to plunge into them.
I look forward to borrowing your copy of Walton's monograph when you've acquired it. :-)
By Stephen G, at
May 6, 2008 10:37 PM
I found that Walton's lecture at Wheaton pulled together his ideas well also, and plan to use it with the Genesis class so they can enter into the discussion: http://www.wheaton.edu/physics/research/symposia/conferences03/
By Tim, at
May 7, 2008 6:25 AM
Labels: study-skills, writing, zotero
¶ 6:00 AM
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The first is Duane's abnormally interesting, and credulous(?), Isaiah 38:9-20: An Abnormal View in which he provides a strong sketch of arguments that might be made to claim that Hezekiah actually wrote part of the Bible in his own hand. (At the moment I hope he does expand the post to a paper, it would be fun to hear the discussion! And perhaps I will as I continue to follow the blogs over the next few days/weeks :)
The second I am also noting for my Genesis class reading list (for next semester) where John (Hobbins) asks: Does Genesis 1 describe the creation of things or the assignment of functions to things? A Response to John Walton frankly he takes John (Walton)'s special pleading more seriously than I would, but he provides a really good clear discussion that I want my students to follow.
Two fine examples of why (biblio/biblia)blogging is both fun, and useful!
Labels: biblical.studies, genesis, is.38, isaiah, open.biblical.studies
¶ 2:00 PM
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Tim,
Thanks for your interest in my post on Isaiah 38:9-20. I continue to think about developing this into a paper. The main problem is one of methodology. Whatever is going on here, it is likely too underdetermined to say much of anything with certainty. As to "credulous:" I tried to be as equivocal as possible and still be more or less coherent. I doubt very much that Hezekiah wrote any or much of this. Some part of it may, I say "may," go back to him. Despite a complex history of editing, even in Isaiah, every text began with something. My underlying purpose in doing this post is to (continue to) lay some groundwork for something quite different. What that is will unfold over time.
By Duane Smith, at
May 5, 2008 3:48 AM
The word was probably badly chosen, what I meant to mean was that I find the argument intriguing, fairly convincing, but only because it is an idea I like. If I am properly critical there are too many "probables" in it that maybe multiply together into an "unlikely".
But I still think discussing it is abnormally interesting and could be fun. (And useful too, if only in that it might help clarify some of the issues, such as the distribution and nature of literacy in the Iron Age Levant.
By Tim, at
May 5, 2008 6:11 AM
Dr. Walton is "the man" - just had to say it.
By Tim, at
May 7, 2008 1:50 AM
I haven't met him, though he writes and speaks (judging by the Wheaton 'cast http://www.wheaton.edu/physics/research/symposia/conferences03/ ) clearly and simply yet with interesting and useful ideas - a great combination when one finds it in my book :)
By Tim, at
May 7, 2008 6:27 AM
By the way, for David (when he returns from lazing on the beach!) there is a mobile version, it is just over 1/2 the size of the WMV, but I'm showing the Flash version above (so Mac users can watch it ;-) which is 3x the size of the WMV or 6 times the 3GP...
What can I say to excuse this arrant sales pitch for Zotero? Well, it is Saturday, so I'm unwinding, or possibly coming undone ;-0
Labels: scholarship, study-skills, writing, zotero, zothelp
¶ 1:01 PM
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Nice. But it would be more impressive if it rendered "BasicBooks" as two words.
By Iyov, at
May 3, 2008 1:36 PM
Jim might see this as an example of the Wikiization of education, I prefer to think of it as an example of the fallibility of the librarians on whose work World Cat works, and my own failure as a proper Citation Nazi to spot such errors!
By Tim, at
May 3, 2008 1:39 PM
Just a few days earlier he wrote about The Open Access Monograph Series That Almost Was and dropped frustrating hints about a newer and better project. So, before he (or someone else) announces that project, I'll reiterate a call for contributors. Any established scholar who wants to write a commentary on a biblical book, and who is interested in getting your work seen and used more widely than print can achieve, take a look at the Hypertext Bible Commentary project, and then contact me for more details.
- Commentary writing appeals to our strengths and training...
- Commentary writing is a recognized genre within the guild ... All the great scholars write commentaries...
- Commentary writing is relatively straight-forward...
- Commentary writing can be an act of piety...
- Commentaries sell so publishers keep asking scholars to write them...
- Commentary writing reflects and contributes to advances in the field, presenting the latest research in a convenient location...
The Amos "volume" has already (in its peer reviewed stable form) been consulted by thousands of readers each month since its publication in late 2005. The changeable experimental version also gets a huge number of visitors.If you don't want to spend the time to write a commentary, or you are not yet an "established" scholar then, offer a dictionary article these too will get larger than print readership, these also will be peer reviewed before publication, and so should "count" as publications, but most of all you will contribute to making solid information available to everyone who is interested. And unlike most scholarly writing your article will get read and considered and used!
Labels: bible.dictionary, commentary, open.biblical.studies
¶ 6:59 AM
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Look NOW ;)
Tyler is doing the next one himself, so send your nominations to him over the next three weeks...
Labels: biblical.studies
¶ 6:24 AM
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acerbic? moi? heaven forfend!
By Jim, at
May 3, 2008 9:43 AM
Jim, the words are yours. Indeed may "heaven forfend!"
By Tim, at
May 3, 2008 10:38 AM
PS: ;-)
By Tim, at
May 3, 2008 10:38 AM
Now he's trying to convince us that this format could be a good way to spread the Bible.He convinced me to spend a while playing with 3GP, if I cut the frame rate to slideshow proportions (just 1fps) and keep the audio low (but not too low) I can fit a whole short Psalm with pictures into less than 400KB. Judge for yourselves if it is worth it (just remember I spent more effort on the technical side than choosing photos - so there are lots of cute kids ;-)
Here is the 3gp version of Psalm 67 at only 368KB, and the WMV Psalm 67 at 1.97MB with much better picture quality to demonstrate what you lose in making it quite that small for a phone. (and a Flash version of Psalm 67 for Maccies at "only" 2.57MB!)
Labels: bible, mobile, psalms, video
¶ 2:27 PM
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Bravo Tim - your are a mobile wizard !!!
By Bob MacDonald, at
May 2, 2008 4:20 PM
Really cool. Welcome to the 21st century.
By David Ker, at
May 6, 2008 8:52 PM
BTW Ker not Kerr.
By David Ker, at
May 6, 2008 8:54 PM
Aaagh, I must NOT rely on my memory, especially not for names!
By Tim, at
May 7, 2008 6:29 AM
¶ 7:19 AM
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"...and the dwindling revenue pot from CD sales."
Yet when:
"In Rainbows was later released conventionally as a CD, and topped the US and UK charts."
All the free publicity and hype helped then, and others spotted it:
"Most recently fellow English rockers Coldplay said Monday that they would give away its new single Violet Hill free of charge, resulting in the group's website crashing the next day due to demand."
Smart move Radiohead, "give it away" so that you sell even more copies, and by maintaining or enhancing your fame as well rake in the bucks. But, as I asked back in October when the move was announced:
But how do people (say biblical scholars) who do not get paid mega-bucks for personal appearances and the like pay for the other people's work needed for a successful publication. Our own work is either a hobby or we are paid for it as part of our job, but whatever format we choose except the casual blog, we need proofreaders, designers, film editors etc... to help make the "product"... how do we pay them?
Labels: culture
¶ 7:46 AM
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