Logical Inference: Science and the Cosmological Argument

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Relativity Theory Changed The Playing Field

The standard argument secularism makes against religion is that it is irrational, delusional, anti-science, and without any evidenciary support. Despite the fact that reductive naturalism only allows for evidence which confirms their presupposed conclusions, despite the fact that there is significant and beneficial dialogue between science and faith, and despite the fact that…

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I've really been enjoying TE Hanna's blog the last couple of days. More good thoughts.

Parallel Universe: Reflections on God, Probability, and Human Origins

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The Parallel Universe and Multiverse Theory

If you enjoy following the field of theoretical physics, particularly the study of universal origins, then you have likely already heard terms such as ‘parallel universe’, ‘anthropic principle’, and ‘multiverse theory’ tossed about. As the chasm widens between those who argue for the incompatibility of faith and science, the need has arisen to uncover a seemingly plausible explanation for cosmological origins.

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It astounds me that some Atheists can pan Theists for making supposedly unsubstantiated claims about the existence of God and then espouse the possibility of a multiverse as a possible reason that life exists. This is a balanced and easy to understand critique.

Review: Everyme app

The Long Rambling Introduction

Screen shot from Everyme appOr why another social networking platform?

It’s been 7 weeks since I deleted my Facebook account. My original reasons stand: most sharing was just noise and I don’t trust Facebook with my data. I’ve had a couple of twinges during that time but haven’t really missed it and have culled a few other social networks as well. My Twitter usage has increased but that’s a very different beast.

The downside of losing Facebook is that I can’t share with family and close friends nor can I contribute to a couple of company pages. The latter I can live with, the former is more of an issue.

I’ve been using Path (review here) which I really like and use a lot. But Path is lonely. I only have 5 contacts and only 2 of them really connect with me through it (my wife and mum).  That makes it a nice diary but not much of a social app. I think this will be an ongoing issue – Facebook is ubiquitous, few people want to keep up more than one or two social networks and Path only works on iPhone and Android. Regrettably I don’t see a long-term future for myself in Path.

Everyme

Everyme is a brand new app that launched Wednesday. It’s a social network based on your phone’s address book aimed at helping you connect with your most important relationships. It’s been described as a cross between Path for its intimate networking and visual style, and Google+ for its use of circles (discrete groups of contacts). For me the kicker is that you can share with anyone in your phone’s address book whether they use Everyme or not – if they don’t have Everyme it will send a nicely formatted email or text message.

When you sign up and link to your Facebook, Twitter or Linked In accounts, Everyme searches your address book and automatically groups your contacts into circles based on location, relationships, etc. Not being on Facebook and having few Twitter or Linked In contacts in my address book, this turned into a non-event for me, although others have reported good success. Fortunately it’s easy enough to create, add and edit circles and I only want this for family anyway.  Upon sign-up Everyme emphasise that they don’t upload your address book to their servers, so no (or fewer) privacy concerns.

Your circles appear on the start page and you simply choose one of them to share a message, photo or location with. If a recipient has Everyme it shows up there, if they don’t they can still reply from the email or text message. I don’t know if this is a ‘reply all’ feature or just back to the sender. If recipients don’t want to receive emails from you they can opt-out with the usual email unsubscribe feature.

Everyme can pull ‘Magic Stories’ from your linked social networks and display them in your circles’ streams (you can switch this on and off) although I have no idea how it decides what is magic. Everyme is being smart by playing nice with the big boys. It will never post to a linked account like Facebook which may be good or bad depending on your view.

It’s a simple app. The photos don’t have filters like Path does. Apart from managing circles, the only customisation is a header photo in each of your circles, although the default images are very pleasing.

Privacy & Children

I presume this is one of the most secure social networks. Your contacts stay on your phone, not on Everyme’s servers. Your Everyme account and data are in the cloud, but basically you can only connect with people whose email or phone number you have on your phone and thus in all likelihood, people you know. Although the terms state users must be 13 and over I really can’t see an issue with a child using this on an iPod touch (presumably most children under 13 won’t have an iPhone!). They simply cannot connect with strangers through the app.

Improvements

So what would I like to see added? Photo filters would be nice, even if it’s just a clarify button. I’d like a way to post to multiple circles as well – there are times I want to broadcast something more widely to my contacts. Failing that, an easy way to create new merged groups would be useful.

Currently it’s iPhone only but presumably that will change soon.

Assessment

I’ve read a few reviews and it’s being called a glorified group messaging app, a competitor to Path even a competitor to iMessage. I really don’t get the last reference, I think some people are just ignorant or jaded. Interestingly, as I understand it, the founder of Path has helped fund Everyme, so we’ll see if that has any implications but I would consider them competitors. It’s certainly more than a messaging app, although if you really want you can use it as such. Given geeks who have a gazillion social networking accounts write these reviews, I think they’re missing the point. Or at least the potential…

I’m a Facebook refugee. I want something simple that I can share with family and close friends regardless of their hardware or reluctance to sign up to another service. I want something that respects my privacy. Everyme does these things. It’s early days and I’m yet to see if it will really work for me, but I think it has great potential and I hope Everyme works out.

Round Up of Everyme Reviews

Since I’ve gone to the trouble of looking these up, here’s a list of the reviews I’ve read to date.

Book Review: The Iliad (Stephen Mitchell Translation)


The Iliad:
by Homer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First impression of this audio book is Alfred Molena’s butter smooth voice and British accent. It is simply and beautifully read and an absolute pleasure to listen to. This is my first encounter with the Iliad so I can’t compare the translation, but found it thoroughly accessible and engaging.

As for the story itself, in a word, gruelling. Not in a negative way but this is, if you like, ‘R rated’ reading for the violence. But the macchinations and quarrels of gods and men are intriguing and Homer’s use of imagery is delightful.

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By Alex Posted in Books

Understanding the Ending of Mark’s Gospel

Reader James Snapp pushes back with some good points in the comments section. I encourage you to take a look.

I’ve just finished reading the Gospel of Mark and this time I decided to finish with the so called “shorter ending”. Scholars generally (although by no means universally) agree that Mark ends in verse 8, “So they went out and started running from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid. (Mark 16:8 HCSB)

Most English versions continue for another 12 verses with the “longer ending” which, although early, does not appear to be original. Evidently, and not surprisingly, someone thought Mark’s ending was unsatisfactory and needed embellishment. That embellishment is in keeping neither with Mark nor the rest of the NT, at least in style.

The question remains, why did Mark leave his gospel so open-ended? An empty tomb, an angelic visitation and some fearful women. Heaven and earth attest that Jesus is risen, but we don’t meet him. The ending cries out for resolution but none is given.

What a perfect conclusion to the Gospel.

To get the ending we need to understand Mark. In several places in his Gospel, Mark leaves us with a question where the other Gospels give an answer. In Mark 8 Jesus warned the disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees. The disciples thought it was because they hadn’t brought any bread and after a brief exchange Jesus says in exasperation, “Do you still not understand?” (Mark 8.21 NIV) the other gospels explain the point, but Mark leaves us with the question. “Reader, do you get it?”

So we come to the ending of Mark. As 21st century readers, we still have an empty tomb, the witness of heaven and a shaky human testimony. Do you understand?

Facebook Wants to Own You

Mashable is reporting that a number of high profile e-commerce sites have shut up shop on Facebook. One telling remark notes:

Mullen also pointed out that half of shoppers are logged in to Facebook while they shop on third-party ecommerce sites, which lets retailers “capture the massive amount of user data Facebook has,” she says. Brands such as Smashbox and MAC are also incorporating friend recommendations within their ecommerce pages.

Third party sites can get your data even if you’re not actually on Facebook. You only have to have it open. While this in itself may seem harmless, I’m concerned about the trend. It’s like a scene from Farenheit 401.

Remember, if you’re not paying for it you’re the product, not the customer.

Story here: Why Are Brands Shutting Their Facebook Stores?

Is the iPad a PC?

English: iPad picture

I’m a Mac guy so it matters. Not really, but I am curious. The question was sparked when I read some analysis claiming that if you count iPad sales, Apple is now the biggest PC retailer, just ahead of HP. (Note, this is counting hardware not OS, which Windows still wins without contest.) Take out the iPad and it’s a very different story. Continue reading

Review of Path App

Image of Path appIf you’re not into social networking, let me introduce you to a new social networking app you may be interested in. If you are into social networking, you’ll love this little gem.

Path has been around for a year or so but was recently relaunched and wants to make your social network smaller.

You read that right. Small and intimate is the game.

Path’s goal is to get you sharing openly and more often. Being over 18, that’s not really a life goal of mine. But being over 18, I also value the family and close friendships I have. So while Facebook is fun and Twitter lets me live at 140 characters a minute, there’s a lot of stuff I just don’t want the world to know. And frankly, there’s a lot it doesn’t want to know. Path is for the people in your life who do. That blurry photo of my niece riding a bike for the first time with no trainer wheels? That’s gold. I notice that didn’t go on Facebook. Continue reading