I Deny the Holy Spirit Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Posted by carltonstedman in atheism, funny, life, religion.3 comments
So, a while back, the Rational Responders (I think) issued this “Blasphemy Challenge” along with Brian Flemming, director of the great documentary, The God That Wasn’t There, that provides a strong argument that the Jesus of the Bible didn’t even exist (after all, Paul, typically considered the one that really got Christianity rolling, didn’t make any mention of his existence on Earth, the myth of Mary, any of the miracles or even the crucifixion). The idea is that in one part of the bible, it calls denying the holy spirit an unforgivable sin:
“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. [Mark 3:28-29]“
Anywho, the concept was the first 1001 people that posted a video on YouTube stating that they “deny the holy spirit” would receive a free copy of the DVD sent to them. Some people that denied online include Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens.
So, Jilly and I have got in the habit of saying this every so often, just for kicks (and, well, because we do *not* believe in that superstition). Jilly mentioned the other day about getting that tattooed on us. That’d be pretty funny, I think. I’m *almost* tempted to take her up on that.
So, officially: Carlton Stedman II forever denies the holy spirit. Also, Jesus is a smuck (if he ever even existed).
The Lusty Argonian Maid Friday, January 4th, 2008
Posted by carltonstedman in life, ps3, wii.2 comments
Recently, an interesting turn of events took place. A couple of weeks ago, right before christmyass, Jilly and I were at the BK Lounge having a quick bite to eat and were talking about the PS3. We had been discussing getting one for some time now, one of the reasons being due to the lack of availability of Wii’s and the game, Oblivion, being a big draw to the system for us. I additionally wanted one for all sorts of other cool stuff I was thinking of doing with it.
So, we were dining with the King, and talking about getting a PS3 off Amazon, since I didn’t want to pay the $40 in tax it would cost (Amazon does free shipping on PS3 orders as well as many other orders). I mentioned that New Hampshire doesn’t have sales taxes, just talking about taxes. Jilly was like, “let’s go to NH!” and at first I thought it was crazy, but then I got on Google Maps and realized there’s a mall right on the border of NH and MA which is only about 1 hour and 40 minutes from our apartment!
So, we just dropped everything, got in the car, plugged in the address in our new Tom Tom and were off. We got the 80 GB (“top-of-the-line”) PS3, since the 40 GB is not compatible with PS2 games. We also picked up a copy of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
I really love the PS3, it is just awesome. As soon as I got it home, I connected it to our network and we were on it watching Brad Neely on Youtube on our TV. Now, I’ve set up my Linux box with Fuppes UPnP server to stream audio, photos and video to the PS3. It can additionally transcode media formats to types that the PS3 is compatible with, but I haven’t got that part working yet. I plan on partitioning the PS3 HDD and installing Linux on it, maybe PS3Ubuntu, to run ZSNES and other stuff. I’d love to get StepMania working on this thing!
As for games, the 80 GiB version came with a copy of Motor Storm, which is a really cool racing game. I played it back in its beta days when my buddy Owen had it. Of course, we haven’t played anything but Oblivion, which is addictively great. Fantastic game. I haven’t played through it all yet and am already thinking about my next character (either some sort of crusader, battlemage or just pure mage).
So, christmyass rolls around, and what did my parents get us? They got us a freaking Wii! I couldn’t believe it. So, now we have both a PS3 and a Wii. The Wii they got came with Metroid Prime 3, which I played a bit and is really good. I also picked up Super Mario Galaxy with a Gamestop gift card, which is what I’ve been playing whenever Jilly is playing Oblivion.
Super Mario Galaxy is awesome. I love what they’ve done using the Wiimote. The game is fun, somewhat challenging at times, and plays a lot like a supped-up version of Super Mario 64, which it should, being the official sequel. What’s really cool too is that in some parts of some levels it is very 2Dish, playing like the old Super Mario World. Absolutely love this game. I’m also very much looking forward to Super Smash Bro’s Brawl, which comes out in February. I may just pre-order it on Amazon.
So, life is great.
A great week so far Thursday, November 29th, 2007
Posted by carltonstedman in job, karate, life.add a comment
So, I’ve been having a really great week so far. I’m posting this not to gloat and say “ooh, look how awesome I am” so much as a reminder to look back on later on when I’m very stressed out or something. Anywho, I’ll chronicle this week.
For starters, Jilly and I celebrated our 3-year anniversary. Pretty awesome. She’ll be moving back in to our apartment during her month(ish) off for winter break, which I’m looking forward to; we got so use to living with each other over the summer that it really feels funny when she’s not around. We’re waiting until she’s out of school to get married, but it’s been a “sure thing” for years now. We’re gonna get engaged sometime next year, when she’s a senior at FSC, since we decided long ago that we didn’t want to be engaged for more than a year or so.
At work on Monday I received a “Department Award for Engineering Excellence” since I “developed an outstanding Application note on Average Current Mode Control (ACMC) for the NCV8851 as well as develop[ed] a comprehensive design tool that aids in the customer design in process.” Pretty sweet. I just saw my check, and due to this award I received a 3.5% bonus. Nice, just about covers the cost of the couch Jilly and I recently purchased from Bob’s.
I’ve been going to this local dojo for the last month. They call it “kensho-ryu” as in KENpo SHOtokan. It’s a kenpo/karate/jiujitsu art, broken off from “Prof.” Nick Cerio’s kenpo, who’s lineage goes back to Ed Parker, Will Chow and Mitose. Kenpo, or “way of the fist” combines the hard techniques of karate (“empty hand”) with the soft techniques of jiujitsu (literally, “soft technique”). It’s a lot like karate, which I have 13 years experience, before college.
The head sensei, Erick Thorne, is a cool guy. He’s an ex-marine, boxed back then, and retired as a guard from the ACI (which is right across the street of the dojo). The dojo’s been open in Cranston since 2003 and now there are a total of 19 kensho-ryu dojo’s, with the head Kyoshi in Providence. He’s a no-nonsense type of guy; try a technique, if it doesn’t work, throw it out type of thing. And the dojo is definitely more traditional than the previous dojo I was at, back in the day. I love it.
So, last night I was testing for my yellow belt (next step above white belt). This is already ahead of schedule for most people, getting a new belt in just a month, but my previous experience really helps. It really showed through last night, the first time I got to spar. I was sparring a brown belt (right below black belt) and at the beginning of the fight I was very aggressive and basically handed his ass to him (to be fair, he was not expecting a white belt to fight like I did). I caught him with a quick kick to his head on his blind side, which everyone was talking to me about later, much impressed; it’s hard to catch someone with a kick to the head and I only throw it when I know I’ll connect. He got the message and fought me like he should have been. I was able to hold my own, but I’ll be a serious force to be reckoned with once my endurance picks back up.
Anyway, end of class, formal bow out and I’m getting my new belt. I was very surprised to go and grab it and, lo’ and behold, I got promoted directly to an orange belt (then next step above yellow belt). Now, that’s not completely unheard of, but it is still very rare. Pretty fricking sweet, if I do say so myself.
So, yeah, this week is kicking ass.
Love is Natural Monday, November 26th, 2007
Posted by carltonstedman in atheism, life.3 comments
Love is simple, natural and real,
Not some mystical magic so surreal,
But utter devotion ever true,
Shared by entwined hearts of two.
As fit a god, a level of worship,
Through all good and all hardship,
But lacking that faith ever blind,
Instead thoughtful commitment in kind.
A paragon, my life is worth,
Adored for mortality so terse,
But cry not at eventual end,
Lest true love never wend.
Happy three-year anniversary, Jillian!
Criss Angel is awesome and Republican genuflection Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
Posted by carltonstedman in funny, life, politics, religion.2 comments
So, clip from the new show “Phenomenon”: clip. Just ridiculous guy, and look how that asshole Uri Geller gives him respect (I’d call him a fraud, but I don’t want to be sued like James Randi). Really getting tired of all this supernatural “psychic” mumbo-jumbo that’s been getting more and more respect on TV.
That’s why I love what Criss Angel did! Absolutely awesome! I was really worried when I found out he was going to be on this show, with that litigious bastard, Uri Geller (just see Wikipedia). However, clearly, he is adding the skeptic view on this show, and that’s great!
Really need more skepticism in the mainstream. People need to use reason instead of just believing all this supernatural junk.
Also, Mindfreak is awesome and Criss Angel is a crazy good illustionist/”mentalist” (whatever you want to call it) that does *not* purport to have any supernatural powers, but just amazing talent (with a lot of hard work) at sleight of hand, misdirection and trickery. That, combined with his skepticism and apparent desire to attack supernaturalism really makes him seem like a modern Houdini.
On a completely separate note, the latest Freethought Radio podcast from the FFRF had excerpts from a recent event that had all Republican presidential hopefuls genuflecting at a big baptist (I think) church. All of them talked about gods and being a “Christian nation” (which is just a huge lie) and “family values” and such. It almost brought me to angry tears hearing the thunderous applause after Rudy’s and Huckabee’s religious-filled speeches.
These are people who have called the Constitution “quaint” and deprecated and advocate the use of torture on war criminals (which has been shown to offer no reliable data, of course, but that’s really beside the point). These are the same hypocrites that cry fowl when someone wants to remove a bit of undeveloped tissue called a fetus, yet send hundreds to their death row and countless others over to die in a fruitless war where they literally hand out Christian propaganda, only making the situation worse.
Of course, the Democrats are not without their religious ideologues. They aren’t much better, many not saying anything one way or the other on issues like abortion, just tiptoeing around the issue like a coward, begging for votes by just saying whatever they think the crowd wants to hear. And they let the Religious Wrong (they are not right nor Right, really) just keep on doing on the bullshit that they’re doing. It’s obscene!
Ron Paul was the only one to denounce federal involvement in religion and a respect for separation of church and state, at least on a federal level: he’s not against states having rights to make decisions on abortion and all — while certainly better than the federal government unconstitutionally making decisions on it, I still think any government should not be allowed to say what citizens do privately. Notably, he also has opposed the war in Iraq since before it began and was and is against the “PATRIOT” Act (which couldn’t be a worse misnomer).
I really like most of Ron Paul’s ideas, but I worry about his religious background on issues like abortion. Religion really should have no place in politics, as JFK says in this great speech. Really gave me a lot of respect for this man that I don’t really know much about. How could it happen that in 1960 we had a president with such very different ideas (like respecting the Constitution) and now have Bush and Rudy and gang?
I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and as much as I despise liberalism/socialism and their ilk, I can’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, it’s better than theocracy, which is what the large percentage of many so-called “right-wing” politicians, the “neo-cons” and such are pushing for. And it’s really scary when they talk about “Islamo-fascists” and atheists in the same vain and use phrases like “War on Religion” while denouncing people like Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris. We should not forget what they are doing right now to the “Islamo-fascists” in Gauntanamo Bay and their other “War on Drugs” and “War on Terrorism”.
I really wish that the “conservatives” were conservative and kept the government free of religion as the Constitution clearly outlines. But I can’t help but think that the liberals will, indirectly, make it worse too, by further empowering the government so that when the theocratics finally do get to power they have a stranglehold on our Freedom. Then were just a couple of “PATRIOT” acts away from imprisoning atheists.
Gmail, PHEV and Yucca Valley Monday, October 22nd, 2007
Posted by carltonstedman in life, politics.3 comments
Seems that Gmail recently up’ed their storage. I’m now using 514 MB (12%) of my 4265 MB. That’s right, Google now graciously gives you over 4 GB of storage! Awesome!
Really, with Gmail, there is no reason to ever delete a single email message. Just archive it! I’ve tried to tell certain people this, but I guess old habits die hard.
My work email, however, has a painful 100 MB limit. I need to archive stuff to my hard drive every couple of weeks. Ridiculous, really. 100 MB? What is this, the ’90′s? Seriously.
On a completely unrelated note: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/oct07/5630
Interesting read. Not the first time I’ve read about PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) but definitely the first time I’ve read about using PHEV’s to handle transient power demands on the grid. A novel and intriguing concept, as follows:
* You plug in a PHEV and charge it up through your wall outlet – this is much cheaper than recharging the battery through gasoline and regenerative braking only, as current hybrids do
* On demand, a small percentage of power is drained back out of the PHEV to source transient grid demands
The current hybrids available really suck. They cost more to own and operate than less “fuel efficient” vehicles, and they really are not that efficient at all. The new PHEV’s are the way to go: primarily an electric vehicle storing energy in battery arrays and using a much smaller gasoline engine to just recharge the batteries on the go. This is compared to current hybrids that generate direct torque from the full-sized electric or gasoline engines (two full engines makes it suck).
In addition to stabilizing the grid on a transient basis, the US really needs more steady-state power (no more forced blackouts or mandates to lower power consumption). We need to generate more power through, I don’t know, the cleanest, cheapest, safest form of energy production available today: nuclear power. Nuclear power is actually better for the environment than solar power (wind power still wins) and has more energy generating capability than any other form of generation available today. And it is so much safer and cheaper than what accounts for over two-thirds of the energy generation in America today: coal and oil.
There’s a reason France has such an abundance of energy that it can actually sell it to surrounding countries: they use almost exclusively nuclear energy. And they won the bid to house the first nuclear fusion plant (some 20-30 years from now), that could produce a lot more energy than the plants they have now.
We can recycle the nuclear “waste” of the past, and current generators are almost 90% efficient (only 10% comes out as “waste”) — of course, in the future, this “waste” can be recycled too, generating more power. Yucca Valley is really the way to go — enough space to hold hundreds, if not thousands of years of nuclear “waste” at the current level of efficiency. Heck, we could produce enough energy to sell some to Canada or Mexico even.
Value added: if we build more nuclear plants, we can easily solve our energy crisis, and greatly aid in alleviating dependence on foreign oil (especially with new PHEV vehicles, possibly using fuel cells instead of gasoline). This would greatly weaken the terrorists, which are ironically empowered by our dependence on their fuel. There are endless reasons to use a lot more nuclear power.
Nuclear power: the best alternative.
Kathy Griffin just got a bit funnier in my book Monday, September 24th, 2007
Posted by carltonstedman in atheism, life, politics, religion.1 comment so far
If you haven’t seen it, here’s Kathy Griffin’s Emmy acceptance speech: youtube.
You will *not* be seeing in on E!, since it is being edited. Certainly, they have the right to do that, as a private organization, but I find it both laughable and sad that they are editing out what they have deemed “hate speech.” As Dan Barker of Freethought Radio points out, what has more hate speech than the Bible?
If she had simply replaced “Jesus” with a director or producer’s name, no one would think of editing it out — it is, in fact, rather tame, as I was surprised to find. Kathy Griffin is, as she calls herself, a “fallen Catholic.” I am glad to find out that she is not going to apologize or retract her comments from her acceptance speech.
I’ve been listening to a couple of good podcasts lately, as listed below:
* Freethought Radio: XML
* The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe: XML
Just add those to your feedreader of choice. Mine? Google Reader. Fricking rocks.
Everyone should listen to Freethought Radio’s “Christianization of U.S. Military” episodes. Ridiculous stuff, I hadn’t even heard of it. Apparently, in the army, right now, “protecting our freedoms,” you are *required* to have your Christian affiliation listed on your dogtag! If you don’t have a particular affiliation or are non-Christian, you are listed as “none” and are subject to having to walk the most dangerous parts of town and doing other stuff, because you don’t fit into the evangelical world-view that the army is now abiding by.
In one case, a non-affiliated Christian was given a Dixie cup and pair of tweezers upon arriving after his commanding officer saw the “none” engraved in his dogtag. For two weeks, he was instructed to use the tweezers to pick up pubic hair in the latrines, until he had filled the Dixie cup. Absolutely insane.
It’s blatantly a crusade, and it is horrible foreign policy. Troops are given papers about the Rapture and other Biblical bullshit in English and Arabic. Troops don’t read Arabic; it’s for the troops to give to the conquered nations. Even our Islamic *allies* are getting angry at our evangelical crusade. We are just building up the Jihadists with this Christian propaganda, empowering them and giving them further reason (as they see) to attack us. It makes me sick to think of it.
In light of this, I have officially joined the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), for a small tax-deductible (a.k.a. free) $40. Definitely worth it.
On a related note, just Netflixed “The God Who Wasn’t There,” a short 1-hour-long documentary, including the great Sam Harris. Very funny, including a part where they show The Passion of the Christ (with the note at the bottom, “Used without permission”), showing how Christians just love blood and going through the movie minute-by-minute with a list of the violence in it; after the first 10 minutes, only 6 minutes of the next hour-and-a-half contain no violence.
It is, as of this date, the most realistically violent movie I’ve seen to this date. I remember, seeing it with my friends, and Tyler and I were laughing at this one seen where it looks like these hobbits are chasing Judas, just couldn’t help ourselves, and this old lady in front of us turned around, looked at us angrily and actually “shooshed” us. Of course, that just made us laugh at her.
Anyone want Netflix? Wednesday, September 19th, 2007
Posted by carltonstedman in life, movies.1 comment so far
So, got some free month passes for Netflix. If anyone wants one, let me know, you’ll get a free month of Netflix (just cancel after the first month if you don’t want to keep it), and I’ll get a free extra movie from my queue. I’ve got four passes, so, let me know.
Took a test:
Kind of what I was expecting. I do think I tend to be a bit more on the extroverted side, although I can certainly be introverted on occasion. I can be happy by myself and it usually takes a while for me to get bored, but I’d rather hang out with Jillian or a friend or something then sit at home and work on a project, given the opportunity.
As far as the meeting questions go, sometimes I wish I had less, so I could get some damn work done! Seriously, seems like too much time is spent in meetings. If I ever decide to manage a team, I’m gonna cut down on the meetings, get an update with everyone separate and just have a standing meeting where we quickly run through some action items and general updates or something.
Blah, back to work.
"The things you used to own, now they own you" Wednesday, August 8th, 2007
Posted by carltonstedman in ideas, life, philosophy.add a comment
I was reading this little article by Paul Graham: here.
I don’t always agree with the prolific Lisp programmer and writer, but, largely I tend to agree with this article. As this post title suggests, I immediately thought of the line in Fight Club when Tyler Durden tells the protagonist:
“You buy furniture. You tell yourself this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple of years you’re satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you’ve got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you’re trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.”
Sure, I get caught in the “bargain frenzy” sometimes, but I really try to think “do I *need* this?” before buying something. I need to try to remember that sometimes.
I find it interesting that Graham excuses his mass collection of books. “Oh books, they’re different,” is the impression you get. He doesn’t explicate it further, at least not clearly. I too find that books are different, as could be music and movies (but, at least for me, especially books). He says, unlike other stuff, books are “illiquid.” I’m not sure that’s the right way to say it.
But *why* are books different? Maybe because they are a source of knowledge? But what about fiction? Maybe because it sparks your thought process, and will be used and re-used for a long time, lent to friends and family, re-read years later? I’m not sure; it almost seems arbitrary choosing something he likes as free from the rule he sets out — almost.
I think it has to do with what worth *you* give it, versus what it may have been “worth”, money-wise, and how much money you’ve “saved” by getting it at a bargain price, et cetera. Something along those lines. Really, how much stuff around you is worth something *to you*. Keep what is, discard what isn’t, don’t buy what won’t be — I suppose that’s the ideal.
Hmm. Have to think more about it. But, I do think, in general, Paul Graham, Tyler Durden and I are on the same page (at least as far as material goods’ worthlessness is concerned).
