Minesweeper: The Movie

The Christian Web

A couple days ago the Metro, one of Boston's free daily newspapers, printed an article about GodTube.com--a "safe" alternative to youtube.com, the popular video sharing site. My initial reaction--derision--matched most other reader's, but I decided to actually visit the site. The first video I found was by the Sons of Korah. Take a look:



I've since found many, many more that I don't care for (try the evangelism channel). I have mixed emotions about these new breed of sites for the evangelical conservative Christian sub-culture. I'm okay with them insofar as they are a place to have open conversations about faith or to encourage believers. But, in truth, they seem more like a new monasticism--complete self removal from the world and its people. Now I am personally very drawn to the idea of monasticism, but it's undeniable that Jesus never intended us to stop engaging the world around us. He infiltrated "places of sin" and helped rescue and redeem those places without feeling the need to retreat to where it would be safe. His believers need a place to help encourage each other, but that encouragement should serve to further propel us back into darkness.

Three weeks?!? I appoligize

Yuck, three weeks without any posts. I suppose you'd never know that I've been fairly busy looking here since it's been deathly calm and quiet. Ironic.

Well, if I have any readers left, I thought I'd let you know about a tool that Google's put out for just such an occasion. Google Reader is a very nice little program that continually checks all your favorite blogs and feeds for updates. That way you only have to visit one site instead of coming to my blog (and everyone else's) everyday in hopes that I've written something inspiring and thought provoking. (Keep hoping--someday it might happen.)

So, go check it out. Now you can know within minutes that I've labored to help you waste a few more minutes of your day. Feel free to go ahead and click the button to connect directly to my site--that way your visit will be logged and my ego assuaged.

[something more substantial soon--I promise]

Viral Videos

Karl Fischer created a trilogy of videos recently about the (i) past, (ii) present, and (iii) future of education. At least the second one ("Did You Know") has gone viral (and is embedded below).

Viral is a relatively new term used on the internet to describe content that transforms from obscurity to near ubiquitousness, due to sharing through email, blogs, and the like. It's exponential growth that in many ways replicates the cycle of pandemics. On top of that no one really understands what the common threads are that make for viral content--some things just seem to resonate with people. It's an interesting phenomenon that will undoubtedly become a significant way that information and knowledge are shared in this world.



A couple other examples of videos that went viral (and have since faded back into obscurity) are the Star Wars Kid and Nooma Nooma. If you missed them when they went around the first time then watch them now--I promise you'll laugh.