Timothy - Dog Year

Nature

"Nothing on earth is his equal - a creature without fear.  He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud." - Job 41:33-34

So God ended His response to Job's questions and complaints concerning his great suffering, by merely pointing in exhilarating detail to how marvelous His creations are, including the mysterious leviathan.  Christians today will do well to heed these calls by God to humble ourselves by reflecting on the natural world He's created.   An excellent way is to watch the PBS series Nature.

Nature began airing in 1982 and is the longest running weekly natural history television show.  As the name implies, it covers the natural world - diverse ecosystems, profiles on specific animals, interactions between animals and man, etc.   Celebrity narrators are sometimes used, and they typically do a fine job, but one annoying aspect to these episodes is when these celebrities actually go on camera with the documentary subjects - most viewers don't really care how well Julia Roberts can adapt to Mongolian life, or how fascinated Ewan McGregor is by polar bears.  Aside from this minor complaint,  Nature in general does a solid job on every episode, providing a nice balance and mix of educational facts with top-notch cinematography.

A great example is the most recent episode which aired tonight - "Under Antarctic Ice."  Like most similar documentaries, it suffers to some degree from excessive coverage of human activities, explorations, and conversations.  Nonetheless, the underwater footage is incredible.  Here, below all the ice of the world's coldest, windiest, and driest continent, shafts of light penetrate through ice openings to illuminate a rich environment with colorful sea urchins, icefalls (frozen waterfalls), and small fish with built-in antifreeze inside their body.  Creatures like emperor penguins and Weddell seals that look clumsy and slow on land appear completely graceful swimming in the waters below the ice.

For quality insights into the natural world around us, stay tuned to their upcoming episodes.  While not every topic is of interest to a particular person, including myself, the increased appreciation from watching any Nature episode is invaluable.  Below I've listed my own favorite episodes, based more on subject matter biases than anything else:

• "Animals Behaving Badly":  Bad squirrels, bad squirrels, whatcha gonna do when they come for you...
• "Antarctica: The End of the Earth"
• "The Body Changers": What would be surreal on a human is a common part of many species' development to adulthood.
• "Bower Bird Blues": The male of this species makes large, complex nests of different materials to woo potential mates, but often fails to attract any.  Hmm, there's a familiar ring to this...
• "Can Animals Predict Disaster?"
• "Diamonds": Nature's hardest substance and its cultural significance.
• "Extraordinary Dogs"
• "Incredible Suckers": About the eerie yet amazing world of cephalopods.
• "Living Edens: Big Sur, California's Wild Coast"
• "Lost World of the Holy Land": How conservation efforts are attempting to restore many once-common species, including those mentioned in the Bible.
• "The Octopus Show": No other species can camouflage and contort quite like the octopus.
• "Sled Dogs: An Alaskan Epic": Includes discussion of the Iditarod race.
• "True Adventures of the Ultimate Spider-Hunter"
• "The Venom Cure": How different animal venoms can have medicinal benefits.
• "White Shark/Red Triangle": A place where the perfect predator reigns.

Programming: the Way of the Dodo?

Good news for computer programmers:  programming will never be obsolete.  As long as there are new hardware, network, and electronic game technologies, there will always be a need for programmers who can write the front-end interfaces and back-end code for those emerging, cutting edge developments.

Bad news for the same programmers: programming as a career sector has been shrinking for years and will continue to do so in coming decades.

As much as programmers hate to admit, the bad news is all too real.  Information Week already had a long article about this trend back in 2003.  It's really not difficult to understand why it's happening.  Administrative, support tasks and even new software can be outsourced overseas for far cheaper labor.  The advent of object-oriented programming ushered in the concept of reuseable code objects.  How many times should one reinvent the wheel by designing a dropdown menu or database connection from scratch, when robust, standardized, customizable versions of these components come standard with IDE's and frameworks like Visual Studio, Flash and .Net?  Never.  How many businesses are writing their own in-house word processors and bitmap editing software, instead of using COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) packages like Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop?  Plus, COTS software come not only from stores, but from vendors pushing extensible, well-tested, and well-supported enterprise solutions.  Thinking that throwing more programmers into the IT department will automatically improve a business's bottom line is akin to thinking that throwing more teachers into a classroom will produce more smart students.  With rare exceptions (such as film or computer entertainment studios), businesses care more about application ease of use, stability, support level, and security than bells and whistles unique to their enterprise.  The history of computing is littered with examples - OS's, video cards, memory capacity, office suites - where inferior hardware and software triumphed due to their superior marketing and corporate market dominance.  As long as nothing was broken, most were content to wait for Bill to deliver whatever new "innovations" were promised last year from Redmond, despite seeing those features already implemented on other platforms like the Mac.

Current programmer professionals need not start waiting in the local unemployment line just yet, though.  It requires mainly a willingness to rethink their job roles.  No more sitting alone in an office every hour of the work week "hacking out" the most streamlined, pretty code - programmers need to learn to be good communicators with business end users, not only for gathering requirements and user acceptance of the code, but for ongoing training and general understanding of the business's big-picture needs.  The future of IT is not coding, but design, analysis, and management.  Software will increasingly handle all code generation and optimization (such software are already quite prevalent).  Ultimately, as can be seen in Web development, this trend can be a plus for IT personnel.  Those willing to expand their horizons in such manner will likely receive greater recognition and compensation for fully applying their mind, not just the technical, logical side.

Matchmaker

A paraphrasing of the lyrics to a well-known classic rock tune with a similar-sounding title:

Hey sisters, have you heard the news?
You know that Nosy's back in town?
It won't take long just watch and see
How the brothers start to envy, frown.
His words are new but the intent's the same
As it was so long ago,
From his advice, a stupid smile
Like that of "I don't know."

Well, it's been three years and maybe more
Since I first set eyes on her;
The young years of my life gone by,
Here I am alone and hurt.
Some people cry and some people die
By your libel, lies of love;
But I'll just keep on rollin' along
With the grace of the Lord above.

You keep talkin' all around 'bout the way I'm not her type,
I don't care what you people say, I know that your chat's all tripe.
One thing I do have on my mind, if you can clarify please sir,
It's the way you refer me to another girl's name when I try to have a date with her!
I try to date her but it ain't no use.
Leave it to me, leave it!

** Guitar solo ***

Work so hard I've become unkind,
Got some anger saved;
Abuse my trust a thousand times,
However hard I tried.
Matchmaker, your time has come,
Can't take your schemin' way;
Go away,
Matchmaker...

Matchmaker!
Matchmaker!
Match--

Science

You say there is no chemistry between us, but I say we still have the laws of physics.  Which is the fundamental science, chemistry or physics?

Don't Blame the Silicon

Americans are lonely.  That's the message a recent study by Duke University Professor Lynn Smith-Lovin (what a name) reveals.  Unlike twenty years ago, more than half of those surveyed said that they had two or less close friends with whom to share personal matters, and almost half of that group said they had zero such friends.  The study points to increased commuting, more work, and later marriages in life as possible causes for the change.  Another often-cited cause is the increased time people spend online - surfing Web sites, exchanging emails, hanging out in chat rooms, etc.

To me, all these factors are not so much causes as they are symptoms of something else - people are increasingly becoming more selfish.  To put it bluntly, society is gravitating toward self-improvement at all costs.  Why do people commute such long distances or work so many hours of overtime?  Usually, so they can make more money and be more professionally marketable than their peers and relatives.  Why do people stay single so long?  Usually, because they enjoy their independence and do not want to commit to a new lilfe where, God forbid, they actually have to learn to make cormpromises with someone else.  Why do they waste so much time in front of a monitor?  Usually, because they can hide their true expressions and tones in electronic form, with the ability to exit the communication whenever desired.  It's much easier to deal with cartoon avatars than real flesh and blood.

Note my use of the word "usually" in each response above.  Obviously the causes listed for loneliness are not necessarily done out of selfishness, with a host of other possible reasons why people work or drive long hours and stay single.  Still, it makes me wonder, what kind of diversions or distractions might lonely people have resorted to had computers and the Internet not been invented?  There were all kinds of one-person hobbies and activities long before PCs came on the scene - painting, TV, hunting, knitting, etc.

There's a nice article by Peter M. Nadeau about the potential positives of being lonely as a single even as a Christian.  I particularly like his statement that "most singles don't need a marriage as much as they need a divorce—a divorce from the idolatrous relationships they've formed to kill their hunger pangs of loneliness. In truth, our desire for union with another can't be met unless the desire is acknowledged, enlarged, and available. Often God can't put good things in our hands because they're already too full with idols. Detours around loneliness are such idols."  Regardless of whether you're single or not, if you're in that half of the American population that have few close friends, what detour(s) are you going down, and why haven't your turned around?

Self-Reliance - Why Not?

In an article in the latest issue of Nature, scientists report finding that Holcoglossum amesianum, an orchid species that grows on tree trunks in China's Yunnan province, actually fertilizes itself.  To be more exact, the male, pollen-bearing anther rotates itself and inserts into the female stigma cavity.  This process occurs on a per-flower basis - no sharing of pollen even between flowers on the same plant.  This species has neither scent nor nectar, as if it carries a "No Help Wanted" sign to insects and wind at all times.

It's a fascinating phenomenon, and I wonder why God didn't make greater use of this self-reliance biological model for other creations.  Wouldn't things be much easier for all living beings?  And yet, everything in nature is dependent on complex interrelationships and niches, the core components of ecology.  To function normally, everything living is dependent to some degree on fellow members of its own species, other species, and the environment.   Even the H. amesianum surely would wilt and die if uprooted and transferred onto a soilless floor inside a dark closet.

Why, God?  Why are my body parts so intricately woven?  Why do I need the help, encouragements, and love of other people to get through life (which so often lead to deep pains and hurts when they don't come through)?  Why can't my reproductive system be as independent as my respiratory system?  Why did you choose to work through the Church, a whole bunch of flawed individuals, when You could've worked with each one of us strictly one-on-one?

I don't know the final answers to these questions.  Maybe it's because God Himself, the Trinity, is relational.  Maybe it's true, after all, that some strength lies in number.  Or maybe the answer lies somewhere during a walk through a field of fragrant flowers, in the realization that God considers it good to make things that are blessings to others.

Incendiary Inspiration

In recent weeks, some Christians have voiced concerns over why the latest AFI (American Film Institute) Top 100 listing, the "most inspirational films," has no real film of or about Christ, or any Christian contents for that matter (except Ben-Hur at #56, The Ten Commandments at #79, and maybe Chariots of Fire, at the very bottom at #100).  Were the survey voters for this list predominantly Jewish, hence explaining Spielberg having five films on this list?  Were they only looking at films that have won or were nominated for Best Picture honors?

To me, there is absolutely no reason to fret over this list.

It's voted on by people, each biased in his or her own way toward which movies they like.  Films like The Passion of the Christ may not have made it to the Top 100, but it was nominated.  Christianity was not the only theme to be underrepresented - the only cartoon that made it was Pinocchio at #38.  What about other Disney classics like Snow White, Dumbo, Bambi, and the film that almost singlehandedly inspired me to pursue a career in animation and film back in college, Beauty and the Beast, which didn't even make the list of 300 nominated entries?  Finally, since it's restricted to only American films, countless foreign quality films were not included.  It's a very incomplete list, to say the least.

But whether you're a film maker or historian, all these films, regardless of their ranking, are for one reason or another worthy and higly recommended for study.  As for the the shortage of Christian films, I think the best solution for Christians concerned with this matter is to protest with their wallet - support well-made Christian films or even just films without unnecessary profanities and gratuitous sex scenes.  This response was what made Passion so successful, regardless of whatever negativity many critics spewed about its violence and supposed anti-Semitism.  Let Hollywood know what kind of films we like by going through the Box Office.  It's time Christians stop their fear of embracing their own culture and start at step one - simply engage the culture and thereby build bridges to let the unreached know Who in the past and the present is truly inspiring and life-changing.

Perfection

There is nothing wrong with demanding perfection from others; just be ready to back it up with perfection from yourself.

Face

Those who love to protect face lose their identity with the rigid masks they wear.

Shores

Yes, we must lose sight of the shore if we are to discover new oceans, but it's not a bad idea to make sure you're on a good ship first.