The Miracle of Technology

Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal:

Here I will tell a story that I suppose is rather personal but what the heck, today’s not a bad day for the personal. Yesterday I went to St. Patrick’s for confession and mass, to start the year off on the right foot. Walking through the cathedral—it was jammed with tourists taking pictures of statues and architecture and also, and with some startling excitement, of the regular New Yorkers in the pews taking part in the noon mass—I remembered something I experienced there last summer, at confession.

I add here that I like going to confession; I always find it quenching or refreshing or inspiring. Usually I go at my local church. But sometimes if I’m walking by St. Pat’s and it’s confession time I’ll go right in, because the great thing about St. Pat’s is that in terms of priests you never know what you’ll get—a gruff old Irishman from Boston, a mystic from the Philippines, a young intellectual just out of seminary in Rome. Once I think I heard, through the screen, the jolly voice of New York’s cardinal. But whoever I get always seems to say something I need to hear.

Anyway, last summer I’m at St Patrick’s on a weekday afternoon and I go to the confessional area and stand on line. In the confessionals at St. Pat’s you kneel in a small, darkened booth and speak through a screen. You can sort of see the shadow of the priest on the other side.

The door opens and I enter and kneel. I outline my sins as I see them, share whatever confusion or turmoil or happiness I’m feeling. Then I was silent, waiting to see what bubbled up. What bubbled up was a persistent problem that was spiritual at its core. We talked about it, and then the priest—American accent, perhaps early middle age—said, “You wouldn’t struggle with this if you understand how fully God loves you.”

There was silence for a moment, and then I said, “Actually, Father, I always have trouble with that one.”

Here I thought the priest would gently explain how wrong I was to doubt. Instead he said, “Oh, we all do! All of us have trouble with that.”

I said, “Even you?”

“Yes, priests too, the love of God is something we all have trouble comprehending and believing.”

This struck me with force.

And then suddenly in the silence, through the screen, I saw a light. It grew and glowed in the darkness, it moved. A miracle? I cleared my throat.

“Father, did you just open up an iPad?”

Yes, he said, and we started to laugh. He keeps particular readings there that might be helpful with certain specific questions. He’d like me to read some verses when I get home.

I’m sorry, I said, I don’t have a pen and paper, I may not remember what you say. Wait—I’ve got my BlackBerry. “Tell me chapters and verse and I’ll email them to myself.”

And so he scrolled down and called out readings—the letters of St. Peter the fisherman, of St Paul—and I thumbed away sending emails to myself.

It was so modern and wonderful. Genius technology enters the confessional in a great cathedral in 2012.

“And God saw the light, and it was good.”

Re-Creation of the Icon

A classically trained iconographer, Lynette Hull, draws fascinating parallels between contemporary and ancient icons in a tech-obsessed age.

 

Russian Orthodox Demand Apple Replace ‘Offensive’ Logo with Cross

The Christian Post reports:

Christians from Russia’s Orthodox community are demanding that  the country’s Apple division remove the famous half-bitten apple logo from its  products and replace it with a cross, because they find the apple image  offensive to their beliefs.

In popular culture, an apple is often used to represent the fruit that Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge when tempted by the devil, as found in Genesis 3 in the Bible – although the exact type of fruit is not mentioned in Scripture.

Still, conservative Christians in Russia have insisted that the logo should  be removed and replaced with a cross, Xbitlabs.com reported from a translated article from  Interfax news agency.

The Russian conservatives may get their way and force Apple to change its  logo because of new laws being proposed in the country’s parliament on blasphemy and insults targeting religious, spiritual, or national values. It is expected  that President Vladimir Putin will back the laws, especially since the Russian  Orthodox Church heavily supported him during his election campaign in 2012.  Besides replacing the logo, conservatives may even stop Apple product sales in  Russia if they manage to convict the company of committing anti-religious  deeds.

Apple’s iconic symbol has been in use in one form or another for over 35  years. The first bitten apple silhouette was introduced in 1976, and has  undergone a number of design changes to reach its current glass-themed logo,  which was introduced in 2003.

The Russian Orthodox Church has been quick to clamp down on any disrespect or rebellion  against its authority. The church was a leading factor in having three members  of the punk rock band Pussy Riot jailed for performing a song against President  Vladimir Putin inside Moscow’s main cathedral. Church officials have called on  the all-female group to repent for its blasphemy and hooliganism.

How to Run Your Meetings Like Apple and Google

Interesting.

More here.

 

The iPad in Archaeology

From the University of Liverpool:

Peta Bulmer, a Ph.D student from the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology is carrying out a study on the use of iPads for fieldwork.

In a joint project between the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology and the Computing Services Department, Peta will explore the use of mobile devices, whilst working ‘in the field’ on a number of sites across Europe, over the summer.

The iPad will be used to take photographs, make notes and sketches, and record data from digs, rather than collate them post trip, as is the norm. It is hoped that the flexible and portable nature of the device will enable speedier, more efficient and accurate recording and analysis of the data gathered onsite.

Peta selected a 64GB iPad 2, one of the most popular tablets in the marketplace, as her chosen mobile device. An additional stylus has been provided to enable sketch work.

Jake Gannon, Head of Systems and Applications, in Computing Services Department, said: “We were delighted when Peta approached us to see how we could support her academic endeavours in the field. We are very excited at the prospect of using Peta’s experiences to help us shape our existing services as well as develop new services and guidance for our student and research community.”

As part of the study, Peta will use the iPad whilst digging at the ancient Greek site of Pistiros in Bulgaria, the medieval site of Poulton on the English – Welsh border, Delemere, and the Roman – Viking – medieval site at Hungate, near York. She will also be exploring the archaeology of ancient Kos.

Peta, said: “So far, the iPad has proved quite useful. It’s small and lightweight so easier to travel with than a laptop, and especially helpful when negotiating more physically challenging sites. It’s also handy to have readily available access to guidance documents such as recording conventions, and makes recording dig findings and data much less time consuming. Although I don’t have them at the moment, I can see the benefits of additional drawing and data packages.”

On her return to the University, Peta will produce a report highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of using technology in the field. Once complete, a case study and guidelines will be made available on the CSD website.

CSD will make a series of recommendations based on the findings of the study, and will investigate how it can tailor its services to complement mobile devices such as an iPad. The development of a University of Liverpool fieldwork app is already being considered.

HT

 

Giving an iPad to Parents?

I promise the person who sends me one, that I will take far better care of it!

HT

 

A Post-PC World

Ray Ozzie, the man who succeeded Bill Gates as Microsoft’s tech visionary, believes the world has moved past the personal computer, potentially leaving behind the world’s largest software company.

The PC, which was Microsoft’s foundation and still determines the company’s financial performance, has been nudged aside by powerful phones and tablets running Apple and Google software, the former Microsoft executive said.

“People argue about ‘are we in a post-PC world?’. Why are we arguing? Of course we are in a post-PC world,” Ozzie said at a technology conference run by tech blog GeekWire in Seattle on Wednesday.

Read on in the Sydney Morning Herald here.

Also related is: Led by Apple’s iPad, tablet sales seen exceeding desktop PC in 2013.

Industry insiders now believe there will be greater consumer demand for the rapidly expanding tablet market, led by Apple’s iPad, than there will be for desktop PCs in 2013.

Global tablet sales are expected by Taiwan-based PC makers to reach 130 million next year, according to DigiTimes. That could be enough to exceed worldwide demand for traditional desktop PCs…

 

Apple iPad Dropped from Space and it Survives

In the Daily Mail:

They have previously dropped an iPad out of a plane as well as launching a bowling ball on one.

But G-Form have now gone one step further in order to prove just how tough their protective iPad cases are.

The firm has dropped an Apple tablet from the edge of space and, incredibly, it survived.

The whole thing here.

Your iPhone More Precious than you?

Yup!

Forbidden Fruit? Forget Apple iPad – the Pope Prefers the Sony Tablet

The Daily Mail:

Most world leaders opt for iPads – British Prime Minister David Cameron is a particular fan.

But it seems Pope Benedict XVI prefers Google’s Android System instead.

According to a Vatican news release, when the Pontiff switches on the Christmas lights in the Italian town of Gubbio, he will use a Sony Tablet S to transmit the command wirelessly – from his apartment in the Vatican.

The Christmas tree in Gubbio – actually a display of lights 450 metres wide and 750 metres tall – is the largest in the world, and has been on display since 1981.

This year Pope Benedict X will be pressing the button as a sign of ‘universal peace and brotherhood’.

‘Benedict XVI will activate the illumination from his apartments in the Vatican Apostolic Palace,’ said Vatican News.

‘He will touch the screen of a Sony Tablet with the Android operating system which, via the Internet, will transmit the command to switch on the electric current to the tree.’

The release neglects to explain the Pontiff’s choice of hardware – perhaps it’s the customisable nature of the Android operating system that attracted the Vatican’s developers – after all, the Pope could hardly wait while Apple approved his custom app, as would have to happen on iPad.

Whispers in the Loggia reports on the event:

As has been feverishly anticipated in some parts over recent days — in large part amid fresh questions of which device the Pope would use to do the honors — B16 lit the “World’s Biggest Christmas Tree” earlier tonight, tapping a tablet computer to flick on the 2,500 foot-high display of lights in the shape of a tannenbaum splayed on an Umbrian hillside.
In a brief greeting to the people of Gubbio before hitting the virtual “switch,” the pontiff said that the lights of the tree represent those which “light the path of our life… especially in these days when many of us feel the weight of difficulties, problems, suffering, and a veil of darkness seems to envelop us.
“May each one of us be a light for those around us,” Benedict added, encouraging his audience to “give a little more attention to the other, a little bit of love. Each little act of goodness is like a light on this big tree: together with all the other lights, it’s able to brighten the darkness of the night, even the darkest ones…

Read on here.