theo|digital

Sad sad sad. My laptop dc-in/powerjack seems to have failed, and I’m in the arduous process of convincing HP that it is indeed within the warranty period so that they’ll fix it. Meanwhile, Los Angeles pics and further thoughts are truncated for a bit.

HP: please please hire people at level 1 support (phone and chat) who speak native English. I’m fine with a world-diverse set of technical employees, but not as the professionals who are supposed to sympathize and understand my problems on the phone. The comprehension gap is awkward and maddening. I’m fighting anger toward your company, and now I’m frustrated at myself for being getting worked up. geesh. Gotta love the spiritual implications of tech support.

Hopefully I’ll be technically on my feet soon. (looking like longer than a week at this point, though).

Well. I’m not stunned, wowed, and convinced.

But I liked parts, and certainly didn’t hate it.

Did the following schedule today:

9am – Academic Advisor and Financial Aid
10am – Fuller Chapel Service
11am – Campus & Housing Tour
12pm – Lunch with representative from Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts
1pm – skip first half of class I’m assigned to visit (Systematic Theology with Colin Brown)
2pm – walk into the back of another class, MC500 Church in Mission, by Associate Professor Ryan Bolger (incidentally co-author of the book I’ve been reading, “Emerging Churches”
3:30pm – decide to quit talking to people in general for a undetermined resting period.

The campus is very pretty: bright palms, historic houses, modern buildings, and a silent prayer garden. but I still found myself longing for the stately American architecture that characterizes UofI. None of that to be found. sigh.

I don’t know. I don’t know.

I’m out in L.A. for a couple days visiting Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. Our GCM church out here has been gracious with the hosting – I got a wonderful pickup from LAX and drop here on the Fuller Campus. I’m sitting here in a student lounge, waiting for the evening event to begin (Pacific time! I’m gonna be exhausted by tonight…).

It’s a weird feeling being in a completely unfamiliar place with faces I don’t know, and wondering if you’ll be here in the future. Sorta like way back in the day… looking for your undergrad school. But… older.

This evening is a dinner, then a lecture from someone telling how great Fuller is, then a dessert reception with faculty, etc. It’s hard to know where to set my expectations. If I love my visit… great! If it’s mediocre… how do I know two days can really reflect Fuller? If it’s horrible… how bad does it have to be to have me back way up and just scratch this off the list?

I can tell you right now… the palm trees, 68 degrees and clear blue sky aren’t scaring me away…

This is from almost 10 months ago, so I’m ages behind in internet time, but I think this “real life” Simpson’s intro is awesome.

from the BBC:

Experts assessing the dangers posed to civilisation have added climate change to the prospect of nuclear annihilation as the greatest threats to humankind.

As a result, the group has moved the minute hand on its famous “Doomsday Clock” two minutes closer to midnight.
…
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, founded by former Manhattan Project physicists, has campaigned for nuclear disarmament since 1947.
…
In the years ahead, rising sea levels, heat waves, desertification, along with new disease outbreaks and wars over arable land and water, would mean climate change could bring widespread destruction, the board said.
…
Over the past 60 years, the Doomsday clock has now moved backwards and forwards 18 times. It advanced to two minutes before midnight – its closest proximity to doom – in 1953 after the United States and the Soviet Union detonated hydrogen bombs.
Full story at BBC news.

I love books. I got the following during Christmas or the holidays, most I had “wish-listed” in one way or another.

Of course, you’ll notice most of these taking a while to show up in my “Currently Reading” list on the right. Still a pretty heavy queue, like always… and these aren’t recommendations yet: I have to read them first. (although I gotta tell you, Douglas Coupland never loses).

ps – thanks again if you gave me one of these as a gift!

Of course, the last 24 hours everyone has been talking about Apple’s new smartphone due out this summer.

You know I love good human factors design/interface design/usability. My favorite feature, as presented by Steve Jobs, is definitely “the pinch” – a two finger touchscreen move used to zoom in on photos. Wow. So good.
(start 1:30 to see just the photos part)

Will I get one of these guys? Well, if it’s only offered on Cingular, this presents an issue: their unlimited data plans are pricey. Plus, version 2 is usually better than version 1, even with Apple.

ps – would have loved to watch Steve’s address via Quicktime and the Apple website, but it was so gummed up, the audio was scrambled and video blurred because of bandwidth. Had to resort to YouTube.

Just returned from learning to snowboard. It was a five day trip up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan – the 14 of us staying just across the border in Boulder Junction, WI.

Click either image to see the rest of the photos in my Picasa web album. I’m going to go take more pain killers.