7 New Year’s Resolutions for your Brain 29 December, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in 2008 resolutions, Brad & Phil, education, My Thoughts, Resolutions.10 comments
Tired of the repetitive, pointless, run-of-the-mill New Year’s Resolutions like quitting smoking, losing weight and getting fit? These are the most resolved and least achieved resolutions, made in the heat of New Year celebrations. Achieving anything requires you to put your mind to the task – but what if your mind’s simply not up to it? What if your brain has been subjected to years of abuse ? Parental influence. Bandwagon-hopping. Too much FOX News. It’s time to think for yourself.
How Google Earth Killed Santa… 22 December, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in Brad & Phil, children, Christmas, Google Earth, Humor, ICT in Education, My Thoughts, Political Correctness, Santa.126 comments
December 12, 2006: GOOGLE releases an add-on to Google Earth in an attempt to reverse the damage it has done to millions of children around the world. But instead of reigniting children’s belief in Santa, it has effectively provided a fatal blow that will resonate in the ears and minds of our now scarred youth.
The Hajj is Peaceful, but is Islam? 9 December, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in Brad & Phil, education, God, Islam, My Thoughts, Political Correctness.119 comments
The largest pilgrimage in the world happens every year during the days of Hajj. From almost every country on Earth, about two and a half million Muslims, many of whom can barely afford to pay for the trip, will make what is one of their “duties” in life – a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. With the Islamic calendar based around lunar months, the period of Hajj occurs at different times of the year relative to the more common twelve-month calendar, and coincidentally, this year it is just after Christmas.
iPods Reinforce the Throwaway Society 28 November, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in apple, Brad & Phil, education, iPod, Music, My Thoughts.28 comments
I sometimes feel sorry for the youth of today. While their world is one full of information, communication, interaction and technology, they are missing out on so much that we had just one generation ago. Although the 70’s and 80’s were only twenty or so years ago, the differences in society are staggering. The biggest change I have noticed is time. Now there is no time for anything. E-mail, voice-mail, cell phones, longer working hours and multi-skilling are the order of the day. The end of the working day and home time have become blurred. Back then, there was plenty of time – to think, to breathe, to listen to and appreciate music – to enjoy life.
Why are we Dumbing-down our Future? 18 November, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in Brad & Phil, children, education, My Thoughts, Political Correctness.22 comments
None of us will live forever. The record advancements of the 20th Century were made on the back of strong education systems aimed directly at providing our children with the analytical and problem-solving skills that each generation needed to continue the progress that humanity was demanding. But now it appears that mankind has well and truly peaked and downhill is the only way to head.
How Hubble Killed God… 11 November, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in astronomy, Brad & Phil, God, Hubble.comments closed
March 9, 2004: NASA releases a single image taken by the Hubble Space telescope that proves a fatal blow to the concept of God, but despite the compelling evidence, many simply don’t comprehend the significance of the image.
Which is Stronger, Manfluence or Godfluence? 4 November, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in Brad & Phil, education, God, My Thoughts, Political Correctness.70 comments
I’ve often thought about the situation of the world. If I was born in India, I’d probably be a Hindu. If it was Brazil, I’d be Roman Catholic. If I was born in Iran, there’d be little chance of being anything but a Muslim. And if I was born in the Bible Belt in the United States, I’d be “born again” right after I was born.
The Trouble with Web 2.0 28 October, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in Brad & Phil, education, ICT in Education, Political Correctness, Web 2.0.14 comments
Once upon a time, publishing webpages was solely the domain of a relatively select few. Those who had the ability to code in HTML, who knew how to use FTP to upload files and who had access to space on a webserver connected to the Internet. A decade ago, GeoCities was one of the first sites to offer free webspace for the general public to post their own pages. Many, many bad pages were produced, mainly because you still needed technical skills and ultimately, it was a sea of static pages providing one-way communication. And just because you had technical skills, it didn’t mean you also had writing and layout skills.
Children of Men 27 October, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in Brad & Phil, children of men, film review, Movies.15 comments
I hadn’t been to the movies for quite some time. I didn’t even really know much about this movie called Children of Men, but something was telling me to go watch it. OK, I probably shouldn’t call my wife “something”, not when she has such great taste when it comes to movies (and husbands). Anyway, last weekend, off we went. It took about two minutes for the film to grab me, shake me and glue me to the seat.
Will P.C. Destroy the World? 21 October, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in apple, Borat, Brad & Phil, education, mac vs windows, My Thoughts, Political Correctness, windows.14 comments
No, I’m not referring to Microsoft’s undeserving world dominance at the expense of Apple, I’m talking about Political Correctness. To most people, P.C. is viewed as little more than a joke, but this perception has given it the ability to insidiously erode the foundations and values that make up a democratic society. Like a termite colony, P.C. has been munching on logic, commonsense, discussion and free speech. Our society depicts a strong, healthy and modern facade, but a tiny scratch to the surface reveals an unsure, hesitant, cautious, insecure and frightened population.
Mac vs Windows: Yet another Parallel Divergence 13 October, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in apple, Brad & Phil, mac vs windows, windows.15 comments
We’ve all seen the ads. “Hello, I’m a Mac”, “And I’m a PC”. If not, go here. I can’t think of any other TV advertising campaign that has a running series spanning fifteen different ads over such a short period of time. Sure, we did have the old Pepsi vs Coke Taste Test ads – the ‘Pepsi Challenge’, and this very clever one, but they don’t go anywhere near highlighting so many differences between two directly competing products as the Apple campaign does.
Brad & Phil: Parallel Divergence 12 October, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in Brad & Phil, Half-Life 2, My Thoughts.1 comment so far
Since my son inspired me to start a blog and helped me with the layout, I decided to give him a little job. A blog that’s just full of text can be pretty boring in spite of the best creative writing efforts that may have gone into constructing it. A good blog needs a hook. Now I know it’s been done before, but I think if I include a (hopefully) witty and original cartoon with most of my posts, then that may just be the hook I need.
Things change… 10 October, 2006
Posted by paralleldivergence in Brad & Phil, My Thoughts.2 comments
While I’ve been writing software and making websites for many years, one thing I’ve never had is a blog. It’s obvious that I’m jumping into this scene relatively late, but for me it’s just another reinforcement that things change…
This is particularly so if technology has any sizable part of your life. Just when you think you’ve got it all together. Just when you think things are going well. Just when you think you know exactly where you are heading. Suddenly there’s a curve. Suddenly there’s a hill. Suddenly your clear vision’s obscured. That’s change.
Problem is, we all need to have a role in change. Some people drive change – like the YouTube co-founders that just converted their 20-month old website into a US$1.65B windfall. Some people are early-adopters of change and end up leading a huge band of followers of change. Some people only change as a very last resort – when they absolutely have to. Then unfortunately, some people never change. And we have to live and work with all of these types of people. It’s no wonder true change is so difficult to achieve.
Parallel Divergence is my small tangible effort to facilitate certain aspects of voluntary change with some of those people I come into contact on a more regular basis. By adding your comments, maybe you can help me change as well.
Parallel Divergence 