I have been quite active in Wikipedia recently...Here's just a few pages I've contributed to in a small way.
Reliability engineering
Tessellation
Robert Murray M'Cheyne
List of open source software packages
Riemann hypothesis
Surface-mount technology
Rhyming dictionary
Protestant Reformers
Donatist
William Huskisson
The Ilston Book
Sacralism
Generalized extreme value distribution
CICCU
Robert Anderson (theologian)
That's enough to give the flavour of some of my interests, in engineering, theology, maths, history, etc.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
EnviroSpin Watch
http://greenspin.blogspot.com/
EnviroSpin Watch is a "Weblog monitoring coverage of environmental issues and science in the UK media. By Professor Emeritus Philip Stott. The aim is to assess whether a subject is being fairly covered by press, radio, and television. Above all, the Weblog will focus on science, but not just on poor science. It will also bring to public notice good science that is being ignored because it may be politically inconvenient."
It was his letter to the Telegraph published on June 10th that reminded me of earlier encounters with Philip Stott on the web and other news media.
'Can humans combat climate change?'
EnviroSpin Watch is a "Weblog monitoring coverage of environmental issues and science in the UK media. By Professor Emeritus Philip Stott. The aim is to assess whether a subject is being fairly covered by press, radio, and television. Above all, the Weblog will focus on science, but not just on poor science. It will also bring to public notice good science that is being ignored because it may be politically inconvenient."
It was his letter to the Telegraph published on June 10th that reminded me of earlier encounters with Philip Stott on the web and other news media.
'Can humans combat climate change?'
Thursday, June 16, 2005
The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity
The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity
The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity vision includes the following, "Britain will be radically transformed when 'ordinary' Christians are envisioned and equipped to make a difference where they are, where they spend most of their time, where they have most of their relationships, where people can see the difference Christ makes in their workplaces, schools, universities and neighbourhoods.
LICC will contribute to winning Britain by convincing successive generations of Christians that all of life comes under the Lordship of Christ, and that all of life is intended to be a context for worship, mission, ministry and active Christian engagement."
Emphasis mine [DFH]
I've been looking at the LICC site today. It has lots of useful articles and resources. Take alook for yourself.
The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity vision includes the following, "Britain will be radically transformed when 'ordinary' Christians are envisioned and equipped to make a difference where they are, where they spend most of their time, where they have most of their relationships, where people can see the difference Christ makes in their workplaces, schools, universities and neighbourhoods.
LICC will contribute to winning Britain by convincing successive generations of Christians that all of life comes under the Lordship of Christ, and that all of life is intended to be a context for worship, mission, ministry and active Christian engagement."
Emphasis mine [DFH]
I've been looking at the LICC site today. It has lots of useful articles and resources. Take alook for yourself.
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Main Page - Sage Community Wiki
Main Page - Sage Community Wiki
I've recently been making good use of the Sage extension to Mozilla Firefox. This is an excellent way to manage and use news feeds and feeds from other sources such as blogs and forums. And being open source, it is free and well supported.
During the past few days I have been contributing (anonymously) to the Sage Community Wiki. I've also been learning about how to import and export OPML in the Sage news reader, and have successfully downloaded OPML files for this purpose.
I've recently been making good use of the Sage extension to Mozilla Firefox. This is an excellent way to manage and use news feeds and feeds from other sources such as blogs and forums. And being open source, it is free and well supported.
During the past few days I have been contributing (anonymously) to the Sage Community Wiki. I've also been learning about how to import and export OPML in the Sage news reader, and have successfully downloaded OPML files for this purpose.
Friday, May 13, 2005
The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience - Books & Culture
The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience - Books & Culture:
"The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience" by Ronald J Sider.
This book by Ronald J Sider was mentioned briefly by Mike Newman in his sermon last week. There's a lengthy extract from it in this page on the Christianity Today site. The author asks why so few Christians live up to what they profess to believe. The context is North America, but there are lessons we could learn from on this side of the Atlantic too. Visit the article. Comment below if you have something serious to say on this subject.
"The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience" by Ronald J Sider.
This book by Ronald J Sider was mentioned briefly by Mike Newman in his sermon last week. There's a lengthy extract from it in this page on the Christianity Today site. The author asks why so few Christians live up to what they profess to believe. The context is North America, but there are lessons we could learn from on this side of the Atlantic too. Visit the article. Comment below if you have something serious to say on this subject.
Monday, April 04, 2005
'The Triumph of Technology' - The 2005 Reith Lectures
Every year BBC Radio 4 broadcasts a series of annual lectures in honour of the BBC founder Lord Reith.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2005/
The subject of this year's lecture series is: 'The Triumph of Technology'. This year's Reith Lecturer is the distinguished engineer, Lord Broers who is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee.
Theme: "Technology can and should hold the key to the future of the human race".
The Triumph of Technology lectures will be broadcast on Wednesdays and Saturdays in April and May. The programme presenter is Sue Lawley.
The first broadcast is on Wednesday, 6th April 2005, at 8.00pm BST.
For full schedule, visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2005/schedule.shtml
I hope to listen to these lectures - and will record any further comments here in this blog as the series progresses.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2005/
The subject of this year's lecture series is: 'The Triumph of Technology'. This year's Reith Lecturer is the distinguished engineer, Lord Broers who is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chairman of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee.
Theme: "Technology can and should hold the key to the future of the human race".
The Triumph of Technology lectures will be broadcast on Wednesdays and Saturdays in April and May. The programme presenter is Sue Lawley.
The first broadcast is on Wednesday, 6th April 2005, at 8.00pm BST.
For full schedule, visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2005/schedule.shtml
I hope to listen to these lectures - and will record any further comments here in this blog as the series progresses.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
"Peace Like A River"
FaithWriters.com-Christian Devotionals - Peace Like A River:
This page is one of several which retells the story of Horatio Gates Spafford (1778-1832) who was a successful attorney in Chicago, where he was active in church, and blessed with a wife and four daughters. It tells of the tragic circumstances which befell his family and that led to the writing of the hymn, When peace like a river attendeth my way.
I'm just posting this link because we sang the hymn in our Church last Sunday evening, and perhaps not many in the congregation know the background. It is more well-known by the refrain, It is well, it is well with my soul.
The CyberHymnal has this hymn on-line.
This page is one of several which retells the story of Horatio Gates Spafford (1778-1832) who was a successful attorney in Chicago, where he was active in church, and blessed with a wife and four daughters. It tells of the tragic circumstances which befell his family and that led to the writing of the hymn, When peace like a river attendeth my way.
I'm just posting this link because we sang the hymn in our Church last Sunday evening, and perhaps not many in the congregation know the background. It is more well-known by the refrain, It is well, it is well with my soul.
The CyberHymnal has this hymn on-line.
Friday, December 10, 2004
Strategic Edge: Radically effective personal development training
Strategic Edge: Radically effective personal development training
A mini-review of a training course.
Along with a sizeable group of colleagues from Philips Semiconductors, I have just attended a two day off-site training course on Personal Excellence given by Nicholas Bate of Strategic Edge. My overall impression of the course was positive and valuable. The material was a a good distillation of the various strands of wisdom collated from a wide variety of sources. It was well presented and there was a good mix of listening to presentation and taking part in activities with other course members. It was not doctrinaire - it did not focus on the teachings of the latest fashion in management gurus. We learned to manage our time and state more effectively, to accelerate our reading and learning, and to use assertiveness as a productive behaviour mode. Course distinctives included the idea of setting a 'personal compass' and having a 'master list' to ensure overall balance in your life, including both work and personal goals.
Why should I BLOG this under Engineering and Theology?
Just three observations, which could be classed as a friendly critique.
1. The notion of beliefs as being highly flexible and readily changed. This should be challenged. The given example of 'Father Christmas' and young children was a rather facile analogy, in my opinion. The presenter gave no acknowledgement that many people have strongly held convictions as beliefs, which should never be abandoned lightly without adequate reasons. Even so, in the immediate context of how people's behaviour is often held back by irrational limiting beliefs about themselves or their situation, there is considerable validity in the proposition.
2. The practice of meditation as several minutes relaxation in which the mind is just focussed on the breathing rhythm. This draws on the now 'all too common' Eastern usage of the word meditation. Though it is fair to say that the speaker was not promoting any religious view as bound up [for example] in Transcendental Meditation. Even so, the fact is that a few sources of the course wisdom did seem to stem from the East, such as [for example] his choice of the Sanskrit word dharma to mean life purpose, on the grounds that there is no single equivalent word in the English language.
3. The principle of self-reference as opposed to external-reference, in the context of being true to our chosen principles of action. Fair enough in the context of not letting what other people might think determine our behaviour, but ultimately futile if the self is our sole reference point for predication and action. For the Christian believer, this should never be so. Our ultimate reference point should be how we stand in relation to the Creator, who is over all and blessed for ever.
Most of us thoroughly enjoyed the course, and all of us were challenged in various degrees by the questions it raised and the ideas and techniques that were taught. It was certainly much better than any other courses I've attended during my engineering career. I'd definitely give it 19/20 as a score.
A mini-review of a training course.
Along with a sizeable group of colleagues from Philips Semiconductors, I have just attended a two day off-site training course on Personal Excellence given by Nicholas Bate of Strategic Edge. My overall impression of the course was positive and valuable. The material was a a good distillation of the various strands of wisdom collated from a wide variety of sources. It was well presented and there was a good mix of listening to presentation and taking part in activities with other course members. It was not doctrinaire - it did not focus on the teachings of the latest fashion in management gurus. We learned to manage our time and state more effectively, to accelerate our reading and learning, and to use assertiveness as a productive behaviour mode. Course distinctives included the idea of setting a 'personal compass' and having a 'master list' to ensure overall balance in your life, including both work and personal goals.
Why should I BLOG this under Engineering and Theology?
Just three observations, which could be classed as a friendly critique.
1. The notion of beliefs as being highly flexible and readily changed. This should be challenged. The given example of 'Father Christmas' and young children was a rather facile analogy, in my opinion. The presenter gave no acknowledgement that many people have strongly held convictions as beliefs, which should never be abandoned lightly without adequate reasons. Even so, in the immediate context of how people's behaviour is often held back by irrational limiting beliefs about themselves or their situation, there is considerable validity in the proposition.
2. The practice of meditation as several minutes relaxation in which the mind is just focussed on the breathing rhythm. This draws on the now 'all too common' Eastern usage of the word meditation. Though it is fair to say that the speaker was not promoting any religious view as bound up [for example] in Transcendental Meditation. Even so, the fact is that a few sources of the course wisdom did seem to stem from the East, such as [for example] his choice of the Sanskrit word dharma to mean life purpose, on the grounds that there is no single equivalent word in the English language.
3. The principle of self-reference as opposed to external-reference, in the context of being true to our chosen principles of action. Fair enough in the context of not letting what other people might think determine our behaviour, but ultimately futile if the self is our sole reference point for predication and action. For the Christian believer, this should never be so. Our ultimate reference point should be how we stand in relation to the Creator, who is over all and blessed for ever.
Most of us thoroughly enjoyed the course, and all of us were challenged in various degrees by the questions it raised and the ideas and techniques that were taught. It was certainly much better than any other courses I've attended during my engineering career. I'd definitely give it 19/20 as a score.
Saturday, October 02, 2004
Making links difficult - use punctuation characters!
It was quite a job getting the link right for the previous post. The page I linked to had an apostrophe in the filename. The blogger editor just truncates everything from the punctuation character. It isn't so clever that it automatically replaces ' by %27 like I just had to do.
Such is life! But then, an engineer like me will not be beaten by the problem.
Such is life! But then, an engineer like me will not be beaten by the problem.
THE DIGNITY OF MAN AND BUSINESS ENTERPRISE
THE DIGNITY OF MAN AND BUSINESS ENTERPRISE
This page is the abstract of a thesis at the University of Durham, City of Durham, England, UK.
The following Reformed doctrines are investigated in relation to man's role working in a business enterprise:
- man as the image of God and work as a vocation from God
- covenanting in the context of human relations within the firm
- the sovereignty of God in relation to the structure of the economic system
- stewardship in the context of the rewards of work
Without having read the full thesis, any comments of mine would be superfluous at this stage, except to say that it gives the impression that a useful piece of work has been done, one which merits the attention of Christians working in a business enterprise, a situation in which [like myself] many engineers find themselves.
The page does not indicate who the researcher was, but I found the page from a link posted on the site of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham.
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