Monday Notes

Andy Crouch on Christian fiction in a virtual world -- great speech to Christian fiction writers. A quote: But virtual reality is exactly the wrong solution. The Incarnation, which Christians take to be the ultimate reality, is the opposite of virtual reality. Where virtual reality promises to take you out of this mean little existence and give you divine powers, the Incarnation tells us that divinity came fully to life in this existence, in this reality. The astonishing and improbable Christian claim is that transcendence happened, and still happens, right here.
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New Mexico State University's chili-breeding program has developed a black and orange Halloween chili. Always on the cutting edge...
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A journalist asked Chief Justice William Rehnquist the other day about his retirement plans. Feisty as ever he replied, "That's for me to know and you to find out."

There will be no end to the speculation until it's a done deal. At least one prominent journalist thinks that it is coming sooner than later. But I don't know about that.

I do know, though, that the justice has a cool looking cane.
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Scot McKnight is being provocative again with his discussion of "Post-Bible Pietism."
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Barna research is tracking the under-the-radar changes in Sunday schools. I find it striking that there is as much stability in this institution as there is -- especially given how difficult of a time we've had with ours. We have some of the best teachers I've ever worked with and some great curriculum -- still the response is pretty ho-hum.
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A high school on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona is replacing textbooks with laptops. This "either/or" move seems a bit premature to me. Even if this is the wave of the future (It may not be.) I'm not sure that there is enough educational infra-structure online to support it.
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So, you want to start a blog, too -- start here.
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When the sprawl starts to bump into the sprawl we have "super cities". In the US ten megapolitan areas have more than 10 million residents or will have that many by 2040. By 2050 70% of the population will live in eight super cities. Link
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If anyone wants to change -- BBC News is offering a step-by-step guide to developing charisma.
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To avoid spyware problems on your computer -- don't download games, avoid file-sharing software, don't open unknown email attachments, use the Mozilla Firefox browser, stand on one foot and turn three times while hopping -- oh, yes, and cross your fingers.
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Banner ads are about to become more interesting annoying.