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20060818 Friday August 18, 2006

Recent Reads

There have been countless books published in the last 5 years or so chronicling the lives of early great Americans. It is surprising, then, that only recently has a book been published dedicated to Andrew Jackson. Brands' book tells the story of Jackson's life in an engaging way. Jackson's rise to prominence in spite of his humble beginnings and his hardships is a recurring theme. Unfortunately, Brands spends too little time discussing Jackson's political career and his views on slavery.
While not always a terrifically well written book, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt is nevertheless notable both for the remarkable subject matter - the life of Jesus' extended family during his youth - and also for its testimony to Rice's return to the Catholic Church. The book strays from strict orthodoxy at times, but always seems to do so in a respectful manner. I recommend that readers of this book read the author's afterword to get a sense of the Rice's research for the book and for the profound personal meaning for which the book held for her.
I have become accustomed over the years to Koontz' hack-work on many of his books (I still regard Tick Tock as one of the worst works of contemporary fiction I have ever read).  I was pleasantly surprised, then, when I read Odd Thomas. The plot serves mostly as a backdrop for the development of Odd Thomas and his various friends and acquaintances. Once I got past the awkward humor, I found Odd - with his humility, basic goodness, and sense of responsibility - to be a rather endearing character.

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"Great American" Books Worth A Look:
"Dean Koontz" Book Worth A Look:
( Aug 18 2006, 01:11:34 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [1]
20060817 Thursday August 17, 2006

JDK 7 Project Site Available

The JDK 7 (formerly Project Dolphin) Project site was opened for business on 08/15.Take a look and find out how you can contribute! :-)

Source Snapshots: http://download.java.net/jdk7/binaries
Binary Snapshots : http://download.java.net/jdk7

( Aug 17 2006, 11:49:07 PM PDT ) Permalink
20060816 Wednesday August 16, 2006

Inquirer Hails Sun as Price Leader

The Inquirer ran an article today containing some nice comments about the new x64 systems we recently announced. Of particular note:

"It is interesting to see that Sun is now the low-price PC provider out there, usually beating out HP and Dell on similar configs."

btw...The "N1 manager" that the article mentions as being "toss[ed] in ... for free" is N1 System Manager, a product with which I have been associated for some time now.
 ( Aug 16 2006, 10:24:06 PM PDT ) Permalink
20060813 Sunday August 13, 2006

Words To Live By

"Love of neighbour, grounded in the love of God, is first and foremost a responsibility for each individual member of the faithful" - Pope Benedict XVI (from Deus Caritas Est, 2005)
( Aug 13 2006, 10:00:00 PM PDT ) Permalink
20060810 Thursday August 10, 2006

Random Shuffle

I love the Chieftain's' interpretations of Irish folk music. "North Americay" was the song that inspired Ron Howard to make the movie "Far and Away".

It is always interesting to see what pops up as a result of shuffle. This is one of the tracks that made me an unashamed fan of the Veggie Tales and a purchaser of their wares. Up until Caleb was nine months old, it took little more than a few bars of "God is Good" to calm him down (Bach's Brandenburg Concertos worked well also).

Having played with Ralph Stanley and Ricky Skaggs, Whitley had quite the bluegrass pedigree. God only knows what music he could have created had he not let the bottle get the better of him.

One of my all time favorite songs of any genre. I fondly remember raisin' hell to this tune with my buddies back in Missouri. The chorus to "Country Boy" is currently the MP3 Ringtone on my Blackberry (at full volume, no less). Finally, "Country Boy Can Survive" is one of the few songs I have performed at Karaoke Night more than once. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!

James Taylor's talent as a singer-songwriter is well established. Now if he could just avoid consorting with the likes of MoveOn.org :-) ( Aug 10 2006, 12:59:09 AM PDT ) Permalink

20060806 Sunday August 06, 2006

Words To Live By

"Love is indeed 'ecstasy', not in the sense of a moment of intoxication, but rather as a journey, an ongoing exodus out of the closed inward-looking self towards its liberation through self-giving, and thus towards authentic self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God" - Pope Benedict XVI (from Deus Caritas Est, 2005)
( Aug 06 2006, 01:53:55 AM PDT ) Permalink

Juliana Wetmore (Old Draft; New Post)

To get back into the spirit of blogging again, I decided to work my way through my saved drafts to see if anything there is worth posting. While doing so, I came across the following draft. It contains inspirational information about a very brave girl and her loving family. For updated information, you can go to : http://www.julianawetmore.net.

[Drafted on 08/01/05]
This is at once both one of the most heartbreaking and yet heartwarming stories that I have ever heard.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=28372

I first learned of Juliana Wetmore by watching a recent airing of "Born Without a Face" on the Discovery Health Channel [I believe that there are a couple of episodes, coincidentally enough, airing tonight - 08/06/06]. Since then, I have learned more of her story through various internet articles and blogs.

Julian Wetmore has a serious case of Treacher Collins syndrome. When Juliana was born, she was missing her upper cheekbones, eye sockets, nose, ear canals and most of her outer ears, upper lip and the roof of her mouth.

Juliana's serious handicap makes her unable to hear well, eat through her mouth, breathe without nasal tubes, or speak. Despite this, and a host of resultant maladies, she exhibits a joyful spirit and an almost boundless love for the people around her - particularly the parents that reciprocate with unconditional love of their own.

In a world in which respect for life seems scarcely in evidence at times, the choice Juliana's parent made not to terminate the child`while in the womb or to let her die through lack of medical care is to be applauded. All children are blessings from God [Ps 127:3] and should be treated as such.

In a world in which so many people spend so much of their time feeling sorry for 'how bad things are' in their life, Juliana is a true`inspiration. It is impossible to read her story without being imbued with a greater sense of perspective.

It is easy to use a case like Juliana's as an excuse to deny God's existence or to curse God's ways. I have a greater degree of pity for the poor misguided souls that choose to do so than for Juliana. Her struggles will no doubt be great in this life. But as our Lord says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" [Matthew 5:3]

Juliana has some of the worst physical disfigurements known to medical science in recent history. Even watching her on television, however, I was aware of the beauty of her spirit. God's works are truly made manifest in this exceptional child [John 9:1-3]

This story moved me profoundly; I hope it will move you as well. ( Aug 06 2006, 01:22:07 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [1]
20060805 Saturday August 05, 2006

Employment Update

In short, I am still a Sun employee. While reductions in force are not terribly pleasant, this move was a necessary one. As a company and as individuals we now have a prime opportunity to refocus and move forward with a renewed sense of purpose and passion. I, for one, am tremendously excited by the possibilities. ( Aug 05 2006, 12:11:49 AM PDT ) Permalink

I'm Back

For all of the reasons that I started blogging back in October 2004, I have decided to restart the practice after over a year of inactivity. The past year has been an extraordinarily busy one for me and my family and blogging was one of the many things for which I was unable to set aside sufficient time. Things have not gotten any less busy, but I expect to squeeze in a bit of blogging from time to time in the wee hours (when I should be sleeping). :-) ( Aug 05 2006, 12:08:33 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [1]
20050527 Friday May 27, 2005

Word of the Day

teleology

noun - the use of design or purpose as an explanation of natural phenomena
( May 27 2005, 12:23:05 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [2]

20050523 Monday May 23, 2005

The Glass is Always Full

A peer of mine recently claimed that I 'always see the glass as half full'. While this comment was intended as a compliment, I felt it necessary to correct him. I prefer to look at things this way - the nature of the contents and their relative contributions to the overall volume might change, but the glass is always full. :-)
( May 23 2005, 11:52:02 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [2]

20050522 Sunday May 22, 2005

Words to Live By

"We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action." - Frank Tibolt
( May 22 2005, 09:23:04 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

20050520 Friday May 20, 2005

Word of the Day

euphony

noun - a harmonious succession of words having a pleasing sound
( May 20 2005, 09:17:01 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

20050515 Sunday May 15, 2005

Words to Live By

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
( May 15 2005, 12:21:31 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

20050513 Friday May 13, 2005

Word of the Day

eldritch

adjective - weird; eerie
( May 13 2005, 12:15:46 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]