Animated New Yorker Cartoons
The New Yorker has always been known for its great cartoons. Now you can see them animated.
Blogging the Bible
Non-observant Jew, David Plotz of Slate magazine, has been reading the Bible and blogging his thoughts and insights.
Switch-Handed NCAA Div-I Pitcher
Pat Venditte of Creighton is believed to be the only active switch-handed pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball.

World-Renowned Violinist Goes Unnoticed
With the help of Joshua Bell, world-renowned violinist, the Washington Post conducted a fascinating and disheartening study in a DC metro station: Bell played his $3.5 million Stradivarious violin for 43 minutes as hundreds of commuters passed by without even a passing glance.

For all of you Gmail users out there who miss your “hard-copies”, Gmail Paper is just for you.

Evil Americans, Poor Mullahs
Considering its source, the article found at the end of this link is fascinating. SPEIGEL is the German version of Newsweek. In this article, the writer is standing against the anti-Americanism which is so common all across Europe.

Panorama of Mars
This is an interactive panorama of more than 1400 pictures taken by the Mars Spirit rover.

Operation Nehemiah – Helping Rebuild the New Sudan
I began working with William Levi, head of Operation Nehemiah, this past December. Together, we have been hard at work redesigning his website. Follow this link to find out more about the Sudanese relief efforts of William Levi and Operation Nehemiah. The prose on the website sounds a bit stilted at times; however, as it comes straight from William, the heart and passion of a man who has suffered for Christ really shines through.

For those of you who would like to use your own pictures in a screensaver, let me suggest that you try the Google Photos Screensaver. It lets you:

• Display photos from your PC and photo sharing sites like Picasa and Flickr
• Stay connected with your family and friends with photo feeds
• Watch slideshows of your pictures
• Flip through your pictures with easy on-screen controls

To get the free Google Screensaver, you will need to install the free Google Pack which includes a lot of other cool software that will help make your computer more useful:

Mac PC Spoofs
In these spoofs by Laurie McGuinness, “all business” PC gets his revenge on “slacker” Mac. Enjoy!

Converse with Scholars
On Thursday evenings you can browse to this website and converse via live chat with some of the brightest minds in evangelical scholarship. Past guests include: J.P. Moreland, Greg Koukl, Alvin Plantinga, James Sire and William Lane Craig to name a few.

The Dawkins Confusion
A review of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion by Alivin Plantinga, John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and one of the most influential Christian philosophers alive today.

The Luke Johnson Phone Experiment
A 27 year old by the name of Luke Johnson posted a video on You Tube asking for people to call him on his cell phone number (602-435-3694). He has gotten calls from all over the world, and the national media has featured him in a couple of reports. Feel free to give him a call.

Reflecting on a Tragedy
Timmy Brister provides a solemn look at Anna Nicole Smith’s life through the lens of the gospel.

Case Antiques – Online Antiques Gallery
Please pardon me as for today’s installment of Links of Interest as I am linking to one of my client’s websites. Rather than being a shameless plug for my services, I’m linking to this site because I want to draw attention to my client’s use of his website.

This past year, John Case of Case Antiques hired me to re-design his website. As an up and coming antiques appraiser and dealer, John uses his website to showcase antiques that he has for sale and to promote upcoming auctions and other aspects of his business. The key specification for the re-design was that I design an easy to use website that John could update himself. When you browse this site, you will notice that the site’s layout is very clean allowing you to quickly get to the content on each page. In addition, the part of the site that most interests me and is the reason for this post is the online antiques gallery.

The top two specifications for John’s antiques gallery were the presentation of his inventory and its ease of use. Keeping this in mind, I set out designing and developing a gallery that allows visitors to browse through category and subcategory thumbnails until finally drilling down to individual items. For each individual item, through a back-end interface, John is able to upload multiple pictures and add an item title and description. After John has uploaded his photos, the system automatically creates all the thumbnails and other image sizes that are used throughout the gallery. In addition, on each item page, I created a form that allows visitors to inquire about the item. Submitting this form sends an email to John that includes a thumbnail picture of the item making it easy for him to identify the subject of his customer’s inquiry.

All this being the case, I must say that John is really making good use of his online gallery. A check of his gallery’s homepage shows fourteen large thumbnails emphasizing categories such as antique paintings, antique silver, antique pottery, and southern folk pottery. I particularly enjoy browsing through his antique paintings for sale as the variety and color in this section makes for a great visual presentation.

In summation, what I like about the Case Antiques website is the satisfaction that comes from creating a web application that my client is able to use to his advantage. Oftentimes, I find myself checking the site just to see what John has added to his inventory.

Get Directions to Case Antiques

Google Flight Simulator
Goggles is a Google Maps flight simulator that lets you pick a city and fly around using your arrow keys.

BibleMap.org
A very cool integration of Google Maps and the ESV Bible.

Reformed Eye for the Arminian Guy
Perhaps we’ll see this one in TLC’s Fall ‘07 lineup? From the article:

In each episode a fabulous team of Reformed men will track down an Arminian guy and offer him the makeover of a lifetime. Each of the five team members is an expert in a different field. Each will assist the subject of the program in a unique way.

Read more >>

Tijuana police ordered to disarm
I’ve led two short-term mission teams in Tijuana. During our visits, I am always aware of the darkness that persists around us. Seeing this BBC article turned my thoughts back to my Mexican friends there and the refuge that their ministry provides.