Wife E and Me

I discovered this photo this week, taken by a friend -- of wife E and me perhaps two years into our marriage -- about 13 years ago. OBSERVATION: I was still thin, then, following rapid weight loss after the death of my wife, but wife E has by now fattened me up. She is playing with my Leica camera here.

The Necessity of Hope

I did some hard work on a small book last year -- The Good* -- in which I developed an argument for the existence of God. I went over this many times, to be sure that it was sound. Without God in our future, I wrote, there is no hope. Therefore God must exist. We cannot carry on without Him. A philosopher friend wrote to me, maybe we should just accept that there is no hope. Anyway I was encouraged to come across the mirror image of my argument this week: 

"Confidence is not self-generated optimism or natural-born bravado. It is a theological virtue -- a reasoned, Spirit-wrought assurance that fundamentally reorientates how you face the future, confront fear, and handle failure."

*This is an Amazon affiliate link. I earn a commission, at no cost to the buyer. 

My Son

It's been a while since I've had a photo of son M on my blog. I took this photo of him playing the piano last year. He reached a very respectable Grade 8. OBSERVATION: He lives a complex yet interesting life, among other things working as a Church administrator. You may click on the photo to enlarge.

Unrest in Europe

I read a philosophy of history book once, which proposed that environmental disasters often mean the end of governments. The repercussions are too great for governments to survive. The unrest in Europe at the moment is attributed to various things, but the cost of living looms large. A series of heat domes in Europe this summer pushed it up. AI comments: "The climate crisis is directly and invisibly driving up the cost of living in Europe." Europe's leaders do not yet seem to get it.

Smart Pop

I decided that October would be the month in which I began to write "smart pop" -- which is, articles for smart popular publications. Or perhaps rather, October would be the month in which I ramped up my writing for such publications. These are situated somewhere between the popular press and academic journals, and often make good compensation (as high as $1 per word, and more). It has taken me 17 days now to turn out five, nearly 6 proposals and articles (some such publications require proposals; some take articles in full). OBSERVATION: One article has been accepted so far.

Budget Fisheye Lens

This one's just a pretty picture. I took this photo with an AstrHori 10mm f8 fisheye lens, at Century City in Cape Town -- close to my home. This bridge crosses one of Century City's canals. It's a good photo, for a lens which costs less than $80 -- half the price of a budget fisheye lens. OBSERVATION: What's the disadvantage, at such a low price? The disadvantage lies in the "f8". It has a fixed f-number, and it is high. That means that the lens is ideal for good lighting, but awkward under dim lighting.

POSTSCRIPT: The Fujifilm AstrHori 10mm lens* is available from Amazon. Also available for Sony cameras*, Leica cameras*, Panasonic cameras*, and Nikon cameras*.

*This is an Amazon affiliate link. I earn a commission, at no cost to the buyer. 

Trial and Error

On Saturday, I reported that I had designed a lo-fi amplifier for my seminary classes -- to broadcast WhatsApp voices to the class. Its most innovative feature was a single positive feedback capacitor to replace a preamplifier. On Monday, I had occasion to test my design in class. It failed -- the gain was too high. I took out all of the positive feedback -- and on Tuesday, I tested it again in class. It failed -- the gain was too low. I put some positive feedback back in -- about a fifth of what I'd had at first. Today, on Thursday, I tested my design again in class. It was on target. It worked beautifully. OBSERVATION: It is one thing to test an amplifier at home -- quite another to test it in the classroom. Expect to see it in Silicon Chip magazine in a few months' time. They snapped it up.

Swan Song for a Ugandan

This one's another "pretty picture". In the second semester at Seminary, final-year students deliver a "swan song" address. This is a Ugandan student after his address, who spoke on 2 Corinthians 4:7 onwards: 

"But we have this treasure in earthenware jars, in order that the extraordinary degree of the power may be from God and not from us."

AI-Free Zone

There is a huge controversy in the headlines this week: a prizewinning author is accused of having used AI to write a short story. As a matter of interest, this blog is AI-free. It is generally 100% human generated, which means written by me. OBSERVATION: From time to time, though, I might check whether an intuition, or certain facts, are illuminated by AI. AI might respond: "I can confirm this as follows ..." or "You forgot something as follows ..." Then I make an adjustment, in my own words.

Health, Wealth, and Family

It is generally said that the Prosperity Gospel is a health and wealth gospel. God wants you to be healthy and wealthy. However, there is a third leg that it stands on: family. God will turn your health around, your wealth around, and your family around. This threefold emphasis is found both in the USA and in Africa. OBSERVATION: I am teaching on the Prosperity Gospel, in a course titled "World Religions and Cults". Is it a cult? The seminary and I decided yes.