Brutal

AI can be useful in all sorts of ways. Recently I received seven pages of revisions to an academic paper I wrote -- in small print, with a demanding deadline. Together with my other academic commitments -- not to speak of life itself -- I was dismayed. It seemed like a wall so high that I couldn't scale it. I asked AI what impression all this made. AI responded that it looked "brutal", and it gave me a 40% chance of completion. OBSERVATION: My attitude in general is then a) quit, or b) find another way of approaching the whole thing -- the alternative being c) to die trying. Option c) is out. I decided on option b). I just had to figure it out -- and I did.

Music Practice

Having run out of runway after a very full day, here is another photo of a student at a music practice. He is, needless to say, on keyboard and vocals. You may click on the photo to enlarge. OBSERVATION: I used a Leica simulation for this photo.

Delusional (Not)

Many years ago, I saw a doctor, after I was attacked in my robes by a group of churchgoers. The doctor examined me and wrote it all down in his clinical notes. But the next time I went to see him, he opened his notes, and he had changed them -- clearly to suppress the facts. I lodged a complaint against the doctor, with the Health Professions Council. He replied that I had been delusional -- I had been seeing things. Yet that was not possible. I studied psychology. Delusion has nothing to do with seeing things. I took him to the Human Rights Commission. They judged that, rather than there having been any delusion, the doctor was guilty of crimen injuria. But now, the Health Professions Council refused to file the Commission's opinion! OBSERVATION: Finally, no less than fourteen years later, the Health Professions Council has received the Commission's opinion, and registered it, and filed it. The doctor was now refusing to respond, said the Health Professions Council, and this was a case of contempt. I said that's OK. My version of events is now on record -- I need no more.

Never-Ending Trail

A university asked me to make a list of articles I wrote. This is virtually impossible. I forgot them almost as soon as I wrote them, and they amount to hundreds of articles in journals, magazines, newspapers, and on websites. I am trying to track some down, but the trail seems never-ending. OBSERVATION: Here's one of many "covers" that I had, called "Christmas Cheeks". My project caused one's cheeks to pulsate with light from within.

Student Drummer

This one's "just a pretty picture". I took it tonight, of a student rehearsing drums. He is a creative and versatile drummer. You may click on the image to enlarge.

Evading Religion

Recently I sought to monetise my blog. It seemed to comply in every way with Google's standards. However, Google responded, "Your publisher account was found to be non-compliant with programme policies, and as a result, it has been disabled." Could this have to do with occasional religious posts on my blog? I asked Google. Google replied that "getting approval can be difficult" if one has religious content. I appealed the decision. OBSERVATION: Is this anti-religious bias? Google responds: "It is less about a broad 'anti-religious bias' and more about how our automated safety systems filter content for advertisers." Hmm. There are, however, other options besides Google.

Quality Workmanship (Not)

One does wonder sometimes about people's sense of quality workmanship. I snapped this close to my former home. OBSERVATION: Perhaps, though, this would be the angle at which one reads the sign after one has succumbed to chlorine gas. The concrete foundation, too, is an interesting piece of work.

Published in Seven Fields

For some years now, I have claimed in my bio that I am published in peer-reviewed publications in six fields. Not so. It is seven. The field that I missed is acoustics. In principle, I redesigned the electric guitar, on the basis that its strings move in two dimensions, not one (as taught in every school textbook). OBSERVATION: Therefore, the fields in which I am published are these:

    • philosophy
    • theology
    • electronics
    • gnomonics
    • organology
    • optics 

       • acoustics

CORRECTION: I need to add linguistics.

A Useful Hush

I have posted many times about ministerial burnout and dropout. My own Master's degree research found that upwards of 80% of ministers who adopt a Transformational model of leadership do not survive ministry until retirement. With this in mind, I have noticed now in my seminary lectures that a hush descends on my classes when I mention, however fleetingly, the strain or burden of ministry. It is a knowing hush. OBSERVATION: And a useful hush, as it guides me in my teaching.

Thousand Year Flasher

This one's a technical post. An electronic circuit I designed. It is a LED flasher which will flash for one-thousand years off high-capacity AA batteries. At least, theoretically (the batteries are likely to corrode or degrade in time). But think on it: your descendants could enjoy the Thousand Year Flasher through many generations. OBSERVATION: One could solder the batteries to the circuit, and encapsulate it in plastic, for longevity.

Catering at the New Year

I took this photo a few years ago in wife E's parents' home. E is in the foreground. There are a number of things one may notice about this photo: the many children in the background, and the large amount of food being prepared in the foreground. There are many photo frames on the wall in the background, too -- about half of the photos taken by me. OBSERVATION: Once a year, about 20 family members descend on the small house of E's parents, to see in the New Year. They may stay for a week or two.

Improvement on the Valve?

Wife E and I woke up this morning to no water. The prepaid water meter showed ERROR 2. "It's the Council," said a neighbour. "They shut off our whole block last week." "It's the battery inside your prepaid meter," said an officer in the complex. "No," said another officer, "the prepaid meter transmits to an external unit. When that battery is flat, it's ERROR 2." They now hunted down the person with authority over the external unit. Interestingly, the external unit then connects to a Smart Utility Network -- powered by another battery -- which is grid-tied. This Smart Utility Network transmits to a Head-End System -- which is powered by the grid. The Head-End System is connected then to a Meter Data Management System -- which in turn connects to Grid Operators -- and so on. The repairman who replaced the battery said, "When I was young, you just turned a valve!"

New Link List

There is a new appearance on this blog, in the right-hand column. I have added a link list -- which finally propels my blog into the 21st century. This is with a view to placing Google ads on my blog -- if Google should give me the thumbs up -- in which case such link lists are recommended. I have applied to display the minimum number of ads. OBSERVATION: This would seem to make good sense, with my blog now receiving up to, and beyond, 100,000 views a week sometimes. (Viewership is not a steady line, but up and down like a yoyo).

Slides to Digital

Six years ago, I bought a device that digitises slides, negatives, and (laboriously) film. Facebook reminds me of this today. This is one of the first photos I transferred from slides to digital. My father took it in the Gilbert Islands -- probably the Southern Gilberts, in the mid-1960's. I was there on that day. OBSERVATION: My father took photos at the same time with Kodak and Agfa film -- perhaps, I have thought, not to take any chances. 60 years later, Agfa has survived in much better condition. This photo is Kodak.

Commissioning a Student

This one's just a pretty picture. It is the commissioning of a student at the end of his studies at the Baptist Seminary in Cape Town. He preached on the verse, "All things work together for good for those who love the Lord." You may click on the photo to enlarge.