Alpha & Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog
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And You Thought I Forgot About Fractals
12/30/2004 - James White
I know, I had been doing real well with my fractals back in July and August, but then I ran out of time again. Well, I recently upgraded my Seractal screen saver program, and the new version creates, randomly, some very nice fractals. This one showed up this evening on my laptop (notice the odd screen resolution), and so I uploaded it to my site and am providing a link here. While it is not one that I specifically worked up on my own, it is still quite attractive. You can see the full version by clicking here.
20:47:41 - Category: Personal - Link to this article -
A Wonderful Birthday Surprise
12/16/2004 - James White
My wonderful, patient, and MUCH younger wife, informed me a few weeks ago that we would be celebrating my birthday a day early. I knew that meant that something was afoot, but I simply haven't had the time to devote to try to figure out what she was up to. I just knew that as soon as the Dividing Line was over we were to head out together. I was worried about something crazy like bungie jumping or the like. Instead, she let me choose where we had dinner, and I pretty quickly got the idea we were headed somewhere where we had to get there by 7pm or so. We finally arrived at the Glendale Arena, a new facility I had never seen before. And we were all the way to the door before I finally saw why we were there: my wonderful wife was taking me to the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Celebration! I had always wanted to see Mannheim Steamroller in concert, especially their Christmas concert. Those who listen to the pre-show during December know I play a lot of their music. Here is a picture, as best as I could take in the dark, of their opening number. I got some great video though on my little camera, with excellent audio quality. It was wonderful! I am so thankful to my lovely wife for surprising me so completely with this wonderful evening!
23:17:28 - Category: Personal - Link to this article -
A Bit More on the M500
12/11/2004 - James White
M500 owners are a strange lot. One of our favorite things to do is to compare the S&W 50 Mag cartridge to...well, anything, actually. Here's why. On the left in the picture is the tried and true .22 LR (yes, first real round I ever fired, too). Next to it the ever popular 9mm, veteran of many a police side-arm. Then we have the mighty 44 Magnum of Dirty Harry fame. The .22 has a 40 gr. bullet. The 9mm a 110 gr. bullet. The 44 Mag has a 240 gr. bullet. And then, standing tall over them all, the S&W .50 Magnum. 440 gr. slug. And velocity? The 44 Mag sends its slug out around 1180 fps for a ft-lbs. energy of 741. But the 50 Mag pushes its much heavier round at over 1600 fps for an awesome 2600 ft-lbs. of energy (more than 3x the punch of the 44!). Just think of this: a .30-06 hunting rifle produces only 4% more power at the muzzle! Even Popular Mechanics did an article on the M500, available here.
15:57:36 - Category: Personal - Link to this article -
OK, this isn't for everyone…
12/10/2004 - James White
I know I risk offending (without cause) the far left here, but yours truly is a Life Member of the NRA, believes the 2nd Amendment is perfectly in line with God's command for men to protect their wives and children from those who would prey upon them, and enjoys that (very, very rare) opportunity to get out of the city and "subdue the earth" in company with family and friends. I do not have time to be competitive, but I've been shooting for enough years to know what I'm doing. Today my son Josh and I went out and set up a pistol combat scenario with three targets at combat range. It's a way to practice quick acquisition of a second target after firing at the first, etc.; a way to increase one's skill and improve one's concentration. Anyway, I was using my Glock .45 ACP, and Josh his Glock 9mm. I had brought along the gun my wife calls "Roger Rabbit," since it is so massively huge, my S&W M500, and thought I'd try it in the same scenario. The M500 is the most powerful production handgun on the earth, and it was surely not designed for quick target acquisition in a 7 to 12 yard scenario. However, this gun can drive tacks, it is so incredibly accurate (it is firing a 440 gr. slug at almost twice the velocity of a .44 Magnum), and for some reason, I just don't miss with it (ask the heretical watermelons I dispatched the first day out). So I was properly pleased when not once, but twice in a row, I completed the combat scenario with one-shot "kills" on each target. Here's a shot of the 12 yard target. Too bad this beast is about as carryable as a suitcase.Oh, btw....
Kelly Powers has commented on my using his eisegetical comments on John 6:37ff and complained I didn't link to him. Here are his comments. You will find him to be a younger version of Dave Hunt. Nothing exegetical here, so we continue searching for that, but I wanted to mention this in passing....I'll try to remember to comment some on Tuesday, but I just want to reiterate what I said on the DL: I replied because someone came into channel, dropped the URL, and left. Powers specifically mentions me and my position on John 6, and hence, it is a useful way to examine the common errors made in the argumentation of anti-Reformed rhetoric. Powers accuses me of only playing "clips" of him, but, oddly, if he would listen to the program, he would know that I have so far played him in totality.
How do you misrepresent someone when you play their entire comments? He says he will debate, but only in PalTalk. I'll let the listener and reader decide.
13:33:29 - Category: Personal - Link to this article -
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