Weekend Survey: You Can Meet Your Future Self
What if you could meet your future self? What would you do together? What would you talk about? What questions would you ask? What would you not want to know?
Archive for March, 2007
Pictures from Verdun, France
My friend cetroyer took a trip to Verdun, France and allowed me to share some more pictures. You may click on the photos to be taken to my Flickr account where you can see a larger representation. Shown below are his words describing some of the pictures:
Verdun is site to one of the major offensives in World War I. Verdun was a focal point in France’s defense and Germany decided to take the war to that point. The best estimate is that between 340,000 and 350,000 soldiers died in the year long offensive. It is rather unreal to visit those place and think that a little of 90 years ago, men fought and died on that very spot. The area was shelled very heavily by both sides, and you can still see it in the ground today. The forests have grown back, but the impact craters are still there under the trees and grass.
War With Another Planet. Will it be us Against Them?
One small observation I’ve made is that in a lot of science-fiction films, the Earth is typically united when we find that we are not alone in the universe or we are fighting for planetary survival.
Movies such as Independence Day, Armageddon, Deep Impact, and War of the Worlds assume that the Earth will unite when faced with a severe threat. Is this assumption accurate? Continue Reading…
I Almost Fell Out of My Chair At That One
One time I was talking to my friend cetroyer and he throw a very long acronym at me: AFOOMCATO.
I asked, “What is that?”
He replied, “Almost fell out of my chair at that one.”
I shook my head, realizing that such an absurd acronym will never catch on.
However, World Mag Blog released a post with the headline of “Almost fell out of my chair over this one.” It was pretty close with AFOOMCOTO.
So here’s to cetroyer’s little acronym catching on. AFOOMCATO - Almost fell out of my chair at that one. You can click the link below for my pronunciation of the acronym.
I’m Glad I Can Talk to God
Sometimes it is tough to keep an Eternal perspective when life has you pinned down and you feel trapped on this planet. I get frustrated that people on this planet have the nerve to tell somebody else, “You’re not good enough for me to talk to you.”
I’m thankful that God — the creator of all things — is willing to take the time and listen to my cries. Although I am small, He will never tell me that He doesn’t have time for me and that He’s too powerful to hear my concerns.
6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Mathew 6:6 - Read the full context.
I am also comforted that while I am supposed to obey my superiors, those higher than me on Earth are put to a standard as well:
5Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
9And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
Ephesians 6:5-9 - Read the full context.
Weekend Survey: Your Favorite Bumper Sticker Slogan?
For this week’s Weekend Survey, I ask, “What is your favorite bumper sticker slogan?” The slogan doesn’t have to actually be a bumper sticker, but could be something you see as being a bumper sticker.
My friend cetroyer ran one by me that I thought was pretty clever: PETA - People Eating Tender Animals.
Misleading Headlines - Hundreds Burned in Recent Crash
Did my poor headline scare you? It’s really talking about the recent stock-market drop. Did my headline deceive you? I apologize. I was merely trying to bring attention to what a poorly worded headline can accomplish.
Within this post, I will show three examples of poorly worded headlines and what they actually meant. Continue Reading…
Castle Pictures from Germany
My friend cetroyer took some pictures of a castle in Germany. It is the Neuschwanstein Castle, which the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneland is modeled after.
Announcing Reader Appreciation Week
Dear Readers,
I’m happy to announce that I will participate in Reader Appreciation Week 2007 (RAW). I apologize if I haven’t shown enough appreciation to my readership. You are all awesome.
Reader Appreciation Week will be from April 9th through the 13th. During this time, I will give away several prizes to my loyal and faithful readers. It is just a small thing I can do to “give back” to my readership.
Each of these prizes has their own rules for winning, so please check out each individual one as they are announced on this blog.
- Monday, April 9th - Best Buy Gift Certificate ($50)
- Tuesday, April 10th - Three iTunes Gift Certificates ($10 each)
- Wednesday, April 11th - Flickr Pro Account
- Thursday, April 12th - TBA
- Friday, April 13th, Amazon.com Gift Certificate ($50)
To keep up with my blog and Reader Appreciation Week, please subscribe to my blog.
To find out more about the project that is making RAW possible, please visit the Reader Appreciation Project. To check out who all else is participating, check out the RAW 2007 Participants List.
Legal stuff just in case: I reserve the right to add to, take away from, modify, or retract any of the prizes.
I Think I Am
I came across a poem entitled I think I am? by my co-worker Lou Sciaroni.
Just because I think I am
Makes me even more a man
But when I think that I am not
I end up closer to I Am
I made a lot of assumptions with my interpretation of the poem, but overall I think the poem is talking about becoming less like man and more like God (or Christ in my beliefs). When man is selfish and only thinking about himself, that person is far from God. But when man is selfless and humble, that person has a better chance of becoming more like Christ.
Ronalfy.com Has a New Masthead
Ronalfy.com used to be defined by a reflective pair of glasses. Now every time you come to my website, you get to see a nice illustration of me. 
The header’s a bit taller now, but I’m hoping it’s a nice trade-off since the logo gives a good idea of who I am once you visit.
Any feedback is appreciated.
My friend Roger Hunter drew the illustration. Thank you so much Roger.
Weekend Survey: What Doesn’t Kill You…
I saw a t-shirt in the supermarket that said, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
I thought to myself, “I could make a better slogan than that.”
So here’s mine: What doesn’t kill you makes you wish it did.
For this Weekend Survey, please add in your own ending to, “What doesn’t kill you.”
Recent Commentator Activity
One of the things that was lost with all my recent blog upgrades was the “Latest Comment” feature. A few people have told me that they miss it, but I couldn’t find an elegant way to include the feature back in.
I’m experimenting with a Recent Activity page that shows the last fifteen comments made on the blog. Any feedback on this new page is much appreciated.
The script running it is a custom plugin written by me. If you are interested in having the same feature on your blog, please leave a comment expressing interest. I’m debating whether or not to release this thing into the wild.
Loyalty and Responsibility
A Scenario
“I went to Barnes and Noble and couldn’t find my favorite magazine. I asked the clerk where the magazine was, and the clerk said the magazine went out of business.”
“Your favorite magazine, eh? Why didn’t you subscribe?”
“Subscribe? Are you kidding me? I have enough bills. I just read the magazine at the store.”
What is Loyalty?
To be loyal is to show a commitment or an obligation to a certain entity, organization, person, religion, etc. For example, you can show your loyalty to your parents by obeying them. You can show loyalty to a friend by keeping secrets. You can show loyalty to a business by purchasing products on a regular basis.
From the above example, the person reading the magazine is loyal to the magazine’s content, but not loyal to the magazine’s success. Continue Reading…
Hooray for Surprise Packages
When I got home last Thursday, I saw a UPS sticker attached to my door. My package was in the apartment office. I scratched my head and thought to myself, “I didn’t order anything, nor am I expecting anything.”
I approached my apartment office building hesitantly, expecting the worst. It is a rather rare occasion that I will get a package without at least some forewarning.
I asked the polite lady in the office for my package and I discovered that the package had come from my sister.
“Why did my sister send me a package?” I thought.
Only after devouring (and sharing) my lovely treats that my sister sent me did I bother to call her to ask why she had sent me the package.
“It was because you quit smoking.” My sister said enthusiastically.
My sister is incredibly thoughtful because even I forgot that I had quit smoking. I never thought that my quitting smoking was a big deal, but my sister was kind enough to reward me for my effort.
Thanks sis.
Weekend Survey: You and Directions
You’ve just bought something from the store. As you open up the box, you notice some directions. What do you do?
I Tried to Abort You. Now I want Compensation.
I read from a FOXNews article that a woman from Boston, Massachusetts is suing a doctor for child-rearing costs after the doctor failed to properly abort the woman’s baby.
While I am not for abortion personally, I find that the actions of this woman really have nothing to do with the pro-life/pro-choice debate. Her actions fall into the “I wanted my child dead, but now that she’s alive, I’d like some money” debate.
Seriously now. What is this woman thinking? She actually wants the doctor who tried to kill her baby to assist and support her child financially?
And what about the daughter when she grows older? Can you imagine living with a woman who not only wanted you dead, but blamed (and sued) the doctor for not actually killing you. It brings a new special meaning to the phrase, “I wish you were never born.”
Picking Apart Arguments With Logical Fallacies
Whether reading the editorial section of a newspaper, or perhaps an opinionated blog post, it is important to have a lookout for common logical mistakes in order to see if the argument has merit.
Logical mistakes, or logical fallacies, are a death sentence for any argument. An argument based on a logical fallacy is an argument built upon no foundation. There is no point in continuing the argument if the argument cannot at least be argued logically.
This post will point out the common fallacies I come across and give an example of the fallacy in use. Continue Reading…
Three Types of Negative Commenters
A few weeks ago, Bes wrote about reacting to negative comments. His post brought back a few memories from when I entered the blogging essay contest and pissed off a whole lot of bloggers. I wanted to respond to Bes’s post with regards to what I think are three types of negative commenters and the psychology behind a response.
Type I - I Want to Change You
When I was in therapy (err, counseling) for some problems I didn’t know (and still don’t know) existed, my therapist recommended the book The DNA of Relationships. The book comes from a Christian perspective and is helpful in many respects as far as understanding how people react to things and how you as a person should react to certain things.
The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. One point the author argues is that the root of anger is change and pain.
Let’s say a person leaves a comment on a blog post and says, “Your writing is horrible” or, “I’m going to unsubscribe unless you turn on full feeds.” The commenter is trying to change you. What can be done in that situation? Continue Reading…
Anberlin’s Cities
Last week I bought Anberlin’s new CD at the same time I bought Fall Out Boy’s. So far I’m pretty disappointed with the Fall Out Boy CD, but finding the gem of Anberlin was well worth it.
Anberlin isn’t a Christian band, but the band does have some Christian members. After a week of listening to the album, I highly recommend at least a listen on their MySpace profile. The band seems to consist of a lot of different bands I like such as Finch, The Used, The Ataris, and Garbage. The lead singer’s vocals are great as well.
One song that isn’t on their MySpace profile is a song called (*FIN). It’s a must listen and seems like a scream of desparation and confusion:
We’re not questioning God
Just those he chose to carry on his cause
We’ll grow better, you’ll see
Just all of us, the lost causes
If you do decide to get the CD, the one at Best Buy has three bonus tracks (Uncanny, There is a Light That Never Goes Out, and The Promise).
Tagged: 5 Reasons I Blog
I got tagged by Circle Six Blog. Here are the five reasons why I blog.
To Voice my Opinion
For those who have been reading this blog for a while, you have probably figured out that I have an opinion on just about everything. If I find something that I want to share a unique viewpoint on, I write about it. Sometimes I’ll write about a three-week old story just so I can get all of the details and not make a rash viewpoint.
I also like voicing my opinion on religion as well. I try to keep my opinions as objective as possible though.
To Give Back
I have a lot of web development and programming experience, so sometimes I like to give back to the community. I’ve written several articles for the design community, and have also written a few scripts and one WordPress plugin.
I also like writing about my personal experiences with things. For example, two of my post popular (or most viewed) articles on this site are a post about magazine sales people and my attempt to quit smoking.
To Write about Christian Things
I am a Christian, so I like to use my blog to write about the Christian religion every now and then. I do not try to “preach”, but I do try to inform.
To Connect
I have met so many people through blogging. I don’t feel confined to just Northern Alabama anymore. I know people in India, Great Britain, Canada, San Francisco, Missouri, Minnesota, Montana, Germany, and Australia among other places.
With blogging, I feel like I’m getting to know people better.
To Feel Satisfaction
Blogging can be one of the most satisfying hobbies a person can have. You typically have instant feedback from others if the blog is popular enough. If I write a post and just one person is helped out by it, then the time and effort spent researching and writing is worth it.
Tag, You’re It!
I’ve tagged the following bloggers:
- Shawn at Fighting to Stay Awake
- Bes at The Reasoner
- Josh at the long and short of it
- Nathan at The Tennessee Valley Angler
- Ranjani at Biscuitrat’s Grotto
Weekend Survey: What’s one thing you would like to know about me?
I’m experimenting with Weekend Surveys to see how they are received on this blog. I got the idea after reading Shawn Blanc’s blog.
I’m trying to create a better about section, and I’m just curious if there is anything you would like to know more about me.
So I ask the first Weekend Survey question: What’s one thing you would like to know about me? I will try my best to respond to each and every question asked.
If you’re curious, the picture is of me and my siblings (Stephanie and Jacob). I’m on the right.
500 Words - The Troops Should Stay in Iraq
After writing my previous 500 Words post, Iraq is Beyond the Global War on Terror, my friend cetroyer told me that he disagreed with my viewpoint. I knew I had crossed some line when my brother Jacob agreed with me. We never agree on politics. I urged cetroyer to write a counter-argument as a guest writer (I do allow guest writers here). However, cetroyer couldn’t find the time or motivation to write the post. He did do some of the research and passed it on to me. Since I wouldn’t be a good debater if I couldn’t argue both sides, I decided to write the counter-argument post for him using his research.
You Can’t Support the Troops Without Supporting the War
As stated in an earlier blog post about a former POW, you simply cannot support the troops in Iraq without supporting the war. As cetroyer so eloquently put it, “It is a conflicting statement to say ‘I support you, but not what you are doing’”.
One Soldier in Iraq said in this YouTube video, “If you’re going to support us, support us all the way.” Continue Reading…
