I'll never fly to Australia to participate in a conference on Web Technology, but I might download mp3 recordings of the sessions! I think this podcasting concept is pretty cool one!

China represents the only society on this planet to weather the transition from pre-industrial to postmodern intact and gaining strength. The American Experiment is merely a chapter or two compared to the volumes of patient, pragmatic, skilled governing that has led one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse areas on the planet to remain intact as a single country. The USSR couldn't do it, Europe is only beginning to get serious about it, Africa is years away from pulling together, and even the USA is too young a nation to judge its success.

We in the West like to think of ourselves as more advanced because we've invented enviable and useful technology. But when we consider that America is still making up its mind how to deal with the fundamental questions that come with being a secularly governed, pluralistic, market-aware society, China has kept a tight reign and is marching at an alarming rate toward all the goals we imagine are our inheritance.

The relative irrelevance of the operating system and the emergence of rich web-based interfaces using technologies such as AJAXi cause me to conclude that this article predicting the emergence of Google over and above Microsoft is not just blowing smoke. Desktops won't exactly go away tomorrow, but WHICH desktop, laptop, or other device you use will matter less and less. Good news for Linux, bad news for Microsoft, to name an obvious example.

There may be folks who try to keep up the appearance of being all together, but I'll come right out and say it: I am prone to wander far from whatever goodness I know. That is the very reason I thank God for his patience with me and for sending the Counselor to lead me (John 14:16-17,John 16:7). Peter Nelson hits this point on the head in Impractical Christianity.

Jewish human-rights activist Michael Horowitz praises — and pointedly counsels — evangelicals in How to Win Friends and Influence Culture. From among the abundance of "trees"-oriented talk aimed at Christians nowadays, it is refreshing to read such a "forest" view of their influence in the world. His view resonates with my observation that despite the many prominent examples of evil actions by those who claim the name of Christ, the quiet current of Christian influence over time has served the rest of humanity well.

I grew up for my early years in a place called Lomalinda, in the rolling plains of the Meta province in central Colombia. Google Maps image at 3 degrees, 18', 17.17" North 73 degrees, 21' 43.65" West.

Lomalinda means "beautiful hill" in Spanish, and the name fit.

The land was donated to the government for the use of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) by a Colombian army officer who owned the ranch land in that area. Settled in 1964 by a group of a dozen or so SIL workers including my parents, Lomalinda grew to a population of around 300 during the height of its use. It served as the center of operations for SIL in Colombia for thirty years, a time in which much was accomplished to analyze the languages of the indigenous peoples of that country.

Neil Cole provides a brief summary of his vision for Christians associating and collaborating in simple and effective ways he calls Organic Church in this Leadership Network interview. He is a key influence in the house-church direction I and my family have chosen.

A great place to find useful sites is the PC Magazine 2005 Top 100 Sites You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without. And don't miss their Top 100 Classic Sites.

Wait, why not just include the whole list here: