Google is Bonkers!

Google has so many things that they're up to. I personally have loved using their Android platform on my phone for the past year.  But today two things caught my eye...

First, with the crisis in Egypt where the government has shut down most internet and cell phone connections, Google has put out a Voice to Text Twitter service, so that the people on the ground can report on what's going on there.  Wow.

Second, now you can tour museums with Google's Street View.  If you start at the Hermitage Museum, you can see one of my favorite paintings of all time in its context: The Return of the Prodigal Son.

www wanderings 02.17.2010

Lent:

It's Ash Wednesday. If you'd like a scripture guide through the next forty days, you can go here to join what many Christians around the world are engaging with. There are some quality prayers and artwork links as well (the pic on the right came from there). If you're at Stillmeadow, I'd recommend the FaithForward Guide that we are using for our community. We gave it out on Sunday and it's available at the welcome desk.

Stillmeadow's on Twitter!

Our church is checking out what it looks like to be a presence on twitter. We'll see how this goes...but it could be fun. If you want to follow, click here or just go to www.twitter.com/stillnaz.

Child Soldiers and American Slave Trade:

Learned from Project AK-47 (follow on Twitter) that one third of the world's child soldiers are in South East Asia. They say "100,000 kids are carrying machine guns" in this region.

Then Relevant posted a study which showed that Ohio is a major hub in the US for human trafficking. Ohio is our neighbor state! 1000 Americans are forced into labor or the sex trade and "800 immigrants are sexually exploited and pushed into sweatshop-type jobs" just in Ohio! Check out what Doma is doing to protect these people.

Thoughts on and for Haiti

Much has been written and has yet to be written about the tragedy of the earthquake in Haiti and the beauty of the responses to the needs that have come out of this crisis.

90999

I am curious to see what future commentators will have to say about the impact of technology on donations. The ability to donate $10 through your phone bill is ingenius. It's as easy as texting "Haiti" to 90999. What about those of us who pay our bills with credit? Or what about those kids who did it without asking their parents who pay their bill? I'm not suggesting that it's immoral, just curious.

Dear Pat

When Pat Robertson made his famous remarks that this earthquake was an act of God against the Haitian people because of the nation's pagan history the Twitter world went crazy. But I think this mock letter from Satan to Pat is worth reading. Thanks to Byron Borger at Hearts and Minds for bringing this to my attention.

Ethics of Disaster and Looting

I had never considered this an area of study, but this post on NPR by Anita Allan is a good intro. This may answer my questions in the 90999 section. Even if you don't read the article, the slide show by David Gilkey (the NPR photographer, not the shirtless model you'll find when you google his name) is provocative enough.

T-Shirts for Disaster Relief

Threadless is one of my favorite sites on the internet, and once again they prove why. Check out the shirts they're selling to benefit those in need in Haiti. Now buy one for yourself and one for your friend. Shirts, ink...all donated so the proceeds can go directly to Haiti relief with the American Red Cross.

How it happened...

Some people are curious how these things happen. Check out this brief explanation of the scientific reasons.

Let us continue

In prayer and support for the victims of this tragedy. God's heart is breaking with those mourning and is rejoicing at the response of goodness to his children.