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Oops

November 17th, 2013 No comments

So apparently I deleted the wrong database when backing things up. So all my posts after May, 2010 are gone. Oops. Well I don’t think there were actually that many posts, but still, stupid mistake.

I am slowly adding them back using the Internet Archive (the “Wayback Machine”) but all of the comments are lost.

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Matt Jones Blog Hiatus

September 28th, 2012 No comments

Welcome to Matt Jones’ Random Acts of Verbiage. I appreciate the visit! Due to personal reasons my blog is on hiatus for now. It is my hope and desire to write again, but I do not know when this will happen. You can still follow Matt Jones @ Twitter or check out Matt Jones @ about.me. There are other various ways to contact me, feel free should you have the desire. I will still be monitoring things here but do truly hope to blog again. Thanks for being a reader!

While you are here, please visit Matt Jones’ Random Acts of Verbiage Archive Page to check out my past posts!

A few of my favorite pages and posts:

  • Mattithyahu – a little about me
  • Space Saturday Archive – cool astronomy photographs
  • The Lonely Forest – lots of info, pictures, and videos from the Seattle band
  • Late Tuesday – lovely music from a lovely band
  • Jason Harrod Live – a great performance from the folk singer at Seattle’s Zoka Coffee in 2003
  • The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller - thoughts about Keller’s book
  • On the Meaning of Christmas – with links to my other various posts about Christmas
  • Bruce Waltke: Myth, Evolution and Genesis 1-3 - issues of interpretation
  • Logic and the Universe - irrationality is important too
  • Providing Water to Families in Africa: Water Filter Comparisons - there may be new technologies out now, but the point is, it’s easy to help!
  • Some thoughts on John 19:30 – see also Τετέλεσται
  • The Word: How the Bible Came About – see also Origins of the New Testament
  • The Three B’s of the Church – Belong-Believe-Behave
  • Who do you say Jesus is?
  • A Response to the “Proof of God” Debate - Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron prove God?
  • The God of the Bible is also the God of Science
  • Rosie the Physicist – in which I mock Rosie O’Donnell and her “Truther” ideas
  • The Shema - שמע: Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Ehad
  • Apostasy and Shusaku Endo’s Silence – difficult ideas to mull over
  • Creation Science – in which I discussion belief in Creation, but not Creation Science – see also Science vs. Religion
  • Judges 19 – a difficult passage
  • What if the Earth stopped spinning?
  • Peterson on Child Birth – Eugene’s funny
  • 1 Peter 2.24-25 – an exegesis paper on a great passage
  • New Testament Foundations – notes on the New Testament
  • The Passion of Jesus Christ
  • “The Synoptic Problem” and Harmony “Issues” - oh those darn Gospels
  • Ash on the forehead, beads around the neck - a look at Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday
  • Nouwen’s Return of the Prodigal Son – a favorite book (and Rembrandt painting)
  • On Distant Shores – a brilliant Five Iron Frenzy song, especially the bridge
  • Jesus IS God – it’s true
  • String Theory Primer – I’m sure it’s all changed now though, darn science
  • Predestination and Free Will
  • Picturing God
  • Aliens Cause Global Warming - looking at an essay by Michael Crichton
  • So take a look. Categories listed to the right. Browse around. Donate cash. Whatever.

    Categories: Blogging Tags:

    Seattle Drivers are Horrible: A Rant

    January 7th, 2011 No comments
    Keep Right Except to Pass

    Keep Right Except to Pass

    Now I don’t want to get off on a rant here…

    If you don’t want me to insult you, please stop reading here because there is a pretty good chance I will. I do apologize for this, but I just have to get this off my chest!

    I commute around 30 miles every day. I hit both I-5 through downtown and I-90 over Lake Washington (and occasionally SR520 but really, that’s a nightmare). I see a lot of drivers. Most of them I do not like. Sorry Seattle, but you just don’t know how to drive. For some it is because they are jerks and just enjoy pissing people off but for most it is general obliviousness to what is going on around them. Regardless, it is selfishness.

    Here is Washington State law:

    RCW 46.61.100
    Keep right except when passing, etc.
    (2) Upon all roadways having two or more lanes for traffic moving in the same direction, all vehicles shall be driven in the right-hand lane then available for traffic, except (a) when overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction, (b) when traveling at a speed greater than the traffic flow, (c) when moving left to allow traffic to merge, or (d) when preparing for a left turn at an intersection, exit, or into a private road or driveway when such left turn is legally permitted. On any such roadway, a vehicle or combination over ten thousand pounds shall be driven only in the right-hand lane except under the conditions enumerated in (a) through (d) of this subsection.

    Got that? For ANY road (and I would say especially for a highway) that has two lanes in the same direction, you drive in the right-hand lane. I would estimate that there are at least 5 times in my weekly commute where it is faster for me to drive in the right-hand lane because slow people are in the left-hand lane. That isn’t right.

    I understand that with the sheer volume of cars on our roads, traffic is inevitable. Fine, I can handle that. What I cannot handle is the fact that so much traffic is caused because of slow people driving in the left-hand lane and blocking traffic behind them. If I can see where the wall of traffic starts, there shouldn’t be traffic: It is being caused by YOU (you know who you are… well you should anyway). I am consistently amazed when I see someone get on the freeway below speed and instantly move to the left lane; there is no reason to do that, at all. If there isn’t anyone in front of you for a decent distance, move over. If you see multiple cars (actually, even if it is just one car) behind you, regardless of your speed, you need to move right. The amount of traffic we have is completely avoidable.

    Figure it out Seattle! You are driving a large hunk of metal down the road; you should not be oblivious to anything. Pay attention to your surroundings. Let traffic flow.

    Ready for the rule of thumb that we ALL need to follow? Move to the right!

    All that being said, Seattle? At least you aren’t Oregon drivers. ;)

    Driving Flow Chart

    Driving Flow Chart

     

    Categories: Blogging, Social Commentary Tags:

    Some Blog Redesign

    December 29th, 2010 No comments

    Since my blog was being neglected for so long, I decided I might give it a face-lift to enter in the new year. Some previous themes I have spent many, many hours on and I really liked how they turned out. While I have put a decent amount of work into the new look, I didn’t want to have to edit and change as much code as I have done previously. This theme from NeoEase called iNove was just the thing I needed. I like the look and feel of it and the stuff I did want to change was fairly easy to do. I have also added in a few new plugins (including a Facebook “like” button and new photo gallery, ask me if you want to know about any of them) to add to some of the functionality.

    I would love to get any feedback you might have to offer. Did it load in a reasonable amount of time? Do you like the look? Anything I should add? Take away? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, I can take the criticism.

    Remember, feedback is about the design, not the content. I don’t expect people to like that anyway. ;)

    Categories: Blogging Tags:

    6 Month Update!

    December 6th, 2010 No comments

    Wow. It was recently pointed out the me that it has been 6 months since my last update. That is just pathetic. I thought I was going to post a lot during the summer and keep moving strong into the fall. And here we are at Winter’s doorstep.

    Lots has happened in these 6 months! Most notable: my sister got engaged and will be married in 2 weeks! Pretty crazy and awesome! Congrats to Erin and Darrin! :)

    School has also started back up and we are already a quarter and a half in! Wow, the year is going by fast! I have taken on an extra class so am teaching 6 instead of 5: 4 7th grade science and 2 8th grade physics classes. I am really enjoying having more 7th graders this year. They are a great group of kids and are a lot of fun. I have tried to start a webpage for my classes as an extra resource. It is in its early stages, but if you are interested, you can check it out at mrjonesscience.com [no longer exists]. Our 8th grade physics classes have also been using our physics blog at tillicumphysics.com [no longer exists] if you want to see what our students write about what they learn.

    Anyway, there’s an update. I am hoping I will actually remember to blog more regularly… you know, when I’m not grading papers or playing Reach….

    Categories: Blogging, Daily Life Tags:

    6 Year Blogversary!

    May 22nd, 2010 No comments

    I just realized that last Wednesday, May 19th, was the 6th anniversary of starting my blog! Hard to believe it was that long ago that I started letting my thoughts explode into 1s and 0s on teh interwebs. For good or bad, you’ve got 6 years of my inane verbiage for you to ingest, I wonder how long I will keep this up. My first post, which is largely devoid of content: Why am I here? and another post because I was recently asked about my thoughts on the issue: Sex sex sex!

    Related to that, does anyone have any thoughts or opinions about posts such as that one on such a public forum that anyone could see (like employers or even students!)? It is a fine line and it is always hard to know how much to share on the interwebs. I know some think things should be completely private, others think we should be completely free to share our voices. Comments? Thoughts?

    Categories: Blogging Tags: