So the other day I was sick, laying on the couch while the kids were napping and watching Beaches . The next thing I know I am tearing up and thinking about my childhood friends. Despite all the nerdiness and type-A personality, I really am a girl;). So I realize that I have 3 friends that I was pretty close with, that I don’t talk to or really know where they are. Friendship to me is both different and similar to the friendship on the movie. All 3 of these friends were very different than me in some ways. While we didn’t always agree completely, we never fought like on the movie. Though, like on the movie, they were all prettier than me, more popular than me and more talented than me. I learned different things from each of them and felt their acceptance. Now, I did a little Google search and found one but I am still complete missing the other 2. So if Cindy Veldin, Susan McNeil, or Nancy Epling are out there reading this(and yes I realize that some of you are now married)and remember Jackie Little, please let me know! Oh, Bridget, I include you in this group but I know where you are and what you are up to;).

This is a big week for our family for religious holidays. First this week was Purim. For those of you who don’t know, this is the celebration from Esther. Why celebrate Purim. First, it is a great illustration of God using people to do His work, shown through Esther saving the Jews. Secondly, it is commanded. This is from the NIV
Esther 9:28

28 These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants.

This year I informed the NerdBug that Haman didn’t merely want to send the Jews to this Island of Perpetually Tickling like on the VeggieTales – Esther, The Girl Who Became Queen. In the future we will brooch why the previous Queen was kicked out(and no, it isn’t because she wouldn’t make the King a sandwich;).

The second holiday was Saint Patrick’s Day. One reason to celebrate is our Irish heritage (this is obviously not the Cromwell side;). That is the fun reason but not the real reason. The real reason is that in spite of being kidnapped by them, Saint Patrick returned to Ireland(after escaping Ireland) to spread Christ to the “savage Irish”. This is a lesson we all should carry in our hearts. The love of Christ that we extend to others is not dependent on their treatment of us. I did read an article by Bridget Johnson about how this holiday has moved out of the church and into the bar. I urge us all to keep this holiday in our churches and our homes. Things like the shamrock are not really about being Irish but a representation of the Trinity.

All said, between Hamentashen(a cookie) and the corned beef that is waiting to be cooked, this is been week about celebration, remembrance and yummy food in the NerdFamily house!

So this post has been a long time coming. First, Two Blonde Boys did a post based on an article by Dvorak on if Apple is going to adopt Windows. This seemed to stir some impassioned discussion. NerdDad says that if Apple uses Windows it means we won! But seriously, there has been discussion that the Mac OS is best for some development, like Ruby on Rails. Well, today I am putting around and reading Yonah’s tech site and see his post about someone actually putting Windows XP on a Mac. So I went over to Infinite Loop to see if this is legit. This is apparently a contest that has been going on since the announcement of the Intel Mac. The thought on this is that it is probably a fraud. I don’t know if it is real but this seems to have caused even harsher feelings. Personally, I would love to see this marriage of technology. Then you can use the power of one to complement the other. While I will remain in the Windows camp and love the idea of making things stronger. Just my 2 cents but what are yours?

So I got another hoax email today. This one is about a virus going around:

>PLEASE FORWARD THIS WARNING AMONG FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CONTACTS:
>
>You should be alert during the next days: Do not open any message
>with an attached filed called “Invitation” regardless of who sent it
>.
>
>It is a virus that opens an Olympic Torch which “burns” the
>whole hard disc C of your computer. This virus will be received from
>someone
>who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list, that is why you
>should
>send this e-mail to all your contacts. It is better to receive this
>message
>25 times than to receive the virus and open it.
>
>If you receive a mail called “invitation”, though sent by a
>friend,do not open it and shut down your computer immediately.
>
>This is the worst virus announced by CNN, it has been
>classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.
>This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no
>repair yet for this k ind of virus.
>
>This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard
>Disc,where the vital information is kept.
>SEND THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW, COPY THIS E-MAIL AND
>SEND IT TO YOUR FRIENDS AND REMEMBER: IF YOU SEND IT TO THEM, YOU
>WILL BENEFIT ALL OF US.

Now I am going to reiterate a little of what I said yesterday. Anything that you are “supposed” to forward to everyone is another red flag. I ran it through Snopes and this hoax has been around since 2000. I really haven’t found an email that has had instructions to forward to really be valid. This time there is even a link to a McAfee Card on the subject. This email has been sent(on just this one mailing) to about 41 people. Snopes is a must have tool for anyone who emails. There are wonderful news bits, warnings and blessings to email out. Don’t dilute it with junk.

A note to my friend who sent this. Once again, this is not the first time I have gotten this particular email. My goal is to educate not to criticize. I am putting tools in your hands, please go and spread the truth;).

Ok, I am posting this in response to an email that I got.

Friends,
I want to be able to watch Conference on
TV in the future so I felt this was a good cause.
This is important. Please, if you don’t wish to
participate, return this to the person who sent it to
you so they can at least keep this going, or forward
it to someone you think will wish to participate.

Dr. Dobson is going on CNBC to urge every Christian to
get involved. I hope you will think about signing this
and forwarding it to all your family and friends.

Dr. James Dobson, with Focus on the Family, pleads for
our action. An organization has been granted a Federal
Hearing on the same
subject by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
in Washington, DC.

Their petition, Number 2493, would ultimately pave the
way to stop the reading of the gospel of our Lord and
Savior, on the air waves of America. They got 287,000
signatures to back their stand! If this attempt is
successful, all Sunday worship services being
broadcast on the radio or by television will be
stopped. This group is also campaigning to remove all
Christmas programs and Christmas Carols from public
schools! You as a Christian can help! We are praying
for at least 1 million signatures. This would defeat
their effort and show that there are many Christians
alive, well and concerned about our country. As
Christians, we must unite on this. Please don’t take
this lightly. We ignored one lady once and lost prayer
in our schools and in offices across the nation.
Please stand up for your religious freedom and let
your voice be heard. Together we can make a
difference in our country while creating an
opportunity for the lost to know the Lord.

This is a bogus email. I went to Snopes and checked it out because I specific part seemed odd.

Please help defeat this organization and keep the
right of our
freedom of religion. When you get to 1000 please
e-mail back to:

Email petitions have no power, James Dobson would have real petitions. Anytime you get an email that seems overly grand or has this revolutionary information, please run it through Snopes(or a similar site) before you email it to everyone.
According to Snopes this myth has been around since 1975. There was an original petition Number 2493 and this is what Snopes said,

The intent of the infamous RM-2493 was to ensure channels reserved for educational purposes ended up being used for education and not be taken up by religious groups looking to use them for a different purpose. RM-2493 has since come to be understood as a petition seeking the ban of religious broadcasting, and from there it was further attributed as the work of Madalyn Murray O’Hair, arguably the best-known atheist of our times. How this great a misunderstanding of the actual petition then in front of the FCC came about is anyone’s guess.

The real petition the FCC was asked to consider was filed in December 1974 and defeated in August 1975. Even through the smokescreen of thousands of people misunderstanding what it had been asked to consider and heatedly arguing issues that weren’t on the table, the FCC saw its role in such matters quite clearly:
As a government agency, the Commission is enjoined by the First Amendment to observe a stance of neutrality toward religion, acting neither to promote nor inhibit religion.

Added note to the original sender, I have seen this one before so you are not the first;).

Ok, sometimes oldies are just goodies. I am watching McGee and Me with my toddlers. This is a show that was put out by Focus on the Family back in 1986. The NerdBug came home talking about this movie he saw at church and I remembered it. I remember watching this with my brother and sisters when they were little. So far we have covered jealousy and telling the truth. They actually use words like “sin” and “relationship with God”. Yes, the music is outdated(very 80’s) but the truth is the truth and the kids love it. If you have kids try out McGee and Me. If any of you have any programming recommendations, please, let me know.

Using Nanotechnology scientists has enabled injured hamsters to see again.In this BBC article, scientists injected hamsters with a solution of nanoparticles. Then the severed optical nerves regrew and then regained sight. I think this is so cool. The only problem is that it may mean the Borg are on the right track;). The article also mentioned one other interesting little fact. In order to simulate trama, the scientist severed the optic nerve. Has PETA heard about this? Have they issued a statement? Just curious;).

(HT: Instapundit)

The 11th Homeschooling Carnival is up over at the Common Room. We are on it!

This is so cool. Somehow this physicists create heat hotter than the sun(for a moment). I say somehow because they don’t know how they did it.

(HT:Jonah Goldberg at The Corner)

I recently was turned onto the free online tours on the Internet. Living in California my options for fieldtrips are somewhat limited. I can drive for hours and still be in the state and that is not taking into count the expense. Having children of different ages and interests also can present a problem. Well, I did a little research and found some great tours. Since Nerdbug is into the “West Wing” Show the White House Historical tour is something that interests him. This is filled with photos and facts. The Vatican has a great Virtual tour that goes through differents exhibits you can choose from. You can even stop and focus on things. The E-one factory tour is cool becasue they make fire engines (they charge $8/adult and $6/kid in person). The Southern Ca Edison San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station plant tour is cool because instead of a “tour” they have flow charts showing all the components working together. As someone who did the Stanford Linear Accelerator tour in high school, the only real helpful thing I saw were the diagrams showing how it all worked together. This is great for older kids who are in science or even just learning logic and flow. I have to say that this once again reaffirms my position that the Internet is the number one resource for my homschooling(and its free;).