Want a simple to use and relatively powerful program to help you tweak and manage your digital photo’s? Then you should check out Picasa3. Made by our friends at Google and completely free thank you very much, Picasa3 doesn’t have many of the bells and whistles that other programs have. But to be honest with you, unless you’re a photo geek or have too much time on your hands, you probably wouldn’t use three quarters of those features anyway.
And this is where Picasa3 shines. It’s free. It’s powerful enough for you to create stunning effects on your photo’s. And you can do it all without scratching a hole in your head while reading instruction manuals. Below are some of examples of Picasa editing from my recent trip to Istanbul. For more, check out my Flickr slideshow here.
To learn more about Picasa3, check out the following video from Google or simply go nuts right now and download Picasa3 here.
“Information, knowledge, is power. If you can control information, you can control people”. Tom Clancy
To set the scene for this post and to get you in the mindset I need you to be in, watch the following video…
The reality is that our reality is a short lived one. What struck me in particular was the point made about England in 1900. In one hundred short years which contained some of the bloodiest battles in human history, the center of power in the world has moved to the US. I wonder how long this will last. With the facts exemplified above, I suspect it wont be long.
The Internet
In the late 90’s the Internet took off - sparking an invisible war we are so blind to and yet may prove to be the catalyst to some of the biggest changes mankind has ever undertaken - with peril lurking never far away.
The war I’m talking about is the war to control information. Have you ever wondered why there are so many websites out there offering free services for us to consume? Are you at all concerned about the vast amount of information you place online as you use these services?
The web knows your interests, hobbies, photo’s, likes, dislikes, social networks, professional network’s, addresses, contact details, buying habits, what you look like, who’s related to who, and the list goes on.
In fact, by using these free services, nearly every facet of your life is known. Have a watch of the following video to put this into perspective.
Very interesting huh? The wars between the big online cowboys have already begun in their pursuit of controlling information. Sure there is big money to be made online - just ask the guys who founded YouTube how they felt as they pocketed AU$2.2 Billion when Google bought them out. But what’s more at stake then the mighty dollar is the power and control one can have if they controlled information.
Speaking of Google, we all use it everyday. Most of us see it as just a tool to get around the web. And in large part, it is. But have a look at the following video as I’d like to put you in the mindset from where I am coming from.
By now you see where I am coming from. The online super powers, Google, Amazon, Microsoft et all, are in a war to control information. If you have the ability to control information, you exercise great power. Even if it costs you billions of dollars to get you there, once there the debts will be paid back very quickly.Moving forward, have a look at this next clip - this time focusing on Google exclusively - the player best positioned to win this war.
Things looking sinister yet? What the hell is Google looking into Molecular Biology for? Advanced algorithms they want to snatch from the mind of God? The above video is linked to a website called www.masterplanthemovie.com. I encourage you to check it out.
It mentions Dr Craig Venter - a guy instrumental in the Human Genome project. He is on record talking about how Google applied it’s vast computing power to help them map the genome and that Google could start a service where each user is able to search his/her genes for hereditary faults or diseases! AKA - this information will also be known by Google!
It’s not enough that they want to know about our online lives and mental lives, they’re also interested in our physical makeup. Strange indeed.
Scripture
As a Christian, I look at all this with caution. Technology has enabled the sharing of information more accessible then ever before. Mankind was at this place before. At the Tower of Babel..
“Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.” Gen 11:1
The net effect of this was pride and rebellion.
“Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” Gen 11:4
If you think this isn’t a serious situation, why did God respond like this?
“And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” Gen 11:6-7
God recognized that a united mankind sharing information together was a powerful reality and nothing would be impossible to achieve. But in His mercy, God didn’t allow a fallen and depraved mankind to achieve this - much like when He put a Cherubim to protect the Tree Of Life from fallen man. In the future, it will be a different story.
“But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Dan 12:4
It’s a given that man’s knowledge will increase. The Internet is allowing man to speak the same language - it’s called information, and it’s producing discoveries and technologies which blow our minds away. Imagine controlling all this? What power!
Prophecy
The Bible talks about the ultimate abuse of power by the ultimate embodiment of evil - the Anti Christ. The identification of this being has been speculated by many over the years and I believe many are way off the mark.
Talking about marks, here is what Scripture says of it..
“And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” Rev 13:15-18
This is obviously talking about an economic embargo on those refusing to participate in the reality of commercial norms at the time. The fact that “buying or selling” is included in this passage opposed to who you worship is interesting to me - no wonder so many people will be conned.
The above video’s talked about the concept of Google and Amazon combining. They also discussed the merging of online activity with that of virtual reality.
The result of this is frightening. Instead of looking at screens, online activities would combine information, commerce and virtual reality into one mega service. The ultimate Tower of Babel where man is god and can control anything through virtual reality - a simple, yet glorified picture.
Talking about pictures, I also find it fascinating that the above passage in Revelation talks about the “image” of the beast. This is bizarre for the Word to focus on such a nuance. I ask the question; has this something to do with virtual reality becoming our real reality?
Finally to throw everything into the mix, enter the Verichip. Radio Frequency ID (RFID). These things are simply injected by a large gauge needle under the skin. These rice grain sized chips have the potential to be the technology to pull all this together.
Acceptance of these chips is increasing - especially in this age of “terror”. The push for implementation is currently focusing on the medical front. The “benefits” of having information accessible in emergency situations justifies everything.
Have a watch of the following collection of clips to see how easy this technology is gaining acceptance in other areas as well.
In an age where information is being shared beyond precedent, knowledge is increasing. Many players are lining up to control this information therefore putting themselves in a position of power.
Our online activities are conditioning us to adopt new technologies in the name of convenience. Our world is bypassing privacy in the name of fighting terrorism. Technologies are available which glue every human into the information war.
Ultimately a sinister being will take advantage of the predicament man has put himself in. The question is, will you be in a position to recognize this?
I reckon God should sue Google for plagiarism. I was reading Psalm 139 tonight. After checking out Google Webmaster earlier and trying to get my head around Google’s ways of doing things, I was kind of impressed at what they do.
But, open up Psalm 139 and you get a glimpse at how God searches us and you just can’t but help see the similarities.
“O Lord, you have searched me and known me!” Psalm 139:1
Right off the bat, we see God’s Spirit doing exactly the same as the googlebot - searching and indexing all that I am. I love the fact that God is active in His search of me. He doesn’t just sit back but pursues His creation. He knows me better than I know myself. A good perspective to have when questioning the topic of unanswered prayer.
“You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.” Psalm 139:2
Here’s is where Google Analytics kicks in. As one of the statistics sites for my blog, Analytics knows everything - neatly tucked away in daily stats. God is the same. It’s like His Spirit places a little snippet of code into my being and through it, He knows everything I do and even understands my thoughts - from afar - wireless at it’s best!
“You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.” Psalm 139:3
Google knows all the incoming and outgoing links and clicks from my blog - all the pathways to my blog and the journey people take as a result of interacting my with blog. God does the same. He looks at the past and how I got to be at the place I am now. And He knows the future - my outgoing links and directions. Love that about Him. He knows what I will be doing in 5 minutes, 5 days and 5 years. Google only wishes it had such a technology!
“Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” Psalm 139:4-6
Here’s where Google’s R&D team is scratching it’s head. How on earth will they know my future posts and links? Yet God knows the content of my next post just as He knows what happens next week in my life. God takes control of my past and my future and then places His hand on me in the present and guides me. Like King David, this LayGuy is also boggled as to how this happens and the implications of it.
Psalm 139 goes on and visits a number of areas - including the classical pro life statement of humans being “fearfully and wonderfully made”. Check it out when you get a chance. Great Psalm.
Back to the plagiarism case God can have against Google…
Isn’t it a wonderful thing to know that we are pursued to be known by the God of the universe? Google can try hard and does a great job at knowing our blogs. But God knows our past, present and future. He looks at our physical and spiritual realities and has indexed every word, thought, event and decision in our lives. The ultimate “GodBot!”
These indexes are talked about in Revelation. They are recorded in “books.”
“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” Rev 20:11
All of our lives have been indexed by the GodBot. It’s all there already as God is outside space and time. What we do tomorrow or in 5 years is already indexed in those books. This freaks me out!
But I’ve got my eye on that “another book” - the book of life. Through the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, a beautiful Java script piece of code was inserted into my life which points the GodBot to the “another book” instead of the indexed book.
Want a simple to use and relatively powerful program to help you tweak and manage your digital photo’s? Then you should check out Picasa3. Made by our friends at Google and completely free thank you very much, Picasa3 doesn’t have many of the bells and whistles that other programs have. But to be honest with you, unless you’re a photo geek or have too much time on your hands, you probably wouldn’t use three quarters of those features anyway.
What you have said