Power failure at del.icio.us not related to acquisition

For the last day or so I, along with who knows how many other users, have been having trouble using the del.icio.us social bookmarking service. Yesterday afternoon I had time to look up at least the fact that other people were having the same problem, and in the process I noticed what I had not known, that Yahoo had acquired del.icio.us (or here); a useless bit of information for me the user.

The system troubles have been going longer than expected, and I finally came across the fact that del.icio.us has a blog where more information is available. The difficulties started with a power outage somewhere, and don't appear to have been introduced by being integrated into the Yahoo system.

For me, the extended downtime just means I will have some extra posting to do once the system is up, and meanwhile I am somewhat handicapped in remembering what tags I had created for certain topics on which I have posted. But reading the comments on the service's blog post about the difficulties shows the many ways people have been using the service, all of which does emphasize how important social bookmarking services have become as tools for managing a rapidly expanding amount of information.

File under : blogs, folksonomy, internet

Central Presbyterian in support of Tarentum skatepark

Tonight there was a meeting of the Session (i.e., the governing board) of the Central Presbyterian Church of Tarentum. We covered a lot of different issues, and one of them was whether the church should support the skatepark that looks like it's coming to Tarentum on the Crab Diamond site near the borough garage.

One of the elders who lives in Brackenridge asked some hard questions about the proposed park. Then an elder who lives in Tarentum near Mill Street, closer than any others to the site, spoke about how nice it was to live where children played in the back yard, and how the skatepark would be a good addition to the neighborhood.

So the Session voted to authorize me to speak on behalf of the Central Presbyterian Church in support of this wonderful project.

Earlier today it was encouraging to see teams of teenagers going out into Tarentum neighborhoods to gather signatures for the petition to remind the powers that be of the importance of this project. It is something people of all generations in the whole community can rally around, as I saw from the discussion at tonight's Session meeting.

File under : Central Presbyterian Church, Tarentum, skateboard park, sports, youth

Tarentum skate park needs a new petition

Things are moving forward with the proposal for a free use skate park for Tarentum, but in the face of vocal opposition from a few, it is once again necessary to circulate a petition to support the project.

It seems to me that the skate park would be a welcomed addition to the region. Young people who want to excel at an extreme sport that requires strength and coordination would have an extra incentive to avoid drugs. If they had a skate park to use, there would be no question of skateboarders posing a risk to pedestrians coming and go from area businesses. A skate park would fill a void in recreational options for local youth.

Sounds good to me. And the people who don't like the idea don't seem to have any alternatives.

If you want to support the project, the attached petition can be completed and sent to Corbet Street Central Perk, 410 Corbet St., Tarentum, PA 15084.

File under : Allegheny, Tarentum, recreation, skateboard park, sports, youth

More insight into the greeting war

The current greeting war seems to become ever more unpleasant and bitter, as it brings to the surface a host of unresolved feelings and disappointments. John Creasy offered a helpful insight into it in his article "Fighting on the Wrong Side of the Christmas War," where he says:

We no longer live in a Christian culture, so lets accept that and be subversive voices calling people to change. Christmas can then be a time of recognizing that Jesus is the one who holds the power of this creation through his incarnation. The power of Jesus can subvert Christmas back to what it should be, a time of liberating the oppressed, caring for the sick, giving to the poor, and doing our best to redeem creation - not consume it.

It is hard for many Christians who remember (or at least think they remember) a time when the Church enjoyed prestige and dominance in society, to accept the fact that the situation has changed. Recognition of the shift in our culture does not need to be a time of second-guessing and blaming, but this recognition is essential if the Church in 2005 is going to find its way to offer a message of hope to the poor, the oppressed, and the over-possessed.

When the Christian Church was a minority religion, long before it had gained the cultural turf that it then surrendered to the secular culture by asking the government or billion-dollar discount retailers to do what was the Church's responsibility and privilege -- back in those days when a tiny band of disciples knew what genuine persecution meant -- the Church carried a treasure that it still carries today without any diminution. And so I leave you with a link to Kellen Plaxco's post for the day.

File under : Christian church, Christmas, evangelism, mission

Allegheny Valley Habitat dedicates new home in Arnold; oh, the Steelers won also

Habitat for Humanity of Allegheny Valley dedicated a new home in Arnold today at about 3:00 PM. At the local affiliate's board meeting last week there was some discussion about the fact that the Steelers would be playing at the same time. But the date had been set, the house was rapidly approaching completion, the year was quickly coming to an end,
and there was no way to change the date. So plans went ahead for the dedication regardless of what football or the weather might do to affect the turnout.

I drove in through the falling snow and was early enough to take some pictures of the preparations, such as Tom Hughes installing the striker plate on the front door. All present were very pleased with the new home.

There was a gallery of photographs showing the story of the construction of this house, for which Youth United raised the funds. American Eagle Outfitters made a major challenge grant which the young people matched. Young people from some of the church youth groups who had participated in the fundraising were present for the celebration.

The dedication included a candlelighting ceremony. The candlelight was a symbol of love, knowledge, and cheer, as well as a reminder that Jesus had explained that he was the light of the world. Dr. James Legge, president of the board of the local affiliate, lit a candle, and shared its light with the Livingston family for whom the house will be their new home. The family then shared the light with the rest of us.

The local affiliate presented the Livingston family with a Bible. The Building Committee also gave them a set of tools that they will need as new homeowners.

Watch for tomorrow's Valley News Dispatch for an article about the house dedication. And if you happened to have missed both the dedication and the Steelers game you'll have an extra reason to read the paper.

Update 12-12-05: The Valley News Dispatch has the Habitat house dedication as the big story with picture on the front page today. The Steelers' victory also gets mentioned in a reference to Section C.

File under : Allegheny Valley, Arnold, Habitat

Christians can learn a few things from people of other religions

It is probably not a personal attack when someone who does not know your faith greets you and wishes you well.

Today as part of my sermon I spoke about the ongoing greeting wars during this holiday season. One of the parishioners spoke to me afterward about the fact that she works with a Sikh, who regularly receives Christmas and Easter cards from people who do not know his faith. She told me he treasures them, and displays them to others. Isn't that the appropriate and gracious way to respond to an expression of well-wishing?

So why do so many Christians treat it as a personal attack when they hear words of welcome and positive regard from others? Yesterday's Valley News Dispatch included a letter to the editor from a Brackenridge reader who put the vandalism of a creche and the use of "Happy Holidays" in the same category of "striking out" at believers.

Christians can learn a few things from people of other religions.

File under : Central Presbyterian Church, Christmas, Tarentum

When in doubt, misdirect

The old Smothers Brothers routine from 1962 comes to mind this morning. They sang a song called "Chocolate." It began with Tom singing the first verse, "I fell into a vat of chocolate."

Dick asked, "What did you do?" So Tom sang the next verse, "I yelled 'Fire!' when I fell into the chocolate."

Dick asked, "Why did you yell 'Fire?'" Tom's response was "Nobody would have helped me if I had yelled 'CHOCOLATE!'"

The Layman Online has an article "UCC pastor elected commissioner to GA," which discusses some of the same issues I wrote about here. Guess what! The big news is that Pittsburgh Presbytery elected five Presbyterian ministers as its commissioners to the next General Assembly. It also elected five Presbyterian elders. And the total number of commissioners elected was ten. The total number of Presbyterians elected as commissioners elected was ten. You do the math.

So why does the headline begin with "UCC"? I guess it's because nobody would have gotten worked up if they'd yelled "PRESBYTERIAN!"

File under : PCUSA, Pittsburgh Presbytery, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)