Saturday 29 September 2012

Should Live TV really be live?


Should live TV news be live?

I was very interested (and saddened) to see the news article about a man in Arizona who committed suicide after a police chase.  Fox then accidentally showed the moment live on TV where the man shot himself in the head committing suicide.

It appears that normal safeguards in place to prevent this kind of footage failed due to human error.

This poses for me two very interesting questions.

  • The first being should live news be actually show live without any buffering?  

  • Secondly, if live police chases are going to be used by networks for both entertainment and to provide a short-term ratings spike should they be shown in their full entirety with no editing?  

I have not seen a live police chase on TV, the closest I came to it was the 24 hour footage of the man hunt of Derek Bird in 2010.  Watching a police chase as entertainment poses moral questions about if we should be watching it in the first place.

What do you think? Should live TV really be live?

Bad Piggies - review


I don’t play many computer games - I am definitely not a gamer….

But I do love Angry Birds and all the other Angry Birds spin off’s

So I was very excited this week to download Bad Piggies for the iPad. Bad Piggies is a Physics-based cartoon style game where you have to build special carts and vehicles to move piggies through a course collecting stars to a finish line.  The game play is relatively simple and in the early stages there are lots of hints to help you design the vehicle.

My eight year old son seems to be hooked on this and loves it even more than Angry Birds.

Some people are suggesting that Bad Piggies is much harder to play than Angry Birds and that this might put off the casual gamer but I am not sure.

Here’s to Bad Piggies!

Follow the bad piggies on Twitter at #badpiggies

For more reviews and treats head over to home.uktechreviews.com



Was Tim Cook right to apologise about iOS6 maps?


Was Tim Cook right to apologise about maps?

I had my first try at the new Apple maps app yesterday and looked for my own house - it was covered in cloud!  I live in a fairly big city in the Uk and would have expected my house to be on there. So should I complain, moan, wine and kick up a fuss?

I think the answer is no.

When Google Earth came out and then Google Maps and eventually street view there was lots of criticism about not enough detail and things missing.  I think Apple have taken mapping to the next level and while it may not be perfect at the moment I do think that as it improves it will become a major feature on the iPhone and iOS6 devices.

This has the potential to be awesome and I can’t wait to see my street / house in 3D as I fly down the road!


For more tech related goodness and reviews head over to home.uktechreviews.com


home.uktechreviews.com







Thursday 20 September 2012

Tuesday 18 September 2012

iPhone 5 or 4S?


I am genuinely in a quandary about what to do….?

My contract on Blackberry runs out in March of next year so now is the time to start saving for a new phone.

So …

My first generation iPad is becoming old and is mostly used by my wife and kids (and won’t support iOS 6)

I hate my Blackberry Torch - with a passion!

So do I go for the iPhone 4S or iPhone 5?

Financially I will probably be able to afford both but should I wait until this time next year for the iPhone 5S or 6?

I would love to know what you think ....


Please leave a comment below.

Living your Christian Life on the front line?

Listened to a great talk at Church on Sunday.

The great commandment

Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV)Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. [17] When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. [18] Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

At that stage of Matthew's Gospel the Disciples were really confused:-

Is Jesus dead?
Is He alive?
Has He risen?

These are the last words of Jesus.

Matthew 28:16 (NIV)
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

The people who were not sure about what was happening did what they thought Jesus wanted them to do.

Matthew's Gospel ends with another Mountain top experience. But if you go up a mountain you have to come back down.  We don't do the front line stuff at the top of a mountain but in the plains when we get back down.

Our worship is important.

Matthew 28:17 (NIV)
When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

Worship helps us get in perspective who He is and who we are. We are designed to be in relationship with God and therefore we are not alone. We are not alone when we are our on front line.

Jesus gives the Disciples a purpose.

Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Our mission from God is to take on the role of making Disciples.

When God commands He always enables, firstly through each other and secondly two promises.

Matthew 28:20 (NIV)
........ And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

God promises that He will be with us until the end of the age.

Matthew 28:18-19 (NIV)
........."All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Therefore go .....

Jesus also says that His authority goes with us.

God communicates by getting involved and the way God communicates through us is by getting involved. We can live in our culture and our time and at the right time we can speak about the Kingdom.

The passage takes just after the resurrection and the power we have comes from the same power that raised Jesus.

God has put us where we are and went there before us. Jesus is already there and wants us to join Him there.

When things go wrong and are tough we know that God is there and is with us.

We should ask God what He is doing and what we can do to join Him there.

we should ...

Be encouraged
Be aware
Be open
Be praying
Be supporting

Who do we encounter each day? Who are the people on our front line?

Sunday 16 September 2012

Church and community - the place where they meet?


Listened to a really good talk at church today about the importance of church in the community.

Acts 2:42-43,45-47 (NIV)They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. [43] Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. [45] Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. [46] Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, [47] praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.


Within any community there will be many smaller communities which operate. What place does the community of God have in the heart of a village / town?

Sometimes a village and church community comes together to work for good.

What are the challenges for our church community from Acts 2?

This was the early Christian community - they didn't have buildings, traditions, orders of service  and prayer books. They just had the basic message.

They got on with it to bring people to faith.

Firstly,

Acts 2:42 (NIV)They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The fundamentals of Christian life: teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer.

This is also the first thing we should do as a Christian community.

But how do we interact and work with the other communities around us?

We want to ...

Acts 2:47 (NIV)
....... And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

What is the important thing about being our church in the community?

Eg. Faith and prayer in the heart of the community.

Even a large church community needs to thrive and grow to ensure that ..

Acts 2:47 (NIV)
........ the Lord adds to their number daily those who are being saved.

Church needs to have a two way door, from the community and to the community.

What are peoples experience of coming into church for the first time?

We need to make sure that we provide:-

- encouragement to come in
- welcome when you arrive
- encouragement to stay

Acts 2:44 (NIV)All the believers were together and had everything in common.

All believes doing it. We mustn't think that the welcoming is just done by the welcome people.

We all also have a place in other communities, at work, at school, where we live and relax.  How do we ensure that we have faith and prayer in the heart of other communities?

We long to be able to:

Acts 2:47 (NIV)praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

We need to blur the edges between church and community.

Friday 7 September 2012

Philip's 4th game on Scratch

Philip continues to enjoy writing his games on Scratch and had no help with this one.


If you would like the code check out this page on the slice of Pi blog.