The government of South Korea is drawing up a code of ethics to prevent human abuse of robots—and vice versa.

Yes, in a move that is sure to assuage futurists, the South Koreans are going to set some rules regarding robots, to try to prevent an I, Robot or Matrix-style end-game of these super-smart and very abused/annoyed robots taking over.

Hopefully, they've thought this through, cos if the Robots don't get a vote, I'm sorry, but they shouldn't be expected to live by the Code ("THIS DOES NOT COMPUTE--BESIDES, THEY'RE MORE LIKE...GUIDELINES")

Oh well, we love robots at our hous---

Noah!!! Get off Sonny!!!!

Posted by Jonathan on 28 March, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2)

if you're familiar with disney movies, you should totally hear cronk's voice saying that, because that's how i said it.= )

as promised, here are pictures of our fun surprises:

we've already read this book to him at least a dozen times in the last 6 days.

and this is my nifty new book! hopefully it won't be too long before i have something cool to show you that i made from it!

happy monday everybody!

Posted by Jenni on 19 March, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Eisley show at the Ridglea Music Festival was excellent last night, as was expected.

...what was not expected, though, was that, even in his absence, Noah was going to be mentioned (albeit not by name), from the stage, by the band, who have never met him or even seen a picture of him.

How? you ask incredulously.

Well, the short end is, we wound up having a chance to talk to one of the girls and Eisley's mom before the show, and talked to them about how Noah loves Eisley and particularly sings along with their song Trolleywood, a fun song about a day in San Francisco. It apparently touched quite a chord with the proud mama (4 of Eisley's 5 members are the children of our new friend, Kim Dupree), and she herself went digging through their trailer and found some kid's shirts from the band's fun collection of rock'n'roll apparel. So, at some point during the show (twice, actually), the lead singer, Sherry Dupree, mentions this and tosses some kiddie tees into the crowd!

We didn't snag one of the kiddie tees, sadly. I did snag one she tossed that she thought was a kiddie tee which was actually a ladies small and fits Jenni. Anyhoo, as we were leaving, we passed by the merch booth to say thanks for the thought, and Mrs. Dupree flags us to the front of the crushing line of fans and pulls out a stack of kids tees.

'I found these in the trailer for you!'

Groovy. After flipping through them, and trying to decide which one to get him, and after she pulls down a t-shirt for me, I ask, How much are the kids tees?

'Oh, they're a present for your little boy! I'm giving them to you! We were so happy to hear about your little boy!'

=^)

Big smile from two other proud parents. And in the back of my head, I can hear Noah's favorite music start:

Out one day / Walking one day
Out one day / With you, hallelujah
We found a wood / With Trolleys on wheels
Rolling all around the hills / Hallelujah

Posted by Jonathan on 16 March, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2)

the cable for moving pictures from my camera to the computer seems to be migratory and apparently this is not a season it spends near the computer, so there will be no current pictures in this post. if the cable finds it way home soon, i'll add pictures, so check back for pictures of:

thoughtful surprises from daddy!

noah had to have a test this morning, which he does not enjoy, and, of course, i do not enjoy him not enjoying it. he was very brave and good and so was i (i think), so when we picked up jonathan to go reward ourselves with chicken and french fries and purple balls (thank you mcdonald's) he had a surprise for noah, which i knew about, and one for me, which i didn't! noah got a hilarious book called Frank was a Monster who Wanted to Dance, which we've already read twice (impressive since we were only home for about 20 minutes before naptime). and i got Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter. i'm very very excited about this book, even though i don't really know how to sew yet! i want to learn and i love love love her designs. i may even get brave enough to try to tackle a couple of these patterns sans sewing machine. it was a very wonderful, thoughtful thing for my wonderful thoughtful husband to do. ***mushy alert!*** i love you so much, sweetie, thanks for making a somewhat stressful day into a special reminder of how blessed noah and i are to belong to you. ***mushiness complete.***

and, friendly reader, as your reward for putting up with that, how about a random-already-on-the-computer picture?

daddy's hat!

Posted by Jenni on 13 March, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Contrary to what we are told, on a nearly daily basis, San Francisco isn't that expensive. An annual report from The Economist that ranks how expensive cities around the world are found San Francisco to be below average on overall expensiveness. Taking into account several factors including various costs of living, salaries, etc., The Economist ranked the lovely city by the Bay a 92, with 100 being average (and being represented by New York City this year). In fact, the editor of the report specifically stated that as to overall costs of living, that despite its reputation of being frightfully expensive, 'San Francisco competes with Dallas.'

=^)

So now, we can just point to this report, instead of our usual retort:

Have YOU looked at apartments in San Francisco lately?

...yeah, didn't think so.

Posted by Jonathan on 11 March, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2)

This morning, after waking up sleepy-eyed and finding his way into the bathroom where Daddy was shaving, after his mommy helped him change out of his diaper, and right after she sent him to find some undies, Noah stopped and said, 'Hey--I thought we were going to snuggle...?'

...which got me thinking...

Maybe you had quiet time today, and maybe you didn't. Maybe you had some good prayer time yesterday, and maybe you didn't. Perhaps your mind has been able to meditate on Scriptures in the last few days, or perhaps it's been too full of other things. Either way, we all know what it feels like when we haven't had quality time with the Lord lately, and we all know that one of the most common associations we have when it's been awhile, and they're the enemy's favorites to throw at us: Guilt/fear/uh-oh-ness. You haven't had quiet time. You didn't do that thing that the Father wanted you to do, read/pray/meditate/be still. You missed checking off that box.

And so the enemy lies to us with these deceitful untruths, that the Father wants drone-like, methodical actions from us: 1. Wake 2. Read 3. Pray 4. Eat 5. Work. 6. Sleep 7. Repeat cycle

That doesn't sound like the heart of a Father who jumps off the porch and comes running for us, even while the stench of the far country is still on our clothes. The truth of the matter is, the heart of the Father is so loving, so full of good things for us, and what He's wanting to communicate to us in those times when, well, it's been awhile, is just what Noah was saying this morning:

Hey...You...Daughter/Son...I thought we were going to snuggle...? I wanted to hold you and tell you I love you and kiss your forehead...

...how can we say 'No,' to that?

Posted by Jonathan on 7 March, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1)