au

The power of influence

There aren\'t many people who would say that they couldn\'t benefit from having the skill of knowing how to influence people. I am sure many of us can think of innumerable ways that we could use such a skill. It could be a great help in securing the next job you apply for, or the next business tender you try to secure. It could even help you convince the parking officer that you don\'t deserve the parking ticket they are about to write for you! Sounds useful doesn\'t it? So while we can confiden.

  • Fire!

    During the summer months in Alice Springs (2010/11) we had a very long and irregular wet season. As a result, 2010's rainfall was the second highest ever recorded (approximately 750mm). To put it into some perspective, 3 years ago we had 70mm for the year. These rains in 2010 caused the desert in Central Australia to come alive with colour and wildlife. Cattle station owners increased their stock. The average temperatures in summer were closer to the low 30s, rather than the low 40s.

  • Keeping God, God

    I was reminded recently about the importance of keeping God, God. It might sound like an odd statement, but I think that sometimes, I for one, can forget that my relationship with the Lord, is a relationship with a being who has the ability to create and control the universe, and all the elements within it. He is the Lord of the big and the small, forging stars, creating galaxies and flinging them into the deep recesses of space, and yet despite this amazing display of power, and in my experienc

  • Three certain control buttons in following Jesus

    If you are like me, you might wish you could have more wisdom than (I) you do? More faith then you do? More knowledge than you do? Are there areas that I (you) see you are lacking in that you wish could be filled. When we run into troubles and need parts of our faith renewed, what\'s the answer? As a group of R.E students would say, JESUS. Our God is a loving God who loves to fill our life with good things and hears the desires of our heart (Phil 4:19). He is willing to pour out his bless

  • Human Machine Interface

    The first thing to say about the human machine interface is that it doesn't really exist! What I mean by that is that since a machine is designed by a human, then really the human machine interface is just a way of two people interacting via a machine. In other words, the human machine interface could be considered to be the interaction between the customer and the lead designer through the medium of the particular machine in question.

  • Switched off? Television and children: an ugly truth?

    For the first time since we have settled in Australia, we switched on the television. England was playing France in the Rugby World Cup, a good enough reason it seemed to allow the 'evil mind control box' to display its content for once. We missed a lot of the game's action which was interrupted by commercials, played on a schedule, without consideration for the course of the game.

  • Science backs the bible that you can teach an old dog new tricks

    The saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" is used widely in society but I wondered what this means? "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2. I stopped to think about what this commonly quoted scripture verse means and how to practically live this out?

  • New Zealand 3 wins, Australia 3 wins. So close in every area of our societies including churches.

    Over the past week or so New Zealand has beaten Australia in three different activities, as has Australia over New Zealand.

  • Mother Teresa's Legacy in my life

    Mother Teresa passed away more than a decade ago, but her legacy still lives on. It has also changed my life.

  • Finding a good film unexpectedly

    Too often I am disappointed by the 'latest summer blockbuster' at the cinemas these days, all the hype, 'good' reviews and 'good' ratings gives me an anti-climax when I finally watch it. You can easily get caught up in it all and hoping for it to be as good as was stated.

  • Ethics in medical treatment: the distinct Christian separation from humanism

    Recently I read an article in the journal Christian Bioethics by Christopher Tollefsen (free to read here), about the division between secular and Christian ethics in medical practice and research. Whilst I cannot do full justice to the article here, it mentioned a few points that I found interesting as a biomedical scientist.

  • Please, let's start enjoying God's Slurpee

    Imagine there existed a food that increased immunity, cognitive development, self-esteem, bone strength, reduced the risk of becoming overweight, and its production had a very low impact on the environment. Would you feed it to your children?