When it's raining outside and it's grey all around, just remember above the clouds the sun's shining down on me

Cool eh? Those are words from the song 'Above the clouds' by P.W. Fenton and The Second Ward. Such a great outlook. Loving it!!

So I went into uni today to talk to a lecturer about my final year project / dissertation and I think it's gonna be all good from now on. I'm going to use C# (eww) to talk to a SQL database over a wireless connection. All good stuff. Programming, databases, networks all stuff I like. So it's all good.

Also, whilst talking to the lecturer (Nabil) he suggested that it might be better to go into lecturing as opposed to primary school, and I've kinda been thinking about it. I mean, I really do need to use my I.T. skills and lecturing seems less hassle really (no parents to answer to). I'm kinda happy with the idea of being a lecture. I think it's all gonna be good from now on.

Life is good!!

Cool. 'My Journey Through Life' now with titles!!

So I've now found that the title box was hidden in my settings page so I now get proper RSS titles - cool.

As you can see on the right I've now added Flickr Photo Albums where I'll be uploading pictures (there's a limit which is why there aren't too many Love Southend photos - this will change). Thanks Tania for having a look at the sight and for reminding me to upload some pictures to the site.

Well, I'd better go, but normal posting will resume shortly (I've got a week off yaaay!).

Pictures Updated

The Russia pictures have been updated thanks to a new add-on to my iPhoto that allows me to add my pictures to Flickr with just a few clicks yaaay!.

More pics comming

So I now on the two days I start late for uni walk the long way to uni (along the sea-front) and it's a great time to talk to God (I've got to start listtening too). Anyway I got into thinking what God's been doing. I did have a few problems a few weeks ago after being in a fantastic place with God but now I feel that I'm getting back into proper relationship with Him and it's all pretty good now.

Last week at Wickford, Peter asked me to share about the Christian Union thing and I realised that it's been 2 years in the making really, and a total journey of about 5 years from me being at Greenwich and searching for God again up to now and God letting me be in charge of a CU WOW! It's only when I really think about it God is so faithful to me in so many different ways and I really need to start thinking about it more, but I don't want it to have to be a concious thing, God actually has been so very faithful to me and it's great because I've never had that before.

This isn't actually what I was going to blog about but there's more now.

I'm so used to being disappointed by people and hurt by people that I withdrew from people for such a long time and I never gained those social skills. The thing is, I'm now in a new revelation of having died at my baptism and now being made new and fresh in Jesus. Those people never hurt the old me, and the old me isn't hurtable because of what He did. So now it's a case of having to remember that I'm new and to start living it (I have been over the last week or so and it's a real revelation), I no longer HAVE to sin, it's a case now that I'm just choosing not to use the authority that God has given me to kick those temptations I keep getting. And I can do it (with God's authority), I've done it before a number of times and I need to remember it and make it such a part of my life that I don't forget it (wow - yet another digression, but God's been saying a lot it seems) :)

Anyway, those people hurt the 'old' me. I need the 'new' me to now go out there and be a social person. I need to learn how to care for people, how to be a social person, how to interact with people and get interested in them and their views and their problems. They can't hurt me now and I need to remember that. I need God to help me to grow to love people - I can't ever remember a time when I had healthy friendships and I think God is working that out for me now. I need to start living a life of not just me, but realise that there are other people in the world and that they are interesting and that I need to get to know them and not have the fear that they will be laughing at me beacsue a) they probably aren't, and b) who cares if they are? It's my selfishness and my pride that stops me from getting close to people and loving them and I now need (and know) God will work it out for me.

The 'new' me is a people-loving person, I just need to find that part of me, to access what God has put inside so that I can grow into who He has made me and what He has prepaired for my life and my ministry.

Praise God!!

Okay, so today was a big day for Apple (okay, I have no life and most of my posts haven't really been life oriented).


Isn't it pretty :) - It's thinner than the original, and at the bottom, that isn't an iPod Shuffle it's a remote control SHINY. Oh, and at the top is a built in iSight yaaay! Actually it also looks as if the bottom is shorter leaving less of the horrible white. Cool!

The remote control allows you to turn your iMac into a home entertainment centre using Front Row.


You select your program from this screen and it's so beautiful. You can see it on Apple's iMac Front Row site.

The biggest news (but not really all that great for me) is the new iPod which does video. Apple want you to download music videos from iTunes 6 and also TV shows. Apple have got the rights to some (American) TV shows. Hopefully they'll get a deal with some UK TV companies or allow us to get the US content, but I don't really want to watch TV on my iPod (yes it's bigger but it's not anything that does anything for me). The cool thing is (which I don't think anyone else does in their portable video player is H.264 which means Hi-Definition (Hi-Def) goodness for it - yaaay!

Well, all eyes on apple. The video for the 'show' is up and I plan on seeing it tomorrow.

I've gotta stop being such a geek hehehe.

I'm gonna add some more podcasts up to the right side of the screen. I'm subscribed to so many that I'm now having to listen through a load of back episodes. I'm getting through 'The Signal' and I'm loving it.

God bless ya all.

I know I'm a geek but that's why you love me. Tomorrow is a big day the rumors are video iPod (now probably a hoax and not likely to happen, I never personally thought this would happen after Steve said emphatically that they would not be making one).

The other rumors are that it could be speed updates to PowerMac and PowerBooks, possibly including DualCore (two processors on one chip). DualCore is a possibility as I've heard that IBM start shipping their DualCore kit the day after and as IBM are making the processors Apple are using at the moment it's entirely possible.

One final rumor is that they'll be unveilling their first Intel computer, which not many people actually believe but it would be kinda cool :)

Anyway, I guess we'll find out tomorrow 10am (U.S. time - I'm thinking 4pm out time).

Well, see ya guys tomorrow when I'll be posting all about it.

So yesterday I went with my brother to the motion picture event of the year 'Serenity'. Man the film was so fantastic. I didn't like the first 10 minutes where the protagonist is introduced (it messed potentially with some Firefly lore to help set the scene for non-fans) and it just doesn't seem to be firefly but I'll forgive Joss because the rest of the film kicks major ass ;)

Joss gets so much right in this film and although the fight scenes aren't really 'firefly' they are more like movie fight scenes - again Joss makes up for it by his excellent writing and he isn't afraid to do things that any other writer / director would be petrified of doing (go see the film and you'll know what I mean, it's spoiler teretory so I wont post it here).

There's some great stuff for fans in it, certain dialogue and in particular one shot which is right out of the 'Out of Gas' episode.

I'd really like to see it again, and I'll definatly get the DVD (if it's 6 months like most DVDs, it'll make a nice birthday prezzie for me) :)

Well, that's me for now - I must reply to Tania's e-mail, yaaay she mailed me all about Romania and about her singing in Benny Hinn's choir.

God bless you all

Keep flyin' :)

There's something wrong with the laptop and I can only put it down to the last update it received, but I haven't seen anything about anyone else having problems. Every couple of reboots, the laptop will become increadibly slow, I mean really really slow as in it takes about 10 minutes for it to boot. I'm kina thinking of leaving it on all the time until I get a new update.

The new hard drive is good and I've been subsribed to a few new podcasts and it just feels so good to have so much space at my disposal.

We found out yesterday that we have 2 Microsoft courses, anyone who knows me will know that I may not come out of this alive ;) - having what is basically 2 lectures a week (well, it's actually 3) of having Microsoft propergana being cramed down my throat does not make for a fun week. Well it's only for a few more months now, then MS will release their new operating system which I wont learn anything about then I can plead innocence ;) - But what will most likely happen is that I'll still have to touch it and try and fix problems by trial and error (for other people - once I get my new iMac I'll be very very happy).

Yes, it's almost certain now, I'm going to get an iMac hopefully after Christmas (I'm waiting until after the Mac World San Francisco conference to see if anything jucy is released). Having the new firewire drive will help the transition to be smooth because I can just chuck all my photos on it, all my music is currently on it and so there should be no problems :)

Oh oh, tomorrow Serenity is released yaaaay!!! I can't wait. I'm going to see it on Saturday with my brother (wow, I could be converting him to Firefly yaaay). It's going to be such a great film, I can feel it - and I don't think I've ever been so anticipating a film (part of me wants to bunk off at 1:30 tomorrow and see the first showing, but the sensible part of me -ggrrrr- says no, I need to be in lectures). Oohhh weeelll.......

So, the first day back at university and they've given us 3 pieces of coursework to do. Okay, one of them is the final year project / dissertation and the other two wont need to be in until December, but it's the principle :)

CU News: It looks like the Christian Union will be going ahead. The Chaplain at the college (who is friends with my pastor - Mark) has had a meeting with the perso in charge of stuff like that and has said that we can start a Christian Union - Yaaaay!!! Praise God. I'm going to have a meeting with the Chaplain to see about meeting with other Christians and getting together a core group of people to get it off the ground.

It's a very exciting time.

I'll blog some more soon.

Oh, yeah, I'm going to be setting up a blog all about my final year project as a way of keeping a journal (better than having Word documents all over the place and I can edit them from home or from uni online). Once it's set up I'll post a link.

God bless you all

Rich