Just a quick note... I have suffered from odd behavior in-game over the past year where animals fly into the sky, water seems to be all around you on dry land, creatures distant from you vibrate rapidly, etc.
Turns out when I upgraded my monitor to a 120hz model, it wrought havoc on Skyrim. Apparently Skyrim's physics engine cannot handle anything above 60hz very well and what it does is it tries to match FPS with the refresh rate. On my old rig I saw the issues but not as bad as my newer rig... the quirks were becoming intolerable.
I recently found the solution and it works pretty well. Someone on nexus mods posted a direct x DLL wrapper / replacement that allows you to set a hard limit to the refresh rate when the game runs. It is noticeable when you turn quickly in-game, you can see the sequence of frames (just barely). But otherwise it makes the game 100% better to play.
If you are suffering from the same issue, search on skyrim.nexusmods.com for FPS Limiter. Works like a charm.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
On the duality of scripture...
Don't you hate it when someone pulls out scripture and quotes it to you, totally out of context?
Whenever people (non-believers) throw scripture in an attempt to disprove something I am saying or to prove a point they are trying to make that is the first thing that comes to my mind: CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING!
Much of the New Testament is chock full of quotes from the Torah. (I think I am using that correctly, I might not be). Jesus and the Apostles reference OT scripture frequently. There are even points where you question whether or not they are using it correctly based on YOUR understanding of the scripture, but you must always remember their context, who they were, how the Bible was used then, and the fact that their context included a physical representation of God who died on a cross and rose to offer some final lessons before ascending to heaven, shedding even MORE light on old text.
And here's my proof: "Lord, the king finds joy in Your strength."
I am using old-style quoting. :) This is the first verse of Psalm 21 (see my previous post on Psalm 22). Psalm 21 is a piece of scripture that had meaning to David hundreds of years before Jesus was born but it seems oddly familiar to a Christian as being indicative of GOD'S victory on the cross. It is as if the Psalmist wrote this knowing what would happen in the future. This is what I mean when I mention the duality of scripture.
Scripture isn't REALLY dual natured, it is what it is, but it is enduring. The thoughts and reasons behind ancient scripture can still be applied today (even scripture that seems irrelevant to this day and age has a message behind it that you need to ponder. Read it in the context of the time, the location and the state of the people to whom it refers and you will most likely be able to better understand what it means).
Scripture speaks to the will and nature of God; it is eternal.
[edit]
Psalm 21
1 Lord, the king finds joy in Your strength.
How greatly he rejoices in Your victory!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire
and have not denied the request of his lips.
3 For You meet him with rich blessings;
You place a crown of pure gold on his head.
4 He asked You for life, and You gave it to him—
length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great through Your victory;
You confer majesty and splendor on him.
6 You give him blessings forever;
You cheer him with joy in Your presence.
7 For the king relies on the Lord;
through the faithful love of the Most High
he is not shaken.
8 Your hand will capture all your enemies;
your right hand will seize those who hate you.
9 You will make them burn
like a fiery furnace when you appear;
the Lord will engulf them in His wrath,
and fire will devour them.
10 You will wipe their descendants from the earth
and their offspring from the human race.
11 Though they intend to harm you
and devise a wicked plan, they will not prevail.
12 Instead, you will put them to flight
when you aim your bow at their faces.
13 Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength;
we will sing and praise Your might.
[edit]
Psalm 21
1 Lord, the king finds joy in Your strength.
How greatly he rejoices in Your victory!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire
and have not denied the request of his lips.
3 For You meet him with rich blessings;
You place a crown of pure gold on his head.
4 He asked You for life, and You gave it to him—
length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great through Your victory;
You confer majesty and splendor on him.
6 You give him blessings forever;
You cheer him with joy in Your presence.
7 For the king relies on the Lord;
through the faithful love of the Most High
he is not shaken.
8 Your hand will capture all your enemies;
your right hand will seize those who hate you.
9 You will make them burn
like a fiery furnace when you appear;
the Lord will engulf them in His wrath,
and fire will devour them.
10 You will wipe their descendants from the earth
and their offspring from the human race.
11 Though they intend to harm you
and devise a wicked plan, they will not prevail.
12 Instead, you will put them to flight
when you aim your bow at their faces.
13 Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength;
we will sing and praise Your might.
Psalm 22
In my ongoing read through of the Bible, I have reached Psalm 22, arguably my favorite and one of the most important (to me anyway) Psalms. The book of Matthew, the Gospel which convinced me when I was younger that Jesus is God and that the Bible speaks Truth, records that just before Jesus dies on the cross he speaks "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Each Gospel ends slightly differently and I should note that each Gospel READS differently. All share some similarities but parts of the text (not just the end) vary in sequence and in content. Some people believe this is a problem (those who tend not to believe in Jesus, really) but remember, these are written accounts from different eye witnesses and it is PERFECTLY natural for each account to vary quite a bit. People focus on what is important to THEM or what catches their eye or ear. But back on topic.
At the end of Matthew it is written that Jesus references Psalm 22. Back then, people did not reference books, chapters and verses, they simply indicated a section of scripture by stating the first verse. SOME people believe that Jesus actually recited all of Psalm 22 on the cross and the writer was simply referencing that instead of writing the entire Psalm, but I think it likely he was simply referencing the verse as he was hung on a cross and such a long Psalm would be difficult to recite in His state.
So what did Jesus say with his dying breath?
I won't post up Psalm 22 here... you can look it up and read it for yourself (is that rude? Sorry I am not trying to be rude). But BASICALLY it is both descriptive of His end and a statement as to the present and future when He dies. If you've read Psalm 22 you understand what I mean. It is as if the writer sat at the foot of the cross writing the Psalm. The end of the Psalm is indicative of what happened next: Jesus arose, and fulfilled God's purpose, and the Word was shared from generation to generation. Really, it's Jesus final footnote on who He really is.
O.K. Maybe I will post Psalm 22 (a Psalm written by Kind David) for your reading pleasure (HCSB version):
Each Gospel ends slightly differently and I should note that each Gospel READS differently. All share some similarities but parts of the text (not just the end) vary in sequence and in content. Some people believe this is a problem (those who tend not to believe in Jesus, really) but remember, these are written accounts from different eye witnesses and it is PERFECTLY natural for each account to vary quite a bit. People focus on what is important to THEM or what catches their eye or ear. But back on topic.
At the end of Matthew it is written that Jesus references Psalm 22. Back then, people did not reference books, chapters and verses, they simply indicated a section of scripture by stating the first verse. SOME people believe that Jesus actually recited all of Psalm 22 on the cross and the writer was simply referencing that instead of writing the entire Psalm, but I think it likely he was simply referencing the verse as he was hung on a cross and such a long Psalm would be difficult to recite in His state.
So what did Jesus say with his dying breath?
I won't post up Psalm 22 here... you can look it up and read it for yourself (is that rude? Sorry I am not trying to be rude). But BASICALLY it is both descriptive of His end and a statement as to the present and future when He dies. If you've read Psalm 22 you understand what I mean. It is as if the writer sat at the foot of the cross writing the Psalm. The end of the Psalm is indicative of what happened next: Jesus arose, and fulfilled God's purpose, and the Word was shared from generation to generation. Really, it's Jesus final footnote on who He really is.
O.K. Maybe I will post Psalm 22 (a Psalm written by Kind David) for your reading pleasure (HCSB version):
1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Why are You so far from my deliverance
and from my words of groaning?
2 My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer,
by night, yet I have no rest.
3 But You are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
they trusted, and You rescued them.
5 They cried to You and were set free;
they trusted in You and were not disgraced.
Why are You so far from my deliverance
and from my words of groaning?
2 My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer,
by night, yet I have no rest.
3 But You are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in You;
they trusted, and You rescued them.
5 They cried to You and were set free;
they trusted in You and were not disgraced.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by people.
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me;
they sneer and shake their heads:
8 “He relies on the Lord;
let Him rescue him;
let the Lord deliver him,
since He takes pleasure in him.”
scorned by men and despised by people.
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me;
they sneer and shake their heads:
8 “He relies on the Lord;
let Him rescue him;
let the Lord deliver him,
since He takes pleasure in him.”
9 You took me from the womb,
making me secure while at my mother’s breast.
10 I was given over to You at birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
making me secure while at my mother’s breast.
10 I was given over to You at birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
11 Do not be far from me, because distress is near
and there is no one to help.
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong ones of Bashan encircle me.
13 They open their mouths against me—
lions, mauling and roaring.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are disjointed;
my heart is like wax,
melting within me.
15 My strength is dried up like baked clay;
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You put me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a gang of evildoers has closed in on me;
they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people look and stare at me.
18 They divided my garments among themselves,
and they cast lots for my clothing.
strong ones of Bashan encircle me.
13 They open their mouths against me—
lions, mauling and roaring.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are disjointed;
my heart is like wax,
melting within me.
15 My strength is dried up like baked clay;
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You put me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a gang of evildoers has closed in on me;
they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people look and stare at me.
18 They divided my garments among themselves,
and they cast lots for my clothing.
19 But You, Lord, don’t be far away.
My strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my only life from the power of these dogs.
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me
from the horns of the wild oxen.
My strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my only life from the power of these dogs.
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me
from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will proclaim Your name to my brothers;
I will praise You in the congregation.
23 You who fear Yahweh, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him!
All you descendants of Israel, revere Him!
24 For He has not despised or detested
the torment of the afflicted.
He did not hide His face from him
but listened when he cried to Him for help.
I will praise You in the congregation.
23 You who fear Yahweh, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him!
All you descendants of Israel, revere Him!
24 For He has not despised or detested
the torment of the afflicted.
He did not hide His face from him
but listened when he cried to Him for help.
25 I will give praise in the great congregation
because of You;
I will fulfill my vows
before those who fear You.
26 The humble will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise Him.
May your hearts live forever!
because of You;
I will fulfill my vows
before those who fear You.
26 The humble will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise Him.
May your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth will remember
and turn to the Lord.
All the families of the nations
will bow down before You,
28 for kingship belongs to the Lord;
He rules over the nations.
29 All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down;
all those who go down to the dust
will kneel before Him—
even the one who cannot preserve his life.
30 Their descendants will serve Him;
the next generation will be told about the Lord.
31 They will come and tell a people yet to be born
about His righteousness—
what He has done.
and turn to the Lord.
All the families of the nations
will bow down before You,
28 for kingship belongs to the Lord;
He rules over the nations.
29 All who prosper on earth will eat and bow down;
all those who go down to the dust
will kneel before Him—
even the one who cannot preserve his life.
30 Their descendants will serve Him;
the next generation will be told about the Lord.
31 They will come and tell a people yet to be born
about His righteousness—
what He has done.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
2 Songs
There are two songs that I can think of off the top of my head that make me tear up. There is actually a third song that causes me to tear up but I forget the title, it's a hymn, it might be "As the Deer Pants". One of those songs was part of a Wednesday night class and it was used to introduce the topic of the importance of parenting.
The two songs that really get to me are "The Cat's In The Cradle" and "The Little Drummer Boy". I know everyone can understand why the former causes me to tear up, but the latter? I am not sure if I can explain it well but let me try. I'll start with a summary of the lyrics:
I am a poor boy too
I have no gift to bring
That's fit to give the king
Shall I play for You
On my drum?
...
I played my drum for Him
I played my best for Him
Then He smiled at me
Me and my drum
I guess what it is is this: Here's a boy who feels he has nothing to offer, he owns nothing but a drum. He does the only thing he CAN do for the King, and that's to play on his drum which he does and it pleases the King. To me this is a song of hope and redemption. The boy has nothing to give to God, indeed none of has anything to offer to God that isn't already his, including our possessions. One thing he can do is to offer up his heart, in this case his music which was the thing in life he most enjoyed and what defined him, to God, and that is what pleased God.
So, a poor boy comes before God, who owns nothing, has nothing to offer anyone and he knows it. How can he honor the creator of the universe? What can he possibly do, what can he possibly give to He who literally has it ALL. He can play his drum. He makes music for God. And God smiles back at him.
I know I am not explaining myself well, certainly not well enough to convey what I am feeling by the time "Then He smiled at me" is sung, and tears are streaming down my cheeks. God loves us all. He doesn't love us for our "gold" or "incense"... He loves His children because we ARE His children, his creation. We have a choice, to love Him back or ignore Him. And what we have to give him is OUR love. Prayers, praise, song, dance, helping others, loving others or simply taking in nature are all ways of showing our love for Him, and making Him smile back at us.
The two songs that really get to me are "The Cat's In The Cradle" and "The Little Drummer Boy". I know everyone can understand why the former causes me to tear up, but the latter? I am not sure if I can explain it well but let me try. I'll start with a summary of the lyrics:
I am a poor boy too
I have no gift to bring
That's fit to give the king
Shall I play for You
On my drum?
...
I played my drum for Him
I played my best for Him
Then He smiled at me
Me and my drum
I guess what it is is this: Here's a boy who feels he has nothing to offer, he owns nothing but a drum. He does the only thing he CAN do for the King, and that's to play on his drum which he does and it pleases the King. To me this is a song of hope and redemption. The boy has nothing to give to God, indeed none of has anything to offer to God that isn't already his, including our possessions. One thing he can do is to offer up his heart, in this case his music which was the thing in life he most enjoyed and what defined him, to God, and that is what pleased God.
So, a poor boy comes before God, who owns nothing, has nothing to offer anyone and he knows it. How can he honor the creator of the universe? What can he possibly do, what can he possibly give to He who literally has it ALL. He can play his drum. He makes music for God. And God smiles back at him.
I know I am not explaining myself well, certainly not well enough to convey what I am feeling by the time "Then He smiled at me" is sung, and tears are streaming down my cheeks. God loves us all. He doesn't love us for our "gold" or "incense"... He loves His children because we ARE His children, his creation. We have a choice, to love Him back or ignore Him. And what we have to give him is OUR love. Prayers, praise, song, dance, helping others, loving others or simply taking in nature are all ways of showing our love for Him, and making Him smile back at us.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
On being unreasonable
I asked a question today on a science site... the background is regarding SETI and people were insulting politicians who felt spending money on SETI was wrong and that the money could be better spent elsewhere.
Whether you agree with that idea or not, calling people idiots simply because they disagree with you is ridiculous. Out of the 5 or six men mentioned as idiots, the 2 I researched in light of those posts would be what most people would consider to be exceptionally gifted. One began college at age 16, earned a degree with high honors and went on to get a doctorate. Yes... must have been a total moron, that one. The other had a similar history... bright, very hard working.
So, I mentioned that much (that the these men appear to be quite bright, actually) and also mentioned what benefits I KNOW SETI contributes (such as general mapping for places that might be interesting to focus on with better tools, and for the international effort), and then posed the simple question: how has SETI pushed the boundaries of science and what has it contributed back to society? These are the 3 major points I got back as an answer:
No. You just have a short attention span."Them" is a person who demands immediate results. The person also provided this nugget:
I strongly suspect you think the same thing about fusion research too.
You appear to be one of them.
Given now that habitable planets in our galaxy appear to be as common as beach sand, I would think advanced governments would be willing to refund the effort with renewed vigor.So I responded (in two posts) that first, please stop trying to fit me into your mold and second please go ahead and name all these wonderful places! (In a much less snarky tone, honest). The answer was:
You know damn well I was talking from a statistical standpoint!So I asked my original questions again, granting that he believes, statistically, there are a ton of human-habitable worlds out there (apparently... as I did make the caveat in one of my posts that I consider habitable planets ones that are capable of supporting human life).
He still has not answered the question I posed. He has added thoughts, and drummed up other questions for me, but has not answered my direct question, which I have now asked 3 times. I can tell you what the next response will be... he will call me a name and tell me that I am stupid.
The world and the people in it are wearing me out.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Science vs. Science Fiction
I think that few people realize that much of the "science" they are exposed to is in reality "science fiction".
It is fine fantasy to imagine paleontology finds, for example, living lives similar to our own, or animals alive today. For example, watching a National Geographic special on dinosaurs the finds were romanticized, portraying moving stories of the animals such as them struggling to reach the surface as they were buried alive, or two finds, close together, holding hands.
This is what people WANT to hear. They WANT to imagine a scene of intimacy, of complex behavior that is obviously unknowable. And science narrators are more than happy to oblige, to delve into this story telling that would support their ideas and perhaps bring more money into their profession.
Science is the process of trying to figure out how the world/universe works. In regards to history, especially ancient history, it becomes quite difficult to know everything we WANT to know. How do we fill the gaps? With fiction. Stories. Romanticized ideas.
There is nothing WRONG with this, per se, but when people don't understand the difference between science and science fiction misunderstandings occur.
What I find interesting is when we have good historicity, ancient documentation supporting something current, that is well supported by critical analysis but it borders on the "supernatural" it is immediately discarded. Yet something that is literally IMPOSSIBLE to know that happened perhaps 80 million years ago and little or no supporting evidence, even circumstantial evidence exists, it is easier for people to believe the "stories" crafted to support theoretical ideas that are not provable.
Ah well.
It is fine fantasy to imagine paleontology finds, for example, living lives similar to our own, or animals alive today. For example, watching a National Geographic special on dinosaurs the finds were romanticized, portraying moving stories of the animals such as them struggling to reach the surface as they were buried alive, or two finds, close together, holding hands.
This is what people WANT to hear. They WANT to imagine a scene of intimacy, of complex behavior that is obviously unknowable. And science narrators are more than happy to oblige, to delve into this story telling that would support their ideas and perhaps bring more money into their profession.
Science is the process of trying to figure out how the world/universe works. In regards to history, especially ancient history, it becomes quite difficult to know everything we WANT to know. How do we fill the gaps? With fiction. Stories. Romanticized ideas.
There is nothing WRONG with this, per se, but when people don't understand the difference between science and science fiction misunderstandings occur.
What I find interesting is when we have good historicity, ancient documentation supporting something current, that is well supported by critical analysis but it borders on the "supernatural" it is immediately discarded. Yet something that is literally IMPOSSIBLE to know that happened perhaps 80 million years ago and little or no supporting evidence, even circumstantial evidence exists, it is easier for people to believe the "stories" crafted to support theoretical ideas that are not provable.
Ah well.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Continuing thoughts on my AMD build...
The tests are slightly unfair as my disk optimizations (I previously used RAID 0 - but when installing everything I messed up, forgot to set my RAID in the BIOS beforehand and Windows doesn't really like you changing from AHCI to RAID after it has been installed/configured). So I forwent RAIDing my drives and keep a USER drive and a WORK drive. My point is that read and write times will be slower. That being said, some things to note:
Large system compilation went from an average of 58 seconds on the Intel build to 72 seconds on the AMD build. No surprise as single thread execution is known to be slower in some cases.
The flip side is WinZip decompresses the WAR files MUCH more quickly in the AMD build. It is so fast I don't have time to do my usual little things (closing my selection windows for the war, emptying the trash, stuff like that). I click "Expand to" and *BOOM*... done. The AMD CPU is practically made for this sort of work tho'...
Starting JBOSS (after a FRESH deploy) the first time on my AMD build took 13 seconds. That's not bad... I've only done it once so far... taking into account slightly slower disk read times that's not too different from the 9 to 10 seconds it took on the Intel build. Again, all of this doesn't surprise me either, since Java doesn't seem to be overly multi-thread friendly (the Java app itself, not its capabilities).
More soon!
Large system compilation went from an average of 58 seconds on the Intel build to 72 seconds on the AMD build. No surprise as single thread execution is known to be slower in some cases.
The flip side is WinZip decompresses the WAR files MUCH more quickly in the AMD build. It is so fast I don't have time to do my usual little things (closing my selection windows for the war, emptying the trash, stuff like that). I click "Expand to" and *BOOM*... done. The AMD CPU is practically made for this sort of work tho'...
Starting JBOSS (after a FRESH deploy) the first time on my AMD build took 13 seconds. That's not bad... I've only done it once so far... taking into account slightly slower disk read times that's not too different from the 9 to 10 seconds it took on the Intel build. Again, all of this doesn't surprise me either, since Java doesn't seem to be overly multi-thread friendly (the Java app itself, not its capabilities).
More soon!
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