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Audi has an ad campaign entitled “Truth in Engineering”. I find that to be a poorly-named theme. It implies that there can be lies in engineering. If there are lies or falsehoods in the product, then it is not engineering – it’s marketing or management or something else.

Engineering is all about finding the best design for the product. Apparently the campaign has something to do with how well the car handles and communicates the road conditions to the driver. A more appropriate name could be “Truth through Engineering” or “Truth by Engineering”, but perhaps that wasn’t catchy enough.

“and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
– John 8:32

One of my favorite road signs that I see on some of my travels is the following:

There is an intersection and a stop sign, and you have your choice of Seven Mile Rd. or Seven Mile Rd.

“For those who guide this people are leading {them} astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.”
– Isaiah 9:16

I heard news on the radio the other day that a church was vandalized in Alabama. Vandalism, and even church vandalism, is nothing new. What caught my attention were the messages that the perpetrators left, stating that there is no God.

They just highlighted the problems that come about by not believing in God. I think that not only will you live longer by believing in God (general statement and not a guarantee for your particular situation), you will live better (same disclaimer, plus the clarification that this “better” is along the lines of kindler and gentler – not “better” as in comfort and luxury).

Why were those vandals, whom police suspect are teens, so hostile? Was that behavior caused by belief in God (e.g. they went to church but had a bad experience with it)? Or is that behavior that could have been prevented by belief in God? I know it is not representative of atheists in general, but who is going to lead a better life: someone who knows he is accountable for his actions during his life or someone who thinks he is not?

Most people have probably forgotten about the Oscars by now, so it is time for me to post something about it. The Academy Awards (AKA the Oscars) are becoming increasingly irrelevant for the general population. The Academy voters, along with critics in general, are selecting movies using their own odd criteria. And those criteria are more along the lines of esoteric “art” or the right social issue – not necessarily what makes a movie a good movie.

Judging anything is subjective, and movies are no exception. So there is bound to be some level of disagreement with the selections. But most of the movies chosen are not popular movies, meaning that most people would rather see other movies. Doesn’t that mean that there are better movies than those which won Oscars?

I agree with Molière, in his Critique of the School for Wives, when he says that if we followed the same philosophy as movies in other areas of life, such as food, then we wouldn’t know whether to enjoy the meals we ate until we consulted a food critic. “That’s like a man who might find a sauce delicious, and who would then try to find out if it was good by looking it up in Le Cuisinier français.” He argues that the opinions of the general public is more important that those of critics. Why do the movie studios produce movies – for the critics? No, they produce movies to make money, which means selling tickets, which means that the public should be more important than the critics. Molière produce his play in 1663, so this disconnect between critics and audiences has been around for at least a few hundred years.

I find that I am more likely to trust people I know than a critic whom I don’t know. The critic may provide some useful information in his description of a movie, but I don’t trust a simple rating, such as 3 stars or 2 and a half roses or 4 tomatoes. What I do want to know in a movie review, but most don’t provide, is what level of what objectionable content there is. To a critic, it seems there is no objectionable content. I like the reviews in World Magazine, which uses Kids in Mind.

I think many people fall into the same category as I – they know that the Academy selects movies that they’ll never watch. The Academy awards movies in order to promote them. It is just a big advertisement and marketing campaign. “We know you don’t care much about this movie and no one you know has seen it, but look at all the accolades it has received. With all this publicity, it must be a good movie!”

“For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.”
– 2 Peter 2:18-19

I disagree that “if you give an infinite number of monkey an infinite number of typewriters, they will eventually produce the works of Shakespeare.”

The statement is meant to demonstrate something about randomness. I disagree with the statement though, because monkeys are not random. They will mostly just bang on the same set of keys and repeat the same sequences. If you give them enough time, eventually they’ll produce the same stuff they produced at the beginning, and none of it will be even close to sensible.

If you had an infinite number of random-letter generators, eventually they might produce the works of Shakespeare. I can’t say that I disagree with that, but I still find the whole concept useless. I don’t know why I am even writing about this topic. I am tempted to write something to relate this statement to something relevant, such as “If you give an infinite number of politicians an infinite number of typewriters, eventually they’ll balance the budget.” or “If you give an infinite number of bloggers an infinite number of websites, eventually they’ll accomplish something.”, but nothing good comes to mind, so I’ll refrain.

There may be some who want to use the monkey theorem to say that given enough time, anything can be produced from randomness. I contend that although that may be the case mathematically, in the real world things are not so random.

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?
Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!
You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field,
The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!”
– Psalm 8:3-9

And that rhymes with P and that stands for Politician. Right here in River City.

Or across most of the USA. It seems that between Kwame Kilpatrick and Eliot Spitzer, those in power have trouble staying out of trouble. My first thought was “Is it that difficult to behave yourself?” My second though was that there are still 48 states not in the negative news.  Those that do stay out of trouble don’t get the headlines either, so we never know about the good guys. Then my next thought was that maybe those people just aren’t getting caught. It is rather sad how cynical we have become regarding politicians in the US today that we almost expect those in power to be corrupted, especially if they are in Washington D.C. If it is not expected, then at least people are not surprised when something happens.

A recurring theme among the news stories about the governor of New York relates to his work as the attorney general, his job before governor. He apparently was ruthless in his prosecution and showed no leniency. It will be interesting to see how he will be prosecuted. There are a number of people calling for his resignation and not wanting any kindness shown to him.
The mayor of Detroit, on the other hand, has not condemned anyone recently, and so he was able to survive a number of mini scandals. His smooth personality gained him a lot of leeway in his behavior. A lot of people are now seeing through his little act now, and he is getting deeper in trouble the longer he denies everything. But it is interesting to contrast the two situations.

The advice I give new parents-to-be is to buy a video monitor. Most people go for the audio monitor – the standard baby monitor – but don’t realize what that entails. When I hear that someone is having a baby shower or has registered for baby gifts, I recommend to him that they register for the video monitor. The response usually involves something like “Why do I need a video monitor to see that the baby is awake? A regular sound-only monitor will tell me that.”

Keep reading if you fall into that category, or if you’re undecided and wondering “Should I buy the audio monitor or spend extra for the video monitor? Is the baby video monitor worth it?”

The audio monitor will inform you just fine if the baby has been sleeping and is now awake. But that is only one-third of the story. Trust me, if you buy the audio monitor, you will still be getting out of your own bed to check on the baby and you will regret not getting the video monitor. It is worth the money. And the money is not that much, about double a good audio monitor.

Two main reasons why you should get a video monitor: when the baby is falling asleep and when the baby is asleep. Again, the audio monitor lets you hear the baby crying, typically so you know he’s awake. What about when the baby is falling asleep?

He has been making noise, crying or fussing perhaps, and now he is quiet. Is he asleep or has something else happened?  The other case is that he has been asleep and everything is quiet.  Now you hear a thump or a bump.  Has the baby just kicked the side of the bed, or has he fallen out of the crib?  How are you going to check that he is okay with the audio monitor.  What if you hear one short cry and then silence? Was it just part of his dream or is he hurt?  As a new parent, you will be wondering those things.

Yes, it is a good thing for you to actually go into your child’s room. You can still do that with the video monitor, but at least it gives you the option of staying in your own bed if are curious about the state of your child during the night.

“Just as a father has compassion on {his} children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.”
– Psalm 103:13