Archive for the ‘Religion’ category

Staffordshire Hoard: The Book

January 4th, 2010
The Staffordshire Hoard Book (from the British Museum Shop website)

The Staffordshire Hoard Book (from the British Museum Shop website)

I just received my copy of the British Museum book on the Staffordshire Hoard. Although it’s a bit shorter than I’d like (but matches the page count listed on the BM site), it has some lovely pictures, a concise history, and an overall adequate summary of the find itself. Glad to support the work going on there.

Some day, I’d like to see the artifacts in person, but until I get across the pond, I’ll have to settle for this book. A tidy little picturebook, to be sure…

Get yours today!

How will the Staffordshire Hoard impact our understanding of the Anglo-Saxons?

September 26th, 2009

With all the buzz about the Staffordshire Hoard (see also the NYT article on the find), it’s no wonder that people are drooling at the potential for an exponential improvement in our understanding of the Anglo-Saxons. But were the Anglo-Saxons really a bunch of brutes because most people don’t recognize their artistic achievements? Does that say more about their situation or ours? The Dark Ages weren’t “dark” because of them, but because we just don’t know much about them. It’s our ignorance, not theirs, that is demeaning their (and our!) history.

» Read more: How will the Staffordshire Hoard impact our understanding of the Anglo-Saxons?

One nation, seven sins [Las Vegas Sun]

May 8th, 2009

For a fascinating portrait of how the 7 deadly sins have materialized in the US, take a look at One nation, seven sins – Las Vegas Sun. It maps, in impressive detail, how those infamous markers of decadence have struck our country, putting an objective measurement to those habitually non-quantitative metrics. An effective piece of data visualization, because it tells a dire tale.

The most interesting aspect of this article, however, is that it was published by a secular newspaper, completely unrelated to any religion or denomination. Fascinating.

Thanks to revolution-computing.com for the original link.

More goodies from FlowingData… The State of the World

March 4th, 2009

Another fascinating piece from FlowingData: “Progress: A Graphical Report on the State of the World” [http://projects.flowingdata.com/state-of-the-world/index.html] shows, visually, massive amounts of data from the UN, all of which is freely available. Check out the rest of the FlowingData website (http://www.flowingdata.com/) for more treats!

Bibleworks 8 announced

November 21st, 2008

Bibleworks 8 has been announced. Details are available at the Bibleworks website (http://www.bibleworks.com/). Looks like a few more databases (mostly non-English and non-original language), some cross-reference functionality, and the inclusion of previously for-fee Greek and Hebrew grammars. Need to look more closely to see if it’s worth the $150 upgrade from version 7.