W3C Validation

I am quite proud to say that my entire website is now W3C validated. For those of you who may not know, this means that all of my code is valid according the W3.org standards. It also says that my site should appear the same on any standards compliant web browser.

  

Were you there?

This is, without question, one of my all-time favorite hymns. When I was younger, I would perform it on solo violin for church on Good Friday. Times change and people grow, but this piece still touches me as profoundly now as it always has. I’ve attached a recording I just completed… a very simple, sparse rendition of this old hymn… played by a lone violin.

WereYouThere.mp3

Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Were you there when they crucified my Lord
Oooh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree
Oooh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb
Oooh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb

Well were you there when the stone was rolled away
Were you there when the stone was rolled away
Oooh sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble
Were you there when the stone was rolled away

UVA ECE Powerpoint

I’ve given a few presentations here at UVA now and during the course of those, have built a pretty nice PowerPoint template. It’s based on the UVA Nursing school template, of course rebranded for ECE. I’ve also designed it to be resource-friendly… no great-big background images. I hope some of you find it useful.

UVA ECE PowerPoint Template

Music Notation for Linux

Finally! I’ve been stuck with Finale for Windows for years, so I’m pleased to say I’ve found a way to write music in Linux! These are the steps I used to get things going on my EeePC.

  • apt-get install denemo (music editor)
  • apt-get install timidity (midi player)
  • apt-get install freepats (synth patches)
  • apt-get install lilypond (music pretty printer)

That’s it! Enjoy!

Reconciling Faith and Politics

I’ve mentioned this speech to a number of individuals I’ve engaged in political discussion with, so I decided it was about time for me to link it from my most public of venues.

This is a speech given by presidential candidate Barack Obama and, it is quite long, nearly 40 minutes, I HIGHLY recommend listening to it. If for no other reason, I highly respect Mr. Obama for the opinions expressed in this presentation. I personally agree with nearly every one of them, and find his expression to be very well thought and articulate.

You can find the speech here.

I’ve posted a few of the points I find most interesting below. Please note that these are not quotes, but paraphrases of statements as I understand them.


The non-religious need not feign faith in an effort to support their own principles of morality.

Likewise,

“Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door when entering the public square.”


Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns in to universal, rather than religion specific, values.

Example: One can be oppose to abortion for religious reasons, but can not simply point to the teachings of religion. Must show that abortion is contrary to some element of all faiths, including secularism.


A sense of proportion:

Even those who claim the bible’s inerrancy make distinction between edicts and cultural specifics. Thus, some who oppose gay marriage also oppose a constitutional amendment to ban it.

Likewise,

Not every mention of God in public is a breach of the separation of church and state. Allowing voluntary prayer groups use school property should be no more unacceptable than use by the high school republicans.

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