Young David

I just stumbled across www.desiringgod.org, and as a result, across this video. Wow. I think I’m going to enjoy listening / watching / reading John Piper…

What follows are quotations taken from inmates’ last statements in Texas. The statements, delivered before family members, relatives of victims, friends and the press, are compiled out of chronological order.

— CLAIRE CAMERON, the author of “The Line Painter”

Go ahead?

Nothing I can say can change the past.

I done lost my voice.

I would like to say goodbye.

My heart goes is going ba bump ba bump ba bump.

Is the mike on?

I don’t have anything to say. I am just sorry about what I did.

I am nervous and it is hard to put my thoughts together. Sometimes you don’t know what to say.

Man, there is a lot of people there.

I have come here today to die, not make speeches.

Where’s Mr. Marino’s mother? Did you get my letter?

I want to ask if it is in your heart to forgive me. You don’t have to.

I wish I could die more than once to tell you how sorry I am.

Could you please tell that lady right there — can I see her? She is not looking at me — I want you to understand something, hold no animosity toward me. I want you to understand. Please forgive me.

I don’t think the world will be a better or safer place without me.

I am sorry.

I want to tell my mom that I love her.

I caused her so much pain and my family and stuff. I hurt for the fact that they are going to be hurting.

I am taking it like a man.

Kick the tires and light the fire. I am going home.

They may execute me but they can’t punish me because they can’t execute an innocent man.

I couldn’t do a life sentence.

I said I was going to tell a joke. Death has set me free. That’s the biggest joke.

To my sweet Claudia, I love you.

Cathy, you know I never meant to hurt you.

I love you, Irene.

Let my son know I love him.

Tell everyone I got full on chicken and pork chops.

I appreciate the hospitality that you guys have shown me and the respect, and the last meal was really good.

The reason it took them so long is because they couldn’t find a vein. You know how I hate needles. … Tell the guys on Death Row that I’m not wearing a diaper.

Lord, I lift your name on high.

From Allah we came and to Allah we shall return.

For everybody incarcerated, keep your heads up.

Death row is full of isolated hearts and suppressed minds.

Mistakes are made, but with God all things are possible.

I am responsible for them losing their mother, their father and their grandmother. I never meant for them to be taken. I am sorry for what I did.

I can’t take it back.

Lord Jesus forgive of my sins. Please forgive me for the sins that I can remember.

All my life I have been locked up.

Give me my rights. Give me my rights. Give me my rights. Give me my life back.

I am tired.

I deserve this.

A life for a life.

It’s my hour. It’s my hour.

I’m ready, Warden.

via Op-Ed Contributor – Last Words – NYTimes.com.

My mom would get a kick out of this..

Collin Cunningham of MAKE produced this fun video about cymatics, the study of visible sound and vibration. As he shows, you can have a lot of fun with cornstarch, water, tone generator software, a guitar amp, and a speaker.

via Make video about visible sound and vibration – Boing Boing.

Finally! Proof that my cats are manipulative little fuzzy rodents:

Anyone who has ever had cats knows how difficult it can be to get them to do anything they don’t already want to do. But it seems that the house cats themselves have had distinctly less trouble getting humans to do their bidding, according to a report published in the July 14th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

The rather crafty felines motivate people to fill their food dishes by sending something of a mixed signal: an urgent cry or meowing sound embedded within an otherwise pleasant purr. The result is a call that humans generally find annoyingly difficult to ignore.

via House cats know what they want and how to get it from you.

I loved this – so many of these we take for granted because it’s what we’ve “always been told”…

Medical myths — Vreeman and Carroll 335 (7633): 1288 — BMJ.

“A new study by sociologists at the University of Maryland concludes that unhappy people watch more TV, while people who describe themselves as ‘very happy’ spend more time reading and socializing. ‘TV doesn’t really seem to satisfy people over the long haul the way that social involvement or reading a newspaper does,’ says researcher John P. Robinson. ‘It’s more passive and may provide escape — especially when the news is as depressing as the economy itself. The data suggest to us that the TV habit may offer short-run pleasure at the expense of long-term malaise.’ Unhappy people also liked their TV more: ‘What viewers seem to be saying is that while TV in general is a waste of time and not particularly enjoyable, “the shows I saw tonight were pretty good.”‘ The researchers analyzed two sets of data spanning nearly 30 years PDF, gathered from nearly 30,000 adults, and found that unhappy people watch an estimated 20 percent more television than very happy people, after taking into account their education, income, age, and marital status — as well as other demographic predictors of both viewing and happiness. ‘TV can become a kind of opiate in a way. It’s habitual, and tuning in can be an easy way of tuning out.’”

Slashdot | Unhappy People Watch More TV.

Maybe I should try to teach MY cats to swim?

Swimming with tigers – Telegraph

Doesn’t Zachary Quinto make the perfect next-gen Spock? Mind you, if I didn’t know, I might think that this picture was of Sylar in Heroes…

More Star Trek Images: Enterprise Crew + Nero [UPDATED] | TrekMovie.com

Lego: The Anatomy of a Lego Minifig Is as Fascinating as It Is Spooky

My amazing wife, knowing my obsession with geeky gadgets, made me this iPhone cake for my birthday.

She printed out a bunch of promotional images of the iPhone, from various angles, then painstakingly painted each button with colored chocolate (yes, you can eat the Mail icon)

Here are all the photos