Covetousness, Greed, and Information

I don't consider myself very materialistic in the acquisitive sense, that is, I don't think I have excessive desire for money or things, but I've noticed myself being rather greedy when it comes to information. I really like to have access to DATA in a clean, well-presented, easily accessible, quick-loading format (PDFs are my favorite). Not only that, I like it to be on my hard drive, not the internet. Oh yeah, and without copy protection. Some examples of this:

• I'm reading this book over at NetLibrary called Becoming a Translator. I can access it 24 hours a day, whenever I have an internet connection. It's as simple as logging in and clicking on the title in my favorites list. I'll probably read through it once and never look at it again, yet I found myself saving each page to disk (and taking screenshots of photos). These will probably end up compiled into one nice, polished PDF file.


• A while ago, I found a large plain text file that was a database for a bilingual Persian-English dictionary (the same one found on farsidic. The entries were encoded like this: "play bAzy krdn", with the Persian terms represented in Roman script. I went through the trouble of finding a script (buckwalter2unicode) designed to transliterate Arabic, modifying it to do Persian, and processing the files so that the entries came out like this: "play بازی کردن". Then I made the fonts pretty and converted the files to PDF (the English-Persian file is 1422 pages). Now I have a searchable, browseable dictionary that doesn't overheat my processor when I open it (the huge text files made the fans in my MacBook go crazy). All this, when I could just content myself with searching the same dictionary online.


• YouTubia. I just found this yesterday and haven't really used it yet, but it gives me a rush just thinking about it.

...and the list goes on. Today I read the following in the Hidden Words:

O QUINTESSENCE OF PASSION!
Put away all covetousness and seek contentment; for the covetous hath ever been deprived, and the contented hath ever been loved and praised.
Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words, Persian no. 50

I reflected a bit on the above, and thought of this quote from Some Answered Questions:

...greed, which is to ask for something more, is a praiseworthy quality provided that it is used suitably. So if a man is greedy to acquire science and knowledge, or to become compassionate, generous and just, it is most praiseworthy.
`Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 215

So, is my informational acquisitiveness a praiseworthy kind of greed? I am, after all, thirsting for knowledge, right? Or, am I being covetous? What's my motivation for being so acquisitive? Am I afraid the internet will fall apart and I won't have access to this information forever? Or do I simply love HAVING stuff, whether or not it is tangible?

It's hard to say, there's probably a bit of both going on. I almost certainly overstep the bounds of moderation when my acquisitiveness clearly violates license agreements, as in the NetLibrary example above. Ah well, it's something to work on. More positively, today I paid for software! (I have been using Nisus Writer Express for quite some time, and had found ways to circumvent the limitations of the demo, but now I'm legit!)

Wow, that was a long entry. So much for easing back into blogging.

This made me smile

If you trust Google more than your doctor than maybe it's time to switch doctors.

- Jadelr and Cristina Cordova

Gift Certificate

Last Friday while visiting my grandfather, something someone said somehow reminded me of something in my wallet: a gift certificate for Southridge Mall.



To fully appreciate this document, you have to look at the large version (click it) and notice certain details, like:

• the date of issue
• the areas colored by blue ink (i had a blue card in my wallet as well)
• the reproduction of the price in two different places

On the back of the certificate it explains that it is redeemable for 42 months after the date of issue. I was delighted on Friday when I did the calculation in my head: "42 months....that's four years...minus 6 months...ok...December 2006...June...23...that's next week!"

So today, on the last possible day, after 3 and a half years of tagging along in my back (and sometimes side) pocket, following me around the US, to El Salvador, to Minneapolis, and back to Milwaukee, the certificate was redeemed for a couple of bargain books. If I'd had more time, I would have agonized some more and probably chosen different ones, but I can live with them.

"Oh, this one's been around for a while, hasn't it?"

*smile* "Yes, yes it has."

Needless to say, I don't get to Southridge very often.

Bahá'ís in Iran

Several weeks ago, I wrote an email to a certain senator from Wisconsin expressing my concern about the growing threat to Iran's Bahá'ís. Today I received a response in the mail that began:

Dear Mr. Greuel,

Thank you for contacting me to express your support for wind power and to share your concerns over how the provision related to the development of an offshore wind energy facility in the Nantucket Sound was added to H.R. 889, the Coast Guard reauthorization bill.

Hmm. I think there was a mixup somewhere. Presumably, someone else got a random letter about the Bahá'ís, so at least a little awareness is being raised. But still. I wanted to hear what he had to say. Someone (*cough*Dan) should talk to him for me.

Meanwhile, in Shiraz:

54 Baha'is arrested in Iran

NEW YORK, 24 May 2006 (BWNS) -- Iranian officials have arrested 54 Baha'is in the city of Shiraz, the Baha'i International Community has learned. They are mostly youth and were all engaged in humanitarian service when they were arrested. It is one of the largest number of Baha'is taken at once since the 1980s. The specific charges are not clear, though in the past, Baha'is have been arrested summarily on false charges.

(Read more...)

Globaloney

...We will also analyze the divergence between the grand claims of the globalists' theories and their meagre explanatory power - their claim to be the filet mignon of social theory while their results approximate baloney. (Hence we can introduce the concept of "globaloney" as a way of highlighting the contrast between globalist rhetoric and contemporary realities.

Petras, J. and H. Veltmeyer. 2001. Globalization Unmasked: Imperialism in the 21st Century. London: Zed Books.

Genuine Development

In order to be genuine, development must be achieved within the framework of solidarity and freedom, without ever sacrificing either of them under whatever pretext. The moral character of development and its necessary
promotion are emphasized when the most rigorous respect is given to all the demands deriving from the order of truth and good proper to the human person. Furthermore the Christian who is taught to see that man is the image of God, called to share in the truth and the good which is God himself, does not understand a commitment to development and its application which excludes regard and respect for the unique dignity of this "image." In other words, true development must be based on the love of God and neighbor, and must help to promote the relationships between individuals and society. This is the "civilization of love" of which Paul VI often spoke.

- John Paul II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis

Two Great Quotes About Cows

On materialism:

Strange indeed that after twenty years training in colleges and universities man should reach such a station wherein he will deny the existence of the ideal or that which is not perceptible to the senses. Have you ever stopped to think that the animal already has graduated from such a university? Have you ever realized that the cow is already a professor emeritus of that university? For the cow without hard labor and study is already a philosopher of the superlative degree in the school of nature. The cow denies everything that is not tangible, saying, “I can see! I can eat! Therefore, I believe only in that which is tangible!”
Then why should we go to the colleges? Let us go to the cow.

-Abdu'l-Bahá

On the creationism vs. evolution debate:

The controversy seems to me to be similar to an argument about a cow. One side argues that the cow is brown. The other side argues that the cow gives milk. Why don't we simply pet the cow and drink the milk? From a Bahá'í viewpoint, the act of arguing is wrong.

-Duane Herrmann

RIP Dino

I've received the solemn news that Dino, our furry friend that lived across the street from us in El Salvador, was recently struck and killed by an automobile.



May he rest in peace.

Seat Conformer

Check it out! This guy is chillin' on top of a molecule of cyclohexane. How cool is that?