A growing number of companies are pulling off their ads from YouTube. The issue is about certain video channels that they consider “offensive.” That is, they do not want their ads to appear on these channels that, in their estimation, runs counter to what their company stands for. In other words, they do not want …
The current atmosphere in American society can be unnerving. It seems that there is a general lack of graciousness, with the scent of anger and hostility lingering in the air. People of different opinions and persuasions—political or otherwise—are content to take the stance of “us” versus “them.” And the desire or intent is to take …
Today I came across a word that is new to me. It is a word that was added to the Oxford English Dictionary as recently as 2013. The word is FOMO (spelled in capital letters), and is an abbreviation of “fear of missing out.” It describes the “anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may …
Late last month, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) encountered a major disruption. With many companies worldwide relying on AWS, it is said that many websites and online services started failing. As it turns out, an engineering team was working on some minor issue and the task called for taking offline a small part of the …
I confess. I do not quite get what virtual reality (VR) headsets really accomplish. Oh, I do understand that it’s about the experience of “like being there” while not really “there.” We simply enter into the artificial world that expert technicians create. Here’s one writer’s description of virtual reality: “VR places the user inside an …
Haman was a man who was so full of himself. When King Xerxes sought his advice about the best way to honor someone in whom the king was delighted, Haman immediately presumed that he was the person that the king wanted to honor. So he recommended an elaborate ceremony. But when the king instructed him …
We went to the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco to have some legal paperwork done. The processing of the papers was going to take a while, so we decided to have lunch. This meant walking about half a mile or so to Chinatown. After the meal, we started back for the consulate. Now our route …
There are only two people in the Bible who are believed to have never experienced physical death. They were simply whisked away from the realm of mortal existence and taken into eternity. The account of the prophet Elijah’s life and ministry is recorded in 1 and 2 Kings. Then, when his ministry was completed, and …
Perhaps you may have come across the phrase in recent times: “fake news.” It might be helpful to follow those who differentiate this from “news satire,” which is intentionally exaggerated, ironic, and even humorous, that serves as a commentary on what ever issue it addresses. “Fake news,” on the other hand, is intended to deceive, …
The US now has its new president. On January 20, 2017, the 45th president was sworn into office. And as the incoming and outgoing presidents finally parted ways, the media repeatedly used a common phrase: “transfer of power.” The phrase “transfer of power” refers to the act of officially turning over authority to someone else. …
