Dan’s Online Diary 

# 30.9.04 by Dan
This morning, I noticed a old s13 Silvia turning from Alfriston Road into the Great South Road in Manurewa. Then when I was walking to work I recognised the same car turning into the parking building next to St Matthews on Hobson St - 45 minutes later and over 30kms away from where I had first seen it.
Why?

I often don't blog stuff simply because I don't want my post to be too long. Which is one of the reasons why I'm thinking of starting another blog. Which would be cool. Which would take up more of my time. Which is not quite so cool.

Oh well.

# 24.9.04 by Dan
The counter near the coffee machine at work is strewn with magazines, many of them related to the technical/broadcast industries, but the odd 'mainstream' issue does get a place.
So I was flicking through TIME magazine and I was really struck by the quality of the publication. I didn't have time to read the articles, so I can't comment on the quality of the content, but the photography, typography, and formatting are great. An image-heavy article that looked at US election campaigning had a great deal of superb black and white photography. Awesome stuff.

In other news, sixty-three percent of the Presbyterian Church here in NZ has voted against the ordination of practicing homosexuals.
Some may say this a good thing, but I am becoming increasingly annoyed with people who appear to have a specific anti-gay agenda. The article I have linked to paraphrases spokesperson Graham Redding and says that "the result is not certain, but the vote is a significant step in stopping gay people from becoming church leaders.".
In my opinion, this is not the kind of statement a church leader should be making. Admittedly, the article may be taking his words out of context, but the issue is not that we should be preventing gays from leading the church. This is putting the horse before the cart.
Rather, this issue should be recognised as a means of ensuring that only those who are living godly lives in accordance with the Word of God be considered for church leadership. There are many other vices (or sins, if you will) that can go overlooked, while homosexuality gets the spotlight. Where is the uproar over marital infidelity in church leadership? I find it hard to believe this isn't an issue in our church today.

Anyway - enough ranting, time to do some other stuff.
Enjoy your day!

# 23.9.04 by Dan
I'm not usually one to drop names, mostly because I don't usually have any to drop. But yesterday found me sharing an afternoon and a beer with none other than Ben Goodger, the lead developer on the Mozilla Firefox project.

Ben was in Auckland on a visit, and graciously responded to our invitation to come and speak to us to, firstly, answer a few questions from us as to where Firefox was going,and secondly, have a more detailed chat about Firefox and XUL with respect to our particular use of it here at work.

Ben is a great guy who shares my love of cars in general, and Nissans in particular.
I must admit that I felt bad for popping the 'Is there any foundation to the Mozilla/Google collaboration rumour?' question.

Firefox is an excellent product, with a feature set that exceeds its those of its competitors, and has contributed to, and is taking advantage of the the fact that Microsoft's Internet Explorer has taken a drop in browser market share for the first time ever since its release.
Expect to see a lot more from Firefox and Thunderbird in the future.

In other news, I have a BMX. My blog looks different, if not better. Both the template and the CSS are a mess and the whole thing needs to be rehashed. I'm thinking of starting up a new 'blog', of sorts, over at twoseven with a web design flavour, since that is what I do.
...and now on to the weather: trademe is hot. You are all cool. Peace out. (Did I really just say 'Peace out'?? blechk!!!)

# 15.9.04 by Dan
It never rains, it pours.

Blessing, that is.
In search of work, I have committed more time than before to prayer. And God, full of goodness and mercy as He is, has provided not just a job, but potentially a choice of jobs. Last Wednesday I was interviewed for an entry-level software development position, and felt the interview went really well. More details will develop this Friday.
However, in the meantime, Monday evening found me answering a call from tvnz, asking me if I could take a three week contract starting tomorrow (yesterday(Tuesday)). I took it, and yesterday(Tuesday) at work, they asked me if I'd like a six month contract!
I'm yet to get back to them - I told them I'd sleep on it - but I think I'll take it, and pass up the other job, even if it is available to me.

Its like God says 'Here is a cool job for you', and then after a wee while He says 'But wait, here's an even more cooler job for you'. Only He would use correct grammar.
Blessings abound, with babies(just one) and jobs(maybe two).

It is all so so cool.

PS: A post of note for you Scotty.
PPS: Allan - is that BMX still for sale?

# 13.9.04 by Dan
The job interview went well. Just how well it went will become apparent on Friday, when they get back to me.

I have five(5) gmail invites. Sing out if you want one.

I was going to say something else but I can't remember what it was.

# 8.9.04 by Dan
I have a job interview today.

My skills and experience match the advertisement, its an outfit I've wanted to work for even before the position became available, its in the city (ie: on Queen Street) and its exactly the job I'm looking for.

Today at 2pm.

Stay tuned for developments.