Collide Magazine

• This design blog says design is important.
• In the 21st-century, your rudeness can be immortalized online via Facebook, YouTube, and the rest. Exhibit A.
• Despite the prolific violence in the latest Rambo installment, it seems Sly wants to raise awareness about the genocide taking place in Myanmar.
• HeartSupport (the online ministry for people with addictions) is touring with Family Force 5.
• Select AMC theaters are presenting a “Best Picture Showcase” in February, meaning you can see all five “Best Picture” nominees in a row for the low price of $30.
• Here’s a creepy reaction to the Tom Cruise Scientology video we posted a couple weeks ago (Thanks, Tiffani). And here’s the story behind the hacker-driven effort to bring down the Church of Scientology (via Church of the Masses).
• Creativiyist says a few people are co-authoring a novel via Twitter.
• Qtrax is a great way to legally download music for free, as long as you don’t mind the mounds of restrictions.
• James Harleman examines “Daddy Issues” at the box office.
• If the initials NKOTB don’t mean anything to you, they might soon.
• A Web 2.0 suicide chain? Yikes.
• This post uses Google Earth to depict Bible stories (via The Plow).
• PopWatch lists their most anticipated albums of 2008.
• Apparently, a lot of movie goers feel like Cloverfield failed to live up to the hype, causing its box office sales to drop dramatically after opening weekend.
• Corey at The Plow talks about the power of images over numbers.

Is there anything we take for granted more than electricity? I don’t think so.

As you flip a light switch, you assume it will work and begin planning your next move. But when switch flips and nothing happens, you come to a full stop, paralyzed by the realization that your productivity is out the window until the power comes back on. Our team is experiencing this phenomenon today thanks to the 60 mph winds currently wreaking havoc on the Dallas area.

While it’s nearly impossible to work on a magazine without power these days (I’ve taken refuge in a nearby coffee shop), I’m glad reformers such as Martin Luther managed to take advantage of the printing press before the advent of the plug. In the same way, I thought about how a power outage would take a heavy toll on the average church, despite the fact that churches did just fine for centuries without electricity. But these days without electricity on a Sunday morning, most churches would be without:

• AC or heat, depending on the season
• Lights
• Projection
• Audio
• Electric guitars (gasp!)
• Coffee
• Childcare check-in
• Electronic marquee touting service times and spiritual witticisms
• Flat-screen TVs (in the men’s room or otherwise).

Am I leaving anything out? Could your church operate on a Sunday morning without electricity? Does our reliance on electricity bother you, even just a little bit?

Watch this video of Rick Warren being interviewed/poorly filmed by Robert Scoble. Rick spends some time talking about the ways in which embracing technology can help churches impact the world. My favorite line from Rick? “You can’t spell ‘catechism’ without ‘tech’.” So true.

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(link via Brian Bailey)

• Bobby Gruenewald has a few thoughts on Apple TV Take 2.
• The Star Trek teaser is online. Interested? Are you at all interested in the viral site that goes along with the movie? (Yes, the movie is 11 months away.)
• James Harleman has seen Cloverfield.
• Film Chat shares some quotes from Oliver Stone about the degree to which George W. Bush’s Christianity will play a part in his upcoming biopic.
• Cynthia Ware at The Digital Sanctuary seems to be enjoying the current issue of COLLIDE. If The Digital Sanctuary isn’t in your feed reader, get your act together!
• We’ve finally started a Page on Facebook for COLLIDE. Become a fan if you’re so inclined.
• Apparently, International Delete Your MySpace Account Day is coming soon.
• The upcoming Internet Explorer 8 will be a better browser than its IE predecessors, which might cause web developers and surfers alike a few problems.
• Last.fm—formerly a great Internet radio site—has a new business model: listen to any track for free up to three times.

The untimely passing of actor Heath Ledger, 28, been all over the news for the past 23 hours or so. Some of the coverage has been comprised of thoughtful, respectful reflections on a talented and troubled life cut short. Some of the coverage has been sensationalism and speculation run amok. In a situation such as this, how should Christians respond (if at all)? Some might talk about tragedy, pain, loss, hope, and redemption. Others might be a little more harsh and matter-of-fact. Then there’s Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. You may remember them as the walking lightning rods who picket the funerals of American soldiers. They’ve opted to give us what I consider to be a shining example of how NOT to react to something like this. VH1’s Best Week Ever blog points us to the following press release from WBC. Read it at your own risk.