Milt Reynolds: Thinking Out Loud

To Crack Or Not To Crack — Does It Really Make A Difference? Reprinted with permission from UMCDF Today, August 24, 2010 Numerous studies have been conducted and have confirmed something we all already knew — during the summer, the inside of our car gets, well, as they say, "just plain hot." However, other facts that we might not have been aware of have also been discovered: How fast does it get hot in a vehicle? One study showed that within 10 minutes, the inside temperature rose 20 degrees higher than the outside air, 34 degrees within a half an hour and 40-50 degrees within an hour. Another study showed the inside temperature hitting 116 degrees within an hour with an outside temperature of only 72 degrees. And in one more study, with an outside temperature of 93 degrees, the inside temperature was recorded at 125 degrees after 20 minutes and 140 degrees after 40 minutes. Windows "cracked" — yes or no? Three vehicles were used to look at whether

Social Me-dia, Splintered Louisgray.com has posted a pivotal, insightful analysis of the state of social media. Read it here: social-me-me-me-me-me-media.html I cannot add anything to his message. But I also cannot hold back from echoing it in some way. Here are some highlights: Social media sites change, but people do not. The driving motivation for creating, using, reading, retweeting, and joining social media sites like Facebook, Twitter or Google Buzz is one human desire: the desire to feel important and interesting . People measure success by how much attention they receive. Yet the internet superhighway has allowed social media streams to multiply beyond quantification. The voices seeking attention vastly outnumber the the mind's ability to hear - we begin to shut down, ignore, or simply miss most of what's being shared. Louis points out that many blog posts are getting fewer and fewer comments. Tweets get no replies. Conversations lag, photos repose u

Christian. Muslim. Love. Unconditional. Rachel Held Evans is right on target. Rachel posted a thoughtful response to the Islamic community center planned for New York City. Read the article here: Loving our Muslim neighbors unconditionally Here are the highlights and some comments. Rachel quoted Tony Campolo as he warned against persecution of Muslims and Arab Americans: "As Christians, we can’t let this happen. These are our neighbors, created in the image of God. They deserve our love and respect." Persecution. It seems a harsh word. But it seems to fit the tone of some of the comments and opinions I'm hearing from Christians. Islam is offensive to Christianity? Islam threatens the American way of life? Rachel asks a rock-solid, convicting question: Have these Christians forgotten that our first allegiance is not to our own interests or to the "American way of life," but rather to the Kingdom of Heaven? Think of the culture in

Who Speaks and Why? I am stymied by the global climate change discussion. The need for dramatic, negative social change could be real, or it could be orchestrated. For me to accept the need for change, I must trust scientific and political decision-makers for conclusions that I lack the time and ability to research for myself. To reject the need for change, I must reject solid historical evidence that technology has had harmful, devestating effects on our earth . I just read an article posted by the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Wildlife Federation, Larry J. Schweiger . His thoughts coalesce my frustration. "Scientific findings can be just as contentious today as in the 17th century." Schweiger cites several scientists who suffered for their discoveries and conclusions: Galileo endured a life-sentence "house arrest" in 1632 for the heretical idea that the Sun, not the Earth, was at the center of our universe. Rachel Carson wr

Tools of the Trade: Watercolor I'm a beginner. I don't paint often, and so I don't paint as well as I'd like. But to the extent that my skill, and patience, allows, here are some thoughts about the tools and techniques of watercolor painting . This are my painting tools. From left to right: Brushes Ruler (six-inch plastic) Pen (ballpoint) Pencil (#2) Paints Jar of water to clean brushes Jar of clean water to add to paints Mixing palette Water brushes Small bottle of water Watercolor paper (fairly heavy, to resist curling) How to Watercolor book Experienced painters will immediately pick up on my innocence... I don't have a clue what type/size/style/quality my brushes are . I don't buy expensive brushes, but I do throw away any that shed their hair. I especially like the small water brushes . The water brush has a small, refillable water reservoir, making it easy to add water to color, create washes, and clean. Gently squeeze the bar

Creating a Watercolor from a Photograph Mother's Day... I decided to try to paint a couple of pictures for my mother, and for my wife (she's not my mother, but she is a mother, and a great one!) I've collected quite a few photographs, postcards, calendar scenes, magazine pages and newspaper clippings of scenes I'd like to consider painting. Most are way beyond my beginner-level skills, but I found a couple of flower images that I thought, just maybe, perhaps, I could translate into a watercolor painting. I set out my tools, a cup of coffee, and found a comfortable, well-lit place to work. I add a few drops of clean water into each pan of paint and allow the paint to absorb the water, becoming liquid. For strong, bright colors, I'll dip my brush into the pan and paint directly on the paper. For lighter colors, or a wash, I'll swap my brush into the pan, and then wipe it into an empty, clean pan and add more water, or another color to create a different

The Start of a New Website, Part 4 Here's how the coding has turned out so far. From this... ...to this: And, from this... ...to this: One other version that I developed: This version is almost identical to one of their brochures. It demonstrates how a design meant for printing on paper can be translated into a webpage. I scanned the images, resized and added text. Each image is an active link to a different section of the website . I posted the different version to the client's website, using a private URL address, so that the organization can see them on the web , but they are not yet available to the public. I hope to find out in a couple of weeks which versions most appeal to the client, and then I can start adding content! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License .

Do you long for the good old days, when politics was kinder and gentler, with high integrity? Kind of like when Tom J. was president? When different parties got along and worked together? Think again. http://franceshunter.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/the-politics-of-meriwether-lewis/

KidWash Mister Another must-make for this summer! Selah, get ready to get kidwashed! Complete plans at Instructables.com: http://www.instructables.com/id/KidWash-2-PVC-Sprinkler-Water-Toy