Category Archives: Blogs & Books

This Week’s Featured Video and Links

Starting today and henceforth, every Friday, I will feature videos and links that I think will be of interest to regular readers of my blog. And I encourage you to email me (stephencuyos@gmail.com) videos, links and whatnots that you think others might benefit from.

In this week’s roundup, we’ll find out what CBCP Cinema has to say about Shrek Forever After and why 10 European countries support Italy in defending the Crucifix. We will also take a look at the meaning of the names of Jesus’ disciples as well as their occupations. You might be interested to take advantage of the 90+ essential social media resources and 35 fesh free fonts for designers and developers.

  • Film Review: Shrek Forever After
    The film is a fitting farewell that has explored all the possibilities of Shrek’s hyper-narrative with branches of stories coming from various fairy tale inspirations. Shrek Forever After still has the old charm audiences fell in love with. Read more…
  • 10 European States Join Italy to Defend Crucifix
    The “crucifix trial” in the European Court of Human Rights has given rise to an unprecedented intervention of 10 member States as third parties. The European Centre for Law and Justice, which was also authorized to become a third party in the court hearing regarding the legitimacy of displaying crucifixes in Italian schools, reported today that ten other States will have this amicus curiae status in the “Lautsi vs. Italy” case. Read more…
  • Jesus’ Disciples Names: List, Meaning and Occupation
    The Greek word of Disciple is ‘mathetes‘ meaning ‘learner’ or ‘follower’. The word means accepting and following the views and practices of the teacher. Apart from a large following of people, Jesus chose twelve disciples during his earthly ministry. Read more…
  • 90+ Essential Social Media Resources
    Now you’ve gone and done it. You’ve come across a list so enormous, so useful, and so awesome, our futile attempts to describe it have been lost in the tubes of cyberspace. Read more…
  • 35 Fresh FreeFonts for Designers and Developers
    It’s essential for Designers to have a good understanding of typography and selection as the importance of typography in design can’t be neglected. The proper selection of typography can convert your normal design into attractive piece of art. Read more…

Featured Website: Faithful Catholic Girl

URL: http://www.faithfulcatholicgirl.blogspot.com/

“I’m 15 years old and I’m Catholic. I love my faith and I really want to share it, which is basically why I created this blog and my magazine (Faithful Magazine). I’m also totally Pro-life.”

Featured Video: Amazing Grace

Source: http://vimeo.com/4169677

The following video features real-life stories of ordinary people who have experienced God’s amazing grace.


Amazing Grace from David Tate on Vimeo.

An Atheist Defends Religion, Prayer Before Sex and Other Stories Worth Sharing

In this weekend’s roundup we’ll see how an atheist defends his claim that humanity is better off with religion than without it, find the reasons why everyone is crazy about vampires, learn how to install Ubuntu 9.10, browse more than a hundred brilliant tilt-shift photos, take our first glimpse at the Google Chrome Operating System and understand why couples should pray before making love.

  • An Atheist Defends Religion
    “Religion’s misdeeds may make for provocative history, but the everyday good works of billions of people is the real history of religion, one that parallels the growth and prosperity of humankind,” Sheiman affirms. Read more…
  • Why Is Everyone Crazy About Vampires?
    You’d have to be living under a rock not to have noticed the prevalence of vampires in today’s culture… one of the most successful movies of late is “Twilight,” the story of teen mortals and teen vampires in love. How do we explain the seemingly endless fascination with the undead? Read more…
  • Good Karma: An in-Depth Review of Ubuntu 9.10
    Ubuntu 9.10, codenamed Karmic Koala, was officially released last month. In this comprehensive review, Ars takes you under the surface for an in-depth look at the new features and major architectural changes. Read more…
  • 100+ Examples of Brilliant Tilt-Shift Photography
    “Tilt-shift photography” refers to the use of camera movements on small- and medium-format cameras, and sometimes specifically refers to the use of tilt for selective focus, often for simulating a miniature scene. Sometimes the term is used when the shallow depth of field is simulated with digital post processing; the name may derive from the tilt-shift lens normally required when the effect is produced optically. Read more…
  • Hub for Parents Launches
    YouTube and Kodak have teamed up to launch For Mom, a robust resource for anyone raising children today. The videos housed on this channel cover everything from cooking and parenting tips, to the best toys and games for kids, to easy ways to maintain your own health and beauty routine. Read more…
  • First Glimpse at Google Chrome OS
    Google offered up everything but a finished Chrome OS today, releasing its source code and explaining how it’s different than other operating systems. Here are the features, functions, and screenshots you’ll want to know about. Read more…
  • “Prayer before sex” guide comes to Australia
    The prayer before sex asks the Holy Spirit to “place within us love that truly gives, tenderness that truly unites… (and) loving physical union that welcomes” before asking to “clothe us in true dignity and take to yourself our shared aspirations, for your glory, forever and ever. Mary, our mother, intercede for us. Amen.” Read more…

Running Priest Launches “Online Parish”

Fr Robert Reyes is popularly known in the Philippines as “Running Priest” because he runs to make the Filipino people aware of the pressing social issues affecting the country. He has recently launched a website called “Parokya sa Web” (Web Parish).

In “Parokya sa Web” you’ll find Fr Reyes’ homilies as well as his views on the social issues he is passionate about. Visitors can post prayer requests on the site and listen to alternative Filipino songs.

There is also an “Angelus” chatroom where Fr Reyes leads the Angelus at the appropriate time each day. The running priest’s latest videos and photos are also available on the website.

Green Bible Highlights Environmental Themes in the Scriptures

The principal aim of “The Green Bible” is “to show that seeds of environmentalism were sown in the Garden of Eden”. The Green Bible is actually a new edition of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Holy Scipture and it is “printed in soy ink on recycled paper and bound in eco-friendly linen.” Green ink is used “to spotlight more than 1,000 passages extolling the goodness of creation and God’s charge to care for it.” Catholic scholars consider the NRSV as the most accurate translation of the scriptures. Please read the complete story here.

Download Wikipedia for Offline Use

Wikipedia is without doubt the biggest free encyclopedia online. It has more than 7 million articles in over 200 languages. And it never ceases to grow as more people collaborate to write and edit multilingual entries everyday.

You can download Wikipedia as a database XML or SQL dump. You can also grab a copy of the wikis in HTML format. Or you can burn a Wikidpedia DVD . None of these options, however, is as easy as downloading and installing “The Pocket Wikipedia”.

A full download of the Pocket Wikipedia is only 180 megabytes. All you have to do after downloading the file is to unzip it and run “WikipediaW.exe”. The software is free and works on PocketPC, Windows and Linux.

As you can tell from the screenshot above, I am running the Pocket Wikipedia on my Ubuntu 8.04 machine using Wine. I tested it on a Windows desktop this afternoon and it worked just fine. You can download the Pocket Wikipedia here.

Searching for a Bible Blog Directory

I have a new favorite search engine. The best thing about it is that it is fast and uncluttered. Another good thing about this google-based tool is that it has no advertisement. It’s difficult to find a website that doesn’t sell you anything these days, so goosh is a real treasure. Yup, goosh is the name. It is short for google shell.

One of the phrases I typed in this evening was “bible blog directory”. And in less than a second, goosh gave me exactly what I was looking for – 1bible1.com, a bible blog directory. 1bible1 lists a good number of bloggers from different parts of the globe who write about the Bible and about Christianity in general. It is far from being a comprehensive directory, but it is a good place to start if you are looking for Bible bloggers.

The Blogger’s Prayer in the Mangyan Language

Mahal Makakaako kawo gid ti maawaon, totoo ag mapagmahal sa kanmi, maghagad kami kanmu awat na pabaskugun kanmi pagsarig ag pagmahal sa kanmu, bilang usa ka blogger’s. Mana inda ay magamit gid nimi angay sa Kanmu pagkaibgan, mana maging blogger’s kami katotohanan ag manpalagnap kapayapaan. Continue reading

The Blogger’s Prayer in Kinaray-a

Amay namon, ikaw ang pinakamaloloy-on, masarigan kag mapinalangga-on.

Ginapangayo namon sa imo nga dugangi ang amon pagtuo kag paghigugma kanimo agud nga magamit namon ang “blogging” bilang kasangkapan para matupad ang imong mga katuyuan. Kabay nga himu-on mo kami nga mga “bloggers” kang kamatuuran kag manog pahayag kang paghidaet. Continue reading