Class Thirty-Two Agnosticism: An Atheist Perspective
Books Recommended For each class May be found On AtheistScholar.org This lecture will attempt to engage the topic of agnosticism, its definition, its history...
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Class Thirty-Two Agnosticism: An Atheist Perspective - Video
The Presbyterianism of the Scotland of yesteryear has long been enmeshed in secularism, agnosticism and even atheism, writes Gamal Nkrumah. Nationalism has replaced religious zealotry as the animating factor in Scottish politics. It is even said that membership of the staunchly pro-independence Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) and other like-minded Scottish parties has surged since last Thursdays referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.
Unity is the best policy, or so the clich goes. And the United States of America is the perfect example. Yes, the American Civil War threatened to rip the nation apart in the 1860s. Fortunately for America, the Yankees fighting for the territorial integrity of the US prevailed, and the Southern Confederate states conceded that theirs was a lost cause.
In the Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia (contemporary Iraq) and the Levant (modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine), national boundaries were demarcated when with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire Britain and France decided to carve up the region into respective spheres of influence after the signing of the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement. Predominantly Sunni Syria, eventually governed by a Shia Muslim in the shape of Syrian president Bashar Al-Assads Alawi sect, came under French rule.
Iraq, overwhelmingly Shia Muslim (like Iran), in sharp contrast since independence from Britain in 1932 was run by successive Sunni Muslim leaders, the last of whom was former president Saddam Hussein. The proverbial colonial divide-and-rule policy was implemented with clinical precision, and the seeds of contention were sowed.
Following a twisted logic, Scotlands first minister Alex Salmond who led the campaign to vote yes for Scottish independence in last weeks referendum on independence, could be regarded as something of an amalgam of Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi and Islamic State leader and self-styled caliph of Sunni Muslims Abu-Bakr Al-Baghdadi.
Like Al-Abadi, Salmond was democratically elected, in his case as first minister by the Scottish parliament in May 2007. Al-Abadi was likewise democratically elected by the Iraqi parliament. Al-Baghdadi was never elected. However, even though no surveys have been conducted it is thought that a large segment of the Sunni Muslim population of Iraq and the Levant sympathises to differing degrees with al-Baghdadi, just as 45 per cent of Scots voted yes to Scottish independence.
Like Salmond in Scotland, Al-Baghdadi also commands a considerable following in the region. Yet the fundamental difference between Salmond and Al-Baghdadi is that as a staunch believer in democracy Salmond conceded defeat in last weeks referendum. He accepted the democratic verdict of the people and stepped down.
Al-Baghdadi, by contrast, has no intention of listening to the voices of those who detest his militant ideological orientation. He beheads his adversaries. He foments religious strife. His brutish barbarity has more in common with mediaeval savagery than with modern moderation.
Admittedly, more concrete causes of dissatisfaction with the status quo are to be found in Iraq and the Levant than in Scotland. In the latter there are public services, especially healthcare and education, whereas healthcare is virtually non-existent in the remote backwaters of eastern Syria and northwestern Iraq, the areas where IS is most active.
Whatever educational facilities existed in the area before the upsurge in ISs military conquests and its subjugation of the people in northeastern Syria and northwestern Iraq were destroyed by the violence and protracted warfare the group adopted. Al-Baghdadis very concept of education differs radically from that of the largely secularist Iraqi educational establishment, itself in shambles.
This article originally appeared on AlterNet.
Catholic, born-again, Reformed, Jew, Muslim, Shiite, Sunni, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhistreligions give people labels. The downside can be tribalism, an assumption that insiders are better than outsiders, that they merit more compassion, integrity and generosity or even that violence toward infidels is acceptable. But the upside is that religious or spiritual labels offer a way of defining who we are. They remind adherents that our moral sense and quest for meaning are core parts of what it means to be human. They make it easier to convey a subset of our deepest values to other people, and even to ourselves.
For those who have lost their religion or never had one, finding a label can feel important. It can be part of a healing process or, alternately, a way of declaring resistance to a dominant and oppressive paradigm. Finding the right combination of words can be a challenge though. For a label to fit it needs to resonate personally and also communicate what you want to say to the world. Words have definitions, connotations and history, and how people respond to your label will be affected by all three. What does it mean? What emotions does it evoke? Who are you identifying as your intellectual and spiritual forebears and your community? The differences may be subtle but they are important.
If, one way or another, youve left religion behind, and if youve been unsure what to call yourself, you might try on one of these:
1. Atheist.The termatheistcan be defined literally as lacking a humanoid god concept, but historically it means one of two things.Positive atheismasserts that a personal supreme being does not exist.Negative atheismsimply asserts a lack of belief in such a deity. It is possible be a positive atheist about the Christian God, for example, while maintaining a stance of negative atheism or even uncertainty on the question of a more abstract deity like a prime mover. In the United States, it is important to know that atheist may be the most reviled label for a godless person. Devout believers use it as a slur and many assume an atheist has no moral core. Until recently calling oneself an atheist was an act of defiance. That appears to be changing. With the rise of the New Atheists and the recent atheist visibility movement, the term is losing its edge.
2. Anti-theist.Whenatheistconsistently evoked images of Madalyn Murray OHair, hostility toward religion was assumed. Now that it may evoke a white-haired grandmother at the Unitarian church or the gay kid on Glee, some people want a term that more clearly conveys their opposition to the whole religious enterprise. The termanti-theistsays, I think religion is harmful. It also implies some form of activism that goes beyond merely advocating church-state separation or science education. Anti-theism challenges the legitimacy of faith as a moral authority or way of knowing. Anti-theists often work to expose harms caused in the name of God like stonings, gay baiting, religious child maltreatment, genital mutilation, unwanted childbearing or black-collar crime. The New Atheist writers including Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins might better be described as anti-theists.
3. Agnostic.Some atheists think ofagnosticas a weenie term, because it gets used by people who lack a god-concept but dont want to offend family members or colleagues. Agnosticdoesnt convey the same sense of confrontation or defiance that atheist can, and so it gets used as a bridge. But in reality, the term agnostic represents a range of intellectual positions that have important substance in their own right and can be independent of atheism.Strong agnosticismviews Gods existence as unknowable, permanently and to all people.Weak agnosticismcan mean simply I dont know if there is a God, or We collectively dont know if there is a God but we might find out in the future. Alternately, the term agnosticism can be used to describe an approach to knowledge, somewhat like skepticism (which comes next in this list). Philosopher Thomas Huxley illustrates this position:
Agnosticism is not a creed but a method, the essence of which lies in the vigorous application of a single principle Positively the principle may be expressed as in matters of intellect, do not pretend conclusions are certain that are not demonstrated or demonstrable.
These three definitions of agnosticism, though different, all focus on what we do or can know, rather than on whether God exists. This means it is possible to be both atheist and agnostic. Author Phillip Pullman hasdescribedhimself as both.
The question of what term to use is a difficult one, in strict terms I suppose Im an agnostic because of course the circle of the things I do know is vastly smaller than the things I dont know about out there in the darkness somewhere maybe there is a God. But among all the things I do know in this world I see no evidence of a God whatsoever and everybody who claims to know there is a God seems to use that as an excuse for exercising power over other people, and historically as we know from looking at the history in Europe alone thats involved persecution, massacre, slaughter on an industrial scale, its a shocking prospect.
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7 different types of non-believers
Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) September 24, 2014
Distinguished audiovisual professional, David Vargo CTS-D, Principal Consultant of BrightTree Studios, recently shared his modern views on technology consulting for the year 2014 and beyond.
Im rebelling against the current message. The modern method for audiovisual consulting and design is not independence, its agnosticism.
Based on demands from prominent corporations and institutes of higher education across the country, David and his team branded a new company wing, BrightTree Studios, specializing in agnostic technology consulting and design. In his latest blog titled The Modern Method of Audiovisual Consulting, David takes a bold stance in separating his design views from that of his colleagues.
As a professional in the field, your instinct is to design systems with products that you are comfortable with and know will not only function as the client would like, but will stand up against the test of time, says David. Working in an organization that contains a design wing situated within an integration environment, allows our employees to get hands on experience with a wider variety of products live and in the field. We then can take that knowledge and apply it to our client designs.
David's blog centers in on the belief that the best method of developing the sophistication and practicality of designs is hands-on problem-solving, coupled with independent research and industry training.
ABOUT BRIGHTTREE STUDIOS BrightTree Studios is a full service, audiovisual consulting and design firm that partners with architects, owners, and end users to create state-of-the-art environments used to inspire individuals to learn, create, work, and collaborate.
ABOUT DAVID VARGO With over a decade of experience in the audiovisual industry, David Vargo comes from a line of prestigious companies. He has experience designing and installing systems on over 200 projects for clients across the spectrum, including corporate, higher education, healthcare, telemedicine, and broadcast.
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BrightTree Studios Creates the Modern Method of Audiovisual Consulting
Atheism, Agnosticism, Pantheism...Etc....What #39;s what? And What #39;s it Matter?
Besides titles and labels.... In this video I try to address the difference in #39;labels #39; we give each other, and ourselves. Not all atheists believe there is ...
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Atheism, Agnosticism, Pantheism...Etc....What's what? And What's it Matter? - Video
AGNOSTICISM G.K. Chesterton by Jason Burns
AGNOSTICISM G.K. Chesterton by Jason Burns.
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AGNOSTICISM G.K. Chesterton by Jason Burns - Video
Leonard Susskind - Arguments for Agnosticism?
For more Closer to Truth interview videos, please visit http://www.closertotruth.com For more on information and video interviews with Leonard Susskind, please visit http://www.closertotruth.com/c...
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Leonard Susskind - Arguments for Agnosticism? - Video
Can we handle the truth?
I think columnist Dick Lyles (Aug. 21) has really put his finger on the source of much that ails American culture, but I think its worse. The moral relativism, even agnosticism that we cannot apprehend the truth, puts us in a position where we cannot say what is good and we dont even have a basis of fact to start the discussion from. If one opinion is as good as the next, then none of them can be right. Its logical conclusion is nihilism.
Where I disagree with Mr. Lyles is blaming it on higher education. By the time you get to college, you should be ready to deal with questions about what is true and how do we know it. Grade school education, however, should be supplying our children with a basic set of knowledge and the principles to use it. The educational elite that is responsible for training our teachers too often has advanced a philosophy of moral and even factual relativism that has become nearly institutionalized. They have attempted to force their own views on childhood education instead of fostering what is in the best interest of the country as a whole. I dont know what they stand for, if anything.
Maybe we cant handle the truth anymore. If thats the case, then America is surely out of luck.
Gregory West, Poway
Likes column, but
I share columnist Barry Cronins worries (Aug. 14) about the possibility of being dragged into a terrible war like World War I. His example undermines his last part of his article however.
World War I was started by belligerent empires who couldnt keep their hands off their neighbors, not by superpowers who werent comfortable in their own skins. As he points out, several of those empires who felt comfortable being meddling superpowers no longer exist.
Joe Shea, Poway
Voters must OK increase
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Letters to the editor: Aug. 28, 2014
Greensmith has announced it is on track to successfully integrate an additional 4 new battery types in 2014, bringing the company's total since inception to 12 using its battery-agnostic technology platform, now in its fourth generation.
With over 23mW of energy storage capacity to be deployed in 2014, Greensmith continues its rapid growth by serving an expanding list of strategic customers and channel partners looking to take full advantage of the company's proven technologies and application expertise, including frequency regulation, grid stability/deferral, renewable integration and commercial/industrial functionality.
Refined over many years of development, innovation and real-world deployment experience, Greensmith's software platform enables the rapid, economic integration of both current and future battery technologies, always selected and configured according to the objectives and requirements of the target application.
Although the company continues to develop and deliver turn-key energy storage systems at scale, a number of customers and partners are choosing to license Greensmith's software and integration technology a-la-carte.
"From the very start, Greensmith believed that the potential for energy storage lay beyond "batteries-in-a-box", and that robust layers of software, integration and optimization were critical to capturing its full value", said John Jung, Greensmith CEO.
"It was also clear that a variety of battery alternatives, suitable for different application needs, would be available over time and therefore need to be easily integrated into a single, resilient technology architecture. So we built and advanced our battery-agnostic technology through multiple cycles of product development and delivery.
"We're quite pleased to be on pace to successfully integrate our 12th battery type by the end of 2014 - and while it's become fashionable to proclaim battery-agnosticism in the marketplace, it's quite another thing to have actually executed and delivered the goods."
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Greensmith on track to integrate 4 new battery types in 2014
Avoiding Myths of Afterlife Resonates Across Faiths
JUSTIN MERRIMAN/PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Published August 26, 2014.
Its sometimes said that religion originated out of the fear of death. We all face the abyss, and we all grieve when our loved ones pass away. From this utter meaninglessness, the theory goes, myths of meaning arise.
A review of Biblical literature, however, calls this theory into question. Unlike many indigenous and shamanic traditions, unlike other ancient Near Eastern religions, and certainly unlike Christianity, Islam, and later strands of Judaism, the Bible is strikingly uninterested in what happens after we die. Theologians chase after scraps a mention of Sheol in Genesis 42:38 and Isaiah 14:11, a witchs sance in 1 Samuel 28:3-25. If what happens after we die is so important, why is it not mentioned in any of the core passages of the Bible?
And what scant evidence there is, is contradictory. Despite the above (and other) references to Sheol and life after death, Psalm 115:17 tells us that the dead do not praise God (a text which has not stopped generations of Christians and Jews from depicting heaven as a place where the dead do exactly that). And Job laments that death is an eternal sleep. (Job 3:11-19)
I bring all of us this up not out of academic interest, but because the striking, almost shocking disregard for the afterlife in these strata of the Jewish tradition should resonate with our own sensibilities. Although some still cling to various beliefs in the afterlife, surely those of us whose worldviews are shaped by science do not. Our hearts still yearn more on this below but our rational faculties understand that heaven and hell are relics of earlier ways of thinking.
What happens after we die? Only agnosticism is justified here. If Occams Razor the principle that the simplest explanation is probably the right one holds, then what happens after we die is a ceasing of brain function; possibly the release of DMT, the chemical in the pineal gland that creates the near death experience (and is sampled ahead of time by some psychedelic enthusiasts); and then thats it, subjectively speaking. At some point, there is a last moment. Then, no more moments.
Of course, Occams Razor was originally a philosophical position meant to prove religious ideas (specifically, the existence of God), not disprove them. Its not clear what the simplest explanation of a phenomenon actually is. Perhaps the soul really is an ontological entity, neuroscientific evidence to the contrary, and if so, perhaps it exists independently of the body. Who knows.
Yet as someone who has experienced a heavy amount of illness and death among my circle of loved ones this year, Im not inspired by these attempts to rescue the idea of immortality from the clutches of scientific reasoning.
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Jewish Emphasis on Life Makes Death Rituals a Gift to World
There are many misconceptions about agnosticism, agnostics, and the reasons why anyone would adopt a position of agnosticism in the first place. This is unfortunate, because whether agnosticism is conceived of as a philosophy or simply an isolated position on the existence of gods, it is eminently reasonable and defensible.
Agnosticism for Beginners - Basic Facts About Agnosticism & Agnostics Collected here are all the most basic facts and information about agnosticism and agnostics. It will make it easier for beginners and even agnostics themselves to better understand what agnosticism is, what agnosticism is not, this history of agnosticism, the philosophical foundations of agnosticism, and what being an agnostic means.
Standard Dictionary Definitions of Agnosticism To understand the concept of agnosticism, it can be helpful to learn a bit more about its history. It has been used in a variety of ways, not all of which are entirely compatible. They may be similar, but there enough differences that there can be some confusion.
Overview of the Definition of Agnosticism The term agnosticism is used primarily for a single issue: do any gods exist or not? Those who disclaim knowledge of gods or even that such knowledge is possible are labeled agnostics. There are many misconceptions about agnosticism, agnostics, and the reasons why anyone would adopt agnosticism in the first place. This is unfortunate, because...
Short Explanation of the Agnostic Position So, what is the definition of agnosticism? Some imagine that agnosticism represents an alternative to atheism, but those people have typically bought into the mistaken notion of the single, narrow definition of atheism. Strictly speaking, agnosticism is about knowledge, and knowledge is a related but separate issue from belief, the domain of...
Atheism vs. Agnosticism: What's the Difference? Many people who adopt the label of agnostic reject the label of atheist - there is a common perception that agnosticism is a more "reasonable" position while atheism is more "dogmatic," ultimately indistinguishable from theism except in the details. Is this a valid position to take?
Agnosticism & Philosophy Agnosticism is not itself a philosophy, but a relevant and respectable agnosticism depends on philosophical principles: one epistemological and one ethical. When this happens, it means that a person's agnosticism is not just philosophical, but well-considered and reasonable.
Agnosticism & Religion Agnosticism is compatible with religion and is sometimes even an integral part of religions. Agnosticism need not stand outside of religion or religious systems, either as a disinterested observer or as an active critic.
Atheist vs. Agnostic - What's the Difference Between an Atheist and an Agnostic? The difference between being an atheist and being an agnostic is clear. Atheists don't believe in any gods. Agnostics doesn't know if any gods exist or not. These can be the exact same people, but need not be.
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The Flaw of Agnosticism
Christopher Hitchens - #39;Festival of Dangerous Ideas #39; at the Sydney Opera House. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwiHkM126bk I neither own the rights to this ...
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The Flaw of Agnosticism - Video
My dual monitors display Windows XP for the last time. Amanda Kooser/CNET
I knew this day was coming. The portents were all there. Microsoft swore back in 2011 it would no longer offer support, patches, or fixes for Windows XP come this April. The company snarkily told customers they should move to a "modern operating system." A plague of locusts descended on my home office.
On a cloudy day last week, at 11:43 in the morning, I turned off my Windows XP-loaded Dell for the last time. It made a little whining, sighing noise as it powered down. All my important files were offloaded to an external hard drive and a brand-new custom-made Windows 7 desktop sat nearby, gloating about its ascendance with its shiny black case and complete lack of cat hair sucked into the fan.
I bought my Dell XP desktop so long ago, I can't even figure out what year it went into service. It had a hard drive replaced a few years back, but kept trucking along, rarely crashing. It was never a superstar, but it also never truly failed me. I feared what Windows 7 would bring. I wondered if it would feel like crash-landing on an alien world where I didn't speak the language.
A little background about my computing tendencies. I enjoy dwelling in the Switzerland-like realm of operating-system agnosticism. I use an Android phone, an iOS tablet, a MacBook for a laptop, and Windows for my desktop. I had already decided that Windows 8 would be too much to deal with, considering the glitch history and weirdness of Metro. I chose Windows 7 instead.
I'm glad I did. Instead of feeling like a stranger in a strange operating system, I feel like I'm dating XP's fraternal twin brother. Sure, it looks a little different. There are some behavioral quirks that are unexpected (like fuzzing out my screen sometimes when my mouse wanders down to the bottom of the display), but it's not that much different.
What I like about 7 is that the OS feels zippy (partly due to my shiny new hardware powering it); the search function is so much more capable; and it quickly wakes from sleep, a process that felt interminable on XP. I'm also kind of in love with the translucent Aero interface showing the background behind the windows. I'm a sucker for subtly flashy features.
If Microsoft hadn't forced my hand by dropping security updates for XP after a 12-year life cycle, I might still be listening to that tinkly, synthy startup sound every morning. Now, I'm greeted by the whistly, synthy "hello" of 7.
I'll admit it. The thought of having to adjust to a new interface made my palms a little sweaty. Yes, yes, I can hear it now: "Wow, Amanda, you're such a wimp. It's just an OS upgrade." There's some truth to that. I was totally wimping out on upgrading, but we're all creatures of habit and it's hard to say farewell to something that's been a part of my daily work life for more than a decade.
Mostly, I feared downtime while I fumbled around learning how to use the revamped taskbar and the new "libraries" system for organizing files (as a journalist, I live on deadline; the last thing I want is for my computer to make me late and stress me out). After all my self-inflicted concerns about upgrading to a new OS, however, I find I'm now thoroughly chill about the change.
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Bye XP, hello Windows 7: Yeah, the change made me nervous
By John Ivison | nationalpost
Bernard Valcourt has been handed the political equivalent of the punishment meted out to Sisyphus, who was tasked with rolling an immense boulder up a hill in Hades for all eternity.
The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs not only has to appease 560 First Nations bands, who want more federal money and fewer conditions, he also has to take the rap for the worst department in government. It is an unenviable job. When the First Nations Education Bill unraveled, I remember saying that, after covering native affairs for a decade, Id reached the considered opinion that nothing of substance would ever be achieved. Ever.
Theres plenty of blame to pass around for this tragic state of affairs. In the specific instance of the Education Bill, critics and rivals of the then-Assembly of First Nations National Chief, Shawn Atleo, turned down the opportunity of a $1.9-billion injection into native education in order to settle personal vendettas. The deal with the federal government was endorsed by AFN executive committee members in December, who then turned around and abandoned Mr. Atleo in the spring. There is no harder job in Canadian politics than herding opinion among the fractious chiefs, each of whom thinks he or she is a head of state.
Aside from the particularly poisonous nature of First Nations politics, there are structural barriers to getting anything done. Many small First Nations have the responsibilities handled elsewhere in Canada by provinces, municipalities, school boards and health boards. They have too many politicians (a councillor for every 100 people), not enough expertise and a dependency culture that discourages enterprise.
But as a report card just sneaked on to the Aboriginal Affairs website in the dead of summer makes clear, the federal department charged with improving the lot of First Nations in this country bears a large measure of responsibility for the intractability of the First Nations predicament.
The department was evaluated on the use of performance measurement the collection of information to see whether results have been achieved. If it had been my sons report card, hed be grounded, without electronic stimulation, for a month. The department was measured on 10 criteria and got the equivalent of 2 Bs, 6 Cs and 2 Ds. The only reason Aboriginal Affairs is not at rock bottom and still digging is that the previous report two years ago was even more abysmal.
The report concluded that the department collects vast amounts of data that remains unanalyzed. Just this week, the governments First Nation Financial Transparency Act kicked in, with chief and councillor salary information trickling in from across the country. Dont get me wrong this is important information that should improve accountability on reserves. But its not clear what the department will do with the data once it has all been published on its labyrinthine website.
This apparent agnosticism in results-based management extends to cost-efficiency. Aboriginal Affairs spends $8-billion a year but the report makes clear that cost-effectiveness is not a top priority. A more pressing concern for staff is not to be held responsible for any outcomes that they dont control. The inevitable consequence is the construction of inflexible silos that dont interact. The departments culture remains focused on transactions, funding and outputs It lacks a comprehensive strategy to manage poor performance, the report concluded. In other words, the focus is on getting money out of the door there is no flexibility to see what is working and tailor programs accordingly.
Sheila Fraser, the former auditor general, noted some years back the most shocking thing about the plight of First Nations in this country is the lack of improvement. In an insightful paper on the subject, governance consultant John Graham blamed deep structural problems for the quagmire. As he pointed out, the Walkerton Inquiry heard that a minimum of 10,000 households is required to sustain a high quality provider of drinking water, yet many First Nations have just 600 people and manage their own water systems.
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Damning audit of Aboriginal Affairs shows a department thats deeply and intractably flawed
85th Live Stream with Carlton Pearson - Skepticism and Agnosticism
What the hell do we have to lose but hell itself? Are we losing or gaining a generation to skepticism and agnosticism? There are just as many Americans that ...
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85th Live Stream with Carlton Pearson - Skepticism and Agnosticism - Video
Based on its recent research on the big data solutions market, Frost & Sullivan presents Intersec with the 2014 African Customer Value Leadership Award.
At the core of Intersecs success is its ability to maximise hardware usage through highly efficient software design implementation. Soon after its inception, Intersec made an important decision to target telecommunications operators to help them develop innovative capabilities and service platforms. It particularly sought to enable mobile operators to capture and monetise the value inherent in their networks, through the efficient processing of big data.
Intersec has demonstrated the ability to efficiently address telecommunications providers needs, including deriving ways to monetise their customer data with internal and external usage, identifying their target audience for associated and derived services, and thrashing out the most effective ways of using them.
Using Intersecs solution, operators can build their own rules-based systems to automatically respond to particular user events and context. This means that the processed big data can provide actionable insights and fully personalised applications such as customer retention management (loyalty and churn); real-time, contextual engagement; and location mapping.
Intersecs service is founded on the companys desire to cut through the complexity of big data and provide simple, targeted vertical solutions that are easy to deploy, said Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Gareth Mellon.
Messaging (of various forms) is still the key means of communication between operators and users, particularly in emerging markets such as Africa. In this environment, Intersecs system provides added value to operators by opening up multiple communication channels including SMS, MMS, unstructured supplementary service data (USSD,) cell broadcast centre (CBC,) interactive voice response (IVR) and email.
Another characteristic of Intersecs solution is its agnosticism, both in terms of system and device inputs. Indeed, it is even able to capture non-cellular network data, further enhancing its value to operators that might provide multiple means of access. Intersecs creation of a single framework also breaks down information silos, which is a recurring problem for companies seeking to implement big data solutions.
In terms of implementation, Intersec aims to provide incremental benefit and hence, avoid direct competition with larger, integrated providers, noted Mellon. Its initial value proposition is to improve internal efficiencies (notably, effective real-time customer value management and retention solutions) and demonstrate the systems worth before progressing to new revenue streams and business models.
Intersec provides solutions with capacity for add-on services, as software activation of these additions is relatively easy. Its solutions have already been adopted by numerous operators across Africa and its innovative approach to product development will add to its growing momentum in the African market.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has demonstrated excellence in implementing strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on improving the return on the investment that customers make in its services or products. The award recognises the company's inordinate focus on enhancing the value that its customers receive, beyond simply good customer service, leading to improved customer retention and ultimately customer base expansion.
Let's talk about a version of Android that you wear. We're right at the beginning in the miniaturization of technology. You're gonna talk to your wrist. How tall is Barack Obama? It's finally possible to make a powerful computer small enough to wear comfortably all day long. Google's Android Wear is a compact version of an operating system that really has to do three things. Run well on new devices like smart watches, get manufacturers to buy into that market and get consumers to do the same thing. And Google pretty much delivered on almost every rumor we predicted and their full roll out of Android where with big time support coming out of the gates with the LGG watch and Samsung's [INAUDIBLE]. Just one more tap to pay. And the pizza's on its way. The pretty gorgeous stainless steel and leather banded watch. It's here. Your watch will also provide intelligent answers to spoken questions. He can even check his heart rate after a jog. Now, Android Wear on its own actually does very little. A Smartwatch running it, like a Samsung Gear Live or an LG G watch, has to first pair to a late model Android phone. No Windows phone, no iPhone support here. Once that pairing is done, your watch starts to get fed the content it needs for some very simple notifications and basic interactions. Like reminders of your next appointment, or simple guidance to get somewhere, like your next appointment. Messages and easy ways to reply, weather forecasts coming up, payment confirmations, travel status updates. Now these are just some basic early use cases and, of course, an Android Wear's functionality is limited only to what developers can come up with, which isn't much of a limitation at all. But note the mode is to have very simple swipe and voice interactions between menus and information screen. There's no keyboard on that watch. Now the first watches out with Android Wear are the predictably nerdy Samsung Gear Live and LGG watch. More interesting is the pending Motorola 360. This is a watch with a round face and a very jewelry like look. Andre Ware is able to map it's display and interface to the actual round display. Not just crudely crop it. That's important, because many, like myself, believe that a key part of SmartWatch success, on any platform, is gonna be the ability for watch designers to really spread out aesthetically and not be limited to square text style displays. Another big step forward with Android Wear is a degree of agnosticism. In the past, most smart watches, short past, I should point out, only worked with their own family of phones. Early Samsung smart watches only worked with Samsung Galaxy phones, and not even all of those. That's not a formula for success. Going forward Android Wear will allow the watch to work with any ANdroid phone running 4.3 of the Operating System, or newer, but still no Windows Phone, I-Phone, or Blackberry coordination. Its early days of course were the smart watches. Not to mention the Android wear subset of them. That's it. Here is my memo to the Android wear team as well as the manufacturer's building Onyx. First make it smarter. Right now we feel the early Android wear watches are kind of giving scatter shot display of information and content, it doesn't really seem to map to my moment in the day as well as it could. Let's filter better. Make it indispensable. This is still very much a luxury market. Nobody can't live without an Android Wear smart watch. Let's find the really important use cases so it goes beyond the novelty stage. We need to extend battery life. We all have enough devices right now that get plugged in every day. And look like jewelry. Once you get past that first million geeks and earlier adopters, nobody's gonna buy a smartwatch that looks like they strapped a smartphone on their wrist. It is, of course, too soon to predict the growth curve for Android wear let alone the broader smartwatch market, for a number of reasons. First of all, Apple hasn't even entered this space yet. Secondly, most consumers have no idea what we're talking about. Thirdly, the battle between fitness bands and smart watches has to be sorted out. And there's an awful lot of overlap there. But for now, at this moment, Android Wear seems to be the biggest bear in a small, growing, and rapidly changing wood.
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Why Android Wear is worth watching
Game Review What is Agnosticism! Good Times
Find the latest reviews for Games on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and handhelds only at INDOTREND channel on youtube. News, reviews, previews, screenshots, movies, m...
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Game Review What is Agnosticism! Good Times - Video
Pope Francis made a short visit to the the city of Casterta on Saturday. During his stay he had a meeting with the diocesan priests and celebrated an open air Mass. On Monday he returned to the city for a private visit with the Evangelical community, and an old friend from his days as Archbishop of Buenos Aires,Pastor Giovanni Traettino.
During his meeting with the priests on Saturday, Pope Francis set aside aside his prepared text he spoke off the cuff, answering four questions they presented to him.The Holy Father said bishops must set an example of the unity that Jesus asked of His Father for the Church. This cannot be done speaking badly about each other. The unity of bishops is important to the unity of the Church, he said, adding that the devil revels in and profits from internal conflict. The bishops must be in agreement in unity, but not in uniformity. Each one has his charism, each one has his way of thinking and his point of view; this is at times the result of mistakes, but it is often the result of the Spirit a unity in diversity, in which no-one loses his own personality.
The Pope was asked for suggestions for pastoral outreach that relaunches the primacy of the Gospel without diminishing popular piety. He answered that true popular piety was born of that Sensus Fidei described in the Encyclical Lumen Gentium and which is guided by devotion to the Saints, to the Virgin, and also by folkloric expressions, in the positive sense of the word. He added, the agnosticism that has entered into the Church in groups of intimist piety are not good, but are instead a form of heresy. Popular piety is inculturated, it cannot be produced in a laboratory, aseptic it is always born of life.
Another question focused on the identity of the priest in the third millennium. How can we overcome the existential crisis born of the linguistic, semantic and cultural revolution in evangelical witness?. With creativity, replied the Pope. It is the commandment that God gave to Adam and Jesus to his disciples. And creativity is found in prayer. A bishop who does not pray, a priest who does not pray, has closed the door to creativity.
The fourth question related to the foundations of spirituality for a priest. Francis described the priest's dual capacity for contemplation: towards God and towards man. He is a man who looks, who fills his eyes and heart with contemplation: with the Gospel before God, and with human problems when among men. The priest must be contemplative in this way. But this must not be confused with monastic life, which is something else.
Pope Francis emphasised that diocesan life must be at the centre of the spirituality of the diocesan priest. Maintaining a relationship with the bishop and with the rest of the priests simple, but at the same time not easy. The greatest enemy of these relationships is gossip. The devil knows that this seed bears fruit, and he sows it well ... to impede that evangelical, spiritual and fruitful relationship between the bishop and the presbytery. He remarked that it was better to say things clearly and openly, rather than give satisfaction to the devil who in this way attacks the centre of the spirituality of the diocesan clergy. The Holy Father concluded with some comments on the bitterness of some priests and the image of an angry Church. One may anger at times; it is healthy to be angry at times. But the state of rage is not God's, and leads only to sadness and disunity.
More than two hundred thousand people attended the Mass celebrated by the Holy Father in the square in front of the Royal Palace of Caserta on Saturday evening.
The Pope spoke in his homily about the kingdom of Heaven, based on the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl. In the first, the kingdom is similar the treasure hidden in a field, that the farmer finds and hides again, full of joy, then sells everything he has to buy the field. In the second, a merchant who seeks fine pearls encounters one of great value and sells everything he owns in order to buy it.
The farmer and the merchant, explains the Pope, have the same sentiment in common: the surprise and joy of the fulfilment of their desires and, through these two parables, with simple words that everyone can understand, Jesus explains what the kingdom of heaven is, how it is found and what one can do to obtain it.
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Pope Francis visits Caserta, has private meeting with Evangelical community
Im writing this in my new baby nieces room. I am here in Florida visiting my family because of this niece, this tiny pudgy innocent baby. We are Jewish, and its time for my niece to receive her Hebrew name in a sweet little ceremony at our longtime synagogue.
Last night I sat at the synagogue next to my 19-year-old daughter. I felt a swell of joy as the services began; Id been away too long. Id loved services as a child and teenager.
And then we hit the first mention of Israel as the Promised Land, and I burst into tears.
On the way to services, Id caught up on Twitter a bit. Id read about the Israeli missiles still falling on Palestine. Id read about the outright murder of Palestinian children.
And I sat there and listened to the rabbi call Israel our Promised Land, and it broke something in me.
I am an American Jew of a certain age (40), and what that means is that I was raised to believe that Israel was ours by divine right.
It sounds ridiculous when you say it aloud. Especially because, like many of my generation of Jews, Im not particularly religious. Many Jews my age slid into paganism, a sort of ambivalent agnosticism, or outright atheism; we are cultural Jews rather than religious Jews. And yet when I first spoke about the conflict between Israel and Palestine some years ago, I found that falling out of my mouth that God promised us Israel. Its ours because God said so.
My daughter, trying to comfort me after the services, said, Maybe it is the Promised Land, just not right now.
My daughter is an atheist. And the narrative got her, too.
The history we are taught in our Sunday school is that we were there first, and that therefore the Palestinians are occupying our land. How long ago were we there, though? And who, exactly, is we? I find myself using that we We need to stop bombing Palestine, we need to give land back, but I am not Israeli. I have never been to Israel. This is how deep it runs, this idea of possession.
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Israel is not my birthright