There is a theory that black metal flourished in Norway because there was never a counter-reformation in Scandinavia. Philosophy Professor Justin E. H. Smith touches on this in his piece on Weird Catholic Twitter.
I recall years ago an academic talk on Norwegian black metal as a phenomenon explained by the absence of a Counter-Reformation in Scandinavia. That is, Catholicism and “dark” rock subcultures alike fill the yearning that some people have for incense, dripping candles, archaic flourishes, and pompous spectacles of commanding men in outrageous costumes. …
The latest episode of the Fountains of Carrots podcast features an interview with Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, who is the nun known on Twitter for having a skull on her desk. Sister Theresa meditates on her own death, in the Memento Mori tradition.
Sister shares with us about how she was drawn to practice the contemplation of death and shares how we can all begin to do this so that we can prepare our hearts and live well rather than navigating the world in dread.
It’s interesting to hear about Noble’s conversion from atheism and how she came to the religious life. Her take on thinking about your own death is a balanced and realistic look at how practicing can be difficult but liberating.
On the Mozilla Security blog, the Firefox team details their new implementation of cross-site browsing protection by keeping cookies from each site you visit in their own, separate containers. Firefox has had the ability to use different containers with separate cookies explicitly for some time with their “Containers” feature (I love to use this for testing with different identities on the same site).
This new implementation will make cross-site tracking much more difficult. You may no longer find yourself wondering how they knew you were looking for a new couch when you see the ads on your favorite news site…
Ernie Smith from Tedium takes a good look at Vivaldi, still probably the browser that is most directed at power users and the only one from which you can upload to Instagram without an extension.
CJ Chivers writes about a type of blogging that I hope to firmly remain in the tradition of, link blogging.
It was respectful of your time, both as a reader and a creator. The pickier you were (the more respectful you were), the better the links. You built trust and authority as the editor of your tiny corner of the web.
It was a pretty great system.
Occasionally, you’d have something significant to add to the conversation, so you’d post an essay or a new work you created. That got linked to by the community on their sites if it was any good.
When Batman came out in 1989, I was in peak comic mode and playing the Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game by TSR pretty heavily. I had a promotional magazine for the movie that I pored over daily. My dresser drawer contained a Batman t-shirt (drawn more in the comic books style) and it was my favorite piece of clothing. The trip to the theater with my dad, where I wore my t-shirt proudly, felt like a holiday ritual.
There’s little chance that I’m going to break out the nonsensical “Batdance,” but the concept of a continuation of Tim Burton’s Batman…
When I was undergoing chemotherapy in 1995, I would have to listen to Rush Limbaugh while my dad would drive me to the hospital. In some ways, I felt that the poison that went into my ears was more virulent than what was going into my veins.
By most accounts, evangelical Christians are concerned about the path this country is taking and encroaching restrictions on religious liberty. This is usually cited as their main reason for supporting the former president, despite the fact that he possessed almost every character trait they had vocally opposed in past leaders. Beyond supporting the president, they have appeared, at times, to almost want to make him their king.
Attitudes among evangelicals are shifting on a number of topics. …
Guitar practice for the little guy.
Robert Rackley
Robert is a Christian, aspiring minimalist, software dev manager and paper airplane mechanic located in North Carolina.
