Dion's random ramblings

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Sometimes it's not that easy...

The politics of my skin....

Sometimes you don't need to say or do anything to be judged. Simply being is enough. Millions of South Africans suffered, and still continue to suffer, because of the politics of their skin. The struggle is for both black and white. It can be tough. Particularly so when you believe that it was noticing the colour of a person's
skin that created all the problems in the first place! I wish we lived in a world where skin was not quite so political! I wish we didn't notice it quite as much! I wish we could know who we are and not have to gain our identity by saying who others are not... My young daughter and her friends don't seem to notice the colour of their skin. How I wish we were more like that. I wish we had just one defining identity, identity in Christ.

Monday, September 19, 2005

faith, hope, love and marriage!

I write this on my way back from an amazing weekend with friends in Cape Town!

As an aside it never ceases to amaze me just how incredible technology is! I am writing this post on my Sony UX50 palmtop on a flight somewhere between Cape Town and Johannesburg. Anyway, enough of that, back to what really matters.

As I mentioned I am at the end of a fantastic weekend with some very special friends. Today I was honoured, once again, to officiate at the wedding ceremony of two close friends. This time the two special friends who allowed me the grace of sharing in their special day were Mike and Jane Willis. The day itslef was absolutely perfect in so many ways! The chance to be with friends that I had not been with for almost a year was great. Perfect surroundings! And, the weather was magnificent in Somerset West and Stellenbosch.

The ceremony itself took place in a glorious little chapel in the Stellenbosch vineyards. The little chapel has a wonderful story to it. It was built by the farmer who had hit upon hard times. He did what we all should do in such situations, he came before God in prayer. Apparently, as an act of faith, he promised to build a Chapel for the labourers on his farm to show his devotion and gratitude to God for God's faithfulness. The story ends both with a glorious place in which to worship, and also with a magnificent testimony to God's desire to respond to a call for help with grace and abundance.

In many ways marriage is something like that, in committing to dream in hope of something miraculous and good that is to come. We dig the foundations and commit to the building of something, a place - a sacred space, in which we can encounter the truth of life, the intention of love, and the hope of joy. Marraige is fundamentally a commitment made in faith based on hope, and ultimately realised in love.

The promise itself does not realise the hope, neither does the wonderful act of faith that is reflected in the promise of commitment. What makes the space real, what creates that place of sacred encounter and joyous discovery, is that verb... love. Love is something you build.

Mike and Jane, may you be blessed with the reward you hope for and have faithfully committed to as you build your love in the minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years to come.

"These three remain - faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 3:13)

Monday, September 05, 2005

Geek Post! How to Sync a Sony Clie UX50 with Mac OS 10.4

This is something of a GEEK post. I just recently got a secondhand Sony Clie UX 50. It is a FANTASTIC little handheld (except for the poor battery life)!

My problem was that neither Apple (nor Palm) have supported syncing this device with Mac OS. The only solution seemed to be purchasing the Missing Sync from www.markspace.com. It costs around $30. So, I didn't want to have to spend that kind of money. This meant that I had to try to find a solution for my problem. Here's what I figured out.

How to sync a Clie UX50 with Palm Desktop 4.2.1

1. Install Palm Desktop 4.2.1 (as normal)
2. Go to: http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59837&page=1&pp=15
3. Download "PDiQue for TJ27.app.zip"
4. Unzip it and install the file "PDiQue for TJ27"
5. Now set up a Bluetooth partnership FROM the Mac to the UX50 (use Mac Bluetooth setup)
6. Restart the Powerbook
7. When restarted Open the Palm Desktop Hotsync Manager (in Applications/Palm)
8. From there select "Connections settings"
9. Select "Bluetooth PDA sync"
10. Set up the Conduit Manager on the UX50 to Sync via Bluetooth to the Powerbook.
11. Once that is done, simply select the Bluetooth Sync option, make sure the Hotsync Manager is open on the Mac, Bluetooth is enabled on both devices, press the Hotsync Button on the UX50! Viola you are now syncing with Palm Desktop

To set it up further to use iSync, make sure you have the latest iSync installed (go to http://www.apple.com/isync).

Open it, your UX50 username should appear in iSync.

1. Go to "Devices" and choose the option "Enable Palm OS Syncing".
2. Next go to Applications/Palm and open the Hotsync Manager. From the Menu Bar choose "Hotsync" and then "Conduit Settings"
3. Choose "iSync Conduit" and press the "Conduit settings" button.
4. Select "Enable Hotsync for this Palm Device"
5. Press OK
6. Now all that you need to do is go back to "Hotsync" on the UX 50. Make sure you have selected the Bluetooth connection to your Powerbook. Ensure that Bluetooth is switched on on both devices. Press Hotsync and VIOLA! It will sync iCall and Adress with your UX50.

WARNING! It is SLOW syncing via Bluetooth! So, make sure you have a fully charged UX50 and LOTS of time.

Drop me a line and let me know if this worked for you!