Bible
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Bible: 19 translations on your iPhone
When I was going through a minor existential crisis a few years ago, I read the Bible from cover to cover. The copy I had was the rattiest, oldest paperback version I could find: I got it for two bucks at a library booksale. The Bible app for iPhone and iPod touch, however, beats even that, because it's free. Bible is published by YouVersion.com, a social website for people reading the Bible that allows annotation and discussion of passages in the book. Bible includes 13 English translations, three Spanish translations, and one translation each in French, German, and Simplified Chinese. It's searchable by term or location (chapter and verse), and includes a "daily read" tool that -- if you stick with it -- you can use to read the whole kit and kaboodle in a year. There are more than 20 other Bible applications available in the App Store, costing as much as $30. The upshot is that some don't require an internet connection to view the text. (Thanks, commenters, for that one.) For example, Acro Bible NIV is $28.99, and includes only the New International Version. In this crowded category, there is also another app identically named "Bible," but it's $14.99. There is also a free version of the Qur'an, called iQuran, available too. For the devout, there are web apps to help with prayer times as well, but no native iPhone app yet. As yet there isn't a full version of the Torah in the App Store, but there are both KosherMe (the mealtime blessings for $6.99) and Pocket Luach Lite (Jewish calendar conversion for $3.99). Bible -- the YouVersion (uh) version -- is free, and available at the App Store.
Scientists inscribe entire Bible onto pinhead
And you thought that fellow who managed to fit your entire name -- middle initial included -- onto a grain of rice was hot stuff. Apparently, a team of nanotechnology experts at the Technion institute in Haifa were able to etch some 300,000 words (Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible) onto a minuscule silicon surface "less than half the size of a grain of sugar." The feat was accomplished by "blasting tiny particles called gallium ions at an object that then rebounded, causing an etching affect," and was reportedly done in order to show that copious quantities of data could eventually be stored on bio-molecules and DNA. Oh, and it only took about sixty minutes to finish the job.[Image courtesy of ChicagoSpots]
Virtually Overlooked: Spiritual Warfare
Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative. Saying that Spiritual Warfare is the best game Wisdom Tree ever made doesn't really encourage anyone to give it a look. Wisdom Tree doesn't exactly have a reputation for excellence, and most unlicensed NES games in general were spectacularly bad. So, to put a finer point on our meaning, here's a controversial statement: Spiritual Warfare is mostly not terrible.
Hulger's confessional booth lets sinners vent on luxury handsets
Hey, we know that purchasing one of Hulger's avant-garde handsets could very well leave you feeling guilty considering the lofty pricetag, but the company is looking to give you sinners a way out with its communication-enabled confessional booth. The bizarre setup will be erected at Designersblock Milan 2007, and is being constructed in partnership with "communications specialist Associate" to offer visitors the chance to "play the priest or the penitent." Of course, we've no interest in interviewing with a unordained minister, but so long as the unit features Hulger's latest ASTOR & SOPHIA limited edition handsets (pictured), we'd most definitely stop in for a courtesy chat.[Via Textually]
Study finds correlation between violent scripture and aggression, similar to games
See where this is going? Now even the Bible can make us do it, so obviously video games can. Here's the catch: "We're not saying that just in and of itself violent media is uniformly bad but oftentimes there is no redeeming context to it. If one reads the scriptures with an understanding of context, both historical as well as with a (desire) to hear what God is trying to teach us, you can read it in a different way." What BYU professor Robert Ridge seems to imply is that, when taken in context, the Bible ultimately teaches one to pursue peace and love; whereas, he believes most games lack this overarching theme of harmony. Discerning Bible studiers can actually decrease their aggression -- as for active gamers, well, not so much.The new study, which determined "aggression" by how loud a subject chose to blast an obnoxious sound in another subject's ears, is co-written by University of Michigan psychologist Brad Bushman. Bushman was a member of the American Psychological Association's Committee on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media when in August 2005 the group issued a report linking violent games to increased aggression. Hmmm ... smell an agenda?[Thanks, Dave]
