Life is a Prayer.com

Pope Benedict XVI on Catholic Identity in Educational Institutions

May 08, 2012

From the Vatican Information Service:

"It is no exaggeration", the Pope added, "to say that providing young people with a sound education in the faith represents the most urgent internal challenge facing the Catholic community in your country".

"First, as we know, the essential task of authentic education ... is not simply that of passing on knowledge, essential as this is, but also of shaping hearts. There is a constant need to balance intellectual rigour in communicating ... the richness of the Church’s faith with forming the young in the love of God, the praxis of the Christian moral and sacramental life and, not least, the cultivation of personal and liturgical prayer".

Read the full article here: The Catholic Identity of Educational Institutions.

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Minecraft Patching Guide for Macs

April 24, 2012

I've watched a few episodes of 'The Minecraft Project' on YouTube for inspiration, and I occasionally play Minecraft for an hour or two as a diversion (it's like LEGOs on a computer, but much more fun, because there are zombies!).

Jeff's Humble little Minecraft Farm
My humble little Minecraft farm.

One thing I've always liked is The Minecraft Project's look and feel, mostly due to syndicate's use of the DokuCraft Light texture pack. However, getting that texture pack to work along with other mods and patches (especially the automatic tool switcher mod) took some work on my Mac, and I thought I'd post my process for getting everything to work here, for the benefit of others having the same troubles (especially those getting the 'Use the patcher noob' messages where water, lava, etc. are supposed to appear):

Switch Minecraft to the default texture pack.
Download and run MCPatcher.
1. If you have problems, delete the entire 'bin' folder from the minecraft directory (in Users/[yourusername]/Library/minecraft/), reopen Minecraft and run it (this will force-redownload all the Minecraft binary files), and then try MCPatcher again).
Download the latest Dokucraft Light texture pack, and place it in the proper folder (on a Mac, drop the downloaded .zip file into Users/[yourusername]/Library/minecraft/texturepacks/.
Download ModLoader and follow the directions in the linked forum thread to install it.
Download AutoSwitch and put the .class file into the minecraft.jar file at Users/[yourusername]/Library/minecraft/bin/minecraft.jar.
1. If the jar file can't be opened like a directory, change the filename to .zip, double-click on it to unarchive it, then put the file into the directory and change the name back to minecraft.jar again.

NOTE: To open the 'Library' folder in Mac OS X Lion, hold down Option while in the 'Go' menu in the Finder, and you'll see 'Library' appear in the list of folders there

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Getting Back into Photography - Lens Debates

April 24, 2012

I'm getting dangerously close to GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), as I've just purchased a dream lens (the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR), and now I'm thinking hard (probably too hard) about whether I should sell a couple other lenses and get a nice f/2.8 wide angle zoom lens.

Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 at Ordinations
The Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 is an amazing lens (D3, 70-200mm @ 70mm).

I know that lenses don't define pictures (nor do cameras!), but 95% of my shooting is indoors, and most of that is without any artificial light... meaning a fast lens is never fast enough. I often use a 50mm f/1.4 prime (my 'light vacuum' lens), or a 35mm f/1.8, both of which create pleasing photos on my D7000. However, I've almost always wanted the ability to zoom, because moving back and forward isn't always an option, and switching lenses is a pain.

I bought an 18-105 VR lens, thinking VR could help me get past the slow f/3.5-5.6 aperture... but alas I'm still not happy with this lens. I fear that I won't be satisfied until I try out and acquire either the Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 DX lens, or the 24-70 f/2.8.

Nikkor lenses (courtesy Nikon.com)

I've been reaching out to some fellow photographers on Facebook and Twitter, and gotten some good advice, but what do you think? I'm probably going to look for a used copy of the lens to save 30-40%, and I'll probably end up selling a combination of primes (I have the 35mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.4 and 180mm f/2.8 right now) to fund this new lens. I would probably end up selling the 18-105 VR as well, as I don't think I could ever go back to more than f/2.8 once I dip my toes in that water :).

[Aside] Another cool photo resource I found recently, which explains the Nikon AF system used in the D7000 quite well, better than Nikon's own manuals: D7000 Focusing Guide. (I was always a bit confused by the different AF-C modes and zones... and it'll be fun to try them sometime at a sporting event).

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