Kieckhefer begins by outlining the history of magic, shining knowledge upon the ideas of demonic magic, which is serves to exploit the power of demons, natural magic, which exploits hidden powers found in nature. He then kindles the idea of angel magic, which Kieckhefer eventually explores as bright magic, which exploits the power of angels. Theologians, however, have for centuries attempted to quell the fires of this “angel magic,” saying that the angels that one conjures are actually demons behind an opaque disguise.

Kieckhefer goes on to expand his idea of “bright magic,” citing texts and their ideas that support his electric enthusiasm for this magic. The Book of Angels, Rings, Characters, and Images of the Planets, by Bokenham describes planetary angels, assigning natural magic to angel magic. The Sacred Book by Honorius of Thebes suggested neutral angels, discussing its Jewish influence and the issue of neutral angels. Another key text Kieckhefer thought would help to show a glimmer of “bright magic” is the Holy Almandal, who used a wax alter to invoke and conjure angels, often a young child with a red face and an armed knight. The text Notary Art, Kieckhefer argues, discusses the relationship between magic and the scholastic environment.

The key points Kieckhefer points out vividly, and almost blindingly, that scholars were still in the dark about angel magic and did not know what to think about it. In fact, both the practice and the condemnation of angel magic were innovations of the time. The history of angel magic was not welcomed well. Angels were famous for being fallen angels disguising themselves as unfallen angels or even disguising themselves as Mary or Christ Himself. On the other hand, we must realize that there were other types of angel magic around at this same time, which was the official cult of angels, which had Saint Michael on one end and the guardian angels on the other end. However, after knowledge about “bright magic” caught flame, there were time-honored ways of telling good spirits from evil ones. Conjuring of angels was an important issue, as well as the way that angels could, or should, be conjured in order to rekindle one’s relationship with the “bright magic” of Kieckhefer’s exploration.

I hope this paper helps to shine light on the Black Magic, White Magic, Bright Magic presentation I attended.

Much has changed since my original post. View the update post Revisited – The Difference Between “Droid” and “Android” here.

What’s going on here?

The purpose of this article is to act as a stepping stone to properly educate users on the differences between the classifications of cell phones and their meanings. Mainly because it is a pet peeve of mine to hear one over the other. While it’s not a huge deal, there is a meaningful difference.

While many believe “Droid” to be the proper shortening of “Android,” I would like to present to you, the reader, the important difference between the two when relating to smart phones. In a nutshell, “Droid” is the name of a specific phone offered through Verizon online, while “Android” is the name of the operating system that runs on the “Droid” (and “Droid Eris”, and any other future Verizon phone with the Droid name as licensed by Lucasfilms) and a plethora of other phones. This article attempts to compare the “Android” operating system with the “Motorola Droid”, ignoring the “HTC Droid Eris” for increased clarity.

Why is this?

The root of the confusion between Droid and Android begins with the misunderstanding of the workings of a cell phone. In today’s world of technology and evolution, cellular phones are resembling personal computers more and more. This being said, we can relate the inner workings of a cell phone to the inner workings of a personal computer.

Can you tell me more?

A personal computer has three main attributes by which it can be classified: the brand or company that sells and distributes it, the operating system that runs on the device, and the “nickname” of sorts by which the individual models are known. In the case of a personal computer, the “brand” can be something like HP, Dell, Toshiba, Apple, or Asus. The “operating system” of a personal computer is generally a version of Windows, Macintosh, or a type of Linux. “Nicknames” are very diverse, from the Eee PC 701 to the Macbook Pro. So you would say your “Dell” made “Inspiron 1000“‘s Operating System is “Windows XP“.

A cell phone, similarly, has three main attributes by which it can be classified: the brand or company that sells and distributes it, the operating system that runs on the device, a “nickname” by which the individual models are known, and also the company that sells the “service plan,” (the service provider), often including minutes, data, and text messaging. “Brands” of cell phone include names such as Apple, Motorola, Blackberry, HTC, Samsung, or Nokia. The operating systems of these phones range from Symbian, Bada, Android, RIM, or iPhone OS. The “nicknames” for phones are also very diverse, ranging from the Wave to the Dream to the iPhone 3GS. Often, there are multiple “nicknames” of a single phone, depending on the distributer. Being a telephone, the fourth attribute is the service provider of the phone. The four main service providers in the United States are Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile.

What does this mean?

Generally, there is an overlapping hierarchy of these classifications ranging from broadest to most narrow. The hierarchy is overlapping because the same operating system can be used on multiple phones on multiple different service providers. Similarly, the same “brand” may create multiple phones, each using different operating systems, also on multiple service providers. However, more often than not, the “nickname” of a phone is specific to one set of attributes.

For instance, the “G1″ is a phone with the following characteristics: Brand-HTC, Operating System-Android, Service Provider-T-Mobile. By saying the nickname of this phone, it is understood that the previously mentioned attributes hold true. As mentioned earlier, some devices also have more generic nicknames. For example, the “G1″ can also be referred to as the “Dream.” This holds true because the “Dream” is the name the physical creator, HTC, gave this device. The “Dream” is marketed both in Canada by the service provider “Rogers,” under the “nickname” “Dream” and in the United States by the service provider “T-Mobile,” under the “nickname” “G1″. The “T-Mobile G1″ has one specific set of attributes, while the “Rogers Dream” has another specific set of attributes.

How does this relate to Droid and Android?

Now that we have addressed the meanings behind the names of some phones and attempted to address some generalities, we can address the difference between “Droid” and “Android”. In the case at hand, “Droid” is the “nickname” for a particular set of attributes. This set is as follows: Brand-Motorola, Operating System-Android, Service Provider-Verizon, Nickname-Droid. The “Motorola Droid” is also sold in Europe and Canada as the “Motorola Milestone,” another nickname with a specific set of attributes.

The Operating System of the phone is called Android. The “Nickname” of the phone is called Droid.

But why does it matter?

There are many devices that run the Android operating system. However, there is only one device that is known as Droid. For this reason, calling every “Android Phone” a Droid both belittles the Android name and unnecessarily bolsters the reputation of the Droid.

Close your eyes and imagine the most pristine work of art reflected on the canvas of your eyes.  You see an orb of beauty, the color of your favorite plant’s leaves.  But these leaves leave you.

In an instant, your perfect world shatters.  Winter has come much too early.  The leaves instantly fade to red as fall passes.  The blood orb of dispair takes control as life accells to a halt.  You and the rest of your mindless lemmings aquiesce to the blood overlord.  Hell has the wheel.  But in another instant the table turns as the dealer slips you an Ace.

You are the first in line to kiss the feet of the demon orb.  But as you see the sphere in line of your destination, you realize an oppotunity is present: to join!  Join the tyranical ruling of the lemmings with the power of the death orb!  Or you can continue to be a follower, a slave to the light of blood.

You seize the day.

We will meet again soon.  I hope to see you again soon.  If I can afford the time to expose my emotions.  Time will tell.

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I guess you can smile and pat yourself on the back for sending your son.
But then again, you fought against fighting for absolutely nothing.
When the bombs of Vietnam blew your friends to tiny bits.
Where is your picket sign now? Your peace protest?
If only you could open your eyes to the futility.
Another Vietnam, just another Cold War.
Like any war, with eyes closed.
Never tell me the truth.
Don’t admit mistakes.
We cry out now.
For escape.
Patriotic.
Truly.

Sad.
Eh?

Never since the dawn of mankind has a subject dominated the lives and wellbeing of the human race like religion. Be it in the monotheistic Christians, Jews, Muslims, or the polytheistic religions of ancient and present days, man has used the presence of a “higher being” to dominate the lives of humans and the world.

For those of you who are atheist, I can’t wait until you die and figure out that Hell you’ve been joking about is right at your doorstep.

Or perhaps you are correct in your hopeless belief that after life is nothing. That you’re sent to earth to suffer in the monotony of all this and that’s it. And if you believe that there really is no place to go, and there really is no reason for everything, then what’s the point?!

For those of you who take the Bible literally, do you not understand that it was written many many years after the events which took place? If the events even took place. Perhaps all those symbols and parables of Jesus really are symbols and parables. Perhaps it never even happened. The truth is, we will never know whether or not Jesus was the messiah, or if it was Muhammad or an unknown prophet. What we do know is that these stories are real. The people in these stories are real, we have physical evidence of their decedents and the places in the stories. It does not matter if these events took place. It does not matter if your Jesus was the son of God. It does not matter if your Muhammad was sent with God speaking through him. It does not matter if your prophets truly spoke with God. What matters is the meaning behind it, the symbolism, the logic, the morals, the faith. Because what else is there?

The same goes for the Koran and every other religious work.

No matter what you believe, you can not deny the impact that religion has had on the world. Ohne religion, efforts to help starving countries and helpless victims of pain and suffering would be nonexistent, for churches and other religious groups send food and money and volunteers to help. Without religion, there are no laws and anarchy is rampant, for without the morals and fear of Pergatory and Hell, there is no reason for being kind to one another.

Without religion, one is ohne hope. And without hope, why go on?

But hope is here.

Your mind dull and closed. So many ideas flood your head, not yours. Never yours. Your thoughts don’t matter.

No time for your thoughts. No time for your beliefs, your ideas, your motives.

Glazed mind. Glazed world.

They silence you with work. They silence you with hopelessness. Days flood by. They never took your mind, just hid it away. Your world inside is still inside. You would write if you could. You would express if you could. But they take away your ability to think for yourself to express yourself with the words of others they inject into you like a virus. They expect your retention to keep your silent. But it remains.

You sit and stare devoid of emotion. But you have emotions. If only you had the time to express them.

That’s the effect school is having on this blog. I will write when I can. My apologies for the lack of posts.

Every student entertains the idea of using the least amount of effort to achieve the highest amount of payout. Apathy overflows. Driven for knowledge? No. Driven to satisfy the purpose of education, to better society? No. Driven to better oneself? No. Driven by maniacal parents? Yes. Driven to be good enough for that college? Yes. But driven to be better than expectations? Never.

So there we go. With our faces to the books just enough to survive. To appease the masses.

When did we lose sight of the realities of education? I blame those who say curiosity killed the cat. Curiosity is what SHOULD drive education and life. Lack of curiosity kills education.

Here sit I, enjoying a “Monster” trail mix bag filled with peanuts, raisins, m&m’s, chocolate drops, and peanut butter drops. I’ve already eaten half of the bag in this one sitting, just so you know.

What gets me going most of all about this trail mix is the presence of “chocolate drops” and “peanut butter drops”. I’m quite bothered about the idea that Archer Farms, owned by Target, deems themselves too cool for “chocolate chips” but instead has “chocolate drops”. What the heck?

If I ever become the owner of a trail mix company, I will definitely include pretzels and also marshmallows in the mix. I think that would be the most pleasure-inducing snack of the century.

Yum.

Isn’t it interesting how family can take a simple, peaceful thing such as this winter break and turn it into the most time-consuming chaos imaginable? I think it’s interesting.

Take my family, for instance: a winter break 11 days long split between 5 days of complete and utter blissful quiet and peace and 6 days of family-dominated chaos and forced encounters with apathetic cousins.

The juxtapose of such occurrences is enough to make blood boil. The idea that winter break is less than a break and more of what ever the opposite of a break is is interesting.

Not good, not bad, just interesting.

This chaotic peace.