![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.conversiondiary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/7_quick_takes_sm1.jpg\" "\\"7_quick_takes_sm\\"")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nIt’s a perfect storm situation: My mother-in-law posted her first Quick Takes<\/a> last Friday, and I’m in need of a catch-all for a number of bloggable items that have accumulated. Will this be my last, or just the last for a good while? I don’t know, but it’s my first. Here goes. <\/p>\n <\/a>— 1 —<\/strong><\/p>\n Let’s start with a question. Was Moses humbler than Jesus? Read Numbers 12:3, discuss. (Bear in mind the author of Numbers.) <\/p>\n <\/a>— 2 —<\/strong><\/p>\n “No offense, but that was a stupid question. First, it’s apples and bananas. Second, Numbers 12:3 only refers to humans alive at Moses’s time. Third, even if we could figure out an answer, what would be the benefit? There’s no reason to spend time on that question.” <\/i><\/p>\n “Lord knows I’m not perfect, but I don’t see how I did anything wrong by asking. It’s a perfectly legitimate and logical question!”<\/i><\/p>\n So, questions number two to six: Does the speaker of the first statement mean offense? Is the statement offensive? Will the hearer be offended? Is the second speaker perfect? Does he believe he is, or at least so close that he needs to point out he isn’t? <\/p>\n We all say things that contradict what we say or how we say it. I have to continually remind myself that what I say gains its meaning not just from the naked words I use, but from context, tone of voice, body language, and other factors on my end. And that’s the part of the conversation I can more or less control.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 3 —<\/strong><\/p>\n Today is World Standards Day<\/a>. The motto is “Creating Confidence Globally,” and the presidents of the three main standards organisations begin their address<\/a> as follows: “In today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world we need to have a high level of expectation that things will work the way we expect them to work.” They go on to mention things like telephones, cars, and healthcare equipment to make their case. <\/p>\n Considering Quick Take #2, maybe we should work on ISO 137353 Speech Protocol for Human Oral\/Aural Interaction.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 4 —<\/strong><\/p>\n Or maybe there’s a better way. Maybe we can take solace that even Jesus struggled with communication: many couldn’t or wouldn’t understand his message. And maybe we can be inspired by his consistent willingness to reach out to everyone who made even the smallest effort to understand. Jesus said: “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side,” and not “Come on, Thomas, don’t you trust me?” <\/p>\n <\/a>— 5 —<\/strong><\/p>\n And then there’s Paul’s command to “love [my wife], just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Jesus didn’t only die for the church, he loved it in many other ways, too. Why do I have the hunch I’m more likely to die for Janet than wash her feet? <\/p>\n <\/a>— 6 —<\/strong><\/p>\n And now for something completely different.<\/p>\n Amazon.com has introduced a Universal Wish List. This is not a new or original idea, but because I already have a wish list on Amazon, it’s convenient. Convenient, that is, if you live in the US.<\/p>\n I installed the button add-in for my Firefox browser and tried to use it for an item on a Swiss website. It turns out the “Add to list” button redirects to the UK Amazon site instead of the US Amazon site. I tried with the following sites, just for fun: So I can’t use the Universal Wish List until they fix the button. It’s taken me three e-mails to Amazon to get the problem across, and another to get someone to not just suggest alternate products. I’m curious to see if they fix the button, and stop deciding for me where I ought to have my wish list.<\/p>\n <\/a>— 7 —<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking of deciding for me, the EU has re-issued its Toy Safety Directive. One item on it has been making the rounds: the EU is requiring all manufacturers of latex balloons to warn against letting children under the age of eight blow them up without adult supervision (see page 36 of 174 in the slightly older copy<\/a> I found). Newspapers are talking<\/a> about the EU banning balloons – but the warnings are apparently neither new, nor stricter than in the US<\/a>.<\/p>\n So what’s the take-home message here? First, fact-check your newspaper, and second, remember that “international standards for products and services underpin quality, ecology, safety, reliability, interoperability, efficiency and effectiveness,” so those 174 pages clearly are 174 pages of all-around blessing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nBasel T-Shirts on a German website<\/a> — redirected to UK
\nA Spitz CD on rakuten.co.jp<\/a> — redirected to UK
\nThe book I meant to add<\/a> — redirected to UK
\nA Basel T-Shirt on Cafepress<\/a> — redirected to UK
\nand the kicker
\nAmazon.com’s own kindle<\/a> — redirected to UK<\/p>\n