Well, it’s not Friday, but I feel like doing something a little more amusing and my blog seems to have been quite dark of late. So here’s a little quiz for everyone to have a go at. Here’s my result, let me know how you rate.

Your Dominant Thinking Style: Exploring

You thrive on the unknown and unpredictable. Novelty is your middle name.You are a challenger. You tend to challenge common assumptions and beliefs.An expert inventor and problem solver, you approach everything from new angles.You show people how to question their models of the world.

What’s Your Thinking Style?

I was thinking about writing a little about Christmas and Buddhism, but found that others have already done the job and done it better than I could have. In true geek tradition, I won’t waste time reinventing the wheel, but I’ll simply link to them.

First up is the Precious Metal blog, I enjoyed this post and like the way he points out the common ground between our two paths.

Secondly I’d like to share this article from the About Ulverston website. I especially liked the use of a parallel with Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, very nicely done.

Finally, I’d just like to take this chance to wish everyone everywhere a happy Christmas and a great New Year.

I was reading an interesting article by Cory Doctorow and as I know a few folks on Facebook and other such sites, I thought I’d link to the article here.

It’s an interesting read and I have to say I can certainly see his point, though he doesn’t cover the use of Facebook and other social sites for spamming.  I know I had to deal with spam friend requests on MySpace, and I expect to have to do the same with Facebook in the fullness of time.

It makes you question, as I have been, the exact amount of quality Facebook adds to a persons experience in cyberspace.

I’ve had a little time off from work this week, so as well as my favourite holiday pastime of not getting out of bed. I spent a little time asking and maybe answering a question. What good is Second Life and can a person who is interested in spiritual awakening make any use of it? I think the answer is a definite yes. Read on…..

There are several groups of Buddhists in Second Life, I joined “SL Buddhists” and later “Skeptical Buddhists”. A quick search turned up some meditation gardens and even a whole island devoted to dharma. I’ll write about Bodhi Island first.

Bodhi Island is run by a non profit group, it’s an entire island in Second Life (hereafter SL) devoted to Buddhist teachings, as a quick aside, SL is made up of large islands, which are subdivided into plots so residents can own and/or rent property of their own. teleported straight to the island and was deposited on a Lotus flower amid some trees. After taking in my surroundings and touching a few landmarks for more information, I started to explore. As I wandered the island, I found gems embedded in the landscape which when touched gave me snippets of Buddhist teachings in the Theravada tradition. As I reached one point in the landscape, a Dharma talk started streaming, i found it pleasing to just sit and listen for a while.

There are hidden areas all over the island for the determined visitor to find, which made my subsequent visits very enjoyable, as I found more hidden nooks that I’d missed. I think that this island just shows what can be achieved when someone thinks creatively, further, there are examples of architecture on this island that most visitors will probably never get to see up close. I’ve illustrated two of these in the screenshots, but there are more. Second Life has been criticised for being frivolous and of little value, but I’m finding that it can provide new and interesting ways of putting information across. I would never have had the chance to walk round and examine the buildings and structures I’ve seen faithfully reproduced on Bodhi island with using Second Life.

While wandering in SL I had the  good fortune to find a Buddhist sangha, The Skeptical Buddhists,  that meets regulary for both discussion and meditation and was able to join them for a discussion meeting.  Once again this brought home the fact that SL is a new angle on communication, reference notes were distributed quickly and effectively and we were able to review the history of what had been said. I found it particularly gratifying, given my sometime unreliable memory, to be able to copy and paste the chat into a text document so I can reread it later!

I think this has been a good start, I’m looking forward to seeing where this journey leads me!

OK, this could get interesting. I downloaded the Linux Client for Second Life last night. It’s been a while since I last wandered into SL, and that was only a brief trip right before Duran Duran did a concert in there.

As my system is a bit meatier than the last one I tried this with, I decided to give it another go. As it turns out there are Buddhists in there and I’m sure there are many places of interest to visit.

It seems that Second Life is aiming to be a 3d complement to the 2d web, admittedly my limited experience so far is the orientation island, but so far I’m finding it easier than previously and I have to say it’s growing on me a lot more this time than it did last time.

Let the journey begin…..

Well, it’s been a gorgeous afternoon and I decided to do something I’ve been intending to do for some time, I took my camera and paid a local attraction a visit, in this case Haden Hill park. This is a local park in Old Hill, which includes Haden Hill House parts of which date from the Tudor period and also a newer nature reserve which is home to Pipistrell bats and Tawny Owls among other species.

Heck it’s a Friday and I’ll take a day off from Philosophy.

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this worldSo much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all… But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficultYou are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

We’ve probably all seen the Get a Mac ads at the cinema or on TV, well Novell have put together a couple of spoof ads for Linux. I think the second one is better, check them out!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtp5gNhBZgo]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVOnFdMf0RU]

Your Personality is Very Rare (INTP)

Your personality type is goofy, imaginative, relaxed, and brilliant.Only about 4% of all people have your personality, including 2% of all women and 6% of all men You are Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

Your Element Is Water

A bit of a contradiction, you can seem both lighthearted and serious.That’s because you’re good at going with the flow - but you also are deep.Highly intuitive, you tune in to people’s emotions and moods easily. You are able to tap into deep emotional connections and connect with others. You prefer a smooth, harmonious life - but you can navigate your way around waves. You have a knack for getting people to get along and making life a little more peaceful.

What’s Your Element?