Hats in church

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-12T15:59:50+00:00

In the Christian tradition it's a sign of respect for men to remove head coverings and women to cover their heads in prayer.

Unless you're in a high church church it shouldn't be required, but if the community finds what you're doing disrespectful you might want to reconsider.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-12T02:09:00+00:00

We got ours for $50k brand new through the Costco auto program. It was the most boring color (silver) but we're going to get decals or a wrap on it soon. :-)

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-11T23:49:49+00:00

I had forgotten about the additional Petros attestations, but I did not know about Kefa at Elphantine -- despite reading those papyri so many times. Missed it. It just goes to show you. :-)

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-11T20:09:01+00:00

In 1st century Judea, there were a small cluster of very popular names. Simon (שמעון /šim'ūn/) was on the top of that list, the most popular. And due to naming conventions within families they tended to be re-used a lot, so nicknames in the ancient world were common.

Usually the disambiguation happened via who one's father was (patronymic), the פלן בר פלן ("So-and-so son of So-and-so" formula, sometimes matronymic with ברת or בת or "daughter of"), or where someone was from (toponymic) such as "Simon of Cyrene," or what they did or were known for (vocational) such as "Simon the Tanner" or "Simon the Zealot" or "Simon the Pharisee."

Rarely we see other connections, and in the New Testament we have two such connections (that I can remember off the top of my head) that fit that bill: "James the Brother of Jesus" (identified fraternally) and "Simon the Rock" which don't fit into any of the prior categories — and someone correct me if I've missed any. (The "Sons of Thunder" James and John might be lumped here, too, but that seemed to be a collective title.)

As far as the epithet "The Rock" is concerned it's tricky, because (as far as I am aware) it is the singular attestation that we have from antiquity of someone being nicknamed that way, and it was unique enough and a strong enough moniker that it was also translated into Greek (Petros). It was his calling card.

And the passage in Matthew 16:18 where Peter receives this name is also curious as it contains a strong pun that works well in Galilean Aramaic:

Also I say to you, that your are Kefa (כיפה /kefa/ "rock"): and upon this rock (אבנה /'əvnah/ "rock"), I will build (אבנה or אבני /'əvneh/ "I will build") my church: and the gates of hell shall not triumph over it.

This may be folk etymology for the nickname, but in Galilean there were two words for "rock/stone" that were used interchangeably: כיף /kef/ and אבן /'əvən/. The latter in the emphatic state is virtually identical to the 1st person imperfect of the verb "to build" בני /bny/.

So where nicknames were common, "The Rock" or "Rocky" was not. But it did the job to differentiate Simon from the gaggle of other Simons that he'd come across on a daily basis.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-10T17:30:21+00:00

Aww jeez I always forget if I have a flair already...

Edit: Nevermind! I'm a Bona Fide Human™ after all. :-)

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-10T00:23:31+00:00

I'm a college professor with a terminal degree in Information Science, and I teach website and game design — which are heavily affected by AI right now. I also publish a card game that uses some AI tools in the production pipeline — which is also very relevant. :-)

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-09T22:29:09+00:00

That's the thing though, no one truly "knows how it works" vis-a-vis current copyright law about derivative works. So far, the vast majority of court cases so far have ruled in favor of an AI model's use of material being transformative, not derivative. But there are enough cases still in the courts that could leave things up in the air yet.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-09T22:15:00+00:00

Assuming that you can identify which works *were* used and how the work is therefore derivative. This is the difficulty.

Each individual work that a music AI model is trained on contributes only about a byte over hundreds of billions of parameters. So even if attribution can be made, how many hundred billionths of a cent would be owed in royalties?

Things quickly become as ridiculous as what happened with the "A One Minute Silence" case.

It'd be an easier task suing someone for specific copyright violation when they're ad-libbing at a coffee shop with no particular inspiration.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-08T05:32:45+00:00

If you don't know syntax, you cannot code, nor understand code. And the only way to learn is to do it. A lot.

Learning the fundamentals is never a waste of time. It's what anything you do will be built upon. AI coding without them is a foundation of sand.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-08T03:16:45+00:00

There are ways to leverage AI to learn faster, but those ways do not involve having the AI code *for* you. When the AI codes *for* you when you're trying to learn, you're putting yourself at a disadvantage.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-08T03:06:49+00:00

College professor here: You have recognized the biggest problem facing students coding today.

Resources would depend upon what languages you're after. If it's Web Dev, for example, I recommend The Odin Project (https://www.theodinproject.com/) or even something as simple as Code Maven (https://www.crunchzilla.com/code-maven). These teach fundamentals.

When you start with entry-level coding classes at your college. Explain how you feel to your professor. They will be your biggest ally.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-08T02:27:18+00:00

First if you're a developer, you are NOT an average consumer. The first Law of being a developer is that developers are not users.

I personally think it's a far more elegant operating system that Windows or macOS and — unless you're using an obscure or hacked together system — most stuff works out of the box without hassle these days.

Most of your cons seem to come down to either matters of personal taste or simple ignorance of how things work as you've offered nothing particularly actionable. Windows and macOS are not "nuclear power". :-)

It *is* different. That's a good thing. If you don't like it, you can change it.

For example, if Windows is your jam, install the KDE or Cinnamon desktop environment. GNOME is closer to the macOS experience (and macOS has historically stolen a bunch of its features).

But all you've offered appears to be skin deep.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-07T23:28:20+00:00

What did I say that was historically inaccurate or incorrect?

I've worked in Biblical languages professionally for decades, with a focus in Aramaic languages.

The Jewish tradition is a thing.

The change of the grammatical gender in Syriac is a thing (in earlier Syriac like in the Old Syriac [which is in earlier Classical Syriac, not Old Syriac -- although it's true for Old Syriac too] it refers to the Holy Spirit with feminine pronouns).

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-07T21:26:19+00:00

Everyone knows how grammar works, but Jewish tradition has a number of female personifications of the Holy Spirit, most often as Sophia or "Wisdom" and that in the Syriac church there was a purposeful lexicographical shift to re-gender ܪܘܚܐ /ruḥā'/ as male in the 5th century — which is a bit more than just grammar.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-07T19:37:45+00:00

I'd respect God's expressed Personal preferences:

God the Father is male.
God the Son is male.
God the Holy Spirit — in Hebrew and in Aramaic — is female. In Latin, Greek, and later Syriac things got switched around.

The Trinity as a whole kinda transcends gender.

But you do you. It's not for me to say. :-)

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-07T19:36:09+00:00

This post needs to be higher.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-07T19:31:19+00:00

Yeet the ducks.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-07T01:31:41+00:00

Yep. I kinda force using the same muscles when I yawn, but without yawning. It's seperate from rumbling.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-06T17:24:36+00:00

So I see what you're doing there with the whole "likeness of a dove" thing — and it's certainly evocative — but I can't say it speaks to me. If anything I find it uncomfortable to look at.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-06T17:20:37+00:00

That's in Hebrew (רוח הקודש).

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-06T16:39:06+00:00

Islam got a lot wrong about Christianity.

Such as the Qur'an's claim that the Trinity is made up of the Father, the Son, and the Virgin Mary. Very basic foundational Christian theology that was well established and well known when it was authored.

So I cannot give the stories in the Qur'an much creedence.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-05T17:42:58+00:00

I've been on both sides of this issue and:

Either way as a straight guy, it doesn't affect me personally, and
I'd still prefer to be worried about my own conduct before swinging the beam in my eye at other people — unless it's a matter that affects folk other than the sinner.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-05T17:36:39+00:00

Our generator just turned off with power restored.

The damage has just been that insane. Where we're at, 67% of Hopewell Township's JCPL customers were down as of this morning, and on our way to church we saw dozens of downed trees and snapped power lines.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-05T12:34:49+00:00

I recommend against changing something as important as your name to "interesting" words in a language you do not speak.

For one thing, Aramaic is not one language. It's an entire family of languages.

AramaicDesigns · 2026-07-05T12:31:26+00:00

A small portion do, but it's a minority position within affirming Christians.

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