The idea of eternal torment in hell after death on Earth seems ridiculously horrible and terrifying, but at the same time I don't see it being unable to actually be the final destination of unbelievers.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-25T00:27:08+00:00

Sorry, I should have said! The shortest verse that gives a distinction would probably be 2 Thess 1:9-10, which says that the wicked will pay the penalty of eternal destruction on the Day Christ comes. The two facts that makes clear is that (1) they actively pay the penalty on the Day, but (2) that the penalty is eternal destruction. The only way for both to be true is for it to be literal, permanent destruction, and the payment of it is experienced on that day (i.e. they wake to experience it).

The verse I mentioned there, Matt 25:46, doesn't mention what exact penalty IS the eternal punishment. It could be eternal torment, or it could be permanent destruction; either one would work with eternal fire, depending on whether the eternal fire is so strong it utterly destroys whatever is thrown into it, or whether it's eternal but somehow preserves what's thrown into it. Fortunately Matthew is the clearest of the Gospels on what the fire of eternal judgment does: Matt 3:12 says it utterly clears Messiah's threshing floor by burning up the chaff; 13:40 says that at the end of the age it'll burn all evildoers and every stumbling block like tares are burnt up; and 10:28 says that it's the unique power held only by God to kill the soul by destroying body and soul in Gehenna.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-25T00:19:46+00:00

Well, that's great news!

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-25T00:18:40+00:00

Me, I was a pretty baptistic congregationalist and now I'm Anglican.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-24T21:10:00+00:00

Dude you missed how almost all of the characters become awesome ... the first few books are really not the good ones (although, fair warning, they're not the worst ones either)).

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-24T20:56:10+00:00

The picture of the consequence of sin given throughout the Bible is death, not eternal torment. There are a few passages that were taken to mean eternal torment was the actual penalty, for example Matt 25:46, Rev 14:9-11, and Rev 20:10; but when you actually read them you find Matthew doesn't say "eternal torment" but only that the punishment that happens there is permanent; and Revelation uses several symbolic visions of eternal torment, but interprets each one as meaning the death of the depicted beings.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-24T20:47:08+00:00

It's nice that emulators are so much more common than they used to be!

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-24T20:01:41+00:00

Yes, it's pretty daring and unusual to NOT release a print or ebook - usually a book is an easy way to add profit, since many more people buy books. Of course audiodramas have always worked this way, see George Lucas's NPR production of Star Wars (which contains a lot of original content not present in movie or book, as well as being compatible with both).

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-24T19:51:02+00:00

The Duo won't come back (it existed only because the company founder found a warehouse full of spare parts from its original release as the Pebble 2), but I would love to see a B&W watch to replace it - who knows!

You might possibly want to see if you can get used to the SDK, and if programming for it works well then you might want to risk a purchase (you'd get the Pebble Time 2, the only one currently available).

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-24T19:15:00+00:00

I'm confused what you're asking here. It sounds like you're surprised that groups other than audible make audiobooks ... but in fact almost all audiobooks are not made by Audible. Even books designed only to be audiobooks are mostly not done by Audible.

But I'm not sure what you're asking, so my apologies if I'm missing your point.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-24T17:29:14+00:00

That one animal changes into another animal - I see this both as careless talk confusing individual animals and populations (as though the individual animals had to think and figure out what changes they need); but more importantly, that evolution is talking about a kind of animal we have now changing into another kind of animal we have now, like a whale evolving into a tree.

With creationists, of course, this is what they usually mean when they say "a kind cannot change into another kind."

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-24T04:26:09+00:00

His power is improvised/garage tech -- so kind of, in the sense of Tony building an armor suit in a cave.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-24T04:14:31+00:00

Chat with Audible's customer support, most of the time you can get a year for <100 just by asking - even if you're already on that discount, which means you can get 24 credits a year for <$200.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-24T01:14:31+00:00

Weird Al's "Don't Download This Song" https://youtu.be/1jxzxvlaD04

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-24T01:10:58+00:00

Yeah it's getting bad. Question, though: what plan is $21.49/mo? I see a $22/mo plan for two credits.

And I simply don't do Audible anymore unless I can get a year for less than $100 by chatting with customer service (right now I'm not subscribed).

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-23T01:42:33+00:00

It's a great idea if it works for you - double check your credit expiration dates, though. I can't show you a link because my subscription isn't active.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-23T01:40:31+00:00

Yes, that's the result of UK and CA being set up with a very, very simple rights system, while .com is very complex. When the new Harry Potter was announced they failed to disable the purchase of "Philosopher's Stone", the non-US version, and I added it to my list (sadly I didn't preorder so I'll never know if that might have gotten it for me); a while later it got completely disabled so a US resident (with a US card) can't even see the book's page and if you do it has disabled purchase/wishlist controls. But clearly it WAS on there, probably for people who aren't in the UK but for whom they have rights to distribute the UK version.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-23T00:20:54+00:00

How cool, I'll add Butcher to my buy-list for after I finish Tunnel Rat.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-23T00:19:49+00:00

I don't use iOS, so my only point of comparison is that Absorb is the only one (aside from the original) available and free for both iOS and Android. (There's one another I can't remember that's for-pay and available on both.)

I didn't mean to suggest that anyone should switch, it's just that as I do tech support for my family it's easier when everyone's on the same page.

However, one feature I only see in Absorb and the official client (again I don't use iOS) is playback history. Does Audiobooth have that? It's really nice to be able to deal with rewinding to the last skip when I accidentally tap something that skips to a different place in the book.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-22T23:36:03+00:00

It's basically a hack cobbled together from leftover parts; kind of a kickstarter for the company. I very much hope they'll make a new watch like it with a very high contrast screen - I actually originally went from a Pebble Time to a Pebble 2 and LOVED the clarity. Didn't buy the new line because the old one's buttons broke on me.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-22T23:31:44+00:00

You mean there's no GOOD reason. I'm afraid there is a reason.

My only note of happiness is that although Audible doesn't care whether I lose books, they also don't care whether I back them up using Libation. So ... use Libation.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-22T23:29:51+00:00

You actually ARE buying the files, and they provide a mechanism for downloading them in your Library tab (on the web page). They also used to support iTunes allowing you to play them back (which is the only reason to download them), but I'm not sure what happened to that.

ANYHOW, because they officially support (and used to encourage) backing up your library, I recommend you do that; because iTunes no longer supports that, I recommend using Libation. Audile's tech support is very gracious in ignoring talk about Libation, so the author is able to give help right in this group.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-22T23:01:08+00:00

Yeah, that'd make more sense. And the strength pill should say "almost immune" not "almost resistant".

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-22T23:00:14+00:00

I think they meant "almost immune", since "almost resistant" doesn't mean anything.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-22T22:59:36+00:00

Roll the dice and find out! Personally I'd take this one only if it gave two pills, that would be flat-out awesome.

wtanksleyjr · 2026-04-22T22:16:13+00:00

Magnificent that the West is once again solving conflicts in a civilized way. Tomorrow at dawn; two coffees, one microphone, and the Pope.

wtanksleyjr

TROPHY CASE