Amazon introduces host of new IoT services
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At its Amazon Web Services (AWS) re:Invent conference last week, Amazon announced a number of new services for its AWS IoT platform.
AWS IoT is one of the leading cloud-based IoT platforms, and Amazon is looking to expand its capabilities to meet more of its potential clients' needs, ranging from wider edge computing to fast scaling to device management.
Embracing more of the IoT stack — the various components a company needs to use an IoT solution — makes Amazon a more attractive IoT partner and could help it grow in the vital IoT platforms space.
Here are the biggest new services and capabilities coming to AWS IoT, and how they'll impact the platform:
Amazon will likely continue to improve on AWS IoT, making it a more compelling choice for companies as a full-service platform, rather than just a cloud analytics option. This will give the company a chance to grab an even larger slice of the critical IoT platforms market, which BI Intelligence projects to grow to more than $300 billion by 2021.
BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the evolving IoT platform ecosystem that:
Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:
Source: Amazon introduces host of new IoT services
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Source: Get Premium Themes, Stock Photos, Training, and Hosting with the Ultimate Website Design Bundle for $50
Infowars host Alex Jones' 'vile' anti-lesbian rant
Warning: This article contains content that may disturb some people
Right wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has gone on what many are calling a "vile" anti-lesbian rant, accusing them of wanting to "torture" women.
The InfoWars show host went into graphic detail about how they want to "get you in a dungeon" and "eat your brain".
InfoWars is a notorious, far-right conspiracy theory media outlet that has grown rapidly in popularity over the last few years.
The website, led by Jones, has insisted the US government controls the weather, turns frogs gay and is behind several terrorist attacks and mass shootings - even going so far as to claim the young victims of the Sandy Hook massacre were "child actors".
"Most of the so-called liberal lesbians and all these groups, they just want to have the guy with the duck's ass haircut and the James Dean outfit," he says.
"They want to be the ones slapping the girls around. And statistically, it shows it. I'm not blaming all lesbians, but it shows that most of these butch lesbians, they want to be the guy smacking the hot chick around. They think that's manly."
Jones says it's because "no man will do that to them".
"If they can't find a man to smack them around, well they found them a girl going to do it real good," he says.
"Knock them upside their head, and have 50 Shades of Grey about the sexy rich guy that's going to chain you up."
The bizarre rant then deviated into how the "liberal lesbians" enjoy eating brains.
"They're going to put that devil mask or that piggy mask on. They're going to say, 'Now I'm going to torture you for about six weeks, so start begging for your mommy and your daddy.' That's the liberals. They want to get you in a dungeon," he says.
"They want to strap you down and take a buzz saw and cut the top of your head off like a pumpkin and pull it off and get a little spoon and go, 'I'm going to eat your brain now!'
"I'm going to eat your cerebral cortex last, because I've got power. I love Satan, and I'm going to suck you dry, and I'm going to torture you to death."
His speech has been attacked by the LGBT community, who have labelled it "homophobic, riddled with stereotypes, and just plain wrong".
Source: Infowars host Alex Jones' 'vile' anti-lesbian rant
Evan Turner, Noah Vonleh Hosting Winter Coat Drive to Help Kids in Need
Winter is coming in the Northwest, and Trail Blazers players Evan Turner and Noah Vonleh are stepping up to do their part for under-served youth in the area. The two are hosting the Blazers' annual winter coat drive in partnership with Fred Meyer, and donations will be distributed by Portland-area nonprofits to those in need. The pair will be at the Beaverton Fred Meyer on Walker Road at 3:00 pm Sunday, Dec. 3, to collect donations.
The Portland Patch News Desk caught up with Turner to talk about his connection to the community:
"It's important to me that the kids in our community are prepared for winter" Turner said. "Fred Meyer stores, along with Noah and I, invite Trail Blazers fans to join us in helping to keep Portland youth of all ages warm and dry. We've made it convenient by placing donation bins at 14 participating Fred Meyer locations all over the area. The season of giving has begun, so let's all participate."
Vonleh shares similar passion for lending a helping hand:
"I am proud to be teaming up with Fred Meyer this holiday season to collect and distribute winter coats to those in need," said Vonleh. "Fred Meyer is a tireless supporter of the Portland community and its commitment to giving back is something that I admire. As a professional athlete, I think it is important that I utilize my platform to give back to the local community and I am so honored to be a part of such a good cause to benefit the Portland community."
This will be the eighth year of the coat drive. A hashtag, #FredMeyerCoatDrive, allows fans to share their donations on social media and be entered for possible prizes. Donations are accepted through December 17.
You can also visit the Fred Meyers donation web site to find all of their coat drive locations.
Source: Evan Turner, Noah Vonleh Hosting Winter Coat Drive to Help Kids in Need
3 Tips for Hosting an Outstanding Church Dinner or Potluck
For many households, dinnertime has become TV time or phone time. We have forgotten the dinner table's power to shape society. Many churches lack confidence when it comes to sharing the faith, but by gathering for a shared meal, churches can strengthen their bonds of fellowship and reach unchurched people. Here are a few ways to turn your regular potlucks and church dinners into what I call the "Jesus table"—a meal that brings outsiders into the presence of Christ.
1. Set an Abundant Table
Jesus spent a lot of time around tables. Scholar John Dominic Crossan says that to watch a day in the life of Jesus would be to watch him mostly healing and eating. Other scholars, like Christine Pohl, agree, pointing out that Jesus' supper times were consistent and prominent parts of his mission. Think of how often the Gospels record instances of Jesus reclining at dinner tables with scurrilous people. He did it so often that he garnered the reputation of being a glutton, a drunkard, and a friend of sinners (Luke 7:34). But this was part of our Lord's divine strategy to bring the kingdom of God to earth and into the hearts of those far from God.
Hosting tip: Serve food in a way that reveals the abundance and generosity of the gospel, and expect people to be drawn to Christ.
Those dinners were intended by Jesus to be an invitation to faith. Jesus embedded the gospel into the dinner table event. That is our history and our heritage. When we prepare a community meal, it should be a colorful vision of the gospel.
Since the meal carries this theological significance, don't settle for a mediocre feast. I'm not saying you have to cook gourmet food, but what you prepare should be delicious and bountiful! I suggest cooking a large entrée and then asking the rest of the group to bring complementary side dishes, salads, rolls, and desserts to the dinner. Create a buffet table with tablecloths and centerpieces surrounded with numerous platters and colorful trays of food. Not only is that an inexpensive way to provide a large meal, it is truly impressive—just like the gospel!
2. Invite the Needy
The warmth of Christ in our hearts gives us a wonderful sense of fellowship. That warmth is so wonderful that some people never want to leave their Christian friends to reach outsiders. It is a good thing that the people who invited you and me into the family of God did not think that way. Every church must be reminded from time to time to include people who have little to give back.
Hosting tip: Invite some people to your dinner who are not likely to be invited to other tables. Eat with them rather than only serving them.
Most churches have a greater opportunity to do that than they realize. Virtually every town in America has neighborhoods where people are struggling economically. Underprivileged populations aren't hard to find. Often they are only a few blocks from your church. They might be within the shadow of your church building. What would it be like for a church to host a dinner for these forgotten neighbors?
From the beginning, Christian food events were designed to include the poor. In Luke 14:12–14, Jesus instructed his hearers to forgo inviting people to a banquet who could return the favor. Instead, he told them to invite people who could not pay them back. During the Apostolic era, Christ's followers understood that the table was a sacred place. To talk about the life of Jesus during those meals was tantamount to welcoming guests into the life of Christ. That was especially true when it came to inviting those whom the rest of the world had ignored or neglected.
3. Expect Jesus to Show Up
Jesus loved the dinner table. The early church believed Jesus might show up in physical form during dinners like he did to the disciples on the road to Emmaus or to those behind locked doors in the upper room. Those biblical events created a sense among early Christians that he might appear again. In some early Agape feasts, they even set an empty chair for him. They anticipated the presence of their resurrected Lord.
Hosting tip: Expect Jesus to show up and do some unexplainable things for your guests.
We need to recover the idea that Christ will show up if we set up a Jesus table. Most of us give assent to the theology of omnipresence, but we do not anticipate the presence of Jesus when we gather for a meal. But what happens in any meal hosted by Christ followers is about far more than food and fellowship; it is a sacred invitation to have dinner with Jesus. Consider how compelling that offer is! To have dinner with Jesus is to have dinner with the Healer, the Comforter, the Savior, and the Provider. A Jesus table is a portal between the house of God and the house of humanity. That is no small opportunity.
Revelation 3:20 reveals a picture of Jesus knocking on the door of people's lives. What happens if they open? "I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." Jesus still wants to eat with us. That is the heartbeat of a Jesus table; that is the divine spark that will be present in your banquet room. So set an abundant table, invite the unlikely, and sit to eat with them. Jesus will show up. He loves to dine with us.
Verlon Fosner is a leader of the Dinner Church Collective in Seattle, Washington.
Source: 3 Tips for Hosting an Outstanding Church Dinner or Potluck