Today News

The Best Nintendo Wii Downloads

2008-05-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

By Jacob R Freeman
The Nintendo Wii has created a craze in the gaming industry and is the most talked about new game console today. I recently heard that for a second Christmas in a row, there will not be enough Nintendo Wii consoles in stores. Because of the Nintendo Wii's popularity, there are many people talking about the possibility of securely downloading games for the Nintendo Wii. If you search Google.com for Nintento Wii game downloads, you will find thousands of results, but how can you tell which site can be trusted and will not be full of viruses. Plus, you want the site with the best quality games and newest releases.

With all the potential downloads, it is now possible to make your Nintendo Wii into a home entertainment system. Great Wii games sites will offer retro Nintendo games as well as the latest releases of games. Not to mention, they will also provide downloads for all media accepted by the Nintendo Wii. The best sites for Nintendo Wii download offer one time membership fees. That way you can download as much as you want, including all the classic retro Nintendo games. This is a legal way to download, and the best sites keep the games free from viruses and spyware. With one fee, you play games forever and save your money for something else.

To find out how to download Nintendo Wii games and media go to http://www.squidoo.com/best-nintendo-wii-downloads/ and enjoy never having to go to game shops and spending hard earned cash on games that you don't enjoy.

Jacob Freeman is a Nintendo Wii addict. Jacob's blog http://www.squidoo.com/best-nintendo-wii-downloads/ has a lot of resources of the best Nintendo Wii Downloads. Check it out http://www.squidoo.com/best-nintendo-wii-downloads/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacob_R_Freeman

TEN MOST COMMON QUESTIONS ASKED BY CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES AGAINST ISLAM

2008-01-02T06:57:00.000-08:00

by

Dr. Zakir Naik

1. QUR’AN PLAGIARIZED FROM THE BIBLE :

Question

Is it not true that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has copied the Qur’an from the Bible?

Answer

Many critics allege that Prophet Muhummad (pbuh) himself was not the author of the Qur’an but he learnt it and/or plagiarised (copied or adapted) it from other human sources or from previous scriptures or revelations.

1. MUHUMMAD LEARNT THE QUR’AN FROM A ROMAN BLACKSMITH WHO WAS A CHRISTIAN

Some Pagans accused the Prophet of learning the Qur’an from a Roman Blacksmith, who was a Christian staying at the outskirts of Makkah. The Prophet very often used to go and watch him do his work. A revelation of the Qur’an was sufficient to dismiss this charge - the Qur’an says in Surah An-Nahl chapter 16 verse 103:

"We know indeed that they say, ‘It is a man that teaches him,’ The tongue of him they wickedly point to is notably foreign, while this is Arabic, pure and clear."
[Al-Qur’an 16:103]

How could a person whose mother tongue was foreign and could hardly speak little but of poor broken Arabic be the source of the Qur’an which is pure, eloquent, fine Arabic? To believe that the blacksmith taught the Prophet the Qur’an is some what similar to believing that a Chinese immigrant to England, who did not know proper English, taught Shakespeare.

2. MUHUMMAD (PBUH) LEARNT FROM WARAQA - THE RELATIVE OF KHADIJAH (RA)

Muhummad’s (pbuh) contacts with the Jewish and Christian Scholars were very limited. The most prominent Christian known to him was an old blind man called Waraqa ibn-Naufal who was a relative of the Prophet’s first wife Khadijah (r.a.). Although of Arab descent, he was a convert to Christianity and was very well versed with the New Testament. The Prophet only met him twice, first when Waraqa was worshipping at the Kaaba (before the Prophetic Mission) and he kissed the Prophet’s forehead affectionately; the second occasion was when the Prophet went to meet Waraqa after receiving the first revelation. Waraqa died three years later and the revelation continued for about 23 years. It is ridiculous to assume that Waraqa was the source of the contents of the Qur’an.

3. PROPHET’S RELIGIOUS DISCUSSIONS WITH THE JEWS AND CHRISTIANS

It is true that the Prophet did have religious discussions with the Jews and Christians but they took place in Madinah more than 13 years after the revelation of the Qur’an had started. The allegation that these Jews and Christians were the source is perverse, since in these discussions Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was performing the roles of a teacher and of a preacher while inviting them to embrace Islam and pointing out that they had deviated from their true teachings of Monotheism. Several of these Jews and Christians later embraced Islam.

4. THE PROPHET LEARNT THE QUR’AN FROM THOSE JEWS AND CHRISTIANS THAT HE MET OUTSIDE ARABIA

All historical records available show that Muhummad (pbuh) had made only three trips outside Makkah before his Prophethood:

1.

At the age of 9 he accompanied his mother to Madinah.
2.

Between the age of 9 and 12, he accompanied his uncle Abu-Talib on a business trip to Syria.
3.

At the age of 25 he led Khadija’s Caravan to Syria.

It is highly imaginary to assume that the Qur’an resulted from the occasional chats and meetings with the Christians or Jews from any of the above three trips.

5. LOGICAL GROUNDS TO PROVE THAT THE PROPHET DID NOT LEARN THE QUR’AN FROM JEWS OR CHRISTIANS

1. The day-to-day life of the Prophet was an open book for all to see. In fact a revelation came asking people to give the Prophet (pbuh) privacy in his own home. If the Prophet had been meeting people who told him what to say as a revelation from God, this would not have been hidden for very long.
2. The extremely prominent Quraish nobles who followed the Prophet and accepted Islam were wise and intelligent men who would have easily noticed anything suspicious about the way in which the Prophet brought the revelations to them - more so since the Prophetic mission lasted 23 years.
3. The enemies of the Prophet kept a close watch on him in order to find proof for their claim that he was a liar - they could not point out even a single instance when the Prophet may have had a secret rendezvous with particular Jews and Christians.
4. It is inconceivable that any human author of the Qur’an would have accepted a situation in which he received no credit whatsoever for originating the Qur’an.

Thus, historically and logically it cannot be established that there was a human source for the Qur’an.

6. MUHUMMAD (PBUH) WAS AN ILLITERATE

The theory that Muhummad (pbuh) authored the Qur’an or copied from other sources can be disproved by the single historical fact that he was illiterate.

Allah testifies Himself in the Qur’an
In Surah Al-Ankabut chapter no.29 verse 48

"And thou was not (able) to recite a Book before this (Book came), nor art thou (able) to transcribe it with thy right hand: in that case, indeed, would the talkers of vanities have doubted."
[Al-Qur’an 29:48]

Allah (swt) knew that many would doubt the authenticity of the Qur’an and would ascribe it to Prophet Muhummad (pbuh). Therefore Allah in His Divine Wisdom chose the last and final Messenger to be an ‘Ummi’, i.e. unlettered, so that the talkers of vanity would not then have the slightest justification to doubt the Prophet. The accusation of his enemies that he had copied the Qur’an from other sources and rehashed it all in a beautiful language might have carried some weight, but even this flimsy pretence has been deprived to the unbeliever and the cynic.

Allah reconfirms in the Qur’an in Surah Al A’raf chapter 7 verse 157:

"Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (Scriptures) in the Law and the Gospel"

The prophecy of coming of the unlettered Prophet (pbuh) is also mentioned in the Bible in the book of Isaiah chapter 29 verse 12.

"And the book is delivered to him that is not learned."
[Isaiah 29:12]

The Qur’an testifies in no less than four different places that the Prophet (pbuh) was illiterate. It is also mentioned in Surah A’raf chapter 7 verse 158 and in Surah Al-Jumu’a chapter 62 verse 2.

7. ARABIC VERSION OF THE BIBLE WAS NOT PRESENT

The Arabic version of the Bible was not present at the time of Prophet Muhummad (pbuh). The earliest Arabic version of the Old Testament is that of R. Saadias Gaon of 900 C.E. - more than 250 years after the death of our beloved Prophet. The oldest Arabic version of the new Testament was published by Erpenius in 1616 C.E. - about a thousand years after the demise of our Prophet.

8. SIMILARITIES IN THE QUR’AN AND THE BIBLE DUE TO COMMON SOURCE

Similarities between the Qur’an and the Bible does not necessarily mean that the former has been copied from the latter. In fact it gives evidence that both of them are based on a common third source; all divine revelations came from the same source - the one universal God. No matter what human changes were introduced into some of these Judeo-Christian and other older religious scriptures that had distorted their originality, there are some areas that have remained free from distortion and thus are common to many religions.

It is true that there are some similar parallels between the Qur’an and the Bible but this is not sufficient to accuse Muhummad (pbuh) of compiling or copying from the Bible. The same logic would then also be applicable to teachings of Christianity and Judaism and thus one could wrongly claim that Jesus (pbuh) was not a genuine Prophet (God forbid) and that he simply copied from the Old Testament.

The similarities between the two signify a common source that is one true God and the continuation of the basic message of monotheism and not that the later prophets have plagiarised from the previous prophets.

If someone copies during an examination he will surely not write in the answer sheet that he has copied from his neighbour or Mr. XYZ. Prophet Muhummad (pbuh) gave due respect and credit to all the previous prophets (pbut). The Qur’an also mentions the various revelations given by Almighty God to different prophets.

9. MUSLIMS BELIEVE IN THE TAURAH, ZABOOR, INJEEL AND QUR’AN

Four revelations of Allah (swt) are mentioned by name in the Qur’an: the Taurah, the Zaboor, the Injeel and the Qur’an.

Taurah, the revelation i.e. the Wahi given to Moosa (a. s.) i.e. Moses (pbuh).
Zaboor, the revelation i.e. the Wahi given to Dawood (a.s.) i.e. David (pbuh).
Injeel, the revelation i.e. the Wahi given to Isa (A.S.) ie. Jesus (pbuh).
‘Al-Qur’an’, the last and final Wahi i.e. revelation given to the last and final Messenger Muhammad (pbuh).

It is an article of faith for every Muslim to believe in all the Prophets of God and all revelations of God. However, the present day Bible has the first five books of the Old Testament attributed to Moses and the Psalms attributed to David. Moreover the New Testament or the four Gospels of the New Testament are not the Taurah, the Zaboor or the Injeel, which the Qur’an refers to. These books of the present day Bible may partly contain the word of God but these books are certainly not the exact, accurate and complete revelations given to the prophets.

The Qur’an presents all the different prophets of Allah as belonging to one single brotherhood; all had a similar prophetic mission and the same basic message. Because of this, the fundamental teachings of the major faiths cannot be contradictory, even if there has been a considerable passage of time between the different prophetic missions, because the source of these missions was one: Almighty God, Allah. This is why the Qur’an says that the differences which exist between various religions are not the responsibility of the prophets, but of the followers of these prophets who forgot part of what they had been taught, and furthermore, misinterpreted and changed the scriptures. The Qur’an cannot therefore be seen as a scripture which competes with the teachings of Moses, Jesus and the other prophets. On the contrary, it confirms, completes and perfects the messages that they brought to their people.

Another name for the Qur’an is the ‘The Furqan’ which means the criteria to judge the right from the wrong, and it is on the basis of the Qur’an that we can decipher which part of the previous scriptures can be considered to be the word of God.

10. SCIENTIFIC COMPARISON BETWEEN QUR’AN AND BIBLE

If you glance through the Bible and the Qur’an you may find several points which appear to be exactly the same in both of them, but when you analyse them closely, you realise that there is a difference of ‘chalk and cheese’ between them. Only based on historical details it is difficult for someone who is neither conversant with Christianity or Islam to come to a firm decision as to which of the scriptures is true; however if you verify the relevant passages of both the scriptures against scientific knowledge, you will yourself realize the truth.

1.

Creation of the Universe in Six Days
As per the Bible, in the first book of Genesis in Chapter One, the universe was created in six days and each day is defined as a twenty-four hours period. Even though the Qur’an mentions that the universe was created in six ‘Ayyaams’, ‘Ayyaam’ is the plural of years; this word has two meanings: firstly, it means a standard twenty-four hours period i.e. a day, and secondly, it also means stage, period or epoch which is a very long period of time.

When the Qur’an mentions that the universe was created in six ‘Ayyaams’, it refers to the creation of the heavens and the earth in six long periods or epochs; scientists have no objection to this statement. The creation of the universe has taken billions of years, which proves false or contradicts the concept of the Bible which states that the creation of the Universe took six days of twenty-four hour durations each.
2.

Sun Created After the Day
The Bible says in chapter 1, verses 3-5, of Genesis that the phenomenon of day and night was created on the first day of creation of the Universe by God. The light circulating in the universe is the result of a complex reaction in the stars; these stars were created according to the Bible (Genesis chapter 1 verse 14 to 19) on the fourth day. It is illogical to mention the result that is the light (the phenomenon of day and night) was created on the first day of Creation when the cause or source of the light was created three days later. Moreover the existence of evening and morning as elements of a single day is only conceivable after the creation of the earth and its rotation around the sun. In contrast with the contents of the Bible on this issue, the Qur’an does not give any unscientific sequence of Creation. Hence it is absolutely absurd to say that Prophet Muhummad (pbuh) copied the passages pertaining to the creation of the universe from the Bible but missed out this illogical and fantastic sequence of the Bible.
3.

Creation of the Sun, The Earth and the Moon
According to the Bible, Book of Genesis, chapter 1, verses 9 to 13, the earth was created on the third day, and as per verses 14 to 19, the sun and the moon were created on the fourth day. The earth and the moon emanated, as we know, from their original star, the Sun. Hence to place the creation of the sun and the moon after the creation of the earth is contrary to the established idea about the formation of the solar system.
4.

Vegetation Created on the third day and Sun on the fourth day
According to the Bible, Book of Genesis, chapter 1, verses 11-13, vegetation was created on the third day along with seed-bearing grasses, plants and trees; and further on as per verses 14-19, the sun was created on the fourth day. How is it scientifically possible for the vegetation to have appeared without the presence of the sun, as has been stated in the Bible?

If Prophet Muhummad (pbuh) was indeed the author of the Qur’an and had copied its contents from the Bible, how did he manage to avoid the factual errors that the Bible contains? The Qur’an does not contain any statements which are incompatible with scientific facts.
5.

The Sun and the Moon both Emit light
According to the Bible both the sun and the moon emit their own light. In the Book of Genesis, chapter 1, verse 16 says, "And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night".

Science tells us today that the moon does not have its own light. This confirms the Qur’anic concept that the light of the moon is a reflected light. To think that 1400 years ago, Prophet Muhummad (pbuh) corrected these scientific errors in the Bible and then copied such corrected passages in the Qur’an is to think of something impossible.

11. ADAM (PBUH), THE FIRST MAN ON EARTH, LIVED 5,800 YEARS AGO

As per the genealogy of Jesus Christ given in the Bible, from Jesus through Abraham (pbuh) to the first man on earth i.e. Adam (pbuh), Adam appeared on the earth approximately 5800 years ago:

1. 1948 years between Adam (pbuh) and Abraham (pbuh)
2. Approximately 1800 years between Abraham (pbuh) and Jesus (pbuh)
3. 2000 years from Jesus (pbuh) till today

These figures are further confused by the fact that the Jewish calendar is currently on or about 5800 years old.

There is sufficient evidence from archaeological and anthropological sources to suggest that the first human being on earth was present tens of thousands of years ago and not merely 5,800 years ago as is suggested by the Bible.
The Qur’an too speaks about Adam (pbuh) as the first man on earth but it does not suggest any date or period of his life on earth, unlike the Bible - what the Bible says in this regard is totally incompatible with science.

12. NOAH (PBUH) AND THE FLOOD

The Biblical description of the flood in Genesis chapter 6, 7 and 8 indicates that the deluge was universal and it destroyed every living thing on earth, except those present with Noah (pbuh) in the ark. The description suggests that the event took place 1656 years after the creation of Adam (pbuh) or 292 years before the birth of Abraham, at a time when Noah (pbuh) was 600 years old. Thus the flood may have occurred in the 21st or 22nd Century B.C.

This story of the flood, as given in the Bible, contradicts scientific evidence from archaelogical sources which indicate that the eleventh dynasty in Egypt and the third dynasty in Babylonia were in existence without any break in civilisation and in a manner totally unaffected by any major calamity which may have occurred in the 21st century B.C. This contradicts the Biblical story that the whole world had been immersed in the flood water. In contrast to this, the Qur’anic presentation of the story of Noah and the flood does not conflict with scientific evidence or archaeological data; firstly, the Qur’an does not indicate any specific date or year of the occurance of that event, and secondly, according to the Qur’an the flood was not a universal phenomenon which destroyed complete life on earth. In fact the Qur’an specifically mentions that the flood was a localised event only involving the people of Noah.

It is illogical to assume that Prophet Muhummad (pbuh) had borrowed the story of the flood from the Bible and corrected the mistakes before mentioning it in the Qur’an.

13. MOSES (PBUH) AND PHARAOH OF THE EXODUS

The story of Moses (pbuh) and the Pharaoh of the Exodus are very much identical in the Qur’an and the Bible. Both scriptures agree that the Pharaoh drowned when he tried to pursue Moses (pbuh) and led the Israelites across a stretch of water that they crossed. The Qur’an gives an additional piece of information in Surah Yunus chapter 10 verse 92:

"This day shall We save thee in thy body, that thou mayest be a sign to those who come after thee! But verily, many among mankind are heedless of Our Signs!"
[Al-Qur’an 10:92]

Dr. Maurice Bucaille, after a thorough research proved that although Rameses II was known to have persecuted the Israelites as per the Bible, he actually died while Moses (pbuh) was taking refuge in Median. Rameses II’s son Merneptah who succeeded him as Pharaoh drowned during the exodus. In 1898, the mummified body of Merneptah was found in the valley of Kings in Egypt. In 1975, Dr. Maurice Bucaille with other doctors received permission to examine the Mummy of Merneptah, the findings of which proved that Merneptah probably died from drowning or a violent shock which immediately preceeded the moment of drowning. Thus the Qur’anic verse that we shall save his body as a sign, has been fulfilled by the Pharaohs’ body being kept at the Royal Mummies room in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

This verse of the Qur’an compelled Dr. Maurice Bucaille, who was a Christian then, to study the Qur’an. He later wrote a book ‘The Bible, the Qur’an and Science’, and confessed that the author of the Qur’an can be no one else besides God Himself. Thus he embraced Islam.

14. QUR’AN IS A BOOK FROM ALLAH

These evidences are sufficient to conclude that the Qur’an was not copied from the Bible, but that the Qur’an is the Furqaan - ‘the Criteria’ to judge right from wrong and it should be used to decipher which portion of the Bible may be considered as the Word of God.

The Qur’an itself testifies in Surah Sajda chapter 32 verse 1 to 3

Alif Laam Meem.

(This is) the revelation of the Book in which there is no doubt – from the Lord of the Worlds.

Or do they say, ‘He has forged it’? Nay, it is the Truth from thy Lord, that thou mayest admonish a people to whom no warner has come before thee: in order that they may receive guidance."
[Al-Qur’an 32:1-3]

7. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MARY AND MIRIAM

Question

It is mentioned in your Qur’an that Mary was the sister of Aaron (pbuh). Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who wrote the Qur’an did not know the difference between Miriam the sister of Aaron (pbuh) and Mary the Mother of Jesus (pbuh), the time span between both of them was about a thousand years.

Answer

1. IN THE SEMITIC LANGUAGES SISTER ALSO MEANS DESCENDANT

The Qur’an mentions in Surah Maryam, Chapter 19 verses 27-28

"At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: ‘O Mary! Truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!

O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!’"
[Al-Qur’an 19:27-28]

Christian missionaries say that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did not know the difference between Mary the mother of Jesus (pbuh) and Miriam the sister of Aaron (pbuh). The time span between both was more than a thousand years.

In the Arabic construction of the sentence, sister is also considered as a descendant. Thus, when the people said to Mary, Ukhta Haroon i.e. ‘sister of Aaron’ it actually means descendant of Aaron (pbuh).

2. SON ALSO MEANS DESCENDANT

It is mentioned in the Gospel of Mathew, Chapter 1 verse 1

"Jesus Christ, the son of David,....".
[Mathew 1:1]

Gospel of Luke Chapter 3, verse 23

"And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, ....."
[Luke 3:23]

DID JESUS (PBUH) HAVE TWO FATHERS?

What do you call a person who has two fathers? The explanation of the phrase that Jesus (pbuh) was the son of David (pbuh), is that Jesus (pbuh) was a descendant of David (pbuh). ‘Son’, here means a descendant.

8. JESUS (PBUH) DID NOT DIE

Question

Is it not true that your Qur’an mentions in Surah Maryam, Chapter 19 verse 33 that Jesus (pbuh) died and was resurrected?

Answer

JESUS (PBUH) SAID, "THE DAY THAT I DIE", NOT "THE DAY THAT I DIED"

It is mentioned in Surah Maryam, Chapter 19 verse 33

"So Peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die and the Day that I shall be raised up to life (again)".
[Al-Qur’an 19:33]

The Qur’an mentions that Jesus (pbuh) said "Peace is on me the Day I was born, the day that I die". It is not stated "the day that I died". It is in the future tense and not in the past tense.

1. JESUS (PBUH) WAS RAISED UP ALIVE

The Qur’an further says in Surah Nisa, Chapter 4 verse 157-158:

"That they said (in boast), ‘We killed Jesus Christ the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah’ – But they killed him not, Nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not –

Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is exalted in Power, Wise."
[Al-Qur’an 4:157-158]

9. JESUS IS "A WORD" OF ALLAH AND A "SPIRIT" FROM ALLAH

Question

Does not your Qur’an mention that Jesus is Kalimatullah –"The Word of Allah (swt)", as well as Ruhullah – "The Spirit of Allah", indicating his Divinity?

Answer
1. JESUS (PBUH) "IS A WORD FROM ALLAH" NOT "THE WORD OF ALLAH"

The Qur’an mentions in Surah Ali ‘Imran Chapter 3 verse 45

"Behold! The angels said: O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus. The son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those Nearest to Allah.
[Al-Qur’an 3:45]

Jesus (pbuh) is referred in the Qur’an as a word from Allah and not as ‘the word of Allah’.

"A word" of Allah means a message of Allah. If a person is referred to as "a word" from Allah, it means that he is a Messenger or a Prophet of Allah.

2. THE TITLE OF A PROPHET (PBUH) DOES NOT MEAN THAT IT EXCLUSIVELY BELONGS TO THAT PROPHET (PBUH)

Different titles are given to different prophets (pbut). Whenever a title is given to a prophet (pbuh), it does not necessarily mean that the other prophets do not have the same characteristic or quality. For e.g. Prophet Abraham (pbuh) is referred to in the Qur’an as Khaleelullah, a friend of Allah. This does not indicate that all the other Prophets (pbuh) were not the friends of Allah. Prophet Moses (pbuh) is referred to in the Qur’an as Kaleemullah, indicating that God spoke to him. This does not mean that God did not speak to others. Similarly when Jesus (pbuh) is referred to in the Qur’an as Kalimatullah, "a word from Allah", it does not mean that the other Prophets were not "the word," of Allah.

3. JOHN THE BAPTIST (PBUH) IS ALSO CALLED "A WORD" OF ALLAH

Yahya (pbuh) i.e. John the Baptist (pbuh) is also referred to in the Qur’an as Kalimatullah i.e. a word of Allah in Surah Ali ‘Imran, Chapter 3, verses 38-39

"There did Zakariya Pray to his Lord, saying: "O my Lord! Grant unto me from Thee a progeny that is pure: for Thou art He that heareth prayer!

While he was standing in prayer in the chamber, the angels called unto him: "Allah doth give thee glad tidings of Yahya, witnessing the truth of a Word from Allah, and (be besides) noble, chaste, and a Prophet – of the (goodly) company of the righteous."
[Al-Qur’an 3:39]

4. JESUS (PBUH) REFERRED AS RUHULLAH – A SPIRIT OF ALLAH

Jesus (pbuh) also never referred to as Ruhullah "a spirit of Allah" but as a spirit from Allah in Surah Nisa Chapter 4 verse 171

"O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Jesus Christ the son of Mary was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah, And His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His Messengers. Say not ‘Trinity’: desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is One God: glory be to Him: (Far Exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs."
[Al-Qur’an 4:171]

5. SPIRIT OF ALLAH IS BREATHED IN EVERY HUMAN BEING

A spirit from Allah does not indicate that Jesus (pbuh) is God. The Qur’an mentions in several places that Allah breathed into the human beings "His Spirit" in Surah Al-Hijr, chapter 15 verse 29 in Surah Sajdah, chapter 32 verse 9

Surah Al Hijr Chapter 15 verse 29

"When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him."
[Al-Qur’an 15:29]

Surah Sajdah Chapter 32 verse 9

"But He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of His spirit. And He gave you (the faculties of) hearing and sight and feeling (and understanding): little thanks do ye give!"
[Al-Qur’an 32:9]

10. IS NOT THE QUR’AN WRITTEN BY SATAN?

Question

The Qur’an is not the Word of God but on the contrary the handiwork of Satan.

Answer

In reply to a similar allegation put forward by the pagans of Makkah, that the prophet (pbuh) received the revelations from Satan, the following verses were revealed:

Surah Waqiah, chapter 56 verses 77-80

"That this is indeed
A Qur’an most honourable,

In a Book well-guarded,

Which none shall touch
But those who are clean:

A Revelation from the Lord
Of the Worlds."

Kitabim Maknoon means a book well guarded or a protected book, referring to Lauh-e-Mahfooz in the heaven, which none shall touch except the Mutahhareen. i.e. those who do not have any uncleanliness or impurity or evil like sin. This refers to the angels. The satan is absolutely prohobited.

Thus since it is impossible for satan to come anywhere close to it or touch it, the question of him writing the verses of the Glorious Qur’an does not arise.

It is further mentioned in Surah Shura, chapter 26 verse 210-212

"No evil ones have brought
Down this (Revelation):

It would neither suit them
Nor would they be able (To produce it).

Indeed they have been removed
Far from even (a chance of)
Hearing it."

Many people have a wrong concept of satan. They think that satan can probably do everything, except a couple of things that God can do. According to them, satan is slightly below God in power. Since the people do not want to accept that the Qur’an is a miraculous revelation, they say that it is satan’s handiwork.

1.

If satan would have written the Qur’an, he would not have mentioned in the same Qur’an in Surah Nahl, chapter 16 verse no. 98

"When thou does read
The Qur’an, seek Allah’s protection from Satan the Rejected One."

Is this how you feel satan would write a book? Does he tell you; "Before you read my book ask God to save you from me?"

2.

There are several verses in the Qur’an which will give enough evidence that satan is not the author of the Qur’an.

In Surah Al Aaraf chapter 7 verse 200

"If a suggestion from Satan assail your (mind),
seek refuge with Allah; for He hears and knows
(all things).

Why would satan tell his followers, that whenever he gives any suggestions to them, they should seek refuge in Allah (swt) to whom he is an avowed enemy.

3.

In Surah Baqarah, chapter 2 verse 168

"O ye people!
Eat of what is on earth, lawful and good;
and do not follow the footsteps of the Evil one,
For he is to you an avowed enemy."

4.

In Surah Yasin, chapter 36 verse 60

"Did I not enjoin on you,
O ye children of Adam,
that ye should not worship Satan;

for that he was to you an enemy avowed?"

Satan is intelligent, no wonder that he can put this idea into the minds of people that he himself wrote the Qur’an. Compared to Almighty God, Satan is insignificant, and Allah (swt) is far more intelligent. He knows satan’s evil intentions and hence no wonder that He has given the reader of the Qur’an several proofs to show that Qur’an is God’s word, and not satan’s word.

The Bible mentions in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 3, verses 24-26

"And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that
kingdom cannot stand."

"And if a house be divided against itself,
that house cannot stand."

"And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end."

www.irf.net

FBI Releases New Info On 1971 Skyjacker DB Cooper

2008-01-02T06:52:00.000-08:00

The FBI is making a new stab at identifying mysterious skyjacker Dan Cooper, who bailed out of an airliner in 1971 and vanished, releasing new details that it hopes will jog someone’s memory.

The man calling himself Dan Cooper, also known as D.B. Cooper, boarded a Northwest flight in Portland for a flight to Seattle on the night of Nov, 24, 1971, and commandeered the plane, claiming he had dynamite.

In Seattle, he demanded and got $200,000 and four parachutes and demanded to be flown to Mexico. Somewhere over southwestern Washington, he jumped out the plane’s tail exit with two of the chutes.

On Monday, the FBI released drawings that it said probably are close to what Cooper looked like, along with a map of areas where Cooper might have landed.

"Who was Cooper? Did he survive the jump? We’re providing new information and pictures and asking for your help in solving the case," the FBI said in a statement.

The FBI said that while Cooper was originally thought to have been an experienced jumper, it has since concluded that was wrong and that he almost certainly didn’t survive the jump in the dark and rain. He hadn’t specified a route for the plane to fly and had no way of knowing where he was when he went out the exit.

"Diving into the wilderness without a plan, without the right equipment, in such terrible conditions, he probably never even got his chute open," Seattle-based agent Larry Carr said.

He also didn’t notice that his reserve chute was intended only for training and had been sewn shut.

Several people have claimed to be Cooper over the years but were dismissed on the basis of physical descriptions, parachuting experience and, later, by DNA evidence recovered in 2001 from the cheap tie the skyjacker left on the plane.

In 1980, a boy walking near the Columbia River found $5,800 of the stolen money, in tattered $20 bills.

www.newsonfire.com

What will be the hottest car in 2008?

2008-01-01T00:56:00.000-08:00

2007 brought a lot of exciting products and it's been a great time to be a car buyer with so many great cars available.

And, the market has been soft, so you have been able to negotiate some great deals on what's out there.

Plus, there are so many great models on the horizon.

The Nissan GT-R, BMW M3, 1-Series, X6, Infiniti EX, Lexus IS-F, GM Hybrid Trucks, will all be in dealerships in 2008.

And if that's not exciting enough, all the clean German diesels will be hitting lots for the 08 Christmas season.

So tell us what cars/trucks are you most excited to see/drive/buy in 2008?

Feel free to include cars that are coming to the auto shows, rumored to surface or hitting dealerships in 2008.

www.hotcarnews.net

Warner Music to Sell DRM-Free Music Via Amazon

2007-12-31T21:27:00.000-08:00

SEATTLE — Warner Music Group, a major holdout on selling music online without copy protection, caved in to the growing trend Thursday and agreed to sell its tunes on Amazon.com Inc.'s digital music store.

Until now, Warner Music had resisted offering songs by its artists in the MP3 format, which can be copied to multiple computers and burned onto CDs without restriction and played on most PCs and digital media players, including Apple Inc.'s iPod and Microsoft Corp.'s Zune.

The deal raises the total number of MP3s for sale through Amazon's music download store to more than 2.9 million.

Warner Music's entire catalog, including work by artists Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin and Sean Paul, will be added to the site throughout the week.

The Amazon store launched with nearly 2.3 million songs in September.

• Click here for FOXNews.com's Personal Technology Center.

Major music labels Universal Music Group and EMI Music Group PLC had already signed to sell large portions of their catalogs on Amazon, as had thousands of independent labels. Most songs cost 89 cents to 99 cents each and most albums sell for $5.99 to $9.99.

Warner Music Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Edgar Bronfman Jr. had been reluctant to follow in the steps of the rival recording companies.

In February, when Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs penned an essay calling on record labels to drop Digital Rights Management from tracks sold on the company's iTunes Store, Bronfman shot back during a conference call with Wall Street analysts: "We will not abandon DRM nor services that are successfully implementing DRM for both content and consumers."

The recording industry had argued that DRM itself is not what makes some songs incompatible with some digital players, but the fact that there are different versions of DRM in use.

The companies suggested Apple, whose iPod outsells all other media players, should license its DRM technology to other music services.

Apple didn't budge, and the industry's position began to unravel when EMI struck a deal with Apple to sell DRM-free versions of its music on iTunes.

A few months later, Universal announced it would do the same with a host of online retailers — with the exception of iTunes.

In an e-mail obtained by The Associated Press and distributed to Warner employees Thursday, Bronfman noted that selling downloads without DRM would help spur new types of online music applications and foster competition among online retailers.

"By removing a barrier to the sale and enjoyment of audio downloads, we bring an energy-sapping debate to a close and allow ourselves to refocus on opportunities and products that will benefit not only WMG, but our artists and our consumers as well," Bronfman wrote.

Philip Leigh, a senior analyst with the research group Inside Digital Media, said Warner Music's changing strategy is a signal that all the record labels will move in the same direction, including the last major player to drag its heels, Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

"It's not surprising they've chosen to do this first with Amazon," Leigh said. "They don't want to admit to Apple right away that they were wrong. They would rather do it indirectly."

Warner Music did not comment beyond statements in a news release Thursday, but Leigh said it is likely the company is discussing a similar deal with Apple.

Pete Baltaxe, director of digital music at Amazon, emphasized in an interview that the retailer's music store stands out from most competitors like iTunes in that it only sells MP3s, rather than a mix of protected and unprotected music.

www.foxnews.com

Apple IP Virus Released 00:01 2008

2007-12-31T21:26:00.001-08:00

Amberg, Germany - Scientists have finally developed, and accidentally released, the first active apple virus. It has the capability of traversing IP networks and the worldvirus yeah right wide web, even Web 2.0. The virus was apparently dropped at 00:01, 2008 and saturated the internet in seconds. A German physicist and biologist was reported as saying, “Es tut mir leid, aber das ist aber schade.” Which means,”I’m sorry but, that’s a shame.”

The virus strain was apparently keep in the lab under study for several months before a technicians energy drink spilled in the lab, washing the virus in to a Gigabit Ethernet card. When asked, “How could this happen?” He replied, “Ja, Es macht nichts. This translated to, “Yes, It doesn’t matter.

Its effects are unknown at this point. A spokesperson for the Ip Virus Association (IPA) declined to comment on Tuesday.
bloggingthat.com

I want to punch Dick Clark

2007-12-31T21:24:00.000-08:00

Watching Dick “Terminator Face” Clark just pissed me off so much I have to write about it. Just give up, go to some old folks home in Florida, and drown in your big bowl of breakfast mush. I hope the next thing he counts down is his heart rate as he flat lines.I don’t know what is more pathetic, Dick Clark or stupid Ryan Seacrest pretending to have a normal conversation with that old pudding brain.

I literally cringed every time Americas Oldest Stroke Faced Teenager mumbled a incoherent sentence. I get it Dick, it’s a lot of confetti. ABC should have just CGI’ed him doing something that actually matters.

I got to give him some credit though. At least this year he didn’t forget the number 7 in his count down.

The worst part of Dick Clark’s Rockin Eve is that it was the best thing on. I wasn’t going to sit through Fox’s “Cross promotion” 2008 or whatever the hell Carson Daily does that he calls entertainment.

Dick Clark needs to get some tips from Jerry Lewis, because at least Jerry spiced up his bore-a-thon with a faggot joke. Hey, maybe Jerry and Dick can help each other out. Lewis can write some material for the new years eve gig, while Dick can stand in for one of Jerry’s Muscular Dystrophy kids.

grarg.net

Shut the hell up. Xbox live is down, boo hoo...

2007-12-31T21:23:00.000-08:00

After reading a few digg posts and the Xbox forums I've come to the conclusion that everyone on there should just keep their big FUCKING MOUTH SHUT! I mean Jesus Christ, Xbox live has been down for ONE week since it started, ONE WHOLE WEEK!! and you people woke stop yapping on about it. Listen to me and listen good retard, because I'm only gonna say this once.

Microsoft is a big company, one of the biggest in the world, if not the biggest. Since Xbox live started way way back on the Xbox there hasn't been a stink of lag, or an ordour of downtime. That's pretty amazing considering the servers are running 24/7 and when you people complain over and over and over and demand, yes that;s right DEMAND compensation for a weeks lost of vegetating, you're pushing it. Is complaining going to do anything about it? No. Are you going to get reimbursed? No. Will you ever shut the fuck up about it? No.

It's 50 dollars a YEAR, a week's worth of that is BARELY 50 cents. So why don't you sit back in your gaming chair, play single player or how about going outside to get some nice fresh air or maybe interacting with actual people and not headsets.

Stupid cunts, signed yours sincerely,

Elliott Flynn

2008 Here I Come!

2007-12-31T21:19:00.000-08:00

Well it’s been a hell of a year, lots of fucked up shit went down.

* I found out I’m not Anna Nicole’s baby’s daddy.
* Also not Britney’s baby’s daddy either, damn you low sperm count.
* The iPhone was released and all the little bitch fan-boys ran out to buy one for $599 and then 2 months later the price was dropped to $399. haha n00bs
* Britney was constantly bashed this year, anybody else find her bald head sexy?
* Bush still sucks cock. Let me throw out a quote of what sums up my feelings for Bush - “Only steers and queers come from Texas President Bush, and you don’t much look like a steer to me so that kinda narrows it down” Fuck Bush, one immediately good thing that starts out 2008 is the fact it’s Mr. Cock-sucking Bushs’ last freaking year, yay world.
* There were some decent movies released this year but for the life of me I cannot think of one. Now that makes me wonder if they were actually any good or not, hmmmmmmm.
* I got my first ever paid vacation, woohoo go me
* I got me a new pc.
* I finally got my website back up.
* I caught the biggest fish (actually it was a shark) I had ever caught. btw shark fishing fucking rules

Now I haven’t set no specific goals for this year yet but I do have one resolution for this year.

My New Year’s resolution is to stay awake more (god I love sleep - I’m a dreamer I can’t help it) and live a little more. I know it sounds corny and all but it’s something that’s personal and I won’t talk about it to you. I get out and all but I never seem to really do things that are enjoyable, it always seems to be a mission for me. Like working on my truck or fixing people’s computer or helping out family/friends. Not that I really mind but I’m missing out on alot of what I want to do. So this year is dedicated to my happiness and all that gay crap. So here’s to me in 2008 and to the rest of you have a GREAT NEW YEAR.

written by hal
unusualfrequency.com

3 dead in Alabama helicopter crash

2007-12-31T21:15:00.000-08:00

3 dead in Alabama helicopter crash
Early Sunday morning, a rescue helicopter from Air Evac EMS crashed in thick woods during the search for hunter who had disappeared after dark in the Freedom Hills Wildlife Management Area, a 31,572-acre state hunting preserve. All three people on board, the pilot, a nurse, and an unidentified third crew member, were killed. According to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman, the helicopter crew had spotted the hunter and the crash occurred as the aircraft was hovering over his location. The hunter was recovered and was taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

www.newsrightnow.org

Woodchoppers Inn, Mudgeeraba

2007-12-31T21:13:00.000-08:00

We came here a couple of weeks ago for dinner with a friend one Friday night.

It’s an old fashioned pub located in the village of Mudgeeraba. We had some drinks first in the bar which was quite nice - lots of wooden tables in a cosy atmosphere but there wasn’t much seating and the tables around the corner are in another room and don’t have much atmosphere.

We went into the dining room at a table near the windows. I was slightly shocked to see that almost all the meals were in the $27 plus range - quite expensive for a suburban pub meal.

I ordered the twice cooked duck and my partner ordered oysters with crab meat topping and our friend ordered the lamb shanks. The lamb shanks could have been a lot more tender as the meat did not fall off the bone, the twice cooked duck also should have been crispier - the skin was still quite fatty and was not crisp like I’ve had at most other restaurants and I wasn’t a fan of the thinly sliced crisped vegetables. The interior of the restaurant is also looking a bit daggy and outdated but I guess other peoples view is that it has a country feel.

I will visit this pub again but I’ll probably just stick to catching up with friends for some drinks rather than dinner. Perhaps they should introduce some more mid range meal prices.

To write your own review of this restaurant click here.

Location:
Woodchoppers Inn

66 Railway Street
Mudgeeraba, 4213

Phone: 07 5525 3500
Web: http://www.woodchoppersinn.com

Talk good things of your deads - Hadith

2007-12-31T21:10:00.000-08:00

I was watching a program on PTV in which an analyst Mr Gohar Hamayun was invited to talk on death consequences of Benazir Bhutto. He talked lot of things but the best sentence i like from his talk was “Nabi Mohammad (peace be upon him) quoted talk good things of your deads and repeat a lot”. I really appreciate Mr Gohar to remind of that valuable and timely hadith.

In other program which right now i am watching some guests are invited who are the friends of late Benazir Bhutto. Mr Ashish Nehra who is Benazir family friend and lawyer also said the benazir Bhutto was a simple personality.

Another couple who seems to be quite good friend of Benazir Bhutto family were recalling their past moments with Benazir Bhutto by saying she was very friendly. She talked to peoples according to the peoples nature and never showed any superiority to others. She always remember to her friends, even if some one send her gift or flowers she used to call immediately and thanks for the compliments.

In my opinion she was a bold lady. She gave a new hope to women in Pakistan and Muslim world. She was courageous lady died in the path of democracy. It is my prayer for her “May Allah rest her in peace thereafter”.

source www.apnaavenue.com

The Scientific Paper: past, present and probable future

2007-12-31T20:45:00.000-08:00

Communication

Communication of any kind, including communication of empirical information about the world (which includes scientific information), is constrained by three factors: technology, social factors, and, as a special case of social factors - official conventions. The term "constrained" I used above has two meanings - one negative, one positive. In a negative meaning, a constraint imposes limits and makes certain directions less likely, more difficult or impossible. In its positive meaning, constraint means that some directions are easy and obvious and thus much more likely for everyone to go to. Different technological and societal constraints shape what and how is communicated at different times in history and in different places on Earth.

Technology - Most communication throughout history, including today, is oral communication, constrained by human language, cognitive capabilities and physical distance. Oral communication today, in contrast to early history, is more likely to include a larger number of people in the audience with whom the speaker is not personally acquanted. It may also include technologies for distance transmission of sound, e.g., telephone or podcasts. This is the most "natural" means of communication.

Smoke signals and tom-toms introduced new constraints to communication - the messages had to be codified, short and simple and much of verbal and non-verbal communication had to be eliminated. Invention of writing, on stone tablets, clay tablets and papyrus, and later on paper and in print, changed the constraints further, making some aspects of communication easier and others more difficult, leading to the development of universal rules and norms of written communication. Unlike oral communication, the written communication is unidirectional, from one to many, making feedback from the audience difficult or impossible. Thus, it is necessarily linear. Its permanence also requires greater care be taken about the form and content. Finally, physical constraints (i.e., the size of a book) impose a structure to written communication, e.g., breaking down the work into chapters, subheadings and paragraphs, placed in a particular order. Also, written communication introduces the concept of authorship (and readership) while oral communication is "owned" by all the participants in the conversation.

Society - What and how is communicated differs dramatically if the audience is small and familiar (e.g., one's children or neighbors) or large and unfamiliar (speaking at a conference). Written communication is, by definition, aimed at a large and unfamiliar audience, which has an effect on form, style and content of communication. Local habits and traditions further determine the forms and styles of communication.

Conventions - Different types of communication within particular groups of people are often officially codified, often precisely defining the language, style and format. Legal and scientific literature are probably the most extreme examples of a very strict code imposed by official societies. Such strict formalization of communication was initially very useful, imposing order (positive meaning of "constraint") to an otherwise chaotic and undependable mish-mash of communication forms, allowing all the members of the community to understand and trust each other. However, when such strict forms last for decades and centuries, they are often made out-dated by the passage of time, invention of new technologies and societal changes, thus making the negative meaning of 'constraint' more and more obvious.

Scientific Communication

Development of communication of science reflects the development of science itself. Communication of information about the facts about the world did not differ much from other forms of communication for most of history until science itself started distinguishing itself as a special type of human endeavor, different from philosophy and religion. The way science communication evolved parallels the changes in our thinking about the scientific method. At the time when trips to the countryside and armchair thinking were still regarded as science, much of communication was in the form of books. When the hypothetico-deductive aspect of the scientific method "won" as the scientific method, the fledgling scientific societies, led by the Royal Society in the UK and the Academy in France, designed the form and structure of the scientific paper - the form we still use today: title, author, abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion and references.

Today, we understand that the hypothetico-deductive method is just one of several elements of the scientific method (see this) and that the standard format of the scientific paper is perfectly unsuitable for publication of findings reached through other methods.

Description of new species (extant or extinct) requires a monograph format, for which specialized journals exist that cater to this particular format. Ecological surveys are often straight-jacketed into the standard format, with addition of unwarranted mathematization - not all science requires numbers and statistics. Finally, science is getting more and more collaborative - single-author papers are becoming a rarity, while the papers boasting 10, 20, 50 or even 100 authors are becoming a norm, which challenges the way authorship in science is determined (see this and links within).

But what really made the limitations of the standard format obvious is the genomic revolution. Sequencing a genome is not hypothetico-deductive science - it is akin to an ecological survey: apply a technique and see what you get! Now that the excitement of publication of the first few genomes has receded, the existing journals are inadequate platforms for publication of new genomes. While sequencing is getting easier with time, it is still expensive and time-consuming. Yet, the techniques have been standardized and there is really not much to say in the introduction, materials and methods or discussion sections of a genome paper. All that is needed is a place to deposit the raw data as tools for future research in an easily-minable format that makes such future research easy. The data would be accompanied by the minimal additional information: which species (or individual) was sequenced, which standard method was used (and if it was modified), and who did the work. It is not, any more, an intellectually creative endeavor, as useful as it is for the progress of biology and medicine.

Science On The Web

When e-mail first became popular as a communication method, some people understood it as an extension of the written communication (letters) while others took it to be a new form of oral communication (telephone). Of course, it is both and more. Two people can rapidly exchange a large number of brief personal messages (as in a phone conversation), or one can send a long e-mail message to a large group of people, written with proper grammar, capitalization, punctuation and formatting (as a pamphlet). And yet, it is also neither - unlike oral communication, there is no way to convey non-verbal communication (thus the invention of emoticons ;-) ). Unlike written communication, it is fast, informal, not usually taken very seriously or read carefully, and is easy to delete. E-mail is now a communication form of its own.

The communication on the Web is, likewise, a whole new form. Again, some people see it as written communication (putting an article or book online in order to reach more readers and nothing more), while others see it as a more personal, oral communication that is written down (and such people, unlike the first group, love podcasts and videos which add the non-verbal components of communication to the text). The former prefer static web-pages with their 'feel' of permanence. The latter prefer Usenet, livejournals and blogs. The latter perceive the former as stodgy, authoritarian and boring. The former perceive the latter as wild, illiterate and untrustworthy. Again, they are both right and they are both wrong - it is a whole new way of communicating, fusing and meshing the two styles in sometimes unpredictable ways - it is a mix of written and oral communication that combines permanency and authority with immediacy, honesty and the ability for rapid many-to-many communication. The younger generation will use it naturally (though this does not mean that many senior citizens today did not grasp it already as well).

So, how will the constraints (both positive and negative) imposed by the new technology and new social norms alter the formality of the scientific communication, including the format of the scientific paper?

Online, the constraints of the paper and printing press will be gone. No more need for volumes, or issues, or page numbers, or, for that matter, for the formal scientific papers.

The standard format of the scientific paper will become just one of many (and probably not the dominant or most frequent) form of scientific communication. Different people have different talents and inclinations. One is analytic, another synthetic. One is creative, another a hard worker. One has great hands with the equipment or animals, while another is good with computers and statistics. One has a lot of space and money and a network of collaborators at a prestigious institution, another is stuck in a small office somewhere in the developing world with no research funds at all. And each can make a valid and useful contribution to science. How?

One will have a great idea and publish it online. The other will turn the idea into an experimental protocol that tests the idea and will publish it somewhere online. The next will make a video of the experimental method. The next person will go to the lab and actually follow the protocol and post raw data online. The next person will take the data an analyze it and post the results somewhere else online. The next person will graph and visualize the data for easier understanding. The next person will write an essay that interprets the findings and puts them into the broader context (e.g., what does it mean?). The next one will write a summary that combines several of those findings (a review). The next will place that entire research program into the historical or philosophical context. The next will translate it into normal language that lay-people can understand.

They are all co-authors of the work. Each used his/her own strengths, knowledge and talents to contribute to the work. Yet they did not publish together, simultaneously or in the same online space, though all the pieces link to each other and thus can be accessed from a single spot. That single spot is the Scientific Journal, a place that hosts all of the pieces and links them together (also see Vernor Vinge's vision of the science of the future, combining laboratories at universities with online boards where ideas and results are rapidly exchanged).

In the future, journals will be online hosts for all styles of scientific contribution and ways to link them together (within and betwen journals) - from hypotheses and experimental methods, to data, analyses, graphs to syntheses and philosophical discussions. The peers will review each other in real time and assign each other portions of the available funding according to the community perceptions of the individual's needs and qualities. Universities will be places for teaching/training the next generations of scientists and for housing the labs. The PhD will be needed for becoming a professor, but not for becoming a worthy and respected contributor to science - that evaluation will be up to peers.

This may sound like science fiction, but we are already living in it. Repositories (like arXiv and Nature Precedings), science blogs, OA journals, Open Notebook Science (what Rosie Redfield and Jean-Claude Bradley do, for instance) are already here. And there is no going back.

So, how do we prepare for this future? Word: slowly but smartly. Science has some very conservative elements (in a non-political sense of the term) that will resist change. They will denigrate online contributions unless they are peer-reviewed in a traditional sense and published in a reputable journal in the traditional format of a scientific paper. Some will retire and die out. Others can be reformed. But such reforming takes patience and careful hand-holding.

The division of scientists into two camps as to understanding of the Web is obvious in the commentary on PLoS ONE articles (which is my job to monitor closely). Some scientists, usually themselves bloggers, treat the commentary space as a virtual conference - a place where real-time oral communication is written down for the sake of historical record. Their comments are short, blunt and to the point. Others write long treatises with lists of references. Even if their conclusions are negative, they are very polite about it (and very sensitive when on the receiving end of criticism). The former regard the latter as dishonest and thin-skinned. The latter see the former as rude and untrustworthy (just like in journalism). In the future, the two styles will fuse - the conversation will speed up and the comments will get shorter, but will still retain the sense of mutual respect (i.e., unlike on political blogs, nobody will be called an 'idiot' routinely). It is important to educate the users that the commentary space on TOPAZ-based journals is not a place for op-eds, neither it is a blog, but a record of conversations that are likely to be happening in the hallways at conferences, at lab meetings and journal clubs, preserved for posterity for the edification of students, scientists and historians of the future.

PLoS ONE is a good example of the scientific journal of the future that I have in mind - the ONE place where all the data will be deposited. The commentary space and the Hubs are where all the really interesting stuff will be happening before and after publication of data: hypotheses, methods, videos, podcasts, blogs, debates, discussions, user-user peer-review, etc. The other PLoS Journals will be places, closely connected to ONE and the Hubs, of course, where works of special value will be highlighted - high-quality, media-worthy and large/complete pieces of work, plus editorials, news, etc. - the added value. They are a necessary link between the present (past?) and the future - the showcase of the quality that we can provide and thus hopefully change the minds of the more resistant members of the scientific community.

source scienceblogs.com