Also, this week.

• LookupCenter.org
• thesavageathlete.com
• landorhomes.com

But if you aren’t doing anything on Sunday and you live in the area, we’d love to have you join us.  Check out the post on the church website for more info.

Web & graphic design was never the objective, but it’s what pays the bills when I am otherwise out of work (along with my wife working outside the home).  This way, we both can make some income and not pay a daycare service.  If we had to do that, we’d be deeper in debt and not have the time we currently get to spend with our son, Aidan.  Soon, though there will be two.

Another little one is on the way, so I’ve been trying to up the number of websites I build and host on a regular basis for people.  Hopefully, if I get enough (around 10 more) sites, I will be able to tell my wife that she doesn’t have to work outside the home anymore which in turn will free me up more to do more design work.

But that is still plan B.  My heart is in Christian Ministry.  I’ve applied at a few more churches looking for a full-time opportunity.  But if that doesn’t pan out, I guess I’ll just get more involved where I am at now.  (See link to the right – in the sidebar)

More often than not, my plan b sometimes is God’s plan a.

If you’ve checked the tech blogs lately, they’ve been buzzing about a next generation iphone that came to light after an Apple employee lost the prototype at a bar.  Tech blog, Gizmodo apparently bought the device for $10,000 to take it apart and break the news on it for the sake of a few advertising dollars and a spotlight for a few days on the other tech blogs.

It’s an issue of morality & integrity that I think is unfortunately lost on a lot of our culture.  Apparently Gizmodo is also on the bandwagon of moral degradation too.  But I am curious what would have happened if Gizmodo had just given the device back to Apple instead of knowingly purchase stolen property to exploit?

Now, I have a lot of respect for Apple over their decision to ban porn applications on their app store.  A decision that I think actually embodies the philosophy of Google’s to “not be evil” better than Google has done themselves.  In this they have proven a moral stronghold when they could have easily chosen otherwise.

Bridges torn down instead of built up.

I am not sure what would have actually happened if Gizmodo had just given the device back, but I am sure that bridges would have been been built instead of torn down.  Now you have Cupertino upset over the issue.  Not because their device was leaked, but because of the lack of respect that has been shown them on behalf of the tech blogs in the face of the massive security measures usually taken by Apple to keep things under wraps till a launch date or press conference.

I will admit I am an idealist.  I think a person or company should be respected in regards to information like this.

If the device had been given back, Apple would have taken notice.  I do not think that they would have been left out in the cold either when the device was actually launched.  Apple likes to do things differently which is well-known.  An uncommon company like them would have also probably been uncommonly grateful as well.

Meet the Press.

Gizmodo hasn’t always been the giant tech blog that it is today.  Now it sits in the ranks of TechCrunch, Engadget and Lifehacker with millions of page views every month.  But Gizmodo has made it clear that they are the same caliber of journalists that made us hate printed media, blood-sucking journalists that are out to exploit anyone and anything for the bottom line.  Of course that’s what makes the page views.  That’s what pulls in the advertising dollars.  That’s how you make a name for yourself.  Exploitation.

It’s also why Gizmodo has been deleted from my feedreader as of late as well as other blogs that have done the same thing.

There are a lot of news organizations out there.  There are some really good tech blogs that I still enjoy reading, ones that haven’t “sold out” to get ahead of the game through buying stolen property.  I hope Apple shows grace to you.  I hope forgiveness is a part of their language.  The fact that this was a knowingly unreleased product, any judge in their right mind would rule in their favor, regardless of whether a police report was filed or not.

Let me share what I use my laptop for.

• Browsing the web.  Simply searching for things, doing research, and writing posts and engaging with people and friends through online communities like facebook or twitter.  The iPad definitely looks to be the better choice for this in the long run.  I can use an app to engage different social tools like I do on my iPod touch.  Now I can actually use these applications on a decent sized screen without having to sit down at a desk.  Let’s face it, laptops were not designed for the lap.  Maybe to burn your legs while you cradled the awkwardly tilted screen while the dog chews on the power cord?
• Managing web sites. Yes, most of my sites are now run on wordpress.  It’s simple to use and easy to get it to do what you want.  I even build other people sites using wordpress.  A laptop has always been the best way to do this on the go.  Now I occasionally use  the wordpress app for ipod/iphone but I find that the mobile login plugin for my wordpress installations actually has a decent interface for doing about everything I need to do on a regular basis.  In the future I think the iPad will do equally, or better than my ipod touch.
• Writing. Not just posting on websites.  Occasionally I still open up OpenOffice and write something larger than just a single post.  Resumes for example.  But there are even apps for writing resumes now.  Increasingly, I have found that sitting down to write something using my laptop is becoming more of a multi-tasking adventure and quite a distraction from actually writing.  My antivirus needs updating.  I just received an email or windows itself needs some kind of update.  One of the greatest complaints about the iPad is that it doesn’t multi-task, but to me this is one of the reasons I am getting an iPad.  I don’t want to have to babysit my laptop so I can settle down to write something.  I might also mention that apps are better alternatives to over priced software as well.  Apple has always had a better software pricing scheme.
• Graphics. I do a fair number of graphics.  I design websites.  I do occasional cartoons using my wacom.  I put together marketing materials for others.  In short, this is one area that I may miss a laptop… or would I?  Macs have always been the choice for graphics professionals.  I just never had the money to go that route and still get a laptop-type computer.  Apple Macbooks are pretty expensive, but if I have something else to replace my laptop… maybe a Apple desktop would be a good choice now?  Two apple products (iPad and Mac Desktop) instead of a laptop pc or macbook sounds like a great alternative anyway.  I will be able to keep my desktop clear of unnecessary software because of my iPad, and since I am usually sitting down to do graphic work at home anyway, I can use my iPad to sketch out the idea if I get a brainstorm on the go.  Even in the short term, I may buy a pc and just go with a version of Linux.  Heck, I use gimp for graphics anyway, and WINE does a great job of porting windows applications to linux anyway.

I am sure I will find more reasons why I am most likely never going to buy another PC, but for now I think I better turn off my laptop.  It’s getting a little hot.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3

Godlessness in the Last Days

¹But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

⁶They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, ⁷always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. ⁸Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. ⁹But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

Paul’s Charge to Timothy

¹⁰You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹²In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,¹⁵and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Praying for You

Often, I pray for friends, family and people I meet. I think that some people perceive this as some kind of hidden motive if I tell someone I am praying for them. There is no hidden objective and no agenda behind it. It’s just a part of who I am in Christ. Other people influence me and I would be naive to think that I don’t influence them, so when I talk with God, yes I pray for those people. I also pray for things I write; that people’s hearts would be moved by God rather than by my own attempts. There really is no need to tell someone you are praying for them, but often when they know that you are, they mention specific ways that you can pray for them. Often for me, this also leads into a deeper and more open and meaningful relationship too.

About the Theme

It is a wordpress-based, minimalistic theme with a rotating transparent header image overlay.  I didn’t need comments, so I axed that element along with trackbacks to keep the site more manageable and user friendly.  Using the background for the search box was a really nice touch I thought to make it look like a cutout area.  I also added a widget area and used the image widget plugin to make the logo one that I could update easily without playing with css.

If you are interested in a wordpress-based design for your site, leave a comment and we can arrange a call to go over the details.