Category Archives: Art
Why My Laptop is My Last PC.
It was first a classic iPod that I loved for music and video. Then the iPod touch which integrated apps for almost everything. My laptop has been getting increasingly less used since I purchased an iPod touch. I check email on it, I play games and I even compose music on it and use it to make phone calls via skype. I still sit down at my computer every now and then to write an email or a post on my site, or even do graphic work with my wacom tablet. But going through my software that I use on a regular basis, I think I am done using a laptop PC for most everything else.
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.
The Average Aidan. Unique Aidan.
Aidan had his 15 month checkup today. He got a few shots. My wife was berated by the doctor as Aidan didn’t fit their growth chart. He’s a bit small for his age and doesn’t weigh what they want him to weigh. Both Becca and I were small kids when we were little. It’s just our family. But apparently they think he isn’t fitting the growth chart for weight & that he’s too little and we must be starving him. Aidan eats pretty much from Sun-up to sun-down. Breakfast, milk, snacks, lunch, milk, snacks, dinner, more milk (maybe a juice or two) then more snacks. He could eat half a loaf of bread if I gave it to him one at a time. He has before. (I wasn’t trying to feed him half the loaf, but I absentmindedly just kept giving him pieces of bread and before I knew it half the loaf was gone. I cut him off after that.) But, he has a pretty fast metabolism for a little guy. Now, I will also say that he works a lot of it off through playing in his room too. He was early walking and early sitting up and rolling over when he was really young, so we decided early on that his room needed to be “romp ready” so he could play in there on his own.
After Becca got home from the doctor’s visit today with Aidan. I hunted down all the pictures of Aidan that I have on my computer. 886 images that show Aidan’s face. Shown Below.
Picasa has a nice little feature that allows you to categorize photos with faces so it found all the images of Aidan’s face and I went through and verified the ones the program had trouble with. I noticed that Picasa made all the images portrait shots of just his face for the categorization so I decided that I would try something else.
Picasa has a collage feature that allows you to effectively make digital double exposures. I decided that it might be fun to get an “average” of all the pictures of Aidan that I had on my computer. He’s grown a lot over the last year (he is after all 15 months old) and see what the “average Aidan” looked like. The final image originally was a little muted, so I used the “I’m feeling lucky” button to give the image more dynamic range. I thought it looked a little like a Rembrandt painting myself.
So take that, doctors who think Aidan has to measure up to some growth chart! He may not be average according to the chart, but he is average for himself. This makes him uniquely himself too.
Anointed Again?
I think anointing someone with oil is very Biblical and very much a part of worship. Growing up in church though, sometimes there was a person who it seemed was getting anointed every week. I don’t know if that person just wrote a big check each week or what the reasoning was, but it always intrigued me that someone would go up there every week and ask to have oil poured on their head. It’s a humbling experience and not one that I’d want to exploit for personal attention. Anyway, I’ve always imagined a pastor getting fed up with that person and dumping something else on their head instead.
Barbershop Jesus
I feel like there is a Jesus image that we lift up for each generation. It’s rather strange to think that this timeless Gospel must be re-branded every few years to “relate” to our culture. Our culture is going downhill rather fast. Shouldn’t we be lifting up the timeless truth of the Gospel rather than the latest rendition?
Skull on the Wall
This is an image I took on Saturday when I was at a men’s retreat with my church. It was quite an amazing time. I’d say more but I don’t want to devalue the experience through the retelling. I will say that it was incredible and it was good to hang out with the other guys from the church in a relaxed setting while we were challenged to be the men that God has called us to be.
This skull was on the wall in the bathroom of the lodge we stayed at. The wood panel walls really seemed to set it off. I think the only thing that worried me was if I were to sit on the toilet, it would freak me out if it fell. Imagine sitting on the toilet and trying to do your business when this thing falls on your head or in your lap!