Show 7: All Business
Posted by Chris | Filed under Apple, College, Entertainment, Just for Fun, Misc. Things, Music, Random, Religion, Technology, Websites
Did you notice the new intro music? Mr. Gore is gone (for now, temporarily, permanently, who knows), but in his place is the smooth sounds of Mr. EJ Hayes.
- Why you trying to kill my phone?
- The level of hypocrisy here is deafening.
- So I’ll take my “thanks” back.
Three statements that define this show. And once we finally get past our long-winded intro, we finally get into the heart of the discussion: the iPhone killers. *dun-dun-dun*
This ‘cast talks about the iPhone’s downfalls: no feedback from typing, lack of 3G support, lack of enterprise support (at this time), and we have the facts to back ALL of this up. We also review Blackberry’s latest attempt at driving the stake into the iPhone’s heart (not that it’s even close to being “killed” at all) is the Blackberry Bold. (MSN review of the Blackberry Bold - I know MSN isn’t exactly known for their hard-hitting tech news, but it’s the one we found that included the “touch-screen” quote)
“Technology is the new opiate of the masses.”
How would you like to be the guy who gets to come up with this headline: “Man Dressed as Darth Vader Spared Jail for Attack on Founder of Britain’s Jedi Church.” I don’t know about you, but when I think “Jedi church,” I think some sort of Catholic ceremony with lightsabers. Apparently it’s nothing like that. I actually found video of the attack, and if this is really it, it doesn’t seem that bad. In fact, I don’t think I saw any blood, but, oh well, here it is. For the commentary from a real expert, check out this YouTube video from Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
“Give me a teaser explaining the teaser.”
Welcome to the world, Grand Theft Auto IV. You violent piece, you (Please put in your real age if you click on the link).
Sidenote: Lost is set to record.
Ok, back to GTA, the sales of GTA have eclipsed every other game and many movies released - 3.6 million units/$310 million in the initial 24 hours. Why is the game so addicting? Because you can go over to a friend’s house, sit on the floor, put in GTA, use the cheat code to get the flamethrower, run to the nearest intersection and just start turning around in a circle and torching everything in sight.
In related news, EA makes bid for Take-Two, which counts GTA IV as one of it’s assets. Can you imagine Madden: GTA version?
What’s NaNoWriMo? How do you say NaNoWriMo? Who is NaNoWriMo? Is this thing for real? Let’s go to the FAQ’s. You know what’s a “hoot”? Counting all those effing words. It’s just icing on the NaNoWriMo cake. For an artistic novella, check out Willie’s new book with the word “crap” and it’s variations.
“Chew on that.”
Check out Traveler Blues. Dave and Barrett are working their little fingers to the bone, much like all of the great British blues-rock guitarists of the 1960’s did with their guitars, to bring you the best in music.
“Get it on.”
***Lost SPOILER ALERT*** Please don’t listen if you don’t want to know.
Show 7 called on account of Lost. Happy viewing. By the way, Lost streams in HD on ABC.com.
Go over to Mark’s Myspace and tell him to be a part of the show!
Sponsors:
- Long silences / awkward moments on the first date / Chris taking care of his sick child
- Blues Traveler
- Novel / novella writers
- The Jedi church
Show 7: All Business [50:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (57)
Tags: blackberry, bold, darth vader, drunk, grand theft auto IV, gta, insult the comic dog, iPhone, jedi, jedi church, Music, nanowrimo, national novel writing month, traveler blues
God 2.0
Posted by Chris | Filed under Design, Inner Thoughts, Religion, Standards, Technology
Wow. It’s been a while since either of us has written anything meaningful here. Yes, we love to brag about Trinity. I love to talk about nerdy stuff. Jen loves to avoid the blog whenever she can. Well, it’s good to be back.
Jen and I actually got to attend most of a church service this past Sunday (don’t judge, we are usually doing Kids’ Church). And during worship, a man in our church got up and started talking about obediance. He had something to say to the congregation and he felt that he wasn’t being obediant until he said it. Neither Jen nor I can really remember the whole point to his message, but what caught both of us was the obediance.
That got me thinking about what I should be obediant about and how I should use my gifts. We all have gifts, and we all need to use our gifts for the advancement of the Kingdom. We aren’t here to promote ourselves, our club, group, church, etc., but that’s a whole other topic. We’re here to use our gifts. I thought to myself, “Self.”
Self said, “Yes?”
“What are my gifts? What can I do to be obediant and reach the people for God?”
Self replied, “Well, you’re a nerd that is into computers. You know HTML, CSS, a little Flash, you know, nerd stuff. You’re fairly quiet, fairly inquisitive, a decent thinker. You’re really into technology, getting into politics and the news, but are still a conspiracy theorist to a point.”
“Okay, that’s a little random, but I generally agree with that,” said I.
“Why can’t you use technology to reach people? You could build websites for God and be all geeky for the Kingdom.”
“Good point, Self. I’m an okay designer though. What are all the good designers doing to promote God in their media?”
To me, it seems like when anyone tries to promote God through the Web (and most of any technologically advanced media), it comes out hoakey, cheesey, and irrelevent. This includes church web sites, businesses that promote religious artifacts and non-profits that promote the Kingdom. I have decided not to post any specific sites on which I would put the aforementioned labels. I believe that, even though I see them as cheesey and irrelevent, someone may find comfort and joy in them. I also do not wish to tear down brothers in Christ. Plus, I realize that many organizations cannot afford help in designing a Web site, so some poor secretary is sitting in front of her screen trying to sort through a WYSIWYG editor or trying to teach herself HTML from online searches. I would like to draw your attention to some of the better examples:
The guys over at Godbit.com have actually answered my question before I even asked it. From what I can tell, Godbit.com is the brainchild of Nathan Smith. I’ve been reading Nathan’s blog for about 6 months now. He is a talented designer/developer who loves the Lord and wants to see the Kingdom advanced. From his writings, I can’t tell what denomination he is, which is a big reason I like him so much. Godbit features many authors discussing ways to bring the Church into the 21st Century.
This is so common in fact, that the term “Christian” when associated with the Internet has become synonymous with “sub-par.” Without pointing fingers specifically, some of these practices include overuse of JavaScript, malformed (X)HTML, all-Flash websites, and over-dependence on tables for layout.
We realize that no one person can do everything well, and so we hope that through engaging in a community discussion, we can all learn from one another, and in so doing be like iron sharpening iron, spurring one another on to further understanding, and greater achievement.
While I don’t necessarily agree with the “all-Flash websites” (see: Origins Community), I love the job that they are doing. They are probably doing the best job in bringing the Church up to speed on web development, technology, and Spirituality. Their name says it all: Theology + Technology.
SacredSpace.ie could take a few lessons from Godbit.com in the way of design, but needs no help in the Annointing. Jen found SS somehow (not exactly sure), but it is a great site. They post a new prayer every day, actually they are always a few days ahead, and let you see a few days back (in case you missed one).
It’s just a few minutes, in front of your monitor, getting alone with God. In this crazy world of multitasking and gadgets, SS.ie lets you get in touch with God, even if it’s just a few minutes. It’s a good way to spend a lunch or a break.
The design could use some help. They use Javascript for the prayers, but the homepage is one long page in which you are taken down to different sections by links. If you are using a monitor that is smaller than 17”, you may think you are being taken to a whole different page. But if you look at the scrollbar, you can tell.
These definately aren’t the only 2. I would like some feedback into what sites you visit that have Spiritual meaning or any technology-related material that promotes God/Jesus/Holy Spirit.
A Nice Tribute
Posted by Chris | Filed under Religion
When Jesus died on the cross, the sun was darkened for 3 days. It was as if night had fallen on all the Earth.
On Friday, the day of the Pope’s burial, the sun is supposed to darken.
Now you guys know that I’m not Catholic. But I do believe that God knew Pope John Paul II as a friend. I’m not going to say that all other religions aren’t going to Heaven (although some “religious” people don’t get into Heaven) because I don’t believe that! You just have to have that relationship with God and believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. I do believe that the Pope was in line to go to Heaven. I don’t believe that the heavens and earth will bow down before the Pope as they did with Jesus when He died. But I think God is doing a nice thing-giving him a nice little tribute-for one of His most public servants.
