Archive for 2005-12

As 2005 winds down, it is only fitting to reflect on the finer points of the year. Personally speaking, this year is quite possibly the most explosive year I’ve ever experienced. Time, tasks and thoughts are swirling together at an extremely rapid pace. For the first time, I’ve had to refuse several side projects. I’ve had to say, “No, I simply do not have time to fulfill your request.” Wow. I’ve never really had to do that before. I see this as less “problem” and more “success”. For me, the opportunities have ramped up and I’ve found a new process for management: selection. At first, this new thing was very difficult to digest. But I soon found a good footing and realized that at the gateway of life—where I download new information, ideas, thoughts, and challenges—I had created a filter that impacted the way I process and produce. Not only was I forced to process life more efficiently, but I found a way to produce more effectively. I have learned to work smarter, focus more intensely and build more excellently.

An examination of the year:

Design
This year began with some new design challenges. When the dust settled, I had found new creative and technical abilities. I finally made the shift to Adobe products, dropping Macromedia Freehand and Fireworks in place of Illustrator, Photoshop and ImageReady. After hearing of the merger, I was glad for the head start into the Adobe UI and welcomed the blending of the intuitive nature of the Macromedia applications with the sheer power of Adobe. And yes, I’m still using Dreamweaver.

Web Standards
In the spring, I really began to pull the wrapping from the package of web standards. I went back to my roots, started paying attention to things like syntax and accessibility and I realized something: I had it all wrong from the beginning. I was developing for the web using methods that just weren’t friendly. I was developing for one browser. I was developing for a subset of people. In fact, I wasn’t really developing much of anything that was accessible enough to have rights on the “world wide web.” So, I re-learned it all. I really dug deeper into CSS. I found success and fun (gasp!) in validating and I took a new approach to developing content for the web, an approach that adheres to a standard, provides wider accessibility and creates a more efficient experience.

Blogging
I could spend hours on this topic. I don’t know what it is about blogging, but I just “get it.” It makes sense. It works. So, I blog. I blog to compress information into useable, learnable segments. I blog to vent. I blog to enhance the life systems of my readers. I blog to improve the technical and creative knowledge on the web. (Well, I attempt that at least.) I also blog to harness the power of the Internet. And I blog because I enjoy it. Immensely.

Podcasting
This brings up the most frequently asked question of the year: “When is your next podcast?” On the 563rd occasion I was asked this very question, I answered, “Soon.” And that is my typical answer. But sometimes, I actually provide a substantive response to the inferred question, “What is your problem, dweeb?” and the less inquisitive, more assertive comment “You’re supposed to be a podcaster!” … Just listening between your lines.

With that aside, I will simply say I think podcasting is a medium all its own. I think it has proven itself as a tool in mass communication and I think that any church, organization or individual with a message to give or a story to tell should at least experiment with podcasting. In the right environment, with the right tools and a polished final product, podcasting can provide great success, even by itself.

Networking
Many of these avenues of communication were combined with my never-ending fervor to find leaders, artists, technologists and peers with kindred wiring. The power of this combination propelled and expanded my personal network beyond my wildest imaginations. This year, my network doubled. I have made friends all over the U.S. and even in other countries. This broadens my horizon. It opens up my perspective and allows me a higher altitude view of the world. I thank God for adding to my life through new encounters made possible by technology.

Life Management Solutions
With the increase I’ve seen this year, I was blessed to find several great systems and even more great tools that assist in life management. When I realized I couldn’t track all of the different projects, tasks and ideas I had going, I decided to supplement my thinker with revised approaches to organization and a new system for maintaining information externally. This was a crucial decision. The outcome of this decision can be summed up in one word: balance.

Music
There is one part of my life where I feel I moved little or nowhere. Music has always been a wonderful challenge and joy in my life. This year, I hate to say, music took a back seat. Don’t get me wrong, I still have my chops. I maintained a basic practice regimen and I continue to lead worship each week and even play “out” now and again, but there was little increase in musicianship. I think the sacrifice was worthwhile to some degree. I mean, I certainly could not have excelled in other areas while remaining heavily involved in music. But there is always a sense of regret when I face where I am as a musician and where I could be. I definitely love being well-rounded, but there is that part of me that wishes I could just focus every ounce of my energy on one craft to become a prodigy. Perhaps one day, I’ll master something.

Love
There is one aspect of my life that isn’t just a part of it, it defines it. My wife is, without a doubt, the single greatest treasure God has blessed me with apart from my salvation. Every single day, I’m incredibly thankful for Missy. In our second year of marriage, God has dialed me up on the clue phone on no less than 1,289 occasions. Man, sometimes, for all the things I try to know, I sure can be a complete idiot. Missy is so patient with me and she helps bring a sense of peace to my life. She has also redefined my approach to life and marriage. (Trust me, she had to. She has a strong sense of self-preservation. :)) I’ve also found myself experiencing a level of emotion that I never thought possible. I never thought life could be this good, but Missy makes it happen every day. God is so good to us both. I love my beautiful wife, my closest friend. She’s a God-chaser.

—

May God continue to bless us all in 2006.

Technorati Tags: 2005, 2006, new year, God, design, web standards, blogging, podcasting, networking, GTD, life, management, music, love, success, excellence, systems, organization, creativity, technology

It’s Christmas Day! Our family is gathered around, celebrating the birth of our Savior.

Here’s wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! God bless all of you.

I wanted to send out some sort of holiday greeting to my friends, but it is so difficult in today’s world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So I emailed my attorney yesterday, and on his advice I wish to say the following:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, nonaddictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only “America” in the western hemisphere) and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or gender of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms: This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/him or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the sending of this message however, a significant number of electrons were slightly inconvenienced.

To my wife, my love, my one and only. Happy Birthday! I love sharing life with you. You are incredibly perfect.

My friend Dolan and I were talking a few days back about the use of “Xmas” as a replacement for “Christmas.”

I have long thought it wrong of people to use the term Xmas (or “Xian” for “Christian”, etc.) as it seems to show disrespect for Christ by removing Christ from the word and symbolically removing Him from the very nature of Christmas or Christianity. Research indicates quite the contrary. Check out what Wikipedia says about “Xmas”:

Xmas (or X-mas) is an abbreviation for Christmas. It is derived from the word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, transliterated as Christos, which is Greek for Christ. Greek is the language in which the whole New Testament was written.

Originally, in “Xmas”, X represented the Greek letter χ (see chi). It was pronounced with an aspirated [kh], which is the first letter of Christ’s name in Greek. An upper-case χ has the same shape as a Latin alphabet letter X, hence the abbreviation “Xmas”.

Interestingly, X is a symbol of Christ rather than a symbol of his removal from Christmas in the abbreviation “Xmas”. Of course, Wikipedia cannot be the sole resource in determining if a presented set of thoughts are factual. But, there are other articles that substantiate this line of thinking. So many, in fact, that I’m modifying my wiring over this matter. My preference will remain spelling out Christmas with C-H-R-I-S-T included. But I will reconsider all the yelling I’ve done in years past about seeing rooftops with “Merry Xmas” vividly displayed in Xmas… I mean Christmas lights.

Wikipedia: Xmas

Reference.com: Xmas

BBC: Why get cross about Xmas?

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Xmas, Christ, etymology, dispute, syntax, semantics

Each week on The Apprentice, The Donald likes to give a quick lesson on business to help tie in with the direction of show. There were several business practices in play tonight during The Apprentice Finale. This is what I love about this show: I get to watch people succeed and fail in business and learn from it all.

After Week 3 or 4, Randal really began to shine. Rebecca did too, but Randal had the edge on her. I knew these two would be in the final six, but I was pleasantly surprised to see them as the final two. I was really pulling for Randal on this. I wasn’t too pleased with his performance on the final task, but Rebecca didn’t really bowl me over either. (Oh, and nice clean up job by the Yahoo! exec donating $100,000 to the charities. They still look foolish from the event when their executives demanded that no one be asked to contribute to the charity and I don’t think the PR act tonight improved anything. But I’m sure the there were at least three people somewhere in the world who were comforted by their generosity. Please. Yahoo! could have easily donated a million dollars.)

The last minute of tonight’s finale shocked me. Allow me to make this short and sweet. I revoke all of my previous advocacy for Randal’s success. For anyone to selfishly crown himself the singular apprentice when the boss is giving you the opportunity to help another person (in addition to securing your own success) is ridiculous.

Donald should have canned him on the spot and hired Rebecca instead. Randal obviously lacks the ability to make good decisions on demand. I believe Rebecca would have asked Mr. Trump to hire Randal as well if the roles were reversed. It seemed to me that Trump wanted to hire both of them. He obviously gave the nod to Randal but wanted Rebecca as well. Maybe Trump shouldn’t have offered Randal a say in the matter. But I would have thought (as The Donald probably was) that Randal would have humbly allowed Rebecca to be hired as well. Nope. No raining on Randal’s parade. “There is no Apprenti.” Vicious.

Tough one, Randal. That was harsh man.

Well, maybe this is all just one last lesson from The Donald.

Technorati Tags: apprentice, randal, rebecca, finale, trump

In a departure from the formalities of being President, George Bush shows off his iPod and talks about his tastes in music.

I wonder if he’s been listening to Alison Krauss on his iPod at the same time I’ve been listening to Alison Krauss on my iPod… Well, I can dream. The President talks about Bono’s iPod being new. So this may be a year or so old—but it’s a first for me, so I thought I’d share it.

Sky News Video Segment

via Digg.

Technorati Tags: Bush, President, ipod

Yesterday afternoon, we enjoyed our first viewing of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I say “first” because after seeing it, I can guarantee there will be a second and likely third viewing. I can also guarantee that this movie will take its place on our shelves in DVD form. Over the weekend, the film posted a $65M income in the U.S. plus an additional $42M worldwide.

Let me simply say, this movie is a must-see. You’ve heard this statement a million times about a million movies. But I think The Chronicles of Narnia is one of those movies for which the phrase “must see” was coined.

The message of Christ is portrayed well throughout the film and I think director Andrew Adamson’s intentions were to leave C.S. Lewis’ intracacies intact. At least, it appears so. There is a very concrete message and the story is well-suited for all audiences. The scary portions of the film are indeed scary, but I am satisfied with the balance of the film and the overall depiction of Good defeating evil.

To me, the CG and special effects well-support the storyboard and contribute to the overall success of the film. I expected this going into the theater, so I wasn’t surprised. The realism of the creatures of Narnia is quite impressive. The central character, Aslan, is absolutely touchable. Many of the characters are far deeper in the realm of fantasy (like the centaurs and satyrs) and brilliantly support the environment of Narnia. Roger Ebert’s review supports this idea and discusses why C.S. Lewis thought a film adaptation of the Narnia series would fail:

C.S. Lewis famously said he never wanted the Narnia books to be filmed because he feared the animals would “turn into buffoonery or nightmare.” But he said that in 1959, when he might have been thinking of a man wearing a lion suit, or puppets.

The effects in this movie are so skillful that the animals look about as real as any of the other characters, and the critic Emanuel Levy explains the secret: “Aslan speaks in a natural, organic manner (which meant mapping the movement of his speech unto the whole musculature of the animal, not just his mouth).”

I am delightfully surprised by the lead cast of the film who play four of the characters, Peter, Edmond, Susan and Lucy Pevensie. All of these children, from wee Lucy (Georgie Henley) to teenage Peter (William Moseley), perform with superb ability strengthened by the skilled direction of Adamson.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe could easily be the best movie of the year and should take its place among the greatest films of all time. Yep. That’s what I said. Of all time.

The Official Narnia Site.

Roger Ebert’s Review.

Other Reviews. (Google)

Wikipedia

Technorati Tags: narnia, cs lewis, Christianity, review, film

Our beloved de.icio.us has been scooped up by Yahoo!. It will likely be a good match and I think Yahoo! understands the value of the social movement.

Great Tastes That Go Together, Yahoo! Search Blog

Technorati Tags: delicious, yahoo, acquistion

Editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary have declared “podcast” the Word of the Year for 2005.

I find this particularly intriguing since just a year ago, podcasting was a low profile geekcraft appreciated by a small, albeit loyal, fan base. Today, it would be difficult to find anyone who hasn’t at least heard the term. To me, the success of podcasting has resulted from many things. But one thing in particular stands out in my mind: the convergence of web and consumer technologies. The fact that you can create digital audio, store it on the web, deliver it via a music manager (e.g. iTunes and a compatible RSS feed) directly into the end user’s PC or mp3 player is the reason behind the success of podcasting. Of course, there are many other dynamics involved, but I think the widestream adoption of podcasting by consumer electronics manufacturers and software developers has been the fuel to the fire. Add to that an ever-increasing number of people publishing audio content on the web plus a bunch of listeners dissatisfied with commercial-ridden AM/FM radio and now you got yourself a revolution.

Podcasting is an amazing example of how a trend can shake off the “fad” status in favor of a well-accepted, highly valued medium.

Yahoo!: ‘Podcast’ is the Word of the Year

Technorati Tags: podcast, podcasting, word, oxford american, dictionary, trend