Technology

• “I saw you cryin’, I saw you cryin’ at the discotheque.” Why can’t more American pop music artists put ‘discotheque’ into a song? #
• I lurves me some Kucinich-led impeachment hearing: http://tinyurl.com/678nxu #

Gina Trapani of Lifehacker muses on whether and how much the Web, email, and the like help or hurt personal productivity:
Over the few years this site’s been in existence, studies have shown that email kills concentration more than smoking pot does, that you’ve got 11 minutes before the next interruption, that dual monitors increase productivity, that no one understands the intended tone of your email, that email overload costs the American economy more than $700 billion a year, and that multitasking kills your ability to focus and get things done.

…

The longer I do this, the more I suspect that a good part of the
“information overload” story is a myth cooked up by folks who don’t
know how to use the internet well in order to demonize something they
don’t understand. I get more done via email and surfing the web than my
parents ever did using phones and libraries, even when I’m having a bad
day and switch to my email application the moment I see a new message
notification.

I debate this a lot for myself. I’ve recently stopped using Twitter, but around the same time I started using instant messaging (IM) to send quick notes (mostly with coworkers). Twitter was definitely draining my attention, and not using it has freed up both time and brain cycles. But IM has been a wonderful tool, particularly for communicating quickly with team members — even when they’re sitting just a few feet away from me (it’s a terrific way to send a link).

So there are no easy answers, and everyone must use these tools differently. Still, I can’t imagine a world without the Web. And even if there weren’t a Web, I’d still have found other ways to multitask.

• Migrating spreadsheets to sql server is more difficult than necessary. #

• @rreichert Why the disappointment? (never used an iPhone for more than 5 minutes) #
• @rreichert - Nice photo, by the way! #
• @rreichert Why the disappointment? (never used an iPhone for more than 5 minutes) #

• @rreichert (in reply to wine app) Exactly! And have it networked so that people can compare notes. #

It’s easy for me to view things only in spiritual terms, to care about how I am doing spiritually. Then I read this verse in John’s 3 letter…

3 John 1:2
Dear friend, I know that you are spiritually well. I pray that you’re doing well in every other way and that you’re healthy. (GNT)

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.(KJV)

• Healthy-in the Greek hugiaino (hoog-ee-ah’-ee-no) meaning to have sound health, i.e. be well (in body), to be uncorrupt- true in doctrine, be in health, be safe and sound, be wholesome.

It’s easy to get caught spending hours on my spiritual condition; spiritual experiences and spiritual knowledge but little time on the other areas of my life. I can spend hours reading, hour studying, and in prayer…but minutes on working on relationships or my body.

What could a correct view of our entire lives look like?

• Spiritual-our connection with God
• Body- our body health
• Mind- learning is living
• Heart- our purity and our passion
• Others- our relationships with others

Ask yourself these questions to see if your life is truly healthy?

1. When was the last time I spent an hour doing something for a friend without expecting a thank-you? (Relationship)
2. When was the last time I ate less and worked out? (Body)
3. When was the last time I turned off the noise, the technology, and got alone with God? (Spiritual)
4. When was the last time I learned something new (not something spiritual) and now use it on a regular basis? (Mind)
5. When was the last time I cried for the wrong things I’ve done? (Heart)

• @rreichert WineDB? #

Have you heard about heartsupport yet?

Ask yourself this: When  was the last time I heard someone in church speak about how to help people who deal with: Self-injury, Depression, Addiction, Suicide, Eating Disorders?

• When was the last time you talked with some one about cutting, pornography, eating disorders, or depression?

• How can we help people become good friends (a good neighbor) if they don’t know how to truly help the hurting?

• What are you doing to help those around you that struggle with addiction, suicide, self-injury, depression, and eating disorders?

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported yesterday that former ESPN 1250 sports talk host Mark Madden may join WXDX FM. Madden was fired from ESPN 1250 after making derogatory remarks about Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

If Madden returns to WXDX, he would most likely be on the afternoon drive time slot from 3PM to 6/7 PM. The format of the show would probably be a mixture of music, talk, and sports.

What about the time slot that was vacated on ESPN 1250 when Madden was fired? No decision has been made yet, but it seems like ESPN 1250 would like to have a permanent solution for their afternoon drive time slot near the opening of Steelers training camp.

Even though Madden was let go in late May, I still listen to ESPN 1250 on my way home from work. To me the content of the afternoon sports talk show is more important than the host of the show. Since Madden was released, ESPN 1250 has used a variety of hosts. It has actually been refreshing listening to different opinions and analyses.

The new iPhone has hit the streets, and with its ActiveSync support, that means it’s hit our enterprise, too.  We support Windows Mobile via Activesync and Blackberries via BES, and we enforce password and locking policies on all devices.  The deal breaker is whether or not a device can be remotely wiped, which Windows Mobile and Blackberries can.  One of our coworkers scored a new iPhone on “Release Day”, so we had a chance to test it out.

After configuring ActiveSync, the iPhone picked up the policies fine, after a reboot, the PIN policy was in place, as was the user’s e-mail.  When we tested the remote wipe, trouble ensued.

It appears that remotely wiping an iPhone bricks the device.  Unlike a Blackberry or Smart Phone, which are basically reset to factory after a remote wipe, the iPhone starts to an Apple logo and just sits there.  Attempts to resurrect it by sync’ing it with iTunes had no effect.  The error messages indicate that the OS is not found on the device.

We’re still working on it, and are about ready to visit a Genius Bar or AT&T store to resolve the issue.

<update>

The iPhone has been rejuvenated.  The user was attempting to reactivate the iPhone through his iTunes, which originally activated the phone (and was installed Friday, Release Day.  For some reason, it wasn’t working.  When the iPhone was hooked up to a new install of iTunes today (Tuesday), the iPhone came back to life.  We’re not sure if there was a hotfix for a known problem or just a different iTunes or what, but the issue seems to be resolved.

• As of 7:58 am today I’ve officially switched to the dark side: Iced Coffee! #

The Colbert Report is one of my favorite places to get my news. So when I saw that N.T. Wright was going to be the guest a view weeks ago I was worried. Christians tend to be terrible on interview based shows-from the big names to the crazy guy they find to interview for the Christian perspective, Christian some how end up with a bad rep because of these interviews (usually for a good reason). I’m also a very big fan of N.T. Wright’s view/theology of the Kingdom of Heaven (also his view on Hell). I was totally impressed by his responses, his attitude, and his ability to speak about the huge idea of heaven in a way that all audiences could understand.

• What do you think?
• How does your view of heaven cause you to live differently everyday?

(Ht: Between Two Worlds)

• bah. not only is MSCMS a pain to use, but the servers are about as healthy as geriatric goats #
• @anildash Interns are cheap. Try your local universities and craigslist. #

• Gotta love getting home and thinking “OMG I have all this time to do the 578 things on my todo list” and getting one of those things done. #
• Handwriting recognition software has done wonders for my handwriting! #

At Big Big Design, we are great fans of great coffee, so it should be no surprise that we’re also great fans of Cummings Candy and Coffee, a historic family-run shop right on Main Street in downtown Butler.

We’re also good friends with the owner, Barry Cummings. So we were thrilled to have the chance to work with him in designing and building the shop’s website.

Cummings combines local tradition with a progressive attitude, and we wanted to reflect that in the design of the site.

We worked with a deep, warm color palette, which we named French Roast. And we integrated historic photos and new images of the shop’s one-of-a-kind interior.

(note: this came to me as an e-mail with a thousand forwards, so if you know the original copyright holder, please let me know)

1. BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.
2.SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.
3.ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success, and advancement by kissing up to the boss, rather than working hard
4.SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.
5. CUBE FARM : An office filled with cubicles.
6.PRAIRIE DOGGING : When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls, to see what's going on.
7. MOUSE POTATO : The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.
8.SITCOMs: Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. That Yuppies get into when they have children, and one of them stops working to stay home, with the kids.
9.STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.
10.SWIPEOUT: An ATM or credit card that  has been rendered useless because magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.
11.XEROX SUBSIDY: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies, from one's workplace.
12.IRRITAINMENT: Entertainment and media spectacles that are Annoying, but you find yourself unable to stop watching them.
13. PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.
14. ADMINISPHERE : The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the admonisher are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.
15. 404 : Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error Message '404 Not Found,' meaning that the requested site, could not be located.
16. GENERICA : Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same, no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions.
17.OHNOSECOND : That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize, that you've just made a BIG MISTAKE. (Like after hitting send on an email, by mistake).
18.WOOFS: Well-Off Older Folks.
19. CROP DUSTING: Surreptitiously passing gas, while passing through a Cube Farm.