Month: April 2008

  • I love my Mac, but it’s not perfect

    macbook blackIn December and January our household made the move to Mac. It wasn’t any easy decision nor a cheap one. We moved to Mac because we wanted to… pure and simple.

    I am a power user as I do nearly everything on a computer… video editing, web design, desktop publishing, podcasting, graphic design, small business accounting, and of course web browsing.

    So when I switched I had to make a fast transition. My task list waits for no one! With the clock ticking in my head and meter running with stuff to complete I had to to figure everything out and figure it out fast.

    Why? Because I’m not just a single user… I’m also one of those people whom everyone comes to with their tech problems.  Not only do I end up having to figure out my own computer dilemmas, I get 2-3 people a day asking me to fix their computer issues. (And cell phones, video cameras, projectors, sound systems, and about anything else that dings, beeps, or is portable.) So adding the OSX platform to my repertoire was a big deal!

    Here’s my advice to people considering the change. If you are going to change EVERYTHING you do to Mac OSX and never have to interact with people outside of Mac OSX, go for it. You’ll love it. But if you have to live in a Windows world, do business with people who use Windows, or otherwise depend on your Mac OSX work to work seemlessly with users on Windows… don’t do it. I have found the “everything a PC can do a mac can do too” story to be a lie. It can’t and it doesn’t.

    I’m a pretty smart cookie when it comes to computers and I’m finding it more frustrating than problem solving. I can generally find a work-around. But time is money and who has time to fiddle 5 extra steps?

    Here are a few things I am still not thrilled about with our Mac transition.  

    • Our macs network wonderfully with one another, but really suck in networking with Windows machines. It very sporadically connects to our Windows Exchange server at the office. I can generally connect via Finder only. But I can almost never connect to the network through Photoshop or Office programs. And it took hours of fiddling around to get my Windows machines to connect to my Mac OSX machines. If you have XP Home… forget it. It doesn’t work. Mac blames PC and PC doesn’t care.
    • My macbook is horribly slow. There. I said it. If I have more than 2-3 applications open (and I do all the time) it lags forever in opening files. I still have the standard amount of RAM, 1 gb, and need to upgrade to 4 gb. But I have to be honest… my 3 year old Dell laptop with 512 MB of RAM is a lot faster than my snazzy new macbook. I almost always have Firefox, iTunes, PhotoShop, and an email client open… on PC this was no big deal. On Mac OSX this results in programs lagging forever or crashing. And that is annoying.
    • Most peripherals work great, but not the ones that I really need. Mac OSX handles printers like a champ. It is also fantastic when I plug in a random video camera or digital camera. But I can’t connect my phone (HTC Smartphone) to my laptop and that sucks. I loved that I could plug my phone into my old laptop and it synced my calender, email, contacts, music, etc. I miss this horribly.
    • I’ve lost, for now, all the benefits of an exchange server. Entourage connects to server… but it doesn’t seem to be able to accept tasks, calendar invites, or any other cool stuff from exchange. And that’s annoying!
    • I hate that I have to buy $30-$50 plug-ins for everything. Reality is that I have to interact with a Windows world. For my most important tasks, getting stuff prepared and ready for Sunday morning services, I need to transfer my work from my macbook to our PC-based presentation programs. So I bought Quicktime Pro because I read that it would allow me to convert stuff I made in iMovie into Windows formats. That was a total rip off! I can only export a 30 second clip in .wmv format without buying an additional $50 add-on from Windows. That was the only feature I needed to work… so Quicktime Pro was a total waste of money for me. Exporting to .avi is what all the mac-heads suggest. But those files are sickly massive. A 20 MB file in Quicktime will convert to 600 MB in .avi and often times I lose a ton of the quality in the conversion.
    • Mac doesn’t have nearly the freeware that PC does. For instance: I have a very cool, free program for Windows that converts video files to Flash video. (FLV) Without buying Adobe Flash I haven’t found a single program in Mac that will do this for me. In fact, I am often left taking my swanky Mac-produced video files and putting them on a PC to convert from .m4v or .mov to a usable Windows format or web-ready format. Mac OSX simply doesn’t have the programs I need. (Which I can generally find for free for Windows)

    These are my honest and true frustrations. I am committed to this transition… I ponied up the money for an iMac and a Macbook… so I’m not just some naysayer. Yet I want to be honest, transitioning to Mac OSX has come with a lot of frustrations. If I had it to do over again I probably wouldn’t have done it. I would have saved myself half the money and just bought good XP Pro machines. Sure, I look cool at the coffee shop. I look cool when I go to conferences. I can do a lot of things better on Mac than I could on my XP machines… but it isn’t perfect. It isn’t as I expected. And no matter what people say a transition of operating systems is anything but seemless.

    Thank God I have great friends who use Mac OSX. If I didn’t I would have given up!

    At least I know how to use the keyboard now. 

  • Light Force Concert

    Light Force ConcertOn April 20th, 2008 Light Force is hosting a great concert. Jimmy and his band will be joined by local band, Nowhere Found.

    I’ve been thinking and dreaming about this event for a long time. We know that in Romeo 4% or less of 6-12 graders regularly attend a youth group… but we also know that some local music clubs are filled to capacity 3-4 nights per week! So our method here is really simple and really obvious. We want to introduce people to our student ministry in a very non-threatening way… so we’re simply doing what they already enjoy in our environment to introduce students to our student ministry.

    Here’s the official announcement. Here’s the myspace page. Here’s the facebook page.

  • Cedar Point is in the portfolio

    cedar pointMy family has a habit of investing in companies that we believe in. Our family portfolio includes an automaker and an oil company that are serious about making money while remaining serious about caring for the world we live in. In short,
    We added a fun company to our portfolio, literally. Cedar Fair Entertainment Group (stock symbol: FUN) is the company that owns two of my favorite places in the world: Cedar Point and Michigan’s Adventure. [As well as a few other amusement parks, hotels, water parks, and other stuff]

    Why invest in this company now… in a recession? The play for us is that we think that families are still going to take their kids on trips this year…  and an amusement park is the perfect place to drop off a few hundred bucks in a day while feeling like you can’t afford to go on a big trip. Put that with this family-friendly businesses habit of distributing profits to its investors and I was sold!

  • Boycott the Olympics?

    olympicsIn the next few weeks there will be a growing public outcry for the United States and many other major nations to boycott the Olympic Games in Beijing.

    It bears refreshing our memory that China is, indeed, one of the worst human rights violators on the planet. Up until 2008 China was on the State Departments list of 10 worst human rights violators in the world.

    Obviously, the Tibet issue is front page news today. But let’s not forget about the other continued violations. Organ harvesting. No political freedom. No freedom of the press. No freedom of speech. No freedom of movement. No freedom to work. No religious freedom. And of course the one-child policy which has led to female infanticide, forced abortions, selective abortion, and abandonment.

    There is little doubt that the last 10 years has seen lots of reform in China. But I think it is worth thinking through… should the United States support an Olympic Games in a nation with such widespread human rights problems? How can we sit idly, pretend everything is OK, watch coverage on NBC and do nothing? Of course, the Olympic Team from our country will go. A boycott is not plausible. It’s all about money and everyone would say that a boycott would be bad for the economy. And it would be bad for US/China business relationships. There are a lot of palms to be greased, a lot of hospitality tents to fill, and a lot of complimentary freebies to give to one another in the name of the Olympics.

    If we don’t come up with an answer, expect to see a lot more stuff like this…

  • The Pulitzer for Editorial Writing Goes To….

    PulitzerI was checking out the press release for this year’s Pulitzer Prize. You know, just to make sure I didn’t win anything.

    As I scanned through the winners I saw that one category didn’t have a winner, editorial writing. Check it out for yourself. It reads, “no award.”

    First I thought it was ironic because with blogs and websites all over the place editorial writing is probably more quantitatively available today than at any other time in human history.  Then I thought it was appropriate because with 250,000,000 editorial writers/bloggers out there I couldn’t say that any of them is the best.

    Now I’m wondering why no one was awarded a prize in that category? Because if no one else wants it, I’ll take it. I haven’t won a big award since I was awarded “Student of the Year” at 6th grade graduation and I think I’m due.  

  • Disagreeing with the Alma Mater

    moody studentDo you ever have times when you look at your college and you go, “What are they thinking?” That’s how I feel about my alma mater, Moody Bible Institute lately.

    Actually, I don’t have a single problem with the education they are providing. The longer I’ve been away from MBI the more I’ve appreciated their focus on ministry preparation. They are doing what 99% of Christian colleges refuse to do, prepare students for vocational ministry at the undergraduate level. I am very thankful for the excellent degree I earned from Moody. If anyone is looking for a ringing endorsement of their programs… you’ve got one from me.

    But I am disappointed in Moody Press. (An arm of the school) I’ve reviewed several of their books in the past and one of the things that drives me nuts is that they seem to have a negative bend on pop culture. (Look at their website, you’ll get a glimpse on the style of fear they use to sell books.) For instance… the books I read last year all mentioned September 11, 2001 in the opening chapter as a literary hook to the books over-riding topic of spiritual warfare. [Sorry, I think that’s as cheap as appealing to Hitler to talk about politics.] And this year they have released a couple of books with a negative view of “emerging church.” (Something I’m neutral on.) Now, it doesn’t bother me that
    they want to write apologetics for “traditional evangelicalism” as that’s to be expected from an institution who forced out a bunch of professors who took a positive view on something as benign as progressive dispensationalism. What is bothersome is that these publications approach cultural questions from a defensive, rather than discussion, angle. (Here’s my review of their hot title right now, “Sex, Sushi, and Salvation.”) In Sex, Sushi, and Salvation… the author essentially made fun of the emergent discussion. To me this lacked class as it devalued the many good people who are exploring it legitimately.

    Let me clarify. I don’t think this is an abnomaly/conspiracy for Moody. I think this is very much the “old traditions” doing what they always do… keep the base happy, don’t take risks, publish things that are safe even if it offends the majority with its simplicity.

    What breaks my heart about this approach is that as they continue to publish books with a very “1990s” approach to culture and the result is that readers are paying less and less attention to what is being published. I can’t think of the last time people were buzzing about a Moody book.  That’s a concern. I want to see the best stuff with my alma maters name on it… and if it weren’t for Ray Pritchard I’m not sure I’d be excited about anything they are publishing. I keep trying and will keep trying, it just hasn’t been rewarding lately.

  • Youth Ministry Ad Network

    youth ministry ad networkMaybe you’ve noticed that there is a small block of ads on the right side of my blog. What is that all about?

    Patti & I have been thinking of a very focused, very profitable (for both advertisers/bloggers) niche` ad network for youth pastors for a long time.

    Essentially, our goal with it is to connect the best youth ministry bloggers with the best youth ministry advertisers. Its a natural fit… but it needed someone to be the conduit. That’s where YMX stepped in.  For the last two years we’ve built relationships with many of the best companies in youth ministry and we’ve done “direct sales” of ads since the beginning. In other words, we’ve had our own internal ad network for a couple years… so creating another separate network was a natural fit for us.

    Next step. From there it was all about finding the right people and letting people know about it. From January 1st-March 31st we ran a pilot program. When that went well, we decided to keep it going… and here we are!

    Why is it different? Unlike the two most common forms of online advertising (Pay per click [google ads] and Pay per action [affiliate links]) our bloggers are guaranteed payment just for displaying the ads. That isn’t altogether unique… but our payment structure is! The ad network only makes 20% of the revenue… whereas the accepted standard is 50%. That means we’re passing almost all the money onto our youth ministry bloggers. They are happy. Our advertisers our happy. It’s a cool thing.

  • Remembering Ben Hur, Charlton Heston

    heston

    I just learned that Charlton Heston died. With so many famous people out there its hard to have one or two that stick out as representing Hollywood. In my opinion, Heston represented “big actor.” Link

    One of the first major movies I fell in love with was Ben Hur. Bear in mind I am a child of the 80s. I had seen Star Wars and E.T. and Raiders of the Lord Ark… but when I saw Ben Hur on ABC as a kid, it captivated me… and mostly because of the lead character played by Charlton Heston.

    Many people will remember him for his later political activity. I am chosing to remember him as the great actor.

  • Mike Wallace interviews Margaret Sanger

    margaret sangerRecently, the University of Texas in Austin released a video collection of interviews between Mike Wallace and various people during the late 1950s. These are truly fascinating to watch!

    But I wanted to point you to an interview he did with Planned Parenthood founder, Margaret Sanger. You may remember I spoke about her a few weeks ago. This interview may help reveals a bit more about her, her motivations, her feelings about the Catholic Church, as well as shed light on how something as common (today) as birth control was talked about 50 years ago. Watch how she dodges questions, changes positions, and constantly says she’s been misquoted.

    For conservative Christians, this also sheds light on the correlation we often see between birth control and abortion. (Something I was first exposed to during Bible college.)

    To watch the video, click here. Read interview transcripts

    HT to Boing Boing

  • Saturday Tunes

    Saturday TunesWith the new site design, I thought it was time for a new graphic for my weekly music post. (The last one survived about 4 redesigns!) I had some fun with PhotoShop this morning as you can see. Other than that, today is a typical Saturday. Kids are bouncing off the walls. We’ve eaten pancakes. And we have a list of things to accomplish.

    As always, here are the next 10 songs randomly selected from my iTunes. No cheating, ratings included.

    1. City of Blinding Lights by U2 ****
    2. Don’t Go Away by Leeland *****
    3. Shine for You by Hillsong United *****
    4. Wrecking Ball by King Walkie ****
    5. It is Well by Jars of Clay ***
    6. Crimson by Nichole Nordeman ****
    7. We Win by David Crowder Band *****
    8. 100 Years by Five for Fighting *****
    9. Sticking with You by Addison Road ****
    10. What’s My Age Again by Blink-182 ****