Month: January 2007

Proposed “intake center” for homeless looks scary

Marni passed along an article regarding the homeless in Dallas and a proposed intake center for the city. It also focuses a lot on Austin Street where we go “almost every week.” The article is from the Dallas Observer, March 2004.

We need to back down and take a deep breath about this, all of us. I believe the mayor’s motives are good, but she has also shown remarkable
insensitivity. I don’t think the real estate guys are even required to have
good motives.
You and I are required. This is a legitimately tough issue. But rendering
human beings nameless and faceless, treating them all as round pegs to be
shoved into identical round holes, loading them on buses and putting them in
camps: You and I don’t want to have any part of that.

It’s a great insight into some of the issues involved.

Let Google find your cellphone

Next time you’ve lost your cellphone, let Google maps help you find it.
If you search for a business using Google maps, the site will offer to place the call for you. Type in your number and it will place a call to your cellphone or land line and then connect you to the business after you pick up.
If you lose your cell phone, just use the service and then simply ignore the call from Google.
It’s a lot less embarrassing than admitting you’ve lost your cell phone and need someone to call it for you. From Google:

There are two things that I really like about this. The business’s phone number is automatically stored in your caller ID so you can easily call back in the future. And by checking the box to remember your phone number, you can make future calls from Google Maps with just two mouse clicks (and picking up your phone, of course).

Via Lifehacker

The power of visuals

According to a multimedia prof in Florida (link redacted), a graphic presentation showing the Cowboy’s new stadium received 42,000 hits, compared to just 20,000 for the print version.

That’s a huge difference for just five pics.

How can we put that information into use in our churches?

I think it shows how visually stimulated our current society is.

If people can actually see what you’re trying to tell them there’s more chance they’ll pay attention and retain it.

Firefox is acting funny

Firefox seems to acting very funny like.
I type a word or two and then it will go back one space and start typing in the middle of the word I’ve already typed. Very weird.
Appears to only happen in Firefox.
Could it be a Firefox problem or a problem with the antivirus program I’m running right now?
Here’s what the above paragraph looked like without corrections.

Fireox sees o be actinvery fu liek.
I typ a wordr twoan t wilto back one space and star ting int eh midleof the word I’ve lready typed. Very weird
Appears to only apen i Firefox.Could it b a Firefox prbem r a problem with the antivirus prgram Im running igh now?
Hee’s hat the above paragraph looked like ithout corrections.waa wrtr’oeoloenphhp.a dpyt lid o eynn gtmf

2007 Book Club

I finished Wild at Heart this weekend. I must say, it was decent but not the show stopper I kept hearing about.
I feel like I could have written the book – but I say that after hearing many people tell me about the book and probably read several reviews about it.
It was good. It challenged me to live for me and the calling God has placed on my heart, not on other people’s hearts. Not in a selfish way, but I should be living out the passions God’s given to me.
It also challenged me to consider taking more risks. Don’t know what all that might entail at this point in my life but we’ll see where God leads.
I really started Wild at Heart in 2006, so any suggestions on if I should count it towards my 2007 goal? Maybe I’ll chalk it up as 1/2 a book.
I did pick up two other books at lunch.
One that’s been recommended several times and a second I just found on the shelf.
I’m really looking foward to the second, Under the Overpass. I think I may end up reading it first.
Here’s a review from Publisher’s Weekly:

Yankoski’s parents were right: It was crazy to live as a homeless person in six American cities for five months; fortunately, this crazy idea makes for quite a story. Yankoski, a Christian college student, challenges the reader to learn about faith, identify with the poor and find “more forgotten, ruined, beautiful people than we ever imagined existed, and more reason to hope in their redemption.” The journey begins at a Denver rescue mission and ends on a California beach. Along the way, Yankoski and a friend learn the perils of poor hygiene and the secrets of panhandling. They meet unfortunates like Andrew, who squanders his musical talent to feed his drug habit, and hustlers like Jake, who gives the pair tips about how to look and sound more pitiful to get more money. Yankoski tends to moralize: “If we respond to others based on their outward appearance, haven’t we entirely missed the point of the Gospel?” Still, the book features fine writing (“I awoke, rolled over and saw beads of sweat already forming on my arms. Saturday, early morning, Phoenix”) and vivid stories, authentically revealing an underworld of need.

The other book I picked up was Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller.
I’ve heard several people talk about it. Some have loved it. Others have hated it. I’m thinking I’ll be closer to the first. But you never know.
Anyone else read these books yet? Wild at Heart, Under the Overpass or Blue Like Jazz? What’d you think? How were you challenged.
What books are you reading this year?

CDs vs. downloads

As I’m putting together more playlist material for OrangeNoiseRadio I’m starting to regret buying some of the countless downloads I’ve purchased over the last few years.

For the most part they’ve all been WMA (Microsoft) files with a few files in Apple’s native file format.
I even made the switch from MP3 to WMA’s for ripping my own CD’s some time back.

But the software we use for ONR only plays MP3s. So now I’m stuck having to re-find and re-rip all the songs I already ripped.

And when my hard drive crashed last month I lost everything I had stored on it. No backups of all those songs.

It’s got me wondering if CDs are the better way to go, especially after reading a post from Lifehacker today.

What about the rest of you? Have digital files replaced your love affair with CDs? Have you reconsidered re-igniting your first love? If only we could go back to the simpler (illegal) way of downloading all our music for free from Napster life might be so much easier. Ahh… the good ole’ days.