People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

Simon Sinek

iPad Journalism Grips

by Stuart on November 2, 2011

I’m tired of hearing magazine and newspaper publishers complain about Apple withholding subscriber information from them.  They say that it hinders the relationship they have with subscribers. Sending me annoying renewal notices, flooding my inbox with emails, and selling my info to other companies is not a relationship. Instead they should spend time creating content that I want. Here is what I want:

  1. Real journalism and compelling storytelling (something along the lines of ArsTechnica)
  2. No gimmicks. I don’t want a magazine app that is “interactive.” Focus on engaging me with your core content. Once you get that down you can explore the interactive stuff.
  3. Smaller file sizes for each new issue. Someone really needs to optimize the graphics or something. Google has good ads and they are all text. I don’t want videos.
  4. Make and pack my lunch every day.
  5. Code an app that doesn’t crash.
  6. Reasonable prices. No thanks to The Times at $20 a month.

That is all I’m asking. Nothing fancy. Start small. Go back to the basics of good journalism. Thanks.

Video of the Week

by Stuart on July 1, 2011


Donald Duck in Spanish

Only the mediocre are always at their best.

Jean Giraudoux

Apple Releases iBalance (I wish this were true)

by Stuart on June 21, 2011

The state of financial software on the Mac has never been something to write home about. Windows users have always had a plethora of financial software to meet their needs.

Apple should create personal financial software. Quicken used to be fine on the Mac, but they’ve had a shaky development history. Quicken Essentials will never be what Quicken 2007 was and Intuit has no plans to bring the features of 2007 to the Mac anytime soon. They keep adding bandaids to their Mac development (i.e. now Rosetta in Lion). Thankfully some good financial software has sprouted up. I don’t think that there is killer financial software for the Mac yet. Mac users have waited a long time and we deserve something from Apple. Here is what iBalance should be:

  • Every great Mac app looks good. I’m thinking something with the GUI of Cha-Ching (which I purchased and it was then bought out by Quicken) and the slick charts in Squirrel.
  • Some type of automatic budget tracking (similar to Money) should be included.
  • Feature-wise the app needs to shoot for the features in iBank and the Windows version of Quicken.
  • iBalance should have a receipt tracking feature like Paperless so that important receipts can be tracked in the program.
  • It must allow split transactions, categories, and direct imports. Custom reports would be a nice addition too.
  • Above all iBalance must sync perfectly with the iBalance iOS app so that I can enter transactions immediately. A bonus would be that it ties into Apple’s future NFC payements system so that all my purchases can be automatically tracked.

At this point one can only wish. For now I’m trying out the new Money 4.

Teaching: Year One

by Stuart on June 9, 2011

This past academic year was my first official year teaching. Graphic Design was a blast and I think most of my students had as much fun as I had. Here are some things I learned:

  • Teaching is just as demanding as ministry. Instead of two speaking responsibilities a week I had to speak 5 times a week and 6 times a day. I was forced to be entertaining and instructive every week day (I didn’t always succeed at that).
  • Students are smart. They just need some motivation and a little TLC.
  • Students don’t always make smart decisions.
  • Students are respectful and responsible. I didn’t have one discipline problem in my class all year.
  • The pen is mightier than the sword. Chuck Norris is mightier than the pen.
  • Students are patient and forgiving. I have rough days too and my students always understood.
  • The government’s idea of “accountability” is seriously broken. Don’t get me started.
  • My politically “liberal” co-workers are wonderful and caring people. I enjoyed working with them. Contrary to what people think (including Uncle Glenn) they are not Satan’s Servants. They really love their students. I thankful that my co-workers are such great examples to me.
  • I hate texting.
  • I still enjoy being around teenagers!

I’m not sure how many years I’ll be doing this public teaching thing. I respect all those teachers who have stuck with it. The paperwork and bureaucracy can wear you down at times. I’m just thankful that I get to be around teens eight hours a day. It is all great ministry preparation, but more importantly I think it is ministry.

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.

Lao Tzu

Swagger Wagon

by Stuart on February 2, 2011

My new favorite music video of all time!

Photo of the Week

by Stuart on February 2, 2011

Books!

Public Schools and Christ

by Stuart on January 30, 2011

I’ve recently been praying about how to reach the lost in my community. Since most of my community involvement is at our local Public School my thoughts kept drifting that direction.

Let me alleviate some of your concerns before I begin. I don’t have a problem with parents keeping their kids out of public schools. I don’t think most fundy Christians have a problem with that. Secondly, I’m not bashing all public schools. There are certainly some good ones. Thirdly, I have not seen Waiting for Superman nor do I intend on running around my school in blue and red tights.

As we all know there is a problem with public education. We are all quick to point out the problem, but I’ve heard very few Christians talk how they can address the problem. There is a problem when we, as Christians, have numerous opportunities to reach out to public schools and we tend to focus on the lack of morals, the so-called restrictions on prayer, or the “liberal” educators attempting to teach impressionable children in the ways of the devil (according to Glenn?). And we vent and complain and vent and complain…

Christ went to those who needed redemption. He did not sit in heaven complaining about it (Rom. 5:8).

I’m not judging anybody, but I am definitely preaching. If you don’t have a public school kid or a ghetto kid that you are reaching out to, then ask yourself, “is my lack of involvement really the fault of the public school system.”

Our school system and most of our other systems are trending downward because we have withdrawn ourselves from the world Christ told us go into (Mt. 28:16-20).

I’m not “dissing” anybody. I’m including myself and I’m accepting responsibility for this trend. With Christ’s help we can do so much more! My goal this month is to simply reach out. Public schools can keep Waiting for Superman, but in the meantime we should bring them Jesus Christ.

Disclaimer: Iny bad grammers or spallings is da faults uv da public skool sistem that edukated me’s;