Thursday, February 04, 2010
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Passionate...
I really have enjoyed the book AXIOM - By Bill Hybels and I just can't stop reading it.
Today I read:
Disagree Without Drawing Blood
Here is a quote that really spoke to me and I need to get better at...
"I have deep feelings about so many kingdom issues, I have been known to express myself very passionately in meetings. And as you probably know, passion can beget passion. Effective leaders do not fear passion. They welcome it. But from time to time passionate discussions digress into personal attacks, and real people get really hurt. In my view, leaders must head that off before it happens. Your team must know that as the leader, you will never sit idly by and allow a meeting to turn into an alley fight."
I read that and I realized that is me and has been me for many years. I am trying so hard, to not be this way. I hope that I can become better in this area so that my team can respond in a healthy way to any discussion/disagreement we have.
Today I read:
Disagree Without Drawing Blood
Here is a quote that really spoke to me and I need to get better at...
"I have deep feelings about so many kingdom issues, I have been known to express myself very passionately in meetings. And as you probably know, passion can beget passion. Effective leaders do not fear passion. They welcome it. But from time to time passionate discussions digress into personal attacks, and real people get really hurt. In my view, leaders must head that off before it happens. Your team must know that as the leader, you will never sit idly by and allow a meeting to turn into an alley fight."
I read that and I realized that is me and has been me for many years. I am trying so hard, to not be this way. I hope that I can become better in this area so that my team can respond in a healthy way to any discussion/disagreement we have.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
When will you use the iPad?
This is a great article on the iPad... So, When Do You Plan To Use the iPad?
Yes, I know that iPad analysis abounds in abnormal amounts right now. But still, now that it’s out, now that we know what it can and cannot do, one cannot help but think about its future. Is it going to be a hit? Is it going to be a failure? Is it good enough as it is, or will Apple need to change something to make it work?
iPad’s biggest problem is time, or lack thereof. I’m not talking about the passing of time; I’m talking about the time every user allocates to different activities each day.
It’s going to be very hard to find enough time to use the iPad. When you’re at home or at work, you’re going to use your computer. When you’re on the go, you have your smartphone. If you’re on a train or a plane and need to do some work, you can use a laptop. When you’re doing something else, such as running, well, then your attention is focused on that. When, exactly, are you going to use the iPad?
Check out your schedule. What do you do during the day? I spend at least 9-10 hours in front of my computer, working (if I were working on any other job, I still probably wouldn’t be able to use the iPad). I spend an hour or two training; add a couple of coffees or a beer with friends, perhaps a movie, or a night out at the concert, and the rest is sleep. I simply don’t see when I’d be able to pick up the iPad. The way I live my life right now, it’d be collecting dust.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the iPad is not useful. It’s great for delivering all kinds of content, as I already wrote. But great might not be enough.
This is why Steve Jobs pointed out so many times during his keynote that the iPad is better: better at browsing, better at sending e-mails, better at reading books. Unfortunately, even if that’s true, it’s not that much better. If you’re sitting at your computer, will you go fetch the iPad to send some e-mails on it? I don’t think so. Will you play on your iPad if you have a PlayStation? Ask your kid, I’m sure he/she knows the answer.
Now, if we had 48 hours in one day, the iPad would be a fantastic device. All those long walks at the beach you’re currently not taking because you have no time, all those times when you simply have nothing better to do, you’d fire up your iPad. But if you’re in Apple’s target demographic for the iPad, chances are you haven’t been bored or had too much free time on your hands in weeks.
I can think of only one activity in which the iPad really excels, and that’s book reading. But in that department, iPad competes against the less expensive Kindle, Nook, a bunch of other e-book readers, and, yes, physical books. It’s not exactly an easy road ahead, is it?
I’ve already discussed content versus activity: The iPad is not so much about creating or working, it’s about consuming content. Right now, Apple has its iBookstore, a deal with The New York Times, a couple of games and an SDK, waiting for developers to create applications. But I’m not sure any of those, except the book store, are enough to make you need the iPad (Yes, you may want it, but do you need it?)
If Apple wants to turn that want into need, it needs to sell content, not the device, because we don’t have the time for another device. The way I look at it, in the future, the iPad should be free if you buy, for example, a two-year subscription to a magazine, or a couple of seasons of a TV series. Right now, its price point is way too steep for those kind of deals. If Apple manages to pick up enough partners to sell us great content on the iPad, then the iPad has a chance. But it won’t happen right away. The iPad’s time is coming, but it may be very far ahead.
Yes, I know that iPad analysis abounds in abnormal amounts right now. But still, now that it’s out, now that we know what it can and cannot do, one cannot help but think about its future. Is it going to be a hit? Is it going to be a failure? Is it good enough as it is, or will Apple need to change something to make it work?
iPad’s biggest problem is time, or lack thereof. I’m not talking about the passing of time; I’m talking about the time every user allocates to different activities each day.
It’s going to be very hard to find enough time to use the iPad. When you’re at home or at work, you’re going to use your computer. When you’re on the go, you have your smartphone. If you’re on a train or a plane and need to do some work, you can use a laptop. When you’re doing something else, such as running, well, then your attention is focused on that. When, exactly, are you going to use the iPad?
Check out your schedule. What do you do during the day? I spend at least 9-10 hours in front of my computer, working (if I were working on any other job, I still probably wouldn’t be able to use the iPad). I spend an hour or two training; add a couple of coffees or a beer with friends, perhaps a movie, or a night out at the concert, and the rest is sleep. I simply don’t see when I’d be able to pick up the iPad. The way I live my life right now, it’d be collecting dust.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the iPad is not useful. It’s great for delivering all kinds of content, as I already wrote. But great might not be enough.
This is why Steve Jobs pointed out so many times during his keynote that the iPad is better: better at browsing, better at sending e-mails, better at reading books. Unfortunately, even if that’s true, it’s not that much better. If you’re sitting at your computer, will you go fetch the iPad to send some e-mails on it? I don’t think so. Will you play on your iPad if you have a PlayStation? Ask your kid, I’m sure he/she knows the answer.
Now, if we had 48 hours in one day, the iPad would be a fantastic device. All those long walks at the beach you’re currently not taking because you have no time, all those times when you simply have nothing better to do, you’d fire up your iPad. But if you’re in Apple’s target demographic for the iPad, chances are you haven’t been bored or had too much free time on your hands in weeks.
I can think of only one activity in which the iPad really excels, and that’s book reading. But in that department, iPad competes against the less expensive Kindle, Nook, a bunch of other e-book readers, and, yes, physical books. It’s not exactly an easy road ahead, is it?
I’ve already discussed content versus activity: The iPad is not so much about creating or working, it’s about consuming content. Right now, Apple has its iBookstore, a deal with The New York Times, a couple of games and an SDK, waiting for developers to create applications. But I’m not sure any of those, except the book store, are enough to make you need the iPad (Yes, you may want it, but do you need it?)
If Apple wants to turn that want into need, it needs to sell content, not the device, because we don’t have the time for another device. The way I look at it, in the future, the iPad should be free if you buy, for example, a two-year subscription to a magazine, or a couple of seasons of a TV series. Right now, its price point is way too steep for those kind of deals. If Apple manages to pick up enough partners to sell us great content on the iPad, then the iPad has a chance. But it won’t happen right away. The iPad’s time is coming, but it may be very far ahead.
Friday, January 29, 2010
AT&T and Church
Yesterday I went into the AT&T store to talk to them about my phone account. When I walked in I was greeted, asked how can they "serve" me, and asked how I was doing. The store was lit up had some slight music playing in the back round and was very clean. The guy that was helping me was very nice and not to busy for me. He was focused on me and what I needed at the time. I liked the place so much I switched from Comcast to AT&T U-verse. Not sure how that happened, but it did. I didn't even go in for that reason.
Why am I writing this?
Because I feel that we should be the same way when working in a church. We should greet, be nice, ask, and serve. Our spaces should be lit up, welcoming and clean. When people walk into your space, do they feel like a VIP do they feel like they are important? Are you to busy doing the work of the ministry or doing ministry, are you focused on the people that are there? People come into church with many different needs and wants, but what we have is the opportunity to give them eternal life. We can not waste opportunities when we have the short time that God has given us to reach people. They may leave thinking wow, that place is incredible I want to go back to that church...
Why am I writing this?
Because I feel that we should be the same way when working in a church. We should greet, be nice, ask, and serve. Our spaces should be lit up, welcoming and clean. When people walk into your space, do they feel like a VIP do they feel like they are important? Are you to busy doing the work of the ministry or doing ministry, are you focused on the people that are there? People come into church with many different needs and wants, but what we have is the opportunity to give them eternal life. We can not waste opportunities when we have the short time that God has given us to reach people. They may leave thinking wow, that place is incredible I want to go back to that church...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Apple Tablet/iPad
There is a huge meeting today that Apple is having.. Some things they will be discussing is...
iPhone OS 4.0, iLife 2010
iTunes Upgrade
Deadly Relationships
Many people are in a relationship that is killing you. I am not talking about a dating or a marriage I am talking about relationships, all of them. We have people in our life that do not match what we believe or want. Am I saying that you don't need to hang out with them NO! But if they are bringing you down or causing you to do things that you would not normally do, then yes! If they are causing you to bring up old dark things in your past that you have let go of and given to God, then YES!! That shows that you are not strong enough to shine Christ in those areas. The people you hang out with will define you! Those people say who you are and what you believe in. You have to be wise in your relationships. People will come and say, "I don't know what happened? I am just so different now." I will say, well look at the people you are hanging out with! That is almost always the problem. Don't be the next person who had it all going for them and then over time they have eaten them away to be a totally different person. Then they say, "I just can't leave them, I want to show them Christ." I will say, you haven't done it now and you probally won't later. Let God be God and you back off, you work on you... He has been doing plenty without you since the beginning of time. End deadly relationships now... it is worth it!
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