Can We Add a Starburst?!

Movin' on over

2007-04-11T22:13:00.001-05:00

Time to change out all your links.

I'm moving this blog to here.

Wordpress seems to have a lot more features than blogger and at the still-reasonable price on free.

Plus I'm consolidating this blog and my other one so it's all in one place and it's one less thing I have to keep up with.

Hope you'll make the move with me.

Apple TV

2007-04-10T19:42:00.000-05:00

I've been kicking this around in my head and thought I'd get some opinions. We currently pay about $65 per month for satelite service. Because of our Netflix subscription (and newly formed Guitar Hero 2 habit) we don't watch the TV a lot.

What I'm thinking of is buying an Apple TV. I've made a list of shows we try to keep up with. We could afford to buy those shows off of iTunes and still spend less than a satelite on a yearly basis. So, for less money, we would own the shows and could watch them anytime. Plus, it would allow us to keep up with the shows. We don't have DVR and so right now, we are missing a ton of our favorite shows because they don't come on at convenient times. This way, they would automatically download for us and we could watch them at our convenience.

But, then the HD-factor comes into play. The Apple TV currently supports up to 720p. We spent a good chunk of change to have a 1080p set so I'd like a box that supports the full resolution of the TV. The other thing is, I don't really want to spend money to buy these shows at DVD quality when I'd like to have them at HD quality. HD isn't currently available through iTunes. I'm thinking of waiting until they flip the HD switch to make this change. As much as we don't use the satelite now, we do have the HD package which is really nice.

At the end of the day, it probably isn't worth even the effort I put into this post, but hey, one has to think on the heavy topics of life.

Power drain

2007-04-10T19:35:00.000-05:00

Does anyone know how much power computers suck? I'm trying an experiment. When I'm not using my main computer I'm shutting it down completely.

It's a Mac which means I can leave it on for weeks on end (which I usually do), but I'm giving this a shot. It's a PowerMac G5 Quad hooked up to a 20" screen and a 30" screen so I figure it has to be using a decent amount of power.

Here's hoping it cuts down dramatically on the electric bill.

For the kidnapper on the go

2007-04-04T12:33:00.000-05:00

The Ransom Note Generator for anyone too busy for such details.

Via Coudal Partners.

Guitar Hero 2

2007-04-04T10:14:00.000-05:00

Guitar Hero 2 has invaded our house. A quick review: If you have the money, go buy it now. If you don't have the money, sell a kidney.

Also, if you have a spouse, invest in a second guitar controller. We are trying to track one down right now because we're tired of taking turns playing. Rebecca is addicted to it.

For the record, I knew she would be no matter how many times she told me it "sounds stupid."

Online apps

2007-04-02T21:46:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, I've switched a good chunk of my organization to the web. I'm using three 37signals apps including Basecamp for project organization, Highrise for contact management and Backpack for an online calendar and general notes.

I've also moved most of my RSS feeds from Safari's built in reader to Google Reader. I really like how Safari handles my RSS needs, but I work on two different computers and keeping them in sync was a pain. It often involved looking through tons of articles I'd already read.

That really turned out to be my motivation to moving everything I can online. I'm often not in the office and I like to have access to it anywhere. This came up this weekend when we were at my parents house for Colton's birthday and I wanted to check my reading but really didn't want to fire up the laptop for fear of work sucking me in. Now with Google Reader, I can check for new articles anywhere. So far I'm pretty happy with it. It posts new articles a little slow for my tastes. I still have the RSS feeds in Safari for now so I can see when one pops up there. It may be an hour or more before the same article shows up in Google.

The other great side effect of this is that I was able to pair down my RSS subscriptions. I had about 95 different feeds. Some didn't update often and some I found I just didn't have time to keep up with anymore. Now I'm down to just 28 and it's cut down tremendously on the time it takes me to get through it all. If I ever went away for the weekend, I might have 300+ articles waiting on me, most of which went unread. This has helped a lot.

Between 37signals and Google, I'm really enjoying this idea of using apps online. So what great web apps am I missing?

Rain

2007-03-30T16:59:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love it when it rains. I'm sitting here with Snow Patrol coming out of the iTunes and my office door open to hear the heavy rain and thunder.

I like writing on days like this.

Spike

2007-03-28T21:52:00.000-05:00

Ironically, I've seen a sudden spike in traffic to this blog. That's really funny to me considering I have been way to busy to post this month.

So what are you telling me? If I shut up, you'll show up?

I do keep this blog updated much more frequently. Starting this week I should be back to updating here regularly. It's been a crazy month.

One thing I want to write in-depth about is 37signals' new product Highrise. I'm in love with it and it's taken my organizational skills to a whole new level.

Another reason to love Netflix

2007-03-28T16:36:00.000-05:00

This is another reason why I love Netflix. Not only do they offer a great service at a good price, turns out they treat their employees great as well.

I love this idea that you aren't ranked on the time spent in the office but for the quality of the work.

I need to add Netflix to the list of "People we like" on our new site.

Via AdPulp.

Brewing

2007-03-05T21:45:00.000-06:00

This is shaping up to be one great year. On top of the great things happening at church (you can read more about that here), our largest client, Bruner Motors, has purchased two dealerships in Brownwood, Texas. We've officially begun work for the new stores so this should have a huge impact on the future of the business. I'm also still handling the creative direction on The Business Journal, our other large client which is beginning to grow. In between that, we have a steady flow of smaller design work coming in.

Between these new things and the massive things going on at church, there is a lot brewing for this year.

Headline of the day

2007-03-02T13:43:00.000-06:00

Sword Fight Ensues After South Carolina Break-In.

Video game history

2007-02-28T21:44:00.000-06:00

This is a complete history of console video games. It's interesting reading some of the behind-the-scenes stuff I was never aware of as a kid.

It's in the details

2007-02-28T13:07:00.000-06:00

I can't really do this justice with words. It's artwork created by statistics. Pretty interesting experiement.

Via Coudal Partners.

Ker-sploosh

2007-02-28T13:01:00.000-06:00

Here's a collection of the typography from the vintage Batman fight scenes. This will take you back if you grew up watching the 60's Batman TV show.

Note: Yeah, I wasn't alive in the 60's. However, around 1989 when Tim Burton's Batman flick bowed, they began to rerun the original show on TV. My brother and I loved watching it every week.

Via HOW.

Why I hate coupons

2007-02-27T21:10:00.000-06:00

So, I'm in line at Wal-Mart, which is probably my least favorite place to be. I've just spent 20 minutes shopping, and another 10 in line is not my idea of fun.

The couple in front of me has just finished checking out $200 worth of groceries. That takes a while.

Just as I see a light at the end of the tunnel, the woman whips out a stack of coupons as thick as the last Harry Potter book. And, of course, as the cashier begins to scan them (after picking her chin up off the floor) most of them have some sort of issue which requires her to punch an elaborate code into the machine. This adds a solid five minutes to the process. I really wish I was kidding.

It saved them a grand total of five dollars. Now, I realize five dollars is a lot of money to some people. In fact, to me it's generally a lot of money. However, at that point I was tempted to offer her five dollars just to leave right then.

There has got to be a better way for stores to handle coupons. It's a pain for the employees, and it's a pain for every customer except the one saving the money.

No computers? Seriously?

2007-02-27T16:53:00.000-06:00

March 24th has been declared Shutdown Day. The idea is to shut down everything you have that uses a computer and go 24 hours without it. Seriously? It might be possible, since it's a Saturday, but still, nothing with a computer?

I'm looking around my desk right now. I'd have to do without the following (all of which I use every day): Treo cell phone, Powerbook, PowerMac, regular phone, fire department pager, Xbox 360, camera, and my TV. My beloved TV. That may be going too far.

I may actually give it a shot. It'll be easier if the weather is nice. We can get out with the kids and have some non-technological fun.

If you can still call that fun.

Send the bill to Gucci

2007-02-27T11:49:00.000-06:00

This is a great story about a man who designed an ad (featuring himself) and sent it to a Swiss newspaper as a two-page full-color spread. A spread to be billed at $50,000 to Gucci. This is what advertising gets for being such a last-minute business. It makes it possible for things like this to take place.

Via AdFreak.

Fox problems

2007-02-26T20:28:00.000-06:00

Fox seems to be having problems with their satelite signal tonight. Because of that, I've missed half of 24. I hope it was a good one.

Kick 'em while they're down

2007-02-26T19:29:00.000-06:00

Sony and it's much maligned PS3 seem to be having tons of public relation problems these days. Now everyday folks are even going to a lot of effort to add to their misery. This video is pretty funny.

As promised

2007-02-26T16:24:00.000-06:00

Here is the new blog I'll maintain for all the church-related happenings.

Movin' on up

2007-02-26T14:14:00.000-06:00

Yesterday at church we had a special service where myself and my friend James Fesser were appointed as associate pastors. This is a big step for each of us and the church. We are the first associate pastors in the short history of the church and I think we each bring things to the table to help the church grow.

I'll be in charge of all children, youth, and college ministries as well as all creative direction and advertising/marketing.

I'll be starting a new blog very soon for all church-related material (I'm expected there to be a lot of it).

Hello

2007-02-26T11:46:00.000-06:00

Below is the new Apple commercial for the iPhone. It is absolutely one of the best commercials they could have made. It ran during last night's Oscars broadcast. Perfect ad for the audience they were showing it to.

"She thinks she's a chip!"

2007-02-26T11:34:00.000-06:00

Last night we were enjoying some of my wife's great hamburgers off the grill. Our family dinners, as is usually the case, degenerate into the boys making goofy faces while we all eat.

Suddenly, our cat Jinxy got a wild hair and jumped on the cabinet and up into the chip cabinet.

"She thinks she's a chip!" Conner screamed.

Maybe you had to be there, but it was really funny at the time.

"That's what she said."

2007-02-22T20:21:00.000-06:00

The Office was great tonight. Just so you know.

"Seven billion dollars?"

2007-02-19T09:02:00.000-06:00

This ad agency spoof video is shockingly close to reality. Pretty funny stuff.

Courtesy of Cliff Freeman & Partners.