Got my new Google Voice number!
June 26th, 2009
Been waiting for this for a very long time! now off to learn more about what it can do.
More Desktop fun
April 3rd, 2009
Driving DesktopI have not yet found the right background image to do the sci-fi themed geektool based desktop that I have in mind. However I did create this one to use for now, until I either find or create the right sci-fi based background for the desktop that I really want.
Geektool and cool desktops
March 31st, 2009
dynamic desktopI have been using GeekTool for a very long time now to show system info on my desktop, but without any imagination as to making it look cool. Then the other day I saw some very artistic implementations on flicker. I borrowed this one for my self for a while, but now have some very cool ideas how to do something similar, but with a more sci-fi bent.
I really wanted to like TextMate.
March 13th, 2009
But it seems to have one major problem when using Expandrive to access remote project files. Every time I go to my browser to check or test a change, it takes many seconds before it will respond again when I return to editing. This behavior drove me to pull my hair. not an easy task considering how little there is.
The sad part is that it is the only real problem I have with this otherwise excellent editor. There are a lot of items on my wish list, but no real problems other then this. For local files or editing files through Transmit, TextMate works great! But alas, I want to be able to define a set of files as a project, and those files need to be search-able and brows-able remotely, without making me wait too long.
So for now, I am back to bbEdit which does not seem to suffer from this slowness issue, but has quirks of its own. All I want is the perfect text editor. PHP, SQL, and JavaScript tools from eclipse, great search, and diff tools from bbEdit, and clean Simple autoComplete from TextMate, excellent project tools, and good language based syntax coloring that all three of these have. Hmm, while I am at it how about good tools for every source control system form darcs to subversion. Oh! and….
Gmail with Safari 4 beta and Firefox 3.1b3
March 13th, 2009
I have been using Gmail as my central online communications hub for a long time now. I was using Mail.app to pop my mail from Gmail until about month ago. Now with all the improvements to the Gmail interface I even stopped using my local mail client with great success. All my email accounts get forwarded to my Gmail account with one exception that I kept out of the loop as a backup for when Gmail goes down (yes even the best systems will have downtime). I get far less spam this way since Gmail’s spam filters are better then any others that I have used. My iPhone takes advantage of Gmail’s imap service so that I have access to my mail when I am without a system.
Now with all these new fast browsers running around the net, the question becomes… Which is the best browser for Gmail? Read more…
Apple’s Safari 4 beta too broken.
February 25th, 2009
I was happy to see Apple’s announcement of the public beta of Safari 4 the other day. I of course went out and downloaded it, and really liked some of the wiz-bang changes that they made to Safari. That is until I found that Gmail no longer works. Then I plugged in my iPhone and found that it could no longer sync to iTunes. Heck even MobileMe was giving me grief.
The new “Top Sites” feature has a very nice graphical look, and the cover flow style of browsing history is cool. I know that many may not like the obvious copy of Chromes top tabs, but I like it. Behind the scenes, a faster Java Script engine brings speed improvements. The updated WebKit rendering engine now supports HTML 5, better CSS 3 support for reflections, gradients, and more. It even passes the Acid3 rendering test.
All these improvements, and I had to revert back to my older safari because it is really broken. What a sad state of affairs. No Chrome for Mac yet, and Safari 4 beta is unusable for me at this time.
IHOP: International House Of Prayer
February 23rd, 2009
When I was in Kansas City, I took the opportunity to check out IHOP’s 24 hour prayer room in person. They have an interesting setup with tables along both sides of the Prayer room for people to study at. There was also free WiFi for those that work out of their computers. Nice touch there.
As one of the sound people in my church, I was of course interested in their setup. Ours is a small country church with limited space, and because of this we have not been able enclose and mic the drums. This forces us to bring everything else up to the drums, and prevents the kind of softer worship sound that I heard at IHOP. Don’t get me wrong, we have some of the best musicians I have ever had the privilege to worship with. I would however really like to be able to bring the overall levels down a bit to allow us to do the occasional softer worship styles. In any case if it is Gods will, and not just my own, it will be possible someday. 
The worship was simply wonderful at IHOP when I was there. I have been listening to their unique style of prophetic worship for some time now, and I was not disappointed being there in person. They also do a rapid fire prayer line based on the subject that is started by the pastor at the time. This appears to be open to anybody that feels drawn to pray along the current theme. A very powerful way for people to pray in agreement.
Maiah Gets married.
February 20th, 2009
Marriage Vows
To say that this was a casual wedding would be quite an understatement. It was disorganized and at the same time everything came together in the end. Afterwords we all went to a BBQ joint in Manhattan Kansas for dinner. Good BBQ by the way.
Now that they are off on their own I am going to head back to Kansas City and check out the “International House Of Prayer” IHOP…
Checking out the birds my daughter works on.
February 20th, 2009
Today is becoming somewhat of a surreal experience. My eldest Daughter is getting married today. I am in Kansas. My daughter just showed me some of the birds that she works on a couple of hours before the wedding. I am in Kansas, and is and it is a warm beautiful day in February. Everybody seems so unconcerned about the upcoming wedding. I am really in Kansas. And get this… I still have not met the Groom! I am running out of time to decide to punch him in the face, or welcome him into the family! grr…
Ok, checking out the Chinooks was fun! I got to go inside and even sat in the pilots seat, but no inside pictures allowed. Wondering around inside the Chinook made me feel like a kid again! Perhaps that is the plan…
In Salt Lake City
February 19th, 2009
