Category Archives: Technology

Internet

Relevant Redesign

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So Relevant Magazine hyped their upcoming redesign, originally saying it would post March 1. Then March 15. Then April 1. They even had a fancy widget counting down the hours to the redesign.

Well, April 1 came and went (and the counter started over at 30 days), and today the old site is still up, the counter is gone, and no word on an update. The lesson? Never publicize a date for a launch unless you already have everything finished.

But interestingly enough, Steve Knight points to a supposed beta version of the new Relevant site. Nothing really works, but you can get an idea of what they might be trying to do.

Lest you think I’m obsessed with Relevant, let me just say that I’m curious about what they’re doing online. Relevant has done a lot of cool stuff, but I’ve never been entirely impressed with their site. I do check it out every day, but I rarely ever read their articles, and I’ve been amazed at their lack of blog-like functionality. They have some blog-like updates, but they don’t archive them well or offer the commenting/trackbacking features that make blogging so popular. The redesign has blogs in a few places, though I’m curious to see what that really means.

Blogging

Real Magazine is Back

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I’m a little hesitant to announce this publically, but what they heck? Real Magazine is back.

It’s my latest blog addiction, a blog for teens about faith and life. I’ve worked on teen web sites and magazines for a while now, and I’ve been frustrated that no one has started a teen blog. So I thought I’d suck it up and start my own.

I’m hesistant to talk about it because it just started. It’s not even a week old and it seems premature to be hyping it. I’m also still tweaking the extra pages, still finding typos, and still not satisfied with the logo and design. I’m also going out of town tomorrow so the updates will be sporadic at best.

But at the same time, I want people to know about it. I want teens to read it. So there it is.

I have all sorts of plans for content, including the ‘When I Was Your Age’ column I write for my youth group newsletter, as well as quotes, links, stats, reviews, interviews and all the stuff that makes blogs fun.

I’m going to keep babbling about it if you want to keep reading, but that’s the word in a nutshell. Go check out the newest teen blog.

Continue reading Real Magazine is Back →

Blogging

Movable Type Templates and Stuff

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Today I set up a new blog and tried to scour the web for Movable Type templates. Surprisingly, I didn’t find a lot. I did find this site, though they seem to be too new to have much. There weren’t even any Google ads on the search results page for “Movable Type templates”, which makes me wonder if it’s just not an industry that’s sprung up yet. These guys seem to have discovered it, but that’s about all I could find.

I did find a cool site with lots of tips and tricks, including how to add both a left and right sidebar.

Internet

Firefox vs. Safari

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Back in the dark ages when I used a PC I turned to Firefox when Internet Explorer became too much of a pain. But since becoming a Mac user over a year ago I’ve been happily using the default Mac browser, Safari. I’ve been quite happy with it’s fluid motion and the pleasing way it displays web sites.

But lately I’ve noticed it running slowly. It happens when I’m running several tabs and/or windows: suddenly everything stops and the cursor turns into that little rainbow ball and spins for a while. After six or eight seconds it stops and I can do something again. It only slows Safari–every other program is fine–but it keeps me from being as productive as I could be in Safari.

This spinning rainbow finally got on my nerves in the past week or two and I decided to give Firefox a shot. So far I’m liking it.

Continue reading Firefox vs. Safari →

Technology

iPod Nation

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2005_03_20pioneersmall.jpgMy smiling mug showed up in the Pioneer Press this morning, and thankfully I didn’t look like a mad scientist. The story, “iPod Nation” (registration required) covers people and their interesting uses for the iPod. I use mine to record interviews which landed me a few quotes, a profile and a picture (the online version doesn’t include the photos, so I scanned mine).

I didn’t say anything stupid, but I didn’t say anything brilliant either. I was actually more impressed with the guy they quoted after me, the Georgia Institute of Technology professor who records bird calls. I was also hoping for some more funky iPod uses. One of my favorites is how the band Sanctus Real uses one during performances.

I was also a bit disapointed that the writer, Julio Ojeda-Zapata, didn’t include my rant about how cool 89.3 The Current is and how I’ve discovered a bunch of new bands from them, bought the songs on iTunes, and now listen to them on my iPod. That was in full effect this weekend when I heard two cool songs during my four hour drive in the snow and then bought the tracks the next day. 11 of my top 50 most played songs I first heard on the Current. Maybe next time, Julio, we’ll give The Current their due.

Seriously though, I think quoting a fellow writer made Julio a bit nervous, but he did the best he could with the material I gave him. Saying something quotable must be a skill that comes with a lot of practice.

For the most part though, I’m just happy the photo doesn’t make me look like a mad scientist. Every other photo has the person doing something crazy, which is what I had to do (poor Linda Cullen, her picture looks exactly like what they made me do). Thankfully they didn’t use my crazy photo. Though I do have the entire process recorded–and after listening to it again and comparing it with the picture, it looks like the one he used was a light test. Or so he said.

But my favorite photo is the 12-year-old girl dancing and her hair going everywhere. With the black background and people in color style of the photographs, it’s like a reverse iPod commercial. My hat goes off to photographer Ben Garvin for not making me look like a freak.

Technology

Check Your Pioneer Press on Sunday

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On Sunday there’s supposed to be a story in the Pioneer Press about people who use iPods for purposes other than listening to music. I’m supposed to be featured because I use my iPod to record interviews. There’s also supposed to be a photospread.

I warn you now: I’m going to look like a mad scientist. I just did what the photographer asked (I have the whole photoshoot recorded if you don’t believe me). Frankly, I was a real sport about the whole thing. But I just want to warn you ahead of time. I’ll have more details about the whole thing later.

Blogging

Rosie O’Donnell Blogs

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Though the former talk show host has stepped out of the public light, she has started a blog (NYT has the skinny, link via Kottke).

While I’m not that interested in the ramblings of a celebrity (please, for the love of all things good use some punctuation!), I find it absolutely hilarious that a wealthy celebrity is using a free, off-the-shelf blogging service like Blogger, complete with one of their lame templates (#565) that a thousand other people use.

But wait, it gets better. She also has her own home page, complete with links, home videos and artwork. You won’t find a PR specialist within miles of this site. Hats off to Rosie for the guts to put herself out there and be normal (in her own special way).

(and I can’t shake the incongruity between this post and the previous one, but what are you going to do? Life moves on, though I hope there is a spark of change in my heart.)

Blogging

Support Ticket Racing

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The other day I admitted I was a blogaholic and mentioned a new blog I’ve been talking about launching. Since then I’ve been learning all about multiple domain hosting, exploring new hosting providers, and preparing to switch to a new host. Why? Well, it would make things easier in the long run.

I started down that path today, and it’s an ugly path. It involves transferring my domain, possibly some down time with my site and my e-mail (gulp), and a lot of reinstallation work. As I was realizing this, my FTP transfer with my new host kept stalling. Add that to the fact that I submitted a support ticket this morning and am still awaiting an answer. Then I realized the other option would be to just open a new account. It simplifies some things and complicates others. But it might just be worth while.

So here’s the short story: I have two support tickets in to two different places asking about two different options. I think whoever answers first will be who I go with. Call me spoiled, but my current host answers support tickets with in an hour. That may just be worth its weight in gold.

Blogging

Monkey Outta the Mission Field

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Monkey Outta the Mission FieldI love blogs. This is why. Tim is transitioning from a private practice in the southern U.S. to being a medical missionary in Kenya and is blogging about his experience. Forget only hearing from missionaries during furloughs or on Missionary Sunday.

I especially like his interview with his daughter about a day she spent helping him. (thanks to John I. Carney for turning me on to a site others probably discovered ages ago)