Musings - On

The current 9-to-5 still deserves my commitment to ensuring its success as a technology startup for a few more years, but when I am ready to start another business venture, I would like it to be in Church and Ministry-related Information Technology. As my good friend Jim Walton says, "Greater things are yet to be done".

My experience with the Storm was tainted heavily, because with the exception of a brief stint on the HTC Dash, I have been an iPhone user for the past 9 months. Prior to that, I was Blackberry all the way since before they were phones. Where the Blackberry fails in comparison to the iPhone is in performance and features of the core operating system. The Storm fails in it's design compared to its own products the Pearl and the Bold.

Performance - The Storm has noticeable processing lags with every touch or gesture. you absolutely cannot "fly" on it like you did with the previous models. I really think the soft keys have made the Storm a frustrating device to use.

OS Features - I'm talking about the subtle elements of the built-in features that were overlooked. For example, when you want to drop your cursor somewhere on the screen, my fat finger covered it and it was like trying to pin the tail on the donkey to get to the exact spot. Answering a call literally took me 5 presses of the "answer" button because the accelerometer didn't change the screens in time and I was pushing phantom buttons. Lastly, even though it has 8GB of memory (which is separate from the device memory - confusing), the Blackberry just isn't a media player or photo album that seamlessly flows into your lifestyle. Again, I am a jaded iPhone user, but we are who the Storm is trying to entice. 

Design - The Storm is "plastickey", bulky, light shines through the cracks and is just not an elegant device. The Pearl and the Bold are the phones that really set Blackberry apart in terms of design. The one thing the Storm has going for it is its unscratchable screen.

In my opinion, Blackberry took a major step back in usability trying to capture some of the iPhone market. Again, my advice to users wanting a Blackberry - stick to the Bold.

For me, the task of putting up and taking down the Christmas lights is a total beating - just being real about it. If it wasn't for the fact that the front of the house slopes down like an Olympic Ski Jump (exaggeration), I'd be hanging lights inches above Terra Firma on a ladder. But, our elevation-challenged lot has been the best excuse to experience the thrill of being on the roof. From our house, you can look out over all the trees in various stages of changing color. Planes rolling in and out of nearby D/FW airport seem to glide more gracefully. 

In many ways it's peaceful up there and with each passing year I can tell more that the experience is appreciated by my future Christmas light hangers.

And so, RIM published an update to it's operating system (v.4.7.0.75) less than 24 hours ago and I gobbled it up and installed it earlier today. The result? Much more snappier performance and it's actually getting more natural to use; although getting used to it might account for some of the perceived ease.

"What's with the 'But...'"? The accelerometer still lags when turned sideways or upright and is touchy - a slight unintentional tilt will flip the display. Music will randomly start playing when the device is in my pocket. I hope it's a response to a physical button that I can learn to avoid (?). Also, the whole phone froze (the battery-yanking kind) twice when trying to record video today.

All in all though, the update is a step in the right direction. 

I'm on a MacBook, so all of the CDs that came with the Storm are as useful as coasters to me, but Blackberry does offer and support a free product called PocketMac SyncManager from their website that synchronizes BBs with Macs. After installing the core program plus a 2-day fresh update especially for the Storm, I was ready to dive in - this program is pretty deep and in a good way. Scanning the vast options, I'm sure that every Personal Information Manager (PIM) that has ever run on a Mac is could be synchronized with a Blackberry, but since I use the Blackberry Enterprise Server, I'm just here for the tunes - iTunes (ah yeah).

iTunes and iPhoto can be synchronized with PocketMac, but in order for these features to be activated I had to enable the Storm's 8GB MicroSD card "autoconnect as a mass storage device" option. Done. All of my iTunes playlists instantly appeared, I selected the same ones I had on the iPhone and hit the Sync button - "now synchronizing music". The transfer took roughly the amount of time I would expect for ~1500 songs then I gracefully disconnected. Here's the awkward bit... When I went to the Music section on the phone, it showed zero songs (??), wait "scanning" - OK, umm 5 songs, 12 songs, 16, 21. The media app was sorting out what was recently crammed onto memory card and while it did (for 2+ hours) the Storm's overall performance was horribly slow. Glad I found that out on a Holiday evening - nice to know.

The acid test - does it work? Yes. Music flows and multi-tasking is unimpeded. There are flaws like a noticeable crackle between songs and lack of album art, but those are totally forgivable. The bottom line is my music library is available and my satisfaction-level with the Blackberry Storm is on the upswing.

Not in any particular order, here's who and what I am thankful for...

my wife - my boys - a home - my parents - my in-laws - my whole family - great job - my wife - the country I live in - friends close and friends afar - my church - technology - music - working from home - my wife - cub scouts - homeschooling - Starbucks - transportation - good books - my wife - my health - passionate people in Church IT - not traveling with my job - good food - my wife, my wife, my wife...

...and through him are all things made possible - JESUS!

After using it for a full day, my opinion is that the Storm is hard to type on, slow to respond and does not pose a threat to Apple just yet. Maybe with future firmware and software updates, it will reach it's envisioned potential, but my if you want my advice, don't upgrade beyond the Bold. The Storm is all dark clouds and wind with no real "shock and awe".

Today, I spent most of my morning at the Department of Public Safety renewing my driver's license. There was a space of about 15 minutes between receiving my number and being "called" (although no one ever did) which was dead time. Signs were posted everywhere warning you not to use your cell phone and indeed a couple of people were asked to take their calls outside when they did. Had it not been for my trusty Moleskine notebook, I would have been bored out of my skull.

I pulled it out and started jotting down things in my head: tasks for work, personal to-do's, honey-do's, future blog topics, reading plans, situational observations, and on and on. It may have been five full minutes when it dawned on me that I was having a very pleasurable experience just letting the pen flow across the page, emptying my mind and letting each topic blossom and stick in a way that ethereal thinking  cannot maintain.

I've often said that in this high tech world, some of the coolest techniques are the really low tech ones and taking handwritten notes is a prime example.

First, walking time. I am a glaring advertisement for needing to exercise, but I hate very-early morning walks because it's dark and I'm still half asleep. Instead, I plan on getting up early, work for a couple of hours to get my mind going, then take my walk at 7:00 am and be ready to re-start work at 8:00 am. Working from home allows me to do this and I'm taking full advantage of this flexibility while it lasts.

Next, making time for meaningful reading. I can read blogs, tweets and news throughout the day, but I need to make time to read really great stuff. Books about history, classic works, the Bible (hello?). 

These two changes for me are huge and I hope to make them a consistent part of my evolving routine.

Saw this truck in our neighborhood today. Any comments?

Four things really caught my attention during the screening:

40 (like 30 and 20) is a nice round number. The start and end of another decade. If you had your first job when you were 15 (which I did), then 40 is the halfway mark in a life of work, if you plan to retire at 65 (which I don't). My wife's grandfather is almost 90 and he commented to me a couple of weeks ago, that he moved into his home 50 years go... at 40!

There, that's my inspiration - Richard "Dick" Parsons. If I shoot for 90, I have 50 great years ahead. Then again, if I shoot for Heaven, then a much longer-lasting legacy will I have. I promised myself not to think about it too much, because it is No Big Deal, but deciding to blog about it shot that intention to pieces. 

The bottom-line is no matter how I thought life might be at this point, I am a much-blessed man far beyond what I deserve. I have a great wife and a marriage that is truly alive. I have 3 healthy and growing boys and house that (at times) is almost too alive. ;-)  I have my health, good shelter and a good job. Most of all, I have my relationship with a loving God, who through all my rebellion and big-boy tantrums, will never ever give up on me. 

Here's to turning 40, everybody!

The world was quiet and still asleep. Front yard sprinklers woke up first and we got caught a couple of times in the crossfire. Jet playfully ran about shaking off the droplets and then rubbed himself in some lush St. Augustine grass in an attempt to dry off. A low rumble every few minutes punctuated the darkest part of the night as we live just a few miles away from D/FW Airport. 

Bathroom lights started to switch on as we rounded the last leg of our walk. Maybe a mile was covered, but like I said - it was enjoyable. I might take the car around the route to see exactly how far it was.

As I said, it's been 3 years and I have made peace with the fact that my opinion on this topic isn't popular. In fact, many of you can't stomach it, but I'm OK with that now. I have forgiven, mostly forgotten and moved on. 

So why would I want to return to the past and subject myself to the abuse all over again? Mainly because I am crazy and a glutton for punishment. The lesser reason is that "it" was presented to me quite unexpectedly today. Also, I'd like to see who will now agree with me and see things in a different light.

Anyway, I've stalled enough. Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, the McRib and saucy love is back. Bring on the maelstrom!

Time Warner cable guys came to the house today and fixed our Internet. All of us are very happy now (and a little motion sick).