My life online is changing. I used to blog a lot more than I do now. I love my blog and I do have people bug me to “blog more” – but the reality I connect in other ways, and I do have this other little site where over 20,000 people come each and every day, so when I am starring at my laptop wondering what to blog about, there is a part of me that says, “why blog? you don’t need a blog.” But my blog gives me an outlet for posts that don’t quite fit on Kidology – either they are CM related or are more personal. So in the spirit of both blogging, and why it is harder to blog lately, I’ll reflect on:
HOW HAS MY LIFE ONLINE CHANGED?
#1 My iPhone has changed online life for me! Dramatically. I do Facebook and Twitter almost exclusively from my iPhone. Seriously, when I’m at my computer, I have WORK to do! I can even do WordPress blogging from my iPhone, but haven’t found the practical need to do som, maybe I should try that more – for personal outings. I really want to blog more – I need to figure out how to do this, whichout it becoming a duty or obligation.
First, some thoughts on FACEBOOK and TWITTER and WHY I BROKE THE LINK BETWEEN THE TWO. I probably just lost half my audience! But the rest, have been asking.
FACEBOOK
Since I started on Facebook, I had my “Tweets” (Twitter status updates) automatically update my Facebook status. Why? Because I was first and foremost a Twitter user and Facebook was an afterthought – it was something for college kids, right? But I had an account because underneath this aging body, I’m still that young Moody student, right? Times are changing, Facebook is now made up of MORE OVER 35 PEOPLE than college kids (much to their frustration!) and becoming the #1 networking site in the world. (could ultimately be a blog killer) I ended up slowing down my Twitter use because I didn’t want to be overwhelming my Facebook status with every little Twitter update – which tend to me more trivial and more links; news feeds, marketing, and twitter conversation. Now, thanks to Selective Twitter Status (a Facebook Ap) by ending my Tweets in #fb I can selectively decide which Tweets end up as my Facebook status and only change my FB status 1-3 times a day, where as I may tweet 10-20 times a day.
I AVOID FACEBOOK on the computer because I rather hate it. Please don’t invite me to groups and causes I ignore them all, and please don’t take it personally. If you invite me to be a Fan of starving children on the moon and I ignore it, it isn’t because I don’t care about starving children on the moon, it is that being a fan of them won’t feed them, it will give me more email and things to click every day. They get fed by people feeding them, and if you are feeding them, GOD BLESS YOU, I too am devoting to giving to and supporting charities and have founded one myself.
Facebook is for networking with people – and I use it exclusively for that – and I LOVE THE iPHONE APP because that is ALL IT DOES. No groups, no causes, no games, no snowballs, no pokes, none of the stupid Facebook stuff, just Friends, Status, and Messages. Ahhhh, the good stuff. I love my friends and family, all of them! (Even the ones I have no idea who they are!)
Now that I have freed my Twitter from the question, “Do I really want this on my Facebook page too?” I feel liberated again! I can tweet anything at any time, and the fun has returned! When I see something that makes me laugh, snap a pic, and tweet it. When I’m irritated, rant to the world. If a company gives bad services, finally there is consequence, with instant feedback to the world, interaction with friends and family, checking in on others, twitter is just fun and fills idle moments. Yes, there are times to just turn off the iPhone and enjoy your family or a quiet moment, and I do, no worries. But when you are fueling the car, or stuck by the train, the only option you had in the past was the radio. Twitter puts my in charge of my loose time. (I don’t like calling it ‘free’ time, because often it isn’t ‘free’ it’s costly, but it I’m not able to spend it the way I’d prefer to!) Follow me at www.twitter.com/kidologist
KIDOLOGY.org
And in case you are the last to finally hear about it, we finally got the ALL NEW Kidology.org launched, and besides the personal excitement over it, I am loving the new dynamically loaded home page so I am CONSTANTLY checking the home page for what is the latest discussions in the forum and jumping to chime in. My personal interaction in the forum has probably soared – which is probably a good thing since I’m the creator of the website!
I also have a new “From the Kidologist” spot on the home page (also posts and archives here on my blog) that I’ve enjoyed updating) that gives me an opportunity to talk directly to the visitors to Kidology.org, granted, IF they scroll down on the home page. I put my spot “below the fold” intentionally as I’m not the most important thing, but I am glad to have a place on the home page so that it’s a little more prominent.
I leave shopping online to my wife! She is the expert there. But I do find Froogle.com to be a huge time saver! When I do need to find something fast and still want to save!
That me online!
So that’s how I spend my time online now – (not counting e-mail) – networking on Facebook and Twitter and contributing to Kidology.org. How do you spend your time online?
I’m writing this from a hospital bed in Aurora, IL after having a stent put into my heart that saved my life!
The full story is here if you missed all the updates on Twitter and Facebook!
Yes, I was twittering (which updated facebook) during the whole thing, and live blogged to give more detail than you can in status updates. It was really quite amazing that due to today’s technology I literally had more people praying for me probably than your average church prayer line – for those scratching their heads that I would twitter while having a heart attack, let me first say,
A) I didn’t technically have a heart attack (explained in blog post)
B) I was never in great pain, just enough pain in my chest to know something was wrong and decided the smart thing was to go straight to ER and
C) I really truly believe in the power of prayer and wanted to get the word out so that I’d have prayer for myself and family during the critical hours when it mattered most. I never really felt dread or fear, though I had a sober understanding that this was indeed serious – and yet really felt peace that I was in God’s hands and that He was walking me through the steps to address this.
Did you know if you hold your breath the
white line on the monitor will go flat?
If I were to add a D) it is that a big part of me is wired to want to encourage others and remind others that God is in control – thats easy to say when everything is going hunky dorey – (good) – but I wanted to show that even when our life is in danger (literally) there is always reason to laugh, enjoy life and savor the moments – even if our time to say so could be soon over. My twitter updates were intended to show that there can be moments of joy and reasons to smile even in the midst of hard times. You can’t say it if you don’t live it!
I asked not to be “put under” during the procedure because this is my LIFE and as long as I am alive – i want to LIVE every moment of it, even those moments that should be scary. I gotta tell you, its very sobering when they have you remove everything you own and you watch them put it all in plastic bags. (I hid my iPhone under my leg, I wanted to take it in with me – my link to all my friends and family!)
It was amazing to watch on a screen what the surgeon was doing inside my heart! The funny thing was later, even though I was never “out” or asleep, I couldn’t remember the journey from the surgery room to ICU. I finally asked my nurse if I had indeed been out because there were some details of the day I couldn’t remember and she said that they did give me a drug that caused short term memory loss! Wow! I asked if I can get that at Walgreens, that could come in handy in life! In fact, that might come in handy in pastoral counseling too! “Just take this, and soon you’ll forget all about it.” I’ll have to look into that. (My wife probably thinks I already take that it on a daily basis!)
One of the cool things was getting to meet a fellow Twittering in person, @scotthodge who I was hoping to meet today anyway, since I was doing the children’s services at this church at 3,5 and 7pm after the massive egg hunt this morning. Well, I did get to meet him, but not as I planned; he visited me in the hospital! It meant a lot since I was too far away for most friends/family to come visit, and I know he’s in the midst of Easter weekend! Even a pastor enjoys a pastoral visit! (Our pastor from our previous church did call too and offer to come, but we told him it was too far from Easter-eve, but that was very nice too!) Of course, my wife DID come while my awesome sister took Luke for the entire day!
I am now staying over night but it looks like I’ll get to go home tomorrow. Please pray for my sweet wife, I know this is harder on her than me!
I was able to get my friend, Jonny Magic, to take the shows I had the rest of today as he was in town to perform with me tomorrow, but pray for the church I was supposed to be at tomorrow – they’ve got a lot of entertainers, so they should be fine, but I was doing their preschool program so they’ve got to make adjustments. I have a pretty good excuse, but I still feel bad!
Going to sleep now – just wanted to let some friends and prayer partners know the scoop.
My buddy Todd McKeever twittered that he was having lunch with Brian Dollar, a guy that many know as the creator of the awesome High Voltage Kids Ministry resources available on Kidology.org. I then text messaged Todd to tell Brian “Hi” from me and suggested they visit a Dollar Store. (Yes, my humor is that lame.) But soon I got a picture sent from Todd’s iPhone that cracked me up:
Brian Dollar at a Dollar Store!
Everything he creates is totally awesome – from cool game music to countdowns and transitions to PowerPoint games to Kids Church curriculum. This picture made my day, so I just had to share it, and while I’m at it, encourage you to check out the cool stuff Brian cranks out that will be a great asset to your ministry to kids!
I love the way the Internet, Twitter and cell phones can connect friends all over the country, in real time. THAT is the power of Twitter and connecting electronically. Just another reason why I Twitter.
July 12, 2008 at 1:15 pm · Filed under Luke, iPhone
ok, testing to see if I can now post pictures from my iPhone to my blog with the new iPhone 2.0 software and a combination of applications, well, here’s to the test…..
Thanks to the folks at iwphone.contentrobot.com, my blog is now iPhone (or iPod Touch) friendly! I love my current theme (created by PowerServe.net) but on the iPhone it was a bit much to navigate. Now you can enjoy my blog on your iPhone, those of you lucky (or smart) enough to have one. ENJOY!
Another reason to buy anything Apple makes – they stand behind their products. I had a weird issue with my iPhone (I won’t bore you with the technical problems) and called Apple Care. When they were unable to resolve it over the phone, I made an appointment with the Apple Genius bar. They worked on it for an hour and couldn’t solve it. (So it wasn’t just me!) So what did they do? Blame me like always happened with my Palm Pilot or some other software (like nearly every PC tech support used to do to me) they simply gave me a BRAND SPANKIN’ NEW iPHONE! Yup, I walked out with a new phone!
They even let me stay 30 minutes past closing to help me. Their current window display is a bunch of cut-out Apple employees looking eager to help. On my way out I tried to stand there and blend in so I could stay overnight and play with all the Apple stuff – but in my red jacket I was quickly discovered and showed the door. But not before one of the employees agreed to pose for the picture below, since they DID blend right in!
(Click for Larger Image)
So, can you spot the REAL EMPLOYEE? If you need help, you can view the image larger. If you really can’t figure it out. Here the same picture without the real employee (but only look as a last resort!)
Yes, it’s true. I waited in line for an operating system. But then again, this was not just any operating system… it is an Apple Operating System, something truly worth looking forward to, every time. Originally, I wasn’t going to wait in line for Leopard like I did for my iPhone, but as it turned out, I was doing training our youngest Kidology Team Member and decided it would be fun to do with him, so we went and got in line!
Chad and Karl – Mac Nerds, and Proud of it!
We got in line with several hundred other Mac fanatics… many busy on their iPhones, and were happy to see we were close enough to get the free t-shirt!
Me with my free Apple Mac T-Shirt!
The Apple Store employees are a hoot. Literally! They cheered for each group of 10 that were allowed in forming two lines that you passed through to enter. You kinda felt like Moses walking through the Red Sea. The enthusiasm was a little silly – but it made it a fun event. Come, on! Who would cheer for the lastest version of Windows… that’s more like, “Well, OK, I guess I should upgrade, the version I have stinks and is riddled with problems, maybe the new one will be better, at least for a little while. How much is it gonna cost me? Sigh. Ho Hum. A new Windows operating system.” But with a Mac, you just know it will be loaded with cool practical stuff that actually does what it claims.
Happy Mac Fanatics!
Soon we were back at Chad’s installing our beautiful new operating system. Chad’s installed in just under 1.5 hours. I did a full erase and install to get a clean start with the new OS and mine installed in under an hour. But of course, then I had to re-install my software, and restore Mail, Calendar, Address Book, Bookmarks, Preferences, Music, Pictures, data, etc. But after all the stuff I install and uninstall, I like to use an OS upgrade as an opportunity to start with a clean “out of the box” machine.
Mentoring sometimes means sharing Mac tips!
By the way, I gotta tell ya, I was meeting with Chad to train him on some projects, but I love young people because I left learning a ton too… (like try this: apple-option 8 and then use apple-option + or – to zoom in or out on your screen, and move the mouse around! Just do apple-option-8 again to go back to normal!)
If you don’t have a Mac, you know I recommend it… and I won’t even go there now. If you do have a Mac, Leopard is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!
It’s outtathisworld!
UP-DATE: (sent to me by Chad)
If Microsoft had designed the iPod packaging. (This is too funny and too true)
In 1986 I was a junior in high school when I saw a picture of a missionary’s daughter in the Philippines in a missions slide-show on a Sunday night at church. (and thought she was cute) After getting her parents permission to write to her (she went back to the Philippines a few weeks ahead of her parents for the start of school), I sent her a letter. We were soon pen pals. Once I found out that she would be heading to the same college as me in a few years (MBI) I got out a calendar and figured out what the date would be of her first Friday evening as a Freshman in college… (before the days of computer calendars!) and asked her on a date for September 7th, 1990, four years in advance! Our first date included a limo ride to Navy Pier, but I could only afford one way, so I left my car at the planetarium and took a cab back to school in the afternoon. After the dinner cruise from Navy Pier (when Navy Pier was only a freight yard and the dinner cruise ship was ALL that was there!) we walked along the Lake Shore to the planetarium where we just “happened” to discover my car and therefore our ride back to the dorms.
We’ve done the same date every September 7th, ever since, and this year was the 18th time we’ve done it. While we usually go on the Spirit of Chicago or the Odyssey Cruise ships, this year we tried one we’ve seen there for years called the Anita Dee II.
But as we headed downtown, things were looking bad for a cruise!
It was POURING RAIN our whole drive downtown!
We’ve only had bad weather once in the past 17th years, so we figured that the odds had caught up to us. The one time before the weather was bad the ship never left the dock because the waves were too sever, and at one point the boat was rocking so much that the giant roast that a chef was cutting meat from ended up on the floor! Other than the time our ship crushed a small boat into the dock, most years have been uneventful from disasters, so we figured we were due for a rainy cruise after 17 years of clear sailing.
But, by the time we got downtown the rain let up, and things began to dry up. We saw a wedding party taking photos in a soaked park across from Navy Pier. But we should have known the weather would be bad, after all, “Steve Said It Would Be Like This.”
We cracked up when we saw this advertisement while walking the wet pier hoping for a dry cruise. When I stopped to take a picture of this ad, Sara said, “Oh, I know what you are going to do with that!” I said, “Put it on my blog when I write about the rain?” and she said, “Oh, no, I thought you were going to……………..” So I did:
It wouldn’t be the first time Steve Tanner was right about something relating to disasters.
We had fun at the Pier before docking time. (Don’t tell Sara I posted this pic, she is out and I didn’t have time for my usual “pre-blog wife photo approval process!”)
I often include pictures of the local wildlife – sorry, this is the best I could do.
The reflections on the water are always beautiful
Probably the first disappointment with the City Lights Cruises is that they don’t do a nice photo as you board, but the next guy in line was nice enough to take a picture of us while we held up the line. Their marketing is a little sneaky, I bought some advance tickets that said they were the full cost except for a docking fee and two drinks – ha – a surprise extra $60 after you think you’ve paid for the whole dinner and think all you have to do is buy two drinks, and since we drink Coke and not booze, we thought it wouldn’t be too bad. Oops, they charge your for two alcoholic drinks even if all you want is a Coke. It also didn’t have assigned tables like the others and the food was about as cheap as possible.
But in the end you are there for time together and to enjoy the view, so it wasn’t too bad overall – but definitely a step down from the other dinner cruises. (but also less expensive – as they say, you get what you pay for)
Ironically, when we arrived we were first in line, so we decided we didn’t need to be first, and went for a walk. When we got back the line was looooooooooong! We were wondering if this many people could actually FIT on the ship – and then learned that it is first come, first serve to seats, and feared we would be standing all night, but once we got on board, I ventured out of the line (which was heading for the bar) and found that the front of the ship was empty, and got to have it to ourselves for quite awhile, and later only a few couples came up there. So we ended up having a really nice time despite the fact that there were definitely NOT enough life boats for all the people on board!
Photography on these cruises is always hard, you have to really over expose to get a picture, but they still look nice if you don’t enlarge too much. It was a wonderful break from work and the usual pace of life, but I confess, I did check my e-mail at one moment when I was alone, and the funniest thing happened:
Yes, my iPhone said that I had 2 billion, 147 million, 483 thousand and 646 unread messages. Now, it definitely FEELS that way at times, but this was too funny. I grabbed my digital camera and took a picture of the iPhone screen. Since the odds of reading over two billion e-mails on a date was slim, I put the phone away – having learned my lesson – and after the cruise I peeked again and the number was back its usual high number, but in perspective, I get almost no e-mail now. I still haven’t figured it out – could that have been the total number of unread e-mails of everyone on earth at the moment?
The other surprise – not sure whether it was good or not – was the discovery after boarding that the cruise was THREE hours, not two as we expected. (Like the others) After a call to the babysitter to make sure she knew, we settled in for a long relaxing time afloat, but it was long. Toward the end we managed a spot on the couches on one level and slumped back to relax and enjoy the last hour or so, when we saw an equally bored looking Filipino family next to us. As I returned from getting my drink and was squeezing by I dropped a little Tagalog (language of the Philippines) as I often like to do to see their surprise when a white boy speaks a language most Americans don’t know. I’m not fluent, but I can say enough for the beginning of a friendly conversation, such as Iki Nagagalok akong makilala kayo. (my spelling of ‘Nice to meet you’) Though I started with just a ‘thank you’ as I passed by to my seat. (Salamat Po) Adding “Po” at the end is a sign of respect, which they always appreciate.
The next thing I know we were having a very enjoyable conversation and the last hour flew by.
Hindi ko alam kung papaano ko po kayo mapapasalamatan sa inyong kabutihan.
Sunday afternoon we went on a picnic with some family friends we haven’t seen in awhile. Their dad wandered off at one point and returned with a GIANT dandy lion for his daughter. I have never seen one so big!
Here is a ‘very dramatic’ girl holding the bundle of seedlings. (taken with my iPhone by the way, and edited in iPhoto) As I had fun do doing some effects to this picture, I couldn’t help thinking how much the dandy lion and my little friend have in common. Both are full of tons of potential that won’t truly be discovered until they are set free to go wherever the Lord blows them.
Once blown way, this beautiful puff of seeds will soon give life to many others once it finds its place and begins to grow, though right now, there is no way to know where those plants will be.
Likewise, this beautiful girl will also someday produce fruit in ways and places that only God knows right now. I know mom and dad aren’t eager for the day she is ‘grown up’ (neither am I!) but it is comforting to know that when that time comes, wherever God may take her, she will blossom as well.
Train a child in the way she should go,
and when she is old she will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6
Since I started on Facebook, I had my “Tweets” (Twitter status updates) automatically update my Facebook status. Why? Because I was first and foremost a Twitter user and Facebook was an afterthought – it was something for college kids, right? But I had an account because underneath this aging body, I’m still that young Moody student, right? Times are changing, Facebook is now made up of MORE OVER 35 PEOPLE than college kids (much to their frustration!) and becoming the #1 networking site in the world. (could ultimately be a blog killer) I ended up slowing down my Twitter use because I didn’t want to be overwhelming my Facebook status with every little Twitter update – which tend to me more trivial and more links; news feeds, marketing, and twitter conversation. Now, thanks to Selective Twitter Status (a Facebook Ap) by ending my Tweets in #fb I can selectively decide which Tweets end up as my Facebook status and only change my FB status 1-3 times a day, where as I may tweet 10-20 times a day.
Now that I have freed my Twitter from the question, “Do I really want this on my Facebook page too?” I feel liberated again! I can tweet anything at any time, and the fun has returned! When I see something that makes me laugh, snap a pic, and tweet it. When I’m irritated, rant to the world. If a company gives bad services, finally there is consequence, with instant feedback to the world, interaction with friends and family, checking in on others, twitter is just fun and fills idle moments. Yes, there are times to just turn off the iPhone and enjoy your family or a quiet moment, and I do, no worries. But when you are fueling the car, or stuck by the train, the only option you had in the past was the radio. Twitter puts my in charge of my loose time. (I don’t like calling it ‘free’ time, because often it isn’t ‘free’ it’s costly, but it I’m not able to spend it the way I’d prefer to!) Follow me at www.twitter.com/kidologist
And in case you are the last to finally hear about it, we finally got the ALL NEW Kidology.org launched, and besides the personal excitement over it, I am loving the new dynamically loaded home page so I am CONSTANTLY checking the home page for what is the latest discussions in the forum and jumping to chime in. My personal interaction in the forum has probably soared – which is probably a good thing since I’m the creator of the website!
