The Stand-up Philosopher

This Is Hilarious: Acronym Change

The site Probably Bad News provides me with a lot of entertainment. Today it posted a clip about how the Wisconsin Tourism Federation had to change it's name. Why? Well, it turns out that Wisconsin Tourism Federation breaks down into the acronym "WTF". Years ago it meant nothing, but today it means quite a bit. I won't repeat what it means here since this is a "family blog", but it shouldn't be too hard to find the definition.

T-Mobile MyTouch 3G: But What Does It DO?

Like I asked in my last post, based on the embedded commercial, what does the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G actually do? It's the first phone that becomes you, or something like that. Great. So what does it do? Does it have 3rd party apps? Can it manage multiple email accounts? Can it sync to Google Calendar (I'd hope so, since it's based on Google standards). Can I manage a task list? Can I use it for work?

Or, are the people who put that commercial together not really thinking of me as their target market? That's probably a smart choice. Woe unto the marketer who thinks I'm his or her target customer.

Does This Make You Want to Buy A Palm Pre?

Since I dumped Windows Mobile for the iPhone earlier this year, and have no plans to go back, I watch commercials for other platforms with a curious eye. Have you seen the commercials for the Palm Pre? What is the deal with them? Do these commercials make you want to buy a Palm Pre? Do they make you NOT want to buy a Pre?

I can't figure them out. I think if I had no idea which "smart" phone I wanted to buy, these commercials would not bring me in. What does the Pre do? I have no clue from this commercial. All it is is some sick looking woman standing before a blue sky talking about a day when everything goes right. OK, so what does the phone do?

Watch this video. Do you own a Pre? Did you buy it because of this commercial, or another in this series?

Ballmer Appears with Windows 7 Mac In the Background

I'm seeing a lot of this in my RSS feeds: apparently, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer appeared on TV with an image of an Apple MacBook Pro with the Windows 7 logo in the background.

So what?

I don't get the big deal. For some reason, people make a huge deal out of the apparent competition between Microsoft and Apple. Let me lay it out.

Microsoft is a software company. Sure, now they make Zunes and X-boxes and keyboards, but their PC business is in software. Their flagship product is the Windows operating system.

Apple is a consumer electronics company. They make computers, iPods, iPhone, and some accessories. I'm simplifying it a bit. Apple also makes it's own operating system.

So here's the deal:

Apple's Mac OS X is a competitor to Microsoft's Windows.

The computers that Apple makes will also run Windows. It is not a competitor to Windows. It is a client platform.

So a MacBook Pro running Windows 7 isn't a big deal. Microsoft should take it as a complement, and they probably do. Apple fans shouldn't assume the media is playing games with Steve Ballmer.

App Store To Get In-App Purchases

I was going to post this last week, but I've been sick. Apple is going to allow in-app purchases in the iPhone App Store. I'm hoping this will be a positive development. I'm also hoping that this brings about trial versions of software. One hard point for me in the app store is that I can't "try before I buy". Some developers will have a "Lite" version of a program, but not all of them.

Book Review: Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

Although this book has been out for several years, Thomas Nelson recently decided to bring it back to the forefront and generate new attention for it. I got a free review copy. I found it to be a very good book. I’ve read quite a few books on marriage, and I’ve been to a few marriage conferences. I have not attended the Love and Respect conference that serves as a companion to this book (or the other way around), but I’ll look for one.

I would like to get my wife to read this book. I would like to get several of my friends’ wives to read this book. I found this book to be a very good balance between the needs of husbands and wives.

I’ve read quite a few books on marriage. Some were good. Some weren’t. Some were little more than sloganeering “Men, love your wives as Christ loved the church!” with little practical advice. Others did little more than tell men what failures we are as husbands. This book actually teaches something new that I hadn’t learned before. I think that it is highly enlightening, especially on the woman’s perspective.

Great News: Kindle for PC Coming Soon

This is exciting. I just found out this morning that Amazon will soon release Kindle for PC. I’ve written before on this blog about how I love the idea of eBooks but I’m not comfortable adopting them for several reasons. I have a few Kindle books on my iPhone. Most were free. I bought one.

Are you eager to download and start using Kindle for PC? Will it move you closer to adopting eBooks?

Another Story of Lottery-Ruined Lives

I've written many times on this blog that I don't play the lottery. I've explained why. I am not aware of a single story of a lottery winner going on to peace and prosperity. Every single time I come across stories of the aftermath of a winning lottery ticket, I read about ruined families, shattered lives, and fractured communities. I'm willing to admit to the "if it bleeds, it leads" principle in the media, and that possibly only the ugliest stories actually make it into news, but I still haven't found a good story about a lottery winner. I'm not convinced that any good can come from winning the lottery. I'd like to be proven wrong, but every time I step in to research the subject, I find more supporting evidence for my original opinion.

Recently, I came across the story of Jack Wittaker, a West Virginia man who rose from poverty to ownership of a construction company. He won $314 million in the Power Ball. "Jack opted to take his prize as a one-time payout of $113,386,407.77, after taxes." Taxes took more than $200 million. Who really won with that ticket?

"He was determined, he said at the time, to live as if nothing had changed, except that he could spend more time with his family. He was going to keep answering his own phone, opening his own front door and turning to God for guidance. "He's still working on me," Jack said, sounding modest."

After that quote, the story degenerates into visits to racetracks, strip clubs, and all of the ruined lives left in the wake.

Everybody I know who plays the lottery claims that if they win, they'll give tons to charity. They'll give a bunch to a church if they attend one. But few are doing such things now. I think it's silly to promise to do such things AFTER winning the lottery if they're not part of your life BEFORE. We all know you're full of it if you claim you'll suddenly turn into a philanthropist after winning the lottery.

I don't have a single plan for what I would do if I won the lottery because I don't play the lottery. I don't like to listen to people talk about "Oh, if I could only win the lottery, my life would be so much better." I'm sorry, but every single account I have ever read about the aftermath of winning the lottery says otherwise.

I wrote a blog post last year linking to another post about the "Language of the Perpetual Poor." I have since come to the controversial conclusion that I would rather have people cuss around my children than say things like "I wish I could win the lottery" and "I hate my job. I wish I could get fired and go on unemployment."

Most people I know who talk like that have not read a single book about personal finance or personal development. Most are not actively working to improve themselves within their job or trade, or to learn new skills to get a better job or enter a new trade. They just sit around complaining and letting life happen to them.

I'll stop ranting. Please, read the story of Jack Wittaker linked above. Then answer the question: (you're welcome to answer in the comments) "What makes me think that my life, family, community, church, etc... would turn out any different if I won the lottery?"

Albert Mohler: Seperation of Church and Sport?

Contemporary theologian and seminary president Albert Mohler is a man I enjoy reading. I follow his blog and listen to his podcast regularly. I like him because he is a thinker. Rather than regurgitate a “party line”, Dr. Mohler thinks through issues. His work has been a real benefit (blessing?) to me in my own intellectual journey.

Dr. Mohler posted an entry on his blog recently about a sports journalist’s call for “separation of church and sport”. The column deals with complaints about athletes who are Christian and the exclusivity of the Gospel.

I’m not opposed to my own version of separation of church and sports: specifically, let’s reduce the number of sports-themed sermons. Nothing makes me want to leave the church, sit in my car, and watch somebody else’s sermon on YouTube on my iPhone like a sermon that starts out with a baseball illustration.

But then again, I also realize that it’s not about me. I’m not sure what to tell the sports journalists. I sit through the sports-sermons. They may have to live with the Christian players.

iPhone Annoyances

I still love my iPhone. I just wanted to spend a minute ranting about an iPhone behavior that I can’t understand the logic for.

Sometimes, when reading email, I’ll get to the bottom and find a dotted line with “This message is partially downloaded” and “Download remaining xx.xk”. I have trouble understanding why those last few kilobytes didn’t just download in the first place. Usually it’s just the message footer, but sometimes there is still part of the message left in there.

Why didn’t Apple just design the iPhone to download the whole message, unless it was really large? I’ve seen some of them with a footer that was less than 2k that did not download fully.

I Just Won A Nobel Peace Prize! And You Can Too!

Yea! I Won a Nobel Peace Prize! Apparently all you have to do now is TALK about peace, even if you're still in your 40's and haven't actually done anything yet. The nominations had to be in like 2 weeks into a Presidential term.

Anyway, if you'd like a Nobel Peace Prize, go here.

iPhone Podcast Playlist Issue Update

OK, I followed Apple's instructions. I uninstalled iTunes, Quicktime, etc. Then I rebooted. Then I went to reinstall iTunes. Then iTunes generated an error and wouldn't install.

I called Apple back. Guess what? Windows 7 is not supported yet.

I calmly asked the support specialist if there was a good reason why. I remember when Windows Vista first came out, Apple made a big deal out of how they didn't yet support it. I think Vista was out for about 6 months before iTunes supported it. I think that's ridiculous. It's not like Microsoft develops Windows in a vacuum. The last two versions of Windows were heavily tested in open beta. Microsoft does every thing it can to make sure that it's easy to develop applications for Windows.

How stupid do you think Apple would look if they'd released Snow Leopard and said "Oh, yeah, we don't support iTunes on Snow Leopard yet. They'd look like idiots. Seeing how more of Apple's iPod and iPhone customers run Windows, why can't we expect support when a new version comes out?

UPDATE: I am seriously pissed off at Apple right now. I've spent more than 2 hours working on the problem this Saturday morning. I followed Apple's instructions and uninstalled iTunes from my netbook. I copied my library over to my desktop, but my podcasts weren't showing up. It was driving me totally nuts. I can't get iTunes to reintsall. I played around with the compatibility settings, and I was able to get the installer to run in compatibility mode for Vista SP2. However, for whatever reason, even though the intsaller is called "iTunes + Quicktime", Quicktime won't install at all. When I try to run iTunes, I get the message that "Quicktime is not installed on this computer". It doesn't matter how many times I try to reinstall "iTunes + Quicktime", Quicktime will not take.

After two hours of screwing around on my desktop, I finally figured out how to get my podcasts back into my library: File -> Add folder. That's a first. In all the years I've been using iTunes as a podcatcher, it always autodetects them. Maybe iTunes 9 really is a total piece of crap.

Are You Going To Host A Windows 7 Launch Party?

Seriously, this is cheesy. Really, was Vista THAT bad that even Microsoft is encouraging people to celebrate the launch of Windows 7?

That also begs the question: Is Windows 7 that great, that Microsoft is encouraging people to celebrate the launch of Windows 7?

I don't know. I'm happy to see a new version of Windows, especially since my computers that run it are running better than under XP or Vista, but I'm not quite happy enough to invite all my friends over. I think he's busy that day anyway...

Making A Difference: Finding The Right Communication Language

Maurilio Amorim has a post on his Making A Difference Blog about Finding the Right Communication Language. He says that over the years, he's identified 5 different communication languages. He categorizes them as follows:

    1. The Verbal Processor.

    2. The ADD.

    3. The ADD Texter.

    4. The Mental Processor.

    5. The Face-to-Face Feeler.

You can read the descriptions of each of these on his blog post.

I figure I'm a cross between The Verbal Processor and The ADD Texter. I tend to think out loud a lot while I'm processing my thoughts. This drives Christina (my wife) nuts. I also am often happier interfacing with other people (even Christina) through email and text. No, I'm not obsessive about this. I realize that a lot of communication (especially with Christina) must be carried out in person. Just this morning, I got an email asking a question, and I immediately realized that I'd be much better off meeting in person to discuss the issue because dealing with it over email would be clumsy.

If these communication languages were laid out on the Chinese Zodiac, I'd probably be warned to avoid The ADD and The Face-to-Face Feeler. I score very highly on ADD tests, and I tend to ramble off topic myself, but I don't communicate very well with others who do the same thing. I also tend to resent dealing with people who HAVE to meet in person over an issue that could be settled with 3 text messages. I had a person like that in some of my classes at the University of Phoenix. She was very smart and a hard worker, but sometimes couldn't get moving on a learning team project unless everybody dropped their lives and drove into center city Philadelphia, paid excessive amounts for parking, and sat around a coffee shop. We usually got her to settle for a teleconference, but when that wasn't possible, we could never get an early start on our learning team projects.

Which communication language do you speak? Which communication language do you find yourself to be least compatible with?

Somebody Ought To Call Apple About That…

I wrote a few times about the iPhone podcast playlist syncing issue. I went back to The iPhone Blog this morning to see if any new comments shed some light on the problem or on fixes for it.

I saw a few comments about how people should tell Apple about this problem.

Well, I did.

Apparently, Apple did know about this issue, but I’m apparently the first person to actually call them about it.

I spent some time on hold while the representative who worked with me first spoke to her supervisor, then to the product department. The answer I got back was to uninstall iTunes, and the other Apple programs along with it (Quicktime, Apple Software Update, etc). Then reinstall and sync the iPhone. That should correct the issue. If it doesn’t, I just call back with my case number and we can pick up where we left off.

More to come. I’ll do the uninstall and reinstall by tomorrow night or Saturday morning, and I’ll post back about how it went.

Everything I’ve heard about Apple support is true. She was very helpful.

I'm Bringing Back My BS Filter Outlook Rules

I'm starting to spend way more time than I think necessary dealing with what I coined as "Corporate Spam". I get way too many announcements at work about network outages in other states, pretzels available for sale, what time sodas will stop being sold, and other pointless topics that don't pertain to me. There are also tons of newsletters, announcements for obscure "heritage months", and other things.

I decided to resurrect a strategy that I used on my last job for dealing with "corporate spam". I've already created my first rules.

Pundit Kitchen: Time Machine

Whenever I hear people spout off about “dire economic straights”, it always seems to be those who are the farthest removed from any semblance of “dire economic straights”. Yes, I’ve seen the data. Yes, I know there is trouble. But for those who use the “dire economic straights” line like you’re talking about the weather, consider this from Pundit Kitchen (yet another site I depend on to make me laugh on an almost daily basis).

Cash for Clunkers: Buyer's Remorse

I wish I were possible for Congress and the long line of government expansionist Presidents that we’ve had to get buyer’s remorse. They don’t, because they’re often very well insulated from accountability. Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few months (got room for a couple more?) you’ve probably heard of the Cash for Clunker’s program.

According to Dave Ramsey, this program generated a lot of buyer’s remorse. It will probably generate a lot of other remorse in the future, like when the demand that got pushed up isn’t there later on when those people would have bought cars anyway. Dave Ramsey ranted about this program. Dave reads an article on AOL Autos and supplies his commentary. If you like Dave’s rants and commentary, don’t miss this one.

If you’d like to follow along on the original article, you can easily Google it. Or, I can save you the work. Here it is.

Book Review: Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham

Find Your Strongest Life is subtitled “What the Happiest Women Do Differently”.

What am I doing reading a book for women? Partly, commitment. Earlier this year, I decided to read a minimum of 3 books for women in an attempt to understand my wife better. When Thomas Nelson offered this book through their Book Review Bloggers program, I figured it would help me work toward that goal. I also figured that I know a few women who might benefit from the book, and if I read through it and reviewed it, I could then pass it on.

Will this book be a benefit to women? I don’t know. That’s not because I don’t find the quality of the writing or content to be good. I’m just saying I don’t know. I know enough about women to know that I should stay out of trying to predict them. I hope the book is a benefit to women.

You Ever Tell Your Kids Something That Gets Thrown Back in Your Face?

This was painful. I’ve been telling my kids for a long time that “accidents don’t happen when you pay attention to what you’re doing”. I started this when they were toddlers and would knock cups off the table, resulting in a mess that I had to clean up. I still tell them this. When one of them falls off a chair because he wasn’t sitting in it right, I again remind them that “accidents don’t happen when you pay attention to what you’re doing”.

We threw out a couch yesterday. The kids broke it, and it was no good to us. We needed to replace it. We went to a consignment shop today and found a chair that would make a good temporary replacement. We went with a chair because it would fit in my minivan. To buy a couch, we’d have to drop the kids off, take the seats out, etc. Mostly, we just buy cheap stuff, or try to find something free on Craig’s List. Couches in our house don’t seem to last longer than 6 months or a year. We’ll stick to cheap stuff until the kids leave for college. Then we’ll have something nice until we have grandchildren, then we’ll just go back to cheap stuff again.

Making A Difference: Are You An Owner?

Maurilio Amorim asked this question on his Making A Difference blog: Are You An Owner? The question doesn’t have to do with whether you own a business or the company that you work for, but with whether or not you take ownership. In whatever it is that you do to put money in the bank (and then spend it all), do you take ownership? Do you act like an owner or a worker?

I should be ashamed to say that I haven’t always behaved like an owner. I’ve usually been more of a worker. I show up, I do my job, and I go home. I’ve had times when I did my job as well as I could, and other times when I may have slacked off a little too much. Very rarely have I taken ownership, although the last few years I’ve been working on it.

Maurilio says:

This is not a legal distinction, but a psychological one. Interestingly, some business owners behave like managers or workers doing what's required of them and completely disconnecting from their jobs once the clock hits 5 p.m. Some hirelings whose heart and passion for their performance cause them operate more like owners. The more owners you have in your organization, the more successful you'll be, I'm convinced.

Do you take ownership for your job? In what ways do you take ownership? If you don’t take ownership, what is one thing you could do on your next workday to take ownership? If you actually own a business, or are self-employed, do you behave like an owner?

I Can Haz Cheezeburger: Hand Wash

One of the many sites I scoop through RSS into my Google Reader feeds is I Can Haz Cheezeburger. They post pictures of “LOL Cats”, or cats doing funny things with captions. The captions are usually written in poor English; sort of like how a small child would talk.

Today’s picture should produce an “aww!” moment in just about anyone. I’m sure there will be exceptions, but most of us should have a hard time resisting this. “Hand Wash With Like Colors Only”.

Tim Ferriss: The 10 Worst Airlines In The U.S.

Tim Ferriss has a post about the 10 worst airlines in the U.S. He created a poll for people to vote on them. U.S. Airways came in at number 2.

You can cast your vote here. Who will you vote for? I voted for U.S. Airways. Since I live near Philly, which is a U.S. Airways hub, it's been about 10 years since I've experienced any other airline. I think when my mom died, I flew Continental, since Houston Intergalactic is their hub, and it's hard to get into San Antonio without flying through Houston. I haven't had many problems with Continental, except for this one in 2006, but that was resolved with another call. I've never wished for Continental to go out of business like I have U.S. Airways.

United came in at #1. I'm not sure if I've ever flown United.

Lifehacker: Borders Is Going To Offer Free Wi-fi

It was bound to happen. Once I reached the point where free wi-fi ceased having any meaning at all to me, it starts popping up everywhere. Whereas once you had to pay a subscription at Borders or Barnes and Noble, now they're offering it free. Lifehacker posted that Borders will be offering free wi-fi soon.

I once despaired that I'd either have to pay for wi-fi on the road, live without an Internet connection, or hunt around for a free hotspot. Now they're everywhere, and it honestly doesn't matter to me.

I honestly don't use enough data on my iPhone to have to worry about wi-fi. As long as I have a 3G connection, I'm usually good for what I need to do. If I have to, I can tether my BlackBerry.

I used to yearn for free wi-fi. Now I honestly no longer care. I guess I'm happy for everybody else though. I'm sure I'll find a use for it eventually.

Apple Thoughts: Average iPhone User Downloads 9 Games

Apple Thoughts has an interesting discussion about how the average iPhone user downloads 9 games.

Are you an average iPhone user? Above average? ...below average?

I probably have more than 9 games. All were free. Mostly, I put the games on for my kids, but I don't let them play with my iPhone much anyway. They do all kinds of kooky things to my wife's iPhone. I let them play with my iPod Touch, with the wireless disabled. Somehow they deleted one of their favorite games. Occasionally I'll get a call from my wife to find only background noise, leading me to assume that the kids butt-dialed me.

The story Apple Thoughts links to says that games are the cheapest apps, most of which are free.

Lifehacker: Do You Browse With Your Phone?

Lifehacker is running a poll asking if you browse the Internet with your phone. When I voted, it was 85% yes.

Apparently more and more people are browsing with their phones. Lifehacker says "Nielsen's findings concluded that the spike in mobile browsing was fueled by women, teens, and seniors, but mobile browsing looks to be growing among all segments examined."

Do you browse the Internet from your phone? I don't do it quite as much as I thought I would. I normally only browse with my iPhone when I specifically need to look something up, or when I'm away from a computer and need to catch up on my Google Reader feeds. I tend to use my iPhone more for email, calendar, Twitter, and Bible and book reading than I do for web browsing.