This past week has been an interesting one, alot of stuff has been happening. Some stuff good, some stuff not bad, but I mean not good at the same time. So I'll just give you a short rundown of this week and then I want to elaborate on a certain a funny event that happened.
Monday was my first night back to PCM at youth group at Calvary Community Church and it was great to be back with the kids. I helped lead a small group which was good. One thing I realized during this small group time was how poor my small group leading skills really are. Maybe it was just an off-night, and I think it depends on who I am co-leading the group with, but for the guy who also led (Gary Stachulla) it was just so natural for him, and he had me jump in on one of the group questions, and it was just downhill. I think it also has alot to do with the leader preparation as well. We had not prepared anything together, therefore I wasn't really sure where he was taking the discussion alot of times so it was difficult for me to jump in because I didn't want to take it in a completely different direction. But it was interesting.
Also throughout the week I have done alot of work as a TA (Teacher's Assistant) for Coach Dunn (The Sports Ministry Chair), so that has been good, and I'm actually starting to enjoy going into the office everyday as I'm starting to get more and more comfortable and close to Coach Dunn.
Ok, so now for the funny story of the week. It is really more confusing and weird than it is funny, but it's somewhat humorous at the same time. So a couple weeks ago I was walking through the SDR (Student Dining Room) and I saw this girl wearing a "Vertical" hoodie (Vertical is the name of my youth group from back home and she was wearing one of our hoodies). The funny thing was that I've never seen this girl in my life, and I was wondering how she got a hold of one of those hoodies, but it was one of the older ones so I just thought she might've gone to my youth group before I got into high school.
So then on Wednesday morning I have a class called Romans at 8am. I walk into class and I see this same girl wearing my Senior Class hoodie (ya know, like the hoodie that your whole senior class signs and it has your graduation year on it and such). So now I'm really freaked out. I spent the rest of the class distracted by the question of how the heck did she get this sweatshirt and why is she wearing it? LOL.
Keep in mind, I've never seen this girl in my life. So I lean over to my friend sitting next to me and ask her if she knows who the girl is. She said her name was Bethany (nope wasn't ringin any bells). I leave the class confused, yet amused.
I walk into chapel and the first thing someone says to me is, "Josh, do you know a Bethany Baxter?" I immediately respond, "Was she wearing my senior class hoodie?" She then goes on to tell me that she was sitting behind this girl in class and saw my name on the back of her sweatshirt. "Nope I don't know her. I don't have any clue how she got a hold of that sweatshirt."
A minute later I texted my friend, Heidi Summers because I thought she would think it was weird and amusing. So I explained to her the situation and what made it even funnier was that she was looking for that hoodie that morning and couldn't find it. LOL.
I still don't know who this girl is, or how she got these hoodies, and I mean I'd like to find out sometime, so maybe I'll ask her sometime.
OR
Bethany Baxter, if you are reading this post, please leave a comment or email me or SOMETHING, just tell me how you got those sweatshirts, cause its kinda starting to creep me out. The Vertical sweatshirt was kinda understandable...but my senior class hoodie? Really? I mean, I know for a fact that you did not graduate in my class, so just an answer would be nice.
LOL
That was halfway serious.
So that's my funny story for the week. Don't worry though it wasn't all fun and games this week. The fun was balanced out with an awesome headache that I've had for 3 days straight now. So that's been pretty awesome (please recognize the sarcasm in that statement).
Anyways, feedback please. What would you do in this situation? I mean I guess most people would just straight up ask her...I just feel kinda weird.
maybe hoodies are worth alot of money these days on the black market
Friday, January 30, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
dozing and nodding
Today was the most I've struggled to stay awake in any of my classes so far this semester. This morning in Romans at 8am was the worst. I was nodding, and dozing the whole time.
But there is something that I realized this morning. Its crazy how much of a difference it makes if the professor has a monotone voice or an interesting voice. In my 8am my professor has a really monotone voice and doesn't really make the class that interesting, and I could barely stay awake. Then I was really worried about my next class which was Acts at 9am. But interestingly enough it was with a professor who does make the class interesting and has jokes and doesn't use a monotone voice the whole time, and I was awake as ever.
I think it also helped that we were talking about an interesting topic, the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues. So I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to stay awake and actually pay attention during that class. But now I am done with classes for the day and my next event is lunch at 11:40, so I'm definitely going to take a nap (one of my favorite past times for those who didn't know).
So good day so far.
You all have trouble staying awake in class? Or if not class then at your job?
But there is something that I realized this morning. Its crazy how much of a difference it makes if the professor has a monotone voice or an interesting voice. In my 8am my professor has a really monotone voice and doesn't really make the class that interesting, and I could barely stay awake. Then I was really worried about my next class which was Acts at 9am. But interestingly enough it was with a professor who does make the class interesting and has jokes and doesn't use a monotone voice the whole time, and I was awake as ever.
I think it also helped that we were talking about an interesting topic, the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues. So I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to stay awake and actually pay attention during that class. But now I am done with classes for the day and my next event is lunch at 11:40, so I'm definitely going to take a nap (one of my favorite past times for those who didn't know).
So good day so far.
You all have trouble staying awake in class? Or if not class then at your job?
Friday, January 23, 2009
big boy and fries
As mentioned in my previous post I had dinner with my parents and aunt and uncle tonight at good ol' Frisch's. It was good to see my aunt and uncle again, since I haven't seen them since my high school graduation about 2 1/2 years ago. I was especially looking forward to talking to my uncle again because he runs his own tire business in New York, and since I've been thinking more and more about what it takes to run a business I thought it would be good to talk to him, and he didn't disappoint me.
So as I was dining over a Big Boy and fries my Uncle Clay proceeded to ask me about Moody and how my time there has been. I told him I have loved it, and am glad that I went there. We then started talking about ministry, and what my plans were after graduation, and what I wanted to do with sports ministry. Questions all of which I have been thinking much about recently.
This is what I told him. I have believed for the past 4 years that God has called me to the foreign mission field to do sports ministry. What that looks like, I'm not quite sure yet, but probably along the lines of sports camps or a recreational center. The reason for this is because I have seen how effective sports can be in connecting with people that I have never even talked to before, or even more, people that don't even speak the same language as me. It doesn't matter, sports is a universal language, and I would like to use that to reach people for Christ. I have had a burden for people in Europe specifically because the church is almost non-existent in some parts, and the continent as a whole is very dark, spiritually speaking. Also, all of my sports ministry experience has been in Europe so I just feel like sports can be used effectively in that place.
I also told him of my inner-struggle that I have been having between media, video, tech on one hand, and sports ministry on the other. For those of you who know me know that I am passionate about both. I am a big geek, and I also absolutely love sports and physical activity, so much so that I have thought that I could do it for the rest of my life on the mission field. And now I just don't know if I'm supposed to choose one or the other, or I'm supposed to fuse them together in some type of way in ministry, which I could definitely do.
My uncle comes from the standpoint that people are needed in the American business life as well. He actually attended Moody for a semester and realized that he wasn't supposed to be in full-time ministry. But what he said was, "I realized that there were people at Moody that wanted to be Pastors but they didn't know how to make a living off of it. They didn't even know how to balance a checkbook. And I realized that I wanted to make a living." So he started his own tire business, and that is his field of ministry.
On my way back home I started thinking about what he had said about making a living. As I have been called to the mission field I had to come to the realization that I don't necessarily need to make a living. I could live life without having to worry about money and trusting in God to provide. I'm not saying that my uncle doesn't trust in God to provide, I'm just saying that in the thought process of being a missionary I have come to the realization that I don't need to make a living. Then again there are some days when I just wish that I had money so I could pay for school, or buy video equipment so I could pursue more of my video dreams. And maybe that day will come, when God provides me with a video camera, and a new computer so that I am able to do what I would like to do with video, but I just have to wait on that.
I write all of this to say, honestly I'm not quite sure what God would have me to do for the rest of my life, and heck, I don't need to know at this point in my life. LOL. I mean I'm 20 years old for cryin out loud. I still have a year and a half of Moody left, and then after that who knows what. But whatever I do I just need to seek God in everything that I do and He will direct my paths. I could live here in the U.S. run my own business, do video, do sports camps, and still do ministry in some way. Or I could go overseas as a missionary and do ministry. The verdict is still out, and probably will be for a while. But my internship this summer will probably help, I'm doing it with a Christian soccer camp organization called On Goal, well not officially, I haven't been accepted yet, but there is a good chance I will be, Lord willing. So we shall see.
I still have more to talk about so stay tuned for more insightful posts, well at least I hope you think they are insightful.
Also, blog recommendation of the week, ChurchCrunch. This blog has alot of great ideas for ministry and for the church. Check it out.
peace
So as I was dining over a Big Boy and fries my Uncle Clay proceeded to ask me about Moody and how my time there has been. I told him I have loved it, and am glad that I went there. We then started talking about ministry, and what my plans were after graduation, and what I wanted to do with sports ministry. Questions all of which I have been thinking much about recently.
This is what I told him. I have believed for the past 4 years that God has called me to the foreign mission field to do sports ministry. What that looks like, I'm not quite sure yet, but probably along the lines of sports camps or a recreational center. The reason for this is because I have seen how effective sports can be in connecting with people that I have never even talked to before, or even more, people that don't even speak the same language as me. It doesn't matter, sports is a universal language, and I would like to use that to reach people for Christ. I have had a burden for people in Europe specifically because the church is almost non-existent in some parts, and the continent as a whole is very dark, spiritually speaking. Also, all of my sports ministry experience has been in Europe so I just feel like sports can be used effectively in that place.
I also told him of my inner-struggle that I have been having between media, video, tech on one hand, and sports ministry on the other. For those of you who know me know that I am passionate about both. I am a big geek, and I also absolutely love sports and physical activity, so much so that I have thought that I could do it for the rest of my life on the mission field. And now I just don't know if I'm supposed to choose one or the other, or I'm supposed to fuse them together in some type of way in ministry, which I could definitely do.
My uncle comes from the standpoint that people are needed in the American business life as well. He actually attended Moody for a semester and realized that he wasn't supposed to be in full-time ministry. But what he said was, "I realized that there were people at Moody that wanted to be Pastors but they didn't know how to make a living off of it. They didn't even know how to balance a checkbook. And I realized that I wanted to make a living." So he started his own tire business, and that is his field of ministry.
On my way back home I started thinking about what he had said about making a living. As I have been called to the mission field I had to come to the realization that I don't necessarily need to make a living. I could live life without having to worry about money and trusting in God to provide. I'm not saying that my uncle doesn't trust in God to provide, I'm just saying that in the thought process of being a missionary I have come to the realization that I don't need to make a living. Then again there are some days when I just wish that I had money so I could pay for school, or buy video equipment so I could pursue more of my video dreams. And maybe that day will come, when God provides me with a video camera, and a new computer so that I am able to do what I would like to do with video, but I just have to wait on that.
I write all of this to say, honestly I'm not quite sure what God would have me to do for the rest of my life, and heck, I don't need to know at this point in my life. LOL. I mean I'm 20 years old for cryin out loud. I still have a year and a half of Moody left, and then after that who knows what. But whatever I do I just need to seek God in everything that I do and He will direct my paths. I could live here in the U.S. run my own business, do video, do sports camps, and still do ministry in some way. Or I could go overseas as a missionary and do ministry. The verdict is still out, and probably will be for a while. But my internship this summer will probably help, I'm doing it with a Christian soccer camp organization called On Goal, well not officially, I haven't been accepted yet, but there is a good chance I will be, Lord willing. So we shall see.
I still have more to talk about so stay tuned for more insightful posts, well at least I hope you think they are insightful.
Also, blog recommendation of the week, ChurchCrunch. This blog has alot of great ideas for ministry and for the church. Check it out.
peace
home is where the heart is
So much to write about, but don't want to overwhelm you with a wealth of posts. I got a phone call on Wednesday saying that my Grandma had just gone into the hospital with serious heart problems and that they had to make a choice to either do open heart surgery or just let it go. Either way my mom said that I should come home to see her. My Grandma decided to have the open heart surgery so that is happening on Monday, but the chances of it not going as planned are pretty high. So realizing the seriousness of the situation I flew home today after classes and I am flying back to Chicago on Sunday.
Needless to say this is going to be a whirlwind of weekend, but I am glad to get to see my Grandma, and I pray that God will have His will in her life and with the surgery on Monday. I would also appreciate it if you could pray the in the same way.
So I saw her tonight, and she looks ok, but her heart is pretty messed up. She's got incoming valve that is blocked and then one outgoing valve that is like torn so blood is spilling into her lungs. I will spare you the technical terms, but as you can tell it is not a good situation at all.
On a lighter note, it is good to be home with the family, despite the circumstances. My aunt and uncle from New York came down today, so me and my parents had dinner with them tonight which was good. I had a good conversation with my uncle about ministry and life. That will be my next post, I'm still processing it. So family time is good no matter what the circumstances.
It is also good to lay in my bed again. So with that I will leave you for now. Thanks again for your prayers, we really appreciate them. I'll keep you updated, seeing as this is updates in my life. LOL.
later
Needless to say this is going to be a whirlwind of weekend, but I am glad to get to see my Grandma, and I pray that God will have His will in her life and with the surgery on Monday. I would also appreciate it if you could pray the in the same way.
So I saw her tonight, and she looks ok, but her heart is pretty messed up. She's got incoming valve that is blocked and then one outgoing valve that is like torn so blood is spilling into her lungs. I will spare you the technical terms, but as you can tell it is not a good situation at all.
On a lighter note, it is good to be home with the family, despite the circumstances. My aunt and uncle from New York came down today, so me and my parents had dinner with them tonight which was good. I had a good conversation with my uncle about ministry and life. That will be my next post, I'm still processing it. So family time is good no matter what the circumstances.
It is also good to lay in my bed again. So with that I will leave you for now. Thanks again for your prayers, we really appreciate them. I'll keep you updated, seeing as this is updates in my life. LOL.
later
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
don't stop reading yet
Well, thanks to a new blog (ChurchCrunch) that I just became interested in the post today is going to be about what type of internet video services I use and why. For those of you uninterested in this type of thing, before you close this page without reading let me explain what an internet video service is. A video service is a service that one uses to either upload videos, stream live video, some examples of this would be youtube, ustream, blip, and stickam just to name a few.
Personally I have used a couple different uploading services in the past. I have videos on blip, but more currently I am using youtube just because everyone is familiar with it and pretty much knows how to use it, therefore more views of my videos is more likely. I started using blip for more of a niche video channel, and the play looks a little more clean cut than youtube, but overall I've realized that blip is somewhat slower, and again it is less familiar to people, and anything unfamiliar is less likely to be visited more than once.
As far as streaming live video goes, I always use Ustream. I discovered Ustream I guess about 2 years ago, and at first I just used it to watch other people's shows. It wasn't until the past year and half that I started streaming video myself. Then when I discovered CamTwist I just got addicted to streaming live video of myself. CamTwist is a program that allows you to do special effects to video as well as add text and a bunch of other cool stuff that makes your video look like a real live television show.
I use Ustream because it was the first live streaming site that I discovered and so I just ran with it. Stickam also does live video, but I've never even tried that. Ustream works great for me, so I just stick with it.
What video services do you use?
Personally I have used a couple different uploading services in the past. I have videos on blip, but more currently I am using youtube just because everyone is familiar with it and pretty much knows how to use it, therefore more views of my videos is more likely. I started using blip for more of a niche video channel, and the play looks a little more clean cut than youtube, but overall I've realized that blip is somewhat slower, and again it is less familiar to people, and anything unfamiliar is less likely to be visited more than once.
As far as streaming live video goes, I always use Ustream. I discovered Ustream I guess about 2 years ago, and at first I just used it to watch other people's shows. It wasn't until the past year and half that I started streaming video myself. Then when I discovered CamTwist I just got addicted to streaming live video of myself. CamTwist is a program that allows you to do special effects to video as well as add text and a bunch of other cool stuff that makes your video look like a real live television show.
I use Ustream because it was the first live streaming site that I discovered and so I just ran with it. Stickam also does live video, but I've never even tried that. Ustream works great for me, so I just stick with it.
What video services do you use?
Monday, January 19, 2009
deal or no deal
The last 4 or 5 posts have been practically books so I wanted to give a little shorter post just so I don't lose every single reader that I have, that is if I do have any at all.
This week was the first week of classes. To be honest I was not excited to be back at all, as you all probably have figured out from previous posts. But I am surviving, and one of the ways that I am surviving has been by reading a book by Francis Chan called "Crazy Love." Its a great book, I would recommend it. It is about God's love for us, and then the way that we love God back. I made this deal with a friend that if I read a book in 2 weeks, then she had to make her own blog in 2 weeks. The only reason I did this is because she always makes fun of me for being a geek, so I challenged her with a somewhat geeky deal of her own. And surprisingly enough, we both held up our ends of the deal. I actually read the book in 2 weeks (yes, please try to keep breathing, I know it's hard to believe), and she created her own blog with a little help from me, and wrote her first post. I was actually quite impressed with the overall look of it.
Anyways, so that's just a little blurb from my week. There was other news as well, but like I said, short and sweet, so I'm gonna keep my promise.
Go read a book
This week was the first week of classes. To be honest I was not excited to be back at all, as you all probably have figured out from previous posts. But I am surviving, and one of the ways that I am surviving has been by reading a book by Francis Chan called "Crazy Love." Its a great book, I would recommend it. It is about God's love for us, and then the way that we love God back. I made this deal with a friend that if I read a book in 2 weeks, then she had to make her own blog in 2 weeks. The only reason I did this is because she always makes fun of me for being a geek, so I challenged her with a somewhat geeky deal of her own. And surprisingly enough, we both held up our ends of the deal. I actually read the book in 2 weeks (yes, please try to keep breathing, I know it's hard to believe), and she created her own blog with a little help from me, and wrote her first post. I was actually quite impressed with the overall look of it.
Anyways, so that's just a little blurb from my week. There was other news as well, but like I said, short and sweet, so I'm gonna keep my promise.
Go read a book
Friday, January 16, 2009
Breakfast Business
Well the first week of classes is pretty much accounted for and let me tell you I am wiped. It has been a draining week as far as thinking goes. LOL. I have had to drop classes and add classes and figure out how the rest of my time at Moody is going to go. I finally have gotten it figured out and it is not the most ideal schedule ever, but I can deal with it. Now if I can just fit a job in there somewhere I will be set to go.
This week it has also been difficult for me to focus because ever since I returned from Macworld in San Francisco all I have been thinking about is podcasting, videography, videoblogging, and the like, and all of this revolves around starting my own business. After meeting some of my favorite podcasters and videobloggers at Macworld it has just given me so much more confidence that I can do it as well. And then talking to one of my best friends about it, Jared Tolley, he's always up for a good idea and brainstorming about things that we could do in life. I also have enjoyed talking to my close friend Josh Puckett about it as well. It is also interesting that about 4 of my friend's computers have crashed this week and all of them are seeking my help to fix them. In light of all of this I have decided to apply for a job at the Apple Store here in Chicago. If I got a part time job there that would be amazing, one of my dreams actually since switching to the Mac 3 years ago. And since my dreams have been coming true lately this might actually happen!
Also, on another note about school, I've been to breakfast 3 times this week. For those of you who know me you know that this is nothing short of a miracle. I value my sleep very much and for me to get up at the crack of dawn to go to breakfast is a big change for me. The reason for this is that I have an 8am class on M,W,F and so I just decided to go to breakfast on Monday because it was my first day of classes, and then turned out that it wasn't so bad getting up at 6:30am so then I just decided to do it on Wednesday and then again this morning. The disadvantage to this is that I only have 15 meals per week and so it is impossible to go to 3 meals a day for 3 days and then go to 2 meals a day the rest of the week, so consequently I'm going to have to skip a meal this weekend but I think it was worth it.
See this is what happens when I don't post for 4 or 5 days, I have so much to say and the post ends up being freakin long. So I'm just gonna save everything else for another post. I love you all.
Happy New Semester! Ugh.
P.S. My close friend, Josh Puckett has a new blog up and running, go check it out HERE.
This week it has also been difficult for me to focus because ever since I returned from Macworld in San Francisco all I have been thinking about is podcasting, videography, videoblogging, and the like, and all of this revolves around starting my own business. After meeting some of my favorite podcasters and videobloggers at Macworld it has just given me so much more confidence that I can do it as well. And then talking to one of my best friends about it, Jared Tolley, he's always up for a good idea and brainstorming about things that we could do in life. I also have enjoyed talking to my close friend Josh Puckett about it as well. It is also interesting that about 4 of my friend's computers have crashed this week and all of them are seeking my help to fix them. In light of all of this I have decided to apply for a job at the Apple Store here in Chicago. If I got a part time job there that would be amazing, one of my dreams actually since switching to the Mac 3 years ago. And since my dreams have been coming true lately this might actually happen!
Also, on another note about school, I've been to breakfast 3 times this week. For those of you who know me you know that this is nothing short of a miracle. I value my sleep very much and for me to get up at the crack of dawn to go to breakfast is a big change for me. The reason for this is that I have an 8am class on M,W,F and so I just decided to go to breakfast on Monday because it was my first day of classes, and then turned out that it wasn't so bad getting up at 6:30am so then I just decided to do it on Wednesday and then again this morning. The disadvantage to this is that I only have 15 meals per week and so it is impossible to go to 3 meals a day for 3 days and then go to 2 meals a day the rest of the week, so consequently I'm going to have to skip a meal this weekend but I think it was worth it.
See this is what happens when I don't post for 4 or 5 days, I have so much to say and the post ends up being freakin long. So I'm just gonna save everything else for another post. I love you all.
Happy New Semester! Ugh.
P.S. My close friend, Josh Puckett has a new blog up and running, go check it out HERE.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Macworld 2009 Day 3 "The Community"
Macworld 2009, Day 3, January 8
Well I decided that today was going to be my last day at Macworld because I've already seen all the booths and there aren't really any sessions or anything going tomorrow, so I'm just going to fly back early which will be nice. So this being my last day at Macworld I decided to make the most of it. O, dangit. I completely forgot to mention in my post yesterday that I went to the feature presentation by David Pogue. So I guess I'll mention that now. This feature presentation was great, David Pogue is a tech writer for the New York Times and he was really entertaining. It was setup kinda like a talk show, he had a couple guests on stage including Matt Harding from the video "where the heck is Matt?", these guys from "You Suck at Photoshop" (they were pretty funny) and the creator of the Ocarina application for the iPhone ( and this was probably the coolest of them all). The guy who developed this application is the music professor at some big university (I can't remember right now, lol) and he has a laptop orchestra there. He gave us a small demo of how it works, and they use the accelerometer inside the Macbook Pro to create sound. In the demo he would hit the screen or touch anywhere on the laptop and it would make some sort of noise. It was so cool, I'll be uploading a video to facebook. So that was yesterday's feature presentation.
I kicked off today by attending a feature presentation by Leo Laporte. He talked about mass media and how media is changing with the internet, and now anyone can produce content and distribute it to the world. It was a really interesting talk. Plus it is always great to hear Leo talk, he is so smart and knows so much about media and the tech industry and always has good things to say. I then went from there and bought myself a tshirt from the Macworld store, it says "I'm a Mac" on the front and then "Macworld" on the back. I was pretty happy about it. I then waited for the expo hall to open.
I went back to the South hall because I had not finished looking at all the booths and such. I also had decided that I was going to buy an Invisible Shield for my iPod Touch. This is a really cool product because they use the same material that the military uses on their helicopter propellors to keep them from being damaged. I also decided to buy some skins for ipod touch as well as one for the back of my laptop. These are really cool first of all cause they have some sweet kick-butt artwork to choose from and because they are reusable, the company is called Gelaskins and I would highly recommend them.
Another cool thing about Macworld is that almost every company is doing some type of raffle or giveaway, so I signed for almost every giveaway possible, but unfortunately did not win anything. But what they do is, they use your badge to get all your information, because there is a barcode on my badge and every booth has a scanner so to enter into the giveaway they just scan my badge, but then they also have my email and all that stuff, but o well. Hopefully I won't get too much spam.
I didn't get to meet any famous people today, but it was still a great day. I got to sit in on a couple live podcasts which is always fun. I was going to go home a bit earlier than I had in the past 2 days, but it was 5:30pm meaning it was rush hour, so I knew I was gonna be sitting in traffic forever. But there was also a meetup at Jillian's at 7 that I wanted to go to, so I just went to McDonald's and got some food and by the time I was done it was time to go to the meetup. O, but wait, I forgot, I did get to meet Andy Ihnatko (a tech writer for the Chicago Sun Times) in McDonald's which was kinda funny. I was just sitting there talking to my dad and I glanced over and I saw Andy Ihnatko standing in line. So I waited till he was walking out and I turned around in my seat and introduced myself and told him I was a big fan of his writing, and that was about it because he had his hands full, but it was still pretty cool. So nevermind, I did get to meet someone famous today. LOL.
Then I went to the meetup and it turned out to be a great night. I ended up talking to this older woman for a bit. She was just asking me what I do on my Mac and I told her I did videography. She has been a school teacher, but she said her real passion is art. It was a really good conversation and so after that conversation was over I wanted to talk to some more people. I met two other guys who ran this news site in Santa Barbara, California, it is called SBLife http://www.sblife.com. We talked about podcasting and videography because they do a bit of that for their site, it was also a really good conversation. Buy by far the best conversation of the night was with the developers of the iPhone applications "Pull my finger" and "Stickie Notes." Their company is called Air-o-matic. It was just really interesting to talk to them about the development process and what the environment is like to develop for the iPhone. Let me just say that after talking to these guys I've realized that developing for the iPhone can be a gold mine. It's crazy how much money you can make from just simple application. I also met the developers of the iPhone app "MIMvista". This is an application that reads MRI's and CTscans of the body brain. It is an amazing application.
I ended staying at the meetup about 2 hours longer than I had planned. This meetup is an excellent example of the Mac community. You can start a relationship with anyone just because we have the simple commonality of the Macintosh. It made Macworld worth it all, and it made me happy and proud to be a Mac user.
Again, it all comes back to the community. This is probably the biggest thing that I took away from Macworld, how important the community of Macintosh is. Without the community the Mac would not be what it is today. And so that is how I will conclude this journal of my Macworld experience. If you a Mac user and have not yet been immersed in the Mac community, I would strongly encourage you to begin doing that, just by simply meeting another Mac user and talk about what you do on your Mac. If you are not a Mac user, I would say that this is one of the strongest arguments for switching to the Mac. Not only is the experience of working on a Mac unbeatable, but the community surround it is incomparable.
For pics and videos of my Macworld experience check out my facebook profile
Macworld 2010 here I come!
Well I decided that today was going to be my last day at Macworld because I've already seen all the booths and there aren't really any sessions or anything going tomorrow, so I'm just going to fly back early which will be nice. So this being my last day at Macworld I decided to make the most of it. O, dangit. I completely forgot to mention in my post yesterday that I went to the feature presentation by David Pogue. So I guess I'll mention that now. This feature presentation was great, David Pogue is a tech writer for the New York Times and he was really entertaining. It was setup kinda like a talk show, he had a couple guests on stage including Matt Harding from the video "where the heck is Matt?", these guys from "You Suck at Photoshop" (they were pretty funny) and the creator of the Ocarina application for the iPhone ( and this was probably the coolest of them all). The guy who developed this application is the music professor at some big university (I can't remember right now, lol) and he has a laptop orchestra there. He gave us a small demo of how it works, and they use the accelerometer inside the Macbook Pro to create sound. In the demo he would hit the screen or touch anywhere on the laptop and it would make some sort of noise. It was so cool, I'll be uploading a video to facebook. So that was yesterday's feature presentation.
I kicked off today by attending a feature presentation by Leo Laporte. He talked about mass media and how media is changing with the internet, and now anyone can produce content and distribute it to the world. It was a really interesting talk. Plus it is always great to hear Leo talk, he is so smart and knows so much about media and the tech industry and always has good things to say. I then went from there and bought myself a tshirt from the Macworld store, it says "I'm a Mac" on the front and then "Macworld" on the back. I was pretty happy about it. I then waited for the expo hall to open.
I went back to the South hall because I had not finished looking at all the booths and such. I also had decided that I was going to buy an Invisible Shield for my iPod Touch. This is a really cool product because they use the same material that the military uses on their helicopter propellors to keep them from being damaged. I also decided to buy some skins for ipod touch as well as one for the back of my laptop. These are really cool first of all cause they have some sweet kick-butt artwork to choose from and because they are reusable, the company is called Gelaskins and I would highly recommend them.
Another cool thing about Macworld is that almost every company is doing some type of raffle or giveaway, so I signed for almost every giveaway possible, but unfortunately did not win anything. But what they do is, they use your badge to get all your information, because there is a barcode on my badge and every booth has a scanner so to enter into the giveaway they just scan my badge, but then they also have my email and all that stuff, but o well. Hopefully I won't get too much spam.
I didn't get to meet any famous people today, but it was still a great day. I got to sit in on a couple live podcasts which is always fun. I was going to go home a bit earlier than I had in the past 2 days, but it was 5:30pm meaning it was rush hour, so I knew I was gonna be sitting in traffic forever. But there was also a meetup at Jillian's at 7 that I wanted to go to, so I just went to McDonald's and got some food and by the time I was done it was time to go to the meetup. O, but wait, I forgot, I did get to meet Andy Ihnatko (a tech writer for the Chicago Sun Times) in McDonald's which was kinda funny. I was just sitting there talking to my dad and I glanced over and I saw Andy Ihnatko standing in line. So I waited till he was walking out and I turned around in my seat and introduced myself and told him I was a big fan of his writing, and that was about it because he had his hands full, but it was still pretty cool. So nevermind, I did get to meet someone famous today. LOL.
Then I went to the meetup and it turned out to be a great night. I ended up talking to this older woman for a bit. She was just asking me what I do on my Mac and I told her I did videography. She has been a school teacher, but she said her real passion is art. It was a really good conversation and so after that conversation was over I wanted to talk to some more people. I met two other guys who ran this news site in Santa Barbara, California, it is called SBLife http://www.sblife.com. We talked about podcasting and videography because they do a bit of that for their site, it was also a really good conversation. Buy by far the best conversation of the night was with the developers of the iPhone applications "Pull my finger" and "Stickie Notes." Their company is called Air-o-matic. It was just really interesting to talk to them about the development process and what the environment is like to develop for the iPhone. Let me just say that after talking to these guys I've realized that developing for the iPhone can be a gold mine. It's crazy how much money you can make from just simple application. I also met the developers of the iPhone app "MIMvista". This is an application that reads MRI's and CTscans of the body brain. It is an amazing application.
I ended staying at the meetup about 2 hours longer than I had planned. This meetup is an excellent example of the Mac community. You can start a relationship with anyone just because we have the simple commonality of the Macintosh. It made Macworld worth it all, and it made me happy and proud to be a Mac user.
Again, it all comes back to the community. This is probably the biggest thing that I took away from Macworld, how important the community of Macintosh is. Without the community the Mac would not be what it is today. And so that is how I will conclude this journal of my Macworld experience. If you a Mac user and have not yet been immersed in the Mac community, I would strongly encourage you to begin doing that, just by simply meeting another Mac user and talk about what you do on your Mac. If you are not a Mac user, I would say that this is one of the strongest arguments for switching to the Mac. Not only is the experience of working on a Mac unbeatable, but the community surround it is incomparable.
For pics and videos of my Macworld experience check out my facebook profile
Macworld 2010 here I come!
Macworld 2009 Day 2 "Tiny Town"
Macworld 2009, Day 2, Wednesday, Jan. 7
Well, day 2 of Macworld was another great experience. I ventured over to the South Hall since I spent my whole day in the North Hall yesterday, and I ended up spending more time in the South Hall overall. In the South Hall there was what was called "Tiny Town." People kept referring to Tiny Town and I couldn't figure out what they were talking about and then entered the South Hall and saw exactly what they were talking about. I think people called it that because there were alot of small companies and vendors, but also because there were alot of things hanging from the ceiling, and it just looked like a little model city.
I spent the whole day in the South Hall and I still didn't get to see all the booths. There were also alot more companies doing demos and such in the South Hall. This is also where the official Apple booth was located. And of course it was larger than life. Literally it was the biggest booth there, if you can even call it a booth (you can check out pics on my facebook). I mean, the Apple booth was cool, but it wasn't really anything special. They just had a ton of iMacs, Macbooks, and iPods on display. And all of these computers were demoing the new iLife and iWork 09, so it was cool to get to demo those. But I mean I really don't think that it is going to be a big deal that Apple is not going to attend the conference next year. I mean, yes, there might be alot of empty space, because the booth was humungous, but as far as content on the booth goes, there really won't be that much missing. In fact, I'm already excited to attend next year's Macworld.
I got to meet yet another famous guy in the tech industry, Chris Pirillo. He did a small session on how to use Ustream and Camtwist together to do your own live show. I mean I already knew all of the stuff because that is what I use to produce the wheel seat but I just stuck around to see if I could meet him after he was done, and sure enough I got to meet him and get my picture taken with him. He seems like a cool guy, so much so that I saw him later that day in the South hall and he actually recognized me and said hi, and then again that night at the meetup at Jillians he saw me and said hi. None of these run-ins resulted in any conversations which I wish they would have, but I was just surprised that he remembered me. He may not have remembered my name, but he remembered my face.
Probably one of the biggest things that I have realized after yesterday and today is how some of these people lead just different lives than I do. And I'm not talking about like Leo Laporte and Chris Pirillo and the other famous guys, I'm just talking about the other people who are attending the conference. As I walked around to the different booths it seemed like alot of the products were really expensive. I saw alot of stuff that I would have liked to bought, but I just couldn't afford it. Heck I was just lucky to be at Macworld, I was saving every penny just for parking and eating food. But other people there, this is their life. I mean, I consider myself a pretty big geek, or nerd or whatever you wanna call it, but I consider myself a geek with not alot of money. But these other people are just buying things like its nothing. It got me thinking about what its like to just have money at your fingertips. It is interesting to think about. I know for a fact that if I had money that that would not satisfy me. I am reminded as I just started reading Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love" that God is the only one who can satisfy, and glorifying Him is the only satisfying thing in life. It is our purpose as human beings.
I wrapped up the day with a viewing of the world premiere of "Macheads" the movie. This is a documentary about the history of Apple and about the Mac community. I really enjoyed the movie, and it was really good for me to learn more about the history of Apple and how far the company has come as well as the community of Mac users. The movie's purpose was to emphasize the importance of the community that has been created around the Macintosh. Yeah the Mac is a great computer, but it is not just about the computer, it is about the community that comes along with the computer. When you buy a Macintosh you suddenly enter into this community of people that just makes your experience as a user so much better than anything you will ever find on the PC side. I have now seen this firsthand by attending Macworld and meeting other Mac users who do different things with their macs but we all have the same type of experience. So I really enjoyed this documentary, if you are a Mac user and you get a chance to see this movie, I would recommend. I mean even if you are not a Mac user I would recommend it because maybe you will come to good side and finally see the light and get a Mac.
So that was my second day at Macworld and again, it was awesome. O yeah, and here's an example of the Mac community, as I was walking back to my car that night I walked by these fountains so I was taking some pictures of them, and as I was walking to my car this guy was walking next to me, and I saw that he was wearing a Macworld badge and I just started talking to him and ended just having a small conversation on my way back to my car. I mean, not a big deal, but just something small like that is part of the mac community.
So if you all haven't gotten the message by now, the point of this post is get a Mac. LOL. Just kiddin. I still love all you PC users out there.
More posts coming soon!
Well, day 2 of Macworld was another great experience. I ventured over to the South Hall since I spent my whole day in the North Hall yesterday, and I ended up spending more time in the South Hall overall. In the South Hall there was what was called "Tiny Town." People kept referring to Tiny Town and I couldn't figure out what they were talking about and then entered the South Hall and saw exactly what they were talking about. I think people called it that because there were alot of small companies and vendors, but also because there were alot of things hanging from the ceiling, and it just looked like a little model city.
I spent the whole day in the South Hall and I still didn't get to see all the booths. There were also alot more companies doing demos and such in the South Hall. This is also where the official Apple booth was located. And of course it was larger than life. Literally it was the biggest booth there, if you can even call it a booth (you can check out pics on my facebook). I mean, the Apple booth was cool, but it wasn't really anything special. They just had a ton of iMacs, Macbooks, and iPods on display. And all of these computers were demoing the new iLife and iWork 09, so it was cool to get to demo those. But I mean I really don't think that it is going to be a big deal that Apple is not going to attend the conference next year. I mean, yes, there might be alot of empty space, because the booth was humungous, but as far as content on the booth goes, there really won't be that much missing. In fact, I'm already excited to attend next year's Macworld.
I got to meet yet another famous guy in the tech industry, Chris Pirillo. He did a small session on how to use Ustream and Camtwist together to do your own live show. I mean I already knew all of the stuff because that is what I use to produce the wheel seat but I just stuck around to see if I could meet him after he was done, and sure enough I got to meet him and get my picture taken with him. He seems like a cool guy, so much so that I saw him later that day in the South hall and he actually recognized me and said hi, and then again that night at the meetup at Jillians he saw me and said hi. None of these run-ins resulted in any conversations which I wish they would have, but I was just surprised that he remembered me. He may not have remembered my name, but he remembered my face.
Probably one of the biggest things that I have realized after yesterday and today is how some of these people lead just different lives than I do. And I'm not talking about like Leo Laporte and Chris Pirillo and the other famous guys, I'm just talking about the other people who are attending the conference. As I walked around to the different booths it seemed like alot of the products were really expensive. I saw alot of stuff that I would have liked to bought, but I just couldn't afford it. Heck I was just lucky to be at Macworld, I was saving every penny just for parking and eating food. But other people there, this is their life. I mean, I consider myself a pretty big geek, or nerd or whatever you wanna call it, but I consider myself a geek with not alot of money. But these other people are just buying things like its nothing. It got me thinking about what its like to just have money at your fingertips. It is interesting to think about. I know for a fact that if I had money that that would not satisfy me. I am reminded as I just started reading Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love" that God is the only one who can satisfy, and glorifying Him is the only satisfying thing in life. It is our purpose as human beings.
I wrapped up the day with a viewing of the world premiere of "Macheads" the movie. This is a documentary about the history of Apple and about the Mac community. I really enjoyed the movie, and it was really good for me to learn more about the history of Apple and how far the company has come as well as the community of Mac users. The movie's purpose was to emphasize the importance of the community that has been created around the Macintosh. Yeah the Mac is a great computer, but it is not just about the computer, it is about the community that comes along with the computer. When you buy a Macintosh you suddenly enter into this community of people that just makes your experience as a user so much better than anything you will ever find on the PC side. I have now seen this firsthand by attending Macworld and meeting other Mac users who do different things with their macs but we all have the same type of experience. So I really enjoyed this documentary, if you are a Mac user and you get a chance to see this movie, I would recommend. I mean even if you are not a Mac user I would recommend it because maybe you will come to good side and finally see the light and get a Mac.
So that was my second day at Macworld and again, it was awesome. O yeah, and here's an example of the Mac community, as I was walking back to my car that night I walked by these fountains so I was taking some pictures of them, and as I was walking to my car this guy was walking next to me, and I saw that he was wearing a Macworld badge and I just started talking to him and ended just having a small conversation on my way back to my car. I mean, not a big deal, but just something small like that is part of the mac community.
So if you all haven't gotten the message by now, the point of this post is get a Mac. LOL. Just kiddin. I still love all you PC users out there.
More posts coming soon!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Macworld 2009 Day 1
My life these past couple days have been amazing, but busy. For those of you who do not know I have been at Macworld 2009 in San Francisco, which has been a dream come true for me ever since I switched to the Mac about 3 years ago. I got a PowerBook G4 in my Senior year of high school, and I have never looked back. I've been meaning to blog my experiences here at Macworld these past couple days, but I have been much busier than I expected, so I am a little disappointed by my procrastination/lack of time to give you my in depth thoughts and experiences. I have been updating my facebook status and twitter like literally at least 5 updates an hour, so I didn't spare anything with my updates there.
Since I'm already into Day 3 of Macworld and I'm just now blogging, I'm going to start with Day 1, and I might just start a new post with each day. We'll see how it goes, and how long my PowerBook's battery lasts sitting outside of the Expo hall.
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2009:
Today was one of the peaks of my excitement this Christmas break. I have been staying at my friend's house, Savannah Flores for the past couple days which has been a blast. We went to the beach and just drove around California, and hung out with her family. It has been a great time. But today when I walked into the Moscone Center in San Francisco it was just an awesome feeling. I got registered and when they handed me that badge that said "Josh Burns, JSquared Productions, Covington, KY" I was about ready to explode with enthusiasm and excitement. I had to wait about an hour and a half after that to get into the expo hall but it was worth the wait because I immediately headed for the "Mac Learning Center" booth and got my seat for the recording of the Live episode of Macbreak Weekly. This is a podcast hosted by Leo Laporte, and is one of my favorites. It was so great to be able to see all of my favorite podcasters in person just feet away from me. So that was definitely a highlight.
Let me just go back to the first time walking into the expo hall. The gates opened, and as I was walking in I saw all of the booths and the feeling I got was so crazy. I guess the best way to describe is excited, but I don't even know if that captures my feelings. Ever since I switched to the mac and discovered Macworld I have wanted to go to Macworld, and now it was a reality. (Ok, so let me just stop here, and say that I realize that I may sound a little fanatical right now, but for those of you reading who are Mac fanboys as well, you can understand my fanaticism.)
I spent the whole first day in the North Hall of the Moscone Center, which was good, but when I went over to the South Hall I wish I would've spent more time there. But I at least walked past, if not visited every single booth in the North Hall and let me just say that there were some ridiculous products, and yet there were some really cool and innovative looking products. (I will go over these in a later post).
After a full day of visiting booths, talking to companies, and sitting in live podcasts and sessions, I made my way over to the restaurant, "Jillians" where there was a Macworld party going on. It was pretty cool, there was some free food, there were some football games on, and just lots of people to talk to. I stayed there for the giveaway and then jetted out of there because I had about an hour and fifteen minute drive ahead of me back home, and I was wiped.
So that was my first day at Macworld.
O BUT WAIT, I failed to mention my accidental meetup with one of the biggest podcasters in the world, Leo Laporte. So I was walking through the hall getting ready to leave at the end of the day and all of the sudden Leo Laporte just walked past me. I immediately recognized him but at first I was in shock. He walked past, and after I came to my senses I walked back towards him and yelled out, "Hey Leo, do you mind if I get a picture with you?" He kindly said "Yes" and and I told him that I enjoyed the live Macbreak weekly this morning and then I took the picture, I introduced myself and then I was so starstruck and at a loss for words that I just thanked him and just kinda turned away. After thinking about it later, I was so mad at myself that I didn't talk to him, cause I had so many questions for him. In fact I think he was expecting me to keep talking, but it all happened so fast that I was jut kinda caught off guard. But that was also a dream come true to get to meet him and get my picture taken with him. So that was also a HUGE highlight of week.
Well my battery warning just popped up so I'm gonna go.
More coming soon.
Macheads Unite!
Since I'm already into Day 3 of Macworld and I'm just now blogging, I'm going to start with Day 1, and I might just start a new post with each day. We'll see how it goes, and how long my PowerBook's battery lasts sitting outside of the Expo hall.
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2009:
Today was one of the peaks of my excitement this Christmas break. I have been staying at my friend's house, Savannah Flores for the past couple days which has been a blast. We went to the beach and just drove around California, and hung out with her family. It has been a great time. But today when I walked into the Moscone Center in San Francisco it was just an awesome feeling. I got registered and when they handed me that badge that said "Josh Burns, JSquared Productions, Covington, KY" I was about ready to explode with enthusiasm and excitement. I had to wait about an hour and a half after that to get into the expo hall but it was worth the wait because I immediately headed for the "Mac Learning Center" booth and got my seat for the recording of the Live episode of Macbreak Weekly. This is a podcast hosted by Leo Laporte, and is one of my favorites. It was so great to be able to see all of my favorite podcasters in person just feet away from me. So that was definitely a highlight.
Let me just go back to the first time walking into the expo hall. The gates opened, and as I was walking in I saw all of the booths and the feeling I got was so crazy. I guess the best way to describe is excited, but I don't even know if that captures my feelings. Ever since I switched to the mac and discovered Macworld I have wanted to go to Macworld, and now it was a reality. (Ok, so let me just stop here, and say that I realize that I may sound a little fanatical right now, but for those of you reading who are Mac fanboys as well, you can understand my fanaticism.)
I spent the whole first day in the North Hall of the Moscone Center, which was good, but when I went over to the South Hall I wish I would've spent more time there. But I at least walked past, if not visited every single booth in the North Hall and let me just say that there were some ridiculous products, and yet there were some really cool and innovative looking products. (I will go over these in a later post).
After a full day of visiting booths, talking to companies, and sitting in live podcasts and sessions, I made my way over to the restaurant, "Jillians" where there was a Macworld party going on. It was pretty cool, there was some free food, there were some football games on, and just lots of people to talk to. I stayed there for the giveaway and then jetted out of there because I had about an hour and fifteen minute drive ahead of me back home, and I was wiped.
So that was my first day at Macworld.
O BUT WAIT, I failed to mention my accidental meetup with one of the biggest podcasters in the world, Leo Laporte. So I was walking through the hall getting ready to leave at the end of the day and all of the sudden Leo Laporte just walked past me. I immediately recognized him but at first I was in shock. He walked past, and after I came to my senses I walked back towards him and yelled out, "Hey Leo, do you mind if I get a picture with you?" He kindly said "Yes" and and I told him that I enjoyed the live Macbreak weekly this morning and then I took the picture, I introduced myself and then I was so starstruck and at a loss for words that I just thanked him and just kinda turned away. After thinking about it later, I was so mad at myself that I didn't talk to him, cause I had so many questions for him. In fact I think he was expecting me to keep talking, but it all happened so fast that I was jut kinda caught off guard. But that was also a dream come true to get to meet him and get my picture taken with him. So that was also a HUGE highlight of week.
Well my battery warning just popped up so I'm gonna go.
More coming soon.
Macheads Unite!
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