AntoineRJWright.com

Ever have an idea that you just wanted to write down? You'd be sitting at home in mind of that article (book) that you wanted to write about and the press of turning on the computer or even just handwriting something to transpose onto the computer later was just enough to keep you from moving from the spot that you were in. As one who likes to write, I fight quite hard to make it as fast an simple a process as possible to get my ideas out from my mind to a screen or paper. But in lieu of doing that, I find that many of the word processing/blogging/emailing...writing solutions, just never seem to be quite there. The current scape of word processing software doesn't seem to meet my needs except in a piecemeal fashion. I want to be able to write, and compose works, but not be limited by platform or accessibility.

And so, in my search of all those things mobile and accessible, I am on the hunt for the right piece of word processing software. The trouble is, nothing that has been made does it. I wonder if my ideal word processing solution is out there. And if so, what would it look like?

Maybe I should begin by stating some of where I am coming from, and then you can get on board with where I am going.

Me As A Writer?
When I purchased my first PDA back in August of 2000, it gave me the opportunity to take my computer on the road with me. This was especially helpful as I was in college and did everything by Word and my calendar. Either I was writing notes and papers, or I was adding in an appointment with a note attached to it about what steps were next. I had a very solid writing platform. As I grew in my knowledge of mobile computing, I turned to the PDA to do more. Before I graduated from college in 2002, I totally ditched the idea of having a desktop and went to just having a PDA and laptop solution. For my thinking, if computing was not in some way mobile, then it was keeping me from seeing the world that I wanted to write so much about.

Fast forward to March 2006. I have moved and find myself relying more on my PDA as a music player and occasional email depot. I do not get as much time to sit on the web except when on my laptop, and since many ideas and thoughts came there, I would be free to blog about it, write an article about it, or just hold it in mind for something in the future. Then the unthinkable happened - well not unthinkable, but the big one happened - my laptop crashed hard (motherboard fried) and I was left as only a Treo 650 as my writing point into the world. I already had an external keyboard, and was already pretty well doing with email. But, with the laptop gone, ALL of my word processing tasks would have to take place on the Treo. I was not sure if the Documents to Go software was up for the task of working out for me. Having gird up my loins with the largest memory card that my Treo could handle (2GB), I set out to write, and write I did.

What Did I Learn?
Well, if I wanted to sit and just write. Documents to Go handled things pretty well. Ok, so I was a lot miffed that I could no longer use the styles that I had in most of my documents (I always modify MS Word's default styles and add a few of my own to keep my documents uniformly formatted). For the most part though, it was like sitting in front of my computer, just with a smaller screen. But there was one problem, I didn't always want to write a document.

I have another program on my Treo called Mo:Blog. Mo:Blog allows me to post to my blogs various thoughts and thinks that come up. The program is simple and quite effective. It's major issue with my use lies in the fact that Blogger and Mo:Blog do not always translate the title of my blogs correctly, but that is usually worked around on my end. Mo:Blog has a definite advantage for me in that I can be on the train, pull it up and begin writing pretty quickly. Documents to Go is a bit slower to get started, but has easier to use formatting options. Because my blogging is online, I tend to link to a slew of other sites and articles and Mo:Blog allows for me to make text snippets of these links so that I just have to click for what I want and its there as a link. Nice and easy, until I want to insert a picture.

The nature of the Treo and the Palm operating system means that I can only do one thing at a time. So if there is a picture that I want to attach to a posting, or insert into a document, I have to have already used the web browser to go to where the picture is, and download the picture onto my Treo. If that is not able to be done, I am out of luck. If it is that I can at least get the page address to where the picture is located, I can copy and paste that into Mo:Blog and using a snippet that I have set up, have it publish the picture when the blog post is made.

Then there is the Memo pad. Lately, Memos has become the nice and simple way for me to keep track of little things, or even get started on those ideas that turn into articles like this.

So in effect I learned that writing on a mobile device is one part accessible, another part not very usable.

What Would Be My Ideal Word Processing Application?
Ideally, I would like to have an application on my mobile that would be able to create any type of document, and then export it to the respective format that I would want. I would love the application to be a hybrid web application - meaning that it would be able to do things such as post to a blog, or work with a SharePoint document server to upload and download documents. It would have to have several document "templates" that would be essentially a wizard in which you would just input information via a few screens to set it up, and then you would get to the document screen where you would either complete writing the document, or prep the document to be posted, emailed, or saved for reference.

An interface like Documents to Go would be a good one, but somehow, the ability to use an external keyboard should extend the functionality, not make a mouse out of a stylus. Having a mode where you can just read a document (like Blue Nomad's Wordsmith) would be excellent. One would also think that some kind of file manager would be neat to have. Or at least some kind of file database where you can tag documents into different categories for easy retrieval and searching.

Lastly, it would have to be in some way integrated with online image services like Flkr or Google Images so that one would not have to completely leave the program in order to find an image that would be appropriate for the document being worked on. Mobile use thrives on the idea of searching and so this kind of methodology for inserting other types of content into the document would really pay off on mobile devices.

Last Writes
In using a mobile device as a replacement for my laptop, I gained a lot of insight into what works and what does not. The current user interface design of desktop word processing is something that has been tried on mobile devices, but has not been successful. It cannot be. They are two different devices with different types of windows into being used. I do think that it is possible for mobile devices to supplant laptops or desktops in some situations such as light to medium word processing, but only when the programs maximize the mobile user and not try to fit them into a word that is a lot less mobile-fitting.Read More

Where Did This Tag Start
I like this game of blog tagging and I wanted to know where it started. So, I worked backward and about 6 sites up I get to Jeff Pulver's blog and the post that seems to have started things.

This is a really neat social experiment, but would be even better if the web were semantic enough to really "track" where you are on this chain - by more than links, pingbacks, and trakbacks. If that kind of connection could be woven online, it could truely be the tangeable showing of what the web has socially done.

That is quite cool.

Here is the back tracking list that got to me:
Matt/Palmsolo then,
Chris Leckness then,
M. @ Geekzone then,
Jeff Pulver then finally,
Russ @ The Law of Mobility

Uhmm, looking back over these links, the chain could be a whole lot bigger than this. The fun part of working a post like this on your mobile (Treo means that you in one part work faster as the mobile web is not as surfer friendly as it is searcher friendly, but in another part shows the connection between us and the web literally being the info and not the place we get the info.

Now if there could be a revolution in the semantic web in 2007 on every platform, that would be the best tag of all because instead of the tech, we would all be "it."
~ sent from Treo via Mo:BlogRead More

Tagging Me
I just got a notice that Palmsolo has tagged me. Much like an email forward this is an 'answer the questions and pass it on.' But, this is nicer as you visit a website and learn about a person more than in just questions if you choose. Five questions, and I have no idea what they are as I am on the Metro typying this and forgot most of the format :-D

1. Where Am I From? Ok, I am a Philly cat. Born and raised in Philly as the Fresh Prince would say. Lived in Southwest Philly with my dad (deceased, Aug 2000), mom and sister till I was in college. I moved back there for a stint in 2004, but look for better places further south ;-)

2. What Do I Do? I am a website designer by day, run a magazine and website called Mobile Ministry Magazine, and write for Brighthand. When not on my Treo smartphone answering email and texting, I am in my car, fellowshipping with people from Charlotte to Philly. I attend Bay Area Comm. Church and do the Children's Ministry there and work the a/v side of things with the Crossroads Young Adult Ministry.

3. What Is Strange About Me? I bought my car in May 2005. It had 10 miles on it. This week I turned 56,000 (yes, fifty six thousand) miles. I like driving and the Civic is a great car.

4. What Are Some of My Most Moving Memories? All of them have to do with a family member dying. My nanna and uncles when I was in high school showed me how finite life is. My father's passing taught me about seasons and growth. This year my grandfather passed and it was one part a signaling of where I know that I want to be (having left a legacy) and in another end a reminder that I am no where near the end of my own trek through life.

5. What Do I Hope to Get Out of These Questions? Everyone who knows me, knows that when something like this comes thru email I am never one to answer it. For good reason, they are fun, but take up way too much time for something that might not change anything. I decided to do this one though. Considering that some of you came here from Matt's website and read that last posting. I thought it good to at least get an explaination up. And plus, this is kinda fun. Who knows where an honest heart towards just wanting to see God glorified in my family will go. I have dreams for a lot, but considering these questions, this is all that I really know.

Who are the five people that I want to share with you all:
LaRosa; Sammy; Jason; Jenn; and Kyera. I know them all from various places in my life, and they can vouch here and there for a few of those things you read here. Peace and blessings to you all in this new year.
~ sent from Treo via Mo:BlogRead More

Man, Lord knows that I feel horrible right now. There isn't but so much context that I want to share on here, so feel free to call or email me if you want to know more. But I have had to live over the last minutes hearing my life in a song, and how horrible I have been. Not great.

Reflecting on this year really starts with how God's word to me about the year's compilation was to be called Vineland (based on John 15). There was one part excitement on my end knowing that I am plugged into Him, but then I knew that there would be parts of my life that would be cut away. I had no clue at that time it would be job, relationship, and fully faith.

I left my job in June with anger and health as my only walking out papers. No money saved, no plan as to what was next. Only the knowledge that God gave me an exit instead of a criminal charge. I am sorry that things ended up with IDI as they did. But, I am glad that it was a catalyst for more pruning that was needed.

The stress of not working, combined with a live-in-girlfriend, made the summer harder more than a vacation. Sure, I had fellowship and intimacy, but I didn't have peace. Me, I had no defined boundaries, but was a plant who didn't grow as he knew he should. Then Vineland came back when she said that she was ready to call it quits after 2.5 years together.

Man, that month after was hard. My family living close pushed me out when I made a stand on standing against the brunt death of the freemasons on my family. I offended a man that did well but had issues of his own. I wish his family well and miss my little cousin Jennifer a great deal. But in the course of my family, I have had to either fall to the same curses that others have, or choose to walk in that attached vine and sap.

I never thought that mental anguish could be so great. Then came a break thru when my friend Aisha spoke some healing words over me. For once, I was ready to be accountable to the gifts and callings that God has redeemed my life for.

Revelation of a few things and then a job came out of nowhere. Two of them. I chose the quick one and not the one that meant me back in the community. This job is good, however I know more what I can and cannot do. I know the rhythms of my heart, I have to change the world in the way I was designed to.

This fall I vowed not to date till January 1 and have nearly made it cleanly. If not for a co-worker with her own Spirit on straight I would have flunked on this note. Got to the point where I could draw and design again. Then Grandpa passes. For some, we understand times and seasons. For me, it was a literal call to step up. Another thing pruned, another reason to have more sap indwelling.

Memorial made then a book made me realize the reason for being saved. Found the dream again when I got around The Alchemist and some time away chipping at my heart. All the while since getting this job had I read where I needed to reestablish Boundaries for more than just physical comfort.

Holidays threatened to be sad and yet I was freed. No endless driving, no unmet things. Had more bills this last half of the year than I ever saw coming. And yet I am confident of one thing: He that began that good work in me will complete it to the very end.

MMM could have been my new job, and for a while I was encouraged to do so. Then I fell to faithlessness and the helping of others on their dreams. At the end of this year I listen to an album that I have wanted for the bulk of this year and heard a song about those things in the darkness will eventually come to light...

...my affection for my friends and family have both been good and bad
...my drive for seeing the least of those met in any means possible with as little work as possible
...seeing the fruits born in people who have come to me in times past
...seeing in me the successes and failures of living in Christ and hiding my death

This year has been hard. Very hard.
Next year will continue Vineland and that process of me getting further into God, or finally casting Him away because I am too selfish and lazy.

Honestly speaking, the reflection on this year is that the man in the mirror needs a lot more work.Read More

Unwitting
Nerving
Now wavering
But shaken
Stirred in mind
Heart still abating the tides of doubt
For the truth has come out
You have not yet what you need

I grind and mince
Hours traveled for pence
Before and since
But never forsaken
I find the reason to press on a challenge
For the truth in my pursuits to be
I must behold what is next to get there

Unwilling to give up
The signs are sure rough
Nevertheless still tough
I rant and gruff
Tis possible I have had enough
But until I meet that dedicated dream
God be my beam
Light the ways apparent and seems
And if it be that I would team
Let the once stirred be shaken nevermore but clean

Labels: poem

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I am back home, have been for a few days now. I feel one (large) part tired and another part really encouraged. There was much between the driving that happened for me this weekend and I enjoyed nearly each moment.

Things started out with me making the snap decision to go to Charlotte. Where as I planned to both see friends and family, I underestimated how tired I would be and spent most of the time with friends. No worries though, I got family time.

The time there was great. In one respect I can say that spending time there was the touching of a dream. Kind of what Santiago experienced in The Alchemist. I shall most definitely want to get back down there with both friends and family to chill and play.

After two days there I drove late night to VA Beach. While my time there was short (way too short), I very much enjoyed playing with Erin and Bella. They are a trip in that they are both really personable, but Bella is most definitely more aggressive.

The Eagles won against the Cowboys, then I ate, then right after took the 4hr drive home. 56000 miles on my car now. Yikes.

I didn't have my Treo in hand as much this weekend. I like the 650, but I think that the shape/design of the 680 combined with how much better some of the software worked has spoiled me. I can see that the 680 will be a great model, but at the same time that data cost is a trip. I am pretty sure that at some point soon that I will get a 680, but until then I am having a joy not thinking about battery life.

Lesson of the weekend: touching your dreams is only one part of the life puzzle.Read More

Side Trips
I am in Charlotte now. Came here last night on a dream and a whim. Funny thing about these side trips, you never really know what could happen or not happen. I know what I'd like to happen, but that would be dissing the lessons of the last few months and pushing where I should just let God drive.

Mental note: driving 70+mph when one is so tired that the lane dividers look like blurrs is a sign that one was up too long.

Conversations that take the place of sleep are good. Especially if the come with a mix of fatherly and friendly wisdom.

Sometimes the best expressions of love are a head on the shoulder or a smile that meets in eyes only.

This holiday, I am learnimg to appreciate the people and time given, neither of which are enough, but the memories do fill in things well.

I should probably expand my Christmas music collextion, then again, if I can't listen to it in July then its only holiday music and not Christmas flows.
~ sent from Treo via Mo:BlogRead More

Added new links in my favorites list. Sorry it took so long all :)
You also might find that the Bland view is back. That's cause I messed up when testing and let the GrandpaHuey Style as default. Things should be better now, if not, just click on Use Default/Bland style at the top of the screen and things will look cleaner.Read More

Morning Devotion
Ain't it funny how God's Word just works:

(Isaiah 41:10) fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Hence I can go to work and have a good day. I have to, there is nothing for me to fear but the Lord.
~ sent from Treo via Mo:BlogRead More

How Could This Happen
I went to work today. I knew my heart needed to be with God more than ever. And there I was at my desk fuming. Projects and personalities, status and updates. There I was in the mist of the same feelings I had before. Yet this time I recognized the feelings before they would blow. It was on my face, in my body language I know. And yet it was on me to respond.

Thank God for a friend and a movie right?

I get in the theatre and know that I will be moved. I know that the pursuit of my own happyness has not at all been that well done. Oh, I am a man and I am competitive, and yet measured to the big screen, my happiness was 'I' and not 'y.'

Hopefully the conversation before the ride home would be pleasant.

The words were piercing to my heart. There a lily talked about the bee and flower. While they had an awesome flower, the bee was just at times too stinging. My actions and body language tool on a different meaning. No longer could I look at processes and others, I was faced with my own future: faith filled children scares of their father.

The stones were dropped and I felt the weight of condemation even more. How could I go and sin no more and I stood between happyness and happiness. Rarely have I admired the mirror of correction and embarassment at the same time. All the time peace I warrant, His hand also readilly showing sides in so much more need of care.

Imagine me, a man of pure peace based on God alone. Imagine me if you will, a man not defined by anger's stern and frightful passion, but moved to love his wife and children to pursue God at all costs.

How could this happen on this day?
~ sent from Treo via Mo:BlogRead More

Check out this article.
I know, it will be technical for some of you, but here is the thing: if I were to do this, then at least one of the skins on this site would really be very well done so that it degrades nicely.

So Ima put it to you (reader). Should I go for it and do some major under the hood work here? Or keep things as are (continually changing and fixing items)?Read More

One of the many news bits that seems to be getting all kinds of play in the mobile sphere is that of how much of a player music and social networking will play with getting more people to using smartphones and integrated web services. well, I disagree. Some things were not mean to be so readily upended, but rather play the role of a careful supporting actor. Smartphones are that, social networks (should) be that. And like any good comic book, very few side kicks have a great career running their own show without the more than occasional cameo of the real star.

What We Do Know?
What prompted this writing has been the impressive declaration by Time Magazine of people such as you and I as the perons(s) of the year. Now don't get me wrong. I understand their mentality in saying how the use of data, smartphones, and social networking services by people aside from the push of a local government (politics) or private industry (Microsoft, Google even) has made for a nice change of pace for the better as to what we can do as an interconnected humanity. It's just that I don't think that it is the infotainment that makes it that big, I think its the realization that we are connected and when large groups of humans believe in something, change is bound to effect more than just one group of folks.

When Does It Really Happen?
Seriously. When does "really" happen. When do we get get to that point when reality is both real and virtual (I still despise Second Life despite its weird effect on those folks who don't want life outside of the light box)? Really, we are there. A mobile device is part of that. Mobile-enabled services are another part of that. But it won't be the best type of here until someone can make a lot of money out of my information and find me when I don't want to be found. Oh, you don't get what I am saying? Money has always been the driver behind technology shifts. Sure, enablement is why we SHOULD make a web accessible and usable. But the truth is that we are driven to design and entertain because it means that someone's pockets will be lined. Else why would there be a need for web designers - web design is always temporary right.

Who Wants It Where?
Probably the best thing about the realization that the web has made a profitable and impressionable dent is the focus paid toward making these websites usable and accessible. We strive for better interface design and at the same time give that "feeling of paper's finite lines" so that no one is overwhelmed. But do people really want to pay to talk to someone (Cingular thinks so)? We can agree that people do want content on the go, but not everything has to be so complicated as a flat-rate plan.

ahhhh!!!!
It really canny be this deep.

Nodding My Head Now
No really, I am. As I write this I am listening to music from my mobile phone that I burned from a CD that I purchased, cataloged on the desktop and tagged with a few extra notes, and then set to sync the playlist to the phone when I enabled the right application on my phone to receive the music. That sentence is exactly why music will never be a big player on phones until developers, carriers, and manufacturers can get behind the social issue of wanting to carry music with you. Heck, just give me a battery that will last a long time and you will have no problem at all in selling me on this or that music phone. But with less space than what sits with my keys, music on my ears continues to be less of a nod in agreement and more of a fling of my head in disgust.

All that I Want Answered
If I could have an interface on my keyboard toting phone that would not just take advantage of the touchscreen as well as the keys it would be great.
If I could have all the music that I want to listen to able to be both stored on my device as well as easily accessible through some online storage/streaming mechanism, that would work.
Give me a social network that does more than just connect me when I am in front of a desktop and have an hour to kill in clicking through prompts. Let the invite come to my phone and instantly let me know what else from that new person that I can connect to.
Mobile payments would be great, mobile money management that works with my banks would be even better.
Purpose by design = functional by function; not covetousness by function. Why does the latter always seem to win out even in the house of God?


What's Ya Point Antoine?
I am just writing as a call to attention to do something more than just develop/design, sell/buy. We have a responsibility to create lasting impressions and to enable those who cannot get past the window of the web. Regional differences in who uses what and how should give us a nice light as to how to tackle the YOU of Time's Magazine to being something more than a YouTube experience. We have to realize the scope of what we are doing by being web and mobile, and more so must realize all of those who have been left behind because we have made these unreasonable expectations on what communication should be and mean. Why stop at the person of the year being you or I; if I were to look at Time's article through the lens of all that I have said here, the real person(s) of the year are those faces on the bills and those who have given up their person-hood for the technology's hood.Read More

Was sent this article from a friend at work, very deep.

...Heller: But are all stereotypes negative?
Ewen: Actually, not all stereotypes are negative. We know this from the media, where both heroes and villains are most often stereotyped to make them easily identifiable. In politics, they are often employed to communicate honesty, nobility or heroism, even where none may exist. When George Bush’s handlers chose Mount Rushmore as the site where the president would announce the “War on Terror� in the summer of 2002, they placed photographers in a position where pictures Bush would necessarily include Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt in the background. Through visual means, Bush’s image team was relying on well-worn stereotypes of leadership to encircle the president and his message with an aura of greatness. In a complex and dangerous world, the allure of the simple is addictive. But the habits of typecasting offer us little wisdom...

Read the entire interview.Read More

At the Border of Next
Seeriously, I have no clue where these titles come from, but I really like this one.

I am at Borders and just taking an afternoon to just sit and think on a few things. Today, I was asked by one of the pastors at my chuch if it is something that he would be able to do for me. He named a few things, and yet at the same time, the only thing that I could really get out of my heart is that I wanted just to have clarity of vision in where I am to be with ministry and life. Believe me when I say, I wanted to say things like a wife, better job, and stuff like that, but this time I really thought that it would be fleeting to have those and not be fulfilled in my heart with that thing that God wants me to do in my life. I think that was a step up, and at the same time it sure was an eye opening moment for me in admitting that I know that I am on the edge of something next, but not sure what.

I finally submitted my review to Brighthand and so I am happy with that. Though now I am back to my Palm Treo 650. I liked that new model, despite the issues with its battery being quite bad. And at the same time,coming back to my 650 is almost a feeling of coming back to an old friend. I look at this smartphone and it has nicks and bruises, but it really has been quite faithful to what all I have needed. It truely is a mini-computer. I can see that there is a section of users that will like a device like the Treo for their phone and sometimes computer, but I thiink that many people will only get a phone like that and only use a few things here and there.

What is next? I have so many ideas and just a few dreams of where and what I want to do, but I know that none of that matters unless God is with me. When my laptop went out and I was left with the Treo as my main computer, God was with me and encouraged me despite the screen size and physical limitations. If he can do it with tech, my life cannot be that much harder. Who knows, maybe I shall even find this holiday to be the best yet becausse I am finally reralizing Christ more than I am the season. Tis the season :)
~ sent from Treo via Mo:BlogRead More

Disposable or Dependable
One of the things that has kept my interest in the Internet all these many years is how technology has enabled me to baasically change the look and feel of my website and really make something that is "me." And all the while, I do these changes in design and function with the purpose of learning something new, showing something new, or just because I keep my homepage as my homepage and need something different.

So you can imagine what all goes through my mind when I read an article that talks about web design as something disposable these days. Not that I can disagree. The time that people give for making a web site actually look and be well done has become shorter and shorter, with the list of features getting longer and longer. And yet I, like so many other web designer, keep pressing these websites out. Occasionally for an award or two, but usually for no more than just a means to get it done before the next project.

What if we were to change our design philosophy then from something disposable (as the Read/WriteWeb article speaks about) to something that is like a brand: dependable and malleable to the times without being old and still fresh. Is it possible for a generation of website designers and developers who grew up on changing a website every 12 to 18 months because it was "old" change to designing a website that is not only usable, but successful for longer than 18 months?

Not only do I think it is possible, but I think that in some areas of the web it is more needed than change is. Websites such as Google and Yahoo, and to some extent the Amazons of the world, have stuck to a consistent design philosophy, making changes and additons that increase functionality or remove outdated web practices. For them, it is not only the website company name and logo that are the brand, but the look and feel of the website itself that is brand. That is a very hard thing to get across to the shortened attention span of modern audiences, but is very valuable to understand as the web has moved past being a first world entity, to a world-reaching one.

So yes, I am arguing that a disposable website design is not only bad in the sense that it is stress to the designer and developer, but it is also a hindrance to making the web an open door to all aspects of those who would benefit from the information on the respective website. I don't mean that designs have to stay stale. CSS and Flash are great for keeping parts of a site fresh without having to redo the entire thing. But that is something that has to come in the vision and planning of the website. You cannot plan for everything, but you can plan for growth.

Now the reflective question: does this website speak of a consitent design brand, and if not can it be improved? At this time the brand of this website is the textual content and the flow of elements as they relate to the logo. There is some coesion to elements, especially on a mobile device. But what is lacking is the ability to expand without breaking anything. Even in making the TeaTime theme, there was some adjusting to the HTML code to allow for the menus to behave as they do in Firefox (I am aware of the IE and Safari handling of that and will fix that as time allows).

Easy steps to a dependable design:
- keep it simple
- know your audience now and what they will be
- use interactive technologies ass special features rather than main features
- design with accessiblity and mobility in mind despite the numbers for your website
- consider the pace/tempo of the website and design elements and interactive elements according to the pace (if parents are the main viewers, don't give them a 10 minute intro; if people are printing your website content, don't design a print friendly button, use CSS and allow them to preview the look and feel of things).

In other words, think legacy. Leaving an impression is more than a moment, even though a moment is all that you get.
~ sent from Treo via Mo:BlogRead More

Was just reading an article at a website called Bibles In Action talking about what translation of the Bible it is that they donate to the people that they give Bibles to. Something about that article really struck me as something that too often that we do, and literally speaking, we are trained to do it...

...speak in Christianese.

Here is a a quote from that article:
..the reality for millions of people even today, those who speak minority languages that for one reason or another, the rest of the world are not interested in. If such people are ever going to be able to have a theological discussion that honours Scriptural truth, they must be able to access the scriptures in the language in which they think. The language of the heart is the perfect vehicle for bringing God's truth to a searching soul, slipping past all the barriers that arise from misunderstandings of foreign translations. Historically, churches that have had the scriptures in their heart language have thrived, those that didn't, died out or became unfaithful to the truth...

Read the entire article here.

Now get this. I am not saying that in our culture of over 300+ versions of an English speaking Bible that we need to stop striving for Biblical clarity and inerrancy. I do think though that when we talk to people, we need to just talk to them. Being "in the Spirit" means that we speak the right thing at the right time to the right people. If that is slang, then its because our audience is slang, if it is Scrabble, then we go Scrabble on them.

One of the biggest things that I know is missing from almost every lesson on the spiritual gift of tongues is cultural relevancy. Speaking the language that can be heard by those who need to be "taught, reproofed, corrected or trained" can be done, we just need to be able to speak in a manner than can be heard.Read More

I was in the bathroom at work, and while it is that this is something that I have come to appreciate, I just realized a parallel between the water closet at work and how God as laid out life.

There is an automatic flushing mechanism to the toilets. Plainly put, I can get my bodily excretions out and they are automatically flushed away. A forgiveness analogy if I ever heard of one.

There is an automatic faucet that would allow one to wash their hands of being near their private parts. You even get a mirror in front of you so that you can see how clean your hands are. Another similarity to being washed of the Word and water being an agent of life and cleaning.

But in between there is that manual soap dispenser. While it is that the facilities provided a means to get rid of wastes and clean our hands of it so that we can go back amongst people. The actual aspect of cleaning is a manual, almost optional, part of the cleaning process.

Sure, we can go to God and ask to be forgiven; and with the water of the Word become presentable in front of folks. But removing the grit in a sanitary manner requires that we take on the soap and get to changing our minds and hearts. Only then can the cleaning of the soul be truly sanitary.Read More

Looking back over the time that I have had this blog, I have done quite a number of design changes (and even more breaks). I have talked about my relationships and friendships, family and things not so family. I have moved to God-knows how many different devices and software packages. And have had a few deaths and births that have settled me into the fact that I am here more than just as a spit in the pan, but no more a drop apart from humanity than anyone else. Things have been well...

I sit at a corssroads of sorts. I have decsions to make and while I know they need to be made, and I know what needs to be made; I find it hard to just take that step. My friend says that I should look at today not like I have looked at the many similar days before, but (in a sense) be ready for God to do something different. What different is can be so many things. But I have a feeling that even if I miss it, God is going to do something today that will radically change things from how I have been looking at them.

When I woke up a few days ago before work I wrote a poem. I don't remember the last time that happened. When I was in a staff meeting I doodled a good bit. It has also been a long time since that has happened. Playing with a bunch of preschool kids this Sunday was tiring, but freeing. What do all of these mean? I don't know. I wish that the answer was as simple as explaining what RSS is. But it is not. I am walking out in life that no other Antoine has done before. And not that I am complaining or anything, but things are not that clear, and yet the clarity that I have to just trust God for the day I am in has seemed to be enough.

Don't let life go by and a regret left unspoken to your heart. Find a way to please God in all things, and let the desires of your heart match His desires for you.

Yea, this moment is already more different than how I wanted it to even be when this letter started. God, have your way with me...Read More

RSS is one of the newer elements of website communication that is starting to come into the forefront of how we interact with news and information on the Internet. For those of you wondering what RSS is, this is a simple definition care of Wikipedia:

RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated pages, such as blogs or news feeds. (Wikipedia: RSS)

One of the things that I have found RSS really useful for doing is viewing content from websites on my Treo while a wireless connection is not available. Using a program called an aggregator (Wikipedia: Aggregator), I am able to synchronize the RSS feed into a reader that allows me to view content when I am underground and have no signal. And as is usually my case, I don't read all of them in my commute and so I end up with some unread at home and so I get that moment of being able to sit under a blanket and use my smarpthone and its RSS as a newspaper.

RSS is not at all reading a whole webpage. I get articles that I want from the sites that I choose and not even the images unless I so desire. For me, it is a nice as fast way to keep up with what is going on.

Another use of RSS that I use is performed at work. Because I do not have the time to view the 60 or so websites of information that I have come to rely on for various news and notes, I use the integrated RSS reader within my web browser (Firefox, though Opera and Internet Explorer 7 also offer this) to check in on what has been posted - and if it is a good article, I click to read it. Nice and simple, and I get enough just to keep up with things since I am so much on the computer all day.

It is all really simple to setup and use now that I am used to it. But then I wonder, if it is so simple, why then are people not named techies having a time with catching up with this really simple syndication?

When I mention RSS and what it means, one of the first things that I get is "why not just go to the webpage?" Legit question, and one that I have no problem answering. On a smartphone, the screen is small and many websites don't look well on it. Using RSS and an RSS reader gives me the content that I want in a much smaller size and very readable. And considering that a reader can come via the web browser (such as Google Reader), email (such as Bloglines), or a feed reader (such as QuickNews), there is literally multiple means of connecting this information quickly.

Concerning the desktop, there is just not enough time in the day to view all the sites of great info out there and get work done. But why view so many pages right? Well, I like to read and the net is nothing but reading material.

That still doesn't explain though why I think RSS has not yet been done in a manner to be a success. As a technology, RSS does exactly what most need. Content is king. RSS jut gives content and no fluff. That part is nailed. The part that isn't nailed though is the marketing of it and the appropriate use of it.

I speak a lot about usability, accessibility, and mobility and all three of those are components of a successful usage of RSS. Mobility is taken care of as XML can go anywhere, onto any device, and at your speed. Usability is a big issue as it is still too hard to find and setup RSS feeds in a consistent manner. Also, browsers are just getting to the point of making RSS a feasible option instead of bookmarks. Mobile browsers (with the exception of Opera Mini) do not support RSS downloading, viewing, or collection. That is a big loss there. Accessibility therefore suffers because it is so far not an issue of it being there, but RSS being there is an easily grabbed manner.

Sure, its an insanely simple technology. But RSS suffers from being a technology that solves a problem that few people have. If it is going to be a really simple solution, RSS needs to come down to the level of solving an issue of content collection and management. Right now though, unless you are mobile such as myself, RSS amounts to nothing more than really simply stupid.Read More

The following is part of an excellent post that I found while diggin thru HCR to some past posts. The entire piece can be read on the HCR Forum.

How seriously do we take God’s glory? In terms of every day ordinary application, how can and should our gifts be used as a stepping-stone to the gospel? As I was reading through Acts 14, I felt the urge to touch on this topic. Take a look at Acts 14. The general context of this chapter deals with a evangelistic mission at a place called Iconium. Paul and Barnabas were preaching the gospel to both the Jews and to the Gentiles. In the days of Acts, the Bible records that there were signs and wonders done at the hands of the Apostles and their close companions as they traveled around and spread the gospel. The signs and the wonders were given by God, through the Apostles (and certain men close to them), to bear witness that the gospel message that they preached was not of man, but was indeed of God. These signs were bewildering, and always proved of some useful good (i.e. the healing of a crippled man). Acts 14:3 states...

Read the rest.Read More

A Mobile Opportunity
I am in my apartment right now with the only sounds being the buzzing of the heating unit keep things temperate. I had been just sitting on the sofa reading some RSS feeds via QuickNews when I realized again that there really is an opportunity for mobiles to fill a space in people's lives, but it will probably not be the same for everyone.

Sure, I have not been too long from reading a recent post at Mobile Opportunity that says nearly the same thing (really, I have had that in mind for a while, but just neveer wrote it). But the fact remains that mobile technology will not become mainstream until it can become personally relevant.

Technology is only relevant when it is personal
- Jay Noggle, MMM

I have found that since going to a Treo that I have had these ebbs and flows about telling people about what mobile tech is and what it can do for them. Some people have a need like mine where they need to be connected to work and home, but have some efficient means of managing things. For them, a smarpthone and a web-based way of doing things works just fine. For some others, the need to have space in their house has meant the need to move from a desktop to a laptop and Wi-Fi. For others mobile tech hass just meant that they use email more for traceable communications, and then the phone for phone calls. But in each case, the mobile tech that was used was an issue of personal engagement and not necessarly one where the market dictated where people would go.

So what is this opportunity that I speak of in the title? A system and devices that supports many ways of entry and exit but remains user accessible and user attainable will be that thing which makes mobile tech take off for the normal user. Sure, I can show you a Treo or iPod, but without a service that makes life easier to deal with, those are just toys.

In the same light, I can show you GMail and Google Docs & Spreadsheet; but if you have to always have a large screen and fast processor wtih you, the effecrtiveness of an office anywhere is greatly dimished.

What would be needed is a killer solution that is both platform and application. The closest thing right now is Windows Live. And that is an opportunity for MS to succeed where others are not yet at, or will soon be but not have the name recognition to capture.

To be continued...
~ sent from Treo via Mo:BlogRead More

Just Here, For Now
I am thinking again. Thinking that in one part I should be settled down now, havinga church and a good job. Having people to chill with nearly anywhere, bills that are pretty consistent, and moments of alone time whenever I choose. I should be just here and content.

I am not though. And I don't know if it is just me wanted to walk away from here, or truely that my mind and heart are realigning themselves with the past dreams and goals that I have had.

Weird, in doing the tea theme yesterday, there was a part of doing that in which it was just fun. It was not difficult, but I found the setting up and tweaking of elements to get it to work right just plesant. There was no deadline, no low batteries, no travel awaiting. Just a moment where my heart and mind went away and just turned on a canvas.

The same thing happened at work when I drew a car. It was like there waas some reclaiming of my self in drawing and moving with the canvas. Not that I quite understand it, nor probably any of you who might be reading this. But I am most definitely disturbed, and just here, for now, wondering what this disturbance means and where it will lead to.
~ sent from Treo via Mo:BlogRead More

There are a few CSS (cascading style sheet) skins that are user selectable for this site. The list below are those skins that are available for viewing currently (unless otherwise noted).

- Bland (the site default skin)
- Emerald
- Grandpa Huey (a memorial)
- Tea Time

As a note, these skins do not display the same in all web browsers, and your web browser must have JavaScript enabled to view the styles via this stylesheet switcher. Mobile browsers in particular have some trouble with these styles and therefore they are accommodated with the Default/Bland style.Read More

Ok, I admit it. I really am one of those folks who is so drawn to mobile devices and the mobile web that I tend to be overly excited about its use across demographics and international lines. I don't say that to mean that there is not a chance for mobile device and mobile web use to take off, I just think that right now, much of what I see and want to see is a louder and much smaller section of computer life than what is really out there.

Weird right, usually one does not start the beginning of an article with the concluding paragraph, but there was a bit of a reason for it. Took look at why I (and others) perceive mobile use differently than it is, one must have to take a good stab at understanding the persons involved.

An article linked at SmartMobs talks about the characteristics of people who participate in online communities. I found it interesting the listing of some of those traits, and even see many of them in myself (not sure that I want to be a future world leader, but where that goes it goes in God's hands and not mine). The thing to note about those traits is how "loud" they are. As a general nature. Many of us who push the net, and more specifically the small pie of the mobile net, are loud as all get out when it comes to what is new great and (nearly) useful.

That is not to say that we don't have valid points. We do. Many times though we are a few steps ahead of where the rest of the world wants to be and usually because we are the ones in front designed to take the lumps and successes to make it easy and simple enough for everyone else.

A person I was talking to this morning remarked on how the actual numbers of those listening to podcasts is a really small number. I personally didn't need to be told that, but I totally understood why. Simply put, there are too many of them out there that are not of a great quality, nor is there a mechanism that is as simple as browsing the web to get a podcast in a position where it is easy to listen to for the majority of people. Between feed readers, podcasting sites, downloading to mobile device, iTunes, and a ton of other techniques, there are just too many ways to come in the door and not enough of those ways are clearly easy and compelling enough (including the content) for it to be viable.

So how then do we perceive mobile web use if we are overestimating it? Does that mean that attempts to design websites that work as well on mobile devices as they do on desktops should be abandoned? Does that mean that we should look at (gift) $150 T-Mobile Dash smartphone away for the freebie phone? No, on both accounts. We need to continually push the envelope of use and function for the mobile web. Because when it gets down to it, pushing for the mobile web has less to do with pushing for content to be mobile, but pushing for the window to life outside of ourselves to be lowered to anyone who is willing to step up to the window sill and take a gander.Read More

Moments are Omens Too
I have recently just finished reading the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and while I will always be one to admit that I am not the most avid book reader, I will admit when it is that I have read something that strikes at the veery core of who I am and whom I want to be.

One of the pieces of the story talked about paying attention to every moment and noticing those things that are signs that point you in the direction to where you should go. For me, I have always paid attention to the things around me, but I have become dead to my dreams and visions and the signs that point towards them. Since the events of this summer, it had been very hard to see the sign in the moment, let alone just enjoy the moment.

And so it was weird to receive this book from a friend whom I more or less know more in passing than I do otherwise. Weird because while the conversation that led to this book made absolute sense to me, receiving this book was a sign to me that something in me was noticed and would have to respond and change to the world around me.

And so I read it. In one day I read it. I keep telling people that I read a book in a day and they think I am playing. But I did read all 165 pages, and even the extra pages that were not even story but value add-on pieces. As I read the story of this shepard who went after his dreams to find the greatest treasure, my heart sank as I have been here at this oasis of life and times in DC, but have somehow lost the vision and dreams that got me here.

It was no strange occurance that I was given this book. No stranger still that before and after reading The Alchemist that I was drawn more and more to finding out what happened to the things that made me tick so long and so short a time ago.

I could be spending this typing energy on finishing a review, posting on MMM, or even just continuing to read the night's news via RSS. But I am not, a phone call from that same friend who gave me this book brings to my mind that nothing is by chance, and God orders all things to His glory, but even more for our good.

Bills are overdue, my spirit is hungry, and yet my faith is being renewed in something a lot bigger than myself. Maybe this is the sign that I needed to continue on the journey to my Great Pymarid.
~ sent from Treo via Mo:BlogRead More

Ok, I am genuinely excited about this edition of the Carnival of the Mobilists because MMM and a recent article that I have written has been featured in it. So pardon me if I am not utterly excited to be in the group of some very famous and influential writers/bloggers/analysts in the mobile technology field.

This week's carnival is being hosted at MoPocket. MoPocket is a pretty cool website not only touching on aspects of having pocketable tech, but also how its use is changing the world around us. Isn't it really neat that change can not only jingle in a pocket, but happen in it as well?

More information about the Carnival of the Mobilists.Read More

I have no idea where the titles for these posts come from. Only that normally they fit in some way, shape, or form with what is going on in my head at the time.

This time the fun is about my co-worker/friend Aileen and her new Flash movie that she created for a school project. Tis quite neat if you ask me. Check it out.


Read More

This is a post that I did for Brighthand that has gone live in the last day or so. Do lend me your thoughts.

Imagine if you will, six billion people own a mobile phone, laptop, or Tablet PC that is connected to the Internet via some type of wireless network -- whether through a Wi-Fi, cellular-wireless, WiMAX, or some other networking method yet to come. Image that at the moment that all of those connections are made that we would just have the question of "what next?" Where does all of this accessibility, usability, and mobility lead to? What happens when this "nirvana" of mobile computing happens?...

Read the rest at Brighthand.Read More

The Reality of My Usage
I have been somewhat disconnected and at the same connected for smetime now. I don't watch TV lest I am visiting someone. I almost never listen to the radio, as I don't like commercials. And so here I am using a mobile phone as my main entry into the world around me and finding myself more connected with things that I deem relevant, and not necessarly everything. my use of computers when not at work developing is decidely mobile, and while everyone cannot do this, it could become a reality for folks if some usability issues change.

What do I mean? Well, when I am not thumbing it, I will talk more about what I mean. But let's just say that I figured out what needs to change on the social and mobile side of things to address education and use. And that could mean that I am in the first of a usage of people that will really change things ;-)
~ sent from Treo via Mo:BlogRead More