Living All In

About two weeks ago I left for a trip where I was going to be gone at least a week.  It was one of those wake up at 4am to make the 6:30am departure deals.  Pitch dark.  Groggy.  Haven’t finished packing.  I invariably forget something with a pre-dawn departure, but have traveled so much that I haven’t stressed in a long time when I realize I forgot something.

<–Lost!  Even my BlackBerry (8700).  While my wife was waiting for me to ‘lose it’ the last mile to the airport, I was calmly planning my next move; where was a Cingular store at our destination.

I have to say, except for one incident where I actually emailed the CEO of Cingular in regards to a problem, I’ve always received great service from Cingular.  In fact, the regional VP of sales replied to my CEO letter and resolved my problem quickly, so I guess they’ve been pretty close to perfect.  Replacing my forgotten Swiss Army phone was no exception.  I got my hands on the new BlackJack from Samsung.

The BlackJack (I know, ironic name for me huh?) is thinner than a Motorola RAZR, has EDGE and 3G high speed data.  3G is only available in certain markets and allows high speed downloads of video and music content, as well as simultaneous voice and data transcieving.  In other words, you could use your head piece or speakerphone while surfing the net or sending email; that’s not possible on EDGE.  The BlackJack even came with two baterries!  I was pumped!  The BlackJack is also based on Windows Mobile 5 which means there is a ton of third-party software compatibility.  One downside is that my main computer is a Mac (my laptop is XP), but there are workaround solutions similar to the ones I used for the BlackBerry.

So I used the BlackJack for two weeks and here is my bulleted review:  (For the geek inclined, more after the jump) Read the rest of this entry »

The LA Times runs an article today profiling Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins new fiction series, "The Jesus Chronicles".  The first volume, "John’s Story: The Last Eyewitness" hit shelves a week ago with a first printing over a quarter of a million copies and a second printing has already been ordered.  For those that don’t know, TL & JJ dumped "Left Behind" series publisher Tyndale for Putnam, an ABA publisher with a marketing plan in hand that bowled the duo over, reportedly.

Always looking for the humor in things, I enjoyed the article mentioning the pair’s bemoaning of the awful Left Behind movies and how they botched handling the movie rights.  Jenkins even called the films glorified "church basement movies."  I’ve never seen any of the movies from beginning to end, but the posters, DVD covers, and trailers all reminded me of the "Iron Eagle" series of movies starring (mostly) Louis Gossett Jr. as Col. Charles ‘Chappie’ Sinclair and seemingly using rejected Top Gun B-roll (and ‘actors’.)

"Fiction based on fact" is what they’re calling the series, while early reviewers on Amazon and elsewhere are noting it’s almost all Biblical text with bits and pieces of imagined dialogue gluing it together giving the first release a mixed reaction.  No doubt, there are going to be detractors that say, "don’t fictionalize Jesus or His disciples" and "leave the Bible out of your fiction."  Remember the stir around Anne Rice’s tome about Jesus ‘the lost years’ in "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt"?  While receiving decent BookScan numbers and Amazon rankings (currently #2,671 a year after release), the book has received a chilly reception in CBA stores to say the least.

Don’t expect the same temperature with "The Jesus Chronicles".  The series would have to be badly written or blatantly heretical for the retail heat of the tribulation’s coattails to cool off.

I am.

Happy Thanksgiving!

How would you feel walking into church only to find a 2007 SUV on display in the foyer as product placement along with flyers advertising consumer goods on your chair or pew?

Secular advertising within churches (especially megachurches) is already happening.  Read the following article from the Wharton School of Business at Penn, Product Placement in the Pews?  The article quotes notables like Greg Stielstra, vice president of marketing at Thomas Nelson Publishers and formally head of marketing at Zondervan during the Purpose Driven Life explosion and Skye Jethani, associate editor of Leadership, a journal for church pastors published by ChristianityToday.

But my favorite chunk of the article comes from James Twitchell, author of a not-yet-released S&S book, Shopping for God: How Christianity Went from In Your Heart to In Your Face.  Here’s the excerpt:

The first thing you hear at a megachurch these days "is how many new members they have. Churches used to be politely non-competitive," says Twitchell, professor of English and advertising at the University of Florida. But since so many megachurches are now independent or quasi-independent of centralized denominations, they aggressively compete with other churches for members. Maintaining rapid growth is tough, and when churches falter, that’s when corporations spot an entryway, Twitchell adds. "Advertisers can go to the heart of your mission — in the case of megachurches, that’s evangelism — and underwrite it."

*Shudder*

Read the rest of this entry »

Finally, a measured article on eBook readers from the Boston Globe.

I’ve been an early adopter of technology since begging my parents for an Atari video game system when I was 12.  I still possess my first PDA purchase, an Apple Newton that resembles a tricorder from Star Trek with its flip screen cover.  But I also realize that just because technology is capable of something, that doesn’t mean it makes that something better.

If I told you that I’ve invented a device that allows you to take the stick and bonfire out of roasting a marshmallow by putting the marshmallow in a sealed foil bag that cooks it while you shake it thereby allowing you to enjoy the treat anywhere, I doubt you’d buy it (literally.) 

Wow, long sentence.

Why do I doubt you’d buy my eMallow? Because of the experience, tradition, and physical senses lost in the event.  Plus, who really wants marshmallows on demand?

So that’s why I’m underwhelmed when I read most any news or opinion piece on eBooks or the latest eBook reader.  While I see great value in reference works made electronic (I used to work in publisher relations for Logos Bible Software!), seeing my wife crawl into the tub with her eBook device not only means she’ll kill the gadget like she did with her last two laptops, but I better make sure our life insurance is in order.
Read the rest of this entry »