Blog
New CityBuilder.org Site
Last year, the website CityBuilder.org was the host of tons of information relating to building cities for Christ in the People of Praise. Much of the short video pieces were related to fixing up and building houses in Allendale, a poor neighborhood in Shreveport, Louisiana. However, the weekly live video broadcasts covered a much broader section of topics applicable to City Building and People of Praise life in general.
Tonight starts the second summer of live videos, but this time they're not going to be from Louisiana. This year, there are city building projects of different types in Indianapolis and also starting in Memphis, Tennessee in the fall. So, this year's broadcasts are, at least for now, coming from South Bend, Indiana. Who knows what they'll be about, but I'm told that you'll be able to watch them anytime from their archives on blip.tv, which is great. (They also put up the archives from all last year too!) So, if you want to learn a lot more about People of Praise life, check out what we've been thinking and talking about this summer and last and, if you want, join in the conversation. Also, don't miss the nice new CityBuilder.org website, which includes a blog, photos, and much more about our life in common. Join us live tonight, too, if you like.
Safari on Windows? Why?
This morning was Apple's WWDC Keynote, where Steve Jobs speaks to the world and a the thousands of the developers actually in the room. Because it's to the developers, it's always the more geeky and technological side of stuff. Last year they spent a lot of time looking at the new features of Leopard, which of course they did again this year.
Mac OS X Leopard, available in October, is certainly a nice upgrade to the already-popular Mac OS X line. Steve Jobs touted 10 new features, including a neatly redesigned dock that might convince power users to start using it. The new look of the desktop, somehow actually looks like it stole some of the ideas from Windows Vista, in my opinion. There's also a nice preview option called Quick Look which promises to be a bit faster than actually opening up a new program. 
He did some amazing stuff with rendering a couple hundred movies at one time using the Core Animation system as well. And, finally, Mac OS X Leopard looks like an incredibly easy system to back up and move data between networked computers.
For me, though, the more interesting parts were after Steve said his famous "One more thing...." The two things here were both a bit of a disappointment during lunch hour while reading a live news feed, so I thought I'd wait a bit before writing a bit of a rant. But, after watching the full keynote myself, I'm still a bit mystified.
Steve Jobs announced the availability of a Beta version of Safari for Windows. The formerly-Mac-only browser, based on the open-source Konqueror engine, is known for being a fairly lightweight engine that adheres to web standards well. And, well, if you're looking for all that Apple shininess that you're used to from iTunes, now you can have it in your browser. But really, why? Steve Jobs said it's 1.6 times as fast as FireFox, another quality browser. I don't think that's reason to switch from a free, open-source browser to an Apple browser.
The other big thing that Steve touted was that Apple has experience writing Windows apps. As someone who's still waiting for the money to buy a MacBook Pro and leave Windows, I can't help but contest that statement. Almost every time I close my iTunes, it crashes before closing. If I have iTunes open, another user on my Windows XP machine cannot open the program to listen to music. Steve, if you're letting your iTunes developers take vacations, they're selling you short. I did download Safari and it does let multiple users run the program at the same time, which is good.
Also, I have about 5 friends who live on the block who have MacBooks. Every single one uses FireFox and I've never seen them use Safari. If nobody on Mac uses this Apple product, why would anyone else use it? Sure, it looks nice, but it still doesn't look like it has half the features or extensibility of FireFox, the leading browser for persons who use the web constantly.
The second thing Steve announced was their "solution" (read: cop-out) for making apps for the Apple iPhone. You can use the powerful XHTML and JavaScript functionalities of the iPhone's built-in, full-featured Safari engine to make apps for the iPhone. (Steve used the buzzwords "Web 2.0" and "AJAX" instead of "XHTML" and "JavaScript", but it's the same difference.) OK, so the app they came up with worked nicely and did the basic integration with the other apps, but besides that, it was fairly boring. And although they touted that you can make it look just like the iPhone's interface, how did they do it? Were those contact list pages just basic unordered lists of information? Were they using a bunch of images to make those nice rounded corners and that search icon? It seems so, because they claim there's no SDK or API. So, have fun accessing the same "Web Apps" that you use on the Palm or BlackBerry. And, wait, what happened to "Web Standards" if we have to make a desktop version, a Palm version, a BlackBerry version, and an iPhone version of a web app? Sounds like 1998 wants its <blink> tag back with all that custom development.
Why do I want a real development system for the iPhone platform? Well, on my Palm-based phone I have open-source games, a third-party mail client that I love, a program with the entire Bible, and even an open-source SSH client. If I can't do that stuff on the iPhone, it's not the killer phone for me. Yeah, it might crash every so often, but I know that's my fault, not the phone. Of course, maybe if it is running full OS X, they can sneak a Terminal app in the interface somewhere so that I can administrate my servers remotely. If they do that, I'll probably go for it.
So how was this year's WWDC keynote? It was OK. Not what I was hoping for, for sure, but I suppose the real Mac fanboys are happy. I guess I'll find out the real story when I listen to MacBreak Weekly and TWiM tomorrow.
Minneapolis Biking Adventure #1
Last week we biked to Hidden Falls and on Tuesday I biked to and from work, but I needed to kick it up a notch this weekend because I didn't bike at all on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. So, I biked for 17 miles (and got a bit of walking in over by the lakes). Here's the map:
First, I biked along the Hiawatha Light Rail line for a bit until I got to the Lake Street Area. There I biked right onto the Midtown Greenway, which stretches all the way through South Minneapolis and a good way beyond. The Greenway is a great, long path that replaced an old railroad bed that stretched all the way through South Minneapolis and further west. 
The western end of the Greenway opened in 2000 and is a nice, wide path in most places for biking and walking. Throughout all of Minneapolis, it is in a bit of a trench that goes underneath almost all the streets along 29th Street, but it is nice and green and has landscaping projects going along with it. It is connected to a further trail west, such that I biked past Highway 100 before turning back.
Plans are still in gear for the east end of the Greenway, although it is almost complete. The crown jewel of the Greenway seems to be a bridge they are currently constructing that goes across Hiawatha Avenue and the Light Rail line. (Temporarily the bikers and walkers just had to walk across the busy street at a light, but now you can't even do that with the bridge construction.) It looks like the designers were trying to rip off Norman Foster, but I just found out from this blog post that it is because of all the obstructions they had to get the bridge through on the East side where large power lines, another bike path, and light rail collide. It'll definitely be fun to ride across.
On the way back, I decided to take a more road-focused but direct way home. I rode up Hennepin Avenue until it became a bit of a freeway, at which time I found a cool bike/walk bridge and a path down to Loring Park. I just then biked through downtown on Nicollet Mall and then across the Hennepin bridge to University Ave. It was a great 17-mile trek, and I really enjoyed exploring Minneapolis by bike.
Google Gears Keeps You Connected Offline
On Tuesday, Google announced another new product, Google Gears (of course, only in early Beta version). Gears is Google's new framework for developing applications that will work offline. They're making it an entirely open-source thing, as well as giving a detailed API sometime in the near future, so expect this thing to go far.
I have not tried it yet, but the architecture sounds interesting. Apparently the Google Gears system installs a lightweight web server, an SQLite database system, and a system for synchronizing between the local and Internet servers. It sounds similar to Adobe's Apollo that I talked about a couple months ago, but possibly even more open-source and extensible.
The first Google application that supports this is one of my favorites, Google Reader. Especially if I had a laptop, I'd love to read some of my feeds while on my train ride home (although I might just do that on an iPhone instead). I hope to see this take off with Gmail and other services so that I can write an e-mail offline, hit Send, and it will just go the next time I connect to the net. That'd be a big step toward the Google operating system (not the Facebook operating system - which brand of evil OS would you like better?).
The New Microsoft Surface
Many have been talking about the future of computing being something you can easily touch. Tom Cruise did it in Minority Report. There's been demos of people playing Warcraft or manipulating maps and stuff only using very intuitive commands via their fingers. Heck, even Apple has gotten on to it by allow you to do some of these features on your iPhone with that "pinching" thing.
From the video demos on their website, it looks like Microsoft has done a good job of implementing this stuff. They call it Microsoft Surface, and they say it will be available for purchase in late 2007. The Surface is a 30-inch LCD display embedded in a table-like device. It looks like there's no Start buttons and such, just a table to interact with. The videos show people moving items around with just the flick of a finger and resizing them by pulling or pushing two corners at a time. It shows people putting their camera or cell phone on the table and all their photos laying out below the camera. Someone else can drag those photos onto their camera to copy them. The experience looks very intuitive and, well, it could be "the wave of the future."
It looks pretty cool, but allow me to be a bit skeptical for right now. Sometimes Microsoft announces products at this stage and they don't really go anywhere. I get the impression that if you're going to see them anywhere this winter, it's going to be at the W or other such trendy, expensive places. But, hey, it's about time we got some better ideas than just using a mouse and keyboard to control our computers!
You can watch Bill Gates show off the Surface on the Today Show to see more cool functionality.
The Beginning of an Era
I'm looking forward to this. Back when I was a kid, I biked all around the quaint little town of Hastings. Finally, now, I'll hopefully start to do that on a limited basis. Today I purchased a nice, new bike for use here in Minneapolis. I didn't waste any time, for I biked about 17 miles to a picnic and then to the light rail station that I'll ride to regularly. By biking a mile or two to the nearest light rail station, I might even be able to cut down on commute time because I don't have to ride along the bus lines. I'm really looking forward to getting to bike around the city a lot more. Although, I'm a bit sad that Hannah is leaving and that I will no longer be able to get rides from her. Thanks, Hannah, for all the great morning drive times. (Now I'll have to find some way to stay informed about politics and news because I won't have NPR in the morning.)
Building Vibrant Online Communities
Via WordPress' Matt Mullenweg I found this interesting post about building online communities. There were some interesting points. None of them really surprised me, but they are good points to keep in mind when endeavoring to build an online community. Also, if you're looking for more of the basics of building an online community, I recommend the earlier post he mentions as well. I'm going to keep these in mind as I'm building up inReview.net, for sure.
Amazon.com To Get In Download Music Game
Yesterday a press release issued from Amazon.com announced that they will be opening an online music download store. There are many players in this still-emerging market, but having another big player is definitely a good thing.
Not much was really stated in the press release except the music will be DRM-free MP3 files. Also, it was duly mentioned that EMI, often listed as the third or fourth-largest music company in the world, will be partnering with Amazon.com from the outset to put their music in the store. No word on pricing or dates of availability have been given at this time.
What does this mean for the music industry? Well, it will only accelerate the idea of selling DRM-free music, which any consumer is for. Plus, it could give a major competitor with Apple's iTunes if Amazon's Jeff Bezos can cut a good deal with the labels. And finally, it shows that EMI did not make an exclusive deal with Apple for non-DRM'd music, which is a good thing.
Amazon.com has the funds and the longevity to take on this challenge, but they definitely do not yet have the style points that Apple has. However, in a commodity market like this, we'll have to wait to see how they can compete on the bottom line: features and price.
Music and Video from Indiana, Tennessee, and Texas
Here's a bunch of my recent favorite videos. First up, here's my sister and her roommates in a little production about South Bend, IN.
Second, Andy Osenga posted one of the best music videos I've seen in a while. It's not as professional as the Mute Math one, but it's a keeper:
Lastly, there's the dual-video selection that Shaun Groves called "Crowder Versus Squirrels". First, there's David Crowder telling it, which is hilarious, and then there's the anime version of the story in their first-ever music video.
Enjoy them all!
Mall of America Phase II Expansion
My life has always been close to the east side of Bloomington, MN. For the last 15 years or so, the People of Praise has had their headquarters there. I went to middle and high school at Trinity Schools in the same building. And now, I work just a mile away from there. Of course, though, the big presence in the area is the Mall of America, one of the largest enclosed malls in the United States. According to their press site, "With 40 million annual visitors, MOA has more visitors than all other attractions in the state combined and nearly 10 times more visitors than Minnesota's second biggest attraction, Cabelas® in Owatonna."
For years there has been talks about the proposed Mall of America Phase II. I recently found their new promotional website and it contains a lot of interesting information.
The expansion will be add 5.6 million square feet to the north end of the existing mall and will apparently be more open and let in more natural light than the original structure. The plan includes more parking structures and a skyway connection to the nearby IKEA. The expansion will integrate seamlessly with the current mall and connect to it on all four floors (including adding connections to the near-dead fourth floor).
A number of major structures are included in the mall plans. One of the main tenants is Bass Pro Shops, a major national outdoor sporting goods retailer. Major entertainment provider AEG will be building a 6,000-seat performing arts amphitheater. 
Some information says something about an NHL-size hockey rink, and I don't know where that's going to be located. The plans also leave room for an office tower and a couple hotels attached to the complex, including a family waterpark/hotel.
The new space seems to be designed to have different districts or areas of shopping, most of which look a bit more high-priced and trendy. The fourth floor seems to be devoted to entertainment attractions such as a movie theater, dinner theater, nightclubs, etc. According to the designs, there's also a "High Fashion District" and a "Home District". 
The main event looks to be a very open "Town Square" area, which looks like it may even mimic Times Square a bit. A central corridor of the new expansion is called "Canal Street" and is rumored to be a Venice-style center completed with gondola boats and everything. The plans also show an environmentally-friendly co-generation facility that will generate some heat and electricity for the building.
The annoying part is that there's no news as to when this will be implemented, although the mall's Wikipedia article says groundbreaking is supposed to happen in Spring 2007. The Wikipedia article also cites some concern from "outside forces" such as the city of Bloomington who are concerned about the ability for the $1.78 billion project to be completed. A state bill that aims to make the building construction tax-exempt seems to claim that construction will start in 2008 and finish up in 2011.
There are a number of improvements to the mall that seem to be a bit closer to reality and completed sooner. One is the reintroduction of a bar on the vacated fourth floor in the form of Cantina Corona, a Mexican bar/restaurant that is the first-ever place to bear the Corona brand. Also planned is the very high-end Klimpton Hotel near the south end of the mall. And finally, The Park at MOA will soon begin construction of a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter type roller coaster, to be completed in 2008. These style of rides are some of the most cutting-edge and the mall says it will be the first upside down roller coaster at the Mall of America. Nice!
I always like the pictures and diagrams, so below are the floor-by-floor plans off the website:
Level 1:
Level 2:
Level 3:
Level 4:
Elevations:
Model Views (from the City of Bloomington site):
View from West:
View from East:
