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Joost: The TV of the Future?
If you tried to talk to me recently about a TV show, there's no doubt you heard the words, "What is TV?" or "TV is so last century." I've not had a TV for four and a half years, and I don't regret a minute of it. Sure there might be one or two decent shows on TV right now, but if I wanted to watch them, I'd do that on my own schedule.
The newest player in town is Joost, and thanks to a good friend, I have access to the much-sought-after system. From the founders of Skype comes this way to bring television into the world of the Internet. By all indications, this system will be going places fast.
So what does it do? You can stream TV-quality video to your computer if you have a decent broadband connection. You can choose any program at any time, so there's no schedule to be on. There are currently something like 50 channels, some of which have only a couple minutes of programming on them. Content from Viacom's Comedy Central and MTV channels take up a handful of channels, but there's nothing that I'd really want to watch. They don't have prime content like The Daily Show or The Colbert Report on there yet, most likely because they're getting a buck or two per viewer on iTunes.
The interface is nice, and it's going to bring it a long way. There are many widgets that you can overlay transparently on the top of the show you're watching, from a chat window with other watchers of the program to your RSS feeds or even your whole Google Chat interface. One that program or channel runs out of content, it will randomly pick something from your subscribed channels.
The future of advertising on this medium will be interesting. Right now the advertising is entirely a 10-second graphic where "This program is brought to you by" and then a logo of such things as T-Mobile, Eclipse gum, etc. However, it seems to me that since there's no way to skip through the program that channel owners could put ads right inside the program (maybe some do and I just haven't watched those yet). The other possibility is the ability to custom deliver ads to users. The system could display different ads to each user depending on their preferences and viewing habits. Their system could also keep perfect track of who has seen the ads and maybe track some responses, which everyone would like more than Nielsen ratings.
There's still a bunch of questions. Will it ever do live television or will I have to tune into another service to watch the Twins in the ALCS championships? And seriously, when will I get to watch the Daily Show or 24?
What Is Church?
Shaun Groves is an artist I have seen play a couple times and also talked with one of those times... briefly. I always thought the guy was great and his message was great, but (sorry, Shaun) I never really got into his soft-rock sound. Then, a year or two ago, I discovered Shaun's blog and then begins the real liking of the guy. He knows plenty about the music industry and seems knowledgeable about just about everything else.
Shaun recently posted a very intriguing post called, "The Church I Want". He outlined what he's looking for in a church within driving distance. First, he explains what he's not looking for because he already has it, from people to hang out with to a place to serve. Second, he explains his criteria for a church, which includes a commitment and a purpose for being.
Although this definitely is the ideal definition of church, it's not how I commonly use the phrase. To me, "church" is just going to a service on Sunday morning. It's a building a couple blocks away. That's not what Shaun is talking about.
I think what Shaun is really looking for is what we call "Christian community" or more specifically, the People of Praise. We're not just a community that lives in one cul-de-sac, we're in cul-de-sacs in 20+ cities across the country. Our purpose is to spread that type of richly lived Christian life where we have meals together on a regular basis and live our lives more in common. We're not just about cleaning up a poor neighborhood, but we're about moving in with them and making their burdens our burdens. 
We're also working on meaningful ways for young people to live high school and college life with much more than a social scene. Not only are we reaching out through preaching, but we're also reaching out through creating useful businesses that are Christ-centered and support our work in other ministries.
By most definitions, People of Praise is not a church. There are no pastors. We are a group of laity who all are a part of our respective churches but seek a more purposeful and communal life. I myself am Roman Catholic, but regularly share life with Lutherans, Baptists, and many more Christians.
If you want to learn more about the People of Praise, I recommend reading our publication. Sorry, Shaun, but we're not in Nashville yet, but maybe we'll be starting up in Music City in the future.
Apple and EMI Announced Change In The Music Industry
On Monday, Apple and EMI Music announced that EMI will be taking DRM off of their music on iTunes. The DRM-free singles will cost $1.29 instead of $0.99, but besides being DRM-free, they will also be twice the audio quality. Also, if you purchase the whole album, it is the same price and is the higher-quality, DRM-free tracks. They announced that this would be going live in May. Apple's Steve Jobs says that he expects that more labels will jump on the bandwagon and that by the end of the year, more than 50% of the music in iTunes will be higher-quality and DRM-free.
So is this good? Heck yes. Steve Job's open letter really paid off. People will like it because it has no DRM and/or is better quality. I like both and will be more inclined to buy off iTunes now. However, I still think CDs are a bit nicer and I like the album artwork and such.
Adobe Apollo: Install Flash Applications on Your Desktop
I recently heard about Adobe Apollo, a new system developed by the new Adobe/Macromedia. In a video demonstration, they showed an eBay application using Apollo technology. With Apollo, eBay was able to make a downloadable and installable application that will work on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux. You can browse the eBay site, post items to sell, etc. The application still functions if you're offline and will post your for sale items when you get back online.
This could have some big potential. It sounds like Google could easily write a Gmail application in Apollo that uses most of the existing Gmail code and allows you to browse or write offline. Plus, if there isn't already, there will be a cooler, nicer interface to browse YouTube videos as well. And for those of us who are web developers, it could be easier to use this technology to make a website work right off a CD. I guess we'll find out.
Web Developers and Linux
If you're a web developer or designer, you may not run a form of Linux as your development environment, but you still have your websites hosted on a Linux server and have to do some administration of it.
The folks at Search Engine Optimization company SEOmoz are also in the same boat, i guess, and one of them shared a whole bunch of invaluable stuff that I can use when administrating my Linux server. After this, SSH will become even more of your friend, I guarantee it.
I learned how I could pause a task that's running, how to keep that running even after you logout, and how to save the task output to a log file. Really, if you use Linux a bit, you should read it.
25 Reasons Why Dan is "da Man"
My three amazing sisters sent me this via e-mail for my 25th birthday. It's all true, really.
Dan is da insanely awesome man because:
- he can head bang like NO ONE'S business
- he can pull off loud outburst/singsong/theme songs to any event, anytime.
- its easy to know what Dan wants for lunch--meat!!
- Dan always has a hug for ya
- Dan can recognize those he loves from a mile away--layzor vision
- wherever Dan goes he brings his geeky t-shirts, awesome dvds, backpack, cellphone/laptop and the music, Basically.... Dan brings the party home
- when Dan's angry, it's like because there's crappy music playing or he has to use dial-up. basically....Dan only lets his temper fire up for good reasons.
- Dan loves the Lord, you can just tell, he loves christian music and loves to praise God!!
- Dan started gadget land---at least in my mind he did, he introduced email, dvds, ipods, laptops, and much more to me... thanks Dan, without you i would still be in the dark ages.
- Dan is pretty chill and just enjoys being with people
- He never hesitiates to treat me (well, the only exception is when I'm buying from PB loco)
- Dan is INCREDIBLY generous with his time - always there to help
- Dan sings like an angel ...a really cool angel
- Dan has a SUPER laugh. Usually it starts a whole crowd of people laughing. Sometimes, it leaves our sides in pain! (esp late nights playing monopoly)
- Dan has good taste in movies. I love that whenever it comes to Star Wars or Lord of the Rings, we always watch ALL episodes, AND we can watch the extra tracks! Dan is ALL OUT!
- Everyone around him just enjoys DAN. And so do I :)
- Dan is the best geek I know. (A very high compliment coming from the technology household) He has some mad skills.
- He is looking to serve the Lord in whatever ways he can. He took a step of faith and dove into the campus division! PRAISE GOD!
- he is an excellent body guard when it comes to crazy concerts! (especially when Dan plus me make a stellar team to mosh our way to the front of the stage!!!)
- Dan has the best air guitar that anyone has ever seen. Especially when it is while jumping on a trampoline and listening to some old school DC Talk a.k.a. CD Silent.
- Dan's friendship with others extends beyond his own need for friendship and looks out for others' needs.
- Dan knows where to find good food, at a nice place called Chipotle! which unfortunately does not exist in Italy =( and also at Nordstrom Cafe! (yummy)
- He is not afraid to shop at Patina (shriek!) or Old Navy to be a wonderful friend and brother.
- Dan's worship is so pure and heart-felt, that he inspires others (me, for one) to praise the Lord with every fiber of their being. (This deserved a second mention.)
- He is not afraid to wear whatever the heck he wants, whether 'emo' shirts of his fave band or a purplish dress shirt.
Overall, Dan is da man because he is himself, a man of God.
Yes, I refused to pay for $6 Peanut Butter sandwiches. What can I say? There wasn't any meat in 'em so they don't count as lunch!
Good Friday, Work, and Play
Easter is coming in less than two weeks. For me and my family, Easter was always an important, holy time. We'd often go to services that week. Good Friday was especially different, for there were a number of traditions that day. First, I think for something like 15 years of my life, I attended the peaceful demonstrations organized by Pro-Life Action Ministries in from of a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul. Not only was it a demonstration, but it was a great time to pray for our country, worship God, and reflect on his sacrifice. Also, it was our tradition to spend the Noon-3pm hours, when Christ was believed to be hanging on the cross, in some quiet prayer and reflection (or at least more quiet and reflected than usual).
As I've grown older, it has gotten harder to keep these traditions. It wasn't too much of a problem during college because I went to a Roman Catholic college that did give us Good Friday and Easter Monday off of school. (Mom and Dad weren't happy one year when we went to see Switchfoot on Holy Thursday, but it had to be done.) The last couple years have been the hardest, I guess, as I have begun to work full time.
The owner of my company just announced that next Friday we're going to have a fun afternoon where we're going out for lunch and watching a movie (or something like that, I was in the bathroom while he announced it). It just so happens it's Good Friday, and even odder is that last year we watched Office Space and gorged ourselves on candy on Good Friday.
I know that I'm in a mostly non-Christian, great work environment, but when these kind of things come up, it just makes me feel wrong. How do I reconcile these types of things? Maybe I should start taking Good Friday as a personal vacation day? I'll probably just go with the flow (and remember not to have meat in my lunch), but I guess that someday I'll have to deal with bigger moral dilemmas.
The People of Praise, Businesses, and Housing
Yesterday there were a couple interesting meetings in the People of Praise in addition to the weekly meeting. It was a great testimony to our desire to live even more in common with each other. Members of our branch talked about doing life more in common through living closer together and working together on small business ventures. It was a great time to talk to members of the People of Praise that I rarely get to see. I hope to hear even more about it in the future.
At the housing meeting, we learned a bit more about a committee formed to look into options here in the Cities. All of the 125 people who were at the meeting filled out a questionaire detailing what kinda of housing they were interested in and what they could afford. There were a vast array of people there, from seniors and empty nesters looking to downsize to post-college adults looking for a bit more trendy place or to raise a family. The thing that brought us all there was to live in closer proximity to their brothers and sisters in Christ. The committee is still in the really early, formative stages, but it will be interesting to connect with others who are looking for more deliberate, common life on a regular basis.
The other meeting was for people interested in starting or fostering Christ-centered businesses. About thirty people of all different ages and backgrounds attended and we talked about really practical ways to get a small business off the ground. We talked about good business ideas, how to finance a startup, and more. The committee is lead by a couple people who have started small businesses of their own. I think it's a great idea to help others out and if something interesting comes up, being a part of a startup could be really exciting. This group is also in the early stages, but there is already another meeting planned and the expectation that we're working to get new business ideas to fruition with the next six months to a year, depending on how well research and other ideas go and if anyone actually wants to take on the business.
This Week In Movies
So, well, this week was quite the exciting week for movies and, well, Lisa asked.
On Sunday I received the DVDs of A Mighty Wind, Waiting For Guffman, and Best In Show for my birthday and we watched A Mighty Wind that night. These are a bunch of fake documentaries where the actors are playing realistic yet still over-the-top characters. A Mighty Wind is a documentary that shows a folk reunion concert of these 60s folk artists. Really funny music and really funny characters ensue.
Friday night the guys went to see Children of Men at Coffman on the U of M campus. The video quality was, at best, painful - but the movie itself was amazing. It was an amazingly thought-provoking movie, although it definitely wasn't easy to watch.
Last night after most went to bed I watched Robin Hood: Men In tights. It was the first time that I had seen it in years, and well, Mel Brooks always has some great (but sometimes crude) jokes.
This evening we went to see TMNT, the new animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. It was pretty good. I thought the animation was pretty nice and it had a pretty good amount of action. It definitely wasn't the best movie of the week, though.
Mute Math's Crazy First Music Video
I love Mute Math. 'Nuff said.