Archive - May, 2010

Where ideas come from

May 26, 2010 in Journal with 7 Comments


My neighbor, Dane Carder, is a wonderfully talented artist and photographer. This evening, while our daughters played on the swing set, we talked about where ideas come from. It’s a simple question and everyone wants to know the answer. Hands down it’s the most frequently asked question I receive from readers, specifically about Ted Dekker.

Our conclusion was this: ideas are like viruses. If you’ve learned anything about viruses in school you know they are an important natural means of transferring genes between different species, which increases genetic diversity. They are everywhere. Some drift on the wind while others are carried by hosts from place to place where they come in contact with others. Some die off; some collide with other viruses and mutate into something new. On a rare occasion, when conditions are right and a genetic fluke takes place, a super-virus might result. An anomaly, the biological equivalent of lightning striking in the same place twice…when there isn’t a cloud in the sky. Continue Reading…

7 Days of iPad (Conclusion)

May 25, 2010 in Journal with 5 Comments

Better late than never, I always say. I know some of you have been wondering what happened to Days 6 & 7. Well, they stretched out a bit. So, let’s flash back to them and I’ll give you my final take on how the iPad has, in practice, worked out for me.

I know lots of people say the iPad is a device that serves no real purpose. It’s not a laptop or a desktop. Neither is it just a media device. For me it has become a great “gap” solution. My only computer for work is a 17″ Macbook Pro, a somewhat clunky thing to lug to meetings, especially out of the office. Since most of my daily tasks include note taking, researching via the web, and responding to email, the iPad fits my needs perfectly. I use my laptop at my desk or on those off times when I have to edit video or use Photoshop. My iPad is my grab and go device for meetings and when I escape to the coffee shop to brainstorm ideas or get some writing done.

I do not use the keyboard dock, but that hasn’t bothered me. I’ve gotten fast (and accurate) using the onscreen keyboard. That takes a couple days, but so did learning to text quickly on a phone. Since I only have the Wifi version, I am a bit limited in where I can use it, but that also hasn’t been a major problem. An occasional inconvenience, yes, but not a problem. I have a Kindle as well, but haven’t touched it since getting the iPad. I still buy books through Amazon, but I port them over using the iPad app. Seamless.

Bottom line for me is this: the iPad is the first tablet that I’ve had (and I’ve used a few, including the HP tablet back in the early 2001) that felt right. The idea isn’t new, but the interface just works. It will be interesting to see where things go from here in terms of innovation. One thing’s for sure, the tablet/ereader/multi-function device will eventually be ubiquitous like MP3 players. It’s just a matter of time.

Geek out: time lapse shuttle launch

May 22, 2010 in Journal with 0 Comments

When I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut. I even went to Space Camp and still have the sky blue flight suit to prove it. So, yeah, I geek out on the final frontier. This video took six weeks, and over 100 hours of footage shot on several Canon EOS 5D Mark II cameras.

[Air&Space via Planet5D]

Re-inventing the canvas

May 22, 2010 in Journal with 2 Comments

Making something new and interesting means you have to see the world differently. You have to re-invent the canvas. I’ve seen things like this before, but I love that this was done by college students, not some techno-artist from NYC. It comes from Poland’s Wroclaw University of Technology and it’s called “Projekt P.I.W.O.”

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