Off the Cuff

i have an Apple wireless keyboard connected to my macbook pro. Sounds weird at first, i know, but you have to realize that i have my mac sitting on my desk hooked up to a 22′ display, so it’s more of a desktop than a notebook — at least, until I hit the road. At any rate, for some strange reason, i occasionally find myself using the keyboard on the notebook, even though it’s usually about two feet further than my wireless keyboard. Odd habit. Then I realized something even stranger. Suddenly I was typing at full speed with my left hand on the wireless keyboard and my right on the notebook! Oddness!

It seems to work though. my hands are just a little less than three feet apart, typing on two different keyboards and it feels really strange.

Just thought i’d share.

I, Jacob Adam Smith, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of Oklahoma against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the Governor of Oklahoma and the orders of the officers appointed over me, acording to law and regulations. So help me God

I do hereby acknowledge to have voluntarily enlisted this 28th day of May, 2008 in the Oklahoma National Guard and as a Reserve of the United States Army with membership in the Army National Guard of the United States for a period of 6 years, 0 months, 0 days, under the conditions prescribed by law, unless sooner discharged by proper authority

I have a bunch of things that have just been sitting around waiting to be posted. Random thoughts, notes, and links are scattered throughout my desk and in Backpack, but since I was running this site through blogger, it was a major hassle to log in and update the site. That is beside the fact that blogger was down every other time I would think about updating!

I’m now using a development version (2.6-bleeding) of wordpress and absolutely love the fact that I’m able to ssh into my server and svn update the wordpress directory for the latest updates. Way better than waiting for an official release and re-installing everything. I don’t really like the current theme I’m using though. It’s a bit coffee-ish and breaks in IE6. If I have time before I leave for basic training, I’ll design something of my own. In the meantime, I’m open to any theme suggestions! My apologies to everyone who didn’t follow the geekness.

Oh, and for those that didn’t know, I’m joining the army national guard! In fact, I just finished and submitted my enlistment application today. More updates on that as this exciting story develops. Meanwhile, here are some interesting links I’ve been wanting to share.

YouVersion - Beta
YouVersion is a relatively new site from LifeChurch.tv I found over at Godbit Project. To quote Andy Knight, one of the developers of the site:

What distinguishes YouVersion from the rest of online Bibles is this extra content submitted by its members. If a verse of Scripture reminds you of a music video on YouTube, you can post it. If you’ve read a great commentary about a verse on another site, you can link it up. If a passage inspires you, you can tell everybody why.

Besides that, they have a very well designed one year Bible plan, and the way the actual reader works is pretty cool too. You can check out my (currently very empty) profile too.

Apple: Set To Screen
While I don’t really know anything about the movie, Apple is working with the production crew of the upcoming movie Australia, to give you “set to screen” look at movie production.

Every few weeks through October, a new podcast episode from Baz and his production team will introduce you to another aspect of moviemaking, starting with on-set still photography, then moving on to costume design, cinematography, scoring, and more.

I’ve watched the first few clips they’ve released and it’s actually pretty cool. For example, it never occurred to me until I watched one of these that there is a guy on set at all times just to take still photographs. I mean, I guess that makes sense, how else do they get all those cool shots for posters, DVD packages and websites? But I just never thought of that as a full time job before. Anyway, there’s a lot of cool stuff over there, so if you’re interested in movie production at all, you should download the video podcast from iTunes.

Open ID
If you’re like me and you have nearly a dozen different Basecamp accounts, plus a Backpack and a few Highrise accounts with 37Signals, you are probably tired of trying to remember all of those usernames and passwords. Unless, of course, you are also using an OpenID. I had been using MyOpenID for quite awhile now, and they’re great. Should work perfectly fine for anyone interested in getting an OpenID. However, being the geek that I am, I wanted to set up my own OpenID. I did some googling and found phpMyID. I’ll let you check out the details for yourself, if you’re interested, but I found it to be a pretty easy and painless way of setting up your own OpenID Identity Provider.

Is this a joke?
A friend of mine, Ryan, showed this to me, and I’m still having trouble believing it’s for real. Disney is apparently putting out a new movie call Beverly Hills Chihuahua. In Ryan’s words, “It’s like Highschool musical meets stupid!” You can view the trailer and if anyone actually watches this movie when it comes out in September, let me know how it is.

Back in early January, I mentioned that I was going to read the entire Bible all the way through this year. Well, I’ll be honest, I have been slacking on that. No, really. Well, I was thinking the other night that I really should do something about that. It really was a great thought, except I didn’t do anything with it. Well, time to stop thinking and start acting.

Rather than giving myself another 10 months to procrastinate, I’ve decided to read through the entire Bible in 51 days. Why 51? Well, the projected launch date for Regenerated Magazine is April 10th, and that happens to be 51 days from today. It sounded like a good goal last night, so I’m going with it!

If anyone else is crazy enough to do this with me, definitely feel free to jump in at any time! To keep track of where I am for myself, I’ll be using a bookmark. To keep track of where I am for you, I’ve created a new backpack page to show you were my bookmark is placed right now, and what books I’ve finished so far. I’m sure it’ll also come up through my writing here as well.

Want to help me? I would definitely appreciate it! Over the next 51 days, you can ask me periodically how my Bible reading is going and make sure I actually go through with this! Accountability is a great thing. I’m off to begin my reading.

Just want to put a quick shout-out to Kristin and say, “Happy 19th Birthday!” It’s been a blast working with you, starting way too many projects and laughing too hard to breathe the last couple of years. Stay “cool,” no matter what country you’re in!

Well, certain friends have been “poking” me and people have made comments, but it was being mentioned at The Rebelution that finally convinced me it is time to start writing again. It isn’t that I haven’t anything to say lately — believe me, I have more to say now than I ever have before — but I became a little “lost” in moving into my own apartment, pulling ROC back together and watching 24. Pray for me, I think I’ve become a bit addicted to that last one. (Alex and Kierstyn can attest to that!)

Sometimes you need to look beyond the present to find what you need right now.Right now, I am in my brothers’ room, laying on their couch typing. Just a moment ago I went to grab my Jones Soda, but aside from the light emanating from my MacBook Pro, the room is pitch black. I couldn’t see a thing! I cautiously began feeling across the floor, hoping I could find it without spilling half a can of soda all over my new NKJV bible that is also on the floor, but I couldn’t seem to find it. For some reason, I glanced beyond where I knew it had to be and caught a reflection of the can right in front of me. Of course, I instantly redirected my eyes to the reflection, but it promptly disappeared. I looked beyond it and again saw this faint reflection from the tin can; I was able to pick it up with ease.

It is funny how life can be very much the same. Sometimes we are so focused in the here and now, trying to grasp what we know is there but can’t see. If only we would take just a moment to look beyond our current circumstances and focus on The Light, our Savior, Jesus Christ, we might just gain a clearer picture of where we are right now and how to reach what we need. I know it’s true in my own life!

Whenever I begin to set aside time for devotions and studying God’s word at the beginning of the day, things become so much clearer. And I don’t just mean big, life changing decisions, my mind is actually sharper with the little things as well. When I’m working on a website, or talking to customers at work, I can actually tell a difference in how I handle things because I am not so easily frustrated and I’m able to come up with solutions much quicker. And when I’m going against something particularly difficult, if I take a moment and just focus on Him, you’d be surprised how many times an answer simply “pops into my head.”

Our God is amazing.

If you can’t see whats right in front of you, if you need some perspective, take a moment and focus beyond right now. Spend some time with God, and I promise, everything will look a little bit clearer.

No, actually, I haven’t forgot that I have a blog, I’ve just been busy, that’s all.

And now for some quick updates…

For those who haven’t heard, I have officially moved out of the house and into my own apartment. (That’s for you Kristin.)

You can volunteer at Regenerate Our Culture now!

The Macworld Expo Keynote is today! If you’re like me, you’ll be watching for live updates. Yes, I’m a geek. Oh, and on that note (errmm.. the mac note, not the geek note), I upgraded to Leopard this weekend. Time machine is a beautiful thing.

Lastly, if anyone has any recommendations on getting an aircard for a mac, let me know. I don’t have internet in my apartment, and that just isn’t very helpful when trying to run multiple websites.

(This is basically a rewritten version of a post from a few days ago. Only this is a lot clearer, since it wasn’t written at 1:00 AM.)

Every year millions of people make New Years Resolutions. Every year, those resolutions are long forgotten by Independence Day, if not Memorial Day or sooner. Well aware of that, the last year or two, I just decided I wasn’t going to make any resolutions. I was getting tired of making lists that didn’t mean anything. What was the point in the wasting paper?

Well, this year I have decided to make a few resolutions, but I’m approaching it in a little bit of a different way. Rather than making a list of brand new things I want to do, projects I want to start or habits I want to make or break, I’m focusing on real ways that I can actually grow this year in every major aspect of my life. Another major difference from years past, rather than resolving to do new things, I’m resolving to continue doing what I’m doing right now. And to do those things better!

Item number uno.
The first thing I’m going to work on this year, is my relationship with Christ. Rather than simply reading my Bible on occasion, I am going to read it as God’s written word to me, Jake. I plan to read through the entire Bible in at least the New King James Version, and possibly The Message as well.

I am also going to continue growing my prayer life. Prayer shouldn’t just be something that happens when something goes wrong, at the dinner table or at night. That’s not a prayer life at all! This year, I will continue to make a habit of talking to God all throughout my day, and not only talking, but making myself open to hearing what He has to say to me.

Item number dos.
This next item for 2008 is something that God has really convicted me on over the past few weeks. I haven’t spent a lot of time reading anything other than news or technical articles the past two years, and that is, well, not a good thing. This year, along with reading my Bible every day, I’m also going to read through a lot of really good books. With the help of some friends, I’m putting together a book list for 2008, and as I work my way through them, I’ll occasionally write my thought on them here.

Item number tres.
My last major resolution for 2008 is to get myself in shape. I’ve already started this by doing some basic stretches, sit-ups and push-ups every night, but as the weather gets better, I plan on going jogging every morning, adding weights and pulling cars with my beard.

Well, okay, not that last one, but I do plan on making exercise a regular part of my life. Besides the fact that every guy wants a six-pack, I’ve realized recently that with everything I want to do, I’m going to need to be in great physical shape to even keep up with this kind of busy life! Anyway, our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, right? I should definitely take care of it!

It’s all about discipline.
There you have it, my “Resolutions for 2008.” Nothing ground breaking here, really I have a list of things that I should be doing anyway. The only other thing that I am going to resolve this year is nearly an unspoken part of all three of the above items — get disciplined! It’s going to take some serious self-control to stick with these commitments all year, and for the rest of my life! It won’t be easy, it won’t always be fun, but life isn’t all about fun and easy. Do Hard Things, right?

Discussion questions

• Are you making any resolutions this year? Why or why not?
• What are you going to do different in 2008?
• What are you doing to make sure you stick with your resolutions? Writing it down, keeping yourself accountable, something else?

Note to self: If I’m ever on a bus, pull out a Bible and start reading out loud and see what happens.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have had a great day thus far and continue to enjoy the last week of 2007! I, for one, will be looking for some time to write, both for the blog here and just in general. For those of you who haven’t heard yet, we’re pulling Regenerate Our Culture back to it’s feet, starting with the magazine, and I really hope to write a few articles over there this year.

I was talking to a friend the other day and she made a comment that made me think. Somewhere along the way, we’ve made Christmas about visiting family we pretend to like and stuffing our faces with food. Instead of focusing on Christ and really enjoying our time with family, we’ve turned instead gluttony and being fake. Where’s the “joy to the world” and “peace on earth” in that? Well, today I’m making it a point to really be thankful for what Christ has done for me, I’m going to enjoy spending time with my family — fairly easy since I actually like most of them… okay, all of them — and while I’m going to enjoy the food that is always amazing around here, I will not stuff my face. I promise.

Today, and life in general, really is different when you come at it with a purpose. Try it, enjoy the difference, taste the rainbow. Merry Christmas!

P.S. If you’re interested in being involved with ROC at all, drop us a line — contact [at] regenerateourculture [dot] com — and let us know how you want to be involved! We’re still in the beginning stages of pulling it all back together, but we’re going to need plenty of writers, probably some people who can proofread articles, and since I’m currently working on the website, I could use some people who enjoy burying themselves in PHP. Once things get rolling, it would also be great to have some people who enjoy photography and graphic design.