The preview function works great. I also tried the picture link and took a new picture using the built in camera. The app then crashed, but the post was still intact in the drafts folder. Of course I’ve had lots of apps crashing with the new 2.0 firmware, so who knows whose fault that is.

The big benefit over using your browser is the fact you can now create posts offline, which should encourage more writing. You do this by saving it as a local draft. Once it is moved to draft, it shows up in your blog interface.

This app is also a quicker way to do a quick edit of an existing post because of the simple interface and lower data transfer needed. Best of all, it’s open source just like WordPress. Get it now.

First, I thought I bricked my iPhone when it wouldn’t install. iTunes then recognized the iPhone was in recovery mode, but a restore failed with the error “iphone could not be restored (20)”. Turns out you can also use option click on the “Restore” button to get another attempt to install the firmware. The second try worked.

The new firmware is great - the app store is nice. I put twitterific, facebook, and a few more apps on right away. Now I’m finding my first synch will not get past the “Syncing contacts” step. This may be an adventure.

I think a lot of geeks will be pretty worthless at work tomorrow.

Serve God, Save the Planet, A Christian Call to Action is written by Matthew Sleeth, a former ER doctor from the East coast. He was living the good life, with a big house, nice cars, and a good career. Then he began to notice how many of his patients were coming into the ER with sicknesses related to environmental issues, from asthma to breast cancer. As he started to look into the issues behind these illnesses, he was convicted by his own lifestyle and how it contributed to the environmental damage that was causing these problems.

This book is an easy read with lots of practical advice. He backs up his viewpoints with scripture, and shares some fascinating stories. Most of us have heard “tree huggers” telling us how to live, but this book really prompted me to action. After reading it, I immediately made a couple of changes that I have stuck with since:

• I have stopped taking my lunch in plastic bags to work that I threw out - I’m now recycling all plastic bags
• I am not going to put pesticides or herbicides on my lawn - I still have a bag of Scotts in the garage from last spring
• I am turning off lights like crazy around the house
• I turned the thermostat down one degree this winter

One thing I like about this book is that it doesn’t spend time debating whether climate change is real or not - it concentrates on the real measurable impact of our consumption on the world’s resources. It really is an environmentalist primer for Christians, with scripture to back it up. This would make a great book for discussion in a small group or among friends.

There’s really no other apparent way to activate prepaid without having terrible credit. I guess that’s the punishment I get for good credit - no choice. Now I get a 2-year relationship with AT&T - a company I had managed to get rid of for a few year.

After a regular activation, the phone has been pretty good. We’ll see if the number ports over from prepaid T-mobile ok. I bet it won’t be ported into AT&T for at least 24 hours.

This update addresses a responsiveness issue on MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers. Some MacBook and MacBook Pro systems may occasionally experience a temporary suspension of keyboard input which can last a minute or longer. The Mac OS X 10.5.1 update is required before installing the MacBook, MacBook Pro Software Update 1.1.

We’ll see how this goes.  I had not noticed as much of this since updating to 10.5.1, but it was still happening occasionally.

I think having my wife read the chapter on N.A.D.D. (Nerd Attention Deficiency Disorder) and A Nerd in a Cave will do more to help her understand me than hours of conversation on the subjects covered there. For example, N.A.D.D. is essentially that condition that enables a nerd to listen to music, read through 5 blog posts a minute in Google Reader, carry on 5 IM conversations, and write code all at the same time. Any Nerd will read these chapters and find themselves nodding and agreeing with the way the topic has been dealt with.

I also appreciated the chapter on outsourcing. There is some really good career advice in this book, especially for those of us in technical jobs. The book is also a quick read, in N.A.D.D.-friendly 5 page chapters. I found I could digest a few chapters on the commute home with no trouble. Take a look at the blog, and if you like the writing, pick up the book.

I have had some problems with the keyboard freezing occasionally.  I found that if I closed the lid and reopened it a few times, the keyboard would sometimes come back.  The trackpad works fine the entire time, but the keyboard would completely stop working.  Looking around a bit, it appears this is possibly a major issue with Leopard on MacBooks and MacBook Pros.  I installed the 10.5.1 update about three days ago and haven’t had the problem since, but it appears that some people are still having the issue after the update.  Apple better get to the bottom of this quickly, or word will continue to get out and the mainstream press may stop fawning all over them.  The story hit techmeme today, so I guess the word is getting out.

I just got a new Fisher Telescoping Pen on Friday. This pen is made from “F-16″ aluminum (did they buy an F-16 to cut into pieces?) and consists of one piece with a part that extends out the back for a balanced feel when the pen is open and you are writing, then closes up to 3 1/2″ when closed. So far, I really like it - let’s hope I don’t lose it.

Like Barna’s earlier book, Revolution, he attempts to distinguish between ordinary Christians (or in this case, Christian parents) and “Revolutionary” ones using his research. He defines a Revolutionary Parent as one who applies biblical commands, principles, and narratives, using the Bible as the guide to raise a child. The goal of a revolutionary parent is to raise their children to make their faith in God their highest priority in life, living as servants of God.

This book is a pretty quick read at 158 pages in the hardcover, although the size is quite small with large print. Each chapter has a quick review at the end, along with a few “hands on” questions. The book is broken into three parts, Reasons, Research, and Relevance. The first covers how the research was started and why Barna was motivated to write the book. He is raising children of his own, and thus personally interested in the research. The second part of the book covers the research, with seven chapters that focus on different areas such as the best conditions for raising children successfully and the behaviors found most commonly in revolutionary parents. These chapters include a number of excellent quotes from both the adult children of revolutionary parents and the parents themselves, along with a number of great suggestions and ideas. The final section consists of two chapters. The first gives a set of rules for revolutionary parenting gleaned from the research, and the final chapter is a personal one by Barna describing how this approach changed his parenting. I think that is book is one that I need to review, perhaps yearly. It would be a good book to use in a group discussion, especially in a group with new and experienced parents in dialogue.

This is the first book that I have read that provides a detailed look into one piece of art. I enjoyed the background information on Rembrandt and how his lifestyle and life tragedies affected his work. But what really sticks out is how Nouwen opens up about his own life and the humility he shows. At this point in his life, Nouwen was moving from a professorship at Harvard to a position caring for those with mental handicaps. His initial reaction to the painting was to see himself as the prodigal son, welcomed home by his father, forgiven of his terrible sin and selfishness. This is a comfortable place to be as a Christian, I think, and is definitely the place where we all start out, and in some sense, the position we always have when we consider our sin. But we can’t stay there forever. A friend pointed out to Nouwen that he felt he was the elder son, the one who had always done the right thing and deserving of preferential treatment, jealous of others who had not done what he had. He eventually came around to see this as truth. The final step for him was to be the father, caring for the spiritual needs of those around him at Daybreak, the community he joined.

This is a book that will probably be worth reading again. It would also be interesting to be able to see this painting in person. I would like to see more books like this - going into such depth on a single story and piece of art.