Ramadan may have had its roots in something with purpose, much like many Jewish & Christian holidays, but appears to have lost much of that purpose and meaning as societies have matured past the, well, stone age, times - again, much like many Jewish & Christian holidays.

My point being, no more of this "can't do this" or "can't do that" during Ramadan because it's such a high holy month - it's as secular today as Christmas & Easter are to most Christians.

Having instant access to my information "in the cloud" is simple amazing. I may have been a bit late to the game (i.e. well past you iPhone users video NSFW due to language after about a minute) but I attempted to be here first with my Treo purchase, but the phone/pda just didn't do what I wanted it to do.

I have started developing on the Android platform and am looking for ways to monetize that activity as you read this blog. Thus it came as a shock that the Android name and logo appear to have been lifted from a very old and obscure video game. Give this article a read for the full details. Thoughts?

Christians often use this as justification for not, well, passing judgment on others. Others use it to tell Christians they shouldn't be judging their behavior. For the good or the bad, the teaching continues in verse two: "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

As Christians, we are called to be watchmen, we are to call out sin when we see it and shine a light into a dark world. Knowing that we however will be judged by the same standard we hold others to.

A week ago someone wronged me. It was bad, nor horrible, but I brought upon them the full force of the law, literally. I held this person to the letter, tilde & punctuation mark of the rules and have made her pay for her wronging of me.

Today however, I myself made a very small infraction towards someone else - nothing big, no one who witnessed what happened would think it a big deal - but this person decided to raise a stink, said a couple of "magic words" that prickle people's hairs (they were outright lying, but I had put myself into a position where what they said was plausible, I was in a bind. I was not 'without sin' even though I had not done what they said I had done.) The full force of the law (rules) that held jurisdiction over the situation were brought down upon me.

I accepted them and moved on with the day. It stunk, my day was changed, but I've had worse, much worse, days in my life. I immediately thought of the woman to whom I brought the full force of the 'rules' upon. I thought of Matthew Chapter 7 and I thought of the beatitudes, which read, in part, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

Perhaps had I shown more mercy to she who wronged me earlier in the week and perhaps had I not judged her so harshly, I would not have been held to such a high standard myself. I did not do what was suggested, however, I deserved punishment as that is what I would have expected done to another in a similar situation. I will work on showing more mercy this week. Not only is it probably healthier, it's also biblical.

In late July, The New York Times asked, "Is Italy Too Italian?" in a fascinating article that delved into the world of Yarn Spas (yes, you read that correctly) to Guilds (not of the Lollipop variety however) to the true meaning of "Made in Italy" especially and specifically when it comes to those fine Italian Suits. Great read, promise.

Photo Credit: TailorDave.com

I can not fully explain right now, but as the night continues and I grow tired, I felt it appropriate to share here some brief, albeit deep, thoughts.

I haven't posted here since April, 4 solid months ago. In that time, I have flown 2,000 miles to a family reunion, I have driven 2,000 miles on a mid-west road trip and have thoroughly enjoyed what I have been saying is "possibly my last summer with the boys."

This blog has been on my mind throughout this journey. I even composed a "goodbye" post once using the line that "all good things must come to an end" caped with "for every thing there is a season."

Alas, I have decided to just take the summer and come back re-invigorated. Although I have no idea what readership I have remaining...

As I leave this nugget of information, let me tease you with this... In church last week, I specifically prayed that the Lord would show me "my place in this world" - yeah, that ancient Michael W Smith song popped into my brain during worship. Why I don't know, but it did.

For the past few months, I have felt myself in a period of transition. Tomorrow will be a key date in said transition. For the good or the better, tomorrow will commence 'change.' Change can take many forms - it can be noticeable, tangible, today is different from yesterday change. Or it can be more subtle in that "things have changed." None the less, change is in the air, and I am thrilled for it - one way or the other.

Perhaps it's me, but I enjoy change. Part of the reason is that change shuffles the deck. People get comfortable in what they are doing, change puts people on a level playing field. If at work, your boss changes, the old guard, the old boys club no longer has clout and everyone's back to square one, earning what they get, not getting what they earned under previous regimes politically. Change is good. The books written on change started as "Who moved my cheese" to "Our Iceberg is Melting" - vastly different philosophies, IMHO.

I've spent a considerable amount of time in the past few months in The Word, I've spent a lot of time this past week in prayer and I've spent a lot more time the past few nights working on financial spreadsheets. I've come to one conclusion: My life, my well being, my family, my needs are in the hands of the One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

I've reached two conclusions over the past few days. One is mine and says one thing. The other is that a serve a God who is so big, He "daily loads us with benefits." When I read that this morning, I imagined a dump truck backing up to off-load its cargo - benefits. Like a Woot-Off - you never know what's in there, but you know it's something awesome!

So perhaps I'm getting all sentimental because my iTunes is stuck on a MWS streak as I write this, or perhaps it's because I'm tired, or moreso, it's because... well, who knows...

Note: The last time I quotes MWS publicly was when we moved to Michigan and I used "Go West Young Man" as our theme for the trip ;-)

Props: Gizmodo

I love video racing games - it's my primary video game expertise.  Gran Turismo, Project Gotham Racing, Need For Speed, etc.

So when a group of folks decided to test the "third person" driving experience in a real car, all I could say is, "I can do better!"  I *so* want to give this a try...

Hints: I took the photo on my Droid, which is why what at the time appeared to be a wonderful artistic image turns out to be a "what on earth is that thing?"  The image was taken this past weekend.

The first person to tell me what it is will win a free copy of Madden '97 for the PC!  In the event of a tie, the most correct person will win the prize.  The more information/details you can provide, the better your chance at being fully correct.  Bonus points for detail - I might be able to find the companion NHL '97 to send along with Madden!

Come on, I see the logs, I know how many people read this blog - What Is It? Contest ends a Saturday at noon.

Note to techies: I copied this cropped portion from the original.  i.e. all EXIF data, including GPS location, is from Paint Shop Pro, not the camera.  Sorry ;-)

I have long loved being able to print everything from concert tickets to airline tickets and even postage stamps at home.  Why waste time & resources of printing them on card stock, stuffing them into an envelope and mailing them to me.  What irks me of course is charging me for the privilege to do so.  That however is another blog post.

Now that I have an awesome smart phone, I was finally attending my first arena event with "home printed" tickets.  Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey circus at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia was to be my test event.  I received all 8 of my tickets via PDF mere minutes after purchasing them on-line late last year.

With a PDF reader on my phone, in lieu of an "app" from a ticketing or arena agency, I brought up the tickets, page 1, just mine for now.  I prayed for a "young" guy who would want to do this rather than beg for my paper ticket.  I got him.  I zoomed in on the bar code to match the size of the printed one as best I could.

To my amazement, without hesitation, he attempted to scan my phone.  He tried a second and third time.  He grabbed the phone from my hands and tried a fourth time.  It just wouldn't scan.  Bummer, but at least he tried.  I had the paper copy in my pocket as a back-up and that worked instantly.

Only afterward did I wonder if my "privacy protector" prevented it from working.  When I first bought the Droid, the only hard screen protector available was also a "privacy" version.  I wonder if that scattered the readers light beams enough that it wouldn't read it properly.  I may have to acquire a different screen protector and try this again.

I believe a friend claimed to have flown with his phone as ticket already, although I wonder how he cleared security as they're supposed to mark your ticket noting ID checks being passed.

I just saw this Android App, Show Clix, write-up that does this very thing - concert bar codes on the phone.  I can buy tickets to our local movie theater through the Fandango app on the Droid, but must produce and swipe my credit card at the theater, have the kiosk print paper tickets and receipts, only to walk said paper 20' to be torn in half.  I wish for the day that I can purchase on-line and never have to print tickets.  The "paperless office" is neigh I say, neigh!

Have you had any success using your phone or other smart device as a ticket itself?  If so, I'd love to know what type of phone, software and event you were successful with.

Which school district would you rather your child be a part of:

New York City: Rubber Rooms & Firing Incompetent Teachers
or
Rhode Island's Central Falls School District: Board fires all 88 High School Teachers

To be honest, I'd probably be home schooling if my kids were in either district, but I support the Rhose Island one over NYC any day!

Let me say it again: Tenure was developed such that RESEARCH professors could have the freedom to pursue interests that were either controversal or not entirely 'sexy' (i.e. money making).  It was not devised so a 10th grade social studies teacher could chat on his cell phone during class and yell at his students and not worry about getting fired.