Posts

Posted on

Alternatives to Google

In a previous post, I discussed the idea of avoiding closed software, and specifically, how to quit using products tied to the Cloud made by Google or Apple.

There’s also privacy and security concerns using third-party cloud vendors like Dropbox and Evernote.

One solution would be to rent your own NextCloud server, which would at least break you free of Google or Apple, but still ties you to a third-party cloud vendor.

The only way to be completely free of these companies (or any third-party company) and still have the convenience of Cloud connectivity is to run your own Cloud server. But once you have a cloud server set up, the rest is shockingly simple.

I’ve done this using ownCloud, and I’ll be covering how to do that in another article. It only cost me $75 for a refurbished Dell desktop tower, and some time and energy learning how to do it. The hardest part was configuring Apache’s SSL redirects through arcane and ancient nested text config files (which is fodder for yet another how-to article). Continue reading “Alternatives to Google”

Posted on

I Want To Be Better But I Can’t

“Poor Tomato. He wishes he could sing strong and sweet like the cucumber; but he can’t! He can’t even whistle!”

Have you ever felt like you wanted to become a better person, but simply couldn’t? Have you ever wanted to accomplish something big, and then realized that you didn’t have the resources to make it happen?

Have you ever gone so far as to say to yourself “I probably shouldn’t even try this”?

If this has happened to you (as it’s happened to me numerous times) you may feel like giving up on everything, and Netflix binging until you feel better about life in general.

That doesn’t work. But I can tell you what does work: looking to something stronger than yourself. Continue reading “I Want To Be Better But I Can’t”

Posted on

How To Ignore God and Fail Miserably

As a Christian, I’m always in tension. I’m torn between being absorbed in self-improvement, and being fully submitted to God. And as an added complication, I’m supposed to protect myself- but not on my own strength? And what does that even mean?

More importantly, where do we draw the line between what we should do and what God should do?

You see these conflicts between Man and God all the time- every time you hear about a Christian entrepreneur going out of business. Every time someone says “God helps those who help themselves.” Or a loved one, whom you’ve prayed for healing over, dies from a degenerative disease and your church family says “it’s because you didn’t have enough faith.” (That’s horrible, by the way. Don’t ever say that to someone. Jesus should punch you in the mouth if you do.)

What does it mean to fully, completely, unquestioningly rely on God for absolutely everything? I don’t really know, and I won’t stop seeking until I find out.

But what I do know, I’ve learned from years of trying to do certain things on my own, and failing miserably.

This is what I want to discuss today: how to fail at listening to God. (I’m an expert.)

Continue reading “How To Ignore God and Fail Miserably”

Posted on

Closed Software

I’ve come to a logical but painful decision.

I’m not going to use software under Windows or Mac OSX any more. And I don’t really want to use Android, either.

After trying to get Windows 7 running in a virtual machine in Linux, I discovered that Microsoft now cripples the activation process for OS’s that aren’t OE supplied.

If I can’t get it to run in Linux in some form, then I pretty much don’t want to use it.

Here’s my dilemma: I actually have software that won’t run in Linux, that I use on a semi-regular basis (hence the reason I was trying to get Windows running in a virtual machine). In particular, I use HPTuners software (for tuning my car) and SoundTower’s Adrenalinn 3 editor. Neither one of them is particularly well written (they won’t run in an emulation layer because of weird UI glitches), but they cover a need that nothing else does.

I’ve been looking at other software as well- games mostly- that won’t run in Linux. Not even if I run Steam in Wine (which is a whole other dumpster fire).

But really, the kicker for me is music production software. There’s millions of useful programs I could buy for Windows or OSX, but that requires me also dealing with the horrific privacy and security mess that goes with each of those options.

I don’t really want to compromise my future security or privacy for the convenience of a nifty tool that I may or possibly may not use. Continue reading “Closed Software”

Posted on

Is Minimalism the Answer?

Over the last few months, I’ve been mulling over the idea of eliminating everything I own that serves no purpose. This of course is a lot of stuff.

If I’m to uphold the idea of living with purpose, then that means by extension that I don’t do things without purpose. At the very least, I shouldn’t partake in things that are detrimental to my purpose.

But what about things that are just fun? Can you live “with a purpose” without every single thing you do affected by it? Does your purpose interact with your recreation time? Should you even have recreation time to begin with?

So with great trepidation, let us descend into the depths of the question: Is it okay for devoted, purpose-driven Christians to own stuff for having fun?

The simple answer, of course, is “it depends.” God is not opposed to people having fun. God is, however, opposed to people being self-centered and putting other things before Him.

I don’t think most Christians want to deliberately disobey God. But we are very good at making excuses for doing things we like, even when we know it’s wrong.

And what’s more, there is a never-ending stream of people who will tell you how you can’t have fun, or at the very least, try to tell you how you’re allowed to enjoy yourself.

I don’t want to be either one of those people: not a killjoy, and not making excuses. I want the truth. What does God expect of me? Continue reading “Is Minimalism the Answer?”

Posted on

To Micro-Blog, or not to Micro-Blog?

I’ve been in the blogging “business” for almost two decades now. My first blog was on Earthlink dial-up, way back in the 90’s. Writing my thoughts, sharing my experiences, teaching the lessons I’ve learned over the years. Asking hard questions, and working through the answers.

I was a blogger way before Facebook existed, before Twitter was even a thing. Then all of these “micro-blogging” sites popped up, which were geared towards a business model of advertising. They are an ADD’ers worst nightmare. There isn’t any meaningful discourse, only re-posted sound bytes, advertising, and virtual chain letters (and dank memes). There are now entire sites built around only reposting other people’s content (I’m looking at you, Pinterest).

I’m not interested in the spammy advertising model of any of these micro-blogging sites. I don’t care about likes, reposts, adverts, or clickbait headlines. I don’t care about shallow hit-and-run interaction. I could certainly do without all the visual noise and clutter.

What exactly am I gaining from participating in these time sinkholes? Am I using them to advertise something? If you’re not, chances are I don’t need them in my life, taking over my spare time. I certainly don’t need them. And I’ve been on almost all of them at some point. Yes, even Myspace. Sigh.

I think this speaks to how our communication, as a whole, has become largely trite and ineffective. I don’t enjoy using micro-blogging sites, because you never get more than scratching the surface. The superficiality of it all just makes me want to stop talking to shallow people. And because of the nature of the media, that’s all you ever get to see: people’s shallow thoughts. Meaningless “likes” and re-shares. There are very few people with new ideas, and even fewer who can articulate those ideas effectively. 99% of what we see and hear on social media is regurgitated pablum (and untrustworthy, at that).

So how shall we utilize the internet for its intended purpose of conveyance of ideas? Continue reading “To Micro-Blog, or not to Micro-Blog?”

Posted on

The Nine Laws: Part Five

If you haven’t read my previous installments on reviewing The Nine Laws, you can start here.

I haven’t written on this topic in quite a while. That’s partly because this installment has been one of the more difficult ones to write, as you’ll see.

The Fifth Law is Posture.

What is Posture? Not just your physical stance. It’s not just your political opinion.

Posture is your arrangement in the world.

Posture is the way in which we position ourselves, how we stand, physically and spiritually. When you see someone who always slouches, our human nature is to think of them as weak or lazy, because “strong” people don’t slouch. One of the reasons this works as a social indicator is because the vast majority of people aren’t consciously aware of their posture. The few that are aware tend to stand straighter, which indicates they’re generally more conscious, more aware of themselves and their surroundings.

It would benefit us then to pay attention to our posture, because it directly affects how others perceive us, and to a lesser extent how we perceive ourselves.

What is the flow of my engagement? It should be continuous reflection. No shading, no twisting, no corruption. Purity of purpose and motion. Continue reading “The Nine Laws: Part Five”

Posted on

Google: Redux

Once again, I’ve discovered that Google is killing off a product that I use on a regular basis. Sigh.

You may remember when they killed Reader, and then killed MyTracks. Now I hear they’re shutting down Google+ and Hangouts, which will get rolled into their corporate product package, or something. Maybe? Either way, it will join the extensive (and constantly growing) list of products in the “Google Graveyard.”

It reminds me that Google/Alphabet is a company aimed at big businesses, and not regular people like you and me. In fact, it never really was for regular people. It was always aimed at making advertising money through monetizing our search data. This shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. This is how gigantic businesses work.

I’ll eventually have to look for a replacement for Hangouts. And in reality, I need to free myself from Google products in general. Even though they’re embedded in my phones. And I avoid using Facebook Messenger like the plague. Maybe Signal.org?

As with almost all social media apps, Google+ is dying a slow death because nobody uses it. Despite having a good feature set, people just weren’t going to join it unless everybody they knew was on it. It’s a catch-22. Everybody uses Facebook because everybody uses Facebook. It’s reached critical mass, like a black hole sucking in everything around it. All the other social media platforms have been relegated to museum curiosities. Twitter is spambot central. Tumblr is like a house of horrors. Gab.ai is a dumpster fire of litigation brought on by idiots. Diaspora has been around for ages and still has no adoption. I don’t even know what else is out there, because outside of Facebook’s event horizon, nothing else matters.

Well, I guess I shouldn’t just rant, though there is plenty to rant about. Ultimately, we’re complaining about free services, so what should we expect, right?

We’ve become spoiled by instant communication and information. We’ve lost the art of discourse through writing. No thought is required to post anything to social media.

This is largely why I keep blogging, year after year… it requires thought to put together blog posts.

Anyway… I’m looking at options for non-Google phone apps, and am trying out F-Droid on my phone. I don’t think I’ll be able to completely de-Google all my accounts, but I can certainly reduce the impact it has on my life.

In general, though, I am very dependent on technology, and I don’t need to be. It’s a convenience, and I’m not being made a better person with conveniences at my fingertips. I could say much more on that, but for now, I’ve said enough. More wake-up calls for the digitally enslaved.

Posted on

Time To Slow Down

So much has happened in the last few months. Where do I begin?

First, let me say I’m extremely thankful that there are people who actually still read what I write here.

Second, there have been huge changes in my life as of late. I started a new job (which I love, and am actually good at). My family joined a large church, participated in a local (to us) campus launch, and a year later, we ended up moving to a smaller, less hectic church environment. I’m slowly working on minimizing more things out of my life. I’m focusing on developing my relationship with God, and learning more about the Holy Spirit’s role in my life.

I’m playing music a lot. I’m working on cars a lot less. Remodeling the house. Teaching my kids. Serving my wife, and the church. Trying to keep a grip on everything.

I’m also still (after a long hiatus) co-hosting the awesome ADD Masterminds podcast.

But…

Continue reading “Time To Slow Down”

Posted on

I Literally Just Can’t

I have been frustrated lately. It seems as though God is trying to stretch me into things I wasn’t trying to stretch into. I’m having things thrown at me from every angle, and sometimes I can barely keep track of what day of the week it is, much less all the things people want me to do.

One of the things I want to prioritize is spending time with my kids. However, that’s hard to do when they’re teenagers, and don’t want to do anything with me. Or they want to do things with me that I can’t do. Makes it kind of hard. And I spend time taking care of them, cooking for them, cleaning up after them, playing with them, driving them places… any chance I get (when they’re not busy), I’m spending it with my kids. My dad never could do that with me. My kids have no idea how good they have it.

I’ve also got creative forces pulling me every which way, including writing another book, recording an album, and relaunching a podcast. Also rebuilding my ’65 Rambler. And possibly building more cosplay props. I’ve been asked to play in concerts, join in writer’s groups, attend ceremonies, organize activities, and who knows what else. I barely have the time and energy to do *one* of those, so certainly not all of them. Continue reading “I Literally Just Can’t”