gdp's Comments

Ryan Markel : It Shouldn\'t Take a Genius

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 03:24:52 +0000

Yup. I had been wondering what Microsoft was going to do with regards to the video tag, given that they now have Silverlight as a platform to "protect" and would definitely like a slice of the online video pie from Adobe. It's frustrating that the Web and HTML/XHTML has managed to mature to the point where now (with IE8... mostly) there's a pretty standard interpretation of the code in most browsers without having to do a whole lot of extra work—and now this feels like a step backwards.

Ryan Markel : The Word of the Day is \"Derivative\"

Sat, 4 Jul 2009 19:24:08 +0000

You're correct in that the GPL isn't limiting WordPress—at least, I don't think so. Daniel's argument is that more developers might be attracted to the project if it were released under a more "liberal" open source license, and he might be right, but WordPress (and Daniel points this out in his own argument) has been hugely successful in part due to the GPL.

Esgetology : Portable Options for Daily Prayer Books

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:48:05 +0000

Thanks for the vote of confidence, brother. :) I've tried to sketch out a few times in brief what an app like this would look like and it's not the easiest thing in the world. The Olive Tree apps come pretty close, but they violate a few general iPhone usability guidelines.

Ryan Markel : Listening

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 03:52:37 +0000

Slowing down your decision-making process is part of what listening is all about. I'm not surprised by what you've just shared. To bring in another space program example, what if the management at NASA had listened to the engineers who I understand had consistently requested more information on the status of Columbia while it was in orbit? The idea of obtaining consensus still strikes me sometimes as a bit 1980's-Star-Trek-The-Next-Generation-y, where every time you run into a crisis, you get everyone together and talk it out. But I'm reminded constantly and keep reading that leaders also do a great job of surrounding themselves with capable and exceptional people.

Esgetology : Preaching the Sunday

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:38:33 +0000

I'm *way* out of practice, but I'm going to offer some discussion anyway. There is indeed a "theme" running through the pericopes for a given day. It's also expressed in the hymns used for a service and the propers of the day. I appreciate what's said above about preaching the texts (plural). The people you serve have needs, flaws, sins, and sorrows. You attend to them as part of your vocation. The texts—and the thematic links between them—are what God is using to speak to them on the occasion of the Sunday. Without ridiculous allegorizing or stretching the text somewhere it doesn't fit, what is the message that is needed? What exposition or explanation helps to bring the texts into relief for your people?

Ryan Markel : Vocation. That's with an "o".

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:40:33 +0000

(Somehow, I made IntenseDebate explode on this post this morning. I don't know what happened.) I don't own Wingren, but it's on my shopping list right now as one of the things I definitely want to pick up. I thought I had an old copy somewhere, but couldn't find it.

Cyberbrethren : I was wrong. Twitter is terrific. Here's why.

Wed, 8 Apr 2009 11:09:33 +0000

Twitter's not a business model. It's as much a means of interpersonal communications as the phone call or the email; it just works differently. The level of transparency in communications provided by a service like Twitter is disarming at first, to be sure, but I will be the first to say that any person or organization not willing to be transparent is one I automatically do not trust.

Cyberbrethren : I was wrong. Twitter is terrific. Here's why.

Tue, 7 Apr 2009 22:52:41 +0000

Its primary use is as a communications tool. Sometimes, it's just easier for me to update everyone on my Twitter follow list by posting a single Tweet. I can get the word out on something much more quickly using the service. I've networked with people I would otherwise never have had contact with. "Marketing" using Twitter is nothing without trust. The same applies to Facebook.

Cyberbrethren : I was wrong. Twitter is terrific. Here's why.

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 14:22:37 +0000

The key to remember with the information revolution is that more and more of what you say is accessible to everyone in the public eye. What I'm typing right now will eventually become a matter of permanent and freely-accessible Internet record. As Christians (Lutherans), though, is that really something to fear? A little more care and consideration before speaking/typing is not necessarily a bad thing.

Ryan Markel : The Art of the Narrative

Sun, 5 Apr 2009 22:06:48 +0000

I'm looking forward to testing out At Bat this evening for the first game of the season. I'll get a feeling how long my iPod touch battery will last when the WiFi is in full use and the screen is on. Braves at Phillies. 7 p.m. CT!

Ryan Markel : The Art of the Narrative

Sun, 5 Apr 2009 22:05:30 +0000

I have to admit that I wasn't expecting to strike such a chord with this article. Thanks for the responses, all.

Ryan Markel : It's Not About Cost; It's About Value

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 20:22:21 +0000

Hey, that's my happy place, too. Unbeliever! It is of course hyperbole (it's the Macalope), but these are real questions. As the type of computers many people have in their homes has begun moving in the Mac direction, more and more people are asking to use them in their places of employment. Personal familiarity with a Windows environment might not be such a given in a few years. Now that Macs *do* run on Intel platforms, does that decrease the barrier to acceptance from an IT standpoint? This is going to present challenges to IT departments as they attempt to give their (internal) customers the tools they need to adequately perform their jobs. Microsoft unfortunately doesn't seem to be doing themselves any favors with the current state of the operating system re: Vista going over like a lead balloon at the enterprise level.

Cyberbrethren : Cyberbrethren's House Warming Party

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:38:07 +0000

Thank you very much for your appreciative comments. I'm happy to have worked on it.

Cyberbrethren : Cyberbrethren's House Warming Party

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:28:47 +0000

That's very strange that you had problems moving a WordPress installation to another WordPress installation. I had to break Paul's mt-export into (I think) five or six separate files to keep from running into kernel memory walls. It took a little longer, but now it's done. Personally, I've moved from LiveJournal to Movable Type, then to WordPress, then to Drupal for about six months, then back to WordPress. I've been using WordPress off and on for over five years at this point and it just keeps getting better. IntenseDebate wasn't my frontrunner in commenting systems for a while (I liked Disqus), but when Automattic bought ID and started putting additional resources behind it, I was convinced. I've since recommended that anyone I work with install and use ID.

Cyberbrethren : Cyberbrethren's House Warming Party

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:26:25 +0000

I haven't played with it very much myself yet, but I'm pretty sure you can add some material to your style sheet to add a background to the comments div. They keep it transparent to try and play nice as much as possible.

Cyberbrethren :

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 19:31:24 +0000

Now, I reply to your reply. And note if you hover over my Gravatar, you can see additional information about me because I'm logged into IntenseDebate.

Ryan Markel : eBook Prices versus Print Prices - Are They Too High?

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:02:18 +0000

One of the difficulties that is facing publishing is that it doesn't have widespread piracy to force its hand. The eBook market is fractured in more ways than I can count, and there's no clear frontrunner. I think Epub will eventually dominate, but it will only do so when DRM has been pushed to the side. I absolutely believe that non-DRM is important for the future, and I've written at length since this post on especially NelsonFree and that unique approach to selling books. Michael Hyatt thinks that NelsonFree will be well-received enough by the customer to offset any sharing of the eBooks—something I'm certain is even part of the strategy. I don't think that paper books are going away. Perhaps the method for printing and/or distributing them will change, but I still foresee a very real desire for the printed word. It will be interesting to see how digital books continue to be received by the market and how they progress in terms of usability and availability. I do fear—as Steve Jobs has said—that "no one reads anymore."

Ryan Markel : eBook Prices versus Print Prices - Are They Too High?

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 04:49:07 +0000

Agreed. Do you think that a similar collapse/freaking-out of the industry like what happened in music pre-iTunes will happen to the publishing industry as well? It's that reaction that's led to even iTunes being DRM-free now. Until publishers can get on board with providing a beneficial cost/value proposition, I think digital books in particular have a rough climb ahead. What do you think of a program like NelsonFree? http://michaelhyatt.com/2009/03/nelsonfree-more-b...

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : The coming evangelical collapse #4

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:15:36 +0000

The best thing about being confessionally Lutheran is that you don't necessarily need to "seize the opportunity". You preach and teach the Gospel and God and his Word are the ones doing the seizing. I also agree with Matt above that one of the things Lutherans can certainly do better is teach their people what it means to be Lutheran. Sure, we do catechesis and teach the basics to our youth, but too many Lutheran churches fail to educate their adult laity in the Confessions that I'm not surprised many of them don't really understand what it means to be confessionally Lutheran.

Cranach: The Blog of Veith : The coming evangelical collapse #4

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:13:20 +0000

Time had something to say about this recently: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/articl...