TheIdeaMan

Christian Art Society site

Some years ago I had an idea for a "wikipedia" style site for Christian artists. The site would include encyclopedic info as well as articles, blog posts, and links to various Christian in the arts type information.

Other demands on my time have kept me busy elsewhere. That said, the domain name for this site expires on the 2nd of November of this year. If there is anyone out there interested in the site staying around (e.g. you are willing to add content and get others to do the same), please let me know.

The site as it currently stands is available at ChristianArtSociety.org.

Happy Father's Day

to me. :)

Stephanie and I found out two weeks ago that we were expecting--and we mean that in all the possible happy-young-couple-approximately-one-month-along ways.

Firefox 1.5 - Today's the day!

For all you Firefox user's out there:
Mozilla's Firefox 1.5 release imminent. In this case, "imminent" means tonight (afternoon Pacific Time).

This release holds worlds of promise for the future of web technology. Native support for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) will allow web site authors to use the SVG language to display two dimentional drawings (logos, maps). To the average user that may seem pointless since raster/bitmap formats can already display those kind of things fine. The advantage SVG has over a GIF or a JPEG image is that it can have other XML embedded in it. Imagine a map that actually has each address stored "under the hood" or an organizational flow chart that also carries the contact info for each employee. Those are some of the basic things that could be done with SVG. It's also highly scriptable (via JavaScript) and in many ways is seen as a possible replacement for Flash.

In addition to that wonderful piece of technology the CSS compatibility with the latest standards has improved, JavaScript now sports a 1.6 version number (and all the new features that comes with it), and the browsers a good bit faster when going backwards and forwards between places you've already been.

I've been using Firefox 1.5 since the Deer Park Alpha 1 stage, and have been pleased ever since.

I hope you'll all take the time to upgrade. I think it'll be well worth your time.

Firefox 1.5 Beta 2

Just one month after Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 was released, the Mozilla Foundation pumps out another Beta. As with the last Beta, Mozilla Firefox 1.5 Beta 2 will disable a good number of your extensions, but that's to be expected. One of the major things getting an overhaul in this next release is the extension API.

Happily it looks like Chris Pedrick's Web Developer extension remains compatible.

If you're upgrading from 1.5 Beta 1, I suggest using the "Help | Check for Updates..." menu option rather than downloading the full release. Either way should work fine, but if you use the "Check for Updates" option, you can see the new and improved update system. It's quite nice. :)

Now to restart Firefox and see how the upgrade goes. :)

SOS: New Orleans

If you have been looking for ways to help people in New Orleans after that Katrina disaster, please visit this site:

Better topics...

Not that I don't like technology mind you. It's just that it's been a rather long time since I've really blogged.

Remember the arts? Remember Christianity? Remember being concerned about Truth, finding it, and what we should do with it once we found it?

For the past few months (I'd say 8-10 at least) I've been disallusioned. Figuring that if things (dreams) didn't "just happen," they likely weren't ment to. If the churches seemed dead it was the fault of the faith. Skepticism reigned.

Graciously, God gave me the grace to quite blogging.

Thankfully, He didn't quite working on my sanctification.

The Arts:

Art should exist. We should be creative. That's not the question we need to be asking. And as Art is an exploration, it is a search for answers to its own questions, so to wait in search of answers before producing is to avoid art and its production (the means to finding out) forever.

God is the reason for Art. Art should be our pursuit of Him--an exploration of God. It should be everywhere: home, work, play, church.

Blogging:

I remember a time when I was helping people with their dreams by giving them giant reams of paper, a printing press, and a quality box of letters. Maybe if there are people still out there who need a voice, I could give them more letters...

Family:

I've heard the first year of marriage is the hardest. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. I'm only on month 14, so I can't really judge. I do know that a considerable amount of growth and some painful refining goes on as two sinners are graciously lumped into one person. Iron on iron creates a lot of sparks. To speed up the sharpening process, keep the metals in close contact for long periods of time occasionally adding intense periods of heat to keep them maliable.

Christ:

You ever learn about someone and find out later they've been a part of your life longer than you thought? There are friends I've made that after meeting them I found they had always been in my life. They knew many of my friends. They passed me a hundred times a day. We may have even chatted as strangers do when put together for short lengths of time, but the memory of those small meetings were distant if they hadn't already been shuffled in with everything else on the desk of my mind. And often, the friends I make already knows more about me than I ever would have imagined.

There are times Christ feels like just such a person. When I get to know Him more, I find He's been there all a long. He never left. He's known me since before I knew myself. I pass Him daily in the wind, but walk past, sometimes with a smile. I'm not always ungrateful for His constant kindness; it's that I'm preoccupied. Other things distract me.

When we meet again, I find I've missed Him more than I knew and that He's been closer to me, the entire time, than I ever expected.

"O Love that will not let me go...I dare not ask to fly from Thee."

Lover of my soul,
Chase me down if I ever leave.
Buy me back from my slavery.
Find me where I hide.

It's not that I intended too
It's just that things looked better
so I left

Greener pastures made me sick
But I enjoyed the pain
in a masocistic way

My own way would eat me alive
If you didn't make me Love you
I'd kill myself with my sinful pride
and find all my joy in the dung I eat

You knew better
always have
Buying me back from my slavery
Make me Love you as I know you can

It's not that I intended too
It's just that you know better
so I'm back

thank you

Ismo's 8th life

The Ismo PHP Framework is being resurected (hopefully). It's long been one of the frameworks I've been most interested in. However, due to other obligations the original developer, Joakim Andersson, was not able to continue it's development.

On the 23rd of May 2005, Joakim put a plea on the web site for a new Ismo development manager. So... I offered my services and now hope to continue the development of Ismo for as long as I can.

If anyone who wanders through here is interested in helping, please feel free to comment below or e-mail me at theideaman[at]sourceforget[dot]net.

WordPress 1.5 released

WordPress, one of the other blogging systems I follow (and host), has gone from 1.2 to 1.5 today. The version number jump was well reasoned.

The new version comes with plenty of new features: improved comment moderation, manage page (non-journal content; e.g. "about me"), a dashboard, and the code base shrank in size (following their "Code is Poetry" mantra).

I've pondered switching Ben's Friends over to WordPress. The only hold up is that lack of support for multiple blogs (which is a rather pivital problem). You can technically only run one blog per WP installation/database. There are ways to hack it to work with more, but then you're stuck with nasty upgrade/patch problems down the road. Official multiblog functionallity is planned, but it won't likely happen until 2.0 is released (no date given that I know of). We'll see.

The WP developers are all rather well known, standards focused kind of folk, so their in product is definitely one of the best blogging software packages available.

IE 7 announced

Internet Explorer 7 was announced recently by Mr. Gates & Co. The article linked to above details what little information was given in the announcement as well as links to a few reactions (some by Mozilla Foundation folk).

From what little can be gleaned at this point IE 7 is being pushed as a giant security fix. There's been little (if any) talk of improving the antiquated rendering engine. We'll see if IE 7 is merely an attempt to get some press and retrieve some of the recent Firefox converts, or if (which is very doubtful) Microsoft actually cares about supporting standardized improvements to the Internet.

I guess we'll have to wait until the beta's hit the streets this summer.

In the meantime Browse Happy and/or Spread Firefox.

Wedding Photos

For those who haven't swung by CrazyDreamers.com in a while, I wanted to announce that our wedding photos are up. We created a little gallery/PayPal store for those who would like to order online. If you're not able to or would like some other way of ordering, please let me know by either commenting here or e-mailing me.

I hope everyone enjoys the photos.

Specail thanks to Joy for the great photos.

The best thing since ground beans

There's a new coffee at Port City Java that is excellent. It's known as "Dark Star" and is one of their free trade, organic coffees.

If you're near downtown Greenville, you should check it out.

I drink mine with a good bit of half-and-half and smidge of sugar in it. My wife, recommends getting it as a cafe au lait breve (half and half instead of milk).

PortCityJava new location

For those Greenvillians who like coffee, come check out the new Port City Java location on Mills Ave (also known as Church street before it crosses Augusta). If you're familiar with where Church street is, just take that on past downtown until it crosses Augusta. At the next light after the Augusta intersection you'll see The Lofts (some high price flats in the old Mill's Mill). The new Port City Java is on your left. You can turn left at the light (which can be trickier), or you can go strait through and take a left after the light (the second is often better).

Right now (I'm there), it's a bit empty because today's their first day. If you get here before 1pm today you'll likely see me perched at one of the high tables enjoy some great organic coffee. You may also recognize someone behind the counter. :)

Big BJ Changes

Just found out about some big administrative changes at my alma mater.

There's a press release of sorts available online: BJU ~ Bob Jones University Announces Three Key Administrative Changes.

A short summary is below:

1. Dr. Bob III is retiring and Stephen Jones is taking his place.
2. Dr. Bob Wood is retiring and Al Carper (current Business Faculty) is taking his place.
3. Dr. Phil Smith is retiring and Dr. David Fisher (current principal of the Academy) is taking his place.

The changes were announced today in chapel.

Famous Friend

A mutual friend of many of the bloggers at Ben's Friends is making an appearance in the current edition of Design Graphics.

Sadly on the site all they have is his name at the top of the list of Contents. I'm sure the magazine gives him more press. :)

To see his work head over to the Portland Studios web site

BBH site updated...

The BigBlueHat site has been getting rather dusty over the past few months since it underwent a major redesign.

If you visit the front page of the site, you'll see a link to three new portfolio pieces. The content is soon to be rewritten by our inspiration manager. For now it's just the quick informative stuff written by the designer. And you know how boring that text can be... ;)

New Home

This is my new blogging home.

HatShop was closed because I liked the name so much I decided to make it a trademark of BigBlueHat. 8o) More on that later. I also ran off with the motto, "dreams manufactured here" to use with BBH as well.

I've been out of blogging so long I feel like a newby.

Plan:
- read more
- blog more
- live more
(not necessarily in that order)