Can I just say that I love things being automated so I don’t have to think about them? I love the fact that a computer sitting in my basement will look for TV shows that I tell it I like and record them for me without me having to think about it. I’m also loving having a sprinkler that turns on and off all by itself. Another thing that is automated for me is the gathering of information across the internet through RSS feeds and Google reader/iTunes.

Now, there are plenty of things in life that just can’t be automated and I’m not sure if I would want them to be. What things do you automate in your life? What things do you wish could be more easily automated?

I have to say that this is definitely not an original thought and certainly didn’t come from me. I was listening to This Week in Media and heard something that rang true with what we’ve been talking about at work lately in our production meetings. That is the fact that we should all learn to take some constructive criticism about the content that we produce. David Stripinis made the point that all people in LA tend to do is tell each other how great their ideas are because that’s what they want to hear themselves. While it is all well and good to encourage people, his point was that you should tell someone honestly what you think about their work so that they can make it even better. Most truly great artists will tell you that feel like their art is never finished and often work on things almost to the point of abandonment because they just don’t feel like it could ever be good enough to be a finished piece.

Now, I will say that it is never easy to take criticism on something that you have created. Not only that, but it’s often embarrassing to show a work to somebody before you feel like you have smoothed out all of the rough edges. However, it may be beneficial to spread your idea around to people you know will give you honest feedback while it’s still in the rough stages. That way you can steer the direction in the right path early on before it becomes too hard to change it.

As a side note, I think that anyone interested in media (new or old) as a business should listen to the TWiM netcast that I mentioned above. It will help you think outside the box a little bit as most of the people on the show are media pioneers in one way or another.

Thoughts…comments…constructive criticisms (this means that if there is something you think should be changed you give a suggestion for how to change it, not just say you don’t like it)?

…sick of hearing about Obama, Palin, and the chrome browser? OK, maybe it’s just me, but those seem to be the only topics on being talked about on twitter these days. You know, I’m actually starting to enjoy conversation occasionally about Ohio State football in RL (Real Life) because it seems like it’s talked about less than these subjects. Or, maybe I’m just an internet addict. Regardless, I think I’ve become very apathetic about politics this year. It could be like Christmas for me. Every other year I feel really excited about Christmas. Last year for instance I didn’t want to put up any lights at all. This year, I’m thinking it would be cool to rig up a whole automated display. OK, maybe I’m not that ambitious, but I told Leigh that we’re going to make a special Christmas music playlist this year. It’s definitely going to have Christmas Time in Dun Morogh on it. Anyway, I was thinking that maybe politics is like my fickle Christmas excitement. One election year I’m fired up about it and the next I just want it to be over with. Or maybe it’s just that it seems like all the candidates really suck this year.

And, the chrome browser? Well, I just think it’s crazy sometimes how these fads pop up on the internet and it seems like everyone is following them. I’m guilty of this too. Whatever other people are talking about, I want to be in on as well.

Hey, you know all those little things that you keep saying you’ll do someday? Start working on them now. I’m finding that it’s so easy to just sit down at the computer in the evening and not really do anything…just read other people’s blogs, read the endless posts that come through the various microblogging services, catch up on the latest videos from Revision3, etc… I’ve been finding though that just doing a little bit at a time and keeping a project moving forward can be significantly different than not doing anything on it for a while. I’ll give you some examples of what I’ve been trying to keep moving forward recently. Well, you are reading the first example. I got out of the habit of blogging, but am trying to now get out at least one post a week. Example #2: I put the MythTV computer all back together. After spending some time building myself a (much needed) new computer last weekend, I figured it wouldn’t be too bad to just put this one that had been sitting in parts back together for the time being. I can always finish the paint job later. It looks pretty sweet as it is now though being all black with the white LEDs instead of blue ones. I guess I was a little motivated for that since The Office will be coming back on the airwaves shortly. Grrr…going back to watching traditional TV with rigid formats seems kinda archaic though (even with a DVR) after three months of watching internet only video. Or, maybe the time format just seems all too familiar now after seeing it so frequently in MC at work. Regardless, enough about TV already!

So, if you are feeling overwhelmed with all that is going on, just keep some forward motion. It doesn’t have to be a lot (there may be other things – like running for me – that tend to take a good deal of the rest of your time), but just keep them rolling. As my neighbor used to say before he moved to Colorado (well, he probably still says it out there), “Put some wheels on it and move that sucker!”. This is what we are trying to do at church. Just keep a little bit of forward momentum in the areas that we have been given responsibility. Who knows, maybe over time results will come. It’s being faithful in the little things that will eventually allow you to be faithful in the big areas of life. Wait, isn’t there a verse about that? Google tells me that it’s Matthew 25:21 “…You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things…”. So, keep on rolling even if the progress is slow. You won’t regret the time spent.

• 1. You liked to explain how the 8088 was better than the 8086 because of its math co-processor
• 2. You often corrected people about the fact that Doom was not the first 3-D shooter (Wolfenstein was) and in fact was really only 2.5-D
• 3. You played Duke Nukem when it was a side-scroller
• 4. You spent hours installing Slackware linux on your parents computer just because you could
• 5. It upset you when people called 3.5″ floppy’s “hard disks” because they weren’t as floppy as the 5.25″
• 6. You laughed at the Apple users and then decided the Mac was actually decent product once the OS was based on Unix
• 7. The Texas Instruments calculators were little more to you than a platform for game development
• 8. You had to explain to people what “online” meant and why your phone line was busy all evening long
• 9. IRC – what more can I say about that?
• 10. You were scouring the internet for MP3s before Napster or P2P networks were conceived

OK, so maybe these are mostly my computer experiences from the 90′s. Looking back, these don’t seem all that nerdy or 1337, but at the time they felt that way, and it’s fun to be a bit nostalgic. Feel free to share some of your computer memories from the past 18 years in the comments.

I’ve noticed that people often like to assign human attributes to the machines they are around every day. For instance, if their computer is having problems, they’ll say, “see, my computer has a hard time coming in on Monday morning’s too.” Or, they’ll make the machines talk to them. Someone was once showing me what happened when they started up a motorcycle that was hooked up to a battery charger. The charger started blinking and beeping, and this person said, look, it’s saying “I see a drop in power and need to start charging again”, as if it could actually speak these words. Sometimes people like to describe these machines in human terms. For instance, “If you unplug that network cable, this guy over here will start shouting, ‘Hey, I can’t talk to that guy over there’ and this one will start freaking out and say, ‘What did you do to my connection?’”. We like to name our automobiles and plead passionately with them when they won’t start in the wintertime. We protect our iPods and brag to others about them as if they just made the 3rd grade honor role. Ahhh…machines. Are they just some sick distraction, or have they really become like family in our lives?

This summer so far has been amazing. Not only has the weather been wonderful (as soon as it gets hot and humid, some rain comes to cool things off and keep the lawn green), but it has been an encouraging time as well. Being involved at the C.R.A.C.K. House has been an uplifting experience so far and I learn something new there every week. Work has been very low stress for me. I’m slowly getting the hang of how to enjoy the simple things in life: Coffee. Walking the dog. Grilling out. Mowing the lawn. Coffee. Reading.

The only thing that has been a little bit frustrating lately is running. Just when I start to feel like I’m getting in good shape, I have a day like today where I can’t meet my goal and end up hurting myself by pushing too hard. However, I was reminded today that we can’t do things in our own strength, but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Summer time is also a time to dream and be inspired. In 2006, Leigh and I spent a week on the beach in Rhode Island. We didn’t know at the time what would come of the many ideas and thoughts we had on that vacation, but they were dreams nonetheless. At the time, we were both obsessed with the prospect of making films. I had written most of a short film called Soul Safari (which we are still planning to make someday). Although we have not made any major motion pictures yet (or any motion pictures for that matter), this did eventually turn into the idea of doing a video podcast which we have been doing about once a month for the past 8 months or so. It’s given both Leigh and myself a chance to learn how to use a camera, frame shots, edit, etc… We’re definitely still learning a lot, but we’re a little farther along than we were two years ago. Since Rhode Island, I’ve also taken a job at a production studio, and even though I’m not specifically doing video production work, I’ve learned alot from being around it and getting to know people in the film/video business.

In Rhode Island, we spent our days on the beach and most of our evenings in the small town of Westerly. One highlight was a coffee shop/theater called the Revival House. It was there that we watched the 2005 Academy Award nominated animated shorts. One short in particular stuck out to me at the time: The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello. I just really liked the style, but I wasn’t sure exactly why. Well, recently both Leigh and myself have been enjoying dipping our toes in a cultural subgenre called Steampunk which is quite similar to the style depicted in Jasper Morello.

Some ideas and dreams don’t come to fruition however…at least not in the way expected. One day in Rhode Island, feeling sunburned and seeking shelter, we stumbled into Perks and Corks, another coffee/wine shop in Westerly. Since we were the only customers at the time, we got a chance to talk to the owner for a while. He told us about all the locals in the area and how many families had lived in the mansions there for generations while never working a day of their lives. I guess just the interest made from the founding father’s money is more than enough to pay the bills for these people. In addition to going on about these people, the owner also told us how he started the coffee shop (which I don’t really remember now) and how great it was to live near the beach. Somehow or another, later that fall Leigh and I noticed there was a coffee shop for sale near us (back in Columbus) and got the idea in our heads that maybe we could actually own and operate the place. It didn’t turn out to be quite as good of a deal as it first seemed, but soon our friend Jim had found another shop for us to purchase that appeared to be an absolute steal. We and another couple actually made an offer on it, but were relieved when it was rejected as we thought about how much work it would actually be. So, instead of making drinks at our own coffee shop, Leigh now makes mocha’s at home for the two of us, and occasionally at the Acoustic Cafe as well. And of course, we still drink lots of coffee (I love coffee!) when possible.

So, what are the dreams of this summer you may ask? I certainly dream of moving out near a coast someday (east or west, it doesn’t matter). This is one that may never happen, but is fun to think about. I also still dream of making a movie someday (or at least being a part of making one happen). I’ve also been thinking about making some flash games just for fun. You can check out one that I made for work recently on the Taylor’s Attic website. Something else I would like to do is to come up with some interesting content for live video streaming and actually do it on a regular basis. Any suggestions?

And last, but not least, I want to keep in mind that God may have a totally different plan for my life than I have, so above all these other plans, I’d like to know and follow whatever He has in store for me.