4th
JAN
Tweet Benefits
Filed under Technology, Web
@timage bloged today about Figuring Out The Benefits Of Twitter. Here’s what he has to say about how Twitter can add value:
Like I said earlier, there are more things to post on twitter than your current status. I’ve read post links to all kinds of interesting articles. I’ve seen people ask questions. I’ve seen people provide answers. People share what’s going on at events in real time. One thing I learned early on is that some folks are only interested in trying to get something from others on Twitter. But there are quite a few people who are there to add value to others. In doing so, they find that there is value added to them. I’m trying to be one of the voices on Twitter that adds something meaningful and fun to the conversation.
So, if you have been wondering about Twitter, give his post a read. Once you sign up you can find me @jschwanz.
Tags: Twitter
30th
DEC
Cheap Music
Filed under Music
I’ve seen two links to the Amazon MP3 Store today for cheap music. I figured I’d pass them along to whoever will read this.
The first is The 99 Most Essential Beethoven Masterpieces for $2. Yes, you read that correctly, $2. And they aren’t just little 1:30 recordings, they are full length recordings.
The second is 50 albums for $5 each. Albums are from such artists as B.B. King, Coldplay, Beck, Radiohead, etc.
Enjoy the cheap, DRM-free tunes.
Tags: Add new tag, Amazon MP3 Store, Beethoven, cheap music
22nd
DEC
Christy’s Snow Park
Filed under Being a Kid, Family
So in the midst of “Arctic Blast 2008″ we decided to get stranded with my family up at my sisters house. We came over on Saturday morning, and as the snow piled up we decided to have some fun.
Their deck is a few feet up from the ground, so we piled the snow up, and covered the steps to make a sledding slope. We also packed down a “trail” across the length of the deck. The trail starts on top of some deck benches, traverses the deck, down the stairs, and across the yard. Enjoy the footage.
Flickr Video
Tags: Arctic Blast 2008, sledding, snow
30th
OCT
Flying Famous
Filed under Being a Kid, Grown Up Stuff
Up until today I’ve only been on the same flight as one public personality — that I’m aware of. At some point in the early 1990s we were flying back to Cleveland to see my family back there. On our Portland to Chicago leg of the trip we were on the same flight as the piano playing power forward for the Blazers, Buck Williams. I sheepishly asked for his autograph, and he reluctantly obliged.
I went to Boise for work on Wednesday afternoon, and flew back home this afternoon. As I walked onto the plane, and scanned those already seated, I happened to see the current (D) US Senator from Oregon, Ron Wyden. No autographs this time, but I did have to smile when I saw him talking on his iPhone 
Tags: Buck Williams, flying, Ron Wyden
27th
OCT
The Politics of Christianity
Filed under God Type Things, Grown Up Stuff, Politics
Tony Campolo was the speaker at this year’s Yearly Meeting for the Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends, and I happened to be the one responsible for the live streaming of it (you can still go watch the video on the site). He spoke three times, but there was one topic that has stuck with me — he talked about the distinction between power and authority. The origins of the topic come from Max Weber’s The Theory of Social and Economic Organization.
He defines power as the ability to coerce, to use force, even if you don’t use coercion. He uses the example of nuclear weapons, or even a traffic cop. Even though we haven’t nuclear bombs since WWII, they serve as a coercive deterrent. Even though he hasn’t pulled his weapon, I know the cop has some beyond the sidearm on his belt.
With power, you obey me because you have to. With authority, you obey me because you want to. Authority is gained by loving sacrifice. Tony goes on to share a story about Mother Theresa, as an example of one with authority.
All of this preface leads up to this quote from Tuesday evening. He leads into this by talking about the three temptations that Jesus faced.
Jesus rejected economic power [turning stones into bread], religious power [throwing himself off the temple], and certainly political power [lands promised by Satan]. That’s very important right now, because we’re facing an election. And Christians are easily diluted into thinking they can create the Kingdom of God through a political process. “If we could just elect our people to office. Godly people to office. Then we can make America a great country again.”
Knock it off. I mean, the reality is, if getting political power would be the way to change the world into what God wants it to be, Jesus would have come as a Caesar instead of a baby in a manger. You feel like thinking, saying to these people who say “If we just have enough power we could straighten out America. If we just have enough power we can get rid of all the evils!” Geez. Why didn’t Jesus think of that.
I’ve been trying to unpack and digest this for three months now, and I’m still working the big bites out, so getting to the smaller, more detailed pieces is still a ways off. I’m trying to re-learn what it means politically to be a Christian, and it’s not easy. Shocker, I know.
Tags: authority, NWYM, power, Tony Campolo
12th
OCT
Economic Cycles
Filed under Grown Up Stuff, Politics
I heard an interview with David Rothkopf about his article in the Washington Post, and he talked about how there is somewhat of a cycle to economic policy. That’s started me thinking about economic policy, and where we are going to go in the next few years.
The last time the US was in this bad of a financial situaion is when Reaganomics came in and turned the economy around. Reduced government spending and reduced government regulation were probably the two major initiatives of Reaganomics.
Before the early 1980s, the last major economic situation was the Great Depression, and it was FDR’s New Deal. A program highlighted by government programs like Social Security, TVA and Timberline Lodge, among other things.
So in the 1920s the economy tanks, and government regulation and social programs are credited with reviving the US (and world) economy. In the 1970s the economy tanks again, and the government de-regulates previously set regulations, and the economy is revived.
Once again we find ourselves in a failing world economy, that has been corrupted by corporate greed in the financial markets. I think we’ve probably hit the turning point in the cycle, and are about to head into a period of increased government regulation and social programs.
If history shows us anything is that governments come and go. The Roman Empire was going to last forever, but then it didn’t. I don’t want to sound like the world governments are going to collapse, because I don’t expect that to happen in my lifetime. I do think we are going to see some major shifts on par with the New Deal, though.
Tags: economy
11th
JUN
A Little Sprinkle For Your Yard
Filed under Grown Up Stuff
Last summer our HOA decided to start enforcing the rules, and they started cracking down on brown lawns. I did my best to keep the lawn green with typical sprinklers, but there were two big issues with it:
- I had to remember to turn the sprinklers on
- I had to remember to turn the sprinklers off
There were nights where I meant to turn the sprinklers on, but then the night just disappears and it’s too late to do it. And there were nights where I’d turn the sprinklers on, but realize 2-3 hours later that I forgot to turn them off. Enough with that.
Earlier in the Spring I started working with Alan on a design (I helped measure, he did the real design), and we set Memorial Day weekend as the target for install. Saturday went well; had great weather for it. We started back up on Sunday afternoon, but it had unfortunately started raining overnight, and everything was muddy. Monday morning saw us take it closer to completion, burying most of the pipe and setting heads in place, all while still in the rain.
Two-and-a-half weeks later I just tonight got the last technical piece complete; the timer is now set! I didn’t quite know how hard it would be to do this project going into it, and if I didn’t have Alan to hold my hand through it I would have been lost.
I still need to spread grass seed over the trench lines, and possibly touch up some trench coverings a bit more, but I’m done for now. Hopefully the HOA will stay off my back this year.
Tags: sprinklers, yard
7th
MAY
JASon Lately
You might be wondering what I’ve been up to in recent days/weeks/months. So do I. Just a couple of things to mention today.
Back in the fall I started a job split, keeping half of my old job in Admissions, and picking up some responsibilities in the IT (Administrative Computing side) office. The university has entered a new software implementation, which is chewing up most of my time. It’s very energizing, and very tiring, all at the same time. Because of my job split I’m the functional lead (representing Admissions) and the technical lead (representing IT). I’m going to some training in California next week, so things are really in swing now.
A new, exciting outlet has started for me. I asked a group of guys if they wanted to co-author a new blog with me, found at wearebutmen.com. How did I come up with that name? See here. What’s it all about? See here. It’s still pretty young, but there has already been some lively discussion in the comments. Stop by and look around sometime.
20th
APR
All I Have Are Questions
Filed under God Type Things
So tonight in our small group it was my turn to share some of my spiritual journey. As I’ve been doing my mental preparation for it over the last couple of weeks I’ve been looking at things from my past with my present-day glasses on.
The more I looked at a situation from 15+ years ago I recognized similarities in some present-day situations. Talk about an eye-opening realization. For someone who likes to know things, and have answers for even the most obscure questions, I have no answers, but I have a bunch of my own questions.
Disclaimer: These are honest questions. I do not intend to question anyone’s service to the church. These questions come from a desire to understand.
The biggest question in my mind right now is what does “worship” really mean? What does it look like? I know what Google says worship is, but those are just words. I know I experienced it this morning when Julie Anderson led us in song during Open Worship. The problem was that I was so excited to sense and recognize the worship happening that I almost missed participating in it. I’m silly.
The second big question, which is a follow-up to the first, is what is the point to church? Why is it that we get together for the “worship service” every week? Is it bad that I believe the purpose of the worship service is not to make me feel good, and get me energized to go out and face the “evils” that the week is going to throw at me? If it’s called a worship service, why is it used for teaching? I don’t know if I’ve ever felt worshipful listening to a sermon. Teaching and preaching is important, don’t get me wrong, but why do we treat the 30-45 minutes singing spent on Sunday morning as sufficient? Is singing the only “acceptable” way to worship?
I’m not trying to say that God does not respond during worship, and you should leave church feeling empty. What I’m saying is why do we expect the act of going to church to be for our benefit? Are we so consumeristic that we look for what we can take away from our time in the pews rather than focusing on being in the presence of the almighty God? On the flip-side, we can’t be so complacent that we don’t recognize when God responds to us. So where’s the point of balance?
See, I just have questions.
Tags: worship
19th
APR
Obama Facebook Ad
Filed under Politics, Technology
I’ve seen this pay-per-click advertisement on Facebook a handful of times over the last couple of days. All I have to say is his campaign understands new media very well.
Tags: Barack Obama, Facebook
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My Twitter Feed
- jschwanz: tons of NASA links on that list, very cool to see them embrace it January 4, 2009
- jschwanz: list of gov't persons/offices on twitter http://bit.ly/RvYZ January 4, 2009
- jschwanz: Tweet Benefits: @timage bloged today about Figuring Out The Benefits Of Twitter. Here’s what he has to say.. http://tinyurl.com/78f5ev January 4, 2009
- jschwanz: I really like WordPress 2.7, the changes from 2.6 are excellent; quick edit and FTP-less plugin install are my two favorites at the moment January 4, 2009
- jschwanz: @timage nice post on using Twitter January 4, 2009