Philip and Jenny Cain: InspiredMumblings

When I first got my iPhone 3G, battery life was pathetic. I’d have to recharge the dang thing before I even got home from work. The 2.1 software update promised us better 3G reception, fewer dropped calls, but most importantly, “significantly better battery life for most users”. I had my doubts, especially since the 2.0.2 software update didn’t change much of anything.

Well, I’ve finally gone through a full battery cycle using the new software. I’ve been able to get 5.5 hours of usage and 30 hours of standby. For me, “usage” includes a ton of web browsing and using 3rd party apps, as well as talking and emailing. For this cycle, I went in and out of WiFi networks, with 3G (not EDGE/2G) enabled the entire time. My screen brightness was set to about 1/3 (as usual).

I’d say 5.5 hours / 30 hours is a pretty sweet battery cycle. That’s much longer usage than my MacBook Pro battery ever lasted (although standby hours on a MacBook Pro are much higher because of sleep mode). Based on the Apple-provided tech specs, the iPhone 3G battery is living up to its name.

Okay, so I can’t describe how cool my new iPhone is. The only bad thing is that not all apps have a landscape keyboard, including the new Wordpress app. Thus today’s post is super short.

Should companies be immune from complaints? Cory Doctorow put together an answer to that question. Cory is one of my new heroes, I think.

I’m always astounded by this reaction. Companies aren’t charities. They’re businesses. It doesn’t matter why they’re offering an unacceptable product — all that matters is that the product is unacceptable. Companies aren’t five-year-olds bringing their fingerpaintings home from kindergarten. We don’t have to put on a brave smile and tell them, “that’s just lovely dear,” and display their wares proudly on the fridge. I don’t care if Apple adds DRM because Lars from Metallica has incriminating photos of Steve Jobs, I don’t care if Sony BMG put a rootkit on its CDs because they were duped into it by a trickster spirit that appeared to their technologists in a dream. I care whether their product is worth my money. It’s the market — there’s no A for Effort.

Even weirder is the idea that companies shouldn’t be criticized because in a market, you should just take your business elsewhere. Free markets thrive on good information. For a market to function, customers need to have good information about which goods are worth buying and which ones should be avoided — that’s why we complain in public, to help companies make better decisions.

Link to article (via BoingBoing)

UPDATE: There was a video here, but I can’t seem to get it working. Basically, Delicious Library is a sweet Mac app that can keep track of your DVDs, books, etc… and it can scan barcodes from your iSight camera!

Link

Obligatory Apology
(thanks to Matt, btw, for the update post format I’ve borrowed)
Wow, I’ve become fantastically awful at blogging regularly. I hear that the less you blog, the more likely your friends will remove you from their blogrolls and feedreaders. Hey, at least we’ve seen some pic postings from Jenny at various big events that happened in the last few months!

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Grr, sorry about that, Lili decided that my keyboard was the best place to get my attention (and she’s actually right - cats are too smart).

Decorating is for the SWEDISH and their IKEA oddities
In case you’re interested, Jenny and I are doing well. Jenny’s house decorating progress is 3/7 (office, bedroom, living room) and she’s planning to tackle the bathroom next. I try to stay out of the way; I have an opinion about everything, which is decidedly less helpful than a simple “looks great!” Besides, I’ve determined that my “home improvement” efforts are better spent outside the house. The rafters and a few walls could use a repaint/reseal and that’s something that actually bothers me. That’s not to say that painting a house would be in my top 10 list of fun things to do while bored, though.

World of Warcraft
We’ve adjusted our TV time in the evenings to playing World of Warcraft instead. Jenny’s Blood Elf hunter Jenivya finally hit level 70 (alongside my second level 70, Avastus the plays-with-fire mage). We both play a decent amount but I suppose you could consider us casual players, as neither of us are really into the end-game raiding content. We did join Resurgence, a raiding guild, just for fun. Jimmy, Christy, Tristan and Katie are to blame for that. Okay, enough about WoW. Hopefully it’s not as controversial as politics or as mind-numbing as Linux.

*pauses briefly to smack Lili off the keys again*

I Control All You See and Hear
My role at work got shifted around a bit. To make room for a full-time pastor for Pantano’s “elements” service, I left the team and took up the Audio/Visual Ministry full time. I’m now responsible for pretty much all technical equipment owned by Pantano, with the exception of the theatrical/intelligent lighting system. I supposedly manage a team of sound volunteers, but we’ll see how that goes as I’m actually better at communicating with machines than people. I also took on an expanded role as Chief Web Ninja, aka the Website Lead Engineer, aka the guy who does all the coding. Here’s my shameless plug for the recent (Jan ‘08) overhaul/update of pccwired.org. And yes, if you find it, I’m using a Simpsons Avatar on my church staff profile page. The perks of being a Web Ninja.

Speaking of web updates, InspiredMumblings is due (like two years ago) for a design update. I think I have some time in the next few weeks to work on it. I’ve been picturing some sort of circular layout, done completely in CSS. It’s probably never been done before (which is the real appeal). I’ll definitely head back to the garden for creative inspiration.

Church Management Software
Does anybody know of a really good church management software solution? Pantano uses ACS, Fellowship One is way out of our budget, and we’re eyeballing another system (which I won’t name since we’re still considering it). My compulsive, interface perfectionist side is whispering things to me about the usability of this system. You don’t need training to use Google Docs or Google Groups or Facebook. Why can’t someone just design a small group manager as bonehead easy-to-use as Facebook Groups? IT’S NOT THAT HARD FOLKS and I’d do it myself if I had time. Honestly, it’s surprising to see how many web-based software companies are still living in the Internet stone age.

Yes, we want anyone to have the power to create new groups. Yes, people should be able to join groups without moderation or intervention. And no, privacy is not an issue, except for with those paranoid tin-foil-hatters. So please, ChMS designers, give us more social networking options. Where’s the Web 2.0 in ChMS? Maybe tucked away somewhere between the extended training sessions and the “consulting” fees…

All your church are belong to us. /endrant

DISCLAIMER: Although I have seen and used the interfaces of many ChMS systems, I haven’t ever had the chance to play with Fellowship One. So if you or your church is considering a move to Fellowship One, try not to take my criticism out of context. You’ll note that the above rant is specifically directed towards the “unnamed” system we’re considering (not Fellowship One). Of the systems I have had the chance to use and see, I firmly believe they don’t have a grasp on what software usability means. Of course, who am I but a lowly self-appointed software critic?

Apparently, text messaging is now essential to stay in communication with friends and family. I was asked this morning how I survive in this world without text messaging. My knowing that my brother was in town all hinged on a text message!! We actually have that featured turned off. We neither receive or send, because we are charged just to read a text message.

It used to be that having a cell phone was essential to communication with friends and family. Now it has moved on to text messaging. Hmmm. Friends and family, please remember that we can’t receive text messages, and therefore we need a phone call or email.

However, I did just call to find out what it would cost to add the luxury of text messaging onto our plan. It will cost us $10 more a month ($5 a phone) to add that feature on. Geez, that’s a little pricey. So, no text messaging for now.

“In all this time, I’ve yet to find a good way to convey to the non-technical public how well and truly screwed up we presently are, six years after the Florida recount. So now it’s time to hit the panic button: In this article, I’m going to show you how to steal an election.” from How to steal an election by hacking a vote over at ArsTechnica.

This guy reveals the relatively easy methods of hacking around e-voting machines and stealing elections. A must read for all geeks, conspiracy theorists, and concerned voters.

via Slashdot