A picture is worth a thousand words. And when a thousand words aren’t enough, we use Instagram.
People of my generation (myself included) can’t seem to post a picture without putting a fancy filter on it. Whether it’s through Instagram, Facebook or Twitter apps, or even just on the iPhone itself, no picture feels complete without adding a little tint to it.
Why is that? Why don’t we think a normal picture is good enough anymore?
The first thing I did when the power went out was go to my phone.
It’s amazing. Even just a few years ago I would not have had the luxury of another electronic plaything to occupy my brain while the power was out.
But during The Great Ice Storm of 2014, less power at home just meant more power for our mobile devices.
For many the power outages and school closings were an excuse to spend hours playing the latest game craze Flappy Bird.
Of course, if you hadn’t already downloaded Flappy Bird, you were out of luck. And not because the wifi was down. Continue reading
RadioShack is a brave company.
They’ve heard all the jokes we’ve been making at their expense. They’ve seen the tweets and business articles wondering how they’re still in business. They’ve seen their profits dwindle over the past decade.
So, with a chance to make a splash during the big game this year, RadioShack did this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUwwZHdx6SU
(Click Here if you can’t see the video above)
After years of irrelevance, RadioShack embraced the criticism about being outdated and vowed to make a change. And they did it in front of the largest television audience of all time.
That, my friends, is bravery. Continue reading
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35)
The video store is dead.
This is not really news. The video store has been on life support for years. And in some rural communities Mom and Pop movie rental shops are still hanging in there.
But after years of fighting a terminal, self-inlicted disease, Blockbuster finally decided to shutter its final 300 stores. Continue reading
“I’ve got next on Rock Band!”
When I first stepped onto the job as youth pastor at The Hill Baptist Church five years ago, this was the call I heard every time a student would arrive at church.
Literally every Sunday and Wednesday before and after church we would spend at least an hour playing “Livin’ On A Prayer” and “Alive” (or at least pretending like we were playing them). We themed 2 Lock-Ins after our Rock Band and Guitar Hero addiction.
I even spent one Saturday afternoon with two students playing through the ultimate setlist of every song on Rock Band 2 in one sitting. We played through half of the setlist before I accidentally tripped over the power cord to the Xbox 360. So we turned the machine back on, started from the beginning, and played through it all again.
Rock Band and Guitar Hero were obsessions for this group of students and for so many teenagers across the world. Which is kind of crazy, considering how nonexistent Rock Band and Guitar Hero are just a few years later. Continue reading
A thumbs up. A like. A checkmark. A retweet. A gold star.
Seems like we’re constantly seeking a seal of approval. No matter if it’s a big budget movie, a work of art, a Youtube video, or just a simple Facebook post, our work is not validated unless it bears some mark of approval.
On the flipside, it can take years to recover from a bad review. Some poorly reviewed films go on to cult classic status. While others never do and dwindle in the $5 bargain bin at WalMart.
A bad review can go a long way in sinking movie. In recent years After Earth, John Carter, and Battleship have all been sunk by poor early buzz.
What would you do if God reviewed you? How would it influence your opinion of yourself, or your idea of purpose? Continue reading
The dream of my childhood is alive on Netflix.
When I was a kid I used to fantasize about watching any television show you wanted whenever you wanted. In my head I dreamed of a network called “The Channel” – an on demand wonderland where viewers weren’t subject to schedules or programmers, able to watch any episode at any time.
I wasn’t the only one dreaming back then. The technology I once only imagined is now available not only through Netflix but Hulu, Youtube, Amazon, On Demand, and countless other streaming services.
The archives of television (and film and music) history are at your command. If you want to watch that episode of “Sanford and Son” where Fred thinks B.B. King is trying to kill him, you could right this second.
Take a moment to be in awe of this. Less than a decade ago if you missed your favorite tv show the night it aired (and you forgot to set your VCR) then you simply missed it. Continue reading
This year parents across the country will have to make one of the most important decisions of their lives for their children:
Xbox One or Playstation 4?
When the two next-gen systems are released in the fall gamers will be divided on which is the superior system. Eager fans will camp outside electronic stores to be the first on the block to have their preferred console.
It happened with the Xbox 360 and the PS3. And the original Xbox and PS2. And so on and so on.
It will happen again for whatever the next great advancement in gaming technology will be when these systems get discarded. Yes, even the Xbox One and PS4, which seem revolutionary and impossible to top at this point, will eventually become paperweights at the feet of the next great system.
Perhaps, though, for one child this year one game on one system will have as profound an impact on their lives as the video game I wanted more than any other when I was young. Continue reading
Last week I unplugged for a few days with my extended family. We rented out a rustic log cabin – on Fernandina Beach in Florida.
While spending time with relatives in our untraditional abode I really tried to unplug myself from my iPhone. It was a struggle.
The first couple of days at the beach I found it impossible to not worry about email, Facebook, Twitter and the many balls in the air I had going at the church.
It really wasn’t until the day before I headed I home when I really began to swim away from my phone, only to dive right back in as soon as I shook the sand from my flip-flops.
Do you ever struggle with unplugging? Our phones, jobs, and social media profiles make it nearly impossible to truly break free from the connections which clutter our minds.
I wonder though if unplugging is all it’s cracked up to be. I think we are actually created to be plugged in. Sometimes we just get our cords attached to the wrong outlets. Continue reading
I love everything about my iPhone. Everything except Autocorrect.
You might think I would love a feature which automatically corrects my typing. I’ll admit it really is amazing how accurate autocorrect can be in fixing my myriad mistakes. Sometimes I can’t believe how intuitive my phone can be in figuring out what I’m trying to type.
What I don’t love is how much I depend on autocorrect. I’m afraid of how desperately I need it to fix my mistakes.
Without autocorrect, an average text message from me such as this one:
Would end up looking like this one: Continue reading
POP GOD 