There are two rules in life I need to remember.
1. There will always be people better than me at everything.
2. There will always be people who marvel at what I do and swear they can never be as good.
We are all in the middle of what we know and what we do. There will always be people on both sides of us.
I look up to amazing designers and photographers, writers and thinkers. And others look up to me in the same way.
Knowledge is a spectrum, not an absolute.
I grew up without religion.
No, that’s not right.
I grew up with church as part of my life.
It is a place my brother and I would get drug off to early Sunday mornings. We would sit and listen to tales of horrible things done to people thousands of years ago.
We would be warned of the fire and brimstone raining down upon us if we were not good people.
We were subjected to the small town evangelism and politics of church-going. Church didn’t mean anything to me growing up.
It was something to do. It was a place to go. It was something that was expected and required but seemed to hold little value to my life.
It was a history class for events from thousands of years ago.
Ever since having joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 1 and being baptized (again) I have thought about my relationship to God and Religion and people of religious faith.
These are three very different things.
Religion is something you grow into.
It is not something you’re born with. It is something you’re either raised with or not. You may be raised in it and reject it later on or raised without it and find your way to it later in life.
However, I think it’s something everyone needs to come to terms with for themselves. Everyone has a belief system. Everyone has faith in something.
Coming to terms with what my beliefs were was the first step to finding a path either closer to or further from religion.
There are thousands of people who will tell you what to think and what to believe and how to act. But it’s all nonsense. It means nothing if it’s not your own belief.
Religion and faith is personal. It’s a one-on-one relationship. There is no room for a third party. There is no room for anyone else.
(Totally going for the longest named Christian faith I could find.) ↩
Round and round we go.
There are Apple rumors. There’s a new version of Windows on the horizon. There’s plenty of product announcements being debated and compared to products which don’t yet exist.
There’s Microsoft, Google, Apple and Android camps all clamping at each other. Linux is sitting on the sidelines slowly snaking its way into our phones and cars. Biding its time like a Trojan Horse.
Everyone has an opinion and is an expert on everything.
There are scholars on how to make software and what the business model should be. There is debate over the importance of a business model. There are those out there doing the work and keeping their mouths shut.
They are often overlooked and out shouted by the technology echo chamber. There is signal and there is noise. There is so much noise it is often hard to find the signal.
What phone should I buy? That’s how it always starts. The question is always followed by, should I buy the new iPhone?
Should I buy the latest Android Phone Of The Week? I heard the new iPhone is going to have… and come out…
I get these questions a lot since I work in IT, I use Apple products and I am seen as the computer guy to a group of friends and acquaintances. They’re always looking for a short answer. Buy the iPhone. Wait for the new iPhone. Buy the Samsung Galaxy Whatever. They want a recommendation, one that’s hard to offer.
Everyone wants a phone for something different.
Some people talk on their phones all day everyday. To them a stellar battery life and pristine call quality are vital. Other people use their phones as pocket-sized media players. They want movies and music at their finger tips from the cloud or locally so they want great connectivity and larger storage sizes. There are others who use their phones as cameras. They shoot, edit and share video and photos with friends and the world so they’ll want a great camera and huge storage.
Everyone has different needs so recommending something to someone is harder than saying go buy this.
A recommendation comes with information. Otherwise you’re guessing.
I don’t recommend buying a rumor! Stop shopping for what Apple’s new phone might be and shop for something you can actually buy.
Mac OS X Mountain Lion was released earlier today.
It’s being covered everywhere on the internet by people far smarter than I.
The Canonical John Siracusa review, clocking in at 24 pages and available in many forms. Here’s what the man himself has to say about it.
Marco Arment wrote a review of Siracusa’s review and his history of reviews.
Pat Dryburgh has released a video preparing for the 24 page review.
The crew over at MacStories have written the book on it. They’re donating 30% of the proceeds to charity. Even if you don’t buy the book, the MacStories team has good coverage and is one of the most trusted names in Mac news for their integrity and professionalism.
David Chartier has a good roundup of coverage from all over the place.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my love for Instapaper for reading things later. It’s available for iPhone, iPad, select Android devices and of course, on the web.
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