New Cell Phone Number

Hello everyone, just a quick note that I have changed my cell phone number. My old number will remain active indefinitely, but I will stop carrying it with me soon. If you do not have my new number let me know and I will find a way to get it to you.

This is happening right now.....

I don't even know what to say. Just when I thought it could not get any worse, Ken Wilson had to share this with me. This is happening right now.....

iPhone update

My iPhone vs. Blackberry debate has come to an end. The verdict being, I am sticking with my blackberry. I played with an iPhone for a while and while it has its nice features, I feel that it lacks the raw business power of the blackberry. Granted, the iPhone does have the wealth of support from itunes and the untold numbers of apps available there, I would rather own the device that cuts down on the flare, and goes with functionality. Don't get me wrong, the blackberry is not without its flaws, I simply was able to get over the flaws of the blackberry much faster than those of the iPhone. For those of you who are big Apple fan-boys that are going to whine and cry of my critique, here is the answer to your question before you ask. My biggest complaint is this; have you ever tried to type on the iPhone in any window other than safari? IT SUCKS! the touch detection was horrible for me. I don't have huge hands, but the iPhone was constantly registering keystrokes for letters that I did not intend to type. Not a huge problem unless the predictive text engine sucks as much as the iPhones does. And heaven forbid you type something you didn't want to and it finds its way into the custom dictionary. Then you have a whole new problem to deal with. Granted I did not own the iPhone I was testing so I did not want to tear it apart and change all 3 of the settings it will let you change. The point being, that for a first time user, the advanced settings and functions were hidden in typical Apple fashion to keep them away from the normal users way. While this streamlines everything and gives the user interface a nice look, it doesn't help someone like me that actually cares about the nuts and bolts. To be fair, I might like the iPhone more if I spent a little more time with it, but I already own a blackberry, and the cost to switch far outweighed any gain on my part. So to cure my previous ailment discussed in the last iPhone post, I am purchasing a new iPod touch to replace my aging iPod to run my apps and do everything that iPhone can do minus the phone and camera.

RSS Feed

I have had a few people complain to me recently about my RSS feed not working. This is due to the fact that I recently transferred all of my RSS traffic to feedburner at the request of most of the people currently complaining. Please check your RSS readers settings and refresh if necessary. New RSS feed url: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheCapsWay

Im In!

This series starts next week at Fellowship Church in Dallas. Looks like its going to be good.

They Dont Make A Van

I had somewhat of an epiphany over the weekend. Mercedes-Benz does not make a van. I had this sudden realization while offering my opinion of a technical budget submitted to me but a customer I am consulting for. They had budgeted a significant amount of money to install some very specialized and expensive tech in a multi-purpose room in the auxiliary section of the building. This is all well and good, except when you do not wish to hire full-time tech people to operate the equipment in the room. Their response to my critique was this; “If we have the money, why shouldn’t we spend it on tech.” Despite the overwhelming excitement that came over me hearing this from a financial person, the point is this: When you need a utility van, don’t go to the Mercedes-Benz dealer looking for one.

What An Awesome Team!

I just want to take a moment to be thankful for the team I work with. For those of you who don't know, I worked an epic 93 hours last week. Some would say that must have been "hell", but I would say it wasn't. And that is all thanks to the team that I work for. By boss, but more importantly my friend Wes, was with me every step of the way doing everything he could, even when it was just a one man job. One night later in the week the Senior Pastor and his wife took us out to dinner to show their appreciation for all the work we were doing. And that's what makes the difference. When you work 93 hours, and no one notices or cares, that's what makes it "hell".

Why 93 hours you ask? Well here is the short story and to-do list for last week:

1. Final prep and media for the Iron Sharpens Iron conference that weekend. (all 12 videos and countless powerpoint presentations.)
2. implement final leg of new lighting rep plan after weeks of CAD design revisions. (i.e. take down every single fixture and put them back up the right way, then reprogram the congo from scratch)
3. Final prep to launch new sermon series that weekend. (New intro video and graphics)
4. Sit through 2 hour staff meeting no one cares about (I'm not bitter)
5. The usual weekly tasks
6. PM on all the lighting gear (replace gels and bulbs in lights, replace broken sockets in the worthless strand fresnels, and rest the lighting racks, dust everything, clean filters, you get the idea)
7. Fix the outlook control system once an for all
8. Continue to work on resolving the Crestron control system issues.

None of this could have been possible without the help and support of the rest the team.