The USPS is dying and in need of a complete restructure, less and less people are using the postal service and there is no indication that we will start using it more, everything points to less reliance. It’s also incredibly wasteful, all the junk mail we get, both in paper, sorting, and transportation costs. Yet we’re still trying to make it work.

First, a majority of mail door to door delivery must completely go, be reduced, or be charged a premium. It’s much more efficient to group mail boxes together–it requires less time, less man power, and less transportation costs. The biggest problem is that it is less convenient for customers. Well maybe.

Things have changed, a lot less important information comes to us through the mail and a lot more junk and ads, which are becoming more important to keep USPS afloat. How often do you receive something in the mail that you actually need or want? Then, how often do you actually need the physical contents of the letter? Could you just have easily gotten the information from an email or a scan of the letter? For most people they only get something that matches that criteria once a week and even then it’s not time sensitive.

Imagine being able to use an app to remotely view all the mail you’ve received or that’s on its way and pick what gets thrown away, saved for pick up, and even auto scanned to read from your personal computer–all before going to pick it up. There would be no more guessing to what is waiting for you at the mail box, no more junk mail in your home trash, and a much more efficient mail system. You could potentially even stop mail being sent to you before it leaves the originating station, substantially saving transportation costs. A smart system could also make more efficient use of mail boxes, let the app know where you want to pick up and they could have your mail waiting there in a temporary mailbox for you. It sounds more convenient than what we have now, and definitely “greener”.

There is a company doing something like this right now, http://www.earthclassmail.com/. I would love to hear the government consider something like this.

I follow John Gruber like a lot of people out there, which is how I heard of these top design firms Facebook has been aquiring. First it was Sofa, which moved the whole company from Amsterdam to Palo Alto, CA. Then recently Push Pop Press, who was doing exciting and ground breaking things in digital publishing.  People are speculating what Facebook is up to by building an all star team of designers, I have thoughts.

Both these companies had to make large sacrifices to join with Facebook and I don’t think that it was purely for money they choose to do it.  Maybe Sofa was purely for the talent, but I believe Push Pop Press was enticed with a vision to propel their publishing innovations to a new platform.

Despite how beautiful and innovative Push Pop Press was as a publishing platform for books I don’t think publishers were ready for something like it, it required more money and resources to produce at a time when book publishers are getting less.  Facebook however is a different publishing platform than books and magazines. First, it is currently making lots of money, and second, it already takes advantage of the many types of media that Push Pop Press is famously good at integrating and highlighting.  In addition, currently Facebook has the greatest collection of individual publishers and media consumers that has ever existed, us. What a waste to hire Push Pop as just good designers, I think Facebook sold them on the idea of changing platforms and is giving them complete access to change how we publish and consume.  Can you imagine something similar to Flipboard designed by Push Pop Press and fully integrated with Facebook’s massive collection of data on us?

Imagine a dynamic, innovative and beautiful personalized magazine delivered to you everyday.  A table of contents biased on how many of your friends liked it or who recommended it, in fact Facebook could go well beyond your friends and pull from it’s whole community to find content you’ll like based on demographic, likes, or location.  Publishers want your stuff seen? Better start posting the links on Facebook.

This is the future of publishing, I hope that this is what Facebook is investing in.

Robert Krulwich: Why Can’t We Walk Straight? via NPR

“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” -God, Genesis 3:19

We are lost without direction and guidance–doomed!

This video is a reminder to me the life we live without God, a small picture of our fate without someone or something to guide us. What I like about this illustration is that in the beginning we very likely head out in the right direction, and as we get the closest to the destination, say in our twenties, we really beging to sense the life our Creator had in mind–full of hope and optimism as we get a glimpse of life and it’s potential. But, it’s at this time that we also begin to drift away from where we should be going and the process of decay begins… until, finally, after a few loops (maybe a midlife crises) we just circle.

We need direction and guidance. Ideally, we need someone who has succeeded before us and can see what we cannot.  Strangely enough, to follow a guide keeping you straight will look insane to everyone else going in circles.  I choose to look insane.

On a recent panel John August asked for a question to answer via Twitter, this is the question he got. The response is very similar to the suggestion poised by Don Miller in one of the blogs I linked to earlier this week.

Lawrence Turman suggests asking random people for their opinions of your concept. Any panelists do this or is mums the word?

Aaron Sorkin cautioned that talking about what you’re planning to write can easily sap your enthusiasm for it. Stuart Blumberg agreed, noting that even one ‘meh’ response might scare you off your dream project.

Lisa Cholodenko said that while they were working on The Kids Are All Right, they hadn’t talked to many folks about the plot. Only after the movie was finished did an executive mention that she’d read a couple of scripts with similar storylines over the years. Had Cholodenko known there were competing projects, she might have had second thoughts, worried that someone would beat her to the screen.

I agree with Sorkin and Blumberg. It’s comforting to know that even some of the great creatives can fall victim to same feelings I have experienced. It’s amazing how important enthusiasm is to the creative process. When I’m enthusiastic about something I want to share it with everyone but as it turns out, enthusiasm is fuel for the creative process and when you share it with too many others you loose fuel and make the already difficult process of creating harder and less joyful.

Sharing your half-baked idea with others is doing a disservice to yourself and the people you share with.  People’s natural reaction with something new is to make it familiar, usually it’s something successful or something they saw as a failure, whatever is it, it’s not your idea… and they’ll put that on you. I can’t blame them, I do the same.

Somewhat related is this talk I saw on the TED site:

Basically saying, if you share your goal you’re less likely to complete it because just sharing your idea can give a feeling of satisfaction that is not dependent on completion. If you can trick yourself into being satisfied without doing anything, then why do anything at all? Seems like a trick Screwtape would describe to Wormwood in C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, and, he probably does.

Try to find satisfaction in doing, not in success or telling.

I’m thirtyfour thousand feet in the air as I write. My sister is in the promised land and I’m headed home after a wirlwind trip home–tell me that’s fair! I kid, I’ve been incredibly blessed and I’ve recieved far more than I have deserved in famliy and relationships. Not to mention experiences and posesions. “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”

If you’re reading this chances are no matter how insignificate you believe our relatioship to be, seriously, I love you, and more than you deserve. My God has made my heart full. Every person I meet I can’t help but love. Interestingly what gets in the way of my showing that love is my fear of how I might be precieved.

I’ve read that people have different ways of loving and even preferences of how they like to be shown love (“Five Love Languages”). Touch, Verbal Affermation, Gifts, Acts of Service, and Quality Time. Naturally, I tend to show love via touch and verbal affermation.

Because I’ve had amazing family and friends that have expressed and allowed me to express that I love them I believe that I can more easily express love. One of the things that I often start on a set I’m working on is saying I love you to people I work closely with. It’s amazing how quickly it catches on and how people respond. It’s always a little scary to throw it out there the first time though. By the end of the shoot we’re all saying I love you.

There is a lot of power in the words “I love you” though. I don’t say it to female colleges unless I’m sure how it is understood. While dating Danielle we made the decision early on not to say “I love you” till we were engaged to be married. It could have made things move faster than we were ready for. When it came time to propose all I had to say was “I love you,” and she knew immediatly.

It intesting that the longer you wait to say it the harder it is and the more weight it seems to carry, even with friends and family. Go ahead and give a little love.

What a random string of thoughts you just followed. Next time you see me let me know if you have any love for me, I’ll return the favor and know you read the blog.

Sent from my iPhone

Warning: This is a long and uninteresting post that rambles

Friday on my way back from work I decided to stop in at pentagon city mall instead of going back to our apartment because Danielle was going to be home late. I got myself a McDonald’s ice cream and just started people watching. It wasn’t long before I was approached by two young people who introduced themselves and asked if I ever read the Bible. I said yup. Then the guy asked me if I’d ever heard of “mother god.” “nope,” i said. He then asked me if I believed what the Bible says… “yes, when it is read in context,” I said… Knowing that some crazy interpretations where about to be revealed.

I myself have in the past approached people in public areas with a partner to share with them my beliefs, so I was quite aware of the tactics that they use to get someone involved and to keep the conversation focused… But man was it annoying when I knew what he was doing and he would change his tactics when he discovered I knew more than most people he spoke with. The kid would read a verse and have me finish the last word or the most significant part. And, instead of addressing an issue that I raise he would just reread one of five verses… He and his partner would not listen to me they would just repeat and circle–it was quite annoying. But I still enjoy being able to talk about the Bible and cause people to think about it in a correct way.

First he read Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

And he asked me questions like: “Does God speak in singular or plural?” “Who did God create in His image?” Already this kid is insulting my intelligence, and this verse doesn’t reveal anything about a “Mother God.” I ask him who he thinks “us” refers to in v. 26 and he says the Trinity, “the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” hey, so do I. Then by the way he kept asking my to repeat who God created in His image… aka “male and female,” that he believes there is a Father God and a Mother God, the male is created in the image of the Father God and the female in the image of the Mother God. Quite a stretch if you ask me! I proposed to different interpretations of the text to them. One… God created man in his image and woman came later from man. Two… the image of God does no mean something physical and something like a soul that both men and women posses. The dude also brought up the fact that God created Eve to be the helper of Adam, which I couldn’t understand as something that argued his point.

Next they quoted Romans 1:20

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Again he made me read certain phrases like “divine nature,” “clearly seen,” and “so that men are without excuse.” And again, great verse but what does this say about a “mother god?” Is the duality of a father and mother God clearly seen?”

The best verse and the one that we chatted about the longest was in Revelation 22:14-17

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

There interpretation was that “the bride” is the “mother god” and that this verse shows that the “mother god” gives salvation. Before being able to look at the verse I told them that in context that it becomes apparent that “the bride” most likely refers to the Church. Although they readiley admitted that “the bride” else where in the NT refers to the Church it does not in this instance or some others in prophecy. Crazy! They’re reasoning is that the Church could not give salvation. First off I’m using the NIV and I’m pretty sure they were using another version but I don’t see how they could possibly see that this verse shows that Salvation comes from the bride. “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” The verse is just saying let he who knows testify. It is not “Come to me for eternal life,” it’s more a “Come and enjoy what God has offered us.” It make perfect sense that the Spirit, Church, and those who hear would say, “Come!”

Other questions there were a few other verses but these were they’re strongest and I know that isn’t saying much. The said they went to a “bible church,” and that they followed the old testament law, like the Sabbath, and that they knew the name of the Holy Spirit. I asked them to take me to their leader. They refused, however, earlier on they said that they had a table setup somewhere. During the course of evens I also asked if there was a “mother god” wouldn’t Jesus have known and testified about it?? They claim he did when he said he’d return in the last day. Wah? Anyway… Just thought I’d throw that out there. I’d love to hear a clear argument for this or find the church that teaches it.

Though it helped to pass the time I must say that I did not handlle the situation the best I could have. It was very easy for me to just argue with them and not reach out. I hope that in the future I would seek to put them first. Someone wise once said something like, “I will forfeit all points except the most important.”

UPDATE (6/29/2011): Looks like http://www.examiningthewmscog.com has a lot of good information if you have more questions about this group.

If you are having trouble like me connecting to Google’s newish IMAP server give this a try. Replace the suggested IMAP server, imap.google.com, with gmail-imap.l.google.com. It worked for me. I discovered this while tyring to ping imap.google.com I wasn’t able to but when I went online and saw others screen shots of pinging the server I saw that it automatically changed imap.google.com to gmail-imap.l.google.com. Hopefully Google will figure this all out. Hope this helps some.

UPDATE: it’s imap.gmail.com not imap.google.com, it took months before someone pointed my mistake. Still, kinda funny that some of us fixed it this way before seeing our original mistake.

A few years ago I asked my buddy Paul what he would do if a store accidentally gave him $50 extra in change and they’d never find out. He said something to the fact that, “Money is cheap… Integrity isn’t.” Basically saying he’d give it back because his Character could not be bought. Though I knew at the time that it would be the right thing to give the money back I wasn’t sure why, especially if I thought it didn’t effect anybody for worse. So what Paul said stuck.

Last Thursday I got paid and I noticed that it was kinda high. Looking at my paycheck I noticed that my boss mistakenly gave me an extra $100 in overtime. I noticed it right before I left for home and was about to mention it but didn’t want to stay long and I thought I better make sure before I say anything. On the way out I didn’t tell my co-workers because secretly I was thinking of the possibility of keeping it. Then when Danielle picked me up from work I also almost didn’t mention it to her because I knew that it would lock me into doing the right thing. Of course Danielle confirmed that I needed to say something… uh. It was then I decided to bring it to my boss’s attention, and I felt free and it became clear to me that $100 is a small price to pay for Integrity. There are never any regrets in living what you believe to be true. The next day before I left I told my boss and waited as she printed out my new check. She said that no one has ever come to her about receiving more than they should have. I think she was impressed. I like to leave impressions. I felt great that God trusted me with such an opportunity to glorify Him. Later that night while watching a movie with Danielle, my boss called and repeated how much she appreciated what I did and that she wishes me good Karma for the next week. Don’t think I’ll need the Karma but I’m again glad to have left the impression strong enough that she was still thinking about it.

I said, “Integrity is expensive,” but I meant to say, “Can’t put a price on Integrity.”

Thanks God.