Sometimes I have these seasons that require me to get graphically creative every day for a period of time.  These past few months have been that way, designing newsletters, logos, websites, flyers, etc.  While it was still feeling fresh I jumped on the chance to redesign misterlib.com, so if you read this through an RSS reader, you should check it out.  I’ve also really wanted to use the Pixelate>Color Halftone effect, so I took a pic at the Brooklyn Bridge and grey scaled it, messed with the contrast and applied the filter.  Good times.  It took about 3 hours last night, and I am excited that I can get this kind of a change in 3 hours time.  We live in good times.

I was talking with Santos (a blog lurker) about a post a few weeks back about the guy that took a tech fast. Then this week I was listening to a Geeks and God podcast where they highlighted this video. The content is interesting to say the least. He is a little long winded, and I think he could say simplify some of his sentences into some more concrete points. But think about it. I think the most thought provoking were watching TV like a doctor’s appointment rather than an all you can eat buffet, and admitting that everything digital might be found. It’s a good reminder if anything.

Resolution for Surviving the Future from Jon Barnes on Vimeo.

I submitted a banner for Tony Morgan’s banner contest for his blog, and mine was put up on March 1st. Just some photoshop reflection style stuff. But it’s green. Which is perfect for beginning March.

Pretty cool.

Seriously. The whole study done about the decline of religion in America is ubiquitious. It’s in my e-mail, on the radio, in at least 10 different blogs I read, on the news, etc. One group does a study, and it points out what we all new anyway. It’s not news. I kept debating whether or not to post about it, but I have decided to leave you with this: Read this article from Time magazine. It’s way better than that stupid study. Somebody, please, stop talking about that stupid study.

it feels like it has been. i’ve been up to my ears in busy. i never want to get here, but i always end up here. soccer is winding down, so we’ll see if i can find some spare minutes. i just finished the new website/blog for ‘the naz‘ (student ministries at my church). i recently purchased an iMac after about a year of saving for it. i am happy to say that i have switched and i love it. if only i could get used to command+c for copy rather than control+c. my soccer game got canceled today, so i have a few minutes to do things like blog, read other blogs, and play with my iMac, so sorry blog world, if you have felt abandoned. it was never my intention, but the real world is pressing in and there is much less time to type these days.

I got a shelfari. There is a small one on the side of the site, but the site is pretty cool. You can catalog all of the books you own, tag them, mark them as read, put them on your list, share them with friends, rank them, etc. Plus they have plugins for blogs. You can check my shelf out here, and if you set up your library, add me as a friend (wow, that feels lame to say that). I guess it’s all in context, right?

1. Pandora Radio - www.pandora.com
You put in the name of a band or a song, and it plays a song by the artist, or the exact song if you put in a title, and then it plays other bands that sound like the first one. I have 3 ’stations’ right now. Matt Redman, Brand New, and Five Iron Frenzy. It also integrates with FoxyTunes for Firefox, which is one of the best bonuses.

2. Protopage - www.protopage.com
This is a conglomeration of widgets that provide usefulness to me. I have long suffered the reality of multiple computers, laptop, desktop, palmtop, etc. This now puts everything in one place. I’ve got notes for when albums are coming out, to do lists for projects, lists of bills to pay, links to sites in little groups for each part of life, rss feeds, del.icio.us bookmarks, and podcasts. All on one page, tabbed of course, and I can check it and update it from any computer. Hello new homepage.

3. Uncluttr[alpha] - www.uncluttr.com
If you don’t spend much time on amazon, then this isn’t going to be that cool for you, but I do, so I love it. It more or less gets rid of all the text, and you shop entirely by images, titles, and prices. you can tack stuff up while your shopping, move it around, and drag and drop to the checkout basket. It’s super easy to use and it looks sweet too. Not very often that you get both those at once.

4. del.iciou.us - del.icio.us
I really don’t know why it took me so long to jump on this bandwagon, but I am oh so glad that I did. It is a social bookmarking site, and if you haven’t heard of it, then it’s kind of weird that you’re reading a blog. It is so pervasive that I was really turned off to it. But I have embraced it, and it has embraced me back. I think the coolest feature that really sold me on it is the for:misterlib tag. If anyone wants me to see something, they just tag it for:misterlib, and it will automatically show up in my tags. Of course more people I actually talk to will have to embrace this before that will realize it’s full potential, but I like the idea of it. You can see my tags here.

5. gumshoo - www.gumshoo.com
Ok. Ebay, right? So you search for something, but half the things in the results are accessories or just stuff you weren’t looking for. This site filters all that out. It also lets you search only in the US, used/new, and free shipping. The coolest feature is that it looks for typos of the thing that you were looking for, which can get you some pretty sweet results without having to think of the typos on your own.

A few weeks ago, I added a widget to the sidebar that lists posts from other blogs that I would like to share. It is a new(ish) feature from Google’s Reader, which gets the RSS feeds from all the blogs I read and puts them all in one place. It also gives me the option to star posts that I want to come back and look at later, as well as share posts that I think other people would be interested in. The last 5 shared posts then show up in my side bar. So, if you’re bored and want to see what I have thought was interesting lately, you can check that out.

I wanted to highlight a post I shared today because it is very cool. It comes from Perry Noble, pastor of NewSpring Church in South Carolina. He discusses how Apple works America while the Church wishes people wouldn’t leave. You can read the post here. My favorite part is when he asks “We are constantly asking, “Is there anything that we are currently doing that we have to generate excitement about?” Why ask that question? Because if the paid staff have to pretend to be excited about it–how do the rest of the people in the church feel?” It’s titled “Jesus versus the iPhone” and I recommend the read.

I really can’t believe this is coming from Microsoft. It’s just too cool. It doesn’t seem right.

It is vague enough to be coming out in winter 2007, but feast your eyes on these 3 short videos. You will not regret it. I promise. I am so excited for winter now. I just need an excuse to purchase one or have convince someone I know to purchase one that I may play with and enjoy.

Surface, by Microsoft.

You can flip through this gallery at Engadget, too.