Grammar

Posted on April 27, 2013 by TC — 2 Comments ↓
Grammar Feature Image

We Are Not Perfect

Everyone knows that, especially Christians. We all have faults. Even in the activities that we’re seemingly brilliant in, we sometimes still need a little help.

Just as Einstein sometimes needed assistance with his math, some blog and web article writers could use a second set of eyes on their work prior to posting. Personally, I feel I probably over use commas and write sentences are are sometimes a bit too long. The most common mistakes, however, are homophones.

Homophones are a type of homonym that also sound alike and have different meanings, but have different spellings. source

It’s like saying, “I felt bad that I had hurt there feelings.”

Can you find the error?

It should read, “I felt bad that I had hurt their feelings.”

Here’s a list of commonly misused words and a quick example on how to correctly use them:

  • there — “Over there”
  • their — “Their possessions”
  • they’re — “They’re having a good time”
  • your — “Your possessions”
  • you’re — “You’re having a good time”
  • its — “Its possessions”
  • it’s — “It’s having a good time”

I read a few blogs out there that are very content rich. The ideas are well thought out and the points are clearly made. Some of these blogs would be great to reference when engaging in conversation with non-believers. The problem is that a person’s perception is often their reality, and if they perceive the author to have less intelligence that themselves, they might just throw out the whole thing.

Many folks out there think that your activities/lifestyle (drinking, long hair, piercings, etc) can, “Hurt your witness.” I think our grammar can do the same in our written evangelism.

We’re Better Together

That is a saying we have in my church. I know there are others out there with the same or similar statement. This counts in our writing as well. How many newspaper, magazine or pro-level website journalists do you think submit their work straight to print without having an editor look over it? I would think the answer is none.

We should do the same. I suggest that put aside any fears of criticism, content thieves or whatever else is out there and partner up for some peer reviews. I am wide open to proofread for some of the simpler issues, such as the homophones. At a minimum I suggest that you read your own post a few times before publishing it. It is less common, but I do sometimes see where a correction was made or a different wording was preferred but the original is still there.

What Do You Think?

You’re comfortable posting the content, but are you comfortable with having someone proofread?

 

NOTE: I hit the preview button three six times and corrected five errors before publishing this post. Let me know if I missed any. Also let me know if you’re interested in being a proofreading partner.

Twitt
Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in TC's Posts

Snowy Surprise

Posted on April 24, 2013 by TC — No Comments ↓
Geek Vids Feature Image

We woke up to this on April 23rd. That’s right, snow in Spring :)

Twitt
Tagged with: , ,
Posted in TC's Posts

Pedal Board Evolution (Part 2)

Posted on March 3, 2013 by TC — No Comments ↓

Today was a Good Day

Today is the first Saturday of the month which means the ABC Men’s Breakfast Club (not the official name but I think I’ll campaign for it) met at the church for some hangout time, guest speaker, and breakfast burritos with homemade green chili. I was up until close to 2am working on my last blog post and throwing my two cents around in a Google+ Hangout called Ask a Christian a Question, so 6am came very quickly. I almost just turned off the alarm and skipped it, but today’s Saturday morning trip to hang out with my ecclesia. Yesterday’s post and video was all about the modified pedals I received from JHS Pedals. I had the pedals in hand but no gear to test them with. It was very sad.

With all of my gear stored at church, I knew what I had to do as I was ripped from my 4ish hours of sleep. Go eat burritos, hangout with friends, and bring my gear home!

A Video is Worth a Bunch of Words

In a nutshell: the pedals are great. I’m extremely satisfied with the work done by the folks at JHS. I’ll let the video do most of the talking, but I have to add this. I fail to talk much about the volume pedal mod in the video. That is because it is so behind the scenes! I’ve had a chance to play more after shooting the video and I’m convinced that I’m getting the most tonal improvement from that pedal. I encourage any player that reads this and has an Ernie Ball VP Jr on their board to consider investing in this mod.

Please enjoy the video and hit me up if you have comments, suggestions, or questions!

o/

Twitt
Tagged with: , ,
Posted in TC's Posts

Pedal Board Evolution (Part 1)

Posted on March 2, 2013 by TC — No Comments ↓

The Quest for Tone

As with most guitar players, I have a deep burning desire to obtain a tone which will probably never happen. As an amateur/volunteer musician it is easy to fall into the trap of hearing a song on an album, falling in love with the tone of one or more guitar parts and starting a quest to replicate that tone. We look for wikis, blogs and videos. We ask friends, mentors and (if you have one you trust) the old player down at your local guitar shop. This quest normally ends with hundreds of dollars spent with the achieved tone being pretty good… but still not quite like that we hear on the recording.

This happens for a few reasons. The biggest being that most albums are recorded in a studio with thousands of dollars in pro gear and a seasoned professional engineer tweaking each frequency to perfection. In the end, those of us on the amateur end of the musical spectrum and no sponsorships are regularly limited to the mass produced average quality gear… but there is hope!

Start With Your Core

As a guitar player we should put the majority of our focus in two pieces of gear: the guitar and the amp. Before you go out and drop a grand on pedals, ensure you’re happy with you guitar for sure and reasonably happy with your amp. These two pieces alone should be able to create a tone that is pleasing to you and getting close to that sound you’re seeking.

I’m currently playing a 1978 Stratocaster and a mid-90s Telecaster, each with a ton of modifications (pickups, tuners, frets, etc.) through a new Fender Mustang IV combo amp. I’m happy with this setup and would comfortably play one of the guitars straight through the amp. Admittedly I am really wanting a tube amp but indecision (brand/model) and budget are currently holding me back.

Know Your Supplements

Pedals are awesome. I’ve been a big fan of stomp boxes since my dad bought me my first distortion pedal (Danelectro Daddy-O). When you have the amp and guitar situation squared away, but you aren’t quite in the tonal bliss you’re hunting… a pedal is probably the answer. Buying pedals (at least to me) can be stressful. It looks so cool on the counter, feels hefty, solid construction and sounds great when combined with that guitar/amp combo in the shop that you’ll never afford. But what will it sound like when you get home? Luckily, most stores have a satisfaction based return policy so that helps. You can take it home and jam on it for close to a month to make up your mind, just don’t lose your receipt.

Before you go out shopping, however, take some time to understand your options. What is the difference between overdrive, fuzz and distortion? Which of these modulations (chorus, flanger, phaser, wah, etc.) are useful and which ones just sound cool while I have cash burning in my pocket? How am I going to power my pedals? Do I need any pedals FOR my pedals? (buffers, compressors, taps, true-bypass loops) What about pedal storage/transportation? Would you benefit from a pedal board?

These are all important questions and I think I’ve addressed each in my own situation but then I learned about a whole new angle of guitar effects.

Meet the Mods

No I don’t mean the sharp dressed, scooter riding crowd in England. I’m talking about pedal mods. Here’s an example: I like Stevie Ray Vaughn. I think he gets an incredible tone. A big part of that is a little green wonder called the Ibanez TS-808 Tubescreamer. I started looking online and found that the particular model he used can still be found on eBay for the low low price of $300-$700 dollars! Needless to say, it’s out of my price range.

Purely through incidence, I learned that my Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer (the modern version of the same pedal ((not the 808 reissue I know)) could be modified to the 808 specs for $50! HURRAY!!!!!

I fell into the deep world of pedal modding about a year ago. It took until about four months ago until I really jumped in.

Select your Modder

There are many groups out there providing mod services. Many of them also build hand-crafted boutique pedals. Without having sample pedals on hand, it’s difficult to make a decision who to go with.

I selected a group called JHS Pedals. My choice was based on a few things. First, they sponsor one of the guitar players I most closely follow. I trust his opinion and he uses a few of their pedals. Second, they do provide videos on YouTube to make sound comparisons. Third, their website is super clean and easy to navigate. Lastly I just got good vibes from them. They’re active on Twitter, talking to both potential and past customers. Also, I asked some questions via email before buying the mods and received a quick response.

So I did it. I sent JHS a few of my pedals. Check out the video below to see what mods I went with and a cool unboxing video. Part 2 of this post will focus on the tones of these mods.

Thanks for sticking through to the end!

o/

Twitt
Tagged with: , ,
Posted in TC's Posts

Ubuntu for Phone or Android?

Posted on January 4, 2013 by TC — 1 Comment ↓
010413_1556_UbuntuforPh1.png

Ubuntu and Me

I’ve been using Ubuntu in some capacity for close to ten years. I started my Linux journey with Red Hat in a college class around that same time, though how I ended up with Ubuntu as my personal *nix of choice I can’t quite remember. There was even a time, about three years ago, that four out of the five computing devices in my home were running some form of Linux (the last holdout was a Windows machine for gaming).

I can’t explain why I enjoy using Ubuntu. I’m not a programmer. I don’t tweak source code for my personal needs. I don’t really add anything to the community (I’ve answered a
010413_1556_UbuntuforPh1.pngfew questions on the forums but that was ages ago).

I think it’s the challenge really. A lot of things in the Linux world don’t, “Just work.” I love a good brain stretch and Ubuntu provides that, although the OS has become far more polished in the past few releases.

Something Happened…

Some time ago I was wandering the internet and decided to go see what Canonical had up their sleeves for the next release or two of Ubuntu. What I found had me giddy with excitement. A new development was underway called Ubuntu for Android.

Essentially, your phone is still running Android. All of your mobile experience is the full Android lifestyle. Now, however, your phone is also your desktop computer! Now you can be at the office, working on that approaching deadline and decide, “Hey, I’d be a lot more productive at home in my PJs.” At your office desk is a monitor, keyboard, mouse and phone dock. Your android device is currently docked and a full desktop installation of Ubuntu is showing on the monitor. The OS is running on your phone!

You simply log out, undock the phone and go home where you have a similar dock setup. Change into your PJs, dock the phone and resume working on the project.

At the time I was still an iPhone user, though my Apple fanboy status had been shaken by the price tag of converting my household to full iGlory. I found out about Ubuntu for Android as I was browsing the web, reading reviews, trying to decide if I should burn a phone upgrade for an Android device or hold out for the newly announced Windows Phone 8. When I discovered the Ubuntu project it was the winning argument in Android’s favor. I immediately went out and purchased my first Android, a Samsung Infuse 4g.

I was quite disappointed to learn that the project is destined to be released to phone manufactures. As far as I can tell there are no plans to release Ubuntu for Android as an installable feature to existing Android hardware.

A New Hope

This week Canonical made a significant announcement. They are taking Ubuntu into the mobile universe in a big way. On January 2nd 2012 at 11 a.m. MST Canonical announced a new project called Ubuntu for Phone.

At first glance one might wonder, “Wait, isn’t that just a re-branding of the old Ubuntu for Android project.”

Not even close.

Ubuntu for Phone is a complete Ubuntu mobile OS. The Verge got their hands on a demo model (see video below). The narrator also mentioned that Canonical is planning to release installable images for the Google Nexus for developers to use for… well, development.

Tough Choice?

Maybe not.

The biggest challenge I see for the Ubuntu Phone is the availability of apps. The OS may rock, but it will not run apps from Google Play. I have a good friend who says he had a better phone experience with Windows Phone 7 when compared to Android and Apple, but a severe lack of app availability drove him to the Android platform.

Both of the Canonical projects offer the desktop Ubuntu capabilities when docked but Android has the established app market.

I’m excited to see what Canonical does with their mobile OS, and I’ll probably install it for a while if an image is ported for my Galaxy S III, but in my opinion Ubuntu for Android is the winner in this comparison.

Twitt
Tagged with: , , , , ,
Posted in TC's Posts

Digital Evangelism

Posted on January 1, 2013 by TC — 1 Comment ↓

The internet is a repository for a lot of things. You can find knowledge, friendships, goods, services, and a lot of temptation. Beyond that, the internet offers a lot of opportunity. For  those of us  living under Christ’s authority and instruction, new and powerful tools for evangelism are an exciting prospect. Google has given us those new opportunities!

If you’re looking for the chance to spread the Gospel to people but you just don’t know how or where to find them… Google+ is a place you should get familiar with. The fine folks at Google have release some exciting ways for people to connect using their Google+ social network. Google Logos Combined

Evangelizing in Cyberspace

Are you in the mood to talk about Jesus to random people? Would it be convenient if those people came to you? If so then Google+ Hangouts are for you. Log in to your Google + account, head to the Hangouts section and make your own Hangout. Name it something like, “Let’s Talk About Jesus.” Make it a public hangout, and be prepared for the flood.

I’ve spent a good amount of time in a Hangout entitled, “Ask a Christian a Question” it was an awesome experience. We would field questions from all walks of people; atheists, Muslims, struggling Christians, etc. In that time I made some observations and mental notes that I think can help the people spreading the Gospel in this realm:

  1. When you first join a Hangout you are in a private room there your camera is activated and Google invites you to check your hair before joining the group. While  yes, you should check your own appearance.. also take a moment to look at the things that appear around and behind you in your webcams field of view. If there is a bed behind you, make sure it is made and neat. If you’re in a kitchen, straighten up a bit if needed.
  2. Learn to use your mic mute button. If you’re typing, eating, drinking, coughing, thumbing through your Bible, etc. all of these sounds can be picked up and transmitted by your microphone. They are very distracting and annoying to others. I prefer to keep my microphone muted until I am ready to speak.
  3. Use the chat pane. These Hangouts can fit 10 people. Have you been in a room where 10 people try to talk at one time? It is a million times worse in a video chat. Use the chat pane to carry on side conversations, share links to webpages or Bible verses (youversion.com is great for this). If you’re moderating the room, the chat pane is a great place for people to indicate that they have something to add to the conversation.
  4. Say hello to people as soon as they join, but don’t interrupt someone who is speaking to do so. If someone is speaking, wait for them to pause then say a quick hello to the new person and ask them to open their chat pane (where you can invite them to pose a question or add thoughts to the current topic) then invite the original speaker to continue.
  5. Lastly, always remember who you are representing! You are there, not only as a face of the Christian community, but a representative acting under the authority of Christ. Don’t be abrasive. Don’t constantly interrupt. Let a person say what they have to say then calmly and politely present God’s truth of the topic and be ready to provide a reference. Many of the non-believers you will encounter have preconceived notions of Christians that, sadly, were probably formed from previous encounters. Show them love. Show them respect. You will rock their world, and it’s a good feeling… trust me.

A Community of Believers

Proverbs 27:17

New Living Translation (NLT)

17 As iron sharpens iron,
so a friend sharpens a friend.

Google+ Communities is overflowing with Christian groups. Find one that focuses on topics or ministry areas that interest you, join, and start being active. A Google+ community should be an enhancement to your interaction with the rest of the body of Christ, not a replacement for whatever ways you’re currently plugged in to your church. The community you join is a way of building relationships with other believers that, otherwise, you would have never met. You can find a list of Christian Google+ Communities here.

 

Read more ›

Twitt
Posted in TC's Posts

Beyond Reason

Posted on December 28, 2012 by TC — No Comments ↓

{if

“topic at hand stands to reason” = true

then

execute function ”accept”

else

execute function “reject” “dismiss” “ridicule those who erroneously executed the accept function”

endif}

 

The Geek is a rare breed in the world of faith. There are a few of us sprinkled into the congregation, but lets just say that if you wanted to start a tabletop RPG, your local church is probably not the best place to recruit players. On the inverse of that statement — walk in to your local game shop and start talking about Jesus and see how that goes for you.

There is a wall separating the world of faith in Christ and the world of the Geek — I believe that wall is built from bricks of reason.

I’ve been told that my faith in Christ is akin to having an invisible friend, that prayer is just wishful thinking, that there is no way we are created by some unseen being (and a lot more). When I ask why the other person feels they way they do, they normally reply with some variation of, “It just makes sense” or “It stands to reason.”

The Geek brain is very rational. The problem with that rational is that it is built upon a sum of life experience and input from others who say or write things that do make sense to that particular Geek. They read the writings of philosophers and thinkers and ascribe readily to those points of view. I’ve met people who cling to their copy of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins tighter than an Alabama grandmother to her 200 year old family KJV. Once I had lunch with a guy where we had a friendly debate. More than once he insisted that I not reference the Bible and instead formulate my own thoughts and ideas. All while he kept pushing me to read Dawkins’ book!

The truth lies in an area that makes this type of Geek very uncomfortable. I think the fine folks at Hillsong say it best in the opening line to The Time Has Come, “I found love, beyond all reason.”

God’s love for us simply doesn’t stand up to the test of reason when that test’s parameters are defined by man. But that doesn’t make it any less of a fact.

In a previous post, I talk about how I believe the corruption of our language is evidence of the truth in 2 Corinthians 4:4. The Geek can be a powerful force, for good or evil. My sad thought at this moment is that the enemy has used human reason to pull this amazing group of people away from using their talents for the glory of God.

Twitt
Tagged with:
Posted in TC's Posts

Some Correction Required

Posted on December 27, 2012 by TC — 2 Comments ↓

I hate being wrong.  But not for the reasons you might think.

I hate being wrong because I love to teach.

I’m an instructor in the U.S. Air Force, a Sunday school leader, and (sometimes) a speaker of the Word to the youth ministry in which I volunteer. Last, but far from least, I am a parent — the ultimate teaching position. Each of these positions carry an extreme amount of responsibility and, as such, each holds the potential to save or destroy lives depending on one thing — my accuracy in the topics I cover.

I recognize the responsibility and trust that my superiors in each realm  have placed in me. I don’t want to let them or my students down. To this end I strive to acquire as much knowledge as I can in whatever subjects I will be communicating to the students with which I am trusted.

Recently, my Pastor described me to our congregation as a, “Learner.” He really was dead on, I love to ask questions and he is one of those whom I see as a authority in his area — which means he gets a lot of questions.

In the professional arena I have the privilege to work alongside engineers of various disciplines. I’ve grown accustom to how some of them immediately appear ready to be annoyed with the questions I will bring to them out of respect for their experience and how well they have helped me in the past. There are a precious few that I have built enough of a relationship that they don’t dumb things down for me. I can’t explain how grateful I am to have a guy give an explanation that is way over my head — then work to pull me up to that level.

The one thing that irks me in my quest for knowledge is when people are afraid to respond or present contradicting information for fear of being wrong. I, for one, fairly frequently find my foot in my mouth due to presenting an idea, theory, or interpretation that is not as well thought out as it sounded in my brain. I feel safe speaking out though because I feel I know the appropriate time to do so.

I speak up around those whom I respect in that area of discussion or inquiry. I do so because I crave mentor-ship and correction.

In an inverse example: if a student asks a question that I can not answer I neither avoid the question nor do I present partial truths, ambiguities, or *shudder* make something up that sounds good. I take a much simpler approach in that I either inform the student that I don’t have the answer but will find it and get back to them — or better we find the answer together.

I love asking questions. I love being asked questions. I love civil debate, discussions, and investigations to find the truth of the matter at hand. I especially love being able and in a position to pass the knowledge I acquire through these activities on to others.

My apologies for the apparent pointlessness to this post. I just needed to rant a bit.

Thanks for sticking through to the end :)

0/

 

Twitt
Tagged with: ,
Posted in TC's Posts

Focus

Posted on August 5, 2012 by TC — No Comments ↓

Imagine you’re given the task of walking 10 blocks across New York city to claim a prize of $10,000. The catch? You may only look at your feet. The task becomes nearly impossible.

Why?

Focus.

Sure, it is doable. But consider the risks. Across a few rooms could result in a stubbed toe or collision with a wall. Across New York you could find yourself falling into a construction area or colliding with a bus. The risks in walking through life with a misdirected focus, while not always as visible, can be just as deadly.

There are two items I want to examine in this post. I’m sure someone must have covered them in the past, if so please point me in that direction. The following are just my thoughts from life experience.

The two items we have to watch to ensure we are not walking into traps: priority and focus.

I believe life can only have one priority and that it should be in bringing glory to God. Your focus, on the other hand, can change from target to target. If we set our priority correctly, then our focus should naturally fall into place. When we allow our focus to fall on to something that does not bring glory to God, our priority is in danger of shifting as well. The two are dependent on each other.

Let’s look to David as an example.

For much of his early life, David’s priority was on God. His tasks changed and received his focus, but the reason for those tasks was to glorify God, to serve his will. Due to this he was successful. He won battles, became king, and so on.

As we know, later in life his priority shifted; to himself. I can see this going a few ways. Was it his focus being pulled by the woman on the rooftop? Was it his focus on staying home instead of going to war? Either way, his focus was shifted and thus his priority moved from serving God to serving himself.

For a lot of the world that I see it appears that the issue at hand deals with both priority and  focus. A person who has no desire to put priority on God has little issue with putting focus on impure targets which in turn keep the priority from God. On the other hand, the person who has their priority on God but allows their focus to be shifted, like David, and thus pull their priority to another target have allowed the temptations of the world to overcome their desire to serve God in their calling.

I see a particular threat in our celebrity and visible success oriented culture.  It seems everyone wants to be  known for something or to have their victories, even those involving the emotional destruction of a peer, touted across the social media landscape.

The important take way I would like to submit is this:

If we only allow God to be our focus on Sunday, or on Sunday and Wednesday night, or however your church’s schedule plays out… where is our  priority? This is the message that I feel God wants me to bring. I see this idea of priority and focus everywhere I look and know that if we can lead people to open their hearts to allow God to be their priority and not simply a temporary focus, that those people in turn with become the disciples Jesus called us to go and make.

Twitt
Tagged with: ,
Posted in TC's Posts

That’s What She Said

Posted on July 27, 2012 by TC — No Comments ↓

You have to put the whole thing in your mouth and squeeze it a little with your tongue. Once it pops you swallow the sweet stuff and spit out the bad.

–How to eat a muscadine

I can do it, I’ve just never done it with anything this big before.

–Parallel parking a 14 passenger van

 

Those are some of the light examples of times I’ve made the classic mistake of thinking I could use words to describe an action without filtering for the culture around me. The resounding response to my statements weren’t those of appreciation or support or even encouragement. No, the standard response to these types of statements is an option of, “That’s what she said” or the more ambiguous, “So to speak.” Both of which are followed by outright laughter or subdued snickering, depending on the surrounding environment.

Do I join in the laughter? Yes, occasionally.

Do I feel good about it? No.

But, where is the harm? No one is being made fun of. It isn’t an attack on any one person. Sure, it can be sexist, depending on the perception of someone who hears the joke, but it isn’t meant that way. So why feel bad?

I’m convinced that part of the enemy’s plot to continue blinding people (2 Corinthians 4:4) is to corrupt our language. As an example, a former co-worker of mine likes to post pictures of church signs on Facebook. The one that I remember the clearest read, “Easter only comes once a year. How often do you?” This guy is a very devout atheist, the picture was shared from an atheist Facebook group that he subscribes to. For me to allude vulgarity of the picture, without him also commenting an explanation as to what point he was putting across, could open up criticism against me that maybe my mind is just stuck in the gutter. Well, the comments from his fellow atheists left no question as to how they interpreted the sign. I won’t reference any comments because: A. he unfriended me so I don’t have the originals to quote, and B. I don’t want that type of content on my blog.

What are we supposed to do about it?

I think the short answer is avoid/ignore it. Scripture clearly tells us that this type of humor isn’t right for us (Ephesians 5:4).

I try, I really do. The times I find myself laughing along are the times I’m caught off guard. There’s where I think I’m making the biggest mistake. Am I missing pieces in my armor? (Ephesians 6:11-18) Am I not holding high enough the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil?

On a personal level, all I can do is try harder I suppose. To me that means more spiritual preparedness; perhaps prayer on the go with a sermon podcast isn’t the best way to start my day. It looks like I’ll be setting my alarm a little earlier from now on :)

Your Thoughts

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Leave a comment or, if you want to keep it on the private level, use the Ask a Question button at the top of this page.

o/

TC

Twitt
Tagged with:
Posted in TC's Posts

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Post Archive