Doing my part [Gator]

[Warning: for those that are bored by computer-talk, especially as pertains to software and the iPhone, this post...and the ones to follow...are not for you. You've been warned.]

Apple is currently counting towards the billionth download from their iPhone app store. I know I've done my part. Ever since the update of the iPhone last summer, when the App Store opened, there have been an ever-increasing variety of cool and useful apps. Most of the ones I choose are free.

Currently we are restricted to nine pages of apps. At 16 per page, plus the four on the bottom bar, that means you can have a total of 148 apps on your iPhone at any one time. I don't have that many, but I do have 102.

So, as a public service...um, okay, whatever...here are all 102 of my apps, why I have them, why I do or don't use them, and anything else that might help you decide to add them to your phone or not.

I've organized my nine pages from most important to least important, mostly. And the four most critical apps are on my home row - the row at the bottom that appears on every page.

We start with the least important, on...

Page Nine
The apps on this page made it here for one very important reason - I don't use them. It doesn't mean they're bad or useless...necessarily. But I don't use them. Ever. So why are they here at all? Why haven't I deleted them? Well...I MIGHT use them. Maybe. Sometime. Okay, I know I won't, but I can't bring myself to delete them.

There are some apps I have deleted. Some good ones, too. Probably the best one I've deleted is the Masters app. But the Masters is over, so I won't need it. There were a couple NCAA Basketball Tournament apps I deleted, too.

As for these apps, the top row contains four Twitter apps that all have some great features and work quite well, though somewhat differently from each other. In fact, at one time I was using all four of them, in order to manage my different Twitter accounts (follow me at Twitter.com/TimMcDaniel.) Probably my favorite of the four was Twitterific. All four of them are free.

UReport is a free Fox News app, that allows you to submit news stories to Fox. Never used it.

SmileDialLite is a neat little free app that does one thing - it allows you to store the photo of one of your contacts with their contact information. Then, when you start the program, you see your contact's photo full-screen, and when you tap the bottom half of the picture, it dials their phone number. If you tap the top half, it will send them a text. Of course, this has limited appeal, since you can only store one person. SmileDial Pro allows multiple people for $3.99. Nice gimmick, but I don't need it.

Lightsaber is the official Star Wars app. Cool, but I don't use it. (It's free.)

Air Sharing is probably the most useful app I never use. It allows you to wirelessly move files from your computer to your iPhone and vice-versa. It works. It's easy. Why don't I use it? Um...I don't know. Perhaps it's because I don't usually need to. But it's there in case I do.

I got Air Sharing for free, during an introductory offer. Now it costs $4.99 through the App Store.

You'll notice that at the bottom of my screen, in my home row, are my four most critical apps, and they're not the four that Apple pre-determined should be my four most critical apps.

Okay, three out of four are. The Phone, Safari, and iPod apps are far and away the most important things about the iPhone, because, well, it IS a phone, the internet is always important, and, as much as it's a phone, it's also an iPod.

The fourth app in my home row is one of the few apps I've paid for. It's also the reason the other four Twitter apps ended up on the ninth page. Tweetie is $2.99, and it takes the place of the other apps mainly because it handles multiple accounts. I update my Twitter status - and also my Facebook status via Twitter - many times a day. I also have Twitter accounts for the church (Twitter.com/FaithAssembly), my BibleQuizPodcast (Twitter.com/BQPodcast), and a couple of others, so this has become an important app.

Next: The 8 on page 8.

It's Sunday, but Monday's coming! [Rev]

How many similarities and differences do you see between Easter for today's church and Easter for those that experienced the first one? Of course, the differences are many - egg hunts, sales and shopping, chocolate bunnies, to name a few.

But one of the biggest differences also leads to one of the biggest similarities.

The first Easter was rather low-key, I would imagine. Jesus' followers were still in hiding and shock from the events of the crucifixion. Even hearing the news that Jesus was alive, there had to be disbelief, numbness, confusion - as evidenced by the conversation of the disciples traveling to Emmaus.

On the other hand, Easter in American churches is decidedly...loud. We know that it might be the only chance we have to impress those that will only enter our doors this one time, so we pull out all the stops. For many churches that means a production - a BIG production. Even several days of the big production.

And then?

That's where there can be an important similarity. What do you do when what seems like the big finish becomes the big beginning? How do you refocus when events seem to have reached their peak, when the credits should roll and everyone should live happily ever after...and Monday comes?

For James, John, Peter and the gang, three years of preparation had led them to Jerusalem and a terrible ending. The Messiah was taken and killed. One of their group had betrayed him and their entire purpose had vanished on a cross. Then Easter morning came and the terrible ending suddenly became something else entirely.

The fatigue of wasted emotion gave way to exhilaration, then to a new reality for this small group. The Messiah HAD come, but it wasn't what they had expected. Suddenly there was the responsibility of a continued and sustained...something. Something, that would become the Church.

It became the beginning of the most important fifty days in the life of the Church. Fifty days later, there was power in the upper room and God breaking through in the streets. It all started on a Monday.

That's where we are, the beginning of fifty important days in the life of the Church.

The big productions came and went. The songs were sung, the big outreaches to kids and families were produced, all hands were on deck and the ships sailed. (Okay, I mix my metaphors and overdo it a bit...and tend to run-on my sentences, but hopefully you get the idea.)

And the question for all is...now what?

Monday.

We'll debrief the weekend. We'll think about the next big event. We'll gameplan for the summer. We'll try to recover physically and emotionally from what we've used in the productions and big Easter events.

But - and I'll guarantee this - the next fifty days will be important. By the time we get to May 31, we'll know how Easter weekend really went. As we head into June we'll know whether these last few days produced life or just a lot of activity.

Yes, it's been important, and hopefully some lasting decisions have been made and new life has begun.

Yes, the tomb is empty. But Monday's coming.

And 50 important days.

Ready?

Current favorite commercial [Gator]

It made me laugh. If you know basketball, or are familiar...even a little bit...with college basketball, this may make you laugh, too.

One of those ideas I wish I had thought of [Mc]

This would probably be a good Mother's Day idea for Trudi (if I hadn't just spoiled it by saying that.)

The Thumbsaver looks like one of those things we ALL should have thought of, but someone else did, and they'll probably make a mint off of it. I saw it on GeekBrief, and instantly thought of all the thumbs that could have been saved...and the young ears that wouldn't have heard language they shouldn't have heard, and the mouths that said words they shouldn't have said...if they only had this gadget.

(I'm not the handyman in the family, so - no, it wouldn't be a good Father's Day gift for me. But maybe for someone else.)