Journalhttp://www.nervestorm.com/journal/en-US2012-02-24T13:53:33ZSquarespace Site Server v5.11.81 (http://www.squarespace.com/)Cozi Family planninghttp://www.nervestorm.com/journal/2011/11/27/cozi-family-planning.htmlTodd2011-11-27T19:54:53ZI just found Cozi in the itunes app store. It is designed to coordinate your modern family with a shared calendar, todo list, shopping and grocery lists as well as a journal funtion. It allows both shared and nonshared entries so each user can create there own items, as well as participating with the familiy plans. The website is well designed and straight forward. There are apps for IOS, Android, and Blackberry that make this a must have tool for the busy families. You can find out more about cozi at www.cozi.com take a look and see if it will work for your busy famliy.

]]>water proof case for iPadhttp://www.nervestorm.com/journal/2011/6/9/water-proof-case-for-ipad.htmlTodd2011-06-09T00:13:36Z

I found this iPad case to keep the iPad dry. It has a limited application, but if you need to carry your iPad over the shoulder and keep it protected from the elements, this might do the trick.

Here is a link to it at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Version-TrendyDigital-WaterGuard-Waterproof-Border/dp/B00373LR68/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307589181&sr=8-1

]]>My Essential iPad Appshttp://www.nervestorm.com/journal/2011/5/24/my-essential-ipad-apps.htmlTodd2011-05-24T20:47:36ZThis is a list of the iPad Apps I use on a regular basis. If I moved to this app from another I'll mention it and offer my opinion as to the pros & cons of each.

DropBox (free)
This is a free storage bin for files on you PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Web. You don't need a USB drive any more, you can get to Dropbox anywhere you have access to the internet. Up to 2gb is free and that is enough for most uses.

iA writer. ($0.99)
Writer is a small fast text editor, great for taking notes and it save the files to Dropbox! I have used PlainText and Evernote, but the integration with Dropbox make iA Writer a better option for me. That said I know several people who believe Evernote is superior.

FlipBoard (free)
Best way to read news, Facebook, and Twitter bar none. There are better clients for the social apps, but for a pure reader, Flipbook is tops.

Kindle (free)
The best source for ebooks on the web. The read is not as pretty as ibooks, but the volume of available books is by far the best in the industry.

neu.Annotate PDF (free)
A great PDF reader that allows you to markup draw on and otherwise treat a PDF file like a piece of paper and it is integrated with Dropbox.

Calculator HD for iPad ($0.99)
There are many iPad Calculators, and any of them are workable. This one costs $0.99, but it has a virtual paper tape that you can email or print as well as basic and Scientific modes.

Sundry Notes (free)
A note taking app, that allows multiple people (on other iPads) to work together on the same note! It also allows you to draw on the page as well as type. Great collaborative tool. There are some small ads on the page, which for the $2.99 pro version you can remove, but they are not really in the way on the free app.

iStudiez Pro ($2.99)
A school planner on steroids! Designed to work on a school schedule (grading period, semester etc.) There is a free version that gives you an idea of what it does, but it limits the number of classes (3) and semesters (1) so it is not very functional.

QuickOffice Connect Mobile Suite for iPad ($14.99)
If you integrate with MS Office, this is a must. It works in the native file format and supports DropBox. You can create or edit Word or Excel files and save them to DropBox, the open on your Mac or PC directly in their native app.

Keynote and sort of Pages and, Numbers ($9.99 each)
If you need to do work on the iPad, these apps are functional and expensive in iPad terms. If you use iA Writer, to capture text, you can format it later on your desktop and you don't need Pages. Numbers is a great app, but if you have QuickOffice, you have the ability create and edit word and excel files. So, the only one that has no peer on the IOS environment is Keynote. If you want to create and run presentations from your iPad, then Keynote is worth every penny of $9.99.

Wolfram Alpha ($1.99)
An expert system that will get you answers you can not find in Google and Wikipedia.

Wikipanion
The best access to Wikipedia, a great interface to tons of info on Wikipedia.

SportsTap (free)
The best way to keep up on live scores in almost any sport you follow.

SkyGrid (free)
A news reader that lists news items based on what people are reading. It crowdsources the priority of your news. You can customize by picking who you want to follow and see what they are reading.

USA Today (free)
The same front page headline news in an electronic form.

Bloomberg (free)
Business news and stock prices updated continuously throughout the day.

EMD PTE (free)
Free interactive Periodical Table of Elements from EMD Chemicals Inc.

Mathemagics ($1.99)
Wow, my math teacher never explained it this way...

AirSketch ($7.99)
This app allows you to draw on your iPad while others watch on a browser. So you can use it to broadcast your notes to students directly to their iPads, laptops etc. You can type, draw or even show photos.

MyCongress (free)
See who your representatives are and what they are voting on, saying or blogging. with contact info for each.

AcroBible NIV ($9.99)
NIV Bible, done well. Keep notes, highlights and quickly find verses. Includes several other translations to compare as well as concordances.

Daily Bible Study (free)
updated online

Olive Tree Bible The Message (KJ free)
This king james bible is free, other translations are available for a fee.

WebMD (free)
Great medical resource available in app.

Flixter (free)
Movies in your area, previews online and rotten tomatoes ratings.

Dictionary.com (free)
electronic dictionary that is easy to use.

The Weather Channel (free)
Weather anywhere by zip code or city, or local by location services in the iPad.

RedBox (free)
locate the closest red box that has the movie you want and reserve it so it will be there when you get there.

TED (free)
View videos of TED talks. TED invites experts in every area to talk for 20 minutes or less about their passion. Hear experts in technology, education and every other imaginable area talk about the best ideas, and the brightest hopes.

IMDb (free)
Internet Movie Database, tells you when it was made, and who was in it, and who wrote the screenplay etc.

]]>The Pathhttp://www.nervestorm.com/journal/2011/3/7/the-path.htmlTodd2011-03-07T07:17:07ZPOEMYes
Then
It is done
all is gone
the door of dusk
so far from dawn
a road less traveled
the well worn path
fades to nothing
nothing lasts
it is done
I arise
Then
Yes

]]>Texting to groups on iPhonehttp://www.nervestorm.com/journal/2011/3/6/texting-to-groups-on-iphone.htmlTodd2011-03-06T05:46:30ZTIPAs it turns out, you can send a text to multiple people but you can not send to a list. Even though you have groups in your address you can not type a group name in and send a text to that group. There is a work-a-round. If you type in the contacts or phone numbers for several people, you can send them a text, and if you return to that thread (or converstaion) you can send to that group again. Not perfect, but it works...

]]>Not Todayhttp://www.nervestorm.com/journal/2011/3/6/not-today.htmlTodd2011-03-06T05:45:34ZPOEMPOEM

Once, I was working in a customer service job. A job i took seriously. I wanted, and still desire, people to be happy. I like to be liked. This woman came in, and I could not help her. I tried, but there was nothing I could do to please her. She became angry, she was enraged. She paced and shouted. I said "not today"

Now, as it turns out this woman was and presumably is still black. I was and am white. As she ranted that she was not getting what she wanted, she began to exclaim that she was being treated unfairly. That it was because she was black. If she were a white woman, so she said, she would have been helped. She turned on me, and looked me in the eye. She shook her finger at me, and said loudly. YOU ARE PREJUDICED AGAINST ME! I thought, not today.

While I have limited personal experience with the prejudice against minorities, I was one of only a few white kids in a primarily latino school for many years. That by no means makes me an expert, or in any way qualified to speak on the horrors that some people have lived through simply as a result of their skin color. I don't know what else had happened to this woman, but she crossed a line. For her, race was a tool to bully me into letting her get her way. I determined, NOT TODAY.

So, during this tirade I remained quiet. I asked her to let me try and find a way to help her and, each time I spoke she got louder. But, when she shook that finger, and pointed at me, something snapped. My eyes widened, my teeth clenched. I pointed my finger back in her face and said NO! you are wrong! Prejudice means to prejudge someone. I didn't dislike you until after I met you. I will not be bullied, not today.

]]>Racisimhttp://www.nervestorm.com/journal/2011/3/5/racisim.htmlTodd2011-03-05T05:39:06ZPOEMPOEM

There is a difference between believing race does not matter, and believing race should not matter. We as a people can not confuse the ideal with the real. As we strive for the ideal, we must live in the real. We must understand and challenge our perceptions, and understand that each of us see our world, and the situations we find ourselves in, through the lens of our own experience. As a result we can not come together in shared opinion easily, when based on each of our unique spheres of perception.

So, what can we use, as a consistent, unchanging basis for shared conversation on the topic of race? What are we to do, in our messy lives, with our world full of war and hate and disagreements. What do we have that we can count on being the same. The same every day, for every person, all the time? You know... The answer is God, the answer is His word, the answer is obvious.

What did Jesus say about the poor, weak, and disenfranchised? How did he treat those of other nations? You don't need to know what Jesus would do! You can know what he did do.

The bible... Pick it up and read.

]]>Myron the Shepherdhttp://www.nervestorm.com/journal/2011/3/5/myron-the-shepherd.htmlTodd2011-03-05T05:38:28ZPOEMPOEM

Myron was a Shepherd. He lived in the desert, and herded sheep, that's what Shepherd's do. One day Myron heard a voice coming from the mountain to the north. Myron went up the mountain and there he saw an unbelievable sight. The very rocks were on fire! "what is this thing" he exclaimed? Then the rocks spoke. "I am I" said the rocks. It was the voice of God. You are chosen among people to convey my law. You will lead them from Egypt to the promised land! Myron fell to his knees, hid his eyes and asked God "what is it you need of me? I am yours". I have this law for you. Love the lord your God with all your heart. Honor your mother and father. "Wait!" yelled Myron. "I need to write this down." and he reached for pen. Lacking a proper scroll, he wrote the commandments on his hand.

That evening, as Myron descended the mountain, he spoke to the people, and read the commandments to the assembled masses. Love the lord your god with all your heart. Honor you monkey and feather. Ummm, something about lying... Embarrassed Myron went back up the mountain found the rocks and said to God. Ok, maybe I'm not the right guy for this. There's this really nice guy in the next village... Moses. Mryron hung his head, and turned to go but As Myron left, he turned back "maybe change the rocks, it's silly, they don't even burn... How about a burning bush! That would be nice." and headed back down the mountain.

You know how to tell this is not a real story from the bible? Because if this story were true, myron, in all of his weakness and confusion, would be triumphant. Because time and time agin, God uses flawed, weak, confused and just plain dumb people. People like you and I to teach, and lead, and as tools. God turns peoples weaknesses into strengths. Your failings, and fears are manifestations of your own self image. God takes away your false image of yourself, and replaces it with His grace. Through your faith God has promised his grace that you will be saved. So, imagine a day in your life, where you are not held back by fear of looking bad, or by what others think of you. Imagine a day, one day, where you can create anything you want, and nothing holds you back. That is Gods gift to you. If you know, truly know you are saved, then what is stopping you? Be the person you desire. Break out of your habitual life, and your self-constricting behaviors. This is not a call to break laws, or harm others. But, it is a call, a moral obligation to your self to do your best, to be your best in every aspect of your life. Your life is a masterpiece that you weave in each moment, and every movement of your life. When you meet your maker and present your life. Your masterpiece, bow down before your creator, and offer your best work. For at that day you want to hear. "welcome, my child. Welcome home... Have seat next to Myron."

]]>Listeninghttp://www.nervestorm.com/journal/2011/3/5/listening.htmlTodd2011-03-05T05:34:47ZPOEMPOEM
It is interesting, if you have ever noticed that when someone is talking to you, you begin to think about how you will respond. It appears this is unique to one to one conversations, it doesn't happen when you are in an audience. There needs to be a reasonable expectation that you will be called on to respond. YOU! What do you think?

You do this despite the fact, that in doing so, you cease to focus on what is being said. Your imagination fills in the ideas being spoken because you missed them, you are composing rather than listening. For, listening is an endangered skill, more rare than a giant panda, less common than an obscure variety of fish you won't miss anyway. Listening is hard. It requires discipline, and focus, and it requires that you become selfless. You have to set aside your response, and put someone else before you. Listening is intimate, it is a gift, the gift of yourself. It is genuine, it can not be faked. Listening is the outward result of a inward emotion. Empathy. Caring for someone else's thought, before you own. And most importantly, you... Um, what? Were you talking to me? I'm sorry, I wasn't listening.

]]>Use TextEdit Morehttp://www.nervestorm.com/journal/2011/2/25/use-textedit-more.htmlTodd2011-02-26T04:16:03ZTIPTIP
Every Mac ships with a little text editor called TextEdit. The app is extremely efficient, you click on it and it starts. You can start writing almost immediately. Is saves .rtf files, which supports basic page formatting and is readable by Microsoft Word. If you want a way to quickly get to an app, to type some notes, or transcribe a conversation, textedit might be just the thing for you.

Also, standard key commands for editing work great. Select some text and command B makes it BOLD, command U is underline, command + increases size and command - reduced font size. It also supports all the extended characters from the table below.

]]>