Update: Also, no camera and no Adobe Flash = NOT GOOD. This would be  a GREAT device for Hulu or video chat…guess that won’t be happening.

First, you know I am a Linux/OpenSource advocate, user, and fan. That said, I have no small amount of respect for the design aesthetic and usability leaps that Apple often makes with its products. I am trying the watch the live stream of the announcement, but it’s buggy…I think because it’s being hammered so hard by the geeks of the world right now. Anyway, so here’s a few thoughts I’m having as I watch this thing:

• The name: iPad. Really? Sounds a lot like the iPod, only not nearly as cool. I was partial to the “iSlate” rumor myself.

• This is basically just a huge iPod touch.

• Since Apple sets trends, I am excited about the movement toward an all-purpose, touch-screen, always-connected device.

• The iBooks application will complete what Amazon started with the publishing industry in terms of making most books (if not all) available digitally. This is great.

• You’re reading on a light-emitting screen though…not sure how that plays out in the long run compared to e-Ink.

• Haven’t really seen text-input demonstrated yet…how is this going work? Since it is a capacitative touch screen, how can artists accomplish detailed work without a stylus?

• They are really pimping games. This is interesting to because I wouldn’t really see this as a gaming device. But whatever.

• Okay here we go with the iWork demo. Let’s see some text-input! No, still no demo. I think this is where the device could sink or swim.

I am not sure what this means for Linux/OSS, but I am sure Google will be adapting Android into something like this soon. Looking forward to seeing the open source community respond with hardware and software.

So I might do this weekly, if you guys think it’s cool. I’m posting a screenshot of my current desktop, mainly to showcase the awesome Creative Commons art I use as desktop backgrounds all time. Shutter is quickly becoming my preferred screenshot taking and and editing tool.

click for full size

OS: Ubuntu 9.10 | Theme: Shiki-Colors | Desktop background: Leonidas by Samuele Storari

Just downloaded and installed the latest Firefox, and I’m liking it. Definitely a bit faster and more responsive than Firefox 3.5…though not yet as snappy as Chrome from what I can tell. Note: this will REPLACE your existing FF 3.5 install. Here’s how to install it from the command line in Ubuntu Karmic:

First, open up a terminal, and then:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-daily/ppa

(adds the Mozilla repository to your sources)

sudo apt-get update

(updates your sources)

sudo apt-get install firefox-3.6

(downloads and installs the app. You’ find it in Applications > Internet > Namoroka Web Browser)

I’ve used lots of note-taking apps over the years. Online apps, offline apps, gui apps, command-line apps, mobile apps, personal wikis–pretty much everything. But I keep coming back to plain text files for my notes when I take them on my computer. I do a lot of stuff (journaling, meeting notes, etc) the lo-fi way (pen and paper) these days, but when I do take and record notes via keyboard, plain text just works. It’s small, portable, easily converted to rich-text, and no-hassle. Seems almost too simple given the plethora of outstanding note-taking applications out there, but it does continue to work for me.

On Ubuntu, the default text-editor Gedit works great, and has a few extra features that make taking plain-text notes a bit more convenient, like a side-bar file browser so you can easily open multiple files, and automatic time/date insertion if you’re keeping a journal.

Am I the only one that keeps coming back to plain-text for my digital notes?

I’ve struggled a lot over the years with the idea of calling…that very specific sense from God as to what you’re supposed to do with your life. I’ve never had a “light from heaven” moment where my grand purpose in life was revealed to me. Rather, I feel like God teaches me slowly and methodically as I strive for a life of daily obedience. Although I think God has been faithful to communicate his will for me in this way, it is sometimes discouraging when you hear all of the talk in evangelical circles regarding everybody else’s “call”…especially when you’re in vocational ministry. You start wondering if there’s something wrong with you, because you didn’t have a dramatic, ecstatic experience of divine communication.

Because of these struggles, I’ve become fairly recently interested in doctrines of vocation. Who knew Christendom even had such a thing? But as I learn about the historical Christian perspective on calling and vocation, I’m deeply encouraged, and I feel confirmed in my sense of how God is revealing my vocation to me.

This past Sunday, my pastor preached on this idea, and his statements really resonated with what I’ve already been thinking. He said that in general, your calling from God probably exists at the intersection of your greatest passion, your gifts and abilities, the world’s need, and God’s glory. What a great way to think about vocational purpose.

How have you discerned God’s calling on your life?