Gadget review: Martian watch

Martian Passport Watch

The Martian Watch is an analog watch with a single-line LED that communicates with your smartphone (or tablet) using Bluetooth 4.0. I used my Martian Watch with an iPhone 5, but it also supports Android devices as well as IOS ones. The watch uses the LED to alert you to things like incoming calls, texts, and appointments.

Martian Watches come in multiple styles (Passport, Victory, and G2G) in differing colors. Mine is the Passport with a black leather band which costs $299. I only paid $115, however, as I was one of the early supporters via Kickstarter. 

To read the rest of this review, visit its new home at Principled Technologies' Tech Everywhere. 

Romans 8

Unlike some people I know, Romans is not one of my favorite books of the Bible. In fact, I don’t really like it. At times, the book feels like Paul is showing off. At other times, it reads like a boring legal document. “The party of the first part, being God, holds the party of the second part, us sinners, to be solely culpable for all transgressions done by the party of the second part against the party of the first part.” Sorry, but that is what it reads like to me.

As I’ve been reading through the New Testament, one chapter a day, I was quite enjoying the gospels and Acts. Romans, however, loomed large. I was rather dreading it. The first seven chapters were as I remembered them. Then, I hit chapter 8. It was like someone put beautiful poetry on the 8^th page of a 16-page legal document!

After detailing all of the wretchedness and sin of mankind in the proceeding chapters, chapter 8 starts out with Paul’s bold proclamation, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

Midway through the chapter (verse 15) Paul says, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” Put that in your legal document!

The chapter concludes in verse 38 with one of the first (and sadly, few) passages I memorized, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen!

Wow. I am not a fan of poetry. I am even less of a fan of legal documents. Paul’s words in Romans, however, put the two in an amazing juxtaposition.

In the future, I don’t think I will dread reading Romans so much, though I think I will always look forward to getting to Chapter 8.

Apologies

My last blog entry (about sabbaticals) was over two months ago. Those sabbaticals are precisely the reason that I have not been able to find the time to write blog entries for so long. Despite the personal cost of Mark’s and John’s sabbaticals, I am more convinced than ever of the value of sabbatical programs such as PT's.

The good news, however, is that they are both back and, while there are still summer vacations to deal with, my work life is beginning to calm down enough to allow me time to get back to writing. I have a number of partially written entries that I will be working to finish over the few weeks. These entries include my take on some cool gadgets as well as my thoughts on a few other topics. I'm also working on some ideas about how to spruce up the blog and make it easier to find past topics.

Thank you for bothering to check and see if I’ve written anything. Come back soon and see some real entries! 

Sabbaticals

Bill relaxing and reading on sabbatical in Bolivia

Sabbaticals have been on my mind lately. The obvious reason is because my business partner, Mark, is just finishing up one and my good friend, John, is two weeks from starting one. (Check out Mark’s blog if you are curious about his experiences.) As I work very closely with both of them, their sabbaticals have a fairly large impact on me. I already was able to take mine thanks to them covering for me, so I’m glad they each have the opportunity to take a sabbatical.

The reason all three of us have had this opportunity is that our company, Principled Technologies (PT), has a sabbatical program. Mark and I were inspired by a talk we heard at TED a few years ago. The program we designed is one that both enables time to rest away from work and encourages folks to do something good in the world. A person is eligible every seventh year of employment at PT to take seven paid weeks off from work. We tell folks to not check their work email and to disconnect totally from work for that time. We also encourage them to do “something good in the world” with at least one of those seven weeks. If the person does so, PT pays $5,000 towards that cause or effort. Mark worked in a local soup kitchen and John is planning to ride his bike 750 miles to help children in Africa. 

Two years ago, and a couple years late, I took my sabbatical. It was a wonderful time of relaxing. Because of my personality, my idea of relaxing included lots of scheduled things and kept me fairly busy. I read quite a bit. I spent a wonderful week at Sandals in Jamaica with Susie. I did some things around the house I had been putting off forever. The highlight, however, was the two weeks I spent at an orphanage in Bolivia. (OK, it may have been two weeks of hanging out with some amazing kids!) 

The combination of time away from the pressures of work and of time helping others enabled me to focus on what is important. It was a great seven weeks and I would have loved to have had more time, but I also was glad to get back to work. When I returned, Mark and I reevaluated my role at PT and made some adjustments in light of what I learned and what Mark and PT learned in my absence. 

Beyond the value of the sabbatical to me personally, I think the sabbatical program is a valuable benefit for PT. There is an obvious cost to PT of the seven weeks of salary with no work in return. In a small company, someone being gone for that long can be very difficult to deal with. The benefits, however, outweigh the costs. Over time in any job, stuff just piles up. The time away allows that to go away and for the person to only pick back up what is important. I’m hopeful as well that the sabbaticals will help people avoid burnout. And, I really like that people from PT are making a positive impact, however small, on the world. 

I’ve also given some thought to the Biblical perspective on sabbaticals. I’d like to claim that I suggested the program based on concepts from the Bible, but that is not really the case. In truth, I don’t know whether the idea was mine or Mark’s. (As an aside, I seldom can remember whether “our” ideas start with Mark or me. Maybe it is because we see any credit as shared regardless of who thought of it first.) 

The word sabbatical is from the same lexical roots as Sabbath. The Hebrew word for Sabbath means to cease, desist, or rest. In Genesis 2:3, God blesses the seventh day as a day of rest as He rested from Creation. (I’ll leave what it means for God to rest to theologians!) The key is that from the very beginning, we were created with a need for rest. Matthew Sleeth does a great job of looking at that need for rest and a Sabbath day in 21^st Century America in his book, 24/6: A Prescription for a Healthier, Happier Life.

The Sabbath also made God’s top ten list as one of the Ten Commandments, “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8) Just to make sure we did not miss its importance, this is the longest of the commandments and includes details about how and why we are to implement the weekly day of rest. There is quite a bit of irony in the fact that what seems like the easiest commandment to follow is one that we have so much trouble with. In the New Testament, Jesus spends a decent bit of energy arguing with the religious leaders of the day to not be so legalistic about the Sabbath, but affirms its importance.

The concept of the Sabbath in the Bible extends beyond just resting one day a week. Every seventh year for the nation of Israel was to be a Sabbath Year. The land was to be left fallow and debts forgiven. (See Leviticus 25:1-7 and Deuteronomy 15:1-6.) One of the sins of the nation of Israel was its failure to implement the Sabbath Year.

I don’t claim that PT’s sabbatical program fills the same role or importance as the Sabbath or Sabbath Year in the Bible. I do think, however, that we were created with a need for rest and I hope that PT’s sabbaticals help in that direction.

I know I’m looking forward to my next one. Only three more years!

Easter reflections

Throughout Easter I kept being drawn back to this photo. I looked at it during church and multiple times later in the day. 

I don’t claim to have any ability as a photographer, but I love this picture. I took it a couple of years ago in Bolivia on Good Friday. The children at the orphanage I was visiting acted out the Stations of the Cross. Many of the roles were portrayed by girls. The drawn-on beard makes me unable to be sure who this girl was, but that is not really important. There is just something touching about the innocence in her face that I cannot get out of my mind.

Sunday evening some friends, Susie, and I watched the final episode of the History Channel’s The Bible. Like Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, it attempted to depict the horror and cruelty of crucifixion. They both manage to convey that aspect of the event, but left me feeling like something was missing.

I think the pendulum may have swung too far toward the pain and suffering aspect of the crucifixion. I often hear phrases like, “the most painful death possible” or “suffering that no one else has endured.” I don’t know that those claims are true. Rome crucified lots of people in similar fashion and other forms of execution may even be crueler or more painful.

The girl in this photo is at an orphanage, so there definitely has been pain and suffering in her life. At the same time, however, there is an innocence, a serenity in her face. So too, I think that during Jesus’ suffering there was some sense of serenity in knowing that because of His innocence of sin, what He set out to accomplish was about to be completed.

I am grateful for, and must not forget, the suffering. At the same time, when I look on that innocent face, through the drawn-on cuts, bruises and beard, I see a glimpse of the serenity of Jesus’ face. 

It is finished, paid in full. Amen. 

Gadget review - Jawbone Up

Jawbone Up with its cap removed to show the plug

One of the items I received from the recent TED conference was the Jawbone Up. It is an activity monitor that you wear around your wrist. At the simplest level, it detects the motion of your and then uses that information to determine things like the number of steps you take and how well you sleep.

I used the Up for two weeks including the week of TED. My general impression of it was fairly positive, though I kept thinking of things I wished it could do. I think many of those features will be added to future versions of the Up or future competing products. 

To read the rest of this review, visit its new home at Principled Technologies' Tech Everywhere.
 

Thinking about thinking

After returning from the TED conference, I spent a week at Sandals with my beautiful wife. We had a wonderful time enjoying tennis, SCUBA diving, volleyball, and generally relaxing. That juxtaposition of thought-provoking talks and time to relax caused me to spend time a good amount of time thinking. 

Unfortunately, thinking is not what it used to be. 

In 21^st Century America, thinking has developed a bad reputation. We seem instead to rely a lot more on feeling than thinking. Even facts are considered subservient to our feelings or opinions. The book True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society does a good job of describing that phenomenon. Stephen Colbert's concept of truthiness--truth is something that feels right, regardless of facts--has prevailed. We no longer know what is an opinion and what is a fact. 

Another aspect of the decline in thinking is that in discussing topics, controversial or not, we value quick responses over slow ones. The quick sound bite trumps the thoughtful, nuanced response. In contrast, in the New Testament, James exhorts Christians to be “quick to hear, slow to speak.” Proverbs 17:28 says, “Even a fool, when he keeps silent is considered wise; When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.” I remember when someone who responded slowly was thought to have considered more carefully his response. Now, choosing your words carefully often is considered a sign of indecision. In communications, tweeting is winning over emailing, let alone letter writing. We prefer speedy responses more than ones that are the result of measured thinking. 

I think it is further evidence of the decline in the perceived value thinking that we look down on people who change their minds. In politics, it is often referred to derisively as flip-flopping. I’ve heard Christians say that being open minded is something to be avoided. As best I can tell, thinking and learning involve changing your mind. What is the point in thinking if at the end of it you are unchanged? 

In the face of all this, thinking is what I do—whether on a beach in Jamaica, riding my bicycle in Wake County, or taking a shower.  My goal with this blog is to make my thinking more systematic, rigorous, and Biblical. 

There are a number of controversial areas that I have been thinking about of late such as guns, inerrancy, homosexuality, and Hell. I want not just to think about topics like these, but to think Biblically about them. I also realize that I have much to learn and may well be wrong in my current thinking. 

I have been somewhat reticent to discuss these topics, let alone blog about them. These topics are pretty much guaranteed to tick off half the people out there. Worse, my thinking on them is such that I may well tick off everyone! 

My goal in writing about such topics is not to convince anyone else, though I’m fine with that! My primary goal is to organize my thinking by writing about them. Secondarily I want to expose my thinking to others so they can help me see the flaws in it. I am going to try one or two of these topics over the coming weeks.

I figure that once I have done that, I’ll probably have to stick to safe things like the latest gadgets (DIY drones look like fun) and keep my opinions on more controversial topics to myself! Of course, I’ll need to rename to blog to something like Grown up geek or Tech toys for tech boys.