LaRosa Johnson {dot} com

Tonight I decided to try something new with my studies. For the longest time, I’ve been using the note files to take notes for my studies, which is basically the stripped down equivalent of a word processor. Since upgrading to Logos 4, I’ve found it to be a little bit limiting in the way I take notes. So, looking for a better solution, tonight I thought I’d give Microsoft OneNote a try now that I’m trying out the Office 2010 beta.

Given that I’m using two monitors for my study (at least at home) this is pretty feasible. I just move the OneNote window to the second monitor (in the same position that I previously had my Logos 4 notes file), and take notes like I normally would. The primary advantage to taking notes this way is that it’s super easy for me to organize & rearrange my notes, plus my outlines are formatting properly. The only real drawbacks are that my Scriptures aren’t hyperlinked automatically & they’re not searchable from within Logos.

I’ll continue to give this a try and see how it goes. The real challenge will be when I start studying without the aide of the second monitor and I’m back to having a more confined workspace.

Anyway, I’m going to continue working with this and see if I can refine the process a bit for better note taking. The one advantage I’m already seeing is the ease in moving between OneNote, Word & PowerPoint. Who knows, OneNote may be the way for me to go permanently.

Just a quick note on a Sunday night before I head to bed.

I’m really enjoying the latest version of Logos Bible Software. The latest version is version 4 and it’s a great application. It’s made my studying enjoyable and given me that extra boost to want to study the Bible. One of the cool things about it is the accompanying iPhone/iPod Touch app that they released in conjunction with the desktop software. It allows you to access your library (and I have a pretty large library) on the mobile device without having to repurchase books.

The iPhone app is really nice and it made me drink the Kool-Aid. I said I would never buy an iPod or Apple product, but seeing what the Logos app was capable of and basically doing what I had always hoped a Bible software company would do (i.e. not making me repurchase books I already own in digital format), I couldn’t resist. So basically, I bought an iPod Touch (8GB) just so that I could use this app. I’m still not abandoning my Zune just yet though as a music player.

What’s more, I even bought an 18.5” LCD monitor ($99 @ BestBuy) for my desk to expand my workspace now that Logos 4 has the ability to “float” a window & move it to a second monitor. This has really helped to increase my productivity and efficiency in studying. Having the real estate from two monitors really improves my workspace and makes it that much easier to study.

It’s getting late, so that’s all for now. Look for a video review soon (hopefully, if I can swing it) on the Trailblazin Ministries website.

A favorite quote from one of my favorite television shows, The A-Team.

That’s what I felt like saying yesterday when I was finally able to figure out a longstanding “bug” that I was having with the Trailblazin Ministries website and the drupal engine I was using. To make a long story short, I’m using a feature to automatically publish content at a future date that I set; but, when content would get published, comments would be disabled (and I wanted them enabled by default). So, after an article was published & live on the site, I’d have to manually go back and edit it to turn on the comments, which totally defeats the purpose of being able to automate the publishing of my content.

Well, I did some playing around with my local install of TM (via Wampserver) and tinkering with the settings. The main issue is that when “cron” is run (the tool that runs background processes on the site) it runs as an anonymous user, which does not have permission to administer comments (thus they get turned off). After playing around with some test posts, I found the problem. Apparently, I was using a method of “save post” & “publish post” together with “publish latest pending revision” (I have a revisioning system setup) and that was causing the issue. Whenever a post is saved it used the permission of that user, which is anonymous in this case. So, I simply undid the “save post” & “publish post” options & just left the “publish latest pending revision” and all is well!

I’m glad I got it figured out. I had posted on the Drupal forums, but that was no help since nobody replied; but, there’s a great feeling of satisfaction knowing that I was able to figure it out on my own, especially knowing that the error was caused by my own stupidity/ignorance. Either way, I’m happy and Trailblazin Ministries is working like a charm, just like I want it to!

Yeah, yeah. I know I just took the time to move the Trailblazin Ministries site to Joomla, but the more I work with it, there are some things that I’m not liking, particularly with URL structure and a few other items. With that in mind, I’m looking into the possibility of switching to Drupal. I was listening to the Geeks & God podcast and they’re some Drupal buffs and seem to swear by it for development, so I thought I’d give it a chance.

It’s not that I’ve never heard of Drupal, but it was always one of those CMSes that had a pretty high learning curve and I wasn’t able to figure out quickly. The more I work with Joomla though, I see that it is more of a “designer’s” CMS for people who want to get stuff up quickly & easily; whereas Drupal is more of the developer’s CMS and is a lot more flexible from that standpoint. Another important thing is GPL; even though both are open source applications, there are many plugins & extensions for Joomla that you have to pay for, but everything in Drupal is free & completely GPL (as far as I can tell & from what I’ve been told). That makes a world of difference to know that you don’t have to pay to get a particular feature added to your site.

With all of that in mind, I’m playing with Drupal on WAMP (Windows-Apache-MySQL-PHP) locally, and I even picked up Using Drupal from Barnes & Noble last night so that I could quickly get myself up to speed. I think the best part is that I know enough to get dive in without much problem and shouldn’t have much issue converting my current design over to Drupal. Either way, we shall see what happens.

This weekend, I learned a couple of lessons about data backup, purchasing a new computer, and migrating data. Having maxed out the upgrades to my laptop, Robin & I decided that it was time to purchase a new computer given the low prices and having a more powerful PC for work & study.

After doing a bit of study, I purchased a 17” Dell Studio notebook for $750, which trumps my previous laptop in every way possible (which I paid $1200 for back in 2007). I also picked up an extra AC adapter (so I could leave one at my desk, and then have a separate one for travel/work).

So, onto the lessons learned. Having recently purchased a new hard drive & experimenting with Windows 7 on my previous laptop, I had become pretty proficient in backing up my data, so that was all set and ready to go. I had data backed up on my external USB and anything else ready to go to transfer over the network from the old laptop.

I start setting up the new computer, installing software & migrating data. I get everything just about done, and decide to play some music while I finish up a few last minute installs & migrations. It’s when that happens that I notice that there appears to be something wrong with my speakers, as there’s a terrible crackling sound coming from the left speaker. This is terrible! I’ve got a defective computer, and I didn’t know until I had spent nearly 8-12 hours moving data. I debug as best I can and ultimately decide that it’s a hardware issue that cannot be rectified by updating drivers or new software. What a bummer! I call BestBuy and see what my options were, considering I had just taken the time to move ALL of my data over to this new machine. They tell me to bring it in & they’ll replace it & possibly just swap the hard drive from the defective one to the new one.

I package everything up & get to BestBuy, prove that it’s defective (pretty easily I might add). But then they tell me that they really don’t want to swap the hard drive (just in case it was part of the problem), and tell me that I can still do it, but they’d have to charge me for it. Even though I had quite a bit of personal data on there, I left it in the Lord’s hands that they’d wipe the drive clean, and just opted to take the new notebook and do the whole process over again. I had the kids with me, and they were acting up, so that was really my only option without coming out of more money when I didn’t feel like I should have to given the machine was defective.

After I get home & get the machine past all of the default setup stuff, I immediately took a cue from my previous experience and test the audio (cranking it up to the max), as well as testing all the other items. After I was sure this one checked out, I continued to migrate all of my data & reinstall my software. Surprisingly enough, it only took me about 4-5 hours the second time around, probably because I had a better idea of what I needed and where stuff was in my backups. So, I had the computer 95% done by Sunday morning, ready for church; I saved the remainder for Sunday evening, since I wouldn’t need it until Monday.

It was definitely a relief to have a working machine, other than almost having another scare with the audio this morning. I noticed that there was some popping/static while listening via my headphones. Since I knew it wasn’t likely to be hardware, I updated all of the major drivers (audio, video, chipset, wireless, and BIOS), which apparently fixed my issue. As of now, I only have a minor problem with one application in particular, but luckily enough it’s not dire because I’m able to do similar work in another program.

That being said, I’m enjoying the new machine and pray that it holds up and does everything I need for years to come for both work & ministry/study. The main lessons learned in this: 1) keep usable backups, and 2) test everything on a new computer to make sure it works before taking the time to put all of your data on it.

Last night I was pretty frustrated with my website and the possible move. What a difference a good night’s sleep, some pray, & a refreshed mind make. I woke up this morning with a few ideas of how to get things working and I took the time to do some homework and figure out why things weren’t working. With that I was able to figure out why a particular plugin wasn’t working and I got it running.

After that, I started to get my juices flowing and even edited the code of a plugin to make it work more like I wanted to. I actually did that with 2 or 3 plugins (it pays to know PHP). I was in such a groove that I even wrote my own plugin tonight which alleviated a rather minor annoyance of mine (will post it for download later).

After that breakthrough, things seem to be rolling along rather smoothly and I think the new site is going to be very nice. There are a few more things I need to figure out, but nothing too major. I will work a little more tonight and call it a night. Just wanted to share the good news.

I’m frustrated at the moment. For the past few weeks I’ve been working on making some upgrades to my website, which includes moving to a new platform (part of why my blog is now here). I’ve spent some money to get things going in the direction I want them to go and I’m nearly at a point where I’m pleased with the product. That was until tonight.

Tonight I hit a major road block and it’s literally causing me mounds of frustration. With the system I’m on now (Movable Type), once you get it setup, things just work like they should; but, the design isn’t flexible or easily changed, at least not without first having some web design & coding experience. The system I’m switching to, theoretically, should make things easier to manage in terms of the website. And things were going find until the point I’m at now. Come to find out, there are some things I didn’t take into consideration (thought they’d be a given) and now it’s giving me cause for concern. In order to get things to work right, I either have to come up with some cash and buy more plugins (which I’d rather not do), go without and just suck it up, or simply stick with the platform I have now and don’t even bother making the changes.

The way I feel right now, I almost want to just throw in the towel and say forget the money I’ve invested and keep what I have. But I don’t want to do that, given the time & money I’ve put into it. Then at the same time, I don’t want to put more money into it, especially if I don’t have a 100% guarantee that it’ll do what I need it to do (plugins are buggy sometimes).

Oh well, I just felt like venting. I’m going to lay down and get ready for bed. Maybe tomorrow will bring with it some fresh ideas. Goodnight world.

So, you’re probably wondering how and why you ended up at this website. You were probably trying to go to blog.trailblazinministries.com and got redirected here, to LaRosaJohnson.com. Well, that’s exactly what I wanted to happen.

For a long while now, I had been contemplating the idea of purchasing this domain name, but never did it. There was really no reason behind it, I just didn’t do it. For the longest time, my blog had been housed at UrbanWordz.com, but I let that domain go well over a year ago, after I decided to consolidate my website, blog & photos under a single domain, TrailblazinMinistries.com. That was working very well because it made my blog & thoughts a visible part of the ministry website, and it gave people an opportunity to view pictures of my family and so on. I was enjoying that, but I decided that it was time for a change, hence the change.

Seeing how I’m with Dreamhost, and have been for a few years now, they allow me to register/renew a domain every year. I owned a domain for testing that I wasn’t using anymore, so I decided to go ahead and register this domain. With that, I decided to separate the blog & family photos from the ministry website, and keep them as two separate entities. That’s not to say that my life isn’t ministry, but having a blog apart from the main site gives me the freedom & flexibility to toy around with designs, and other things. Along with the change in domains, I’ve also decided to drop Movable Type and switch to WordPress, since all I plan on doing is simple blogging over here. Plus, given the fact that a lot of the apps I use are written in PHP, it only made sense to use a platform that was compatible (as opposed to CGI/Perl).

That’s about it. Enjoy the new location & look. It’s still under construction, as I learn my way around WordPress, so look for things to change here & there. Also, be on the lookout for a change on the Trailblazin Ministries side of things in the coming weeks. God bless!

Last time, I talked about my decision to purchase a T-Mobile G1. It seemed like the logical choice given the way I used my mobile devices in times past, and I figured it was one that I could grow with. But now that I’ve had the phone for a week, I thought I’d give a bit of a review and share my thoughts.

First and foremost, the best part about purchasing this device is that it didn’t require me to change my plan, other than adding data service. Robin & I already had unlimited texting on our accounting, so I was able to simply add the $24.99/mo data plan without affecting our texting plan. As far as the initial purchase is concerned, the only issue I had upfront was that the data plan didn’t get properly added to my account at Wal-Mart and ended up having to call T-Mobile customer service when I got home to get it added. That was a minor hassle, and a one time event, so no complaints there.

After getting the phone charged and the 3G service working, the phone did its thing in syncing my hosted Google account (larosa@trailblazinministries.com), bringing over my contacts, email, and calendar without any issue. I double checked and everything looked good, especially with my contacts. From there, I hit the Android Marketplace and started to download some applications for the device, so that I could start getting some good use out of it. Given that Google doesn’t natively have a tasks app (yet) and are just getting around to implementing it in Gmail, one of the first things I downloaded was a tasks/to do list application. At first I tried Tag ToDo, but that didn’t work out too well; it was a bit too simple. So, I ended up settling on TooDo, which seems to fit my workflow and needs a lot better. Once I settled on the tasks app, I spent a little while configuring it and porting (manually) all of the tasks that I needed to complete. Other than what came preinstalled, that was the only application that I really needed for productivity’s sake.

A few of the other apps I downloaded included: SMS Popup (an app that shows a pop-up when a new text comes, instead of the standard alert), Bank of America, Note pad, ShopSavvy (which scans barcodes & looks for prices online), Toggle Settings (a quick app to change the phone’s mode, i.e. turning the ringer to vibrate or turning Wi-Fi off/on), the Weather Channel, and a few games (Sudoku, Blackjack, Maths Workout, Chess & Tic-Tac-Toe). I also downloaded a Facebook application (which replicates the iPhone browser view of Facebook) and CadreBible, a Bible software application. So far, the only thing that I feel like I’m missing is having my Google Reader in its own app, but since that’s not available in hosted Google, I’m not surprised; either way, I can still view it from the browser.

Once I found all the apps I wanted, I took some time to customize the home screen so that my most important apps were always quickly available (i.e. TooDo, Toggle Settings, Contacts, Mail, Weather, etc.), then with my games & other items on one of the other screens.

In terms of usage, this phone isn’t much different than how I used my T-Mobile Dash, other than how certain things operate. Given my knowledge of tech, I didn’t bother reading the manual and felt right at home using the device. The only thing I had to really figure out was how to scroll the window, but once I figured that out, the device was super easy to use. About the only complaint I have with the device itself is when it locks itself (after timing out) and then I have to go through the process of unlocking the phone to get back to what I need, especially while on a call. Granted, I have a pattern set to unlock the phone for security reasons, but it can be annoying at times. I may end up delaying the timeout past 1 minute & see if that changes things (hopefully without negatively affecting my battery life too much).

Given my schedule, I haven’t had too much time to “play” with the phone, but I have given most of the features a try, including the Google Maps, which became invaluable just the other day. I had to take Ryan to Awana for the first time and I had never been to the church where it’s held, so I used Google Maps to chart out my course. Well, I ended up missing my turn and used the GPS to pinpoint my location and then find my way back. It was totally a lifesaver that night! Other than the Google stuff, this is really no different than any other smartphone, which is a good thing for me, as it’s very consumer friendly.

The last thing I want to note is the accessories, which I wasn’t all too pleased with. The one I purchased came with all the new stuff (1GB SD card, headphone adapter, etc.), but it really didn’t impress me that much. given that the adapter/headphones are supposed to double as your headset, I found the headphone cord way too long to be useful for that purpose (because it leaves the mic hanging too low). I haven’t even bothered trying it yet because I didn’t feel like messing with it to get it to be the length I needed. Instead, I purchased a Jawbone 2 bluetooth headset, which should be here Monday, so that I don’t have to worry about wires at all. The other complaint is the case that comes with the phone. Granted, it’s a nice case & all, but there’s no belt clip or loop, so users are forced to stick it in their pocket or a bag when traveling. I tried that for the first few days, but found the phone to be too bulky, even in my roomier jeans. I eventually settled on using the case that came with my Dash (the G1 amazingly fit in it, albeit very snug) so that I could continue carrying my phone on my hip. The only concern I had with that was the magnetic closure, as I had read in some Android forums that magnetic case closures can screw with the compass. I figured I’d live with that for now until I’m able to find a better case, seeing how I couldn’t tolerate the standard case that came with the phone.

Overall, I’m very pleased with my purchase and very glad that I made it. It’s made things a lot easier to work with, especially now that I don’t have to worry about having a lot of my data in multiple locations (i.e. my calendar & tasks). I look forward to seeing what they come out with next, and I think I’ll be using this device for a long time to come. For a first generation OS, this is a very solid and stable device and I’m pleased to be a part of the android community & movement.

Over the past few years, I’ve really come a long way with my usage of mobile devices. I remember back in December 2005 when I bought my first handheld device, which was the Palm Z22. That was my first exposure to the PalmOS and PDAs. I was immediately impressed and hooked. I loved the fact that I could keep track of my calendar, to do list, important numbers, take notes, and even carry around a small biblical library with me.

I used that device until I upgraded to the T-Mobile Dash, a Windows Mobile device, in February 2007. It was at that time that I moved to Texas and decided it was time to invest in a smartphone with more storage and capability. I had wanted to get a Palm Treo to remain with the PalmOS, but T-Mobile didn’t carry them, and the carriers that did wanted a hefty security deposit. With that in mind I opted to go the WinMobile route with the Dash and take my chances. Again, I was very pleased with its capabilities and especially enjoyed having the full keyboard on which to type. I made good use of it, purchasing software as needed, getting to the point where I had all the functionality that I had in my Z22, and then some. I was able to connect via Wi-Fi, removing the need for a data plan, and rocked that device until a week ago today.

It was last Friday, just one week ago, that I decided to go to Wal-Mart and purchase the T-Mobile G1 aka the Google Phone. I had been pondering the purchase since its initial release back in September/October of last year, but hadn’t fully made up my mind on the matter. Then my pastor got one, along with a few co-workers, so I decided to do my research and read just about everything I could to see if this was the device for me. I read all of the positive reviews, and most of them didn’t sway me one way or the other. I was particularly interested in the negative reviews and their feedback, to which I was unable to find anything that would hinder me from enjoying & using the phone.

In deciding to make the purchase, there were a few things about the phone that really piqued my interest. First, I really liked the touch screen. When I moved to the T-Mobile Dash, that was one of the things that I really missed about the Z22; I missed having the touch screen, with or without the stylus. So, having that capability again, would really prove to be beneficial because I knew just how useful it was to me. I also liked the fact that it still had a full keyboard (that hides away), which was a major asset with my Dash. Combining the touch screen with a full QWERTY keyboard gave me the best of both worlds. The next thing was the open source factor. I really enjoyed the fact that the G1 was an “open” device and one that could be actively developed on (not that I’d be doing any development). Having that option leaves the door wide open for a world of possibilities and future enhancements. Plus, I didn’t want to be tied down to Windows, as much as I appreciated their mobile OS. The final thing that really caught my attention was the syncing with Google. You see, I use a hosted Google Apps account for Trailblazin Ministries, which includes my mail, contacts, & calendar, so having those seamlessly sync with my phone was an added benefit. I never really liked syncing my Dash to my PC (only did when I absolutely needed to), so never having to sync the G1 with my computer, while still keeping my data synced, is the best thing possible for me. It’ll stay synced without me even having to think about it.

So, in anticipation of buying the device, I went into my Gmail and completely organized my contacts, merging emails, adding phone numbers from my phonebook, and so on so that it would be 100% ready to sync with my phone when I got it. I had read about horror stories with people spending days trying to reorganize their contacts after buying their G1, so I wanted to be prepared for a super easy experience, plus it was something I needed to do anyway. Even in doing that, I still wasn’t absolutely sure that I wanted to spend the money to buy a new phone, considering I thought I’d have to pay full price ($400). After finding out that I qualified for a discount & could get it for $179.99 (being a customer in good standing for 2 years @ T-Mobile), I still wasn’t convinced that I needed a new phone.

It wasn’t until my wife expressed interest in having a phone with a keyboard (for texting purposes) that we decided together to go ahead and make the purchase (with her inheriting my Dash). So, after getting the necessary funds, I went to Wal-Mart and made the purchase. So, now I’m the proud owner of a new T-Mobile G1 (black).

In the next part of this entry, I’ll talk more about the device itself and my experience with it. Until then, God bless!