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When you live with a device, you learn what works and what doesn’t work. What is needed and what isn’t. For most developers, the iPhone is on them all the time. For many, the iPad isn’t. Because of this, I believe many iPad apps are lacking.
Most iPad apps are just scaled up iPhone apps. Between Auto-Layout, Size Classes, and more, Apple has made it nearly effortless for app developers to make an iPhone app that “just works” on iPad. But this isn’t always pretty. Just look at Twitter on iPad. One column, centered in the middle of the screen. Then look at Tweetbot. A custom two-column layout, tab bar on the left and even some basic keyboard shortcuts.
Developers need to spend time with their medium. Web developers that spend a lot of time on the web get more experience by seeing what others are doing and how. iPhone developers see the latest tricks, trends, and standards by simply using their phones. This same care needs to be applied to iPad. Live with your app and see what works.
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On Saturday I took a trip to Best Buy to play with the iPad Pro. And that sent me on a research trip over the weekend to see if it could replace my current setup. Right now I have a MacBook Air and a iPad mini. The MacBook is used for development and design work and the iPad is used for everything else. Unfortunately, the iPad Pro is way too large and awkward for use in bed, so I feel I would need to keep the iPad mini for that. And, so far, the “pro” software for iPad isn’t good enough to fully replace my Mac needs.
Here is how I see my uses:
- MacBook Air: iOS Dev/Photoshop
- iPad Pro: web dev/general
- iPad mini: reading
Where design apps lack on iOS is slicing and outputting graphics, something required for development. If Pixelmator or Graphic allowed you to quickly slice and output images on iOS, I wouldn’t need a Mac for that.
Beyond that, I need Xcode for iOS. There is Dringend, but it requires a remote Mac to compile and it cannot open Storyboards/XIBs. Some of my projects are Storyboard/XIB free, but not all.
I would love to be able to replace my Mac with an iPad Pro, but unfortunately I cannot yet. I can use an iPad Pro for a lot of what I do, though. So I am considering one.
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Planned Parenthood, a group that kills babies, is found out to be selling baby parts for profit.
A pizzeria receiving threatening phone calls, emails, tweets, and non-stop slander on Yelp and Google because they said they wouldn’t cater a gay wedding.
ISIS throwing gays off rooftops while the media turns a blind eye.
What do all of these have in common? These are things that Christians should be in an uproar about. Babies, the downtrodden, and the persecuted. Yet my feeds were clear of most of that while each of these events were at their heights. And now I see so many of my fellow Christians in an uproar about a cup.
Let’s be real. If you put Santa in a mall and don’t mention Christmas, you’re an idiot. You aren’t avoiding offending anyone or excluding anyone because the only holiday that involves a big jolly fat man in red this time of year is Christmas. Kwanzaa doesn’t. Hanukkah doesn’t. Only Christmas.
If you have a tree decorated with tinsel, lights, and ornaments: you have a Christmas tree. Calling it a holiday tree serves no one. No other holiday involves that tree.
But, as a free-market supporter and a conservative, I’m not going to force your business to call it a Christmas tree or to wish me a Merry Christmas. I might call you an idiot, but I won’t force your hand. I might choose to shop elsewhere, but I won’t force you to change.
So that brings us to a stupid little cup. Christians, when they see you stay silent about the murder of gays at the hands of ISIS and the selling of baby parts, what witness are you providing by complaining about that red cup? That $5 coffee is likely money not going towards providing an entire meal for a poor family or a week’s worth of water for a person in Africa. But you know, let’s complain about people not knowing how awesome Jesus is while we continue to not show them Jesus.
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I heard a preacher over the weekend answering questions about the LGBT community and how to reach them and love them. He, himself, lives in Boystown in Chicago. When asked on how to respond to the harsh, bigotrous, anti-Christian persecution on Facebook, which comes to anyone that stands by the Gospel, he responded with a ridiculing laugh and said that we should know better than to do this on Facebook.
A man, who lives in Boystown, going where the people are and reaching out to a community in need of Jesus laughed at people that were going to and reaching out to a community in need of Jesus online. I agreed and nodded my head with most of what he said before this statement, but then this laugh stabbed through me, a backhand across the face. Where there is an open hostility towards Christianity, a people that live in mockery of God, a people seeking meaning, us Christians ought not go?
The irony apparently is lost on him.
As an introvert, the whole approaching-those-I-don’t-know thing is very difficult. Not because I’m shy— I’m not—, but because our culture is built around extroverts. To get to any sort of real conversation, one must jump through the hoops of small talk, formalities, and fakery to seem pleasant enough to be real with. Our churches, too, seem geared towards extroverts. “Turn around and introduce yourself to someone you don’t know.” “James, I don’t know you, but do you mind opening us in prayer?” “Join us Saturday for our ice cream social.” None of those seem even remotely enjoyable to me. And I’m not alone.
But where the one-on-one interaction in person is difficult, the Internet opens many of us up to be more bold, more social, more sharing. Where an extrovert shines going to Boystown, the introvert shines going on Facebook. Both locations need Jesus. Both places are hostile towards Christianity and God. Both are seeking purpose and meaning. So why is my mission field wrong?
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Over the last couple months this blog has been lighter on original content, largely because of our move to St. Louis. Even with a lighter publishing schedule, I have been publishing a lot of links and videos on grim matters and on matters of hope. My heart has been broken time and again over the last couple months as information has come out about the practices of Planned Parenthood. In these dark times, we must keep our eyes on the Cross.
Hope. Many people are seeking it. Some Christians have lost it. The tricky thing is to recognize where you find it. Hope found in the world will always fail. Hope found in the power of the Cross, in the Blood of Jesus, in the eternal life to come will never fail. While the total depravity of our world is heavy, I find hope in the One that can overturn the sinful nature of the hearts of Man.
This for me is why I do not keep my words, my faith, the Word of God to myself. Keeping this hope, this blessèd assurance, to myself would be the greatest form of hate and selfishness. So I publish. Many will be offended. Many will unfriend me, unfollow me, or cut off all communication with me. But many more will see hope for something better than this fallen world.
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In a culture that glorifies death, does any life matter? We walk around trying to make sense of the senseless, find meaning in the meaningless, peace in a war zone. Born blind and deaf, only able to scream out in the empty darkness.
This isn't how life was meant to be. You aren't made to be living for the next nap, the next weekend, the next sexual encounter, or the next high. This is death. This is meaningless.
Wake up, oh sleeper, rise from the dead!
There is a life that welcomes all to pick up their cross and follow a King not of this world. Our leaders in this world might fail to meet our expectations, but this King set our expectations for something more because He wanted us to yearn for more.
Nothing here is good enough to fulfill that yearning. You've all felt it. That need for more. A different job, more money, a different girlfriend, the latest gadget. Maybe that will make me happy. I'm sorry to spoil it for you, but none of it will work.
Wake up.
This world is but a glimpse of the eternal, a taste of the divine. The best steak doesn't compare to the eternal. Neither does the most amazing woman, the highest paying job, or even a secluded island with no worries. We long for the eternal.
Your King knocks. Do you hear Him? Will you get out of bed and invite Him in? Wake up.
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Virtual hosts are such a great tool for web developers to test locally without losing their mind, but web development in 2015 involves testing on far more than a single machine. If your mobile iOS devices are on the same network, here is a simple trick.
- Go to System Preferences on your Mac.
- Go to the Network panel.
- You should see your IP address in here. Mine right now is 10.0.1.6.
- Go to Settings on your iOS device.
- Go to the Wi-Fi section.
- Tap the info icon on your current Wi-Fi network.
- Scroll down to the HTTP Proxy and tap Manual.
- Enter the IP address you found above into the Server field.
- Enter 80 into the Port field.
- Go to your browser of choice on the iOS device and go to your virtual host.
Simple enough for quickly testing your websites.
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The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.
Proverbs 22:7
Debt is not easy, yet America loves it. You don’t need another article that shares more statistics. You can find that elsewhere. For my wife and myself, the majority of our debt is my student loans. Even so, in our current financial situation (income vs. expenses), it’d take 3 years to pay of just our credit card, medical, and car loan debt. The student loans would take another 15-20 years to pay off.
So we are doing something radical. A few months ago Nikki encouraged me to look into jobs in St. Louis as she looked at a number of rental properties in the area. Five weeks ago, after much prayer and consideration, we accepted a job in downtown St. Louis and secured a townhouse in Maryville, Illinois. We achieved two goals: raise our income and lower our expenses. With the changes, we are looking to pay off our credit card debt, medical debt, and car loan in 8 months. The student loans could be payed off in 5-6 years time.
Dave Ramsey— a great financial guru— says that we need to make the choice to live like no one else so that one day we may live like no one else. Do everything you can to eliminate your debt. Have fun later when you have money in savings and no debt to pay. Obviously there is a fine balance. We have things we want to do over the next few months and even the next few years, but our primary goal is to get rid of debt and do everything we can to not take on more debt.
This is a faith thing. For years we haven’t been able to be as generous as we have wanted, we haven’t been able to save as much money as we have wanted, and we haven’t been able to make as much of a dent in our debt as we have wanted. So we are taking a leap of faith. Nikki grew up— and has always lived in— the Chicago area. Me, I grew up in St. Louis but have lived in the Chicago area for 11 years after moving up for college. Between family in the area and friends that have become like family, this has been a tough choice. But we are tired of the cost of living and the debt. Through hard prayer and wise council, we have made a choice that we believe is best for our family.
So last week we made the move to Maryville, Illinois and last Monday I started my new job at HLK. From our office windows, I can see the Arch and Busch Stadium. And for all of you back in Chicago wondering about the commute, it takes me 20-25 minutes to get here from and go home to Maryville.
I’ll be blogging more soon, I hope, as we begin to settle into our new place and new area.
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One thing we know even now, just hours after the tragic shooting took place, is that the gunman did not adhere to the Conduct Policy. He ignored the gun ban, he ignored the bans on violence, intimidation, and physically threatening behavior, and he ignored the rules against “unlawful conduct.”
Breitbart
The second thing I do, after praying for the victims of a shooting, is look to see one thing: was it in a gun-free zone. The shootings in Aurora, CO, Newtown, CT, Charleston, SC, and Chattanooga, TN were all in gun-free zones. Each of these states have concealed carry laws, but either allow businesses to declare their property gun-free or declare specific types of properties gun-free (usually churches, schools, etc.)
Aurora’s Century theatre declared themselves a gun-free. There were theatres nearby that were not. James Holmes chose the theatre that he could inflict the most amount of damage.
Connecticut declares schools to be gun-free, preventing teachers from defending their students with anything but their bodies.
South Carolina declares churches to be gun-free. Instead of going anywhere else in Charleston where there were plenty of blacks, Dylann Roof targetted a church where he could inflict the most amount of damage.
Chattanooga is yet another case of a military base where soldiers, the most trained in armed combat, were unarmed by law and unable to defend themselves.
And now Lafayette, LA. Another theatre that declares itself a gun-free zone.
This doesn’t stop the crazies from coming out and declaring:
Yeah, Jack Moore, it’s funny that law-abiding citizens see a sign as they enter a privately-owned property and decide to obey it, under penalty of the law, and leave their protection in the car, while the shooter walks right past that sign that clearly said no guns allowed and opened fire on people that were unable to protect themselves. Hilariously funny. Wait. No. That isn’t funny at all.
So what have we learned today? If you want to shoot a bunch of people before offing yourself, find a gun-free zone and take full advantage of those that cannot defend themselves.
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When the victims have been buried, when the murderer has been tried and justice has been served, we will still be praying. We will pray for the survivors. We will pray for the families. We will pray for the community. We will pray for racial peace and harmony. We will pray because that’s what we were doing. We will pray because we will not be silenced until we take our dying breath. And we will pray that we’ll be faithful to the end just like the nine of Mother Emanuel.
The Gospel Coalition
It didn’t take long for those that turn everything into a political issue to come out of the woodworks, even after a shooting at a prominent, historical church in the South. Whether it be about race, guns, or some other agenda, the talking heads are jabbering.
As Christians, though, we know all to be wicked, all to be depraved without Christ. While the young man that killed 9 people last night might have had a specific reason for doing what he did, it is sin at the heart of the matter and our need of a savior that needs to be remembered. Depravity knows no bounds.
For the members of this church and the community, the friends and family, we need to pray that the faith of those that have passed will not end there. No, they are in their eternal home, at peace today. No more tears and no more sorrow. But their family will mourn, and rightfully so. Pray that these men and women and their faith will carry on.
Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Rev. Sharonda Singleton
Myra Thompson
Tywanza Sanders
Ethel Lee Lance
Cynthia Hurd
Rev. Daniel L. Simmons Sr.
Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor
Susie Jackson
These 9, 3 men and 6 women, need to be remembered. Pray for Charleston. Pray that the hearts of Man are turned from wickedness to the light.
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