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This Is New

May 20, 2013 in Interactive with 0 Comments

I’m a problem solver by nature. You ask me to fix something and my heart soars. My girls come to me when their simple gold chains are all twisted and mangled and I can not walk away till it’s a free flowing arc again.

But the problem is that if the same problem is solved with the same solution time and time again, I tend to lose interest and nothing looks as fresh any more. Because of that, I’m a big fan of smart solutions. I love it when people think out of the box. See things in a new light. Tackle the problem from a new angle.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a branding example that uses negative space to make their mark stand out as something different in a crowded market space

Or a different take on an iconic movie’s poster

neg-Olly

These things stand out because they take a different approach on what has been done before. Below are two great examples that do that. The first is from Elevation Church. This video came out a few years ago and for me it’s one of the best church videos I’ve ever seen because it educates and helps people understand elements of their faith and the human brain. Our faith is real, but we’re still human. Does a great job walking you through it all.

The second is a short film that is based upon a commencement speech that David Foster Wallace gave back in 2005. What I love is that it’s something new. Something that tells a story based upon a speech.

What are you doing that you need to stop and think: is there a new way to do this? Can I just take a different path from everyone else and end up somewhere beautiful?

User Interface Design

May 15, 2013 in Interactive with 3 Comments

Wikipedia defines a User Interface (UI) as:

… the system by which people (users) interact with a machine.

If you have a smart phone, you are interacting with different UIs constantly. Some of them are great, and some of them are awful. Here is an example of both:

On Software Architecture

April 16, 2013 in Interactive with 0 Comments

In my previous post, A Hammer is Not A Blueprint, I talked at a high level about organizational principles in software and how those principles are often brushed aside for perceived faster-build cycles in the short term. I tied into this core theme my belief that modern tools (“hammers”) tend to encourage this. I explained how the short-term benefits trade-off was actually an illusion, and that it is always in the best interest of a software developer to adhere to the principles of strong software design and architecture, just as a physicist should always adhere to the laws of physics.

However, the question now arises: what exactly is software architecture? I described architecture in my previous post as a blueprint. But that is merely a convenient analogy for easing into a broader discussion on architecture. Architecture is not merely the blueprint, or design, but also the implementation of the blueprint. The architecture of a system, put simply, is the really important stuff. It’s the stuff that is either unlikely to change, or very difficult to change. The architecture expresses the intent of the software. It is big stuff, and not the details.

My favorite elaboration on software architecture is a talk done by a great mind and pioneer in the software industry, Robert Martin, affectionately known as “Uncle Bob.” Here is that talk:

Technology Open House

April 9, 2013 in Interactive with 0 Comments

Do you love technology? Do you love the Church? Then I would love to invite you to an upcoming event here at LifeChurch.tv. On Tuesday, April 16 (you’ll be done with your taxes) at our Central Offices, we are having a Technology Open House.

What does that mean? Well, for the first time, each of the LifeChurch.tv teams that have web developers on staff will open up their doors to anyone who wants to come. There will be free food, time to meet and understand what each of the teams work on, a little Q&A and then a tour of our offices.

The goal is to get to know our OKC Metro dev community a little better. We want to invite people in the OKC metro who are interested in technology and ministry to come learn a bit more about what we do at our church. We also want you to connect with others who are passionate about the same things!

Questions you may have:

Do I have to attend LifeChurch.tv to go?-No, if you are someone who is passionate about web/app/computers/code/design/awesome stuff then this is for you!
When you say Technology Open House what does that mean? -Man, you are smart. Yes, ‘Technology’ does include a lot…but we do a lot here at LifeChurch.tv! Primarily this will focus on the teams that build and develop web based or mobile/native applications.
How long is it? -Don’t worry, there will be no keynote speakers. We’re planning on a hour, starting at 6:30pm. If you’re having a great time and connecting with people, then we’re not going to kick you out the door
Will you be doing this again? -Only if it is a success. So make sure you come to help out. We want you there!
I’m in…Where can I find more details? -This is where you want to go next: http://techopenhouse.lifechurch.tv/

While it’s fun to talk about all the great things that are happening here, we really want to connect with the amazingly talented people here in the OKC metro. We truly feel that the Church should play a part in pulling communities together and be on the front lines of technology and innovation.

So, I would love to have you there and meet you next Tuesday!

A Hammer Is Not a Blueprint

March 20, 2013 in Interactive with 2 Comments

My wife and I are planning on having a house built for us next year, and we’re thrilled at the prospect of owning a home that was intentionally built for us. Thankfully, we don’t have to build it ourselves. An architect will draft a blueprint, and builders will use the blueprint to build the house. Since neither of us are particularly micro-managing by nature, this set-up suits us just fine. Indeed, we will both sleep peacefully at night knowing that our new home is in professional hands. Oh sure we’ll have some input into the process along the way, such as: “Will we have granite or ceramic tile in the bathroom?” “What color will the walls be?” “Do we really need a third bedroom?” But as for the architecture, we’ll happily leave that to the experts.

Now, suppose that three months after we move in we decide to renovate the bathroom to include a large jacuzzi spa. Suppose that upon making that request, the architect calls us up and screams, “You want to what?! That’s not going to fly. You see, the foundation, wiring and plumbing of those rooms is so intertwined that there’s no way we could just change it willy nilly—we have no idea what might happen! If you really want that jacuzzi, then the only solution is to demolish both rooms, and build them back from scratch.” Needless to say, this would not make my wife and me very happy. Unfortunately, such madcap situations take place in the software world every day. The reason for this is simple: as programmers we often write code that tries to do too many things, or what I will refer to in this post as role-mixing.*