Chris Marsden @ chrismarsden.com

So last night was the night. I redesigned and reset up my whole site. Next comes the migration and the redesign of this domain. In order to make that smooth, I have turned off all comments on all posts at ChrisMarsden.com. It is not that I don’t want your input. In fact, it is because I want your input that I am holding you off for a week. I want your input to count and not get lost in the migration.

I am hoping to launch the new blog (with all current content and comments in tack) this week, but I am wanting to get the redesigned ChrisMarsden.com up at the same time, so rather than pulling the trigger ealry, I am going to give it another day or two. Hope you don’t mind.

[The good thing about having a baby that doesn't let you sleep is that my all-nighter to get the design done doesn't feel all that exhausting.]

So it’s been crazy busy the last few weeks getting ready for little baby Marsden #3. And today is finally the day. I’ll have updates later, but you can check out pictures over at Flickr as I get a chance to upload them.

http://flickr.com/photos/cruciformity

So I wrote about the windows day I had last week over at The After Mac. It wasn’t really Windows fault. I was mostly venting. But the outrageous number of options for Window’s Operating Systems is kind of ridiculous, especially when you can’t get all of them in any local retail stores.

Anyways… the actual problem that triggered the crappy day (which turned into a crappy weekend) was a failing hard drive. The creepy part of the whole scenario was that this exact hard drive had the same problem 3-6 months ago. I stuck it on a shelf (I have pack rat issues) and ruled it out. But when my other POS (that’s point of sale, not what you were thinking (although its that too)) started having problems, I tried this computer again on a last ditch attempt.

And it worked. It has worked for the last month.

Until it didn’t.

So after a long weekend of debating my options (rebuild data from paper and accept missing data vs. sending off for recovery ($900-3900), I was pretty much worn out. So why not plug the hard drive in for one more try. What do I have to lose, right?

And it worked. Sort of. But it at least worked well enough to get my data back.

And that’s why I quit my potential IT career. I couldn’t deal with intermittent problems. How can you feel confident that you have fixed something if you didn’t actually do anything and the problem just goes away (and comes back).

But this has got me thinking about relationships and human interaction issues. Do we have solid consistent connections with reality and others? Or… Do people see as intermittent problems? We are inconsistent, so avoiding us for fear of the uncertainty of how we’ll react.

I try hard (especially over the last year or two) to be consistently me. Good or bad, I’m me. You see the beauty of a consistent problem is that it is recognizable and addressable. Often, it is recognizable before it becomes a critical problem. So while I want to consistently me and have that me be a problem free experience, I want my problems and issues to be consistent as well.

So for future computer experiences and for my own life, I pray for problem free experiences. But when there are problems, lets hope for some consistency so we can identify the problem, troubleshoot it, and move on with life.

Don’t Forget.

June 17th is Firefox Download Day.

Help Set a World Record and get your hands on one of the greatest browsers ever. It doesn’t matter what OS you are running (within reason), Firefox has a version for you.

Check it out.

Tags: firefox, download day, world record

With WWDC around the corner I have just announced a contest at The After Mac. It runs through next Sunday Night. All you have to do is comment on any of the WWDC related posts over the next week. Each comment is an entry into the contest.

Do you have a book idea floating around your head?

Are you a photographer with a ton of pictures you are just dying to sell?

Do you just want something free?

Lia, over at Gadgenista, is giving away two free books from Blurb. Not her book… your book.

You can enter until June 8th. Use it for yourself or for a gift. One of the best things about blurb is you can actually leave your book online in their store and sell copies to others if you really want.

(jon and bryan, I have you in mind here. both of you should have something to publish, I am sure).

Yesterday morning I had to go to court. It is a long story, but the short version is some kids spray-painted my fence and I was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subpoena">subpoenaed </a>to appear in court in regards to the case. [of course I didn't actually get the subpoena, but the lady on the phone was pretty particular about me coming.]

So yesterday morning, my wife and I rearranged our schedules and I drove to the other side of town for this court case involving one of the boys who spray-painted my fence.

Let me tell you a bit more of the story…

Hours after my fence was tagged, a police officer knocked on my door to inform me that the boys had been caught and had me sign a paper stating that I did not, in fact, give them permission to spray paint my fence and that I would be willing to press charges. He felt confident that the repainting of my fence would be paid for and would let me know if anything developed.

A few weeks later, a guy called me from a program called Restorative Justice. He told me that two of the boys involved had opted to enter his program. This program kept the kids out of the court system (no record) and gave them an opportunity to restore the damages they inflicted. My wife and I picked out a paint color, and over the course of three weekends, these boys repainted my fence (all 285 feet of it). It actually looks better than before they spray-painted it.

In the mean time, the third boy pleaded not guilty. He chose not to enter the program that kept him out of the system. He chose not to take the opportunity to restore the damages he inflicted. He chose to "take his chances in court."

And that brings us to yesterday.

While I was there I got to watch a couple different trials take place. Some of them more serious than the one I was involved in and some about the same. The "take your chance in court" catch in the system, apparently, is this: If the victim doesn’t show up, you walk.

So because I showed up, he changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.

Did you catch that? Not because of my testimony on the stand. Not because of my eye-witness account (I didn’t even see this happen and don’t know this kid from any other kid). Simply because I showed up. I signed in, it was confirmed I was in the courtroom (prior to court), and that was it. Nobody talked to me. I wasn’t questioned. I didn’t sign anything. I wasn’t sworn in. Nobody even checked my ID to make sure it was me.

Anyways…

I feel like I was victimized twice. Once by this kid (and friends) when they spray-painted my fence. And once by the court system when they wasted my morning.

But all this has me thinking about justice and our justice system. I have been thinking about it for a while, but this is my first encounter with it first hand. I still don’t have my head wrapped around this thing.

It seems unfair to me that this kid’s friends spent three weekends painting my fence and if I hadn’t shown up in court he would have walked away completely free and clear. I don’t feel vindictive, in any way. I don’t feel like he deserves to pay for the crimes he committed.

If my fence was still a mess and the other boys hadn’t already painted it, maybe I would feel stronger about getting justice for myself, for getting what I deserve. I actually felt like I was getting justice for the boys who had already righted the wrong.

So if by some chance you are out there (you know who you are), I hope that you will overcome the obstacles you have created for yourself. I wish that you had made better choices (like not painting my fence or pursuing the chance to right the wrong through hard work rather than chancing the court system). I hope that in the future you will make better choices for yourself and for those around you.

As for Justice… I am still thinking about what that means. I don’t know if what happened yesterday was justice, or just our court system following the rules and the procedures. But maybe that is all "justice" is. (kind of sad if that is the case).

Tags: justice, crime

So… BIG NEWS!!!

I am now a professional blogger!

Seriously.

I have been kicking the idea around for quite a while. Debating about whether I should try and set up my own niche site or join a network or what. I want to write and I want to help people. Blogging seems such a natural easy way to do that.

So anyways… I was surfing on problogger’s job board, not expecting to find anything (at least anything that fits me) and sure enough, they were looking for a Mac blogger who could cover GTD apps as well.

Ding!

So as of last night, it is official. I am a b5media.com blogger on TheAfterMac.com. Stop by and check it out. I will see you at TheAfterMac.com soon.

BTW… I do not forsee this in lessening the posts here at ChrisMarsden.com. In fact, the constant research and writing has given me more to write about, so stay tuned here, as well.

A year and a half ago I was firmly on the GTD wagon and had a great workflow for how to process information and actually turn it into something useful to myself and to others. Today, I just kind of try my best to get things done and hope it comes out ok.

I have spent the last couple days and will be spending the next couple days evaluating how I work. I am looking at what is the most efficient way to get things done, how to manage myself, and which programs to use for what.

At the start of this process, I am using Qumana to write blog posts, NewsFire to read my RSS and Firefox to surf. I am also using Apple Mail, gmail, twitter (via phone and twhirl), Addressbook and ical. There are other programs I am using here and there, but the part of the problem is that I am not using them. OmniFocus is being neglected. Quiken and Quickbooks are being updated only as often as I have to. My text editors are sitting in my dock collecting dust.

Also, I don’t like all of the programs on the list. And while I have Quicksilver installed, I am not using it to its full extent. So I am re-working it all. I am going to try alternatives. I am going to play with quicksilver to get more seamless integration. I am going to schedule things through my week. I am going to follow my junk mail rule on Internet sites. I am going to close firefox everyday (as opposed to leaving 10 or 15 tabs for tomorrow which becomes 43 that I closed yesterday). I am going to practice inbox zero. I am going to have an inbox.

I could go on, of course, but you get the idea. There needs to be organization and order in my life. My mind needs to "flow like water".

—-

Stay tuned for a big-ish announcement later today (or tomorrow).

BTW… I know I didn’t link to any of those apps. Rest assured I will be writing about what each of them does and how I use them and their alternatives in the near future. If you are impatient and must know now… try google.

Quote: “If everybody believes something, it’s probably wrong. We call that Conventional Wisdom” (ht-think:believe:move )

Quote: "I want two things that are mutually opposed - I want to live a nice little life, and I want to play an important role in God’s kingdom." - John Eldredge, Walking with God (ht-tony sheng)

75 Things Men Should Be Able to Do - From Esquire (ht-Jordan cooper)

A couple of my favorites:
21. Argue with a European without getting xenophobic or insulting soccer.
32. Describe a glass of wine in one sentence without using the terms nutty, fruity, oaky, finish, or kick.
68. Find his way out of the woods if lost.

Thinker Labs - Free stuff for church.

12 Films in 12 Months - An interesting idea. I’ve only watched one so far.

Microsoft Home Use - I need to look more into this.

Sidewalk Psychiatry - This could be a good template for urban, spontaneous, non-destructive, temporary artistry.