AntoineRJWright.com

Compared to many people I know, I have not been on the Internet very long. My first experience was with the Netscape browser on a Mac OS 8.something device in my junior year of highschool. Since that time, I've done the Netscape to Internet Exploer to Firefox move; the all in one desktop to a tower to the mini tower to the laptop to the PDA to the smarpthone move; and several other notes of evolving as the Internet too has grown.

However, there is one thing that has not changed much since I got involved with cyberspace; fear and faith drives a lot of what is done and read here.

The Fears

Even when I graduated from college in 2002, there were professors saying that "you cannot trust the Internet unless a person with a Ph.D. wrote it. People spoke about being afraid that the Internet would take over ever aspect of life and that the next world war would be a digial one. Churches shunned the Internet because of that old '666' thought. And don't be a person that wears glasses that knows how to fix these things; a woman was bound to run away from you for fear that she too would become "one of them."

We shouldn't be surprised though. Things that are new rarely evoke feelings of security in the minds of those used to the way things are. Every day that I walk out the the apartment and "take my office with me" I am reminded that innovation is marked by discomfort. Its not a bad thing, and there is a right to be apprehensive towards change, but to outright fear it for misunderstanding - well that is not something that I expect from anyone, let alone an academic.

The Faith

Then there are those "true believers." Every move the Internet has had them. The latest is probably those that are using mobile devices to access the Internet and finding that the world is a lot more accessible than it seems. Sure, outside of the iPhone you rarely hear anyone except those pioneers talking about it, but its true that the mobile web has done a lot to restore the faith that there is still much to discover about the Internet and its interaction in our lives.

Faith without direction though is something to be noted. Faith can drive you to do some amazing things; without direction it leads the fear to grow faster than the faith that preceeded it. Faith is saying "ooh, I can talk to another computer by just typing this." Fear happens when talking to another computer becomes "hey, my idenity is stolen, and its the carrier's fault." Both fear and faith need to be respected, but for such a new paradigm, the faith in the Internet needed to be pushed more than its fears.

The Critique

And this is where I have an issue with this article recently published at Reuters. A professor has rightly acertained that there are more people and more ways to access the Internet than ever before. However, he makes the wrong conclusion on the matter by blaming the devices, specifically mobile devices, where he should be pointing them to do something more than what they are doing. Mobile devices are no more locked down, virus laden/producing, or restrictive than computers ever were. But to say that the innovative spirit that created the personal computing genre is dimished because of them reaks of a person who's paradigm for doing life has just been rocked. He's afraid that the Internet will change before he's gotten used to it. I get that; and I totally understand.

And yet as much as I understand, I stand on the point that mobile devices, the Internet, and innovation will continue to evolve. Just as ever mass media element has done before it. Things will evolve and then something new will happen. There's no reason to be afraid of change, only to have faith that the lessons from past innovations will go into making the world around us something worth interacting more with.

Labels: commentary, mobility

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Those lips I dare not arouse
Those eyes I dare not espouse
Taste not
Touch not
Only remind myself that there is something over there worth more
Tear myself from the page just for a second longer
Before my longings for bits and bytes turn surreal
And then I inspire another moment
To steal away on my knees
Reminded of the better passion
Those lips that did respond
Those eyes that did not stare
Touched me even though I was not there
I tasted every word as my own
For me
He took all that to inspire me

Labels: poem

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Find me a polar opposite
Where the ends meet in chewed leaves and strength
Near the place where the sun meets my toes
And we dance in the east, far from history's guess
Find me hugging a panda
Where the nights and days are long and hugged
Near the place where hairy meets smiles
And we dance in the forest, where electronic bits plant our music.

Labels: poem

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Looking at my portfolio I am starting to finally realize that there is a pattern to things that is kind of neat, but also has made for some clarity in a few areas recently. One thing is that I have moved away from abstract web design to more functional designs. But the more important one is that I've moved from just innovating for the sake of it to actively making functional innovation a part of my lifestyle.

Now, when I say innovation being functional, I mean more than just having the shiny and new because its shiny and new. I mean taking advantage of the current technology in such a way that my life and the lives of those around me is enriched when they engage with me.

When I started doing web design, it was just a matter of learning; seeing what I could learn and apply to get the message of Christ out online in ways that were distinctive yet effective. And as the web and web building tools matured, so have I. The goal being the same, but now the innovations push beyond just doing to actually creating the place for innovation to change my life and the lives of those around me.

In the MMM Mobile Experiment Report I see this very clearly. There is almost no need for someone living in the US to have any need of a mobile device to access the web. For the most part, terminals are large and cheap enough that nearly anyone can have some type of access somewhere. There is even less of a need for someone to carry a web server around with them. These are things that while possible, to do speaks towards the innovation that our society has allowed to happen.

But I want it to go past that. What happens when mobile access is an issue of team building and discipleship. What happens when people who were once next door and doing ministry are now separated by "the pond." How does one get over the hurdle of language and cultural differences that affluence and technology instantly cause. These are questions that would seem removed from lifestyle, but for me they are becoming things that I address in my everyday use and push of web and mobile.

The more interesting thing in looking at that portfolio is how I've grown to include more people in sharing those things that are innovative, and taking more advantages to share pieces of the character of Christ in all of those areas. The price I sometimes pay for this innovation is loneliness; but every once and a while there is someone whose life is enriched directly or indirectly because I took a step out of my box to see what lies beyond the horizon. The future holds a lot, and this kind of exploration and discovery of what it means to connect with one another seems to be what innovation meeting lifestyle is all about.

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Labels: commentary

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There is this rule it seems about coffeehouses here, after a certain point in the day they get from being places of laptops and workers, to places where hands and hugs take in the aroma. No biggie for most people, but in sitting at a usual spot, its a pang that hit kind of hard a few minutes ago. And spiced chai tea lattes just don't seem to make things alright.

Having had a few of these moments in the past months, I think I can adjust to the moving from place to place avoiding the aroma for just a bit longer. But like anything, the smell eventually gets to your nose and it has to be addressed. Haven't found one worth spending more than a half a cup of coffee with though.

Its all about the smell. I was telling someone this weekend that attraction comes with nice smells. Other than some artifical jaunts, I have not smelled anything attractive since being down here. I would assume that I am not in the right coffeehouses, and some could argue that with me. But my is the scene such the Starbucks moment - losts of money for lots of flair but the taste is not worth the affair.

I should probably stop thinking about this and continue to sip my chai tea latte. I enjoy these on Mondays rather than other days because of their smooth and robust flavor. Its not one that begs to be taken care of, but a smell that invites conversation.

Would this prose end with someone to take the last sip from my cup; or in my finishing yet another Monday find peace in the moon and stars once again, instead of the flavor of the moment. Read More

Here and there, writing a big review about the MMM Mobile Experiment, and just taking in people in the area. What else should I be doing...

Then again, I could be here again ;)

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I am considering this post to be in one part an experiment. Blogger has released a new feature called scheduled posting where you can write a post and then schedule it to automatically post on a future date and time. I am starting this a bit before 10am and will just see how it rolls out. This is a feature that I've wanted for sometime, and it brings some value back into Blogger for me as a publishing platform. That being said, I still am looking at moving on to something a bit more mobile...

For the last week I have been doing an experiment on MMM where I am using Nokia's Mobile Web Server as a blogging and communications platform. For MMM, its a nice idea, but something that needs a bit more refinement. For me though, it could be something worthwhile to do considering all the other ways that I connect with people while connected/online.

Basically, I would be archiving all that I do here and going to use the MWS only. There would be a page here that lists the badge to the MWS as well as archives of the Blogger posts, and then the connect page (because it took so long to build and refine that, I am not getting rid of it). For me, it makes me very mobile once again; for you, well, depending on whom you are, there becomes a better way for my website to be a place of personal musings and such.

Unfortunately, this is not something that I can do right now. The mobile device that I have while good for this, lacks some hardware abilities that would make such a move easier. Considering also that I am a nut about connectivity, I would want to make sure that a few other things are settled. That being said, this is something under heavy consideration and I am most likely going that route in a non-experimental mode.

In talking to my friend till 2am last night, we got back on that subject of being the kind of church that is distinctive; I see what I have done with MMM over the last week, and what I will do here as an enabler into that. Whether that leads more people to Christ or not I don't know. But in terms of those things mobile and connecting, I am doing what I am designed to do, tripping all the way to some end that God has planned. I don't know His plan, only that I am in it and subject to it. That makes it fun to try stuff like this, and then respond to the world around me in a manner that speaks like the knowledge of Him that has been written on our hearts.

Labels: commentary, mobility

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