Let wonder replace worry

How To Make Free iPhone Ringtones From Your iTunes Library

After patiently waiting for 2 years, Nicole and I made the jump to AT&T and are both happy iPhone owners. I love everything about my 32GB 3GS and Nicole is very happy with her 3G.

We were a little surprised at the small selection of ringtones that come on the iPhone. I quickly realized the reason may be that Apple charges .99 cents to create a ringtone from a song that you have already purchased!

So I did some poking around and it is actually pretty simple to create a ringtone from any song in your iTunes Library - except those with DRM protection. Now that iTunes no longer sells music locked with DRM, this should not be a huge issue.

I'm working on a Mac, but there is no reason this would not work on a PC.

How I did it:

1. Find your song and write down the time of the beginning and ending of the clip you are wanting to make your ringtone. I stuck with about 20 seconds.

2. Get info on the song file and click on Options. Select start and end time and enter the times you wrote down.

3. Right click the file and choose "Create AAC Version." This will create the small clip of your song.

4. Right click again and choose "Show in Finder." Drag the file to the desktop and delete it from your iTunes library.

5. On your desktop, chenge the file extension to .m4r

6. Add the file to iTunes and it will show up as a ringtone. Sync your iPhone and start using it.

It is as simple as that. Hope it is helpful. Nicole is going to be pretty excited when I tell her about this tomorrow!

Summer Plans

Things have been kind of quite around here lately. Blogging has taken on a completely different meaning to me in the past year or so. From the beginning (2004 here and even earlier in a couple of other places) my biggest joy in blogging have been the connections I've made with other youth workers. Now those connections are made through different avenues. Sharing life socially with ministry friends and family all over the world has become an integral part of my life-one I would not want to do without.

However, while the fun links and cool life updates have moved to other platforms, significant value still lies in writing & sharing in more than 140 characters.

So, this summer things will be picking up around here a bit. Some things I'll be writing about-

-For the second summer, I have a summer youth ministry intern working for me. Its been such a great experience and I have some thoughts for other youth pastors looking to hire an intern for the summer.

 -Next Tuesday, I am taking a big group of teenagers all the way across the country to the other Washington for DCLA. Pending a reliable internet connection, I'll be blogging daily about the content, speakers, reflections, and my honest opinions about the event. I am expecting big things and I believe Youth Specialties will deliver. I'll also have plenty of pics & video from my Flip Mino HD and my new iPhone 3GS

-The week after DCLA, I'll be the main speaker at Tall Timber Ranch for the 8th summer in a row. I'm getting so excited for it. I've got one message I wish I could deliver tomorrow. I'll have the Flip & iPhone along as well, so video & pics for sure and maybe even some audio clips of my talks.

-Nicole & I are planning on taking Jaxson on his first road trip later this summer. I'm not taking about a day trip down to Oregon. We're talking Arkansas, with many stops along the way. I'll be taking almost a month off through part of August & September. No doubt, there will be plenty of great stories to tell.

-Besides all of this, I've got a weekend retreat, speaking at several places, (including the National Church Librarian Conference-a little random, but I'm excited for it) and have a stack of books I'm going to get through this summer. This is sure to spark a couple of posts.

If you don't already, you can keep up on our family over at Nicole's blog.

Check in over the summer & see how its all coming along.

Thanks for taking the time-its a honor.

-Justin-

Flight - Sherman Alexie

While I was at Princeton 2 weeks ago, I participated in a seminar titled "Young Adult Fiction for Pastoral Care." I've never really spent much time reading young adult fiction, but after a great discussion of the powerful stories contained in some of these novels, I decided to give it a shot.

I went to the library last weekend and picked up Sherman Alexie's Flight. It's a quick read - took me about 4 hours - but I was struck at the way the story gave language to the struggles of many teenagers.

The book is about a 15 year old kid named Zits. (Not his real name, but how he wants to be known at the beginning of the book.) He is an orphan who really does not trust or care about anyone. Through his journey we see him confront this inability to care, struggle with race and class, repress memories of child abuse, and cope with the faulty system many foster children find themselves caught in.

Through all of this, we see Zits' transition from a deeply troubled teenager to a young man full of hope and redemption.

I should warn you, this is by no means a "christian" novel. It will make you uncomfortable. More importantly though - it will remind you of to whom we are called. Troubled teenagers just like Zits - who still have a chance as long as someone is willing to take a chance on them.

If you check it out, let me know what you think.

Princeton Forum on Youth Ministry: Friday

Had a great day doing all of the touristy things in Philadelphia. I downloaded this audio walking tour from iTunes to my iPod. It was great - I'm sold on walking tours now. 

Its easy to forget how old Philadelphia is. Walking on the cobblestone was pretty rough on my feet. I definitely did not wear the right shoes, they are pretty sore tonight.

In the afternoon, I made the hour drive up to Princeton. I'm attending a smaller weekend retreat led by Mark DeVries before the forum kicks off Monday afternoon. When it comes to youth ministry, Mark DeVries is one of the wisest men around. I could listen to him for hours - which is why I'm excited for tomorrow.

I'm staying on campus tonight and tomorrow night. Looking forward to Wednesday afternoon when I'll get to hang out with the guy I worked with and helped out for 10 weeks in the latest round of the online Youth Ministry Internship Program.

I'm never able to sleep well when traveling. I so thankful the Dr. has given me a steady supply of Ambien. (Seriously, I think I have 12 refills left.) That's what I'm taking now.

More tomorrow & throughout the week from Princeton.

Princeton Forum on Youth Ministry

I'll be heading back east early tomorrow morning to participate in Princeton's Forum on Youth Ministry. I'm also pretty excited to attend a smaller retreat over the weekend led by Mark DeVries. Should be a great time of thought, reflection, and discussion.

The forum begins Monday. Andrew Root, author of the fantastic book Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry, will be lecturing a couple of times. Really excited to hear from him. Also excited to connect with others I've met the past couple of years.

I'll have the Flip Mino HD along taking video and plan to post here as often as I can. Also, follow my traveling adventures on Twitter.com/justinross

If you'll be in Princeton - let me know. I'm traveling solo, so I'd love to meet up with you.

LOST: John Locke

I have been wanting to write about Locke since Wednesday, but really needed to watch the episode again. I finally got that chance tonight - so here are some thoughts on John Locke's journey off the island and back:

As John Locke sets off on his mission to bring everyone back, he quickly realizes that everyone has moved on. Jack's a doctor, Kate's a mom, Sun has a baby. Sayid joined Habitat for Humanity, and Hurley is content. Not only have they moved on, they have moved on without the island. Locke begins to doubt his own "We are all here for a reason" speeches he was so well known for. The man of faith begins to doubt in the very thing he was prepared to give his life to save.

This leads John Locke into a depression and the only option he has left is what Richard told him back on the island - he must die. I think John had given up on whole island business. He did not care anymore - he just wanted to die. Then Ben knocks on the door. Remember, Ben knows that Locke needs to die to get back to the island. But he does something interesting. He restores him. Tells him that he is not a failure. Says that Jack has booked a ticket, just get Jack and you'll get the rest. Ben talks him down from the ledge. John Locke's faith is restored.

I've read in a couple of different places that when Locke mentioned Ms. Hawkings name Ben snapped and decided to kill him. I don't buy it. Ben had bleach and latex gloves with him for a reason. Everything Benjamin Linus does is calculated, and the mention of a name did not cause him to do something he was not planning on doing. Why not let Locke just kill himself? He had lost his faith. Ben could not let Locke die until his faith in the island had been restored. That by giving up on the island and taking him own life, he would never be raised.  Thereby, Ben restored him, kills him and stages it to look like a suicide. This got it into the newspaper and got Jack to the funeral.

Back on the island, John Locke has risen from the dead. Those from the flight found him standing in the ocean - a symbol of his baptism. He was a loser off the island. No one would listen to him. He was weak, crippled, and manipulated. I'm not sure that outside deciding to kill himself he ever made a decision without being manipulated into it. John Locke on the island is a completely different person than the man he is off the island. Standing in that water with the mango, the old John Locke (Jeremy Bentham) was dead. John Locke is now focused, faithful, and ready to fulfill his destiny.

One thing I can't figure out. Why did everyone only refer to Locke as Jeremy Bentham last season and yet in none of the conversations in this episode did we saw did Locke introduce himself as Jeremy Bentham? I get that was his new identity, but he never told any of the Oceanic 6 to call him that. He did not tell Walt either, who showed up to see Hurley at the hospital last season asking about Jeremy Bentham. How did he know to call him that?

Some other random thoughts:

It took me until the end of the episode Wednesday night to figure out that the plane landed on the smaller Hydra Island we learned about in season 3. That is where they are - I have no idea when they are.

I think that will be the last time we see Walt. Tons of story potential there, but the actor was not into the part at all.

The people from the plane told Locke that the pilot and a woman took off in the canoe. Had to be Sun. They are heading back to the main island to find Jin. Not sure if they will find him, unless they have all landed in the same time.

Who in the world did Juliet shoot in the other canoe a couple of episodes ago?

Things Jaxson will Never Use: #2

This is a blog series where from time to time I'll list things prevalent in my lifetime that will see extinction soon and Jaxson will never use.

#2 A Checkbook

Over the past 7 years, I have ordered 3 boxes of checks. My first box came with the new account I opened when I moved to Washington in 2001. Before I even came close to writing all 200 checks, I married Nicole and we ordered new checks for our joint account. It took us 4 years, but a couple of months ago we ran out and Nicole ordered another box.

All of our bills are paid online. It is convenient, fast, and most importantly, free. I'm not sure what this says about the church, but tithes and offerings are about the only things we ever use the checks for. Guess we are not ready for debt card readers in the offering plates.

I found this info tonight. In 2001 72% of all monthly recurring bills in the US were paid by check. In 2003 that number was down to 60%. 2008 hit 49% and that number will never again rise to more than 50%.

Jaxson will be surprised that to pay a bill, we would write a check, buy a stamp, put it in the mail and wait up to a week for that money to be removed from our account.

In his lifetime, he will never use a checkbook.

I Made a Custom Twitter Background in 10 Minutes...and You Can Too!

I've been noticing custom backgrounds on Twitter that include a personal picture and information you would find on a business card. I thought it would be a cool thing to have - and actually found a website that will design one for you. The catch is that it costs about $25.

I decided to give it a shot myself and was shocked at how simple it actually was. Here's what I came up with after 10 minutes. Not a fnished product by any means - I'll definitely be making tweaks and changes now that I know how easy it is. But not bad for 10 minutes.

FYI - I used my Macbook. Sorry PC folks....do some searching on Google. I'm sure it is just as easy.

First, I created a templet in Keynote with a box outlining the area (as close as I could) where status updates show up on the Twitter page. From both the top and left point of view. In other words, you'll want the top of your pic or text to line up with the top of the box and pushed all the way to the left. Same goes for the right, if you want to add anything on that side.

Download Twitter Background Templet. (Or just make your own.)

Second, I went to Shift Creative's library of free stock images to find my background. Go here to check out over 800 free images.

After I selected my image and drug it into keynote, it was simply a matter of dragging in a pic from iPhoto and adding some text.

Keep in mind that what you see in Keynote will show up much larger once you upload it to Twitter. Zoom in as close as you can.

When you are ready to upload it and see what it looks like, export from Keynote as a JPEG. The file must be less than 800k. If it is over this, export again and decrease the quality to 50%.

Then simply log into twitter, settings, design, and upload your picture. It took me 3 tries to get everything the right size.

Since this is a JPEG, different computer monitors may cut off part of your text. This is why it is important to push everything all the way to the left. I don't see cutting off a couple of letters of text as that big of a deal. If you do, use a small font size and never extend it past your pic.

I'm sure the $25 version would have been prettier, but I'll stick with free and simple. Should have done this over 2 years ago when I started using Twitter.

If you make one, or have made one, send me the link so I can check it out.

A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

-Thomas Merton

Starbucks Value Meals

I remember a local news station profiling Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz 5 or 6 years ago and hearing him vow that Starbucks would never have value meals. He also talked about how many people laughed in his face when he asked them to invest in a company selling coffee drinks for $5.

This was also back when they were opening stores literally across the street from each other with no plans of slowing down. Boy have things changed.

This week, Starbucks introduced "breakfast pairings" but they might as well call them what they are - value meals. For $3.95 you can get a drip coffee and a one of four hot sandwich or a latte with oatmeal or coffee cake.

The ironic thing: McDonald's has been copying Starbucks for the last few years, and stealing many of their customers with good coffee at half the price. Now Starbucks is emulating McDonalds.

Why in the world would Starbucks do that? Store sales are down 10% and net income down 69%. Even when the economy turns around, I doubt we'll ever see $5 coffee drinks selling in record numbers again. Especially now that people know they can get them same thing for half the price.

Here is the USA Today article about all of this.