Most of us can remember Al Gore saying:

I got to thinking about technology this morning and came up with the following observations:

As of 1:00 p.m. today I became Android official by pre-ordering the HTC Evo 4G from Sprint.

Advances in web design and web strategy are often limited by the modern browser's ability to accurately render what we've created. Of course that's why we use hacks and a little elbow grease to make sure our sites look relatively the same in all of them.

I'm currently sporting the Palm Pre - and believe me, I obsessed about it for months before it's release. But that doesn't mean I'm a fanboy that will keep buying Palm products. I'm definitely not brand-centric when it comes to phones. I simply want the best possible mobile experience I can have no matter what platform. I'd even buy the iPhone if it wasn't through AT&T and if Apple didn't require you to use them for support and repairs...

So I was definitely interested when I saw that Windows Phone 7 (Engadget writeup here) was on the way.

Based on the Zune HD user interface, Windows Phone 7 will hopefully be a far cry from Windows Mobile 6.0 (the last version I was familiar with since it came on my Motorola Q9c).

I currently own a Zune HD, so when they talk about the interface and the new, innovative navigation, I'm chomping at the bit to see it in action.

Looks like we won't see it on phones until later in the year, and who knows what carriers will pick them up. But hopefully Sprint will be on the top of the list...

My 3 big concerns so far:

• Hardware: Who's going to make the darn things? I want a solid phone that doesn't feel like plastic. Can you deal with that?
• Multiple Applications: So far it doesn't look good - but maybe by December they'll reconsider and reconfigure.
• Flash Support: I should be getting flash support on my Pre this month. To go backwards would not be fun... And for the record Microsoft - Silverlight is NOT a viable alternative to flash! I don't care that the phone has Silverlight on it. I want flash! How many streaming videos have you watched in Silverlight? How many have you watched in flash? Enough said...

I hope this year goes fast!

If you're like me - you love the fact that you can learn just about anything online.

Earlier this year I pre-ordered Windows 7 for a fairly good deal ($49.00). I installed it on my wife's laptop and then on the desktop the kids use to play games online.

See where this is going?

Sure enough - a few weeks later I get the message on the desktop that the product key is invalid (since it was on my wife's laptop first) and that I had 28 days to purchase a new key (for the low low price of $119.00 of course).

Needless to say, I was a bit irritated, but I got out the Win XP Pro disk and started a fresh install of that - only to remember the painful process it is to install XP and then have to hunt down drivers, Comcast Internet information and all that jazz...

So I threw up my hands and prayed for a way out of the mess. And when I opened my eyes my browser had changed to the Ubuntu website (no, not really...). But Ubuntu did pop into my head. So I got my friend Matt Metzger on the line and he walked me through the setup process.

I stand amazed at the fact that something can be so easy to install, so easy to use and free all at the same time. No 3 hour install process like Windows products. No searching for drivers. No nothing but load it up and go.

Now I know there are limitations to Ubuntu, but for the kids at home to jump on the Internet and play a few games it made all the sense in the world. And it looks incredible. The UI and menu structure are clean, well designed and straightforward.

Welcome home Ubuntu...

I'll be honest, aside from using Blogger for blogging and Google as my search engine, I typically overlooked Google as it grew - writing them off as a bunch of web junkies having fun cloning stuff that already existed in the marketplace.

But each year they grow, and add new SaaS (Software as a Service) offerings for people to use - most of which are free. And in the past six months I've really started paying attention. Here's why:

• Google Apps: My hosting company is directly connected to Google Apps - making it simple to set up corporate email for clients using Gmail as the engine. More on the power of Google Apps here (specifically how churches can leverage Google Apps).
• Google Voice: I recently added Google Voice to my life so I could manage voicemail visually on my Palm Pre.
• Google Chrome: I recently switched over to Google Chrome as my default browser. Screaming fast and very light. It still have some glitches when it comes to functionality and extensions working like they did in Firefox but it can only get better.
• Android / Nexus One: Are you kidding me? A mobile operating system and their own phone? Android came in like a lamb but is already roaring like a lion. I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to the Nexus One coming to Sprint. It could quite possibly replace my Palm Pre - which I AM happy with at the moment.
• Google OS: I guess this was a no-brainer. If you offer a myriad of Saas tools online - why not make an OS that seamlessly integrates those on your computer and mobile devices?

I don't know exactly when the switch went off in my brain, but I'm suddenly a big Google advocate, and I watch my tech blogs closely to see what they'll think up next.

How about you? Anyone moved to Google for everything? Given up MS Exchange for Google Apps? Switched to an Android phone with success?

I'd love to hear stories.

Joshua Topolsky recently Tweeted:

"By the way, world. Please download Chrome or Safari and start using it. You're kidding yourself if you're sticking with IE or Firefox."

To which I replied:

"@joshuatopolsky Don't worry...I'll switch to Chrome once it offers the same dev tools Firefox has. Prob won't be long now..."

But later that day I thought about it and wondered how busy those Chrome developers had been over the last few months. So I installed the newer "beta" version of Chrome (required in order to install extensions) and began looking for developer extensions to match those offered by Firefox.

And amazingly there they were. Down to the color picker extension which I use non-stop.

So it's official - today is the day to make the move. I removed my Firefox icon from my toolbar and the shiny new Chrome icon has taken its place.

Main reasons for the switch: Speed and simplicity...

Mashable recently posted on the Top 10 Web Innovations That Have Improved Our Lives.

I love posts like this - not because there provide HUGE revelations to astound us, but because they are simple reminders just how lucky we are to live in a time and age where communication is global, immediate, collaborative and synergistic.

I figured I would just list them here. You can get the specifics about each of them on the Mashable site.

1. Web Browsers
2. Search Engines
3. VoIP
4. RSS
5. Real-Time Stream
6. Peer-to-Peer
7. AJAX
8. Software as a Service (SaaS)
9. eCommerce
10. Wi-fi

I love the inclusive nature of the list and the power that exists in 10 simple bullet points. It's a great time to be alive (and into technology...).

Are you taking advantage of these 10 things in your life or on the websites you manage?

Innovate09 came and went, but left a lasting impression on me.

I'm going to divide this post into two sections: My Role and My Experience.

My Role
This year I was part of a few teams looking into and implementing the following:

1. Live streaming: A first for Innovate. It went off without a hitch and was definitely a big hit. We partnered with LightCast to provide the stream. Setup was a snap and the stream was steady and consistent. People were able to watch all main sessions along with the Innovate Film Festival. We averaged 260 viewers over the 6 sessions.

2. Twitter Feed: We used ParaTweet to pull a feed from the hash tag #innovate09 and presented it on the big screens during breaks and as sessions began and ended. Simple web interface for account creation and tweet moderation along with an Adobe AIR application for presenting on the screens. Worked like a charm.

3. Text Voting: During the Innovate Film Festival we partnered with Jarbyco to offer text in voting for the films (medias) entered in the festival. Worked like a charm as well. People are getting more used to texting every day so the number of people participating was even more significant than it was last year.

A special thanks to those that worked on these projects with me and helped make them a success during the conference. You know who you are :)

My Experience
The great thing is that even though I was nervous and "on call" throughout the conference related to the three projects above, I was also able to fully engage and enjoy the conference as it unfolded.

This year took me places I didn't think I'd go. Collaboration was the name of the game. Never before has there been such synergy between our teams and those attending the conference. The Arts Mashup and the Storyteller sessions brought an exciting new flair to the conference and infused it with the blood, sweat and tears of other churches.

I left feeling part of something bigger - a brotherhood of churches all pulling hard for the Kingdom.

There is definitely momentum building behind this type of collaboration and I can't wait to see where it takes the church.

It was good seeing all of you at Innovate09 - we should do this again sometime...

Don't forget to check out the main sessions on the Innovate09 site if you missed the conference or even if you just want to relive the experience!

In the past I've never had a reason to protect the screens on my gadgets. I would simply purchase cases or sleeves that protected the entire thing.

But my last two purchases have been gadgets with touch screens - making it important to find something capable of preventing scratches and fingerprints from mucking things up.

I purchased an Invisible Shield from Zagg for my Palm Pre and BodyGuardz for my Zune HD. I only purchased the front pieces as the backs of both gadgets are more rugged and are protected in other ways.

Both products felt similar and installed the same way. The plastic is bizarre in it's strength and ability to remain free of scratches, cuts and imperfections.

I love both but definitely love the one for the Zune HD the best because there are no rounded corners to mess with and it simply becomes another skin over the screen. On my Pre I noticed the shield actually makes the screen more sensitive to the touch.

The plastic doesn't scratch and doesn't hold fingerprints the way the stock gadget screens do.

I plan on purchasing these for every gadget I buy in the future. Great product!

I've attempted on a few occasions to move from Blogger to WordPress without success.

I'm not sure why - maybe the timing wasn't right or maybe I just didn't have the patience to learn a new system with everything going on at the time.

At any rate, in the past month we've seen a flood of Granger staffers making the switch to WordPress. In some cases it just means they want our advice, but in other cases it means I get to actually help implement a new theme for the blog. This obviously requires me to learn the system and quickly at that.

I'm a few hours into the process and other than a few glitches I'm liking the flexibility. There isn't a huge need to move my blog from Blogger since I manage a full blown website with the blog being a small part of it. But if all I had was the blog - I'd be making the switch.

After years of refining and innovating WordPress has definitely reached a good place and is only getting better. Here are just a few reasons why:

• Free
• Open source
• Numerous free and purchased templates available
• Fairly simple and straightforward css file for customization
• Easy to manage templates (themes) by simply activating and disabling
• Wide range of looks and layouts available
• Easy to give the appearance that your blog is part of a website rather than just a blog
• Can be hosted online or on a server of your choice

I'm thinking this could be the most versatile and forward thinking free blog/CMS tool out there.

I'd be less than honest if I didn't tell you the people moving to WordPress are people that for years have been duped into using TypePad. They are fed up with the pricing and the fact that even though they are paying, the tool isn't getting better. It continues to frustrate and makes total customization a pain in the...you know.

If you're a flight risk - I'd make the move today...

During a weekend message our Senior Pastor, Mark Beeson, explained that information on the web is Instant, Global and Permanent.

In this case, he is referring to the things you publish, post, submit, tweet, upload, etc.

But did you know that people could be watching you even before you make it public?

I found a good example of this today when working with a couple of our IT gurus - Jason Powell and Matt Metzger.

Jason sent us a link to userfly.com - a new tool that allows you to capture visitors movements on your site.

Matt plugged it into his blog to test it out and sure enough a person lands on the site, userfly memorizes their every movement up until they exit the site. From the userfly console you can watch a screencast of the person's screen, mouse movements and clicks.

Amazing!

But This Scenario Got Me Thinking
A user goes to your blog, and decides to leave a comment. As they are typing and revising the comment so it's appropriate, userfly is capturing the entire thing. When the user hits "publish," the final, polished comment is there for the world. But in fact, I could go back and see exactly what the user was about to say... :)

Scared yet? Should be. Chances are most website owners and bloggers are not monitoring their websites with this level of detail. But it should scare you just to know that the technology is available. Who knows what is being recorded on the web. Just like the millions of video cameras in the world today capturing things we're unaware of, so too on the web, the cameras are rolling.

Listen up Kiddo's, we aren't in Kansas anymore...

I have a soft spot in my heart for a few things. Watches, Sports gear (of any kind), The North Face, and shoes.

Keen has won me over when it comes to the everyday. But Vibram just pushed the envelope wide open with their Five Fingers line of shoes.

I've always wondered what it would be like to wear a pair of shoes that made you check frequently to see if they were actually on your feet.

Back in high school I wanted wrestling shoes. Not because I was a wrestler - but because they had such thin soles.

Now I can't officially recommend these shoes because I haven't even held a pair.

But you better believe I'm going to look for them and give them a shot.

Our annual conference at Granger Community Church is fast approaching.

Each year we look forward to meeting with hundreds of churches and over a thousand leaders in the church world to share innovative new ways to reach people for Christ.

This has been a hard year for everyone. Because of this, "Exposed" is the backdrop in front of which we'll discuss the failing economy and how it has impacted us at Granger.

Enjoy great teaching and incredible arts along with targeted Breakout Sessions and Casual Q&A sessions where you can sit down with Granger staffers and ask your questions.

If you're as excited as I am you'll want to keep up with the buzz by subscribing to the Countdown2Innovate Video Podcast. Tim Stevens and Kem Meyer will keep you in the loop and will keep you rolling at the same time with their short video interviews about the conference.

Other fun stuff: Visit the Who's In? page to see churches that have already signed up. Grab badges to put on your site or blog. And find the links to our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

See you all there!

Call me an idiot. I stood in line for an hour to get my hands on the Palm Pre. After 6 long months of online research I finally got to hold one in my hands...

It's hard to believe I've only had it for 5 days. It was so easy to learn and so fun to use that it seems like I've had it for months.

Now, the fun part - getting to review it.

Purchasing/Activation
Stood in line for an hour with up to 15 people. 10 phones available at my Sprint store. I was number 2 in line. In and out in 30 minutes even with a slight wait for the activation to register on the phone. Total cost: Approx. $300 with a $100 rebate certificate.

Hardware
The Pre has to be the most comfortable and ergonomic phone out there. Palm said it was designed to look like a river stone and it comes close. The buttons are well designed and are only there because they have to be. Very clean look and nothing to get snagged on a pocket. Love the ringer switch on the top (to easily turn off all sounds). Incredible 320x480 touch screen with crisp images and excellent response to light touch. Gesture area rocks - making basic navigation a snap. The keyboard is a bit tight (especially the top row) but I've been surprised how quickly I got used to it. Definitely better than the "highly negative" articles I read about it prior to launch. Camera is amazing. Pictures are so good you assume they came from a small digital camera and not a phone. Sliding mechanism works adequately.

UI
Palm has done an amazing job on WebOS. It is a highly organized system of Apps that open full screen but then shrink down into a card view. Each App lives in a card and can be sorted, opened or closed as needed. This makes jumping from an email to a text to copy/paste and then back to the email a snap. I've noticed no lag time with up to 10 cards open at one time but I haven't pushed it farther than that - nor would I typically ever use more than 5 at a time.

Synergy
Palm makes it possible to merge multiple email accounts, calendars and contact lists together. I'm currently hooked up to an exchange server (EAS) so all of my stuff was pulled down onto the phone. I have a Facebook account but haven't attempted to pull in the contacts from there.

Wireless
Works like a charm. Connect one time - auto connect the next time you're there.

Universal Search
Just start typing. WebOS looks for matches in contacts and Apps, then if it runs out of matches it switches to the web and offers searches by Google, Wikipedia and Twitter. Very smooth...

Phone
Sounds good to me...I don't use it as a phone. With all the communication avenues out there, why would I want to talk to someone :)

App Catalog
Currently small, but as long as I have a Twitter client I'm good for right now. I'm sure the Fart App will be available at some point...

OTA
Over The Air updating of WebOS - amazingly quick and simple. Use WiFi and it works until it's done. Use the PCS network and it downloads a bit at a time while idle.

Touchstone
Wireless charging is amazing - why don't all phones charge this way? When you buy the Touchstone it comes with a new (less glossy) back cover for the phone. I like this cover a lot.

Sprint Specific
Amazing plans and Apps like Sprint TV and Sprint Navigation with turn-by-turn directions.

Misses
There are things that Palm either overlooked or just didn't have the time and money to finish before launch. Here's my list:

• The door covering the charging port doesn't match the overall excellence of the device.
• The phone is VERY slippery - making it difficult to slide open at times. I fixed this by purchasing the Touchstone charging device. The new back cover is somewhat rubbery which makes it less likely that it will slide out of your hand.
• Make a screen capture easier. Three buttons at one time? Seriously.
• No visual voicemail.
• Doesn't sync with Zune Marketplace.
• Doesn't capture video.
• I lost Windows Live Search (I actually used that App a lot on my MotoQ).
• Universal search doesn't search everything (like emails).
• No good way to protect the phone. Based on the style of the phone (slider) there really is no way to protect it outside of a case. It is what it is...
• Fingerprints. Again, it is what it is...
• I'm sure there are more...

Summary
This phone blows me away - which says a lot since I was able to come up with that many misses. I think it's the fact that it's innovative (WebOS), simple to use, simple to design for (Apps can be developed with html, css and javascript), beautifully scripted (UI) and yet a workhorse (multiple applications running at the same time).

Palm took the extra time to come up with a very well appointed and precise instrument. Small things like the way notifications slide up from the bottom (without impairing your view of the current App) and the small icon below your text when you select the shift or function keys. Simple things that make the user experience that much better.

I am VERY happy with the original state of the phone. And I'm VERY optimistic that with OTA updates, many of the misses I identified will probably disappear in the next 6-12 months.

I would highly recommend you take a closer look before making an impulse buy.

If this just wasn't enough for you visit the Engadget Article written by Joshua Topolsky.

I'm a big tech geek which means I spend a lot of time reading about stuff that isn't even available yet. Sure there are some cool gadgets available right now - but the REALLY interesting ones are those in production or that are still ideas in the minds of exceptionally intelligent people.

In order to quench my thirst for new tech insights I spend a lot of time on Engadget, CrunchGear and similar blogs that offer the low down on the new stuff.

In so doing I ran across a guy that I've come to admire from afar: Joshua Topolsky, Editor-in-chief of Engadget.com. He's there for a reason. He's a funny guy (judging from tweets I've read) and has an amazing way of explaining the information you need to make intelligent decisions on tech purchases.

I've thought this for a while, but even more so when I read his review of the Palm Pre.

I love the "idea" of the Palm Pre.

Of course I don't actually know that I'll love the phone since I haven't even seen one in real life. But I love what it is supposed to do and how it thinks outside the box.

The review by Joshua gave me ten times the insight I'd been given anywhere else. From numerous quality photos to helpful video walkthroughs he explains almost everything about the phone. And in such a way that you hear the good and the bad no matter how he feels about the phone itself.

If you're looking for good reviews on today's tech I'd encourage you to read Joshua Topolsky's stuff on Engadget and even follow him on Twitter.

So the day finally arrived. This morning it was announced that the Palm Pre will be available in stores (Sprint Stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart) on June 6. This after numerous rumors about release dates and the tight-lipped stance taken by those at Palm and Sprint.

I'm not saying I'm going to line up on the 6th and wait for hours to be told that they are out of stock. I'm just glad the day finally arrived. As a long time Sprint advocate I'm glad there is finally a phone worth waiting for. The amazing technology coupled with my insanely low monthly plan will be a marriage made in heaven...

What I Can't Wait For
I'm excited to see how this thing performs. Especially the following:

• Connected Calendars & Contacts: Pull in contacts from exchange as well as Facebook and other sites to view in one place.
• Multiple Activities: Apps run in the background with notifications and easy switching between them.
• Notifications Bar: See when activity is happening on any of your open/running Apps.
• Universal Search: Just start typing...the Pre will search your phone first and if it can't find anything it will switch to searching with Google.
• Combined Messaging: See all incoming messages from someone in one place whether it be email, IM, text etc.
• The "Puck" as I call it: Charging dock that you don't have to connect to the phone. Just set the Pre on the puck and it charges through the phone cover.
  
• Complete list here.

I just can't wait to get rid of my Motorola Q9c!

That's about it for now. I'll let you know what I really think at some point in June :)