Here is the latest picture straight from Cupertino of the new iSlate.

As you can see, Apple has gone green retro with this new device. Not to be outdone by the OLPC, the iSlate can be used as an actual slate when power is off!

The screen is a breakthrough silicone hybrid impregnated with actual slate.

With the included “chalk recognition” your notes are instantly digitized when power is restored. Doodles and artwork are added to iPhoto and status updates are automatically sent to Twitter and Facebook.

Amazing.

My favorite part of the iSlate is the 100% recyclable redwood frame. I can hardly wait to have natural materials in the palm of my hand again.

Hopefully the rumors are true and we can expect the new iSlate soon!

Hopefully everything is up to par and we can get rolling on sheet rock, insulation, plaster, and carpet and put everything but the front door to bed by the weekend!

This is what things looked like inside this morning.

Here is the outside. Notice the dog ears on the corners of the garage? I got in touch with my inner cave man and beat the bricks out to square the framing out. I don’t have an updated picture of that, it was too dark.

Here we have the temporary door and new rough opening for the French doors all completed. Notice the nice square corners. I have to do a little brick work outside to close in the new opening, but I am so happy I took the time to do it right.

I filled in a 1/2″ depression in the cement where the garage door used to sit. I pulled out a ton of old framing for the door and was able to add back some 2×4′s and a 2×6 header to finish the rough opening for the new door.

The black 1×2 on the floor is there to keep the weight of the temporary plywood I tacked up off the cement for the night until it cures.

The door is on order and should be here by next Wednesday.

Looking back toward the house you can see the new tile we put down Saturday. All that is left is the edges which we will finish off when the drywall is in.

I also replaced the side door today.

Here is the new closet and some of the electrical. Most of this work was done last week.

We decided to go with a mini-split ductless HVAC system for this room which will go on the wall above the breaker box. It will end up blowing the budget a bit but will be well worth it in labor and energy efficiency.

Check out his website in the next weeks for updated pictures and yoga information and do something for you in 2009!

FRANKLIN ARTS CENTER
1001 Kingwood Street
Brainerd, MN 56401 Room 226Massage Therapy & Yoga Instruction
Matthew Rohr CMT/CYT
Call: 218-232-5156
http://clhaonline.com

There are so many things that could be said about this predicament we find ourselves in. I wrote this post ten different ways in my head while washing my glorious naked body this morning, and as the shampoo drained away so did my fear. No one likes a no-it-all so I won’t pound the drum that I told you so, even though I did. No, instead of yelling to the wind about government education, Ron Paul, the Constitution, taxation without representation, I am going to try and connect the dots to what is really going on in all of this.

There is a foundational premise that we must understand about the world. That premise is that God is good and He has an enemy that is not. God loves us and the Devil hates us. This is key, every bit of knowledge comes from this foundation and is the magnetic north that must be established.

Point #1: Only God makes stuff.

This is rather self evident, but it is a foundational truth. God is the creator, nothing else can be that, He is it. He is the beginning and the end, the big cheese, big daddy, the man, and woman, but let’s not go there.

Point #2: Every created thing wants to be God.

God is so amazingly awesome that everything wants to be like Him. It is programmed into our DNA, we are created in the image of God to be like Him, to rule and reign, to create and multiply, to love and be loved. We really really want to be worshiped and praised and adored and put on a pedestal and all that comes with being an awesome God. Even the angels, as glorious as they are, want to be like God – He is just that amazing.

Point #3: God gives people the choice to love.

One of the most amazing feelings is when you realize your mate loves you. Another person has chosen us, out of all the other people on the planet, they said you are the guy or the gal for me. Nothing else satisfies our need to be loved like finding someone that loves us for who we are. The same is true for God. He could have made us love Him, but He hides himself for us to discover and it brings Him great joy when we choose Him. The fact that we must discover His nature all on our own makes it that much sweeter when we do. If we were to see Him in heaven in all His awesomeness, it wouldn’t be as sweet as falling in love with Him from His still small voice.

Point #3: The Devil hates that God get’s all the glory.

I really don’t need to elaborate on this. All we have to do is look into our own lives and see we are the same way – selfish.

Point #4: The ultimate goal of the Devil is to take what God made.

Since only God can make stuff, the Devil has been working overtime to steal what he made and claim it as his own. God really loves what he makes. Obsessively, painfully, loves everything He makes. The heartache we feel when we lose someone or something we love is an attribute of the heart of God. Multiply that by billions and you can see why the Devil is so fundamentally evil. His one goal is to destroy the heart of God and everything that brings God glory because he wants it.

Point #5: Money and currency are ways to steal Gods stuff.

Things that God makes have value or wealth because they have been created. Land, livestock, precious metals, oil, gas, people are all wealth. They have actual value outside of any currency because they are “God stuff”.

Money has no actual value. It only represents wealth and only sometimes is it backed by wealth. Our currency used to be backed by gold and silver, but not any more. Now, it is only currency, an ingeniously fabricated tool to transfer wealth without actually requiring wealth.

Our current “financial crisis” is a ruse, a lie, a trick. We have been sold into slavery to money. The top prize for the devil is people as God places a value on them above Himself. I wish I could really get a hold of that in my spirit, deep down when times get tough, but it is the message of the cross. If the Devil can make people exchange their “God wealth” for money, he has effectively stolen their wealth from God. If we exhaust our lives pursuing money, the devil gets the reward or value of our life. We literally exchange the wealth God placed in us for paper.

If you take a close look at money you will see Egyptian symbols. Call me crazy, but I think that is neat. The history of Israel and Egypt has a striking similarity to the history of all mankind. We may not be making bricks but we are certainly slaves none the less. If you don’t think so, what would happen if you stopped working and paying taxes on your home? We are owned brothers and sisters. Our task masters are government and banks and they are just as cruel as an Egyptian Pharaoh. In a matter of seconds, your entire life is summed up and assigned a value. They call it a credit score.

The most glaringly sadistic example of the Devil stealing God’s stuff is the abortion industry. We can now literally place a monetary value on human life in 2008 by figuring out the fees charged to end a human life. There is much I could say about this, but my heart can’t bear to think about it.

Point #6: There is hope – God loves to set the captives free.

Help is on the way, and it sure isn’t a power grab bail out package from the Republican or Democratic party. If there is one thing I know, one thing that resonates deep within my soul, it is that God loves His stuff. He hears the cry of His people and has promised to never leave or forsake us. Our only problem right now is us. We could fix this country overnight if we turned back to God. If we could only stop giving ourselves over to the spirit of money and put our trust in God. If we could step back and see that the people in power do not have answers, they made the problem, God is the answer.

Our currency says “In God we Trust”, and even though the God they are thinking about is money, we don’t have to go along. We can trust in God Almighty – the God of Abraham, the Father of Jesus Christ, the maker of Heaven and Earth.

All we need to do is ask.

Point #7: God is for us.

Who can be against?

Take that you communists!

Thankfully interest rates are so horribly low I can fool myself into believing loaning twenty six hundred dollars out for nothing was a good financial move.

Thankfully I have become quite adept at crafting my own reality because I can barely see “SUCKER” when looking at my forehead in the mirror.

Purple.

The color is purple with pink clouds and blue grass.

And a ray of sunshine in the form of an e-file check hitting my bank account.

Got this today on one of my workstations at the office.

“has failed catastrophically”

I have never had a catastrophic failure. I was half expecting my eyes to start bleeding.

Is a software application not running really a catastrophe?

What is next – “Your email has not been sent Armageddonly”

The screen on the Windows PC’s are all blue screens of death!

HA HA HA HA HA!

See, this is what I love about Apple – not only do they create incredible hardware and software, they have creative people that take the time to add that little extra to make something great.

click image for larger view.

Well played Apple – Well played.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAwvlDJgJbM

Time to go kill the marketing giant.