Johannes Gutenberg (1400-1468) invented the moveable type printing press in 1454 or 1455, in Mainz, Germany. The first significant book printed on his press was the Gutenberg Bible, which is also known as the “Mazarin Bible.” In discussing the amazing machine he developed, Gutenberg wrote: God suffers in the multitude of souls whom His word cannot reach. Religious truth is imprisoned in a small number of manuscript books which confine instead of spread the public treasure. Let us break the seal which seals up holy things and give wings to Truth in order that she may win every soul that... Continue reading

Photo Credit: Jan Tik via Compfight As a twenty-first century guy, it's natural that I am active on Facebook, right? Of course it's natural! I also maintain an active presence at Twitter and even Pinterest, but it is Facebook that has allowed me to contact the largest number of people with whom I’ve worked. As I recently engaged in a Facebook discussion involving people with whom I served in Germany over two decades ago, I was struck by the lasting impact we have on those whom we interact. The impact is even more enduring when we lead. One of the... Continue reading

As a boating newbie and physics novice, the topic of sacrificial anodes has been somewhat of a mystery. I understand the basics--more active metals protect those that are less active from corrosion--but the nuances of size, mass, and composition have for the most part eluded me. Fortunately, somebody who is... Continue reading

It is wonderful to know that we worship the God whose... Love Compassion Power Grace Authority, and Generosity ...cannot be exaggerated. We can neither imagine nor measure it. Our God is infinity-PLUS! Continue reading

My longtime good friend, Dale Triplett, tweeted me just a few minutes ago to announce that he is offering his new children's book, Benjamin Oliver Flanagan, at zero cost--as in FREE--for just a couple days. I immediately downloaded the book to my Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader and read it in a jiffy. Benjamin Oliver Flanagan is a heartwarming story, delivered as a fun and rhythmic poem and accompanied by playful illustrations from Kevin Scott Collier, that tells us about a boy, his toys, his almost tragedy, his rescuer father, and his newfound trust. The father in me was touched by... Continue reading

Meet the "accidental circumnavigators," Eric and Christi Grab. Given every reason in the world by well-intentioned boating "experts," they turned their lack of experience into a 2-year, 30,000-mile cruise around the world. We were happy to stumble on their story and are inspired by their courage and "let's just do... Continue reading

Sending web content to Kindle is now easier than ever. via www.kindlepost.com Are you trying to make the best use of your time while dealing with a daily avalanche of information? I know I am. This new function will be a nice adjunct for those of us who digest a lot of online content, love our Kindles , and need to access that information across multiple platforms. Let us know how it's working for you. Continue reading

Feedly Layout - Tidy, Easy-to-Navigate Were you as surprised and bummed out as I when you heard the news that Google Reader was going the way of the buggy whip? Google Reader had woven its way into my life and become as important as my morning coffee [almost!]. I am a professional procrastinator by nature, but decided I didn't want to wait until Google Reader goes goes dark on July 1st, so I scrambled to research alternatives. After looking at a few RSS readers, I decided to go with feedly and I am very glad I did. Fortunately, the kind--and... Continue reading

Seth Godin is always good, but this post is one of his best! It turns out that people who use Firefox are more likely to engage in certain online activities than those that use IE. And it turns out that people who eat before bed are believed to gain more weight than those that don't. Perhaps using Firefox makes you a different sort of surfer, or the timing of the calories has something to do with your metabilism. More likely: The sort of person who takes the time to install a new browser is precisely the kind of person willing... Continue reading

Those who know me best would never describe me as a dog person, so I was surprised when I stumbled on and read the two reflections (below) I wrote during our dog's final days back in 2005. They offer praise to God for his furry gift and gratefulness for our time with Cody. I am not a dog lover, but I guess I loved Cody more than I realized and my heart hurt as he spent his final days with us. Oddly enough, it still aches. [Originally posted on Saturday, January 29, 2005] Thank You God, for Cody He seems... Continue reading

Christie's is going to auction Andy Warhol's U.S. Unemployment Rate drawing next month. According to Christie's announcement, the drawing is expected to sell in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. Which begs the question: Why won't my simple black-and-white drawings fetch similar rewards? The simple answer is, of course, I'm not Andy Warhol. Hey, I could draw the same thing, but its worth in the market would be less than the paper I used...because I am not Andy Warhol. You aren't Andy Warhol either, are you? Okay, got it. You and I aren't Andy Warhol. But why won't this other image... Continue reading

This Manti Te'o debacle is certainly confusing, isn't it? Sad too. You know, whether the Notre Dame football star lied about his imaginary girlfriend or was duped--swallowing that unlikely claim is like trying to swallow a raw artichoke ... whole!--there's a lesson to be learned here. Your imaginary friends will eventually bite you in the behind. Let this event be the trigger that encourages you to weed out your imaginary friends. Don't worry about making a distinction between the imaginary friends you've invented and those who have duped you into believing they're your friends when they really aren't. Find the... Continue reading

From the Ottawa Citizen online: Parks Canada is proposing new lockage fees for the Rideau Canal that would nearly triple the cost of a boat trip from Ottawa to Kingston. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Are the proposed fees a legitimate reflection of the cost... Continue reading

Seth says: Clean bathrooms The facilities at DisneyWorld are clean. It's not a profit center, of course. They don't make them clean because they're going to charge you to use them. They make them clean because if they didn't, you'd have a reason not to come. It turns out that just about everything we do involves cleaning the bathrooms. Creating an environment where care and trust are expressed. If you take a lot of time to ask, "how will this pay off," you're probably asking the wrong question. When you are trusted because you care, it's quite likely the revenue... Continue reading

Costa Concordia - Aground (Photo: andrius.it) I've heard it said. Maybe you've said it yourself. To be honest, I know I've said it! "That's the best I can do." If you're like me you know that whatever it is, it really isn't the best you can do, right? The fact is, the best we say we can do isn't really the best we can do, is it? What will you do better today? (I've made it simple to Tweet - Just click HERE!) Continue reading

Hurricane Sandy has passed, but the devastation remains. There's a big mess to clean up and millions of people who need help. You've decided you want to step up to the plate and donate to the cause. Good on you! Good people from around the world are stepping up to the plate to lend a hand. Sadly, when disasters strike, bad people rise to the occasion along with the good, looking for ways to add to victimize those who've come to help. Here are 10 ways you can donate without becoming a victim yourself, as researched and provided by our... Continue reading

Time is a precious commodity. Time can be neither bought nor sold. Time cannot be reproduced or repeated. Time cannot be duplicated; every moment is unique to itself. Time affects us all. Once time is past, it's gone forever. Worrying about wasting time or the time we've wasted is, in and of itself, a waste of time. We can make the most of our time or least of our time, but we cannot make time. Time passes, despite the presence or lack of activity. There's no time like the present and there's no present like the time. "See then that... Continue reading

He was imprisoned and his life was held in peril by an ungodly Roman emperor who answered to nobody but himself. Miserable circumstances, indeed. Limited rights. Uncertainty. No parole date. No guarantee of a tomorrow. Yet, Paul wrote with great confidence: "Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more... Continue reading

"You don't lead by hitting people over the head. That's assault, not leadership." -General Dwight D. Eisenhower Photo: Unnamed photographer for US Army (Navy history Navy history article) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Continue reading

I had a lot going on and didn't have time to do it myself, so I hired a locksmith to repair the front door locking hardware on our house. A few hours after that guy left--with our money!--our renter called to tell me they couldn't get into the house because the front door hardware was broken. I drove to the house, gathered up the necessary parts that the purported locksmith had scattered around our entryway, and fixed the thing myself. It's worked for about 18 months now, without a hitch. In similar fashion, the "professionals" from Sears who installed our... Continue reading

Whether you know it or not, you are in an almost constant state of selling. You don't even have to be in the sales business. In fact, you just have to be a living, breathing human being. Don't fight this. Just accept it as fact and move on. Now that we've settled that, and with the selling part of you in mind, here's an excellent piece from Forbes, How to Pitch Anything in 15 Seconds, which will help you sell any product, service, idea, or even yourself with greater ease. This piece, by Carmine Gallo, and its accompanying video will... Continue reading

Stressed Man Portrait by David Dominici (FreeDigitalPhotos.net) You have a cluttered TO DO list, don't you? So much to do, but no time left for the things that are really important. For getting closer to your Creator. For connecting with your spouse and children. For getting lost in your own thoughts. For learning something new. For pondering life's mysteries. For creating. Does that sound about right? Do this: Look at your TO DO list right now with just one goal in mind, and that is to eliminate a single task. What one task can you knock off the list today... Continue reading

Each of the 56 men who signed our Declaration of Independence made an extraordinary promise, penning their names below this affirmation, "...for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." They risked everything--their lives, possessions, and honor--to declare independence from the tyranny of the King of England. They withheld nothing, because life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are unalienable rights, given not by man, but by the Creator of all things. Even those who are crowned as monarchs... Continue reading

[Dear Reader: This is a repeat of a post I wrote last year to commemorate the passing of my step-father, who passed away on July 4, 2011. I still miss him and his impact on the world is no less important today than it was then, so I thought I would share my heart again. Thank you for your kind understanding. Remember those whom you love and love them while they're with you.] Big Rick passed into eternity on July 4, 2011. Although he wasn't famous, infamous, or even well-known, he was very special to me and played a major... Continue reading