Wow! Now this is a paradigm shift! Do you think it will work?

Panera Bread Co. is asking customers at a new restaurant to pay what they want.

The national bakery and restaurant chain launched a new nonprofit store here this week that has the same menu as its other 1,400 locations. But the prices are a little different — there aren’t any. Customers are told to donate what they want for a meal, whether it’s the full suggested price, a penny or $100.

The new store in the upscale St. Louis suburb of Clayton is the first of what will Panera hopes will be many around the country. Ronald Shaich, Panera’s CEO until last week, was on hand at the new bakery Monday to explain the system to customers.

via New Panera Location Says Pay What You Want – NYTimes.com.

Yawn…not impressed. Allowing dozens of device manufacturers to implement the “open” OS as they each, individually see fit will increase the amount of work for developers as they have to develop for lots and lots of different devices. Keyboard or no keyboard? Scroll ball or no scroll ball? Directional keys? Hard buttons? Soft buttons? This “open” OS only increases the amount of work for developers to ensure that their applications perform as expected on all the different devices available. It will become a cluster, as users just want it to work. Google will blame the device maker, the device maker will blame Google, the application developer will still be blamed by both, and the consumer, especially the non-techie consumer, which is the gross majority, will be screwed. Bring it on Google.

YouTube – Google I/O 2010 – Keynote Day 2 Android Demo, pt. 1.

This is a post over at MacDailyNews.com from earlier today:

This is an open-ended question for our readers who are cable/satellite subscribers:What would Apple have to offer for you to seriously consider dropping your cable/satellite subscription?Certain networks? Tiers of networks bundles or à la carte network selection? Specific monthly subscription price? Cost of hardware? Additional capabilities Blu-ray, DVR, 1080p, etc.?

MacDailyNews Take: Wed need the major networks, certain cable networks, HBO, a robust sports package which would mean live streaming from Apple for a reasonable monthly fee that we wont specify for fear of tainting your responses below. Wed hope it would be something our current Apple TV hardware could accommodate via firmware update, but would consider a new hardware purchase depending on the additional capabilities offered.

via MacDailyNews.

I wanted to comment, but it started getting a little long, so I figured I’d respond with my own post about it.

I think, for me, it’s not about either cable/satellite or AppleTV. I have, and love, cable internet service. I wouldn’t get rid of that because it’s my ISP. I’m not a satellite user, so I don’t have much opinion there. Although I did switch back to cable about 5 years ago after using satellite for a few years. For me, cable has been a better value primarily because of high-speed internet access. There is no one offering anything remotely as fast as my cable company in my area. So, to address the question at hand, “What would Apple need to offer for [me] to drop [my] cable/satellite subscription?” I would have to answer that Apple would have to become an ISP with better value than my cable company.

With the context of AppleTV surrounding this question, though, I’d like to clarify. Isn’t MacDailyNews really trying to ask this, “What does Apple need to do to make the AppleTV no longer a “hobby”, but a product that’s as successful, if not more, than iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad?” Because if that’s the real question, we might want to think about how Apple’s been referring to themselves lately, as a mobile electronics company. AppleTV is not a mobile device. Sure some people may have one in their camper or tour bus, but it’s not going in your pocket or backpack. Not like the previous three incredibly successful mobile products. (Yes, I’m speculating on the iPad, but early indications are good.) How does AppleTV fit into Apple’s mobile strategy? That’s a better question if you ask me. And I’m not dissin’ on MacDailyNews. They are still one of my favorite Mac news publications around.

I think there are some obvious and not so obvious possibilities. One of the obvious is tighter integration with iPhone, iPod Touch and the new iPad. Apple’s Remote app is pretty good, but it could still be improved. Can you imagine a newly improved iPad version of Remote for AppleTV? I can. Unfortunately I’m not a mock-up artist or I’d come up with something cool to express what I’m thinking, but I think there could be some really nice interface enhancements to Remote once the iPad hits. As for the not so obvious, what about the other recent patent filings that show Apple looking at smart/connected/automated home technology? What if AppleTV could become a hub for your home’s various systems, such as lighting, HVAC, security, etc. What if, again, the iPad allowed for amazing user interface and control of home automation? Now I’m getting more and more interested in AppleTV and how I can’t live without it.

I enjoy my AppleTV and I look forward to seeing how Apple makes it even better. But I still need an ISP. Unless Apple gets into that business as well, the question posed by MacDailyNews is irrelevant to me.

What do you think? Leave me some comments below.

What’s the point of life when it doesn’t make sense, when God blocks all the roads to meaning?

Job 3:23 MSG – YouVersion.com: Online Bible.

And there’s the question. “What is the point of life when it doesn’t make sense, when God blocks all the roads to meaning?” This is what Job asks in the third chapter, after losing pretty much everything he had.

Though I’ve heard the story many times, I’m eager to read through, in context, the rest of this book on faith and why bad things happen to good people. In fairness, though, bad things happen to everyone, both good and bad. I think it’s easier for us to feel ok about when something bad happens to a murderer, or a rapist or someone who is clearly “deserving” of the worst fate. And in conjunction with that thought, it’s definitely hard to believe that a good God would allow such tragedy to befall someone like Job, who by all accounts is God’s number one, best man. But I wonder, why do we also not question the good that happens to those of us who consider ourselves good? Why aren’t we questioning the point of life when all is going perfectly well for us? Should we be?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic and I plan to post more over the coming days as I continue to read through the book of Job. I’ve committed to read the Bible through, this year. I’ve never done it, I’m ashamed to say, and as I get older, and I realize that life doesn’t get any easier, I think a year of renewal and dedication to meditating on God’s word will do me some good. My prayer is for God to use his word to speak to my soul and mold my mind and spirit into who He wants me to be.

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Romans 12:2 MSG – YouVersion.com: Online Bible

If you’ve never read the Bible, much less, read it in it’s entirety, I invite you to join me this year in a quest for truth and transformation. Please comment, question, agree or disagree. I welcome all discussion. I’m following a plan that lays out the reading in chronological order. I also joined the group on YouVersion.com that is reading this chronological plan. You can, too, by following the steps here.

Rising up from the Dust, originally uploaded by MeckiM@c.

What an amazing picture!

Like many people, we have our Christmas traditions. When and where we do Santa pictures, getting together with family, milk and cookies for Santa that came from Bill Rhodes Bakery, where my wife works. I’m sure you get the idea and can think of plenty of your own. We wanted to make sure that we really instilled in our boys a sense of what Christmas should really be about, so last year we started the Christmas Closet Cleanout. We encouraged them to make room for new toys and things by selecting some of their existing toys to donate to charity. We don’t donate anything broken or worn out. Those items get tossed as necessary throughout the year. They make the choices and they know that the toys are going away to be given to a child that might not otherwise have much of anything at all. So far, it seems to be working well.

I decided to take Neal with me this year to deliver the clothes and toys to The Quinn House in Lawrenceville, GA. (If you find yourself in a position to donate, please give them consideration as they do a great job in the community.) As we pulled into the driveway, turned the truck around and parked at the steps to the house, Neal saw the people organizing other clothes and toys and such and asked about their activity. I told him they were helping get things organized so that they could be given to the people that needed them. We walked inside to get our receipt and a lady that worked there asked Neal about his Christmas, told him about Santa coming down their chimney, and thanked him for “sharing” his toys. Neal, polite as usual, said, “You’re welcome.”

I don’t know if he fully gets it, yet, but I hope that as he and his brother, Eli, grow, and we continue to do this, that they naturally develop a spirit and attitude of giving and helping others. Steph and I recently saw The Blind Side and also felt challenged to do more to help and make a difference to those around us. We’re praying for opportunity and for guidance for the coming year so that we might have a positive impact on those we come in contact with. What are you doing to make a difference? Any Christmas traditions that you’re passing on to your children?

There has been discussion and argument over this topic for a while now. It appears that at least one researcher has reason to believe that who we are on Facebook is, well, who we are.

U. TEXAS-AUSTIN—Online social networks such as Facebook are being used to express and communicate real personality, instead of an idealized virtual identity, according to new research from psychologist Sam Gosling.

“I was surprised by the findings because the widely held assumption is that people are using their profiles to promote an enhanced impression of themselves,” says Gosling of the more than 700 million people worldwide who have online profiles. “In fact, our findings suggest that online social networking profiles convey rather accurate images of the profile owners, either because people aren’t trying to look good or because they are trying and failing to pull it off.

via Futurity.org – Facebook profiles reveal true self.

Matt Chandler is a 35 year old husband, father and pastor of The Village Church in a Dallas, Texas suburb. On Thanksgiving, Matt had a seizure in his home and woke up in the hospital. Doctor’s discovered the source of the seizure was a tumor in his brain. He had surgery this past weekend and this is the last message he left for his church.

We taped this video of Matt a few days before his surgery and aired it this weekend at our worship services. We pray your heart is challenged and encouraged by it. Thank you for your continued prayers.

via Video from Matt | The Village Church : From Our Pastors.

As I watched the video and listened to him talk about his current situation, I was reminded of my father and the kidney cancer that took his life just over five years ago. My father taught me much about how to live. But he taught me just as much, if not more, about how to face adversity, even if that means death. After his passing, I remember hearing from many of the doctors and nurses just how special they thought my dad was and just how much they were impacted by his attitude of joy in all things. I can’t say for sure, but I believe they were also deeply touched by his faith. Faith not only in healing, but faith in a purpose and a plan bigger than any of us. Faith that, regardless of what happened, God was in control and God would get the glory. Even if that meant that the healing came, not in life, but in death.

I pray for healing for Matt and I pray for peace and comfort for his family and friends. I pray that God uses Matt and his life, his faith, to bring honor and glory to him. I pray that Matt’s courage can be an enCOURAGEment to all of us. May God’s grace be sufficient for us all. May His kindness and mercy last forever.

As Matt asked, I also ask, “What are you afraid of?”