Sophia loves Olivia so much it hurts!

1. Words with Friends – this app could come with a “caution: you will get sucked in”. Basically, it’s takes Scrabble to a new level of awesome. You can play games with other iPhone/iTouch friends, all at your own pace.
2. Pandora – loving this lately. I’m ashamed that I hadn’t tried this out sooner. After the the Help Haiti Live concert I wanted to listen to some NEEDTOBREATHE. Along came this free, streaming music station. Plus, I get to hear other similar artists.
3. Foursquare – because we live a good ways outside of the city, I don’t feel like I use this to its potential. But I feel that it could be a good social marketing tool. It’s a way to check-in to various establishments (restaurants, venues, stores).
4. Hipstamatic – got a recommendation the other day and love this simple app. You can take vintage looking pictures using different lens, film, and flash options. There are a couple pictures I took last night of the girls below at the bottom of this post.
5. Byline – a way for me to sync my Google Reader to my iPhone. And we all know that I love me some Google Reader.
6. Hootsuite – my favorite Twitter client app so far. I’ve tried Echofone, Twitteriffic and some of the other ones, but I’ve found this one to be pretty streamlined. You can manage multiple accounts, lists, etc. Plus, I like the Hootsuite desktop dashboard as well.
7. Sportacular – love the alerts on this app. I can schedule it so that I get a push notification each time there is a final score for a particular team (you can set it to be more detailed if you like–score change, quarter-end, etc).
8. Facebook – it’s Facebook, and easy!
9. Wordpress – Simple app, makes editing this site easy on the go (for both comments and adding posts).
10. Shazam – on multiple instances I’ve loaded up this app, held it up to either the radio or some store music playing and it provided me with the artist and song playing. Simple, yet spectacularly amazing.

Those are mine. What are your favorite apps?

Since the start of 2010, I’ve been seriously into my Google Reader (an easy way to keep up with the blogs you like). I mean, I’ve been using it for quite some time, but since the start of the year I’ve exponentially increased the number of subscriptions. It’s been great because I’ve been able to get differnt perspectives on a lof of different subjects (faith, parenting, sports, leadership, business, etc.).

Tim Stevens posted some interesting thoughts this morning about protecting our kids nowadays, especially in regards to the internet, TV, etc. Check it out here, and be encouraged!

In what ways are you preparing your kids to embrace technology, yet protecting their hearts?

FAITH:

“Unconditional Is the Ground of Conditional” from John Piper. Great thoughts.
“The Problem With Safe” from Ragamuffin Soul. Excellent reminder as I’ve been challenged with taking risks and trusting God this week.
“Pure” from Tim Challies. His blog always seems to produce these “wow” posts.
“NewsNote: Black Children Are an Endangered Species?”. from Al Mohler.
“A New Expression of Worship” from Tyler Braun. Stoked to be introduced to new band. Love it.
“Every Good Story Must Endure Conflict” from Donald Miller. Miller is big on the fact that everyone has a “story” to tell. He had some challenging thoughts this week about conflict and stuggle.

 OTHER:

“‘Good’ Beats ‘Innovative’ Nearly Every Time” from BusinessWeek.
“$238 billion loss for U.S. mail; Saturday delivery may end” from CNNmoney.
“Texas College Campus Divided Over Bible for Porn Campaign”  from FoxNews. Sad stuff.
“Are You a C.E.O. of Something?” from NYTimes.
“Try different.” from Seth Godin.

I hope that you, like me, were encouraged by each of these!

Thoughts?

Dustin

Bonhoeffer’s classic has been on my list of “lofty titles that would be interesting/challenging to read, but when am I ever going to get around to it?”. Well, looks like I’ll have my chance now!

Check it out here. I downloaded both last night, and am excited to listen to these during my morning commute.

FAITH:

“All that Glitters” from Stephen Brewster. Good reminder about being honest and authentic as a leader.
“Small Groups are Dead” from Ben Reed. Interesting discussion about small groups and the church. There are 3-4 posts about it this week.
“Think Globally, Love Locally” from Josh Harris, about the importance of the local church and how vital it is in the growth of a believer.
“What Will Your Words Do Today?” from Stephen Altrogge.
“Ruined for Anything Else” from Tim Challies. Great thoughts about the importance of doctrine.
“Silence is not golden…Speak up!” from POTSC.

OTHER:

“Xerox’s New Chief Tries to Redefine Its Culture” from NYT.
“Don’t knock naps, they make you smarter” from USA Today. I’ve been saying this for years!
“We Pretend We Are Christians” from NYT/Freakonomics. Sad, but true reality that people do this.
“Shaun White and the Integrity Test” from Stan Jantz/Conversant Life.

I hope that you, like me, were encouraged by each of these!

Thoughts?

Dustin

“Thank-you for letting Olivia come to CA, I just lost 3 hours of time with her coming in later but I will have to cut some other peoples time and make up for it. Do you think she will be in one piece when she gets home? Love you, Grandma”

At least we know that Olivia won’t be deprived of attention!

FAITH:

“Following God and Farming” - from Don Miller.  Intriguing thoughts from his blog this week. He asks the question, “what is my field to plow, and am I plowing it?” Challenged this week from this, in a good way.
“Secret Christian Undergrounds.” from SCL. Funny stuff that I can relate to at times.
“A God Who Will Neither Snicker Nor Sigh at Your Brokenness” from Justin Taylor/TGC.
“Wait To Worry: Procrastination at Its Best” from Gail Hyatt. Great reminder!
“One Thing” from Refineus.org. Link it to the main site, but check out last five posts. 5-part series this week detailing 5 couples being real about marriage.

OTHER:

“Did He Get Married Too Young?” from Al Mohler. An earnest and heart-warming argument for early marriage.
“Nerds Unite for World’s Largest Dodgeball Game” from AOL Fanhouse. SIGN ME UP!
“Airplane Flights and Fights” from NYT OpEd/Freakonomics.
“Homeless Haiti quake victims get tarps, want tents” from Washington Post. With all the things Shaun King is doing for Haiti, I found this to be appropriate.

I hope that you, like me, were encouraged by each of these!

Thoughts?

Dustin

Telling the family about Sophia for the first time! from Dustin Valencia on Vimeo.