Thoughts on Serial

12/04/2014 Update: This post is as close to needing a retraction as possible. I could've sworn that in episode 9 (before the Thanksgiving hiatus of the show) that Sarah Koenig said that episode 10 was the last episode. Coupling that with the fact that I'd just looked at the Serial website while working on this post and thinking that the episode section of the site had listed 10 episodes with a blurred image for unaired episodes all along and I was sure that the show was coming to a close with what felt like a biased story at the 90% mark. Knowing now that Serial will continue into episode 11 (and beyond?) refashions this post into a snapshot of the thoughts I had at the time with said expectations of the show ending at episode 10, albeit a misconstrued piece of writing at best. Please accept my apologies for the mistake.

As a long time listener of This American Life I was excited when I heard that the same team would be working on a new show that told an overarching story week by week. Since its release, Serial has been a success and seems to only continue it's trajectory in bringing in new listeners . What makes this interesting is that Serial isn't available as a radio show like TAL is. Serial is currently only available as a podcast or via online streaming. There has been a substantial amount of ink (and pixels) spilled over the popularity of the show and how it's part of what's bringing mainstream attention to podcasting as a medium. While I'm sure that Serial is spreading awareness about podcasts as an alternative to traditional radio I don't know that I buy that it's going to be the tipping point for the medium. I do believe that Serial is adding to the continual evolution of our expectations for accessing media in a way that conforms to our schedules and whatever devices we want to access it from.

In case you haven't listened to the show, here's the elevator pitch from the Serial website:

Serial is a new podcast from the creators of This American Life, hosted by Sarah Koenig. Serial will follow one story - a true story - over the course of a whole season. We'll follow the plot and characters wherever they take us and we won’t know what happens at the end of the story until we get there, not long before you get there with us. Each week we'll bring you the latest chapter, so it's important to listen in order, starting with Episode 1.

I would recommend avoiding the rest of this post if you haven't yet listened to Serial in order to keep the experience pure. While there aren't any true spoilers to follow, there are themes of the show that I'll be diving into that are best avoided until you've listened to the show yourself.

While I'm glad to see the show thriving, I am torn about where Serial is going and what the intent for its outcome is. Despite often being marketted as transparent journalism about the case of Hae Lee's murder we're often found bouncing back and forth between Sarah Koenig's opinions based on the evidence. While you can find honesty in the reporting, I still find myself wondering how much of the final product is radio theater directing the show in a manner that's not as real time as we're expected to believe it's being recorded. At best I feel confident that there is a story that was thoroughly vetted for it's viability to carry an entire 10 hours of content. My concern is that this vetting lead to preemptive notions of what story was to be told. From the outset I've felt that Serial has firmly positioned Adnon as our protagonist with the possibility of there being a Dr. Jekyll side to him that we're all missing. If we're talking about transparent journalism, this immediately negates my trust. While you can often hear Sarah's own struggle with the "did he?/didn't he?" quandry, it often feels palpably forced. I don't find myself believing that Sarah herself struggles over what she believes. She continually seems to come back to believing in Adnon as a good guy and that the idea that he actually committed this crime is pretty unlikely. I somewhat expect episode 10 to bring us to the similar realization many had in the final season of Breaking Bad and realize that the story was more about Jay the whole time and that Adnon has been the Hank to Jay's Walt all along. What's worse is that I find myself expecting a conclusion that's not satisfying and leaves us in the same place that we started this story; unsure of who actually committed the murder.

With one episode left it feels like we're either going to get a densely packed amount of information that has, thus far, been witheld in order to tell the story in the way that the producers felt was best. While it may be a good way to tell a more entertaining story I find myself holding the show to the standard that this is non-fiction and re-arranging the details of the reporting are commensurate with tampering with evidence. It's misleading and wrong. All of this makes it sound like I don't enjoy Serial but that's far from the case. I wouldn't be able to spend the brain cycles debating my conspiracy theory about the show if I didn't enjoy it. While I have my reservations about how kosher the integrity of the story we're being told is I still recommend that you listen to Serial and come to your own conclusions.

The Midwest Indies, 'Truman'

I stumbled across The Midwest Indies on Spotify in one of my many discovery sessions. These usually start with a song from "my" library grabbing my attention. I'll pull the artist up and start clicking through to related artists and sampling a few of each artist's top tracks to see if anything stands out. Sometimes I find something new and compelling and start listening to one of the artist's albums in it's entirety. Such is the case with Truman.

The Midwest Indies have created something really special with Truman. From start to finish Truman carries something rare, an album with few, if any, flaws. The range of sound on the album spans simple acoustic, piano and vocals on "Frederick Fleet" to the slow build of the banjo led and trumpet infused "If You Can't Convince Them, Confuse Them" where the pacing evolves into a song that sounds completely different on it's end than it did when it began. Brad Thomas's voice is staggeringly (and sometimes hauntingly) mature while the harmonies that the band creates layer the vocals in a way that only solidifies the complex individuality of The Midwest Indies sound. The production quality of the album is absolutely stunning; especially when you consider the backstory of how the album was made.

When an artist makes an album that intrigues me in the way that Truman does I usually start researching the band and learning as much as I can about them. The backstory for Truman only adds to my fondness for what these guys have created. In early 2011 Tanner Brown, Chandler Reed, Brad Thomas and Blake Tucker were in high school and college when they formed The Midwest Indies and started writing music and playing it locally in the Springfield, MO area. After fine tuning their sound they started preparing to record Truman and turned to Kickstarter to fund the studio and marketing costs.

Their goal was $1,500 and was fully funded in February of 2012 by 44 wise individuals. It's easy to read the budget on this album and assume that it has a quality that's comparable with Iron and Wine's Around the Well which, while beautiful, is also something that only Iron and Wine can truly pull off and have it add value to their music. The album is mastered so thoroughly in order to layer all aspects of the album in such a cohesive package that negates the need for the typical production faults such as autotune. Ultimately, the fact that these 4 guys were able to create something to the quality and originality of Truman for $1,500 is a testament to their talent. The album artwork is somewhat of another story. While it looks great at first glance it is obviously photoshopped together when viewed at full resolution. This is one of those things that I assume either one of the bandmates or a friend of the band created. Either way I still like it and it's what comes into my mind when one of the songs from the album comes on.

The Midwest Indies are currently working on their second album and have released two singles since Truman released; "Bad Vibrations" and "Voyager". Until their sophomore release we have Truman and that's not a complaint by any means.

Find it on: iTunes | Amazon | Spotify

For Your Enjoyment

About 5 weeks ago I moved to Chicago to start a new job and start planning out my family's future when Courtney and Riley move here. I'll be seeing my family for the first time in 6 weeks when I head back to Memphis for Thanksgiving this week. On the outset 6 weeks seemed manageable but it's grown more difficult with every passing week. For the first few weeks I spent my evenings finishing The Wire one episode per night. Then I was tasked with getting my MCSA and started reading Mastering Windows Server 2012 R2 which lead me to start finding music to listen to while I was studying. All of this lead me to get back to one of my favorite past times, music discovery. Music can be so many things and is the background for much of our lives. Whether it's to pass the time, to concentrate, to get energized, to get by or to heal; music is there.

I haven't listened to traditional radio since I was in middle school. I used to use sites like MySpace, purevolume and the now defunct Stage FM to find artists that had yet to be discovered. I typically blaze my own trail when it comes to the music I listen to and am willing to share with others. When I look to independent writers and podcasters I follow online I often find myself longing to have a topic to dig into that I find interesting and am able to curate for others. I've typically avoided music as that topic as it's such a crowded space that's covered by so many others in the mainstream media. Over the last few weeks I've started to feel more confident that music is something I do have an interesting take on and it's going to become one of my primary topics on Course Code. You can expect that most of my recommendations will be accompanied by the story of how I found the artist, album or song and the impact the music has had on my life. What I wouldn't expect is to find out about the newest music or the hottest thing right now. I'm picky about what I listen to and what I find good enough to share with you.

Music is a huge part of the human story. I hope I can introduce parts of my story into yours.

'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey' Soundtrack →

I've recently been studying for my MCSA and have found that I need quality instrumental music to keep focused without distraction. I've started listening to a lot of Jazz which has been great but I think I've just found my new study music.

This week's Tools and Toys quality linkage is all about space and is such as fun read. On the outset Chris recommends a fine pairing of music for the read; ‘Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’ Soundtrack which I missed the first time around. Chris followed up with a separate post and more information about these 4 volumes of music from Alan Silvestri today and man am I glad he did. As enthralling as I find space, music is much more of my thing and this soundtrack merges the two in such a great way. Check out Chris's post for the full rundown of links.

A New Season...

It was nearly 7 years ago that I was getting ready to start working at the local Apple Store here in Memphis. I'd moved here 3 months earlier to help my uncle and his family build their new home in Mississippi. He'd called me on a Monday with the offer to pay me while I oversaw the contractors who were working on multiple aspects of the house and to perform a variation of work getting the house constructed. I loaded my car in Canton, OH and was in Memphis on Friday. Digging trenches, sanding and painting what seemed like an endless amount of walls and installing pillars to hold the porch overhang that wrapped most of the house were only a few of the tasks that come to mind while I was working on the house. My uncle is a firefighter in a surrounding suburb of Memphis and has weeks where he couldn't be there to oversee the construction process. Our goal was to get the house into livable conditions to house our tradition of Thanksgiving at their house. Once we'd rounded into October and were where we needed to be, it was time for me to figure out what I was doing next. I applied at Apple, got called in for a group interview and was in core training by the end of the month. It was at Apple that I first met some of my longest friends in Memphis such as Stephen Hackett. I also met Courtney within 3 weeks of working at Apple. She was part of the batch of new hires right after me. Over the next two and a half years I moved through nearly ever role within Apple Retail with the exception of management, began my relationship with Courtney and asked her to marry me.

From Apple I moved to Securas Consulting Group and managed the Apple side of the business. I started with Securas after a series of unfortunate events had occurred within the company. We were starting small with the intention of keeping it small. We moved offices from Collierville to North Memphis and started with the handful of clients we carried over. I was responsible for the Apple services side of the business which included repair work. I can remember replacing hundreds of displays, bezels and top cases that plagued the non-unibody MacBooks over the summer for our education customers. Stephen and Jake Graves came in to help perform repairs. We'd work late into the night from the auto garage turned repair room that was the Securas Office. Courtney and I got married about 6 months after I'd started at Securas. It was an amazingly perfect day in October. It's hard to beat Memphis in the Fall.

One of my clients with Securas Consulting Group was Power Center Academy. PCA is a charter school here in Memphis that had seen so much success it was being approached to replicate the model of the school across the city of Memphis. This led to the formation of Gestalt Community Schools and to an offer to become it's IT Director. I accepted the opportunity and the challenge that was ahead of me. Being responsible for taking a single school with an emphasis on technology in the classroom and planning to scale it to multiple campuses with a standardized model within budget was a lot of responsbility. Being the lone IT support for 450 people at the same time made it daunting. I was yet again calling on my friends to come help me with the overwhelming work that has to be done in the minimal two month summer window in preparation for the new school year. During my time at GCS I found myself heavily dependent on High Point as my release and rejuvination to continue pressing forward during some of the most stressful weeks and months of my career. As GCS started to even out into a more normal 40 hours per week I started serving at High Point and have been doing so for a year now. I've made so many new friends that are walking through the same aspects of life as I am.

When Gestalt went through some layoffs earlier this year which included my position I was anxious to avoid going straight into another tech job. I needed to figure out where I was going from here. I decided to expand my side business and see if I could build it into something that we could live off of. We listed our home with the intention of using the equity to pay off all of our debt and make a down payment on a house in Memphis proper. Over the last few months we've been challenged in so many ways with both the business and the house. Adding new clients is incredibly difficult, especially when you're trying to build sustainable income from month to month. Our house has had 30 or more showings with no offers. We've burned through the little runway we've had and are running on blessings and prayers at this point. Even with all of this, the last few months have been an amazing learning opportunity and test of our faith in God to carry us forward. He's provided enough to keep us afloat and we've been happier as a family.

It's been almost a month since my grandfather passed away at the age of 97. The 12 hour trip to Ohio gave Courtney and I a lot of time to talk. It wasn't long before we were talking about what we wanted for ourselves as a family and we kept coming to a place where a big change was crucial to the mix. I brought up the idea of moving to Chicago (a favorite place of ours) and it was as if I'd just taken Courtney's dream directly out of her head. She told me she'd avoided bringing it up in the past because of how engrained I am in Memphis. It showed me that my focus on so many things has blurred my vision for what Courtney is thinking, especially as we've grown into parents and our decisions have a larger impact. It was a near instant agreement and release of tension when I brought up moving to Chicago. We were both in agreement that it was what we needed to do. For me it felt like the first time we were walking together, in sync, as a family. Uprooting our lives from Memphis to Chicago might sound exciting (and it is) but it's not easy. We'll be moving away from our support system of family and friends and starting fresh in a city that neither of us is familiar with. We've been spoiled to have lots of free babysitters and the ability to accomodate our schedules without much issue with Riley. Moving to Chicago means we won't have any safety net. Ultimately it will make us better parents and it will force us to grow. I've spent the last three weeks applying and interviewing and am happy to be joining the team at MXOtech next week. As soon as the house sells, Courtney and Riley will be coming to Chicago. Our new season of life began months ago and we just weren't attentive to it. It's astounding to me how easy it is to resist what God has for us through our own vision of what our life should look like. If you're in a similar situation, try to let it go and see what God has for you. I guarantee it will be the right path.

It Was Here + Coming Home

I've attended High Point Church for roughly five years now. I spent two years searching for my church home before I started attending at High Point. A year ago I started serving as a Producer when High Point Collierville opened. The reason I waited nearly 4 years to get plugged in serving is because I've seen what it can do to you as a church goer. You pull back the curtain as you become more plugged into a church. You see behind the production and find out what the operations of the church look like. Often, there are politics and bureaucracy that can stop you cold and make you question where God is in all of it. It breaks your heart. This has happened to me in the past and it takes years to shake.

When I started serving at High Point I did so hesitantly so that I could pull back the curtain cautiously. What I found was a continuation of what High Point was on Sunday mornings. Weekly staff meetings where everyone talks openly and honestly about the successes and opportunities of the church. Love and happiness in abundance while people work and volunteer to make Christ known through the city of Memphis and beyond. It isn't fake or halfhearted or a show. It's genuine and consistent. It's Heaven on Earth. That's what we are called to be. We ARE the church.

This brings me to the crux of this post. This past week we played a video about the impact we can have through our giving and participation. Please take 11 minutes to watch this video. It will move you because it encapsulates High Point and who we are as the church in the most succinct way possible.

All of this is to preface something that involves High Point's growth. This Sunday is going to be a huge day in High Point's history. A lot of people came together to put together a short film to carry High Point's vision further into the world.

I'm proud that I had a small contribution in this amazing project. I was able to screen the film earlier today and want you to be there this Sunday for it's premiere during any of the services at either High Point campus. The It Was Here video above shares the impact we can have on so many people when we participate. This Sunday is going to kick off the next chapter of how you can get plugged in with High Point and do the same. Be there.

How to check if an iPhone is stolen

Are you planning to buy an iPhone from Craigslist or eBay? Here are a few ways to find out if that iPhone was stolen before you buy it. All you need is the serial number or IMEI number of the iPhone. The seller should be willing to provide this to you if you contact them.

Apple just released a tool to see an iPhone is locked down by the true owner. This method is only useful if the original owner turned on Find My iPhone and then marked the device as missing when it was lost or stolen. This is all the more reason that all iPhone users should enable Find My iPhone when they get a new iOS device.

The second option to find out if an iPhone was stolen is to call AppleCare at 1-800-275-2273 and provide the Apple support representative with the serial number. If the original owner has called AppleCare or visited an Apple Store to report their iPhone as stolen it will be flagged in Apple's internal systems and the representative will be able to let you know if the iPhone is stolen.

Chris Walla has left Death Cab for Cutie

Chris Walla has always been intriguing to me. He and Ben Gibbard have always been hard for me to deconstruct because they’re such complex guys[1] with immense talent (as are Jason McGerr and Nick Harmer). When I read that Chris Walla was leaving Death Cab for Cutie a part of me died. Death Cab for Cutie is my absolute favorite band. Their music has been there throughout so many milestone moments and is woven into so many seasons of my life. It encapsulates the odd arrangement of my first year of college while still being a senior in high school. Their music is one of the few common interests my wife and I fell in love over. It carried me through some of my loneliest and saddest times and kept me going. The music video for Title and Registration was the visualization for one of my most memorable moments teaching a sermon. So naturally having a fourth of the band leave feels like the end of an era.

We still have the upcoming new album from DCfC that Walla was a part of to look forward to but he’s already wrapped up his touring with the band. This video is his last performance with DCfC.

I teared up a little when they wrapped Marching Bands of Manhattan and Chris thanked the audience with tears in his eyes before huddling with his band and walking off stage for the final time as a member of Death Cab for Cutie. His passion and unique perspective for the world as an influence on the band's music will be missed.

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1. Just look at Walla’s statement about what he’ll be doing after leaving the band. “Moving forward, my plans are simply to continue making music, producing records, and erring on the side of benevolence and beauty whenever possible. Darkness may find me, but I shall never choose it.”  ↩

The Periodic Logo and a Lack of Focus

I’ve written about my own disdain for the Course Code logo in the past. I recently had an idea for a new logo that would be simple to execute on my own and would match my outlook for this site right now. What I came up with is above and is simple. My goal wasn’t to come up with anything super clever or even well designed. The periodic logo I’ve created is an homage to my favorite television show that’s yet to be made, Breaking Bad. The fonts are simple, Helvetica Bold, Arial and Cooper BT Medium. The atomic number in the upper left hand corner is the year I started Course Code. The electron configuration in the upper right hand corner represents this being the 8th iteration of my personal website[1]. The element symbol Co is Cobalt on the periodic table but that’s all the further the element is involved in the logo. I’ve used Co2 which references the Conway Group which is a mathematical group of automorphisms[2]. Using a skewed measure I’ve stretched to pull math and science together into the logo for Course Code. This is important to me with both fields serving as the primary reference subjects in my day-to-day work and what I tend to write about.

I’ve recently started writing here in an attempt to publish at least one thing per day. I’m intrigued by the common expectation that a website has to serve a niche in order to flourish. I’ve struggled to do that with any of my digital outlets and continue to struggle with it. My site will likely never cater to any small range of topics. The beauty of the web is that you can easily pass right over the content that doesn’t interest you and focus on what does. With that said I anticipate I’ll continue writing about technology on a regular basis along with topics including coffee, music, running your own business and products and services I find interesting. I’m going to continue pressing onward with my writing and am removing the barrier of filtering my interests in order to serve a specific market with the goal being to build an audience who appreciate my voice. Even if it’s as self serving as this post from time to time.

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1. However small of an update it is. My goal was to make some design changes under the hood last night but developer mode on Squarespace had me chasing different blocks of code. I’m looking for help on getting my design updated as I’d like. Paging Stephen Hackett…  ↩

2. Of which I understand none of.  ↩

Apple's New Reservation Pass to Launch with iPhone 6 Release

The Apple Store may not be best place to purchase the iPhone if you’re looking for top dollar on your trade-in of an older iPhone or if you want to talk with your carrier about your plan before making a purchase. If you’re looking for the best chance to get an iPhone 6 (especially the iPhone 6 Plus) on launch day then the Apple Store is your best bet as they’re likely to get the bulk of the inventory. Apple is adding convenience to the buying process by adding a new reservation system in tandem with the iPhone 6 launch tomorrow.

The system, called Reservation Pass, will put back of house inventory levels in the hands of Apple Store employees as they move through the line collecting customer information for which iPhone 6 they want. Customers receive a text message with a QR Code and can continue waiting in line or can leave and come back[1] to pick the iPhone up later that day. Making a reservation pulls whatever model the customer wants[2] out of the inventory and holds it for them until the Apple Store closes for the day.

Reservation Pass aims to help people avoid waiting in line for inventory that the Apple Store doesn’t have and to allow people to leave and come back that day if they need to. The system could be especially useful if there are any initial launch day system issues. It will also help people who need to go to work and come back to pick their iPhone up later or if there are carrier related kinks that a customer needs to work out before they can complete their purchase. Overall I see Reservation Pass taking a lot of the frustration out of the process for early adopters who had pre-order issues or didn’t want to wait multiple weeks for their iPhone 6 to show up on their doorstep. It’s much better than waiting in line with the hopes of purchasing an iPhone 6 that won’t be there when you get to the front of the line.

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1. Customers will have to start at the back of the regular purchase line when they come back.  ↩

2. Up to two phones per customer per day and you can’t make reservations in someone else’s name.  ↩

Jason Snell is Everywhere

Jason Snell recently left MacWorld and looks to be flying solo. I’m stoked for Jason and look forward to continuing to see his talents unfold upon the world in new and exciting ways. He’s porting the Clockwise podcast to Relay FM along with starting a new show with Myke Hurley called Upgrade for which episode one dropped today. Today Jason launched Six Colors, his new outlet for writing. Reading the about page of Six Colors I found myself locked in tandem with Jason’s simple explanation for his love of Apple.

I’ve been using Apple’s products since I was in elementary school. And it has defined my professional life, too, since I’ve been writing about it for two decades. Apple will always be a part of me. I am one of those people who bleeds in six colors.

While I’m not a journalist, Apple is a part of me and will be forever. It’s where I met my wife, where I got fired[1] for the first time in my life and it’s the backdrop for why my profession is comprised of circuit boards and pixels instead of sauce pans and filet knives. The excerpt above is just one example of Jason’s immense talents. He’s able to hone in on something so apparent and write about it succinctly with emotional weight that’s not distracting. I’m also thrilled that he’s on his own in bringing those talents to the world without any corporate filter or distractions. I highly encourage you to subscribe to his podcasts and the Six Colors RSS feed, follow Six Colors on Twitter and read Jason’s final byline for MacWorld.

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1. Oh, that draft is just begging to be published  ↩

No, I Haven't Tried Animal Poop Coffee →

Marco Arment's commentary about the most current animal-poop coffee fad is right on. I get uncomfortable when telling people the time and methods I use to make coffee and why it's important to me. Marco writes about one of the exact same experiences I have that drives me nuts when I do.

And every time people find out that I’m a coffee nerd, they will ask me if I drink this. Every time. Because that’s what happens with Kopi Luwak. It’s like how app developers are guaranteed to be pitched terrible or impossible app ideas by their parents’ friends.1 I’ll continue to be asked about poop-coffee by everyone for years to come, and I’ll have the same response: No, I haven’t tried it. No, it probably isn’t worth it. No, it probably isn’t that different from just good regular coffee.

The general mockery of my perceived (and forcefully embraced) snobbery by having strong opinions and a heavy interest in coffee is my number one reason for avoiding the discussion when it comes to the topic. Luckily I have a website to share my interests.

Let's Make a Promo →

Dave Fumberger has written a really interesting piece about what goes into making a promo video for an iOS app. There is a lot more going on in the production than I would've expected.

I found Dave's piece through MacStories Weekly, a newsletter that Federico and the MacStories team started about a month ago. It's free and provides great content every week . Check out this week's issue and subscribe.

The Battle for the Net

With all of the hype around Apple's big event today it's hard not to wonder if the coalition that comprise Battle for the Net were purposeful in selecting September 10th for their internet slowdown campaign. The Internet Slowdown campaign is designed to raise awareness about net neutrality through a "loading" wheel overlay on participating websites tomorrow. Net neutrality is a demonstrably significant topic that impacts what the landscape of the future will look like. If ISPs are able to get their way, the future of the internet will undoubtedely look like this:

Source: Reddit user quink

If you've heard of net neutrality but aren't really sure what it is or what it means, please visit Battle for the Net's website and get informed. If you're running a web property of any kind, consider participating in the Internet Slowdown tomorrow. Setting your site(s) up requires 5 minutes of your time and will help raise awareness for a principal that will impact the future of what you do online. Apple's big event will drive tons of traffic to many tech centric sites tomorrow. It's hugely important that we take advantage of that traffic to raise awareness for net neutrality.

6 Months

Riley had his 6 month checkup today. It's hard to believe it's only been six months since he was born. He's grown so much in such a short time and continues to make us smile with every new development. Going in for Riley's 6 month checkup I had some friends on my mind. Particularly a piece by my friend Stephen that he wrote back in 2011 about his son, Josiah. Stephen writes about Josiah's 6 month checkup and how it began his son's battle with cancer. It's one of Stephen's best pieces of writing and is a reminder that I'm not control of Riley's life. God is.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Stephen has set up a St. Jude fundraiser page that's running until the end of the month.

I've set up a St. Jude fundraising page that I will be linking to instead of RSS sponsors for the month of September. My goal is to raise $1,000 $2,500 $4,000 $6,000 $10,000 for the kids of St. Jude this month It takes $2 million a day to run the hospital and research center, so this is a drop in the bucket. Let's make it our drop.

Please donate to St. Jude and help end childhood cancer.

Dropbox Pro Accounts Get an Upgrade →

Dropbox Pro has just been updated with more space and better control over shared files and folders.

The biggest upgrade is that Pro accounts now receive 1TB of space as compared to the previous 100GB. That's 10 times the space that they used to receive. Clearly Dropbox wants to house everything you could possibly use on a day to day basis.

Read more about the sharing permissions on Dropbox's blog.

Relay FM Announced

My IRL buddy Stephen Hackett and my internet friend Myke Hurley officially announced their new podcast network Relay FM today. Here's how Myke and Stephen summarize the launch:

It makes sense for us to have a single home for all of our work; starting a network is the right decision for us. At launch, we are featuring four returning shows and one new one. We have lots of plans for the future, and can't wait to get to work making those dreams a reality.

I've been anticipating whatever would come next for these guys since they departed 5by5 in July and can't wait to see what the future holds for Relay FM. I'm a huge fan of independent creators and am so glad to see the fruit of Stephen and Myke's labor going public today. It's hard to believe that it was just June of 2013 when I interviewed Stephen about the transition of The 512 Podcast into The Prompt and now we'll have Connected in it's place. It's been amazing to watch the transformation and growth of my favorite subsection of podcasts and I can't wait to see what's coming next.

You can read more about the launch of Relay FM and it's newest show Analog, from Stephen, Myke and Casey Liss and should keep your eyes on Relay FM's site to find out more about the network as it grows.

SETA Tablet Stand

1.0 Innovations newest creation is a bigger version of their SETA stand which I reviewed last year and still use daily. As has been the case with every product they've released thus far, the SETA Tablet Stand is currently being funded for production on Kickstarter.

While there may be customer demand for this product I'm not currently looking for a stand of this sort for my iPad. My personal preference is 1.0 Innovation's first product, the XFLEX Stand which I've still yet to buy for myself but I have friends who have and love it. If you're looking for a simple stand to house your iPad on I can assume this will do you well.

The Spark Journal

Chris Gonzales just re-launched his site and wrote a bit about what prompted it. Being that this is timed right as I'm chipping away at planning Course Code's direction I couldn't be more in tune with what Chris's goal is with The Spark Journal (RIP Unretrofied).

What I care about are the people who make things, and I care about helping people who struggle to make their thing. I want to write in a way that inspires others to do awesome stuff rather than drifting through a dreary rat-race life. I want to tell better stories. I want to try new things. As Chase Reeves might put it, I want to do things that are matterful.

I'm excited to see what Chris has yet to share and have a little more wind in my sails as I define what Course Code is exactly. Stay tuned.

FSBO (Let's Make the Change)

Over the last week Courtney and I have made the decision to sell our house in Collierville and move into Memphis. We couldn't be more excited (whilst also tired) about what the future holds for our family. While we enjoy Collierville's small town feel and community we've found through discussion that we're in a place where the urban environment of Memphis is something we've both been longing for but were unwilling to give up the comfort that came with Collierville. We've just listed our home online and are taking the For Sale By Owner route. If you know someone who's looking to move to Collierville, please shoot them this link with our listing so they can give it a look (don't be creepy).

Much in alignment with Josh Maze's recent post about being a proud Memphian and what that can look like, Courtney and I both want to dig in further. Moving into Memphis (and not a suburb) is something we're both really proud of even in the face of a lot of disappointment and advice against this move. It is frustrating to have to argue with friends and family about leaving a "good" area to raise our son in when Memphis isn't a bad place to do so. I'm a product of Memphis. I grew up in Hickory Hill and went to Oak Forest Elemetary, Ridgeway Middle School and Ridgeway High School. I came back from another state after college and haven't regretted it to this day. It isn't perfect but neither is Portland or San Fransisco or New York. Every city has it's junk and every native of the town knows it, lives with it and carries their pride for their city through it.

My point is that nothing will change if we flee and only look on with scornful attitudes and angry visions of what's yet to befall our imperfect city. We have to stand up, be proud, find the good and take hold of what we see that needs to change. We need to make the change and it isn't going to be easy. Nothing worth having ever is. Dive in. I promise you won't regret it.