New Year, New Possibilities

As my good friend Hallerin Hilton Hill always says (he doesn’t know me but I listen to him enough to count him as a friend :) ), “Anything is possible“.

He’s right! Whether we’re talking about our faith in God, our personal or professional goals or even just our life in general… anything really is possible.

I don’t know why we wait until the first of the year to decide to do new things or bigger and better things. The truth is we can change our lives at any moment. We just have to decide to DO it. We can’t just sit around thinking about doing it. We can’t just tell other’s or ourselves we are going to do it. We actually have to DO it!
Take time this week to pray and think about your goals for 2012. Write them out, share them with someone you are close to and this time actually decide to DO it.

After you’ve decided to DO it don’t look back. If you look up in February and you’re not where you wanted to be just keep pushing, fighting, clawing and scratching your way toward your goals.

William Feather said,

Success is a matter of hanging on after others have let go.

One of my all time favorite quotes is from Thomas Edison who said,

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.

Persistence is key. Once you decide to Do it you have to decide to keep on DO-ing it until you succeed. The only failure is quitting!

I don’t know what it is that’s on your list of goals for this coming year but if you really set your mind to it and keep on pushing you can achieve your dreams.

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Church at the Joe

In case you haven’t heard tonight is the launch service for Church at the Joe. That’s right… church at the Cotton Eyed Joe, Knoxville’s largest night club.

You are all invited to join us tonight at 6:30pm for FREE drinks (and refills), some live kickin’ christian country music, a short message based on the country song Paint Me a Birmingham, by Tracy Lawrence, country line dancing, maybe even some corn hole!

Pastor Scott Cagle of NorthStar Church in Knoxville is looking forward to preaching to his congregation in a bar this week. He will hold service at “Cotton Eyed Joe” Monday night.

“We’re a church that likes to take the gospel outside of the four walls,” he said.

The bar’s owner, Gingi Bakri agreed to let the church use his space on Monday nights when the bar is closed. He says people rent his space all the time for parties, concerts, and even weddings. He believes a church shouldn’t be any different.

“I told him he’s crazy but he can use the building.”

More at WBIR.

Additionally, you can listen to the WIVK interview and the HHH interview on WOKI for more information.

It’s going to be an awesome, life-changing night that you don’t want to miss.

Check them out on Facebook – Church at the Joe.

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Rest In Peace Steve, You Will Be Missed

We are praying for your family.

Apple co-founder and Chairman Steve Jobs died today, Apple said. He was 56.

Jobs had been suffering from various health issues following the seven-year anniversary of his surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer in August 2004. Apple announced in January that he would be taking an indeterminate medical leave of absence, with Jobs then stepping down from his role as CEO in late August.

More at CNET

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iPhone 5 Not Announced – Apple Wrap-up

Apple just announced iOS 5 and the new iPhone 4S.  There was considerable disappointment that the iPhone 5 wasn’t announced. However, the iPhone 4S does add considerable features and enhancements in the same form factor and design.

Though you wouldn’t know it from the data given during the Apple event the iPhone has been getting trounced by Android devices for new activations in recent quarters.  Will the iPhone 4S (and Sprint) help Apple get a bigger share of the smartphone market?

Update: Apple’s website confirms iPhone 4S will be available on the Sprint network!

Update: Apple Event photo gallery at CNET

High-points wrap-up…

iPhone 4S – Launch Oct 14th
- World phone
- Real language voice control (Siri)
- A5 processor
- Dual core CPU
- Dual core video
- “Up to 7 times faster than previous iPhones”
- Increased talk-time to 8 hours!
- 2 antennas
- As fast or faster than “4G” (HSDPA, 14Mbps)
- 8 megapixel camera
- 1080p video!

iOS 5
Comes out October 12th!
Available for iPhone 3GS & 4 as well as both iPads
Over 200 new features
- iMessage
- Newsstand
- Notification Center
- Twitter integration
- Wi-Fi Sync

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Android Dominates iPhone, Increases Market Share

Nielsen reports that in August, Andriod added another 3% market share to its lead by selling (and keeping current customers) more smartphones than competitors boosting their total market share to 43%. Apple trails by 15% keeping their 28% share.

The number that seems to stick out the most to me is when you look at just the previous 3 months. In June, July & August, Android accounts for 56% of all new smartphone devices! Apple has thus far been able to hold on to their 28% but for how much longer?

As you can see, Windows Phones and BlackBerry’s are being forced out of the marketplace. Is this where the iPhone is headed? Is it any wonder Verizon finally got the iPhone and why there are rumors that it’s also coming to Sprint next month? Where would the iPhone be without Verizon? To me Apple appears to be scrambling to find a larger market to continue to compete.

Do you think this trend will continue? What does the future of the iPhone look like?

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Teach Your Old Dog BLOG New Tricks

Got an old blogspot, blogger, wordpress.com blog? Free blogs are probably the best way to get started with a personal blog to make sure you can keep it up. Many people blog for a while and then slowly fade away until they don’t even think about it anymore. But, blog fatigue is a topic for a later post.

Right now I’d like to talk to those who have had a personal blog for awhile or are wanting to start a personal or small business blog. If you are serious about blogging or passionate about your product or service and really want to get your message out and/or spread the word you need the best, easiest, flexible, most full featured platform you can get. Hands down WordPress.org (WordPress PRO) is that platform.

Don’t confuse WordPress PRO with it’s cousin WordPress.com (the free one).

WordPress.com is the best free blogging platform but if you want to up the ante and get more features and more options WordPress PRO is the way to go.

WordPress PRO gives you the same great back-end interface as it’s free cousin but gives you total control over appearance & design, plugins, domain, and much more. With WordPress PRO you can choose your own custom domain (mysite.com as opposed to mysite.wordpress.com). Additionally, you can pick from thousands of templates and designs and customize them to your specifications, or create your own. If you really want to take it to the next level you can use a theme that runs your main website and you blog integrated together (like jhensley.org).

If you’re interested in taking your old blog up a notch with WordPress PRO let me know!

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New Site Went Live Today

Got the new site up today. It’s been a while since I’ve redesigned my own site. I’m loving the WordPress theme I picked out it’s really full featured on the back end and totally integrates everything.

I definitely recommend going with a WordPress back end for nearly any site that has frequently changing content. WordPress isn’t just for blogs anymore.

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So I Took a Blogging Sabbatical

It was just over 2.5 years.  What are you going to do?

I may be back now we’ll just have to see. I’m launching my new web design proprietorship site so I’m sure I’ll be doing some posts about web design, creativity, why your company needs a website, etc.  Sure to include some geeky links and re-posts from cool stuff all over the web plus plenty of social media news and info as well.

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WordPress, Lenovo, Netflix

Here are some interesting links from today:

  • Move From WordPress.com To WordPress.org
    Moving a Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org is something I’ve had a lot of questions about – today Jeff Chandler shares tips on how to do it.
  • Lenovo adds multi-touch, facial recognition
    Lenovo has announced today that its dapper young netbook will be getting an upgrade, starting with a modest boost in screen size — from 10-inches to 10.2-inches. In addition to this embarrassment of riches, the new IdeaPad S10 netbook will pack LenovoSocial, a suite for “social networking enthusiasts,” VeriFace facial recognition tech and a multi-touch trackpad. The MSRP is $349 and you should be able to get this guy sometime in March. Available in black, white, red, blue, or pink.
  • JVC 5kg 32-inch LCD lightest, greenest at CES?
    JVC swears its CES prototype will be the lightest 32-inch LCD out, weighing a mere 5kg its perfect for ceiling mounted installations. At 7mm thick they’ve managed to squeeze 1080p resolution and LED backlighting out of 50% of the materials and less mercury used to produce current designs. A hands on should settle the battle of the thin, expect iPhone comparison pics and contentious weigh ins usually reserved for heavyweight bouts this week in Las Vegas.
  • Netflix Streaming To Be Built Into TVs
    More options on the way for watching Netflix (NFLX) streaming movies in your living room: Beginning this spring, Korean electronics giant LG will build Netflix streaming directly into some of its plasma and LCD HDTVs, the companies will announce today.This means that Netflix subscribers will be able to stream more than 12,000 movies and TV shows on their TVs without a separate set-top box or a PC.
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Windows 7 Beta 1 & The Great Aussie Firewall

Here are some interesting links from today:

  • Windows 7 Build 7000 First Look
    The last few days have been spent tinkering with the latest build of Windows 7. With a build number of 7000, this is meant to be the public release version that is due to be given out early January 2009 as Beta 1. This gives a good indication of the progress that Microsoft is making with the development of their next-gen operating system.
  • Uproar in Australia Over Plan to Block Web Sites
    A proposed Internet filter dubbed the ”Great Aussie Firewall” is promising to make Australia one of the strictest Internet regulators among democratic countries.Consumers, civil-rights activists, engineers, Internet providers and politicians from opposition parties are among the critics of a mandatory Internet filter that would block at least 1,300 Web sites prohibited by the government — mostly child pornography, excessive violence, instructions in crime or drug use and advocacy of terrorism.
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