Daily Zen - Friday, April 4

Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown your own inner voice...have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. 

~ Steve Jobs

Daily Zen - Wednesday, November 6

Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

~ Steve Jobs

Daily Zen - Monday, September 23

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

 ~ Steve Jobs

No Westboro Picket for Jobs Funeral

Apple Co-Founder and Former CEO

The funeral for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was held last Friday, and it was a small private affair.

With the specific time and location of the funeral undisclosed, Westboro Baptist Church members, who had announced plans for another disgraceful "anti-gay" funeral protest, were left all dressed up with no place to go. Tough break for Fred, Margie, and Shirley Phelps, and their dysfunctional band of sadly brainwashed children.

On a personal note, since the only real "win" Westboro Baptist Church can ever have is public acknowledgement of their pathetic hatemongering, I continually struggle with the decision to post anything about them at all. At the same time, ignoring them completely and doing nothing is really hard for me. So, with my apologies, here you go - one more Westboro post. At least this time it was good news.

Turn of Phrase - Steve Jobs on Death and Life

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."


- From the commencement speech Steve Jobs gave at Stanford University in 2005. 


Watch the 15 minute video of the speech in its entirety if you wish. I thought the quote above about building the best life for yourself, along with his comments on death at around the 11:50 mark in the video, were especially poignant.

God Hates iPads? Westboro to Picket Funeral

Shirley (left) and Margie (right) - Faces of Insanity

According to the insane cult wackos of the Phelps family and their Westboro Baptist Church, deceased technology pioneer Steve Jobs has gone to hell. To bring attention to Jobs' evil (and themselves), the church has announced plans to picket Jobs' funeral.

You can be certain they will raise high their patented "God Hates Fags" placards, and I'm sure they are busily wasting their limited brain power, even as I write this, thinking of horrible and kitschy Apple-specific slogans to brandish.

Margie Phelps' iPhone Tweet

Margie Phelps, who serves with her sister Shirley as an operational leader of the group, has tweeted several times - via her iPhone - that Steve Jobs "served self, not God" and "spent his days teaching sin." The Twitter community quickly noted the irony of the iPhone-generated tweets and pointed this out to Phelps who replied - "Rebels mad cuz I used iPhone to tell you Steve Jobs is in hell. God created iPhone for that purpose!"

I always thought the iPhone was heaven-sent, and thanks to Phelps' acknowledgement that God actually created the iPhone, we now have the definitive confirmation.

I don't know how to feel about the folks at Westboro, and I am not sure how one combats such unteachable stupidity, and dare I say, evil. I've ruled out the idea of driving my car on to the sidewalk during their picket and martyring the whole lot of them because I'm not prone to violence (however appropriate it may feel in my gut in this instance).

I am open to any other creative counter-protest ideas that are out there though (like the drive-by concert so perfectly executed by the Foo Fighters).

If Jobs' funeral is near Palo Alto where he lived (and about 15 minutes from where I live), I may well attend just for the opportunity to face down evil, as we celebrate the life of someone who brought so much good to the world.

Steve Jobs - Dead at 56

Timing is everything.

Just yesterday I posted the "Gospel According to Apple" with Steve Jobs at the godlike center of my humorous poke at the cult of Mac, and today, he is gone.

History will be kind to Mr. Jobs, and we will look back with a grateful eye at the technological revolution he led.

RIP Steve.

iPhone 4S and the Gospel According to Apple

Mock up iPhone4S

In the beginning, Jobs created iPod.

And iPod was without beauty and not sleek, and no phone calls could be made.

And the evening and morning were the second day.

And the spirit of Jobs moved through the hallways.

And Jobs said let there be backlight, and there was.

And Jobs called unto developers and sayeth, give to me connection. And lo, the iPhone came to be.

And the evening and morning were the third day.

And the iPhone begat iPhone2, who begat iPhone 3, who begat iPhone 3GS, who begat iPhone 4.

And Jobs blessed them all with apps and video and wireless connectivity.

And the evening and morning were the fourth day.

And Jobs sayeth, let the developers bring forth touchscreen that I may use only the tips of my fingers. And Jobs brought forth iTouch and soon iPad1, with screen so broad and bright.

And when iPad1 had no webcam, Jobs created iPad2 so that others may broadcast fruitfully and have dominion over tablets everywhere.

And the evening and morning were the fifth day, and Jobs sayeth behold my successor, a new king shall Cook for all.

And Cook brought forth the iPhone4S and those on earth rejoiced and live blogged. Behold a new OS is born with more speed and power.

And the angels made music in the Cloud. And new tools abounded for browser and camera and mail.

And Jobs saw all that he had created and he said unto them, behold all that I have blessed you with. I have made much, and it is good. Go forth and upgrade.

And the evening and morning were the sixth day. Tomorrow, rest.