I'll post a spoiler-free link for this one just like I did last month's iPod event as soon as Macrumors creates the forum. For now, here are all the details from Macworld:

Apple is turning its attention to its notebook line of computers, as the company announced a special event being held in Cupertino on October 14 at 10:00 am.

“The spotlight turns to notebooks,” reads the invitation sent to select media on Thursday, announcing next week’s event. No other information was given, but it’s obvious what Apple will be announcing next week.

The event to introduce new notebooks comes just over a month from when the company rolled out new iPods. The “Let’s Rock” event saw a new iPod nano, iPod touch and iTunes 8, among other things.

The release of new notebooks will set Apple up with a new computers, iPods and iPhones before the lucrative holiday shopping season.

Et oui, ce ne sont plus des Ipods mais bien des Macbook qui seront à l'honneur de cet Event "The Spotlight turns to Notebooks"

Vivement mardi!! J-4

Parece ser que todos los rumores una vez más se confirman con lo relacionado al próximo evento de Apple el día 14 (martes) de este mes, y por la imagen no cabe duda -si es que cabía alguna- que lo que ahora toca renovar son los portátiles.

Se habla mucho de los macbook y de los macbook pro, pero igual esta renovación o actualización también afecte a los macbook air, porque no?

Lo último que he leído es que puede que salga el macbook básico por 799$, un precio realmente competitivo y una tentación muy grande para esta época de crisis mundial que vivimos actualmente... seguiremos informando.

Pues es oficial, el evento que se venia rumoreando hace semanas por fin ha sido oficializado por Apple:

El próximo martes la compañia de Cupertino dará a conocer los nuevos o tal vez solo renovados Macbook y Macbook Pro, se han filtrado muchas imágenes sobre las nuevas carcasas de estos ultimos y un método de fabricación de Apple llamado "The Brick". Yo solo espero que el evento valga la pena y se muestren cosas nuevas, no sé, quizá una reducción de precio o algo que llame la atención de la gente y lleve de nuevo a Apple al negocio de la computación, dejando de lado el iPhone....

Poco a poco avanzábamos en el calendario y el dichoso anuncio de Apple no llegaba, la tensión subía día tras día hasta el punto que en muchos sitios descartaban ya el evento, pero todo ha sido una broma de mal gusto de Apple que ha preferido apurar al máximo para anunciarlo, cosa que finalmente ha hecho en la mañana de hoy (tarde en España). Así que todo el mundo tranquilo que el Martes día 14 a las 10 de la mañana (horario de San Francisco, las 7 de la tarde en España) se anunciaran nuevos Macbooks, y por supuesto un podcast de Treki23 lo acompañara en la mayor brevedad posible.

¿Seran nuevos completamente o tan solo un ligero rediseño?  ¿habrá un nuevo macbook?  ¿Un mactablet tal vez? ¿Veremos los primeros resultados del nuevo sistema de producción de Apple (Brick)?,¿Habra un "One more thing" de Display Cinemas? ¿O tal vez de Applet Tv o MacMini?, las respuestas a estas preguntas y mas en solo unos días, y tan solo recordar...El foco se posa sobre los portátiles esta vez...

Aprovecho para solicitar a todo el que lo desee que no dude en decírmelo si se quiere animar a grabar un podcast como invitado.

saludos

Como resumen de los rumores que hay hasta la fecha se puede señalar: 

• Gama de hasta 12 modelos diferentes de portátiles. 
• Precios comprendidos entre los 580 y los 2100€ (al cambio dollar - euro a día de hoy)
• Nuevo método de fabricación, basado en bloques de aluminio esculpido de una sola pieza.
• ¿Trackpad de cristal? Evidentemente, esperamos que multitáctil.
• Tarjetas gráficas Nvidia, al menos en los MacBook Pro ("si es que ese es tu verdadero nombre..." a partir del martes)
• Posible aceleración por hardware de Quick Time.
• Pantalla iluminada por LED.

Han aparecido algunas fotos (¿fake?, ¿filtración?) en las que puede verse lo que sería la nueva carcasa de estos portátiles. Puede apreciarse el acabado en aluminio, un trackpad sensiblemente más grande y poca novedad en cuanto a los puertos: USB, firewire, ethernet, miniDVI, line in y line out. 

Se veía venir y al final Apple lo ha confirmado. El 14 de octubre en San Francisco a las 10:00h (hora Cupertiniana) nos vana a presentar cambios y novedades relacionadas con los portátiles. Veremos si al final se dedican a actualizar el hardware, o por fin cambian el diseño, o quién sabe si nos sorprenden con un nuevo modelo (aunque esto último no lo tengo tan claro)

Estaremos muy pendientes porque todo apunta a que, saquen lo que saquen, va a tener una rebaja en los precios. Veremos si al menos esto se cumple. Todos atentos.

Voici l'invitation envoyée par Apple :

Segun la fuente (Engadget) Apple a comenzado hoy mismo a enviar las invitaciones. Ya se rumoreo sobre este evento, huvo rumores y más rumores. Pero ¡POR FIN!

Correct. Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion is coming to xbox360. Announced during Microsoft's TGS keynote, the 360 will see the game's release the same time the Playstation 3 does. No release date has been confirmed, but (Microsoft Games exec) John Schappert has told us to expect the game in late 2009.

Bittersweet for Sony, who I'm sure don't enjoy losing their exclusives - but are we seeing the beginning of a trend that has the Playstation 3 as lead console for developers? Certainly that can't be such a bad thing.

Aqui!

Aperte F5 loucamente nossa cobertura ao vivo começa agora!

00:03 - Começou. Passa um trailer de The Last Remnant (aquele excelente que vocês viram aqui ontem) e John Schappert sobe no palco para lembrar que o jogo é timed-exclusive do Xbox 360 e sai em Novembro mundialmente.

00:10 - Schappert fala so seu passado, quando era um desenvolvedor de Super Famicon. Ele diz que quer ajudar os japoneses a levar seus jogos para o mundo e que para isso 3 coisas são necessárias:

- Grandes ferramentas (o kit de desenvolvimento do 360)

- Um bom serviço on-line (A Xbox Live)

- E um console a um preço que o mundo pode pagar (referindo-se ao fato do 360 ser o mais barato da geração e uma alfinetada no caríssimo PS3)

00: 12 - "O Xbox 360 é o console dos RPGs" Diz Schappert e um trailer de Star Ocean 4 enche a tela. Honestamente é a coisa mais linda que já colocamos nossos olhinhos.

00:15 - Star Ocean: The LAst Hope sai 19 de Fevereiro no Japão e, PASMEM, já no dia 3 de Março nos Estados Unidos e Europa!!! Schappert diz que isto é parte do compromisso da Microsoft com o mundo. Obrigado MS, te amamos (mesmo sabendo que seus consoles são decsartáveis ^^)!

00:16 - Trailer de Resident Evil 5 na tela. è Aquele que você viu aqui hoje.

00: 26 - Tekken 6 é mostrado no telão. O Jogo será lançado simultaneamente no Xbox 360 e no PS3 mundialmente no Outono do hemisfério norte (Setembro-Novembro) de 2009. Você já sabia disso graças ao Gamespot que quebrou um embargo e depois retirou o trailer do ar... Foi tarde demais para eles huahauhauhhuahua!

00:29 - Xbox Live Community Games - Jogos feitos por usuários para o Xboxs 360. A Microsoft se aliou a universidades japonesas e americanas para ajudar a trazer o serviço á vida.

00:30 - A MS lançará remakes de vários clássicos dos arcades na Xbox LIVE Arcade! Segue a lista:

- Super Arkanoid e Space Invaders Extreme chegam ainda este ano.

- R-Type, Metal Slug 7 e The King Of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match saem em 2009.

Todos os games receberão grandes melhorias gráficas, nos efeitos sonoros e música,s terão suporte para múltiplos jogadores e modos on-line.

00:32 - Ele fala de que a New Xbox Experience (NXE, a nova interface grafica do 360) será mostrada no evento de modo COMPLETO. É isso aí pessoal, a NXE finalmente está pronta!

00:38 -Opa! Nova exclusividade revelada! Ninety Nine Nights II (N3 II) será lançado em 2009 exclusivamente para Xbox 360. O jogo foi título de lançamento do console e tinha gráficos bons para aépoca. Podemos esperar visuais de qualidade para a sequência.

00:39 - NXE  GANHA DATA DE LANÇAMENTO!!! È 19 DE NOVEMBRO!!!

00:42 - Halo Wars sendo mostrado. Nenhuma data de lançamento é mencionada. Apenas "no início de 2009". Um demo jogável está no telão.

00:47 - Halo 3 Keep It Clean - na tela. È o trailer do site da Bungie, só que completo. Pods caem do céu e soldados ODST saem de lá. Novo herói, nova campanha! A expansão é praticamente um novo jogo e sim, será um shooter de esquadrão tático "á lá" Ghost Recon! Aliás, o jogo foi batizado de "HALO 3 RECON" e será lançado no  Outono (norte) de 2009, ou seja entre Setembro e Novembro do próximo ano.

A expansão focará um time de recrutas da ODST enfrentando um confronte que não podem vencer em território hostil. Espere um clima bem mais pesado que o de Halo 3.

01:25 - A Conferência acabou pessoal! Muito obrigado por nos acompanharem na madrugada! A TGS08 continua e a MS ainda deve ter anúncios e revelações a fazer. Lembrando que a Sony NÃO TERÁ CONFERÊNCIA.

Fato: O Golias verde do Tio Bill vai muito bem, obrigado.

Liderando com folga nos Estados Unidos, o console também está bem posicionado na Europa (especialmente no Reino Unido onde lidera) e, pasmem, vem batendo o Playstation 3 no Japão já a 4 semanas consecutivas.  Entretanto não é segredo para ninguém que a Microsoft busca expandir ainda mais sua linha de jogos para títulos que agradem jogadroes casuais e japoneses (ou fãs de anime, que independente da parte do mundo onde esteja, possuem gostos semelhantes aos dos japas).

Temos visto muitos boatos interessantes sobre o que a Microsoft pode aprontar, mas alguns são absurdos e comentaremos apenas aqueles dotados de base lógica ou informacional consistente. Conheça abaixo o provável arsenal do Xbox 360 na TGS 2008!

ARMA 1: Square-Enix

Microsoft e Square-Enix escolheram, estrategicamente, serem vizinhas na Tokyo Game Show deste ano. A estratégia já havia sido utilizada durante a E3 deste ano e vocÊs sabem exatamente o que aconteceu. O presidente da Square já deixou claro que pretende cada vez mais estreitar as relações com a Microsoft como forma de penetrar no mercado americano e expandir os negócios. A empresa estará lançando The LAst Remnant e apresentando o impressionante Star Ocean: The LAst Hope em sua forma jogável pela primeira vez. Mais do que isso, a Famitsu disse que há "algo no ar" entre Microsoft e Square-Enix.

O que é? Difícil dizer, mas algum novo jogo exclusivo para Xbox deve ser anunicado, ou mais uma quebra de exclusividade da Sony...

ARMA 2: Bungie

Não aguento falar mais neles, mas, o que posso fazer, os criadores da série mais importante da atualidade estão sempre em foco. A TechRadar, a Kotaku e o CVG garantem que a Bungie fará um anúncio durante a TGS 08. Isso justificaria a presença do presidente de operações da divisão Xbox estar no Japão, para dar uma pitada "ocidental" ao cenário do debute do novo game dos mestres dos shooters.

Nossa aposta? Mais detalhes da expansão Keep it Clean. Não espere um  novo jogo muito menos um novo Halo. A MS não usaria o Japão para um anúncio tão impactante para o público ocidental.

ARMA 3: Mistwalker

A empresa de Hironobu Sakaguchi (criador de Final Fantasy, Blue Dragon e Lost Odyssey) trabalha exclusivamente para o Xbox 360. Rumores apontam que o aguardadíssimo RPG "Cry-On" pode finalmente aparecer em forma de vídeo nesta TGS.

Eu, entretanto, não me empolgaria muito. As vendas dos últimos games da Mistwalker foram desapontadoras e a Microsoft parece ter desistido de financiar pesadamente o Sr. Sakaguchi para se aproximar ainda mais da Square. O jogo deve mesmo ser mostrado, mas eu não apostaria em um título "AAA".

ARMA 4: Tomonobu Itagaki

O gênio por trás de Dead Or ALive e Ninja Gaiden está sem emprego. Aliás, doze de sua equipe estão desempregados ao seu lado. Ou melhor, quase isso...

Desde que se demitiu da Tecmo, pouco se ouviu do polêmico Game Designer. Entretanto, murmurinhos pré-TGS GARANTEM que ele já está empregado na Microsoft. O cara ganharia seu próprio estúdio chamado apenas de "NINJA" e faria uma aparição na TGS 08 anunciando seu próximo projeto exclusivo do Xbox 360.

Minha opinião? Não sei se Itagaki aparecerá mesmo no Keynote da Microsoft mas eu aposto um dedo como ele já está na Microsoft trabalhando em um novo jogo de ação exclusivo para a empresa norte-americana.

Take a look at Neal Petersen’s “No Barriers- Only Solutions” keynote. He challenges and empowers his audience to think differently, outside the box, with responsibility and accountability.

Neal’s messages include:

• The importance of realizing goals; perseverance, determination in reaching them.
• The role of social responsibility in corporate America.
• Turning perceived disadvantages into advantages:
• The power of positive attitude and how it affects one’s performance.
• With choice there are consequences – choose wisely.
• Change is constant – its how you play the cards you are deal

For more information, visit his page on our site or call 800-443-9979. And please contact us for a video preview.

Sunday was a great day. No doubt about it. However, we had frequent problems trying to run a presentation from just Keynote. Yesterday we solved that problem. We purchased Pro Presenter and it has already saved me 2 days of my life!

It is incredibly easy to learn and use. When we purchased our CCLI license we also purchased SongSelect. It was the best money we have spent on our worship experience. I know all you pros and experienced church people already know this stuff, but for me it is exciting to discover. In Pro Presenter, you simply click on resources and launch Song Select; search for the song you want; export the lyrics and BAM! You are done with that song. All you have to do is pick the background, but you don't have to type lyrics or any of that stuff.

If you are starting a church, this is a must buy!

Be Happy!

Bryan

Yes. 

Either way, I thought I'd give my hand at trying to create my own blog header. Being in no way a graphic designer, I used Apple's Keynote to make the banner and iPhoto to crop it to size. Voila, a definitely home-made web banner. Look it for it to change regularly as I mess around with colors and fonts. On a side note, I'm becoming a little obsessed with fonts and typography. What a nerd. 

And my wife made her own banner, too! Yup, she's a-blogging again, and made her own header -- a nice, simple black and white photo collage of the kiddo's. Check out her blog here and follow her on Twitter here.

It lets you take images of your computer screen and uploads them for sharing purposes. I'm sure the video can explain the best.

Click here to download the program for free.

- http://grabup.com/

Time Machine:

Too easy to explain... plug in your external hard drive! The mac should guide you from there. Here is Apple's page about the feature in the Leopard operating system.

iWork:

• Pages - For typing papers full of grammar.

• Numbers (like excel)

• Keynote (like powerpoint)

For all of these, click FILE --> export, and then pick "word" or whatever you want to save it as, so that all those lame-os on windows can open it. Also, if isn't by default, make sure that you have the option of appending the file extension on there. Even though it may be a word document and Macs understand that, if you give it to someone on Windows, their computer has no idea what to do with the file unless it can see a ".doc" at the end or "ppt" etc.

iPods!

• Random new nano sighting.

You shake it, it shuffles. How cool?

(very.)

• Fixed iPod issues.

Mail

How to set up mail.app with the student email.

There is some info on the Grand Valley site for doing this, click here.

Here is the gist of things for IMAP (don't really want to use POP):

• Full email on first page (xxxxxxx@student.gvsu.edu)

• Incoming mail server:
  imap.student.gvsu.edu

• outgoing settings are :
  smpt.student.gvsu.edu

• In the authentication thing below, just check the box and enter your student (blackboard) username and password.

should be done!

Just wait a while to connect.

PS. Make life easier and get a gmail. I personally set my student mail (since I barely get anything there) to be forwarded to my personal google mail address. If you don't have one yet, set it up, it's a nice email service! If you want to know how to do gmail on your Mail application, check out this fancy tutorial.

Get gMail!

The One That Worked

The chap who gave the keynote was great. His topic and delivery were engaging. But… here's what didn't work. He started off assuming that everyone had come to this same conference the year before, so in some ways this was a continuation of last year! He didn't have a remote control, so his talk was punctuated by "next slide please." All words on the slides, including for the header, which I couldn't read because it was so small. Lots (and lots) of information, and he talked way too fast. He ran out of time, so went even faster at the end.

But… here's what worked. He had a GREAT story at the end, that left everyone gasping and clapping, totally envigorated and talking about what a great presentation it was. So I learned (again) that it's not always about the technical stuff, the slides and all that. If I'm able to more people's hearts then that's what counts.

The One That Didn't

Second guy I heard was presenting a breakout. This fellow has traveled the world presenting his material in all kinds of settings. This time though, I wasn't so impressed. He started with a video using his laptop speaker for sound. He didn't have his presentation up and ready to go when he did start, so had to scramble to get it up and running. He continually walked right in front of the monitor, so it blacked out the screen. Only thing that could have been more distracting would have been making animal puppets with his hands!

Later in his presentation though was the worst crime — flipping past multiple slides to get to the next point he wanted to talk about. All this said to me (and perhaps to everyone else) as that he hadn't prepared his slides for this event. He'd just used an existing presentation. Nothing wrong with that, but to leave in all the stuff that he didn't want to use?

So there it is — THE STORY WINS.

Esta imagen es la del supuesto MacBook que se presentará el próximo martes 14 de octubre, como siempre, cerca de las fechas en las que Apple va a sacar al mercado algún nuevo producto se presentan en la red una serie de fakes; esta imagen en especial me parece muy interesante ya que esta fabricado en aluminio y es  una mezcla entre el MacBook Pro y el MacBook.

También os presento una imagen del tan esperado (por mi amigo jolu) MacTablet, jejeje

The text is provided by the Knights of Columbus.

* * *

Celebrating 125 years of Faith in Action: Witnessing to the 'Yes' of Jesus Christ

Address of His Eminence Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, S.D.B.
Secretary of State of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
August 8, 2007 
Knights of Columbus 125th Supreme Convention

First of all, allow me once again to express my sincere gratitude to Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson and fellow Knights for the invitation to visit Nashville for this historic 125th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus. I am honored by the opportunity to address all of you this evening on a topic as dear to me as it is to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI: "Faith in Action: Witnessing to the 'Yes' of Jesus Christ."

This evening, I will reflect on the importance of this "Yes" for the Church's lay faithful. I will indicate some of the primary characteristics of the lay vocation within the Church and in society at large, and I will point to a few particular challenges facing the laity today.

Both in his work as a theologian and now in his ministry as the successor of Peter, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly drawn attention to the distinctive and irreplaceable role of the laity in the renewal of the Church's mission in the modern world. At 78 years of age, Pope Benedict said "Yes" to his brother cardinals, to the Church, and to the Holy Spirit when he was asked to accept the Petrine ministry after the long and remarkable reign of the Servant of God, Pope John Paul II. The Holy Father's willingness to assume pastoral duties as Chief Shepherd of the universal Church bore witness to the fundamental attitude required of every Christian -- Pope, Bishop, priest, consecrated, or lay person; it is the disposition exemplified in our Lady's humble but sure response to the Lord's heavenly messenger in Nazareth: "Fiat!" -- "Yes!"

The "Yes!" of Faith in Jesus Christ

But what exactly is the essence of this "Yes"? More specifically, how is one to live it out as a member of the laity?

In regard to the first question, this "Yes" is quite simply the "Yes" of faith. It is our full, unmitigated acceptance of Jesus as Lord and our commitment to follow him as master and teacher. Indeed, the word "Yes" only makes sense within the context of a dialog between two persons: someone who utters the "Yes" and someone who accepts it. In the case of faith, the person to whom we utter this "Yes" is none other than the Son of God, the Anointed One, the Eternal Word made flesh. Pope Benedict has emphasized the critical need for each of us to encounter Jesus; more importantly, he has shown and continues to show -- both in his words and through his life -- that true fulfilment, joy, and lasting peace can only be found by saying "Yes" to God's plan of salvation as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Only in intimate communication with the incarnate Son of God do we discover the grace to "put our faith into action."

Your founder Father Michael McGivney was prophetic -- indeed, well ahead of his time -- in that he clearly understood that this complete and total "Yes" to Christ was in no way exclusive to those who received holy orders or had taken religious vows. On the contrary, it is a "Yes" required of every man and every woman.

As a young curate at Saint Mary's Church in New Haven, Father McGivney became keenly aware of the laity's need to be actively and fully engaged in the life of the Church by exercising virtue, cultivating prayer, and caring for others. He had a deep appreciation for the special characteristics of the lay vocation as being thoroughly immersed in the spheres of the family, civil society, and public life. He made it his goal to develop practical ways of ensuring that faith could be put into concrete action: especially by providing for the material needs of orphans, widows, the imprisoned, alcoholics, the unemployed, and the destitute.

However, it is sometimes easy to forget that Father McGivney's conviction was based on an even more fundamental insight: namely, that our concern for the needy and our perseverance in charitable works will eventually become attenuated and deprived of their deeper meaning if they are not rooted in faith -- faith understood as the indwelling of Holy Trinity in our hearts through divine grace as we renew our "Yes" each day to the person of Jesus Christ.

Faith and Love

This is precisely the message Pope Benedict XVI conveys through his Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est. When asked why he devoted his first Encyclical to the theme of love, he replied that he wished to manifest the humanity of the faith. Only by living the life of faith -- that is, only by deeply immersing ourselves in the love and mercy of God as revealed in Jesus Christ -- are we able to love and forgive our neighbor as ourselves. When it comes to living this faith in the midst of an increasingly complex and contradictory world, no one knows more about the obstacles and challenges that can so easily discourage us than the Church's laity. Whether in family life, in the workplace, or in the public square, lay persons are continually tempted to compromise their "Yes" to God by diluting Gospel values and by placing limits or conditions on love of neighbor.

The Holy Father underlined the unique challenges posed by the contemporary world to the lay vocation during his Pastoral Visit to Brazil. Noting that America is a "continent of baptized Christians," he asserted that "it is time to overcome the notable absence -- in the political sphere, in the world of the media and in the universities -- of the voices and initiatives of Catholic leaders with strong personalities and generous dedication, who are coherent in their ethical and religious convictions." The Pope insisted strongly that it is necessary for Christians who are active in these social and cultural milieus to strive to safeguard ethical values. Above all, he said, "Where God is absent -- God with the human face of Jesus Christ -- these values fail to show themselves with their full force, nor does a consensus arise concerning them. I do not mean that non-believers cannot live a lofty and exemplary morality; I am only saying that a society in which God is absent will not find the necessary consensus on moral values or the strength to live according to the model of these values, even when they are in conflict with private interests."[1] In short, being a Catholic in the world today takes courage; yet it takes no more courage than it did when Jesus called his first disciples in Galilee.

The role of the lay faithful: Vatican II and Benedict XVI

The Holy Father frames his teaching on the role of the laity within the context of the Second Vatican Council, and interweaves it in an unbroken line with the teaching of Pope John Paul II. The guiding principle is always the same: namely the "universal call to holiness."[2]

"It is quite clear," the Council fathers teach us, "that all Christians in whatever state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity."[3] Insofar as it is a call to holiness, the call to the lay state is no less a "vocation" than that of the priesthood or religious life. It has its own distinctive nature, which is absolutely essential to the healthy, overall functioning of the Body of Christ, the Church.[4] Lumen Gentium explains: "It is the special vocation of the laity to seek the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's will."[5]

Clearly, if lay persons are to "carry out" and "develop" temporal matters according to "Christ's way,"[6] they must first know Christ. They must take seriously Saint Paul's exhortation to have "the mind of Christ."[7] This vision of the Church as proposed by Saint Paul and elaborated by the Second Vatican Council demands not only our active engagement with the world, but primarily our active engagement with the person of Jesus. Otherwise, we can easily fall into the trap of confusing the way of Christ with the ways of the world.[8]

Through Christ's passion, death, resurrection and ascension, he has renewed the face of the earth; but -- as is evident in the words he speaks in the Gospel of Saint John -- the "world" still "has not known" Christ, and in fact often "hates" Christ.[9] It is no surprise then that Christians often encounter resistance, opposition, and even persecution in the world. Pope Benedict reminds us that the only possible response for a Christian in the face of rejection is love -- a response made possible for us through the grace of Christ. Because God's very existence is love,[10] love is the very essence of the Christian life.[11] The universal call to holiness is about patiently, deliberately, and "programmatically" sharing this love with the world.[12] It is for this reason that the metaphor of "leaven" -- used by our Lord and adopted at the Second Vatican Council[13] -- so aptly describes the concrete reality of living as a Christian in this world: the work of Christians is often hidden, but nonetheless steady and consistent, causing the entire dough to rise.

"The Church sets out with humility on her journey, between the sorrows of this world and the glory of the Lord. On this journey, we will need to grow in patience." Nevertheless, as the Holy Father noted, "the Catholic Church grows in every century. Today too, the presence of the Crucified and Risen Lord is growing. He still has his wounds, yet it is precisely through his wounds that he renews the world, giving that breath which also renews the Church despite our poverty…In this combination of the humility of the Cross and the joy of the Risen Lord…we can go ahead joyfully, filled with hope."[14]

Enthusiasm and boldness, filled with hope, have always been characteristic of the Knights of Columbus, and this will no doubt remain at the heart of their apostolate in the future.

Cooperation in the Church: A Challenge and an Opportunity

I would like to pause for a moment to reflect on this point. Our integral and persuasive witness to the truth of the Gospel depends heavily on the ability of Bishops, priests, deacons, religious and laity to work together for the spread of God's Kingdom by acknowledging the distinctive role of each vocation within the Body of Christ. For the Knights of Columbus, perhaps this is most clearly evident at the parish level. How wonderful it is to behold the pastor, the local council of Knights, and the rest of the parish mutually supporting one another as they each exercise their unique forms of service for the building up of the local community!

During your time together at this 125th Supreme Convention, I would invite you to encourage and inspire one another by sharing experiences and ideas of how to facilitate effective cooperation between yourselves, your Bishops, your pastors, members of the parish staff, and the civic communities in which you live and work. If your local community is suffering from the wounds of division, be they large or small, take the opportunity to deepen your cohesion, since when this is lacking in a parish family or a local Church, the ability to witness to Christ in the larger society is weakened. At such times, prayer and faith are all the more essential to bring about healing and reconciliation. Pope Benedict writes: "the Spirit is…the energy which transforms the heart of the ecclesial community, so that it becomes a witness before the world to the love of the Father, who wishes to make humanity a single family in his Son."[15]

Benedict XVI's Pauline Vision of the Church

On June 28th -- the eve of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul -- Pope Benedict announced the opening of a special Jubilee year commemorating the bimillenary of Saint Paul's birth. Over the next year, the Church will reflect on the life and writings of this great "Apostle to the Gentiles."[16]

In fact, the vivid images Paul uses to describe the Church -- both at the local and universal level -- have always been very dear to His Holiness. He employs them often in more informal discussions with clergy and laity.

For example, in responding to a question addressed to him during an audience with members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, the Holy Father recently said: "The Church, though a body, is the body of Christ and therefore a spiritual body, as Saint Paul teaches. This seems extremely important to me: that people will be able to see the Church not as a super-national organization, not as an administrative body or means for power and domination, not as a social agency -- even though she carries out a social and 'supra-national' mission -- but rather as a spiritual body.[17]

Pope Benedict is not only a man of deep theological wisdom; he also brings to the Petrine ministry extensive pastoral experience. He has no illusions about the serious challenges confronting local ecclesial communities today.

One such challenge is the tendency to focus too narrowly on the administrative, bureaucratic, and financial aspects of parish and diocesan life. Not that these are unimportant -- on the contrary! However, we end up viewing worldly realities through a distorted lens if we fail to see them with the eyes of Christ. We can only be prudent stewards of worldly goods if we freely subject them to the good of eternal life.

Every concrete method and strategy taught and promoted by Father McGivney in the public square was aimed at the good of the human person destined for eternal life. Father McGivney's legacy lives on today in the Knights' continuing effort to keep themselves -- and others -- informed about complex issues regarding human life, justice, freedom, and the common good.

Friendship and Joy: The Key to Understanding Pope Benedict XVI

Finally, I must say a word about two recurring themes in Pope Benedict's teaching which are absolutely essential for the "animation" of "the entire lives of the lay faithful": friendship and joy. These, I believe, are the keys for grasping Pope Benedict's thought on what it means to translate faith into action.

The words "friendship" and "joy" echo continuously throughout his preaching, especially when he addresses himself to young people as they prepare to gather for the 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney. According to Pope Benedict, "friendship" and "joy" have God as their primary reference. The Holy Father never tires of reminding us that God is near, that he is our friend, and that he is constantly speaking to us about the most essential things in life. He accompanies us on our journey through this life, in our joys and sorrows, and -- as a Good Shepherd who cares only for his flock -- he never abandons us.

At the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne, His Holiness said this to the young people present: "A true revolution can take place only by radically turning to God without reserve; he alone is the measure of all that is just, while at the same time existing as love eternal. And what could possibly save us if not love?"

Love is the source of the Holy Father's inspiration in all that he undertakes, and especially in his commitment to dialogue. He has spoken with countless lay persons, listening attentively to their practical ways of reasoning. He truly follows the agenda he set for himself at the beginning of his pontificate: "My true program for governing the Church is not to carry out my own will or pursue my own ideas, but to place myself together with the entire Church in listening to the Word of the Lord, discerning his will, and allowing myself be led by him, because he alone will guide the Church through this phase of history."[18]

The Holy Father always teaches with clarity and precision, and with a spirit of humility and encouragement. He wants everyone to understand how beautiful and fulfilling it is to be a Christian, to experience a personal, living encounter with a life-changing "event," to meet the One who opens a whole new horizon and gives life a new, decisive direction. It is precisely for this reason that even the commandments are never too burdensome for us if we are abiding with Christ.

In his first public interview after having been elected Pope, the Holy Father summarized his deepest wish, both for young people and for the entire world:

"I want them to understand that it is beautiful to be a Christian! The generally prevailing idea is that Christians have to observe an immense number of commandments, prohibitions, precepts, and other such restrictions, so that Christianity is a heavy and oppressive way of living, and it would therefore be more liberating to live without all these burdens. But I would like to make it clear that to be sustained by this great Love and God's sublime revelation is not a burden, but rather a set of wings -- that it is truly beautiful to be a Christian. It is an experience that gives us room to breathe and move, but most of all, it places us within a community since, as Christians, we are never alone: first of all, there is God, who is always with us; secondly, we are always forming a great community among ourselves: a community of people together on a journey, a community with a project for the future. All of this means that we are empowered to live a life worth living. This is the joy of being a Christian; that it is beautiful and right to believe!"[19]

Indeed, how beautiful it is to believe, for to believe is to say "Yes" to Christ; and to say "Yes" to Christ is to bear witness to our faith in action. My dear Knights of Columbus, may you always remain men firmly committed to this "Yes" -- "Yes" to your families, to your Church, and to your communities -- but most importantly, to Christ who is the "Yes" to all our hopes and desires. God bless you all.

--- --- ---

[1] Papal Address at the Inaugural Session of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean (Sunday, 13 May 2007).

[2] Lumen Gentium, 39.

[3] Lumen Gentium, 40; Cf. Romans 8:28-30.

[4] Cf. Romans 12:4-5

[5] Lumen Gentium, 31.

[6] Ibid.

[7] 1 Cor. 2:16. Cf. Phil. 4:7.

[8] Matthew 7:13-14. Cf. Deut. 30:15-20; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1696.

[9] Cf. John 15:18; 1 John 3:13; Matthew 10:22 and 24:9.

[10] 1 John 4:8.

[11] John 13:34-35; 1 Cor. 13:13.

[12] Cf. Deus Caritas Est, 31.

[13] Luke 13:20-21; Lumen Gentium, 31. Cf. Matthew 13:33; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2832.

[14] Cf. The Holy Father's Address to the Clergy of Belluno-Feltre and Treviso at Auronzo di Cadore (Wednesday 25 July 2007).

[15] Deus Caritas Est, 19.

[16] See Pope Benedict XVI's Homily for the Celebration of First Vespers of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul given at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls (28 June 2007).

[17] Response to a question addressed to Pope Benedict XVI during an audience with the priests of the Diocese of Rome (22 February 2007).

[18] Homily (24 April 2005).

[19] Interview with E. von Gemmingen, the head of the German section of Vatican Radio (15 August 2005).

In den letzten Tagen oder sogar Wochen (wenn man Twitter ausnimmt) hat man ja relativ wenig von uns gehört, aber: Wir leben noch! Wir haben uns nur ein bisschen in unsere kleine heile iPod touch - Welt zurückgezogen. Jaa, richtig gehört, Yassin und ich sind jetzt stolze Besitzer eines neuen iPod touch.
So weit, so gut, jetzt zu dem schon lang ausstehenden Artikel über das Let's Rock - Event und die Neuerungen bei Apple... Ich weiß, seeeehr verspätet, aber dafür umso länger! Diesen haben wir Yassin zu verdanken!

Catalin Voss [twitter]

Bei der letzten Keynote wurden die neuen iPods (iPod shuffle, classic, nano und touch) sowie das neue iTunes 8 vorgestellt. Hier die Neuerungen im Überblick:

iPod shuffle:
DIe Änderungen betreffen hier nur die Farbe. Der neue iPod shuffle ist in SIlber und in "knalligem" Grün, Blau, Rot (Product RED) und Pink mit 1 und 2 GB erhältlich.

iPod classic:
Der neue iPod classic ist jetzt nur noch mit 120 GB (er ist ähnlich dünn wie das alte 80 GB-Modell) erhältlich.

iPod nano:
Der neue iPod nano ist wieder im "alten" Format erhältlich. Er besitzt ein 2"-Display, das im Hochformat eingebaut ist. Ein Beschleunigungssensor wurde auch eingebaut. Mit diesem werden Funktionen wie Cover Flow (Im Musik-Modus wird dieses duch Drehen des iPods in die Waagrechte aktiviert) und Shake to Shuffle (Durch Schütteln des iPods wird der Shuffle - Modus aktiviert. Ist er schon aktiv, springt der iPod zu einem anderen LIed. Die Benutzeroberfläche ist überarbeitet worden, dies sieht man z.B. beim "Now Playing"-Bildschirm. Auch können "Genius"-Playlists direkt auf dem neuen iPod nano erstellt werden. Dazu später mehr. Der iPod nano ist mit 8 und 16 GB erhältlich in 9 verschiedenen Farben erhältlich (Silber und Schwarz mit schwarzem Clickwheel, Rot (Product RED), Orange, Gelb, Grün, Blau, Violett und Pink mit weißem Clickwheel).

iPod touch:
Der neue iPod touch wurde vom Design her etwas an das iPhone angepasst. Er hat nun den gleichen Chromrahmen um das Display und eine gewölbte Rückseite, die immer noch aus spiegelndem Metall besteht. Die WLAN-Antenne ist nun ovalförmig und sitzt in der linken oberen Ecke. Mit dem neuen iPod touch wurde die Softwareversion 2.1 eingeführt, mittlerweile ist 2.1.1 aktuell. Der iPod touch kann nun auch Genius-Playlists erstellen, dies kann das iPhone mit der neuen Version auch. Der iPod touch ist mit 8. 16 und 32 GB erhältlich.

iTunes 8:
Das neue iTunes 8 unterstützt die ebenfalls eingeführten HD-Fernsehserien. Es integriert auch eine neue Ansicht, die die Cover wie in iPhoto als Raster darstellt. Die Musik kann hier nach verschiedenen Tags sortiert werden. Mit iTunes 8 kann man das neue Genius-Feature nutzen. Nachdem man Informationen über seine Mediathek an Apple gesendet hat, kann man Genius in zwei Varianten nutzen: Zum einen kann es Playlists von 25-100 Songs erstellen, die zu einem vorher ausgewählten Lied gut passen, zum anderen kann die "Genius-Sidebar" zu dem Song, das man gerade anhört, Vorschläge von Songs aus dem iTunes Store, die man vielleicht auch schön findet, anzeigen. iTunes 8 ist kostenlos auf Apple's Website erhältlich.

In Kürze wird hier ein Testbericht zum Thema iTunes 8 und iPod touch 2G erscheinen.

Yassin Harim

Und so sollen sie diesmal aussehen, die neuen Laptops:

Die Meinung muss sich jeder selber bilden, ich persönlich glaub nur an Steve und keine Fotos von Seiten, die sich wahrscheinlich sowieso nur bekannter machen wollen.