This is the final draft of the song that I wrote for Alee. I did the best I could. I would like to add some guitar later but I need a better place to record. My room is too loud. My dad suggested I go outside. That isn't a bad idea. I've been working on this thing for over 3 months. I hope you all enjoy it.
"Everyone knows if you swamp the market you force the prices down. That's what I don't get about this digital generation. They think what they're producing is valuable. How is it valuable? They're producing a lot of everything and for free."
Three encaustic paintings from my Creation Stories series. Playing on the human tendency to find faces and figures in randomness.
"You can't influence our culture, you can only imitate our culture. Everything you create, we take it and make it ours."
These days, everyone wants to build their own iPhone applications, but not everyone knows how write the code necessary in order to create them. Fortunately, there are now a number of tools that allow non-developers the ability to create their own iPhone apps without knowing programming or scripting. Some are general-purpose app builders designed for small businesses while other target specific needs, like apps for musicians or for eBook authors. Still others let developers familiar with simpler programming languages like HTML write apps using the code they know and then will transform that code into an iPhone application which can be submitted to the iTunes Store.
Below we've listed 13 different tools that let you create your own iPhone applications, none of which require knowledge of Objective C, the programming language used to build apps for the iPhone OS .
1. Sweb Apps
What it Does: Sweb Apps offers an online service which lets anyone build their own iPhone apps even if they don't know how to code. Designed with small business owners in mind, the company offers pre-created templates which you can customize with different background images and your own custom icons if desired. Otherwise, you're welcome to use the graphics provided by the company's own image library. After picking the category for your app (Restaurant, Retail, Business, etc.), you choose the buttons you want to include (Menu, Directions, Map, etc.). You can even create a mobile storefront where Sweb Apps manages your inventory.
How Much it Costs: The company offers four-, six- and eight-button packages, which all include a one-time set-up fee of $50 per button. Then there is a $25 monthly hosting fee applied to every application going forward
Our coverage: Build Your Own iPhone App with New Service from Sweb Apps and Sweb Apps 2.0: Build Your Own Mobile Storefront for the iPhone
2. AppIncubator
What it Does: Think you have a great idea for an iPhone app but not the skills to build it yourself. Like Apple says: "there's an app for that!" The AppIncubator iPhone App from MEDL Mobile lets you submit your ideas which the company's development team will then build into apps for you. App submissions can be sent in via the iPhone app or by way of the company website. Once received, you go online to use the company's "storyboard" tool to sketch out in more detail how you imagine the app working.
How Much it Costs: Using the service or downloading the iPhone app itself is free, but MEDL Mobile takes a cut of the profits after the app goes live in the iTunes App Store. 25% of the total revenue is shared with you and the company keeps the rest.
Our coverage: This iPhone App Helps You Make iPhone Apps
3. Kanchoo
Kanchoo is another platform that allows content producers to create native iPhone applications, this one is designed for news organizations. To use the service, you provide the company with an iPhone application icon, a splash screen (in .png format) and a description of your application which will be used in the iTunes App Store. Then, using their online tools, you build your app by uploading the content which can consist of either photos or news articles.
How Much it Costs: Basic account holders pay $88 for creation of their iPhone application and submission to the iTunes App Store along with a $28 per month fee for bandwidth and hosting.
4. AppBreeder
What it Does: AppBreeder is another DIY app builder service, similar to SwebApps. Where SwebApps offers categories to choose from, AppBreeder offers "App-Kits." These are pre-defined collections of app settings which include gadgets, icons, and behavioral elements. There are kits for a wide range of industries including everything from real estate to legal and bands to restaurants. You use the kits as a jumping off point to start building your app and then add or remove gadgets as your needs require. After building your app, you can then publish it to the iTunes App Store. However, AppBreeder isn't just limited to the iPhone - it also lets you publish apps for Blackberry and Android devices as well. (Note: the company's website says that "due to sudden demand spike" AppBreeder's build and publishing tools will be unavailable until Nov. 30th.)
How Much it Costs: AppBreeder offers different packages depending on whether your app will be ad supported or ad-free and which platforms you plan to distribute it on. Ad supported apps are free, iPhone web apps are $9.95 - 14.95, native iPhone apps are $29.95, and the iPhone/Blackberry/Android app package is $39.95 - 49.95.
5. MyAppBuilder
What it Does: MyAppBuilder is a service that creates iPhone applications designed to help you sell your content. Whether that's books, music, videos, etc., the service turns any content into an app. You can also use MyAppBuilder to create custom quizzes, apps that are fed by Twitter pages, or you can turn your blog into an app by way of its RSS feed. To use the online app builder, you login to the service's "Control Panel" where you submit details about your app including content, features, flow, and image files. The company then uses this information to create an app for you which is sent back to you for review. After you approve the app, MyAppBuilder submits it to the iTunes App Store on your behalf.
How Much it Costs: The service is available for a fee of $29 per month. There is also a $20 processing fee to compile your data, put it in the appropriate format, and submit it to the App Store for review.
6. BuildAnApp
What it Does: BuildAnApp is another DIY cross-platform app builder designed for small businesses, community groups and professional service organizations. Using the web-based service, you can pick and choose from the company's customizable templates to create apps for the iPhone, Blackberry, or Windows Mobile platforms. As with Sweb Apps, creators can use their own graphics or choose images from the company's own online gallery. A special feature of this service is its ability to house an email distribution list that will notify end users to download the application once it becomes available. (Note: this service is currently in private beta testing right now. You can sign up here to be notified when it's available).
How Much it Costs: The company says pricing has not yet been determined but will be "competitive" with similar services.
7. eBookApp
What it Does: The eBook App Maker is a service specifically designed to create iPhone apps from eBooks. The app builder supports nearly all digital formats including PDF, Doc, Zip, CHM, HTML, TXT, FB2, PDB, PRC, Mobi, PDB, MHT, RTF. eBook creators can also specify various fonts and sizes, can add images and notes, can lock the orientation to landscape or portrait, and more.
How Much it Costs: The company's site doesn't publicly list its pricing but offers a "request a quote" form instead.
8. GameSalad
What it Does: GameSalad is a downloadable tool for creating games without needing to know programming or scripting. Using the company's visual editing software, you can create games which can then be published to both the web and to the iPhone. GameSalad offers a suite of "interactions" and attributes which you can add into your game to create the action. You can also drag-and-drop art files and sound files from your computer into the game builder, too. As you create the game, you can tweak the various elements during the building process and can preview what the game looks like before compiling it.
How Much it Costs: The company offers a basic, free version of GameSalad which lets you publish to the web, but not the iPhone. For iPhone games, there are two versions available: the Express version for $99/year and the Pro version for $1999/year.
Our coverage: Gendai Games Launches GameSalad Beta
9. MobileRoadie
What it Does: Mobile Roadie is an application builder that lets bands create their own custom iPhone applications which can include content like photo galleries, streaming music files, YouTube videos, upcoming concert listings, lyrics, news, Twitter and RSS feeds, and even interactive features like a "wall" where fans can post comments and photos. The app can also link to Ticketmaster and LiveNation ticket sales information and to the band's album(s) on iTunes.
How Much it Costs: There is a $499 set up fee for Mobile Roadie followed by a $29/month fee for the first 100 installs. To get rid of the 1 cent per install fee, bands can choose to host their own content instead.
10. MobBase
What it Does: Similar to Mobile Roadie, MobBase is also an app creation tool designed for bands. Without needing programming skills, musicians can create apps that include videos, images, bios, band news, streaming playlists, concert schedules and links for music purchases. The tool, offered by MixMatchMusic,
How Much it Costs: Applications are $20 dollars to activate. Free apps are priced at $15 dollars a month for the first 500 installs with $5 dollars per additional 1000 downloads. Paid apps cost $20 dollars per month for the first 500 installs and $6 dollars per month for each additional 1000. MobBase does not take any application sales fees in regards to revenue share. The company also receives 5% of purchased music downloads.
11. Rhomobile
What it Does: Rhomobile does require that you know how to code, but only HTML and Ruby, not the Objective C required for building iPhone apps. Developers can build any application and then use Rhomobile to deploy their app anywhere - including the iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, or Android marketplaces.
How Much it Costs: The Rhodes framework is free for developers who open source their applications under GPLv3. Commercial Rhodes licenses are also available at $500 per application and commercial RhoSync server licenses are available based upon the planned number of users connected to the server.
12. PhoneGap
What it Does: Like Rhomobile above, PhoneGap is also an open source development tool for building mobile apps. Also like PhoneGap, you do need to know how to code, but this time, you just need to know HTML and Java as opposed to the iPhone's Objective C. With this tool, you can build apps for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android while also taking advantage of the phones' native features like geolocation, the accelerometer, sound and more.
How Much it Costs: PhoneGap is completely open source and free to use.
Our coverage: PhoneGap: People's Choice Winner at Web 2.0 Expo Launch Pad
13. RedLaser
What it Does: Red Laser is an iPhone application that lets you scan barcodes with your iPhone in order to compare the in-store price with other online deals. However, with the latest version of the application, RedLaser 2.2, you can create your own custom barcode scanning apps. To do so, first download the updated application from the iTunes App Store, then visit www.redlaser.com/apps from the iPhone's web browser. Follow the instructions on the page to set up your own application - you'll need to fill in data like the URL of the site you want to compare prices with, the URL for the app icon, etc. When complete, tap the "build app" button. The completed app can then be added to your homescreen. Although this app is designed more for personal use and not resale, it's still worth checking out if you want to create your own barcode scanning application without needing to know how to code.
How Much it Costs: RedLaser is available on the iTunes App Store for $1.99.
My cousin asked me what Google Wave is. I wrote back:
Google Wave is simple.
Imagine that you send me an email.
That email appears in my inbox but doesn't leave your inbox.
Then you can edit that email while I'm reading it and I can edit it back.
Then I can send that email to Adeline and it will appear in her inbox without leaving either of ours. And we can all edit it at the same time and send each other videos that will appear *in* the email in all our inboxes - not as attachments.
And if you want to share that video with limsplus [our family's Yahoo! Group], for example, you can send it to the group and then the whole family, all uncles and aunties, will be able to read and edit everything at the same time, and you will be able to see the edits *as they happen* and everyone can add more people to the conversation plus videos and mp3s and links and more people all at the same time and we can all have synchronous communications and isn't it obvious this will be the way of the future do not resist it is futile to resist prepare to be assimilated in the Wave that will become Skynet when the humans will nuke the skies and give birth to Matrix 1.0.
So I was outside, because it was raining, and we have a trampoline......But it stopped raining, so I was headed inside, when I tripped over this. Before I picked it, I thought I would let you all share in the joy of finding it! (That way if you have never found one, you can find one now! hehe)
A University professor, “expert” in Hebrew, has written a paper claiming that the Bible does not say that God created the universe, but that he merely “separated”. Her reasoning is based on the Hebrew word “bara” used in the account of Creation found in Genesis chapter 1.
Professor Ellen van Wolde states that the word “bara” does in fact technically mean “create”. However she began to speculate on an alternate meaning. “Something was wrong with the verb. God was the subject (God created), followed by two or more objects. Why did God not create just one thing or animal, but always more?” Because of this continual plural created object van Wolde decided to redefine the Hebrew word.
I’m not an expert in Hebrew, and only slightly trained in liguistic analysis, but the logic here seems staggering to me. Her argument is not that the word actually can be used to mean separate, and translators simple chose the wrong definition from the available options. Instead van Wolde’s logic is based on the fact that she felt it wasn’t normal for there always to be an act of multiple creation, never a single. But why is that a problem? God created all the animals; all the plants; all the land; all the planets - multiple creation! If God wanted to describe in detail, one by one, the creation of each single item he could have - but it would have made Genesis 1 a very lengthy chapter! The account describes perfectly God creating everything - and everything is, but its very nature - plural. So even at surface level reading, van Wolde had no actual reason to doubt the translation of the word “bara” in the first place.
Linguistic analysis
All the same, let’s look at a little linguistic analysis. When trying to determine the meaning of a word, you look at where it is used elsewhere in context. It is only in these particular few verses where “Bara” is being questioned. Elsewhere “bara” is taken to mean “created” - the meaning is not dependent on the number of objects which follow. To question its meaning here you would need to question it elsewhere. Therefore, in Genesis 1:27 (not we are still in the same chapter) should we now read that “God separated man in His own image”? (Genesis 1:27)
What about the Hebrew word for “separate”? This word, “badal” is used in Genesis chapter 1 verses 4, 6 and 18 - “Then he separated the light from the darkness”, “And God said ‘Let there be a space between the waters, to separate water from water’. and so it was. God made this space to separate the waters above from the waters below.” “God set these lights in the heavens to light the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.”
Why then would God use a different word to mean separate if there was already an existing word, which he uses for that activity, within the same passage? There is no linguistic basis for using “bara” to mean separate in this context.
Translation error?
Van Wolde’s claim is that those who have translated the Bible have consistently chosen the wrong definition for “bara”. That she, out of all the Hebrew scholars and experts over the centuries, she alone has spotted that it actually means something else. So could the translators of the Bible made a mistake? Consider this - the Old Testament, or particularly the Pentateuch, was translated from Hebrew into Greek around 350BC. It was called the Septuagint. While Hebrew today is an ancient language, and the Hebrew of the Bible a ‘dead’ language, in that it is not the Hebrew spoken today, at the time when the Pentateuch was translated into Greek, Hebrew was a spoken language in daily use - the language of the streets. The scholars at that time would have been much more ‘expert’ that van Wolde can claim to be. And they clearly translated “bara” into “created”. The early Christian church and Apostles trusted this translation without question, evidenced by the fact they quoted it in their letters and testimonies recorded in the New Testament. So I’m fairly inclined to trust them too.
The whole story
A final reason though, why I have no qualms about dismissing this so called ‘expert’ analysis of Hebrew as nonsense, is that it is not consistent with the rest of the Bible. In reading van Wolde’s explanation, you might be forgiven for concluding that there were just these few verses at the beginning of the Bible which refer to the beginning of the world. However, the whole of the Bible testifies to our God the creator. Consider the following verses:
John 1:1-2
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
Genesis 2:1-3
“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished hte work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
Psalm 148:1-7
“Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.
Let them praise the name of ht eLord, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.”
Job 38:4-5
(The the Lord answered Job...) “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off it’s dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?”
Isaiah 45:18
“For this is what the Lord says - he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited.”
Malachi 2:10
“Have we not all one Father? Did not one Gd create us?”
Mark 13:19
“because those will be days of distress unequalled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now - and never to be equalled again.”
Ephesians 3:9
“and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.”
Colossians 1:16-17
“For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together.”
Revelation 4:11
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
Revelation 10: 6
“And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it...”
God as the Creator of al things, visible and invisible, is not an idea based simply on a few verses; it is the story of the Bible. The argument to change the meaning of one Hebrew word in Genesis is both linguistically and theologically ridiculous; and the idea that changing it proves that God did not create is naive.
I can only echo the writer of Psalm 148 - Praise him, all creation.
In reading a book on bird song, I came across the statement that believing God created bird song was ultimately unfulfilling because it puts and end to the question "why do birds sing?". The statement bothered me so much that I almost didn't finish reading the book (which would have been a mistake... its quite good). How could this philosopher/scientist/author really believe that was a logical and rational thing to say? Where would he get that idea in the first place? As I thought about it further, I realized that he probably got that idea from Christians. It is likely a common response when the purpose for something seen in nature is not immediately obvious. "Why is that there?" "I don't know. Because God made it that way!" But is that really the answer to the question? I think the author is right. That answer is unfulfilling. His line of reasoning was this: "The traditional view is that biological diversity is evidence of a supreme being offering us the gift of a beautiful nature as proof of his existence - reason has never had much to do with faith." If you want to believe in God you should let God exist through evolution because nature is all the more amazing the more we learn how it works. Standing pat with God as the answer puts and end to the question "why." The inference here is that if you believe God made it, you have no interest in looking deeper into how something works. Beauty equals some kind of proof of God's existence and nothing more. When Christians answer the question "why?" with a completely non-explanatory "God made it that way" we do our own faith, and even our own idea of who God is, a huge disservice. If we really believe that is the final and complete answer we have mistaken what God has actually done in revealing Himself through creation. That answer is correct and accurate, but it is not the end of asking why. Romans 1:19-20 says that God has revealed His divine nature in creation. If we are to know God at all, He must reveal Himself to us. God's creation is meant to be understood and it is able to teach us about Himself. Again, Romans 1:25 shows that creation is able to teach us truth about God. Our God is a purposeful God. Jeremiah 10:12 tells us that God's wisdom and understanding went into creation. The world around us was planned and ordered, not haphazard and shallow (and not random!). Psalm 147:4 says that God determines the number of the stars and gives them names. He invests Himself in His creation. Psalm 19:1-2 points out that nature displays knowledge. God has revealed more than simply His presence in creation. This belief in a purposeful God is the only guarantee that an answer to "why?" even exists. It is only an assumption of some threads of evolution that every trait is selected on for thousands of years. The fact that we find so many deeper and meaningful answers by scientific inquiry is a testament to God. When we look for why something exists in nature we find a logical reason and a purpose. God cannot be both purposeful and arbitrary; not someone who continually asks us to follow all of His commands and believe all of His promises and trust Him with the eternal significance of our souls. God is unified in His attributes. He is always loving, always just, holy, merciful, wise, faithful, etc. in all of His actions and decisions. 2 Timothy 2:13 says that Jesus, through whom all was made that was made (John 1:1-18), cannot deny Himself at any point. If He is being arbitrary, He is not being purposeful and would be violating one of His own attributes. God is not like a human being that is at one instant wise and at another foolish, or at one instant faithful and at another unfaithful. When we accept and affirm simplistic, non-explanatory answers to the question of why something exists in creation, we attribute an arbitrary and capricious nature to a purposeful God. God gives us creation as a way to learn more about Him, not as something to dismiss as too mysterious or unknowable. We cannot know everything about God or understand all that God knows and is (Psalm 139:17-18), but we can know something and we can understand something and we can know that to be true (Jeremiah 9:23-24, John 17:3). True discoveries of science will never conflict with scripture or with the God revealed there. We may disagree with conclusions arrived at by some scientists, but there is never a reason to abandon scientific observation. There will always be something of worth to be learned from studying God's creation, even its smallest details. We should never give the impression that we don't believe there is a reason for what we see around us. We should never try and stop anyone from asking the question "why?".
