If you’re running WordPress (like this blog is), chances are you’ve noticed that there’s an update out. WordPress 2.9 is now available for download.

Here’s a quick video running down the features. If you’re at all interested in WordPress, it’s worth the watch.

Main Feature Updates (from WordPress.org)

1. Global undo/”trash” feature, which means that if you accidentally delete a post or comment you can bring it back from the grave (i.e., the Trash). This also eliminates those annoying “are you sure” messages we used to have on every delete.
2. Built-in image editor allows you to crop, edit, rotate, flip, and scale your images to show them who’s boss. This is the first wave of our many planned media-handling improvements.
3. Batch plugin update and compatibility checking, which means you can update 10 plugins at once, versus having to do multiple clicks for each one, and we’re using the new compatibility data from the plugins directory to give you a better idea of whether your plugins are compatible with new releases of WordPress. This should take the fear and hassle out of upgrading.
4. Easier video embeds that allow you to just paste a URL on its own line and have it magically turn it into the proper embed code, with Oembed support for YouTube, Daily Motion, Blip.tv, Flickr, Hulu, Viddler, Qik, Revision3, Scribd, Google Video, Photobucket, PollDaddy, and WordPress.tv (and more in the next release).

All in all this a great update. The batch plugin update feature alone is worth updating.

Download and enjoy!

My wife and I pay our bills online. I’m guessing most of you do too. Usually paying online is painless. Today it wasn’t.

I posted this on Twitter after paying our Qwest bill online:

We were charged an extra $1 for paying our bill online. We’ve never seen the fee before, so it was a shcok. Of course, Qwest explains that one can avoid the fee by “mailing in a payment.” Let’s get honest, no one does that anymore and Qwest knows it.

How much is a $1 worth to Qwest? I can tell you it is costing them much more than the 100 pennies it’s costing us: Irritated patrons, bad publicity and a potential loss of a customer (we’ve been thinking about jumping ship for some time now, this may have sealed the deal).

Adding unexplained random fees, no matter how small, will cost you more than the fee itself. People know when they’re being nickled and dimed. Is it worth it?

What do you think about convenience fees?

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UPDATE – 3.28.10: I got word from a few readers that Qwest has recently done away with the “convenience fee” mentioned in this post. Sure enough, when I logged on to pay this month’s bill, we found it removed as well:

Could this be the power of social media in action? This has been a popular post, as most people are pretty irked by this fee. Read the comments to figure out why.

Props to Qwest for actually listening to their customer base!

I was at my alma mater recently, taking in a men’s basketball game with a friend. After the good guys won, we hopped in our car and headed back home.

While listening to the post-game run down on a local radio station, an adverisement came on that sounded something like this:

Nothing comes close to the thrill of watching UNI Panther basketball!

“Really?” I thought to myself. “Nothing comes close to watching a college basketball game?”

Obviously this isn’t true. There are plenty of experiences that match (and fully surpass) the “thrill” of watching a basketball game: Dinner with my wife, a good cup of coffee, watching my son grow up. Is this something we realize, though? Or are we so saturated by words (what Henri Nouwen calls the “wordy world”) that we can no longer discern what is truly “thrilling”?

This where our language betrays us. Do we even stop to think about the words that we use in our everyday lives? I’m sure some intern at the radio station wrote the copy for the ad I heard, not giving the verbiage he or she used a second thought. “Whatever sells!” seems to be the motto anymore–”by hook or by crook!” Exaggeration comes with a cost.

I want my words to mean something–however measured or far between they may be. Don’t you?

*This, in fact, is not the most amazing post ever written. Probably not even close. Hyperbole is my friend.

If I could peek inside of the synapses in my brain, this is what I picture them to be doing.

A great piece of filmmaking right here.

You toil.
You sweat.
You pray.
You believe.
You hope.
You beg.
You misunderstand.
You clarify.
You apologize.
You think.
Think some more.

And then you speak.

Every once in awhile, you get a message like this that makes it all worthwhile.

Praise God. I am convinced now more than ever that people desperately want the touch of God in their lives. Our job as followers of Christ is to facilitate that touch, not make it more difficult.

Religion kills. Jesus gives life.

Scariest photo ever?

Notice to all theologians: Our language is isolating us from the people we are trying to communicate to.

That’s a problem.

I posted this status on Facebook, “My tolerance for religious vernacular is reaching an all-time low. The challenge for theologians? Speak like normal people.” Look at the responses:

Why do you think this is? Why do so many people seemingly agree with my assertion? Do you?

Words like inerrancy, atonement, anthropomorphic, justification, sanctification … Yeah, no one uses that language in their everyday, walking around lives. But yet, this is where God lives–in our everyday lives. Shouldn’t out language describing his work reflect this “earthiness” of God?

I realize that some theological dialogue must be “smartified” in order to convey weighty concepts in a word or two, but that’s the exception, not the rule.

This is more of a question than an answer, but I want to ask you:

What does it mean to “love everyone”? Further, how do you do it?

Theories abound as to what love is, but this discussion isn’t so much philosophical as it is practical. Practically speaking, how do you love all?

This is preparation for my message next week at Immersion. Plus, our readers are some of the brightest and best. So I come to you asking, how do you love everyone?

This is a guest post by Jeremy Anderberg. Jeremy is a senior at Drake University. He loves Jesus, reading, writing, coffee and big cities. He has a vision to change the world using the gifts and passions that God has given him. Interested in guest blogging for Deviant? Register here and fire away!

I’m in a class at Drake University called Consumer Behavior. It’s a marketing class. We were talking the other day about why people conform to their surrounding culture. The second item on our list caught my eye. It suggested that we (the consumer) fold to social pressures because we have a natural fear of deviance. I will admit that the first thing I thought of was Justin’s blog, Be Deviant. The name itself seems to suggest that we should in fact be deviating. But why? Why should we stray from our instincts?

Deviance simply means “departing from the norm”. It can be a good thing, it can be a bad thing. Older generations tend to have a negative view of deviance, while younger generations are more cynical by nature and actually respect some level of deviance much more than blind conformity (hence this blog). I tend to agree with that last part. But again, why should be striving to go against the grain?

It’s easy actually. Scripture tells us to. Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

There’s a ton to unpack there, but I’ll keep it simple. This world has a certain pattern:

• A pattern of sex, money, celebrity worship and selfishness. Those are the obvious ones.
• There are also more subtle patterns though. Apathy, relativity, “tolerance”, laziness, fear of risk, etc. The list can go on and on.
• We generally know what these things are. It doesn’t necessarily need to be flashed in front of us.

Paul, the writer of Romans, tells us to deviate from these norms. He tells us to depart from them, and turn to the pattern of Jesus instead. He even tells us how to do it. We have to be transformed by renewing our minds. Following Jesus is a thinking lifestyle.

So, you may be asking, how do I do that? It’s interesting that this whole topic of deviance is actually leading to more questions than concrete answers. I believe that’s actually part of it. I can give you one suggestion though:

Believe that Jesus is Lord, and do what He did. If you follow His example, you will automatically renew your mind and be a deviant in the process.

Are you with me? Are you ready to be a deviant? Are you willing to look a little different than the world?

For all my people suffering through the Iowa Death Storm ’09: