In the Rough - The Blog of Joel McDonald Jr.

I’ve written about how I believe the iPhone to be one of the ultimate devices to own and how its release has reshaped what we, especially as gadget lovers, expect from our cell phone. I don’t own one, but I can’t imagine my next phone not being an iPhone It’s that simple.

Spread throughout the Internet, there are examples of what the iPhone can do when hacked, or when a “jailbreak” is applied to open it up for additional programs to be loaded. This has proved to be somewhat of a difficult dance between Apple and their customers as these hacks have rendered some phones unusable.

In response, Steve Jobs announced that an SDK (Software Development Kit) would be released for the iPhone, enabling applications to be written and loaded onto the devices. I thought this was a good approach to what should have been an obvious conflict.

However, according to Engadget, Apple is only allowing software to be downloaded via iTunes AND the company will be hand selecting applications. If it doesn’t meet Apple’s standards, it looks like the application is doomed to die. This is not a good move for Apple, as it really doesn’t solve the problem. Customers are still going to hack their iPhone to get the most out of them.

This is awesome! I love this song, especially while I’m running!

Professor Randy Pausch, in his famous last lecture, said that, “The brick walls in our life are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.”

My participation in Senator Obama’s presidential campaign has really opened my eyes to how being involved in the politics that will shape our nations future is as easy as walking out one’s front door. It’s really not all that difficult. The hardest thing is to make the decision to be involved. After that, doors open and experience is gained.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been speaking to people and working out a few of the specifics associated with becoming a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO. I’ve talked to local campaign organizers, as well as those in other states, and I’ve exchanged e-mails with those who included “Joel for Delegate!” in their message. I would certainly like to make it there.

As time moves forward, I am aware of obstacles beyond getting elected as a national delegate. The convention falls in one of the worst possible weeks for me professionally, and a family wedding is taking place in Pennsylvania the weekend prior to the convention, which is going to make my schedule that weekend a bit crunched due to travel.

Still, I want to go. I want to experience as much as I can in whatever capacity. Now I have to consider how to overcome the brick walls that I see now, and those which may materialize down the road.

You can check out Running for Change, and other great events and meetings to participate in, on the VB Dems Calendar.

While I was out for a run today, and was thinking about the campaign and what more I could do, I had an idea.

Hopefully there are others who, like me, are registered to run the upcoming Shamrock Marathon/Half-Marathon/8K on March 15th & 16th. I thought it would be amazing if we could have a group of runners at each event running together and sporting Obama shirts, chanting (YES WE CAN…very applicable!), and whatnot. You can sign up for these events at BarackObama.com.

I’ve created a special logo and opened a Cafepress shop so those interested can pick up shirts, buttons, and more. These items are provided at cost with absolutely no profit going to me.

The link is http://www.cafepress.com/rtgdesigns

If you’re not running in the Shamrock, running other races, etc, please feel free to pick up something from the shop as well.