Ryan Cannon Ray » Life

Summer Pt.1

Ryan Ray — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 23:55:39 +0000

This summer has been a wild whirlwind of AWESOME. Starting out I helped launch the BourgeaTEA website, and got ready for the release of Origins from John Tibbs in the very first days of summer. Outside of what you could call “work,” Mindy and I bought bikes and concocted a list of things we wanted to try and accomplish before the summer fades away. We’ve done pretty well too, I’ll update that list with a new post soon so you can see what we’ve done. We’re getting ready to tackle more of that list now that I’m back for a bit from traveling with my buds in the ‘John Tibbs’ Worship Experience’. Jokingly that’s what we like to go by, or you can call us ‘John Tibbs and the Lamplighters.’ It has been one of the best experiences of my life to travel with such great people, then on top of that we get to meet a ton of new people, live for a week with hundreds of campers, and worship with all of them! I loved going to church camp in the summer as a student, and now I’ve been able to do that for about 6 weeks. It’s just like being a camper but as “the band” we get to roam around and do just about whatever we want. It’s great! So with that said checkout part one of our summer so far. More about Mindy and the list later!

iPhone 4 My Thoughts

Ryan Ray — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:26:44 +0000

There is exactly 13 days until the new iPhone 4 comes out, but who’s counting right? I’ll be at a camp in PA, so I don’t know if I will be able to get one on day one but I definitely plan on getting one! Last year I was on my way to the same camp when I got my 3GS the day it came out. If you are wondering right now what the iPhone 4 is, I don’t want to just repeat what you can find on Apple’s website so get every detail you need about the iPhone 4 there. Be sure to watch the video and don’t miss where Scott Forstall says, “The display on the iPhone is blow away.”

Now that you are all caught up, what do you think? Good, eh, or bad? Personally I am really pumped for this iPhone, which means I’m already selling my 3GS if you are looking for an activated, jailbroken iPhone. Why am I pumped for the phone you ask? That’s exactly what I was hoping you would ask, let me explain below my reasons for getting the iPhone 4.

New Design

The iPhone 4 has a brand new design that is akin to the original iPhone, and I like it. It seems like they have actually had a cross between the metal of the original iPhone and the plastic of the last two iPhone revisions. The back and front are all glass allowing better reception, hopefully! The sides actually serve as the antenna of the device and are stainless steel. Combined the new iPhone looks really sharp and sturdy, I can’t wait to hold one just to really see. It’s THINNER too, just check out the side by side comparison below.

Better and MORE Camera W/ 720p Recording

That’s right, the camera has been improved not only in megapixel count which isn’t that important but with a new sensor. These both allow for better shooting in lowlight. It also has an LED flash for extreme night time pics. Don’t forget now that it can shoot 720p HD video. This is what I’m really going to have some fun with. I’ve already got ideas and am very excited to see the possibilities with that. Oh, let’s also not forget the iPhone has a front facing camera now and can video chat over wifi. I’m a little more hesitant on this, just because of the wifi and does it only work with other iPhone 4s? We’ll see what the future holds for that.

This picture below is actually from the iPhone 4′s camera roll, just check out the nice quality. According to Apple it hasn’t been retouched or modified or anything!

Retina Display, Multitasking, Folders

I’m wrapping these last three together so I don’t go on too long. This new display is supposed to be amazing, effectively quadrupling the pixel count in the iPhone’s screen. Again, I’m going to have to wait to see this thing in person. The last two belong to the actual iOS, as it’s called now. Multitasking has long been sought after on the iPhone, and Apple finally delivered with their own solution to the problems multitasking brings. Battery drain, slow phone, etc… Without going into details, I can’t wait to use it! Lastly the new folders capability is going to save a lot of swiping through screens to get to my favorite apps. You can now start putting apps in what they call folders, which can now take a whole screen of apps and put them into one little app icon. Whew, what a weight lifted off of my screen. You can organize them how ever you want!

So that’s it, these reasons and more are compelling me to get the iPhone 4…whenever that may be…

What do you think of the iPhone 4? Will you be getting one?

My New Trek

Ryan Ray — Wed, 19 May 2010 16:23:01 +0000

Check it out. Click on the picture to the left and see my new bike, oh and Mindy’s too! For the last year I had been planning on buying a bike sometime. I’d talked with Todd Liles about what I should get, researched online, watched videos, and in general just watched other people and their bikes. I knew nothing about buying myself a good bike, except for how much I was looking to spend. All throughout the last year of school at AU I rode from Fair to classes on my longboard. A very fun option, but I also wanted the option to bike it! Usually it’s much safer and faster. Plus with buying a bike I wanted to be able to stay somewhat fit over the summer, and beyond. There isn’t a lot of ultimate happening around here, nor people to run with that could help keep me exercising. Speaking of running, it’s not really my favorite thing to do. While it kept me in somewhat shape, it was no fun for me. I’d be very reluctant to run when other guys love doing it.

So then what, I was left with two choices long boarding and biking. I figured it would be hard to longboard this summer given the terrain around my hometown. There are some nice hills and getting off the road there are some sweet bike trails. No longboard could easily handle these, so I was off to the local bike shop. Route 66 Bicycles seems to be a shop run by two young guys who are very knowledgeable about any kind of bike, and really helped seal the deal for me on what I was looking for and what bike in my price range fit the bill. I owe them many thanks for giving me brochures and answering all of my emails full of questions.

To my surprise along the way my girlfriend Mindy decided she’d join in and get a bike too! I was at first a little surprised, I didn’t know she wanted to start riding too?! I love it though, now that I have someone to ride with it’s made it 10x as fun!

My bike is a 2010 Trek 7.1FX in a white duotone silver sparkle, and Mindy went with a Trek 3500 in a paint color called Onyx. Mine was already built for the road, but Mindy’s wasn’t quite ready. Her bike is a hardtail mountain bike originally but a quick swap out of tires and a different seat and she was ready to cruise the roads with me. We bought our bikes on a nice rainy Monday and were confined to riding circles in her garage for that day, but yesterday the sun was out and we finally got to go ride. We did 6.2 miles on our first ride, even after Mindy almost passed out! It was a lot of fun and I’m definitely looking forward to more biking! Is anyone else out there a fan of biking?

Summer Goals List

Ryan Ray — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:16:04 +0000

As summer was and still is fast approaching I wanted to make something of it. I mean I just didn’t want to go into all of this free time with no goals to achieve, or at least try to reach. I always have goals in mind, but without them being in front of me or told to other people I’ll soon forget everything I wanted to accomplish for the summer. Consider this the start of my goal list, of course subject to change as things can be added or taken off of the list as completed or needed. Click on the picture to make it bigger! Or incase you didn’t want to click it here it is copy and pasted below the picture. I’ll be sure to keep it updated!

Summer Goals

Daily Routine

Get Up 8-9am
Ride Bike/Run/Exercise
Shower & Get Ready
Knock Out To Do List/Work
Benny Greb/Jojo Mayer 3-4x A Week
Shoot Picture/Video 2-3x A Week
Fish, Watch Movies, Enjoy Life, etc…

Other Goals

Blog More
Save Money
Get A Tan
Get & Stay Somewhat Fit
Learn More Web Stuff
Learn iPhone Development
Clean The House
Get Rid of Junk (Yard Sale)
Redo Tindall Tunes
Get AUU Ready For Future
Finish BourgeaTEA Site

I’m already doing 3 or 4 of these (blogging, getting up at 9, showered , cleaning house) and hopefully I’ll be fishing before today is over! I’ve got a lot to do around the house before I can start other projects, and I’m finishing up two other ones before I can start on some of the other goals but now that my list is in front of me I can start charging through it!

I’m going to have a great summer with or without the lists, so what do you think about these goals? Doable within the next 3 months or am I crazy. What are your summer goals?

Welcome to RCR V2

Ryan Ray — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:25:02 +0000

If you can’t tell I’ve redone the site again, but with good purpose not just because.

As time has gone on I’ve realized that for my website I want 2 uses out of it. One as a blog, simple enough right? That’s what I’m doing right now. This will always be a place to collect my thoughts. I just want to be able to easily share all of the things I think are cool. (quotes, videos, pictures, links) It happens to look pretty good thanks to the themes from WooThemes. Which is awesome!

Second I want to have my portfolio of pictures, videos, etc… on the same site. In previous versions I had two installations of WordPress going to manage this. One for the blog, one for the portfolio. With this new version I’ll be combining them into one with a simpler way to view the pictures, video, and anything else I create.

On one last note, I finally found the perfect script for my personal branding. I’ll be sticking with this one as I graduate and market myself to employers, for hire, etc… Given all of that, I needed to refresh the site to serve how I want it to. I’d rather do that than let it sit stagnant as it was. So now that we’ve got that out of the way be sure to friend and follow me up on all the social networks you want, and check out the rest of the site. Let me know what you think of it all!

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Valentine’s 2010

Ryan Ray — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:49:41 +0000

Happy BELATED Valentine’s Day! Yes I did rent a car and drive about 14 hours round trip to see my beautiful girlfriend Mindy Merenghi for a late Valentine’s Day. Do yourself a favor and read her post all about our belated Valentine’s Day weekend if you want the lowdown. We hung out, watched movies, made jiffy pop, had good mexican food, drank alcohol free wine, cuddled, and just spent time with each other. It is just a little rough managing a long distance relationship, but when you are able see each other it makes all of the waiting seem trivial.

I’m very thankful to know and also to be in a relationship with Mindy. She’s a smart and strong girl, and brings a lot of fun to my life. Otherwise I would probably sit on my butt and learn about photography, web design, etc… and only get outside to play ultimate or skateboard for a little bit. The whole separation through distance hasn’t been fun, but it definitely teaches you a lot. Patience and appreciation are definitely keys to our relationship, if I can speak for the both of us. You couples who get to be with each other every day better realize the luxury you have. Thanks to modern technology a lot of the walls of long distant are worn down, but it still just isn’t the same as being physically there!

I know that this is definitely true for me and many others I’m sure, but Valentine’s used to be one of the least important holiday for me. It still isn’t that cool by itself, seems to be a waning trend amongst young kids. It just so happens to be Mindy and I’s anniversary date though. This now makes it something very worth celebrating, and I think it’s important and nice to have points like anniversaries where you can look back on where you came and also look forward to where you want to go. I wish I could celebrate love and life everyday, but I’m thankful to have someone to love and to love me.

So you tell me now…What do you think about Valentine’s Day, love, long distance relationships? Leave a comment!

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Twitter & Facebook

Ryan Ray — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:11:07 +0000

This may be nerdy, but I’ve been thinking lately about the way I use Twitter & Facebook. Before all of these thoughts I had been using Twitter as my main stream of everything. Whatever I tweeted therefore updated all of the social sites I was a part of, and I liked it. It was the ultimate social networking convergence. One simple update to feed them all. Like I mentioned that was until now. I asked myself, ” Is it important to give each network it’s due respect?” Read on to see…

I’ve been toying with the idea of separating all of these feeds and from that catering to each site as it deserves to be catered to, and starting right now I’m going to try it out and see how it works. I’m curious to see if this idea is worth anything. I will interact on Facebook how it wants and how the culture of Facebook demands, and it goes the same for any social network I am on. As long as Facebook doesn’t try to copy any more of Twitters features we will see how it works out, just ignore that Facebook’s new feature that is similar to retweeting.

Just think about it for second. Often when I tweet something it’s formatted for the way Twitter works. It has RT, or hashtags (#), or @ in the body of the tweet. That doesn’t mean anything to Facebook, or LinkedIn, etc… Each network has it’s own culture and society surrounding how you use it, and I think what you are saying can be more potent if formatted for each network. I’m sure no one on Facebook needs to see your #ff tweets, and nobody on Twitter wants to see your Farmville updates, you know?

I think from the aspect of sharing things, you can still get the same message across but make it personable for each network. So tweet your friend with the @ reply feature, but hop over to Facebook if you want it updated there as well and use their mention feature. This still get’s what you wanted to tweet across to all of your Facebook friends, but it’s formatted in a way that everyone on Facebook understands. This in theory could increase the awareness of your status updates, as many people on Facebook that see your Twitter jargon probably will ignore what you say. Who knows, but I just had the idea as of late to separate my networks and update each one separately.

This doesn’t mean you can’t share links and whatnot, but think of your audience when you do. I know in my case the people that follow me on Twitter are for the most part different than my friends on Facebook. On Twitter I have a crowd based around technology and photography and religion. Most of my friends on Facebook are from high school, or college, etc… people I’ve actually met in person. The dynamic is quite different. Especially once you throw in people on the LinkedIn network and anywhere else that you can update your status.

What do you think about this idea? Should you just stick with letting Twitter update everything or customize your updates for each network? I’ve already done one, so now I’m trying the other. I’ll get back with you, but I just wanted to share these thoughts in a short post. Let me know what your ideas are.

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5 Reasons Why I Own A Mac

Ryan Ray — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:11:54 +0000

This is meant to be a fun post, I’m not trying to start a Mac v. PC flame war. I’ve been on both sides of that fence. I used a PC for the first half of my life, since they were hand me downs from my Dad. I got my first Mac as a Sophomore in High School. It was a Power PC G4 Mac Mini, the first day that Tiger came out I ordered it. I’ve been converted ever since, but like I said I’m not going to bash anybody who uses Windows out there. All operating systems have their merits, heck this website is run off a Linux server. So here is a quick run down why I continue to use a Mac everyday.

#5 – Style

Everyone has to admit it, Macs look great. A big thanks to the help of Jon Ives for creating such beauty. Even on the inside of a Mac they are meticulously crafted into shape. They have to be. The engineers have to come up with creative ways to fit the actual computing power inside those thin and sexy outer cases. I used their laptops for the last 4 or so years of my life, but now am really hooked on their iMacs. The all in one is awesome and the power that sits tucked behind the 1080p monitor is great to have. I love using Macs because Apple creates both the hardware, as far as the outer shell goes, and the software.

#4 – Reliability

You have to admit it again on this point. Macs are super stable. This comes from Apple having control over both a lot of the software on a Mac and the hardware. Apple doesn’t use a lot of different hardware, and only their Mac Pro is expandable. This leaves only a few different pieces of hardware to test all of their home made software on. Windows and Linux users don’t have this stability from the ability to rapidly expand their computers. For me though, I need the stability and can easily do without expanding my computer. My iMac has all I need in it. Dual 3.06 GHz cores, 8GB of RAM, and 500GB internal hard drive. I love using Macs because of the stability. I depend on it every day.

#3 – Viruses

Macs for the most part are %99.9 free of viruses. To the best of my knowledge there has only been two major Mac bugs. Calling them viruses would be a big stretch, they weren’t malicious and were only slight annoyances. I don’t run any anti-virus on my iMac and still don’t feel the need to. Perhaps someday in the future, but as of right now it’s all clear. Macs don’t have a lot of viruses because for one the user base isn’t as great as Windows. This means that people that create viruses know that their work won’t be as successful as it could be on Windows. It won’t infect as many people. Viruses also don’t exist because of my number 2 point below. The developers!

#2 – Developers

The developers for the Mac platform are fantastic. Seriously, any third party software you get will, for the most part, have so much detail put into it and be a great piece of quality software. The developers for the Mac community don’t feel like harming us and creating viruses. They make fantastic programs to help enhance our computing lives. This is something I really appreciate about these people and companies. Apple makes a lot of great software but a lot of developers see needs not met yet by Apple and create software to help fulfill those needs. My desktop Twitter app, read more about it HERE, is an excellent example of 3rd party developers. The Mac community is picky about software and we hold our developers to high standards. I love using Macs because of the great software developers.

#1 – Interface

This has to be the number one reason on many peoples list of why they love using a Mac. The interface is what really really separates the Mac OS from any other system. Apple has created guidelines for their interface, and although they don’t follow them to the T, for the most part this helps create one unified experience no matter what application you are using. And to start with I believe the way you interact with the Mac OS much more thought out and more intuitive than any other OS I’ve experienced. This has helped me become more efficient knowing, in general, what to expect from any Mac app. The dock is also one of my favorite things about Macs. Thank you Xerox for selling us the GUI, and thank you Apple for really taking care of it.

That’s it, these are my top 5 legitimate reasons why I own a Mac. I could talk about a few more reasons, but I’d really come across as a geek. I’m trying to save what little cool I have left. Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment and let me know why you love using the OS you do. Mac, Windows, Linux. I’d love to hear why and talk about it!

Thanks for reading.

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The {365} iPhone Photo Project

Ryan Ray — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:12:23 +0000

When 2010 was fast approaching I started to wonder about New Years resolutions. Many made and many never completed. Personally, I know I hate not being able to finish something I started. Setting lofty goals and not pursuing them with everything you have will bring you right back to square one. Besides wanting to be healthier, more active, and become a better person than the Ryan of 2009, I wanted to push myself with something fun, creative, and light. I chose to do this {365} iPhone Photo Project as one of my resolutions this year. Many people take part in doing these {365} projects. Some do it with self portraits or others will pick a subject, etc… My only requirement for my project is to take a picture everyday with my iPhone (any camera phone will do really) then edit it with only apps on my iPhone, and upload with the Flickr app. THAT IS IT.

I’m currently on day five and have already posted my picture for today, http://flic.kr/p/7tqB87 , The project is off to a great start. It’s fun and keeps my eyes fresh. I wake up each day looking for that shot. The one that doesn’t rely on fancy equipment or expensive glass. These are solely up to my eye and the best composition I can do. I’m really enjoying that challenge because eventually I’ll start seeing things from different perspectives, I’m forcing my own eye to grow. With doing so I can only hope I become a more creative individual and definitely more appreciative of some simple photography. You should join in with me and start now, you can still do 365 days straight of pictures. It doesn’t have to be from an iPhone, or edited, etc… Just share what you are seeing. I for one would like to see!

If you have comments, or just thoughts and ideas, let me know with the comment form below! Thanks for reading, here is my daily growing Flickr set for this project.

The Best of 2009

Ryan Ray — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:14:03 +0000

I know it’s been a few days since 2009 ended, but I still wanted to compile a list of my favorite stuff from 2009. For my life, and from my perspective, it was a great year. Somehow I continue to be blessed by good health, great friends, and awesome opportunities to do what I love. 2009 didn’t always go the way I wanted. My girlfriend for the most part is always about 386 miles away from me. My family situation is always frustrating, I got a few bad grades, etc… But those negative things of the year didn’t keep me down, and they sure didn’t outweigh the positive. I turned 22, a wise old age… got to travel quite a bit with John Tibbs and company, made our own cd, t-shirts, etc… He’s got a lot going for him. I continued to be able to film and take pictures, exploring more and getting to push my creativity to new ends. You can see that soon in my porfolio that’s being built at the moment. Met new people from all over the country and am glad I can call them friends. Growth is happening continually for me, and I’m glad I haven’t become stuck in a rut physically, spiritually, mentally, etc… I thirst for all of these things. So what encapsulated me in 2009? Read on to see.

I wanted to sum up the year in music, film, photos, events, trends, etc… I’ll post all of my favorite things of the year 2009, and I expect for you to comment and agree or disagree with me on these topics. Here’s my best of 2009

The Best of 2009

Album : Fun – Aim and Ignite

Easily album of the year for me because it really is all around fun. I’ve been following The Format and their lead man Nate Ruess for a long time. I was saddened at their end, but excited for what could come from new beginnings. The Format was my favorite band, now of course Fun is. Their bright and light pop sound and fantastic melodies sealed the deal for me. In fact I’m going to listen to this album right now. Thanks guys for getting their songs stuck in my head again! Be sure to check out their music video HERE.

Song : Arcade Fire – Wake Up

This song by Arcade Fire is permanently burned in my head, no thanks to the Where The Wild Things Are trailers I listened to this song ALL YEAR. It never ceased to perk up my mood if I was down or increase my good mood if I was already in one. It’s raw and I like it. Watch their video HERE.

Movie : 3 Way Tie (Avatar : Inglourious Basterds : Where The Wild Things Are)

Why did I end in a 3 way tie? Obviously all 3 of these movies are great, at least in my humble opinion. I feel they also cover almost all styles that anyone could like. A Sci-Fi thriller, a Wacky WWII, and a great childrens story. I chose these three as my best movies of 2009 because I’ll be watching them again and again long into 2010. They are addicting, visually awesome, and fun to watch. I recommend you watch them all!

Photo : Foreclosure and Eviction

This pretty well summed up America this year to me. Financial problems everywhere, especially in the housing market. This is a police officer making sure the house is vacant. It’s often they find after evicting people that homeless people or drug dealers get into the houses, hence his gun is drawn. 2010 will hopefully turn this financial crisis around. It’s at least taught people to be more aware of their money. That’s never a bad thing.

Event : Iran Elections

This is the event of the year for me as it was and still is an ongoing issue. The worlds relations with Iran are all on thin ice, Iran’s people’s relationship with their government is on even thinner ice. That green color will always be burned in my mind during the summer of 2009. I don’t know how to help but I hope it all turns out for the good. Click on the picture to see more pictures from the riots. WARNING the few at the end are graphic.

Internet Trend : FML, People of Walmart, MLIA

These types of sites were probably my favorite thing happening on the internet this year. These sites aren’t complex, nothing fancy about them, but they provide hours and hours of entertainment. Also it’s a plus if they have an iPhone app to compliment their site. I love to waste time reading FML’s and looking at People of Walmart. Click HERE and HERE to check out those websites, as a bonus check out Awkward Family Photos HERE

App of the Year : 2Do

This app wins for me because it is the mother of all my life. It keeps my todo’s, schedules, events, alarms, notes, shopping lists, and more all together! Even better yet it syncs with iCal on my iMac. It’s beautiful but not free, well worth it’s weight in gold though. Whatever that means! It’s got a slick interface, and is password protected to boot. If you want to learn more about the app then here is the iTunes LINK.

That wraps up my 2009, great music, great films, issues relevant to me, etc… Let me know what you think of my choices, and also leave some of your choices. Different album, favorite movie, picture? Thanks for reading!