Yes indeed.  Halloween 2010 is just around the corner.  Time once again for costumes, candy, jack-o-lanterns, and good old apple-bobbing.  It’s enough to make a child scream with delight and a dentist cringe in horror.

But Halloween in these modern times brings something else to the party — iPhones, iPods, and iPads.

What, you don’t think those things are scary?

Well, you’re wrong.

They can be both scary and fun!  So, join me as I review 5 apps that are sure to help you get your scare on, and tickle your monster funny bone as we head into the Halloween season with our vampire fangs, chocolate, and our i-devices.

1) ZombieAffirms ($0.99: Cynical Peak Software, Sunscape Photography, nobodysview.wordpress.com, and a zombie lover).

From the minds behind the inspirational app iAffirm (plus a zombie-loving associate) comes another in the pick-me-up series.  ZombieAffirms claims to be the answer to the question — where do the undead find motivation?  This application features hundreds of zombie-themed affirmations set against original photography.  It’s geared toward helping the ordinary zombie find the get-up-and-go necessary to battle those pesky machete-wielding humans.  Just a swipe of a finger (if your zombie hand has any left) and you are on your way to inspiration!

2) reMovem Halloween edition (Free: Mundue LLC).

It’s the classic game you love, with a little twist.  Tap on four, five, or six different colored balls to see how many you can remove from the board.  The more that are touching in the same cluster, the more points you get.  The Halloween edition comes with fun Halloween-themed graphics inside the colored globes including a cat, a jack-o-lantern, ghosts and spiders.  The free version I downloaded had a choice of six colors and featured a basic game mode.

3)  Paper Hangman (AFKSoft: Free or Paid)

Look, even in the modern age, there’s room for the classics, whether or not they are strictly Halloween-themed.  It may not be the scariest game on the block, but this free hangman game from AFKSoft is sure to satisfy your inner wordsmith as well as your ghoulish fascination with the hangin’ stick guy.  The free version features a choice of puzzle categories including “People,” “Places,” “Things,” or “Phrases,” and even has a customizable puzzle builder that allows you to enter puzzles for others to guess.  The paid version comes with additional categories, including “TV Shows” and “Movies.”  Both versions track scores for the day, week, and month.  Entertaining and fun for all ages!

4)  iHalloween – Halloween Sound Collection (ObjectGraph LLC: Free)

Ever wish you had scary Halloween sounds right at your fingertips?  Alright, maybe not, but now you can have them!  This Halloween sound collection features spooky music and the sounds of screaming, cackling, and howling, among others.  There is even a shake setting for random sound generation.  It’s simple, effective, and creepy.  Sounds like a recipe for a good time to me!

5)  Halloween Countdown (Greg Morris and Energize Software: Free)

And finally, an app to help you count down the days to a Happy Halloween!  This app is pretty simple.  A translucent skull set against creepy music tells you how many days are left before the big day.  You can customize the background out of which the skull appears, and choose from five eerie tunes.  Oh, and the skull gets bigger as the big day gets closer…and closer…and closer!

Those are just five of the hundreds of monster- and Halloween-themed apps on the market.  Your i-technology can really help you to put a scare or a laugh into your Halloween.

Enjoy, and be careful out there.  You never know who else had an iPhone or iPod with something freaky loaded on it.

(Blog Disclosure: This writer received promotional codes from some companies for their software.  This writer was involved in the creation of ZombieAffirms and iAffirm.)

Sunset tonight marks the end of Yom Kippur for our Jewish friends.

It’s a Day of Atonement. Rosh Hashanah is the start of the new year when the Book of Life is opened, and on Yom Kippur the year is sealed. Or so it goes.

What does it mean to “atone”? It can mean forgiveness of sin, to repent, or to make an amend. And on Yom Kippur, our Jewish friends stand in the sight of God and admit the wrongs from the past year (while fasting), and ask for forgiveness and a merciful inscription in the Book of Life.

But I guess this brings up the question, “Where are sins?” In other words, when we do wrong, where is the ‘wrongness’ located? Is it on our skin? On a piece of paper somewhere? There are many teachings on this, but I tend to lean more toward the scholars who suggest that the sin is not on our soul, per se, but rather, on our human clothing.

I heard a teaching about sin and atonement the other day and the teacher suggested that times of atonement are similar to doing the laundry. In other words, we get stains on our white clothing, such as ketchup or grape juice (they stand out on a white shirt, you see, and when a person with grape on their white shirt walks in, what is the first thing you see? The stain!). Then, through repentance, prayer, or good intention, we can do the laundry and get clean again.

I liked that teaching. It is so…so much on the deeper end of the scale. It’s easy to judge. It’s easy to define a person by one mistake or error. But who are the wonderful people we know? They’re the ones that look past our deeds and the ones that don’t judge us. They are the ones who love us and forgive. They don’t see a bunch of stains when they look at us. They see us as a beautiful creation and a person of potential.

My measure of a person is something like this: If I was in life-threatening peril, would they save me? The answer is usually yes. Or how about this: If they were in life-threatening peril, would I save them? The answer is usually yes. If that’s the case, then who am I to judge another?

As this year progresses, make a new commitment. Pretend that today is your last day on earth. How do you want to be remembered? For how you judged or how you forgave?

The Book of Life is being written now. You can choose the adventure.  You can choose to make peace with others for who and how they are instead of pining for them to be other than they are.  You can start the year knowing it will be a happy, and clean, ending.

-josh



I know it has been a long time since I posted, but I was away.  I was in Canada.  I was in New Mexico.  I was at a medical outpatient facility (but I’m ok!)

I was in other places in my mind.  I was in the world this whole time.  I’m in the world, but have been strangely detached from it.  I can’t really explain that much more.  It has been a weird time.  But Orumai was always in my mind.

I’ve been thinking about what I will write about all these experiences.  I want to share them.  And I will.  There are plans in the works to expand Orumai in various ways.  It’s all in process right now, but they are big ideas.  They are all in the mind, but not all in the world yet.

However, one has already come to pass.  iAffirm.

Orumai, in conjunction with Sunscape Photography and Cynical Peak Software, has co-created an iPhone/iPod Touch application that presents you positive daily affirmations along with beautiful photography, right on your iPhone or iPod Touch!  It’s really great.  For just $.99, and a mere shake or a swipe, you can have a nice message and a nice pic.  And maybe a good feeling.

Orumai is hoping it is just the first step.  The future looks bright.  Keep coming.  Keep reading.

And I’ll keep posting.

I’m here.  I’m in the world.

Sometimes.

-josh