DISQUS

Again, I'm not saying this is a fact. But it is a possible scenario in which Automattic could benefit from this move.

It's a competitive market. And in this competitive market, WordPress.com needs to take advantage of people who are either lazy, or web-illiterate. That's their target audience. I can say that with confidence because both my mother and my wife have WordPress.com blogs, and neither of them have enough know-how to run a self-hosted WP blog.

However, premium theme developers are aiming to change that. We make extremely easy to use themes, offer support all along the way, and even help people find hosting, install WordPress, and get their theme activated.

WordPress.com and Premium theme developers rely on significant numbers of the same target audience. If the self-hosted version of WordPress becomes more attractive than the hosted alternative, the WordPress.com loses market share, which would be unacceptable to the Automattic investors.

Bottom line ... Premium theme developers make the self-hosted version of WordPress more attractive to novice users. And that is a threat to the WordPress.com business model. On the flip-side, if premium themes were GPL, WordPress.com could take and use them on WordPress.com, giving WordPress.com the advantage (because users don't have to pay for hosting).

Again, I'm not saying this is the motivation behind the move. I'm just saying it's one possible scenario where the conflict of interest could manifest itself.

Andrew,
I actually think you've got some great ideas here. Assuming things are the way we all perceive them to be, I think you've suggested some good compromises.

However, I agree with David ... I think there is an inherent conflict of interest between WP.org and Automattic. Automattic is a business with VC investments. They have to make profits. Matt runs Automattic. Matt also runs (evidently unilaterally) WordPress.org and the WordPress project. I'm not saying that he does this, but it would make perfect sense for him to make decisions for WP.org that benefit Automattic and WP.com. I'm not saying he's ever done that. I'm just saying the temptation is there, and because the temptation is there, we can't just assume that he won't give in.

For his sake, and for the sake of the community, he really shouldn't have that much power.

Darrell beat me to it :-)

Jud Wilhite?

I really don't think it does, but it should always be an option.

Honestly, I would much prefer to use a google custom search for my blog, and make a little money off my searches, rather than use the inferior and non-monetized built-in WordPress search function.

The bad news:
That's no stream, my friend. That's a raw, downloadable MP3 :-)

The Good news:
The record label need not worry. Hearing that just made me want to buy the whole album when released (and convinced me not to give up on Christian music).

Nice.

with the current NewSpring logo being so recognizable in the area (albeit eerily similar to Columbia outerwear), what was the reasoning behind the need for a rebrand?

Do you fear the loss of brand recognition? Or is the net gain worth more than the short term loss?

Was the timing of the rebrand associated with the fact that the church is branching out into new communities where the NewSpring brand is yet unknown?

The current logo is everywhere around the Anderson campus. What's the timeline for getting all the signage/letterhead/etc. changed over?

I'm just curious :-)

"Where the sweet is tea"

I was at the Sunday 5pm service, so I missed that little blooper :-)

I got it. Thanks!

Steven,
Fair enough. For what it's worth, your story seems more and more reasonable the longer this goes on.

I certainly am not calling you a liar, but it would be nice to see some proof. Did you save the source? If so, can you post it.

At the very least, you have to admit that given the lack of browser window visibility, and the lack of posted code or urls, it seems very suspicious. Not trying to nose into your business, but surely you can understand why someone would be apprehensive to accept this. Like I said in another comment, this seems like prime linkbait material. Not calling you a liar, but without more proof than some images that could very easily have been photoshopped, this is a hard one to believe.

It does seem a tad bit odd that the browser address bar is out of view.
Also, if you saved the source, it'd be nice to see that as well. For starters, the source of the html output would tell you where the stylesheet is located, and would give you the url for it. You could then post the CSS url for us to see.

Seems like linkbait to me.

Try the forums. The have paid moderators that filter the junk, but legit concerns like this one are usually picked up pretty quick and passed along to the FB team.

Nope, didn't post.
This is what it should look like.
http://www.nathanrice.net/tmlive.com.png

Tony,
Just wrap anchor tags (linking to your homepage) around the "banner" div. It would look something like this (assuming typepad accepts code input)



...



Not sure about the black border. Maybe try zero-ing out the margin and padding on the banner div?

I disagree with many things that Piper says and stands for, but in this he and I agree intensely.

There is no room for a gospel of deception, where preachers make an appeal for your money in return for blessing ... where they tell you to give your last dollar while they run to the bank to deposit their millionth. That's not sowing a seed ... that is flushing the toilet.

However, I want to be careful to recognize that one can be wealthy and suffer very little persecution in his life and still glorify God. You can never miss a bill, have every one of your friends and family members live a full and healthy life, and be in the center of God's will. Some propagate the notion that unless your life is consumed with failure and misery, you simply either aren't a Christian, or at least aren't a good, sold out Christian.

Christianity is full of financially diverse people, and we need to be careful, while making sure to stand against deceit, not to pass judgment on people who we decide haven't "suffered enough" for Jesus.

WOW! That was a great video! I don't think it could have been explained any better in any less time.

Great find Ben!
Nathan

Jared told me about Joshua's blog a while back, and I've been diggin it ever since. I'm insanely jealous of his creativity. You guys are lucky to have him back!