Wikipedia on the Blue Mosque. The Hagia Sophia is nearby.

Wikipedia on the Bosphorus. The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia are visible as well.

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Hagia Sophia on wikipedia and duckduckgo. The Blue Mosque is nearby.

Chicago Cultural Center website.

Ideas are everywhere.

Turning an inkling, thought, notion or even a plan into something real mostly requires working with others. And, working successfully, ideally, toward a common goal. Working together has risks, of course. It sometimes leads to conflicts, miscommunication, disagreement, differing expectations and failure.

Some time ago, I read that the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Reformation [1] loomed in 2017. The printing press was an essential asset to Luther’s work.

My notion: why not create a simple, multi-lingual daily verse app for iPhone, iPad and the Watch? The appetizer? Text to speech on iOS and Watch.

How?

A talented friend helped refine the user experience, yet I needed someone to build, test and deploy the app.

Vikram Aich, prospecting (prospecting!), entered my inbox. I appreciated his simple and straightforward message. It lacked fluff and unnecessary words.

A bit of back and forth on requirements and costs followed. Needless to say, the apps were built, tested and are now available in the App Store.

There were a few bumps in the process, but Vikram and his colleagues persevered. That willingness to make it work, despite obstacles, is essential to creating great products and services. I am thankful for this successful initiative.

“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you…” [2]

Check out the My Verse app:

Apple Watch

iPhone

iPad

[1] Luther2017.de

[2] Matthew 7:7

ilovelucius.com

Is the occasional interesting lecture. Saturday, Alexander Vershbow, NATO’s Deputy Secretary General, offered “An Update From NATO”.

I recorded most of Vershbow’s lecture, though the audio is not so hot. 26MB mp3.

How was it that Mr. Vershbow appeared in Madison? One of his children works in the University of Wisconsin’s Art Department.

NATO.

A Modest Summary.

oi.uchicago.edu.

Chicago’s Oriental Institute is familiar ground for those who’ve been to the Penn Museum.

Post sunrise Easter service, I reminisced over tea about 2007. My astonishment, now 9 years ago, was plain as we sat in Hanoi’s St. Joseph’s Cathedral on Easter Sunday morning.

In French and poignant, there were no shortage of lilies that day.

The number of Christian churches astonished me as we traversed Vietnam.

Hanoi’s cathedral is well worth a visit.

Wikipedia. TripAdvisor comments.

My Verse App for iPhone, iPad and the Apple Watch.