All Activity

Lodebar. I listened to a talk and apparently Lodebar was a bit of a slum. The speaker reminded us we are all from Lodebar, so don’t get too high and mighty. We are all disabled from the get-go.

For me, this is exactly why architecture matters so much from the beginning. If a system grows over time without clear boundaries between data, business logic, and user interface, it becomes harder and harder to maintain. At some point, even small changes can introduce risk, and every new feature adds more complexity instead of real value. That’s why I try to approach software differently: keep the core simple, define clear domain models, separate concerns properly, and avoid letting UI or sync logic drive the data model. It may feel slower at the start, but it pays off later in stability, easier maintenance, and the ability to respond to real needs without everything becoming fragile. In the long run, a well-structured foundation doesn’t just help developers, it directly improves the experience for users, because the system can evolve without constantly breaking or becoming harder to support.

I can understand the frustration that’s being expressed here. At the same time, I think it’s helpful to look at the situation from a broader perspective. From what I’ve seen, NW Scheduler has grown into a very large and complex application over the years. It handles many different areas all within a single system. That kind of scope can make it quite challenging to keep everything stable while also responding quickly to new suggestions. In software like this, even small changes can have unexpected side effects elsewhere. So what may seem like a simple feature request from a user’s point of view can actually require a lot of careful work behind the scenes. Because of that, it wouldn’t surprise me if the developers are trying to be cautious about introducing new changes. Not necessarily because they don’t want feedback, but because they may already be dealing with a very large and demanding codebase. Of course, that doesn’t make the experience easier for users. But it might explain why the support process feels structured or limited.

Windows allows you to 'right-click' on an icon and the selection box will include a choice to "change the icon". Sometimes it is in the box toward the bottom and sometimes you have to choose "customize" at the top right side and then select "change the icon". Either way, once chosen the program gives you pre-selected choices. At he top of the selection box is 'browse'. It will try to find other icons. I put all of my choices in a folder on my desktop labeled "Icons". Go to that location (wherever you put the old icon and choose it. Then say OK and then select 'apply' and it should change. In the old days it had to be a file with an ".ico" file type. I have seen a few work with a ".png' file expression. The Icon I use is below. wtl icon.ico

I agree! I normally use canva, but recently used chatgpt to create a logo for a personal theocratic project (normally I would have slowly worked on the details on canva, maybe taking me 15 minutes or 1/2 hour for brushing up), and it did it within 30 seconds! It created everything I needed for the logo, including adding a typical item known for a city. Huge time-saver and brilliantly made. AI is good for quick references and information, when the info is up-to.date. It helped us plan our last vacation, and it’s suggestion was much better than our original plan, beautiful sights, and saved us from vacationing in rainy weather. Instead we wore sunglasses and t-shirts which for Springtime is no guarantee. Students have benefited from being tutored or trying to learn something new, like a nee language. Saves time and money. But bible meditation can‘t be replaced by AI. Jehovah’s spirit doesn‘t work through a computer generated answer.

ChatGPT update is great !

"GPT Image" recent update is extremely good

I keep getting the message to send app data - I send it but nothing changes - I still keep getting the same message and it looks like the same app data. There is a Reconnect button which doesn't seem to work either. The notes say if that happens to wait a few hours and try again. I will try again in the morning. Edit: In the Shared Persons it does show me as updated to 8.1 #1443.

See also the PM I sent you.

I just updated NWS to 8.1 and can no longer connect. Anyone else having the same issue?

There is one children's notebook included in Tracey's Theocratic Treasures.

How did you go about changing the icon? Just curious. Personally, I prefer the old icon, and that's what I have. But in case I "accidentally" get a new version with the new icon, I want to be able to change the icon back.

I'm not an expert on this, but it appears that to get that build 14074, you need a fresh reinstall of WTLib from jw.org. That means uninstalling your present version of WTLib and reinstalling from scratch. If you use the Help/Check For Updates to update, you only get the most recent catalog, not including a program update. Maybe the latter is what you have been doing.

I am not showing any updates to the PDF Bible (in English) since October 27, 2025.

With chocolate, I assume? I'm reading Exit Strategy by Lee Child (one of the Jack Reacher series).

I am not talking about using AI as a translator, an editor, or a research assistant. That's fine. I'm talking about dumping a 20 paragraph essay in the chat that was clearly a copy/paste AI response to the topic, with no commentary from the poster. If you manage to have a productive conversation with AI - great - do us all a favor and put it in your own words, as your own argument, or clearly label it as an interesting AI thought. This basically covers my sentiments:

Fair point. Thanks. 👍🏻

A note in the terms of service and use, require we be understand and loving, as the brothers and sisters that built it, are ALL in full-time service. All of the brothers are elders. The have not requested suggestions. They have created a volunteer network for personal support. You can even become a volunteer. You agreed to those terms when you installed their applications.

We did put some thought into our A.I. policy. From our policy. All Topics, Posts, and Replies should reflect your own thoughts, feelings, and experiences, written from the heart. Minor use of tools for spelling, grammar, or basic formatting is acceptable, but the core ideas, wording, and expression must be your own. When AI tools first became very popular, we noticed a big shift in how people were posting. Instead of personal thoughts, heartfelt comments, or genuine spiritual sharing, we were suddenly getting huge information dumps on every Watchtower article or Bible study material. The moderators’ collective eyes glazed over. It quickly turned into a kind of “AI arms race,” where posts weren’t coming from the person’s heart anymore, but from whichever program could sound the most spiritual. That’s not what this community is about. Proverbs 4:23 “Above all the things that you guard, safeguard your heart, for out of it are the sources of life.” Your heart, my heart, our faith, our reflections, our struggles, our joy, is what gives life to this forum. Most of the mods have been here many years, and we’ve never been concerned about perfect sentence structure or flawless English. We have brothers and sisters from all over the world, and we fully expect language differences. If someone whose heart language isn’t English and wants to use AI to tweak grammar or clarity, that’s completely fine. Or even if your language is English and you want to tweak something….fine. What matters is that the voice is yours. That’s why we set the policy the way we did, to protect authenticity, not to restrict amazing tools. We want to keep this a place where real people share real faith… which is genuine and beautiful. Home made food is often better then some quick easy take out… we love home made comments. JWTalk 2:43 “Better a simple thought spoken in love than a long reply with no heart.” I better shut up..🤐 Well it at least it has heart😇

I am too! But I still have a lot of revamping to do on my raised beds. Working to get them all up to at least knee high. It’s too hard to lean down to work on those low beds now.

If it's anything like this site, they have a full time job keeping up with all the opinions they receive.

(This post was made especially for those who feel low, depressed, worthless or suffering due to a trial, or you have a chronic illness or disability) Mephibosheth (we will nickname him Mephib (for short) The son of Jonʹa·than, from King Saul (Grandpa) We remember the account, when he only was 5 years old, his nurse picked him up fleeing from danger, she was fleeing in panic, and he fell and was crippled." (2 Samuel 4:4) But then when we hear next about Mephib, he is living in some town called, "Lo-debar" So where is Lo-debar? After the tragedy when he was 5, Mephib thereafter lived in the house of Machir, at Lo-debar. This was far north of another town, Gibeah, which evidently was the first capital under King Saul. So likely Saul's family, including first son Jonathan, were living in Gibeah with their father the King, and therefore possibly this is where Mephib was born/raised So how would young, crippled Mephib ever be able to return home from far away Lo-debar? In Lo-debar Mephib may felt this his life was basically over before it really began! - Mephib's grandpa, Saul, was wounded in battle and then killed himself! - His father, Jonathan, was murdered in the same battle! - And Mephib was now permanently lame, crippled! - All these tragedies happen at a very young age. How traumatizing! - There were no hospitals, no Disability Services, No Disability Income - No help for depression and PTSD But when Mephib prayed for help, his life finally got better right? - Well his feet never miraculously healed - He was still stuck in a far away town in Lo-debar with no family - No family or relatives came to bring him home - The great "family business"(Dynasty) was destroyed, so no money or resources from the family business - His overall family situation was very tragic and super-complicated - Mephib likely developed very low self-esteem, deep "depression", childhood PTSD (before these words even existed) But then something that must have seemed like a miracle happened to him!!!! "Cheʹsedh" arrived! Cheʹsedh took the initiative to find and bring Mephib all the way back home! Cheʹsedh did not wait for Mephib to clean himself up, get "UN-depressed", and get more rehabilitated from his handicap Cheʹsedh did not wait for Mephib to somehow prove his loyalty to the new king Cheʹsedh did not wait for Mephib to do certain acts that "earned" favor Cheʹsedh sent for Mephib as he was, accepted him as he was Wow! So who is this awesome "Cheʹsedh"? Cheʹsedh is not a person Cheʹsedh is a multi-faceted GEM of a quality that is inside our loving Father Jehovah and was inside King David! Cheʹsedh is the Hebrew word for a humble quality, an exquisite blend of loyal love, loving kindness, mercy, which means then... that it was really Jehovah and His Cheʹsedh through King David's Cheʹsedh who then took the initiative to find and bring back Mephibosheth! Today it is Jehovah and His Cheʹsedh that does not wait for you to get your life fully together first before He comes to your side to help you It is Jehovah who does not wait for you to "earn favor" first before He will show loyal love to you It is your dear Father Jehovah who takes the initiative and seeks you out and finds you when you are in your lowly "Lo-debar" That town should have been called "LOW-debar" right? And it is your loving Father and His beautiful Cheʹsedh that will find you in your LOW-debar where you feel like nothing, worthless, and He will save you just like He did with little Mephiby! Do you feel lately... like you are in LOW-debar? that you have little to no future? do you sometimes wonder, "Why would the King care about a weak person like me? "I cannot do much for Jehovah, I can't pioneer, I can't attend all the meetings due to my sickness/weakness/disability? I can't donate very much! So why should Jehovah care so much about me?" Well the cheʹsedh inside Jehovah proves you so very wrong!

Only one em dash in that whole post! 😉

Ironic, since without users they have a very powerful and robust, but useless app.

Thanks, here is a photo where we trimmed the ones down the western side of the property just under a year ago. As we had alot of space to work with, I was able to trim the tops by standing in the front bucket using either the hand pull polesaw or the pole chainsaw (which you can see in the bottom picture iin the bucket).