Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts

Can I use this as an excuse to finally get an iPhone? After all, it's all about communicating in the language that these wacky kids are using -- technology!

The Google Language from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.

Via--Make Use Of

Relationships and dating in our technological age.  This is beyond where I am right now.  But I think I know some folks who would fit right in.

Image via CrunchBaseI have a pastor friend on Facebook who has, at least according to a member (or members) of his church, shared controversial posts and comments on Facebook.  I understand that "controversial" is in the eye of the beholder and clergy need to realize that their Facebook updates, their "Tweets," their blog posts end up speaking not only for them personally, but for the larger church.  So, sometimes those comments that we felt were utterly harmless can seem dangerous to those who hold opposing views or take what we say out of context. 

So, as I have pondered this, I came across the following from Steve Cornell at Wisdom for Life. 

Beyond this, consider some Do’s and Don’ts for pastors who update and tweet:
Seven Do’s  

1. Announce events and teaching themes
2. Link to helpful resources
3. Encourage others
4. Let people know a little about your life
5. Share Scriptures and helpful quotes
6. Ask for prayer for yourself and others
7. Limit your time on networks

Seven Don’ts

1. Post anything that you would fear being read at Church
2. Engage ongoing conversations with the opposite sex
3. Fish for affirmation or support
4. Post ambiguous or manipulative statements
5. Vent about Church matters or members
6. Become combative or defensive
7. Embarrass your family with comments or photos

From The Anchorage Daily News:

APPLE FANBOYS OF ALASKA, UNITE!

As a fairly devoted Mac user, I'd say "yes."  But the cartoon artist who wrote this thinks otherwise.

When I was going off to Wabash College in 1987, I got my first computer. This was early, mind you. It wasn't a Macintosh. It was an IBM computer with an amber screen. It was fine for word publishing but not a whole lot else. A lot of college papers were composed on that computer -- both mine and my wife's.   And then, of course, we printed them off on a dot matrix printer.

The computer actually came to my rescue one day.  I had turned in a paper for a religion class but, when the papers were being handed out, the professor spoke to me and said he didn't have a paper from me.  I said, "But I turned it in.  If you want I can be back with a copy of it in just a couple of minutes."  So, I ran and got my paper and turned it in.  Well, what happened is someone had taken my original paper and taken off the cover sheet with my name and merely wrote his name on the paper, claiming it as his own.  When the professor read my paper, and realized he had just graded one like it, the other student was caught.  I don't know what happened to him, but, since that day, I put a "footer" on my papers with my name on each page.

At college there were computer labs. And that's where the fancy computers were -- the Macs and the fancy printers. Sometimes I was able to bring a floppy disk with my stuff over to the lab to get a good copy.  But that was only for the special, important papers.

This all seems so long ago.

I wonder what my own kids will look back on see how far they've come -- iPods, computers, cell phones, TVs? Probably all of the above.


(The picture above is from over at Old-Computers.com.  It was just about the only way I could find a picture of the computer I used to have.)

(HT/ Make Use Of)

I got on it, but I'm not going anywhere yet.

What are you doing to reach people during the next 60 seconds?

HT/Ministry Best Practices

Via MakeUseOf

I think this is an important video, telling the story about how one man's faith in God is replaced (to some extent) by the internet.  It's where religion becomes the interconnectedness of separate individuals working for good.  There are a lot of very Christian themes that come through this talk and I think it's an important video to watch.

It might make you tear up.

It might make you want to tell him all about Jesus.

It might make you wonder where the church is in the story.

It might help you see technology in a new way.

You might just agree with everything he says.

(Also, know that you might be asked to offer up an email address in order to watch more than about five minutes of it.)

HT/Matthew Paul Turner

From over at Reddit.

Source Make Use Of

Source:  Twitter.com/GeorgeBray

Image by robertxcadena via FlickrBy now, the news that Mubarak has stepped down, essentially forced out of power by the protests in the streets for the last 18 days, has spread.  Yay!  Democracy won!  Life is good!  Life is grand!  The people are victorious!   Woo hoo!

Well...

Now what?

What's next?

It's been great seeing the images on the TV every night and reading "Tweets" from a few thousand miles away.  Our politicians have used the plight of the Egyptian people for their political gain.  We need to remember, it wasn't OUR revolution.  We just got to watch.

And, I think it's true, that now the news will fall on whatever the next hot news item is.  Perhaps there's a military uprising in "Where-ever-istan."  Perhaps the president of "Far-away-from-here-land" will have an affair or steal money or trash talk the US.  And that will take our attention.  We're fickle people when it comes to our news cycles.

But, we need to remember that, while it may be a new day in Egypt, it's not all rainbows and puppy-dogs.  While I'm no fan of strong-armed dictators with secret plain-clothes policemen running around, taking people away from their families...there's little decision-making involved by the people themselves.

But, now the military is in control.  And the work of the people is beginning.  What's next?  What matters now.

I found the following over at ReadWriteWeb and it has some good stuff in it:

What matters is that we, not just the Egyptians, are now living in a world where difficult things are possible, where beautiful things are doable. That changes everything. The writer Delmore Schwartz famously said, "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities." But when those dreams finally come true, you realize the responsibilities are just beginning.

Right now, control of Egypt has devolved into the hands of the country's military. Egypt's military is well-regarded and trusted, unlike its police and security forces, who are reviled. But a military-run Egypt replaces one kind of a problem with another. The people on the ground in Egypt now have the unenviable task of securing a transition from protest to power. As the Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismark said, "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made." There's going to be a lot of people who are going to have to hold their nose and make an awful lot of sausage.

Government is never as romantic as rebellion but without it rebellions are meaningless. If you watched and encouraged from the sidelines - on Twitter or Facebook - I kind of hope you stick around. The Egyptians are going to need cheerleaders more than ever. 

So, as we look over to Egypt, we need to start cheering for them.  And we can't forget that some of the hard work of governing is beginning.

These folks on The Today Show must.  Here's a video of them as the concept is being introduced.