Connecting the ancient message with today's technology
Episode 65 – Special Guest Adam Faughn on Twitter
Adam Faughn on Twitter (Spoke on Twitter use in Ministry at Polishing the Pulpit 2011)
Why should people start using it more for ministry?
Connection (Knowing what other preachers are doing.)
Tying to links in a congregation.
Sending pics of a person being baptized at a youth camp.
Twitter seems like a faster connection than facebook.
It is because most of us don’t have FB pushing status’ to our phones, where as that is normally used for twitter.
This is illustrated in the use of twitter in the worldwide events of late.
Linking to web-content (yours and others you’ve found interesting).
Great for reminders:
The 2-hr pre-event reminder.
You can send out a note about a meeting of a group at church at 5pm on Sunday.
Finding a lost kid from the youth group at Six Flags.
Do you use Hash Tags?
Sometimes, yes.
When attending an event (like Polishing the Pulpit), you can use it to connect it to that event (#PTP2011)
Don’t get carried away with hash tags, they are used for SEARCHING!
They are a way to code your tweets so that someone is searching for that hash tag, they will be sent your tweet.
The iPhone Announcment:
The iPhone5 was announced… but its not an iPhone5… its a iPhone4s… AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG!
(Grumpy Muppets laugh until they fall out of their chairs)
Send an Post Card from the phone…. www.sendoutcards.com - Been using this for a long time, don’t need it built into the phone.
Episode 62 – Laptops (Part 2)
Apple’s OS: Lion
Dale: “I Hate It!”
I became an apple user because I didn’t have to wait for them to release a fix for problems because things just worked.
Dale’s 3 Major Complaints:
- It is sucking the life out of my battery.
5-6 hrs of battery life before and 2 1/2 hrs since installing Lion.
(Michael: This is probably because its constantly making backups) - Our argument has always been: It Works, it doesn’t crash.
I have the largest Hard Drive they sell on the 11″ Mac Air.
I cleaned up everything and before installing Lion.
I had 80GB of space left, and now I’m being told my Hard Drive is FULL!
How do you turn it off! Make it stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - I don’t get the gestures.
Michael: I love gestures, but I’ve been doing them for a year.
Dale: Forward and Back in a web browser (besides Safari) is the “back” button…
Tie: Newest Pages Version: They played with the “Save as…” button.
Michael’s Compaints:
- I don’t like the full-screen application.
I like the 3 finger swipe to go back and forth.
BUT if you’re in your email program and you want to check something from another email, you cannot go and look at any other messages from there. You can have go through a whole roundabout to go check something and it doesn’t even save a draft.
Buying Laptops
Customer Service:
Anything that is portable is going to get bumped and banged around and will generally need more Customer Service/Repair than a box that sits at your desk.
Dell was good customer service in the past with technical issues.
Caleb has a bulge in his MacBook AIR and will have to visit the Genius Bar.
Any electronic device that gets taken in and out of a bag and constantly on the go, it is really important to have good customer support.
Newegg.com is a great place to buy equipment/laptops from and their customer service is awesome.
Lenovo IdeaPad (http://lenovo.com/)
Features: Portability.
What makes the iPad worthwhile is that its useful in airports, etc.
What makes it bad? Lack of a keyboard. You can use it both ways.
Issues to Look at when Buying a Laptop:
1. Screen Size – What size screen do you want?
Go to the local Best Buy (not to purchase), but instead to see what screen size works for you.
Check the RESOLUTION of the monitor. A High Res. monitor on an 11 inch screen is fine, but a low quality 11″ monitor is going to be frustrating.
What do you do with it? If you are doing graphic design or Web design, you’ll probably want at least a 15 inch screen.
11″ MacBook AIR’s screen resolution runs at: 1366×768
AGE has a lot to do with this.
Check a laptop with the screen at full-brightness in a highly lit room and see if you can still see it well.
2. Weight (balance this with screen/laptop size and how much you’re moving it.)
3. How important is Processor Speed?
Not nearly as important as the manufacturers make it out to be!
The majority of the problem is that the other hardware cannot utilize the speed of the higher processors, so it won’t help you much. A middle of the road processor
Stay away from an Intel Celeron Processors and AMD Semperon processors.
Check the Ventilation of the System. The vents need to be able to cool when it sitting on your lap.
Processor speeds + Ram speeds + Hard Drive speeds will all determine the speed of the computer.
RAM: You need to have it running at least 800MHz, preferably 1333MHz.
Hard Drive: If you have the money to spend on a Solid State Drive, fine, but if not, spend a little extra and buy a laptop with a 7200RPM drive. I would rather have a smaller hard drive that runs at 7200RPM than having a 5400RPM drive.
Don’t pay a lot for a big hard drive, you probably will never use it. 200+ GBs is fine for documents. They won’t take up much space and you’re tossing money away in getting a bigger drive that you won’t use.
External hard drives are so small and cheap, not to mention thumbdrives, it is just not worth the extra money. A smaller drive at a faster spin rate will give you faster performance than a 1tb drive.
Caleb: My preference is to buy online where I can customize what is in the laptop. I don’t want to upgrade the entire system, I just want the hard drive upgraded. Spend more in the areas you want to spend it in without having to upgrade all of them.
Ports—Still an Issue?
Michael: So much of what I use is Bluetooth, that I don’t really worry about this anymore. You can get USB hubs very inexpensively for connecting a wired keyboard and mouse.
A Video Out port is important for connecting to powerpoint or a large monitor when using it at a desk.
Printer, Keyboard, and Mouse = 3 ports, you need to figure this out before you purchase.
One thing to know is if it does have built-in BlueTooth or if you need an adapter to use one.
Wireless Network Cards in Laptops:
You will probably never notice the difference.
Wireless N is only important if you have a wireless N router and you need more DISTANCE
Tip of the Week: Dell Outlet online – You can get tremendous discounts (comes with full Dell Warranty). The last 2 laptops I’ve bought have been refurbished and I’ve had no problems. Here’s the Trick: Get on their Email List – Look around to find out how to get on. Every month or every other month, they will have a great deal like 20% off or $50 off anything and almost always have 2-3 day shipping. You can sometimes get a laptop 1/2 off retail.
Episode 61 – Laptops
http://www.missionvanuatu.com/
Bear Valley School of Preaching Lectureship: September 22-25, 2011
And Now To Our Topic (Laptops)
Often times we get asked as Geeks, “what should I buy for a laptop?”
What is the Single Most Important Attribute For You:
Dale: Size!
Laptops exist for portability. Finding the greatest portability to meet your needs.
Size is the starting point.
Caleb: Cost.
How much money do you have to spend.
Cost to What You Get Ratio.
You could easily spend $4,000 on a laptop or $300 on a laptop,.
You can waste a lot of money, so how much CAN you spend and how much SHOULD you spend.
Michael: Performance.
If its small and doesn’t perform, then its not right.
If its cheap and saves me money, but doesn’t do what I need, again, I’ve not gotten the right thing.
But then again, I do video editing, graphics editing, audio editing, and then logos as well.
Where to Start: “What do you do with it?”
If the bulk of what you do is word processing, email, and web browsing, then you don’t need a top of the line machine.
What are you going to use it for, and the adjust from there.
Sit down and evaluate this BEFORE YOU GO TO THE STORE!
Don’t let some store “geeky-dude” talk you into something you don’t need because you haven’t really thought about this before.
Dale: What do you use your laptop for more than anything else:
Writing.
Do you do anything processor heavy? No, Not really.
The big thing is being able to do write on the road.
Dale for Caleb: How about a larger laptop and an Tablet (Dale said iPad) in conjunction. (Larger for big stuff and the Tablet for smaller stuff?”
Caleb:,”it could work. It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.”
If you’re talking about Video editing and graphics design, performance MUST be in the equation.
Portability winner (ignoring OSes): MacBook AIR
Netbooks:
What is it?
If you’re just looking for word processing and web browsing, (with cheap portability), then get a netbook.
The only advantage it has is its size.
Tablets will replace the Netbooks in the near future.
For the average Preacher, where do I start?
1. Start looking 1 step below the TOP of the line.
You will spend 1/2 the amount for the 1st step down from top-of-the-line.
Simultaneously: Don’t buy the bottom.
Usually, there is a reason that it is the cheapest out there. Even if you’re on support and have no money, you will wear the machine out in the first 6 months usually. It is cheap components and the break very quickly!
You will have to buy a 2nd one.
How important are manufactorer names:
There are about 3 companies in Asia that make all the products in laptops.
You may have a Sony, Dell, and Acer, and all three may have the same components.
Certain companies always choose the cheapest parts, and Certain companies have good reputations for Customer Service:
Cheaper materials: Acer generally us the cheapest parts on their laptops (but they are company that is driven by price). The components may not last through the “banging” of daily being carried away.
Gateway
ASUS
eMachines
Better component Companies: HP makes good laptops and generally has good customer service, but your support may go away now. Dell, Sony, & IBM (Lenovo)
Toshiba seems to be a middle of the road. (Michael: Toshiba used to be very good to standing up to the daily beating, but over the last 3 years, I’ve seen that change dramatically).
Sony usually uses top of the line graphics options, but are usually more expensive.
Apple falls into this mix, and is at the top of the line on Build quality & Cost.
If the average guy only does writing, do I need a faster processor in 2 years? No generally. What do you use it for? Will Microsoft Word run that much faster on a 2011 machine than a 2009 machine? Not if you bought at the 1st step down from top-of-the-line. But if you bought the bottom of the line, probably yes.
General Advice: Never buy a new OS for a laptop. If its going to cost you $100 for the new OS which is about 1/4 of the price for the new laptop.
Next Week: The Kind of Hardware in a laptop that you should or shouldn’t get.
http://www.bannersonthecheap.com/
Polishing the Pulpit – Recap &
Why has PTP grown so much and so quickly (50 people in 2003 -> 2,300+ people in attendance in 2011):
A beautiful place, great setting, and good facilities.
Extremely practical.
They get the speakers you want to hear and they let you hear them as much as you want to.
You go to other lectureships and you get to hear Dan Winkler, but he only speaks 1 time.
You get Dan Winkler speaking 10 times, David Shannon 10 times, Alan Highers 6 times, Glenn Colley 10 times…. etc.
The options and choices make it much better for the average Christian because they can choose from multiple different options of topic + speakers.
This can also be a double-edged sword because you want to try and go to 10 sessions at once!
Meet & Greet – Elders looking for preachers and Preachers looking for Jobs.
It was kind of like speed dating…
“As someone whose never been there, I’m starting to wonder why I should go…” -Michael
Session on Prezi:
Went well. Had to move to a room 2x the size of the original room.
People walked away knowing how to use Prezi.
The Workshop setup instead of “lecture” setup in many classes makes it more practical than many other options.
Polishing the Pulpit is really NOT just for Preachers!
Quite a few of the presenters were not preachers, but were “average” members.
Why Should I go to PTP next year:
Dale – Summer Camp for Preachers. (Because Michael is a preacher). It is great celebration of Christianity.
Caleb – It can be very very expensive to attend (esp. from the west coast), but if there’s content there that you need and can grow from, then its priceless.
Caleb, “Dale, are you buying the iPhone5 as soon as its released?” Dale, “Is the Pope Catholic?”
Episode 59 – Facebook Ads are Back and Better than Ever
Long, very long, extended, never ending Monologue of Recharge 2012 by Caleb.
Side Topic # 1,932,023,240 – Apple is the highest valued company on the stock market.
Side Topic # 1,932,023,241 – Caleb is selling Mac products to get something new that he can’t tell us about.
A While back, Facebook changed who you could reach with your ads.
They no longer allowed you to submit it to “friends of your friends”
Facebook ads are back and are back with a vengence.
A whole new segment in Facebook advertizing:
One of the great features of FB ads is to direct it toward friends of friends because if a good friend of mind likes something, then I’m more likely to check it out.
This isn’t the only thing you can do with FB ads, but is a powerful aspect of it.
Sometimes the discussion of “advertizing” the Church, but we have a lot of events that need to advertized.
FB is a great method of advertizing a lectureship, a youth event, a gospel meeting, etc.
It is a great way to create awareness.
In the NT, the Gospel went to where the people were.
700,000,000 people are on FB, so take it there.
How many congregations pay $100 – 500 per month to advertize in the Newspaper, but how many people have they actually influenced with it.
2 Basic Options for Ads
Cost per 1,000 impressions.
You pay X for displaying it on 1,000 computer screens.
Cost per click.
Competition has increased by 5-6x in the last few years.
You can set a cap, (daily budget) minimum of $1, and it won’t pass beyond that amount.
NOTE: The cost of advertizing on Facebook is based upon your market (location, population, etc).
If you have a budget of $300 per month for ads at $10/day.
More likely, you won’t actually spend the $10 per day. You know the maximum you will spend and you will know how many people will see your ads and how many have clicked on it, etc.
The reason why FB’s advertizing is more useful is because they’re customized for the individual on Facebook. If you list yourself as a photographer, you’re going to get ads related to you in that way. The majority of the ones you get will be based upon your demographic information that you’ve placed on FB.
The ads don’t take a lot of your time and attention, they’re pithy, and it only takes you a few seconds to read what they’re offering.
NOTE: This is somoething you need to monitor at least weekly. Don’t put it up and leave it for months. They are trackable. You can get information to how it is doing
Sponsored Stories:
Example: If I comment or do anything on the Ripon Church of Christ FB page, and we’re using Sponsored Stories, then it says “Joe went on RCOC and likes it.”
Reach:
218 people represent a reach of 118,000 people.
It is important that congregations take a look at this and at least give it a try. We’ve had results from it and know congregations who have as well. At least give it a serious look.
You can be as narrow as you want to be:
You can limit it to a city, zip code, state, etc. and only those people will see it.
You can control/limit the price.
You don’t have to be a geek to do it, they have FAQs and helps that will walk you through.
Episode 57 – Internet Security – Tools
Note: prior to Windows 7, Parental Controls in Windows were minimal. MacOS before Leopard were minimal. But the new OSes have great tools.
You can even set individual controls for the age of the child.
New Note on the Parental Controls:
White listing – Especially with younger children, you can “white list” are the only websites that their browser can visit. Instead of giving them access to the whole internet, you can give them access to only the websites you want them to have access to.
This also helps keep them from running into pop-ups and trouble, etc.
Study: London School of Economics study: 90% of children ages 8-18 have viewed pornography online accidentally.
Same study: there were 26+ children’s character names that were linked to pornographic sites.
Its is a LOT easier to take your 7 year old to the city park and leave them there for hours at a time without parental supervision, but that’s not what parenting is about! You need to be diligent as a parent! You’ve got to be alert.
You have to stay on top of this, just because you’ve got it figured out today doesn’t mean you will be able to use the same solution in 2 years. -> Stay Up to Date.
Software Filters:
Alternative:
OpenDNS.com
DNS = Digital Network Service.
It controls IP (Internet Protocols) on your home network.
DNS – Caleb’s Explanation: The DNS server takes the web address (i.e. equipnetwork.com) and directs it to the actual address (the IP), and the DNS acts like your phone book to get you to the actual website.
The cool thing about this site: it automatically filters your internet at the ROUTER level (Router is the device that gives internet access to your individual devices).
This means that pornography gets blocked from even mobile devices on your mobile devices.
OpenDNS helps is very easy to setup and they will give you instructions on how to install it on your router.
You can password protect it. You have multi-levels of controls.
You can control the individual categories that can be filtered.
+ IT IS FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It takes very little time to get it setup.
There are upgrades that you can purchase, but the free package is still a great tool!
Accountability Software:
Covenant Eyes
What it does: you install it onto your computer voluntarily, and it doesn’t filter anything on your computer, what it does do is that you have to name accountability partners (e.g. wife, elders, etc) and every week/month it sends a report to your accountability of the websites you’ve visited and rates their “warning” level.
It is enough to know that someone you care about is watching where you’re going online. And someone you know is going to ask you, “why are you going to ….com”
If you uninstall it, or disable it, it does tell all of the people in your accountability circle.
It is like putting your computer in the living room of every person you know who is an accountability partner.
If you have a problem with your wife knowing where you’re
This is a great suggestion for Pre-marital counseling. From the beginning of their marriage, help them set it up and help them understand to help keep accountable. Stay open and honest about what they’re doing on the internet.
Cost is less than $10 per month. This is worth the investment in your spouses peace of mind.
Dale’s son uses it and has his wife, Dale, and his elders as accountability partners.
It prevents problems, its not only if you HAVE problems!
Covenant Eyes also has an additional filter product.
And they now have MAC versions for their service.
OpenDNS will also give you a list of all the visited sites that go through your router and which computer it came from. This is especially good for
The point is: Most people will NOT DO WRONG THINGS IF THEY THINK IT WILL BE KNOWN TO OTHERS!
Do you want to have to explain to someone why you were going to that website?
The point today is: you have options at home and at work.
Loopholes:
Google Images is a problem.
Even with websites being blocked, those searches will still show up in the thumbnails in the image search.
Even with Strict Filtering you will have problems.
Make sure you take
Another Problem for Another Week: What Can We Do For Mobile Devices (with Cellular network internet access)?
Website Recommendations – Visit These Sites
Episode 56 – Internet Safety – Protecting Yourself
In the News
Mac OS Lion released today.
Dale is updating already.
“When is Apple going to run out of cat names?” – Caleb
When does Apple’s “Alley Cat” version get released?
Borders, the big book retailer, shut down completely.
Amazon and Online sellers are doing to Big Box stores what B&N, Borders, and Books-A-Million did to Mom & Pop bookstores.
New Facebook Chat
Its soooo bad that it needs to be talked about – Caleb
Just HIDE IT! – Michael
You’ve lost features, you can’t group people anymore. Why?!?
Today’s RANT day on MGTW!
Today’s Topic
Keeping your family safe online is an important aspect, and its not really something we’ve spent much time on.
What’s Included: Not identity theft, though that’s part, but instead protecting yourself and your family against sinful things online. Guiding our hearts, eyes, and minds. If you’ve spent much time online, you’ve run accross stuff accidentally that’s inappropriate.
60% of all internet websites are sexual in nature (PEW, 2006).
90% of kids from the age of 8-16 have viewed pornography online. (London Report, 2002)
Has that gotten better?
Caleb – I think so, because the niavity of parents about the internet has really gone away.
The pop-ups to an extent have gone away.
85% of children in the same age group say their parents have no idea what they do online.
The kids know so much more about tech than the parents do.
Feb. 2009 – MySpace ejected 2,000+ sex offenders off of their site. Where did those sex offenders go? They’re on FB. They’re going to be on Google+ (not enough security).
We’ve got to make people more aware of the dangers and what they can do to prevent some of this stuff.
Things you can do to safeguard your home.
1. A Teenager should never have Internet access in a private location in your house.
Police Officers, law enforcement, Covenant Eyes, etc.
Do not give them Net access in private places in the house
That is almost the first and last thing to do–its the beginning and the end. If you know what they’re doing and they don’t have private access to the Net, then the problem is basically solved!
Having it in a place where someone can walk by and see the screen!
The kids know that when you walk by and you’re going to ask, “Whatcha doin’?”
If the screen changes quickly when you come nearby, then
Laptops? Don’t allow them to use it in their bedroom, make them do it at the dinning room table, etc. After 30 minutes, they’re probably not working on homework anymore!
Its about the fact that I don’t TRUST PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET!
“Would you give your 12 year old an unlimited pass to public transportation to go anywhere in Denver that they wanted for hours at a time?” No, because there are Dangers and they could get hurt! The internet is no different. It’s not my job to trust you, it is my job to be a parent.
2. Turn on Parental Controls on their laptop.
You’re the Administrator account.
They get the Guest account.
You can control where they can go on the internet, the amount of time they spend on the Net, and even the amount of time on the Computer itself.
When it runs out of time, it requires me as the Administrator to give them more time.
Don’t be the idiot parent that gives your kid the password to the Administrator Account!
If you suspect that you have a problem RIGHT NOW:
Kill their guest account. The only way for them to have access to the Net is for you to log on to the Laptop FOR THEM and then let them use it. You have to Log him in, and Log him out! Don’t allow inconvenience to keep you from PROTECTING YOUR CHILDREN!
You can setup controls that keep internet from being accessed during a specific time of day: from 9pm to 7am there is no internet access.
“That’s my Kid’s laptop!”
While he’s in your house, it is under your control!
We’ll talk more on the next show about things we can do at the Router level that will block internet access even on Mobile devices.
