Jason Powell recently pointed over to the WebDrivenChurch blog since Daryl did the video for the site advertising their new series.
Perhaps Daryl will forgive me for not replying to an email reply he sent to me more than a month ago (The one where I asked about AspireOne! sorry Daryl). In developing our new church site we have been using gccwired.com as one of the reference sites for discussion. Anyway, welcome to the blogosphere.
I like to see blogs of people actively involved in a particular ministry area and I am looking forward to something good.
Published on
February 18, 2006 in
Techie.
As a web geek I have been typing the word “cache” regularly for years, however it is one of the words I rarely vocalize.
I usually pronounce it a “catch” (with just the slightest hint of “t”) since that seems to be the most understandable to non-nerd (In-Duh-Viduals for the DNRC members). I explain it as the area where the browser “catches” the files to keep hold of them for later reuse.
Around people who are more likely to know what I am talking about I remove all expression of the “t” and say it with an “sh”ish type of “ch” and follow it with a slight suggestion of a minor “ah” like “caschah“.
I hear “Kashay” as though it was cachet. I have seen someone insist it was “Kaysh.” Then there is always the “cash”
It is my guess that someone who was not very technical got the chance to write something technical about Firefox 2.0 and got confused. The article is okay, but basic. I just got stuck on page two where it says: “and perhaps a session saver-style feature that would return the browser to pre-shut down or pre-cash status.”
I have known about this for a while, but never really had much pressing need.
Today the need and curiosity hit hard enough to get me to do it and I am glad.Go to the
Microsoft Developers Network Subscription FAQ and find the link that says:
“What are ISO image files and how do I use them?”When you click on it you will see a bunch of info about ISO files appear for you.
It has several software recomendations including a free for personal use ISO Recorder for Windows, but I have been happy with DeepBurner Portable.
The tool I am mentioning here is the Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel for Windows XP (Link downloads the .exe from Microsoft’s site)
Mounting ISO files virtually
The following tool for Windows XP allows image files to be mounted virtually as CD-ROM devices. This tool is provided here for your convenience, and is unsupported by Microsoft Product Support Services.I just used it and it was very helpful since I have been having trouble with my CD-RW drive recognizing CD-RWs as writable.
Yes, it is after 3:00AM local time that I am writing this, but that is part of the point.
Windows will typically look for updates if your computer is on at 3:00AM. I was doing a big download (Linux ISO via BitTorrent) and noticed my desktop computer turned off. I had an update! I had to log back in and restart the download. Fortunately nothing important was lost.
I remembered a trick for turning off the auto reboot and sought it out again.
Instructions for stopping auto update reboot for XP
This one is specifically for XP Pro SP2, and if you have never tried the group policy editor this is a good chance to be introduced.
Reason why this is important for church security: I have several computers that should only be rebooted when I am there to supervise the process.
Reason why I was up at 3:00AM: Fussy little girl not sleeping well tonight.
Update: Notice how the comments on that post are clustering at the same time each month. I bet it will continue that way for a while. Everytime MS sends out an update people will be looking for that.
Published on
February 15, 2006 in
Security.
I have been looking around for resources for church security directors.
Perhaps there aren’t a lot of them out there who are also involved in technology, so I am just not findingĂ‚Â any to discuss things with. Then I figured, would I be able to be found by someone looking for other church security directors?
That is why I am making this post. A little bit of bait never hurt.
If you are involved with security at your church then reply here and let me know about you. If you don’t want your comment published then just say so and I won’t approve it for publishing.
We are putting together a new web site for the church.
We currently have what I refer to as a “stub” site set up. It is one of my own design and meant just so we could have something more up to date than the old one while the new one is in development. It is adequate, but not completely presentable.
In the meantime I am studying over lots of church web sites for ideas on our own. I will occasionally feel the need to comment on them.
The first example is from http://thesprings.org/
I like the flash, but unfortunately I am having trouble viewing it right now since I am testing a Linux system and I have not been able to get Flash installed on it yet.
The problem is the bottom half of the front page. It went from classy to trashy. Someone put some artistic talent into the top portion and then someone messed it up at the bottom with the links and that horrible graphic.
I wonder if the design was too restrictive for them to do it properly.
Update: For the record. I visited their site again and it has changed. It was completely redesigned.
I wear the wrong kind of shirt.
Fellowship Church
Christ’s Church of the Valley
Saddleback (sorry about the video file)
Published on
February 13, 2006 in
Religion.
Microsoft developer, Anutthara R Bharadwaj, wrote about an interesting story in his blog, and I will summarize it here.
Lori Brownell gave a talk in January 2006 on “Leading at Microsoft”. Lori has been at Microsoft since 1988 and shared some of her experiences working in the company. One such story is a great example of true leadership.
Soon after Lori began working with Microsoft as a build engineer (an important and key responsibility in getting software finished) and one of her first jobs was producing the final disks that were going to be sent out for a new product release (perhaps OS/2?). This new employee, filled with the hope of a thrilling and exciting career with a fast moving company, was now sitting in the computer lab copying to tons of floppy disks on a Sunday night!
As she and one of her new colleagues were sitting in that room writing disk after disk she couldn’t help but wonder if she had made the right decision in switching to Microsoft. This was a menial job, obviously something far below her qualifications.
While she was considering this there was a knock on the door and she turned around to see her boss, Bill Gates, walk into the room and asked, “Hi!, What are you doing?” Lori was too tongue tied to speak, but her colleague responded that they were writing the floppies for the release.
Bill said “Oh wow! Can I help?” and actually sat down and helped them write the remaining floppies in the lab.
Microsoft was not as dominant back then, but they were doing well. They had done their IPO already two years earlier and raised $61 million. While Mr. Gates was not the richest man in the world at that time, he was still very important and still the boss of the corporation.
How often do you see the leaders in your church HAPPILY serving in the trenches with even the newest of volunteers in the lowest of jobs? This is a great reminder of Jesus’ own teaching in John 13, but I’ll let you read that and elaborate on it for yourself
Tony Whittaker asked that the date get spread around a bit so I thought I would go for it.
If you don’t know what Internet Evangelism Day is about, then check out the site.
Published on
February 12, 2006 in
Techie.
I am doing some work with Linux to try out a piece of software to help with the security cameras: Zoneminder.
To get my feet wet I decided to install Firefox. This was not as easy as it would sound. I Read The “Fine” Manual and and immediately thought, “Huh?” I did a Google search and found this helpful post on installing Firefox on Ubuntu: No Help. It was the typical jerky geek response. Then I found another on the Ubuntu Wiki: Installing Firefox and I was left going “Whoa! Huh?”
I am now writing this in Konqueror and I installed the out of date Firefox 1.0.7 through Adept.
I hate being a newbie! I hate going into something new and not knowing what to do. Then, when I seek help I get a horrible response that is enough to make me want to quit.
So, you ever wonder what it feels like for someone when they decide to go to church the first time?