gathering in light

Rhett Smith does a great job of keeping tabs on technology and new media and how it’s used in ministry. The other day he turned people’s attention to Church TechCamp, a gathering of people interested in using these forms within the church. They are meeting at Fuller tomorrow (Friday September 26 at the Catylyst). Here’s Rhett’s summary of the camp:

If you can make it to Pasadena, CA this Friday, then you need to so that you can attend Church Tech Camp. It’s the first in what I think will be a growing group of church leaders who are on the innovative edge of integrating technology and ministry, especially as it relates to social media, web 2.0 tools. If you can’t make it, then watch the live stream of the get together. Not only is the technology and its use in ministry innovative, but the organization of the camp itself is on the leading edge. Check it out and you will see.

» Technology and the Future of the Church

Check out the website here for more information, registration (it’s free) and links to the live website. I am going to try and make it to some of the meeting, maybe I’ll see you there?

del.icio.us is one of my most daily visited sites. Recently, I read a great post on the delicious blog about librarians and teachers using delicious more and more in their schools. This is an idea I think is fabulous and so I thought I might spell out a few ways I go about using this social bookmarking site for my doctoral research. I’ve been using delicious for at least a couple years now and have more than 3,300 websites bookmarked on my delicious page and a ridiculous amount of tags to go along with all those sites¹. I use it for my blogging, I use it to send articles to friends, and most importantly I use it for my current research. I now find it indispensable in my daily schoolwork routine.

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Footnotes

1. Actually, I’ve slowly begun to delete and rename tags but it is an extremely tedious process, read: almost a complete waste of time. Unfortunately, delicious, up to this point, only allows its users to edit tags one by one, there is no batch edit feature; nor is there, so far as I know, any 3 party app setup to help maintain tags, just create them. [↩]

I like to find out what browsers people like to use and why they like them so I thought I’d take a moment to make a case for why I think using Safari is still a smart option and not just for the Mac fan boys/girls. I also offer some tips you may not be aware of. (Parts of this was first posted on Paul’s blog a few days ago).

I am currently using Safari Beta 3 and I like the way it’s working. Obviously a lot of which browser you use comes down to preference and what job you have to get done. For me I do a lot of research, reading and blogging on the web, and Safari works great for both of these. While I know Firefox has a million times more developers and plugins I wanted to point out some of the invaluable options Safari has and ones I’ve come to depend on.

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For just about as long as I have been blogging I have been using Ecto as my blogging tool. Adrian the developer software just the new alpha version out today, you need to check now.

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One of my absolute favorite mac games, Quinn, has been updated into a really nice sleek new version that is universal binary and has a number of great new features. This freeware game is worth downloading and checking out. We all need a break from time to time! » Read the rest of this entry «

I almost forgot to announce that yesterday marked the beginning of “Turn off your TV Week,” sponsored by adbusters.org. There are a number of ways to participate but the simplest way is to unplug the TV for the week. And why not? We have family and friends that would love the extra time, we have bookshelves full of books to be read, maybe there’s a phone call or letter you’ve been meaning to write, places we’ve been meaning to volunteer at, or that mid-week small group you keep missing. Whatever it is there are many positive activities you can put in place of watching TV this week. » Read the rest of this entry «

As a follow up to my reflections on Quaker Heritage Day I wanted to post a list of Questions I’ve been thinking about, many of which came because our travels to the north and many because of what I have been studying over the past quarter. » Read the rest of this entry «

A couple weeks back I had the great privilege to meet with some of the faculty and staff at the school where I attend, to discuss updating the classrooms on campus for better learning. The school was recently awarded a grant with this specific task in mind.

One question raised was “What are the best ways in which we can spend this grant money on technology for learning?” » Read the rest of this entry «

[Edited to Add Picture Link see the bottom of post for more details]
I’ve writen a couple time on the new Left Behind Video Game called “Eternal Forces.”

Post #1 — Left Behind Eternal Forces: Violence for Christians

Post #2 Training Violent Behaviors: Media and the Message of Desensitization

[rant] Yes, I admit though I haven’t played the video game I have some strong opinions about it (in all reality I don’t think I need to play the game to make the objections I’ve made but that’s another dicussion). One of the main reasons why it bothers me is because I see it as yet another way for the Christian community to sell-out to capitalism. We see repeated attempts to tailor make theology in a way that suites American tastes, at the cost to both the Gospel and to those who accept a warped understanding of such. I suspect it won’t be long before there is a special Christian edition Hummer that comes in white, is armor-ready for the tribulation and boasts of having special bible holders built in. [/rant]
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I love using a mac and I love to keep up with all the new tricks, tips, shareware and freeware that that mac community continues to make. Over the past year I’ve found some great Apple bloggers who know their stuff, and who have helped me to hone my mac-skillzzzz.
Because of this, I tend to be a bit of a Mac-evangelist as well, and so I’m always telling people about different mac-blogs to check out. Then I realized I’ve never posted some of my favorite ones here so I thought I’d do a favorites of 2006 post.
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