Founder & Editor-in-Chief Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com VP of Operations Michael Hewitt - mike@ccmag.com Contributing Editors Dr. J.D.

Doc Watson, Terry Wilhite, Yvon Prehn, Nick Nicholaou, Walt Wilson, Jim Vanduzer Kevin A. Purcell, Ross Gile, Donald Stratton, Ben Woelk Copy Editor Gene Pearson Corporate Home Office
Mailing address: PO Box 319 Belton MO 64012 Delivery address: 311 Manor Dr. Belton, MO 64012 Phone: (816) 331-8142 FAX: 800-456-1868

Applying Tomorrows Technology to Todays Ministry Volume 19

COVER STORY - Page 10

January 2007

No 1

SPECIAL FEATURE - Page 20

Holyland 3-D CD
SPECIAL FEATURE - Page 27

by Ken Wezeman

Copyright 2007 by Christian Computing, Inc. All Rights Reserved Christian Computing is a registered trademark of Christian Computing, Inc. Written materials submitted to Christian Computing Magazine become the property of Christian Computing, Inc. upon receipt and may not necessarily be returned. Christian Computing Magazine reserves the right to make any changes to materials submitted for publication that are deemed necessary for editorial purposes. The content of this publication may not be copied in any way, shape or form without the express permission of Christian Computing, Inc. Views expressed in the articles and reviews printed within are not necessarily the views of the editor, publisher, or employees of Christian Computing Magazine, or Christian Computing, Inc.

Earthcomber
EDITORIAL Our Reader Survey Response PRESS RELEASES FINDING GOD IN TODAYS TECHNOLOGY God Knows You And Keeps You INSIDE THE BOX Save Money! Make your own LCD Cleaner CCMAG NEWSBRIEF NICK AT CHURCH Calendaring the Church TECH TALK Hot Tips XXIX Page 3 by Steve Hewitt Page 5 Page 7 by Steve Hewitt Page 13 by Donald Stratton Page 15 Page 23 by Nick Nicholaou Page 25 by Dr. J.D. Doc Watson Page 29 by Yvon Prehn Page 33 by Walt Wilson Page 36 by Kevin Purcell Page 38 by Terry Wilhite

MINISTRY COMMUNICATIONS Resources to help improve your communications INTERNET MINISTRY Illumio: Lets you search other peoples brains HIGHER POWER WITH KEVIN Zondervan Mobile Web Site MUSIC & MULTIMEDIA Podcasting: Mainstream Audio

INFORMATION SECURITY Page 40 A Christian Parents Guild To Social Networking by Ben Woelk 2 January 2007

Christian Computing Magazine

Editorial
Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com

Our Reader Survey Results

want to thank each and every one of you that took the time to take our reader survey last month. Over one thousand of you filled out the survey, and around four hundred of you were gracious enough to let us know who you were (name, title and city) and leave a comment. I spent the good part of one day reading through your names and comments, and as I did so, I was impressed to pray over each and every one, asking God to bless you and your ministry.
Several people asked why we continue in this format (PDF) with the same look as we did when we were in print. The answer is simple, around half of our readers still read us in print. They take the PDF file we send and print it out on their own computer because they still like to hold the magazine in hand instead of reading it on the screen. Online magazines (where you hope people will remember to come to your site and read your articles) have failed in the past. We do not consider CCMag an online magazine, although we know that some people choose to come to our site and read us there instead of giving us their e-mail address and allow us to send it to them. We consider CCMag a magazine that is digitally delivered, and we understand that many still like to read us on paper. As always, when you are trying to provide the right blend of content for such a wide audience, we know there will be differences of opinions. From the comments, most thought we were right on track. Some thought we should stick to only reviewing Christian software. However, others wanted more information on everything in the Christian Computing Magazine January 2007 area of technology since we are the only computer magazine they read. In the survey, we provided a list of suggestions for content, and the number one request was for more articles such as the CCMag NewsBrief (which provides news clips covering all areas of technology), yet just as desired were more reviews and how to articles in the area of Bible study software. On the low end of the scale, only 2% requested articles on Linux or other free OSs, and only 1.4% wanted more articles specific for Mac. So, as a result of the survey, in this issue, you will notice we are starting a new column from Donald Stratton. Donald is the 3

man behind PowerNotebooks. Since I have purchased two of his notebooks in the past, and know him to be a man that knows the subject of hardware very well, we have asked him to provide a column each month explaining all of those things you need to know when purchasing and maintaining hardware. What is the difference between chip processors, memory, hard drive speeds, etc. And, this month, how can we clean our flat panel screens. We are also contacting the companies that produce Bible study software, and are hoping to work with them to provide more content in our pages. For that matter, let me encourage many of you, our readers, to provide content on how you are using such products. I noticed a thread on our listserv recently where a pastor asked others to share how they used software to create their sermons. There were a variety of responses. Maybe some of you could provide such articles to share with our other readers? (Send submissions to steve@ccmag.com .) If you check out the charts included with this issue, you will see some of the basic demographic information about who reads CCMag each month. We were excited to see that so many of you have forwarded copies of our magazine to others. We hope you will continue to do so.

The Most Disappointing Part About Digital Distribution

There have been so many advantages to digital distribution, we are certainly glad we made the decision to do so exclusively in 2005. However, there is one downfall. If you change your e-mail address, we have no way of ever contacting you again. This was always a problem when we were in print and people moved, but normally the post office would forward the magazine to a new address for a couple of months, and people would be reminded to let us know their new address. However, if you change to a new e-mail address, and do not come to our site and sign up with the new one, we have no way to contact you. Remember, we have been around for 19 years and dont have any plans to go anywhere soon. So, if you notice you have stopped receiving us, check to see if we have your current e-mail address.

Welcome New Writers

Besides Donald Stratton, we also want to welcome Ben Woelk as a regular contributing editor. Will Milnor has been writing a column that covered subjects concerning security. Will is taking a break from writing for us while he works on a couple of books. Ben had contacted us about providing an article or column in this area about the same time (isnt God wonderful the way he provides?) Ben serves in the Information Security Office for the Rochester Institute of Technology and we are delighted to have his input. Together We Serve Him,

Steve Hewitt Editor-in-Chief 4 January 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

Press Releases
Software for Ministry Announces They Are Giving Away Their Church Membership Directory
Software for Ministry has announced that they are giving away their full-featured church ministry and management software system, The Church Membership Directory FREE in 2007! Users may download the special free 2007 version from their web site: www.softwareforministry.com. The software is available for download right now. Though the free software has a disable date of January 15, 2008, none of the softwares features have been disabled for this year-long free version. Mic Thurber, the softwares author tells why they are giving away their software in 2007: Too many churches and ministries still use a word processor or a simple data base to handle their church lists and ministry groups because they are either put off by the high cost associated with church management software, or they are just not aware of how useful such software can be. By sharing our software for free for an entire year, churches, pastors, office workers, and lay leaders can have extended time to use and benefit from the software before having to make a purchase decision. Users of their 2007 version will be able to purchase an unrestricted version of the software for prices up to 40% off their normal prices. The softwares regular price is $299.95, but users of the free 2007 version can update to the unrestricted version for $179.95 anytime before the end of 2007. Users will be able to import 2007 version data into the current unrestricted version when they purchase.

ServiceU Corporation Has Become The First Payments Processor Of Online Donations To Achieve Pci Level 1 Compliance
Many churches and nonprofits now offer the convenience of accepting tithes and donations online. If you miss a church service, you can easily log on to the Internet and send in your contributions via your churchs website. As more churches opt to offer alternative was to contribute, its extremely important that organizations know how to protect their patrons from fraud, identity theft and financial liability. Earlier this year, the far-reaching Payment Card Industry (PCI) Standard endorsed by Visa and MasterCard International announced that any organization that processes payment cards must be Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant. While the process to become PCI Compliant can take more than a year and can cost thousands of dollars, ServiceU Corporation (http://www.serviceu.com/)has become the first payments processor of online donations to achieve PCI Level 1 compliance. If your church is at all concerned about the security of your members financial data, and wishes to avoid financial ruin should a breach occur, the time to contact ServiceU is now. Many organizations just dont realize the risks involved in using a payments processor that is not compliant with PCI standards, comments Tim Whitehorn, CEO of ServiceU. The truth is that if you take online payments of any kindbe it ACH, debit card or credit cardyou must be compliant. Churches can avoid liability by using a vendor like ServiceU for online payments processing, whether for online event registrations, online donations or online ticketing. Processing web pages can be customized to blend in with an organizations website so that it looks and feels like the church website. In reality the payments page is hosted by ServiceU so that the financial information is never captured on the churchs servers. The church never sees the financial dataonly the money deposited into their accountsServiceU assumes all responsibility for payment card security. We have greater peace of mind because we know that ServiceU has put all the proper payment security measures securely into place, says Becky Martin, e-Ministry Coordinator for Southland Christian Church (http:// www.southlandchristian.org/). Whether our attenders are registering and paying for retreats or sports leagues online, or purchasing tickets to a Christmas event online, they can feel confident that their information is secure. In addition, our Christian Computing Magazine January 2007 5

Finance Ministry loves the fact that the monies collected flow correctly into the right accounts. For more information on ServiceU Corporation, please visit http:// www.serviceu.com/, email info@ServiceU.com, or call 1-888638-7439. About ServiceU Corporation ServiceU Corporation provides the most complete on-demand event management software solutions designed specifically for organizations such as churches, nonprofits, schools, universities, festivals and theaters. ServiceU offers three core products: TicketU (http://www.ticketu.com/) is the complete solution for online ticketing and box office management; EventU (http:/ /www.serviceu.com/software/scheduling/default.aspx) simplifies the scheduling of events and resources by providing online calendaring; and TransactU (http://www.serviceu.com/ software/online-payments/ default.aspx) provides the convenience of online donations, online payments, and online event registrations. Founded in 1997, ServiceU is the largest and most trusted provider of online event management software to the nonprofit market.

January 2007

Christian Computing Magazine

finding god in todays technology

Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com

God Knows You and Keeps You (RFID Technology)

John 10:27-30 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand. 30 I and my Father are one.

hen one of our sons gave birth to his second child, my wife and I were at the hospital for the wonderful event. We were able to be in the room with our daughter-in-law soon after the birth and were present for the orientation that the hospital gives to new mothers, explaining how new technology is designed to protect the newborns from falsely being identified, or worse, from being stolen. We quickly noticed that the new baby had three different plastic bands attached, one on each of her arms and one on her ankle. The hospital explained that one of the bands on the babys wrists contained an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag that coincided with a band that attached on the mothers wrist.
Whenever the baby was brought close to the mother, a chime would sound from the device on our daughter-in-laws wrist. This chime was to assure everyone that the right baby had been brought to the right mother. They explained that if at any time the baby was brought into the room and handed to the mother, everyone should listen for the chime to insure that no mistakes had been made in bring the wrong baby to the wrong mother. Christ tells us that we are identified with him. Once we are His, we know His voice, and He knows us. It is assuring to know that there will be no identification errors when it comes to being a child of God. True, Christian Computing Magazine January 2007 Christ does not use RFID, but if you think about it, he made each of us with a variety of unique identifiers that science is just now beginning to understand. Each of us has unique fingerprints. We now know that by looking into our eyes each of us are identifiable as a unique individual because retina readers show that none of us has the same exact pattern of veins in the back of our eyes. In fact, we now know that each and 7

every cell in our body contains unique DNA that can identify us as special from every other person on earth. There is no doubt that Christ will never confuse us with another. What about the plastic band attached to the babys ankle? It contained an RFID chip that was not easily removed without a specific tool. The chip transmitted a signal that prevented the baby from being removed from the maternity wing of the hospital by anyone not authorized to do so. If someone approached an elevator or a stairway door leading to an exit while carrying the baby, alarms would sound, elevators would stop and doors would lock automatically. This new technology was in place to assure that no one would pluck away our new grandbaby. Only when the mother checks out of the hospital, with the baby in her arms, will the nursing staff remove the RFID security bands. I rest assured that there will be no mistakes about who I am, or who I belong to when I stand before my heavenly Father. In our present world, identity theft is one of our fastest growing crimes. Someone might be able to pretend they are me on this earth in order to steal from my accounts, but I am comforted to know that my identity as a born again Christian can never be stolen because Christ has me safely wrapped in his hand and nobody will be able to steal me away from Him!

Church Management Software

for Windows

VIANSOFT

Contributions and Treasurer

Contributions: Membership, contribution statements, receipts, pledges, participation (attendance), committee lists. Treasurer: Budget, income, expenses, purchase orders, print checks. Extensive reports. Visit our web site for complete information and free Trial versions. Easy to use and affordable ($95.00 each). Since 1985, we have provided financial accounting software for congregations and ministries of all sizes.
Vian Corporation 452 West Hill Road Glen Gardner, NJ 08826-3253 Phone 908-537-4642 Email: vian@vian.com Web site: www.vian.com

January 2007

Christian Computing Magazine

One of the most highly anticipated church ministry products in recent history made its public debut January 2, 2007. Arena is a new, browser-based church ministry system (ChMS) from Shelby Systems.

his customizable Web 2.0 product has been touted as nothing short of revolutionary. Key elements include hosting freedom, membership and content management, superior reporting tools, and simple grouping and search options. In addition, full integration with ShelbyFINANCIALS, a health meter based on flexible criteria and, most importantly, a shared-source community makes Arena a viable solution for churches with diverse needs.
more flexible approach to small groups. Our Arena is church membership software as well as a registration process, he says, was very inefweb authoring tool, allowing the church to publish inficient and time consuming. Also, our pastor formation directly to the web and enabling connectivity felt that geography was the key for our small from virtually anywhere. All the churchs websites (ex- groups... so people could even walk to their small group if they wanted. However, the ternal and internal) can be authored and managed by team soon realized no existing tool was curone tool and churches will find this software both flex- rently available or adaptable to the particular ible and intuitive. approach they had in mind. The result was a To better understand where Arena came from and what its all about, one must begin with the early stages of its development that began to address the range development at Phoenixs Christ Church of the Valley. of their small group needs. As the pastor conWe knew of no better person to ask for the inside tinued to describe his vision for small groups, scoop than CCVs own Jon Edmiston, who supervised we began to keep pace technologically. and personally contributed to the project from its earli- Sharing the Good News est stages. As the technology that would soon beAccording to Edmiston, the foundation began four come known as Arena continued to develop, visitors from CCVs networking churches beyears ago when CCVs senior pastor wanted a better, gan to see the software. One of the visitors, Christian Computing Magazine January 2007 9

Nick Airdo of Central Christian Church of the East Valley, was favorably impressed. It was a beautiful looking application, he says. They created a first-class church management system framework. As other churches saw the potential of this system, Edmiston and his team pondered the question of how to make the software more widely available. We realized that what we had was going to be an invaluable resource to the church community as a whole and we wanted to make it available to everyone, he recalls. But we also realized we didnt have the resources to handle critical elements like support; like customer service. And, most importantly, we didnt want to be diverted from our central mission at the church. In its pre-Arena format, we knew we had a product we likened to a Formula One car very fast, amazingly powerful, but in need of a pit crew to maintain it.

Collaboration and Community

After much consideration, CCV concluded that the right partner was Shelby Systems, but Edmiston wasnt sure Shelby would be interested in the venture. They were a well-established company with a large client base, fully developed business plans and an already large, established library of services and products. They were our preference for partnership due to their maturity level (and) the sense of personal honesty and integrity we felt with them so we took a chance and ran the idea past them. Shelby was interested and sent key members of the leadership team to Arizona to visit with CCV staff. Shelbys president and CEO, Frank Canady, stated, We were very excited about the partnership and the value we could add to this project. I knew exactly what I was looking at, Canady said. He sums it up in two words: The future. It didnt take long for news of the partnership to reach Nick Airdo. When I heard that CCV had signed a 10 January 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

deal with Shelby to take over core development and make it a purchaseable product called Arena, I was thrilled, he says. Since I knew Arena would give us exactly what we needed an extensible church management system - we began discussions with Shelby to get involved as soon as possible. By spring 2006, the process of developing CCVs product into its current manifestation as Arena had moved into high speed. Shelby Systems management team created a new division to handle the many needs of Arena, with its own marketing, sales, programming and support staff. We have the ability to provide dedicated resources to both divisions, says Frank Canady, which insures that both products and sets of customers receive the attention they deserve. Shelby unveiled the Arena project at the July 2006 National Association of Church Business Administrators (NACBA) Convention in Chicago and began to make Arena available to a limited number of beta and pre-release customers. Central Christian Church of the East Valley was one of the first developers to join The Community. During that time, Nick Airdo visited Shelby. Having recently returned from a trip to meet the Arena team, I was very excited to learn that the vision of collaborative development, or shared-source, starts at the very top of the company with the president and CEO, Frank Canady. For a while now Ive realized that it would be much more efficient if each church could pool its developer resources so that their work could contribute to the whole Church. With the creation of The Community, this dream will finally become a reality. Granted there are a few open source projects for church type systems, however, none of them has a solid company at its core. With Arena, the business risks associated with utilizing an open source system are virtually gone. The collaborative potential of Arena is one of its many strong points. According to Nick Airdo, Arenas potential in this area might best be likened to the DotNetNuke (DNN) project. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dotnetnuke> Airdo would like to see the Arena project result in the consolidation of other open-source ChMS efforts because he believes the whole Church would benefit from it. As an IT director of a church, he suggests, imagine being able toturn to The Community or a third party company to develop a custom Arena module that suits your needs. The open nature of the application is really the brainchild of David Turner, our senior programmer and brains behind the application. Edmiston states, The architecture hes created provides a firm foundation.

Proof is in the Product

Volunteer management ranks among the most pressing needs of every church. Arena includes grouping and communication tools and weighted measurement tools (metrics) to track membership health and levels of integration. Quiet time, tithing, serving, and other indicators of spiritual maturity are extremely important to us, says Edmiston. With Arena we have the capability of using technology to create metrics, track this critical information and help us create meaningful connections with people. This tool can take a person from the I want to volunteer phase, through the appropriate steps of accountability and training, to actual volunteering, with a minimum of wasted motion. Administration also has the ability to track the churchs follow-up process. We now have a metric called Critical Contacts says Jon Edmiston. Our expectation is that appropriate follow up is made with a potential member or volunteer within an acceptable amount of time. Arena provides reminders and automated warnings to reflect when someones reaching that critical timeframe of no follow up. Weve gone from 300 critical contact warnings per week to approximately eight per week. Edmiston says these tools are also critical in understanding the make-up of our membership in knowing how to communicate with them and give them opportunities to contribute in an ongoing way. Check-in is an important part of any ChMS and Arena offers an attractive system to quickly and efficiently execute the check-in process. Arenas check-in is called R.O.A.R. (Rapid On-Line Automated Registration) and was deChristian Computing Magazine January 2007 11

signed to insure registration is fun, quick and easy for the participant. Churches can customize the check-in process and kiosk interfaces if they desire, enabling thematic screens and a wow experience for visitors and members. Arena offers the best reporting solutions with Microsofts powerful SQL Reporting Services. In addition to the standard reports included with the product, Arena offers churches the power to create, manage, save and deliver both traditional (paper) and interactive (Web-based) reports. Arena integrates with ShelbyFINANCIALS, enabling the church to utilize a full-featured, mature fund accounting system. Any changes to the Shelby database will automatically update in Arena and vice-versa, enabling consistent and accurate member information. In keeping with customization freedom, Arena also offers hosting freedom: The church can choose self-hosting or remote hosting options. The entire Shelby team is delighted to make Arena generally available. Jon Edmiston echoes this optimism. Weve been very happy with the progress of the project. Im especially excited about the overall vision of The Community. You can tell by the quality of the product, the Arena website and The Community site that this project is something very different. I like the open and collaborative environment that Shelby is building around Arena,. Its something thats never been done before. Edmistons reaction is exactly the type of response Shelby hopes to hear repeated by future Arena clients. While it is a new direction for Shelby Systems, the company remains firmly planted in its commitment to support the needs of current customers. Reflecting on the companys recent 30th anniversary, Shelby president Frank Canady stated, Weve had a longstanding track record of providing innovative solutions for churches. Arena is a continuation of that commitment. 12 January 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

inside the box

Donald Stratton - Donald@PowerNotebooks.com

Save Money! Make your own LCD Cleaner!

ave you ever wondered how to properly clean your LCD screen? Your laptop is a major investment that you dont want to neglect or clean improperly thereby risking damage to the LCD screen. After all, your LCD screen is one of the most expensive components of your laptop and you spend 100% of your time looking at it!
Several companies discourage using anything other than a particular brand that they tend to want to promote for their own benefit. There are varying opinions on what to use for cleaning your LCD screen with some telling you not to use alcohol while others tell you that you can. The truth is pure alcohol or ammonia based products can actually cause the screen to fade or yellow if used too often. Using a cloth that is wood based can be too abrasive and actually scratch your LCD screen, so what do you use? How can I clean my LCD screen? Can I make the solution myself? Well the answer is yes! And it is quite simple! All you need is two common ingredients for the cleaning solution and a proper cleaning cloth. It is also important to know how to apply the cleaning solution to your LCD screen to avoid potentially damaging it. Here are the ingredients: All you have to do is mix 50% Isopropyl Alcohol with 50% Water for a safe cleaning solution. (I purchased one 16 oz bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol for less then $1.00 and I purchased several 2oz sprits bottles for 25 cents each at my local Wal-Mart) Enough for 32ounces of cleaning solution! This lets me take a bottle to work plus leaving a bottle for my LCD screens at home with enough left over for 8 refills! Compare this to cleaning kits sold in local stores between $10-20 providing you with less than 5 oz of solution! Christian Computing Magazine January 2007 13

For the Cleaning Cloth:

I recommend using a Double-sided Microfibre Cloth which is made of a soft blend of spun polyester and polyamide. A blend of 70-80% polyester and 20-30% polyamide is sufficient. It is one of the most recommended cloths for cleaning lenses, LCD screens, glasses, etc. Besides being extremely soft and non-abrasive, they are nonelectrostatic which is ideal for cleaning LCD screens. Microfibre cloths are readily available by simply typing in a Google search for Microfibre Cloth. The cloths come in many sizes, colors and in a full range of prices! I picked myself up a 2-pack for only $1.00 at my local Wal-Mart (automotive section). Just be sure to remove the sown in tags from the cloth before using it on your screen.

Providing Church Administration & Software Solutions

The Purpose of C.A.A. Ministries is to provide church leaders and staff with an easy-to-follow administrative program that builds Christian relationships, increases ministry objectives and creates a church family bond between all members and visitors!

The ultimate answer to...

Church Management Software Outreach Ministry Management Software Telecommunications Administration Church Website Services Office Administration Solutions
Click on any of the bullets above for specific information, or visit www.caaministries.org or call toll free 1-888-598-8934

How to clean an LCD Screen:

It is recommended to power off your laptop or LCD screen prior to cleaning. Do not spray the solution directly onto your screen as this can cause fading and unwanted spotting! It is safer to spray the solution onto the Microfibre cloth prior to cleaning the screen. After dampening the cloth, clean your screen by gliding the cloth in a back and forth motion across your screen doing it ever so lightly. Surprisingly, this does not require any pressure!

Costs:
One 16oz bottle Isopropyl Alcohol $ .97 One 2 pack of Microfibre cloths $ .97 Two 2oz sprits bottles $1.00 TOTAL COST = $2.94 for two complete kits (plus a 24oz refill supply) Compare this cost to the kits sold locally and on the internet for $10 -$20 generally with only a few ounces of solution.

More tips:
The following cleaners should NOT be used: Acetone Ethyl alcohol Ethyl acid Ammonia Methyl chloride The following types of cleaners are acceptable: Water Vinegar (mixed with water) Isopropyl Alcohol Petroleum Benzene So now you can clean your screen often without worrying about the cost, and enjoy the benefit of always working with a nice clean LCD screen.

14

January 2007

Christian Computing Magazine

NOW you can listen to the CCMag NewsBriefs directly from the CCMag Website (www.ccmag.com)

Apple Plans To Launce Their Own SmartPhone, the iPhone

Apple has announced that they will be releasing their own version of a SmartPhone. The phone will have the ability to enter phone numbers by touching the screen, or pulling numbers from a call list. It will have high-speed Internet access, and come with WiFi and BlueTooth wireless connections. Of course, it will serve as an iPod and have the ability to download and play music files. The unit will work just like an iPod in the way that you sync the device to your computer and allow it to download new songs, podcasts, contact information, emails, etc. The cost is expected to be high, around $500, and you will have to use Cingulars phone service. Battery life may be a bit of a concern, but the iPhone has a lot of neat tools such as a Google map button and it can detect when you have raised it to your ear to talk and will turn off its display and key functions so you can save power and not accidentally hit a key. Due to this announcement, and the creation of other products that Apple has developed and plan to develop, Apple has announced that they will be changing their name from Apple to Apple Inc., to better represent the fact that they no longer just market computers. For more information, visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16542805/

Seagate Announces FreeAgent Will Be Available Feb 2007

Getting ready to take a trip and you need to do some computing on the road but you dont own a notebook? No problem with FreeAgent, a portable 12 gigabyte USB hard drive, with software that allows you to run your applications on any other computer. Drop into an Internet Caf, or use a hotel or friends computer, and plug in the USB. The applications and data you selected at home are ready to run. Use YOUR copy of Outlook and your settings to check your email. Open your version of Word to continue to work on a document, with all of the menu bars set the way you have them at home. And, the good news is that when you return home, hook up FreeAgent to your computer, and it syncs up and updates any files, documents, etc., that you have worked on while on the road. You wont end up with different versions of the same document! When you are done, simply pull out the USB and all traces of the work you have done goes with you, nothing is left on the computer. This is going to be the way many people mobile compute in the future! For more information, visit http://tech.yahoo.com/ces/cesvideo/53;_ylt=AsGI6wt5MKwlPnuMgDwsT0TxLJA5

Sony Ericsson Announces New Device to Play Songs Broadcast Via BlueTooth
You have downloaded a song over your phone, or you have other songs stored on a Bluetooth device (such as the new Nuvi 660 Garmin GPS device I got for Christmas), but you would like to play them over your stereo at home (or at a friends house while at a party.) No problem if you have the new wireless adapter that Sony Ericsson is showing off at the CES show. The adapter can be hooked up to any sound system and you can stream your songs directly from your cell phone or Bluetooth device. You can control the pause, skip, and sound from your device. For more information, visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16548601/

New Notebook Computer to be Released Next Year For Only $150?

A company in Atlanta is developing a low cost notebook computer, and plans to release it in the middle of next year for a price of around $150! Understand, the computer will not be like most on the market. The processor is not made by Intel or AMD, and it will not be running Windows or have any Microsoft software. In fact, it does not have a hard drive, but rather uses a flash memory chip to store its OS and software. (There are USB ports available so users can add an external hard drive if the wish.) The computer has its own Internet browser and IM. So, the company holds that their computer will allow people to do all of the main things they want to do with a computer. They can visit Websites, download and store pictures, use Web based email, and by using online programs such as Googles spreadsheet and word processor, you can do these as well. Do we really want such an inexpensive and stripped computer? The market Christian Computing Magazine January 2007 15

will tell sometime in the middle of next year. For more information, visit http://www.informationweek.com/hardware/ showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196700914

We Search the Web for Text, Music, and Audio. Are We Ready To Search For Faces
We have heard about facial recognition software. Security companies are seeking to use the software to detect a criminal within a crowd. Now a company is ready to develop and market a program that will allow you to search you database of photos for specific people, and hopes to enable the same service to be used over the Internet. By using software programming (which they state will be offered for free) a user would flag a photo with a picture of a person and then have the program search for other pictures that contain a similar face print. The software would be great to organize your photos on your computer, and would help find photos of people throughout the Web. There are those that have issued strong privacy concerns. Online dating, for example, depends on people remaining anonymous while providing a photo. A person might be able to take the photo from an online dating service and then search the net for other photos, revealing their identity and home address. For more information, visit http://today.reuters.com/news/ articleinvesting.aspx?type=companyNews&storyID=104587%2019Dec2006%20RTRS&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=InvArtC1-ArticlePage1

Travelers Complain About Consistent Internet Connections At Hotels

The New York Times released an article about the problems with connecting to the Internet while on the road. It appears that while many hotels are now providing free Internet access, it is spotty and sporadic at best. While it might work well in one room, a guest down the hall can not get on. Most hotels farm this service out, and so help is found by using a toll free number and spending a lot of time waiting. While the article didnt offer a solution, I would suggest that if you are a frequent traveler, you invest in an EVDO card with your cell phone service. EVDO speeds continue to get better, as do connection areas. And EVDO is marketed for around $30 a month for unlimited access, so if you travel, you may find EVDO speeds high enough to take the place of your home connection. For more information on EVDO, check with your wireless provide. For information on the hotel Internet problem, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/business/ 19connect.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=technology&adxnnlx=1166534391iQIfNnnv57Y6BpF3SoCOdw

Nintendo Wii Game A Big Success But Watch Out For That Control
Nintendo has introduced a new home video game with a twist. Most of the games are dependent upon the motion detection abilities of the controller. Strap it on and play tennis as though you are holding a racket, or swing your arm as though you are bowling, and your movements are translated to a video character on the screen. This is one video game that will get the user some exercise. However, now that the game has been out for a week or so, Nintendo is having to issue a warning. It appears the straps that hold the controller onto your hand are breaking for some energetic players, causing the controller to fly into TVs and other objects (or persons) in the room. For 16 January 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

Read CCMags Review of our LogosGiving Service! CLICK HERE (for our PDF readers) or visit www.ccmag.com/0205/0205coverstory.pdf
Christian Computing Magazine January 2007 17

more information, visit http://www.sciam.com/ article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID =E99298B28ED320343949B7631BEBE7E5

You Should Know What Phishing Is, But Do You Know What Rock Phishing Is?
Phishing attacks are when you receive an e-mail that claims to come from a legitimate company encouraging you to click on a link and give up personal ID information. The e-mail is fake, and so is the Web site you are sent to. So, what is rock Phishing? Some believe rock is an organization that may be responsible for one-third to one-half of all the Phishing attacks in the world. Their attacks do not try to spoof the eBay or PayPal group, but rather centers on other companies. In the past, Rock Phish has targeted Phishing attacks on companies such as CitiBank, E*Trade, Barclays, and Deutsche Bank. Experts believe they were the first ones to pioneer using graphics in the email to get by spam filters that looked for specific text. So what makes experts believe that a single organization is responsible for so many Phishing attacks, and credited with having over 35,000 URLs to spoof people? It is now revealed that in years past, many or most URLs set up and used for Phishing attacks had the word rock in the URL. Some anti-phishing programs actually searched for the word rock in order to make their decision that the site might be bogus. Evidentially the guys behind the rock Phishing attacks have figured out that they have been fingered, and they are now no longer using the key identifier Rock in their URLs, but since there has been a single identifier, authorities believe it may be a group of criminals that have worked together. For more information, visit http:// www.infoworld.com/article/06/12/12/HNrockphish_1.html

Samsung Announces New Fuel Cell Power For Notebooks

Samsung plans to start mass production of a new docking station for some notebooks that will use new fuel cell technology, providing power for the notebooks for one month! Fuel cell technology is not new, but this is a new application. The fuel cells will be loaded with Methane gas, and the byproduct when they are depleted will be water. The docking station fuel cell will run a computer for 5 days a week, for 8 hours a day, for one month. Samsung is also working on a smaller version that will use a coffee cup worth of fuel (methane) that will power your notebook for one week. Since batteries have had such a problem in the past as power needs continue to climb, fuel cells promise a good alternative. Longer power, with no harmful byproducts. Samsung has also announced they are working on a cell phone that uses fuel cell technology. No prices are announced as of yet. For more information, visit http://www.toptechnews.com/ news/Samsung-Develops-Marathon-Fuel-Cell/story.xhtml?story_id=13000ER599E2

Samsung Develops New Mobile Memory Chip

Samsung is also in the news at the start of this new year with their announcement of a new DRAM memory chip. The one-gigabit chip would be 20% thinner than their present chip, and would use about 30% less power. These chips are used in probable media players, digital cameras, probable gaming products etc. While the size would certainly enable items to be made smaller than they are now, it is the power savings that are significant. For more information, visit http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Dec27/0,4670,SKoreaSamsungSemiconductors,00.html

Toyota Is Creating Alcohol Detection System For Cars

In Japan, there has been strong public outcries about the rise of drunk driving accidents. In response, Toyota has announced that they plan to ship 2009 models with the ability to stop drunk drivers from operating their vehicles. They are using several technology devices that will work in conjunction. First, alcohol consumption can be detected in sweat, and 18 January 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

they will put sweat sensors in the steering wheel to determine if the driver has had too much to drink. In addition, if a driver is driving erratically the car will simply begin to slow down and come to a stop. They are also developing a camera device that will analyze the eyes of the driver to determine if they are able to keep focused. Present anti-drinking devices have the driver breath into a tube to determine the alcohol level of a person before they are able to start a car. Many feel that a friend could start the car for a person too drunk to drive using this method. Toyotas new methods would allow a person to start a car, but if they are drinking while they are driving, the car will shut down whenever it detects the person is drunk. For more information, visit http:// www.usatoday.com/tech/news/ techinnovations/2007-01-03toyota-drunken-driving_x.htm

The Biggest News From This Years Consumer Electronic Show? Lower Prices
This years attendees of the CES show did not come away with any new or exciting technology. Sure, TV screens reached a new size (108 inch flatpanel dispay), but the biggest story was that prices on technology gadgets are dropping drastically. Sales are up, and prices are down, GREAT news for buyers. The industry sold 160 percent more liquid-crystal-display TVs and 154 percent more global positioning satellite navigation systems. At the same time, however, prices for many products fell faster last year than the typical pace of decline. Big-screen plasma TVs dropped 32 percent, according to the associations economists. Competition pushed the average notebook computer price down 35 percent. The price of video players for cars fell 65 percent. Price drops are happening because of stiff competition among manufactures of screens and other technology. For more information, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/13/technology/13money.html?ref=technology

Is Movie Distribution About To Jump Again?

Recently, when I went to BlockBuster to rent a DVD (remember when they rented tapes) they told me that I could get my movie for free if I tried their new mail service (which they explained was like NetFlix where you order your movies on the Internet and they are mailed to your home.) However, Netflix is announcing this week that they are launching a new program to allow movies and TV shows to be available by direct download to your computer (http:// www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/16/tech/main2360178.shtml). This same week the co-founder of Skype (the phone for free over the Internet service) announced they would be launching a new service called Joost (pronounced Juiced) which will provide broadcast movies and TV over high-speed Internet. Both of these services allow movies to be downloaded to your computer, but must be viewed on your computer. What market are they reaching? Research shows that those under the age of 25 are not bothered by watching movies on their computer, specifically teenagers who watch videos on the computer because their parents have the TV. The future is held in that these young people who grew up on the Internet will continue to see this as the best way to receive movies and broadcast TV, and that technology will allow it be sent wirelessly to their home TV center. For more information on Joost, visit http:// www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196901563

Christian Computing Magazine

January 2007

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Special Feature - Review

HolyLand 3-D CD
One of the most amazing Bible programs ever conceived.
by Ken Wezeman

olyLand 3D, by Rohr Productions, is one of the most amazing Bible programs ever conceived. It presents the Holy Land as fly-able 3D terrain, complete with pop-up Bible Dictionary entries, location photos and links to related scripture. Satellite images are converted into a realtime seamless flying experience that students of the Holy Land, Bible teachers and software enthusiasts are sure to enjoy.
There are several options for navigating the terrain. The most fun is found using the pilot controls. Enter a desired cruising altitude and speed, and then use your mouse to control the direction of flight. Adjust altitude and pan your view as you fly. When you come to a location to explore in detail, click the location marker to pull up an article from either the Eerdmanns Dictionary of the Bible, or the Intervarsity Bible Dictionary. Links in the dictionaries pull up scriptures linked to the location. Users can also jump straight to a location by selecting it from either the Bible places database (seen in the upper left quadrant of the program
20 January 2007 screen), or by clicking a location on the classic reference map (lower left quadrant). The various navigational aids are sizeable, and the flying window can be presented full screen. Clicking on Azekah, for example takes you to Tell Azekah in the Elah valley, where Goliath met his fate at the hands of David (see figure 2 on the next page). If the label feature is turned on, clicking on the red dot above Azekah informs you that there is an EDB (Eerdmanns Dictionary of the Bible) entry for that site while it displays a high resolution photograph of the selection (not shown). Two translations are included, Christian Computing Magazine

the King James Version and the New English Translation which is very readable. One can display either translation or toggle back and forth for comparison by clicking a tab. All the text in these study windows can be copied with your mouse and pasted into a study document. As I was flying over Nazareth, I stopped directly over the cliff that Jesus neighbors planned to throw him over. Lowering my elevation to the top of the cliff and looking southeast I was able to look out over the Jezreel Valley (where Naboth had the vineyard that Ahab coveted) and see Mt. Tabor, the village of En-Dor, where King Saul consulted a medium the night before he died, and the Figure 2 Hill of Moreh. Just in front of the Hill of Moreh lies the village of Nain where Jesus raised a widows son. The scene looks much like a photograph I took from this actual cliff a few years ago. There are so many ways to explore a particular spot that I cant begin to describe them all. There are, of course, a full set of keyboard shortcuts available for moving around the land.

Other Tools
There are numerous other tools in this program. Measurements can be made of distance between two locations, change in elevation between locations, and area. If you ever wondered how far it was from one side of the Sea of Galilee to the other, or how high you had to climb to get from Jericho to Jerusalem you can just measure with a couple of clicks. If you need a visual illustration to project for a sermon or class presentation you can take a snapshot of any screen in the main window and save it as a bmp or tif file. It can then be printed or used in a projected presentation. Holy Land 3-D also contains hundreds of beautiful color photographs of various places. Sites in and about Figure 3 Jerusalem are, of course, represented in abundance, but there is a broad coverage of other locations as well. These photographs can be printed for classroom use or viewed or projected from your computer. Christian Computing Magazine January 2007 21

Overall Impression
This is one of the most spectacular and exciting Bible study tools I have ever used. When I received it I spent an entire day exploring both the program and various sites in the Holy Land with which I was familiar. I was so enthralled that I forgot to Figure 4 eat all day, missing both breakfast and lunch. That has never happened to be before or since. It was partly due to the nature of the material, but also partly due to the quality of the program. If I were to have a year or two to spend living and studying in the Holy Land, this would be one study aid that I would not leave home without. I recommend it without reservation. HolyLand 3-D will also make a spectacular teaching aid for pastors, teachers and professors. It can be easily projected using a data projector for classroom or worship use. Due to the relationship between the satellite imagery and terrain engine, the closer you get to the ground, the fuzzier the graphics get. I found that flying above 4000 feet was best for viewing. Certain locations, however, have high resolution images embedded in the surface of the terrain. When flying low over Jerusalem, for example, you are treated to a higher resolution aerial image of the city with clickable locations.

System Specifications
This program requires a fast computer with good graphic capabilities. The distributor recommends a minimum of 800 MHz, with 128 MB of RAM with a 3D capable graphics card and 32 MB of video RAM or more. Windows ME or XP. No Mac version is available.

Availability and Cost

The sole distributor for HolyLand 3-D in the US is Sunday Software (www.sundaysoftware.com). The single copy price is $70.00 USD and comes with a hardback satellite atlas and copy of a color aerial poster of Jerusalem. The reviewer - Kenneth R. Wezeman, M.Div., is an author, pastor, and hospital chaplain. He has co-authored several books with his wife, Phyllis.

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nick at church
Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com

Calendaring in the Church

hurches have three types of calendaring needs: resource calendaring (rooms and equipment), publication calendaring (printed flyers), and personal / team calendaring. Surprisingly, each of these needs is so different that they require separate programs!
Whats the Difference?
Many churches try to make one or two programs fill all three needs. No one program meets all three needs well, nor does any even meet two of the needs well! Resource calendaring is for scheduling rooms (or groups of rooms) and equipment. This software needs to ensure there arent any conflicts and enforce whatever event approval process a church has established. It also tracks room setups, blocks time for setup and teardown, and may include a billing module for use when outside groups rent your facilities. Some of the more sophisticated programs written for this need include the ability to: Search for room type availability and make recommendations, and Identify events as internal-only (like staff meetings) or public; those that are public then automatically feed website calendars. About twenty church management software systems offer this as a module option. Publication calendaring is really done best in graphics programs. These are the calendars that are usually department-specific, like a youth or childrens ministry calendar, and are printed in full-month formats. Those who use them often like to add graphics into the boxes like a Christmas tree on Christmas Day, a tent on a summer camp day, and so on. Some of the most common programs used to do these well are desktop publishers and graphics programs like Quark or Publisher. Personal / team calendaring tracks appointments and commitments on a persons calendar. These are the programs most used when calendaring on a computer, but they never meet the other two needs well. The most prevalent of these programs is Microsoft Outlook. Christian Computing Magazine January 2007

Focus on Personal / Team Calendaring

Putting ones calendar on the computer is a great way to 1) make it more portable, 2) increase team collaboration , and 3) ensure its never lost or destroyed (because it gets backed up with the rest of the computers data). Portability. Computerized calendars can be on a computer, available via the Internet in a web browser, and on your PDA or smartphone all at once! Depending on the software you use and how its configured, all of these can be accomplished by entering the information only once! And making a change in any one of these automatically synchronizes with the others! This has the potential of making your calendar very easy to have with you at all times especially if you use a PDA or smartphone. And there are even more advantages to using this technology, like having your address book or contact list on that same device at all times! Some church management systems can send the church database to your address book so that it can synchronize with your PDA or smartphone. Imagine having your church database with you anytime youd like it! Collaboration. If you use the net23

work version of Outlook, called Exchange, or a number of other programs, you can give others access to your calendar as well. This aids in the process of setting up meetings and letting other team members know your availability. Teams that take advantage of this option find their time is more efficiently focused. Backup. The importance of backing up system data cannot be overstated. Making sure you have a good backup strategy also means your calendar will never be lost or destroyed even if you drop your smartphone in a lake! (One of our clients actually had this happen! He said he was so glad hed given up his handwritten calendar because it would have been destroyed.) I find there are other advantages to using this kind of system too. I use it to track those things I need to do throughout the year. When I think of something I need to do (like follow up with someone at church about a prayer request), I add it as a task to my calendar and schedule it for the day Id like to do it. In addition to keeping things from falling through the cracks, it frees me from trying to remember those future things I need to get done, which means less stress. A tip I learned early on was to create a task that lists each calendar item I want to schedule for the next year, and scheduling myself to add them to next years calendar in the Fall of this year. I include regularly scheduled appointments and reminders (like staff meetings, birthdays, my anniversary, etc.) and tasks. Computer calendars help us, and using the right software to meet each need enhances our ability to accomplish ministry and to do so more efficiently. Reprinted by permission from the 2007 edition of the Leadership Handbook of Management and Administration (Baker Publishing).

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Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson - docwatson@nctelecom.net

tech talk

Hot Tips XXIX: The XP Command Line

indows XP has added several Command-line tools that are truly powerful and practical. This article will only scratch the surface with a few little tips: how to display the Command Line Help Reference, create Shutdown/Reboot icons using Shutdown.exe, play around with Ping.exe, and briefly mention some of the XP Pro Utilities.
Displaying the Command Line Help Reference
To get quick help for all the commands you can enter from the WindowsXP Command-line (a.k.a., DOS Prompt), simply create the following shortcut: hh.exe ms-its:C:\WINDOWS\Help\ntcmds.chm::/ ntcmds.htm. Well not rehash that material here; rather apply a couple of them in a practical way. (shutdown -r -t 00) or to just log off the current user (shutdown -l). The -s switch shuts down the local computer. In contrast, -m [\\ComputerName] (or IP address) enables an Administrator to shutdown a computer on the network. The -t switch sets the timer for the shutdown. Obviously 00 means no delay. Alternately, you might want to set this to something like -t 30, which sets a 30-second delay and displays a dialog box with a countdown, just in case you want to change your mind (omitting the switch also gives the default 30-second delay). This gives you enough time to press WindowsKey+R and enter shutdown -a in the Run box to abort the shutdown. You could also add the -c message switch, where message is any text you want to display in the Shutdown box (must be in quotes), such as a reminder of how to abort. (Alternately, you could create an Abort icon, enabling you to abort quicker and to use a shorter time delay.) Finally, the -f switch forces running applications to close immediately, but be warned that this could cause the loss of data that hasnt been saved. 25

Creating Shutdown/Reboot Icons Using Shutdown.exe

While there is a way to create a shortcut icon without Shutdown.exe (which I covered in Hot Tips 2, in case youre not running XP), Shutdown.exe makes it much easier. Here are several options for automatic shutdown. One option is to create an icon that immediately shuts down your computer, no questions asked or prompts to verify. First, right-click on an open spot of the Desktop and select New > Shortcut from the context menu. Second, in the Type the location of the item box, type shutdown -s -t 00 and click the Next button (see switch explanations below for alternatives). Third, in the Type a name for this shortcut box, type anything you like, such as Shutdown NOW, and then click Finish. Fifth, optionally, you might want to choose a different icon for the shortcut. Right-click on the icon, select Properties, click on the Shortcut tab if needed, and then click the Change Icon button. If you get a warning box, just click OK and Windows will automatically display the icons in SHELL32.dll. Choose one you like, such as the big red one that looks like a switch, and click OK twice. Instead of (or in addition to) a shutdown, you might want a reboot Christian Computing Magazine January 2007

Okay, now for the downside of shutdown.exe. Inexplicably, when you use this command to shutdown the PC (the -s switch), it doesnt actually power the PC down; rather it only shuts down as far as the It is now safe to turn off your computer message, which requires you to manually turn off the machine. Very annoying! Ah, but theres a solution. I found another shutdown.exe (freeware written by Andrej Budja), which Ive posted on the Download and Links page of my web site (www.TheScriptureAlone.com). Be sure to put this in the root directory. While the switches are a little different (and theres no -c switch), its very straightforward. To shutdown in five seconds, for example, create a shortcut using the command shutdown u t 5. To cancel the command, just press Ctrl+Break. Type the command by itself at the DOS prompt to list all the switches.

Playing With Ping

Ping.exe is an ancient Unix tool. It sends out a packet to a specified Internet host or network computer and measures its response time. The target computer will return (hopefully) a signal. Some sites such as microsoft.com dont like being pinged so they block them (how rude!); in such cases youll get a Request timed out message. Anyway, you can use Ping, for example, to discover the quality of your connection to a specific site. Youll also receive an IP address that corresponds to the user-friendly type of URL. Try this example. Open a DOS window (press WindowsKey+R and enter command in the Run box), and then enter ping google.com (note that only the host name is entered, never a complete URL). Ping now sends a 32-byte packet to the host four times. Note not only the IP address but also the round trip time for each packet and the average of the four will be displayed. In this case, the average is 85 milliseconds (on my DSL connection), which means that Ive got a pretty good connection. A bad connection would be in the hundreds. BTW, dont you think there ought to be a Pong command? (Sorry!)

Using XP Pro Utilities

Some of the XP utilities come only in the Professional version. Defrag.exe, for example, is an improvement over the GUI version in that its much easier to automate. Schtasks.exe schedules commands and programs to run periodically or at a specific time. Systeminfo.exe displays detailed configuration information about a computer and its operating system, including OS configuration, security information, product ID, and hardware properties, such as RAM, disk space, and network cards. Its handier than the GUI version. Runas.exe enables you to run a program as another user. This is great when youre trying to help out a regular user with limited privileges and you need to use some administrative tool that they cant run. Instead of wasting time logging them out and then logging in as Administrator, just pop open a command window and use Runas to launch the tool with the administrative account. So, just dig into the Command Line Help Reference and enjoy.

ANNOUNCING Windows Hot Tips 3

With this article, Windows Hot Tips 3 is now complete. It covers all the tips and other stuff presented in my column from January 2004 to January 2007 (including graphics). Order yours today. It, like its predecessors, makes a great quick reference. There are two other booklets in this Hot Tips series, Windows Hot Tips 1 and 2. A single copy of each is $6.50 (a rise in printing costs). Bulk prices are: $6.00 for 2-9 copies of the same title and $5.50 for 10 or more copies. If youd like to help with costs (not required), add 50 cents for any number of booklets you order. Docs Giant Utility Collection on CD is still postage paid at $14 (2-5 copies $13 each, and 6 or more copies $12 each). Send orders to: MicroManuals; PO Box 235; Meeker, CO; 81641. Thanks again, and God bless. 26 January 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

Special Feature

Earthcomber
One Pastors Experience Using GPS (Global Positioining System)

hat big book in Pastor Richersons hand wasnt a Bible, it was an atlas. That oversized, floppy manual, too, was an essential part of his ministry. Its pages showed the way to church members homes, hospitals where they lay ill, assisted living centers for the elderly.
terest such as gas stations, hotels and ATMs. But Earthcomber is designed to help users discover their favorite kinds of places around themsuch as dining, parks, museums and shopsand mark them for future use. Pastor Richerson used this pinpointing feature to mark the exact locations of members homes. Normally I will use Earthcomber to map out my route before I leave the office so it is readily available while I am going down the road, said Pastor Richerson. From time to time while I am away from the office, I will receive a call about another visit I need to make. I have loaded the location of all of my members homes and other places of interest using Earthcombers thumbtacks. All I need to do is tap on the screen and map the shortest route. It is quick and easy. I no longer need the contacts program that was preloaded my PDA as I now use Earthcomber for my contact list. Pastor Richerson is even able to profile the members so he knows more about them before he knocks on their doors. Along with each thumbtack that pinpoints his members 27

That face-to-face connection is important to Jonathan Richerson, pastor of West Haven Baptist Church in Lebanon, Tennessee, a church plant of approximately 100 members. And losing his way en route to make an important visit with a member is a sure way to lose that connection. Thumbing through maps in the car to find his way through neighborhoods or to locate hospitals in nearby Nashville always proved hazardous and very distracting. There had to be a better way. Pastor Richerson received an answer from above. Not afraid to delve into new technologies, he began using a special GPS (global positioning system) program for his handheld PDA that guided him directly to the doors of the places he needed to go. What he discovered, though, was much more than a digital map with directions. The program, Earthcomber, has now become his own personal ministry outreach tool in his hand. There are a host of mobile mapping applications out there that help PDA users get from one place to another as quickly as possible and several display points of inChristian Computing Magazine January 2007

homes is an information tab that allows him to maintain information about each person in his church. Earthcomber lets me list important information, such as addresses and phone numbers, but it also allows me to include notes that are specific to each family, he says. On most of my visits, I like to bring muffins or treats and I have used the note feature to remind me of food allergies or if a member is diabetic. In the past I have had to rely on memory or on the bulky three-ring binder phone directory I keep in my car. Now all I have to do is tap the notes tab and I have the information I need. Earthcomber provides a free Community feature that Pastor Richerson can use to share his favorites with others in his church who might need to also make home visits. When he synchronizes his information and runs an update, the locations and notes that he has pinpointed and annotated are automatically placed into his Earthcomber Community. Richerson primarily uses this feature as a means of backing up his data. As with many pastors, a great deal of his time is spent visiting with those who are in hospitals. Many of his members, however, must go to hospitals that Pastor Richerson does not frequent often. Fortunately, Earthcomber has helped him discover these hospitals and takes him directly to the front door. Lebanon is located about 30 minutes east of Nashville and many of our members drive there to have medical procedures performed at the larger hospitals. I used the Local Hospital search feature to pinpoint each on the downtown map. When you have to visit multiple visits in one trip it can be difficult to track the best route from one hospital to the next. Not only is Earthcomber a handy tool for outreach, but it can be an invaluable guide when traveling. While most mobile mapping tools are designed to get you from A-Z with point-to-point directions, Earthcombers aim is to help you explore everything in between. You might ask yourself, What is down that side street or over that hill that would just make my trip complete? Earthcomber could very well find it for you. Earthcomber is a free, location-based service. It employs patented search technology to match each users interests with nearby locations and alert the user when one of their needs or desires is nearby. Unlike web-style mobile searches, theres no need to stop and enter search terms, one by one. Instead, Earthcomber scans the area for the users entire list of favorites, interests and needs. It is as Earthcombers founder Jim Brady envisioned several years ago: a mobile favorite things finder that helps you explore the surrounding landscape for everything that you want or need. Everybodys been there: when you really need a certain something, it would be worth it to have a program on your handheld dedicated just to finding that thing, said Brady. The idea is that life is so much more interesting, and we get so much more out of every day, if only we can know whats right around us. Brady noted that while Earthcomber has thousands of churches mapped, the company invites congregations to contact Earthcomber and adopt their listing, so they can update information about services and events for members and for potential visitors passing through. Anyone interested can just email churches@earthcomber.com. Over 2.5 million locations around the USA are available on Earthcomber. Users can find nearby ATMs, WiFi hotspots, hotels, coffee shops, restaurants, fast food, museums, historical sites, attractions, parks, lakes and trails, gas stations and more. One of the nicest things about Earthcomber is that it is completely free to use. You simply create an account at www.Earthcomber.com and download the software and maps to your PC, and then synchronize with your handheld. Once youre all set-up, you can retrieve maps for any area of the country by downloading them to your PC and synchronizing them to your handheld, or if you have a wireless device you can pick and download maps over-the-air. Last year, Earthcomber introduced several commercial spot guides developed by such companies as Avalon Travel Publishing, Moon, and Mobil Travel Guide, among others. Costs range between $10 and $15 and they can be easily downloaded from the Earthcomber Web site. Once installed, the information populates itself on your PDA device and displays data relevant to the particular guide. In the past I had to pull out a large atlas and determine the best route while going down the road or I would have to pull over and waste time squinting at the small print, says Richerson. When I discovered Earthcomber I no longer needed my atlas. What I found was an easy-to-use and easy-to-read program that saved time and effort. Earthcombers user interface allows Richerson to view the specific areas in which he travels and with the downloaded maps and content, it shows him other points of interest within the area. Earthcomber allows me to turn on the features I need and turn off those I am not interested in using. Unlike other programs I have tried, the screen is never over crowded with features I will never use.

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Ministry communication
Yvon Prehn - yvonprehn@aol.com

Resources to help you improve your ministry communications in 2007

n most churches communications technology goes something like this: the bulletin and newsletter get done, flyers and ministry PR are run off at the last minute, and some sort of website is up most of the time, even if it isnt current. Little evaluation is done of how the communications in print and online actually supports the ministry and mission of the church. To make the most of the incredible resources we have in 2007, here are some suggestions:
Understand the language
When the printing press was invented, it changed everything. Initially, I doubt that few Christian leaders cared about how printing presses actually worked, but as the years went by, increased understanding of the printing press as a tool enabled churches to use it with ever increasing effectiveness to share the gospel. We are in a similar situation today. By increasing your understanding of communications technology, you will be able to greatly increase the effectiveness of your ministry. In most churches, understanding and skill level of the various technologies varies widely; from people who grew up with computers and can program them while listening to music and playing a video game at the same time to others who dont know the meaning of many critical technology terms. In some churches, it is almost a joke as to how some folks are the tech geeks and others simply ask things be done and do not bother with understanding how to do them. This is not funny. For churches to work as a team in creating truly effective communications in this age of technology, all members of the church leadership need to increase their understanding of terms and technology. This does not mean everyone has to become an expert on how to do everything, but increased understanding at all levels is helpful and not difficult to attain. One of the best resources for increasing your understanding of the language of technology is: www.wikipedia.com. If you are not already familiar with this fantastic tool on the web, you are in for a treat. You can look up any term and follow the links for added or in-depth unChristian Computing Magazine January 2007 derstanding. Even if you think you know the meaning, check out: internet, desktop publishing, PDF, HTML, CSS and follow the links in the various articles. You wont become an expert in implementation after a few hours of looking up terms, but if you understand what the folks on your team are talking about, that can be very useful.

Learn new skills

One of the most important skills for church communicators to master in the coming years is the ability to easily move communications from paper to PowerPoint to web and back and into any other digital format that your church may use, blogs, RSS feeds, pod-casting, small screen, whatever. For some of us who remember thinking that technology would never get better than the self-correcting typewriter, the very thought of having to learn new technologies after conquering the basics of the computer is not something we look forward to. But 29

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we serve a God of constant newness, who continuously provides new adventures for His servants. When I am working on a new challenge in website creation I think about Moses who was probably, at age 80, just easing into retirement when he saw that bush burning. I remind myself that the same God that who gave Moses the strength to lead a multitude of people out of slavery is the same God who can help me understand how to create a blog and CSS.

Three great resources to help you learn some new skills:

www.lynda.com: this is a fantastic resource! For pricing ranging from as low as $25 a month, you can take unlimited web-based training in all kinds of communications software as well as in pod casting, blogging, HTML, PDF, etc. w3schools.com: This is primarily training for web creation skills and it is all FREE. In addition, I highly recommend that any church leader take some time and simply read the explanations on the website about the different areas of technology. You need to understand what your people are working on and why various technologies and skills are important. Effective Ministry Communication Production, an ALL NEW Yvon Prehn Seminar: For years people have asked me HOW I actually do what I do in ministry communications and marketing in practical ways and some of the most helpful parts of seminars have taken place at lunch and breaks when I open up Publisher and do a brief show and tell. This seminar will be a full-day of demonstration. Ill show how to develop a logo and identity for a new ministry, how to create the identity pieces for it, business and invitation cards, how to create a brochure, newsletter, website, and PR materials. The core program I will use will be MS Publisher, but many of the skills taught in areas such as typography, grids and layouts, writing, and graphics selection will apply to any program. This class is for people actually doing church communications production. It will focus on the basics. If you are a communications director for a large church and use Adobe products, this seminar would be useful in showing you how to train and equip a volunteer team of communicators. For more information, go to my website: www.thelionsvoice.com.

Integrate your communications technology with the mission and outreach of your church
Though the above recommendations are important, this is probably the most important of all, because your goal in all of your communication technology should not be to simply master the latest and greatest technique, but to use the communication techniques that you master to fully fulfill the Great Commission. To help you do that, Ive created two resources: The Heart of Church Communications, a book of devotions and essays that is essential reading for people doing communication work for the kingdom of God. This is not a side issue. So many communications created in churches

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and ministries today have lots of dash and flash (literally), but are not touching peoples hearts or changing lives. To create heart-changing communications, your heart may need some alignment with the heart of God. You can immediately download a PDF of the book (only $5.90) or order a hardcopy through www.lulu.com/yvonprehn.

Yvon Prehn Seminar on Church Communications & Marketing

Marketing is not an evil, non-Christian thing, but as you will learn in this seminar, it is a way to tell the true gospel story fully and in a way that will reach people, bring them into the church and enable them to become mature disciples for Christ. This seminar, totally revised for 2007, will take the 5 Steps of Church Communications and Marketing (see detailed explanation on www.thelionsvoice.com) and will illustrate the communications every church needs to create to fully fulfill the Great Commission. I have a new sponsorship system where your church can host a seminar and receive a personalized consultation for virtually no cost. This is a totally different seminar than the practical one on publication production described above. To download a PDF that explains it all, go to www.lulu.com/yvonprehn. 2007 is a new year with new opportunities to communicate the gospel message with the extraordinary tools of technology we have. Im challenging myself to learn new tools this year and I hope you will be doing the same. Please contact me (yvonprehn@aol.com) if I can be of service to you or your church as we use the technology given to us to fully fulfill the Great Commission.

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Internet Ministry
Walt Wilson - waltccm@aol.com

Illumio: Lets You Search Other Peoples Brains

ou can say you saw it here first directly from Silicon Valley straight to Christian Computing Magazine. The manufacturers web site simply says the product is coming soon. (Perhaps by the time you read this it will be released).
and answer questions I wouldnt think to ask all of it based on been-there-donethat personal experience. Unlike Google, Yahoo Answers, Microsoft QnA, LinkedIn and XING, Illumio allows person-to-person connection in private. CEO, David Gilmore describes it as allowing mutually agreed upon connection among people who would never meet otherwise. The software analyzes e-mail, web searches and documents stored on your hard drive to match that information with requests submitted by other Illumio users. The key thing is that you do not have to do anything but allow access. The software is so efficient at matching questions with the right answers that In-Q-Tel, the CIAs venture capital arm invested in Illumio. Among the top priorities of the intelligence community is improving information sharing across 16 government agencies. They describe Illumio as best-ofbreed in accomplishing that task in terms of information matching and collaboration. Collaboration information sharing hmm if the government can do it, can the church? Lets save that for another day.

What if you could search the content of someones brain, uncover unknown areas of expertise and get answers to questions that are not on the Internet? What if you needed specific knowledge for a paper or a proposal or for medical purposes and you needed a true expert to coach you one-on-one? What if you needed information on open-source databases and you didnt even know whom to ask? What if you wanted to be an expert in theology or apologetics without the degree? Tacit Software of Palo Alto, California (www.tacit.com) may have solved the problem with Illumio. At least there are a number of local venture capital firms banking on it and these guys place their bets carefully. The days of free money around these parts are gone. Illumio, about to be released, is a new approach to the challenge of social search and connection. It answers the question, there must be someone out there who knows about this, because its not on Google. The reason is it may not yet be uploaded to the network. Its still in someones brain or on their hard drive. Many of us walk around with a head full of what we regard as trivia that could be very important to someone for reasons all their own. For example, on my first trip to Singapore, I wondered about ground transportation; should I take a bus or taxi from the airport? How far is it? What about customs? Did I select the right hotel? How about the better restaurants? Do they really execute people for chewing gum? What I needed was coaching from someone who was familiar with Singapore. Getting these questions answered might take hours on the Internet but the right person could walk me through the necessary steps in a matter of minutes Christian Computing Magazine January 2007

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Illumio allows users to create their own profile describing their area of expertise. However, analysis of the user hard drive is more useful since we tend to forget some of the really useful data that has been filed and forgotten. Its important to note that the analysis does not leave the users computer and is not stored on a server or a database by the supplier, as is the case with search information stored by Google, Yahoo or Microsoft. Once the analysis is performed and matched with the question, the user is contacted and asked if he or she wants to respond to the inquiry. If the question relates to suspension bridge building and engineering the query, along with the name of the person asking will be revealed. But the experts name is not revealed until he or she accepts the question. It is important to note that nothing happens until the expert user agrees to the contact and that is done on a case-by-case basis controlled only by the user. The expert user is always protected until all parties agree upon the connection. If the initial response does not work out and connection is not made, then the question will go to the next expert on the list for that particular topic. Contact is not always made in an instant or on a first try but the results are worth waiting for. If youve wanted to become a search engine optimization expert, Google will not tell you. But you can bet there are lots of people out there who can walk through all the tricks of the trade and they will be on Illumio. Illumio has plans to form groups of individuals who are interested in a particular topic, hobby or vocation. In so doing, they will be able to consult each other with regularity to share information in their mutual area of interest. Where else will you find people who get excited about organic gardening? How about church planting? Worth noting is CEO Gilmores point that individual search data will not be kept and stored by the company unlike the big three who keep troves of data on your search habits. The scary thing about storage of personal data is that new laws permit this data to be shared with a third party for legal purposes. Be very careful about what you search on. It is being stored in your personal file at Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. If youre into research on the building of atomic bombs for a hobby, you might consider the switch to quilting. Tacit Software plans to make Illumio available to individual users for free. The business model calls for the charging of commercial companies. Searching the brains of experts on a subject is an interesting proposition to say the least. It seems ripe with possibility. A beguiling thought, this matter of accumulating knowledge instantly. Knowledge. Weve been conditioned to think that with knowledge there is a connection to wisdom. In fact we think knowledge is wisdom. We confuse the two. How many Ph.D.s do you know that have difficulty applying wisdom in direct proportion to their knowledge? Often knowledge comes without wisdom and that is a terrible curse. Knowledge has been one of the pursuits of man throughout all of history but to what end? Adam and Eve were doing fine until the tempter said that they could have more knowledge. Well they got knowledge and with it came the condemnation of the race. Im not saying ignorance is bliss but the Scriptures make clear that knowledge by itself puffs up. Almost 3,000 years ago Solomon warned about the human dilemma created by the pursuit of knowledge in and of itself. Accumulating facts in the mind leads to disappointment and disillusionment. Yet this remains the life experience of so many. Solomon writes, Because in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow.(Ecclesiastes 1:8) Lets be clear about Solomons conclusions: Fear God and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing (Ecclesiastes 12:13). In other words, listen to God, rather than yourself. It is your duty. As a former Marine, I take that seriously. Unfortunately, there is little hope we will be generating code anytime soon that will create instant wisdom. In the meantime we have Illumio. Christian Computing Magazine January 2007 35

Higher Power With Kevin Kevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.org Purcell

Zondervan Mobile Web Site

ast month I wrote about my use of a PocketPC device in my pastoral ministry. I received the following letter from Jonathan Peterson of Zondervan.
reader and read the new content. I reviewed Zondervans Mobile Internet site at the above address. It is exactly like Zondervans Avantgo channel. So this review is applicable to both.

I just finished reading your Mobile Computing article in the Dec. issue of CCM. Thanks for sharing how you use your mobile devices in your ministry and personal life. Im writing to make sure you know about Zondervans mobile activity. We offer availability to mobile users through Wi-Fi as well as AvantGo. You can access our mobile website at www.zondervan.com/mobile ... Please let me know what you think of our mobile service. And tell me any suggestions you might have at any time to improve it. Thanks! Happy New Year! Jonathan Petersen, ZONDERVAN. I decided to check out the site and give it a brief review for this months article.

What You Will Find

Once you point your mobile device to the site or open Avantgo, you will see a list of links. This week there is an interview with world renowned author and preacher, John R. W. Stott. Since this is entitled weekly interview I assume it will change each week. What I liked is the length; most mobile readers are not going to have an hour to read so there are three short questions. I like that, but you may want more. The rest of the list is as follows: + Todays Bible Verse + Todays Bible Passage + Complete Bible Reading Schedule + Get the NIV & TNIV Bibles for Your Mobile Device + Todays Church Word + Todays Church History Milestone + Church Leader Briefing (mobile edition) + Featured Book Excerpt + Emergency Information + Mobile Links Clicking on the verse link returned a scripture verse one could quickly read for Christian Computing Magazine

Zondervan Mobile Web Site

Zondervans Mobile site can be connected to directly, via a web enabled device, or through Avantgos useful web aggregator, which is available in both Palm and PocketPC versions. I have used Avantgo go for a number of years and find it useful. You download the client software and install it on your device. Then, whenever you sync your device with your PC it goes online and downloads all the channels that you subscribe to. It is a useful way of using the web, even if you do not have net access while away from your PC. Avantgo channels include everything from sermons to sports scores. You can get tech news or restaurant lists. It is not a Christian service, so there is also some content that would be offensive to some. But the same can be said of TV, the newspaper or your local book store. Once you have synced your device, you can fire up the Avantgo 36 January 2007

inspiration or as a suggested memory verse. I had a problem with the Todays Bible Passage link and Complete Bible Reading Schedule link. You do not get the scripture directly in your browser or Avantgo client. You could simply fire up a bible study program and read it, but since it is a link I clicked it. It sent me to non-mobile-friendly site. I wish it generated a reading that is friendly to the small screen. The Bible Reading Plans link took me to Zondervans web site. I clicked on one of the listed plans which offered to send me a PDF file. Not all mobile readers will have a PDF reader installed (one is available at www.adobe.com). I wish this had been a mobile friendly list of bible readings that could either linked to the actual scripture text or a list of passages that I could then open in my bible program, or even read in my actual Bible. The next couple of links were interesting. One returns a word for the day, which gives a random word from The Concise Dictionary of the Christian Tradition, a Zondervan Publication. The Church History Milestone link returned an item of info from Timeline Charts of the Western Church by Susan Lynn Peterson. The blurb said, 1988 The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (www.elca.org) is formed through the merger of the Lutheran Church in America, the American Lutheran Church, and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches. I assume this will include information from recent as well as older events. The CHURCH LEADER BRIEFING link takes you to the most recent copy of that online newsletter, which is comprised of selected and edited news bulletins from a variety of reporting sources attributed to each story. This newsletter was filled with interesting and informative articles. Did you know that sex-selection abortion is becoming a worldwide problem and that some in the UN are considering a ban on all abortions? I didnt, until I read this newsletter. Another link is a short quote from a Featured Book. This weeks excerpt came from Denise Georges Cultivating a Forgiving Heart: Forgiveness Frees You to Flourish. The last two links in the list are a little out of place, but might also be the reason you return. One is a list of emergency information like first aid sites, a list of important documents everyone must have, and places to give blood, among others. The final link is a list of other useful mobile links. The list is extensive, including everything from locations of hotspots (places to wirelessly connect to the Internet) and news sites. I began to randomly click links and all were mobile sites.

Conclusions
Zondervans Mobile site is a nice addition to your Mobile Favorites list. I added it to my Treo. I do, however, think with some additions to the home page, it could also become a great portal site to serve as my browsers startup Home page. If it had a place to search the Bible like the sight listed in the Mobile Links then it would be more useful. I also would put links to weather, news, and sports right below the Featured Book Excerpt and move the emergency link to the page with the long list of mobile links. Finally, I would put a Google Mobile search box right at the top of the page with two links below it; one for the Internet and another for the Zondervan site. This is, after all, an ad for Zondervan. It is a very useful ad, but an ad nonetheless.

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music and multimedia

Terry Wilhite - ccmag@terrywilhite.com

Podcasting: Mainstream Audio

esearch shows that while podcasting is extremely popular nationwide, only a fraction of churches are using the technology. In fact, many are still unclear what this audio format entails. This month we begin a three part series that will provide you the insight to not only begin podcasting at your church but will help you market your show.
An audio file residing on a web site is not necessarily a podcast. Special coding makes it a podcast, but for now lets say a podcast is a compressed audio file that is often downloaded and played via the Internet as an mp3. Just as one can use the iTunes software to find, download and sync ones music with their iPod, now the application will allow you to do the same for Podcasts. As new editions of ones Podcasts are updated, iTunes software can be set to automatically download the new shows. To set the record straight, a Podcast can be loaded onto any mp3 player that has space to accommodate it. Further, there are other software applications besides iTunes that allow users to subscribe to Podcasts. How can you create a Podcast and encourage listeners to take advantage? In this three part series, this month we plan to demystify Podcasts and help you see how easy it is to create your own. We also encourage you to share this article with your pastor and help him catch the vision for this ministry; in addition to those in your congregation or on staff that can make this new audio ministry happen. Later well show you how simple it is to add a Podcast to your web site and let listeners know how to subscribe to it through RSS (Really Simple Syndication). For no extra charge, well also cover some marketing tips that will help you produce a show so enticing that listeners want to come back again and again to grab your latest Podcast. has a fairly speedy processor (check the requirements of the audio software you choose), available hard drive space and audio recording software. One of the best free audio recording applications that Ive discovered is Audacity (http:// audacity.sourceforge.net/). My personal favorite is Adobe Audition (http:// www.adobe.com) with a street price of around $150. Most computers will allow you to plug a microphone straight into the computer. Typically when the computer mic in jack is used, it means a lower quality microphone is being used. Using my Tascam US122, an analog to digital (A/D) interface, Im able to use my studio quality microphones that require phantom power. Another great tool is Samsons USB Microphone. For about eighty-bucks, this studio quality microphone delivers very good audio and serves as an A/D interface using the USB port. Typically audio software will capture your audio as a native .wav file if youre on a PC or an .aiff formatted file if youre using a Mac. In the case of Audacity, you can even get the software to capture in the mp3 Christian Computing Magazine

Creating An Mp3
Creating an MP3 is easy. You probably already have about ninetynine percent of what you need. The first requirement is a computer that 38 January 2007

format. Explore the software to find how you can reduce the sampling quality. For voice programs alone, youll want to record in mono at a KBPS (kilobytes per second) rate thats fairly low. (For reference, 168 is close to CD quality).You can fiddle around with the setting to adjust the sound quality to your liking. The objective of the game is that the end result is decent-sounding audio at a file size that can be easily delivered through the Internet. In summary, heres the formula for creating an MP3 file: computer, mic, audio recording software = mp3 file. Without debate, you should capture (sample) the digital audio using as high of a sampling rate as you can for the same reason you shoot pictures in as high of resolution as possible. The thinking here is that you can always reduce the resolution, but you cant increase it, once captured. In most professional caliber audio software, converting a .wav to an MP3 is as easy as choosing SAVE AS mp3 under the FILE menu. Once you have all your high resolution .wav or .aiff captured and mixed, save a copy of your show in the native format and put it aside for safe keeping. Then, experiment with the final sound quality using a copy of your newly produced show by adjusting the sampling output. Even with DSL or cable, productions of any size can require several minutes of download time, not to mention mp3 player space. Be considerate. How do you add music to your show, such as a very nicely produced introduction? Most audio software will allow you to copy audio from a CD and convert it to a .wav file or mp3, a process called ripping. A ripped or extracted audio cut from a CD would simply be inserted into the audio project as an additional track. Further, the audio software that Ive mentioned allows you to record and mix multiple tracks. Audacity doesnt make mixing nearly as easy as Adobe Audition. Any time that I discuss computer-based audio recording, I always have to warn that you must de-fragment your hard drive before recording. This is not an option. On a PC, simply go under the Start Menu, find your System Tools folder and youll see your disk de-fragmenter application. Run it. This process is similar to watching grass grow. I start the de-fragmenting process just before I retire for the evening and a hard drive that has contiguous hard drive space available will be ready for me by morning. If you dont defrag, you will hear snap, crackle and pop as the software looks for plenty of room to place sampled sound. Another warning that I always give: abide by all copyright laws! We, as Christian communicators, should be setting the example. If the music or sound bites are not royalty free, dont use them. Most amazingly, you can produce an MP3 very easily and inexpensively. What makes an mp3 a Podcast is the fact that is published to a web site and on that web site is XML language that says, Hey, theres a Podcast here for the grabbing. Thats what we will show you how to do next month and you will find that process is as easy as creating an MP3. By the way, it currently costs nothing to list your Podcast at iTunes. If youre church is already Podcasting, Id love to know and to tell others about it. Drop me a line. Terry Wilhite is a music and multimedia specialist. He welcomes your e-mails at ccmag@terrywilhite.com Christian Computing Magazine January 2007 39

Information security
Ben Woelk - ben.woelk@gmail.com

A Christian Parents Guide to Social Networking Sites

Parenting in the Cyber Age

y wife and I are Christian parents of two college students. We have the same concerns about the dangers our kids face online as most of you do. In my professional life, I am a technical communicator at a good-sized technology university. I am responsible for making staff and students aware of information security issueswhich has probably made me even more paranoid about the dangers out there on the Internet!
This fall I took part in a K-12th Grade Cyber Security Awareness initiative that gave me an opportunity to talk to parents about online issues, and listen to their questions. Over the next few months, I will be addressing some of the concerns that they raised. I am also interested in what you would like to know about security issues. Ohone other thingmy goal is to make these topics understandable for the average layperson. You do not need to be technical to learn how to stay safe online and to keep your kids safe! they intend to use it. Make sure that you and your kids understand how that information may be shared. ProfilesEncourage your kids to guard their information. Keep private information private. Ask them to restrict access to their profiles, when possible, to friends only. You may find that its hard for teenagers to take this seriously and understand the risks. Help them choose screen names carefully. Help them choose a reasonably complex passwordat least 8 characters using a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols (when allowed). BlogsEncourage your kids to not share personal information, including their ages, schools, addresses, phone numbers, and parent and sibling names. Make sure theyre not posting information about their social plans. (Dont give someone who is cyber stalking them information about where theyll be at a given time.) CommentsAsk your kids to approve Christian Computing Magazine

Social networking sites

In the last couple of years, teens and young adults have flocked to social networking sites or blogging sites, such as MySpace and Facebook. This has given them opportunities to meet and communicate with people of similar interests, share information, gather numerous friends, share pictures and videos, and even promote the gospel. (Most of these social networking sites are inappropriate for preteens. Although MySpace and other sites require members to be at least 13, enforcement is next to impossible.)

Risks and Preventive Measures

Sharing Private information - It is extremely easy for unscrupulous people to gain access to you and your childrens private information. When your kids use social networking sites, read the sites privacy policy. It tells you what information the owners of the web site collect, and how 40 January 2007

comments by their friends before they allow them to be posted. Their friends may be less than careful with both their own and your kids information. Inappropriate language and pictures - College admissions offices and potential employers have begun looking at what kind of information prospective students and employees post online, especially in social networking sites. If they see what appear to be character issues portrayed, your teens may not be accepted for their college or job of choice. Making themselves a target - People can pose as anybody online. That 15-year-old friend might be a 45-yearold male looking for company. Sexual predators use social networking sites to identify and engage potential victims. Identity thieves look for private information to use for their own purposes. Its forever - There is another big problem most of us do not think about. Information we post online NEVER really goes away. Even when you delete a blog entry or a picture, it is cached somewhere on the Internet. There are sites on the Internet that specialize in archiving other Web sites.

What you can do

Talk to your kids. Ask them to help you set up your own profile and page on the same sites they use. Subscribe to their blogs and read what they are posting. Respond to their posts. Look at the pictures they have chosen to share. Find out who their friends are and see what kind of information they share. If you have a family computer, try to put it in an open area where you can see your kids online activities. Keep it in the light. If your family has multiple computers sharing an internet connection through a router, you may want to consider restricting the times their computers can connect to the Internet. Restricting access to reasonable hours helps ensure that they (or you) are not spending all night online. My philosophy as a Christian parent has been to teach my children how to interact with the world while maintaining their Christian walk. Its worked well for us. Despite your best efforts, your children are going to encounter these dangers at some time. In my experience, you cannot prevent kids from doing something they are intent on doing. Lets make sure they know how to protect themselves now, before theyre in an environment where we arent there to supervise or teach these lessons.

Useful Links
Social Networking Sites: A Parents Guide http://www.onguardonline.gov/socialnetworking.html Social Networking Sites: Safety Tips for Tweens and Teens http://www.onguardonline.gov/socialnetworking_youth.html Rules N Tools for Social Networking Sites: A Guide for Parents, Guardians and Educators http://www.protectkids.com/parentsafety/socialnetworking.htm Wiredsafety.orgBlog Sites, Profile Sites, Diary Sites or Social-Networking Sites http://www.wiredsafety.org/internet101/blogs.html Always Use Protection: A Teens Guide to Safe Computing http://www.alwaysuseprotection.com/

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