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: Delivery address: PO Box 319 Belton MO 64012 311 Manor Dr. Belton, MO 64012

Applying Tomorrows Technology to Todays Ministry

Volume 19 October 2007 No. 10

Cover Story - Page 8

by Nick Nicholaou by Steve Hewitt by Dale Durnell
by Steve Hewitt

Phone: (816) 331-8142 FAX: 800-456-1868 Copyright 2007 by Christian Computing, Inc.

Special Feature - Page 13

How To Evaluate CMS Part 2

Special Feature - Page 34

Editorial

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.

PocketBible for Windows Revisited

Ministry Tech Institute Opens Enrollment

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Page 3 Page 4 Page 7

CCMag NewsBreif Press Releases Inside the Box

Benchmarking: Fact and Fiction Part 2

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by Donald Stratton

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Wordsearch Word Nick at Church Tech Talk

What is the Best Value in Bible Software Today?

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by Bob Dasal

Page 20 Page 21 Page 24 Page 27 Page 29 Page 38 Page 41 Page 43

Managing Security vs Controlling Users

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by Nick Nicholaou by Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson

Windows Weirdness

ACS Ideas to Impact Internet Ministry

Premiering an Online Ministry

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by ACS Technologies by Walt Wilson

The Virtual World Dawning

Higher Power with Kevin Handheld Devices

Corrections, Clarifications, Commendation, and Challenges

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by Kevin A Purcell by Jim VanDuzer by Scott Howard

Better Than an iPhone?! Blog Sites and More

Scott Howards HotPic

Articles that are highlighed are provided by our partners

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October 2007

Christian Computing Magazine

editorial
Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com

Ministry Tech Institute

Opens Enrollment
ast week Ministry Technology Institute (MTI) opened their enrollment! I am very excited to see this new ministry start, and am honored to be a part of what God is doing with MTI.(www.ministry-tech. com) If you havent visited the site lately, I encourage you to do so in order to check out the faculty, advisory board, and the courses that are being offered. Earlier this month, I had the privilege to attend the IT Roundtable held at Church of the Resurrection. During

one of the discussions, I asked a leading IT leader what he thought of the MTI and their certification program. He confessed that his first thought was, great, another certificate program. He shared with me many of the certification programs he had taken in the past that prepared him for his present service. We talked about the Microsoft Certification program as well as many others that are available by Apple, IBM, Universities, and even certification programs offered by some of the top CMS companies that enable IT professionals to use their programs and services to their fullest. I appreciated his input because it helped me realize that what MTI has to offer is unique. There is little doubt that most of those serving churches in the field of IT have some training in the area of IT. However, most of that training was to prepare people to serve business needs in the secular world. Granted churches are a business, and many of their IT needs, network maintenance, backup strategies, security issues, etc., would be the same for a church as it would be for any business. The reason church leaders need what MTI has to offer is because our curriculum and certification program centers on the merging of technology with ministry and provides training and information on subjects that relate to the specific IT needs of a church! I believe a churchs technology needs go beyond network maintenance and other IT duties. I believe many people with technology and programming skills have developed software and services that churches can implement to enhance and expand their present ministry. Furthermore, I believe that MTI can provide a philosophy that merges ministry with technology, and provide something that is unique to the needs of the church and not taught by any other secular certification program. The Ministry Tech Certificate that MTI has to offer is not just another certificate program. I think those that take the course and graduate will be prepared to work together with the ministry and worship staff to further the Kingdom of God. One of the things I heard from people at the IT Roundtable was a need to feel that what they were doing was really a part of ministry. Some expressed the opinion that they

choose to use their IT skills in a church setting instead of taking secular employment because they are Christians and wanted to be involved with ministry. Yet, they found themselves disconnected from the very thing they were seeking. It is my belief that MTI will provide the training to enable those serving churches in the area of IT to partner with ministry, outreach, discipleship and missions, in exciting ways! As I have said, our enrollment is now open. Soon our first group of students will begin orientation and start taking the online classes! I am very excited about going through this next year with our charter class! Together We Serve Him,

Steve Hewitt Editor-in-Chief

Christian Computing Magazine

October 2007

Google Docs Opens In Beta Visit Google and you will see a new option, Google Docs. This is the promised presentation software that will allow you to create PowerPoint types of presentations with text, graphics, etc., set to navigate slide-byslide. The big difference between this and PowerPoint? It is web-based. Now you dont have to worry about taking a computer with you on the road, or even software. If your destination has an Internet connection, you can call up your presentation from the Internet and run it at any location. This new service is FREE. However, it doesnt claim to be as powerful as PowerPoint, so an updated version will be made available for business and university use at a charge of $50 a year. For more information, visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20829609/ Should Microsoft Force Updates? Microsoft updates is in the news for two reasons lately. It has been determined that Microsoft did a forced update to everyone a bit ago, and tried to do it secretly. You can set your computer to allow updates from Microsoft, but ONLY if you are notified and approve. Microsoft sent an update out recently to FIX a problem with the updating portion of their operating system. They felt that the fix was necessary, or a bug could have caused your computer to not upgrade, even if they had requested it. So, in what they believed was the interest to the general public, they pushed a secret update to all of our computers. The question is, do we want to allow a company that kind of power? Recently Microsoft also discovered a security leak in their Instant Message service. They caused the service to be suspended by all of their users until they uploaded and installed the patch. Many users are upset that they could no longer use the product until they upgraded the program. Should Microsoft have this kind of power? For more information, visit http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/331579_windowsupdates14.html Viral Marketing To The Rescue Viral marketing is a term that has come about as a result of the Internet. If you send something out to a small group of people, and they have a motivation to send it to their friends, the email can spread until it accomplishes its goal. Normally this is to market a product or service. However, recently a woman found a cell phone on her way into an Ohio State Football game. Rather than turn it into the Lost and Found, she viewed some of the pictures on the camera. After choosing one of the current pictures, she emailed it to 14 of her friends who were also Ohio football fans, and asked them to send it to others that they know were fans. After the email went from person-to-person, a couple of hundred people later, the person that lost the phone received the information and was able to contact the lady and recover the phone! Way to go, viral marketing! For more information, visit http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5mf5XzT69eSuQWePtwj-s9O4SxA Police May Soon Equip Sticky GPS Transmitter Devices to End High Speed Chases Police in LA are testing a new device that can be attached to the front grill of their police cars. Using a consol within the unit to aim the cannon a police officer could shoot a car with a sticky GPS transmitting device, allowing the police to back off from high-speed car chases and track the cars location covertly. It is still in the testing phase, but it is expected to be in use by 2008. For more information, visit http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/magazine/15-10/st_gps AT&T Suspends Parental Control On Phones AT&T had a service that allowed parents the ability to limit the amount of time a child could talk on their cell phone. However, as a safety feature, the child could always call 911. However, it was discovered that if, 4
October 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

after a child made such a call and lost connection, the authorities could not call the phone back if the child had reached their minute limit. Since this poses a serious danger for the child if there actually is an emergency, the service has been suspended. I wonder if AT&T is going to pick up the bill if the child talks over the limit they promised parents they could set? For more information, visit http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/phones/2007-09-26-att-cellphone-control_N.htm According to Forbes, GodTube Site Fastest Growing Site on Internet Most of us have heard about YouTube, but GodTubes reputation is growing fast. Godtube is a Christian alternative to YouTube and is a user-generated content site that focuses on Christian-friendly videos and filters out profane or sexual references. The site is attracting over 3 million users a month. Check it out at www.godtube.com . MN Woman Order To Pay Nearly Half a Million After Loosing Copyrighted Music Case Someone finally went to trial instead of settling out of court in the battle over downloading music files. Jamie Thomas was sued by a combination of 10 recording companies for allowing people to download songs from her computer. She claimed she was innocent, and instead of settling out of court as over 26,000 Americans have done so far, she decided to fight. She knew her attorney fees would be higher than the cost to fight, yet she felt strongly that she was innocent. The jury felt differently and found her guilty and ordered her to pay $222,000 for sharing 24 songs. Because in copyright cases like this, she will also be ordered to pay the expenses for the other sides attorneys, her costs are expected to reach over half a million dollars. It seems she lost credibility because she claimed to have replaced her hard drive, at the suggestion of Best Buy, in 2004, but records showed she replaced it in 2005. This seemed to appear that she was seeking to destroy evidence. In addition, it seems her attorney was not able to establish reasonable doubt about how the songs might have been downloaded from her IP address. The recording companies clearly showed that the songs in question were downloaded by people from Ms Thomas computer. I still hold that, with the proper information, reasonable doubt could be established since no evidence was presented about Malware that allows others outside to access your computer. In addition, I personally know of two different churches that were hacked from outside, allowing people to download copyrighted materials from the churchs computers. It can happen, and you can be innocent. For more information, visit http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Oct04/0,4670,DownloadingMusic,00.html Will Businesses Create Virtual Workplaces? Cisco and IBM are two examples of companies that are exploring virtual workplaces for business meetings. Since major businesses have employees scattered across the world, getting together for meetings has been costly. Of course, email, IM, and conference calls help to take the cost of travel down when people need to get together, but many find these methods less than personal. So, the future of virtual meetings may mean people meet in virtual worlds, such as Second Life. Each employee can create their own avatar, and virtually walk into a room and sit down. It is easy in such meetings to actually talk using programs designed for verbal communications in virtual world games, such as TeamSpeak, and people would have the ability to share papers, graphs and charts, etc., at a specific time. For more information, visit http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_7134583 1,500 Women Walk Across America In Support Of Those With Breast Cancer Well, Sort Of In order to help raise money to support those with breast cancer, a walk covering 31 different cities has been established. Famous women, such as Martha Stewart, British actress Lynn Redgrave, actress Mena Suvari and Jorja Fox of the CSI television show have joined the walk. However, the walk is virtual! Women can go to http://www.galtogalwalk.org and sign up for just $3. You create an avatar and join the walk, and your $3 donation goes to the cause. You can also log in and look up your friends and see where they are virtually in their walk. It is hoped that over 1 million women will join the walk. For more information, visit http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=walking-for-good-cause-wi&chanId=sa003&modsrc=reuters
Christian Computing Magazine October 2007

New Reporting on Websites With Malware Show That of the 200,000 Websites, Half Would Be Considered Trusted Most people are aware that their computers can be infected with Malware as a result of visiting a website. Most people feel they are safe, as long as they stick with what they believe are trusted sites. However, a new study conducted by Google and StopBadware, showed that half of the sites that contained Malware would be considered trusted legitimate sites that are unaware they have been hacked into and are infecting the computer users that visit their site. For more information, visit http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/100307-webs-dark-corners.html iTunes Under Attack as Digital Music Venues Expand iTunes is king in the area of digital music sales. However, it appears that this is about to change as several different moves are underway to create new services that not only will compete with iTunes, but decrease iTunes content. Last month, Amazon.com opened their online music store. They were offering songs without DRM for 89 and 99 cents. NBC has already reported that they are pulling their shows from iTunes and are planning to offer them on their site for free (with commercials) because iTunes would not work with them. Now, Universal has announced they are going to launch a new music site to compete with iTunes because they are unhappy with the way iTunes distributes their music. They claim they are in talks with Sony and other recording companies and have their support. One of their biggest complaints is that iTunes insists on charging the same amount for each song, regardless if it is a hit, a new song, or an old song. In addition, Universal says that their new service will explore a new business model on how to pay for music, so that the music itself can be offered for free. Universal is also unhappy with DRM and the way iTunes forces people to use their iPod. They believe other MP3 players, such as Microsofts Zune, have to compete in an unfair marketplace since DRM songs purchased from iTunes must run on an iPod. For more information, visit http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_Apple_iTunes.html TiVo Announces New Subscription Music Service With Rhapsody America In addition, TiVo has announced that subscribers with broadbandconnected set-top boxes will be able to listen to music streamed over the Internet from Rhapsodys service. The service, now part of Rhapsody America, a new joint venture between RealNetworks Inc. and Viacom Inc.s MTV Networks, and offers more than 4 million songs. This service will be offered as a subscription service. You pay a monthly fee of $12.95 and you can download and play all the music you want. For more information, visit http://ap.google.com/article/ ALeqM5g75mvROobhzGEk5Z4BYi9sx_mrBQD8S5GM580 Apple Announces Price Reduction for Songs on iTunes Apple has decided to reduce the prices for their DRM free songs. They had been charging a higher price of $1.29 for DRM songs that could be played on other MP3 players other than Apples iPod. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said the price cut was not in response to competition. For more information, visit http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_Apple_iTunes.html 6
October 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

Press Releases
www.WORDsearchMedia.com is Sponsoring Film Fest
AUSTIN, TX Todays pastors are using visual illustrations on a regular basis. While many churches have in house media teams to produce the videos, many depend on others that produce videos sermon illustrations. WORDsearchMedia.com has collaborated with todays top producers to provide pastors the best in video sermon illustrations. At WORDsearchMedia. com videos are searchable by topic, title, and scripture reference. To help amateurs and new producers share their work WORDsearchMedia.com is sponsoring Film Fest. The first Film Fest features video sermon illustrations. Full details and rules on entering Film Fest are available on the WORDsearchMedia. com web site. There is still time to enter and video entries are now available to view on the web site. Beginning on November 1 and running through November 15 people will be able to vote for their favorite video entry. The three videos receiving the most votes will be Film Fest winners. WORDsearchMedia.com will announce prizewinners on November 20. First Place receives $1000, Second Place receives $600, and Third Place receives $400. Preview the video entries on the www.WORDsearchMedia.com web site today.

Truepath Christian Web Hosting Unveils Web Design Plans for Churches

ESCONDIDO, Calif. - September 6, 2007 - Truepath, a Christian web hosting industry leader, today announced the immediate availability of three web design plans for the Christian web hosting market. "In regards to web design, we've come to realize that Christian organizations have two major requirements. 1) a smaller budget in comparison to for-profit organizations and 2) a desire for a professional web presence. Our web design plans deliver on both of these requirements", said Gil Vidals, CEO of Truepath. In order to keep the costs down Truepath partnered with Monster Templates, which supplies over 10,000 ready made designs that Truepath customers can choose from. The three web design plans, 'Genesis', 'Wisdom', and 'Revelation' range from a basic, five-page web site to a complex content management system (CMS) using Joomla. The customer can tailor the costs by customizing the plan to meet their needs. To find out more about Truepath web hosting options, contact them today at (760) 480-8791, or visit their web site at www.truepath.com.

Churches, Nonprofit Agencies Monitor Resources, Reduce Benevolence Fraud and Duplication of Services Through CharityTracker Community Assistance Network

FLORENCE, Al., October 11, 2007 - Charitable organizations such as churches, faith-based nonprofits, and social agencies have long since recognized the difficulties involved in allocating resources to those in need. Some organizations have even dropped benevolence programs altogether because the process of monitoring giving, avoiding fraud, and working with other community organizations to provide meaningful help to those truly in need can be extremely challenging. With a sincere desire to help ministries translate their vision into action, Simon Solutions, Inc. (http://www.simonsolutions.com/) has built a unique, simple-to-use online assistance tracking networkCharityTracker (http://www.charitytracker.net/) to enable charitable organizations to communicate both locally and nationally in order to share resources, stay informed, identify potential fraud, and conserve valuable time and energy. The United Way of Northwest Alabama has been using CharityTracker, together with over 30 other nonprofit organizations including local churches, Salvation Army, American Red Cross, nonprofit charities, and government agencies, to avoid resource duplication, cut down on fraudulent requests, and unify the communitys effort to help those in need. Comments United Way Executive Director, Tina Scott, This technology is the first of its kind and we are excited to accomplish what other organizations cant: CharityTracker is helping to break down barriers; if someone has a need, it doesnt have to stay within boundaries, we can tap into the network and find other communities that have available resources to meet the need. It helps to bring us all together. Any verifiable 501c organization, agency, or religious organization with a benevolence program can purchase CharityTracker, which operates as a secure online network that organizations subscribe to and utilize over the Internet. There is no software to download, making this the perfect application for sharing information over multiple organizations and locations. Weve witnessed the important role that Internet technology can play in the nonprofit community, and have seen that it can provide incredibly valuable ways for individuals and charitable organizations to work together for a greater good, says Mike Simon, President of Simon Solutions. Our goal is to serve those who are in the business of helping others, and provide them with technology applications that embody community and allow them to have greater impact. To implement CharityTracker for your organization, email info@charitytracker.net. Christian Computing Magazine October 2007

CharityTracker.net Helps Charitable Organizations Share Resources and Stay Informed

cover story
Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com

Annual Church and

CCMags

he number of church management software providers is growing! When the personal computer was introduced these programs grew in number to 262! Then some merged and consolidated, and some went out of business, reducing the number to only 34. But with the advent of hosted solutions available via the Internet, the number has dramatically increased again to about 70!
Over the last couple of years we have heard from readers that the list was growing so large it was becoming a less valuable tool. They asked us to narrow the focus and shorten the list. So the committee that gives oversight to this article made some significant adjustments to this years qualifying criteria. Only 26 qualified! While wed like to say that those listed are the best of the breed, some who didnt qualify this year offer quality solutions. Those on this list are solution providers who are actively developing their solutions and have marketplace growth that suggests satisfied customers. We also made certain that new providers (those less than three years old) qualified. This gives them a chance to compete with the big guys and keeps all of the providers on their toes as these up-and-comers sometimes develop new approaches that could benefit many churches and ministries. Church Management Software Defined Some time ago Steve Hewitt, Editorin-Chief of Christian Computing Magazine, labeled the software category tailored to meet the needs of churches as Church Management Software, or CMS. There is also software to help the many ministries that arent churches, yet need to track similar data, which we call Donor Management Software. Following is a well-researched list of all CMS and DMS providers at the time of this writing.

Donor Management Software Overview!

Fund Accounting Churches and ministries exist in a unique accounting niche that most software (and Why Church Management Software? The solution providers on the following pages meet the sophisticated even CPAs!) cant help with: fund accounting. But many of these packages can help in needs churches and ministries have. Tracking more than just names, this area. addresses, and phone numbers, many of these also track family relationships, spiritual gifts, talents, interests, attendance, nursery security, contri- One of a ministrys most vulnerable areas is finance. We hear often of churches butions, fundraising campaigns, and more. and ministries that have been embezzled Church and ministry offices can be stressful places due to the many by a trusted team member. One of the best deadlines that must be met by an administrative staff typically smaller protections is an accounting system that has a than what would be found in a similar-sized secular business. Church good audit trail that tracks the detail of every management software, if well written, can be a soothing balm. If its powerful, capable, fast, and stable, the ministry team can rely on it to help transaction and cannot be altered in any way. For these reasons, some CMS providers have them get the most possible work done quickly and with minimal stress.

October 2007

Christian Computing Magazine

written their own accounting software. Feature Chart Weve tried to give you as comprehensive a list as possible in a quick format of those database and accounting functions ministry teams request most. Some regularly requested features are met by all solution providers, so we removed those from the chart to help highlight differences. Weve also given you information on how to reach each provider, how long theyve been serving the ministry community in this way, how many ministries they currently serve, their technical support hours, and how often they update their software. All of the information was provided by the providers. The chart is a compilation of unaudited responses from the software providers. The symbol is used on those options they said are currently available and that they provide directly. The symbol is used on those needs they meet through an outside (third party) source. Happy Hunting! Shop wisely. We counsel all prospective buyers to do their due diligence and check with current users of the software. Ask questions like: Does the software do what was promised? Is their technical support team capable and avail able? If you were faced with the same decision today, what would you do differently? Feel free to contact any of the providers listed. They would love to help you in your ministry. Happy hunting! Nick Nicholaou is president of MBS, a consulting firm specializing in church and ministry computer networks, operational policies, and CPA services. You can reach Nick via email (nick@mbsinc.com) and may want to check out his firms web site (www.mbsinc.com) and his unofficial blog at http://ministry-it.blogspot.com.

Acts Group Phone: (877) 564-8300 Email: drmiller@actsgroup.net Web: www.actsgroup.net Company Founded in 2003 Years Marketing CMS: 1 Ministries Currently Using: 15 Number on Team: 8 Tech Support Hours: Online 247 Last Major Release: 9/2007 Updates per Year: Ongoing Via Web Blackbaud Phone: (800) 443-9441 Email: solutions@blackbaud.com Web: www.blackbaud.com Company Founded in 1981 Years Marketing CMS: 15 Ministries Currently Using: 1000 Number on Team: 900 Tech Support Hours: Online 247 Last Major Release: 8/2007 Updates per Year: 2 By The Book Phone: (800) 554-9116 Email: info@bythebook.com Web: www.bythebook.com Company Founded in 1991 Years Marketing CMS: 16 Ministries Currently Using: 1125 Number on Team: 5 Tech Support Hours: 8a-5p (-12p F) Central Last Major Release: 6/2006 Updates per Year: Ongoing Via Web C.A.A. Ministries Phone: (706) 864-4055 Email: mike@caaministries.org Web: www.caaministries.org Company Founded in 2005 Years Marketing CMS: 2 Ministries Currently Using: 250 Number on Team: 4 Tech Support Hours: 8a-7p Eastern Last Major Release: 2/2007 Updates per Year: 1 CCIS Church Software Phone: (800) 295-7551 Email: sales@ccissoftware.com Web: www.ccissoftware.com Company Founded in 1981 Years Marketing CMS: 27 Ministries Currently Using: 6487 Number on Team: 60 Tech Support Hours: 8a-5p Eastern Last Major Release: 1/2007 Updates per Year: 2

ACS Technologies Phone: (800) 736-7425 Email: solutions@acstechnologies.com Web: www.acstechnologies.com Company Founded in 1978 Years Marketing CMS: 30 Ministries Currently Using: 23000 Number on Team: 320 Tech Support Hours: 9a-8p (-6p F) Eastern Last Major Release: 8/2007 Updates per Year: Ongoing Via Web Christian Computing Magazine

October 2007

Church & Donor Management Systems

2007
Software is Focused for Church Management Software is Focused for Parachurch Donor Management Congregation / Donor Database Can Separately Track Multiple Congregations Can Move a Family Member w/Their Data Intact Individual and Family Photos Prints Color Photo Directories Tracks Individual's Communication Preferences (Mail, Email, Fax, etc) Prints U.S. Postal Bar Codes Certified Postal CASS/PAVE National Change of Address (NCOA) Updates Tracks Contribution of Gifts in Kind Gifts in Kind Can Satisfy Pledge without Setting GIK Value Can Post Gifts Received via Website Can Store Check & Envelope Images Can Reassign Envelope Numbers Statements Can Be Automatically Sent via Email Tracks Attendance Has Security / Check-In Capability Manages Small Groups Facility / Equipment Calendar Scheduler Calendar Scheduler Can Feed Ministry's Website Retreat / Event Registrations with A/R Tracking Can Post Event Registrations Received via Website Bookstore (Inventory / POS) Module General Ledger Automatically Tracks Multiple Fund Balances Automatically Balances Funds when Transferring Between Funds Has a Secure, Unalterable Audit Trail (not just password protected) Can Select Either Fixed (Straight Line) or Variable (Seasonal) Budgeting Graphic Analysis Fixed Assets Tracking (Inventory, Depreciation, Maintenance, etc) Accounts Payable Can Set Up as Either Accrual or Cash Basis Invoices Can Be Automatically Distributed to Expense Accts Annual 1099's Purchase Order Tracking (Authorization Process, Budget & GL Interface) Payroll with Minister's Salary Capabilities (Housing, SECA, etc) Time Clock Interface Payroll ACH Direct Deposit Accrues Vacation & Sick Time Available Vacation Scheduler w/ Ability to Show Composite Schedule All Federal & State Payroll Tax Forms Workers' Comp Audit Can Send Individually-Addressed Bulk Email Email Can Have Attachments Bulk Email is Mail Merge Capable Data Accessible in Real-Time via PDA (Palm, PocketPC, etc) Can be Network Based w/ Multiple Concurrent User Access Intranet / Internet Web Browser Interface Congregants Can Update Contact Info Online Users Can Add / Modify Fields to Database Data is Accessible & Fully Exportable in Multiple Formats Includes Dashboard Field-Level Access / Entry Security Denomination "Editions" Available Runs on Ministry's Local / Internal Server Runs Hosted on Off-Site Hosted Server If Hosted, Server(s) is Geographically Mirrored If Hosted, Server(s) is Multi-Homed to Different Internet Backbones

A CS A Tec ct s G hno Bl ro log ac up ies k By bau Th d C. e B A .A ook CC . M IS ini s CD Ch trie M urch s + So Ch ftw ur c ar Ch h C e ur om ch Co W mun nc in ity d o Co rdi ow Bu ild nn a T s er ec ec D ia tion hno ko Po log Ex nia we y r.c So ce l om lut Fe lera io ns llo te w G sh ro ip up T H Pu ech el pm blis nol Lo ate hin ogie s go T g e s M M chn em an ol b ag og M ers em y S yF hi e o lo p P nt S luti N ck uv .c lus oftw ons er om ar e Pe b S op ys le tem Po D w riv s e e Q rCh n S ui ck urch oftw S ar Sh Bo el oks oftw e by N Sp Sy on are ec ste pr i o V alty ms fit ia Ed S n of iti tw on ar e

CDM+ Phone: (877) 891-4236 Email: sales@cdmplus.com Web: www.cdmplus.com Company Founded in 1986 Years Marketing CMS: 21 Ministries Currently Using: 3600 Number on Team: 20 Tech Support Hours: 8:30a-7p (-5p F) Eastern Last Major Release: 7/2007 Updates per Year: Ongoing Via Web Church Community Builder Phone: (866) 242-1199 Email: solutions@churchcommunitybuilder.com Web: www.churchcommunitybuilder.com Company Founded in 2001 Years Marketing CMS: 7 Ministries Currently Using: 750 Number on Team: 15 Tech Support Hours: 7a-5p Mountain Last Major Release: 8/2007 Updates per Year: 6 Church Windows Phone: (800) 533-5227 Email: info@churchwindows.com Web: www.churchwindows.com Company Founded in 1986 Years Marketing CMS: 22 Ministries Currently Using: 10000 Number on Team: 28 Tech Support Hours: 9a-6p Eastern Last Major Release: 4/2007 Updates per Year: 2 Concordia Technology Solutions Phone: (800) 325-2399 Email: softwaresales@shepherdsstaff.org Web: www.cts.cph.org Company Founded in 1869 Years Marketing CMS: 25 Ministries Currently Using: 7500 Number on Team: 14 Tech Support Hours: 7:30a-5p Central Last Major Release: 4/2007 Updates per Year: 1 ConnectionPower.com Phone: (800) 801-9297 Email: allen@connectionpower.com Web: www.connectionpower.com Company Founded in 2002 Years Marketing CMS: 4 Ministries Currently Using: 3000 Number on Team: 20 Tech Support Hours: 7a-5p Pacific Last Major Release: 8/2007 Updates per Year: Ongoing Via Web Christian Computing Magazine

Diakonia Phone: (800) 325-6642 Email: info@faithfulsteward.com Web: www.faithfulsteward.com Company Founded in 1992 Years Marketing CMS: 13 Ministries Currently Using: 1051 Number on Team: 4 Tech Support Hours: 9a-5p Central Last Major Release: 1/2007 Updates per Year: Varies Excellerate Phone: (888) 371-6878 Email: info@msdweb.com Web: www.excellerate.com Company Founded in 1989 Years Marketing CMS: 10 Ministries Currently Using: 1175 Number on Team: 4 Tech Support Hours: 9a-5p Central Last Major Release: 1/2007 Updates per Year: 3 Fellowship Technologies Phone: (866) 690-1104 Email: sales@fellowshiptech.com Web: www.fellowshiptech.com Company Founded in 2004 Years Marketing CMS: 4 Ministries Currently Using: 620 Number on Team: 59 Tech Support Hours: 6a-10p, 7 Days Central Last Major Release: 5/2007 Updates per Year: Ongoing Via Web Group Publishing Phone: (800) 747-1565 Email: buzzinfo@group.com Web: www.group.com/buzz Company Founded in 1974 Years Marketing CMS: 1 Ministries Currently Using: 70 Number on Team: 4 Tech Support Hours: 8a-5p Mountain Last Major Release: 2/2007 Updates per Year: Ongoing Via Web Helpmate Technology Solutions Phone: (888) 858-3247 Email: sales@helpmate.net Web: www.helpmate.net Company Founded in 1996 Years Marketing CMS: 11 Ministries Currently Using: 1750 Number on Team: 6 Tech Support Hours: 9:30a-5p Eastern Last Major Release: 4/2006 Updates per Year: 1 October 2007

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Logos Management Software Phone: (800) 266-3311 Email: dsmith@logoscms.com Web: www.logoslbe.com Company Founded in 1980 Years Marketing CMS: 27 Ministries Currently Using: 8400 Number on Team: 54 Tech Support Hours: 6a-5p Pacific Last Major Release: 7/2007 Updates per Year: 4 Membership Plus Phone: (888) 459-0078 Email: sales@quickverse.com Web: www.memplushome.com Company Founded in 1988 Years Marketing CMS: 16 Ministries Currently Using: 40000 Number on Team: 25 Tech Support Hours: 8a-5:30p Central Last Major Release: 12/2006 Updates per Year: 2 MyFlock.com Phone: (866) 852-6648 Email: info@myflock.com Web: www.myflock.com Company Founded in 2001 Years Marketing CMS: 6 Ministries Currently Using: 400 Number on Team: 4 Tech Support Hours: 8a-5p Eastern Last Major Release: 8/2007 Updates per Year: 20 Nuverb Systems Phone: (888) 479-4636 Email: info@nuverb.com Web: www.donarius.com Company Founded in 1993 Years Marketing CMS: 9 Ministries Currently Using: 850 Number on Team: 1 Tech Support Hours: 9a-5p Eastern Last Major Release: 3/2007 Updates per Year: 20 People Driven Software Phone: (866) 737-9273 Email: info@peopledrivensoftware.com Web: www.peopledrivensoftware.com Company Founded in 2002 Years Marketing CMS: 5 Ministries Currently Using: 650 Number on Team: 10 Tech Support Hours: 9a-5p Eastern Last Major Release: 8/2007 Updates per Year: 12

PowerChurch Software Phone: (800) 486-1800 Email: info@powerchurch.com Web: www.powerchurch.com Company Founded in 1984 Years Marketing CMS: 23 Ministries Currently Using: 27000 Number on Team: 12 Tech Support Hours: 9a-6p Eastern Last Major Release: 11/2006 Updates per Year: 1 QuickBooks Nonprofit Edition Phone: (888) 729-1996 Email: www.quickbooks.com/callme Web: www.quickbooks.com Company Founded in 1983 Years Marketing CMS: 5 Ministries Currently Using: 28000 Number on Team: 130 Tech Support Hours: 6a-6p Pacific Last Major Release: 9/2006 Updates per Year: 1 Shelby Systems Phone: (800) 877-0222 Email: mktg@shelbyinc.com Web: www.shelbyinc.com Company Founded in 1976 Years Marketing CMS: 31 Ministries Currently Using: 8700 Number on Team: 116 Tech Support Hours: 7a-6p Central Last Major Release: 5/2007 Updates per Year: Ongoing Via Web Specialty Software Phone: (800) 568-6350 Email: sales@specialtysoftware.com Web: www.specialtysoftware.com Company Founded in 1983 Years Marketing CMS: 24 Ministries Currently Using: 5000 Number on Team: 10 Tech Support Hours: 9a-5p Eastern Last Major Release: 9/2007 Updates per Year: 4 Vian Phone: (908) 537-4642 Email: vian@vian.com Web: www.vian.com Company Founded in 1982 Years Marketing CMS: 23 Ministries Currently Using: 3650 Number on Team: 2 Tech Support Hours: 4:30p-6p Eastern Last Major Release: 3/2007 Updates per Year: Ongoing Via Web October 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

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special feature
Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com

Church Management
Software
Part 2
ast month, in part 1 of this article, I covered a little history about how Church Management Software (CMS) products came about. As well, I covered the process to begin your evaluation and identifying your needs. If you missed last months article, please visit http://www.ccmag2. com/2007_09/2007_09coverstory.pdf Now, lets continue with information to finish the process of finding the right CMS for your church.
Picking a Company When considering the purchase of a CMS product, you have to consider the company that is providing the service. When you look at the history of CMS products already mentioned, you have to be concerned about the longevity of the company that will be supporting it. However, there is no guarantee that a company that has been around for ten years will be here tomorrow, therefore length of existence is not enough to establish a relationship of trust. The level of trust you will need in the company itself would depend upon the level of the investment. If you are purchasing a CMS package to meet basic needs for a small church, your impact if a product is not supported is minimal. I actually have used some products for years after the company that sold it to me went out of existence. However, if your investment in a CMS package is greater and training and support will be vital to your decision, you need to believe that the company is sound, that they will continue to produce upgrades, training opportunities, and that they will be around to support the product with technical support. It is hard to determine how you will develop your level of confidence with a company. History does
Christian Computing Magazine

How To Evaluate

play a part, but in the last 20 years as Editor-in-Chief of Christian Computing Magazine, I have been at the beginning of many great companies and products. If no one purchased a great product from a company simply because they were new, the industry would quickly die. There are three things that, for me, help build confidence and trust in a company that is producing a product I am interested in purchasing. First, I like to get to know key personnel within a company and seek to determine if their excitement for their product is because it is going to be very profitable, or if their excitement is founded on the ministry aspect of what they are providing. There is certainly nothing wrong with Christian software companies making money, but I have seen those that entered the church software marketplace with this as their motivation. Most quickly discover they can make more money elsewhere. What I am most comfortable with are the companies where I find the foundation for a company based upon their belief that they are called to be where they are, and their greatest satisfaction is found in providing software solutions for churches and is centered on meeting ministry needs. Second, I guess I am a capitalist. In most cases, if you spend quality time finding the best product for

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your church, you picked a product that other churches will pick as well. Products that meet the needs of the public get purchased, and the company should grow. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Again, with my 20 years of observation, I have seen great products fail because the company was either mismanaged, or they were under funded. Third, I personally have more confidence in a company that exhibits a desire (and the ability) to market their product. There are many different conferences held across the nation where you will find key CMS companies exhibiting. They have the funds to expand their market share by pressing the flesh and meeting new potential customers. In addition, you will see their advertisements promoting their product and key features. They will issue press releases related to new features and product releases. And, they will have reviews written about their company and products. They are out there, which sends the message that they will be there in the years to come. Check to see if this company has links to articles about them and their products on their website. Look to see if they advertise. Do a Google search specifically for their company and for their products and see what shows up! Find out when they last released a major upgrade and/or how often do they release upgrades. No product is perfect, and the frequency of upgrades show you that they are keeping up with technology advances as well as listening to their customer base and adding requested features. Training and Support One of the most important components when choosing a CMS package is the training and support they provide. Now, this is a very generic statement and I realize up front that the amount of training provided will depend on the power, size and cost of the CMS package you purchase. For the certification program offered by Ministry Technology Institute, there is a reason we picked a wide variety of CMS packages for our students to study. One size does not fit all. Certain CMS programs were created specifically for small churches. They need to be simple to install and simple to use. One does not need national training conferences for the low cost programs designed to fit this niche. However, for programs designed for larger churches, the cost and availability of training is part of the package. Years ago at the Ministry and Technology Conference sponsored by CCMag, we had an open discussion with about one hundred attendees and vendors. One of the comments I never forgot was from a frustrated representative from a CMS company. She vented by expressing an incident that happens all too often. She shared how she had come to contact a church staff member who had recently changed from the CMS product her company represented and moved to a competitor. While there are certainly sometimes legitimate reasons to change CMS packages, in this case the past customer shared that they changed because they wanted a specific feature that the new CMS company offered. She was further frustrated by the fact that her companys CMS package offered the exact same feature. Unfortunately, the church staff had never attended any of the training opportunities offered by her company to discover the full features of the program they had purchased and used for years. Many times, churches purchase a CMS package to meet a list of their immediate specific needs. However, once they purchase a package and have it up and running, if the company provides training, they should take advantage of that training because they will probably learn something new and exciting, and find that their investment can continue to enhance the churchs ministry. I remember I once had

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the opportunity to attend a demonstration of all of the features of PageMaker from Adobe. While I had used the program for over a decade to produce Christian Computing Magazine, I decided to take advantage of the local training session. I soon found myself taking notes because I discovered dozens of new features I had never taken advantage of even though I considered myself a veteran user of the program. Support is vital when using any technology on a continuing basis. When you need to produce a report, send out a broadcast e-mail, or figure out how to perform a query to provide a list of the parents whose youth are taking part in the upcoming mission trip, and this stumps you, support will be worth every penny. If a CMS company provides free support, as many of the lower cost packages will, does that mean someone is actually going to answer the phone? Give them a call and find out. In addition, if you are paying for support, be sure to find out exactly what that means and how they respond and provide that support. When I need an answer, I appreciate getting someone on the phone. I hate it when they direct me to a website where I have to type in my question and wait for a response! Contact Other Churches Using The System You Are Evaluating Ask the CMS company you are evaluating for a list of churches in your area that use their product. I have never heard of a CMS company that is not willing to provide this information. Do more than just ask these churches if they are happy with the product. Be specific. When they call for tech support, was the support available, capable and helpful? Ask them if they felt that the product met their expectations based on the marketing of the CMS company. Were they satisfied with their decision, and if they had it to do over, would they pick the same product? Use A Demo Most CMS packages have a demo program you can download, install and use. In the case of many of the new packages that work over the Internet, there is nothing to download! Most of the demos I have looked at can even provide sample data. This will
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give you a real feel for the program. If it is web-based, be sure to connect and check out the speed. How does data entry feel? Do you find it easy to use? Print out a report, do a query, etc. Be sure to have all of the staff members spend some time with the demo and give their opinion on the look, feel and ease of use. Of course power-packed programs that offer a lot of features will have a learning curve, but a program should have a look-and-feel that relates to your past computer experience. You should be able to figure out how to enter basic membership data, and look up a members address, without training. As you delve deeper into the workings of a program, does it have a consistent use and feel, or does it look like it is pieced together from several different programmers? Meet With A Sales Rep In the case of larger packages, most of the major companies have sales representatives available to meet with your staff, in your church, and can help to pick the modules and package that will meet your needs. Even though their job is to sell you on their product, do not worry about asking the hard questions. Conclusion Finding the right Church Management Software for a church is an important process. The right CMS will help a church accomplish their ministry goals, keep track of their membership, facilitate communications, help to keep the church in good legal standing with contribution recording and reporting and much more.

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inside the box

Donald Stratton - Donald@PowerNotebooks.com

Benchmarking:

Facts and Fiction

Real-World Benchmarks he two types of benchmarks are real-world and synthetic benchmarks. A real-world benchmark is a measurement of how long it takes a specific application to complete a specific task. That task is then run and measured on different hardware to quantify the performance difference.

Part 2

This results in a very concrete figure. Youll know that X part is 37% faster than Y part doing this specific task in that specific application. If you use that application a lot, then that will mean everything, and you should lean toward X part. However, that level of detail is also its downside. That particular task could be perfectly suited to X part, and in general X and Y parts are actually equivalent. You have no way of knowing if you only look at one task or one application. So, for real-world benchmarks, you have to view many of them to see the big picture. If you use your computer for many tasks and applications, as do most people, then you have to really dig into the benchmarks to get a feel for what is actually equivalent. If there are big gaps on some applications, then you have to decide how important those applications are to you. It is very common that one part will be good at one thing while another part will be better at something else. Examples of real-world benchmarks: Running a timedemo on a game to measure FPS, measuring how fast a codec can encode the same mp3, measuring how fast an application can convert mpg2 to DiVX, and measuring how fast a Photoshop filter runs. The BapCo Sysmark benchmarks are generally real-world benchmarks because they run scripts on different applications. However, the results are typically scored in a single sysmark score, which is somewhat generic and open to interpretation. You also have to find out what applications are being tested and how the scores are being weighted into the final score. It can be slightly misleading. Christian Computing Magazine October 2007

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Synthetic Benchmarks Synthetic benchmarks are the opposite of real-world benchmarks. Instead of measuring a specific application, the goal of a synthetic benchmark is to try to quantify a general difference between X part and Y part so that you can get a general feel for the performance difference from a single number. Other advantages of synthetic benchmarks include the fact that they are generally updated to support the newest features of the newest hardware before real-world applications have been released to support those new features, and they can sometimes be written in such a way as to make it easier to compare a single subsystem rather than a real-world application which MUST have the same hardware between two benchmarked systems to create any real conclusions about the part comparison. The downside of synthetic benchmarks is that a specific application will always be written differently and therefore depend on the hardware differently. So the synthetic benchmark is more of a guess than a determination. The scores often include more than simply X is faster than Y, but also try to compare the features of X and Y, even if those features arent supported in applications yet. Synthetic benchmarks occasionally disagree dramatically with current real-world applications, though they may end up agreeing with future applications if those applications implement the newer features of Y. But you cant bank on the future as some parts never have their full potential realized. A more sinster negative to synthetic benchmarks occasionally pops up. A manufacturer sometimes creates specific optimizations or even specific hardware to run a certain benchmark faster and so look better than the competition. In fact, there have been times that the manufacturer has degraded the user experience within that benchmark to create a better score. This would be unacceptable in a real-world application, but since its just a benchmark that no one actually uses, it doesnt really matter. However, it does mean the numbers that come out of the application are even less trustworthy. At least with a real game or application, if a manufacturer creates a game-specific optimization, everyone who plays that game will benefit. Examples of synthetic benchmarks: 3DMark, SPEC, Whetstone, Dhrystone

Most hardware reviews done today offer a number of scores from a number of applications and application types, from games, to media encoding, to business/professional applications, and multitasking tasks have even entered the fray as HyperThreading and multi-core CPUs have taken hold. Reading these reviews gives a good idea of how a given part compares to its competition. On the other hand, ignore the 3DMark scores from forum posters. The only purposes they serve are for bragging and making sure that your computer isnt getting dramatically worse performance than it should since the scores for the same configuration should be roughly equivalent. Sadly, laptops are the most difficult to compare because they are complete systems instead of offthe-shelf parts. So most reviews that compare a 8400M to a HD2400 Go will have those 2 cards in entirely different laptops, often with somewhat different configurations. That will be less useful unless you 18
October 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

are actually comparing those exact configurations of those two laptops. GPUs in particular are a sticking point for laptop benchmarks because the clock speed of the GPU core and memory is up to the laptop ODM, and ODMs can vary widely to what speeds those are set. So if youre comparing an 8600M GT to a 7600M GT, you cant be sure that a different laptop with an 8600M GT will really score that well or that poorly. If that all sounds confusing, its because understanding benchmarks is confusing. The right attitude to have with any benchmark is one of distrust, especially when its only one or two benchmarks. The good news is that most of the time, once you have a general handle on X part vs. Y part, the devitations from that will be less than 10% (again, in the range you wont notice), so you can figure you have a decent understanding. As I said earlier, go for the big gains, and youll always win. The more you try to sniggle out a few extra percentage points, the more likely you are to be completely wasting your time.

Christian Computing Magazine

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wordsearch word
Bob Dasal - bdasal@wordsearchbible.com

What is the BEST Value

And the Answer is - Bible Explorer 4 Limited Edition

in Bible Software Today?

A complete Bible study library for only $9.95

ible Explorer 4 Complete Bible Study Library (BE4), regularly price for $64.95, is now available for the unbelievable low price of $9.95 when purchased in quantities of five or more. Single copies are only $15.95. This Limited Edition, priced so you can give it away, will help others enjoy a richer experience in Gods Word. Churches can now afford to include BE4 in their New Member Pak and/or Visitors Packet.
a protected online community of other Bible Explorer users. There you can exchange sermons, lessons, ideas, prayers, requests, and have discussions with other power users like you. FREE Community Library - Download free books prepared by other users from the Community Library. They become a permanent, searchable part of your personal Library with pop-up Scripture references. Authoring & Publishing Tools - Create your own books with the Bible Explorer word processor, now with built-in Spell Check! They will function just like other books in your library. Right Click - The right button on your mouse is a shortcut to some really useful features. Depending on the window youre in, it will copy verses to a Verse List, set up a word or topical search for the word under the mouse pointer, change the translation displayed, and more. Languages- The advanced coding of Bible Explorer brings you better language tools with clear, printable Greek and Hebrew fonts. Click on any Strongs number and get a full, hot-linked concordance list on that word. Expandable The 90 essential Bible study resources in the Library are just the beginning. As your needs for more Bible study resources grow you can add hundreds of additional resources with just a few clicks of your mouse. Take advantage of this special limited time offer TODAY and call, TOLL-FREE, 800 888-9898 and ask for SPECIAL OFFER 5862, or http://www.wordsearchbible.com/limited/?g=5862 to order online.

The BE4 Complete Bible Study Library contains: 17 Bible Translations 17 Commentaries 4 Devotionals 5 Bible Dictionaries 3 Greek & Hebrew Helps 6 History/Culture Works 27 Literature Classics 4 Theology Works 3 Topical/Cross-Reference Works 4 Maps/Photo Collections Features Include [but not limited to]: Infinite Bookshelf - Your entire electronic library can be viewed and searched any time with this hierarchical filing system. Mouse-Over Magic - Youre going to love this. With Bible Explorer Ltd., whenever your cursor is over a Scripture reference (whether in the text of a book or an index), the entire verse or passage will pop up for you to see. Super Strongs - Bible Explorer Ltd. is equipped with Talking Strongs. This means you can actually hear any Greek or Hebrew word. Just tell your KJV or NASB text to Show Strongs, and see every Strongs number next to each word. Simply mouse over a Strongs number and the definition automatically pops up, or doubleclick a word in the Bible text to bring up the Strongs window. Sweet Searching - Bible Explorer Ltd. brings you the mostcomplete search functions of any Bible software, with two menu buttons for searching: Search Anything button allows you to enter any word or phrase and locate it immediately in any Bible or reference book. Topical Search button will take any word or topic, search the indices of every book with a topical index, and show you everything you own that is related to this topic. Exclusive Membership - One Click automatically take you to

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nick at church
Nick Nicholaou - nick@mbsinc.com

Managing Security vs Controlling Users

omputers and data networks are vulnerable, and wise IT Directors establish policies to protect them. They are guided by their research and experience in protecting these systems that contain valuable and sensitive data. But many go further than necessary, and without ever intending to, frustrate their staff. So lets talk about some best practices ministry security strategies.

The Challenge Developers of malware (malicious software) love to exploit computer operating system weaknesses and control computers around the world for their benefit. In the form of viruses, trojan horses, spyware, root kits, and more, these programs get into computers via the Internet and email and wreak havoc. To serve their teams well, IT Directors must do all they can to protect computers from these attacks. The Problem While at a Church IT Roundtable recently, a colleague who supports ministries nationwide told the IT Directors in the room that for years he has felt they go further than necessary in locking down local operating systems. I chimed in because I have felt that way too, and have proven through the many clients we serve that locking local Local computers are those where usoperating systems down is unnecessary in most cases. ers do their work, and are in contrast to Their thinking is that if users dont have adminservers which users never work at and to istrative authority on their local systems, they cant install any software, malicious or otherwise. So they which their local computers connect. keep users from logging into their local computers with administrative credentials. That protects them from malware and keeps them from installing software for which they dont have a license. The result, however, is that many users get frustrated when they visit a website and are told that they need to update a browser utility to view the site, or a friend tries to share a file with them on a USB drive that needs to install a driver to be accessible. In both cases, the user wont be able to install the necessary software without the intervention of IT staff. Thus this policy contributes to the perception of IT staff as people who keep ministry teams from doing what they need to. Users feel controlled. October 2007 Christian Computing Magazine 21

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Strategies Worth Considering The concept of protecting local systems is important, but locking their operating systems down misses the IT purpose of serving and supporting teams well. So our firm set out to provide the same protection without frustrating users. Heres what we came up with, and by the way, it really works: To allow users to install software updates, etc, as needed, we automatically log each user into their local computer with administrative authority. It only affects their local computer. That local authority is very different than their network authority where they are restricted as to which files and folders they can see, modify, and/or delete. Because logging them in locally as administrators increases their malware vulnerability, we established a three-part strategy to protect them and keep them productive. 1. Install a high-quality virus protection program locally on every computer. We chose McAfee (www.mcafee. com) because it leaves the local operating system alone and only does virus checking, leaving as much RAM and processing capability as possible for other functions. We also run all email through Barracuda Networks SPAM Firewall (www.barracudanetworks.com) to eliminate viruses and SPAM.

2. We modify the registry (the registry is the operating systems database that tells it how to run) to have all software save files to the network rather than to the local hard drive or desktop. For those using notebooks, we install a utility, SmartSync Pro (www.regsoft.net), that very reliably copies new or changed files to the network every time they connect and login. In addition to improving the disaster recovery and business continuity strategy, this also means that local hard drives have very little on them that is unique and/or necessary. 3. This is the part that is our failsafe protection. We use a configuration distribution tool, Ghost (www.ghost.com), to create hard drive images and distribute them as needed. In addition to dramatically reducing the time necessary to deploy new desktop and notebook computers, this also allows us to bring an infected system back online in 10-15 minutes. So, if someones computer gets infected with malware we cant quickly resolve, we can just rewrite the hard drive. This three-part strategy allows us to give users the local rights they need to get their work done while also giving us a quick path to fix a system if it has problems. It also has the benefit of reducing the IT staff workload. Yea, But In that Roundtable there were churches represented with dozens and even hundreds! of computers on their networks. And they were skeptical. But I told them our firm manages dozens of networks that include thousands of computers. Almost every one of our desktop and notebook computers are set up this way, and it works very well. I encourage you to consider this strategy which will reduce your IT staff workload, improve your disaster recovery and business continuity strategy, protect your computers, and help your team feel they are not being controlled. Nick Nicholaou is president of MBS, a consulting firm specializing in ministry computer networks, operational policies, and CPA services. You can reach Nick via email (nick@mbsinc. com) and may want to check out his firms web site (www.mbsinc.com) and his unofficial blog at http://ministry-it. blogspot.com.

Christian Computing Magazine

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tech talk
Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson - docwatson3228@quest.net

Windows Weirdness

could have titled this months column several things: Windows Wackiness, Stupid Windows Tricks, or maybe even What Was Bill Smoking When He Thought of That? Have you noticed some of the weird features in Windows these days? Here are three of the odder ones and one more that is a little odder still.
the right to reboot my machine without my consent. I come from the ancient DOS world where such an act spelled total disaster. Besides, isnt there something in the constitution about the inalienable right to not be rebooted without notification? Maybe not! At any rate, if you would like to take back control of your machine, open Control Panel and then Automatic Updates, and then select the Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them option. (Fig. 1). Turning off FilterKeys Yes, if you hold down the Shift key for eight seconds, you have the option of turning on FilterKeys (Fig. 2), an accessibility feature that ignores keyboard input unless a key is held down a long time, but how many users actually need this? Okay, if some folks do, fine, but let them turn it on; dont leave it on for everyone else to stumble over, like shoes in the middle of the floor. More than once Ive forgot-

Stopping Automatic Reboot Whats worse than walking into your office and finding out that your toddler has been playing with your computer and accidentally rebooted it? Whats worse is discovering that Windows Update actually did this by design and without your consent! The first time this happened to me, I almost came unglued. Here I had a half dozen applications running, several documents open for reference and editing, everything set up the way I wanted, and then . . . poof! Yes, I know the reason for this. Most users simply wont download updates regularly, so I guess the boys and girls at Microsoft think they have to help us. On the other hand, thats what socialism is all about, too, right? we cant think for ourselves so the government has to do it for us. (Sorry about the political commentary.) The fact is, in my view, no program, much less an operating system, has

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ten it exists, held down the Shift key while thinking about something, only to have this thing pop up. Open Control Panel again and then Accessibility Options. Now click the Settings button in the FilterKeys box and clear the checkmark beside the Use Shortcut option (Fig. 3). Click OK, make sure there are no checkmarks in the previous dialog box, and click OK again. There! Turning off the Rotating Screen You just wont believe this one! Actually, my son Paul, who is currently away at Bible College, is to be credited with this bizarre tip. He stumbled onto it purely by accident (which was actually the catalyst for this column). Try this on your computer to see if it works. Hold down Ctrl+Alt and then press the Right Arrow key. Thats right; the screen rotates 90 degrees to the right. Repeat this using

the Left Arrow, which flips the screen to the left. Do it again with the Down Arrow to flip the screen upside down. Then do it one more time with the Up Arrow to bring it back to normal. Being a pretty practical fellow, I immediately wondered what you would use this for. Possibly while reading your screen while doing Pilates? While relaxing in the tub? Practicing your handstands? To be fair, this feature makes sense in Windows Tablet PC Edition, but apparently the folks at Intel do a lot of Pilates so they put it in their video card. If you care, go to Control Panel and then Display > Settings > Advanced and look for the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Driver tab. Click the Graphics Properties button and then the Hot Keys option (Fig. 4). If you want to turn this feature off so you never hit it by accident, clear the checkmark beside Enable Hot Keys.

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Turning off Windows Genuine Advantage Notification If you read the above section title and then said, Huh? I dont blame you. This actually goes further than just wacky; its more along the lines of intrusion, as it calls home to Mama (I guess that should actually be Papa [Bill], right?) every single time you boot. Why? To verify that your copy of Windows is legit! Yes, I can agree that this should happen the first time you started your computer, but from then on there is no rhyme or reason whatsoever. In fact, some savvy users out there are dubbing this with the strong epithet spyware because privacy (and even security) issues are being raised, such as exactly what info is being sent each time, for example, not to mention that Microsoft isnt really being up totally front about whats going on in the first place. So, it you want to get rid of this, RemoveWGA is a free utility that will do it for you. It first tells you whether or not WGAN is active on your system and

then goes from there. Go to http://www.softpedia.com/get/ Tweak/Uninstallers/RemoveWGA.shtml, read more about it, and decide for yourself. Windows Hot Tips 3 and More Windows Hot Tips 3 covers all the tips and other stuff presented in my column from January 2004 to January 2007 (including graphics). Order yours today (it will be greatly appreciated). Like its predecessors, it makes a great quick reference because its divided into sections, each of which contains related tips. There are two other booklets in this Hot Tips series, Windows Hot Tips 1 and 2. A single copy of each is $6.50 (sorry for the rise in price, but printing costs demanded it). 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 for your faithful support. God bless.

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ACS ideas to impact

Russ Fortier - russ.fortier@acstechnologies.com

Premiering an Online Ministry

from ACS Technologies
s manager of implementation services at ACS Technologies, I work hands-on with thousands of churches across America to help determine their ministry goals and then plan for success. I worked as an administrator in a church office for 14 years, so Ive seen first-hand what these churches are going through. In speaking with them, I see that many struggle with taking their ministry online. Its not that its an extremely difficult task its that the churches dont know where to begin.
While the churches I visit primarily use the online church management system (ChMS) Access ACS, the advice I give them really can pertain to any Web ChMS. No matter what system it is, churches generally are going to hit the same roadblocks when they start their online ministry. When you make the decision to start, keep in mind that its best to roll out an online ministry in stages. You shouldnt overwhelm the church and its staff by trying to do everything at once. Think of these roll-outs as a way of promoting your online ministry. With roll-outs scheduled at regular intervals, its less likely that your congregation will lose interest. Churches are essentially the people who worship, so start your online ministry roll-out by taking care of them. Begin by encouraging members and attendees to sign on, get a password, and explore their profiles. The members themselves know better than anyone what their addresses and telephone numbers are, so let them update their own information. Leaders should ask these members to focus on the information that is prone to rapid change cell phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and places of employment. Its also a good Christian Computing Magazine idea for members to verify birthdays, anniversary dates, and groups they belong to as they explore their profiles. Another great way to draw people in is to let them view their giving records online. People love to check what they have given to date, so if your church chooses to upload this information, dont hesitate to promote that feature straight away. From there, the next feature to roll out really depends on the primary need of your church. If small groups are a big part of your ministry, start there. Your system administrator can train leaders to use the systems small groups feature for communicating regularly, marking attendance, and viewing the attendance patterns of their groups. Members, in turn, can use the small groups feature to e-mail other members and keep in touch. For a church that is heavily event-centric, the next option to launch may be event registration. Keep in mind that if you want to receive payments online, it takes time to establish a merchant account and then set up your system to receive payments (expect 6 to 8 weeks). Thus, event registration needs some advance planning.

Roll Out the Red Carpet:

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 If this sounds too complicated, you can opt to use your systems event registration feature without online payments so that setup is minimal. You can always incorporate the payment feature later. With this type of roll-out, you can get creative. One church I visited uses the Access ACS event registration feature as a survey tool. They simply set up an event and use the Custom Questions option to create brief surveys for the congregation. Some churches offer prizes to members who sign on. Ive seen churches give away iPods as incentives to use their online ChMS, especially if the church offers podcasts of sermons on their Web site. Regardless of what you use to entice members to join, stick to your roll-out plan so that interest doesnt wane. Oftentimes, the last feature in an online ministry roll-out is volunteer management. This is due to the internal work a church needs to perform in order to go live on the Web. This tremendous task requires you to think through your churchs internal processes on how you use volunteers and recruit them. Before you can implement this feature in your online ministry, youve got to determine whether or not your leadership is ready to receive these requests. Theres plenty more to consider when scheduling online ministry roll-outs, so if youre interested in discussing this topic, feel free to e-mail implementation@ acstechnologies.com. Weve also got lots of great ministry ideas and tools at www. ideastoimpact.com. When youre there, be sure to download our free white papers on Web ministry at www.ideastoimpact.com/ whitepapers. Russ Fortier is a church ministry operations expert. His advice can be sought regularly in various Christian publications and speaking engagements nationwide. He is manager of Implementation Services at ACS Technologies, the leading church management solution provider, serving 22,000 clients.

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internet ministry
Walt Wilson - waltccm@aol.com

The Virtual

World Dawning

ajor companies realized years ago that business doesnt end at the waters edge. Nor does it end at the virtual waters edge as the new world continues to develop. Cisco Systems, the Silicon Valley based provider of network solutions owns four islands in the virtual world of Second Life, each populated with pavilions for product demonstrations, training and meetings. How cool is that? Start thinking church.
tion. The process cut cost, improved quality, and reduced cycle time for competitive advantage. With its interest in virtual environments, Cisco has placed itself at the forefront of workplace transformation now reaching a new plateau for US corporations. The goal is to enhance communications and productivity as workforces go global. The overall effect will be a radically different distributed model of the office of tomorrow. Is this a model for the church? Of the top 100 fastest growing churches in America, 47 of them are using the multi-site distributed model. If we look at the business model, i.e., the global model, the distributed church can go anywhere in the world. The trend in multi-site, distributed churches utilizes the concept of bringing the gospel out of the single church fortress into the community. The sites can be in storefronts, industrial boxes or the back of an ACE hardware store. The Sunday mesOctober 2007 29

Its push into virtual workspaces where offices and conference rooms exist inside computers instead of concrete and steel buildings reaches well beyond Second Lifes quirky environment of flying avatars and digital people. Cisco has launched a virtual site for business partners and service providers where visitors can wander among product exhibits as if they were at the local convention center. A visitor can also wander among workrooms where engineers, represented by avatars, collaborate on new product designs, despite being spread around the world. Some time ago when working on a project with Hewlett-Packard, we developed a design system that chased daylight across the globe so that a project was being worked on 24/7. At the same time, the product was globalized for rollout across the world without having to be regionalized over the course of a year following US product introducChristian Computing Magazine

sage is piped in on a big screen and the man or woman out walking the dog while drinking coffee can walk in and take it all in. The distributed modules become a non-threatening place to share the Good News by brining it out to the community. It is important to remember that we have transitioned from a push communications model to a pull communications model in America. Under the old push model, ABC, CBS and NBC told us when we would watch the news, for how long we would watch the news, and the content they thought was news. The networks pushed content out. In the emerging digital world, the pull model means I have a greater selection of news options not only on TV but also on Internet. I watch the news when I want, for as long as I want, and pick the stories I wish to learn about. Carried a step further, with TIVO and Apple I can pre-select my own programming and in effect create my own TV network for viewing. This is the pull world. The church must now consider how its own model must change and how we provide content that enables people to pull down what is of interest and relevant to their lives. Herein lies the importance of the on line digital library indexed by topic. The opportunity is to show your church in its best light, allowing seekers to pull down content. Ciscos chief architect for network virtual environments points out, The technology is now coming of age. It is at a point where it can potentially get really big. Advocates say the virtual 30
October 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

world offers new and convenient ways for people to connect and collaborate. It fosters a workplace interaction in an age of dispersed employment across multiple time zones and locations. Companies can save on travel time and costs by using the collaborative systems of the virtual world. For years many of us talked about the development of video for Internet but we had ourselves convinced we had a bandwidth issue. Suddenly YouTube burst upon the scene with home made videos and we were all shocked with one hundred thousand downloads each day. The same could develop in the virtual world. IBMs guru of virtual world systems says, Eighteen months ago this was considered insane. Suddenly it has become real. Skeptics point out that security issues remain unsolved and virtual worlds cannot interact with each other. While some corporations have yet to give this idea serious thought others are moving very aggressively. IBM, which has a variety of special projects underway that allow employees to hold meetings in virtual office buildings also have chats around camp fires or out doors at lake side. Participants select from a variety of avatars as well as settings to hold a conference. IBM has noticed that their people mingle in the virtual world as they do in real life. The pre-event mingle gets to be very important and then there is always the meeting after the meeting where people debrief and chat with each other. Allowing people to visit informally regardless of location is a big feature. Sun Microsystems has a project underway entitled MKP20 (Menlo Park Building 20), which is a virtual location in addition to their current 19 brick and mortar buildings on the campus. MKP20 is set up with seven rooms and is being used by developers for team meetings. Other small groups are now beginning to use building 20 for their meetings. In the team room workers can post documents they are working on and can speak to each other about their work and how their piece fits into the larger project.
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Its important to note that a Sun employee can attend a meeting in building 20 from Tokyo or London without leaving home. On any given day more than 50 percent of Suns employees work remotely. Some report missing the spontaneous discussions that take place when in the office with others. In building 20 after a virtual meeting they form groups spontaneously to visit and continue personal discussions. Sun executives point out that this is what they designed the virtual world for and is something that cannot be done with video conferencing. Vendors of virtual world software, and their investors, are convinced the market is about to explode. Forterra Systems of San Mateo, CA has already begun shipments of its virtual-world software and claims 20 customers including the US Army. The army is training recruits in checkpoint procedures by connecting them directly to (virtual) Baghdad. Qwaq of Palo Alto, CA reports scores of customers for their virtual-world hosting services, one of them being Intel. Church in the virtual world is an interesting concept. If we are honest with ourselves we must admit that Christianity has an image problem. The world perceives that we are judgmental and narrow-minded. The result is an impression that church is the last place you want to go if you have a problem. How many times have we heard, church just makes me feel worse? Yet at the same time we see so many seeking a relationship with God 32
October 2007 Christian Computing Magazine

as evidenced by almost six-million Google searches daily. Put that all together and the opportunity the church has to reach seekers in the virtual world fills a marketplace niche, to use a business term. What are the advantages to the virtual world church? 1. A seeker can explore the claims of Christ in anonymous intimacy. 2. A seeker can explore your church itself 3. Properly designed a gospel presentation and opportunity to make a decision for Christ can be accomplished in cyberspace 4. The entire process acts as a funnel into church growth 5. The model begins to build the platform for the distributed (multifacility) church 6. The model also builds a global presence on the World Wide Web allowing people from anywhere in the world to attend and to be discipled. When Jesus said this gospel will be preached to the entire world as a witness to every nation (Matthew 24:14) we should consider that bits are a part of the natural landscape meaning they were created at the foundation of the world, not a recent invention of the Digital Age. Did He as the Creator and Sustainer of all things, both visible and invisible, see the virtual world at the time of this statement? Evidence would indicate the answer is an affirmative.

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special feature

PocketBible for Windows Revisited

Like an Old Friend and More
Rev. Dale Durnell, 1st United Methodist Church

ve been using Bible software since 1989. For the last decade or so, and always only a click away, was my copy of QuickVerse 4.0g which was quick to load, search, and use. It was an old friend. And, even though I have migrated through umpteen desktops (and other Bible software packages), QV4 always came with me. Although other companies offer more powerful programs with larger libraries, when I needed to perform a quick, simple, search of the Bible I relied on QV4 to get the job done.
of paint, it was much more. Yes, it was still fast, and responsive (a really neat trick in a 32 bit environment). But it was also easy to use, and well lets face it - who reads the manuals anyway. It was just so intuitive. Some Really Neat Features One of the really great things about a digital Bible is that you can almost instantly go to any location that you want. In many software programs (including PocketBible for Windows) typing Ctrl+G brings up a dialog box to get you where you want to go. And, if you would rather work through a series of mouse clicks, you could click the Go To icon on the toolbar, then click on the book of the Bible you want to go to, then on the chapter, and then the verse. But (and this is really slick), without any wasted real estate on the desktop, without opening any dialog boxes, all I had to do was put my cursor in a Bible window on the desktop and type Jn 3.16 or Rev 3.7 and press Enter. Et voila, I was where I wanted to be. Yes, you can see the text appearing on your desktop, in the title bar of the Bible translation that has the focus. And, since at least a couple of the Bible
Christian Computing Magazine

No more. All that has changed. Theres a new kid on the block, and its called PocketBible for Windows from Laridian. Five years ago, with two new mini-tower computers, and a new church appointment, I also bought a handheld computer and went looking for Bible software that would run on my PDA. In answer to my search, I found that the folks who originally created QuickVerse had started a new company (Laridian) and they now produced a Bible software product for portable Windows units. So, with a new piece of technology, in a new setting, I began using PocketBible for my PDA. Recently, Laridian produced PocketBible for Windows and the same books that I owned and used on my PDA could be used in the new desktop version of Laridians software. What a novel idea, what a blessing: a desktop that could talk to a PDA and vice versa. When I fired up PocketBible for Windows, I found the interface a little different than many of the other programs Ive used over the years. But, at the same time, I found the functionality of the program to be very familiar. No, it wasnt QV4 in a new coat

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translations available from Laridian include the apocrypha, typing 1 Macc 2.1 or Bel with my cursor on a Bible that includes the apocrypha immediately opens the appropriate book. And since I had two such Bibles available in a Bible window, and had synchronize turned on, both Bibles immediately went to the appropriate location. I loved QV4, but searching was always limited to the current translation in the active window. Now, in PocketBible for Windows, I can either search in as many books as I have open (my normal desktop happens to have two Bible windows open with three translations available in each window, as well as several devotional works) or in all available books (the user sets that option themselves). When I searched for God is Love I immediately found that phrase occurs 4 times in The Message, 3 times each in the ESV, the NASB, and the NRSV. It also occurs 2 times each in the NIV and the NLT as well as in one of the devotional books I have open. The search results were instantaneous which is not something I can say for some of the other programs I use. Again I didnt need a separate dialog box. Just like the Bible go to feature, I simply typed find grace, John the Baptist, or find Peter & Paul. When I hit enter, the find dialog box opened, the phrase I searched for immediately shows in the data input box. Again, the results are instantly revealed. And, if I want the results of that search in another document, I can simply click on the Search menu and click Find Results to Clipboard. Is that all too cool or not? One of the primary uses I have for digital Bibles is to be able to copy Bible text for use in research papers, Bible studies, and even church bulletins or newsletters. Again, simply placing my cursor in an active Bible window and typing Copy Jn 1.1-8 and pressing enter transfers the appropriate verses from the active translation into my clipboard. A simple Alt+Tab brings me to my word processing document and a simple paste puts those verses into my document. Now, thats pretty slick by anyones standards. Im not a big fan of notes in Bible software (they dont transfer from one program to another, and havent always transferred from one version of the same software as the program is upgraded). I say this knowing that at the same time I have colleagues who would argue that Bible software without a note taking capability is inadequate (or incomplete). PocketBible responds nicely to the needs of the user with the ability to not only create notes, but to search those notes (something others could learn from). And, the notes that are created can be everything from simple text to fully formatted documents using html code. In addition to creating and searching notes, I can highlight text in my books and even search for those highlighted colors. For example, in the NRSV, I highlighted verse 2 of Bel and the Dragon, in Crimson. If I click the Find icon, and click the highlight tab in the dialog box, Bel 2 is immediately identified as being a highlighted text. I can search my open books for any highlight or only a specific color. The Ability to Self-Author A feature many of my colleagues constantly ask for is a tool to self author works either for their own benChristian Computing Magazine October 2007

35

efit, or to share with others. Many of the big name Bible software programs have self authoring tools; the usability and price varies from company to company. Laridian offers two versions of their BookBuilder program a basic version and a professional version that includes some additional tools to speed up the tagging process, and to aid in creating commercial setup programs for your books. So, do you want to build something for yourself, or do you want to create a book to sell. I tried both versions of Laridians BookBuilder programs and found them quite simple to use. However, as the Users Guide for BookBuilder notes Tagging books is hard; running BookBuilder is easy. The Users Guide for BookBuilder admonishes against trying to work with Word or other word processor generated html code when trying to compile for BookBuilder. And, since its been years since I manually created html code, I initially ignored that warning and became frustrated with myself. But, when I conceded the point, I found that the process of manually generating the code gradually came back to me. When I began to work with, instead of against, the program it became a much easier and less stressful process. Working from a research paper I had created, I was able to self author that work as a PocketBible book and it is now readable on my desktop and on my handheld. I was able to embed the same graphics I placed in the original hard copy document, and the finished product contains all of my footnotes to document the many quotations throughout the paper. The Bible - Anywhere Now, this is where PocketBible for Windows really excels. In the old days of 16 bit operating systems and .ini files in the Windows directory, you could move a Bible program fairly easily from one computer to another. This is what has made moving QV4 from one computer to another all these years, so easy. But, back then we didnt have much capacity for portability (an external Bernoulli Box was relatively huge and very cumbersome by anyones standards). However, with the advent of Windows 2000 and later operating systems that rely on the registry during installation, such portability is no longer very doable. For example, it was a major operation to install and move my Libronix DLS configuration and all of my resources from my desktop to my new laptop last month. At the same time, I got a copy of PocketBible for Windows and easily installed the program (and all my books) on my desktop, and on a thumbdrive which I carry with me everywhere. With this flexibility and transportability, I can take all my books, notes and highlighting from my desktop (or my PDA) and put everything on the thumbdrive on my key ring. Now, when I go to the library, or I travel to my son or daughters home, and I need to look up something in the Bible, or I want to work on a sermon while Im away from home, I can simply plug my thumbdrive into someone elses computer and Im off and running. There are no registry settings to fool with, the Laridian specific fonts are installed with the program in the appropriate directory and the program itself gives you the ability to place the books for PocketBible in several locations, all of which are easily found by the program itself. PocketBible for Windows Synchronized One area that has long been missing in the world of Bible software is how to sync between our various desktops and laptops and handheld computers. Laridian has cracked the code, solved the problem, and provided the technology. I was privileged to get an early look at the synchronization tools between PocketBible for Windows and PocketBible (on my handheld). It is obvious that a lot of effort and thought has gone into the process. Last night, I created a set of notes on my handheld, and a different set on my desktop. I created bookmarks and highlighted text on both my desktop and on my PDA. I then simply clicked to Synchronize Personal Data and in less than a minute my notes and bookmarks from on the desktop became part of the data on my PDA while the data I created on my PDA was now merged into the data on my desktop. Even my daily devotional reading was synchronized between where I was reading on my desktop and the handheld. Although it took me some time to understand the difference between verse highlight mode and word highlight mode on my Pocket PC, once I figured it out I found that my highlights were accurately being synchronized between my desktop and

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my handheld. The program is smart enough to know that the data needs to flow both directions; both computers now held the same information. Whats missing you might ask? Being able to run from the USB drive is very convenient if youre constantly moving between machines. But, it would be nice if the synchronization feature could be used to make sure the occasional thumbdrive user can keep his database up-to-date with his or her desktop. Laridian says that such a feature would be possible in the future with their synchronization engine and technology. Laridian has cracked the code on being able to sync between devices running PocketBible software. And, for the industrys sake, it is about time. The user community regardless of which software package is being run, has long had to find work arounds to merge notes from office, home, or laptop to the handheld. Well done Laridian! Some Last Thoughts Years ago, every software package on the market (including most shareware products) came with a users guide. The more elaborate the program, the more detailed the book. This killed a lot of trees, but gave the user something to fall back on when they could not figure out how to use the program. But, as I said early on, who ever reads the manual anyway? Today, all we get is a help system (that may or may not be useful). Or, were referred to a website where there is a FAQ file (which also may not be anymore useful than the help file). Laridian has really excelled with PocketBible for Windows. The help file is extensive. It is well laid out and is very functional. One final thought I dont think many reviews ever talk about the EULA. Lets face it, there are probably more of us who read the users manual than really read the EULA. But again, who reads the manual? Still, I am impressed with the forthright statement in the EULA that the program can be used on every computer I own, as long as Im the only one using it. This is the most mature and enlightened statement Ive seen in a long time. Some software packages are limited to one machine, and one machine only. Occasionally, a company permits installation on a home and an office machine computer, or a desktop and a laptop. But, in my case, I have a home machine (in my study at the parsonage), and an office machine (in my office at the church), and a laptop for portability. Now, with my thumbdrive I have access to the program anywhere. And, I have a license to freely use this software where ever I am, on whatever computer I happen to be using. In A Nutshell PocketBible for Windows is a quick and simple Bible program with some unique features that make it easy to use and more powerful than it might at appear to the casual observer. Its clean installation process makes it easy to run the program from a USB thumbdrive for portability, and to move it from machine to machine as you upgrade. Synchronization of your personal data between your desktop and your PDA lets you take your Bible study with you wherever you go, and puts Laridian a step ahead of other Bible programs. Despite the emphasis on portability and mobility, PocketBible for Windows is a fully capable desktop Bible study program that anyone who studies the Bible would find useful. Thanks Laridian!!
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higher power with kevin

Kevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.org

Corrections, Clarifications, Commendation, and Challenges

ast month I provided an overview of PocketBible for Windows, the first effort at a desktop Bible Study package from Laridian. I have to apologize for some errors. First, I stated that Laridian had a glaring omission; I said that they did not include a way to input text references directly as nearly all other programs do. I was wrong. It is true that there is no box to directly enter a reference. There is a better method to directly enter references. You simply open the program and type John 3:16 or any other reference. If you have the Bible windows highlighted it will jump there
directly. This is actually a very new and interesting concept. I missed it and I am very sorry. I think the other Bible Study Software publishers could learn something from the new kid on the block! is inexpensive by comparison. Finally, if you do not want to pay an extra fee, you can create notes within the program and they are searchable and can be synched with a PDA. Searching notes is something that is not available in some other packages that cost much more. Finally, if I left the impression that PocketBible 4 Windows is a bad program, that is false. It is quite good. Please read the other more complete review of the program from Dale Durnell. Dale really knows his stuff. I was using his macros for QuickVerse back in the day when I still used WordPerfect. He is a good writer and knows a great deal about software in general but specifically Bible Study software. He is active the volunteer support community for at least one or two other Bible programs and has helped me a number of times. Throughout this article you will notice I have highlighted words like overview and review. The reason is I want to clarify that I was not really reviewing the program. I simply wanted to make you aware of it. However, my third mistake is that I lapsed into review mode and got a little critical about some features I did not really spend enough time using. Normally, I will put a program Christian Computing Magazine

Correction

Clarification

The other correction I need to make is that I stated there is no content creation system in the program. That is both true and false. If you purchase PocketBible for Windows you will not have this capability directly inside the program by itself. This is something that is present in a couple of other popular packages. However, Laridian does offer an add-on that allows you to create books. You cannot make a translation of the Scripture, but you could create other content with it. For example, if you want your sermons in book format readable inside the program, you could purchase the add-on and create the book. I have not used it but I was wrong in saying it is not possible. It is. The version for non-profit use is $29.99 and a professional version is $99.99. Laridian is not the only company to charge for this capability; others do as well. In fact their basic version, which most users would want,

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through the paces by preparing one of my weekly Bible Studies or Sermons using that software primarily. This gives it a real-world-application kind of experience. I was so excited about what PocketBible represented that I did not take the time to do that because I did not have the time. I wrote the article after I had already submitted another article for last month. I then asked our editor, Steve Hewitt, to replace that article with the overview of PocketBible because I was excited about it.

Commendation

At this point let me offer some praise to the folks at Laridian. Their program now does something that Ive wanted for years. When I wrote my last article this innovative feature was only slated as a future update and I said I would write more when it was available. It is here. As far as I know, PocketBible for Windows is the only Bible Study software out there that will allow me to sync things like notes and bookmarks between a PC and a Mobile device. You can read about it in Dale Durnells article. Laridian has already added the feature. Way to go! Most software companies promise such things and take years to get them to the market place if at all. (Can you say Windows Vistas revolutionary, new, super-fast, file system? Havent seen it yet. And MS has billions of dollars and a few hundred thousand of the best programmers in the world working for them.) So that bodes well for the folks at Laridian. I contacted the folks at QuickVerse who also have a desktop and mobile version of their Bible software and they do not have this feature nor does e-Swords desktop and mobile version. Add the fact that I also can buy a book for the desktop version and Laridian does not require me to buy the same book for their mobile version or vice versa. These are GREAT! developments. I hope others will follow suit. I am happy to make corrections or clarifications if I misstate something. Thanks to the people at Laridian for helping us get it right on these issues. Also thanks to reader Adam Coleman who is a user of Laridians program and also pointed out my error. My apologies first to Laridian for misleading and misstating the facts. But more importantly to you the reader. You trust us to help you when you are making decisions regarding where to invest your hard earned money in the area of Bible software. We do want to get it right.

Challenges

Finally, let me offer a challenge to all Bible Study software publishers. I have conversed via email with many different people at many of the different suppliers. I have also talked via phone with a few more. I have no doubt that they are fine people. It seems that they are truly doing their work, not with hopes of gaining great wealth, but rather to serve the Lord, the Christian community, and to put food on the table for themselves and their families. Many of these programmers probably could make more money with Microsoft, Adobe or some other big name software company. As a pastor who takes a salary for what I do, I recognize that, as the bible says, they too who labor in our work for the Lord and His church are worthy of our hire. But I have one wish. For years Ive been saying that the first company to create a system that would allow me to synchronize notes between my PC and my PDA using the same books on both would do well. Now that Laridian has provided that functionality we get to see if Im right. I immediately purchased the program as soon as I learned of its availability and had the extra coin. Im thankful for this development. So now I no longer can chant that mantra. I am glad they heard me. (Yeah, I know. I cant take credit for it, but lets let that be our secret.) Here is a new one! I wish that the publishers of Bible Study software would find a way to come together and produce a Christian book publishing Christian Computing Magazine October 2007

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standard that everyone could get behind. If youve been reading Christian Computing Magazine as long as I have, this will sound familiar. I seem to remember reading a few editorials from Steve Hewitt in earlier days. Craig Rairdin from Laridian was working on QuickVerse back then and they were part of the group that came out with STEP, a system designed as a standard for Bible and book publishers. It was great to be able to use my QuickVerse STEP reader and have all of the books that came with it. But when I needed a new commentary I purchased one from Zondervan. The Expositors Bible Commentary was a great addition to my collection. And it worked with QuickVerse. Today there is the ability to license technology from many of the software publishers to produce works for their software. Or you can purchase book creation software as mentioned above and others publish books that I can use in one of the Bible programs. In order to get your book to all of different users of the various software packages, a publisher would have to either give it away free to the various companies or license all of the different software packages publishing systems and create a different one for each program. There is no real standardized format even though many of them use very similar technologies. In a world where there are over 170 Baptist denominations alone, not to mention the many other denominations, I guess it is no wonder that the Bible Study software people cannot get together to produce one basic standard that everyone wants to get behind. So until then I will have to settle for having purchased 6 copies of the King James Version so that I can read it in each of the different programs I have on my hard drive or PDA, because I like this book that is only available from Zondervan and another one which is only available from Logos and only Laridian offers synching with my PDA. I prefer the notes taking feature in one program but I like the original language study features from another. See even I cannot agree with myself. It is a shame because they are all duplicating one anothers work and the kingdom of God is the lesser for it. As a compromise, I just wish that I could buy a book from one company and have an export feature in their software that would allow me to export that book and then import it into my favorite program. For example, if I bought Joes Commentary, which is only available from Joes Barbecue and Commentary Company, then I could export into standardized database format. If my favorite program could import that standardized format, I could get Joes Commentary into the other software. Joe would still get a piece of the action, but I would not have to duplicate the books I already own and I would not have to open multiple pieces of software. If Joe came out with a second edition, like book publishers do, and it was worth buying again, or if he came out with Joes Bible Handbook and Golf Guide, then hed get more of my cash even though Im not using his program to read his books. If the heads of all the software companies would like to meet together to discuss this, Id be happy to host them at my church and feed them for free! Joe has already accepted the invitation and promised to provide the barbecue and sweet tea. Ill let you know when I hear from all the others. We could sell tickets and make a killing. (wink) Oh, and by the way if you have some orphaned STEP books lying around you want to use with a program that is still being developed and updated, try e-Sword. It comes with a STEP reader. Also contact your software publisher. They may update your STEP books to work with their current software offering.

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handheld devices
Jim VanDuzer - jimv@laridian.com

Better Than an iPhone?!

ts been a while since Ive written an article. Frankly, there hasnt been much worth writing about. But a number of months ago I picked up a new cell phone and headset that Im extremely happy with. So happy in fact that when I had the opportunity to get an iPhoneI turned it down (I asked for an iPod Touch instead). The phone is the HTC S710 (VOX). I had heard about it before it was released but then lost track of it. I got an email from www.onthegosolutions.com letting me know that it was available. The phone is sold unlocked so it works on any network worldwide that uses SIM cards. That
also means that you pay full retail for the phone (no price reduction for a service agreement) which is a hefty $525 plus tax. Thats the bad news. But after having used the phone for about six months, thats the only bad news. This phone is amazing! Its a small candy bar design (4 x 1.97 x 0.73) and weighs less than 5 ounces. All of that to say, it easily fits in your pocket. The phone runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard. What makes this phone so great (as you can see from the picture) is that it has a sliding keyboard. Obviously its too small to touch type on, but its big enough to hold in both hands and use your thumbs to text message or even type a decent length email. The predictive typing is extremely responsive and good atwellpredicting what youre typing. If youve ever used a phone with Windows Mobile you know that the operating system is straight forward and easy to use. Because of the processor on this phone its also very quick. Ive used Windows Smartphones before and run into times when the operating system was trying to do too much and you werent even able to answer the phone when it rang. I havent had that happen once with this phone. There are many reviews about Windows Mobile availChristian Computing Magazine

able on the web so I wont go into much detail about the operating system. What I will say is that this phone (and operating system) work as a phone first. Start typing a name or a phone number and your contact list eliminates everything not matching what youre typing in real time. After typing four or five letters or numbers youll more than likely see the name you want to dial (if its in your contacts). Second, this phone handles text messaging and emails without batting an eye (whatever that means). The inbox on the phone is very similar to what youre used to on the desktop and it easily handles multiple email addresses. With the keyboard built in you can easily respond to messages. You can set the phone to check for email periodically, but it does not work as push mail (think Blackberry). (You can load emoze (a free push-email service available at http://www.emoze.com) onto the phone and have it push email to you if you wish. Third this phone makes a great Bible! Obviously, I have PocketBible for Windows Smartphone installed. Having the keyboard makes me wish I were able to attach notes to versesanyone know who I should talk to about having a feature added to PocketBible? There is also a web browser on the phone that works adequately. (I was able to pull up

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the Eagles schedule the other day while we were driving back from my wifes family in NJ to our home in PA.) But you wouldnt want to spend a lot of time browsing the Internet on this phone. Ohand theres a 2 mega pixel camera built in. Besides taking decent pictures and adequate video, there is a feature that allows you to take a small picture to attach to a contact. The phone has WiFi built in so if youre at a Starbucks or Paneras or somewhere else with a WiFi network you dont need to use your data plan to browse the Internet or get your email. You can even install Skype on the phone and use it to make calls (tried this in Hungary this year, but there was so much of a delay and echo that I ended up just making a regular call). The phone allows the use of a MicroSD card (cards are available up to 4GB). This allows me to load all of the Bibles I want for PocketBible for Windows Smartphone, and still have room to load a lot of music onto the phone. Since the operating system comes with Windows Media Player I can synchronize playlists and use it as an MP3 player too. This brings me up to the next item. If Im going to listen to music I need a headset (there is one that comes with the phone, but since the phone has Bluetooth I wanted a Bluetooth headset). After doing a little bit of research I came across the Plantronics Pulsar 590. I think I picked mine up for about $100, but I see that they are selling for much more than that now. The headset is Bluetooth enabled so I can pair it with my HTC and use it without any wiresgotta love that! It is stereo so when Im listening to my music it sounds great. If a call comes in the cell phone pauses the music so I can answer the call. The headset has a call answer button on the side. Simply pressing the button allows me to take the call. When the call is over, pressing the button again ends the call and the music resumes. There are also buttons on the headset that allow me to move to the previous song or the next song, change the volume and mute the call. The headset came with a Bluetooth adapter that allows me to plug into any device with a normal headset plug and use the headset without wires with any device. Theres also a wire that can go directly to the headset if needed and an adapter that allows me to plug into those strange two holed jacks that you find on airplanes. I like this headset so much that I use it for all of my phone calls at work. Ive used this headset when Ive gone into NYC on businesstwo hour bus ride each way. I used it to listen to music while I was walking in the city and used it for phone calls, all without draining the battery. I think Ive only completely drained the battery once and that was because I was using it away from home over a weekend and didnt plug it in until Tuesday when it ran low. Im very impressed with everything about this headset! Combined with my HTC phone Ive found something that I think Ill hold on to for quite a while. (Even passing over an iPhone!) Admittedly this phone isnt as exciting as the iPhone, but some of the things that make it better for me than an iPhone are 1) the sizeits really smallit fits in the pockets of my jeans, 2) the ability to install softwareyou can use www. ipocketbible.com on your iPhone, but only when you have network accessI can load PocketBible on my HTC and use it no matter where I am, even if Im on a plane and 3) the fact that I can get to the SIM card and switch it to a different phone, or put a SIM card from another network in this phonemy understanding of the iPhone is that its really hard, if not impossible to get to the SIM card. Ive gone through a lot of cell phones and this one is by far my favoritefor now.

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scott howards hotPics

Scott Howard - scottdhoward@gmail.com

Blog Sites and More

t is hard to believe that fall is already here and that it is the middle of October. The leaves are starting to fall, the Indianapolis Colts are back at it again, and people are already starting to talk about the winter holidays. Speaking of October, I am excited for the final release of the latest Ubuntu operating system that is going to be released on October 18th which is called Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon. Whether you choose to use Windows, Linux, or Mac as your operating system of choice is up to you, but if you are thinking about buying a new computer anytime soon I would hold off until shortly after the holidays to see if you can find an after Christmas special and possibly even service pack one will be available in the first quarter of 2008 for
Vista. If you dont do Windows or youre just interested in trying something new and you have a question about Ubuntu or Vista, send me an email and I will help you out in any way that I can. Again, I would like to encourage anyone that has a blog or a site that they really think would be great to share with the Christian Computing reader base to send me a link and I can look it over. I consider us a great resource to each other and I know that there is a lot of information out there that I could never pick through all by myself. It has been a privilege to be able to interact with different readers and to share useful, interesting, and fun things with everyone out there. www.korministries.com is a site for the ministry that Ryan Dobson started back in 2002 for training leaders that will spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Kor started out as a ministry to the skate community and now they speak in
Christian Computing Magazine October 2007

places all over the world. Ryan and his wife Laura both have blogs on the site that you may want to check out. You can also get on the forum that they have if youre a social bug. There is an online store as well which has three books that Ryan has published. I have never read any of his books but they look like they are good and I may just have to do that sometime. From the look of it, I would say that their podcasts get the most attention, so definitely listen to their podcasts and see what you can apply from them. www.thinkbroadband.com can be a very useful and interesting site if 43

youre wanting to stay up on the broadband realm. Thinkbroadband is a UK based site so there maybe an occasional fact or opinion that is related to that region in particular but the majority of the info can be applied anywhere and I have always felt like it is good to get a diversified mix of information and news from various geographic locations anyhow. So, just because you live in the continental United States, Germany, or even somewhere in the Eastern Pacific doesnt mean you cant apply this knowledge. It can be easy to get wrapped up in our own little world that we forget about what others are doing in distant lands. Of course, these days, hardly anywhere is considered distant with the travel luxuries that we can so easily partake in. So make sure you check this site out as it has everything from beginner guides to how broadband works to problem solving and reviews of all different types Read CCMags Review of our LogosGiving Service!Visit of hardware. www.ccmag2.com/logos/0205coverstory.pdf www.bit-tech.net is a site that I just absolutely love. I really enjoy reading just about everything on this site except for maybe the gaming stuff since I am not much of a gamer. I have found this site to be a very nicely laid out site. Kudos to the design and makeup team. As far as content, they specialize in modding (the term that is now being used for people that modify computers) but as you will soon see, they cover a lot more including games, shopping for technology products, and the latest happenings in the IT industry. Another cool benefit that they have is that they do tutorials on different subject areas to either get you started in the right direction or to deepen your understanding in a particular niche. To find those tutorials you can just click on the bits tab. If you are a techie or think you may want to become one someday, you may want to go ahead and add www.bittech.net to your bookmarks/favorites in your browser as you wont have to cipher through a bunch of unnecessary articles that are unnecessary like you would on some news sites that are out there. 44
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 www.eiae.org has information that I believe just about everyone this day and age could benefit from. I know that many people including myself fail to recycle in a lot of ways that we could if we would just take a little bit more time. The benefits to recycling are a lot bigger than some may think. The Electronic Industries Alliance has made it so easy to find out where we can go in our local area to drop off our electronics so that they can be reused by others. Whether it may be that they dont have the advantage we have of having the latest and greatest or that someone else can use the resources within those electronics for other needs. Recycling can also help improve our natural environments which our Lord has given us that we should appreciate so much. Look it over and see if you can help out by participating and make sure you look over the Questions for Recyclers page as there are probably some specifics you need to know that I may not be aware of for your area. www.micropersuasion.com is a personal blog by Steve Rubel. Steve is a knowledgeable man when it comes to technology, media, and marketing. Better yet, when you start to mix those three together he would be considered a champion of that realm. If you are interested in the combination of these topics then youre sure to enjoy keeping up with his posts. Dont worry, he is not one that only posts once in a blue moon, his blog is pretty active. It looks like Steve prefers Typepad as his blogging platform and most importantly he is one of my fellow gmail comrades. You can also check out Steve in Facebook, LinkedIn, and Flickr.

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