Now here’s the interesting thing that bring this back to what it is I do – do you know how fast this information got out to those that weren’t watching?  Within seconds, Tweets were going out and a few moments later we were able to watch it again on YouTube.com .  This morning I awoke to find out what happened to the invader (he was arrested) and what his real name was and that he does this all the time in mainly sporting events (bet he knows how to out run a taser now and avoiding a tackle).  Even his Wikipedia page was already updated with last night’s antics.

[Update:  Switched to another copy of the video as the other one died - plus here's a link to the whole show available until June 19th]

So I guess my question is that if something as benign as jumping on stage can make its way around the globe so quickly – why do more important messages about things like hope and love seem to take so much more effort? (or only seem to come to me in emails with some fluffy Powerpoint attached?)

As people get more and more comfortable in a community, they begin to open up more and more – revealing more and more of themselves.  This is great!  Totally awesome as I believe people need to be free to share all parts of themselves with people who truly care for them.  However, the Internet is full of eavesdroppers.  People who listen in on these vulnerable conversations and take that information and use it for their own personal gain.  The biggest culprits are those that prey on the younger generations and the older generations.  For that reason, I just want to bring up the idea that all of us online just need to take a few steps to ensure that we can enjoy our communication online without worrying about being victimized.

If you are on Facebook, take a few moments and read this article about 10 Privacy Settings of Facebook and put into practice some or all of the suggestions they have there.  I really want people to enjoy being online but to do so in a safe manner.  God bless.

We’re really excited to announce the release of our new eDOT website .  Being a technology ministry, our website gets scrutinzied a little bit more than most peoples’ sites so its nice have a refreshing look and interaction.  For being an information website, I really like our new place.  Our goal is that this will help us recruit more people into working with us both in full time capacities, short term capacities and even as volunteers.  Based on WordPress (just like this site), it includes a blog (which I’ll be one of the writers on) and other changing parts.

This is a bitter sweet project as it’s Laura’s (our web developer) first major project since getting out of German Language school.  And will be her last major eDOT project (at least for a while) as she’s about to have her first baby.  Check out the blog she did about what it took to make this website work.  Not only did she do a lot of custom code for it, but she originally used so many different WordPress plug-ins (add-ons of code that people make specifically to work with WordPress) that the system would crash.  We actually had to scale back how many plugins we were using but it still works wonderfully.

The really cool part of this project was that everything we used was free. WordPress is open-source and so are all the plugins (we did make some donations to some of the plugin writers just becase they saved us some much by already having the code).

So please check it out and feel free to pass the link along to any friends or family that may be interested in using their technical abilities for helping build up the church in Greater Europe.

This past week, I got to spend some awesome time with other people who understand what its like to be a computer geek in the missions world at the ICCM-Europe conference.  It was really nice to have conversations about geeky stuff without people looking really bored or like you were speaking in a different language (even though we had about 9 different native languages represented at the conference).  Even more special about it was that we could talk about IT stuff but in the context of missions where issues like “how much sand does it take to destroy a laptop” or “how do you get connectivity to a computer in the middle of no where on a very limited budget” are common discussions.  Honestly, its a relief to have been in a place we everyone speaks your language (and I don’t mean English).

I was actually one of the conference speakers where I got to speak about using Moodle to create communities of learners not just in the academic worlds but for all sorts of education such as Bible study groups, discipleship training, church leader training, etc.  But the highlight for me was probably the TFM (Technology for Missions) contest.  With the urging of a couple of co-workers who were with me, I explained in both a technical terms and in Kingdom impact terms how eDOT is using laptops with various peripherals configured in a particular way to teach basic computer skills in a way that draws people into the local churches.  This concept we call Mobile Outreach Centers (MOC).  This small network of laptops uses a wireless router, hard driving imaging, a slew of open source software, USB keyboards and mice to be able to teach people who’ve never seen a computer before how to type, use the mouse, basic word process skills, basic graphic design, and even how to use email and surf the web safely. All of this with equipment that is easy to maintain, fits into two boxes that can be carried in the back of a small car and doesn’t even need Internet access (we have a web server and email server running on one of the laptops).  In our teaching, we use Scripture where ever possible and encourage our teachers to give their testimonies.  To do the initial teaching, we usually use teams from North America however after they have left, the computers area available for the local churches to use as local outreaches in their churches or to their church plants that are just getting underway.  We would love to see these systems eventually be used year round and to have them all over the place (currently, they are in Ukraine only).

Sergey learning computers in the MOC

For me the confirmation of the Mobile Outreach Center was when we won first place in the Technology for Mission contest. We’re looking for more short term teams from North America to come and run the initial training on these systems.  Would you be interested in leading a team? Contact me.

Ok, my feed-to-email provider has gone “bye-bye” so now I’m turning to FeedBurner to handle that for me which also gives me better information about how many are subscribing to this blog.

So if you are subscribed to receive this blog in your email and wondering why you haven’t heard from me in a while, this is why.  So please go ahead and re-signup by using the form on the right side.  If you’d like to receive blogs in your email every time I update, just use the form or if you use an RSS aggregator, click on the RSS feed also on the right.

Talk to you more soon.

Just some things to think about in a global world.

• Moodle – a LMS (Learning Management System) that we use to develop and run courses in. We also use it for several internal discussion boards.
• WordPress – originally developed as a blogging system, it also is able to be used as a CMS (Content Management System). We use it for many of our websites that we develop for other groups.
• WordPressMU – a multi-user, multi-blog version of WordPress that we use for our eDOT Teams website where we create a location for each team that comes on a short term trip to train them and help with intra-team communication.
• VMWare Server – a Virtual Machine server that allows us to quickly put up testing and production areas without interferring with our other areas and not requiring us to go out and purchase more equipment.
• Deki Wiki – yes, they have a free version. You just have to really look through their site to find it. This is perhaps one of the easiest to use Wikis out there. It has a great user interface and some great ways of interacting with our other systems. We use this to maintain documentation about, well, everything from server configurations to how to load a piece of software to documenting the projects we are working on.
• OSTicket – This is a streamlined web-based helpdesk application where users can fill out an online form or send an email to a specific address and it automatically creates a ticket for us geeks to work on. This is helping to reduce those requests from coming into our email box and just sitting there as a reminder until its done.
• LimeSurvey – This is a web-based survey tool that allows us to create and process surveys online. We use it for acquiring the skill sets of our volunteers and for other situations where we need to do a broadcast survey.
• Web2Project – a web-based Project Management tool we use to manage our various projects. It has some great mods including a Project Importer that allows me to develop a project using my Concept Draw Project software (or Microsoft Project) to develop the project plan and then import it into the web system.
• CentOS, Ubuntu, etc. – We use several different versions of Linux for various reasons but Linux is a very stable, streamlined server level operating system so it is perfect when using older equipment or just need something that does precisely what it says without all the flashy stuff (like an easy to use interface – our setups are usually command line).
• Apache, MySQL, PHP, Perl, FireFox, etc – Most of our more recent web development has been using these technologies. Before my arrival, most of the volunteers were Microsoft guys and so they were using systems that required ASP, .NET, etc but we are moving away from those (to some extent) so that we are not relying on Microsoft server technology as it costs more than a Linux box.
• OpenOffice – This cross-platform Office replacement application is great for those who just use the basics within the MS Office suites. We use this in our stuff where people just need the basics but can’t afford to purchase the full MS Office suite. This is our way of making sure they don’t just go out and get a bootlegged copy of MS Office since we’re showing them a legal way of getting software that still does everything they need it to. It’s powerful enough that several members of our team use it instead of buying MS Office.
• TrueCrypt – this open source encrypting software is great for encrypting local drives but we especially use it to encrypt USB memory sticks.

We’re also evaluating:

• FrontlineSMS – a free (to non-profits only) SMS system that allows you to do broadcast SMS or to be able to have auto-replys when someone SMS a keyword to your phone number. Works with the Clickatell online system or you can connect it to certain cell phones or a GSM modem with a SIM card. We’re looking at this for several different projects.
• Kannel – an open source WAP Gateway/SMS software. Cell phones are becoming more and more the way people are communicating and access the Internet. We’re looking at different ways to use the technology and I suspect Kanal is going to play a part in this.
• PortableApps – this suite of different applications is great for our work on USB memory sticks. Using this suite, we can run little, local webservers so a person can just pop in a USB stick and work on “web” based applications. Now they’re not really working on the web but they can share the USB sticks easily with other people.

Well, that just a short list of the different open source/free software we use at eDOT. Maybe one day I’ll go through some of the free software I use on my Mac or that we use on our Windows based computer centers. Maybe I should make a list of the free services we use online like Skype, DimDim.com, etc. What lists would you like to have?

Now you may be wondering what this is above these written words – well if you have a web enabled phone, go to the BeeTag website and get the free BeeTag reader. Once you get it loaded, use it to scan in (yes, you can use the camera on a cell phone or “handy” as a “bar code” scanner) and it will ask you if you want to download some information. That information is my vCard (virtual Business Card) and will automatically add it to your phone contact list. It’s like taking a picture to enter in a web address (no sitting there having to hit the same button multiple times just to get one letter). Sweet huh?

The business world is looking at this type of technology and saying, “How can we use this to get our message out, motivate people to purchase more, etc?” As you can see in this video (–> http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=9281962), Ralph Lauren is going to be putting these types of tags on their merchandise, on their ads, everywhere! They want you to be able to purchase their stuff where ever you might be cuz you’ve always got your cell phone with you (that’s why Germans call them “handys”). We’re starting to see them on soda bottles to connect buyers to online promotions, on business cards to make sure its easy to get your info into your prospective clients phones, as a means of document management and workflow management, etc. The cell phone is becoming a larger part of people’s everyday lives.

Now when I see technology like this, I begin to wonder how it can be used to bring people closer to God. I look at the weird image above and wonder if we created a website made for cell phones about God’s love and grace, made stickers with the above type image and then plastered them all around town – would people respond to them? What if we used it to link to videos about helping people through depression, loneliness, addictions? It’s not about the technology. It’s about connecting people to God – just using technology to make the connection.

Here’s what I offer – normal package is on a Windows IIS web server that is backed up every night and has 99% uptime guaranteed. There’s support for PHP, ASP, ASP.net, ASP.net 2, Perl, PHP4, PHP5, Frontpage, Virtual Directories, Custom Error Pages, Password Protected directories, FTP accounts, subdomains, personal email accounts using SmarterMail (with good email filtering) that includes webmail access, SmarterStats for your website, a multitude of ASP components and much more. 400Mb web space with 20GB of bandwith starts at $10/month. MySQL databases or SQL databases are extra.

Let me know if you are interested.

Well, after installing and working with WordPress >2.0 on several other people’s websites, I finally upgraded mine from WordPress 1.5.2 to the latest and greatest – WordPress 2.3.1 . Yeah!! I am so happy. I just finally got sick of all the comment spam that I was getting (they didn’t show up on the site because I have to approve all comments before they go live here). Today, I had 20 comment spams before lunch. I got fed up so I upgraded.

I didn’t even have an upgrade plan – I just downloaded the zip, unpacked it, deleted the files they told me to, uploaded the new ones, and ran the upgrade script for my database. I know, I should have backed up but it was a last minute thing anyways.

Well, it looks like the site on the whole is in good shape with the upgrade. And that was a big upgrade too so I really thought more things should have been broken but for the most part things are working.

I just gotta fix my blogroll and I think there may be a couple of other things but I just have to find them. I also need to update my theme (what makes this site look and feel the way that it does). Let me know if there’s something the matter with my site – I’d sure appreciate it!

Well, I’m back on the road again this next week. Should be able to do some posts from where I’m going and the best part of it – Alex and Krista get to go with me. I’ll try and get some good pictures in too.