February 2007

A blog dedicated to the new issues with the New Blogger, of which there are plenty. This is the Mac page. I am still loving the new blogger, for me the new advantages out weigh the issues, but lets hope they can clean it up a bit soon!



read more | digg story

Web 2.0 Core Elements

This is an example of a mind map I created in Mind Meister.

They actually have the code so that you can post it in a blog, pretty cool idea. And I think that it will update as I update the mind map.

Even cooler is the area above you is dragable! You can click and move the map around to view the rest of the content! If you want in on this mind map let me know, I will share it with you (which also gives you a beta invite) and you can help put it together!

This is a very cool new web service. Instead of sorting through all of the MySpace pages, you can create your own social network based on your friends, geography, profession, hobbies, whatever!

Here is an excerpt from their site on what they are about:

Marc and I founded Ning in October 2004 to give everyone the opportunity to create social networks. Two years later, Ning powers over 30,000 social networks and counting.

From eBay sellers in Upstate New York to bead store owners in Maine, aspiring hip hop artists in New Jersey, pop culture junkies in New York City, college professors in Germany, young deviant artists in North Carolina, and even a few big media companies in LA, with Ning anyone can create the perfect social network for them.

I love mind mapping, but I have always found the software that was created for that sort of thing to be seriously lacking. Well, I have found a web app that does a great job with it, and it is still in private beta (if you want an invite me know, I was johnny on the spot and got in).

The is Mind Meister, and some of its key features include:

1. Sharing with Friends: because it is housed on the web, you can share your mind map with someone else and have them jump in on the brainstorming, LIVE! The site says that you can see changes made in real-time as you collaborate with people on it. Almost like a white-board meeting that doesn’t require everyone to be in the same physical location!

2. Integration with Skype: since it supports real time interaction/collboration between people, it also supports Skype conference calls through the interface somehow. I haven’t had a chance to try this out yet - but maybe soon!

Here is a excerpt from the site talking about the real time interaction:

When two or more users open the same mindmap at the same time you are in brainstorming mode. Every change you make - be it adding new ideas, deleting bad old ones, or rearranging them within the branches - will be replicated instantly to your fellow editors’ screens via the MindMeister server. Through colour-coded effects they will see what you did and vice versa, no reload necessary. And, if you need to talk to them directly, just click on their name in the footer and start a Skype conference call.

This is still in a private beta like I said above, but I have 19 invitations left… first come first serve!

One of the first lessons a leader learns is that you can’t please everybody. The next lesson is that some people can’t be pleased at all. Unfortunately, that’s as true in churches as it is anywhere.



read more | digg story

Josh Griffin theorizes about what church could be like in the near future.



read more | digg story

Josh has posted about an update to the freebies section at Simply Youth Ministry.com, a hilarious “hotel hotel” rap video and one other…



read more | digg story

I am tired of “interruption” marketing.

Maybe I am being spoiled by the new web, and how I can pick what I want interact with through blogs, RSS feeds, and sites like Amazon that put the stuff I am interested in right in front of my eyes.

Mall Kiosks are the perfect example of the worse kind of marketing I can imagine. You know who I am talking about, the creepy lotion one where to two over zealous staff try to try out the lotion and come at you like they are going to rub it on you whether you like it or not. The gallent of cell phone kiosks that approach you and ask you every time if you have a cell phone and if you want a new/better plan, and on and on.

We don’t rudely interrupt other people, in fact we teach out kids not to. And yet, some how there are a pack of morons who think this is the way to do business. Even if I really wanted what they had to offer, they are so offensive to my senses and comfort in making a purchase, I would go somewhere else to get it.

Any one else tired of getting interrupted and accosted while just trying to walk through the mall??

Second Life has had music, but has otherwise been rather mute. That’s all soon to change when Linden Labs rolls out a beta test for person-to-person speech. Like a lot of other in-game speech systems, you’ll need a headset, but Second Life will provide a different peer-to-peer chat experience than those World of Warcraft conversational gems.



read more | digg story