Founder & Editor-in-Chief Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com VP of Operations Michael Hewitt - mike@ccmag.

com

Applying Tomorrows Technology to Todays Ministry

Volume 20 January 2008 No. 1

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 Gina Hewitt Corporate Home Office
Mailing address: Delivery address: PO Box 319 Belton MO 64012 311 Manor Dr. Belton, MO 64012

Cover Story - Page 9

Critical resources for a Critical Mission

Advanced Ministry

Phone: (816) 331-8142 FAX: 800-456-1868

Special Feature - Page 23

ICON CMO+ Extends a Great CMS to Manage an Entire Denomination!

Copyright 2007 by Christian Computing, Inc.

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

Editorial

MTI is OPEN, & a New Online CMS Feature Chart

o o

by Steve Hewitt

Page 3 Page 4

CCMag NewsBreif My Vision

Want To Catch A Vision?

by Steve Hewitt by Bob Dasal by ACS Technologies by Dr. J.D. (Doc) Watson

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Wordsearch Word

Need or Want a Library with Thousands of Fantastic Alliterations

o

Page 13

ACS Ideas to Impact Tech Talk

An Introduction to SaaS

Page 14 Page 16 Page 18 Page 26 Page 29 Page 31

The Top Ten Tune-Up Tips 2

Internet Ministry

A Big Step Into the Future for TV, Cell Phones, & Alarm Systems
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by Walt Wilson

Higher Power with Kevin

PC Study Bible Review
o

by Kevin A Purcell by Ross Gile by Scott Howard

Internet Toolbox

AJAX - Whats In It For Me? Blog Sites and More

Scott Howards HotPic

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Articles that are highlighed are provided by our partners

www.ccmag2.com/2007_03/2007_03editorial.pdf Christian Computing Magazine January 2008

editorial
Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com

a New Online CMS Feature Chart is Coming

My Vision, MTI is OPEN, and

here is so much going on at CCMag, I have to split up my editorial this month to tell you about all of them. First of all, as I mentioned last month, check out My Vision in this issue. I am excited about where God is leading those of you that will respond to this new ministry. I know the potential results are fantastic, and it will be exciting to see how God puts it together.
Second, Ministry Technology Institute is officially open. What a joy it was to meet with the first class in our virtual classroom using TalkShoe. Even our two international students were able to connect and talk live with us via the Internet, one from Singapore, and the other from Brazil. You can see it by visiting the Ministry Tech website (www.ministry-tech.com). We have discussion boards set up for our students and they are posting intros and getting to know each other. Some have already announced that they have finished the first part of their first class. The good news is there is STILL room for more students. We plan to keep enrollment open, and will be scheduling a new student orientation in a couple of weeks. If you want to join us, visit the site, www.ministry-tech.com, and read all about our virtual, distance learning certificate program, helping to prepare men and women to serve the Lord in the area of technology. You do not have to be a computer expert, or have previous training. What you DO need to have is a willingness to want to learn and serve. God will do the rest. If you want to join us, download the application and get started. Third, something REALLY cool is about to happen. We have created (with the help of some fantastic programmers at Digical) an online Church Management Software (CMS) feature chart. This new online site will not only do a fantastic job in presenting all of the many features that each CMS company provides, the chart allows you to create your own customized result. As you look over the chart, you can remove the companies you wish to eliminate from your selection process, and, if you see features that dont apply, you can remove them as well. This will leave you with a chart containing the companies and the features YOU want to compare. UnfortunateChristian Computing Magazine ly I cant give you the URL yet, because it isnt finished. However, it WILL be finished before next months issue, so check the CCMag website because when it is ready, we will post a link (www.ccmag.com) We plan to do additional feature charts throughout the year, covering subjects such as Web content/creation sites, worship presentation software, filtering software solutions, etc. It should be an exciting year! Together We Serve Him,

Steve Hewitt Editor-in-Chief

January 2008

Is the Music Recording Industry About To Open Another Can of Worms According to a recent lawsuit that was filed against a person in AZ for allowing files to be shared over a peer-to-peer network, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit also charged the person with unlawful copying of music from purchased CDs by converting them to MP3s. In the past, it has been understood that converting songs from a purchased CD for use as an MP3 in order to listen to them on a MP3 player, has not been considered illegal. However, now that many songs are being sold as MP3s it may be that the recording industry is going to try to force people to purchase the same song in MP3 format that they already own on CDs. Hopefully this idea will get squashed quickly because it would make criminals out of most of us. For more information, visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319276,00.html 2007 Sets New Record For ID Theft More than 79 million US citizens had their personal identification information, such as their social security number or credit card accounts, compromised as a result of data theft. This figure is four times higher than 2006 and represents a concerted effort by organized crime to obtain our personal ID information for illegal use. Personal ID information was lost in 2007 due to an increase in the theft of notebook computers, the use of malware to capture ID information from our computers, and the ability to hack into sensitive databases. More and more organizations such as utilities and credit card companies are retaining our social security number, so the potential breach of such information is increased. For more information, visit http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ip0gRFSz0t677cXwg2z4WRKJ0TgwD8TRVTI00 GPS Units Will Soon Provide More Features This might be the beginning of GPS units doing much more than just telling you where you are and/or planning a route to your destination. At the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) this year, many vendors are talking about adding some exciting services to beef up what present systems can now do. The first step is to add more voice activation to GPS systems. Not only can you ask it to give you directions to a location, you could have it access your email and read it to you over the speaker, and allow you to dictate a response and send. Calendars will be added for example, helping you to maintain the time needed to drive to specific appointments based upon traffic and weather. Many new additional cost services are being explored. One company is actually developing a system to direct you to an empty parking space in heavy traffic sites. For more information, visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22559721/ Security Experts Warn Of Virtual Boyfriends and Girlfriends on Chat Sites A company in Russia is advertising a new program that can be used in popular dating chat sites that simulate a virtual flirting person that can keep communications open with up to ten different people at once, without the person they are communicating with ever realizing that they are not chatting with a real human. The program is designed to get phone numbers and personal information from those it communicates with. The company claims it is designed to help men get phone numbers from women through online chat, but security agencies are already
Christian Computing Magazine January 2008

warning it will quickly turn into a new type of ID threat as variations will be set up to communicate in chat rooms, make friends and glean personal information. The company reports that in testing, none of the people communicating with their virtual friend ever realized they were chatting with a computer. For more information, visit http://www.sciam. com/article.cfm?id=russian-comput er-program Apple Issues Major Security Update Security updates for Windows has become a regular part of most computer users lives. However, many Mac users are not aware that their OS is also in need of updates. Apple released their latest security update at the end of 2007, with 41 important fixes for Leopard as well as some previous OS versions. This brings the number of security fixes to 196 this past year. As with Windows security updates, this doesnt mean that all of these security holes were exploited, but it does mean that they could. If you have a Mac, be sure to download and install these important updates as soon as possible. For more information, visit http://www.computerworld.com/ac tion/article.do?command=viewArtic leBasic&articleId=9053358&intsrc= news_ts_head Do You Search for Yourself? A new study has been released that shows about half of us Google ourselves. It isnt just a matter of vanity, it might be a good idea to see what others might have posted about you on the Internet. For more information, visit http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?comm and=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyI d=15&articleId=9053304&intsrc= hm_topic
Christian Computing Magazine January 2008

my vision
Steve Hewitt - steve@ccmag.com

Want To Catch A Vision?

s I stated in last months editorial, I have a new vision for a new ministry. The vision is simple, yet this new ministry will do something no one else has ever done, with the potential of reaching millions with the message of salvation during this year. I have spent many months with the burden of this new ministry on my heart, seeking Gods will on how to implement it. And, it seems that His direction is for me to simply present it here to my readers and let Him call out those who will stand beside me and accomplish the task He has directed. However, to my knowledge, no one has sought to effectively use this new media as a tool to get the message of salvation out to the masses. The opportunity to do so, and do so with a Introduction dynamic impact, is before us. In the past, the Christian community lost new media My vision is to not only create short videos designed for technology opportunities. Christian radio and television basi- the un-churched and those without a saving knowledge of cally serves the Christian community instead of being used to Christ, but my vision includes a way to distribute these videos take our message to the un-churched. A new media technology to millions of Christians to send to their un-churched friends. has emerged and taken our society by storm. This new media Imagine if thousands of ministries and tens of thousands of is the short video that can be posted on sites like YouTube. churches all joined together to send these videos designed for com, with the opportunity to distribute a link to such videos the un-churched to their member list, as a tool to help them via emails. And the incredible power of viral marketing, and spread the Gospel. But wait, theres more (I have ALWAYS videos made by ordinary people can eventually be seen by wanted to say that.) Imagine that if the video was posted on literally millions. YouTube and all of those Christians opened it up to view it, Now I know that some of you are going to think that I and then sent it to their friends that did not know Christ. If havent seen sites such as GodTube.com, or you might think everyone did it around the same time, with all of the thousands I have never visited sites like SermonSpice.com. I know that of videos hitting YouTube, THIS video might quickly become there are some great videos out there, and am thrilled to see the most watched video of the week, which means hundreds of more churches taking advantage of using videos in worship thousands more would click on it to check it out on YouTube. and Bible study. And, I have seen some entertaining and/or Once released, IF the video has entertainment and/or inspiring videos that do a great job of presenting the Gospel. inspirational impact, it will continue to be sent from person
Christian Computing Magazine January 2008

to person, taking its message to more each day. The power of viral marketing would take over. You can spend a fortune using traditional methods of mass communication to get your message out, or if you can present it in a WOW form and send it to five people, and if they find it interesting and each send it to five others, within months you will have your message in front of millions. In addition, I believe there are many things that separate the Christian community. However, I believe that if a method such as this could be created to easily spread the Gospel in a way that offered no competition to present ministries, a spirit of cooperation could be gained and many ministries could be persuaded to unite in this common cause. A Billy Graham Crusade in a major metropolitan is a good example of this cooperation. Denominational lines seem to drop and churches and para-church ministries seem to find common ground to work together. My new ministry would build upon this ability to cooperate. So, how does it all work? This new ministry would create a new video, at least one a month. These videos would not be created for the church crowd, but rather seek to have a riveting, entertaining, humorous or shocking, wow type of video with a follow up message taking interested viewers to a website providing more information on how a person can come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Here is one example. This is NOT something we can use, but represents what could be done. (Note: this is only an example. Im not suggesting this new ministry make only animated videos.) In 1999 a video was released via email and spread around the world (a much smaller Internet world back then compared to now.) If you havent already seen the alien singing I will survive, check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duOoqDu2H70 . The author created this video with the intent of spreading the word that he had talent. He went on to work for Pixar and helped create the Toy Story movie. Now imagine if WE had thought of it first. Only, after the mirror ball falls on the little creatures head, the screen would have gone black and the following message faded in. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, life seems to have no rhyme or reason. However, there IS someone who cares and has a better plan for our lives than the one we are trying to work out for ourselves. To find out more, visit www.allaboutgod.org . By the way, the folks at allaboutgod.org have given us the thumbs up if we want to send people who watch our videos to their site. They do a good job at presenting the Gospel, as well as apologetics. As a result of my position with Christian Computing Magazine for the last 20 years, I am convinced we could get the video into the hands of a least a million Christians via email in a short period of time. We have a list of 54,000 here at Christian Computing, and our last survey showed that around 70% were serving as church staff (37,800 churches.) If they averaged 200 people on their membership list and sent these emails to their lists, we would have it reach seven-and-a-half million. THEN if these
Christian Computing Magazine January 2008

people sent it to just one person, an un-churched friend, we would have a video on YouTube with 15 million hits in just a few days! Can you imagine the impact? Can you imagine the people who would come to YouTube to see what is this weeks most viewed, only to find them watching a video that is helping them think about their need for God? Who would create the videos? We already have some very talented Christian people across the nation producing great videos. However, they are producing videos to market to the church because they need to make a living. IF we had the funds, we could hire some of these talented people to create our videos. However, the vision God has given me doesnt include any way to make or raise funds (sorry.) So, presently, I am tossing this article out with the prayer that people with the ability to help launch this ministry will be lead by God to volunteer, just as I will. I believe God will lead us to people who can create videos, and to people who can write scripts, or have inspired ideas on how to present the Gospel without using church language or religious jargon. And, I believe the Lord will lead us to people who will join in helping with the distribution. This ministry will not sell Read CCMags Review of our LogosGiving Service!Visit anything. It will create video prodwww.ccmag2.com/logos/0205coverstory.pdf ucts for distribution to the world, entirely free. It will not compete with anyone else producing videos for the church marketplace. If it needs funds, they will have to be donated. But this is not a call for donations, but rather a call for those to join me as volunteers to explore the future of what might be. I cannot tell you how great of a burden I have to see this ministry come into reality. Just knowing that we could create such a tool to spread the Gospel to millions is incredible. I know how to do it. I know it will work. I know God is calling it into existence. But I know that I cant do it alone. I dont have the abilities to create videos, and I have limited ideas for the correct messages we need to distribute. I know that there will be risks. In creating videos to grab the attention of a lost world, we take the risk of offending those that have become keepers of the fish bowl, instead of being called to fish for men. In everything, there is risk, but; if after reading this, YOU feel God calling you to connect to this ministry, and you begin to see the vision He has given me, then I am going to ask you to drop me an email (steve@ccmag.com). I dont know how this will all come about, nor even my place in the future of this ministry, but I know God has given me this vision, and that the ministry should and could launch and utilize this new medium to spread the Gospel, the good news, that Christ is the answer.
Christian Computing Magazine January 2008

cover story

Critical Resources for a Critical Mission

Advanced Ministry

always find it exciting when I discover Christians who are successful in the secular side of technology business, and yet they want to expand their talents to help in ministry because of their desire to serve our Lord. I recently spent some time interviewing Ray Majoran the CEO of Electricurrent. Electricurrent was created as the ministry arm of a larger corporation Gateseven Media Group Inc., which services both the corporate and ministry communities .Taking their experience and success, Electricurrent was established to help provide exciting technology and marketing solutions for ministries. Many ministries and churches have already take advantage of the full-service marketing side of Electricurrent (watch
blogs, podcast, stream videos, post events, take donations and more!

for an article next month highlighting a church that used their services to almost triple in size.) In fact, if you check out the new logo for Christian Computing on this months cover, you will see an example of their work. I love the new look! As part of Electricurrents mission, there are offering an exciting strategic web solution called AdvancedMinistry. AdvancedMinistry allows churches the ability to create and grow their website to meet their ministry needs using one of their many suites, starting at a price that should get everyones attention since their beginning suite is FREE.

What led you to develop AdvancedMinistry? There were two factors which combined to cause us to build this platform. First, we knew that traditionally, ministries have not placed a lot of value on their web presence, and it showed. Tightly tied with that is the qualification that the averWhat is AdvancedMinistry? age ministry budget does not lend itself AdvancedMinistry offers Christian organizations the ability to to working with a high-quality creative create and manage their own website without having to understand agency. The other factor was our own conprogramming or web design. Using our Ministry Management Solu- viction, as a faith-based creative agency, tion (MMS), ministries are able to update all of their content, create to use our talents in helping churches and
Christian Computing Magazine January 2008

Christian Computing Magazine

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ministries in their respective callings. Taking those factors into consideration, we knew that we could design & develop a platform that could raise the bar for ministry-based organizations at an economical cost. Why is the web so important? First off, it is important to see your website as a component part of a greater communications strategy. Churches and ministries can undoubtedly benefit from a solid communications platform in our media saturated culture. That being said, the perspective on websites for ministry-based organizations amongst many of their constituents has changed from being just another way to communicate, to an expectation. For this reason and others, the web is a critically important component of any communications strategy. You refer to other reasons why ministry-based organizations need a website. What are those reasons and how does AdvancedMinistry meet those needs? The ability of a website to influence the lives of individuals beyond the intended audience is a really important consideration. Of course, beyond the ramifications of that bigger picture goal, there are the practicalities of the efficiency of the web as a communications medium with any organizations audience. Through a platform like AdvancedMinistry, churches and ministries are able to maintain a connection with their audience by updating them to news and events and providing them with the latest resources. Tell me more about your company. Founded in 1996, Electricurrent has assisted hundreds of ministries throughout the world with their creative and technology efforts. Some of our clients include Youth Specialties,
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Pure Life Ministries, Teen Challenge, Crown Financial, Biola University and The Salvation Army. In August of 2000, we began a journey to create AdvancedMinistry an online solution that would assist churches and ministries in building and maintaining an effective website. The first official release of AdvancedMinistry came in March of 2002. Corporately, our primary mission is to use our gifts to serve churches and ministries in their work to further Gods kingdom. Our strategy includes the utilization of our successes in the corporate and for-profit sectors to facilitate our work in the faith-based and non-profit sector. AdvancedMinistry is a great example of what we have been able to do on the basis of this strategy. How is AdvancedMinistry set up? AdvancedMinistry is setup as a self-serve web creation and management solution. It contains a number of different packages with different features in each. Our clients can choose the package they want and are able to upgrade or downgrade at any time. There are no contracts and we offer an affiliate program whereby AdvancedMinistry clients can receive a monthly discount off their hosting fees for each organization they refer to the system that signs up for any of the fee-based packages. Why the different levels? Every ministry has different needs, wants and budgets. The package approach allows us to provide a mix of options to a variety of ministry-based organizations at a low cost. What other options do you have? In keeping with our conviction about how powerful a consistent communications package can be for a church or ministry, we have worked to offer bulletin shells and PowerPoint backgrounds that are consistent with the web templates we have created in the system. We also strive to provide our clients with tools to help them remain relevant in the modern online culture. Recently, a major paradigm shift in web usage has surrounded the idea of social networking and the concept of Web 2.0. To facilitate being a part of this paradigm, we have integrated tools for podcasting and blogging. Other options of note include an online store and the ability to process donations online. How do you maintain such a competitive pricing model while continuing to offer a current platform with so many tools? As a design/development agency, Electricurrent works with many clients on a custom basis. We are able to leverage the experience and technology from our work on those projects and apply them to AdvancedMinistry always with an eye to improving the platform and our clients user-experience.
Christian Computing Magazine January 2008

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wordsearch word
Bob Dasal - bdasal@wordsearchbible.com

Thousands of Fantastic Alliterations

ohn Butler is a gifted pastor and Bible scholar who has been quietly writing for more than 15 years. When WORDsearch released his Bible Biography Series in electronic format the series quickly became a best-seller. This series follows the real-life stories of significant characters in the Bible with verse-by-verse commentary. Successfully combining a biography with a verse-by-verse commentary
would discourage most writers, but not John Butler. He does it masterfully using alliteration! What is alliteration? It is the repetition of initial sounds in adjacent words. It targets the human heart and sticks in the mind. Butlers alliterated outlines are crisp and clear. John Butler is a native of Iowan and has been a Baptist minister for nearly half a century. He pastored for over thirty-five years serving churches in Williamsburg, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; and Clinton, Iowa His writings not only include the Bible Biography Series (a twenty volume series on the major characters of the Bible), but also the Studies of the Savior Series (a ten volume set on Jesus Christ) and the Daily Bible Reading Series . Butlers books are a tremendous help to preachers by providing in-depth well-organized material for sermons and lessons. They also provide sound biblical instruction for the individual in his or her personal Bible study. Another helpful part is their organized structure that is very adaptable to Sunday School classes and Bible study groups. To better people better understand alliteration Butler wrote the book Alliterated Sermon Outlines that details the different aspects of alliteration. Here is a brief look at Butlers six aspects of alliteration. 1. The Precedence for Alliteration The Bible does have illustrations of alliteration and other literary devices, which give a preacher a good precedence for alliterating his sermon. These Biblical illustrations of alliteration are often lost in the English translations; for what alliterates in one language will not always alliterate in another language. Psalm 119 is an illustration of this. This Psalm is composed of 176 verses divided into 22 sections. The 22 sections of eight verses corresponded to the Hebrew alphabet, which has 22. At the top of each section is a word, which is a letter of the Hebrew alphabet (such as Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth, etc. The alliteration is the fact that each of the eight verses in each section begins with the Hebrew letter given in the heading of that section. Thus all the verses in the first section entitled Aleph begin with a word that starts with the letter Aleph. The amazing thing about the alliteration of this Psalm is that David used every letter of the Hebrew alphabet. 2. The Purpose of Alliteration There are three important reasons for alliterating which gives alliteration of sermons a significant value. They are A Listening Ear, A Learning Mind, and A Lasting Effect. 3. The Practices of Alliteration (Various ways of alliterating) Alliteration is not limited to making the first letter of a word in your outline the same. That is the most common form used, but there are other forms and practices of alliteration. There are same beginning letter, or prefix, or suffixes, same ending (subject) and same sound (assonance). 4. Props for Alliteration (Useful aids for alliterating) Aids for alliteration include a thesaurus, dictionary, speller, the Internet, and letters of the alphabet. 5. Preparation for Alliteration (Organizing the sermon text) Before you can alliterate, you must have some points. To get points for your sermon, you must organize your text. Suggestions on organizing text include by sentence, subject, and sayings. 6. Perils of Alliteration (Problems to avoid when alliterating) While alliteration can be helpful, there are some perils. Butler points out two prominent perils to alliteration. They are The Priority Peril and The Perplexity Peril. You can find a full discussion of these six points in Alliterated Sermon Outlines available from WORDsearch Bible software. For the software versions of John Butlers books, including the Bible Biography series, Studies of the Savior series, and the Daily Bible Reading series go to www.WORDsearchBible.com or call 800-888-9898. For a limited time these works are available at HALF-PRICE.

Need or Want a Library with

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January 2008

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ACS ideas to impact

Mark Williams - mark.williams@acstechnologies.com

An Introduction to SaaS
from ACS Technologies

oftware as a Service is a relatively new trend among software providers in which an application is designed to be accessed on the Web rather than installed on the users workstation. Though the software is Web-based, it is not browser-based.
placements to the server are responsibilities of the service provider, as are server operating system upgrades, patches, and fixes. The church software should also be up to date at all times because the service provider applies upgrades and service packs automatically. A good service provider has 24-hour network support to ensure the church never loses its connection to the server. A good provider also backs up the data it stores, so the church has an automatic disaster recovery plan in place. In most cases, these backups are stored in an off-site fire-proof vault so that if the service provider experiences an emergency, there are still good backups of client data. SaaS is also secure. As with most other Webbased applications, users are protected by logins. Only clients with authenticated usernames and passwords can access the service. In addition, server security patches are constantly updated by the service provider, and a firewall prevents unauthorized intrusion. There may be some disadvantages, however, to using SaaS. One potential drawback of using a hosted solution rather than an on-premise solution is that, since it is a service, there is a monthly fee as opposed to a one-time product fee for locally housed applications. Churches need to plan ahead to budget for the monthly cost.
January 2008

Instead, the software provider develops a thin client application that the user can download one time to their workstation. Once the application is installed, the users workstation maintains constant communication with the software providers server whenever the application is in use. The application is called a thin client because it provides a considerably smaller download than locally housed applications, or fat clients, while maintaining the same robust functionality. The hosted server houses all of the users data; none is stored on the users computer. There are many benefits to using hosted software. Namely, since SaaS is Web-based, users can work in their church management system (CMS) anywhere there is an Internet connection. With ministers continuously on the go, its a big advantage to be able to access church records and enter updates immediately so that the church staff always has the most current data, no matter where they happen to be. In addition, many churches cannot afford fulltime IT personnel, yet they still need a properly maintained network. Hosted solutions include network hardware and software maintenance as part of the service, eliminating the need for on-staff technicians at the church. Thus, all hardware repairs, upgrades, and reChristian Computing Magazine

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 Another drawback can be converting current church data to the new service. If the churchs current CMS is written on a different platform than the hosted application, it could take a few days for the service provider to convert the data to the new platform. This means that during that time, the church would not be able to enter any data. One other factor to consider is that, in the event that the service provider experiences downtime, whether planned or unplanned, the church cannot access its data until the service is restored. While its rare that this will happen, its still a possibility the church should be aware of. Selecting an SaaS is a bold step for a church, so its imperative to shop around and find a solution that fits the churchs needs. Dont be afraid to ask plenty of questions. If your church does not have an on-staff IT technician, ask a technosavvy member of the congregation to help research and communicate with potential service providers. When weighing the advantages and disadvantages, always keep the churchs best interest in mind. Good luck, and if youre looking for a place to start, feel free to visit www.acstechnologies.com/ ondemand, where you can discover the ACS Technologies hosted service and download a free ACS OnDemand service brief. As manager of client services at ACS Technologies, Mark Williams works personally with hundreds of churches across America to implement and maintain their Web-based ministry. If youre considering a hosted solution, feel free to e-mail him at mark.williams@acstechnol ogies.com.

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

Tune-Up Tips 2
ast timeafter we got past the how often to change the oil in your car controversywe began a look at the top ten things to do to tune up your computer and keep it running smoothly. We examined the first four: check/update security software and settings; remove unused programs; remove unwanted and temporary files; and run Check Disk to fix disk errors. Well conclude with the remaining six.
5. Run Disk Defragmenter For those of you who have been reading me for some eighteen years now (and bless your pea pickin hearts), how many times have I mentioned this? I dont know either. Anyway, as files grow in size during editing, they sometimes will not fit into contiguous (adjacent) sectors on your hard drive and so they become fragmented (scattered over the disk). Fragmentation is inevitable and automatic and increases seek time in retrieving files and thereby slows performance. Fragmentation is, in fact, the biggest performance stealer on your computer. So, about once a month (or more often if you do a lot of editing), go to Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter) and then click the Analyze button. (You can also open My Computer, right-click on drive C:, select Properties, the Tools tab, and then the Defragment Now button.) This will tell you whether or not you need to defrag. In Figure 1, for example, I didnt need to defrag, but I clicked the View Report button anyway, which told me the low
Christian Computing Magazine

The Top Ten

percentage of fragmentation on drive C. Note the color coding of disk usage, especially the fragmented files (red) and contiguous files (blue). (Heres one reason blue is my favorite color.) If you do need to defrag (and I went ahead and did so even though the utility told me I didnt need tosee Fig. 2), you can at least continue to work as it goes about its business. BTW, see my Hot Tips 25 (September 2005), or my Windows Hot Tips III booklet, for how to create a new context menu option to defrag drives. Now, if you want faster, automatic, and customizable defragging, check out Diskeeper ($30.00) at www.diskeeper.com. Diskeeper Lite is a freeware version that only analyzes fragmentation levels and runs manual defragmenting (no scheduling) on one disk volume at a time. Heres one place to read more and download it:
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Christian Computing Magazine

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http://www.aplusfreeware.com/categories/util/ DiskeeperLite.html. Frankly, however, IMHO, unless you really want scheduling, or unless Windows defragger gets stuck, hangs, or keeps restarting, I see no reason to spend the money. The Windows utility does a good job

6. Turn off Visual Effects I actually mentioned this back in May 2007, so please forgive me for repeating it here. I do so because its a Top Ten item and because its important. These visual effects are totally unnecessary, unproductive, and performance thieves. Right-click on the My Computer icon (or just press Windows Key+Pause/Break), click the Advanced tab, and then the Settings button in the Performance area. In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Adjust for best performance option to turn off everything in the list below, or Custom if you want to leave some on, and then click OK twice. In case you missed my May column, heres an explanation of these sixteen options. The Animate Windows when minimizing and maximizing option slides the window in and out of the task bar. Fade or slide menu items into view slides the Start menu options in and out. Fade or slide ToolTips into view slides ToolTips in and out of view. Fade out menu items after clicking fades out a menu item after you click on it. Show shadows under menus creates a shadow effect under menus and desktop items. Show shadows under mouse pointer creates a shadow effect under the mouse pointer. Show translucent selection rectangle displays a translucent highlight on an object when you select it instead of it being solid. Show window contents while dragging does what it says, but whats the point? Slide open combo boxes slides menu options in and out of the menu bar. Slide taskbar buttons also does what it says. Smooth edges of screen fonts makes screen fonts easier to read, but theres really little difference. Smooth-scroll list boxes does that, but I find no difference. Use background image for each folder type also does what it says. Use common tasks in folders displays this area at the left of an
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Explorer window. Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop places a highlight on the icons label (which is kind of ugly, so you might want to leave this on). Use visual styles on windows and buttons does such things as turn dialog boxes and menu bars from dark gray to light gray, as well as changing the looks of the Taskbar. 7. Optimize Your Internet Browser (and Upgrade to Firefox) Decreasing the size of your Internet browser cache helps keep it from getting bloated. Unless you periodically clean it out yourself, set it to trim itself on its own. If youre using Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options, click the General tab, and then the Settings button under Browsing history. Set the Disk space to use option at about 50. If youre using Firefox (which I highly recommend), select Tools > Options, click the Advanced tab, and set the Cache value to about 50. If I may meddle a little into your life, just putting Firefox on your system is a tune up tip in itself. Internet Explorer is wretched. Firefox is faster, safer, and totally customizable. If you havent upgraded to this yet, do yourself a favor and go get it (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/). Here is an interesting user anecdote about adopting Firefox over IE: http://www.spreadfirefox.com/node/27928 (article titled, Firefox as Part of Computer Tune Up). 8. Organize Files by Creating Folders I know that sounds simple, but simple is good. If youre using Microsoft Office, for example, it saves your files in My Documents by default. While you can certainly save them all in there, you can easily end up with hundreds of files, so it is much better to create sub-folders under it. Back in the old days, this was a pain, but it now couldnt be easier. Figure 3, for example, shows a Save dialog box in Word. Note the numerous sub-folders I use to organizing files (just like a file cabinet). Note also the mouse pointing at the New Folder button. When you click this, the New Folder box opens, in which you type the name of the new folder that will be created under the folder currently displayed in the Save in box (My Documents in this case). After entering a name here, Word creates the folder and automatically changes to that folder. Another important tip here is to create a central download folder, in which you store files that you download from the Internet. Mine, for example, is named Download (clever, huh?) on my drive D partition. You will have to go into your web browser and tell it where this folder is, however. The easiest way to do this in Internet Explorer is when you download a file, click the Save button to open the File Download dialog box, navigate to the folder in which you want to save the file, double-click on it, and click Save. From now on, IE will default to this folder. In Firefox, select Tools > Downloads from the menu to open the Downloads dialog box, click the All the files downloaded to option, and then navigate to the folder you want. This will become the new default. 9. Optimize System Restore I only mention this briefly here because I will devote an entire article to it next month. While System Restore is a wonderful addition, it by default uses far too much disk space. Well detail how to use this utility and trim it down for performance sake. 10. Clean Inside the System Unit Finally, about every six months, shut down your PC, unplug it, pop the hood, and clean it out. I like to use a can of compressed air, blowing air around all of the components, along the bottom of the case, into the fan, and finally into the floppy and CD drives. Heres a good article with a lot more on cleaning your computer: http://www.computerhope.com/cleaning.htm. 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. Many thanks to all of you who have already supported this project! God bless.

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internet ministry
Walt Wilson - waltccm@aol.com

TV, Cell Phones, & Alarm Systems

A Big Step Into the Future for

he clock is now ticking on the disappearance of standard TV, which is only one year away. The made-for-TV storm is now visible on the horizon. However, analog TV is not the only technology that will become unsupported by the planned changes now in the works, which carry a hard cut-off date.
Since the first days of television, the method of beaming pictures into our living rooms hasnt changed much. But, on Feb. 17, 2009, television stations across the country will hit the off switch on this time-tested technology and change to new transmitters, which carry computerized digital signals. When the change comes, an estimated 30 million television sets that use traditional antennas will go dark. A digital converter box will be required to receive any TV signal at all. The cable industry is spending $200 million to educate customers, and Congress has set aside $1.5 billion to help subsidize the purchase of converter boxes. According to a survey, which recently took place, more than half of Americans dont know the storm is coming. Even more do not fully understand that the scope of the change could affect their cell phones, alarm systems, and automobile communications. People in the technology busiChristian Computing Magazine

ness just assume that change this big would be on everyones radar screen, but it isnt. In fact, it is surprisingly just the reverse. For American households that still use antennas on the roof, or other analog communication devices, the survey indicates they do not know the end is in sight. Why is this change happening and why should I care? The switch to all-digital television, and a similar switch in the wireless communications industry, is partly a repercussion of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Police and fire communications channels in New York City were clogged by too much traffic and on too many different frequencies. That a communications crisis existed became painfully obvious within hours of the attack as police and fire responders could not talk to each other. San Jose-based Cisco helped bail New York out by immediately delivering and installing IP telephony at city hall to coordinate police and fire
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teams. If we dont mandate a change now in our communications infrastructure, we could be in big trouble in the future. The time has come. The Federal Communications Commission first ordered the eventual transition way back in 1996, but Congress was unable to follow through and set a deadline. The bottleneck has been Congress but theres no surprise there. Between congressional representatives and lobbyists, lack of decision seems to be the norm in Washington. The serving of special interests often takes priority over what is best for the majority of American citizens and for America in general. When the 9/11 Commission report made clear that first-responder systems were in a state of breakdown and didnt function during the 9/11 attack, Congress was forced to step out of their self-serving mindset and mandate the needed change. By taking back the analog frequencies, the government will free up the nations airwaves to be used by firefighters, police and other first responders to help the nation in the event of disaster. We now live in an environment where we might even have to integrate the US military into the first response scenario. Television is not the only technology to use analog signals or to be effected by this change. Some cell phone customers still use analog service, which carriers wont have to provide or support under a similar ruling that takes effect Jan. 1. Additionally, about 1 million home and business alarm systems across the country, many of which are small, local operations are also affected by this change. The change to digital has been cost prohibitive for many local and small companies who supply these services. Without being aware of this change, your home alarm could potentially fall on deaf ears. Likewise, the older analog version of the General Motors On Star system will go silent. Thats every model made before 2002, as well as some made from 2002 to 2004 depending on the type and model of GM vehicle you own. While some of these models can be upgraded, some of the older ones will become legacy systems meaning theyll become unsupported. Stated in terms of communication technology, what was in the ground will go into the air and what has been in the air will go into the ground. The end result will be that eventually all government

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Christian Computing Magazine

Save time and get more done, with fewer headaches

January 2008

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emergencies and firstresponder communication will be in the airways unencumbered by entertainment and business requirements. There just arent enough frequencies for all the enterprises that need them. Back to the original disconnect in all of this change. Most Americans do not know about it. More precisely, most have not paid much attention to it. While a year sounds like a long lead-time, for nearly half the population, understanding what the switch from analog to digital really means can be confusing. Time passes very quickly for things that do not fall into the everyday agenda. For the 50 (plus) percent that have missed this, it needs to be on the calendar for 2008 or the picture goes to dark, the alarm falls on deaf ears, and the On Star goes silent. The upside is that going digital now clears the way for the home computer hub, which will integrate all things digital onto the big HD screen in your home. That in turn will open the nation to all forms of communication and entertainment being Internet based. That means the total integration of home phone, broadcast TV, radio, family photos, personal videos, digital art, gaming, movies, computer applications and Internet information with all of it appearing on the big screen or multiple big screens in the home. If it werent for the politicians in Congress we would be there now. For those who dont take the steps required your government will return you to circa 1952. If it helps at all, watching football on HD with digital surround is an amazing new world worth the price and the effort.

Christian Computing Magazine

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special feature

ICONCMO+

Extends a Great CMS to Manage an Entire Denomination!

nce again the panorama of church software has changed! First there was software for churches. Then, with the advent of the Internet, there was software for churches available any time and anywhere. Then there were hybrid systems where a church would combine a desktop system with the Internet by uploading a portion of their Windows database to the Internet for viewing. Now, there is a system designed with the entire denomination in mind. One that is completely seamless, providing all organizational levels with the much wanted statistical information that is so important in making better informed decisions as well as effortless communication up, down, and across the organization.
Its not surprising that this new breed of software comes from Icon Systems. They were one of the first companies to offer a Windows based system in the early 90s. Then they were the first to offer a complete Internet Based system in 2003 and followed that up with the only available web based fund accounting system for churches in 2005. This new product is called IconCMO+. It is called CMO+ because it extends IconCMO to manage an entire denomination. Each organizational unit within the denomination is connected seamlessly and effortlessly within the entire denomination. CMO+ can manage anywhere from 1 to 5 organizational levels with each level containing an unlimited number of offices (tier units). For
Christian Computing Magazine

example; a world wide organization might have a world headquarters with additional levels by country, region, state and district. In this example churches would report to the first level or district with each district reporting to a state wide organization, etc. Each office at each level would use CMO+ to obtain important statistical information regarding their constituency. Up to now, church software has been developed to meet the needs of an individual church. Providing statistical information to church leaders was done by each church running statistical reports and sending those reports upwards once a year to their reporting offices where they were then collated with other reporting churches. This collating
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process usually occurred in January and February after which the organization would prepare an annual report which often included a new organizational directory. Each church spent many hours, often 20 to 30 hours, collating this information. Once the reporting organization received the information from the churches they would tabulate and collate the information preparing final reports. If everything went well, the reports and new directories would be available two to three months later. The worst part of all is that when the final reports were delivered they were already out of date. Pastors moved. Emails changed. Secretaries quit, retired, etc. Its not a bad thing. Its just reality. A denomination is a living breathing entity which changes daily. And until now that daily change was reported annually. With CMO+ the entire time element is eliminated because the system is always 100 percent current as of the time information is requested. No longer does it take a year to recognize change. CMO+ recognizes it when it happens. When a pastors email address changes, it is reflected instantly when new emails to pastors are sent. When a new pastor is hired, all new mailings to the pastor of the church are addressed correctly and not to the old pastor. When a disaster occurs the financial consequences of the disaster are known immediately. And the informational knowledge that is so very important to manage efficiently is available as a by product of the churches using IconCMO+. No extra effort on anybodys part is required. As with any large organization change is everywhere. New churches appear. Sometimes churches close. Geographic boundaries are altered resulting in changes to a churchs reporting relationships. CMO+ handles all of this by including the tools necessary to maintain all hierarchical relationships. A complete staffing system exists within CMO+ maintaining phone numbers, mailing addresses, and titles
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for all staff members of churches and tier units. Below is an example of a graph showing the giving patterns of all givers in the denomination for the period 1-1-2007 through 12-31-2007. Again, all reports and graphs are created seamlessly without any special uploading of information from church computers by church staff members. In summary, IconCMO and IconCMO+ are setting a new standard by which future church systems will be compared. Just like a church today wouldnt consider operating without a church management system, it is very likely that within a few years a denomination would never consider operating without a system that provides the features available today in CMO+. For more information on CMO+ and what it can do for you go to www.iconcmo.com.

Christian Computing Magazine

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higher power with kevin

Kevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.org

PC Study Bible Review

f youve read High Power long enough, you know that Ive used a lot of different Bible Study programs. The first ever was QuickVerse. But the second program I used was PC Study Bible from Biblesoft (www.biblesoft.com). Theyve just recently updated to version 5. If you are like me and youve been away from PC Study Bible for awhile or youve never used the program, I think you will like what you see. It is a far cry from what I used back in version 2.
these options hidden in their menu system. However, the first configuration you are asked to make is to order your favorite translations. I like this, but it is a slow process. If your favorite translation is at the bottom you will have to click the up arrow over and over again. If you reorder very many translations this could take some time. This is a really minor problem and dont let it hinder you from trying a mature program. The setup helper is great for the new user. Other helper screens included let you configure your font size and color among others. For more advanced configurations you can go to the Options menu item. After you get PCSB5 setup the way you want it, you can backup these settings. This is a great feature for people having to reinstall Windows after a crash or purchasing a new PC. Secondly, for new users, the first time you start up you will get a page that helps you understand the program a little better. If you need it, go to Help and click on Tutorials and it will
January 2008

Biblesoft is the brainchild of founder Jim Gilbertson, a programmer for Boeing in the 1980s. He wrote the original version for himself and shared it with friends who encouraged him to market it more widely. As one of the early pioneers in Bible Study being founded in 1988, Biblesoft has a reputation for producing quality products. There latest version helps maintain that legacy. I contacted Rick Krekel, Biblesofts director of Marketing. He said that the companys newest update focused on a few things. Ease of use was paramount. Secondly, they added a new Professional Reference Library with original language tools. When I moved from simple bible study to more advanced hermeneutics, this was the primary reason I moved away from PC Study Bible in the early nineties. So I am glad to see them take that step. Krekel also said, One of my favorite new features is the ability to launch into a Bible study from the user-selected devotional content on the opening desktop. The final new feature he highlighted was the audio pronunciations. I will discuss each of these later. After installation, PC Study Bible 5 (PCSB5 from here on) first opens with the Setup Helper. It gives you a chance to configure your version of PCSB before you get going. Other programs usually require you to find
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take you to the Internet site with some video Tutorials. I recommend you do this because the interface of PCSB5 is a little different than most other bible programs. That is not a bad thing; in fact I like some of the things Biblesoft does differently. But for an experienced Digital Bible student it will take some getting used to. Avail yourself of the helps and tutorials. Also spend a little time reading through the information on the first page available when you first open PCSB5. One of the first things that struck me as astonishing was the new polished interface. The early versions of PCSB had a very amateurish look. The designers of this newer version have done a really nice job. This is a small thing, but it makes the program look better and gives the end user a sense of confidence that their software was coded well when it looks this good. The center of any good Bible Study program is the Bible! In PCSB5, you click on the Bible icon and you have the option to go directly to your reference via a dialogue box. Once your bible is open, you can use either the go to button on the bottom toolbar or the left hand panel that is usually open unless you minimize it. It has a box for direct entry. Type your reference and it appears in the main window. If you have a Topical Book like a dictionary open, then it allows you to type the word or you can click the drop down arrow just right of the box and the list of words in that book will be displayed. You can scroll through it and find your word and click it to see its entry in the dictionary. The speed of the program was a little disappointing. I was using an older system. I have a 1.4 GHz Pentium M system that I use for sermon and bible study prep. That is no speed demon, but it works great for word processing and bible study. But with PCSB5 I occasionally had some significant delays, particularly with going to a reference the first time after starting up and then saving the preferences. On my other laptop, which is must faster, the program worked a little quicker. This is not to say you need a high powered system, but be ready for an occasional slowdown. Krekel of Biblesoft said that an update is coming within the next month or so; it may even be available by the time you read this, that should help with the speed issues. So, dont let that stop you from taking the leap with PCSB. A great part of doing Digital Bible Study is having multiple translations open at once. Some programs allow you to have a separate window or have the verses listed in an interlinear style. PCSB5 gives you the option of clicking an icon (a plus icon at the bottom toolbar) and it will open a new translation window automatically. Remember the Setup Helper where it asked to order your favorite translations? The program uses this list so that the first time you click the plus sign you get your next translation in the new window. You can do this as many times as you like to get as many different translations. Alternatively you can also use the plus button on the number keypad of your keyboard. While in the Interlinear Bible you can open the Strongs Dictionary for a word by clicking on the Show Strongs button on the bottom toolbar or by double clicking on the Strongs Number. I personally was a little confused. In our Internet dominated computing world, when you see an underlined word you expect it to be a hyperlink that is accessed via a single click. You have to double click. While in Strongs, the word you are studying will have further definitions in the other Greek or Hebrew dictionaries you have installed. When one of those dictionaries does have a definition for that word you can simply click the title of the reference in the left hand pane and it will open. This is something that PCSB didnt have in its early days. If you have not used the program since Version 2 or so, then you will be pleased to see that original language study has made its way into PCSB in its more recent editions including version 5. Logos and BibleWorks are still ahead in this category, but the upgrade of PCSB is well worth it for the original language tools alone.
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 If you want to learn how a Greek word is pronounced, you can double click it, either in the Interlinear Bible, Strongs Dictionary or in a reference book. The word will pop up in a small information window in the lower left hand corner. Next to the Greek word is a speaker icon; click it and hear a pronunciation. Unfortunately this is not available in Hebrew. Hopefully it will be in a future version or an update of version 5. Two helpful works in PCSB5 is the Englishmans Concordance and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Most programs have these, but PCSB5 uses them nicely. Both of these are easily found and are great tools for study. If you are in the Treasury, then a neat feature is that you can add to it or take verses out of the list. If you are in John 3:16 and after looking at all the references want to add one, you can. The best part of using Digital Bible tools is quickly accessing all the information you have about a verse or topic. In PCSB5 when you have a verse displayed, there is a black button in the bottom left below the left hand pane with the current verse. The phrase Links for John 1:1 will be on the button. Click it and the left hand pane will display all the works that say something about that verse. In topics, the button will say Links for GRACE if grace was your topic. If you are running Windows Vista, the current version will revert to the Vista Basic interface, shutting down the pretty Aero look. To me this is a very minor thing, but you should be aware of it. Also, when I clicked on the Online menu and went to Check for Updates I was given the option to automatically check for them. But it didnt tell me if there were or were not any available updates. The faults of PCSB5 are minor. It is a very easy to use program and has a slick new interface. The newer original language tools are a great addition as is the programs method of putting all pertinent resources just a few clicks away once you find your study passage or topic. I was impressed and can recommend this package to new Bible Study users or someone looking for a powerful upgrade. If you are using any of the older versions, I think this is a must. At the time I am writing this in early January, their Biblesoft Web Site listed six different collections ranging from the cheapest PC Study Bible Discovery Reference Library at $49.95 to the most expensive PC Study Bible Professional Reference Library for $899.95. You may be able to find a sale. I reviewed the Professional Library so some of the features I discussed may not be available. Also, there is a large collection of add-on books and references that one may purchase for an additional cost.

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internet toolbox
Ross Gile - ross@digical.com

Whats In It For Me?

hat is AJAX? AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. Whats in it for me? Let me bring it down to laymans terms. Most of us have experienced AJAX on several well known web sites such as Google, travel web sites, etc. But most people have never put a name to it. What AJAX technology does for the site visitor is to make the experience more
efficient and more professional. Let me give you some examples: You ever heard of www.kayak.com? This is a great web site to shop for airline tickets. After you search on a particular itinerary, it goes out and searches all the major airlines for prices, etc. Where AJAX comes in is the fun part. After it displays all the available flights for your particular search, you can click on / off any particular airline you choose and as you do that, the search results change in the main body of the web page automatically without refreshing the whole page. It updates on the fly as you adjust your search criteria. AJAX is a programming technique that allows this to happen. On an AJAX enabled web site, it makes it easy and quick to navigate. One of the highest rated AJAX-enabled web sites is www.pcnames.com. This is a great site to find domain names that are available or taken. When you go to this site and search on a particular domain name, it will display the results on the fly as you are typing your search criteria. You will notice that it doesnt have a Search button. I use this site almost every day. How can I get AJAX onto my site? Well, you cant buy this in a store because its not a product or a particular language. Its a programming technique. To compare it to painting, its like a particular brush stroke in painting. You just have to learn it or find someone who knows it. There are resources on the Internet if you search on AJAX. Before I give you some tips on adding AJAX to your Christian Computing Magazine site, let me explain the concept of software Frameworks. Frameworks in the web and software world are code libraries that you can add to your existing web development tools such as Dreamweaver or a programming language such as Java. Basically Frameworks allow you to program certain functions within your development program that were not necessarily included in the development product itself. There are several AJAX frameworks that you can download for free and add to your development application. One cool AJAX framework for Dreamweaver is called Adobe Spry that you can download at http://labs. adobe.com/technologies/spry/. This allows you to add very cool design elements to your site such as navigation menus, AJAX searching, etc. They provide many samples on how to integrate Spry to your site. If you want to add the same technology of www.pcnames.com, this framework includes this functionality. You can see this by going to the Spry site and clicking on Samples and then click on Auto Suggest. This is basically the same functionality. AJAX is cross-platform and cross-web browsers meaning that this coding is compatible with all browsers. AJAX is not to be confused with DHTML. In the next issue, Im going to discuss DHTML and compare the two technologies. I would like to know if you have implemented AJAX on your site. If you have any questions, my e-mail address is ross@digical.com. January 2008

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scott howards hotPics

Scott Howard - scottdhoward@gmail.com

Blog Sites and More

appy New Year! How amazingly fast 2007 has come and gone. I feel like the single biggest impact on why our lives seem as though they are going by faster and faster is because our cultures have managed to continue to become busier and busier as we continue to find more and more things that can be done with our time. Setting boundaries is great and we should do that but
even when we are not doing something we are constantly trying to decide what we will and will not do in order to set boundaries so we still manage to lose a bit more of our valuable time as more choices become available for our daily lives. Anyhow, I would like to share with you a personal highlight of mine from 2007. As of December 28th I am a proud new uncle. My niece Hannah was born yesterday evening at 8.0 lbs, 20 long and a full head of hair. She is so cute. My family tells me that I use to always say these words about my younger sister (which is Hannahs mother). I could not stop thinking about how responsive and how much personality she had immediately after the birth. As most of you will understand, yesterday was a wonderful day for me and my family and I pray that Hannah will grow up and place her trust in God and that God will use her for His glory. I just dont understand how anyone can see a new baby born into this world and not want to protect the lives of all the unborn babies. For people to be able to ignore the life of a helpless baby and choose abortion is awful. I would think that an average person would give in to the life of a helpless baby much quicker than most other things; yet so many people choose to ignore those young lives for selfishness. Oh, how disappointing it must be for God to see people treat unborn babies like they do. This leads me to the first blog I would like to share with you this month.
Christian Computing Magazine

www.frcblog.com is the Family Research Council blog. I will not go into great detail about the FRC except to tell you that they are passionate about protecting marriage, family, and human life. You will not see new posts every day BUT I will say that the posts will be quality and that is far more important than quantity. The contributors include Tom McClusky, Robert Morrison, Chuck Donovan and many more. If you care about the importance of families then you will probably enjoy this resource coming from an organization that cares. www.richkirkpatrick.com is a great personal blog by Rich. Rich recently moved to Temecula, California to take the worship leader position at Sunridge Community Church. Rich has vast experience and background in worship music and after checking out his blog you will probably gather that he likes to share this with others. I recommend that you check out this blog and if you are interested in hearing his
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music or would like to see where he got his education in music, just take a look at his contact page. www.markrushworth.com is Marks blog and he is a professional at web design and internet marketing. If you have any interest, try to keep up with the latest about Google, Internet Explorer, and Firefox. This could be a blog for your blogroll. If your interested in Windows, Apple, and the latest social networking sites. This could also be the next blog for you. Bottom line, Mark keeps up with the latest trends, accomplishments, and mistakes in these areas and helps people with managing their projects. www.skelliewag.org is now a very popular blog within the circles of web content gurus. Skellie has been featured on numerous other popular blogs including ProBlogger and Copyblogger. She is all about telling you what will and what will not work in the world of the web. One thing that you will notice is that her site is totally free of any ads. I dont know about you but that definitely tells me that she takes web content seriously as she seems to strive to make the experience as beneficial as possible for the readers. www.guerrillamail.com is not a blog but it is a really handy tool. It is really quite simple and easy. If you need a temporary email address, they supply you with one. Now, when I say temporary, I mean temporary. When you hit the button to get an email address you have 15 minutes until it expires unless you tell it to give you 15 more minutes. Thats it, and any emails that you would get before it expires would show up on that same page. So the next time you need to order something or join some place and they insist that you need an email address but you dont want the spam that comes along with it. Try GuerrillaMail and get er done.
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