Groote's Gaggle

De-Bugging or Re-Bugging the Latest Hack Attacks

2011-06-28T11:25:00.000-05:00

Much news is circulating the air waves and text waves about the latest website hacking.

The latest hack attack is coming from, what news-folk call, “the SQL injection” or “the SQL bug”. When I read or hear either of these terms, my eyes do that little roll back that makes you feel like the canals in your ears are spiraling shut. I appreciate news people trying to educate the public. I appreciate the news. I don’t appreciate reports that scare people because the person reporting doesn’t exactly understand the subject and masks their words to indicate they are spreading very important news.

MySQL [pronounces My S-Q-L or My Sequel] is a wonderful FREE database tool web developers download for FREE to make websites do all those cool things you love-- log-ins, credit card storage to your favorite shopping site, storage of your name and address, etc. Any site you use   where you must log-in uses a database.

The “SQL injection” term comes from the SQL in MySQL.   SQL means Structured Query Language. In this case, all you need to remember is it’s referring to a database.

What does that MySQL database do? It stores your password and all other information you provide. Any site where you buy something has a database whether you save your information to that site or not. It stores your purchase request so the store can send you the merchandise you ordered and stores your address so they know where to send.    It may not specifically remember you, but it will remember the purchase. Get the picture?

MySQL ( a database) has commands it responds to as part of its normal operation. One of those commands is to provide a “dump”. (I’m not trying to entertain you with teenage bathroom humor, the person who created this function may have had a warped sense of humor but this is what it’s called).   The dump command, sends a message to the database to reveal information; like someone dumping a pile of papers on your desk if you asked them to bring you all the names of the men name John is the greater Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

A database “dumps” what ever request is queried. If you have a website that offers users the ability to sign up to receive your monthly newsletter, you need a means to retrieve that information. In simple terms, you ask the database to dump all names and addresses it has stored to be able to fulfill you offer. Get the picture?

What the “SQL injection” threat truly means: An unauthorized person accesses a database and is able to retrieve all the information stored inside that database.

The SQL injection, is not someone injecting anything. They are merely asking. The vulnerability lies in the database itself whether it’s a free MySQL or a paid My SQL subscription or another paid database system.   All databases provide means to retrieve the information they store. Safeguarding the entry is the primary concern. There are means for the developer to require codes to help lock down the information. It’s just the hackers have learned the secret password and now stroll in to this pile of information like a person walking in to a store and grabbing a cart to load up.

The travesty in this hacking lies in sites where developers have not taken the steps to secure the database. Such was the reported chase of hacksters known as LulzSec, who waltzed in to Sony Pictures website. They reportedly tweeted, “We accessed EVERYTHING. Why do you put such faith in a company that allows itself to become open to these simple attacks?”

Be mindful that these latest attacks do not involve your computer unless you are running a website that contains a database USING YOUR OWN SERVER (hosting yourself). Your hosting company should be able to provide you with information about their security if you are concerned about your data’s vulnerability.

What should you as a individual should know about SQL injections:
IF... you have a website, IF... it doesn’t have a database (a login of some type), you are not at risk for this kind of attack.

IF...you use websites for shopping, how much information do you provide them? Are you a priority member, does the site know you? Do you store your credit card with them?

IF...you use social networking, how much information do you provide? This goes beyond your privacy settings. How many times do you access games? How many times do you answer those fun questions about your favorite beverage or books you’ve read?

IF...you use the same password for everything....

IF... you answered yes to these questions, your information may be at risk.

My ongoing mantra:
Play on the Internet as if everything you were
saying (typing) were on a billboard
on the busiest freeway at rush hour.
People aren’t going anywhere so all they have time to do is stare.

Cloudy With a Chance of Data?

2011-06-17T11:33:00.000-05:00

THE CLOUD!

Beyond the fluffy white diaphanous objects floating across our skyline, ‘the cloud’ means something new. Maybe you’ve heard words like “the cloud” or lately “iCloud” and wonder if this is something you need to embrace with giggly anticipation or with trepidation like the big needle shot that they say “won’t hurt” and is steals your breath away.

Here’s the basic primer:

Cloud based services were once places to store data & files like a safe deposit box at a bank. Cloud-based applications are much more than this. Cloud computing takes away the need for your computer to install the software required to operate the application. Simple example: In order to create a document in WORD, you must have Microsoft Word installed on your computer or your laptop. Now with ‘cloud computing’, the cloud holds that software allowing the device you use to be much smaller, lighter, etc., because it doesn’t have to store it; it “lives” in the cloud. [also known as “software as a service”.]

In the past, tasks such as word processing were not possible without the installation of software on a local computer. New Cloud computing takes away the installation and upgrades hassles and needed for higher computing power from users and gives more control to the service providers on administration of the services.

Another analogy to explain cloud computing is to think of it as a public utility such as electricity, gas, or water. Centralized and standardized utilities freed us from the difficulties of generating electricity or pumping water. All of the development and maintenance tasks involved in bringing these commodities to us have been eliminated. So far, cloud-folk are swearing with Cloud computing, the savings should translate to a reduced cost in software distribution. Of course, time will tell if this is true.

The principle behind the cloud is that any computer connected to the Internet, can be connected to the Cloud, if you have assess. iCloud, coming soon through Apple reports free connectivity. Rumor is ‘free’ translates to mean user who own Late model Apple devices.

If you connect to the Cloud, you can store and access your personal files such as music, pictures, videos, documents and everything else you store. If you’re like me and own several devices, I could connect to the cloud and retrieve all my latest emails, documents picture….everything from my computer or iPhone or iPad. I wouldn’t have to worry about copying files and making sure I had the latest version of my proposal. It would be there. That’s in a perfect world.

We all know we don’t live in that world, so I think about the times I don’t have an Internet connection or when I visit my father who’s small miraculously and famously has no 3G connection either unless you drive to the county hospital parking lot. I also think about flying on planes and the “no Internet” rule. What happens then?

Cloud computing sounds grand and exciting. I’m still a little worried about those rainy days when you can’t find your umbrella.

Dusting off the Blog for Important Information: Facebook at it AGAIN!

2011-06-09T09:09:00.000-05:00

I've decided to post Blog to Groote's Gaggle only when I feel there's something important to impart to my followers.

Facebook monkeyed with your settings-- AGAIN!

A great friend and techno-genius, posted to his status this very important announcement about the new Facebook sharing  device.  If you like to upload photos to Facebook and then 'tag' faces (a means of identifying people in photographs), that cute innocent action is now being used in a very public way.  

The basics: 

The privacy setting on your photo settings in regard to sharing images, got switched to a default setting of "ON" when Facebook started pushing this technology on an international level.  Read the whole article "Facebook starts rolling out facial recognition feature worldwide."

What to do:  

To opt out of this feature, you’ll need to follow these steps:

Go to your Privacy Settings on Facebook. (under Account)
Click on Customise settings at the bottom.
Under “Things others share” you should see an option titled “Suggest photos of me to friends. When photos look like me, suggest my name.” Click on Edit Settings.
Change the option from Enabled to Disabled.

If you are a Facebook account holder, it's always good to periodically check your privacy settings. Another very good "check" to make on a regular basis is your Facebook credit. If you purchase or have purchased anything on Facebook (game credits, merchandise, advertising), your credit card information is automatically stored under payment method.
To fix this:

Go to your Account on Facebook.
Click on Credits Balance.
Click on Payment Methods - manage
A screen asking for your Facebook password appears.
If you see "You have no funding sources associate with your account", you are safe from having your credit compromised.
If you see your credit card information, opt to delete it. Nothing bad will happen. You merely have to re-enter it should you make another purchase. Do it. Don't be lazy. Protect your credit and money.

In closing, my standard mantra: It's a big, bad Internet out there. Play safe.

Peace.

Hacked Up a Dubious Connection?

2011-03-09T22:55:00.000-06:00

Listened to the news lately? Malcolm Riddell was a tech-savvy guy who lived on the 12th floor of a building where most of his neighbors were retired seniors. He figured he didn't need a password on his wireless router. But after an unexpected visit from the FBI, he changed his mind. Malcolm’s unprotected WIFI (wireless router) was being used by a person to collect and solicit child pornography.

If your Internet connection speed suddenly slows down or you’re constantly losing your connection, it's possible that someone has hijacked your wireless router. First, you have to be using a wireless router (something that get’s you on the internet WITHOUT a wired connection). Wireless is like when you go to Starbuck’s or stay at a hotel and they say FREE WIFI. Which means you can use your laptop or smart phone or iPad to connect to the Internet for free without using a wired connection. When you use free WIFI, some you merely click and wa-la! You’re connected! Hotels don’t like to share their WIFI, so you’re generally going to be issued a password and put in the code before it works.

Nonetheless, if you buy one of these cool little gadgets for your home; even it merely allows you to sit in your lounge chair in front of your flat-screen and play solitaire while watching CSI, or use your printer in your bedroom while sitting at the kitchen table, you have a WIFI connection. If you never needed a password to initiate this connection, your WIFI is NOT PASSWORDED. And I say, “what are you thinking?!”

Yes, we live in a world where passwords are really taking over our lives, with our ATMs codes, logins to social networks, logins to our online banking, our favorite online shopping, and on and on. Encyption/pass words for your home or business WIFI is a precaution you should take if you have not done so at this time. After creating a password, write it down, use it to connect to your devices, store it in the memory. Store the password in a safe place if you need to retrieve and the, forget it. It’s that simple.

Do it.

..unless you’re lonely and would welcome a knock at your door from the FBI.

-peace.

Dear Facebookers

2011-02-14T10:24:00.000-06:00

If you not a person who uses Facebook, then read no further.

Yep. Changes on the FB. Did you know according to “The Social Network”, Mark Zuckerberg originally called it “The Face Book”. Enough trivia.

The SCOOP: New settings on your news feed automatically set to show only posts from people who you’ve recently interacted with or those with whom you interact the most. Apparently, you only see and read posts from friends/fans who have interacted with you within the few weeks of this setting change. It reports the fear, “you are now invisible to them and they are invisible to you”.

The FIX: Scroll down to the bottom of the newsfeed on the homepage and click “Edit Options”. It should be on the right-hand side. Click on “Show Posts From” and change the setting to “All of Your Friends and Pages”. Done. I’ve had reports some Friends have noticed a difference; me- none.

On another note, I have created a VTG Enterprise page on Facebook. My goal is to create a forum in the discussion area on website expectations, usage, content, and other subjects surrounding our interaction with this media tool.

Please go to Facebook.com/pages/VTG-Enterprises and “like”. Here’s a link to discussion topics currently available for comment.

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=105&post=332&uid=153067524746583#!/board.php?uid=153067524746583

Oh, it's You?

2011-02-07T10:01:00.000-06:00

Falling…
     off the face of the Earth?

Failing….
     to keep up?

Wondering if your efforts….
     are inspiring or advancing your cause?

Terminal…
     boredom or ennui?

I’ve asked myself all these questions when I see the true time span of vacancy in Groote’s Gaggle.

Reality lives somewhere between all of this and the fact that again I have been uprooted from my permanent digs to a new location. I sit in transition in north Tarrant County outside of Fort Worth, TX as my hoped for, final address, is materializing brick by brick. Most of us have that perpetual desire to set down roots and build a foundation of longevity in a place.

Over this sea of vacancy, I have been gathering in new clients, saying goodbye to some, and continually and constantly learning new avenues and turns in the roads of the World Wide Web.

Clean, easy to use, functioning websites are more and more in demand. Video, imagery, networking your site to have conjunctive links, and updating, updating, updating! rule. Google is the 300 pound gorilla in the room who controls search engines across America. Jump through their hoop if you wish to show up on a search. What do you need to do?
Invest in your creation. This requires some work. Listing your site on Google, placing their “special code” in your home page, and adding a few extra “Google requested” pages help your site become recognized.

(In my opinion, we’ve googled and oogled ourselves crazy and Google has become the Microsoft bully who in spite of this, is still loved liked the prodigal son. Even Microsoft’s new search baby Bing is admitting it uses Google technology to retrieve searches. Pretty sneaky. So face it, Google rules.)

The other item important to Google is HOW OFTEN DO YOU UPDATE YOUR SITE? Yep. Google is watching when no one else may be visiting your pages. Google is looking and calculating to see if you have anything new to say. If you don’t, Google begins to ignore you. Chances are everyone else does as well.

Falling, failing, wondering? Don’t’ become terminal.

Peace.

Facebook Updated and So did I

2010-06-03T10:43:00.005-05:00

Timing is everything. Last week I posted privacy directions for Facebook and the interface was completely changes two days later. This was obviously was not my best timed moment.

Never fear! A new Facebook privacy tutorial is here!

This tutorial is available in a PDF format for download usage. Please feel free to share this information.

Download the Tutorial

Get Your Facebook Privacy Tutorial

2010-05-26T11:55:00.000-05:00

So much has been in the press about Facebook's privacy settings. The Facebook social network is so large, if it were a country, it would be the 3rd largest in the world. Wow! Yep!

With this knowledge, I felt called to share with you the steps to set your privacy in this application if you use it. I was going to merely share it on this blog but once I began, I must admit, the process was so involved, it demanded it's own document.

So here it is: A Tutorial for Facebook Privacy. It's a pdf document I hope you download, print and share.

If you have suggestions or corrections, please contact me and I will make changes and submit improvements.

I highly recommend learning more about this vast application. TIME magazine has a feature cover story on Facebook. get a copy or read it here: How Facebook Is Redefining Privacy

Are U "IN"fluential?

2010-05-04T08:32:00.004-05:00

Time magazine’s “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” for 2010 arrived at my door a couple of days ago. I haven’t begun to get through all the pages of those 100 folks but a double-page fold-out caught my eye, “The Influence Index”. It measured how connected or engaged you were on Facebook and Twitter. Let’s be clear, connected and engaged translates to how many people follow you if you’re on Twitter or how many people are listed in your friend pile on Facebook. The higher the number of followers and friends raised your influence status. (BTW—my following is 2. Yes, I’m humble).

The trend in favoritism leaned toward youth, hip, and artistic. Nonetheless, the article noted that Barack Obama had an almost equivalent following to the latest pop/rock artist, Lady Gaga. Obama lead the pack with other recognizable names such as Oprah, Glen Beck, Taylor Swift, Sarah Palin and the Twitter king, Ashton Kutcher. Out of all of these, I think Ashton Kutcher is the only person who actually tweets some, if not most, of his entries. Others, like Oprah, have their “people” do it for them. Do you really think President Obama is running around trying to update his Facebook status?

These very influential folks have “people” spouting off quips or statements that you as a follower or friend should ooh-and-awe at when you read them and desire to respond. Do you know Facebook offers an application that posts statuses for you? You sign up for a category such as glib quips, or philosophical ideas, etc. The application then posts once a day, or as many times a day, as you sign up to enlist. The result is to make your friends think you are the most clever, or most pithy, or most intelligent person they know. PLEASE!

It leads me to ponder how we are transforming from a society who leaned over the fence or clothes line to gossip with the neighbor to sitting huddled over a small screen in a bustling airport or mall or other public pedestrian place ignoring the world as we are connected to the aimless pontifications of others who we think are cool.

Some of us separate ourselves from the world by countless hours at a computer screen being connected to chats, tweets, and IMs to people miles and miles away; feeling ever-so close and chummy. True, you can’t hug your computer or cell phone without appearing somewhat weird, but are these little tools enhancing or eroding our lives?

I don’t have the answers. I don’t know if the ability to reach out and send your thoughts or questions to CNN at any given moment makes me feel more engaged or influential. It somehow seems we are ignoring our immediate surroundings and the people we commune and breathe the same air with when we are so rapt with attention to the screen of those so far away.

When we have influences that are so strong and enticing, how do we sort through the flotsam and naval gazing to the modicum of reality and truth that exists in the world? If reasonably intelligent adults can get swept up in the tweet/FB syndrome, what happens to the young and impressionable? I guess this is one of the great questions of the day, who shapes your thoughts? Is all this information making us more intelligent? Are we gathering in all this information to better our balance of reasoning? Or are we loading up to be the big hit at the next cocktail party or social gathering?

I don’t’ write Groote’s Gaggle to give you the correct slant on life. I hope I write to make you think and try to form answers or seek out more information to a subject or idea. I definitely don’t have the answers, but give me time and I’ll ask you lots of questions. If I influence you to think, not my thoughts, but think about finding out more about your thoughts, or needs, or ideas to try, I feel extremely privileged and honored.

Users Manual Not Included

2010-04-20T10:12:00.009-05:00

Ever go site browsing? Looking around at other websites to see how your's compares, or what’s “in”, or what’s eye-catching? If no, you should. If yes, you may be languishing thinking of your site as you gaze and ooh-and-awe at some of the competition.

Next time you go browsing around, maybe even looking at your own site, ask yourself, “Who is this site for?” Is it for advertising? Attracting new folks? Use on a regular basis for information? Directions and times?

Here is the web’s golden rule to follow, above all others, when it comes to a website: WHO IS THE USER?

If your site’s user is 55 years of age or older, tiny print may not be a good option. Little tiny print can be interesting in some places, but can your predominate user read it?

Do you feel users access your site via cell phones on a regular basis? Guess what? Those sexy animated sleek flash sites being touted quite a bit by website builders may not be seen on all types of cell phones. Oops! Coming out in the very near future is a new interface bridging this gap. I predict its fluid use in the next 12-24 months. In the meantime, there may be folks not seeing what you’re saying.

Do you know if most of your users have high-speed Internet? If not, big downloads or streaming video may not be a good option for your site.

Are your users web-savy? Do your users IM? (Instant Message) Use Facebook or another social site? Play games online? Surf the Net on a regular basis? Know what Twitter is?

Don’t think these questions are trite. If your site is predominately used for communication with your congregation, make sure they know basic computer skills OR know their level of Internet expertise. This may sound crazy. Trust me. Not everyone knows the ins and outs of today’s technology. If you have invested in a website, make sure your users understand the components or you may be putting a great deal of time and effort into a tool not being readily used.

As a web designer, it is part of my training to help my clients develop the best site for their needs. It irritates me when I see designers selling sites that may look incredible but have little functionality for the user and absolutely no sense of navigational structure. Websites don't come with users manuals. That is why it is of the upmost importance for the site to be built to suit the needs of the user.

In the book "The Cider House Rules", John Irving's main character is sitting one hot night on the roof of the cider house with an African American man who is one of the apple farm's share-croppers. : They come intemporarily for the harvest and stay in the cider house. He asks the man why no one in the cider house follows the rules posted on the mainframe post inside. The worker's response does not reveal defiance or disgruntlement against the management. His response is a simple statement of their life situation. The occupants didn't follow the rules because they couldn't read. They had no idea what was on the piece of paper.

Who is your user? Who is your visitor? How do you help them know the rules?

It’s a Techie Kind-of Day…Or is it?

2010-04-13T10:15:00.002-05:00

a.k.a.- A Self Indulgent Moment

Adobe rolled out its promo for CS5 yesterday. I know that means absolutely nothing to you. It means a lot to me. (It’s that perspective and perception thing we deal with every day.) The news yesterday from Adobe means I will be learning and educating myself to new technological software if I have any intent in keeping up with this ever changing Internet business.

What about you? Any new things in your work?

The iPad hit the market this past Saturday. Over 300,000 iPads where sold in one day. One comic was reported saying, “We’re now a country willing to pay $500 to find out what something is…” It says to me, “Wow! Maybe the recession's over”. But it also says we live in a society clamoring for new technology and ways to instantly connect and have knowledge or entertainment or communication at any cost.

My real techie experience was watching this live promotional webinar about this new software suite hitting the market while sitting in my office at my computer. I didn’t have to drive anywhere. I was participating without travel or cost. While watching, the sidebar of my internet screen, displayed instant Twitter comments about the presentation. Wow! I really felt connected to these strangers and decided I work in a field that is constantly changing and creating and pushing the envelope and finding new ways to engage people…. Whee, it was cool!

My prayer, wish, for you is that you can experience something in your profession that challenges you, exhilarates you, engages you and makes you want more. Peace.

No Access Can Be an Opportunity in the Wings

2010-04-06T09:14:00.000-05:00

Last week, as I drove down the road listening to NPR, my mind was captured by a statement that the FCC is exploring ways to bring broadband access to the whole country at an economical price. It’s a good challenge to try and achieve. In the meantime, have you stopped to consider what life is like for families who do not have internet access or a computer?

In today’s world, searching for a job or applying for a job often requires submission through the internet. Most applications now ask for an email address even if you are applying in person. Students do research for weekly work via the internet and sometimes even submit homework by this means. The internet, its usage and access, has created a silent unseen divide in our communities; those who have computer/internet and those who do not.

The story I listened to on NPR told the story of a single mother with three children who was seeking a job and her struggles to apply for positions, list an email address, and stay connected to follow-up as she did not have either a computer or internet. Her children attended a school near an upper middle class neighborhood where students were often required to post homework via computer/internet and the story told of the challenges this family faced trying to get to a library or get the children to school early enough to use the school computer. Public computers, such as in libraries and schools which aren’t always free, are few and far between. Getting time on a computer is valuable. Hours available are small. A family without a computer or internet constantly struggles with finding access.

I have become obvious to the inability to be connected as my job uses a computer and I even have access to the web and broadband via my phone with my “3G network”. If these 21^st century tools fail me, I feel my arm has been severed or my oxygen intact has been dampened and I’m gasping and choking to breath.

What would your life be like without a computer? Without being able to read emails? Without logging on to Facebook or surfing the Internet? Without using a word processor to type out a document? These are the struggles for many Americans today. It’s a silent struggle. You don’t talk about it because it’s embarrassing. You are impaired. No computer? No internet? What???

The FCC’s attempt to meet the challenge to bring broadband across the country is no small task. Making it economical is no small task either. So consider this, what if you, your church, could provide free WiFi access and/or free computer usage? Talk about an outreach program! What if…..?

A Parable for Lent

2010-03-15T13:39:00.002-05:00

I’ve been having computer troubles. Don’t we all at some time? My computer troubles are never small fixes. They are major, expensive time-consuming workarounds.

My journey this time has taken approximately 14 weeks. From changing a broken, dead HP mainframe tower to an Apple OS/X with a duo platform in Windows. I did my due diligence in storing my files. I even had a high falootin’ mirror that imaged and stored things as I created them so I didn’t have to do a thing to make sure my files were safe.

Despite my efforts, my new Windows 7 operating system would absolutely not read my files. I’ve been slowly and painstakingly connecting my big external mirror storage drive to an old laptop and with a little thumb drive, copying and moving information. It has not been fun. It’s a slow task. Maddening, thrashing, boring, angering, and other endless adjectives depicting the most frustrating straits has been my demeanor through this process.

I also spent 9 hours on Friday slowly restoring data contact files that had been corrupted. I have another storage system that involves cyber storage and links my computer to my phone. Last week, my phone died. I had to restore all the information. During this process, all the contacts began multiplying; yes multiplying!. I had duplicate contacts for some people, triple for others, and even as many as six identical files for one contact. Yikes! It was like the Star Trek episode, “The Trouble with Trebles” where these little furry creatures just kept multiplying and multiplying.

Last night at 5:15 pm, I think I have completed this journey; my small triumph. Finishing this computer nightmare also made me think about my back yard. It was in shambles from the extended freeze suffered in January throughout the Deep South. I finally took the time this past weekend to tear out all those broken branches and prune the dead rotting palm fronds, slimy and mushy, lying in their deadness around burdened trunks. It was a nasty, dirty job. But in the pruning this past Monday morning, at the bottom of one bush was the tiny, delicate, new light green leaf of new growth.

It occurred to me all this cleaning and purging was like this Lenten season. This is the time of introspection and ponder; the time of working through process to prepare for the Resurrection and Joy. Are we not supposed to suffer during Lent? Or at least struggle and wrestle with ourselves? Isn’t that what giving something up is about? Or doing study or meditation practices? Are we not striving to achieve something?

If we cannot clean out, tear out, break down, and sometimes painstaking walk the heavy laden struggles of rendering clean the old broken, stinky, musty time-consuming, wrenching files and leaves that clutter of our minds and lives, the new cannot grow. We must, no matter how reluctant, clean out and prepare for the fresh growth and new sprouts to come or we stagnant.

And there my friends, is my parable: purging the old to ready the way for the new, the spring, and the joy that I can move forward in my work. May you find the way to remove your obstacles for the new to grow in your life.

Peace.

Out of Time

2010-03-07T15:09:00.003-06:00

Time has slipped away too quickly since the last Groote's Gaggle. Don't you feel you often just run out of time?

This week's TIME magazine ran a one-sentence statement:

1.26 MICROSECONDS: "Time that each day has been shortened as a result of Chili's earthquake, which shifted the earth's axis about 3 inches".

Where do they learn this? How did they determined this? And who is they?! I find information such as this little sentence fascinating. Where do these pearls come from? Time didn't make a reference. The statement appeared in a little horizontal bullet on page 13; just a little kernel to be plucked like a seasoned pearl from an oyster.

My word of wisdom is to definitely count your blessings and kiss your kids because you string many more of those microseconds together and you'll not have time to turn around.

peace.

Choosing Lent

2010-02-18T13:57:00.004-06:00

Lent began yesterday with Ash Wednesday. Many follows choose to give something up during this time before Easter. Several attended Lenten services that were held last night and received the ashed-cross on their forehead. Some will continue to meet every Wednesday until Easter. For me, Ash Wednesday, and the Lenten season is a practice of the Christian calendar I’m still trying to embrace. For my personal reasons, strange as they may be, I struggle with Lent and the rituals surrounding it.

A Facebook friend shared a devotional link yesterday I am going to try and follow these next few weeks. I think I might be able to accomplish this devotional because, there’s not a lot to read. It’s online and the background music is rather soothing to me. Yeah, it’s embarrassing to admit how being faithful must sometimes be in small does and little steps. But here’s a moment of honesty slipping out.

In writing this to you, I learned this devotion is directed toward students. Well aren’t we all students? In life at least? So far yesterday & today’s devotion have not been more than 5 or 6 lines. That holds my wandering attention. It’s plainly written without long theological contemplative passages. So, if you’re a short attention spanner or struggle like me, maybe you’d like to choose to try and walk this journey with me ……

Here’s the link: http://www.d365.org/journeytothecross/

peace. (p.s. today’s devotion: the ability – and responsibility – to choose)

Tidbits to Chew On

2010-02-12T11:22:00.005-06:00

This past week I’ve had the good future to have two very interesting conversations with a couple of my clients that I would like to share with you. I think both sets of information are important notes to pass along.

Of course, this is news parallels the good news bad news joke. One item is good information and the other is a warning-which could be taken as good information if you choose to be proactive about it. I’ll share the good first:

An online church donation link by All Saints Episcopal in Salt Lake City, UT (http://www.allsaintsslc.org) last fall has brought in an estimated 12% increase in donations. Rev. Michael Mayor also reported the link was very helpful when someone wished to make a memorial donation. Their check did not have to be sent in the mail. The giver merely went to the church website and made the donation online. BTW, reports are people use debit cards quite often in online donations so the giving on credit debate needs to be aware of this facet.

Many of you know my computer crashed after I moved to Baton Rouge. I LOVE my new Apple computer with dual Windows operating system but recovering old files and reestablishing them is never a fun task. One note I hadn’t shared about the details of my computer mishaps was I had just finished downloading a Windows update when the crash occurred. Talking with Rev. Dick Selby this week, I learned he and his wife experienced the exact same thing on each of their computers. This is quite alarming news as most viruses of this nature make it to the forefront of the news.

Maybe this was a coincidence. I tend to think it most likely wasn’t. I’m not aware of any safeguards but I will plead--- PLEASE, please back –up your documents, emails, contacts, etc. Keep a good back-up of information on a regular basis. I’ve been doing this for years and while I have some challenges with older software versus new software, I am going to be able to retrieve almost all of my data.

I’m heading off to send a note to Microsoft. Play safe out there in cyberland… peace.

Be Very, Very, Careful

2010-02-02T21:44:00.002-06:00

Remember Elmer Fudd, the cartoon character. His double-barreled shotgun in hand and he turns to the screen and says, “Shhh. Be ve-wee ve-wee, care-vul, ‘cause we are hunting wabbits!”

Be very, very careful, because you may not be hunting rabbits, but they are hunting you. I’ve spent the last few blogs ranting about the predatory Internet. I apologize for doing the same this week, but I feel this is ve-wee,ve-wee Important!

A few of my clients have received letters from a business named Domain Registry of America. This letter urges them to renew their domain names as soon as possible to avoid risking their control of their name. Losing your domain name is not something anyone wants. Domain Registry of America knows that and that’s why they look so official and scary when they tell you your domain is about to expire.

Many of my clients are registered through my company. If you are my client, and not registered through me, I still know your domain registry company. NONE of YOU are registered through this company. They are luring you. Read the document to notice the carefully placed nonchalant word “switch” or “when you switch”. This word and sets of words is telling you that if you send them money, they become the registry. Every web domain name is registered to some company out there. Some are fairer than others. I don’t know how fair Domain Registry of America is or isn’t, but given the fact they are somewhat innocently sending you this information, I would treat them as the wolf in Gramma’s gown in the Red Riding Hood story and run away quickly!

Whenever you encounter any offer on the Internet or about the Internet, look over it with a fine tooth comb. If it seems too good to be true, IT IS! And as a reminder, keep a picture of Elmer next to your screen so you’ll always remember to be very, very careful.

Cyber Sticks and Stones are Hurtful

2010-01-26T17:44:00.008-06:00

“Sticks and Stone may break my bones, but names can never hurt me”. My mother used to make me recite that over and over whenever I came home from school with hurt feelings from some quip by a verbal sword-smith. I did it, but being the person I was and probably still am, the words lingered around my legs like a low lying fog ready to trip me up a any second.

Recently, another child has taken their life due to cyber bullying. This was a 15-year-old girl in Massachusetts (read the story: http://tinyurl.com/yeox9tk ).

Bullying, teasing, trash-talking is not a new sport for the teenage crowd. The new cyber frontier and cellular text land is a dangerous place for our kids these days. These taunts go beyond the name-calling of 30-plus years ago. They are so inappropriate in language and accusation that I can’t even type an example. And things on the Internet can live forever. That is why the devastation can result in such dramatic results as suicide. The unfortunate truth is much of the verbal slash and slang begins with hurt feelings and spins and warps into untruths that spiral and viral into outlandish lies.

(This is one reason why I discourage chat rooms on youth pages on a website. Unless you have a twenty-four hour cyber-monitor, your forum can turn into an unwanted unintentional problem. It can even go as far as to make your organization or church liable should violence ensue.)

Where your organization or church CAN make a difference is through working as a mediator when cyber/text conflict arises. I recently watched a PBS special on teen girl violence. Where boys may walk away after a fight, girls let it fester and this festering is the seed that can spiral out of control into physical or cyber-violence. The answer needed to calm girls from this destruction seemed to be the simple, earnest apology.

What has happened to us that we can’t say those words? We don’t seem to know how to apologize or how to admit a mistake. As I type this blog, I hear the voice of the television commentator recanting recent stories with the Tiger Woods saga. Here is a stellar example of where telling the truth, saying you’re sorry and admitting a mistake would have left a lot of air time open on our tv’s.

We need to teach our young people and apparently, ourselves, the powerful tools of apology and admittance of wrong. The more we run from these strong tenets of decorum, the more we degrade society and lean ever closer a land of chaff where wheat will not grow.

Trash Talk

2010-01-12T11:43:00.002-06:00

You don’t have spend time in a gas station bathroom to read trash about people you don’t even know….

A new book disclosing campaign secrets and admissions by top politicians is flooding the news. Tiger has been exposed for his indiscretions; Mark McGwire has a mea culpa about his steroid usage. All these little tattle segments flooding our airways, newspapers, TVs, tweets reflect a couple of things:

The world is moving along okay. No big disasters or tragedies at present or
Our society’s brains have cycled to auto-pilot and the technical nonsensical input and output jargon of ‘garbage-in garbage-out’ has polluted our lives and lifestyles… and
Folks are making a tidy sum exposing gossip, missteps, and bad behavior.

It is difficult to create good results when given bad input. The term: garbage-in garbage-out. Defined by Wikipedia as a phrase in the field of computer science or information primarily used to call attention to the fact that computers will unquestioningly process the most nonsensical of input data (Garbage in) and produce nonsensical output (Garbage out). Wikipedia also highlights another term off of the garbage-in garbage-out phrase, “Garbage In, Gospel Out” based on the tendency to put excessive trust in “computerized” data. People have a tendency to believe what they read or see on their computer regardless the source. I don’t know if this is the source for all this plethora of gossip, but we are sure getting an abundant crop recently.

We seem to be producing a great deal of garbage-out MORE garbage-out. When did sharing or spewing gossip become such a past-time? It is sad but true that today our societal missteps are gathered up like precious gold nuggets to be profited on by complete strangers. That’s what happened to all those people we’re hearing and reading about. They did not set out to wind up as tabloid fodder. They didn’t intend for this information to become part of your life or my life. It happened.

There are 1, 610, 000 internet gossip sites. Many are focused on celebrities but there is a rise in sites targeting just about everything. GossipReport.com allows you to share dirt on co-workers. Sick of your neighbor? RottenNeighbor.com lets you publicly out that bad person on your block. You can dish or destroy just about anyone on any topic. College campuses and local schools are rampant with gossips posts and texts consuming the young brains of our country, unfortunately destroying many young egos and in some cases, lives.

Controlling this overwhelming trend begins with us, you and me. It starts with our personal censorship and self-control. It then moves to discussions among our family, especially our children; then our friends and co-workers, to groups we deem influential, like our church. The old adage “sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt us” is not true anymore. The Internet is our new bathroom wall. It’s a nasty commentary of our lives and somebody needs to wash our mouths out with soap.

The Light Bulb

2010-01-08T08:58:00.004-06:00

How many _____ does it take to change a light bulb? It’s an old joke. Of course, the punch line is “CHANGE?!!”

I’m typing on my laptop as I load programs on to my new ‘big brain’ computer; not a PC this time, it’s an --- shhh— Apple! I’m finally through fighting the viruses, crashes, and all the other stuff that comes with the territory. Mind you, I will still deal with these issues as my new super-duper Apple has a cross-platform where I can run a Windows operating system. Why? Because all the business software I purchased just a few months ago is for a Windows system.

Change. It’s sure easier to say than do. That’s why the old joke is funny. It’s true and a dilemma. Sometimes no matter how much we want or desire or need to change, the process is so darn hard. I desire to walk completely away from a PC system but don’t have the total funding to do this. I must still wade in the water of Windows to hope and work toward the day I can be totally free of my old system.

It’s very reflective of the many aspects we all deal with as we step the stones of life. Change is possible but it must be a deliberate process. It can be a difficult process, so difficult, we sometimes succumb to our old habits. We may know things are bad but the process of change becomes a greater challenge than living with the problem.

I’ve spent the past 34 days painting and scraping plaster. It’s not something I do on a regular basis. I’ve been working to change a house. I hope I never have to do it again but the probability is there will be another paint brush in my future. It’s been a drag and I can’t quite see the outcome as this point in time, but I feel the journey has been fruitful. Like the computer, working towards something new and different with a new home, has been unchartered; at times, stressful, and definitely requiring labor.

Change requires focus, deliberate action, intent toward a goal, and physical/mental movement away from the current status. While I have been doing ‘my change’ over the past 34 days, I’ve wondered what ever made me think this was a good idea. This process is dreadful. My body aches. My checkbook is sagging. Sometimes I feel I have more paint on my clothes than on the wall. I have involved myself in a process where the situation cannot revert back to its old way. After all, my tub, now gone, was living on my curb waiting for the trash man who carried it away right after Christmas and my toilet is still sitting on my patio. I could turn the toilet in to a planter, but there are still those holes I’m staring in the bathroom where my tub and toilet used to reside. I can’t use the facility in its current state, so I must forge ahead.

I leave this entry pondering, is change better served and achieved when it is impossible to return to the former state? When you can’t go back, you must forge ahead. After all, you don’t have to know how many people it takes to change the light bulb if it’s now an LED.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

2009-12-16T10:05:00.004-06:00

ABC television aired “A Charlie Brown Christmas” last night. After a long day of fighting Baton Rouge traffic in search of carpeting and a bean bag chair (details will be spared), I tumbled in to my motorhome to sit down with my TV dinner and television to relax from the day. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was airing. The Peanuts gang after 40-plus years frolic and tease each other just as they did when I was a child. It brought back many memories and a sense of comfort. What is Christmas really about anyway? Yes, the birth of our risen Lord, but what is it really about to you? Come on, admit it. If Christmas were truly the celebration of Christ’s birth and only that, wouldn’t we handle this mega-holiday in a different fashion? Christmas is a very complex holiday. I believe Charles Schultz’s characters portray a thumbnail of all those complicated facets from the baby in the manger to presents under the tree, caroling, food, parties, cards, etc. My Christmas is uncomplicated this year. No tree, no card, no presents. Moving during the holiday time is very strange. Instead of writing Christmas notes or wrapping presents, I’m painting, searching for carpet and selecting new faucets.

My life is very sans Christmas. Oh I do see signs of Christmas, especially in decorations, mostly outside lighting. There’s a doozie complete with a radio station to tune in to on the last ¼ mile to the campground. Yesterday’s trip to the mall engaged my senses with holiday music and Santa and people shopping, sales clerks wishing Merry Christmas at the end of my purchase of paint and brushes. But what finally made me realize Christmas was approaching was this simple ½ cartoon. It was a memory. Maybe that’s Christmas, remembering the cherished moments from childhood and life; remembering a little baby in a stable who brought love and peace and Good News; remembering blessings and joys, sorrows and wants, and many emotions we so elegantly and selectively push aside the rest of the year. That’s why Christmas is so complex. We unintentionally made it this way. Christmas is a prism casting a rainbow palette of refracted light that splays open the crevasses of our heart when we allow those shadows to be exposed. Sometimes the shadows contain absolute joy and other times deep sorrow or disappointment.

If you dare, unwrap your private heart of Christmas and rediscover or explore what this season truly means to you. It might be your best present this year.

Gratefulness

2009-12-08T21:01:00.001-06:00

Taking my five minutes to breathe in and out and just be while working through a major move, I continue to hold to my five minutes of being grateful, at peace, and accept whatever is going on in my life at any given moment. It’s a challenge at times. Those five minutes have maintained my sanity.

What is another life saver? Having a phone that connects to the internet; being able to text; receiving email via my phone.

You may not move as often as I. You may not move 500 to 1,500 miles at a time. For those of us who find this part of our lives due to our professions, I thank God for the businesses and organizations who have embraced technology to make information easier to find for people like me.

You may never know who you are helping by providing information about your church or organization through the Internet. Just know that you are….

Contingency Plans

2009-11-23T15:27:00.003-06:00

That high-stress holiday is coming. It’s breathing down our throats. Have you had it with the talking head gurus on TV, print and radio telling you how to contend with your relatives and keep peace in your heart if you’re gathering to break bread with people who have a tendency of getting your dander up?

While it would be much safer to stick to my profession of web and technology items, I’m straying toward emotions that pierce our patience. I’m in the midst of moving 499 miles away with thirteen people coming to sleep, eat and commune 3 days before I leave. Don’t get me wrong, I’m delighted and excited to have the family together for the first time in years.

Preparations began this weekend with purchasing and making food for the small army arriving at the door. Yesterday, after buying, cleaning, and cooking like Julia Child reincarnated; after the flour was scooped, the noodles rolled and the cooked meatballs stored, I learned 8 of the group were not coming. A death in a spouse’s family had occurred and all plans were changed.

This was of course was disheartening, unavoidable and a disappointment for everyone. A big dead space of silence overflowed the boundaries of the walls. All the work, plans, hopes, dreams visions of laughter were gone. The emptiness and pain of defeat just sat there like an uncomfortable friend.

A contingency plan was formed. Unused food was whisked back to the store, re-alignment to the menu calendar was made and my “new plan” was ready, unhappy, but ready. Low and behold, a phone call a mere two hours later changed all the plans again. The group was coming with an adjustment of time frame, minus one spouse. Thanksgiving will be salvaged for us. But it left me thinking….

It is a shame the importance the next 5 weeks have become in the stress level of our lives. Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, New Year’s. We sure pack it all in to one small amount of time. This year’s holiday’s occur in a total of 36 days. If you’re a multi-cultural family, you may be throwing Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in there as well. I don’t know the origin of your stress, but if you are like my family, the answer lies in between the sentences. In other words, the unspoken words none of us utter.

If my family were geographically closer, we may get together more often, who’s to say. The magnitude of this Thanksgiving was the first holiday we had all spent together in 9 years. I didn’t need a TV guru to analyze the roller coaster of emotions that happened to my family over the course of this weekend. I’d say you have similar stories with various scenarios that are quite familiar thematically in one form or another. When you attempt to cram 365 days of hopes and dreams in to 36 days, lightning is guaranteed to strike. The lightning generally gets bigger the more days that are added to the 365. Sometimes it doesn’t take 365 days for lightning; sometimes 365 hours, or 365 minutes. In any event, batten down the hatches, full steam ahead. These 36 days of flurry are coming regardless. Develop a few contingency plans and by all means, don’t get in the refund line too quick. Oh, and like last week’s blog: -BREATHE.

Waste Not Wrought Naught?

2009-11-18T10:38:00.001-06:00

It was a banner day last week on the walk. My early morning walk with my dog and husband is one of the rituals we keep. We sometimes talk, sometimes not. Sometimes discuss the upcoming day or work through dreams from sleep. Once in a while we salvage the left-behind towel or ball in the park. Last week I found twenty-cents.

I don’t recall when this ritual began. I pick up money. Pennies, nickels, dimes, the occasional quarter; and this year a $5 bill! In the overall picture of life, my collection doesn’t amount to much, but I keep it over the course of the year and donate what I’ve found plus a percentage to charity. It’s my personal barometer of the economy. I call it my God money.

An old joke tells the tale of a couple of guys lamenting about giving to the church. The punch line is, “Well, I throw my money up in the air and what God wants, He keeps.” From that joke I decided the money I found on the ground was money God must have dropped, so I collect it for Him and give it back plus interest. No heroics here; just my way.

Most years I collect around $ 4-5 dollars. It’s been rather slim pickings with the take coming in around $3 the last couple of years. I figured it’s the economy. But this year, a year of foreclosures and 10%-plus unemployment, I’ve collected $7.17 so far and the year’s not over. Either the economy isn’t so bad or we are a very frazzled people.

Today we picked up a soccer ball. That makes three for the year. Theodore, our dog, proudly stretched his jaw as far as he could muster in order to carry his latest prize home with him. Tugging at Theodore’s collar to hold him in a walk, this article floated back to my conscious thought. I had abandoned it. Dropped like the soccer ball clutched so tightly in my dogs teeth as we rounded the last corner to our house, the article I’d begun didn’t seem to be important any longer. The ball, the money, the article: Is it “waste not “ or “wrought naught”?

Before you start baking, buying, building light-filled trees and bustling about this year, stop and not only be thankful next Thursday, stop and breathe. Breathe in a whole second. Bend your mind around idleness; not loaf-some, frittered away time. Stop and just be. Be a part of the moment of the world you live in with perspective.

I almost laugh at myself as I type this. Yes, my idle life of packing to move to Baton Rouge, finalizing a sale on a house, preparing for 14 guests in my home over Thanksgiving, and creating and updating web pages. Ha! No wonder $7.17 was found on the ground over the course of this year. Me, you, us… we are all just running, running, running like the little mouse on the treadmill to the beat of our crammed up lives. Running from thought to task to where the coins and balls of our lives are dropped for lack of the thought of a true second to stop and collect them.

Let’s make a pack together. I will promise to stop at least for 5 minutes every day through the end of this year to just breathe, thank God for my life and family, and love the time I have on this earth. Not worry about whether I answered that email, caught the latest post on Facebook, beat the stop light before it changed to red and all the other stuff that jumble up our days. Just breathe and be.

Peace.

Season of Change

2009-11-10T08:22:00.004-06:00

It’s that time of year- colored leaves, crisp mornings with dew on the grass, a hint of Christmas tide ebbing around the corner. For me, it’s generally a time of new beginnings. I don’t know why my time of change is the fall. It’s just how my life has unfolded. I begin new jobs, form new relationships, and move. Yes, I’ve moved 5 times in my life in the fall and guess what? I’m moving again.

Being married to a minister, it becomes part of your DNA. Serving the church is cyclical. When you are part of that lifestyle, it is sometimes a challenge being the other partner as you get to seek a new job. This is one of the reasons I began my own company. It’s also great that my company lives in the cyber-world: it’s everywhere! – Kind of like God’s love.

The Internet is often touted as a scary place. I warn my clients about images of young people displayed on their website and to be mindful of what they are saying. The Internet can also be a wonderful place; a place to embrace and reach people who are too far away from us geographically yet sometimes feel like they are in the room when you are reading an email or seeing a sentence they have written on a social network. It’s a gentle reminder they are okay, they are alive, they are thinking of you.

I’m not a sit-in-a-circle-and-sing-camp-songs like “Kum Bai Yah” or “Pass It On” and hug and sigh kind of gal. There are moments when I encounter a comment or email that makes me realize the sentiment behind the note or shared joke or whatever, is more a subtle message, saying, “Hey, I’m thinking about you”. It makes all the crazy over-sent copied messaged I receive from my cousin bearable. Because ultimately, her intent is not to make me irritated and wonder if she has something better do to with her life, but to remind me, she’s thinking about me. Cyber-connection with others can be a presence like God’s love when we choose to recognize its potential in helping us touch hands we cannot reach; feel a presence when it doesn’t physically exist.

VTG Enterprises is moving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and not one thing changes with my relationship with my clients. Well, maybe a couple; such as a new phone number and an address, but that’s it. My web service stays connected to you as it is; the same as right now, with me sitting in my office in Flower Mound, Texas. Now I’ll just be sitting a little further east and south; that my friends, makes me love my job. I get to take you with me. I may travel far and wide, but our relationship can stay the same with this wonderful interconnected tool that allows thought and imagery to pass freely.

Transition begins December 1, 2009 and will be completed mid-to-late January 2010. VTG Enterprises will still be plugging along throughout this time.

Pico –boo; Doesn’t Play hide-n-Seek with Projection

2009-11-03T09:01:00.005-06:00

Cool Technology! Don’t you just love new gadgets!? Okay, maybe not for some of you. Hot off the presses in new digital gizmos is Pico Projector. I read an article using Texas Instrument integration but little Pico Projectors are around —TODAY! Pico Projectors hit the market last year but they are now providing a much better image quality. And—they’re going to cell phones!

What is Pico Projectors? Have you watched a projection screen image in a sanctuary or large meeting? Generally one of two things is happening: words to music, scripture, etc. is being shown or you’re viewing a report from a committee that is trying to convey large amounts of information or enhancing a presentation. Viewing on this format has generally involved very expensive projectors, costing in the neighborhood of $3,000 to $5,000. Pico Projectors will use your cell phone to cast the same image. I get the sense the viewing format is going to be smaller, by the nonetheless, it's an incredible tool you can now carry around in your pocket.

View the video about Samsung:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGrBsJV4oiE&feature=player_embedded#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06HHfaWJLSI&NR=1&feature=fvwp

We’ll be seeing much more of this cool stuff in January at the CES [Consumer Electronic Show]

Addendum to Can YouTube Find God?

2009-10-27T08:33:00.005-05:00

I get reviews of my weekly blog from my husband, mostly solicited by me. The dinner table conversation went something like this after posting my "Can YouTube Find God?" blog (if you missed it or need to refresh your memory, catchup with the entry immediately below this one):

“So what did you think of my blog today?”

“It was okay.”

“Didn’t you find it interesting?”

“I suppose. I don’t do the social networks like you do.”

“I stated in the blog I don’t do YouTube very much either but what did you think about the information?”

“It doesn’t really mean anything to me. I don’t use.”

"IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!” I exploded, maybe a bit of an emotional over-reaction, but if you know me, you 'll understand.

It’s not about you or me. As my husband who’s a minister often says, “It’s about the people who aren’t here yet”.

To my husband’s benefit, he does do a great deal of work toward revitalizing churches; enough so, he’s often not the most liked person in the room because he tells folks what they need to do, not what they want to hear. That banter was my “gotcha” and now because of this blog, a public one. I did get his permission to voice this interaction because of the overwhelming message:

It’s not about you.

Golly, those are harsh words. We don’t like to listen or read things that aren’t about us; things that don’t help our personal world no matter what level that might be. There’s too much stuff out there to learn, read, hear—we only want to process information WE need. Last week’s blog on YouTube videos points a spotlight to an arena that has over 120 million viewers. As Christians called to the Great Commission to spread the Good News of the Gospel, why are we not there? The Catholic Church is starting to make inroads, but what about the rest of us?

I just had a conversation with a Presbyterian pastor who was interested in developing a website but said he couldn’t until some members of the church Session (board) moved off. I expressed my regret and understanding. But---- PEOPLE! When can we, through love and integrity, meet this challenge head on and say in compassion, “it’s not about you”.

You may not use the Internet much. You may not get on the social networks online, or tweet (Twitter), or YouTube. There is, however, hard statistical evidence millions of other people do use this. Out of those million, there are most likely quite a few that never attend church or remotely think about God and faith. If you are 35 or under and you go looking for a church, if you do not have an internet presence (a webpage), YOU DO NOT EXIST. Forget about the visitor pamphlets in your pews or the greeters you have to meet new folks. They are NOT coming in your door because you do not exist to them. It doesn’t matter if they drive down the street everyday and pass your church. If you do not have some information out there on the web stating the mere basics about your church, they will not come. Church shopping is online. It’s safe. It’s in the security of your own space and you don’t have to walk through a strange door and feel completely uncomfortable because you’ve been online and seen a taste of what you’re getting yourself in for.

Let’s get back to YouTube. I’m not touting every church run out and create a video to upload to YouTube. As mainstream denominations, our collective bodies need to use technology as an evangelism tool. The Catholic Church seems to be engaged in this venture. It would be interesting to learn the statistics on their viewership and results to action. I have to give them thumbs up for reaching out.

We all may want more people in our pews. The process of making that happen is most times, uncomfortable to those of us already part of the congregation. We have to adjust and shift our thinking toward "those who are not here yet". It’s easy to write about and hard to do.

An example:

A Facebook friend, Rev. Candasu Vernon, coincidently shared this YouTube video right after I posted last week's blog. She wrote this saying: “Fruit of the Spirit? That’ll preach.” Imagine at the end instead of the ad, a statement: Brought to you my the church of [_____] .
Yes, this YouTube installment is a little esoteric but this is what draws young people these days:
Grocery Store Musical
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnY59mDJ1gg&feature=player_embedded

Can YouTube Find God?

2009-10-20T10:00:00.006-05:00

When was the last time you viewed a YouTube clip? I’m not a YouTube junkie. I don’t pour over the volumes of amateur and professional videos at my fingertips 24-7. I do, on occasion, open up choice selections sent by friends via email or Facebook. My newest favorite is a John Williams Star Wars tribute.

Today though, are you aware of YouTube containing religion or religious themes? Today’s Time online magazine explores firing up your home video camcorder to present God and Christianity, or “religion” to the masses. While the article was very bland, the video featured along side the article drew my attention: Steve Silvia’s “The Catholic Church- Behold, I am with you all days!” is the featured video. [ view clip ]

I semi-watched and listened. The haunting monk-like chanting of the music can put you in a spiritual reflective mood, but I can’t say the text helps me to understand Catholicism. So I searched YouTube for 'religion'. First up in the queue?
“George Carlin – Religion is B***sh*t”. Obviously, not what I was seeking.

Next, I searched, ‘Presbyterian Church’. The top three results: “Coral Ridge” , “PCUSA Moderator Bruce Reyes- Chow’s Opening Speech” , and “Darrick Lawson’s Ordination service at Westminster Presbyterian Church”.

Then, ‘Episcopal Church’: “Processional Hymn 137”, “Lambeth: Rowan Williams Draws a Line”, “The Episcopal Church Honors Your Spiritual Journey”; and finally, rounding out the top five- “Who Are We?” (The Episcopal’s get one point for a doctrine video).

The Baptist’s on the otherhand had some big names in their top five: Documentary producer, Michael Moore and a guy named Barack O’Bama, to name a few.

And the Methodist’s: They’re number one at least had a cool song from the Eme Nkwa Ekwere Choir—part one.

It appears general searches on YouTube for videos about religion has a long way to climb before seriously bringing viewers to God. Right now, searches predominately focus on the lighter side of faith; poking fun at doctrine. A site is actually focued on Christian faith is known as GodTube. A GodTube serach doesn't bring up a site of that name but, tangle.com, serving as http://www.tangle.com/ an online Christian community.

All in all, I felt the Time article missed its mark and was a filler piece until I revisited the featured clip of the Catholic video on the YouTube site. Viewing it on YouTube, I see a different picture. In the right-handed column of the monitor screen, related videos appeared: “Why I became Catholic”, “Queen of Heaven”, “The Truth about Catholics”, “Why You Should Be Catholic”, “My Catholic Faith- Man Should Tremble”, and “Here I am Lord”…. Gee that’s a lot different than the protestant church results.

Okay, “Here Am Lord”- is one of my favorite hymns. How did this wind up on the Catholic page? Not on the Presbyterian page or the Methodist page or any other Protestant search word? Because… the video producer, Steve Silvia is ta-da--- CATHOLIC! Or he’s being paid by the Catholic church to produce very cool videos that are uploaded to YouTube and Steve Siliva has most likely tagged those videos to appear under a Catholic search group. Steve Silvia’s video, “The Catholic Church- Behold I am with you all days!” is the video featured in the Time article, an aha moment. Eight of the featured video clips on the Catholic page are produced by Steve Silvia. Guess those Catholics are pretty slick getting a guy to produce videos and uploading them for people to view in hopes it might spark some interest in learning more about the Catholic faith.

So fellow Protestants, are we behind in technology? Are we using all the multi-media sources out there to proclaim God’s word? The Catholics don’t own the streaming video market. They just saw the opportunity and jumped on board. Let me tell you friends, here’s a big example of why mainstream religion is struggling. When are we going to get over our fears and embrace this new stuff? If you can even call it new any more. And when we do venture out to be technologically creative, why do we think we have to create our own sites for “us”? GodTube was ecstatic this past August stating they had 4.5 million unique viewers. YouTube exceeded 100 million viewers in March 2009, with internet users watching 14.8 billion online videos. YouTube became the 4th most visited site on the web after it beat out Microsoft’s Live.com and MSN with 120 million viewers in August. Why do we feel we need to separate ourselves when talking about our faith? Why can’t God come with us on Facebook, on Twitter, on YouTube?

Faith-based subjects, spirituality and God are appearing in all these mediums. I know. I read it. It comforts me when I do see God and faith talk interspursed in my daily life. He slips in through the updates and groups and videos. God IS on YouTube, if you look. He may not be listed in the top 10 YouTube hits like “Drunkest Guy Ever Goes Back for One More" or “Hot Chicks with Guns”, but He’s there. Kind of like in real life, huh? Can YouTube find God? Not if we don't help put him there.

Got a minute? YouTube moments I think merit your time:

Choir (Perpetuum Jazzile) creates a rainstorm with hands and
sings Toto song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpbyM8k7e2Q&feature=related

Composer John Williams tribute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4

God Is My Everything: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcPhwhgCywk

A Saint's Passing

2009-10-14T08:07:00.008-05:00

"Give me the money. Give me the money," a witness overheard. Then there was a gunshot.

We hear testimonies like this all too often in the news. It’s become commonplace. Sorry to say, we tend to ignore the news. But once in a while we hear these words and they clang in our ears. Conjuring the sound of that gunshot pierces our senses and stops our breath. What is different? When that shot touches our heart.

Such was the case for me.

I didn’t know Robert Wafer. I’m not sure I ever met him or his family the one time I attended Paradise Missionary Baptist Church. But I grieve for his departure from this world nonetheless. Mr. Wafer was one of our saints.

He was devoted church volunteer, who was violently and senselessly gunned down in his front yard last Friday. It’s unclear whether the gunman even took the money he was demanding. The gunman did take a father and a grandfather. He took a man who drove the church van and sang of God’s praises. He took a man who had just prepared several pounds of brisket and ribs for the church’s picnic on Sunday.

No, I didn’t know Mr. Wafer. I don’t really know the folks at Paradise MBC. The church is a web client. It’s a congregation I visited. By with that one visit and with my continued work with them updating their site month after month, those folks are part of my fiber; just like all the other clients I update on a regular basis are an extended church family. I live my life with them as I type in their updates and optimize their images.

Once again, our cyber world draws us closer together than we sometimes realize. So I hope as you read this, you say a prayer for Mr. Wafer’s family and for the church family as they have lost one of their saints.

The paper reported Mr. Wafer’s favorite song was, “He’s An On Time God.” I’m sure God was on time with Mr. Wafer as he passed to welcome him to the arms of all the saints waiting who have gone before.

If interested in learning more about the church : www.paradisembc-dallas.org

Critical Friend

2009-09-29T14:36:00.008-05:00

Can I be your “critical friend”?

In the book, Mediating Religion: Conversations in Media, Culture and Religion, Heidi Campbell (“Approaches to Religious Research in Computer-mediated Communication”) describes a “critical friend” thus:

religious leaders who affirm the opportunities provided by the Internet while also being cautious and careful about the possible negative repercussions.

Wow! That was a mouthful. What does she really mean? Does your website reflect what you believe? Who is writing theological material? Has your site become too consumeristic in selling seminars, books, tapes, t-shirts, etc.? Do you look more like Barnes and Nobel than a house of worship?

The Internet is a significant means of communication. Don’t let statements such as this frighten you from this technology. It’s by far the most effective communicator for those 25 years-old and under. A two-year old study calculates at least 70% of the people in North America use the Internet. Hedi Campbell's comment is avowing why I ask church clients to write their own text for their website. This is your voice, not mine. Just make sure that Johnny-June, your local volunteer, who’s running your site or sending copy to a web designer either KNOWS the church theology and mission OR has trusted authority OR runs what he/she wrote by someone who does (maybe the pastor?)

I tend to believe this “critical friend” should also advise you about tech trends. Do you really need animation or video? Do you need someone blogging on a regular basis? (If so, refer back to the paragraph before this). Would creating a group on Facebook be an advantage? Do we hop on Twitter? The answer may be yes in all cases because each one is a source your viewership WILL USE or it could be -- maybe, or no.

Know the audience/congregation you reach. Know the audience/congregation you want to reach. Know or learn the vehicle to get their attention. Then, know what you’re saying reflects what you mean. If you need a friend?....I'm here.

A Thousand Words???...

2009-09-29T13:48:00.006-05:00

What would you pick? A three-to-five page paper describing God’s connection to us or Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam from the Sistine Chapel (on right).

In an article for The Alban Institute, Lynne M. Baab expresses how your church website can communicate your church vision. Photos of people seem more invitational than buildings to a limit. People looking directly into the camera could overwhelm site visitors versus those with people engaged in activities. The trend is to select imagery, not people, to symbolize the congregation; their values and mission, pictures that convey grace or redemption.

This task is not for the faint of heart and should you wish to undertake this assignment, a small committee working with a selection process would be best not only for your church to arrive at the appropriate imagery, but to cut down on cost in your website design as designers and developers may charge you for that perfect shot that conveys your warm, inviting congregation who is full of grace and devotion.

Take the time to read the article as it brings out many great points to consider as you live with and adapt your church’s website. http://www.alban.org/conversation.aspx?id=5906

I hope you picked Michelangelo over the paper.
Peace--

I thought I loved my iPhone

2009-09-16T18:24:00.009-05:00

I recently viewed a YouTube video of the latest concept in cell phones. Nokia is developing a phone with the concept name of Morph. http://tiny.cc/bmD0j

It may look like a regular cell phone but trust me, take the time to watch the first 40 seconds of this video and watch the phone morph!

Morph is a concept demonstrating some of the possibilities in nanotechnologies that might enable future communication devices. If you don’t know about nanotechnology or any of its concepts, watching this 6 minute video will allow you to see what the future holds in store. It’s pretty incredible just to watch a few seconds as the illustrated character morphs her phone(makes it change shape), places a call and then raps it around her arm!

You can also view the Nokia 888 http://tiny.cc/jbQnu (3:41) to watch the young female interacting with her nano- phone.

About half-way through the previously mentioned Morph concept piece, the introduction to another new idea was presented: nano-materials that can be produced to enable solar energy on a larger scale to where future buildings could be covered by solar cells. This material would allow specific chemical compounds to be pulled from the air to create energy for the building. This is because nanotechnology allows control of physical properties at a nanostructure level with single-molecular precision. WoW!!.....

…and I thought I loved my iPhone.

Flip Out

2009-09-15T16:06:00.004-05:00

Search engine giant Google is announcing its new Fast Flip that will allow you to browse through news sites like flipping through a magazine. It’s going to help you see things even faster! (read the article: http://tiny.cc/LV30n )

Can we cram information faster? Will we think faster? Articulate faster? Will flipping and crunching high-speeding connections make us soar?

Let’s see:

How did we soar in the past seven days?

A Congressman cried out at the President, “You lie!”; a incredible highly-praised tennis pro lashed out at a innocent line judge wanting to cram a ball down her throat; and a rapper stole a moment of glory from a deserving teenage country singer to be disrespectful and rude.

Are we cramming so much information in to our brains that the only processing, judgment and discernment we can muster creates over-loaded and short circuited verbal meltdowns?

If we can flip faster, will we be able to flip out faster?

Where are Your Fingers Walking?

2009-09-09T12:05:00.004-05:00

“Let’s your fingers do the walking.” That was the slogan for Yellow Pages for many years. Yellow pages? Do you still use the Yellow Pages to find things; businesses or churches or doctors? Or do you use the search engine on your computer?

A new thick Yellow Pages book lands on my doorstep about once a year. Then another and another until I have 4 or 5 yellow-paged books from different companies to clutter my phone book cubby hole on my desk where the Yellow Pages are supposed to live. Do you know what all of these “yellow pages” have in common? You can’t find what you’re looking for. At least, that is my experience. I get frustrated locating the right subject heading to eventually find a phone number that is disconnected or a business that lists their web address where I in turn, go to my computer and type in the URL to learn about their business. In truth, my fingers walked right off the yellowed-page to my keyboard.

My new strategy is paying off; I now toss those yellow paged books in my recycle bin and begin my searches on the Internet. It pays off almost every time. I might only find a phone number from the Online Yellow Pages that has popped up in the search engine, but I FIND something. If you spend much time with me, you know this is one of my mantra’s …..How are people going to find you if you don’t let them know you are there?

Where do your fingers walk? If you only use the Yellow Pages or Encyclopedia Britannica as your resource, you’re an exception. Today’s fingers are running over keyboards and smooth-lined hand-held objects to locate everything imaginable. Search engines are really incredible pieces of technology. Once you obtain your URL (your domain), and use the proper tagging, your site will begin to populate the search results and fingers can walk right to your door to learn about whatever you’ve published at any given hour of any given day. My June 23rd blog, “Hide It Under a Bushel, No! I’m Gonna Let It Shine!” emphasizes the importance of being part of the web community.

It is one of my quests in life, to see every church have a web presence. It’s why I revisit this subject. I will continue to beat this drum as the message is so critical. Why do you think Microsoft launched Bing, their new search engine? It’s how people find things. Can they find you?

A Marking of Time

2009-09-02T10:29:00.007-05:00

Today, September 2, 2009, the Internet turns 40. Can you believe it? Didn’t we just learn about this mystical cyber entity? Back in 1969 when two very bulky computers passed meaningless test data through a 15 foot gray cable, did those present known the scope of what they were unleashing?

The Internet as we know it today didn’t kick into gear until 1990, but I still say, “Wow!” I didn’t own a computer until 1996, a Macintosh Apple. I was very much a fledgling on the Windows PC the winter of 1997-98 after taking my first job as a church secretary. I barely knew how to stumble my way through WORD and Microsoft Publisher. And here we are eleven years later with me owning my own web design business and blogging.

I read a brief article out of New York stating the idealism of open access and free-flowing information that was the birthing idea of the Internet is eroding due to security needs against viruses and credit card transactions; purchases being taxed where unregulated times were without taxation of any sort. The article bemoaned the restrictions that are beginning to harness the Internet. For the most part, the Internet remains our wild frontier where laws are scarce and your personal protection is left up to you. Laws or no laws, I enjoy the place. I’ve educated myself to be able to roam around out there in cyber-land. You should do the same.

The greatest barrier between the generations of today is the knowledge to fluently use technology. I don’t believe there’s a specific age marker to throw down as a gauntlet. Suffice it to say, it’s the haves and have-nots or applicably the knows and knows not; a teeter-totter marker of those who Email, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, text, YouTube, etc. and those who do not. It’s not important you use and interact with all those methods. It is important you know what each of those terms mean. It is important to reach out and learn to function with today’s tools in order to be an effective communicator.

Stealing from a current acronym WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?), I think he’d allow folks to put him up on YouTube . I think he might be on Facebook. He’d definitely have a cell phone to text all the disciples to meet him at the shore in Galilee. Because when you think about it, Jesus used unconventional means to effectively communicate his message 2000 years ago. Hmm, how’d that turn out for him?

Keep it Private

2009-08-18T18:12:00.009-05:00

I just finished watching another news clip about hacking into personal computers and folks getting scammed or losing information. I shake my head as I'm guilty of some laxed habits but I learned in my computer education that the big World Wide Web (aka: www ) is a DANGEROUS place. When you were a little person, a kid, I'm sure your Mom or some "big" person told you about looking both ways before you crossed the street. Well, I'm always advocating technology so I feel my due diligence is warranted with this post. Stop reading now if you feel you know it all.

Things to think about when you log in:

Are you logging on to the Internet at someplace other than your home computer? If yes, are you at work? Does your boss or company have access to your email inbox? Your keystrokes? Are you saving online passwords on this computer? (bad if at work. REALLY BAD if on a public computer like the library , car wash or coffee shop).

Do you shop online? If yes, believe it or not, it's one of the more safer places for your credit card. I have been a victim of credit card abduction from a restaurant. Yes! Just remember, you hand your card to a person who in turn walks away with it. Where does your card go for those magical minutes? Chances are, if you're credit card is going to be compromised, it's not because of your made a purchase online; instead, because someone working at the restaurant is a thief. Online fraud happens more when you purchase from a fake website. Know if the company is reputable before submitting your information.

Another thing about online shopping, I suggest not saving your credit card to the site. This service is often available. If your computer gets compromised, this is a risk.

IMPORTANT! Do you participate in a social networks? I have encouraged people to use social networks such as Facebook to use for forums and groups. I still advocate this. Just remember: you may be sitting in your bathrobe in the privacy of your home office or slouched on the couch in your underwear, BUT you are in the most public place you can ever be in when you enter a social network arena. Make sure your settings are closed to friends only or friends of friends, if you feel comfortable. Signing up for a service like Facebook has default settings that allow everyone to read and see your information. Head straight to account settings and make those changes to safeguard your interaction.

But even MORE IMPORTANT..... Do you answer the questionnaires on social networks? Let me help you with this one. Have you ever answered any of the following:

Which Book of the Bible are You?
What is Your Personality Type?
Which Female Grease Character Are You?
Which 1980's Television Show Are You?
What Dead Rock Star are YOU?
Twenty-five things no one knows about me?
Etc., etc, etc......

I'm guilty! Let's all make a pack to stop, okay? Why? Have you ever thought about who created this fun little application? Have you ever thought about where your answers go? Have you pondered what secrets you are innocently imparting to entertain yourself?

Folks, This is the single-most easy way we give away the farm. We innocently allow copious information about ourselves to be released into the sea of the unknown. This one simple non-threatening act opens the door for hackers to know far too much about us. You may think I'm nuts stating this... so let me ask you this? If you have filled in one of these fun little questionnaires, has any answer been related to protected information? Such as the secret answer to the question you must to give your credit card company to retrieve the password you forgot? Ah-ha! yes.

I won't start preaching about the information and images on your website. That's for another blog. But please, be mindful. There's no one "big person" in cyber to hold your hand or remind you to look both ways when you open the Internet door. Just remember... there's a lot of traffic out there and you never know how fast or how big the cars and trucks are because you can't hear their engines or see them coming. Play nice, share sparingly, and WATCH what your fingers say! Peace-

eBooks? What will happen to all those book swaps in the Fellowship Hall?

2009-08-13T15:38:00.009-05:00

Last week I wrote in my blog about saving money by “going electronic”. I continue this topic again this week by pondering eBooks. Hey, I’m old school. I love the tactile feel of a book in my hand; the experience of starting to doze off as I scan the words and the weight of the book slipping slowly, then quickly, on to my stomach, or worse, tumbling to the floor to jolt me awake.

The market is small but growing and soon the cost of this latest gadget will trickle into more affordable prices (currently around $279-299). Can you image it? All these people, everywhere, heads buried in the glow of the 10 ounce or less screen reading as they wait for a meeting. Or reading on the transit, or reading in church! Reading! That unto itself is a lost art in many forums. Yes, the cliché’ holds: the times, they are a changin’.

Your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents had to learn to adapt to Henry Ford’s new assembly line that rolled out all those cars. I’m old enough to remember folks who didn’t have telephones in their homes. The list is infinite of the many objects and gadgets in our lives today that just weren’t there a few years ago.

What’s my point to this? It’s a question back to you: What steps are you taking to move yourself and your congregation in to tomorrow? You don’t have to run out and buy eBooks for your pews, but think about what you can do to help those around you , maybe including yourself, recognize where today’s tools need to replace outdated ones; where today’s processes and thoughts need to change and adapt; kind of like new wineskins. Hmm. Seems like there’s some scripture about that that….maybe I’ll ask Santa for an eBook for Christmas to read up on it.

Sites to visit for more information on eBooks:

Kindle from Amazon: http://tiny.cc/vrNGD
beBook: http://mybebook.com
Sony Reader: http://ebookstore.sony.com/reader

Going Electronic

2009-08-11T12:07:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I mention in my blog adding credit card transactions to your website (July 21: “Donation$: Is Ca$h a Four-Lettered Word?”). Have you considered other steps you could take toward making our electronic world work for you? Have you thought of eliminating your paper newsletter and going exclusively to web-driven readership? Instead of sending out letters on upcoming events, do you have an email distribution system that helps cut cost on postage? I can feel your squirms and cries from here…… read on.

This isn’t a cold turkey thing. You’re not going to just stop all delivery. There is going to be a contingency of people who absolutely, positively will NOT get information any other way than through mail distribution. But consider the possibilities… Not only will you eliminate some debt, you will maintain connections with your congregation outside of scheduled meetings and Sunday worship. Making this move does require some administrative effort. You must encourage it. Promote it. Keep it in the forefront until it is a natural part of your congregation.

Here’s a test: How many congregants know your web address? Can tell you the last time they went to your website?

Promotion is the key. Get them interested in going to your site for information like newsletter and announcements or looking through recent photo of events that have occurred in the life of the church. Add forms to sign-up for activities; or better yet, receiving electronic communication!

In time, your efforts will produce results. We’re a busy and a scattered people. An email mid-week or a visit to the website jogs our short-term memories that we are a part of the people of God.

Just a few features a website/emailing can provide --- even for the smallest of organizations:

Information that may have been forgotten.
Forms: sign-ups, enrollment, requests: such as prayer requests
Blogs- a personal thought process
Links to group forums: Facebook is free. How about an online Bible study??
Newsletters
Announcements
Events
Credit card transactions
Pictures from an event

Where Does Your Bridge Span?

2009-07-28T09:36:00.003-05:00

Do you stop to consider the influence you have on the people you encounter? We are a seeking world for relational connections; Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc are social and professional cyber-relational gathering places for us to connect and re-connect with acquaintances, friends and family members. Do you ever have the opportunity to come face-to-face with an opportunity based on a relationship? Let me explain:

I am currently visiting my father in my home town. I haven’t lived here for 33 years, yet I attended church with my family this past Sunday and roamed the halls where I was once the third angel on the right in the annual Christmas pageant. I came upon a friend of my long-deceased Mother who asked about what I was doing in my life. I shared with her I was no longer in the television industry but had returned to school and now own and run my own web design business. As I type this, I am waiting for a meeting with the local museum who is interested in becoming a client all because of this encounter two days ago.

We never know who or how we will touch someone. You may not think you influence people because you do not always see the results. Your website can be influential to those surfing the internet or those who couldn’t to make it to church last week or those who can’t get to church. You never know when a picture, a caption, or a sermon one reads or listens to might touch them and change their day. You may not realize the calendar reminder helped that one soul who couldn’t remember the time of the meeting or the visitor who didn’t know the way to your door and got directions through your website.

Where does your bridge of relationship lead? We sometimes know the path and sometimes God’s breath brushes it into the arms of someone we cannot imagine.