Applying Tomorrow's Technology to Today's Ministry - Christian ...

Is the Music Recording Industry About To Open Another Can of WormsAccording to a recent lawsuit that was filed against a person in AZ for allowing files to be shared over apeer-to-peer network, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit also charged the person with “unlawful” copying ofmusic from purchased CD’s by converting them to MP3’s. In the past, it has been understood that convertingsongs from a purchased CD for use as an MP3 in order to listen to them on a MP3 player, has not been consideredillegal. However, now that many songs are being sold as MP3’s it may be that the recording industryis going to try to force people to purchase the same song in MP3 format that they already own on CD’s.Hopefully this idea will get squashed quickly because it would make criminals out of most of us. For moreinformation, visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319276,00.html2007 Sets New Record For ID TheftMore than 79 million US citizens had their personal identification information, such as their social securitynumber or credit card accounts, compromised as a result of data theft. This figure is four times higher than2006 and represents a concerted effort by organized crime to obtain our personal ID information for illegaluse. Personal ID information was lost in 2007 due to an increase in the theft of notebook computers, the useof malware to capture ID information from our computers, and the ability to hack into sensitive databases.More and more organizations such as utilities and credit card companies are retaining our social securitynumber, so the potential breach of such information is increased. For more information, visithttp://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ip0gRFSz0t677cXwg2z4WRKJ0TgwD8TRVTI00GPS Units Will Soon Provide More FeaturesThis might be the beginning of GPS units doing much more than just telling you where you are and/orplanning a route to your destination. At the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) this year, many vendors aretalking about adding some exciting services to “beef up” what present systems can now do. The first step isto add more voice activation to GPS systems. Not only can you ask it to give you directions to a location,you could have it access your email and read it to you over the speaker, and allow you to dictate a responseand send. Calendars will be added for example, helping you to maintain the time needed to drive to specificappointments based upon traffic and weather. Many new additional cost services are being explored. Onecompany is actually developing a system to direct you to an empty parking space in heavy traffic sites. Formore information, visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22559721/Security Experts Warn Of “Virtual’ Boyfriends and Girlfriends on Chat SitesA company in Russia is advertising a new program that can be used in popular dating chat sites thatsimulate a virtual flirting person that cankeep communications open with up toten different people at once, without theperson they are communicating withever realizing that they are not chattingwith a real human. The programis designed to get phone numbers andpersonal information from those it communicateswith. The company claimsit is designed to help men get phonenumbers from women through onlinechat, but security agencies are alreadyChristian Computing® MagazineJanuary 20084

warning it will quickly turn into anew type of ID threat as variationswill be set up to communicate inchat rooms, make friends and gleanpersonal information. The companyreports that in testing, none of thepeople communicating with theirvirtual friend ever realized they werechatting with a computer. For moreinformation, visit http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=russian-computer-programApple Issues Major Security UpdateSecurity updates for Windows®has become a regular part of mostcomputer user’s lives. However,many Mac users are not aware thattheir OS is also in need of updates.Apple released their latest securityupdate at the end of 2007, with 41important fixes for Leopard as wellas some previous OS versions. Thisbrings the number of security fixesto 196 this past year. As with Windows®security updates, this doesn’tmean that all of these security holeswere exploited, but it does mean thatthey could. If you have a Mac, besure to download and install theseimportant updates as soon as possible.For more information, visithttp://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9053358&intsrc=news_ts_headDo You Search for Yourself?A new study has been releasedthat shows about half of us Googleourselves. It isn’t just a matter ofvanity, it might be a good idea to seewhat others might have posted aboutyou on the Internet. For more information,visit http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=15&articleId=9053304&intsrc=hm_topicChristian Computing® MagazineJanuary 20085

cover storyAdvanced MinistryCritical Resources for a Critical MissionIalways find it exciting when I discover Christians who are successful in thesecular side of technology business, and yet they want to expand their talentsto help in ministry because of their desire to serve our Lord. I recently spentsome time interviewing Ray Majoran the CEO of Electricurrent.Electricurrent was created as the ministry arm of a largercorporation – Gateseven Media Group Inc., whichservices both the corporate and ministry communities.Taking their experience and success, Electricurrentwas established to help provide exciting technology andmarketing solutions for ministries. Many ministries and churches have alreadytake advantage of the full-service marketing side of Electricurrent (watchfor an article next month highlighting a church that used their servicesto almost triple in size.) In fact, if you check out the new logofor Christian Computing on this month’s cover, you will see anexample of their work. I love the new look!As part of Electricurrent’s mission, there are offering an excitingstrategic web solution called AdvancedMinistry. AdvancedMinistryallows churches the ability to create and grow their website tomeet their ministry needs using one of their many suites, startingat a price that should get everyone’s attention since their beginningsuite is FREE.What is AdvancedMinistry?AdvancedMinistry offers Christian organizations the ability tocreate and manage their own website without having to understandprogramming or web design. Using our Ministry Management Solution(MMS), ministries are able to update all of their content, createChristian Computing® Magazineblogs, podcast, stream videos, post events,take donations and more!What led you to develop AdvancedMinistry?There were two factors which combinedto cause us to build this platform.First, we knew that traditionally, ministrieshave not placed a lot of value on theirweb presence, and it showed. Tightly tiedwith that is the qualification that the averageministry budget does not lend itselfto working with a high-quality creativeagency. The other factor was our own conviction,as a faith-based creative agency,to use our talents in helping churches andJanuary 20089

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ministries in their respective callings.Taking those factors into consideration,we knew that we could design& develop a platform that could raisethe bar for ministry-based organizationsat an economical cost.Why is the web so important?First off, it is important to seeyour website as a component part ofa greater communications strategy.Churches and ministries can undoubtedlybenefit from a solid communicationsplatform in our media saturatedculture. That being said, the perspectiveon websites for ministry-basedorganizations amongst many of theirconstituents has changed from being‘just another way to communicate’, toan expectation. For this reason andothers, the web is a critically importantcomponent of any communicationsstrategy.You refer to “other” reasons whyministry-based organizations needa website. What are those reasonsand how does AdvancedMinistrymeet those needs?The ability of a website to influencethe lives of individuals beyondthe intended audience is a reallyimportant consideration. Of course,beyond the ramifications of that biggerpicture goal, there are the practicalitiesof the efficiency of the webas a communications medium withany organizations audience. Througha platform like AdvancedMinistry,churches and ministries are able tomaintain a connection with their audienceby updating them to news andevents and providing them with thelatest resources.Tell me more about your company.Founded in 1996, Electricurrenthas assisted hundreds of ministriesthroughout the world with their creativeand technology efforts. Some ofour clients include Youth Specialties,Christian Computing® MagazineJanuary 2008 11

Pure Life Ministries, Teen Challenge, Crown Financial, Biola University and The Salvation Army. In August of2000, we began a journey to create AdvancedMinistry – an online solution that would assist churches and ministriesin building and maintaining an effective website. The first official release of AdvancedMinistry came inMarch of 2002.Corporately, our primary mission is to use our gifts to serve churches and ministries in their work to furtherGod’s kingdom. Our strategy includes the utilization of our successes in the corporate and for-profit sectors to facilitateour work in the faith-based and non-profit sector. AdvancedMinistry is a great example of what we havebeen able to do on the basis of this strategy.How is AdvancedMinistry set up?AdvancedMinistry is setup as a self-serve web creation and management solution. It contains a number ofdifferent packages with different features in each. Our clients can choose the package they want and are able toupgrade or downgrade at any time. There are no contracts and we offer an affiliate program whereby Advanced-Ministry clients can receive a monthly discount off their hosting fees for each organization they refer to thesystem that signs up for any of the fee-based packages.Why the different levels?Every ministry has different needs, wants and budgets. The package approach allows us to provide a mix ofoptions to a variety of ministry-based organizations at a low cost.What other options do you have?In keeping with our conviction about how powerful a consistent communications package can be for a churchor ministry, we have worked to offer bulletin shells and PowerPoint backgrounds that are consistent with the webtemplates we have created in the system. We also strive to provide our clients with tools to help them remainrelevant in the modern online culture. Recently, a major paradigm shift in web usage has surrounded the ideaof social networking and the concept of Web 2.0. To facilitate being a part of this paradigm, we have integratedtools for podcasting and blogging. Other options of note include an online store and the ability to process donationsonline.How do you maintain such a competitive pricing model while continuing to offer a current platform withso many tools?As a design/development agency, Electricurrent works with many clients on a custom basis. We are able toleverage the experience and technology from our work on those projects and apply them to AdvancedMinistry –always with an eye to improving the platform and our client’s user-experience.Christian Computing® MagazineJanuary 2008 12

wordsearch wordBob Dasal - bdasal@wordsearchbible.comNeed or Want a Library withThousands of Fantastic AlliterationsJohn Butler is a gifted pastor and Bible scholar who has been quietly writing formore than 15 years. When WORDsearch released his Bible Biography Seriesin electronic format the series quickly became a best-seller. This series followsthe real-life stories of significant characters in the Bible with verse-by-verse commentary.Successfully combining a biography with a verse-by-verse commentarywould discourage most writers, but not John Butler. He does it masterfullyusing alliteration! What is alliteration? It is the repetitionof initial sounds in adjacent words. It targets the human heart andsticks in the mind. Butler’s alliterated outlines are crisp and clear.John Butler is a native of Iowan and has been a Baptist ministerfor nearly half a century. He pastored for overthirty-five years serving churches in Williamsburg,Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; andClinton, Iowa His writings not only include theBible Biography Series (a twenty volume serieson the major characters of the Bible), but also theStudies of the Savior Series (a ten volume set onJesus Christ) and the Daily Bible Reading Series .Butler’s books are a tremendous help topreachers by providing in-depth well-organizedmaterial for sermons and lessons. They also providesound biblical instruction for the individual in hisor her personal Bible study. Another helpful part istheir organized structure that is very adaptable toSunday School classes and Bible study groups.To better people better understand alliterationButler wrote the book Alliterated Sermon Outlines that details thedifferent aspects of alliteration. Here is a brief look at Butler’s sixaspects of alliteration.1. The Precedence for Alliteration The Bible does haveillustrations of alliteration and other literary devices, which give apreacher a good precedence for alliterating his sermon. These Biblicalillustrations of alliteration are often lost in the English translations;for what alliterates in one language will not always alliteratein another language. Psalm 119 is an illustration of this. This Psalmis composed of 176 verses divided into 22 sections. The 22 sectionsof eight verses corresponded to the Hebrew alphabet, which has 22.At the top of each section is a word, which is a letter of the Hebrewalphabet (such as Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth, etc.The alliteration is the fact that each of the eight verses in eachsection begins with the Hebrew letter given in the heading of thatChristian Computing® Magazinesection. Thus all the verses in the first section entitled Aleph beginwith a word that starts with the letter Aleph. The amazing thingabout the alliteration of this Psalm is that David used every letter ofthe Hebrew alphabet.2. The Purpose of Alliteration There are three importantreasons for alliterating which gives alliteration ofsermons a significant value. They are “A ListeningEar,” “A Learning Mind,” and “A Lasting Effect.”3. The Practices of Alliteration (Various waysof alliterating) Alliteration is not limited tomaking the first letter of a word in your outlinethe same. That is the most common form used,but there are other forms and practices of alliteration.There are same beginning letter, or prefix, orsuffixes, same ending (subject) and same sound(assonance).4. Props for Alliteration (Useful aids for alliterating)Aids for alliteration include a thesaurus,dictionary, speller, the Internet, and letters of thealphabet.5. Preparation for Alliteration (Organizingthe sermon text) Before you can alliterate, you must have somepoints. To get points for your sermon, you must organize your text.Suggestions on organizing text include by sentence, subject, andsayings.6. Perils of Alliteration (Problems to avoid when alliterating)While alliteration can be helpful, there are some perils. Butlerpoints out two prominent perils to alliteration. They are “The PriorityPeril” and “The Perplexity Peril.”You can find a full discussion of these six points in AlliteratedSermon Outlines available from WORDsearch Bible software.For the software versions of John Butler’s books, includingthe Bible Biography series, Studies of the Savior series, and theDaily Bible Reading series go to www.WORDsearchBible.com orcall 800-888-9898. For a limited time these works are available atHALF-PRICE.January 2008 13

ACS ideas to impactMark Williams - mark.williams@acstechnologies.comAn Introduction to SaaSfrom ACS TechnologiesSoftware as a Service is a relatively new trend among software providersin which an application is designed to be accessed on the Web rather thaninstalled on the user’s workstation. Though the software is Web-based, it isnot browser-based.Christian Computing® MagazineInstead, the software provider develops a thinclient application that the user can download onetime to their workstation. Once the application isinstalled, the user’s workstation maintains constantcommunication with the software provider’s serverwhenever the application is in use.The application is called a thin client because itprovides a considerably smaller download than locallyhoused applications, or fat clients, while maintainingthe same robust functionality. The hostedserver houses all of the user’s data; none is storedon the user’s computer.There are many benefits to using hosted software.Namely, since SaaS is Web-based, users canwork in their church management system (CMS)anywhere there is an Internet connection. With ministerscontinuously on the go, it’s a big advantage tobe able to access church records and enter updatesimmediately so that the church staff always has themost current data, no matter where they happen tobe.In addition, many churches cannot afford fulltimeIT personnel, yet they still need a properlymaintained network. Hosted solutions include networkhardware and software maintenance as part ofthe service, eliminating the need for on-staff techniciansat the church.Thus, all hardware repairs, upgrades, and replacementsto the server are responsibilities of theservice provider, as are server operating systemupgrades, patches, and fixes. The church softwareshould also be up to date at all times because theservice provider applies upgrades and service packsautomatically.A good service provider has 24-hour networksupport to ensure the church never loses its connectionto the server. A good provider also backsup the data it stores, so the church has an automaticdisaster recovery plan in place. In most cases, thesebackups are stored in an off-site fire-proof vault sothat if the service provider experiences an emergency,there are still good backups of client data.SaaS is also secure. As with most other Webbasedapplications, users are protected by logins.Only clients with authenticated usernames andpasswords can access the service. In addition, serversecurity patches are constantly updated by the serviceprovider, and a firewall prevents unauthorizedintrusion.There may be some disadvantages, however,to using SaaS. One potential drawback of using ahosted solution rather than an on-premise solutionis that, since it is a service, there is a monthly feeas opposed to a one-time product fee for locallyhoused applications. Churches need to plan ahead tobudget for the monthly cost.January 2008 14

Another drawback can be convertingcurrent church data to thenew service. If the church’s currentCMS is written on a different platformthan the hosted application, itcould take a few days for the serviceprovider to convert the data tothe new platform. This means thatduring that time, the church wouldnot be able to enter any data.One other factor to consider isthat, in the event that the serviceprovider experiences downtime,whether planned or unplanned, thechurch cannot access its data untilthe service is restored. While it’srare that this will happen, it’s stilla possibility the church should beaware of.Selecting an SaaS is a bold stepfor a church, so it’s imperative toshop around and find a solution thatfits the church’s needs. Don’t beafraid to ask plenty of questions.If your church does not have anon-staff IT technician, ask a technosavvymember of the congregationto help research and communicatewith potential service providers.When weighing the advantagesand disadvantages, always keep thechurch’s best interest in mind.Good luck, and if you’re lookingfor a place to start, feel free tovisit www.acstechnologies.com/ondemand, where you can discoverthe ACS Technologies hostedservice and download a free ACSOnDemand service brief.As manager of client services atACS Technologies, Mark Williamsworks personally with hundreds ofchurches across America to implementand maintain their Web-basedministry. If you’re considering ahosted solution, feel free to e-mailhim at mark.williams@acstechnologies.com.Christian Computing® MagazineJanuary 2008 15

tech talkDr. J.D. (Doc) Watson - docwatson3228@qwest.netThe Top TenTune-Up Tips 2Last time—after we got past the how often to change theoil in your car controversy—we began a look at the topten things to do to tune up your computer and keep itrunning smoothly. We examined the first four: check/update securitysoftware and settings; remove unused programs; removeunwanted and temporary files; and run Check Disk to fix diskerrors. We’ll conclude with the remaining six.5. Run Disk DefragmenterFor those of you who have been readingme for some eighteen years now (and blessyour pea pickin’ hearts), how many timeshave I mentioned this? I don’t know either.Anyway, as files grow in size during editing,they sometimes will not fit into “contiguous”(adjacent) sectors on your hard drive and sothey become fragmented (scattered over thedisk). Fragmentation is inevitable and automaticand increases “seek time” in retrievingfiles and thereby slows performance. Fragmentationis, in fact, the biggest performancestealer on your computer.So, about once a month (or more oftenif you do a lot of editing), go to “Accessories> System Tools > Disk Defragmenter”) andthen click the “Analyze” button. (You canalso open “My Computer,” right-click ondrive C:, select “Properties,” the “Tools” tab,and then the “Defragment Now” button.)This will tell you whether or not you needto defrag. In Figure 1, for example, I didn’tneed to defrag, but I clicked the “View Report”button anyway, which told me the lowChristian Computing® Magazinepercentage of fragmentation on drive C. Note the color coding of disk usage,especially the fragmented files (red) and contiguous files (blue). (Here’s onereason blue is my favorite color.) If you do need to defrag (and I went aheadand did so even though the utility told me I didn’t need to—see Fig. 2), youcan at least continue to work as it goes about its business.BTW, see my “HotTips 25” (September2005), or my WindowsHot Tips III booklet, forhow to create a new contextmenu option to defragdrives.Now, if you want faster,automatic, and customizabledefragging, checkout Diskeeper ($30.00) atwww.diskeeper.com. DiskeeperLite is a freewareversion that only analyzesfragmentation levels andruns manual defragmenting(no scheduling) onone disk volume at a time.Here’s one place to readmore and download it:January 2008 16

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http://www.aplusfreeware.com/categories/util/DiskeeperLite.html. Frankly, however, IMHO,unless you really want scheduling, or unlessWindows’ defragger gets stuck, hangs, or keepsrestarting, I see no reason to spend the money.The Windows’ utility does a good job6. Turn off Visual EffectsI actually mentioned this back in May2007, so please forgive me for repeating it here.I do so because it’s a Top Ten item and becauseit’s important. These visual effects are totallyunnecessary, unproductive, and performancethieves. Right-click on the “My Computer”icon (or just press Windows Key+Pause/Break),click the “Advanced” tab, and then the “Settings”button in the “Performance” area. In the“Performance Options” dialog box, click the“Adjust for best performance” option to turn offeverything in the list below, or “Custom” if youwant to leave some on, and then click “OK”twice.In case you missed my May column, here’san explanation of these sixteen options. The“Animate Windows when minimizing andmaximizing” option slides the window in andout of the task bar. “Fade or slide menu itemsinto view” slides the “Start” menu options inand out. “Fade or slide ToolTips into view”slides ToolTips in and out of view. “Fade outmenu items after clicking” fades out a menuitem after you click on it. “Show shadows undermenus” creates a shadow effect under menusand desktop items. “Show shadows undermouse pointer” creates a shadow effect underthe mouse pointer. “Show translucent selectionrectangle” displays a translucent highlight onan object when you select it instead of it beingsolid. “Show window contents while dragging”does what it says, but what’s the point? “Slideopen combo boxes” slides menu options in andout of the menu bar. “Slide taskbar buttons”also does what it says. “Smooth edges of screenfonts” makes screen fonts easier to read, butthere’s really little difference. “Smooth-scrolllist boxes” does that, but I find no difference.“Use background image for each folder type”also does what it says. “Use common tasksin folders” displays this area at the left of anChristian Computing® MagazineJanuary 2008 18

Explorer window. “Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop” places a “highlight” on the icon’s label (which is kind ofugly, so you might want to leave this on). “Use visual styles on windows and buttons” does such things as turn dialog boxesand menu bars from dark gray to light gray, as well as changing the looks of the Taskbar.7. Optimize Your Internet Browser (and Upgrade to Firefox)Decreasing the size of your Internet browser cache helps keep it from getting bloated. Unless you periodically clean it outyourself, set it to trim itself on its own. If you’re using Internet Explorer, go to “Tools > Internet Options,” click the “General”tab, and then the “Settings” button under “Browsing history.” Set the “Disk space to use” option at about 50.If you’re using Firefox (which I highly recommend), select “Tools > Options,” click the “Advanced” tab, and set the“Cache” value to about 50. If I may meddle a little into your life, just putting Firefox on your system is a tune up tip in itself.Internet Explorer is wretched. Firefox is faster, safer, and totally customizable. If you haven’t upgraded to this yet, do yourselfa favor and go get it (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/). Here is an interesting user anecdote about adopting Firefox over IE:http://www.spreadfirefox.com/node/27928 (article titled, “Firefox as Part of Computer Tune Up”).8. Organize Files by Creating FoldersI know that sounds simple, but simple is good. If you’re using Microsoft Office, for example, it saves your files in “MyDocuments” by default. While you can certainly save them all in there, you can easily end up with hundreds of files, so it ismuch better to create sub-folders under it. Back in the old days, this was a pain, but it now couldn’t be easier. Figure 3, forexample, shows a “Save” dialog box in Word. Note the numerous sub-folders I use to organizing files (just like a file cabinet).Note also the mouse pointing at the “New Folder” button. When you click this, the “New Folder” box opens, in which youtype the name of the new folder that will be created under the folder currently displayed in the “Save in” box (“My Documents”in this case). After entering a name here, Word creates the folder and automatically changes to that folder.Another important tip here is to create a central “download folder,” in which you store files that you download from theInternet. Mine, for example, is named “Download” (clever, huh?) on my drive D partition. You will have to go into your webbrowser and tell it where this folder is, however. The easiest way to do this in Internet Explorer is when you download a file,click the “Save” button to open the “File Download” dialog box, navigateto the folder in which you want to save the file, double-click on it,and click “Save.” From now on, IE will default to this folder. In Firefox,select “Tools > Downloads” from the menu to open the “Downloads”dialog box, click the “All the files downloaded to” option, and thennavigate to the folder you want. This will become the new default.9. Optimize “System Restore”I only mention this briefly here because I will devote an entirearticle to it next month. While “System Restore” is a wonderful addition,it by default uses far too much disk space. We’ll detail how to use thisutility and trim it down for performance sake.10. Clean Inside the System UnitFinally, about every six months, shut down your PC, unplug it, pop the hood, and clean it out. I like to use a can of compressedair, blowing air around all of the components, along the bottom of the case, into the fan, and finally into the floppy andCD drives. Here’s a good article with a lot more on cleaning your computer: http://www.computerhope.com/cleaning.htm.“Windows Hot Tips 3” and MoreWindows Hot Tips 3 covers all the tips and other stuff presented in my column from January 2004 to January 2007 (includinggraphics). Order yours today (it will be greatly appreciated). Like its predecessors, it makes a great quick reference because it’sdivided into sections, each of which contains related tips.There are two other booklets in this Hot Tips series, Windows Hot Tips 1 and 2. A single copy of each is $6.50 (sorry forthe rise in price, but printing costs demanded it). Bulk prices are: $6.00 for 2-9 copies of the same title and $5.50 for 10 ormore copies. If you’d like to help with costs (not required), add 50 cents for any number of booklets you order.Doc’s Giant Utility Collection on CD is still postage paid at $14 (2-5 copies $13 each, and 6 or more copies $12 each).Send orders to: MicroManuals; PO Box 235; Meeker, CO; 81641.Many thanks to all of you who have already supported this project! God bless.Christian Computing® MagazineJanuary 2008 19

internet ministryWalt Wilson - waltccm@aol.comA Big Step Into the Future forTV, Cell Phones, & Alarm SystemsThe clock is now ticking on the disappearance of‘standard’ TV, which is only one year away. Themade-for-TV storm is now visible on the horizon.However, analog TV is not the only technology that willbecome unsupported by the planned changes now in theworks, which carry a hard cut-off date.Christian Computing® MagazineSince the first days of television, the methodof beaming pictures into our living rooms hasn’tchanged much. But, on Feb. 17, 2009, televisionstations across the country will hit the off switchon this time-tested technology and change to newtransmitters, which carry computerized digitalsignals.When the change comes, an estimated 30million television sets that use traditional antennaswill go dark. A digital converter box will berequired to receive any TV signal at all. The cableindustry is spending $200 million to educate customers,and Congress has set aside $1.5 billion tohelp subsidize the purchase of converter boxes.According to a survey, which recently tookplace, more than half of Americans don’t knowthe storm is coming. Even more do not fully understandthat the scope of the change could affecttheir cell phones, alarm systems, and automobilecommunications. People in the technology businessjust assume that change this big would be oneveryone’s radar screen, but it isn’t. In fact, it issurprisingly just the reverse. For American householdsthat still use antennas on the roof, or otheranalog communication devices, the survey indicatesthey do not know the end is in sight.Why is this change happening – and whyshould I care?The switch to all-digital television, and a similarswitch in the wireless communications industry,is partly a repercussion of the terrorist attacksof Sept. 11, 2001. Police and fire communicationschannels in New York City were clogged by toomuch traffic and on too many different frequencies.That a communications crisis existed becamepainfully obvious within hours of the attack aspolice and fire responders could not talk to eachother. San Jose-based Cisco helped bail New Yorkout by immediately delivering and installing IPtelephony at city hall to coordinate police and fireJanuary 2008 20

teams. If we don’t mandate a change now in our communicationsinfrastructure, we could be in big trouble in the future. The time hascome.The Federal Communications Commission first ordered the eventualtransition way back in 1996, but Congress was unable to followthrough and set a deadline. The bottleneck has been Congress butthere’s no surprise there. Between congressional representatives andlobbyists, lack of decision seems to be the norm in Washington. Theserving of special interests often takes priority over what is best forthe majority of American citizens and for America in general. Whenthe 9/11 Commission report made clear that first-responder systemswere in a state of breakdown and didn’t function during the 9/11 attack,Congress was forced to step out of their self-serving mindsetand mandate the needed change.By taking back the analog frequencies, the government will freeup the nation’s airwaves to be used by firefighters, police and otherfirst responders to help the nation in the event of disaster. We nowlive in an environment where we might even have to integrate the USmilitary into the first response scenario.Television is not the only technology to use analog signals or tobe effected by this change. Some cell phone customers still use analogservice, which carriers won’t have to provide or support under asimilar ruling that takes effect Jan. 1. Additionally, about 1 millionhome and business alarm systems across the country, many of whichare small, local operations are also affected by this change. Thechange to digital has been cost prohibitive for many local and smallcompanies who supply these services. Without being aware of thischange, your home alarm could potentially fall on deaf ears.Likewise, the older analog version of the General Motors’ OnStar system will go silent. That’s every model made before 2002, aswell as some made from 2002 to 2004 depending on the type andmodel of GM vehicle you own. While some of these models canbe upgraded, some of the older ones will become “legacy systems”meaning they’ll become unsupported.Stated in terms of communication technology, what was in theground will go into the air and what has been in the air will go intothe ground. The end result will be that eventually all governmentStarting at $64.97for the base version with25% off for small churcheswww.donarius.com1-888-479-4636Nuverb Systems Inc.Christian Computing® Magazine“Save time and get more done,with fewer headaches”Donarius Church Management SoftwareUsed by over 900 churches andministries in Canada and the USAEasily keep track of members, contributions,pledges and more... Print tax receipts thatcomply with the new IRS guidelines. Sendpersonlized letters and emails. Re-assignenvelope numbers automatically.January 2008 21

emergencies and firstrespondercommunicationwill be in theairways unencumberedby entertainment andbusiness requirements.There just aren’tenough frequencies forall the enterprises thatneed them.Back to the originaldisconnect in all of thischange. Most American’sdo not know aboutit. More precisely, mosthave not paid muchattention to it. While ayear sounds like a longlead-time, for nearlyhalf the population,understanding what theswitch from analog todigital really meanscan be confusing. Timepasses very quicklyfor things that do notfall into the everydayagenda. For the 50(plus) percent that havemissed this, it needs tobe on the calendar for2008 – or the picturegoes to dark, the alarmfalls on deaf ears, andthe On Star goes silent.The upside is thatgoing digital now clearsthe way for the homecomputer hub, which will integrate all things digital onto the big HD screen in your home. That in turnwill open the nation to all forms of communication and entertainment being Internet based. That meansthe total integration of home phone, broadcast TV, radio, family photos, personal videos, digital art,gaming, movies, computer applications and Internet information – with all of it appearing on the bigscreen or multiple big screens in the home. If it weren’t for the politicians in Congress we would bethere now.For those who don’t take the steps required your government will return you to circa 1952. If ithelps at all, watching football on HD with digital surround is an amazing new world – worth the priceand the effort.Christian Computing® MagazineJanuary 2008 22

special featureICONCMO+Extends a Great CMSto Manage an Entire Denomination!Once again the panorama of church software has changed! First there wassoftware for churches. Then, with the advent of the Internet, there wassoftware for churches available any time and anywhere. Then there werehybrid systems where a church would combine a desktop system with the Internetby uploading a portion of their Windows database to the Internet for viewing.Now, there is a system designed with the entire denomination in mind. One thatis completely seamless, providing all organizational levels with the much wantedstatistical information that is so important in making better informed decisions aswell as effortless communication up, down, and across the organization.It’s not surprising that this new breed of softwarecomes from Icon Systems. They were oneof the first companies to offer a Windows basedsystem in the early 90’s. Then they were the firstto offer a complete Internet Based system in 2003and followed that up with the only available webbased fund accounting system for churches in2005. This new product is called IconCMO+. Itis called CMO+ because it extends IconCMO tomanage an entire denomination. Each organizationalunit within the denomination is connectedseamlessly and effortlessly within the entire denomination.CMO+ can manage anywhere from 1to 5 organizational levels with each level containingan unlimited number of offices (tier units). ForChristian Computing® Magazineexample; a world wide organization might havea world headquarters with additional levels bycountry, region, state and district. In this examplechurches would report to the first level or districtwith each district reporting to a state wide organization,etc. Each office at each level would useCMO+ to obtain important statistical informationregarding their constituency.Up to now, church software has been developedto meet the needs of an individual church.Providing statistical information to church leaderswas done by each church running statistical reportsand sending those reports upwards once a year totheir reporting offices where they were then collatedwith other reporting churches. This collatingJanuary 2008 23

process usually occurred inJanuary and February afterwhich the organizationwould prepare an annualreport which often includeda new organizational directory.Each church spent manyhours, often 20 to 30 hours,collating this information.Once the reporting organizationreceived the informationfrom the churches theywould tabulate and collate theinformation preparing finalreports. If everything wentwell, the reports and newdirectories would be availabletwo to three months later. Theworst part of all is that whenthe final reports were deliveredthey were already out ofdate. Pastors moved. Emailschanged. Secretaries quit, retired,etc. It’s not a bad thing.It’s just reality. A denominationis a living breathing entitywhich changes daily. Anduntil now that daily changewas reported annually.With CMO+ the entiretime element is eliminatedbecause the system is always100 percent current as of thetime information is requested.No longer does it take ayear to recognize change.CMO+ recognizes it whenit happens. When a pastor’semail address changes, it isreflected instantly when newemails to pastors are sent. When a new pastor is hired, all new mailings to the pastor of the church areaddressed correctly and not to the old pastor. When a disaster occurs the financial consequences of thedisaster are known immediately. And the informational knowledge that is so very important to manageefficiently is available as a by product of the churches using IconCMO+. No extra effort on anybody’spart is required.As with any large organization change is everywhere. New churches appear. Sometimes churchesclose. Geographic boundaries are altered resulting in changes to a church’s reporting relationships.CMO+ handles all of this by including the tools necessary to maintain all hierarchical relationships. Acomplete staffing system exists within CMO+ maintaining phone numbers, mailing addresses, and titlesChristian Computing® MagazineJanuary 2008 24

for all staff members of churches and tierunits.Below is an example of a graph showingthe giving patterns of all givers in the denominationfor the period 1-1-2007 through12-31-2007.Again, all reports and graphs are createdseamlessly without any special uploadingof information from church computers bychurch staff members.In summary, IconCMO and IconCMO+are setting a new standard by which futurechurch systems will be compared. Just likea church today wouldn’t consider operatingwithout a church management system, it isvery likely that within a few years a denominationwould never consider operating withouta system that provides the features availabletoday in CMO+. For more informationon CMO+ and what it can do for you go towww.iconcmo.com.Christian Computing® MagazineJanuary 2008 25

higher power with kevinKevin A. Purcell - kevin@kevinpurcell.orgPC Study Bible ReviewIf you’ve read High Power long enough, you know thatI’ve used a lot of different Bible Study programs. The firstever was QuickVerse. But the second program I used wasPC Study Bible from Biblesoft (www.biblesoft.com). They’vejust recently updated to version 5. If you are like me andyou’ve been away from PC Study Bible for awhile or you’venever used the program, I think you will like what you see. It isa far cry from what I used back in version 2.Biblesoft is the brainchild of founder Jim Gilbertson,a programmer for Boeing in the 1980’s. He wrote theoriginal version for himself and shared it with friendswho encouraged him to market it more widely. As one ofthe early pioneers in Bible Study being founded in 1988,Biblesoft has a reputation for producing quality products.There latest version helps maintain that legacy. Icontacted Rick Krekel, Biblesoft’s director of Marketing.He said that the company’s newest update focused on afew things. Ease of use was paramount. Secondly, theyadded a new Professional Reference Library with originallanguage tools. When I moved from simple bible studyto more advanced hermeneutics, this was the primaryreason I moved away from PC Study Bible in the earlynineties. So I am glad to see them take that step. Krekelalso said, “One of my favorite new features is the ability tolaunch into a Bible study from the user-selected devotionalcontent on the opening desktop.” The final new feature hehighlighted was the audio pronunciations. I will discusseach of these later.After installation, PC Study Bible 5 (PCSB5 fromhere on) first opens with the Setup Helper. It gives youa chance to configure your version of PCSB before youget going. Other programs usually require you to findChristian Computing® Magazinethese options hidden in their menu system. However, thefirst configuration you are asked to make is to order yourfavorite translations. I like this, but it is a slow process.If your favorite translation is at the bottom you will haveto click the up arrow over and over again. If you reordervery many translations this could take some time. Thisis a really minor problem and don’t let it hinder you fromtrying a mature program. The setup helper is great for thenew user. Other helper screens included let you configureyour font size and color among others.For more advanced configurations you can go to theOptions menu item. After you get PCSB5 setup the wayyou want it, you can backup these settings. This is a greatfeature for people having to reinstall Windows after acrash or purchasing a new PC.Secondly, for newusers, the first timeyou start up you willget a page that helpsyou understand theprogram a little better.If you need it, goto Help and click onTutorials and it willJanuary 2008 26

take you to the Internet site with somevideo Tutorials. I recommend you dothis because the interface of PCSB5 is alittle different than most other bible programs.That is not a bad thing; in factI like some of the things Biblesoft doesdifferently. But for an experiencedDigital Bible student it will take somegetting used to. Avail yourself of thehelps and tutorials. Also spend a littletime reading through the informationon the first page available when youfirst open PCSB5.One of the first things that struckme as astonishing was the new polishedinterface. The early versions of PCSBhad a very amateurish look. The designersof this newer version have donea really nice job. This is a small thing,but it makes the program look better and gives the end user a sense of confidence that their software was coded wellwhen it looks this good.The center of any good Bible Study program is the Bible! In PCSB5, you click on the Bible icon and you havethe option to go directly to your reference via a dialogue box. Once your bible is open, you can use either the “go to”button on the bottom toolbar or the left hand panel that is usually open unless you minimize it. It has a box for directentry. Type your reference and it appears in the main window. If you have a Topical Book like a dictionary open, then itallows you to type the word or you can click the drop down arrow just right of the box and the list of words in that bookwill be displayed. You can scroll through it and find your word and click it to see its entry in the dictionary.The speed of the program was a little disappointing. I was using an older system. I have a 1.4 GHz Pentium Msystem that I use for sermon and bible study prep. That is no speed demon, but it works great for word processing andbible study. But with PCSB5 I occasionally had some significant delays, particularly with going to a reference the firsttime after starting up and then saving the preferences. On my other laptop, which is must faster, the program worked alittle quicker. This is not to say you need a high powered system, but be ready for an occasional slowdown. Krekel ofBiblesoft said that an update is coming within the next month or so; it may even be available by the time you read this,that should help with the speed issues. So, don’t let that stop you from taking the leap with PCSB.A great part of doing Digital Bible Study is having multiple translations open at once. Some programs allow youto have a separate window or have the verses listed in an interlinear style. PCSB5 gives you the option of clicking anicon (a plus icon at the bottom toolbar) and it will open a new translation window automatically. Remember the SetupHelper where it asked to order your favorite translations?The program uses this list so that the first time you clickthe plus sign you get your next translation in the newwindow. You can do this as many times as you like to getas many different translations. Alternatively you can also use the plus button on the number keypad of your keyboard.While in the Interlinear Bible you can open the Strong’s Dictionary for a word by clicking on the “Show Strong’s”button on the bottom toolbar or by double clicking on the Strong’s Number. I personally was a little confused. In ourInternet dominated computing world, when you see an underlined word you expect it to be a hyperlink that is accessedvia a single click. You have to double click.While in Strong’s, the word you are studying will have further definitions in the other Greek or Hebrew dictionariesyou have installed. When one of those dictionaries does have a definition for that word you can simply click the titleof the reference in the left hand pane and it will open. This is something that PCSB didn’t have in its early days. If youhave not used the program since Version 2 or so, then you will be pleased to see that original language study has madeits way into PCSB in its more recent editions including version 5. Logos and BibleWorks are still ahead in this category,but the upgrade of PCSB is well worth it for the original language tools alone.Christian Computing® MagazineJanuary 2008 27

If you want to learn how a Greekword is pronounced, you can doubleclick it, either in the Interlinear Bible,Strong’s Dictionary or in a referencebook. The word will pop up in a smallinformation window in the lower lefthand corner. Next to the Greek wordis a speaker icon; click it and hear apronunciation. Unfortunately this is notavailable in Hebrew. Hopefully it willbe in a future version or an update ofversion 5.Two helpful works in PCSB5 isthe Englishman’s Concordance andthe Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.Most programs have these, but PCSB5uses them nicely. Both of these are easilyfound and are great tools for study.If you are in the Treasury, then a neatfeature is that you can add to it or takeverses out of the list. If you are in John3:16 and after looking at all the referenceswant to add one, you can.The best part of using Digital Bibletools is quickly accessing all the informationyou have about a verse or topic.In PCSB5 when you have a versedisplayed, there is a black button in the bottom left below the left handpane with the current verse. The phrase “Links for John 1:1” will beon the button. Click it and the left hand pane will display all the worksthat say somethingabout thatverse. In topics, the button will say “Links for GRACE” if grace wasyour topic.If you are running Windows Vista, the current version will revertto the Vista Basic interface, shutting down the pretty Aero look. To methis is a very minor thing, but you should be aware of it. Also, when Iclicked on the “Online” menu and went to “Check for Updates” I wasgiven the option to automatically check for them. But it didn’t tell me ifthere were or were not any available updates.The faults of PCSB5 are minor. It is a very easy to use programand has a slick new interface. The newer original language tools area great addition as is the program’s method of putting all pertinent resources just a few clicks away once you find yourstudy passage or topic. I was impressed and can recommend this package to new Bible Study users or someone lookingfor a powerful upgrade. If you are using any of the older versions, I think this is a must.At the time I am writing this in early January, their Biblesoft Web Site listed six different collections ranging fromthe cheapest – PC Study Bible Discovery Reference Library at $49.95 – to the most expensive – PC Study Bible ProfessionalReference Library for $899.95. You may be able to find a sale. I reviewed the Professional Library so some ofthe features I discussed may not be available. Also, there is a large collection of add-on books and references that onemay purchase for an additional cost.Christian Computing® MagazineJanuary 2008 28

internet toolboxRoss Gile - ross@digical.comAJAXWhat’s In It For Me?What is AJAX? AJAX stands for AsynchronousJavaScript and XML. “What’s in it for me?”Let me bring it down to “layman’s terms”.Most of us have experienced AJAX on several well knownweb sites such as Google, travel web sites, etc. But mostpeople have never put a name to it. What AJAX technologydoes for the site visitor is to make the experience moreefficient and more professional. Let me give you someexamples:You ever heard of www.kayak.com? This is a greatweb site to shop for airline tickets. After you search on aparticular itinerary, it goes out and searches all the majorairlines for prices, etc. Where AJAX comes in is the funpart. After it displays all the available flights for your particularsearch, you can click on / off any particular airlineyou choose and as you do that, the search results change inthe main body of the web page automatically without refreshingthe whole page. It updates on the fly as you adjustyour search criteria. AJAX is a programming techniquethat allows this to happen. On an AJAX enabled web site,it makes it easy and quick to navigate.One of the highest rated AJAX-enabled web sites iswww.pcnames.com. This is a great site to find domainnames that are available or taken. When you go to this siteand search on a particular domain name, it will display theresults on the fly as you are typing your search criteria. Youwill notice that it doesn’t have a “Search” button. I use thissite almost every day.How can I get AJAX onto my site? Well, you can’tbuy this in a store because it’s not a product or a particularlanguage. It’s a programming technique. To compare it topainting, it’s like a particular brush stroke in painting. Youjust have to learn it or find someone who knows it. Thereare resources on the Internet if you search on “AJAX”.Before I give you some tips on adding AJAX to yourChristian Computing® Magazinesite, let me explain the concept of software “Frameworks”.Frameworks in the web and software world are code librariesthat you can add to your existing web development toolssuch as Dreamweaver or a programming language such asJava. Basically Frameworks allow you to program certainfunctions within your development program that were notnecessarily included in the development product itself.There are several AJAX frameworks that you candownload for free and add to your development application.One cool AJAX framework for Dreamweaver iscalled “Adobe Spry” that you can download at http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/spry/. This allows you to add verycool design elements to your site such as navigation menus,AJAX searching, etc. They provide many samples on howto integrate Spry to your site. If you want to add the sametechnology of www.pcnames.com, this framework includesthis functionality. You can see this by going to the Spry siteand clicking on “Samples” and then click on “Auto Suggest”.This is basically the same functionality.AJAX is cross-platform and cross-web browsers –meaning that this coding is compatible with all browsers.AJAX is not to be confused with DHTML. In the nextissue, I’m going to discuss DHTML and compare the twotechnologies.I would like to know if you have implemented AJAXon your site. If you have any questions, my e-mail addressis ross@digical.com.January 2008 29

scott howard’s hotPicsScott Howard - scottdhoward@gmail.comBlog Sites and MoreHappy New Year! How amazingly fast 2007 hascome and gone. I feel like the single biggest impacton why our lives seem as though they aregoing by faster and faster is because our cultures have managedto continue to become busier and busier as we continueto find more and more things that can be done with ourtime. Setting boundaries is great and we should do that buteven when we are not doing something we are constantly trying todecide what we will and will not do in order to set boundaries so westill manage to lose a bit more of our valuable time as more choicesbecome available for our daily lives. Anyhow, I would like to sharewith you a personal highlight of mine from 2007.As of December 28th I am a proud new uncle. My niece Hannahwas born yesterday evening at 8.0 lbs, 20 ½” long and a full head ofhair. “She is so cute.” My family tells me that I use to always saythese words about my younger sister (which is Hannah’s mother). Icould not stop thinking about how responsive and how much personalityshe had immediately after the birth. As most of you will understand,yesterday was a wonderful day for me and my family and Ipray that Hannah will grow up and place her trust in God and thatGod will use her for His glory.I just don’t understand how anyone can see a new baby born intothis world and not want to protect the lives of all the unborn babies.For people to be able to ignore the life of a helpless baby and chooseabortion is awful. I would think that an average person would give into the life of a helpless baby much quicker than most other things; yetso many people choose to ignore those young lives for selfishness.Oh, how disappointing it must be for God to see people treat unbornbabies like they do. This leads me to the first blog I would like toshare with you this month.Christian Computing® Magazinewww.frcblog.com is the Family ResearchCouncil blog. I will not go into greatdetail about the FRC except to tell youthat they are passionate about protectingmarriage, family, and human life. You willnot see new posts every day BUT I will saythat the posts will be quality and that is farmore important than quantity. The contributorsinclude Tom McClusky, Robert Morrison,Chuck Donovan and many more. Ifyou care about the importance of familiesthen you will probably enjoy this resourcecoming from an organization that cares.www.richkirkpatrick.com is a greatpersonal blog by Rich. Rich recentlymoved to Temecula, California to take theworship leader position at Sunridge CommunityChurch. Rich has vast experienceand background in worship music and afterchecking out his blog you will probablygather that he likes to share this with others.I recommend that you check out thisblog and if you are interested in hearing hisJanuary 2008 30

music or would like to see where hegot his education in music, just take alook at his contact page.www.markrushworth.com isMark’s blog and he is a professionalat web design and internet marketing.If you have any interest, try tokeep up with the latest about Google,Internet Explorer, and Firefox. Thiscould be a blog for your blogroll. Ifyour interested in Windows, Apple,and the latest social networking sites.This could also be the next blog foryou. Bottom line, Mark keeps up withthe latest trends, accomplishments,and mistakes in these areas and helpspeople with managing their projects.www.skelliewag.org is now avery popular blog within the circles ofweb content gurus. Skellie has beenfeatured on numerous other popularblogs including ProBlogger andCopyblogger. She is all about tellingyou what will and what will not workin the world of the web. One thingthat you will notice is that her site istotally free of any ads. I don’t knowabout you but that definitely tells methat she takes web content seriouslyas she seems to strive to make theexperience as beneficial as possiblefor the readers.www.guerrillamail.com is not ablog but it is a really handy tool. It isreally quite simple and easy. If youneed a temporary email address, theysupply you with one. Now, when Isay temporary, I mean temporary.When you hit the button to get anemail address you have 15 minutesuntil it expires unless you tell it togive you 15 more minutes. That’s it,and any emails that you would get beforeit expires would show up on thatsame page. So the next time you needto order something or join some placeand they insist that you need an emailaddress but you don’t want the spamthat comes along with it. Try GuerrillaMailand get ‘er done.Christian Computing® MagazineJanuary 2008 31