Computers and internet

18 February 2005

Ropes and photos

Jim Computers and internet, Devotional and Bible, News and current issues 0

You learn something new every day. Since I’ve already learned something, I am now going to go back to bed (just kidding). I had always heard this story that the high priest in Jesus’ day would go into the Holy of Holies with a rope tied around his ankle, presumably so that he could be pulled out if anything happened (since no one else was allowed to go in). Well, apparently, that’s just not true.

A few sources are quoted in this article soundly refuting the story. It’s funny how these things get around.

Speaking of things getting around, I was just looking at a fairly new site that shows pictures from world news on a 10×10 grid for every hour of the day. I thought it would be cool to go back and see pictures for a historical date, but the site has only been around since November. However, if there’s a date you want to remember since November, you can check that out too. Here’s the grid for this hour. Click on it to visit the site:

13 February 2005

Experiments and fellow bloggers

Jim Computers and internet, Missions, Other missionary blogs 0

Do you like this blog? You can now vote for it! This blog has been listed for some time on blogs4god, but with over 1200 blogs, believe it or not, this humble journal gets lost in the shuffle. Not that I need votes to feel good about myself, but if you do like this blog you might encourage someone else to visit with your vote.

I was playing around with a little javascript that you can see on the left under the weather. It’s supposed to detect where you’re from.

I was checking out some of the winners of the 2005 Evangelical Underground Evangelical Blog Awards. There’s some good blogs there. Of course, I would rather you stick around and read our blog, but hey, there are some worthwhile reads out there! 🙂 The best international blog (yes, these are American awards!) was won by a fellow Canadian – Tim Challies. You can visit his blog and even enter his contest to win a couple of books…

The winning missionary was Keith Smith for his blog under the acacias. He works among the Fulani people of Burkina Faso. A runner-up in the missionary category was Mission Safari, by a medical missionary in Kenya. I’ve enjoyed this blog so far, and I like this cute post about his daughter’s birthday present. It reminds me of the jaguar I took a picture of in Belize – remember this photo? I was about as close to him as it looks. A little nerve-wracking!

By the way, notice the new feature on this blog of trackback. Trackback allows one blogger to reference another blog in his or her blog, and then link to it. Sound confusing? Well, it sure was to me! But I think I’m starting to get it. For example, in theory I should be able to connect to the Mission safari blog entry that I mentioned above. Then my entry will show up in his blog. Or something. Anyway, this is the place for experimentation!

6 February 2005

There’s A Day On The Way…

Jim Computers and internet, Missions, News and current issues 0

This is a press release regarding “Internet Evangelism Day” (in other words, I didn’t write it) 😉

There’s a Day on the Way
… focusing on Internet outreach

The growth of the Internet over the last ten years has been incredible. There will soon be a billion Web users around the world. There are many thousands of Christian websites, but the vast majority of these are written only for Christians. Very few are designed to reach out effectively to non-Christians. Yet the potential is enormous.

So the Internet Evangelism Coalition (an umbrella group of outreach ministries) has initiated a worldwide focus day on Sunday 24 April 2005, called ‘Internet Evangelism Day’. The website is at:
www.InternetEvangelismDay.com

This is purely a ‘web evangelism awareness day’ – there is no fund-raising element. Many churches and other Christian groups are already planning to include a short program within church services and other meetings, on or near 24 April. The IE Day site offers downloadable materials for this purpose: 5-minute video testimony of Kristi (a student who found God online), short drama script, PowerPoint presentations, discussion questions, and many helpful links.

The team hopes for a range of outcomes. High on their list is that churches will create effective websites which can reach out into the community, rather than just be an online noticeboard for members. ‘It’s an exciting challenge,’ says IE Day Co-ordinator Tony Whittaker. ‘The potential of the Web is enormous.’

Other leaders share his enthusiasm. ‘The Internet is one of the most key tools that God has given us in the church today,’ writes George Verwer, founder of Operation Mobilization.

‘I am excited to see how God will reveal Himself in mighty ways through the uniqueness of cyberspace,’ comments Dr. David Tucker of Trans World Radio.

IE Day is endorsed internationally by a wide range of organizations and denominations. For more news of Internet Evangelism Day, visit www.InternetEvangelismDay.com

28 January 2005

How many states have you been to in the USA?

Jim Computers and internet, Just for fun 0

Just for fun, we thought we’d try this cute little map that shows what states we’ve visited in the USA. Sad to say, we’re having trouble actually remembering all the states we’ve been to, so if you notice a place that we’ve missed, let us know! Check out the links under the map if you’d like to put this map on your site.

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

So how many states in the USA have you visited? We were in ten of them this fall alone – wow.

9 January 2005

Blogs in the news

Jim Computers and internet, News and current issues 0

Blogs have been getting a lot of attention lately. You may have read the blog feature in the 27 December 2004 issue of TIME magazine. Blogs, it seems, are reporting news and making news. Some blogs are hoaxes, claiming to be something they’re not. Some are newsy, some controversial, some crude. There are personal blogs, group blogs and company blogs. The Mirriam-Webster word of the year for 2004 was blog. A recent study in the US revealed that more than 1 in 4 internet users read blogs, and a whopping 7% have blogs of their own.

When the tsunami disaster hit, blogs became a help and a controversy. Personal blogs were used to let family and friends know that individuals were safe. Blogs such as tsunami help gave help on a much wider scale. People shared their stories via blogs. Yahoo! actually has a page featuring tsunami blogs. While some tried to capitalize on the tragedy to con the public, blogs and other internet sources also spurred forward legitimate relief efforts by organizing volunteers and encouraging people to donate.

It’s easy to start a blog. One of the most popular ways to start is by using Blogger.com. Or, start reading blogs by checking out Blogs Canada’s top 10, or try Blogs4God.

22 December 2004

Yet another blog?

Jim Computers and internet 0

Blogs are very easy to write in. Well, depending on how fast you can type, I suppose! Especially if you’re simply writing about something you already know about. And the nice thing about blogs is, they can be read by newsreaders. I wrote about how to get this blog read by a newsreader here. I’ve added a little link to the RSS page – it won’t make a lot of sense if you just click on it, but if you use the link address (which is http://feeds.feedburner.com/findingdirection) in your newsreader you’re all set. I also just discovered that My Yahoo! has a place where you can put newsfeeds. Just add content, and make sure you can add content from around the world, and look for RSS. The rest is up to you.

Anyway, I also have a brand new blog on my migraine website, which you can see right here. So, what do you think? I just put it up today. You can even put it in your newsreader. The nice thing is that I can write every week, or just every month – whatever I prefer (I imagine my visitors would get a little frustrated if things got too out of date, but hey). But it only takes about 5 minutes to write a new blog. Pretty easy way to keep a web page up to date.

New visitors to this website gasp in amazement at the amount of time I must put in to it, but really at this point it’s a few minutes a week – if that. Of course, while we were away I didn’t even do that. It’s just the build up, little by little, over the years. If I had to do it all now, I wouldn’t have the time! 😛

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