Ebook recommendation: The Practice of the Presence Of God

Looking for a good and quick read over the New Year weekend? Well, one book that I have in paper and digital format is The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. It's a really good book and one that I read from time to time. I didn't know that it was in PDA format, but over at Memoware you can download it in doc and Palm reader formats. The paper version is under a 100 pages I believe, so the digital format wouldn't take you to long to read it. You can also browse a website devoted to this book. The website is called, "Practice Gods Presence."

Look in the sky its a bird, no its plane, no its...

a Superman projection alarm clock! That's right folks, now you or your kids can have the Superman S and the time projected onto the wall. That should keep everyone company at night. I know my boys would go crazy of this clock. I'll have to see if I can find one.

"This AM/FM Clock Radio features a Superman design and another high-flying feature: you can project the time on your ceiling for easy reading. The S-shield can also be projected for added fun. Wake up to the built-in Superman theme song or the built-in alarm.

The red LED display is clear and easy to read. A large snooze button helps you get a few more minutes of sleep when you need it. Use a 9V battery (not included) for backup and the clock will keep telling the time even if you lose power."

Source: Gizmondo

Activity for your youth or children's ministries.

OK, this looks very fun and I'm dying to try it. Somebody has come up with a way to make an 120 decibel air horn using only a film canister, balloon, straw, and scissors. You can watch a video of it here. I thought this might be an impressive sermon illustration or activity/craft for your kids. Considering many of us probably have a fun film canisters left over from those 35mm days, you should be able to do this will little trouble at all. The hardest part is cutting the holes in the film canister. Do check out the video as it will answer a lot of your questions. Have fun!

Source: digg

As the year comes to a close, a challenge for you...

As each year comes to a close, I begin to think back to the beginning of the year as many people do I'm sure. I try to see and point out the areas I have grown in or improved in and the areas I didn't do so well in. Things I tried, things I didn't. Overall, I've had a great year, but one question lingers for me and that is "Am I closer to God now then I was then."
As pastors, assistant pastors, youth pastors, missionaries, Christians, we constantly attacked by the Devil and he works against our ministries and our people to keep us as far away as from God as he can. That's why as this year comes to a close, take the time to look back and see if you have grown closer to God or have been stagnate. As servants of the Lord, we cannot allow ourselves to take the easy way or the path of least resistance. It is high time that we as Christians, take every avenue and use every tool we can to further our relationship with God and tell others about His Son, Jesus Christ. It is our reasonable service for our Lord and it would be an awful shame for us to be found wanting in this area.
As your family, church, and you pray in the New Year, please take the time to look at your spiritual life and make the adjustments that you need to to correct or maintain your service for Him! Don't be like these folks in Jeremiah 6:16...

"Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein."

No more ink stains on your suit or shirt!

This looks amazing and figuring many of you still use pens, I thought I'd give this a mention here. I found this via The Gadgeteer rss feed. This "inkless pen" is made of a metal that can write. From my understanding, it's like a pencil, but won't smear or cause lead stains on your hands. Here's an excerpt from the Inkless Pen's webpage.

"How does it work?

In the Medieval period, artists and scribes often used a metal stylus in order to draw on a specially prepared paper surface. Generally known as Metalpoint, or Silverpoint when the stylus was made of silver, artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer and Rembrandt all used this technique. http://www.silverpointweb.com/index.html gives a lot of information about how it works.

The pens we sell are a modern version (and do not use silver). The solid metal 'nib' consists of a metal alloy, that leaves a mark on most types of paper. If you use the sort of paper typically used in printers and photocopiers, the pen leaves a mark that looks as if it was made by a pencil. However the line will not smudge, and cannot be rubbed out..."

This "pen" is made by Grand Illusions and sells for $29.38 which is good for a pen that will last you 25 years.

Merry Christmas!

My family would like to wish your family a very Merry Christmas! I hope you have all taken the time to read the Christmas Story. In case you haven't here it is!


"1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxeda. 2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxedb, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxedc with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watchd over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherdse said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them."

Luke 2:1-20

Free Christmas Music

If you haven't already visited the NORAD Santa site, where you can track Santa on Christmas Eve, they have several Christmas Songs performed by the United States Air Force Band and the Naden Band of Maritime Forces Pacific of the Canadian Navy. They are in the mp3 format and they are really good. I've already downloaded them and added them to iTunes. There are other activities as well for the kids that you might want to look at. Merry Christmas!

Mac OS X Lite on the "rumored" Apple phone?

Appleinsider is reporting that Apple "has been developing an operating system based on the core technologies of Mac OS X for use with embedded devices." Interesting as many tech folks believe full operating systems like Vista would be on mobile devices around 2010. Seems like Apple might beat everyone else to the punch. And if they could incorporate their software into the deal- wow! I'm really interested in the Apple phone now. Still we will have to see.

Blackberries everywhere even in paintings.

I just caught this over at the Drudge Report. Apparently Florida's governor, Jeb Bush, included a Blackberry in his portrait painting. The article entiled "Gov. Jeb Bush's Official Portrait Includes BlackBerry" covers this unique feature to a portrait painting.

"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Gov. Jeb Bush's official portrait unveiled at the governor's mansion shows him in his office standing next to a picture of his family with his trustworthy BlackBerry."

READ MORE

My favorite launcher for my PDA- Launcher X

I could go on and on about Launcher X. The fact that I could organize my many applications on my Lifedrive via tabs, the ability to run programs from my SD card, simple drag and drop organization. Yes, Launcher X is my favorite launcher for my Palm Lifedrive. It's definitely not the fanciest or the most featured pack, but it works and that's a huge reason why I like it. There will also be an upgrade to it soon to version 2.0 and I cannot wait to see it. If you are looking for a new launcher, I'd highly recommend this one as it really does a great job and won't lose you in a myriad of features. BTW, don't let the picture fool you. LX has plenty of skins available for you to customize LX.

Palm OS Central has Launcher X for $19.95 - %20 discount coupon = $15.96. Use coupon code DECEMBER at checkout.

Another freebie... Media Portal - Organize your media like Windows Media Center

Caught this over at Lifehacker, it's their download of the day. Media Portal does require Windows XP SP2. I'll definitely be given this a try once I get home tonight. This could be handy when you are wanting to show pictures to your congregation via your laptop. Sounds like an easy setup, but I'll have to get it a go to see how useful this would be.

"Windows only: Turn your PC into a full-fledged media center with MediaPortal, an open-source alternative to Microsoft's own Media Center Edition OS.
MediaPortal can play, record and timeshift TV; play videos and DVDs; run photo slideshows; play your music library and FM radio; show local weather; and much more. In short, it offers everything a good media-center application should, all wrapped in a friendly, attractive interface. It even comes with open-source MPEG-2 decoders, a nice extra for systems that don't already have one."

Looking for free or discounted software, computer accessories, etc.?

I have a list of sites that I check to find the best deals on items I am wanting to purchase or other fantastic deals that I would want to purchase. So here are the sites:

Game Giveaway of the Day - they offer one licensed game for free everyday. I just learned about this site yesterday and thus far have downloaded a couple games from them. Some games might not be along your lines, but your kids might certainly appreciate them!

Giveaway of the Day - the kin of Game Giveaway of the Day offers one licensed computer program for free everyday. All you need to do is download the application, install it, and activate it on the day that it is free. Yesterday, I picked up a really nice CD and Audio Ripper program that allows me to also convert audio files to different formats.

Sales Circular - They cover all the electronic and office stores sale ads like Staples, Circuit City, Microcenter, Best Buy, Office Max, etc. You can select your state and they break down the sale items in groups. So one could find the lowest price on a DVD player or computer monitor in your local area.

Slickdeals - These folks post the most amazing deals available on the web. One day they had a Victrinox Swiss Army knife for only $3 with free shipping. If it's an amazing deal you'll find it here, but you've got to be quick to pick up it up because they go fast!

Bits du Jour - They offer one software application for a discounted price. Most apps are discounted by 50% or more. I've picked up an app from them for about $10 that sold normally for $30. Very nice. They also offer Palm Software from time to time.

Freeafterrebate - Well, we all like free and this website focuses on the stuff you can get free after rebate or close to free after rebate. Most stuff here I pass on, but I have found some good deals that I did jump on.

You might be wondering how I can keep up with some many shopping sites? Well, I use Google Reader and Google Homepage and watch these sites' RSS feeds. Makes my life a whole lot easier and consumes less of my time.

SyncToy - easily copy files to another drive, card, USB flashdrive, etc.

I've been using SyncToy for awhile and it is a handy little app. I use it to keep files synced between my desktop documents folder and my USB flash Drive. This helps me keep my latest messages, Sunday School lessons, etc. up-to-date whether at the church or at home. Handy app and it is free!

"SyncToy v1.4 is available as a free download on the Microsoft Download Center. The easy to use, customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers.

There are new sources of files coming from every direction: digital cameras, e-mail, cell phones, portable media players, camcorders, PDAs, and laptops. Increasingly, computer users are using different folders, drives, and even different computers (such as a laptop and a desktop) to store and retrieve files. Yet managing hundreds or thousands of files is still largely a manual operation. In some cases it is necessary to get copies of files from one place; in other cases there is a need to keep two storage locations exactly in sync. Some users manage files manually, dragging and dropping from one place to another and keeping a mental card catalog in their heads. Others use one or more applications to provide this functionality for them.

Now there is an easier way. SyncToy is a free PowerToy that provides an easy to use, highly customizable program that helps users to do the heavy lifting involved with the copying, moving, and synchronization of different directories. Most common operations can be performed with just a few clicks of the mouse, and additional customization is available without added complexity. SyncToy can manage multiple sets of folders at the same time; it can combine files from two folders in one case, and mimic renames and deletes in another. Unlike other applications, SyncToy actually keeps track of renames to files and will make sure those changes get carried over to the synchronized folder."

Jungle secrets: 52 new species found in Borneo's 'Lost World'

I love reading articles like this one. God has created amazing creatures and even today we still are finding new species. The jungles of the world hold many secrets to be sure. It always amazes me how people still believe in evolution over creation. When you find new creations like these that have amazing characteristics, why do people believe that they evolved? Why can't they see that God had a unique plan for that creature and that is way they would created that way. Here's a portion of the article that I read about the new species found.

"More than 50 new species of animals and plants that have never been seen before have been discovered in a 'Lost World' on the island of Borneo in just 18 months, say scientists.
Among them are two tree frogs, a whole range of plants and trees and 30 brand new types of fish including a tiny one less than a centimetre long and a catfish with an adhesive belly that allows it to stick to rocks. "

READ MORE

Better not forget to use that Gift card this Christmas

It's no wonder that retailers prefer to give gift cards for returns. It seems they usually keep the money. According to the Associated Press, retailers have been profiting from unused gift cards, Best Buy alone profited $43 million from unused gift cards. If you have a gift card or get one this Christmas make sure you read the back of them as many have an expiration to them and some even charge you after a certain time period of non-use. Here is an excerpt from the article:

"LOS ANGELES - Shoppers across America have millions of gift cards tucked away in envelopes, drawers and wallets. And some of the nation's largest retailers are profiting as a result.
ADVERTISEMENT

"It can be fun to get them, but then I forget about them," said Deborah Cabaret, 46, who has hundreds of dollars worth of unused cards. "Or I walk into the store, I look around, I don't know what I want, and I leave."

Last winter, Best Buy Co. reported a $43 million gain in fiscal 2006 from cards that hadn't been used in two or more years. Limited Brands Inc. recorded $30 million in 2005 revenue because of unredeemed cards."

READ MORE

Google Toolbar Beta for FireFox

Saw this over at the Google Blog that you can now get a Beta version of the Google Toolbar for FireFox that has many of the same features as the Internet Explorer version. Definitely worth a look.

Free software from Google

Google has several excellent freeware titles available for your downloading pleasure. My favorites are Google Toolbar and Picasa. I cannot tell you how many times a day that I use Google Toolbar at work or here at home. It's my favorite toolbar for Firefox. Picasa is also an excellent tool, but one that I don't use as often. I still like it and think its great, it just doesn't see as much use as Google Toolbar. If you haven't checked out these titles or other Google software, like Google Earth, you can do so here. If you would like a free gmail address invite, please email me at joshua "at" thegadgetpastor "dot" com (please replace the quoted words as symbols.) I'll be glad to send one out to you!

From Fox News: Russian Teen Sues School Over Teaching of Evolution

How interesting is this? I think its important that we remember to pray for other Christians through out the world that are taking a stand for God and His Word.

"Maria Shreiber sued the St. Petersburg city education committee, claiming the 10th-grade biology textbook used at the Cervantes Gymnasium was offensive to believers and that teachers should offer an alternative to Darwin's famous theory.

"The biology textbook generally refers to religion and the existence of God in a negative way. It infringes on believers' rights," she said in comments carried by Russian television stations."

READ MORE

Miracle on Bethlehem Street

Our church's Christian school held their annual Christmas program, called Miracle on Bethlehem Street, tonight. The program went well and many of the kids surprised us with their acting abilities. While not to take away at all from their praise, I was able to use my iPod nano as background music while everybody arrived. It worked out quite well and added to the already great play. Congrats guys!

The best of Lifehacker from Gizmodo

I caught this in my Google RSS reader and thought I'd share it here. Lifehacker is a sharp computer help guide. They offer recommendations in software and other computer related topics. It's a definite must read for the IT manager at your church. Gizmodo has posted the "best of Lifehacker" and here are those topics:

• How to run Windows and Mac apps side-by-side with Parallels
  "You can intermingle all your Mac and Windows apps on the same desktop. I know what you're thinking: Disgusting! Unnatural!"
• Video Editing 101
  "'Tis the season for sharing home movies--but don't try your friends' and relatives' patience waiting for something good to happen in the hours of tape you shot on vacation."
• Visualize your hard drive usage
  "With video, music, photos and web clippings hogging up hard drives more and more each day, that "Low Disk Space" message may come a lot sooner than you ever expected. Where did all those gigabytes go?"
• Download of the Day: New York Times Reader (Windows)
  "The New York Times Reader lets you download full editions of the NYT to your desktop where you can browse the contents offline in a very familiar newsprint format."

READ MORE

Old Computer equipment.

At our school, we receive many donations of old computer equipment. Some of it I've been able to use while much of it has found its way to the dumpster. I do save things like CD drives, hard drives, memory, etc. parts I might use for another computer. Two things about giving away old computer items: 1) Securely erase your data on the disk, do not assume the next owner will do so for you; 2) Once you are done with it, pass it on. One church I interned at gave me an old computer my junior year in college. It proved to be a huge help for me as I needed it to type on papers and such. I believe my Palm Lifedrive has better specs then that old computer I used. Still it go the job done and after I graduated, I gave away to someone else to use.

I think when you can and if you can, donating your old computer items is a great way to help others. A simple search on Google can help you find places that you can donate your old computer equipment.

Baptist Billboard

I recently listed with the Baptist Billboard. Basically, it's very much like the 1 million pixel page where churches and other ministries can advertise on the site. It's quite reasonable at $.25 a pixel. I purchased a small section at the top right of the page. At the price, its a great way to direct other Believers to your church's website or blog.

Datebk 6 a very useful calendar manager for me.

Staying organize can be a difficult task especially when you are in the ministry. People ask if you could visit this person or help out here or preach there and all the while you agree to these things. What ends up happening is you forget to do them, because you relied on your brain when is already overwhelmed. Enter a Palm Lifedrive and Datebk 6 and I'm doing a lot better. Datebk 6 is IMO the premiere calendar application for you Palm PDA or Treo. Here is the list of some of the best features of Datebk 6:

Advantages over the built-in Datebook

• Colors, fonts, icons, custom alarms and repeats (on both events and ToDo's) make it easy highlight important events

• Full integration of ToDo's, split-screen display of all databases.

• Today screen with plug-ins (VersaMail, SnapperMail, WeatherForecast, battery status, quote-of-the-day, phases of moon - more to come!) and many ways to configure it. Note: some plug-ins written by other developers may only be trial versions which require a separate charge for a fully licensed version, although most are free.

• Floating Reminders (advances) for items give advance warning that avoid surprises.

• Saved Views make it possible to customize a view and then save it for future use or schedule it with a complex repeat schedule so it gets applied automatically when you want

• Alarm Manager shows all upcoming alarms, allows you to silence all alarms to a fixed date/time, or you can designate certain events (such as meetings) to automatically silence alarms.

• Quick Entry Templates available in all views insert standard boilerplate items with just a few taps

• Weekly View with text shows a week-at-a-glance with the ability to read the appointment text. Year, 4-month and list views are also featured in DateBk6 and even the graphical weekly and monthly views have options to display text.

• Use Palm OS categories to separate business from personal use or store calendars of other people, with the ability to beam an entire category to another user.

• Colorful icons along with an icon editor provides both useful functionality and a creative outlet.

• Sony Clie Support includes support for Small and Tiny fonts, jog dial, PCM Sound Library(OS/4/4.1 only), high density icons and collapsible graffiti on NR-70, NX-70/80, NZ-90 etc. (Half-VGA screen).

• TimeZone management allows multiple items in different timezones to be displayed with adjustments in your current timezone.

• Flexible purging, separate history database and undelete functions make it easy to manage past events.

• Enhanced Date Picker has popup list of all events/ToDo's

• Anniversary feature shows years for anniversaries or ages on birthdays - also handles birthday field in proprietary contacts database present on some newer Palm devices.

• Link items to other items, so an appointment can link to other related appointments or ToDo's - or to contacts associated with that appointment.

• More than 100 other features covering ease of use, and flexible configuration options make DateBk6 one of the best values in Palm OS add-on software.

• Support. When you need help, you are talking to highly experienced Palm OS users/developers with a genuine interest in helping you - not novice support technicians at a large company that have relatively little interest in your problems.

Having an evangelistic dinner...

In college, I helped with several evangelistic dinners. Our church family would invite unsaved friends and family to a dinner, which was provided for free to all. The men would usually have a steak dinner and the ladies would have a fancier meal, some chicken or whatever. At the dinners, there would be special music, a skit or two, and a short 15 minute message on salvation. I have personally seen many salvation decisions made from these dinners and several families join the church because of them.
These dinners provide an opportunity for folks to come for a dinner and a short message who might not come to church for specific reasons. I've personally enjoyed preparing these meals and the secret steak sauce I use is a big help as many of the men continually talk about it for months afterwards.
If you have never done an evangelistic dinner at your church, you ought to consider trying it and see what great things God can do.

Weekday Devotionals from Center Road Baptist Church

My pastor posts a daily video devotional at our church's website. The devotionals are short about 2-3 minutes long and are a good way to jump start your day. If you have a mind to, this would be a good addition to your website. While I know it would take time and faithfulness, it does offer another means for you to communicate with your people throughout the week and to reach into the utter most parts of the earth. You can also download our bulletin as well if you would like to see what we have planned for Sunday and the following week.

From CNN: Poll: Teens, adults separated by 'IM gap'

OK, you may not be a huge CNN fan, but I thought this article was interesting none the less. As a youth pastor, I try to stay aware of the things my teenagers are interested in. I do my best to stay informed and help them make decisions that would be honoring to God. The article expresses that some adults just don't understand instant messaging. I myself don't IM many people at all. While I see my teenagers IM-ing their friends, I don't use this feature of technology. However, it's still important for us pastors and youth pastors to be aware of the technology around us. If we can't adapt, we may miss helping and teaching those around us.

"Teenager Michelle Rome can't imagine life without instant messaging. Baby boomer Steve Wilson doesn't care that it even exists.

They're part of an "instant messaging gap" between teens and adults. And the division is wide, says an AP-AOL survey on how Americans use or snub those Internet bursts of gossip, happy date-making and teen tragedies that young people exchange by the hour while supposedly doing homework."

READ MORE

Tweaking the site.

I've just moved over to Blogger Beta and as you may have noticed somethings have changed or look a bit funny. I'm working on completing the transition, but in the mean time if you could, please be patient with the errors and funny looking layouts. Thanks!

PIC reviews the Treo 680

Palminfocenter has compiled a great review of the Treo 680. PIC was one of the first Palm sites that I found after receiving my m100 for Christmas. Over the years PIC has proven to be a trust-worthy source for Palm related news.

"The Treo 680 is the fourth and final new Treo promised by Palm prior to the start of 2006. When it was announced it was billed by Palm as a lower cost, more affordable Treo. Palm has hopes that more customers migrate from the realms of feature phones and choose a Treo. To date price, complexity and the larger form factor of smartphones have held back most average users from choosing a smartphone. The Treo 680 addresses these points and debuts with the lowest introductory price of any new Treo smartphone."

Please remember the Kim family.

I know many folks and tech sites have been following this story. I've been praying for the safe return of the Kim family these last few days. Unfortunately, James Kim, CNET editor and the father missing in southern Oregon, was found deceased earlier today. Be sure to keep his wife and two children in your prayers as well. You can check a site setup for them by their personal friends. It is www.jamesandkati.com.

ebook Recommendation: Fox Book of Martyers

I noticed that Memoware has Fox's Book of Martyrs available for free. Its available for in the text, Palm Doc, and Tome Raider formats. I think this would be a great ebook to keep on your PDA as the stories about these Christians who gave it all is an inspiration to keep the faith no matter what.

Personal Stuff...

As you can well see, I'm back posting. I shared with you all last week that our school principal had taken a leave of absence to be with his father, who was dying of cancer. His father did pass away this past week and I know that he and the rest of his family would appreciate your prayers.

This has got me thinking about my dad and how much he means to me. I know Father's day is a long time away, but the Christmas season will be upon us soon and we all should take some time to visit with our families. Many times ministry and hobbies, like TGP, can take away from our family time. The scary part is we never know how much time we have before God calls us or a family member home to be with Him. So redeem that time know and don't put it off. I know that I'll be talking to my dad more this Christmas.


"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

James 4:13-15

Thoughts about Windows Live

I've been testing Windows Live for a couple weeks now and overall, I don't think it will sway me away from logging in to my Blogger Dashboard. The main reason why I won't use this as my replacement to posting is because I cannot upload a picture to TGP unless I have an FTP account. I do believe this may be specific to Blogger only, but you might want to check it out for yourself as it is a cool way to view your post prior to posting.
I also attempted to setup a Windows Live Blog, but really didn't like want they had to offer, plus I hate having to learn a whole new setup for a blog. It was challenging enough for me to set up TGP. Anyways, still I liked much of what Windows Live could do, but it just didn't work for me. I had been hoping this could have been a time saver for me and maybe it will be someday- if I ever get an FTP account setup.

Can you upgrade to Windows Vista?

If you are wondering whether or not that your computer can upgrade to Windows Vista, check out Microsoft's Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. From all that I have read, Vista does sound rather cool. It's still expensive to purchase as an upgrade and I'm not to eager to be a first-adopter of an OS. I found out my computer could handle Vista if I wanted to upgrade, but to upgrade to Vista Business the cost was around $200. Kinda expensive- ok its really expensive compared to other OSes.

Amazing what people can do.

Just saw this on Wired News: Nike+ IPod = Surveillance. Someone has figured out a way to track a person that uses the Nike running chip with their iPod. Here's a portion of that article:

"If you enhance your workout with the new Nike+ iPod Sport Kit, you may be making yourself a surveillance target.

A report from four University of Washington researchers to be released Thursday reveals that security flaws in the new RFID-powered device from Nike and Apple make it easy for tech-savvy stalkers, thieves and corporations to track your movements. With just a few hundred dollars and a little know-how, someone could even plot your running routes on a Google map without your knowledge."

READ MORE

Want to listen to the Windows XP setup music?

Here is a little trick to listen to the Windows XP setup music. Go to start and click on run. Type in this command "C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images\title.wma" and click hit enter. Windows Media player should open up and the Windows XP music will begin to play. Enjoy!

UPDATED: Updating with posts and news will be slow this week...

This week news and new posts will be a bit slow. I'm working all week in the school filling in for the principal. The prinicpal's dad has cancer and is not expected to make it past this week. He has had cancer now for some time and all of the family has been called. Please be in prayer for them.

UPDATE:
Our principal's dad went home to be with the Lord yesterday morning. The family is having the wake and funeral this weekend. Please continue to be in prayer for them.

A fresh start with my PC.

Last night, I finally updated my Windows XP home edition to the Professional edition. I'm hoping this fresh install with help my PC be less an irritant in my life. As many of you know, I've been looking at upgrading to a mac, but haven't yet taken that jump. I've added programs onto my PC that makes it look and work somewhat as a Mac. Style XP, Rocket Dock, and some themes for specific programs like Firefox, etc. There is another app called FlyakiteOSX that completely changes windows to a Mac interface. The program does a much more invasive approach.

 

I find it funny that after a fresh install Windows opens so quickly. It's been a bit over two years since I installed windows on my home PC. During that time, I've added memory, graphics cards, a new motherboard and processor. I also have a habit of installing lots of apps into my PC just to try them, so I imagine that has caused some junk to be leftover. Anyways, it's going to take me a couple days to completely get my computer back to where it was. Some people reinstall windows every year, just to keep things fast and clean. I must say that I favor that tip and maybe some of you that are experiencing slowness. Just remember to back up your data first! Maybe the Macs don't have this problem.

Treo 680 review roundup from Engadget

Engadget has a good round up of the reviews on the Treo 680. I would probably buy one of these devices if the data plans were not so expensive. $40 a month for an unlimited plan is plum crazy to me, because I don't need it, it's really a want.

"Featuring the same 312MHz Intel processor, 320 x 320 pixel display and EDGE modem as its 650 predecessor, the Treo 680 isn't by any means a revolutionary smartphone. Frustratingly for aficionados of Palm's software design, the 680 improvements are for the most part a consolidation of small tweaks that have been made to other models in the Treo line-up which have been coupled with a slight slimming down in dimensions and weight...."

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Give your PC that Mac look and feel...

I've really been thinking of purchasing a Mac mini. For many years, I have used a PC and I'm a bit tired of it. Our local mall here has an Apple Store and I test drove a Mac mini for about 20-30 minutes. At first, I didn't like it, but the more I opened this program or that I did catch on a little bit. I cannot say that I will definitely buy a Mac, but I'm seriously considering one.

To help me with my decision, I decided to give my PC a Mac makeover. I downloaded StyleXP and Rocket Dock. Both apps help your PC look and function as a Mac. Style XP is a theme changer for Windows. It already comes with a Mac theme called Panther and when enable that theme, you get the familiar look of Mac OS. The reason I choose this app, Style XP, is two fold: 1) It has zero-footprint operation; meaning it won't hog my system memory, 2) it has excellent compatibility with any application. Style XP costs $19.95, but it does offer a 30 day trial.

Rocket Dock imitates the dock bar on the Mac. It seems to function just like it as far as I can tell. Adding or removing icons is a breeze. It has plenty of skins you can choose from that will help you give the dock a personal look and feel. The best part of this software is it is freeware and once again it doesn't consume a lot of memory as other dock like apps can.

We'll see how this test goes and see if these two apps will keep me content or if I will opt to buy a Mac. Whichever way I go, its nice to know I've got options.

Bible studies and devotions for your PDA from Back to the Bible

Back to the Bible has a good assortment of Bible content for your PDA and it's all free. All you will need is Avantgo, Plucker, or an internet capable PDA.

Who is Back to the Bible? Well, one of their main writers/peakers is the popular Woodrow Knoll. "Back to the Bible is a worldwide Christian ministry dedicated to leading people into a dynamic relationship with God. Using radio, the Internet, TV and other media, we share the Gospel message and help Christians grow to spiritual maturity. With broadcasts in more than 25 languages and an Internet reach to millions, Back to the Bible teaches the Word and touches the world."

The titles they carry are as follows:

• Elisabeth Elliot - Thought-provoking essays taken from Elisabeth's various writings

• Early in the Morning - Great Bible events that happened early in the morning by Woodrow Kroll

• Strength for the Journey - A devotional by Theodore Epp takes you from Genesis through Revelation

• Morning and Evening - Charles Spurgeon's classic devotional

• Joy and Strength - A compilation of writings from literary greats by Mary Wilder Tileston

• Streams in the Desert - Insights into the richness of God's provision by Mrs. Charles Cowman

• Selected Writings - Devotional thoughts about 52 of the spiritual giants of the past by Warren Wiersbe

• Lessons on Living - Snapshots of key Bible characters by Woodrow Kroll

• Prayer, Praise and Promises - Warren Wiersbe's personal reflections and insights from Psalms

• Bible Reading Guide - Chronological

• Bible Reading Guide - Historical

• Bible Reading Guide - Old and New Testament Together

• Bible Reading Guide - Beginning to End

• Bible Reading Guide - Blended

If you don't like Avantgo, you could use Plucker to pluck the wireless connection links and then download to your PDA. Otherwise, use a web browser like Blazer, Xiino, etc. to view the content.

Celebrating Christmas with your family.

Christmas is coming and we all know that many times we can get caught up in the business of the season. We don't always take time to celebrate Jesus' birth. Programs, parties, shopping, card writing, and what not can really busy our families and us. A suggestion I would like to make to you all is to consider having an Advent. My parents had us kids do this at home for a few years and I must say it was quite helpful in remembering the Reason for the season. I believe they used the book Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration by James Dobson, Charles Swindoll, James Montgomery Boice, and R. Sproul. You can find the book at Amazon for about $9.

Maybe it is time for you family to try something new this year. I have plans on starting this with my boys this year and I hope it will help them keep Christ in Christmas.

Other suggested reading:

The Season of Advent Anticipation and Hope by Dennis Bratcher

Celebrating Advent with Kids - How Make and Advent Candle Wreath

Advent Wiki

" And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."

Luke 1:26-38 (KJV)

Some new tech stuff coming my way.

Well, for the mere price of $35, I was able to pick up a 200 GB SATA hard drive, an iPod dock, and a bag for my portable DVD player. Of course, this is what I will pay after rebates. In regards to rebates, I've only had one company that gave me trouble getting the rebates. It took me almost a year to get back about $200 worth of rebates. I had to send letters even telling them that I would contact my local general attorney. Needless to say in about a month's time, I received my checks. I'm glad to see businesses opt for online services as they have worked out well for me. My money comes back fast and I like that.

If you would like to share what gadget stuff you purchased, please feel free to do so in the comments.

Rejoice cellphone users, Rejoice!

The US Congress/Copyright Office has ruled that cell phones should be able to be unlocked by the owner of the phone. So that means no more cell phones locked to a specific carrier. That should make things a bit more interesting now. Here is a portion of the article from the Register:

"The US copyright office will permit mobile phone subscribers to unlock their phones, allowing them to be used by rival network providers. It's a right that's taken for granted in most of the GSM world, where there's little operators can do to stop it. But US carriers, being the enlightened souls that they are (lowest form of wit - ed.) used fear created by the 1998 Digital Millenium Copyright Act to prevent unlocking. The DMCA outlawed the circumvention of technological protection measures on copyright works - with few exemptions. It promised to permit the US Congress' copyright office to review these exemptions from time to time."

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Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

My family has wrapped up our Thanksgiving dinner! My boys were a bit more into this year. Being that they are only 4, 2, and 1, the older they get they more they know. Anyways, our family would like to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! If you are one of the many that will be shopping tomorrow have fun. My wife is going out early and I would probably go out after she gets back. Usually, I'm the one that goes early to pick up some new gadget or accessory. As of know, I have a new iPod nano 2 GB that my wife gave to me for my birthday so I'm looking at picking up some accessories tomorrow.

Anyways enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend and may God bless you and your family!

Video feature on iPods not a big deal

Apparently many iPod users are that excited about the video feature on their iPods. According to a recent study, iPod users haven't been using the video feature that much. I would rather watch videos on my portable DVD player then with an iPod or my Lifedrive. Plus I don't have to convert a DVD or purchase a second copy of a movie I already own.

"A new report from Nielsen Media Research finds that while video iPods are popular devices, consumers aren't exactly embracing the video aspect. The research effort revealed that videos accounted for less than 1 percent of content items played by iPod users on their devices or through iTunes. The number climbs to a mere 2.2 percent when counting video iPod users only."

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Our church's revival.

This past weekend, our church held a 3 day fall revival and it was incredible! We saw several souls saved and many other made decisions for the Lord. It was a real blessing from the Lord. Evangelist George Griffis preached powerful messages that stirred all our hearts. I know I needed those messages as much as anyone else. Praise the Lord for His goodness to our church!

Another nail in VHS' coffin by CNET

"For VHS, it's RIP. Variety, the entertainment industry newspaper of record, pronounced the VHS format dead last week. The paper noted that "the format had been expected to survive until January, but high-def formats and next-generation vidgame consoles hastened its final decline."

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I have fond memories of VHS tapes. Getting the 5 for 5 at Blockbuster, helping my dad fix VCRs and watching the VCR tapes get eaten! VCRs were one of the first electronics I could diagnose and fix byself. As a kid, I would even use old VCRs to make Star Trek toys and other fun gadgets.
I still use VHS tapes on occasion. My wife and I have many of the VHS-C tapes from our video camera. We've still been dragging our feet to get a digital video camera. For the time being we have used my Panasonic Lumix digital camera. Works quite well and does the job effectively.

How to clean your Apple/Mac keyboard

Well, for all you Apple/Mac users out there, I'm sure you have tried to clean your prestine white keyboard before. I saw this article via digg and it looks like a great way to get rid of all the dust, grime, and oils from your keyboard.

"There comes a time, when your shiny white Apple keyboard gets so dirty that you can’t bear one second more. For me, that day was today. I love the Apple keyboard, it is nice, ergonomic and looks very sleek. However the only ‘disadvantage’ (if you could call it that) is that it is white. It gets dirty easily and you can see really clearly everything. A simple wipe of the keyboard with a damp cloth was not enough. There was still remains of tons of different things, and I wanted it off. You never really notice how dirty your keyboard is, unless you use a white keyboard, or something of a similar colour. But with the Apple keyboard, the outer shell is clear, so you can see everything there too."

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Funny cartoon...

Enjoy this.

Humorous Illustration from SermonIllustrations.com

A couple weeks ago, I stumbled upon Sermon Illustrations. The website is exactly what the name implies, a illustration resource for a preacher. It organizes by topics in alphabetical order, but it is limited as they do offer a paid service to all their resources. Still, I've been able to pull a few illustrations from this site. I hope this helps in your sermons. BTW, here is one humorous illustration on death.

"A bank in Binghamton, New York, had some flowers sent to a competitor who had recently moved into a new building. There was a mix up at the flower shop, and the card sent with the arrangement read, "With our deepest sympathy." The florist, who was greatly embarrassed, apologized. But he was even more embarrassed when he realized that the card intended for the bank was attached to a floral arrangement sent to a funeral home in honor of a deceased person. That card read, "Congratulations on you new location!"

Our Daily Bread, May 25, 1992."

Computer woes...

Well, my computer is on the fritz again. It likes to shut down unexpectedly and without warning. I'm thinking I've got a faulty power supply or another loose connection. I've tested the power supply with a tester and my meter, so it seems fine, but the problems still exist. I do think I'll be buying a new power supply and this time I'll spend the money for a good one, instead of buying one off of ebay. ;) I must admit that it is quite frustating as this problem has consumed lots of my time. Technology is a wonderful tool, but it is a tool that will eat up lots of your time. Paper and pen never have power supply problems. You might run out of ink, but that is about the worst it will get. That's why it's helpful for me to have a moment like this to remind me of what is really important: people. A computer comes and goes. Keep in mind the body of Christ is not made up of computers, but people. To forget why we are here or be distracted from the ministry would be a dreadful thing and very costly. So the computer may go and I may need to a get a new one (PC or mac I'm still undecided), but I hope that through it all I haven't forgotten what is important.

Strange LCD Monitor isn't it?

I saw this via Engadget and it is quite odd. A LCD Manufactor has designed a monitor that is 19" and has a 8.4" additional screen. The smaller screen resides at the top of the larger screen. The only thought I could see with this smaller screen is being able to watch video or have a picture slide show running. Otherwise, I don't think this would be very useful.

"Here's an odd one: Woojin Inc. is showing off its new line of "Tenbuno" 19-inch LCDs that are normal in every regard... except for a random 8.4-inch "sub-screen" jutting out of the top. Yeah, weird, right? AVING, who spied this in the flesh, recommends a bit of home shopping TV up top..."

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Googling safely.

Googling safely.

One of the manyfrustrations of the internet is searching for something and getting your returns list dotted with inappropriate websites. Many search engines do have an option to search safely and avoid the adult websites. Listed on the right of The Gadget Pastor, we have a Google Safe Search tool. You can use this and that kind of material will be left out. In my experiences, this has proven to be quite effective. Here are the steps to take to set your search engine to avoid listing adult websites in your searchs.

How to enable Google Safe Search

1. On the main page of Google, click on preferences.
2. Towards the bottom of the Preferences pagge, you will see the Google Safe Search box. Check the option for Google to use strict filtering.
3. Click on Save Changes and you're done!

How to enable Yahoo

1. Go to search.yahoo.com/preferences
2. Click on edit and set Safe search to the first setting "Filter out adult web, video, and image..."
3. Click Save/change and you're done!

While this is not full-proof by any means, it does offer some protection. It might be a good idea to set all computers that you have to these settings. I have done this in our school's computers that are online. An internet filtering program would offer more in eliminating this issue and allow you to completely control the level of access to the internet. Even though a internet filtering program might be a hassle it would prove to be an invaluable tool to stopping someone from falling into temptation.

Sent via my Lifedrive

Free 5 GB of online storage.

I recently signed up for Xdrive. This service offers you 5 GB of online storage for free. Once you've uploaded the data you want you can access it from any computer with an internet connection, even a mobile device. I read in the 1src forums that someone had setup a music playlist for Pocket Tunes to stream. They were using a Treo 700p. I've not loaded anything up  yet, I plan to download the Xdrive desktop software and give it a whirl. I'll probably load my my entire USB stick to it as I have several files and programs that I use when fixing others computers. Could be handy to have them always available. As many times as I fix computers at the church or church members houses, having all these programs and files online would be a big help.

Using Windows Live Writer Beta

I saw this mentioned over  at Tams Palm and I thought I'd give it a try myself. Windows Live Writer is a new program from Microsoft that allows a person to post to their blog without logging on to their blogs "dashboard". Windows Live Writer shows you a preview of your post as you type it. Right now I'm looking at this post and it looks just like it will when I post it. I can still insert links, pictures, tags, and there is even an insert map function. Something I will have to try. I'll let you know how it goes.

Wifi is important for me.

Over the weekend I was tweaking my home wifi network and finally was able to perform a wifi hotsync. It's much nicer now to be able to perform a hotsync anywhere in the house. Also I've improved my reception a bit as well, so I get better signal strength with my Lifedrive. My church also has a wifi network and I will connect to it from time to time checking email, etc. Honestly, I've found wifi to be quite useful. When I've traveled I've been able to stay connected via free wifi hotspots. We have several here in the Buffalo area that I use on an occasional basis. I never thought I'd really get into using a wifi hotspot, but since I have it on my Lifedrive, I've used it a lot and it has become an important feature for me. To check out local wifi hotspots in your area look at WiFi Free Hotspots and JiWire.

Gmail Java App Tricks

I've learned some new tricks to using the new Gmail Java app.

• If you dislike the low-resolution look, you can change this by going to Prefs, tapping on IBM Java VM, and checking Use high resolution coordinates. Click done and you will be in high-resolution mode when you use the Gmail App
• If you want to reduce the flickering between menus, go to Prefs, tap on IBM Java VM, and check use Double Buffering. Click done and no more flickering!
• For my Lifedrive, I can use the numbers on my Graffiti area to delete a message or archive a message. In others words, Gmail will respond to number inputs from the Graffiti area. So whether you tap it or Graffiti it, you can use those number commands.
• If you are tired of answering the permissions question, see this post and download the j9secpol.prc file. Install it and no more permissions questions!

Much of this, I learned from the forums of Palm Addicts. Here is the link to that thread discussing the new Gmail App.

Looking for an LCD monitor?

About a month and a half ago, I bought myself a new monitor. It's a 19" widescreen LCD monitor made by Acer. This monitor has worked quite well and plays DVDs without ghosting or any visual issue that I have noticed. I've done a lot of research, as I'm prone to do when buying electronics, and this monitor comes highly recommend. The features include 700:1 contrast ration, DVI and VGA ports, 3 year warranty, and 5ms response time. This LCD monitor will certainly improve the looks of your office area as well as give you more screen room to work on documents, spreadsheets, etc. Another reason great reason to have a LCD monitor is you get less eye fatigue. Check out this article here for more differences between the two.

BTW, best price for the Acer Monitor online that I could find is at Newegg.com .

Staying by the stuff

Growing up, my childhood pastor would constantly preach, "Stay by the stuff." He seemed to say that phrase all the time. Even in some correspondence I had with him, he said to stay by the stuff. While, that phrase is forever etched into my mind; it is something I need to remember everyday. Pastors, deacons, church members, and Christians, I believe, have not "stayed by the stuff". They strayed and because of it have caused damage to the cause of Christ. While this is a blog looking at the tech world, I cannot ignore the fact that many of God's servants have shipwrecked themselves and its hurting the spread of the gospel. Christians are suppose to be different because we are striving to be Christ-like. Yes, we all fail time to time, but the "a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again." Some sins though will tarnish our reputation and we will no longer be blameless. So please, forgive me for this rant, but this recent event in my mind has made me want to stay as close as I can to my Lord and I hope it encourages you to do the same.

"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." James 4:8

Strange Posts

The last couple posts had some unusual ending text. It's actually from my email signature as I was attempting to email posts to blog. I've cleaned them up, but be assured I'll correct that in the future. ;) The reason for posting via email was because I was transitioning my internet service provider. I'm all hooked up today and will be back posting again. However, it posting via email was all done on my Palm Lifedrive. Another great reason to have a PDA!

Do you listen to sermons via a mp3 player?

I'm curious to know if any of you listen to sermons via mp3 player or
your PDA/Treo? I've myself do on occasion, but for the most part, I
listen to them via the radio or my desktop PC. However, I have found
myself slowing listening to more sermons via my Creative Zen Nano Plus
and my Lifedrive. After all since my Lifedrive is with me wherever I
go, listening to a sermon is just a tap away. Also how important is a
digital format for you messages? Do you have a CD ministry or do you
post your messages on a website whether your own or another?
Please share your thoughts via the comment link below.

The New Gmail App

I have been testing the new gmail app from google. It is a java app
that allows you to check and send email via your java capable
cellphone or a PDA, like my Lifedrive. Of course, you need to have the
IBM Java software installed to use it. I've ran across a couple
issues. When I'm using my keyboard to type, ithe cursor jumps around
and I begin typing somewhere I don't want to. If I go slow it seems
not to happen as often. You also cannot save a draft with the
software, so far as I know. While I did download it to my motorola
v557, I constantly get the "do you want to use air time" message and
that makes using the Gmail app on my cellphone very unreasonable. If
they fix that, it would be the perfect app for a phone. Overall, I'm
quite pleased to see another useful app from Google as I love Google
Maps and have that installed on my PDA.

Being Faithful.

I'm in the midst of writing a yearbook manual for our school and for my future reference. Too many times, I have forgotten what tips and tricks I have learned, so this manual should help me eliminate those times. I also think it is important so others after me will have something to start with as they continue our school's yearbook tradition. I know that one day somebody will be following after me and I need to leave them something profitable. I hope that this manual will do just that.

Leaving behind something that others can use is, I believe, lacking in our society. People are not concerned about the course of their actions, but rather do as they wish neglecting the impact of their decisions on the lives of others. As pastors and servants in the Lord's work, we are called to be faithful stewards. This reminds me of a song called "Find us Faithful." I remember singing this for my college's missions conference and all the preacher boys, about 300 of us, sang this. I have never forgotten the words of the song nor that night we sang. Here are the lyrics of the song and I hope that this words are a blessing and an encouragement to you today:

 

We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

Chorus
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift though all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find
 

Where to find Black Friday ads?

Well, I'm one of those crazy people that will wake up early on the Friday morning after Thanksgiving and go shopping. Usually, I hit most of the eletronic stores like Best Buy, Circuit City (my favorite), Comp USA, Office Max, etc. If you would like to know what's going to be on sale at these stores and others, check out Black Friday Ads. I used this website last year to help me map out where I would go. They do have a email sign up that you can subscribe to and stay up to date with the latest ads.

Congratulations to the CRCA Bulldogs!

Tonight our school defeated our long time rivals and will be in the volleyball championship this Thursday. It was an exciting match that went all five games and went right down the wire. Our girls were able to pull it off in the end! So a huge congratulations to the team!

Some quick thoughts.... Treo 680, free sermon downloads, and the Bible in doc format

I know a lot of Palm users were hoping for the Treo 680 to be released, but unfortunately it wasn't. I was at my local cingular store and I was told that they were not expecting the device until the end of the month. So that's a bummer for most of us. Treonauts is reporting about a cingular rebate form that has the Treo 680 and Treo 750 listed on it.

Over the weekend, I visited Ambassador Baptist College's website and found they have quite a few sermons available for download. All of them are in mp3 format and are freely available. Dr. Ron Comfort is an excellent preacher and his messages are really good. I hope if you have an opportunity that you will download one and take a listen. I think you will be glad you did.

Not sure if I mentioned this before, but if you would like ebooks and use an ebook reader, you might want to check out Edgar's Pilot BibleDoc. It has the entire Bible in doc format and once again it's free.

Looking for a memo replacement for you Palm PDA? Try PsMemo

A Palm Addict forum user, Wayne L, mentioned a really great app called Psmemo. It is a memo replacement app. I've been wanting something to replace my built-in memo app as it was far to simple for me, but I didn't want a huge program and I wanted something that supported a 320x480 screen. Well, Psmemo does this and more. I can now navigate thru my memos using my 5 way d-pad. Yes, you can do this with the built-in memo app, but you can't scroll thru the categories using the 5 way d-pad as you can in Psmemo. I've also wanted a popup menu when you tap on a memo so you can delete it and now I can. Psmemo also has another interesting delete feature, where you tap on a trash can and then select the memo you want to delete. Very nice. Overall, I like this app a lot and I think many of you would too.

Psmemo (translated page)

Mobile Ministry Magazine Reviews eBible for the Palm OS

A. Jay Sutton over Mobile Ministry Magazine recently reviewed eBible for the Palm OS. I already have eBible myself on my handheld and I love the ability to add more content and the variety of content Thomas Nelson has available. Here is an excerpt form the review.

"I received my evaluation version of eBible almost two weeks ago and have been using it almost exclusively since then. I use Bibles on my Palm OS devices mostly as a quick reference, or as a way to follow along when a pastor is preaching a sermon where he goes various places in the Bible. Also, I like to be able to compare versions from time to time during a church service or something like that. There are many features in eBible for Palm OS that make it a very desirable electronic Bible..."

Opera Mini 3.0 beta available

Lots of folks have been talking about the latest release of Opera Mini. Although in beta, it does seem better then the previous version. I've got Mini installed on my cellphone, Motorola v557 and my Lifedrive, although the beta version crashed my Lifedrive. Still its nice to see more web browsers support the Palm OS. In recent days, we are seeing quite a few new web browsers for the Palm OS- Minut, Universe, Opera Mini, etc. This can only mean cool things for us Palm users!

Score one for our soldiers

Saw this at Drudge Report and while I'm not trying to be mean at all. I just figure well, at least our soldiers can get a joke right! ;)

I've installed Ubuntu

Just last week, I finally received the free Ubuntu Live CDs I ordered. I've been waiting for them so I could install Ubuntu on my laptop. Well, this afternoon I finally had a chance to install Ubuntu Linux and it only took about an hour for it to install. Overall, it runs great on my old emachines laptop. I don't have everything on it as I don't think the laptop can support some of the software. I do have OpenOffice on it now and that runs just fine. I was able to plug in my USB flash drive and access my current documents with no problems. Loads of fun and now I can call myself a Ubuntu Linux user.

Download the entire KJV Bible on mp3 FREE!

If you like would like to listen to the Bible on your handheld or your desktop computer, check out Audio Treasure. They offer the entire Bible in mp3 format for free and some hymns and worship songs for free as well. The quality is decent and they do add some background music as the Scriptures are read. The music isn't too distracting to me, but hey it is free and I think they did a great job. You might even want to give it away to all your visitors as a free gift. I think many of you could find some uses for these including your own PDA!

Did you know? Batteries are ancient news.

In 1938, Wilhelm König discovered several artifacts in the village of Khuyut Rabbou'a near Baghdad , Iraq that were later determined to be a battery around 2000 years old.

I don't believe I had ever heard about the Baghdad Battery before I read this article from Answers in Genesis. After I read the article though, it did make me wonder what the folks did have in the form of electronics. Did some of them have Pocket Scrolls like a Pocket PC? Did they have cool light shows with their batteries? OK, maybe I'm going a bit crazy here! ;)

Yes, they didn't have DVD players and LCD screens, but you got to wonder why did they have batteries? Take some time to read the articles I linked to as the authors do propose some reasonable uses for these batteries. I do find it interesting as we talk about all our gadgets and advances in technology that assume that the ancients were not as smart as we are today. The more and more I learn about ancient times, the more I realize how wrong this view is.

From Palm Addicts: A Pastor and His Palm

This was a good read over at Palm Addicts. Pastor Mike Borgstede shared how he uses his Palm TX in his ministry. I really believe that PDAs can be extremely useful in the ministry.

"As a pastor I use Datebk6 to keep track of my schedule, especially visits with homebound and sick member. I have set different categories with different colors, fonts and icons for the various ares of my life (Pastor, Personal, Family, Foster Care).

I use contact to export from our church membership program a directory of all members.

I love Bible programs and right now I use MyBible and Olive Tree's Bible Reader."

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4cast - Your weather forecaster for your PDA

Weather can play an important part in my job. If I am having a youth activity outdoors or the school is having a field trip, I am usually checking the weather in the days before the event to make sure the weather will be decent. While a small task at times, I wanted to make this task as convenient as possible so I installed 4cast on my Palm Lifedrive.

4cast gives you your area's weather forecast via Yahoo Weather. You will get Today's weather & next 4 days of weather. Weather radar images, weather alerts, and detailed forecasts are some of the features of this program. I like it because it supports 320x480 screens. You can have 4cast update wireless thru wifi or your data network and also via hotsync. I don't think you'll find another weather app that will update during hotsync. I've also installed a couple plugins that allow it to function within Datebk6 and QuickNews. Other plugins are available for Zlauncher and 2day.

The developer is very helpful and there is a thread over at 1src that talks about the beta developments. If you would like to try the current beta, you can look for it here.

4cast sells for $9.95 and if you purchase it over at Palm OS Central, there is an additional %20 savings. You get this savings by entering BOO in the promo field at checkout. The code will work until the end of today, but sometimes it lingers for a couple days or another 20% off coupon code comes out.

A new Palm browser is coming!

I'm very excited about Universe 3.0 beta. I'm one of the beta testers for this new browser for the Palm OS. First off, the tabbed browsing experience is awesome. The developer has really put in a lot of hours with this one and should be quite an app once he is done with it. You can check out the full details of what this browser will do on your Palm device here.

"Features including...
A Tabbed interface (supporting up to 3 tabs)
An address bar featuring a url box and navigation buttons
An Integrated RSS reader
Private browsing (mask the history, cache and cookies)
Support for JPEG, GIF, BMP and PNG (with alpha channels) images
Support for HTML/XHTML/WML/RSS 1.0/2.0
Support for WAP 1.0/2.0
Support for Hires and Hires+ screen sizes
No need for the Java VM!
Much more."

Update/Upgrade error with Microsoft .net

For the last several days, I've had the Microsoft upgrade/install icon in my system tray (you know that yellow shield with an exclamation point) telling me about a Microsoft .net 2.0 update. Every time I tried to fix it, it would say the install had failed. So this morning I finally went and did some investigating to see what I could do about this error. I found a solution and now I don't have the icon in my system tray and I am current with my Windows updates. I found this solution over at eggheadcafe and it was listed in the comments section. Basically it involves downloaded to files. I'll tell you how I did it below:

1. Downloaded Windows Install Cleanup and installed.

2. Removed Microsoft .Net versions via Windows Install Cleanup.

3. Downloaded .Net framework again from this link and installed.

4. Problem solved! Well, until the next update... ;)

Hope this helps you, I'm planning on applying this fix to the computers at the church now.

Shopping at Sam's Club

While I was waiting in the checkout line, the older gentleman behind me began to set down about 6 or so of those whole chicken rotisseries. I made a quick comment that he must be really hungry tonight. He laughed and said he was buying them for their church's Everyone's Birthday celebration. I found out that he was the pastor of the church and we had a good conversation as we waited in line. His church recently purchased another church building and would be moving in very soon. He was also excited to see a young person attending church. I didn't have the heart to tell him I was almost thirty- well maybe I just can't stand that thought at all! Anyways, I was glad to have meet him and speak with him. I love Christian fellowship. That's part of the reason that I started this website to be able to meet with other Believers. What has surprised me most is how many Christians are gadget geeks too. It's fun to be able to share about my love with gadgets with other Christians just like me and still be able to talk about my faith as well. What a blessing!

Treo 680 pricing is leaked.

Folks just don't keep secrets like that use to! Engadget Mobile has revealed the pricing breakdown of the Treo 680 and I'm a bit disappointed. In order for someone to get the Treo 680 below $200 you have to sign a 2 year service contract and sign up for an unlimited data package probably a year or two commitment here. To me, this is crazy talk. You will notice in the poster the price is said to be $199 with an asterisk. I couldn't read the fine print to see what made the price go so low. Data plans on Sprint are cheap, but you lose good coverage because of it; Cingular has expensive data plans, but you get way better coverage. As much as I want a Treo device, I probably won't get one because the cost of a decent data plan is so much. If the price drops down, I could probably get one, but until then, I will continue to use my two device system: my Lifedrive and my Motorola v557.

To Upgrade of Not? Better make your list from Brighthand

I just read this over at Brighthand and thought it was excellent. As I've mentioned before, I'm looking at upgrading my current cellphone to a Treo 680 or a Cingular 3125. I've spent many hours reading reviews, watching videos, and what not so that I would make a good choice in my next cellphone. I'll even bore my wife with my learnings for hours. She's so patient with me.
To upgrade or not? Better make your list covers one user's experience as he looks to upgrade his PDA. I think a lot of us could relate with this and would be worth a look.

"I am pretty convinced quite some people are in the same situation as myself. You have a perfectly working device yet the upgrade is trying to convince you for some time to upgrade anyhow. I frequently observe posts on the Brighthand forums from users who just upgraded but are unaware what their device can do. Sometimes there is a little frustration when they find out it can NOT do what they expected. Hence I decided to set down my thought process, hoping some others would benefit from it."

READ MORE

Review of Cingular 3125 from Brighthand

I have been looking at getting a new smartphone and might just do that by the end of this year. I am considering getting a Treo 680 or the Cingular 3125, a.k.a. HTC Star Trek smartphone. The 3125 runs Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone edition and I've been wanting to have a go with the Windows Mobile and see how it feels. However, I'm also really interested in the Treo 680, so I'm waiting for it to officially be available and the price point to be revealed. It's also interesting to note that Cingular unlimited data plans for the two devices are dramatically different. The 3125 unlimited data plan is only $19.99. The Treo 680's unlimited plan is $44.99, barring no changes upon its availability. So that is also a huge factor in my decision.
Yesterday, I noticed the Review of the Cingular 3125 at the Brighthand website. They really did a great job with reviewing the phone and I have posted a bit of it below. Enjoy!

"The Cingular 3125 is, like most new Windows phones, a product of HTC Taiwan. Unlike most others, however, it sports an ultra-slim clamshell design to rival the ever popular RAZR. Originally called the HTC StrTrk, similar models are also sold as the Dopod S300, Qtek 8500, and i-mate Smartflip.
The 3125, though, has a few important differences from its siblings. While most StrTrk models have 64 MB of flash memory, with approximately 16 MB available to the user, the Cingular variant contains 128 MB of flash, leaving 68 MB free. There are also several different battery capacities in use. The Cingular version trades off a slightly thicker battery, and thus overall thickness, for a higher capacity of 1100 milliamp-hours."

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Oregon church set on fire during service

This was quite disturbing...

By BRAD CAIN, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 26, 5:19 PM ET

"SALEM, Ore. - A man ranting about "the blood" burst into a church sanctuary during a service, sloshed fuel onto people and started a fire, police and church officials said Thursday.
Some parishioners were able to smother the flames with their coats while another group tackled the man, said the Rev. Scott Erickson, pastor of the Peoples Church. Two older women from the congregation were burned when their clothing caught fire.
"He ... was yelling things about the blood, and then he began to sprinkle the fluid and light it," Erickson said. "He was making slurs about things that are most precious to us."
On Thursday, prosecutors said Kam Shing Chan, also known as Daniel Chan, 53, was held on charges of attempted aggravated murder, attempted assault, arson and reckless burning. Prosecutors, who did not suggest a motive, said the Salem man was to appear in court Friday..."

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news via Drudge Report

Ministry Tip: Have a newsletter.

One of the first todos when I arrived here in Buffalo was to have a monthly newsletter for my teenagers. For my first two years, I faithfully published a monthly newsletter. Usually, I would write a short thought in it, find some interesting articles or humorous stories that they might be interested in, or find something that would help them defend their faith. After about 2 years of doing this, I stopped and many of the teenagers were disappointed.

Well, a couple months ago, the Lord laid it on my heart to once again start our youth newsletter called "The Youth Challenge." I've based it on 2 Timothy 1:8, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord." This has been a goal of mine to help our church's young people not be afraid when others ask them about their faith in Christ. I know of a few teenagers who have said that these newsletters have been an encouragement to them.

It does take a bit of time to create a newsletter. I really don't do a lot of fancy graphics or such, but making it look sharp and helpful to the teens. Yes, it's not always easy, but I certainly enjoy to here their excitement when the newsletter is handed out.

I create my "The Youth Challenge" using Microsoft Publisher. I have included content from many Christian websites as I am allowed and I make sure I give credit to the author. I included upcoming activities as well which works as a good way to communicate to them. The ideas here are really endless. If you are a pastor, maybe consider sending out a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly newsletter to your church congregation. As a child, I remember my pastor sending out a weekly newsletter and it was always fun reading it after my parents were done with it.

If you do have a newsletter that you produce, why not share it with us and tell us how you create your newsletter and your newsletter tips. Just post in the comments below.