T-shirts (Threadless & Neighborhoodies)

TV (Youtube & Joost)

Handbags (Elemental Threads)

Journalism (Blogs & podcasting)

Newspapers (RSS)

Job Seeking (Aggregation & feeds)

Book publishing (Lulu)

Tourism (the web in general)

Luxury goods (fractional ownership)

Music (itunes)

Networking (facebook & social apps)

In fact there’s just too many to mention.

But the real question is this: If it hasn’t hit your industry yet, why not and what are you doing about it?

Starting Out

There are a lot of good books out there on the new media, web 2.0, building web platforms, etc., but no book has challenged my thinking, and convinced me to turn in certain directions as did the "manifesto" Getting Real by the guys at 37 Signals, when it comes to the issues of simplicity, flexibility, cost and speed. I consider it a must read in this area.

Getting Real is about skipping all the stuff that represents real (charts, graphs, boxes, arrows, schematics, wireframes, etc.) and actually building the real thing.

Getting real is less. Less mass, less software, less features, less paperwork, less of everything that's not essential (and most of what you think is essential actually isn't).

Getting Real is staying small and being agile.

Getting Real starts with the interface, the real screens that people are going to use. It begins with what the customer actually experiences and builds backwards from there. This lets you get the interface right before you get the software wrong.

Getting Real is about iterations and lowering the cost of change. Getting Real is all about launching, tweaking, and constantly improving which makes it a perfect approach for web-based software.

Getting Real delivers just what customers need and eliminates anything they don't.

When a college ministry decides to have an online presence there are a few things to keep in mind. Some of these things are:

• student participation
• the fast changing culture of college/university life
• finicky tastes/styles
• revolving body of students and leaders
• budget
• access/control
• etc. (these are just a few)

So because of these issues and many others, ministries need to keep in mind several things before they decide to develop and build a website, or some other form of online presence. They need to be asking the question of whether or not the investment in the product (i.e. time, finances, people power, etc.) is worth the end product? Primarily because the end product of what students want will often change very quickly, and most likely from year to year. What's necessary, practical and cool to students in the Fall, may be out of date by Spring.

Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? (Luke 14:28)

Now that verse wasn't written about online media, but I think there are some important principles to take away, mainly:

1. What do you want to build?
2. Have you sat down to think about what it will cost? (time, money, resources, etc.)
3. Why are you building it?
4. With what you have, can you effectively accomplish what you are wanting to set out to do?

Key Ingredients

Simplicity: What you set out to design should be simple. We live in a culture that says more is better, and so you find products with tons of bells and whistles that not only will no one ever use, but they don't even know how to use it. Students don't need an owners manual to access your online ministry and use it effectively. Keep things simple. Think of the i-Pod/i-Tunes, Facebook, Tivo, etc. Because of their simplicity they have won over the market in many ways. The best web sites are simple. When you go to that page you know how and where to navigate. Simplicity can be from an aesthetic design viewpoint, to keeping things simple with less tools, buttons, forms, coding, etc. One of my favorite church websites is Mars Hill in Michigan. Simple, clean, easy to navigate.

Flexibility: Your website or online tool must be flexible. I cannot stress this enough. You need to build something that has a strong ability to adapt and be flexible to changing trends in technology. What is cool with a website one year, can be totally out of date the next. Or, why spend tons of money on a site, that once it loses its effectiveness and everyone moves over to social networking, it no longer has the ability to adapt and meet the needs of those in the community. For example, our college ministry spent a lot of money on some websites early on in my time here, and I created things on the site that I though students would love. But when students migrated to MySpace and Facebook, our website wasn't flexible and adaptable enough to meet the demanding needs of the group. We didn't even have the capability to integrate these new tools on our site because we weren't thinking ahead. Also, when it comes to this issue, are you building a site or presence that allows others to use it effectively? Does your coding or template allow you to change the data, or does it require bringing in a designer everytime you want to tweak it....slowing everything down, limiting the access to most of the group, and driving up costs.

Cost: The best thing about the new media and web 2.0 is that you can find hundreds of online tools and platforms with little to no cost. So should you spend $3,000 on a website, when you can get the same functionality or better with an online free platform? A question then arises about good stewardship. I'm a big fan of good design and coding, so I think they are worth paying for to a degree. But at the end of the day a ministry needs to ask themselves questions regarding what they need, and is it wise to spend money on it. In my 7 years at Bel Air I have seen the evolution of cost. We started off paying a top of the line designer for a website that was out of date about a year later. We then moved to a free template and I paid a student to code it. We now find ourselves operating almost exclusively on Facebook. I'm not against paying for good tools and design....but there are alternatives. I paid for someone to code and design my blog, but I have the freedom to change it.

Speed: How fast can you change things on your site? Do you have to call up the programmer, or do you have immediate access? Can a student put in an announcement whenever they want, or do things have to go through you? When tasks are funneled through 1-2 people, speed is slowed, and information and participation among students drops off. Have you designed a site, where if you wanted to make some major overhauls, you can do that very quickly? Or are you tied to high costs, bulky tools, etc. I know that the needs of my college group this year will probably be different next year, so I need to have the speed to adapt to that.

There is a lot I can talk on, but I just want to begin there. Over the next few weeks I will post on the following:

Formulating an Online Strategy for College Ministry

• Part 1--Simplicity, Flexibility, Cost and Speed.
• Part 2--The Purpose of Your Website
• Part 3--Using Facebook Effectively
• Part 4--How Twitter Can Catalyze Your Ministry
• Part 5--Using Social Network Platforms as Your Central Hub
• Part 6--Flickr, YouTube and Other Forms of Sharing and Streaming
• Part 7--Ministry Collaboration Using Wikis
• Part 8--Opening Up Your Ministry's API

Going further, each devotion starts with Bible passage, an example event or incident relevant to that day's devotion, then relating that to the biblical passages followed by few guidelines for a better living. Then a four lines poem with a quote concludes the daily devotion. And the last one to mention is the set bible passages to read for the day if you want to complete reading Bible in one year.

Few advantages of the digital version over paperback are linking the bible passages to biblegateway.com for immediate reference, Link to the author's details, similar devotional resources.

The highlight of this website are the user-friendly features like rss, print the devotion, send to a friend and text-size resizing for easier reading.

Well, got only less time in the morning hours to sit back and read this!!! Here, they've got a streaming radio option and also offer download of the daily devotion as mp3 audio.

I'm sure that you too would like this highly featured daily devotion. I really appreciate the RBC ministries team for such a quality website and Thank GOD.

Not a whole lot of content, but what's there is good. His essay on what constitutes a biblical kind is an interesting Christian take on the stupidity that is baraminology.

Found here.

I tried the product while being dormant and it really gets the juices flowing.  This morning I tried it for the first time during a run, and it did a good job of keeping the dryness away.  A few chomps here and a few chomps there really kept the dry mouth at bay.  Of course this product shouldn't be a replacement for fueling during a run.  It is handy for shorter runs or just keeping the drool flowing.

The product comes in a few different flavors, the multi pack that I got had lemon/lime, orange, and fruit.  The website also shows a stick version that has raspberry, strawberry/watermelon and orange/fruit.    The website also has a mist version for  those who don't chew gum.

The gum stick has 20 calories each and 4g of carbs.  The "chunk" style has 15 calories and also 4g of carbs.  The mist is calorie free and carb free.

Here is an excerpt from the website:

In the mid 70's, Quench was developed for professional athletic teams and quickly escalated to America's top-selling sports gum.  In the heat of thirsty competition, Quench Gum's tart-sour flavor and saliva stimulants help relieve what athletes refer to as 'cotton mouth'.  Quench works to soothe away that irritating, arid feeling inside your mouth and throat.

The website also states that the gum has been recommended by doctors for Post Op patients, Kidney dialysis patients & Patients on antihistamines, tricyclic antidepressants and anticholinergics.

There is a list of locations that the gum is available at including REI, Big 5 sports, Sports Authority, & Walgreens.  Check out their website at: http://www.quenchgum.com/home.htm So, if you suffer from dry mouth or you like to drool, go and try some Quench Gum. 

Lucky for me, though, it has a website. I already have a favorite "Dream Queen" and her name is RayaLight.

Game over, guys. We have a winner. Possibly the best thing about RayLight that I just learned now is that if you download this picture (like for use as computer wallpaper or whatever) it saves as "rayaslut_bigger". Did she choose this name herself or was it the website? I don't know how internet works. Either way, Rayaslut_bigger for Master Drag Queen, you guys. I'm stamping the campaign buttons as we speak.

I am going to find out if code is still my friend. Hopefully it can get me out of this mess.

Pre-order him HERE.

Fundraising UK  posted about this...... The British Heart Foundation have added a virtual collection to their Help a Heart Campaign.

Is the success of the campaign not based on pin/badge sales? Will this work? Essentially its a justgiving page that someone would normally use to set up for sponsorship...hmmmm Would be interested in the seeing what is raised from this. Will the Irish Heart Foundation follow suit (read my post about Happy Heart Weekend here)

They have a BHF blog and Help a Heart Blog so clearly they are knowledgable in terms of web 2.0

Click here to link to the MP3 file. It's also available for streaming through iTunes

iTunes is playing Sweet Toffee from "Listen" by Moodorama

iTunes is playing Falling By the Wayside from "As Far As the Eye Can See" by People In Planes

Online marketing surpasses traditional marketing practices. The 'search engine optimisation' and 'pay per hit' factors enhance customer building via Internet. Features like social networking helps business gain credibility among the users.

TODAY, ONLINE marketing industry is abuzz with ’search engine optimisation’ (SEO) and ’pay per click’ (PPC) strategies to get more traffic onto business websites. However, is the conversion rate of traffic into a solid customer base for these websites substantial?

Out of the many instruments with digital marketing, social networking is vital for the improvement of web traffic conversion rate. Based on the Web 2.0 platform, social communities and forums have become a huge rage amongst online users. The video, voice-and-text-chat enabled e-communities lead visitors towards becoming repeated visitors and then into community members.

With customisable user rooms, forums and categories, social networking can help businesses gain credibility and acceptance among the users.

Another significant online marketing tool is the business blog. It is highly recommended for promotion of a business and its website.

Some of its key benefits

• Communicates news in time

• Indexed in minimal time by the search engines, receives feedback (comments and reviews) from visitors and potential customers

• Solves user queries

• Publishes product’s or service’s pictures and videos

Read Full News

Resources for

My Web Design Source

Doors, Doorways & Entries ... to the soul, the house, a city, whatever…

chosen by CuriousC: 

Follow the links below for other entries (I will add links as entries come in!):

Idea jump! & Just for fun & Blahblah blog

I have to admit, for the first time ever, I wasn't prepared for Photo Friday!! My excuse: I've been away all week with minimal computer access and no time to take suitable photos! Such is life.

So ... what to do? Erm ...

Solution: I dug out some old photographs that meet the criteria! So as Tina, would say, "without further ado":

My Photo Friday entry: A doorway by Jan Marshall ©

Only this isn't any old doorway. It's a doorway inside Alcatraz Prison that leads to the cells. 

The prison is on Alcatraz Island (sometimes informally referred to as simply Alcatraz or by its pop-culture name, The Rock. It is a small island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California, United States.) It served as a lighthouse, then a military fortification, then a military prison followed by a federal prison until 1963.

This is a fantastic site to find out more about the fascinating history of: Alcatraz.

My husband and I took a long vacation a couple of years ago and spent part of our time in Las Vegas - and part in San Francisco. Having both seen the film, The Rock, we decided the Alcatraz was a "must see".  We found it absolutely fascinating as a place. We were, however, deeply saddened and shocked at the cells that the inmates stayed in (often in solitary confinement and for 24 hours a day); they were small, stark, basic cages. They inmates were on view to the guards the whole time - there was absolutely no privacy. They used an open toilet with no seat, in the corner of their cell. To say that conditions were harsh and brutal is an understatement. yet ironically, their cells were the least of their problems. When they were not being bullied and ill treated by the guards, they were in danger of losing life or limb to their fellow inmates. Lifers had nothing to lose - and kudos and safety could be gained from making others afraid of you. It was dog eat dog - and if the dogs didn't get you the guards did.

All quote are from the Alcatraz history site: "How big was the average cell?

Each cell in B & C block was 5 feet by 9 feet. Cells at Alcatraz had a small sink with cold running water, small sleeping cot, and a toilet. Most men could extend their arms and touch each wall within their cell. The cells in D Block (segregation) were more spacious, but still the least popular."

Below: through the doorway

On the day we visited one of the surviving inmates was there, signing copies of a book he'd written about life in the prison. He was a sad, forlorn looking figure, obviously crushed by many years of institutionalised life. There was a haunting deep sadness in his eyes. Even the fact that he'd come back to Alcatraz to sign his book revealed much about his attachment; he might be free now, but he wil never really escape Alcatraz's clutches. My husband bought a copy of his book (I'll try and find it and post the title) and couldn't put it down. He said it was riveting - he could never have imagined the things that went on inside those confining walls. He didn't want to imagine what went on inside those walls ....

"Do the inmates who were imprisoned at Alcatraz have anything good to say about the prison?

Actually, yes. During an interview with Inmate Willie Radkay (he shared a cell next to Machine Gun Kelly), he indicated that having your own cell was a great advantage over other federal prisons. By having your own cell, it reduced the chances of being sexually violated and the privacy aspect was also a cherished benefit. He also stated that the staff (the majority of the time) treated the inmates respectfully though they rarely spoke to one another. Furthermore, the food was the best within the entire prison system and considered his time at Alcatraz to be better than at any other penitentiary.

What did inmates dislike most about Alcatraz?

The common theme I've heard by most inmates (primarily in the earlier years) was the rule of silence. In the earlier years of Alcatraz, inmates were not allowed to talk to one another except during meals and recreation periods. Some inmates commonly emptied out the water from their toilets and created a primitive communications system through the sewage piping. This rule was considered harsh and inmates were disciplined for even minor violations of this code. Inmates also state that the island was always cold. Most agree that cells on their higher tiers with window views were more popular since they tended to be warmer than the ground level cells."

Below: A photograph I took through one of the prison windows.

There were not any windows in most of the cells. But this is the view that the prisoners would have seen on brief sojourns to the dining room or to recreation time etc. It would have tormented them - so near and yet so far away - they would have glimpsed the blue ocean waves and the shoreline of San Francisco .... where life continued without them. They would have sniffed the sea air through the broken glass, heard the cry of seagulls, dreamt of freedom - but for many of those inmates their entire lives were spent in that prison, after they were incarcerated. For many it was a living death, and judging from the books and films about the place - it was a cruel and brutal place too.

"What was the average stay?

On average, the time of residence was about eight years. Men were never directly sentenced to Alcatraz and usually had to earn their way. There were only two men ever paroled directly from Alcatraz to the free world."

~

Future Photo Friday titles:

Friday 23th May : Title by Julie: Emotion

Friday 30th May : Title by CordieB: Phantasmagoria

Friday 6th June : Title by Author: Diptychs

(or Triptychs if you prefer to use 3 images)

(Diptychs - two is better than one! Tell a story in just two frames. Get creative. Think in pairs! The aim of diptychs / triptychs is to make an interaction between two / three photos in such a way that the whole work has a greater value than its components).

So, imagine my excitement when I found out that on this Saturday, the first annual Great Orlando Beer Festival will be happening from 2 pm until 7 pm downtown in the lot for the Club at Firestone. At $25 a ticket for advance tickets, it's not cheap, but there will be unlimited beer samples. UNLIMITED! Okay, really the limit is what you can intake which, in my case, might be around the $25 mark. Judging by the list of breweries participating at the event, it'll be money well-spent. Flying Dog Brewery, for example, puts out excellent beer I'm well-acquainted with from bringing it over to friends' houses. Our very own Orlando Brewing will also be involved, as well as Red Hook, Lagunitas, Otter Creek Brewing, Rogue and more. Food will be available for purchase, as well as a live band, but really, it's all about the beer.

Sadly, I've asked around and it looks like a handful of my best beer-lovin' friends will be working. If you're lucky enough not to fall into that category, it's $35 to enter the day of the event and $25 if you buy early, so if you think you'd like to attend, get your tickets Friday and save yourself ten bucks. If you're the designated driver, you get in for $10, and can get free non-alcoholic beverages. You can buy the tickets online, or you can visit one of three locations where they will be selling tickets for the festival:

• Redlight Redlight - 535 W. New England Avenue, Winter Park (near Park Avenue)
• Underground Bluz - 12261 University Boulevard, Orlando (near UCF)
• Orlando Brewing - 1301 Atlanta Avenue, Orlando (near AMTRAK station)

If you're seriously broke, but still want a piece of the action, you may still be able to volunteer to work at the festival. Some free schwag, like a t-shirt, may be your reward. If you happen to be pouring a beer for me, I don't like that much head on mine, thanks.

For directions to this wonderful brouhaha (or... brewhaha?!), you can click here for a Mapquest map and some written directions, or simply GoogleMap "42 West Concord Street, Orlando 32801," which can give you a good idea of the what and the where. Also, the website says you can park in the Courthouse parking lot, but there's also parking on the street along Orange Avenue and along some of its side streets. The metered parking is waived during the weekends, unless there's been a change in policy, so you should be good to go.

The event is meant to be "a celebration of craft beers," which is a fantastic way to get people introduced to microbreweries across this great country, as well as a handful of popular tasty beers that people enjoy, such as Guinness and Blue Moon. A portion of the proceeds are earmarked to help out our local Habitat for Humanity, which goes to show: drinking good beer leads to good things.

You can ruminate on what drinking bad beer will get you on your own.

I'm guessing that you're wondering what imeem is, well let me tell you about it, and what it has to offer:

• free music streaming
• you may listen to the entire song
• create your own playlist(s)
• share music with others
• upload videos

The list above can go on for a long time, so relax and get music for your soul!

]]> http://alex4dus.wordpress.com/?p=75 Thu, 15 May 2008 21:25:35 +0000 Alexander Flockau http://alex4dus.wordpress.com/?p=75

Google geht nun den nächsten Schritt in Sachen "Social-Networks" mit ihrem neune gadget "Friend Connect". Interessant würde es erst aber dann werden, wenn sich StudiVZ und Facebook oder Xing zusammenfassen lassen. Eine eigne Seite für alle Netzwerke. Google Friend Connect

Today Nintendo announced they will be hosting the first international Pokemon tournament!!

To register you need to simply go online at showdown.pokemon.com to register and take the qualifying quiz then try and beat out tons of other wanna be masters in Los Angelas and eventually make your way to Florida to go head to head with the best japan has to offer...Wow, thats some hardcore shit right there Nintendo.

The winner gets an all expense paid trip for 4 to either New york, Hawaii or Tokyo, a custom Nintendo DS and a pokemon prize package worth 10,000 dollars.

So yeah, I'll go ahead and make a post about how badly I beat the worlds best japanese kid when the time comes around. But really, I'm 100% dedicated to entering this mother and going to town!!! YEAH!!!

CAN YOU FEEL IT?! CAN YOU FEEL THE WHIRLWIND?! BABY!!!!!!

-(MS)Mike out.