PastorHacks

Two Browser Hack

Problem: Too much time spent surfing.

Solution: Try two browsers. My friend is an avid internet user and finds watching videos on YouTube far more addictive than preparing an expense report. He needs to use the internet for research and communication, but every time he opens up his browser, he heads to his favorite fun sites instead. I suggested that he use two different browsers. He uses Firefox normally, so he should keep that one for personal surfing. He should then use Internet Explorer for his business surfing. His business browser won’t have any of the bookmarks that his personal browser will, so he won’t be as tempted. By separating the two uses, he can more easily discipline himself to work when he needs to work and play when he has the time. It’s not foolproof, but you need some self discipline... This just decreases how much you need.

I've recently switched all social application stuff over to Flock. So when I want to spend a couple minutes on Facebook, Shapevine, Twitter, etc, I fire up Flock. Now, when I'm trying to get other things done, it's a bit easier to discipline myself- I don't even have those bookmarked on my normal browser. 

 Anyone have other surfing/browser hacks? email ideas@pastorhacks.net

Twitter

True confession time... I use Twitter.

Specifically, I use Twitterific to post tweets to my Twitter account and read others'.

If that makes NO sense at all to you, here's a handy video and a full run down with even more handy links from DJ Chuang

Drop it...

Okay- so... you're in one place and you need to get a file- a big file, to another place. But email ain't gonna cut it...

WebWorkerDaily has a number of good solutions, but one in particular looks great-

"If you’re really looking for an unusual solution with some unique advantages, consider Drop.io. When you upload files to Drop.io, the application creates a web site to store them in (a drop). You can assign passwords to the files you store, and you can provide a link and passwords to those you want to share files with. This adds up to the service’s biggest advantage: Nobody you share files with on drop.io needs to register in any way—including you—and you don’t even have to provide an e-mail address.

Drop.io also has easy features for letting collaborators add notes to posts, and it automatically converts most popular file formats, including video and audio formats. If you regularly share files with clients where you want a truly quick-and-dirty way for everyone to get at them, it’s worth a try. One caveat about it, though, is that beyond using passwords, you don’t get the level of security that online storage sites usually provide. It’s worth remembering that there are so many good, free online storage solutions that you don’t have to use just one."

Offline Access to Google Docs

From the Google Blog (ht: Jon Irvine)

 Our team has a real affinity for  free-spirited types, and so we spend a lot of time thinking up ways to make Google Docs friendlier even to people on the go. If you're one of those, you already know how you can access your Google Docs from anywhere, how nice it is to avoid having to email yourself files or back up docs with a thumbdrive, and how easily you can collaborate with others.

Of course there was a teeny thing missing: you needed an Internet connection to make Google Docs work for you. Now, for documents, that's no longer true. As you'll read on the Google Docs blog, starting today and over the coming weeks we're rolling out offline editing access to word processing documents to Google Docs users. You no longer need an Internet connection when inspiration strikes. Whether you're working on an airplane or in a cafe, you can automatically access all your docs on your own computer.

To see how offline access works, watch this video

PastorHacks podcast at LeadershipBuzz.com!

I'm excited to announce the PastorHacks podcast at LeadershipBuzz.com.

LeadershipBuzz is meant to be a resource for church leaders- podcasts from practitioners giving short, practical messages on various issues facing church leaders today...

You can listen online, or join to download-

hosts include Len Sweet, Shane Hipps, Brian McLaren, Ivy Beckwith and Bob Hyatt (uh... me!). And a bunch more too.

From the site...

1. Your Heart and Brain Will Buzz. 

 

Conference-level training from some of the best and the brightest in ministry leadership. We’ll stretch your thinking, challenge your heart, and occasionally even mail you a fruitcake. (We have a ton of them left over from Christmases past. Literally a ton.)

 

 

2. Your iPod Runneth Over. 

 

20 fresh episodes a week designed to help you do ministry better. Plus, over a year’s worth of content from our archives available as soon as you join. Please . . . Hold your applause. Just kidding! Applaud all you want. You know you want to.

 

 

3. Shiny, Happy Tools. 

 

Two words about our content: Practical. Listen in the morning. Apply in the afternoon. Sleep well at night. Repeat.

 

 

4. Learn Whenever, Wherever. 

 

Listen online, download files directly to your computer or subscribe to a podcast feed. You decide how and when you want to plug in.

Check it out!

Google Checkout- FREE!

When we planted our church, I was fairly opposed to allowing people to give online. I really wanted giving (even though we don't pass a plate) to be a part of worship, an intentional act of giving to God as part of an overall gathering focused on worshiping that God.

I pretty quickly realized that ideal was dependent on everyone remembering to bring that vestige of Old Economy finance- the Checkbook. Most people don't carry one, have trouble remembering to write a check before coming, often forget to put it in the box during the worship gathering...

Reluctantly, I gave in to Paypal... and immediately began hating the 3% + fees they took off the top. Argh.

Here's a better option that I'm really going to explore for our community: Google Checkout

from their website:

Google Checkout for Non-Profits is a fast, convenient donation process that helps you attract more donors and increase online giving to your organization – and you can use it to process donations by charging credit or debit cards for free until 2009.

Increase donations to your organization
With a streamlined checkout process and a single login, it's easy for your supporters to make an online donation and do it again and again.

Process online donations for free
Get free donation processing until 2009 and pay no monthly, setup or gateway fees.

And even after 2008, it's still cheaper than Paypal!

Free credit card processing until 2009
You can process all of your Checkout donations for free until 2009. And there are no monthly, setup or gateway fees.                                                   

Low fees in 2009 and beyond
                  Our standard processing fees for Google Checkout are a low 2% + $0.20 per transaction.

Check it out





And does anyone else have other ideas for online giving? (and no... we are NOT open to having an ATM in the lobby)

 

20 or so Online Study resources

From the excellent Plaid Blog:

Online Bible Search

1. eBible
   Search the Bible as part of the social network. Ability to tag and personalize your Bible is an amazing tool for study groups.
2. Bible Gateway
   Search the NIV plus many other versions.
3. Bible Server
   Search many versions of the Bible including the NIV.

Audio Bibles

1. Bible Gateway Audio Bible
   Ready by Max McLean of Listeners Bible
2. Listeners Bible
   Buy Bible mp3s by Max McLean
3. Audio Bible
   Free but ugly site. Requires Real Player.
4. Audio Treasure
   Buy Bible on audio
5. The Audio Bible
   Read by George Sarris

RSS and Podcast Feeds

1. Bible Gateway’s Verse of the Day
2. Fighter Verses Podcast Feed
3. The Daily Audio Bible Podcast

Memorization

1. Fighter Verses
   Fighter Verses are short passages of Scripture which Bethlehem Baptist have chosen to memorize each week. Based on the ESV Bible.
2. Bible Memory
   Get your verses to memory free via email

Bible Resources

1. Open Bible Topical Bible
   Mashup up of Yahoo! web services and a Topical Bible
2. Open Google Map of Passion of Christ
   Follow Jesus in Jerusalem
3. Open Bible Geocoding
   Amazing use of Google Earth
4. Bible in 90 Days
   Journal about your experience of reading the Bible in 90 days
5. Minor Prophet Bible Blogs
   A blog tool focused on blogging about the Bible.

Bible Web Services (for web developers)

1. ebibleicious WordPress plugin from eBible
2. Bible Gateway Verse of the Day Flash widget

(HT- Tim B.)
What else? What's missing? Let us know in the comments!

One Year Ago on Pastor Hacks

From (approximately!) one year ago:

Dallas beat me to the punch and emailed me an idea I actually came up with last Wednesday as i was thinking about future posts... It's the two browser hack. Here's the original source:

Problem: Too much time spent surfing.

Okay, okay... I give.

I've been holding out with Safari as long as I could. I am, after all, a loyal member of the cult of Mac.
But a recent spate of crashes, including some lost work, have sent me over the edge and back to Firefox.

I've been playing with both ClipMarks and Google Notebook as ways to capture info when I'm out and about on the interwebs, which I'll talk more about soon, but let me ask all you- what Firefox extensions do you find most helpful?

Help a brother out!

Podcast easily with Sermon Cloud

Alright- you'd love to do the whole podcast thing, but when words like "FTP" and "Server" and "download" start flying around, you feel suddenly lost and alone...

Here's a really simple way to begin podcasting- no muss, no fuss...

Sermon Cloud

From the website:
For Churches and Preachers: Sermon Cloud offers churches FREE Advanced Sermon Syndication & mp3 services. Are you interested in podcasting, syndicating and using all the other 'Web 2.0' buzzwords for your church? Sermon Cloud Features include Resampling mp3’s to be optimized for the internet, Syndicating content (Integrating directly into iTunes store, syndicating through RSS feeds.), Displaying recent sermons on your church website, Podcasting mp3, Sermon Streaming capability in our Jukebox player, Tagging System, Commenting on sermons, Community recommending sermons, Searching for sermons and more...

Sign-up for free to begin uploading sermons today!