Ramblings of Daniel Ross-Jones
Technology
Ch-ch-ch-changes
Jan 25th
The Wisconsin Legislature endorsed online, virtual academies in a draft measure that would provide state funding and keep their keyboards open in the fall, overruling an earlier circuit court decision to shutter the institutions. Teachers unions are crying foul, but for everyone else this is a win-win. The academies win in being allowed to stay open, the students win in being afforded more choice in their educational path, the public wins in being assured of unified standards just as any other public educational institution, and society gets to keep fighting over whether or not online schools are really schools.
OK so that last part is just like anything else.
The last episode of Frontline on PBS dealt with the rise in social media and social networking on the Internet and its affects on the high school class of 2007. I want to preface this with something: it was the first time I have ever watched an after-school special about the Internet that didn’t make me want to pull my hair out through the whole thing. The alarmist tone was muted, and while other generations may not understand the coming-of-age generation’s use of the Internet and think that it replaces important social values, it was extremely useful and well done. You can watch the full episode from PBS’ website, but do know it is 60 minutes.
Change is good. Change means we are human. (Change for the sake of change is annoying, but…) It means we are alive. Our instinct is to explore and discover, and part of that means that we need to evolve. Whether one dislikes the ongoing development of technology or loves it, ultimately it is irrelevant. The world won’t stop because you long for an earlier time — like when students learned in rows of desks, looked at a chalkboard and chanted off multiplication tables with their instructor.
GodTube latest megaservice in the ghetto
Dec 15th
Social video/networking site GodTube was today’s feature story on the religion page. The idea is simple: provide a forum for people to connect, share videos and messages, all in a safe, “family-friendly” environment. Sounds OK, even good, right?
Here’s the problem with GodTube, and all the other residents of the Internet Christian Ghetto: they’ve missed the point.
Before I get into this, I want to be clear about one thing. I am, in no way, condoning all of the material on the big social media sites like YouTube, Facebook and MySpace. However I am universal in my criticism: God didn’t command God’s followers to lead a safe, sheltered life in a gated community. And that’s exactly what the Ghetto is all about creating.
At work this Advent, as I’ve written about here, I’ve been recording weekly video reflections from staff members, congregational members and next week a campus pastor. They’ve been hugely successful, and are receiving mention from outside the Greater Milwaukee Synod sphere. Trackbacks on the entries show even non-church organizations are linking to some clips. This impact is due to the fact that I am hosting them on the YouTube and Facebook services, rather than GodTube.
The denominational office uses and encourages Google Video for web video content, also to a hugely successful degree.
A colleague of mine who works for a different denomination pointed out the sad irony in calling these Christian sites a ghetto — not because of the isolationist feel, but because the church (universal, not just Christian) has been establishing or supporting ghettos for different classes of people throughout history, and now it is simply retreating to the suburbs, so to speak, from the scary, untamed Internet.
From a communications standpoint, I really should be using GodTube in addition to the mainstream sites, in order to attain the largest reach of audience. But I’m torn supporting a system which is arrogant and elitist in any way. So far, no one has inquired why I’m not posting on GodTube, so I’ll keep below the radar for a while.
Jesus calls us to be in the world. The Christian faith requires a change of lifestyle. GodTube does nothing to accomplish that; but I believe the sum of its mission can be found in the last two paragraphs in the article:
Q: When do you expect GodTube to make a profit?
A:Next year, sooner than later.
Culture of fear
Oct 24th
The amount of fear in which mainstream America lives is utterly distressing to me. While not anything new or even profound, it reared its ugly head again to me today at work.
If you type your landline phone number into Google, it will return with your name, address — all the information that you have listed for yourself in the phone book. As with everything, it will also give you the opportunity to print out a map of the address. This is called a reverse lookup, and it has been available to people through the decades. One just used to have to call 411 to get it. (Of course, they’d have to create their own map, as well.)
Wanted to know where a person lived and had their last name? Just pull out the phone book.
This isn’t new. This isn’t privacy invasion. This isn’t a reason to sound the alarm. But just this morning I received a request to pull someone’s contact information off the synod Web site because they didn’t want that information on the Internet. So instead, now all a person has to do is call the synod office to receive it. Or look in our printed directories. But they can’t get it from our Web site, because heaven forbid someone with ill intentions searches for it and finds it there.
And what if they search in the phone book? Or call 411 for a reverse lookup?
Information is not inherently bad; nor is it inherently good. Its merely information. In the wrong hands, no matter where it is obtained, information can be used for bad reason.
Fear of information, I’ve found, is a generational difference. Those of us who were born post-1980 don’t have as much fear of what is available on the Internet. Makes sense given our upbringing with unfetted access to the Internet pre-psychos. (Or was it, really?) People born before then, though, the notion of Big Brother permeates the fear. Fueled by our governmental officials (who have ill intentions, I might add), this fear is manipulated in a way to create the illusion that privacy is possible — even plausible. But they’re the good folks. No need to fear the government, they want us to believe.
The enemy is not Google. The enemy is, as it has always been, sick and twisted people. They’re not leaving any time soon, but they seem to be calling the shots now. Grr-eat.
Sticky ads
Jul 1st
Hey, Web developers, could you come up with a way to work around the fact that most users have popup blockers now and, you know, annoy them even more with sticky ads and obnoxious flash modules that take up the entire screen when I’m just looking to get an address from an event listing? That would be great.
Google Voice
Apr 7th
If you haven’t heard, or haven’t tried yet, give Goog-411 a call at 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) and enjoy FREE information from Google. (Does anyone even use the regular 411 anymore?)
Daystarters
Mar 5th
When I get to the office in the morning, I chat with Jane (our receptionist) for a little while before clearing my way through the brush to find my desk. Morning tea, phone mail and computer startup later, I double-check a number of sites and blogs.
- Church Marketing Sucks. I’ve linked to CMS for a while on the blogroll, but I really can’t tell you how much I enjoy checking in on the discussion here. If you’re a church communicator, this should be one of your top bookmarks.
- PeaceBang’s Beauty Tips for Ministers. Alright, so I’m not rostered clergy, but I do take communication as a ministry and I am a public face. While I admit there are a number of days when, after a major event or the like, I’ll show up to my office in ratty jeans, sneakers and a hooded sweatshirt, I think there is a lot of truth in “fighting frumpiness” from PeaceBang.
- The Lutheran. Check in on their blog and news from around the ELCA.
- World Faith News. It’s not so much an online thing as I am subscribed to their e-mail listserv, but it’s a great roundup of the
worldwideAmerican abroad faith community. - Moravian Daily Texts. Subscribe to receive one of the world’s best ecumenical Bible readings on a daily basis.
- Be Still and Know… From Jesus Metropolitan Community Church in Indianapolis, this daily blog is a great resource for quiet time before a crazy day in the office.
Of course, don’t forget our own Web site. And if I know we’re going to be on public radio or in the newspaper that day, or a quick roundup to see if any of our members or leaders are there.
Real innovation starts here
Feb 1st
It’s no secret I’m an Apple whore. I was born the year Macintosh was introduced, grew up with a minimum of three Apple computers in the house, and didn’t touch a PC keyboard until I was nine or 10 years old. As I started to develop my own computer literacy (all of which has been self-taught, mind you) I played with PC’s, even buying and building and tweaking them. But no matter what, I still always came back to Apple. It’s intuitive. It just works.
(To be fair, I also play around with *nix builds and other geeky things. But let’s not go there.)
This summary of the new Windows Vista is right on target. At work, I manage the all-PC (except for my Mac mini and personal iBook) network, and have been playing with the new OS for the past couple of days before we make a decision to roll it out. It is — once again, in typical Microsoft fashion — a cheap knockoff of Apple’s Mac OS X.
You see, Apple’s business model works. The popularity of the iPod, the prevalence of iTunes, the stability of the Mac and the growing number of converts is because of one thing: Apple is both a hardware and software manufacturer. Rather than developing for the lowest common denominator, Apple made the decision to develop only for its own products. (Well, until the explosion of the iPod and the porting of Internet-standard applications like QuickTime. But still mostly true.) Take your iPod. You love it because it’s intuitive. The wheel senses how fast you’re scrolling through and adapts. It’s what it needs to be without useless extras. And on top of it, all of that in a damn good-looking package. With Apple, they deliver the full product, and so can take the time and energy to make sure nothing is lost in translation.
Grumpy folks will tell me, That’s great, then why does Microsoft still dominate 90% of the PC market? Simple — people have accepted the fact that technology must be confusing, challenging, and are afraid of the unknown. People have accepted that lowest common denominator and buy into the rumors and hype that an Apple computer is the kiss of death for their business or livelihood.
Does Apple do everything correct? Absolutely not. Its products are priced out of reach for a solid chunk of the computing population and the company capitalizes on its loyal following by providing frequently frustrating service and support to veteran users. The everyday software developed is great for creative professionals or basic home users — but the middle ground is pretty much undeveloped and uninhabited.
But why go with the Chevy when you could pick a Cadillac?
No shame
Jan 9th
Yet another example of mainstream Christianity missing the boat: GodTube. In the 1970′s, newly-educated pastors were encouraged to do “ministry in the bars,” since that’s where the people were. In the 2000′s, the ministry is online. And instead of using the power of the mass media, let’s make our own. C’mon. We can do better.
Does this chair come with an air sickness bag?
On one hand, I’m continually impressed at how the evangelical movement is growing. Generally speaking, it is our fundamentalist brethren who are creating such services as GodTube (along with copy-cats for MySpace and every other social networking site under the sun — or should that be Son?) and they are the fastest-growing subsect of Christianity. But their growth isn’t sustainable, and eventually the floor will fall out from under them.
In the fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, we hear the beginning of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, that his followers “are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?” This analogy is generally accepted as a commandment to be in the world — not of the world — and witnessing through our lifestyle. So what does it demonstrate, then, in the creation of these Christian ghettos on the Internet?
What I think of in the midst of all of this is a young woman from a local church in my hometown when I was in high school. The church was independent fundamentalist, and many of the members were known of withdrawing from mainstream society. While growing up, the young woman was home-schooled, never permitted to listen to the radio or watch television, was forbidden from watching secular films or media. It was a completely sheltered environment. She made friends with this new young man who moved to town and joined her church — and I think some of you can figure out where the story goes from here. Since she had never been instructed as to what dating or sex was, she had no idea what was going on until she was pregnant. Her parents went into meltdown, they were cut off from their church home, and here she was — 17 and pregnant, about to be a single mother in her late teens.
“Pray to God, but row away from the rocks.” -Chinese proverb
Paperless office?
Nov 11th
I knew it! The advent of the paperless office has actually increased paper usage.
