The Listening Ear

New video Equipment

In preparation for the video project the we hope to do when we travel to Tanzania next year, we’ve begun to assemble video resources. This piece is called a blimp. It surrounds a shotgun mic that is plugged into the camera. Wanda is working as I write to create a windsock that will cover the blimp to cut down on wind noise when the mic is used outdoors.

 

The blimp can be hand-held, but is most effective if it is mounted on a pole and hung over the person you are videotaping. I did a little testing this evening and was amazed a the difference it makes to hold the mic over the subject. I am learning that getting good sound is at least as important as getting good video. 

Thanks to Doug Wehring, a member at St. Paul for constructing the blimp. If it works like I think it will, it should save us $150-200. If anyone is interested in a detailed video of how to make a blimp, look here.

More Tech Woes

After solving for the most part the problems I was having syncing my phone with my computer I’ve run into a new problem. Somehow a file on my external hard drive that I’ve been using for back up and for storing files I don’t have room for on my laptop has gotten corrupted and the data on the drive has disappeared. I won’t bore you with details regarding how much time trying to fix this is consuming.

Technology is great when it works the way it is supposed to, but when something goes wrong, it can take a lot of time to correct the problem. The more tech stuff we use, the more likely this is to happen. I originally bought the external drive to protect my data in case my laptop drive had problems. I never thought about how the back up drive might fail.

This seems like a funny request, but it is where I’m at right now. Pray for my hard drive!

New Video Source

I recently learned about a new video site that allows much better resolution that you usually find in most videos that are posted on the web. The site is called Vimeo. I just joined and plan to upload some video I recently shot to put on this blog.

Here’s a great example of the video that’s featured on Vimeo. It was shot by Blake  Whitman while he spent a year observing a group of gelada monkeys. Nice stuff.

Monkey Cam from jtkerb on Vimeo.

Seekers And Skeptics

A few months ago I started receiving a publication called Collide. The magazine describes itself as ‘where media and the church converge. I am not sure how I wound up on their subscription list. It probably has to do with media I download from the internet that I use in sermons. I have several favorite sources (Sermonspice, Bluefishtv and Wingclips) and am always on the look out for more.

However it happened, I am pleased that Collide is coming my way. The May/June issue, for instance, included a feature story on how the church views technology. Writer Cynthia Ware use the Pentecost story in Acts 2 as a way of describing two approaches to technology.

In Acts 2, the spirit is poured out on the disciples in a new and unexpected way, leading them to speak in languages they had never spoken before. Some in the crowd who heard them were open to this new thing that God was doing and wanted to learn more. Others were skeptical and mocked the disciple, concluding that they were drunk.

Ware suggests that both seekers and skeptics can be found in every age. The seekers are looking for God to do new things and search for meaning in the miraculous. Skeptics, on the other hand, dismiss the new out of hand, regarding whatever is new as of the flesh and not of the Spirit.

Our time is filled with technological innovation that borders on the miraculous. Each generation of computer chips has twice the computing capacity while at the same time being twice as small. Seekers regard rapidly emerging technological innovations more as God-breathed miracles rather than as an inherent threat.

Like many of God’s gifts, technology can be employed in both constructive and destructive ways. The challenge to the church is to make use of technological innovation for the sake of the gospel. Ware argues that it has always been that way from the beginning of the church.

She notes that in Acts we see the disciples spreading the gospel through one-to-many broadcast (preaching and public speaking) and one-to-one ‘sandal-net’ (spreading the good news to individuals and from house to house) networks. Late the apostle Paul employed hand-couriered packet messaging (handwritten letters) to communicate with church at a distance. Believers met in homes rather than at the Temple just as today many connect with others online every day.

The church’s challenge is not to reject new technologies outright, but to look for ways to use new technology to communicate the gospel in new ways. Viewed in this way, technology isn’t simply a threat to believers and their faith, but rather it is a new tool that God has provided for the church to do the work God has given it to do.

Back For Now With Something New

I have been pretty busy, lately, but I am going to try to get back to a more regular blogging schedule. I made a purchase recently because the Palm organizer I had been using bit the dust and my cell phone was a pretty basic model that I purchased several years ago. It still worked OK, but I was really wanting to be able to more easily store information on my phone. I would really like to have an iPhone, but since AT&T service is none existent in Treynor and because I didn't yet see the need to pay for internet access on my mobile phone, I decided to get a Palm Centro (pictured below).

Since I have used a Palm device I was familiar with how it works. And there are lots of applications that are already available for Palm devices. The OS isn't as elegant as an iPhone by any means, but as a writer for Macworld put it, the iPhone operating system may be 2.0, but many the apps that are available are 1.0 if they are available at all yet.

For instance, my Centro came with Docs To Go which makes it possible to edit Word and Excel documents, even Powerpoint, although I haven't tried that, yet—and probably don't need to. There is an application that is in the works that promises to do the same for the iPhone, but its still vaporware.

The next time I need to upgrade my phone/organizer, I expect the the iPhone will be able to offer what I am looking for. Right now, though I need something to use as a phone that will store contacts, memos, to-do's and maybe do a few other trick besides. For the time being, I think the Centro will be just fine.

Salt Water For Fuel

The owner of the coffee shop I’m at in Tucson showed me an amazing video he found on Youtube about a man who had discovered a way to burn salt water. Often you hear a tale like this and nothing comes of it. The news reporters don’t always give all the details because they want to make a good sounding story. Still, this would be great if it really leads to something.

Cool Site

On his blog Marko pointed to a cool sight that does some neat things with words. Its call Visuwords and is described as an online graphical dictionary. You put in a word and you get to see a graphical illustration of its connection with other words. Its really kind of cool. Check it out.

Grounds For Thought Facebook Page

One project I’ve been working on is to create a Facebook page for our Grounds For Thought Coffeehouse worship. Anyone who is on Facebook can check out the page from my profile. If you become a fan of GFT, you’ll get updates on this new opportunity for connecting with others and with God.

The next Grounds For Thought worship is next Sunday, April 6. Coffee is available at 6 p.m. and worship starts at 6:30 p.m. For more information about GFT, take a look at the GFT website.

The Facebook Experiment

I have been reading in a variety of fourms (blogs, websites, print material) that a Facebook account can be a great way to make social connections and also can be used to publicize things through the use of Facebook pages. I finally decided to take the plunge.

Aaron and Ashley, my son and daughter-in-law helped me explore Facebook last week and my daughter, Rachel has helped a bit, too. It has been interesting to see what kind of connections I’ve made already with people I haven’t seen for a while.

Grounds For Thought Website Link Correction

I discovered that my fabulous typing ability failed me completely when I published the link to the Grounds For Thought website. It should be <www.groundsforthoughtworship.com>.