As I’ve been training staff members on how to do various tasks in preparation for my departure I’ve run into a few situations where users need a simple photo editor to do simple tasks like cropping and resizing. Most of the PC’s in the office don’t have any sort of photo editing software on them and if they do they run really slow. So I remembered that Adobe launched a free online app called Photoshop Express a few months ago. I had looked at it but didn’t really have a use for it then.

But I gotta say, it’s a great solution for non-techie users who just need to do simple things with photos. The interface is really slick and user friendly and even kind of fun to play with. And it doesn’t require any software installation. You just sign up for a free account and 2GB of space is included. If you want to do more with it you can even import your photos from Flickr and Facebook to edit them. You can also create cool looking photo galleries and embed them on other websites. And it even has some tools for basic photo manipulation. I’ve just had users upload their photos, make their edits and then download them. It’s an extra step since it’s online, but it’s really not too much of a hassle.

This is really pushing the boundaries of what online apps can do vs desktop apps. I’m not opposed to a future where I can access my apps online from any computer connected to the internet. Next time you need to get some photos online check it out!

On the nerd front, Firefox 3 is released today! Go download it in the next 24 hours to help them set the world record for most software downloaded in a day.

I’ve been using the beta version for the past number of weeks and I love it. I had moved away from using Firefox 2 because it was very slow and buggy on my Mac. But with version 3 I’ve become a huge fan again. The new bookmarking feature is genius and the speed and performance is better than any other browser.

I just discovered that today is RSS Awareness Day. If you’re not aware, RSS is how you make reading blogs and many other websites very easy. Instead of looking at lots of different websites everyday you can have the newest content come to you. There are lots free RSS readers out there. I use Google Reader.

So do yourself a favor today and start using RSS. You can read more about it and watch a video with a better explanation on the RSS Day website.

I was listening to the Relevant Podcast today and they interviewed a woman involved with creating a website called Unscrew America. It’s all about taking practical steps like changing your lightbulbs to make a positive impact on the environment.

No matter what you think about environmental issues, check out the site. It’s a really cool interface and fun to play around in.

I just realized the other day the CD’s have almost become obsolete for me. I listen to most of my music via iTunes on a computer at work and at home. I use an iPod in the car. And we even have an old iBook hooked up to a stereo in the living room that is pretty much only used to load iTunes and play music. This also means that I listen to a much wider selection of music than ever before since I can just put it on shuffle and walk away. And as far as data goes, I usually use my 2GB flash drive. I’ll probably have to explain to my kids what CD’s were.

So we got rid of our TV last year. But then ABC released all the seasons of LOST in HD on their website. Being a bit of a popularity snob, I didn’t want to get into this show. But Megan was in Australia so I had some time on my hands. It started innocently…I just wanted to see the new streaming HD technology. But then I got hooked. Megan came home and swore she wouldn’t get into it. Now guess who’s been asking if we can watch another episode of LOST? It’s become a family affair, which is why we don’t own a TV. (And by the way, it looks beautiful on my 20″ iMac.)

I just discovered that I could look up people on Facebook by graduating class (I know, I’m pretty slow to discover this). What I found really interesting is how you can see the rapid adaptation of technology by looking at how many Facebook accounts there are from each graduating class. I graduated in 2001 and if I go 2 years in either direction there is a pretty significant shift in numbers.

Number of 1999 PCHS grads on Facebook: 49
Number of 2003 PCHS grads on Facebook: 175

I think these numbers are also reflective of the shift in technology education. Megan and I have noticed that many people (but certainly not all) just a few years older than us aren’t very computer savvy. They lack solid basic computing skill such as being fluent in MS Word or PowerPoint or finding things on the net.

Part of the problem is how computing is taught. Instead of teaching computing concepts and principles, most people are taught step by step (click here, drag this to there, etc.). I could probably write a whole other post on what technology education should look like. But I’ll spare you the nerd factor for now.

Communication Revolution

The evolution of culture has birthed a communication revolution
Evolution (mass communication shifts):
• Gutenberg Press= printed word
• Radio = Spoken Word
• TV = visual word

The internet has changed it all.

Google is not a company anymore- it’s a verb.

The communication revolution is not a technology- it’s something different.
It’s all about web 2.0.

Web 2.0 is the “participatrory web.”
Web 2.0 is about enabling and encouraging participation.

The revolution has collided with the local church.

5 Impact Points where communication is impacting culture

Church 1.0- one way communication
- churches are masters at one way communication
- how to hold a microphone and broadcast information
- the problem with the web is that’s it’s about multi-faceted communication
- how are we engaging the guy with a MySpace that has pictures of drinking but is bringing people to our church?

Church 1.0 is all about service times
- if you want to learn about Jesus then “come when we do it.”
- it doesn’t work like that anymore, people want to be a part of what you’re doing
- service times don’t work because people want your content when they want your content
- church 2.0 is experiences anytime
- the content doesn’t have to be just your weekend content
- could we produce something specific for the web

Walls
- so many churches are all about a building
- it’s not about the building…there’s life outside the building
- what happens if a church decides not to have a service? Is church still happening?
- service times and buildings aren’t bad but things are happening outside the walls
- We serve an omnipresent God…he’s everywhere. Do we serve an Omnipresent Church? A church that gets outside of it’s walls

Re-Imagine Outreach
- in today’s community outreach should look radically different
- church 1.0 says to “go physically out”
- it’s not just physical anymore, it’s about virtual relationships
- Is someone in your church an “online community organizer”?
- Are you in a church that embraces online community or that has a firewall to block it?

The Power of 1
- church 1.0 says “everyone invites one”
- “just invite one person”
- culture has shown us that the power of addition is not as powerful as the power of attrition
- we need to get out of the mindset of just addition and into a mindset of multiplicaiton
- one person can invite everyone
- it’s not about the name on the side of our building- it’s about the name of Jesus

This collision has created a responsibility.

It’s not an opportunity. That means there’s only a chance that it can happen. It’s a responsibility. Jesus was pretty clear that we need to go and communicate to all people.

We are in a time like never before where The Great Commission can really happen.
1.2 billion people are online today.

We’ve moved to a world with 6.6 billion people. They estimate by 2050 there will be 9 billion on Earth.

We must transition for “an opportunity” to a responsibility.

It’s not about technology- it’s about people.

Who is the great cultural theologian of our time?
Ferris Bueller- “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.”

I launched two new websites this week.

Christ The Rock Online
I’ve been working on this project for over 2 months. It’s still not fully complete. I have a lot of work to do with filling in content and integrating the site with our new FellowshipOne database. But it is certainly a huge step up from our previous site. I worked with a company called SiteWrench. They have a very nice content management system that they’ve built as well as a team of talented designers. They produced a great design and we now have a site with more functionality than ever. The best part is that I no longer have to worry about any backend coding issues. If something breaks down I give them a call. All I have to worry about is content. At times SiteWrench has been a bit slow at making changes but overall I’m loving it.

www.davecrowrocks.com
I know the domain name makes me sound a bit arrogant. It would be if I was saying it about myself. But it comes from what people that I’ve worked with have said. I’m not sure how much I rock, I’m just going by what I’m told. Plus some British comedian took all the variations of davidcrow.com and davecrow.com. But this is my online design portfolio which is way overdue. It is built on WordPress and I’m using the NextGEN Gallery plug-in to create a sweet looking image gallery. It’s short, simple and to the point. I’ll be updating this as I get more projects and become a better designer.

1. Setting up a printer is stupidly easy.
   I have an HP 5100. It’s actually a really nice printer. But HP is notorious for their horrible software. On a PC you load the HP print driver and it installs 3 other bloated applications and a few things constantly running in the background slowing your machine down. So I had been dragging my feet installing the printer. I went to HP’s website to download the Mac driver and there wasn’t one. At first I was annoyed but then on a whim I checked the print dialog box and there it was. I didn’t have to install anything. the iMac just knew what printer I plugged in. Nice. And the best part is that there’s no crappy HP software running on my computer. (Yes, I know you have to install software for a printer/scanner machine but it is possible to just print without it.)
2. Sharing a printer is stupidly easy.
   Megan had asked me a few times if there was a way for her to print wirelessly from her iBook. I kind of avoided looking into it for a while because anytime I’ve had to do some sort of networking on Windows it ends up being more complicated than it should. I Googled a few terms and everything I was finding was about sharing a printer between a Mac and a PC. Again I started to get annoyed. I decided just to open the System Preferences and see what I could find. I clicked on Sharing and it turns out there’s a Printer Sharing checkbox right there. I clicked it and looked on the iBook and the HP 5100 shows up in the Bonjour printers without installing anything. And the first test print I sent worked.

I love technology that works like it should.