Grace and Truth and Technology » technology

davidandhannah.com

Dave Stone — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:48:01 +0000

So, I put up a new website featuring some engagement photos–davidandhannah.com

For the Geeks among us (or Greeks)

Dave Stone — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 23:17:34 +0000

John Dyer has created a free “Reader’s” version of the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible.

The Adventures of Dave and WordPress

Dave Stone — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:08:34 +0000

So, we’re getting ready to roll out an update to Bethel’s website. About two years ago, just after we rolled out our current design, I told Lorna Foelber that Bethel’s next website would run on WordPress. Sure enough, that’s what is happening. This week saw the successful installation and configuration of WordPress-MU (multi-user). Previous attempts to make it work were unsuccessful.

Bethel’s sites using WordPress currently:

Small Group Leader blog
Kid’s Express Preschool
Sports INC.
Middle School ministry
High School ministry
Unlimited Vertical (Bethel’s music ministry, and first blog on Bethel’s WordPress MU system)
BethelLaunchPad
Bethel office intranet (internally hosted)
Richland Campus (coming soon)
West Pasco Campus (coming soon)

Next step: create a WordPress theme for Bethel campuses.

Bethel Church to open campus in Pasco

Dave Stone — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:04:15 +0000

Bethel Church to open campus in Pasco. Don’t know how the TriCity Herald knew about this in February of 2007, but it’s cool coverage, nonetheless.

First post from Iphone

Dave Stone — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 03:56:06 +0000

So this is my second attempt at posting with the iphone. The first attempt was using safari…no dice there. Then I found a wordpress app in the app store (free!). If you are reading this it worked.

Haven’t figured out how to include photo…

As for iPhone review… It rocks (literally). Fluid. Clean. Crisp. Intuitive. Cool. Enjoyed showing it to my parents yesterday. Dad really liked the scientific calc when phone rotates. I’ve posted photos to facebook. I’ve updated my status on facebook. I’ve checked my work email acct.

One thing I wish it had was some sort of alert when txt MSG or voicemail is waiting. As it is the power save mode kills the screen and the only way to see that I have a message is to wake it up.

Update: photo inclusion discovered. Also enabled Exchange access-woot!

Free Treo 700p smartphone

Dave Stone — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:14:26 +0000

This is a Treo 700p smart phone

After more than 6 years with Sprint, I’m jumping ship. It was a rocky relationship (at best), but the straw that broke the camel’s back has nothing to do with Sprint and everything to do with the iPhone. Yes, I’ve ordered an iPhone. It’s on backorder now. I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, I’m putting my cell phone and my 2-year contract with Sprint up for auction…except, it’s not really an auction because the first interested bidder willing to take on the remaining 22 months of my contract wins my Treo 700p smart phone for free! Oh, and I’m also including the standard charger, a nylon case, and a Palm fold-out keyboard. With the keyboard, the phone is practically a laptop replacement. (In my final year of seminary, my laptop was stolen. I replaced it with a PDA and fold-out keyboard and it worked really well for taking notes in class.) I’ve taken notes at multiple conferences with the Treo and fold-out keyboard. I’ve even posted to this blog from the Treo and fold-out keyboard!

So there it is. If you’re interested comment below and we’ll get the ball rolling. I put this phone and contract up for grabs on CellSwapper (not a big fan of cellswapper, website is slow, difficult to use) and CellTradeUSA, so it may go fast.

Have I made the big time?

Dave Stone — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:22:24 +0000

Mark Driscoll mentioned me on his blog becuase I correctly identified a charicature of Charles H. Spurgeon. Look for “davidtstone” –btw, that’s also my twitter user name, though I haven’t quite figured out the whole twitter thing.

Wordpress speeds up with Google Gears

Dave Stone — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:49:42 +0000

Google gears logo

Wordpress 2.6 is out and it sports a new link in the top right that says Turbo. I clicked it and discovered that it speeds up the interface via Google Gears – a technology that caches files in order to speed web-based apps. So far so good.

The biggest drawback to Wordpress so far (especially on my powweb server, 1and1 hosting seemed to respond a bit better) is it’s long response time. It’s slow. But, in my cursory tests of the admin interface it seems much speedier. Way to go Wordpress and Google gears developers!

Goodbye MyChurchEvents; Hello Google Calendar

Dave Stone — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:20:17 +0000

We’ve used MyChurchEvents for a few years now as our (Bethel’s) online calendar solution. They offer a decent service…minimal downtime, easy enough to train volunteers on how to use. However, they have a few strikes against them:

No ability to track usage (I’ve asked multiple times)
Extremely limited access to calendar data in usable format (e.g., no APIs)
Layout is cluttered
It’s very much a web 1.0 app
It’s slow (relative to Google)
They still charge $60/year

By my count, that’s six strkes against them…that’s enough for two outs. Here’s the out I found…

I’ve been looking for an alternate online calendar solution for over a year now and just recently began testing Google Calendar. We’re planning to move it into production this Fall, but you can take a sneak peak at what it may look like now if you’re interested.

What is Shelby Doing?

Dave Stone — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:20:34 +0000

I received an email from Shelby Systems announcing a new product. Shelby Systems is now offering yet another set of programs (called Aspire) beyond its core legacy-offering and its web-based Arena.

Problem 1: the Aspire website is woefully lacking pertinent details…when clicking the “Tour” button, I’m sent to a page that says “This feature is coming soon…” Note the image below. Screen shots are great, but there’s no explanation about this fitting over an existing Shelby DB or if it is all new.
Solution 1: Hire a web design firm (like Stepframe!) They will help you present your website and email communications more clearly and effectively (and there will be no more “coming soon” pages).

Problem 2: the products (Arena and Aspire / Shelby and Aspire) appear in competition.
Solution 2: Take the plunge and lose the legacy aspects of Shelby (it was designed by programmers for programmers), and create a single web-based application.

I would love to see Shelby aspire to modernity!