February « 2007 « anchorite.org

Archive for February, 2007

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Tue 27 Feb 2007

Social Networking with Ning

Posted by Andrew Mitry under Web/Tech
[2] Comments

Both TechCrunch and GigaOm wrote about start-up company Ning yesterday. Ning is platform that allows anyone, including novices to build social applications. Apparently after their relaunch it is getting good reviews. Has anyone tried using them for their church or a group within their church?

Tue 27 Feb 2007

Sticking with Katharion

Posted by Andrew Mitry under Web/Tech
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We have completed the trial with Katharion for hosted spam filtering and have decided to sign a one year contract with them. Overall, it looks like their filters are extremely effective – most users don’t get any spam at all and only a few see about one a week. Our virus scanners have not reported any viruses coming in through email either. Here are our statistics for the past month, looks like our volume of spam is below average.

Katharion Message Volume for Jan. 27 - Feb. 27

Sun 25 Feb 2007

Michael Fam Ordained to the Priesthood

Posted by Andrew Mitry under Christianity, Orthodoxy
1 Comment

One of my close friends and spiritual brother (now father) was ordained to the priesthood in Maseno, Kenya this morning. Michael Fam is now Father Abraham. Glory be to God! Please keep them (Fr. Abraham and his wife, Dalia) in your prayers.

Father Abraham is in the middle wearing a red vest.

Dalia sent over a few of the details…

There was so much JOY! The entire church was so “fiery” and everyone was singing and dancing (Africa style) to rejoice with the new priest. Also, 5 older priests from Africa became Hegomen. This was the first time in history that a priest was ordained by Bishop Paul in Africa. So it was an amazing day for the mission here in Africa. And what made it special was that all the priests from Africa (Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Congo) were here for a priest retreat. Also, the church where the ordination took place is the church we have been serving (servants, orphans, etc) in since we have been here – so we already had a special connection with the people there.

There was a procession led by deacons and priests at the beginning bringing Michael in & Bishop with Lamb Offering. Then, he was ordained Deacon (in the boy’s altar) during the Liturgy. Then, randomly Bishop before the Bible was read, he introduced all priests visiting and the new priest that would be ordained today. Then, you’ll see the ordination of Father Abraham. Father Abraham said the Commemoration of Saints. And it was as if the angels were singing and every Saint in Heaven was singing and praying with him. It was beautiful! (we have video footage – no worries!). Then he repeated the Confession at the end of the Liturgy while holding the Body of Christ with Bishop. Then finally a procession around the church was made – and everyone was singing loudly and dancing in aisles.

Dalia, Bishop Paul, Father Abraham, and Father Moses.

Thu 22 Feb 2007

Lenten Resources

Posted by Andrew Mitry under Christianity, Orthodoxy
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Yesterday’s quiet time captured the purpose of fasting and prayer in Lent. We must subdue the flesh and compete for the prize.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NKJV)

Here are a few great resources for Lent, if you have other suggestions, please feel free to comment.

Articles:
A Joyful Journey – His Grace Bishop Serapion
A Practical Journey Through Lent – His Grace Bishop Suriel
A Spiritual Study of the â€œSong of Songsâ€ During the Holy Great Fast – His Grace Bishop Youssef
An Introduction to Great Lent – Father Alexander Schmemann
Communal Worship and Fasting – His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
Father Stephen Freeman on Lent
Great Lent: Our Journey To Meet Our Heavenly Bridegroom – Saint John Chrysostom
Guide to the Holy Pascha Week (PDF)
Journey Into Orthodox Christian Lent – Frederica Mathewes-Green
Journey to the Bosom of the Father – Hegomen Pishoy Kamel
Preparing for the Great Lent – His Grace Bishop Serapion
Spiritual Exercises While Fasting – His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
The Deep Meaning of Fasting – Father Matta El Maskeen (Matthew the Poor)
The Gospel Readings of the Great Lent
The Holy Great Fast and Spiritual Discipline – His Grace Bishop Youssef

Books:
A Journey through Great Lent – Father Stephen Belonick
Daily Lenten Meditations – Presbytera Emily Harakas
Great Lent: Journey to Pascha – Alexander Schmemann
On Wealth and Poverty – Saint John Chrysostom
The Seven Words of Our Lord on the Cross – His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
The Unseen Warfare Series – Jack Sparks
The Way of a Pilgrim & The Pilgrim Continues – R.M. French
Thine is the Power and the Glory – His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
Way of the Ascetics – Tito Colliander

Sermons:
Lenten Themes and Holy Week Sermons
Sermons on the Lenten Sunday Gospels

Thu 22 Feb 2007

Remarkable Customer Service

Posted by Andrew Mitry under Web/Tech
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On Monday, Joel Spolsky wrote Seven steps to remarkable customer service from the perspective of a software company. I think we can apply a lot of the same principles to the information technology service as well.

Thu 22 Feb 2007

2007 Christian Bloggers Survey

Posted by Andrew Mitry under General
[2] Comments

I participated in the 2007 Christian Bloggers Survey last month, the results are now ready. Here is the list of participants, what is interesting is that the largest group are senior pastors:

Wed 21 Feb 2007

Connecting to the Console and Shadowing with Remote Desktop

Posted by Andrew Mitry under Web/Tech
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Remote Desktop Icon One of the staple utilities of any tech working with Windows is Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Geeks are Sexy highlights a few handy tricks that I didn’t know you could do with RDP.

RDP Magic: Exploring the Console and Shadowing Functionalities of RDP

Mon 19 Feb 2007

Start or Revamp your Church Website

Posted by Andrew Mitry under Web/Tech
[6] Comments

I have gotten a lot of emails recently asking for advice about starting or revamping a website for their church. Most of the inquirers are volunteers and not very technical. I definitely am not a fan of building static HTML websites with FrontPage or DreamWeaver and then uploading to a web host. I find that these sites often become stale once the volunteer developer gets busy. Ideally, the site runs on some sort of easy to use Content Management System. The content management system allows less technical users to post content without too much hassle, keeping the site fresh and up to date.

This is an initial list of sites that I have looked at over the past couple of years, if you have experience with any of these solutions or any other suggestions or ideas, please feel free to comment.

Hosted services that allow users with little technical expertise to get up and running quickly:
Designed for churches:
Ekklesia 360 : Church Content Management System (CMS)
Orthodox Web Solutions
SiteOrganic

Designed for non-profits:
Wild Apricot

General purpose:
Google Apps for Your Domain
Homestead

Content Management Systems that require some technical skill to get up and running:
Designed for churches:
Web-Empowered Church

Blogging Platforms:
WordPress
Habari

General Purpose:
Joomla
Drupal
Plone
ExpressionEngine

Comparing Open-Source Content Management Systems -Idealware weighs the strengths and weaknesses of Joomla, Drupal, and Plone

At St. Mark’s we are currently using Joomla for most of our sites but we are considering moving to Drupal to take advantage of some of its advanced features.

Mon 19 Feb 2007

Cars that drive themselves

Posted by Andrew Mitry under Web/Tech
1 Comment

One of the technologies that I really hope to see in my lifetime is the robot-driven car. Many of us spend a ridiculous amount of time driving around and that time could be better put to use if the car drove itself. I envision that the car would be completely redesigned, with models that will be a mobile office on wheels.

Apparent the first wave of intelligent robot cars will be tested in a DARPA competition this November. Sebastian Thrun, a Computer Science / Electrical Engineering professor at Stanford predicts that we will see robot-driven cars by 2030. God willing, I may just live to see the day!

Mon 19 Feb 2007

A few links I would like to highlight…

Posted by Andrew Mitry under General
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anchorite.org

Archive for February, 2007

Social Networking with Ning

Sticking with Katharion

Michael Fam Ordained to the Priesthood

Lenten Resources

Remarkable Customer Service

2007 Christian Bloggers Survey

Connecting to the Console and Shadowing with Remote Desktop

Start or Revamp your Church Website

Cars that drive themselves

A few links I would like to highlight…

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