anchorite.org

Our beta testing with Neokast is going well. We are now running a 640×480 29.97 fps stream at 732 Kbps. We will continue testing at this rate for the for another week and see how it goes. If you would like to check it out, tune in to the bible study tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7pm EST.

Update: We were having issues at 732 Kpbs so we are trying out a 548 Kbps 640×480 24 fps stream tonight.

My coworker, John Basta, and I will be heading down to Dallas, Texas for the first annual Dynamic Church 07 conference next week. Dynamic Church is a Fellowship Technologies user and developer conference. We have been using the Fellowship One Church Management System (ChMS) at St. Mark’s for the past two years and we are looking forward to learning how we can better use its features in our ministries.

Any bloggers or church IT folk interested in meeting for dinner Thursday night?

GFI: EndPointScan – Scan your network for devices online
via The Healthcare IT Guy

InfoWorld: Ubuntu plans mobile Linux version
via Download Squad

Signal vs. Noise: James Dyson on living a life of failure

David Russell, David Clark and I have started planning a Washington, DC Metro Church IT RoundTable (CITRT). We have tentatively scheduled a lunch at Ebenezers for noon on May 24th, 2007. We welcome anyone active in using technology in a Christian environment to attend.

Goals for our first meeting:

1. Introduce the CITRT, PodCast and ITdiscuss (see outline from Travis Kensil)
2. Do a little networking and encourage those who are attending to invite other Church IT folks (see survey from Travis)
3. Create list of possible topics (see suggested questions from Travis)
4. A quick cool tool or technology minute (similar to what Jason does on the PodCast)

Hopefully we will eventually be able to setup dc.citrt.org for our local chapter but until then you can catch the latest updates here:
http://www.anchorite.org/blog/category/dc-citrt/

Please comment below if you will be able to join us.

If you aren’t in DC watch Tony’s post for updates on other Church IT Gatherings.

The Coptic Archdiocese of North America and Saint Anthony Coptic Orthodox Monastery, with the blessing of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, have started work on CopticWorld.org, a centralized community site for Coptic Orthodox Christians.

From their FAQ…

• Live and archived church audio and video
• Trips
• Missions
• Charities

• Sharing photos
• Sharing prayers
• Sharing Life Announcements such as weddings, baptisms, new converts, etc.

• Childcare
• Translation
• Sr. Citizen Care
• Professional services
• Sales of items
• Housing listings
• Job listings

Brief overview presentation on CopticWorld.org:

For more details, updates and information on supporting this project please go to CopticWorld.org.

Yesterday, my wife and I went to see Spider-Man 3. We aren’t frequent moviegoers, but we had heard so many great reviews we couldn’t resist. Fortunately we weren’t disappointed, it was nice to watch a movie with a well thought out story line and teaches a good lesson at the same time.

Check out the review by Frederica Mathewes-Green for more details.

Creative Synergy Podcast: Episode 5 on Church Copyright
via Tony Dye

O’Reilly Network: Top 7 Things System Administrators Forget to Do
via Geeks Are Sexy

TechCrunch: Rescue Time: Automated Time Management meets Web 2.0
Jason, this may help quantify just how much time is spent on distractions

The Savvy Technologist: Tricking administrators into using technology
Using iPods to streamline the process of recording applicant interviews

Here are a few of my favorite sites for resources on Orthodox Christianity:

• Ancient Faith Radio – A pan-Orthodox internet based radio station on the air 24 hours a day.
• CopticChurch.Net – Daily lectionary, articles, hymns, and sermons.
• OrthodoxWiki – A free-content encyclopedia and information center for Orthodox Christianity.
• OrthodoxBookstore.org – Offers a vast selection of Coptic and general Orthodox books.
• OrthodoxSearch – Indexes hundreds of well-known and obscure websites from around the world relevant to Orthodox Christianity.
• OrthodoxSermons.org – Compiling the largest collections of Orthodox Sermons on the web.
• SUSCopts.org – Contains a resources section plus Q&A with the Bishop.

Please fell free to comment with your favorite resources.

Disclaimer: I provide technical support for both OrthodoxBookstore.org and OrthodoxSermons.org.

Shortly after posting Serving up Live Streaming Video, I got an email from Neokast asking if I would like to experiment with their platform. I jumped at the opportunity and they got me setup in no time.

Neokast connected directly to my existing Windows Media publishing point and listed me on their site (still in beta). I tested out the stream this morning and it was up and running. Neokast then proceeded to send me the code that allows me to embed their player directly on our site. Embedding the code was pretty straight forward, and the player integrated cleanly. You can also double click on the player to go full screen.

I am running a limited access test this weekend before opening it up to the public. If you would like to be in on the test just comment below.

Neokast currently requires Windows XP and administrator rights to install the plugin. The plugin does install all the dependencies but it can be a little tricky for the novice to navigate. I had my mom install the plugin, it took about 20 minutes with me guiding her on the phone. Neokast said they will get me detailed instructions and FAQs soon.

If all goes well this weekend with the test, we will setup an in house Windows Media server that will service our internal clients and will also provide a higher quality stream for Neokast to pick up and share. Don’t worry, we will also keep our existing setup for those who can’t install the plugin.

Regular Expression: Dell to use Ubuntu on Linux PCs
Linux takes one more step towards mass adoption

TechSoup: Tips for Creating and Managing Content
Tools and tricks for posting good content to your nonprofit’s Web site

VOIPSpeak: trixbox 2.2 released
A much improved version of Asterisk based trixbox 2.0

ZDNet: How to REALLY erase a hard drive
Secure Erase, a set of commands embedded in most ATA drives built since 2001