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I just registered for the Fall 2007 Roundtable in Leawood, Kansas, October 2-4. I missed out on the spring roundtable but I am excited to make it this time around. If you haven’t registered yet, I would suggest you hurry or you may end up observing

Reminder: Our local chapter of the Church IT RoundTable will be meeting at St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, noon on August 24th.

I saw a thread on IT Discuss a few days back on how staff cell phones are managed.  We are actually going through a reorg of our system right now.  Currently, if you are approved for cell phone and mobile email access, we issue a Treo 700p and add a line to our Sprint Corporate account.  We are moving to employee liable plans for everyone except clergy.  When phones are used for church purposes we will reimburse $30 for voice and $15 for data monthly.  We are handing off existing equipment to the staff, but they will be responsible for maintaining and/or purchasing their own phones in the future.  We officially support the Palm OS Treo line, but there are plenty of other phones that support ActiveSync as well.

The Coptic Orthodox Church annually celebrates the Fast of the Virgin Mary starting from August 7th and concludes with a feast commemorating the assumption of her body on August 22nd. I get a lot of questions about the Orthodox View of the Holy Theotokos (Mother of God), here are a few great resources:

• Facing Up To Mary, a booklet by Fr. Peter Gillquist – Why is it important to honor Mary and call her “blessed”? This booklet will lay to rest much of the contemporary confusion concerning Mary, and will provide help for those seeking to understand her role in our lives.
• Five Virtues of Saint Mary, a sermon by His Grace Bishop Moussa.
  
• Mary, Ever-Virgin, a booklet by Fr. John Hainsworth – Every sincere Christian acknowledges that Christ was born of a Virgin. But from earliest times, the Church has also held that Mary remained a virgin even after giving to the Holy Child. How is this so? The author examines this long-held Christian doctrine, looks at the key biblical passages and addresses some of the major areas of concern for modern Christians.
• Mary the Mother of God, by Saint Gregory Palamas – A collection of some of the greatest homilies ever written on the Theotokos, including Gregory’s celebrated sermon “On the Entry of the Mother of God into the Holy of Holies.” 78 pages.
  
• On Saint Mary, a sermon by His Grace Bishop Moussa.
• Saint Mary in the Orthodox Concept, Part I.
• The Assumption of the Theotokos, a sermon by Deacon Raouf Ibrahim.
• The Blessing of Sacrifice, a sermon by Fr. Anthony Messeh.
• The Holy Theotokos: A Model For All Mankind, an article by Inas Michael.
• The Holy Virgin St. Mary, a pamplet by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. (Also availble as a PDF).
• The Life of Prayer According to the Theotokos, a sermon by Fr. Bishoy Andrawes.
• The Mother of God, a blog post by Fr. Stephen Freeman.
• The Mystery of Saint Mary, a homily by Jacob of Serug (5th/6th Century)
• Theotokos on OrthodoxWiki
• The Truth About the Virgin Mary, a sermon by Fr. Anthony Messeh.
• The Virgin’s Fast, a blog post By Fr. Augustinos Hanna.
• Treasures of the Fathers: On the Holy Theotokos, A Discourse on the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, by Saint Basil of Seleucia, translated by Fr. George Dion Dragas, Protopresbyter.

A lot of my friends keep asking when I am going to break down and get the iPhone, I tell them that while it truly is an innovative device, it just doesn’t cut it for me. In addition to a a great web browsing experience, there are a few features that the I would like to see in my next phone. We will have to wait and see if the second generation iPhone or the rumored Gphone is released with any of these features…

• 3G Internet – I surf the web a lot from my phone (I have EVDO now)
• Full support for Exchange ActiveSync or something equivalent – I could live with Google syncing calendar, contacts and email back to Google Apps.
• Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) – allows seamless call roaming and handover between your wifi network and the carrier network. T-Mobile’s HotSpot@Home is an example of UMA.
• Going along with UMA, standard SIP client support would be great, allowing for VoIP calls across WiFi or the 3G network. VoIP would not only save money, but allow for direct connectivty with the VoIP based office phones systems.

We have completed our migration from Good Mobile Messaging to ActiveSync. Overall, ActiveSync is working great for us and considering the price, a better fit for us. Here are a few of the differences we have noticed…

ActiveSync on the Palm Treo 700p:
Positives

• Native application on the Palm – no software to install (other than the EAS Update).
• Use of default Palm Apps for Calendar, Contacts and Email – these apps have intuitive, well designed user interfaces.
• Email, Contacts and Calendars items are delivered real time (direct push).
• Global Address Book lookup.
• Support for emailing photos from the Treo camera.
• No separate server software to manage or middlemen involved in relaying
• No additional licensing costs! All you need is Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or newer and an Internet enabled mobile that supports ActiveSync..

Negatives

• No access to email folders other than the inbox.
• No centralized user control – if the phone is lost or stolen, there is no way for an administrator to remotely lock out the data.
• The email application does not save your state, if you make or receive a phone call while reading an email, when you return you are greeted with the default inbox listing.
• No syncing of tasks or memos.

Good Mobile Messaging on the Palm Treo 700p:
Positives

• Email application has a preview option for the emails when browsing through a folder.
• Access to all personal email folders on the Exchange server.
• Saved state in all applications – when you make a call, you can return right where you left off.
• Centralized user and application management – makes for easy mobile deployment, quick phone restores and remote termination.
• Syncing calendar, contacts, email, memos, and tasks.
• Global Address List access
• Support for additional custom applications (such as accessing SharePoint data off the internal network).

Negatives

• Good Mobile Messaging does not use any of the native Palm applications, it installs its own suite which is not as intuitive, user friendly or stable.
• No support for emailing photos from the Treo camera.
• Separate server software – Good Server and Management Console have to be installed and maintained on a separate box from the Exchange Server.
• Middlemen – Good relays the data for you.
• Licensing Costs – Good has switched to a pricing model similar to Blackberry, users have to add the service through their mobile carrier.

This morning’s quiet time was Daniel 1:11-21, where Daniel and his friends, while captive in Babylon, choose to obey God’s law rather than indulge in the king’s delicacies. After being tested, Daniel and his friends were found in better shape than the rest who ate the king’s delicacies. It made me think about how often we are tempted with seemingly small sins, the white lie, the lustful glance, the judging thought…we must purpose in our hearts, as Daniel did (vs. 8), not to defile ourselves. I leave you with one of my favorite hymns from the midnight psalmody.

O Sing unto Him – MP3 (Produced by St. Antony Monastery)

O sing unto Him who was crucified, buried, and resurrected for us, and trampled and abolished death, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
Take off the old man, and put on the new and superior one, come closer to greatness of mercy, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
All you Christian people, the priests and the deacons, glorify the Lord for he is worthy, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
Come to us o three children, whom Christ our God has lifted, and from the devil has delivered, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
For the sake of your God the Messiah, the giver of all good things, come unto us O Hananiah, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
O Azariah the zealot, evening, and morning and at noon glorify the power of the trinity, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
Behold Emmanuel our, is now in our midst O Mishael, proclaim with the voice of joy, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
Gather now and persevere, and proclaim with the priests, bless the Lord all his works, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
The heavens declare the glory, of God until this day, O you angels whom he has made, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
Now all you powers of the Lord bless his honored name, O sun and moon and all the stars, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
And those O you rain and dew, sing praises unto our Savoir, for he is God of our fathers, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
Glorify the Lord O clouds and winds, together with the souls and the spirits, O you cold and fire and heat, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
You also nights and days, light and darkness and lightning, glorify the Lover of Mankind, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
You trees and all that springs on the earth, and all that moves in the waters, mountains and the forests, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
Praise without ceasing, the Lord the King of the Kings, O you rivers and seas, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
And we also seeing them, let us say with all these things, Bless the Lord all you birds, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
O snow and ice, cattle and wild beasts, bless the Lord of Lords, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
Bless the Lord as befits Him, and not like the disobedient, all you sons of men, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
O Israel offered, before him honor and glory in a joyful voice in the voice of joy, all you priests of Emmanuel, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
You servants of the true God, the souls of the righteous, and the humble and the charitable, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
God my God is the one, who saved you from danger, O Sedrach Misach and Abdenago, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
Hurry with great haste, O you righteous of the Lord, and all the creatures he has made, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
Coolness and repose without ceasing, grant unto all of us, that we may joyfully proclaim, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.
And also Your poor servant Sarkis, make him without condemnation, that we may join all those and say, Praise Him and exalt Him above all.

Additional Reading:
The missing chapters of the book of Daniel – Part of the deuterocanonical books.