Insert Live Websites Into Your Next PowerPoint Presentation
Jan 28, 2009 Internet, Software
When sharing PowerPoint presentations, I always take a screen shot of a website if I need to show my audience what it looks like. This is never ideal – the full length of web pages rarely fit inside a screen shot. Fortunately, there’s a tool called LiveWeb, a free PowerPoint Add-in for both Mac and PC that lets you put real-time websites into your PowerPoint presentations.
In short, the add-in turns PowerPoint slides into a scrollable web page. Simply download the appropriate version, double click ‘LiveWeb.ppa’ after extracting the ZIP file (do not select ‘Open’ when you are prompted by your browser – you MUST download the file), and you should have a new menu item called ‘Web Pages’ under ‘Insert’. If it doesn’t work immediately, you will need to enable ‘Macros’ and change the security level to ‘Medium’. These options can be fun under ‘Tools’ on a PC. On a Mac, you will be prompted to ‘Enable Macros’ when double clicking ‘LiveWeb.ppa’ if they are not enabled already.
When selecting this menu option, it will take you through a series of alerts – asking you the URL of the website, if you would like to refresh each time you reload the slide, how big the website should be relative to slide size (I usually select 100%), and where to place the website on the slide.
As a note of caution, be sure to log-in to websites that require authentication (such as Facebook) through your presentation before it actually starts. You have to do this in View Show mode. If you stop the slide show, it will possibly log you out.
There’s a handy FAQ about PowerPoint Add-Ins here.
This is is an oldie but goodie – and I hope it’s new to some of you!
Tags: liveweb, powerpoint, Software, techniques
Wordpress.tv Launches: Your Visual Resource for All Things WordPress
Jan 27, 2009 Blogging
Anyone who has heard me speak knows I’m huge advocate of using Wordpress in ministry. Well, this somehow slipped by me last week, but Wordpress.tv launched on January 17, and it looks like an excellent resource for those of you who use Wordpress on a regular basis. The premise of the site, as the domain may suggest, is to give Wordpress users a visual way of solving their problems and answering their questions.
Anyone looking for a quick way to find video tutorials applicable to their situation should visit the How-To page to find a list of topics including:
…and more. The layout of each video page is reminiscent of Hulu. You can’t post your comments and questions below each video and let the Wordpress community respond. Looks like a great idea, and a site that I will use for learning how to do new things with an old tool.
Free Online Money Management Tools For A Weak Economy
Jan 26, 2009 Online Tools
Not to beat a dead horse, but the economy is hurting. And churches aren’t immune to the effects of it. It is more important now than ever to manage your money and manage it well. Fortunately, there are some extremely useful and free tools for doing this. Spend your money paying off your debt rather than paying for something you can get for free.
- Mint - This online money management tool allows you to set up all of your accounts online. Credit cards, checking/savings accounts, car loans, investments – if you can name it, they’ve got it. As long as you have online accounts setup with all of your financial institutions, Mint can import the information and keep it up to date at all times. Your information is safe, and there’s even an iPhone app so you can check it anytime, anywhere. See your net worth, get notifications when bills are due, and categorize transactions. You can set up budget categories for transactions so you can see if you are on budget throughout the month. Mint does have competitors – here’s a table that compares Mint with Geezeo and Wesabe.
- Finfo – “We bring you up-to-date information about college tuition, the cost of living, and more.” Ironically, part of being in a tough economy is finding a new job. Finfo helps you analyze how to salary you are being offered compares with the cost of living in that area. In also helps you plan when sending someone to college, and offers budgeting tools as well.
- MyCheckFree – If you’re bank doesn’t offer online billpay, MyCheckFree is a site that allows you to pay your bills for free. Though there are a limited number of payees, it can take some of the stress off of organizing and sending your bills in on time.
- Online Billpay – This is available through most online banking sites, and is often free. If your bank doesn’t offer online banking, I would highly recommend finding one that does. With online billpay, you can setup payments in advance to be withdrawn from your account when bills are due. Many banks, such as mine, will even send paper checks to businesses that don’t accept online payments. I don’t pay a dime for postage, and it saves me that hassle of writing a check and sending it in on time. I know when my money is coming out of my account and what my balance will be when it all goes through. To top it off, I can setup recurring payments for rent and any other bills that don’t fluctuate in price. If your bank does charge for this service, weigh the benefits and decide if it is worth it.
It’s inevitable that there’s a ‘must-have’ tools that I didn’t cover. I’d love to hear how you’re managing your money.
Tags: economy, free, management, money, Online Tools
Three Firefox Add-Ons I Use At Work
Jan 23, 2009 Software
I just upgraded my browser in my office to Firefox 3. Honestly, I thought I had done this sooner, but while searching for add-ons I realized I was still using an older version. As a result of upgrading my browser, I had to update some of the add-ons I was using. I thought I would share three of them that Iuse on a daily basis while in the office.
- Meebo – Most of our department uses MSN for messanging. While I normally use GTalk and AIM, I was the odd man out. To be able to keep up with them all, I signed up for an account at at MSN and then Meebo, which lets you manage all of your different messaging services from one screen. The Firefox add-on places your buddy list at the left side of your browser. While it takes up some of my ‘browsing real estate’, I have a 20″ monitor – so there’s still plenty of room. The list can also be hidden at any time.
- Fire.fm – I can’t work without music. It’s way to quiet to concentrate. Yes, you read that correctly. Much like it does when I’m working out, music gives me inspiration to get things done. Fire.fm taps into the “Pandora” side of Last.fm, letting you play a station of similar artsits to the one you initially type in. It places a small player above the bookmarks bar.
- Firebug – This one is for the web developers out there. This add-on lets you inspect web pages. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page. Incredibly useful for fixing problems in your code, or learning how someone else coded their website.
I have not yet been able to use PingFire, which ties into Ping.fm to let you update all of your social networking statuses at once. I’m not sure what the problem is, but I’d love to figure it out.
What are you guys using?
Tags: browser- add-ons, firefox, work
President Obama on The Web: Cleaning It Up, Networking With Supporters
Jan 20, 2009 Social Media
DISCLAIMER: This post has nothing to do with my personal political views, that of the company I work for, or any other organization that I am involved with. This post is simply about the way a politician successfully uses the internet to change the way we interact with our government.
Regardless of our political views, I think web-savvy nerds everywhere can appreciate what President Obama is doing with his online presence. While many people were impressed with BarackObama.com and Change.gov, there was some speculation over whether or not the beautiful look and feel would carry over to other official government sites. Well, my friends, change has come WhiteHouse.gov, and it is a huge leap forward from what it was before.
Interestingly, Obama’s Director of New Media, Macon Phillips, introduced himself on the White House blog today. Don’t quote me on this, but he may be the first person in history to hold this position. If not, he is arguably the first person to do it effectively.
Not only can Obama’s websites hang with the best, but he uses social networking to connect with his supporters as well. Most notably, he has over 3.8 million fans on Facebook at the time of this writing, as well as 144,000 followers on Twitter. What’s interesting about his Twitter account is that he is following over 20,000 more people than follow him. Of course, he will probably never actually view or update this account, but he is at least using his team to attempt to be more transparent, which I think younger generations will greatly appreciate.
He also uses YouTube as an outlet to share information with his supporters, and it appears to be working. You can’t argue this with a user (especially a politician) who has over 20.5 million channel views.
You can find him on other prominent social media/networking sites including MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr, Digg, and more at the bottom-right column of this page.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether the majority of these accounts will be maintained or long forgotten. Was all of this a ploy to gain votes? Is he legitimately trying to connect government with a younger audience? These questions cannot yet be answered.
I think we can learn a lot from the new administration from a technological perspective in regards to our ministry. It’s clear from the numbers I’ve shared that the web is important. If President Obama gets it, then churches and pastors everywhere need to get it too. Technology can lay the groundwork for an authentic relationship in the future. And while most of us with never meet President Obama, technology can make people feel connected to what is going on, as if they are a part of it. Face-to-face interaction is best, but for the times in between, the internet can help. And in some cases, like President Obama, we may be able to connect with people that we don’t have the opportunity to meet face to face.
Let’s put our ‘party hats’ aside, and pat President Obama on the back for what he has accomplished online. And then let’s take a few notes.
Tags: barack obama, new media, president, Social Media, social networking, web
The Reason Your Church Must Twitter – Released Today
Jan 16, 2009 Twitter
I bought my copy of The Reason Your Church Must Twitter by Anthony Coppedge, which was released today. While I’m not officially recommending it (I haven’t read it yet), a quick skim through the book revealed some potentially valuable information. It’s only $5. Skip that latte, and read!
How the Digital Transition Effects You
Jan 14, 2009 Technology
Its pretty obvious by now that “on February 17, 2009 all full-power broadcast television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting on analog airwaves and begin broadcasting only in digital” (taken from dtv.gov). While we don’t normally sit around the church and watch analog television, there is another aspect of this transition that may effect some of the non-TV equipment that you use at your church. Youth Specialties has a great post about this on their blog. Here’s an excerpt from it:
“…as devices come out, microphones using the UHF/VHF bands (basically every wireless mic on the market) may begin to pick up interference. (static, buzzing, etc.) Additionally, if you use older 700 MHz microphones you may need to replace them in the near future.”
Tags: church, digital, lwin, television, transition, tv, youth specialties
Two Ways To Send Text Messages To Your Youth Group For Free
Jan 12, 2009 Mobile
There are several text message services aimed at youth workers. However, it’s probably fair to say that all of them come at a cost. The more youth you have, or the more messages you send, the more you pay. But what what if you could text your students for free? You can.
The first one can only be accomplished if you have a self-hosted WordPress blog. When WordPress is installed on your own web host, you can add plugins that may not be available WordPress.com or other blogging platforms. EasySMS is a plugin-based-widget for self-hosted Wordpress blogs that you can add to your sidebar. It’s a small form on which the user must give their full name, phone number, and select their carrier. They must also agree to be responsible for any charges associated with subscribing to your SMS service (you can customize the message). After filling out the form successfully, a confirmation code is sent to the phone, which the user must then return to the site and enter in the form.
This method is great because you can split your subscribers into groups, sending custom messages to each one. To state the obvious, you could setup groups for Jr. High, Sr. High, and Parents. Another plus to this method is that you manage it from the admin area of your blog. So while you’re posting youth group news, you can immediately send out a message to the group telling them to visit the site, or give them the headlines you just posted. The downside of this method is that it requires your subscribers to visit the site in order to receive messages from you. This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on how engaged your students are with your website.
Last week I had a speaking engagement in New Orleans where I presented, “Ten Things To Do, Not To Do, and To Be Aware of With Technology”. I love getting the opportunity to speak because I am able to share what little knowledge I have acquired over the years, as well as get feedback from others. During the presentation, someone spoke up about their method for texting a group, which I found to be a pretty smart idea.
Every mobile carrier assigns a suffix to their phone numbers that works like an email address (For instance, 615-555-5555@txt.att.net). When using this address, the email you send will be sent as an SMS message to a mobile device. You can setup groups of contacts using your email service or desktop email client. Then you can send messages directly to targeted groups via their mobile devices without the subscriber having to visit your site (as long as you have received their permission at some point).
View a list of carrier suffixes here. The original file was found here.
Hope this helps!
Should My Church Start a Blog?
Jan 9, 2009 Blogging
The most appropriate way to answer the question on whether or not to start a church blog is to sit down with your church staff and ask more questions.
- Is it a tool or a toy?
- What problem are you trying to solve?
- What is the return on ministry?
According to The Blogging Church, a so-far great read by Brian Bailey and Terry Storch, you shouldn’t start a church blog until you are satisfied with your answers to these questions. I think the hardest one of these to answer is number three – What is the return on ministry?
The answer is likely going to be different for nearly every church. Bailey visits a few possible answers:
- Casting the vision of the church again and again
- Connecting volunteers with each other and church staff
- Knowledge sharing and the support of other church leaders
- Make a big church feel small (by providing honest insights)
Bailey also points out that there is no other technology that can provide the benefits blogging can with the same minimal investment in training, time and money. Ultimately, Bailey finds no reason why blogging is wrong for any church. On that point, I definitely agree.
The Inevitable Macworld Post
Jan 6, 2009 Apple
If you follow technology at all, you know that Apple held their annual Macworld event today to announce the new toys they’ve created. Here’s the shortlist of them:
- iLife ‘09 – Includes iPhoto ‘09, which now uses face recognition to organizes your photos.
- iWork ‘09 – Includes Keynote ‘09, which has an iPhone/iPod touch app to accompany it. Also, the new iWork.com will be in beta today. Looks exactly like the iWork software, but online. Free temporarily.
- 17″ Machbook Pro – “The world’s lightest and thinnest 17 inch notebook.”
- iTunes store – tiered pricing, DRM free songs, download on iPhone over 3G rather than wifi. Good improvements.
I’m keeping it brief because there are several other sites that can do a much better job giving the details than I can, including Engadget and Macworld.
