tech 10 commandments

While on the 10 commandments, here is a fairly old one from the Joy of Tech – but still relevant today.

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twitter 10 commandments

Found these whilst I was stumbling around the web. You may have already seen them, but they’re worth a laugh or two.

If God Texts the Ten Commandments – by Jamie Quatro (here is where I found them)

1. no1 b4 me. srsly
2. dnt wrshp pix/idols
3. no omg’s
4. no wrk on w/end (sat 4 now;sun l8r)
5. pos ok – ur m&d r cool
6. dnt kill ppl
7. :-X only w/m8
8. dnt steal
9. dnt lie re:bf
10. dnt ogle ur bf’s m8, or ox, or dnky. myob

m, pls rite on tabs & giv 2 ppl

ttyl, JHWH

ps. wwjd?

i have moved

Hello all,

My blog has changed address and can be found here at sustainingword.com

Hope to see you again soon.


Andrew

make an audio book from any text source

I was reading a blog that I regularly visit yesterday and stumbled upon instructions for creating audio books from any type of text file. It was so awesome that I put it out on Twitter early today and have been requested to “fill in the blanks”.


First and foremost, credit goes to Rick Mansfield and his blog This Lamp. Unfortunately for you users of PC’s and the multiple variants of Windows, this will not help you, but if your a Mac user you will find all the instructions here.


The example that Rick describes is converting a christian resource book into an audio book. Yet this method works for anything that contains text – I have created audio books from pdf files, Word docs and Pages docs, the list is endless.


One last thing that Rick doesn’t mention is that when you have your new “Text to Speech” file in iTunes, you can then convert it into iTunes audio book format by running a script called Make Bookmarkable by Doug Adams and you can download the Apple Script here.


Rick in his post mentions how little time it takes to create an audio book from scratch. One of the ones that I created was The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. The final product was an audio book that would take 10 hours and 54 minutes to listen through – total time to prepare and convert on my MacPro was about 8 minutes. 


It’s an absolutely awesome way to get audio books onto your iPod or iPhone. The possibilities are endless – I can see myself converting some of my daughter’s Uni text books next year so she can listen to them as she commutes to Uni, rather than having to carry them with her.


I hope you enjoy exploring these unlimited possibilities. If you’re a Windows user and you know of a way to do it on that platform, I’d love for you to share the secrets.


Happy audio book listening!

bible study options

I’m a Mac user, and proud of it. When I made the switch from Windows in 2004 the biggest challenge that confronted me was what bible study software would I use. For all of my Windows life (from 3.0 to XP) I had used various versions of QuickVerse and it’s associated atlases and dictionaries.


Unfortunately for me, QuickVerse only came in a Windows version, and PC emulation at the time was terribly slow, so it was not an option for me to consider. I therefore had to find a new bible study software – there were a number of free/cheap options, but the standout was Accordance.

Now using Accordance was more a paradigm shift compared to switching to Mac and something that took some time to come to grips with. It was frustrating as it limited my ability to study and prepare messages, but over time I have come to appreciate it more and more – it’s power in compiling searches from a huge array of resources is awesome. To me, Accordance, makes the complex simple – a bit like a great teacher of the Word.


Five years on, after attending a training seminar in Sydney, I love Accordance. Yet now, Logos has recently released Logos4, clearly their best offering yet.

The Mac version is currently in Alpha mode and it’s fun to be a part of software development, whereas the Windows version is a complete release. With the advent of exceptional Windows virtualisation programs such as Parallels and VM Fusion, running a Windows bible study application is no longer a chore for Mac users.


The Windows version of Logos4 certainly has a Mac feel to it, but not quite. Yet is a great tool and has a great interface for students of the Word – powerful searching and great layout of resources for viewing. A neat bonus from Logos is that they have released an iPhone App that will sync your library with the phone – unfortunately, no information is presently able to be stored on the iPhone – it must by streamed over Wi-fi or 3G phone networks.


It’s a great position for the modern Christian to find themselves in – two great bible study apps for either of your operating system of choice.


For me, I will use both as they do different things in some ways better than their competitor. But if I had to choose one, it would be Accordance, as there motto says, the bible is central.


So if you’re in the market for new software, please consider Accordance and I Know you won’t regret it. Go ahead, make the switch!





PS – if you don’t want to leave Windows, Accordance provides an emulator so you run run Accordance on your Windows based machine.

which web browser are you

Here is an interesting table highlighting speed performance of browsers IE8, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Opera.

What becomes most interesting is that the weakest performer, IE8 and it’s older siblings, is still the one that most people use. The fastest, Chrome, still has a small share of browser users. So why has IE8 still got the greater percentage of users? Is it ignorance or apathy, because clearly all others are way faster, others (Firefox & Safari) are more secure and there is less bloat on IE8’s competitors. Clearly Firefox is gaining on IE8, and in some statistical surveys, has surpassed it in market share.

I am amazed by some people who wouldn’t even consider trying other browsers for no apparent reason than they have been using various versions if IE since Netscape’s Navigator met its demise. For me security and speed are the key factors in determining my browser of choice, closely followed by a substantial set of features.

My browsers of choice are Safari (Mac OSX) and Firefox 3.5 when I’m running Linux or Windows. What are yours?

                            

to tweet, or not to tweet, that is a question

I was thinking recently that Twitter seems to me a good tool for guys to share their thoughts as it is quick and easy. Facebook status updates come with so much clutter and other info about how people have scored in some game that is meaningless to me. I like Facebook for the status updates, but let’s leave it at that.
So, what I want to know, is “Am I alone in this world in preferring Twitter to Facebook for the simplicity of the information sharing that it provides.
Your thoughts please.

iPhone – is it the best phone?

Well, I have had my iPhone for just on two months now, and I can honestly say that’s it is he best phone I have ever had. The Apps store gives access to a huge range of applications from games, utilities and, for importantly for me, great Bible software. The ability to have all types of programs at your disposal, with typical Apple use of use, is so good.

The only downside of such a great phone, and fantastic iPod, is that both my kids now want one! Teenagers!

Let them save up their own money.