Adobe Freebie

Last September, I posted about a few freebies, including two online image editors. Well, Adobe has jumped into the conversation with an online version of "Photoshop" called Adobe Photoshop Expressions. I place "Photoshop" in quotes because this online version really isn't that powerful. To be fair, it is an online program. It seemed like it has the features that iPhoto or Picassa has for very basic image editing. It is nice to have the ability to store up to 2gb of photos free on their site, but overall I wasn't overwhelmed. I presume that if you absolutely have to make some minor adjustments to an image while not on your personal machine, it could help you out. Though I have to admit I have never been in a situation like that before. Try it out and let me know what you think. I might be missing something.

Free 411...and more

Google unleashes a free 411 service. Nothing that I can say here that the video doesn't cover. But what about application? So I can get free 411, how does that help the church? Glad you asked.

Because Google is dominating the search world, and is rumored to be starting their own cell phone company, their presence in the hands of the consumers of America (and the world) is growing rapidly. And the church can benefit. Google has something called the Google Local Business Center. It's basically the service that allows you to input your business/church's important information so that the various Google tools can yield an accurate result. That is how this new Goog-411 service helps you.

As seen in the video, the caller can choose to receive a text message, or be directed to a map of the location they are calling about. If they are calling about a church in your area, you want to make sure your information is accurate so they can find it. Appropriate open hours (service times would be a great fit here instead of office hours) and contact information are available to anyone who needs them. This is a great, easy and free way to make your church easier to find for those who are looking. Oh ya, and it saves you a buck if you are looking for a place to eat in the area.

iPhoneslide

I found out about a great service today called iPhoneslide. It is great for a few reasons. First, its free. Second, it really makes managing all these various online tools nice when it comes to uploading media. Don't let the "iPhone" part of the name scare you off, it works from any cell phone or computer.

The idea is simple. I have a Facebook account, a blog through Blogger, and am playing around with a Flickr account. Now, if you are anything like me, I don't fully understand the depths of each of these tools. Because of that, I typically post similar information on each site. And there comes the hassle. I don't want post the same photo to three different sites three different times. I then say "bah! forget it", and my photos go nowhere. Well, the wonderful people at iPhoneslide have solved that problem, and more.

The idea is to be able to take your photos from your phone and upload them from wherever you are to wherever you want them to be. That list includes Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, Wordpress, TypePad and Blogger. It is as simple as emailing your photo to post@iphoneslide.com. You will receive an email back with a link. Follow the link, and you are asked which sites you would like your photo uploaded to. You can even include title and descriptions for the photos by using the correct fields in the original email (check the FAQs). Amazing!

Obviously this has some really cool applications from the road. "Look, I'm stuck in the airport because of snow", or in the case of us southern Californians, "Look, I'm stuck on the freeway because there is a giant wall of fire in front of me". But it makes the upload to these various sites a lot easier even from the computer. Pretty cool stuff.

Doccument to PDF

One of the problems I often ran into at my last job was people needing to convert their word/excel files to PDF. As the graphic designer, I was the only one who had Acrobat Professional. It's great software, but way to expensive for everyone in the office to have a copy. So, each time a PDF needed to be created, I would get an email or a call asking for a few minutes of my time. Well, my wife had the same need at home a few days ago, and searched for an online solution. And here it is. You can upload any of the following format, and it will email you the pdf once it is completed. Great!

-MS Word (DOC)	-MS Publisher (PUB)	JPG, PNG
-MS Word (RTF)	-MS Excel (XLS)	BMP, TIFF
-MS PowerPoint (PPT)	-HTML (MHT)	WMF, EMF
-MS PowerPoint (PPS)	-Text (TXT)	GIF

Even if you have Acrobat Professional, this may be an easier way to convert files.

Rethinking Podcasting and Notes

Podcasting isn't news, but I have always been a bit confused at how the church uses the medium. The vast majority of churches simply rebroadcast what the congregation already heard that week in church - the sermon. While this is very beneficial for those who were out of town or overslept, it isn't really that beneficial to those who attended that week. Obviously there are some advantages to doing this, and I know I subscribe to a few church podcasts to hear services of churches I love, but aren't in my area. But I want to challenge the mindset of "podcasts are for sermons". To do that, I want to present you with a simple piece of free software, and a really cool tutorial that got me thinking.

First, the software. It is called iPod Notes, and it is a very simple tool to use. 3rd generation and newer ipods support iPod notes, but often aren't used. This simple program helps you create and manage notes easier. Now, who really cares about notes? Lets chat about the tutorial.

I found this on the macworld site from 2004, filed unders "secrets". It goes through the process of linking to audio files in your library by using some basic HTML tags in your notes. I love their example of giving a new ipod to a significant other, having them start at a note with a message that then links to romantic songs to enhance the experience. Fantastic!

Now, on to application. How can we levereage this concept in the church? I would love to see a simple study based on the weekend service. Lets say you do a mini devotional on a specific topic. More often than not, there is more than one verse that contributes to a better understanding off the topic. Instead of simply listing the verse, or even putting the reference, why not link to a narrator reading the passage? It could be a very interactive way to engage people in a totally new way. This technology has been around for quite some time, yet I haven't heard of a church leveraging it yet. Podcasting is mainstream, but, in my opinion, it lacks the interactivity that younger generations love. What applications can you think of for this clever little technology?