Archive for 2006-05

If you are here for an invite, leave a comment and include your email address in the comment body. Email addresses left on this site are protected from spambots. Be prepared to forward your invite on to the next person. We share.

I’ve had the pleasure of scoping out one of the next cool web 2.0 apps, eBible, which offers a simple way of studying the Bible online. I love that the developers did not look for a complicated solution to Bible study, but rather chose a simple, easy to grasp interface with large type and subtle functionality. There are lots of things going on behind the scenes, producing the nice effects, but up front you get just what you came for—the Word.

If, however, you are looking for a bit more to help you study, there are lots of tools right at your fingertips. eBible features five translations:

• King James Version
• New King James Version
• New Century Version
• New American Standard Bible
• The Message

You may also glean from Nelson’s New Illustrated Commentary available conveniently in the sidebar or within the context of the scripture by an obscure, grey C icon. You may also wish to compare texts between Bible versions. No problem. Open the split pane view and choose your second version. In an instant, you are viewing the same passage of scripture in two panes.

The core function of eBible is search. In fact, the index page of the site features a rather Google-esque search window warmly inviting you to query to your heart’s content. Likewise, while your search results are being displayed, a top-mount search box gives quick access to a new search or cross-reference. Topical searches are also welcome.

The revenue model for eBible is advertising, though I didn’t know this until after about 30 minutes of using the site. That’s not to say that the ads are unobtrusive, but if you use eBible at its most basic level, scripture reading and commentary research, you aren’t likely to see an ad. But as you dig deeper into topical research and into the Answers or Resources section, you will likely see text ads appearing for related products. (I even saw CrossConnector advertising there–a fantastic Christian web 2.0 product.)

There are only a couple things I might change or want to see improved, but nothing that really inhibits this great product. (I had to nitpick. :)) First, while scrolling through passages side-by-side, the verses occasionally slide further on one of the translations forcing verses to “split” rather than stay mirrored. This just means if you really want to compare verse-to-verse, you might have to scroll just a bit.

Second, the scripture headings (titles for certain passages) seem a bit large. I think it’s more of a line-height issue than a font-size issue. It breaks up the text too much in my opinion, especially when the heading is only for a scripture or two and then another appears. Subtle issue in design which is very much to taste. (I may be the only one who cares. :))

After it’s all said and done, eBible is an excellent web application. It’s a welcome tool in my arsenal and I’m proud to see this level of excellence in a Christian product.

Also, I happen to have one invite to give away. Because the project is still in beta, eBible is not open to the public. But you can get in! Just be the first to comment here requesting the invite and that’s it, you’re in. One condition, every invite recipient receives one invite to give away. I would love it if the winner gave the next invite to the next commenter, so that we could roll along and get as many folks in as possible. That would be nice.

eBible

Technorati Tags: Bible, God, web 2.0, Christianity, study, research, beta, review, invite

Thanks to the kind folks in the Godbit forums for my invitation to the eBible club, namely Robert Adams.

Addendum: I totally missed the Godbit review of eBible. Worth a look. (And frighteningly, Jeremy and I both used the word Google-esque, dash and all..) Thanks for the radar blip, Jim.

The funniest thing I’ve seen in a while and possibly the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen any politician do, let alone the President of the United States of America. Awesome!!

Link to Google Video

Technorati Tags: bush, video, funny, c-span

Thanks, Tim.

I want one.

Heather, our Pastor of Discipleship at NCC, recently interviewed me for the Tuesday Spotlight on the Zone Leaders’ blog. It became quite a writing adventure for me and it’s one of the first times I’ve really wrangled a lot of my experiences into one, discernable epistle. It’s long, but trust me when I say, the original draft was loooong. You’re looking at a 60% lighter version.

Thought I’d pass it on in the event someone might actually like to know a bit more about me. Some of it is quite weird. Also, if you don’t care one lick about it, that’s totally cool. You don’t have to visit. Plus, you’ll be blind to all the great things you missed out on by not reading it. Ignorance is bliss.

Tuesday Spotlight

I’m always hunting for the next little tool that will help me solve a problem or simply view an issue under a different light. The Colorblind Web Page Filter performs a simple scan of a site’s color palette and then converts those colors to the nearest viewable color as seen by people with color-limited vision. It helps tremendously. For the first time, I can view sites through colorblind “eyes” to gain a little perspective on what color combinations are difficult to read. I’ve been doing some reading on contrast lately, so it’s very timely for me to find this particular resource.

I came upon the filter while perusing AboutURL, a nifty site that is prepared for researching information about any URL. Also a very handy little resource. It’s one of those, “Now why didn’t I think of compiling that?” kind of sites.

Technorati Tags: color, colorblind, accessibility, contrast, abouturl, research

Recently, I stumbled upon a link to an audio recording/editing application called REAPER. There was very little information available, except that REAPER is freeware and a young, but active project. Most of us are probably familiar with Audacity, the open source pro audio tool. I’m often asked for tips on podcasting and for folks on a budget, I offer Audacity as the basic solution for recording/editing.

This evening I decided to download and poke around in REAPER (Rapid Environment for Audio Prototyping and Efficient Recording). Since I’m on a laptop at the moment, with no real means of recording, I took the rather cheesy sample tracks that were already laid out on the editing board and tweaked and toyed with them. The main window is reminiscent of Adobe Audition and for anyone used to working with editors, you’ll be comfortable. Dropping down the menus and perusing the interface leads me to believe that this light app is rather full-featured. How this little jewel pans out in the long run is another question altogether. Let’s just say I didn’t get a chance to perform a benchmark study.

In most cases, I try to steer clear of what I consider “obscure” applications—as in this case: few sources on the Net are using or reviewing REAPER and the main website is not very enticing. Part of the reason for this could simply be REAPER’s infancy, but I still don’t advise using beta applications unless you are ready for potential issues. With that (disclaimer) said, REAPER could be just the tool you need if you are into podcasting or multi-track recording and don’t find Audacity pleasing (for whatever reason).

One additional note: REAPER is freeware for now, but it’s in the beta stage of development. At version 1.0, the developers intend to convert to shareware which could include a nominal fee.

Read Up | Download

Technorati Tags: audio, editing, recording, reaper, freeware, beta

Today, Skype announced that calls made to landline or mobile phones in the U.S. or Canada (from within the same) will be absolutely free until December 31, 2006. Calls will be delivered via SkypeOut, which had a nominal per-minute fee for landline and mobile calling until today.

I love Skype and this helps affirm why. When Ebay scooped up this VoIP service a few moons ago, I worried that Skype would fall into the big Internet business trap and become just another ad-laden, behemoth app. But, *knock on wood*, things have continued to move in the right direction for Skype.

If you still haven’t checked out Skype, you must. For those of us already down with it, happy calling.

Skype Announces Free Landline and Mobile Calls

Skype Me

Digg It

Technorati Tags: skype, voip, free, phone

Though it’s not the first service of its kind, Google Trends is a project in the Google Labs that should prove very useful for search term trend analysis. Add multiple terms to view a comparison chart. It’s kind of like Google Fight, without the fight.

Google Trends

Technorati Tags: google, trend, analysis, statistics, search

The Buzz is still rolling. Today, we hear from Mark again as well as Brad Abare from the Center for Church Communications. There is also a Branding Panel in the afternoon that I’m really looking forward to.

Yesterday was amazing. It is just phenomenal to have 300 pastors converge on D.C. to connect and be energized from networking and mentorship. Mark talked about the Buzz Commandments and Ed discussed the creative leader. There was a definite rhythm to each session, unique in its own way, but also complimentary to each other.

The buzz is rocking!

Technorati Tags: buzz conference

For bloggers writing about experiences at Buzz, drop a Technorati tag in your post titled Buzz Conference. Not a necessity if you aren’t sure what the heck I’m talking about, but it will be helpful to organize some of our insights into tagged posts. Makes the researching easier.

Just a few hours until we launch. Most folks are in town now. We kick off the Theater Church Forum at 9 a.m. sharp. Conference registration opens at noon and the first session begins at 1:00. For more detail on the schedule, check out buzzconference.com.

One last note for you blog-wielding conferees—don’t forget to join us for breakfast on Friday morning at 8 a.m. at Ebenezers, one block east of Union Station. It’s the Buzzin’ Bloggers Breakfast Bonanza and we’ll round up a good time for sure, but we won’t round up breakfast—you’ll have to bring your own grub.

Conversation tracked at Technorati

Conversation tracked at Google Blog Search

Technorati Tags: buzz conference