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This Side of the Pulpit » Computers&Productivity

Distinguish Between “Idle TIme” and “Leisure Time” to Avoid Wasting Time

April 6th, 2011 | Add a Comment

In my ever-time-consuming search to be more productive, efficient and less of a wastrel, idler and no-goodnik, here is a link I discovered. My wife is a natural at this, though I am not. Here’s to the future! Distinguish Between “Idle TIme” and “Leisure Time” to Avoid Wasting Time. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Computers&Productivity, Personal

My Favorite Color by kutiman

March 24th, 2011 | Add a Comment

Here’s a song (and music video) stitched together from Youtube videos. It’s amazing, and actually a pretty cool song. This guy has some extreme talent…and too much time to spare. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Computers&Productivity, Fiction & Art, Personal

Are blogs dying?

June 8th, 2010 | 6 Comments

My completely and totally anecdotal observation: my blog traffic really dropped off in March of this year. I hadn’t been tracking for some time, so when I looked it up today I was surprised by how much it had fallen off. In that month. I had the feeling fewer were visiting, but when I saw the March dip, and the numbers remaining fairly stable since then, I began to wonder. Why then? What happened in March that made me loose about 1/2 the average day’s readers and keep the rest? I read my March posts to see if I could get a hint. Nothing. But then I realized it was around March when I stopped reading so many blogs and began relying on Facebook and Twitter more. I certainly stopped commenting on blogs … Read entire article »

Filed under: Computers&Productivity

Getting Things Done

May 27th, 2010 | 9 Comments

After reading about Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity for well over a year on the internet, I broke down, bought the book…and now am about to join the cult. No, dear pious Christians, it’s not a cult like you think of one, but in the full sense of the word: a cult(ure) of work and productivity and organization. You can find all (and more) you want to know about it all over the ‘net, but the fundamental premise is: get things out of your brain. Put everything on paper. Learn Latin? Write it down. Buy cat food? Write it down. Plan the next phase of your career? Write it down. Get all that stuff out of your brain so that you can process it, file it, trash it … Read entire article »

Filed under: Computers&Productivity, Personal

Lifehacker’s Motivation Boosters

May 11th, 2010 | 1 Comment

Were you the kid who listened to mom’s advice about sweets before dinner, or were you the kid who tried to reshape the frosting so it looked like nothing was missing? If you were the latter, or it feels like that’s still the case, see how kids resisted marshmallows in a famous test. The main connection between all the good little kids who could hold out for a better reward was that they distracted themselves when temptation came up. Distraction, of course, is what you’re trying to stop doing, so we’re talking about avoiding one kind of distraction (wandering into email, getting coffee, checking a favorite web site) by using a more benign form (checking a project status, tidy up … Read entire article »

Filed under: Computers&Productivity

Redeemer, Enid Facebook Page

March 31st, 2010 | Add a Comment

I started a Facebook page today for the church. The site will advertise events, changes in schedules, announcements, prayer requests and who knows what else. The members that I am Facebook friends with have already received an invite to join or “become a fan of…” For those of you on Facebook who have eluded becoming my “friend” may click on the badge below and click to become a fan. If you have resisted the Facebook impulse, now is the time to join :) Redeemer Lutheran Church | Enid, OK Promote Your Page Too … Read entire article »

Filed under: Computers&Productivity, Tech

Status Update

November 4th, 2009 | 3 Comments

I suppose it’s that time of year… Everyone at my house has had at least one round of the nasties this year. The kids: H1N1, strep throat, ear infections–one or more each. Mix-and-match to your liking. Marjorie is recovering from the pneumonia and whatever caused it, I’m slowly improving from the sinus infection, and whatever caused it (pneumonia and sinus infections being secondary to whatever else). Liv went down again–imitating me with her own sinus infection. She’s back at school now. I’ve been to the urgent care place last week. Friday I’m off to my primary doc, who’ll check my cholesterol and get a bigger picture of whatever may be still going on. In other news, the computer project at home went swimmingly. At first. The hardware came, I got it assembled in the … Read entire article »

Filed under: Computers&Productivity, Personal

Boring Computer Hardware Post

October 24th, 2009 | 2 Comments

I’m through with Dell Computers. This time it’s the power supply. Our home computer has taken to shutting down suddenly and without notice every so often. That computer runs Ubuntu most of the time, so it doesn’t freak out about “not shutting down correctly”, but it’s annoying and could eventually cause some data loss. No big deal, right? Just replace the power supply. Amazon and Newegg and, well, every place besides Staples has good deals on power supplies. Just four screws hold it in. Unless you have a Dell. They use proprietary power supplies which either: 1)Has connections which fit but subversively supply different voltages than the standard connections, potentially destroying your components; or 2) Use an additional connection to the motherboard, which if missing, will not allow the computer to work. So your options … Read entire article »

Filed under: Computers&Productivity, Tech

Bibleworks 8 Review

September 17th, 2009 | 2 Comments

I bought Bibleworks 3 when I was a seminary student. It was an incredible program back then, helping me extensively with exegetical work for sermons and seminary papers. It was so powerful I found I didn’t use half its features. Years later I upgraded to version 5. There were a few changes, mostly in additional resources that did not come standard with the previous version. If there were more changes, I’m not aware of them. One helpful addition back then: a massive user manual to help with searches. Once established in pastoral ministry, I used Bibleworks in even a more limited way. I would still translate sermon texts, (mostly from Greek), but its heaviest use came from doing phrase and word searches across several English versions at once. For instance, writing a sermon … Read entire article »

Filed under: Computers&Productivity, Theology

Switched to Logos

August 27th, 2009 | 3 Comments

When I was at the seminary I bought Bibleworksto help with translation, exegesis, and Bible study prep. It was a great program and I used it a lot during those years. I upgraded to a new version several years ago, but found I was using it more for just general searches and on the fly translation help–like using a Formula 1 race car to drive a mile to the grocery store. Meanwhile I bought a copy of Luther’s Works on CDROM which used theLibronixLibrary format and did not integrate with Bibleworks. I used it some and realized how useful having one collection of electronic resources would be. So I used some of my professional development money and bought myself a copy of the Logos Oringial Languages  collection (at a huge discount from the MSRP … Read entire article »

Filed under: Computers&Productivity, Personal, Theology

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