Month: November 2006

I found this interesting ad on Craigslist over the weekend…

Dodgeball Game XXXX
Who: You and your friends, or your enemies
When: Saturday, December 2nd, 2006
Where: Mesquite, Texas – Dunford Community Center (near 30 and LBJ about a mile down the road from Trophy Nissan) 1015 Green Canyon Dr, Mesquite Texas 75150
Time: 3 PM – 5 PM
Bring: Athletic wear and a sportsmanlike attitude.
Cost: $5

I think this is a great example of how the web is changing how people create community. I wonder how many people show up for this event for each game. How useful could/would this be for churches? After all Craigslist is free. Anyone using Craigslist to publicize your events to the public? Why keep your events all to yourself? Let everyone know.
Another useful tool is Google Calendars which now allows everyone to search your public events.
You can add events to your calendar and mark them as public and everyone can search for events in their area.
For example, I have encounter’s worship services listed on my Google calendar and a search of Waxahachie will pop the event up on every Sunday. Tag it with a website in the description and who knows who might find your church because of it.

It’s a couple minutes late, but before I head home for the night here’s Monday’s Christmas gift ideas.
Today’s theme: Fair Trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement which promotes equitable standards for international labor, environmentalism, and social policy in areas related to the production of FairTrade labeled and unlabelled goods, which may range from handcrafts to agricultural commodities. The movement focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries.
Fair trade’s strategic intent is to deliberately work with marginalised producers and workers in order to help them move from a position of vulnerability to security and economic self-sufficiency. It also aims at empowering them to become stakeholders in their own organizations and actively play a wider role in the global arena to achieve greater equity in international trade.

Under $10
Handmade candle holders from Pakistan
A great conversational piece

Under $20
Family Circle Ornament
This marvelous handmade, fair trade ornament embodies a loving family message. Sculptured in soapstone by Kisii craftspeople using only simple tools. As each item is individually hand-carved from natural material, colors and dimensions will vary. Made in Kenya.

Under $50
Handmade woven baskets
Who doesn’t have a place for cool handmade woven baskets?

Under $100
Coffee Aficionado Gift Box
Probably not a great gift for my fiance, her roommate or others who should avoid caffeine, but for the rest of us the Coffee Aficionado Gift Box is a great way to test the wits and expand the palate of discriminating coffee lovers. They have paired our six most popular origin coffees with Coffee Smarts trivia cards and a Grounds for Change logo mug.

Over $100
Coiled Wall Hanging
Tree of Life design has religious and cultural significance, showing how all living things are related. Artisan rolls different colors of dyed wool from Andean sheep into long strands. Then this tapestry is woven on a wooden loom, using cotton for the warp and coiled wool for the weft. Each wall hanging is woven by a single artisan, requiring two days.

It’s that time of year. Lights are up around town. The malls and mega-stores are packed and there’s that feeling of Christmas in the air again.
To celebrate, OrangeNoiseRadio will bring you a two hour Christmas special on Dec. 1.
If you’d like to be a part of the celebration or would like to wish a special Christmas greeting to someone give us a call at toll free: 888-727-5890 or in the DFW Metroplex: 817-886-0678.
Leave your requests or holiday shout-outs and we’ll do our best to get them all on the air.
Merry Christmas and God bless!

I’m going to try out a new feature here – Daily Christmas gift ideas. I’ll see if I can do this once a day between now and Christmas. I’ll have a category for under $10, $20, $50, $100, and over $100.

Under $10:
One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God

Under $20:
Darth Vadar Transformer.
Seriously? My two favorite things together? Transformers and Star Wars – awesome.

Under $50:
West Wing Season 4 on DVD
Aaron Sorkin’s last season with the show. A must have for any West Wing fan.

Under $100:
Sonicare Advance 4100 Electric Toothbrush
Laurie swears by her Sonicare toothbrush.

Over $100:
Microsoft Zune MP3 Player – Black

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Yahoo News/Tech Webb is reporting a new hack for OS X has been discovered. The hack works through Mac’s Safari Internet Browser and allows outsiders to crash an OS X system.

On Monday, the “Month of Kernel Bugs” project, a month-long disclosure of operating system flaws, announced that a bug in Mac OS X’s processing of DMG files — disk images typically used to distribute software for the Mac — could be exploited to crash a target machine. There was also the possibility that attackers could introduce additional malicious code to the compromised system to, for example, snatch control from its legitimate user.

Also on NPR I heard today that there’s only two things you should ever buy extended warranties on – large rear projection TVs and Appl computers. Both have such high priced repair costs that its actually beneficial to buy and extended warranty. Otherwise – forget it. Don’t waste your time or money.

Thanks to a new ruling by the Library of Congress, cellphones can now be moved from one network to another and the companies can’t stop you.
For example, if you got a cellphone from Sprint that you absolutely love you can switch that phone over to Cingular’s network legally.
Now why you wouldn’t just update your phone and get a new free phone with your new contract is beyond me — but for those of you who really love your old phones — the option is now there.

Speaking of…the Pink Motorola Razr is available from Verizon and Wal-Mart for less than $29! Just in time for Christmas.