Category: techno

How do you get creative with your phonecam?

Have you bought a camera phone and still don’t know what it’s good for?
Check out some of these ideas:

  • Remember where you parked – In a parking lot or garage, snap a photo of the section where you’ve parked. If you’re parked on the street in a strange neighborhood, grab a picture of an address, a landmark, or of the signs for the cross street.
  • “Wishlist” items you might want to buy later – If you’re out and about and happen to see a CD, book, or other consumable you might want to pick up later on, snap a photo of the item’s barcode. When you get home you can look the item up on Amazon or Froogle.com and find the best price, or just add it to your canonical online wishlist.
  • Show people where you’ve put things – If you’ve moved the mayonnaise jar with little Tyler’s college money or relocated the good scissors to your work bench, snap a photo and mail it to your housemates.

What do you use your phone for?

UPDATE (4/17/12): Or you could just take photos and share them over the Interwebs… 🙂

What a change

After Mike and I have talked this week about the future of print media (newspapers in particular) we began thinking about the future and how our company can succeed.

He had an interesting meeting with a client who pretty much told him, they (as well as others in their industry) don’t even consider newspapers a valid place to advertise in their market.

“I don’t read. And neither do our customers. If we want information we watch it on the news or grab it off the internet.”

So in an effort to re-focus some things, I’ve refocused myself on the paper’s website today and tonight.

I’ve been piecing together a hopefully decent database driven site.

I was able to post the entire A section of our paper online in approx. 12 minutes today, where I was spending 30-45 for the same amount of news in Belton.

It’s not quite where I want it yet — but the times are a changing.

Indy Ringtones

Rythym at Myspace.com reports about a new service for indy bands to upload ringtones that listeners can then download straight to their cell phone.

So what is this wonderful thing I keep hyping up? Ring tones. That’s right, RING TONES, BABY. It is artist-driven downloadable ringtones that is geared towards fans. I just signed Rhythm up and you can already download their songs onto your phone (via www.rhythmonline.com). For fans, you can download a song today and it will be your next cell phone bill. For Artists it does cost money to get it all set up, but they have given me a referral code ‘rhythm’ that will give you and
everyone you sign up an an instant $10 discount!! That is huge. So for less than $40 you get your stuff online and start making money today for each download.

I like this idea. I don’t know how big it will get – but I like it. Personally I just use my bluetooth adapter, record an mp3 of my favorite songs, edit them and then upload them to my phone using bluetooth (but that doesn’t work for technically challenged people.)

What if praise bands get on board?

With many phones now carrying enough memory and having the quality to work as MP3 players, what if sermons could be sent directly to cellphones of people in your congregation?

Using RSS, new Mp3 and podcasting technology I’m sure there’s an advertiser somewhere figuring out how to get you to subscribe to the Nike RSS or Pepsi RSS or Polka RSS where they will automatically send you an ad every day with special offers and the like.

How can we as a church jump on and use this?

You can subscribe to services that will send verses to your phone already.

What about a daily devotion from a pastor or and audio commercial for an upcoming prayer service?

This could get very exciting as technology advances and more and more people update their phones, and mp3 players and the like.

Federal Anti-Municipal Wi-Fi Bill Introduced

Mobile Pipeline reports:

A Texas Congressman has introduced a bill that impose a nationwide prohibition on municipally-sponsored networks.

Dubbed by the author, Representative Pete Sessions (R-Texas), the Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act of 2005, the bill prohibits state and local governments from providing any telecommunications or information service that is ‘substantially similar’ to services provided by private companies.

I can’t believe someone would be concerned about people being able to access the internet…

Until you discover that Pete Sessions is also a “pimp” for Southwestern Bell.

According to Sessions’ on-line biography, he is a former employee of Southwestern Bell and Bell Labs.

Why does corporate America get to chose what legislation comes down the pipeline?

I don’t know where the rest of Congress stands – but it will make for an interesting article in this weeks Belton Journal I’m sure.

We just started a number of free hotspots around town, with leadership from the Chamber of Commerce and help from the school district and UMHB.

The school district has even talked about offering Wi-Fi internet access across the district to every student, so they can get internet access in their homes, whether they can afford it or not.

What’s stopping SBC and other companies from doing the same thing. If they want people to use their service – make a better deal of it.

Personally, I have to pay $30 + a phone line I never use to use SBC DSL. It wasn’t worth it – I shut it down.

Now I use my network at work, or use local hotspots for internet access. And I have no intention of going back to SBC.

Thanks to GarrettDimon.com for the info.

Podcasting

effective web ministry notes has an interesting entry on podcasting and its future.

I think this could be the next big thing.

How long will it be before churches begin podcasting services or Bible studies to shut-ins or people traveling?

How great would it be to be traveling with your family during the summer, take a break at a restaurant with Wi-Fi access, or even from your hotel room, and in the process download a podcast of your church’s Sunday morning service for you and your family to listen to as you continue your travel down the road.

With former MTV VJ and podcast founder Adam Curry giving podcasting a huge push and Sirius Radio giving Curry a four hour program to push podcasting — it’s coming.

How will we as Christians take advantage of it and use it to further the Kingdom of Heaven?

What other ways do you see podcasting being used to present the gospel in new relevant ways?

I’m excited and hope I can be on the frontlines.