Category: Uncategorized

From CNET:

In a sequel to its advocacy of internal blogs, Sun Microsystems has begun encouraging its rank-and-file employees to publish videos promoting the company’s products.
Sun has launched an internal contest to see who can publish the most compelling video at video-sharing site YouTube, said Sun Chief Marketing Officer Anil Gadre. He said that Sun minions tell him, “If I could just get out and tell everyone about my product myself, we would sell so much more,” Gadre said. “YouTube allows us to enable every one of them to do just that.”

This is a great concept. Last year Chevrolet asked customers to build their own television commericals for the Chevrolet Suburban and YouTube was flooded with ads (parodies – but added publicity for Chevrolet). Now Sun is using YouTube for its advantage by getting the people who use their products to advertise with the new “word of mouth.”
How cool would it be if churches got behind this idea.
What if your church held a contest for the youth and/or members to make a one minute ad talking about your church?
What would it look like? What would they say is the best part about your church? How would people outside the church respond?
If we could only get people in the church as passionate about the Gospel as they are about their iPods, we might get somewhere.

Time Magazine looked over Gardasil, a vaccine that fights off a sexually transmitted disease and the Hug Shirt, which simulates the feeling of being embraced by a loved one, and chose Internet site, YouTube as the invention of the year.
“YouTube had tapped into something that appears on no business plan,” writes Time’s Lev Grossman, “the lonely, pressurized, pent-up video subconscious of America. Having started with a single video of a trip to the zoo in April of last year, YouTube now airs 100 million videos and its users add 70,000 more every day.”

Thank you all so much for your calls, emails and prayers. Laurie is still recovering from her surgeries, but she’s back at work today.
A week later than she planned before her two surgeries, but she said she was glad to be back.
She’s doing much better. She still has her moments when the pain gets bad but its a huge improvement over two weeks ago and even a week ago.
Again, thanks so much for all your prayers. God is good.

After the plane accident at the Abuja airport last week, which killed 95 people, the Nigerian minister of aviation has been fired.
From the BBC:

Nigeria’s aviation minister has been sacked following the plane crash on Sunday in which the spiritual leader of Nigeria’s Muslims and 95 others died.
Babalola Borishade swaps jobs with Culture Minister Femi Fani-Kayode, according to the president’s office.
The crash of an ADC Boeing 737 into a cornfield just 2km (1.2 miles) from Abuja’s main airport was the third major airline disaster in a year.
Nigeria held three days of national mourning amid widespread anger.
Critics are sceptical that an aviation industry overhaul to improve safety announced by President Olusgeun Obasanjo several months ago will actually work.
An investigation into the cause of Sunday’s crash is already under way and ADC’s aircraft have been grounded.

Virginia Etiaba has been sworn in as Nigeria’s first female governor after Anambra state legislature impeached Peter Obi for gross misconduct.
From the BBC:

She had been deputy governor in the south-eastern state and initially refused to take the position.
Mr Obi said he would not leave office and civil rights groups have criticised the whole process as unconstitutional.
A BBC correspondent says the battle could get more volatile if supporters of the two sides take to the streets.

Here’s some raw footage from an interview with Donald who we’ve met at Austin Street in downtown Dallas.