Mobile Ministry Magazine

I was just looking at an article at Nokia Conversations about 2009 being the year of widgets and had the idea of a new widget. With the N97 Widget Compeition going on, this was quite timely. Then, I realized something, searching for a Bible verse, or saved bookmark, should really be this simple. I'd submit one for the competition, but then also share about its idea here and maybe get a few consolidation votes ;)

First off, when you think about looking up a Bible verse (whether print or digital) its always think and go. One of the frailties of mobile computers is the fact that in addition to thinking and going, you have to also open an application, and then navigate to some kind of search or index (book menu, bookmarks, or find).

Well, I started to think; what would be easier? Personally, a widget on my phone's front screen would be prefable. But that widget would have to make it really simple.

So I developed this with the idea that all you want to do is search, and it should not matter if you are looking for a verse from an application on your device or a Bible website that you prefer. That you might even have that verse saved as a bookmark somewhere like YouVersion, and all you want to do is retreive it.

Let's take a step back now. Widgets are simple programs. They do one thing only, and they are designed to minimuze the friction from thinkning about something to doing it. Many of us are familiar with widgets - Weatherbug, the clock on your desktop, etc. The idea being that when something happens, all we want to do is know about it. The more indepth things of making notes, bookmarking, etc. are left for full applications. Essentially, every Bible reader should start here, and then build the experience.

Now, about this widget. My ideal widget would allow for this to be configured to work with every Bible website and application that could be loaded on a device. That it would index all of the verses, bookmarks, and tags used, and only those would be searchable from this interface.

And if you think about 90% of the time you are sticking your hand out for a Bible, this would be it. You type the verse, it opens a popup to that verse with an additional button that says "Go to 'x' Application" or "Go to 'x' Website." That's it.

Now, for those who are students of the Word, and would like to do things like add the ability to mark a verse as favorite, add notes, highlight, etc. Nope. Not happening here. This is only meant to be short, simple, and to the point.

To developers, open your Bible application's APIs so that something like this could plug into it. You don't lose sales by allowing for something like this, and essentially, you open the door for more people to know about and learn about your application.

What are your thoughts? If not you, could you see someone really liking something simple like this?

By the way, the N97 Widget Competition is going on until February 27, 2009 (drawing on march 13th); winning prize is a new Nokia N97 mobile device. All you have to do is make an image of your widget idea and submit it.

Labels: innovation, Nokia, software, UI, usability, UX, widget

One of the things that I've tried to do, even before starting Mobile Ministry Magazine, has been to reduce my computing needs to the bare essentials as much as possible. A big reason for doing so is because I've been one to travel a good bit and besides taking long trips, I tend to have taken many trips. Ironically, this weekend, I hit 100,000 miles in my 3yr old Civic.

Knowing what I can do with as few physical materials as possible is something that is a bit of an aim of being mobile. To skillfully and effective utilize the environment and services offered so that one can get a job done and connect. Andy Abramson, CEO of Comunicano, Inc. (an advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Del Mar, CA), tends to do writes a blog called Working Anywhere and in a recent post talks about some of the tools that he uses as a global nomad.

...Basically, I've built the company (and am now rebuilding my house) by being the executive who works anywhere but the traditional office, allowing for a business lifestyle that is highly productive, and mostly more effortless than many people would ever imagine. For example right now I'm in Europe, floating between Lisbon, Portugal, Barcelona, Paris and London over a two-week period. After that I’ll be on the East Coast, the West Coast, back to the East Coast, into the Midwest, all before August 9, when I finally move back into my house. Along the way I’m staying in very business executive work-friendly and amazingly artistic, modern and well run hotels, all of which offer very high-quality Internet and many of the comforts and services a business traveler needs...

That's a good deal of traveling and the really good thing about this post is that while many of us might not have his resources, we can utilize some of the behaviors and services in our own capacities to make traveling less of an issue, or in the case of missions work, less a chore of logistics and more of just going and serving.

Check out the rest of the post The Tools of The Global Nomad at Working Everywhere and let's chat about some of the tools or behaviors that you have found sufficient in those times when you've been more nomad than settler.

Disclosure: Comunicano has worked with MMM in the past through the Nokia Blogger Relations program to provide devices and notification of services that may or may not be relevant to our community.

Labels: communication, community, computer, data, devices, environment, flexibility, mobile, mobile accessories, mobility, Nokia, resources, stewardship, sustainability, tools, usability

I am nearing 30, but I do not have kids of my own. I do tend to play with them a lot, and mobile technology is very much a part of our time. Especially with teens, mobile tech (phones usually) are seen as independence and personal items. They go as far to color them, add screens/ringtones, and do other things that make the mobile theirs, even when they are not even paying the bill for it.

However, parents have an issue with this. And I totally understand. For many of them, the technology has moved as fast as their kids in terms of growth and its harder to know what they are doing versus just shutting it down completly. Some parents have a handle of being able to use mobile tech in a rewards system, being able to emphasize that mobile tech is a priveledge, not a need.

So I want to open up some discussion, and maybe this can give me (personally) some insight into parenting, and you (parents, pastors, and teachers) some insight as to how to better understand what it is your teens are doing with mobile tech. Becuase we don't want statistics like these becoming more common; we'd rather Godliness speak louder than debauchery ya know.

Labels: communication, community, mobile, parenting, teens, usability

One of the questions that I get asked often is "what electronic Bible is best for [my device]?" Truth be told, there are plenty, but some offer more bang for the buck than others in various areas. Here is a list of 5 electronic Bibles that I like for their cost, versatility, reach, or intangibles:

• Palm Bible+ (Palm OS only)
  Reasons: free, tons of Bible versions in several languages; open source
• Laridian (Palm OS, Windows Mobile, iPod/iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows desktop)
  Reasons: nearly every computing platform is covered; excellent online solution with iPocketBible, responsive customer service, tons of auxiliary resource content
• YouVersion (browser-based)
  Reasons: excellent community interaction features, private and shared journaling; active development; very diverse user-base
• WordSearch 8 (Windows desktop, Windows Mobile and Palm OS via 3rd party application)
  Reasons: directed towards beginner and advanced Bible students; (mostly) user-friendly interface; excellent note taking feature; not nearly as expensive as its best competitor
• MoBible (any mobile device that can view WAP pages - all of them)
  Reasons: flexibility for use on any mobile phone; several languages; accompanying devotional; doesn't require the user to download anything

What are some of the electronic Bibles that work best for you?

Labels: accessiblity, Bible, desktop, Laptop, mobile, mobility, smartphone, software, usability

Welcome to the third and final installment of the MMM Mobile Experiment Report. In Part One, we talked about the general setup and the reasons for doing this experiment. In Part Two, we spoke on the day to day use of it; and then started talking about why its not yet an accessible solution, but it is a versatile one. In Part Three, we talk more about what is possible with the Mobile Web Server and come to some conclusions towards its potential use.

You see, for most end and power-users of mobile devices, the Mobile Web Server is not yet a solution. There are a few too many niggles with it before it can become a solution. What it is however is a canvas, a very empty canvas. When one wants to think of what is possible with mobility, this section of the report hits on that. And specifically for the Christian church, what we do with technology will go a long way towards making divisions along digital lines a thing of the past. Innovation requires that we think outside of the box before we jump into a new one. By the end of this report, I hope that you can not just see why doing the MMM Mobile Experiment was a paradigm shift for me; but also where and why Nokia sees this as a profitable endeavor.

This section of the MMM Mobile Experiment Report contains:

• Lessons Learned
• Current and Future Applications
• Why This Is A Model for the [Digital] Church
• Appendix/Additions

Lessons Learned

At this point, the MMM Mobile Experiment seemed to be a solid idea that is just a bit further than where people want to go with interacting with websites and at the same time, its not far enough in terms of how organizations and ministry can reach out to one another. What I saw in the first few days was that in order to get people to come to MMM Mobile, I had to be proactive about advertising and up front about limitations such as loading speed and the log-in issue. After getting used to it from a lifestyle perspective, I had to come to grips with the ability of attainable technology not being up to snuff with the demands of a web server being backed up by a social network. The frame work is there, but there is a gap before this can be applicable on a broad scale.

I did learn some things that were quite positive, and gives me hope that maybe the Body is better equipped to use near-solutions in effective ways. For example, in talking to my pastors about the MMM Mobile Experiment while it was going on, they had a genuine interest in how it would pan out and how it could be relevant to them. One of the smaller experiments was to live-blog during one of the sermons and then forward them the link to get their thoughts. Live-blogging the sermon on a mobile phone brought stares from people unaware of what I was doing, despite knowing my technical bent. Getting my pastors to be able to log in without issues became a problem because I did not noticed the case-sensitive issue for logging in under the guest account. And even during the sermon, I was not prepared for the out of memory error that running the browser and mobile web server would cause, preventing users from even accessing the site. it was advantageous to try, but in light of things, could have been better planned out.

Other parts that proved positive were in just the evangelism of mobile devices and the Internet as being tools of connectivity. I found that with the MWS active that I had more time to spend on mobile devices, thereby getting me in places where I could engage people and allow various aspects of using mobile technology open the door for conversations. In one instance, interacting with a child in a coffeeshop was made more fun when I took his picture via the Web Camera feature and then showed it to him and his parents from the screen of my N800 Internet Tablet. This showed to them that technology has a way to touching us even more than we think without having to have a Star Trek moment.

Current and Future Applications

Having done this experiment, it is easy to say that it can be used. However relevance for the mobile web server has its place in only a few areas, mainly because of the hardware and connection requirements that would necessitate more affluence than the market can share at this time.

In terms of a software platform, having a web server on a mobile phone can present the opportunity to remove a few middle layers of device management and information management software that has been slow to catch on in some areas. Normally, we think of this as syncing, backup, and personal information management (PIM) software; the structure of this mobile web server platform offers a few aspects of use that previously were harder to get newer users to adopt:

• If the smartphone is online (cellular broadband or Wi-Fi) accessing it though an IP address or domain name assigned to the device (or SIM card) give the opportunity to do things such as add and remove applications, connect contacts to social networks, backup contacts to an offline storage area, or even lock down the device in case of theft;
• If the device is not online, these same tasks can be done through a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi ad-hoc network where all that a person needs is a browser with a larger screen in order to extend the functionality of their device;
• Adding an email component would essentially make the MWS platform a replacement (on the consumer level) or products like MS Exchange as the device is the server and there is nothing that needs to be additionally added to the device.

This is thinking about the mobile web server as it can have present relevance in the way that people want to get the most of their devices. For this to work best however, unlimited data plans, and seamless connectivity needs to be the norm and not the exception. Also, quality of service in terms of mobile operating systems, cellular lines, and even user experience will play a larger part in letting this connectivity option be the norm rather than the exception for mobile computing.

Taking things a bit further, the mobile web server has the ability to innovate in small business and organizational communications by:

• Intranet for a low-funded ministry or non-profit organization
• Website for a traveling missionary who travels in well connected areas and has has the funds to connect frequently enough to make this viable
• Future: platform for sharing documents and calendars as a family point of contact system
• Multi-campus connector for small groups spread over a large area

This is not to say that there are not other applications; only that in using the Mobile Web Server, I spoke with and engaged with organizations where the relevance of a mobile device that can handle these connections made for opportunities to remove buildings, excess tools, and in some cases a learning curve, therefore making more time for the connections that a web server and interpersonal communication allows to happen.

Why This Is A Model for the [Digital] Church

I was asked very bluntly at the conclusion of my experiment why I felt that this was a model for computing that the Body should be receptive to. I was given the reasons about economics, device availability, and even preconceptions that a mobile device should only be used for talking. My reason for thinking and believing that the mobile web server in various forms is a suitable means to enable the digital church is simply that it is something that has not been done before. Its new ground, and puts the Body at the place of pioneering and setting the bar in terms of what is possible with communication technologies.

I do not say this to mean that there are not other organizations that would not benefit from what has been written here, but to say that because the church has a mission to connect and empower people, it should take what is available and not duplicate solutions, but create them.

The book of Acts is an account of a sledging church finding its legs after Jesus left the scene. He deposited within them the Holy Spirit to empower and equip them with the innate ability to go to the ends of the earth and be a representative of Him and carry the Gospel's message of a redeeming and justified love. Since taking the plunge with Nokia's Mobile Web Server, I can see how that would not just be a radical idea, but an attainable one. The question is, are we innovative enough to capitalize on what has already been deposited in us to do since Acts.

Appendix/Additions

There were some additional posts written during and after the creation of this report. These items will be available in a downloadable version of the MMM Mobile Experiment Report (coming soon).

Labels: community, education, email, gospel, mobile accessories, Mobile Web Server, mobility, Nokia, phone, software, tech, usability

So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth. (Genesis 1:27-28 AMP)

One of the reasons that I have gone mobile is because I better understand that while the ability to be connected is good for the Body, the ability to use devices and services that better utilize the limited resources of this planet means that other generations will also be able to enjoy such inventiveness.

Something that many do not think about when they use computers, build offices, or even get in their cars to travel to this and that event is that there is a considerable impact on the earth around us that can be minimized when we start looking at the excess and start working to trim things.

It could be as simple as instead of having a church office that the church starts to use a mobile office where the office is actually a data center that is exercising environmentally mindful policies and then the staff members are working from home where they can be a more integral part of their local communities. Trading paper bulletins for SMS alerts might seem like a struggle for some members, but the saving of paper means that the administration staff can spend less time at FedEx and the church can spend those funds on enabling more members to stay connect whether they can make it to a service or the service come to them.

Now, we might not get immediately to the place where we are using phones made from biodegradable materials, but looking at the simple command at the beginning of creation to steward this earth, we can definitely do more than we do.

Has your church or organization started any policies to minimize the environmental impact of doing the work of ministry?

Related Articles:

• Review of the Nokia 3110 Eco-Friendly mobile (Smart Planet)
• Designing for Sustainability (Nokia Conversations)
• What if we all changed our chargers? (Nokia Conversations)
• Solio Solar Charging Solutions
• Working flexibly is paving the way for a more sustainable future (MOOF.mobi)
• Creating a Manifesto for Sustainable Life... (Tim Samoff)

Disclosure: Inner-Linked provides consulting services for those individuals and ministries who are looking to trim their environmental footprint while adding innovation and accessibility to their ministry endeavors.

Labels: 3110 Evolve, community, environment, Inner-Linked, Nokia, stewardship, sustainability, tech, usability

This is the meat of the MMM Mobile Experiment Report, and also where it makes the transition from being just a review of software and online services to one of looking beyond the offering to the ability that it lends. Here's an outline of what is covered in this, Part Two, of the MMM Mobile Experiment Report:

• Additional Setup Items
• Day to Day Use
• Immediate Challenges
• Accessibility versus Versatility

Given the length of this, section of the report, it will be an extra day before publishing the third and final section. This report will also be made available as a singular download (debating on the format of that now). Enjoy Part Two, and please do not hesitate to give any comments to this or Part One.

Part Two:

Having set up the Mobile Web Server application on my device, and creating the Mobile Web Server website, I had to set up some initial pages so that in coming to the site, Mobile Ministry Magazine readers would be greeting with more than just a blank page. There are two parts to setting things up for day to day use; one part is on the mobile device and the other is through a browser (that can be on the mobile device or not; but most might choose not to go that route and just use a separate computer).

Setup on the Mobile Device

On the mobile device, one navigates to the Web Server application and is presented with a series of screens. First, you are asked to insert your user name and password that was set up on the MWS website. There are a few easy to figure out section of the application that is always shown when it is opened from here: Users, Status Message, Statistics, Access Log, Folders, and Settings.

The Users section was probably the one that I spent the most time with initially. There is a default Guest account where one can set Guest access to the MWS; and then from contacts in one's address book, you can set specific users to have ability with a user name based on their name in your address book and a password that you have set for them. I quickly abandoned doing this for a lot of people and just settled on making sure that I had a user group for my family to special sections of the MWS site, and everyone else just got the Guest account.

Truth be told, I spent a lot of time looking at the Access Log. I wanted to see how many people were hitting the site, and it was kind of neat the first few days of the experiment. We averaged about 10 unique users per day and for the most part people did not have issues with logging in (user names are case-sensitive; found that out halfway through the project).

Setup through the Web Browser

There is a setup wizard that one has to access from a device that has a suitable web browser while the mobile web server (MWS) is running. On my end, I used my Nokia N800 Internet Tablet connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot at a local coffeehouse while the MWS was running on my N75.

Two parts of this allow you to set up things like the welcome screen, offline page and message, and get a badge that can be displayed on several websites. After this wizard, there is a control panel that keeps the latter items, and allows for presence updates on the status page. One can change the theme to several types; however they are nothing more than color and banner changes. Unless you want to dig in the mobile device and play, there is no way to create custom layouts or fiddle with the CSS for more customization.

From the web browser one is able to set all types of options and create content and points of contact.

• Home
• Blog
• Camera
• Gallery
• Guestbook
• Contact Me
• Presence
• Web Chat
• Calendar
• Messaging
• Phone Log
• Contacts

By default, guests only see the Home, Blog, Presence, and Contact Me sections. The Gallery has to be setup to either show (share) pictures that are shared from the phone's internal memory, memory card, or both. I found that the Guestbook was a bit of a redundant feature, but it could prove beneficial in some applications. The Web Chat section is interesting as when someone starts a web chat, there is notification on the mobile device of the chat and then an IM-like interface is given. From there chat happens just as it would in any other chat room. The Calendar, Phone Log, and Contacts are pulled right from the mobile device and gives a browser-accessible means to see and edit content. I liked this feature, but wished that there was more granularities so that some users could see "Busy" instead of the specific event. Presence tells the state of the mobile phone such as how long it has been idle, battery life, and a status message. And finally Messaging allows one to send an email or SMS message directly to you as well as see all the SMS and MMS messages that are stored on your mobile device (Inbox and those sent).

One neat feature that is present throughout is the fact that all contacts that appear in various applications such as Calendar and Messaging are linked to their contact card. This contact card shows the last call as well as links to the address book entry. Simple, but really neat.

From registration to setting up the welcome page and basic access rights it took about 30 minutes to get rolling. After that it was just a matter of running the MWS on my device and engaging with people as they visited MMM Mobile.

Day to Day Use

The Mobile Web Server is pretty much a set it and forget it type of application. I let it run most of the day, taking it down in the AM in order to use my mobile device as a modem for my Internet Tablet and desktop. During this time, I updated the status message to point visitors to the MMM Jaiku channel. In pointing people to the MMM Jaiku channel, it was my hope to engage the usual readers of MMM, and the new visitors of the breadth of content related to Mobile Ministry Magazine, as well as engage in some discussions across a social network in a slightly different function than what is normally done in blog-driven websites.

On the downside of the day to day use, the MWS was an inconvenience in terms of the other connectivity that I aspire to have on my mobile device. Usually, I run the Emoze email client and the Jaiku Mobile client. Because of the MWS, I was not able to run these and have a long functioning device. Either the MWS would take over the connections, or the applications would consume too much memory and cause one or all of them to shut down. During the experiment, I only suffered one total device crash, but this was an instance where the hardware specifications of my N75 (which has about 15MB of memory free for running programs at boot) was at the very bottom of what is needed to run the MWS.

Because of this limitation, I was not able to use programs such as widgets to keep me abreast of what was going on at the MWS without opening the application. That being said, it was quite nice to have the server running and not have to think about it unless I needed some kind of functionality that was a bit more than normal.

A small note: the Nokia N75 is a 3G phone, meaning that it has the ability to use a high speed data network called HSDPA. Because of the specifications of this network, the device is able to use applications that connect to the Internet at the same time as using voice functions. While running the MWS, there was no drop off in voice quality or phone functions except for occasional slowness for MMS message processing.

Immediate Challenges

While there were those hardware challenges, the large and more pertinent challenges to using the MWS was trying to keep the same kind of communicative presence that had been done at Mobile Ministry Magazine. Essentially, opportunities to post to the blog, upload pictures, and engage the reading community were all things that seemed a lot easier when connectivity was spread across devices instead of being centered on one device.

For example, whenever I needed to use the web browser on the N75, I had to shut down the MWS because the two applications were too large to run at the same time. This meant that I would have to create a status message saying that the server was down and point people to the MMM Jaiku channel; then initiate a discussion at the MMM Jaiku channel; and then I would be able to continue with using the web browser. Certainly, having a device with later hardware (more memory and processor speed) would have been great here.

Another issue that I found was that in order to publish to the blog, I needed some type of dual connection. Using the MWS made situations of traveling to WI-Fi hotspots a bit of an adventure as now instead of using them just as a rest place, I wanted to be strategic in making sure that I could create a conversation piece around the use of the technology. It was not until later in the experiment that I realized that there would be times that I would be able to use the web browser on the N75 in order to populate the blog. This stretched the mobile device, but creating a blog post where I was able to live blog a sermon and have my notes created on the N75 instantly appear online was quite exciting (mental note: taking a T9 typing class before doing this should be a prerequisite).

Accessibility versus Versatility

This challenge of balancing multiple devices, multiple input methods, and then just the plan fact that a web server can really go with you anytime makes one feel more accessible than ever. The granular level of being able to assign contacts or groups of contacts to various parts of one's mobile device presents a solution that is present already in some enterprise applications such as SharePoint and even commercial ones like Movable Type. But those are PC-focused solutions. Nothing wrong with that, but as mobile devices become more versatile, one should not just assume, but see that a lot more of what we do can be driven from a mobile platform.

The Mobile Web Server is an answer to a question that is not yet asked so loudly yet though. Its not so much an issue of how does one stay accessible, as many connected devices open to you; but it allows you to determine how you want people to connect to you based on the social network that you have built - your phone book. This is more powerful and empowering when combined with a communications strategy and a personality that invites people to want to connect to you. That being said, its not accessibility that is the focus of using the MWS, its versatility. Versatility meaning that you are empowered to take your social network with you, and how they connect to you is determined by you, not by the service that you subscribe to.

This is if you where using the software and service makes a change from being just a piece of software or just another online service. It would be easy to just put the MWS into one of those categories and then judge it based on its benchmarks; but there is nothing to just it against. Nokia's Mobile Web Server is a canvas that if given the network and the hardware (and economies) becomes a canvas that enable the kind of personal computing that was dreamed about in the 1950s when the foundations of the Internet began, and now realized with the fast and (nearly) open wireless networks that most of the world has access to.

Flash Sideshow of MWS Screens, via Share on Ovi

Labels: accessiblity, browser, community, device, internet tablet, Jaiku, mobile, Mobile Web Server, mobiles, mobility, N75, Nokia, review, SMS, software, tech, usability

Image via Wikipedia

A very big thing for churches and ministries to understand about mobile tech is that it is an active agent. Being an active agent means that it not only is a product of an action, but mobile technology fosters several layers of interaction. From listening to a phone call, to reading an SMS, to viewing video, to something even more advanced, taking advantage of the computing that is in one's hands is an advantage for community-building that the church should not miss.

This is why I like the service Mobile Verses. It doesn't require that one have the latest or greatest smartphone, only one that is capable of receiving text messages. Yes, some of the services might stretch budgets a bit, but that is where churches/ministries work with Mobile Verses and other sponsors towards making these services usable for mobile device users.

Now, a common question I get is "why would I want something like Mobile Verses when I have a Bible?" Any pastor, or just a general onlooker can tell you that having a Bible is not always handy. Nor is having a calendar that is always accessible. Mobile Verses not only puts the Bible at your fingertips, but can accent that [sometimes boring and crowd thinning] announcements section of services. Yes, people will have mobile devices out during services, but like I've stated in other posts; the church should be at the front of teaching tech responsiblity. What better way to do so than with using a service like Mobile Verses.

Now before anyone thinks that I am writing this because they "tipped" MMM, please understand that this is not my reasoning. Mobile Verses is a very solid offering and one that should not be looked past, especially when high school students are carrying phones and using them to write things in their calendars ;)

Visit the Mobile Verses website for more information.

Labels: community, mobile, mobility, phone, SMS, tech, usability

I am one part a member of Nokia's Blogger Relations team, and have recently been invited to be an S60 Ambassador. Essentially, I speak about Nokia's products to people when I see that there's a need for them. In some cases, I'll get devices or services to try out and then report those findings back to Nokia. For them, it's an effort to see how people are using their devices and services. For me, it's a chance to see how mobile technology can enrich and empower lives.

The better part is that there are relationships that happen. Being able to live in Christ around them makes having opportunities like these presented by Nokia and other companies kinda neat. Here are a few of the recent reports that I filed to Nokia's S60 Ambassador's program. For those of you looking at ways to see how mobile tech fits, this is how I go about learning and applying.

Episode 1: The Young Mother

I went to visit a friend of mine on the other side of Charlotte as she has a 1yr old kid who has provided for several great photo opportunities. She and I talked about her e-learning class that she is taking and some directions that she could go with content for her blog. I recommended the idea of the phone as the literal center of the Internet for the school by using the Mobile Web Server.

First, I had to explain to her what the Mobile Web Server is and what kind of functionality that it opens up. Then, I told her that I could show her what it would look like. So I pulled out my N75 and turned on the Mobile Web Server. We navigated through each of the pages on her laptop that was in front of us, and I showed her how such a setup would make for a different take on distance learning ventures.

She was amazed that my phone could do that and asked why it was that her 3555 was not able to do the same things even though it was a Nokia phone as well. I explained to her that while they were from the same company, that they used different operating systems. One of the applications that she'd become a bit intrigued about is Jaiku; especially its ability to link with the address book for presence notification. That was something that she wanted for her phone. I led her to Yahoo, and there she learned about Yahoo's oneConnect service. Unfortunately, she does not have a mobile [data] plan, and does not see getting one; so downloading that was out of the question.

he problem that she posed to me was how to get more out of a phone like mine without being online. Considering that I do so much online via my N75, that really left me without many words. Other than the Bible, voice, and SMS, the rest really is the Internet. Making my phone compelling towards those who don't need that functionality will have to become another search of mine.

Episode 2: The Church Admin

Monday night is usually bible study at It's a Grind Coffeehouse and that is where I was again this Monday. Having had a successful demonstration of the Mobile Web Server running on my N75 earlier Monday, I decided to pique the interest of one of the administrative workers of my church and get her idea on such a solution.

First, I gave her a small demonstration of the software on my device, and then used my N800 Internet Tablet to show what the site actually works like in a web browser. At that she was impressed, but I could see not convinced at its usefulness. I then changed modes to talking about how there is always some information that one wants to keep personal, but other things, like pictures and availability that would come in handy for some people to know.

I then set my Gallery to show the pictures from my memory card and showed her how that page could be set with permissions. I then showed the Contact, Presence, and Calendar screens and showed that these can be controlled with a simple group that is created on the phone.

She looked at the phone and said "that's interesting. Your phone is a powerful little thing." Powerful indeed, but as a device that connects, its hard to beat.

Related Items:

• Nokia's S60 Ambassador Program
• Nokia's Mobile Web Server
• N75 Live-in Review Update
• MMM's N95 (via Nokia Blogger Relations) Review
• Yahoo's oneConnect service

Labels: Bible, church, community, device, family, Jaiku, mission, mobile, mobile accessories, Mobile Web Server, mobility, N75, Nokia, phone, software, tech, urban, usability, Yahoo

The last two posts, we've talked about extending your mobile office to help mangage the tasks of doing ministry easier. But there's nothing like real world examples.

So what do you do to extend your office capabilities? And what hurdles have you encountered either personally or with your team?

(Lord willing, a question like this in the future can be met with some kind of giveaway to help some of you on who are doing this already)

Labels: church, community, mission, mobile accessories, mobility, tech, urban, usability

Monday, I had a meeting with one of the pastors of my church and we talked a bit about getting more out of our church website. Essentially, he wants to use the website bettter to cut some of the administration costs and time to do things. I just wanted to be notified of things in a more upfront, and user-engageable manner. But because both of us are techies, we tended to take things a bit further than some people are willing to go right now with their use of web and technology. So what we did was scale back our thoughts a bit, and then hit on some areas where we could be a good stweard of the web resources we have, but also make those invitiing options for our community.

Here are some of the things we talked about that might prove helpsful to some of you who wish to add some web or mobile-friendly aspects to your ministry efforts:

• Instead of printing announcements and having left overs that just get thrown away, print 1/2 to 2/3 of what you would normally print and then have cards that just list your website address on them to give out when you run out. This drives traffic to your website, and allows your ministry's brand to stand out some more.


• If you have a blog, post a small blurb every week that is just a bulleted listing of the announcements. If there is something that is special or requires more details (such as a teen outing, or study outline), break that out in an occasional single post. Then, when doing announcements, use a screenshot of that posting so that people associate announcements with your website. Here, you can mention using RSS in order to keep up with these items.


• Be innovative in what you post online. I recommended that we post a small outline of our Monday night Bible study on our blog a day or two after the study. This way people who are searching (Google, Yahoo, etc.) will be able to see that we have a study going on, and those who were there would have an additional resource when they want to refer to something said later in the week. Again, emphasize the use of RSS here so that you can empahsize purposeful Internet time.


• Encourage leadership to use web applications for generic things such as teh church calendar (Google Calendar, Upcoming, etc.) and then web-based services such as Evite for special services and events. For example, we talked about using a custom Evite invitation for Easter Sunday services.


• Remind people that their cell phone number is also an email address. For some carriers, you can check these emails online instead of on the device. But, you will receive a text message about them all the time. Using this address for time-sensitive information will help people to keep in the front of their head what the ministry wants to do with them.

These are just a few things, but ways in which technology can be used in a manner that addresses a need to inform, and also a need to trim the fat in terms of administration time. I encourage you to ask those techies in your communities who are project managers and team leads on how to implement these types of things into your ministry efforts. Stwearding this resource well is just as important as any other.

Labels: community, education, email, family, mobile, software, tech, usability

Cynthia Ware has taken a look look at how Christian missionaries are using new media as parts of their efforts to connect and share news of their connections when away from their "roots." Here's a snippet:

...Today's missionaries are using blogs, facebook, shutterfly and other social media to extend their connectedness, reward their supporters and create archived memories of their unique adventures. Whether missionaries are serving on short term teams or serving in long term posts, they need no longer be disconnected from their points of origin, hometowns, partners, sending churches, extended families, etc. In fact, if they have internet access, there's virtually (no pun intended) no reason they can't be very connected...

Read the rest at Digital.Leadnet and also check out Cynthia's site Digital Sanctuary for more views on ministry, media, and their convergance.

Labels: accessiblity, Bible, church, community, email, gospel, mission, mobile, mobile accessories, mobiles, networking, phone, podcast, software, tech, usability, worship

Having gotten back into using the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, I have wanted to move into one of the main reasons that I have for getting it - to invogorate how I read, study, and journal the Bible. That being said, there has not been a lot done in this area on the Internet Tablet, and part of it is probably because no-one really knows what to do.

Let's start with a few simple situations, and then go from there:

- You are at a cafe on a nice day, and would like to read the Bible. There is wifi and so using it would be preferred. Services such as iPocketBible, eBible, and YouVersion are available, and so you read and do. While they are different in what they offer, the key thing here is that you have the ability to read while online, and do a few things on top of that.

- You are in the car as a passenger, and would like to continue your reading that you started at the cafe. Being that you are not near a hotspot, the only options for connecting online would be through your mobile phone. However, that could get expensive quickly. So you decide to fire up a bible reader and go from there. And yes, that works too, but the notes are a seperate application, and you just lost your place that you had in the online version you were reading.

- You are at home, away from the fuss of a day and want to dig in a bit deeper to the passages you were reading before. So you fireup the browser, the bible reader, and the notes application. And then have at your side a few additional references that you use when studying. This only lasts for a few minutes though before you decide to move completely to paper and pen because of the constant switching that has to happen.

In looking at the situations described above, one can see the benefits and the disadvantages of reading a Bible on an electronic device. When the Bible is so seperated from the tasks of reading, studying, and sharing, what should be a convience becomes a chore.

So my proposal/question is to make a better Bible reader for mobile devices that takes these situations into account. One part of this is the Bibles, another part of this notes, and yet another part is the user interface of it all.

I see a good platform on my Internet Tablet in terms of the Notes application. But I am not yet sure if it is something that can be extended by the way of plugins to other programs. Because being able to plug in the Notes app to the browser would make for an easy way to bookmark and annotate passages.

Then I also see the good stuff in terms of web applications for reading the Bible, but there has to be a way to save content on the device (even if for a short time) so that one could read when there is no Internet connection.

When I think about reading effectively on mobile devices, motivation to read is one part. But having a tool that works effecitvely is another that is usually the stumbling block.

Labels: Bible, community, internet tablet, N800, Nokia, reading, tech, usability

When I was rolling with MMM in the summer of 2006, there was a person that I had been going back and forth with on some tech emails at the time. He found me via MMM, and asked for my assistance in setting up a PDA for one of his members (he was a pastor) who was bed-ridden and elderly. I can remember the energy that he had as he spoke about how delighted she was that he would visit with her, and even more than she had something to do when in the bed that was more than the normal crossword puzzle.

This Monday, I was reading about the new N810 at InternetTabletTalk when I clicked on a link to a poster's personal blog. At the time of writing this, I had not gotten past this post, but what I read there was pretty encouraging, and yet showed me in another light an area where mobile tech could be effective in keeping one encouraged when not-so-mobile.

Here is a piece of the post:

...I know I talk about my Nokia N800 Internet Tablet a lot, but I must tell you: It is a life-saver. (In fact, I'm blogging from it right now!) While in bed, I have internet, email, IM, games, FM radio, music, video, etc., all in the palm of my hand. If I had nothing else, my N800 would probably be quite sufficient...

The rest of Tim's blog is pretty neat (both in design and content). Check it out when you get a chance, and see if you can take opportunities towards making mobile devices a spot of encouragement for someone.

Labels: internet tablet, N800, Nokia, tech, usability

This is one of the news items that came across my eyes today, and while it doesn't speak towards mobile ministry in the sense of how many think of ministry, I learned from the SilentImages.org website that many times, giving a voice to those who do not have one is indeed a ministry effort that deserves to be taken up.

...Nokia
(NYSE:NOK) Research Center (NRC) and Reuters are working together on a mobile journalism project that could transform the way journalists file news reports when on the move. The new mobile application is the first project to be showcased from a long term research collaboration that has been established between NRC and Reuters. It centres around a lightweight toolkit that provides everything journalists need to file and publish stories from even the most remote regions of the world.

Through an ongoing trial that started this summer, select Reuters journalists around the world made use of the mobile journalism application in their everyday work to edit, combine and file text, images, sound and live and recorded video streams, producing and publishing multi-media stories of broadcast quality without needing to return to the studio or office...

Read the rest of this press release, then check out the Reuters Mobile Journalism website and mobile journalism toolkit.

Considering the ability of devices and people, now is as good a time as any for both citizens and journalists to take up a role towards making others aware of the states of our human condition. One does not even need this much of a solution to get started. A mobile device, a means to type content, and the ability to upload to a website or send a MMS/email should be all that is needed.

One of the questions that I have to answer in posting something like this "why is this relevant?" Considering the differing opinions on the role of tech in our lives, I cannot make the case that this is relevant to everyone. But I can make the case that if you are in the business of identifying those who might be in need of the Light of Christ in their lives, then this is not only relevant from the point of what tech can do, but also how we can respond with tech in a way to bring light to darker issues.

Labels: mission, mobile, mobile accessories, Nokia, tech, usability

Straight from InternetTabletTalk (who broke the news earlier today), Nokia has announced a new N-series Internet Tablet, the N810. Being that the model number is incremental, one would expect it to only have a few updates. That looks to be the case until you start looking at the spec list of what is in this device.

Here are some highlighed specs of the N810:
- Smooth slide with integrated QWERTY keyboard
- WLAN standard: IEEE 802.11b/g
- Bluetooth specification v. 2.0. +EDR
- Built-in GPS receiver
- Integrated VGA web camera
- 256MB Flash Memory
- More specs at the Nokia N-series website

As you can already tell, the N810 is a good step up from the N800. It is also a good deal smaller than the N800, more or less getting rid of a lot of the non-screen area that the N800 had. Battery life is slated to be much better, as is processor speed, Flash support (supports Flash 9), and VoIP support. In my opinon, the only thing missing is TV-out, because that would essentially make the N810 a real computer replacement.

Impressions of the N810 are coming in from all over the net. Here are a few links:
- InternetTabletTalk
- TabletBlog.com by ThoughtFix (really good pictures compared to the N800 too)
- Brighthand
- and all over Jaiku (such as at the NseriesWOMWorld channel)

Pictures linked from Mameo Flikr photostream and Thoughtfix's Flickr photostream

Update: InternetTabletTalk has posted some excellent high-resolution pics of the N810, and one in particular shows it compared the 770 and N800 models. This device is really rubbing off on me as something to be at leat tried out.

Labels: internet tablet, mobile, N800, usability

Great post over at Church Tech Matters on building a tech ministry team:

...I have walked into a built in team, a group of people that have been at the church much longer than I have and know many of the ins and outs of how things work. Of course me, being the new guy, I tend to not be as concerned with ‘the way we’ve always done things’ and see things from more of an outside perspective. I have suggested some things and people have outright said ‘we don’t do it like that’ and my response is usually something like ‘I understand, but let’s give it a shot...

Labels: mission, tech, usability

I get a lot of email. Sometimes, I get too much email. Between work email, Brighthand email, personal email, newsletters, sales brochures, and forwards from everywhere -- not to mention spam -- there's a lot of information that come thru my eyes on any given day. In addition, I read 30+ websites a day keeping up with news from tons of subject areas. If you will, there is a ton of information around me and I have had some successes and failures in managing it all.

One of the reasons for using a smartphone was to help stem the tide of all of this info. So that instead of getting it in all at once at the end of a busy day, I am getting it in bits and pieces throughout. While its help me manage it, there's still a large amount of information. I've spent the better part of this summer looking at all of this information, and how to better navigate with it while maintaining some sense of balance in my life. And though I fee successful in some parts, there is never less information, always more, and the old stuff grows along with the new.

Mike Rohde pointed to a webpage which talks about this information overload, termed infomania, and why its such an important and neglected issue. Rather than get into the overall effects of this, I'd like to ask: how do those of you in information-centric fields deal with the deluge of information, and how do you keep it from becoming too overbearing (if you are able to keep it from being overbearing)?

Labels: reading, tech, usability

One of the things that I've liked about the N95 is that its let me get back into just browsing the Net, not just reading info. Granted, browsing is fun when there is nothing to do of dire importance and there is just loose time. So what did my rabbit hole bring tonite...

- I started at Jaiku. I wanted to see what some of my contacts were up to. I still think that an Opera widget and a mobile client for every other phone would make this an awesome application for a lot of folks.

- I peeked in on Darla Mack's blog via her Jaiku channel when I saw a post about Nokia's mobile web server. Now this got me thinking that I should move to a Symbian device, and then host MMM on the device. Besides accessible as all get out, it would really kick the mobile notch up a good bit.

- Continued on Jaiku and saw that there is a TUAW channel (for the Apple fans, they should know that site).

- Clicked there and read Robert Scoble talk about giving up the N95 and appreciating the iPhone.

- had another tab open stil to TUAW's Jaiku and got the idea via ijustine and The Remix of Children's Ministry (found via Robert Scoble's site) that its not the tech nor the availabilty that is the issue, just how we want to imagine using it to reach an audience and just going there.

- I managed to come out of the hole though to reinitate the full posts in RSS feeds, and at take a bit more of a thought to moving MMM completly mobile. If the right Nokia device were to come along (the N95's battery and memory issues are the only real hold up for this one), I'd probably do it; which would make that whole planning for MMM to be reinvented in MT4 go to waste a bit...sorry LJ.

- There's not much else that I can say other that since moving to Charlotte God's been heavy. God's been just moving a whole lot, from temporary residency to a job to a possible apartment. God's been extremely gracious and hence my heart being heavy for doing well with MMM. There's a whole lot out there, and God's saw fit to lead me this far - lead YOU this far. It's not like we deserve this, but He's so, so gracious. A few friends can testify to the fact that today I've never been more in awe, thankful, gracious of God's hands in my life. He says, "I know the plans I have for you." I've been walking towards Charlotte and more for 8+ years... there's just a whole lot that just browsing doesn't capture....things that God hands and flow just happen to roll with. I am so not ready for this IMO, but God has saw fit to just dump some grace notes on me. Heavy stuff.

Labels: accessiblity, children, devotion, iPhone, Jaiku, mobiles, N95, usability

In a comment in a previous posting, this was asked about a content direction for MMM:

What I would like to see is more how technology can replace paper and how to get people to accept the technology as a tool for everyday life.

If I had to sit and first ask that I would ask how does technology have a place in your everyday life. Whether this is a laptop to catch up on mail when you get home, or managing finances, or connecting with friends and family located in various areas, where are some of your everyday uses of tech?

The other side of that is the hard part, the sell if you will:

...how to get people to accept the technology as a tool for everyday life.

The only way to really do this is to idenitfy the tool and the use that is both painless and totally beneficial to the user. So if that is replacing a checkbook with a PDA because the bank messes up, or using a laptop because you need better organization to Bible study notes, the technology has to be a means to an end. If not, we get into that idol-factory of getting it just because it is cool.

Another way that tech has everyday use is found simply in checking out the manual as to what your device can do. For example, did you know that if you have a laptop and a printer, that you don't have to pay for a newspaper subscription. Most of the major articles are posted online (cost of paper, ease of use) and those that are not there are community blogs that discuss much of the rest of the paper. Or, instead of carrying a PDA, carry a USB key with portable versions of Firefox, Open Office, and other applications and just plug in your USB key at a public computer and have your mobile tech right on your keychain (size, privacy, ease of use, cost).

There are a few ways that tech can be used everyday. How do you use yours?

Labels: accessiblity, Bible, community, mobile, usability

Israel Anderson wrote in on the previous article about the Bible on the iPhone to let us know that he has created the website/web applicaiton God's iPhone (the Bible for iPhone).

According to the website/web app:

This is a minimalist site for iPhone users, like me, who are looking for a Bible application for the iPhone. I will be developing this site LIVE so that you can use it right away and send me feedback. That also means things may break or not work right. Let me know if something isn't working for you or if you think there's a better way. This site will look plain weird on anything but an iPhone. I am a missionary with YWAM. If you would like to support my efforts through your prayer or financial support, I will be very blessed.

I'll be trying this really soon on the N800, but it looks pretty solid and a neat resource for using the Word online.

Ok, enough from me, go to http://www.godsiphone.com and get in the Word via whatever browser you have :)

Perosnally, I would love to see a company like Laridian, Olive Tree, eBible, Logo, or another get behind Israel and help with the support, content, and development of this web app. It's really got potential to bless folks on more than just iPhones.

Labels: Bible, eBible, GMPSoft, iPhone, Laridian, Logos, mobile, N800, Olivetree, usability

I was just over at Palm Addict and saw that SplashNews has been released. It is a free RSS reader program (ad supported). Looks kinda neat and you can download right to your device by going to http://splashdata.com/splashnews/

Being that I am on the road a lot lately, RSS is proving to be a really neat way for me to get news and other info. What would be a nice implementation of RSS though would be an RSS feed of my church's newsletter. I think that would be a really simple way for people to get on board with RSS on any mobile device, and then also have a simple means to share in what is going on. Sure, the number of people who read RSS feeds versus the total number of people online is small; but this is a case where the tech can be usable and simply so.

Labels: mobile, SplashData, usability

I've been playing/working with the N800 for a good while now, and have recently combined with Tiffany Boggs of of TabletPCReview for a review of the N800. Here is a snippet:

...The N800 is great for catching up on those emails and other business uses, but it has some nice entertainment features like I mentioned before. You can watch videos, listen to music and have Web chats, thanks to Internet calling and the Web cam.

It has taken me a while to figure out a place for the N800 in my world of computing, but it does remind me a lot of the Palm T5 that I used to own: powerful in its own right, but with the Internet comes a personal window to a lot more. The included software is easy to learn and the battery life just makes you want to use it more...

Read the entire review at TabletPCReview.

Thanks to the Nokia Blogger Relations Program for lending MMM/me the device for my parts of this review.

Labels: Brighthand, internet tablet, N800, usability

One of the things that Iam looking at today is how the n800 works as a commuter device. The rss and music player work really well. Though this is a internet device, it can work offliine pretty well.

What is missing though comes in a simple calendar or some integration to a calendar. If this could sync to Google calendar or MS Exchange then I could see this pulling some occasional PIM duty,

I've been playing music for 7+ hours at the time of this writing. This aspect is really impressive. No web and this is the first time writing anything more than a quick note.

I need to find a blogging program that will let me save posts. This could be fun ;)

Now to find that online/offline bible program.

At this point, this is really close to being a solid purchase. If you are not sold on smartphones and find that wifi and customization can work, the n800 is as good as I have used.

Labels: accessiblity, Bible, internet tablet, N800, usability

While it is that I have really enjoyed the n800, especially as a weekend computing device, I don't think that I have maximized it just yet. Now, if my treo keeps actin' up, that will not be a prob.

Nevertheless, here is a post I did earlier which was written on the n800:

Right now i am in the mist of using three phones at once. I have the SIM from my 680 in the N95 so that it can be updated by the internet connection being served by another. Of course, all of thus is being done via the desktop and so there is at least one more comp in the mix. This does free me to get some good time in with the n800 and bemoan the lack of a really well done touchpad bible.

Yikes, i fell asleep in the mist of typing this. The n800 is a good bedside device indeed.

Really, there are not too many missing items from this. Some better logic from the keyboard would be good as well as some wireless profile settings. And a really good hybrid bible app. That would be icing on the cake. the cake. the cake.

Labels: Bible, internet tablet, N800, N95, Nokia, Treo 680, usability

I was talking to a friend tonite after visiting a Bible study and she asked me about a new mobile phone. She had a few items that it had to fulfill, but the key thing is that she wanted to make sure that it fit her life. Given what she was looking for, I was able to help her settle into two devices, and a plan that would not kill her budget. But I was left with the question: this person wants to do more with their mobile, but it it because the mobile is to fit their life, or that the mobile is something more?

In a recent article published at Brighthand, I talked about two types of mobile devices and the users that feather each. In both cases, I'm looking for some kind of connection between the person, the device, and what they want to be/do. There is some connection that can (at a small level) be generalized, but I wonder, in light of that article, if that is something that could also be asked here.

For you, is your mobile device - PDA, smartphone, laptop, etc. - a lifestyle device as described in the article, or something other?

Labels: accessiblity, community, mobile, usability

I have to in some respect apologize to Nokia's Blogger Relations folks. I've been sitting on a near full review of the N800 for a week now and just haven't had the time to complete it. But for them and you here at MMM, expect a something a bit different than those "normal" reviews ;)

I also have a received an N95 from NBR. I'll be swinging that into my usage at the end of this week and taking a look at how my impending mobile status effects the use of that kind of tech for keeping up this site and attending to those folks near and dear. If you will, how does the N95 facilitate ministry, not just enabling it.

So stay tuned. And if you have any questions that the tons of other reviews haven't covered, do ask away.

Off to find a Bible reader and pack now :D

Labels: Bible, mobile, N800, N95, Nokia, usability

One of those things very easy to fall into when you have gotten online (email, blogs, etc.) is developing a personality aspect where you live for the attention you get online rather than just letting those web/tech things be a matter of fruitfulness.

I read an article at Lifehacker that pointed to a negative aspect of being unsearchable @ Google. While we can all agree that being searchable is a good thing. Making that attention-grabbing/getting as a reason to be online is unhealthy.

One recent tech consultation spoke to a parent on how understanding the web and what it does to our ego is key to understanding both the dangers and benefits of tech. Anytime it becomes less about God and productivity and more about us, we have made the tech an idol and it needs to be cast down.

Let your legacy online ALSO speak towards being Christ like.

Labels: devotion, family, mobile, usability

Given that I am at a place where I can finally compose my thoughts, I want to share some more about the N800 and why I think its a nearly perfect device for the connected, believing set of folks.

First of all, the N800 assumes nothing but that you will be connected. Sure, you can get things done offline like a few games and the occasional note. But this device is really intent on being used online. The connection settings are so easy to set up and use its pleasing to go online. The Wi-Fi is absoutely fabulous and finds connections that other devices have no clue about. I frequently connect it to my Treo 680 via Bluetooth and Dial Up Networking (DUN) and have nothing but a pleasing browsing experience.

I've gotten used to using a combination of finger tapping on the screen, stylus tapping, and button pressing to get things done or viewed just right. It really neat how you can hit a button to zoom in and out of a screen. However, those settings for zoom are only for tht window and not the entire device (unline a few tablet pc devices I know of).

I haven't downloaded any software, but I did add my (prevously unused) 2GB SD card. I place a boatload of music and docs on there and those read nicely. And the fact that it will connect to a computer to put files on the SD card without extra software needed is also great.

I am not running the latest update (Internet Tablet 2007) and so I am on some occasions experiences some issues with freezing and rebooting. Nevertheless, it reboots extremely fast (10-15 sec), and so no complaints when it does happen.

I really wish that there were some sort of hybrid bible app for the N800. One that worked online and offline would be perfect for this device. The screen is excellent for reading, and the usablilty of the device is perfect for both casual reading and studying.

I like it. A lot. Now I just need to figure out how to type better on it, so that I can post to MMM from there since the browser likes the MMM design so :)

Labels: internet tablet, mobiles, music, N800, Nokia, usability

i am typing this post on the n800 and finding that it is a really neat device. Typing is a bit slow fr me, and so consider this a short post.

I did find some biI did find some bible softwble software but it was not very install friendly.

just lost part of this post. i thInk its google's fault :(

Labels: internet tablet, mobile, N800, Nokia, usability

Since getting the N800, I have had a rash of thoughts about mobile computing. Mostly thinking of mobility as a way of life and a [impending] movement, rather than just an alternative way of to how to do things that computers have enabled us to do. I've started processing my thoughts, and have placed an initial post of those thoughts at my personal site. Here is a snippet:

...The 'why' should be addressed first. If only because what we consider as computing is changing by leaps and bounds. What was once university and big science computing, is now doable in the palms of our hands. We can take our data on the go and use it to interact with our world in ways that sci-fi only dreamed about 30 years ago. And at the same time, legislation and technology is moving at such a pace that if we do not understand it now, we will be overrun and have the perspective that "the technology is out to take over us...

Read the entire post.

What are your thoughts concerning mobile technology and how it is slowly becoming a part of everyday computing? Whether we think of a smartphone, laptop, online calendar, or MP3 player, all of these lifestyles are swooping in and out of this space we call mobile computing. How do we respond to this as those who represent Christ? Or, should we even respond at all?

Labels: accessiblity, community, mobile, N800, usability

I was just on an instant messaging (IM) conversation with LJ talking about an aspect of working with information that I would like to be better at doing, but so far have not taken enough of an initiative to do so. Essentially, I'd like to get to the point where information is working for me (and others) instead of me working for information.

This thought started a few weeks ago when I called for a meeting at my church of the guys on my a/v team. In sharing with them that the meeting was mandatory, I also sent to them a vCal attachment that had the meeting details. I explained that this vCal could be downloaded and saved into Outlook, Google Calendar, or if they need it on their phone, forwarded to their phone to appear in its calendar. One of the attendees responded back that it was great to have that information and it made it a lot easier for him to respond favorably to the meeting because that (small) part of putting the information into his calendar was already done.

That got me thinking, how can I harness an action like sending a vCal item for meetings into a better experience of having information that serves me instead of me serving it?

So far, I am only as far into this thought process that I can say that what I'd like is to get into the pattern of attaching my vCard (business card) and vCal (meeting/calendar) items to emails when I want people to have an action response to something. But, I wonder if this can go further. Not so much in using a web service or a specific tool, but how can I change the way that I do things so that I am now serving people, instead of serving information and pulling people along?

What are your thoughts on this? How can we make information work for us, instead of being pushed and pulled by it?

Labels: accessiblity, community, microformats, mobile, usability

One, I love the title.
Two, I agree with the posting on so many accounts, not the least of which is "why cannot people understand how to turn off their cell phones (or at least the ringer)?"

Here is a snippet of KP's post:
...We got to church early to get a seat and proceeded to watch all the people trickle in. We watched a caregiver lady assisting an elderly lady into the pew in front of us. “That’s nice,” I thought.

Until the caregiver lady’s cell phone started ringing. And this was like 2 minutes before the service was about to start. The phone rang once before she even realized it was ringing; she picked it up, then watched it ring again… like “who’s calling me?”…. then realized she shouldn’t have the phone ringing in church. Genius...

Read the rest of the post, and please, please, turn off the ringer before going into service or meetings.

Labels: church, mobiles, usability