Today is day 4 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. Our task is simple (yeah right) … analyse other blog(s) in the same niche as mine and discuss!

Paul has set the challenge as a series of questions to trigger the thoughts:

1. What is your niche?

This one is easy and matches the elevator pitch I had to create for day one. My niche is “Tech ‘stuff’ in Church”. By Tech, it could encompass anything from Computers to Sound to Media to Arts to Back Stage control and so on – in short, if it has tech of some form in it, then there is a possibility I’ll touch on it at some stage (no pun intended) but primarily I focus on computing.

2. What site(s) did you analyze?

As I’m not aware of  any other blogs like mine that cater for the same eclectic area as I do that would also be considered successful I am struggling with this one. The one I did know is now a multi-author site of which I am also one of said authors cf: ChurchTechMatters.com so it seems a little self-serving to promote that.

However, I have decided to pick on one I do frequent (more…)

As part of the 31DBBB challenge we’ve been challenged to write a list post as list posts are succinct and hit the reader right where they are at.

So, keeping in mind that this is a tech blog, here’s my list post for today’s part of the challenge:

• Run a computer workshop.
• Run a “Parents Internet Safety” class.
• Run a “Youth Internet Safety” class.
• Find a local church that doesn’t have a tech volunteer and volunteer.
• Learn some new tech or software purely to help your church.
• Take one section of your church and find a way to make tech more useful to them.
• Offer to train non-christians on better, safer, more effective use of their tech.

I hope these prove of some use and certainly some of these I’ve undertaken and others I plan to.

What other tech ministry ideas do you have?

I’ve just committed myself – friends say it should have been done years ago – but all jokes aside I’m in for the challenge.

Paul Steinbreuck over at OurChurch.com has challenged his readers, a lot of whom are also bloggers, to take up the 31 Days to a Better Blog process.

Well, I’m not sure I can guarantee to do all 31 days as and when required even though Paul is structuring it to not roll over weekends. But I will commit to completing all days sooner rather than later. I’m not worried about getting the added incentives that Paul is throwing in of a free silver hosting package to all that do all 31 days, but I am looking forward to the added benefits that hopefully this will bring both myself as a blogger and to yourselves as readers.

Anyway, this is to say that some of my regular content will likely be different over the next month or so as I commit to this… what about you?

There’s still time to join even though it started yesterday!

I’m not usually a person who falls easily into scams or attempts by others to obtain more money for a product than it is realistically worth.

But this one got me.

If I asked you what NOH means, would you know?

What if I said it was on a website that sells products?

Still no idea?

Well that’s ok, because you won’t be alone. I asked my contacts and friends via facebook and twitter and whilst I had some excellent guesses and some fun ones, not one of them was right or even close to being right.

First, a bit of history. I was probably the first keeper (read maintainer) of text speak acronyms (as they’ve become known) on “teh internets”. It was an ascii document full of smilies in all varieties, TLA’s such as IANAL, and it even had some ascii art in it. You’ll see the linked doc has my old, now defunct, email address and is from Feb 8th 1994 but I’d been maintaining it for a couple of years by that stage.

I tell you this to let you know that I do acronyms. I get them. I understand them and I’ve seen most of them already. If I don’t know them, then google is but a click or two away. But NOH had me thoroughly foxed.

When I saw it in the context it was in it was laid out this way:

Product Name Model NOH Get FREE blah - where ‘Model’ was a combination of letters and numbers.

Later on the same page it repeats the black boldened text but this time it is non-bold and nothing else on the line.

So would you then expect, as I did, that the NOH was simply an extension of the model?

Maybe you wouldn’t, but I haven’t found anyone yet that understands what it meant out of context or even in.

But I do know now.

After I purchased said product.

It means “Newly OverHauled” as in refurbished or second hand.

Last time that one gets me and I hope this goes some way to helping others.

Icon courtesy of icons.mysitemyway.com

How seriously do you take your role as a tech volunteer (whether paid or not) within your Church?

Is it just something you do because you can?

Or is it because you feel called to the role or even because you were asked (probably by the pastor) to do it.

Or do you do it because you feel “called” to the role and this is your vision?

The reality is that it shouldn’t matter which caused you to be where you are – however I have found that with the few christian techs that I know in person it does make a difference.

The difference tends to come out in one of a few ways that I’ve spotted with the biggest being in our attitude towards security. (more…)

I enjoy using twitter, I really do. More than this I love interacting with folks and hopefully getting to know them a little more. I’ve even managed to make a few friends that I would be happy to call upon directly or them me, if needs be but …

… I confess, I really don’t understand what (if indeed anything) I am doing wrong in my usage of twitter.

I took stock of a recent day’s usage and my twitter day consisted of a few RT’s; a few posts of my own thoughts and close on two dozen (I didn’t count that close so it could be more) responses I made to individuals that were of a helpful nature or in a manner to induce a reply or start a conversation.

Now, I accept folks are busy or have a reason to not reply or even don’t see the @’s but then what are they doing on twitter? Anyway, can you guess how many replied, continued the conversation, thanked or even just acknowledged me?

Well, no, it wasn’t quite zero but one!

One person took the effort to respond.

One person took the time to utilise <140 chars to converse with me.

The most stunning aspect (at least to me) is that the one person that did reply is a well known sportsman (in rugby union) and is a man amongst men. He’s a world famous name and probably revered as a god in his own country (New Zealand) – which not unlike mine is fanatical about their rugby. And what’s more, he took time to chat not just reply once.

I’m honoured – but I am thoroughly baffled and confused as to why nobody else could be bothered.

Am I getting it that wrong?

Am I a twitter fail and should just terminate my account?

Any clues folks?

Greg Davis asked the question on his blog: “do you have friend standards”? Specifically he was talking about the criteria we use to select our friends on twitter.

I posted a comment that said I don’t have any real hard and fast rules but I decided I ought to clarify what my thinking is (and if it helps you, then great) and the few I have are these:

I’m likely to follow you if you tweet:

• about God or your faith (and not just my God/faith)
• about my job – IT, security, networks..
• my hobbies & passions – gadgets, rugby, cricket, IT, media, church tech..
• other stuff that interests me – self help, study habits..

I’ll also likely follow you if you appear to be someone that will interact with their followers and not sit aloof and only tweet, never reply and never thank when assisted.

On the other hand, I’ll probably not follow you or unfollow you if you tweet:

• about the same one thing all the time, e.g get 1000′s of followers here type
• >10 tweets at a time (why?)
• spam
• porn

And that’s about it.

I’m happy to have folks I follow that aren’t the ultra clean we christians would like or sometimes expect fellow brothers or sisters should follow. Why? Simply because we are called to be ‘in the world’ so I can’t do that if I don’t allow those who oppose my views. Secondly we are called to be ‘not of the world’ and I do that by not bitching, by not gossiping, by not using language I shouldn’t, by … well you get the picture.

What about you?

Do you have twitter friend standards?

The church I attend has two websites.

One a full blown ecommerce site which has been up and running for the past year or more to support the christian book import business we run and the second which is nearing completion, is for the church itself.

Last night I had the pleasure to introduce the backend of the new site (it’s WordPress) to two of our church members who will be doing the updates, postings, etc for the site. It was a humbling experience (more…)