APC - IT

Arise! Anxiety and Depression Support Group

2010-09-03T13:55:00.000-04:00

I am privileged to announce that I will be helping to host an Anxiety and Depression Support Group starting this month in conjunction with the Network of Hope and Allison Park Church Group Events. STARTING: September 21, 2010 WHAT: Arise! Anxiety and Depression Support Group WHO: Women of all ages WHEN: First and Third Tuesday of every Month at

Google Voice Transcriptions are Funny!

2010-08-10T07:59:00.000-04:00

This is a transcription of a voice message that I got from the Courtney Howe who works for the Gold Team at Dell Computer. I got a great belly laugh out of it this morning. "Sadie. How's it going. This is court airport Fudgesicle from dell computer, the following up on the closings at the OJ your last week see if you got the go ahead on those quotes yet. If you could please give us

SpiceWorks

2010-06-02T10:56:00.007-04:00

Everyone should be using SpiceWorks. Not only is it incredible Network Management Software, intuitive, and easy to use, but it's also FREE.The hardware/software inventory aspect of SpiceWorks would be enough for me to encourage everyone to use it, but there is so much more to this free configurable piece of software that I'd have to write a very long article to describe all its benefits. In

NO FEAR!

2010-05-17T10:08:00.007-04:00

A beautiful Christian woman with a heart for our Lord sent me an email today. I love her so much!! She was understandably shocked to hear that a movie was coming out depicting Christ and the Disciples as homosexuals. Now the rumor about the movie is false, but there is in fact a play about just this subject called 'Corpus Christi' or the body of Christ.I do not believe that we should be afraid

Dogs Are Smarter Than Cats

2010-04-15T13:58:00.003-04:00

But I always knew that...http://www.youtube.com/v/Q9NP-AeKX40&border=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1The vid above certainly shows a good use of that particular piece of technology.http://www.youtube.com/v/H3xdcx2WUcU&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0I know those angry barks: "Where is the multi-tasking, and USB port? No flash???"

25 years of radical change

2010-03-15T12:19:00.003-04:00

The news is all atwitter because .com names came into existence 25 years ago today. But it wasn't until 5 years later in 1990 that Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web – the only 'internet' that most people know – and made those .com names useful. I remember seeing my first graphical web page at that time – a friend of mine at college had put up a little page about his department and had

Ski PITTSBURGH!

2010-03-01T09:17:00.003-05:00

At least someone enjoyed the snow...Skiing in Oakland, and Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh during the Snowstorm of 2010.It's an amazing vid!You can see the University of Pittsburgh's Dorms in this Pic, this is up by their Physics building. Never thought anyone would ski down these stairs!

Open Source Sermon Resources

2010-02-22T09:05:00.003-05:00

Our Church Networking Group the MCM Network has 'Open Sourced' a lot of our sermon materials mostly graphics, and some video. It's good stuff!!You can find the free resources here.

Big Brother Is Watching vs Freedom and Integrity

2010-02-19T12:28:00.005-05:00

I was shocked to learn that a school near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has been accused of cyber-spying on their students via the web cam in their Macbooks. This is a school whose district officials had bragged that they had given all 2,3000 of their high school students these laptops to "ensure that all students have 24/7 access to school-based resources."Apparently some of those same School

Please Help Haiti

2010-01-13T10:48:00.006-05:00

I don't normally solicit for anything but the Earth Quake in Haiti has hit close to my heart. My Church helps to support a man by the name of Hudson Michele who runs 3 schools in Haiti with 250 students and he also pastors a church of 150 people. He's a GREAT man, one who cares nothing for fame or fortune. Hudson cares about trying to meet the physical, intellectual, and spiritual needs of his

The year of seeing through Jesus' eyes

2010-01-07T09:09:00.003-05:00

“Teach us to number our days aright,That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”—Psalm 90:12Pastors Jeff and Melodie Leake taught me to name each year as a symbol of what and how you want to become closer to the Lord. This year is my year of 'seeing through Jesus' eyes'.God is truth, and to see through the eyes of our Lord is to see what is real. Only what you see through his eyes is real. All else is

Christmas Prayers

2009-12-24T10:31:00.002-05:00

Today I pray for the hurting, the despised, the lonely, and the desperate. For my children. And I pray for Peace on Earth.There is so much to pray for. And sometimes when I pray I begin to despair - until I think of the man who left the right hand of God to become a baby in the must humble of circumstances. To walk amongst us and die so that this world would not remain cloaked in darkness.

All that's gold doesn't glitter...

2009-12-01T08:51:00.004-05:00

I can't exactly say that we're moving into the Christmas season now, when Walmart has been playing Christmas tunes for over a month now, but I'm a late shopper. Still before I hit the stores I make sure to stop and take an inventory of what exactly is of value in my life.The holy spirit turned me on to this article in his usual perfectly timed way. I highly recommend this article in Boundless

The Women At The Well

2009-10-07T14:59:00.003-04:00

I was the woman at the well - but by the grace of Jesus I am free, forgiven, redeemed and restored.This monologue from YouTube that is about that same story says everything that I'd like to say about that. Wow.

What Matters More?

2009-08-24T21:42:00.004-04:00

Everyone is blogging about Derek Webb's song from his new album Stockholm Syndrome. The song is 'What Matters More?'. It's getting lots of press in the Christian realm because of the two dirty words that are used in the song.I first listened to the song when it was posted on my friend Ben's blog. And true to form, Ben's post got me all riled up. Not because of the swear words. *gasp* But

What does being a Christian mean?

2009-07-07T13:20:00.003-04:00

That pic is Meghan - blogger, video producer, skater, Christ follower. My daughter just sent me the link to a YouTube Video that was written and performed by this 21 year old poet who has wisdom well beyond her years. I am astounded by the depth, insight, and truth of this young woman's words!She has entitled her poem 'box', and anyone who has felt pigeon-holed because of the label 'Christian'

Censorship vs Free Will

2009-06-16T16:08:00.003-04:00

Partial Freedom is an oxymoron - but that's just want some people would like the internet to be: "Partially Free". I am greatly disturbed by the censorship of the 'net that has been taking place in China, and is now in beginning in Germany. This censorship in Germany is being done under the guise of making the internet safe for children. In China the Government just admits that it wants to

Nothing ordinary about it...

2009-05-22T13:43:00.004-04:00

The Church counts the time after Pentecost and before the Christmas Season as Ordinary Time. So between June 1 this year until November 28 life will be ordinary.I discovered this because as a new Christian I like to study not only the Bible, but Biblical and Church History. I read the above article about Ordinary Time – which really just means 'ordinal' or counted time. But I highly object to

My Prayer

2009-05-06T17:03:00.006-04:00

Heavenly Father I ask that you never let me forget my life before I was saved.I never want to forget the utter emptiness in my soul that I tried to fill in all the wrong ways.I never want to forget the self loathing I felt for the way I was living my life.I never want to forget the loneliness of my self imposed isolation.I never want to forget the disappointment of opening my eyes to a new

New Technology MUST HAVE

2009-04-29T12:00:00.007-04:00

I just bought 10 of these for our Pastors!! It really blew my budget, in fact I had to take out a loan to get them but they are sure worth it! I'm saving to purchase the VR model for my own personal use! These guys are hilarious.

New meaning for the "Handshake"

2009-04-20T10:46:00.004-04:00

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been working on what they call 'Nano Skins' Which is not to be confused with the iPod decals. These nano skins are comprised of a tiny web of nano tubes and polymers that are thin enough to fit beneath your skin while retaining their ability to conduct electricity.These nano skins would be linked to your WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network). Yes, we'll

Green Data Center

2009-04-16T08:26:00.003-04:00

That photograph is the Telehouse Dockland Facility - and they are doing exciting and innovative things! I know how hot my little server room gets here at APC - and it's a shame to have to waste that energy. But greater minds than I have figured out a way to use it. They are going to put that kind of heat to work heating homes and businesses in London."The Greater London Authority has approved a

Can't we all just be friends???!!!????!1?!!1

2009-04-12T11:58:00.006-04:00

CAUTION: Pollyanna views ahead!I just watched the video of Christianity Today's panel on the “emerging church” at the Christian Book Expo in Dallas — along with experts Kevin DeYoung, Tony Jones, and Scot McKnight.I don't mean to be flippant, but that video just seemed like a very long version of one of those Macintosh vs PC commercials. The emergents of course being represented by the cool mac

The Power of Jesus

2009-04-10T09:37:00.006-04:00

I love National Public Radio. They handle news stories with a gentleness and respect that I very much admire.Today they are running a story that is proof positive that our Lord is alive and well and living in even the most dangerous of places. The story is called Finding Jesus in America's Inner City Alleyways.The story details an upcoming exhibit of photographic images that will be part of an

One Step Closer to Gibson's Dream

2009-03-18T11:28:00.006-04:00

I was in my early 20's when I became a self proclaimed Cyberpunk, and William Gibson, the father of Cyberpunk has always been someone I've very much admired.I loved the idea of cybernetic implants that could not only make you 'better, stronger, faster' but that would also allow our brains to directly access information located in cyberspace.I was delighted to find that we are one step closer to

2009-02-27T09:15:00.004-05:00

Casting Crowns window.google_render_ad(LifesongThis is the song of my heart.Life

2009-02-23T13:25:00.003-05:00

For two years every evening my daughter and I settle into my bed to read the Bible. I read it to her, and we stop frequently to discuss things that come up. It's such a precious time to me. When we're done reading she always asks, "Can we talk now?"And the talks that we have can be serious, or goofy, but they too are precious.She turned 13 last week. That's an incredible milestone. But every

The Timelessness of Jules Verne

2009-02-11T10:51:00.006-05:00

I grew up reading Jules Verne and HG Wells – the fathers of 'steampunk' before moving on to Orwell, Asimov, Bradberry, and Gibson. Science Fiction has always been my genre of choice. Recently I began to reread 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and was again reminded of the creative and future-sighted genius of Verne.From the submarine Nautilus to the spacecraft Columbiad Verne's fantastical

The Year of Leaning Forward

2009-01-07T09:33:00.006-05:00

Our Senior Pastor Jeff Leake started the tradition of 'naming your year' with is wife. It's a cool idea that allows you to give the coming year a 'theme'.Last year I named my year "Diligence and the Holy Spirit". I was trying to be diligent not only in my faith, but also in my work, and personal life. And I was seeking to become ever closer to the Holy Spirit.This year is going to be the Year

Sonic Wall Fiasco

2008-12-11T18:43:00.002-05:00

My Sonic Wall TZ190 went south. When it went down the first time it lost some settings. Our connection went down 2 hours later, and I reset the Sonic Wall by power cycling, and again it worked. But the third time was a charm. They are sending a new one overnight, but in the mean time we're using a little linksys router...Ya, very hinkey, but I specialize in hinkey. At least we can get to

TwitScoop.com

2008-11-23T08:08:00.004-05:00

I recently found a site that has fascinates me: TwitScoop.comIt's part of the TwitCloud.com phenomena. TwitScoop is an application that creates word 'clouds' based on the words used most frequently in public 'twits'. And the best part is that you can mouse over the words and see the actual tweets.I like TwitScoop because it feels like you're putting your finger on the pulse of the world - at

Internet Ministry VS Real Life

2008-11-14T10:27:00.004-05:00

I have in the past been against the idea of an Internet Church Campus, but a recent experience changed my mind with one POWERFUL caveat:The Internet can not and should never replace RL.(Real Life for those non geeks amongst us)I had the very good fortune of attending a webinar hosted by DJ Chung of the Multi Site Director Leadership Network which featured Internet Campus Pastors Brandon Donaldson

Wisdom from my Network Cable Tester

2008-11-07T13:59:00.004-05:00

These words of wisdom were found on the cardboard backing of my new Network Cable Tester. I knew I just had to share them with the world:ATTENTION:Do not use it beyond usageDo not change it on your mindOkay!

Jeff Deyo

2008-11-05T10:31:00.005-05:00

Jeff Deyo - one of the pioneers of modern worship music is going to perform a concert at Allison Park Church tomorrow night: Thursday November 6, 2008, and everyone is invited! The as if this weren't enough to get everyone excited, the concert is also FREE.I am thrilled for the chance to see Jeff Deyo live and in concert in our own Sanctuary! Jeff was formerly the singer/songwriter for

Exciting Times

2008-10-21T08:25:00.004-04:00

I am SO excited about how our Church is taking action, and moving forward boldly not only to proclaim the word of the Lord and the salvation of Jesus Christ, but also to raise up a generation of warriors for Jesus who live life the way that the early Church did.Allison Park Church has partnered with Mission SOS in Sweden not only to open a Ministry School in association with our Multi Church

Do not get Scammed by an 'Astroturf Movement'

2008-10-20T13:11:00.005-04:00

I've heard so many people say that the internet is inherently evil. But it's exactly as evil as the real world that we live in, and conversely just as good. You have to be careful in the real world, so be careful on the internet.I'm always trying to demystify the internet and educate my friends and family about Internet safety, so when I read a very good post in PC Magazine stating that 'grass

Pittsburgh puts a Dent in Cyber Crime!!!

2008-10-17T15:07:00.005-04:00

Check out this article in Wired Magazine about how the FBI in Pittsburgh is helping to foil Cyber Crime in a very clever way.Read the article here!

Seeking Security Advice.

2008-10-08T11:27:00.005-04:00

People around here have very good intentions. But we all know where the road to good intentions leads...Let me just preface this by saying that I love my Pastors, the staff here, and every single person that walks through the door of our Church.But I want to address a growing problem here that's causing me a great deal distress and extra work.I'm wrestling with the issue of security for our

My Father

2008-09-23T07:49:00.007-04:00

When you stop and realize just how often and how powerfully God has had a hand on your life, it's astounding. It's humbling. And it makes you realize just how grateful you are to have Jesus in your life.This morning on my drive to work I was blessed with the gift of clearly seeing the hand that he's had on my daughter and me through a rather difficult season in our lives. From simple event to

Email from the Past

2008-09-17T17:03:00.006-04:00

When I first became a Christian I sent myself an email scheduled to arrive 1 year down the road. I wrote about how I was feeling, told myself about about my typical day which brought into focus exactly what my reality was back then. And I encouraged myself not to give up, because God had never give up on me. When I received that email I celebrated just how far I'd come on my walk with the Lord

OpenOffice

2008-08-14T11:12:00.003-04:00

While I'm on the subject of free stuff, I thought that I would mention OpenOffice.I am completely sold on OpenOffice. So sold, in fact, that our Church will no longer be purchasing MS Office. We use Google Apps and OpenOffice now. I haven't used Microsoft Word or Excel for over a year now because I've been using the OpenOffice versions.It's brought to you by the same people (Sun Microsystems)

Artweaver

2008-08-14T09:36:00.004-04:00

For digitized artistic endeavors everyone wants Photoshop because it gets the best press. But it is also uber expensive.Now there is a FREE alternative that I've been using exclusively for the photo manipulation that I need to do, and it's an excellent product.It's called Artweaver and it was released just this year. Formerly a user of both Photoshop and its little brother Paint Shop Pro, I

SonicWall TZ 190 ships with poopy firmware

2008-08-12T14:54:00.004-04:00

I hope poopy isn't a swear word. (sigh)Anyway our SonicWall TZ 190 install is done. I hope. It was a thrill to know that it shipped with a corrupt OS, and the firmware has to be installed immediately. My advice is to do this before you manually insert the settings, as it wipes them and you'll have to do it all over again. The firmware it ships with won't allow you to export the

Google Street View

2008-08-06T15:28:00.007-04:00

There are entire organizations built around the concern that Google violates personal privacy. I've perhaps been lax in my concern because I figure I don't do anything questionable anyway, so who cares if someone is watching me.But I've been hearing a lot through the grapevine about Google Street View, the interactive mapping service that gives you a three dimensional pictorial view from certain

Nerdly Olympics

2008-08-06T15:13:00.005-04:00

I'm betting that I could kick your butt at Speedcabling . I dunno about the soldering... And I would surely lose at Meeting Sitting.If you wanna take a look at what IT World thinks the Nerdlympics would look like check it out.But what I like best about this article is that it honestly showcases the irreverent humor that we geeks tend to share. Go IT!

Cell Phones and Cancer?

2008-07-24T14:11:00.002-04:00

Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the prestigious University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute has issued a warning against Cell Phone use.I'm flabbergasted.

Is Big Brother Watching?

2008-07-24T13:20:00.005-04:00

"If you give me six lines written by the most honest man, I will find in them something to hang him." - The Infamous Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu The issues of privacy, particularly on the Internet are being raised by many people around the world. It was once again brought to my attention by a very thoughtful article over at Ars Technica. No one seems to care that our every day activities are

Everyone is so perfect around here... but ME!

2008-07-18T23:39:00.004-04:00

Second in the series Practical Christianity 101You will sometime soon have this misconception: "Everyone here in this Church is perfect but ME!"Wrong. Everyone in your Church is a human being, and everyone in your church has problems and troubles just like the rest of us. We all live with varying degrees of transparency and just because they all 'look' together doesn't mean they 'are'

Is CRAP a Swear Word?

2008-07-18T23:28:00.004-04:00

First in the series: PRACTICAL Christianity 101 It pains me to admit that I used to curse like a truck driver. In fact I'm sure that sometimes my language would have made many a truck driver blush. And I had nothing to do with cleaning up my act in that regard. The Holy Spirit did that for me. However... Is Crap a swear word? How about Poop, or Snot, or Darnit! What about Holy Toledo?I need

PRACTICAL Christianity 101

2008-07-18T23:03:00.003-04:00

As some of you know I'm newly saved (Within the past 2 years)I'm a baby when it comes to all things associated with the following of our Lord Christ Jesus. Sometimes I feel like a total noob. So I decided to create a series of postings entitled Practical Christianity 101.There are plenty of sites out there for new Christians that delve into Theology for the newly saved. I never had a problem

I did it!

2008-07-18T22:30:00.005-04:00

I finally did it! I finally was able to witness out of the blue to someone I have known for a very short time. I was terrified inside. But they were so sad, and so lonely, and the words they used were /exactly/ the words I had used before I was saved.They talked about how horrible humans are. They spoke of the trouble in the world and how the only thing they could count on was their dog.

Has Remember the Milk curdled?

2008-07-18T14:50:00.006-04:00

(Disclaimer: Highly frustrated techie about to blow off steam.)We made the switch to Google Apps and everything was so snazzy - until Remember the Milk started acting up.It does not always put your email into the task bar when you star it (If you have that option set) and sometimes the Task List disappears from your Gmail page altogether.My Pastors need task lists!Does anyone else have a mobile

168 Pin Dimm

2008-07-17T16:12:00.003-04:00

I needed some. Our IT department is on a very tight budget, and I pride myself in making donated machines work.I have a nice little machine that was given to us, nothing at all wrong with it, it is perfectly capable of running Firefox to use Google Apps, and it has an old but decent networking card for our server. Smallish hard drive but that didn't matter. Except it had 64 megs of Ram. Ouch

A House Divided

2008-07-17T09:55:00.006-04:00

There is reference to a story about Tod Bentley's Florida's Lakeland Revival on a blog I read frequently. The story is entitled “Florida event causes rift in charismatic community”. And being a person who considers herself well grounded in science and technology I will admit that I have wondered about the

Spicing up APC!

2008-07-11T11:24:00.007-04:00

I have been setting up Spiceworks, and just sat through their intro webinar and...WOW. WOWWOWWOW!We currently have no real network monitoring, or help desk tools. I do it all in my head, and by walking around from machine to machine.I am praising God like crazy for Spiceworks!Now I just have to learn to use it...O.O

Creating a Life Plan

2008-07-07T14:58:00.006-04:00

Pastor Jeff always has yearly goals that he is brave enough to put in his blog. But he mentioned way back near January that a fellow Pastor had put his LIFE goals on his blog. That blew my mind!But the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. Just because you write down a Goal does not mean it can't morph and change into something entirely different as your life goes along. There

Jott and Remember the Milk

2008-07-03T16:42:00.003-04:00

Oh how I love these two programs. I can sent voice messages via Jott to my Remember the Milk task list that's integrated with my Google Apps Email. I'm in heaven!Did I mention that they are both free???Jott alone is fantastic. And the best part is...(Gratuitous self promotion alert)I did research for the beginnings of that voice recognition software WAY back when at Carnegie Mellon University

Why I now love Church (when I used to hate it)

2008-06-30T11:42:00.005-04:00

This article fills me with joy. It makes me know that there are other Churches out there with the same philosophy that I have found here at APC.How do you measure the success of your church?When I first started coming here I remember telling everyone "They don't just talk the talk, they walk the walk." And they do. We do. :-)I used to hate 'The Church'. 'The Church' drove me away from

Dell Problems, and Bashing

2008-06-27T13:35:00.009-04:00

I've heard uber geeks complain about Dell before. But then they complain about any 'off the shelf' computer that wasn't put together by their own hands. I like Dell. I like that I can open up the boxes and work on them. I like that they are very reasonably priced. I like their warranties and the fact that they are quick to replace problem parts (if you can stand talking to their help desk

Fabric Vehicles?

2008-06-27T08:00:00.009-04:00

I love it when people think outside the box. That's when true innovation happens. This is am amazing example of that very thing:BMW's GinaI love how the headlights of the car can be exposed or hidden by the car's skin just like blinking eyes, and the hood opens from the center as the fabric parts to expose the engine.I want one. Then I'd have a car with wrinkles too! It certainly bring quite

My kid sent ME a text message

2008-06-25T17:38:00.002-04:00

CAUTION: Sappy post alert!Okay this may not seem like much, but my daughter sent me a text message. Me. Not one of her bazillion friends. Me. And she sent it when she was very busy with her friends, having a great time helping out at APC's Kids Kaboom - our week of summer fun for kids age K-5.She took the time to send me a text message. Just a little one. And she wasn't asking for money,

TIME SINK - Outlook Email Upload to Google Apps

2008-06-25T09:02:00.006-04:00

I began the uploading of our users old email in Outlook 2003 to Google Apps.They have a lovely little program called Google Email Uploader that works with Outlook 2003 and newer, Outlook Express and Thunderbird that will upload your mail and contacts from Outlook to Google Apps. They also have a users guide here.The progam works fine, however I did not anticipate the time that it would take to

Hallelujah!! Successful Google Apps Migration

2008-06-24T19:39:00.009-04:00

Today we went live with Google Apps! The transition went very smoothly, the MX records propagated instantly and there were no bounces.I have been using Google Apps and I believe this is a good move for the Church. It's not only free, but it will allow us to have access to all our information from any computer at any time. I'm not certain how much everyone will use Google Docs, but Gmail,

Internet History Lesson

2008-06-23T10:20:00.006-04:00

Here is a link to an article on Wired Magazine siting the first DNS (Domain Name System) test of the Internet in 1983.Before that we simply used Arpanet and connected via IP address, or by dialing direct from computer to computer via the phone lines.The article says that "DNS will lay the foundation for the massive expansion, popularization and commercialization of the internet."Ugh. Now you know

Submerged Computer

2008-06-23T10:07:00.004-04:00

This is the coolest thing going!! It's a computer that utilizes a Fish Tank as the tower, then is submerged in liquid (Mineral Oil). I'll admit to being more than a little skeptical, but it works!You can watch a video of them making it on YouTube here, and quite frankly it's astounding!I'm going to make one of these someday for the Church Concourse!

Home Made Plastic

2008-06-23T10:06:00.003-04:00

No kidding. Read about it here on Life Hacker.

The MYTH of Multi-tasking

2008-06-23T08:05:00.002-04:00

I am as guilty of multi-tasking as the next guy, but recently I've become convinced that contrary to my intentions Multi-tasking has been cutting DOWN on my productivity. I've found my thoughts scattered when I should be concentrating on one thing. Phone calls, and email can derail me when I'm in the middle of something big.Then yesterday, thanks to Slashdot, I came across an article in the

Hello World

2008-06-23T08:00:00.002-04:00

This blog is mostly for the passing of information from the IT department at Allison Park Church to staff and members who may be affected by it. However I may use this area to proseletize on occasion, and for that I apologize in advance.The ideas and information within this blog belong only to me. They are not official and do not represent the views of Allison Park Church.