This blogger blog is mostly abandoned.  Sure, there's some old content here (from 2006 and before), but if you want the good stuff, you'll go to http://trinitydigitalmedia.com

Paul

Well, guess what. I'm having server problems again. Hopefully this will be cleared up soon. Paul

If you know what could be causing my issue, let me know: technobabelhost at gmail dot com. Paul

I'm not going back to the older look for the blog. I'm having trouble with WordPress. I probably messed it up during some site maintenance yesterday. I'll try to fix it today. Paul

I just got a press release that MatrixStream is about to release a 1080i (that's hi-def) H.264 (Apple's hi-def codec) set-top box that will enable hi-def video content to be delivered to your HD-tv via a box that hooks into your local network and eventually your broadband internet connection. So what does this mean to you? Well for starters, you can get cheaply produced HD content via the internet for much less than if it came via a cable network. Who knows, maybe I'll finally release a video version of the show? Next, let's say you have a satellite venue between two campuses at your church, no problem getting the video from one place to another provided there's enough delay to recompress via H.264 and transfer it via the internet. This might just be a real boon for my church as we're starting our first video venue on Easter and will likely have an off-site venue in the next year or two. This will (for us) replace the need for a microwave transmitter and receiver as well as an engineer to run it all. If this works as advertized, with a small equipment investment and a broadband connection, you'll be able to get a feed in glorious hi-def from anywhere (with some possible delay), so national conferences can cheaply be displayed locally, for example. I'm excited. Check-out their video at http://www2.matrixstream.com/presskit/hd_stb_demo.wmv. Paul

Download Episode 20 here. On today's "Tech, No Babel", mixing computer and video signals, Zyphod complex and the LifChang principle, knowing your target, and much, much more. Here are some links from the show: Diagram for using a selector switch with projectors "Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy" Rick Warren's "Purpose-Driven Church"

Go to the Shure Podcasting Article to find some great advice on how to podcast in your church. Now, keep in mind that it's Shure, so they're going to recommend their microphones and headphones, but there's some other practical advice there, too. Paul

Did you know that churches are excluded from non-profit pricing by Adobe? This is in stark contrast to policies of other software companies such as Microsoft and Macromedia (now owned by Adobe). Please sign this petition, created by Tim Eason of ChurchMedia.net. Paul (updated)Here's the new, improved petition. Please sign it again. (updated)

Just for fun go to Cyborg Name Decoder and type in up to ten letters for your name. Here's mine: Paul

Episode 20 is ready to be edited. Just a couple of days away now. Paul

So what's your highlight? Is it Monday night with the guys? Is it Friday morning with the girls? Is it your weekend at home? It occurs to me that my answer is none of the above. I used to look forward to my days off, but I don't anymore. I have several highlights. Let me go through them in order starting with Tuesday. Tuesday morning is Production Meeting from 11-12ish. Every third Tuesday is Mat Leadership Meeting and Programming Meeting. Wednesday nights we have celebration meeting. Thursday is Arts practice. Friday is "The Mat". Saturday is Drama Practice and Life Group. Sunday is the main thing--our evangelistic service. I don't live a "balanced" life and I don't want to. Jesus didn't. The disciples didn't. Hours and hours of volunteer work are the highlight of my week. Strangely, (or maybe not-so strangely) God has responded with a family life that is BETTER than it was before. I love what God's called me to. I look forward, not to my days off, but my days of service. Paul

I just found a great definition of podcasting on my church's website: "Podcasting uses the same audio files that we currently make available for download. The only difference is that you don't have to visit the site each week to get the current audio message. Instead you can use a podcast aggregator (application) to subscribe to a free feed of our weekly messages. The aggregator software monitors the feed, and automatically knows when a new message is available to download." Read more here at http://www.questcommunity.com/we/podcast.shtml. Paul

If your church is interested in podcasting, but you want it as simple as possible, you might try PodPoint.net. PodPoint is a service similar to Libsyn, but it's for churches and is oriented towards Christians. It's price point isn't bad at $19.95. It's in beta now, but might be just the thing for your church. Paul

On today's "Tech, No Babel", we complete our series on a DIY lightkit (from Episode 16 (DIY lightkit 1) and Episode 17 (DIY lightkit 2)), follow me on the journey from concept to a completed podcast, and much, much more. Download it here. Podcasting resources: Episode 18 (mp3 compression)

Sorry for the delay, but here's how to do a countdown fairly quickly using "find and replace" and "copy and paste" in PowerPoint. This works up to 99 minutes, but you'll have to delete some (or start on a certain slide) if you want to start short of the even 10 minute marks. This is the thirty minute version: 1) Create a slide with "WX:YZ" in place of the numbers. 2) Copy and paste until you get 10 slides. 3) Replace the "Z" in the first slide (manually) with 9. 4) Repeat until you get to 0. 5) Select all; copy. 6) Find and replace "Y" with 5. 7) Paste. 8) Repeat steps 6 & 7 until you get to 0. 9) Select all; copy. 10) Find and replace "X" with 9. 11) Paste. 12) Repeat steps 10 & 11 until you get to 0. 13) Copy. 14) Find and replace "W" with 2. 15) Paste. 16) Repeat steps 13 & 14 until you get to 0. 17) Switch to the slide sorter view. 18) Set the slides to automatically switch after 1 second each. You're done. Delete what you don't need to get to 25 (or whatever) minutes. Paul