Jeff's Rutter

Visit my new blog home

2005-10-28T11:59:00.000-04:00

I have moved my blog to jeffbridgforth.com. Please update your subscription feeds.

First Podcast

2005-10-25T13:58:00.000-04:00

I posted my first podcast today. I have been working on it for a couple of weeks now. It was recorded by one of our staff in California. I used RSS Buddy to write the xml "feed" for the podcast. It helps you write the feed for iTunes. I have been ready for a couple of weeks but needed to wait so that I could take advantage of a partnership with another department with Campus Crusade.

SnagIt

2005-10-25T13:50:00.000-04:00

Last week, I bought new software that I really like. It is called SnagIt. It allows you to capture screenshots. I had heard about it at the User Interface conference I attended in Boston earlier this month.

I downloaded a trial version and after using it once, decided to buy it. What I really like about it is that you can take a screenshot of a website and scroll down to capture the entire length of the page, which you cannot do by just doing a print screen in Windows. Also, it is smart enough that you can just capture a certain element on your screen. This cuts down on the process of having to go into my graphic editing program to cut down images to just what I want.

You can also apply effects like torn edge with SnagIt. For $40, it is a nice little program.

Web 2.0 Themes

2005-10-20T09:41:00.000-04:00

Last week, I attended the User Interface Conference in Boston. It was hosted by UIE. It was a really good conference and I would like to go back next year if I can get the funding.

Joshua Porter did a seminar on Web 2.0 and here is my summary. He talked about it using different themes he has identified.

Information Remixing - He showed us housingmaps.com which is "mash up" of Google Maps and Craig's List. Information remixing takes previously disparate information and ties them together in new ways that are more useful.

Architecture of Participation - We looked at del.icio.us. This theme takes one person's activity and makes it a useful tool for others. Del.icio.us allows a user to enter bookmarks and then tag them with different categoried that are useful to that person. Then I can look to see what others have put under those tags. It is collabortive filtering that takes personal info to help others find valuable content.

Social Networking - Flickr and Netflix would be examples of this. This theme deals with sorting information based on who I am and who my personal authorities are.

Interfaces - This theme deals with making new interfaces for content through what are referred to as APIs or Application Programming Interfaces. One example is Andale which uses information in eBays database to help those who sell on eBay become better at it. Here is a description from their website, "Andale Research is a power tool that can boost your sales every day. By helping you uncover the secrets to successful selling on eBay and formulate winning pricing strategies, it can show you how to sell more and maximize your profits on every sale."

I thought Joshua did a good job of trying to make the concept of Web 2.0 a little easier to understand.

Attensa RSS Reader for Outlook

2005-10-20T09:18:00.000-04:00

I had heard about this utility a couple of weeks ago. I decided to download it last week to try it out. I had used SharpReader before my computer got reimaged a couple of weeks ago.

I have been reading a book called Taking Back Your Life, Using Outlook to Get Organized and Stay Organized. One of the concepts in the book is that you minimize your collecting points for information. This is what motivated me to try Attensa.

Here is my review:

Attensa worked much like SharpReader in that it created folders in Outlook based on the categories you want to sort your feeds into. You can keep things like you do in SharpReader and delete the posts that you are not interested in. You can choose three different way to have the posts displayed: plain text, default view which describes itself as faster and richer and then source web page contents (which they say is the slowest) which looks like the website. I have been using the Default view and the one quirk I have found in it is that it displayed apostrophes as boxes. Attensa has tag functions but I have not yet played with that. You can forward the articles through Outlook to others and you can post to your blog with the Attensa utility bar in Outlook but I have not yet tried that either.

In comparison to other readers, I have not used the RSS reader in Firefox and I did a little with Bloglines. I had also been playing with Google's reader but was not real keen on it because I could not get rid of posts that I was not interested in. Attensa has provided me a pretty good solution as I am trying to integrate things from the Taking Back Your Life book.

Web 2.0 in My Own Words

2005-09-08T13:27:00.000-04:00

I was challenged to put Web 2.0 into an elevator pitch. This is my attempt to process what I have learned and try to pass it along. This was a helpful exercise.

From what I understand, a big part of Web 2.0 is about making information accessible. I have heard the term "content silo" kicked around with a project here at Campus Crusade. A content silo means that only I can access a database or resource documents because they are only contained in my "web."

Google and Flikr are using new trends to make the information in their databases accessible to others so that others can take what they have created and use it for another application. An example would be Google Maps. Others have used the information for the "maps" and built another interface application that helps people find housing, find cheap gasor map the movement of hurricanes.

RSS is making information accessible in that I do not have to browse to find information that I want but I can "subscribe" and that info comes to me. RSS is what makes podcasting different from just posting an mp3 on a website.

So in a nutshell, I understand Web 2.0 to be about making information more accessible, both for users and developers.

What is Ajax?

2005-09-08T13:05:00.000-04:00

I have been seeing the term "Ajax" a lot in discussions about Web 2.0. This article from User Interface Engineering is a good place to start in understanding what Ajax is.

Hurricane Katrina Relief

2005-09-08T10:42:00.000-04:00

We have watched the news coverage of Hurricane Katrina with heavy hearts. As I have watched the news, I have been incredibly humbled by the fact that we have been spared from as strong as storm as Katrina.

Campus Crusade for Christ has been busy putting together relief efforts to comfort those who have been devastated and displaced by this disaster. Beginning this weekend , the Campus Ministry is looking for volunteers to participate in relief efforts in locations in Mississippi and Louisiana. We are hoping to send 200 students in the next two weekends to aid in relief efforts.

These volunteers will be working with local churches to clean food warehouses, sort food and clothing, clean debris from yards, chain saw fallen trees, distribute Bibles, provide baby-sitting for mothers and clear several feet of mud out of flooded homes. I have spent the last two days helping in this effort by creating a special section on our Campus Ministry website.

Would you join us in praying for these efforts?

Pray that God would raise up over 200 volunteers over the next two weekends to go to Mississippi and Louisiana

Pray that God would display His glory through the lives of students and staff as they serve in these areas over the next 2 months

Pray for our Katrina task force as they coordinate these efforts and work with churches to set up more service projects over the next several months

Web 2.0

2005-09-07T18:11:00.000-04:00

I started reading things last spring about Web 2.0. I realized the other day that I have made the switch as a Web 2.0 user and I am beginning to make the switch as a developer.

What is Web 2.0? Richard MacManus of ZDNet has started a new blog, Web 2.0 Explorer: Tales from the Web 2.0 Frontier. His most recent post includes some definitions of Web 2.0.

Setting up a Podcast

2005-09-01T16:03:00.000-04:00

I successfully set up a podcast today.

Here are the steps involved:

I downloaded a freeware recording program called "Audacity"

I also downloaded from their website a plugin to convert audio to mp3 format which is what is used in podcasting. There are instructions on how to install the plugin on Audacity's site

I used my headset microphone to record the podcast using Audacity. I saved the file as an mp3.

I used software called Feed For All to create a RSS feed. I bought this software last spring.

I uploaded the mp3 file and XML document which contains the RSS feed to our production server

You can "subscribe" to the feed with iTunes (I'm sure there are other ways to do it but this was the easiest). Select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced option on the toolbar. The url you need to subscribe is "http://campuscrusadeforchrist.com/student2student/podcast.xml"

Resources I looked at or was told about:

http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/2005/aug/12prt.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

Google "How to Do a Podcast"

Web 2.0

2005-09-01T10:09:00.000-04:00

Are you familiar with Web 2.0? I am trying to get a grasp on it and understand how I can position myself to design for this paradigm shift. The reality is that I am already making the paradigm shift as a Web user. Now I need to figure out how to tap into it as a developer and designer.

Here are some things I have read on the subject:

What is Web 2.0? Some different perspectives gathered by Luke W.

Web 2.0 by Wikipedia

Web 2.0 for Designers from Digital Web Magazine

Web 2.0 is Not About Technology, Its About Sharing Information from Bokardo

Movements Everywhere

2005-08-31T09:50:00.001-04:00

I have found and subscribed to several blogs recently by Campus Crusade staff with their thoughts on how to see movements everywhere become a reality in the Campus ministry.

Shane Deike's Movements Everywhere Rant

Leadership for Movements Everywhere by Rich Swanson

On Movement done by several contributors.

Last week, I helped my former team leader Gilbert Kingsley set up a blog for his coaching tips. In his own words, "Coaching Tips are intended to help our staff be more effective in helping to launch and resource new ministries on other campuses and within other communities on campuses with existing ministries."

Priorities and Planning

2005-08-31T09:50:00.000-04:00

A colleague gave me some very good advice last week. She said that I needed to be more disciplined and plan out my week with all the different projects I am involved in. Otherwise I will not get anything done. Even that day I saw that prediction be true. I recognize one of my weaknesses and an area I need to grow in as a leader is discipline and planning.

Here is some good perspective that I came across through another colleague's' blog.

Remembering Hungary

2005-08-26T13:51:00.000-04:00

Chain Bridge and Matthias Church
Originally uploaded by Jeff Bridgforth.

This is one of the many photos I took this summer in Hungary. God provided a really nice day for me to take some pictures in Budapest.

God's Glory

2005-08-26T13:12:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about God's glory a lot this week. I am reading a book, Revolution Within and I listened to a message by John Piper on Tuesday. I have read several of Piper's book and God's glory is his biggest theme. I have been thinking about Piper as I have read this other book.

Both the book and the message have really impacted me this week about living for God's glory as being the central motivating factor in my life. I liked that Revolution Within had some very practical insights that helped me to think about what focusing first on God's glory would look like in my marriage, my work, my parenting and my responses to the difficult and challenging things in life. It is hard to describe how this is impacting me but I feel like it is really penetrating my heart and will lead to life change.

Revolution Within - Approaches to Spiritual Lives

2005-08-26T13:04:00.000-04:00

I am currently reading Dwight Edward's book, Revolution Within. Dwight is a descendent of Jonathan Edwards. We did a Bible study this summer in Hungary based on this book.

This week, I was reading in chapter 3. He talked about focusing on God's glory as the main motivation in our lives. It was a very practical chapter. Dwight says that there are 2 ways to approach our spiritual lives. The first is to live for God so we can fully exploit His blessings. The second approach is to live for God so we can fully reveal His name. I liked the way Edwards describes the differences in these approaches. The first asks, "what must I do to gain God's blessing?" The second asks, "what can I do to better reflect God's glory?"

I pray that God changes me so that I approach my spiritual life with a focus on His glory. I am just beginning to see how this approach would bring a different perspective in response to things like suffering.

It's About Time Amazon

2005-08-26T12:46:00.000-04:00

When I am interested in a book, I will usually add that book to my Wishlist at Amazon.com. Then when I am ready to buy the book, I go to my wishlist and add it to my cart and purchase it. In the past, I have thought it would be really nice if once I purchased the item, it would automatically be removed from my wishlist. But reality was that I had to do it manually.

Last week when I purchased some books, I went back to my wishlist to delete them and noticed that Amazon had automatically done it for me. I was so excited.

This is an issue of useability and to me it only made sense that once I purchased something from my Wishlist, that item would be removed. I am glad that Amazon finally made that a reality.

What is the value of knowledge if not combined with faith?

2005-08-15T09:18:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, my pastor preached from Hebrew 4. At one point, he talked about needing to act when we hear God's voice and he went to verse 2 of Hebrews 4:

For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.

I thought about something I had seen last week on TV. I watched the end of a program that was a tribute to Peter Jennings. One of the things that they highlighted was his curiosity about the historical Jesus. He had suggested having a religious editor several years ago and done several specials centering about Jesus. It seemed that Peter Jennings had a lot of knowledge about Jesus, but sadly it does not seem that he ever combined his knowledge with faith. I came to that conclusion based on a comment that one of his friends made. It is sad to think that Peter was close but it really means nothing apart from faith.

I think this really struck me now because of my experiences in Hungary this summer. It was so good to be back in a situation where I observed students hearing the gospel and then challenged to make a decision on what they were going to do with Jesus. There were many who decided to act on what they heard and asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. Others were still in the process and then there were others that just rejected the offer.

As I thought about it this summer, the most important question any human being must answer is "Who is Jesus?" and "What am I going to do in response to Him?"

Humility

2005-08-10T12:06:00.000-04:00

I finished reading a good article this morning in the latest issue of Discipleship Journal. The article is entitled "Downward Mobility" by Gary Thomas. Gary is one of my favorite authors. I always find his thoughts challenging and wise. A lot of his writings are influenced by the Christian classics.

In the article, Gary mentioned that humility is not such much something that we become as it is something we practice. His gives several practical ways that we can practice humility in our own lives. I always appreciate the stories he shares from his own life that help illustrate his points. I was challenged as I read this article and used it to launch into a time of prayer asking for God's help to produce the fruit of humility in my life and relationships.

Back in the Saddle Again

2005-08-10T11:24:00.000-04:00

I just returned home from Hungary last Thursday. My family and I spent 7 weeks there as part of a Campus Crusade for Christ summer mission project. We also spent a couple of weeks enjoying the capital of Budapest and taking a trip to Debrecen, Hungary. My wife and I lived there for a year as we worked with university students there.

I am looking forward to getting back to work here in the office. I have several major projects to pick back up. But I have been hesitant to engage as I am still trying to adjust to the time difference and re-entering my home culture. So far it has not been too weird. I was a bit freaked out about how much gas prices have gone up since we left in June.

I am looking forward to posting many of the pictures that I took. It is a daunting task to sort through them all and come up with a few that best tell the story of the summer or just to pick out my favorite shots.

We Get to Talk About Jesus

2005-07-12T23:19:00.000-04:00

Last week, I watched the Rookie with Anne and my mother-in-law. The movie is about a high school teacher who gets another shot at his dream of pitching in the Major Leagues. But before he can realize that dream, he has to play ball in the minor leagues. At one point in the movie, he is tired and misses his family. It does not seem likely that he will make it to the Major League club so he begins to question whether he should continue. He decides to call it quits.

He takes a walk and goes to a bar. He sees a news story that is about him. In the interview, he talks about his love for baseball and why he is pursuing this dream so late in life. The next scene shows him going to a little league field and watching the kids play. In those two things, he reconnects to his vision and his dream.

I share all of this to lead up to this point. The next day, he enters the locker room with a smile on his face. He goes to one of his teammates and says, "You know what we get to do today? We get to play baseball!" His enthusiasm is back.

The other day, I was shaving in our bathroom here in Hungary and the thought struck me. "You know what we get to do today. We get to tell students about Jesus!" As I have had conversations with several students, I have been reminded about how exciting it is to share the most important message that anyone can hear. Yesterday, a student asked me what I did (my work) and I told him about my work with Campus Crusade. He asked me if I enjoy it. I told him that I really like doing something where I am involved in sharing what I believe is the most important thing that people can hear. It is about the most important decision that I have ever made.

I feel like God has used the last couple of days to renew my vision for ministry which is something I have been praying since we first decided to come on this summer project. "Today, we get to tell people about the most important person they can ever know."

Online Prayer Experience

2005-04-29T13:40:00.000-04:00

What makes a good online experience?

I can think of a handful of sites that I have seen that I really liked the use of Flash to give a good experience. I came across the Labyrinth last fall while I was on a trip to Atlanta. The Labyrinth is a prayer experience. I had done something similar at our World Headquarters in Orlando. The idea behind it is that you have different stations in which you do something tactile that relates to a deeper spiritual experience. Like make a "yourself" in playdoh and then reflect on God's creation of you. Or experience the fragrance of sweet smelling water. It is an experience that engages the senses and the spirit.

What impressed me about the Labyrinth is how someone used Flash to create an online experience that was very powerful. Take a look at the second station. You drop a stone into water. You hear the water splash and see the splash. The use of music, narration and animation create an incredible experience online. God meant me in a very powerful way as I worked my way through the Labyrinth. It excites me to think that you can create these type of experiences online.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

2005-04-25T14:26:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I got to attend a Royals game while visiting my parents in Kansas City. I got chills when I caught the first glimpse of the field. It brought back a lot of memories of my childhood. I think I saw over 200 games at the stadium including several playoff games against the Yankees and a World Series game against the Phillies in 1980.

The highlight of the day was the chance to run the bases after the game.

Homepage and meeting goals

2005-04-14T10:10:00.000-04:00

I found this blog entry from TotalSite.com interesting. It is called the Homepage Gauge. The author did a study of large corporations and what they are communicating on their homepage. It found it interesting how he categorized the sites based on how "focused" they were on company objectives. I found the article interesting in light of other things I am reading about content and the role of the homepage to get your readers to the content. I have been thinking through how to better do that. I like this perspective of thinking about how focused you are on your objectives. I think it is important to know why your site exists and what the goals are for it so you can measure how well you are accomplishing that goal.

Blogging Software

2005-04-14T10:02:00.000-04:00

I started using a new blogging software yesterday, w.bloggar. You can use in conjunction with an online blogging account such as Blogger. You can save posts on your desktop which is a nice feaure because then I don't have to be online to do an entry.