Bike Share in Chicago? April 15, 2008
Posted by Steve in : The City, Chicago, Technology, Cycling, Sustainability , add a commentCity commuters weary of stuffy journeys aboard buses and subways now have a better way to get to work, buy groceries and meet for a Saturday matinee. The bike-sharing programs that have transformed Europeans into two-wheeled travelers are now en route to the U.S.
Clear Channel Outdoor, an outdoor advertising company, will launch the country’s first bike-share service in Washington, D.C., in mid-May in partnership with the district’s Department of Transportation.
SmartBike DC will initially offer annual subscribers access to 100 bikes at 10 stations in the city’s central business district. Located at key locations in the central business district, the bicycles provide a new way of discovering and moving around the city. The bike stations are modular and the bicycles are ergonomic and light-weight in a distinct design.
Bicycles are parked at docking points which use a proprietary locking system to ensure that each bicycle is securely stored. The service is accessible via online subscription. Subscribers will receive a personalized SmartBike DC user card that provides access to any station of the program at any time. The turnkey program includes fulltime operational service. Clear Channel’s operational team manages the rotation of bicycles for each station to assure a proper ratio between available bicycles as well as drop-off locations.
Other cities, including San Francisco and Chicago, are eager to follow suit. Learn More
Only in America - The Mobile Phone Scourge April 14, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Technology, The Cultural Conversation, Photos, Culture and Faith , 1 comment so farI saw this photo online and couldn’t believe it. What sort of person would order their wedding topped with a bride and groom that are talking to OTHER people on their mobile phones? Say it ain’t so. What are your thoughts?
Google Maps and CTA = Excellent Public Transportation Directions April 8, 2008
Posted by Steve in : The City, Chicago, Technology, Chicago Fact, Tech Tips , 1 comment so farAlright Chicago — way to link up with Google!
Chicago Transit Authority riders can now plan their trips using the Google Transit Web site, Mayor Richard M. Daley and CTA officials announced Tuesday. Through a new partnership with Google, mapping and directions for CTA bus and rail services are available in 11 languages on the Google Transit Web site, according to a release from the CTA.
Google’s new Transit Chicago map gives detailed public transportation routes, like O’Hare to Wrigley Field. This initiative expands on Google’s popular mapping features and driving instructions to provide information for transit riders. Chicago is now the largest U.S. city to offer this service to transit riders, joining Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon, among others.To access travel information, customers enter an originating address and a destination address. Tabs will allow customers to obtain public transit directions and provide the ability to customize the date and time of the transit trip.
When accessing the public transit data, step-by-step written directions will appear with fare information included. A map of the route represented by icons appears and clicking the icon will display an estimated schedule for the departure of the next train or bus. A link on the Google Transit page will take visitors to CTA’s web site at www.transitchicago.com to easily access additional CTA information.
You can reach the site here.
The First Mobile Hotel Room March 28, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Technology, Photos, Culture and Faith, Entrepreneuring, Sustainability , add a commentFan attending any of the big festivals this summer might wish they have access to one of these - the “world’s first mobile hotel room”. The Travelodge hotel chain recently announced that its Travelpod would soon be available at events such as music festivals and sporting competitions. Designed to be set up anywhere you might put up a tent, it’s cheering news for anyone who books into B&Bs at music festivals or panics about camping holidays.
The pod is sealed in a polycarbonate glass box, but includes features offered in conventional hotel rooms such as TV and air conditioning. Leigh McCarron, Travelodge’s director of sleep, called it “a ground-breaker in outdoor accommodation”. The Travelpod, which measures 6 metres by 2.4, includes a double bed, bedside lights, carpeted floors, and dressing table - plus blinds. A spokeswoman for Travelodge said: “The Travelpod is a ground-breaker in outdoor accommodation.” She added, “With the popularity of outdoor sleeping we saw a definite niche in the market for something a bit more up-market”. When asked who will be hiring this glamorous answer to a tent, she replied “One woman wanted 20 of them for the guests at her garden wedding to sleep in.”
Yoo Hoo! TiVo + YouTube March 12, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Technology , 1 comment so far
I am a TiVo guy — been one for more than 7 years and I LOVE their products. So, being a gadget guy, I was excited to hear that TiVo users will be able to watch YouTube clips on the TV by year’s end.
This is the latest move by YouTube to reach beyond the Web’s regular boundaries. Fans of YouTube can alraady view its videos on their cell phones and Apple TV, a box that streams movies from people’s computers to their TV.Now TiVo users with a broadband Internet connection and a TiVo Series3 box, which includes the high-definition model, will be able to search, browse and watch YouTube videos directly on their TVs.
If you can believe it, each month, more than 66 million viewers watch about 2.6 billion videos on YouTube, according to the latest data by Nielsen Online. That’s 57 percent of the total 116.7 million monthly online video viewers. WOW!
I-Phone Joins the Suits March 6, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Breaking News, Technology, Tech Tips , add a commentApple made a major announcement today – they will begin offering “enterprise” support for the iPhone – meaning direct support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync!
One of the most requested corporate features is support for Exchange, Jobs said. To meet the demand, Apple licensed Microsoft’s ActiveSync protocol for connecting the iPhone’s e-mail client directly to an Exchange server. As a result, e-mail, calendaring and contact items can pushed directly to the smartphone, a feature that Apple demonstrated at the event. In addition, Apple will be adding Exchange as an e-mail option on the iPhone, along with Yahoo and Google mail and other options. Apple will build software for easy configuration of the device to an Exchange server.
Apple is currently testing the iPhone enterprise features, including the Exchange support, with Nike and Disney, Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior VP of worldwide product marketing, said. “It’s real and it’s exciting,” Schiller said of the new technology.With this announcement, Apple has moved with great intentionality to take on the Blackberry by allowing its iPhone to link up to corporate email systems. Until now, the Blackberry has been the preferred gadget of the business community as it allows executives to synchronize Microsoft applications, such as Microsoft Outlook email, contacts and calendar, with the smartphone. Many businesses shied away from using the iPhone as it does not work well with their email systems.
Apple hopes these steps will convince corporations to adopt the iPhone as the device of choice for mobile workers.
It’s a New Year — Can You Go Without? January 26, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Breaking News, Technology, Methods & Strategies, Tech Tips , add a commentAs our new warehouse ministry center gets closer to opening and I begin a long transition from staff to the marketplace as CEO of a social network for sports fans, I was reminded this week that while
technology has made so many things better, we are beginning to get caught in a mobius trap where there is no down time and we are always connected. So I ask you….
Can you agree to keep the cell phone, IPod, Wii, game Boy, laptop, desktop, Mac Airbook and other assorted technolgy gadgets off during your vacation and alow yourself to experience a revitalizing time of rest and renewal.
Can you do it?
Look at what the results of a recent survey on whether people could unplug on their vacation:
An AP-Ipsos poll found that one in five people toted laptop computers on their most recent vacations, while 80 percent brought along their cell phones. One in five did some work while vacationing, and about the same number checked office messages or called in to see how things were going. Twice as many checked their email, while 50 percent kept up with other personal messages and voice mail. Sizable numbers are interrupting their unwinding time to check in at the office and, even more so, to keep up with the social buzz. Reasons vacationers performed work-related tasks included an expectation that they be available, a worry about missing important information, or in some cases the enjoyment of staying involved (Source: Associated Press, June 1, 2007, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18983920/).
One Take on Today’s Students October 26, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentI came across this thought-provoking, short video today summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime.
This video was created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University.
Get 20 Million Minutes Sent by Email July 25, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Technology , add a comment
Are you flying around all week at work and would rather have any new posts from 20 Million Minutes sent directly to you by email or RSS? After a number of requests, we have now added both of those options to the 20 Million Minutes blog! All of our feeds have been migrated to Feedburner, which provides better options for you.
EMAIL:You can get an email sent to you whenever there is a new post. Just click here to go the the Feedburner feed and put in your email to get 20 Million Minutes delivered by email. Then, whenever a post is made to this blog, you will receive an email, right to your desktop once a day. It is that simple!
RSS FEEDS:
For those of you who are more tech-savvy, and are using a newsreader program to aggregate your information feeds, you can add this manually to your RSS news reader with the following URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/stevelavey or click here to go to the feed page and just click on the graphic of your new reader for easy, one-touch adding of this feed to any of the popular newsreaders (yahoo, google, newsgator, etc).
iPhone - Is it worth it? June 25, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Breaking News, Technology, Methods & Strategies, Tech Tips , add a comment
It retails for $500….It has lead to a huge increase in Apple’s stock price since the announcement of the iPhone in January. The hype around Apple Inc.’s upcoming iPhone is abundantly clear. So is the hysteria. But is it worth it? Will the gadget - which triples as a cell phone, iPod media player and a wireless Web device - be as “revolutionary” as Apple CEO Steve Jobs has claimed? Will it revolutionize your life?
The proof will come June 29 when the iPhone gets into users’ hands. The all-touch-screen device, which lacks a button keyboard, will force users to get accustomed to typing messages on a virtual keyboard instead of regular buttons. It will also be using a slower 2.5-generation network instead of a 3-G network, which might also hamper the experience of data transfers or Web access. Many people are already clamoring for the gadget. More than 1 million people have signed up with Apple and AT&T for more information.
I am in the market for a replacement to my 2 year old Treo 650 — but I am not sure I want to make the swap to a rookie in the phone business. While Apple does many things well, they have not been a long term player in the phone business. Should I wait and see? Are you planning to switch? What do you think?
My 6 Billion Bits of Data June 3, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Technology , 1 comment so far
Today the New York TImes has a story about people who are getting the full text of their DNA on a computer disk.
Soon enough, scientists say, we will all be able to decipher our own genomes — the six billion letters of genetic code containing the complete inventory of the traits we inherited from our parents — for as little as $1,000. Just what we will do with the essence of who we are once we get a copy, however, is likely to be as much a social experiment as a scientific one.
By the end of the summer, Dr. Church’s research project promises to deliver sequences to its first 10 volunteers. Unlike Dr. Watson, whose complete genome cost $1 million, the project’s volunteers will receive the one percent of their genome currently deemed most useful at a cost of $1,000.
What will people do with this information? Will it change the way we find a spouse, get a job, choose where to live, whether to have children? Will potential father-in-laws want to see our DNA before agreeing to let us marry their daughters? Wow — this will be a wild ride.
What stance should the church take on this advance? What do you think about this opportunity? Let’s have a conversation here.
Ministry Travel: Ensure the Lowest Fares May 29, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Technology, Methods & Strategies, Tech Tips , add a comment(Yahoo) Have you ever bought an airline ticket from ministry travel only to see the price fall in the enusing weeks and your frustration rise as you try to manage costs? Now there is something you can do about it.
Few customers realize it, but many airlines will give refunds if they cut the price after you have bought a ticket. Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest, United and US Airways all offer vouchers for the full price difference — if the price drops $200, you can get a $200 coupon towards a future trip. Others offer vouchers, or cash, after deducting change fees (which can run up to $100). In industry jargon, it is called a “rollover,” and in most cases it only works if you bought the ticket directly from the airline. (It generally won’t work if you bought them via a Web site such as Expedia.com or Orbitz.com, unless the price drops in the first 24 hours.)
The rollover policies have been in place for decades, but, until recently, it has been tough for consumers to figure out when their flight’s price has changed. The catch is you have to call while the lower price is in effect to get your rollover. That is where a new Web site, Yapta.com, has come up with a clever way to take some of the anxiety out of buying airline tickets.
Yapta, a company run by a former Alaska Airgroup Inc. pricing vice president, was launched May 22. It tracks fares on specific flights you select before or after you buy a ticket. That is an improvement over Web sites that just track markets, but don’t allow you to specify which flights you really want. You can use Yapta before you buy to alert you by email to pricing changes on a particular trip, or let you know if the price drops after you’ve bought a ticket and you’re eligible for a refund. In order to obtain the voucher, you need to phone the airline directly. (You usually can’t snare one online.) So as you are planning on attending that future multi-site conference, input your preferred flights and when they get to your budgeted level, it will notify you and you can then purchase the tickets.
One woman, who signed up with Yapta to test the site before its launch, paid $800 each for four tickets from San Francisco to Kona, Hawaii. A few days later, she got notification from Yapta that the price had dropped to about $400 per ticket. She called United Airlines and got tickets reissued at the lower price plus four $400 vouchers. “There’s no way I would have been checking sites to see if the price went down,” she said.
Check it out now here.
Tech Tip: Gmail Attachment Upgrade May 23, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Technology, Tech Tips , add a commentGmail just upgraded the maximum attachment size from 10 MB to 20 MB. While Gmail in the past let some larger (10+Mb) files, they have now increased the sending size to 20 MB in one message. This may still not work for the folks at the other end as the are few mail providers that will accept a such a big message, (Yahoo Mail Plus, or other premium accounts).
10 Most Commonly Used Passwords May 15, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Technology, Tech Tips , add a comment
Top Ten Common Passwords
Is your password DOA? Is it so simple anyone can crack it? Well, no matter what the experts say, the vast majority of us are likely to choose a password we can remember. Unfortunately, cyberthieves know this weakness all too well, and try to hack into accounts just by using the most common passwords online first. In a church environment, many folks here used to use quite simple passwords. We now require at least 8 letters and numbers at a minumum, which seems to work reasonably well.
PCMagazine just came out with a list of the most commonly used passwords, so if yours is on the list, I recommend you change it immediately.
- password
- 123456
- qwerty
- abc123
- letmein
- monkey
- myspace 1
- password 1
- blink182
- (your first name)
In addition to the list above, here are some things the editors at Switched recommend you avoid:
- Your birthday
- Your pet’s name
- Your girlfriend/boyfriend’s name
- Your street name
- Your social security number
- Your favorite color/number
Illinois — In the High Tech Leader Pack May 13, 2007
Posted by Steve in : The City, Chicago, Technology, Internet Resources , add a commentAt Park Community Church, we believe that Chicago (and Illinois) is the most important place to live and minister. It is a place that attracts people for job opportunities, access to culture and the arts, educational opportunities, and quality of life. However, the continued success of Chicago as a global city that influences the world is somewhat dependent on the future job environment and the ability to retain college graduates as the next generation arrives to continuing renewing and regenerating Chicago.
So I was glad to see that Illinois ranked 7th in the nation in a recent report on high tech employment. The Chicago Tribune reports that the Cyberstates 2007 survey, which focuses on employment activity in both 2005 and 2006, ranks Illinois seventh nationally in terms of the number of high-tech jobs. In Illinois, more than 200,000 people had some kind of tech-related work, an increase of 1,200 jobs in 2005. (National employment data was available for 2006 but state-specific information from the Bureau of Labor of Statistics lags by nine months, the survey notes.)
“Chicago is a fabulous place to live and attract talent,” Kelly Smith, vice president of corporate marketing for Navteq, the digital mapmaker. said, noting that the city’s central location helps employees travel (more…)
2,999 and Counting May 2, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Technology , add a comment
We have a very tech-savvy congregation at Park Community Church in Chicago.We also have a very transient and mobile population who lead very busy lives, thus we have worked hard to provide alternative methods for people to hear the Sunday message. By far the most popular has been our podcasts on I-Tunes. We have seen a huge increase in podcast usage over the last six months, as we have gone from 1,333 downloads in November 2006 (44 per day) to 2,999 downloads in April (100 downloads per day). Way to Go Aaron Stanski and your team who are ‘getting the Gospel out there’!.
According the the Pew Internet and American Life Project, some 12% of internet users (more…)
Tech: Beatitudes on Your Blackberry April 23, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Technology , add a comment
(Christian Today UK) Wherever you are, whatever you do, the Bible is now just a click away – downloadable to your mobile phone. If your phone can access the internet, you can now download the complete Bible, both the Old and New Testament. It is available in different versions including the Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version, and the King James Version. It also comes in different languages; Afrikaans, English, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
VirtualBible™ is the new service launched recently (more…)
New Church/Non Profit Email App April 23, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Technology , add a comment
We’ve been poking around at some email solutions as we work with more and more non-profits in Chicago. I found one that seems to have a decent offering at an excellent price point. It’s called BluePogo. It allows churches to create email campaigns and send them without quantity limitations. It is a web-based software and it’s intended primarily for nonprofit organizations, including churches. They offer a free 30 day tryout.
For $10 a month they offer an a-la cart plan that caters to NPO’s with fewer campaign mailing needs and smaller list sizes. Under this plan, an organization can send as many campaigns as they wish to 1000 unique recipients or for a $20 send to 2500 unique addresses.
We are doing our homework. Does this work for you? Does it meet your needs? Let us know here with a comment.
