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/).
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.
Cool Easter Eggs! April 9, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Breaking News, The Cultural Conversation, The Arts in the City , add a comment
All my life, I wonder at people who are given gifts and abilities from God to paint, photograph, to create, to visualize and to express the wonderment of life in various forms of media. When Sue and I took a year off and travelled the world in 1996-97 (25 countries) before kids and a mortgage, I marvelled at all of the art and the expression through canvas, steel, clay, music, drama, photos, etc. I loved to sit and ponder the artists’ life while reflecting on their work in galleries rround the world. So even now, I love to see people use their God-given artistic talent in all forms of media. Here are some unique canvasses upon which to create — Easter eggs — these are traditional Sorbian style Easter Eggs at the Sorbian Easter Egg Market in Bautzen, eastern Germany.
In eastern Germany near the border with Poland, the Sorbs, a Slavic minority that has lived for generations in this area, celebrate Easter with a parade called the “Kreuztritt” (Cross Walk) and the decorating of Easter Eggs. A batik-like decorating process known as pysanka produces these intricate, brilliantly-colored eggs.
The men of the village dressed in traditional costumes of black jackets and top hats, ride horses in a circle form from town to town announcing the resurrection of Christ. The Sorb’s Easter celebration can be seen in every town in this area of Germany called Lusatia. For more info on these intricately decorated Easter eggs, and some more great pics, check out our awesome military’s daily newpaper, Stars & Stripes.
