Glyphs

Quick thoughts on the Glo Bible

2011-05-24T15:26:00.004-04:00

I've been tying the Glo Bible (www.globible.com) recently. It has some great content and functionality; and a new way of filtering and slicing the various aspect of it's content in a powerful way. There are clients for Windows, Mac, iPhone and iPad and a license allows you to install on 5 devices and sync your notes, etc between them. If you haven't seen it check out the features.

Among other things at my day job, I help companies implement analytics and dashboards, to make sense of their data and to make gobs and gobs of their information usable quickly to help them find inefficiencies, new trends, and the like. In a similar way and what has me most impressed with Glo is the "Lens" functionality that they showcase here really makes doing research on related scripture, etc. easy. Watch that video to get a feeling of how Glo works.

But, while the interface and content are impressive, it's not without shortcomings. I've worked up a few of the reasons I think it's a good tool for kids and teens to study Scripture, but it's has a way to go before I would say it's a full fledged tool.

This is just a few things that came to mind while I was using it. Some are content related, but certainly many can be easily addressed in future releases.

No cross references
No commentaries
No concordance
No ability to set verse range for notes
No export of notes
Want ability to attach audio
No way to de-authorize computers
You get a 'User access control' warning on every start
Needs better sharing / community
Would be nice: Integration with church websites to allow collaboration around messages
The site says free updates, but there is no clear indication of whether this includes lifetime updates, major version, minor only, etc.

Don't get me wrong, you should most definitely download and check out the Glo Lite version - it's impressive. But to really be worth the investment in my mind it needs those features.

Work around for Open-mesh low-cost routers not checking in.

2011-01-30T18:48:00.003-05:00

Ran up against an issue recently after allowing my mesh to upgrade to r2693 - the pro units updated fine and reconnected to the mesh with no problems, but the standard unit would not update from r2671, and would no longer check in even when wired directly to the internet and left for a few days . The power and the internet lights would light up, but the WLAN light would never come on. The solution was to manually flash the firmware to r2695 using these instructions . Fifteen minutes later, I connected the unit back to the wired LAN and the low-cost unit was back up and meshing! Hope this helps!

BTW, the intructions there are not worded in an totally understandable manner, so here's what you need to do in a nutshell:

1) Get WinPCAP

2) Download the flasher updater (open-mesh-flash.exe)

3) Connect the open-mesh unit to the Ethernet port on your computer using a standard patch cable, but don't power the unit up.

4) In a command prompt, run open-mesh-flash with no options. It will list your network connections / devices. Note the number of the device you will connect the open-mesh unit to.

5) In the command prompt, run open-mesh-flash again adding a space then the number you noted in step 4 eg. if your wired Ethernet connection is number 3 in the list, type "open-mesh-flash 3" (with out the quotes) and hit enter.

6) turn on the unit. It will initialize for 30 seconds or so, the flash will start. it takes a few minutes, then you'll see "Done. Restarting Device..." That's it you're done. Plug it in to the network and in 3o minutes or so it will pull all of it's previous settings down (naturally, flashing the firmware erases all of it's config so you probably don't want to do this during operating hours).

What happened to Window Media Encoder's File Editor?

2010-09-22T11:40:00.010-04:00

*** See Update below ***

Expression Encoder is a nice free replacement for the old Windows Media Encoder 9 series, with lots of added functionality and support for editing other formats etc. But one thing that made me very reluctant to switch was the nice little "File Editor" utility that came with Encoder.

That utility let you split WMV's very quickly, and without having to re-encode, maintaining the quality of the original. The downside was that it would only split the file at the nearest Key Frame, which could be a few seconds before where you wanted the split to happen depending on the original encoding settings.

I couldn't find the equivalent in the Expression Encoder, and I was leery of the increased time and decreased quality that using Expression Encoder would have when simply splitting files.

Then, I replaced one of the machines that I used to do some editing on and I was surprised to find that I could no longer download WME 9. So I bit the bullet and went to the Expression Encoder 4 page to download the free version. I happened to notice a blurb stating something to the effect that one of the features of Expression Encoder was that files could edited and saved with only minimal re-encoding. But the question was how? I went looking for some sort of Menu option or utility to perform the operation, to no avail.

It turns out it was right in front of my face the whole time. You edit the file in Encoder as would any project, but to save it without re-encoding the full thing, you set the "Video" and the "Audio" settings on the "Encode" tab to "Source". Now, when you click "Encode", the file will only be re-encoded at the beginning and end of the clips, as needed. This has the additional benefit of making the resulting file exactly match the edit you made, instead of having to match the Key frames. Nice!

[UPDATE]

It seems that this doesn't quite work as advertised - in my case, the resulting file has corrupted audio, not usre what the story is, I'll let you know what I find.

SQL strangeness

2010-02-10T15:09:00.005-05:00

I have a table new_table that has 2 cols: ID - nvarchar (5), and Value - nvarchar(20)
the table has 7 a rows:
ID, Value
E1, yes
E2, 32.3
E3, 9
R1, 151
R2 40
R3, 20
R4, 99

I need to get the count of the rows where the values are in (R1, R2) and Value >= 151

If I select count(*) from new_data where ID in (R1, R2) it returns '2'
If I select value from new_data where ID in (R1, R2) it returns 151 and 49
If I select value from new_data where ID in (R1, R2) and Value >=151 it tells me it can't convert 'yes' to integer.

Tried making a CTE to tempData where ID in (R1, R2) then doing a select count(*) from tempData where Value >= 151 I get the same error.

However, select count(*) from tempData gives me the correct 2 and select value from tempData gives me 151 and 40 as you would expect. Any ideas?

Tried adding a convert, isnumeric, etc, no change.

The real issue is why is it even seeing the "yes" row when I add in the Value >=151 condition since any rows without valid values should have been filtered out of the tempData table?

The sum is greater than the parts

2009-11-27T20:34:00.001-05:00

An over looked strength of the MS platform is interoperability. See my post about it here.

Open Mesh wireless AP's

2009-11-23T17:35:00.006-05:00

Some thoughts and observations on the Open-Mesh wireless routers:

General Info about the units:
Pilot Hardware Purchased:
2 Open-Mesh Pro's ($49), 1 standard (aka lowest cost - $29) .

Pros:

Cost obviously.
Open Source nature of firmware (http://www.open-mesh.org/).
Support for 3rd party hardware from Ubiquity and others.
Good accessories such as higher gain antennas, indoor and outdoor enclosures, PoE injectors ($5!), etc.
interesting support for Captive Portals, redirects on access, Private and Public SSIDs, RADIUS support, bandwidth limiting (up and down) on the Public network, ACL's, public network status page, etc. See my previous post on the DashBoard configuration screenshots.

Cons:

Can't do VLANing out of the box with these - all traffic from Private or Public flow trhough the same subnet (unless you do something like MAC filtering at your switch, but nothing built in)
Seemed to get a little warm.
Changes to configuration resets the AP. Connectivity is lost until the updates propagate throught the AP's which would be expected. The more hops from the wired connection the longer it takes, seems to be about 10 - 15 mins a hop. Recently however, Open-Mesh released a new update, and they set the "Disable Automatic Update" option in everyone's dashboard. so that administrators could plan for the outage that occurs. When I turned off that option, the update was pushed to the first AP in just a couple of minutes.

Thoughts on Best Practices:

Note that the standard and the pro use two different A/C adapters - Std = 5v/2a, Pro = 12v/1a, so don't plan on compatibility for the wall warts.
Before you build out the network, connect each node directly to the internet connection individually with the others shut off to allow it to flash the new firmware.This is for safety (so you don't pull the plug on it accidentally while it might be flashing - requiring a manual re-flash) and for time savings while testing, setup, etc. The same holds true any time you are adding a new node to your mesh - plug it in and connect it to the internet somewhere where it can't see the mesh, let it get the latest firmware, then add it to your mesh.
Use inSSIDer (free), Ekahau HeatMapper (free) or Wi-Spy ($99-$199) to verify your coverage

Other Notes:

Several members of the Church IT Roundtable group are using them in production. Tweet to the #citrt hastag or com to the #citrt IRC channel on freenode if you want to talk about them.
See my other post on the DashBoard Configuration and options
I'll write my findings as I go into production with them.
There is a nice Google Maps mash up showing the status of your mesh an key data such as users, throughput, data sent, AP's with issues, etc. See my previous post for a screen shot.
Open Mesh will email daily notices (or hourly if you like) on the status of your mesh. Here is a sample:
"The following nodes are down at Tenth Presbyterian Church:
Delancey 3rd fl . Last Check-in: 10 Hours, 4 Minutes.
Reception Hall . Last Check-in: 9 Hours, 34 Minutes.
Delancey 1st fl. Last Check-in: 9 Hours, 38 Minutes.

This is an automated once-per-day message. Please don't reply to this address.
You may view your network status at http://www.open-mesh.com/overview.php?id="

Testing the Open-Mesh wireless mesh routers
Testing Config:
Set them up in a Pro-Std-Pro linear mesh. Tested with the standard attenna that is included with the unit, higher gain and directional antenna are available.

Signal strength:
Set up in my house, typical construction, brick front. I did some ad-hoc range testing. Seemed comparable to most consumer level APs, and actually performed better than my FiOS ActionTek router (I put a Pro AP directly on top of the ActionTek). I was Able to listem to Pandora and do other streaming though My entire yardm, and was able to remain connected across street, approximately 100 feet away.

Speed Tests:
I will publish my findings on speed testing shortly.

Open Mesh config

2009-09-21T15:22:00.010-04:00

Open Mesh wireless configuration screens, for those who are interested. See some more detailed info on testing, etc here. Click for larger images.
General, SSID #1, SSID #2:

Advanced, Network Status:

Ajax MaskedEditExtender with Calendar Extendar problem

2009-07-15T15:28:00.006-04:00

Ran into a strange problem recently. I had a ASP.NET page with date textbox on it that had an Ajax MaskedEditExtender, MaskedEditValitdator, and AJAX Calendar Extender. The extenders were all pretty vanilla for a date fields, the code is below.

The problem I was seeing was that the Calendar would always popup when the page loaded, even though that field didn't have focus. The problem ended up being simple, but I didn't see it documented anywhere: I had the code in the folowing order:

ASP:Textbox
AJAX:MaskedEditExtender
AJAX:MaskedEditValidator
AJAX: Calendar Extender

Moving the Calendar Extendar to the top of the extenders resolved the issue.

File this under: Happens to the best of us

2009-06-19T09:10:00.002-04:00

We (The IT Consultants) do not have any access to the system here at work. This is because my company also does audit and attest, etc. and it would be a conflict of interest (aside from the normal security concerns).

So, in my region we have an internal IT team for maintenance of our systems. This past week, one of IT techs was down with an internal auditor doing their biannual audit or our systems: making sure that the backups are working, checking the security, physical environment, etc.

Our IT Tech asked me where we keep our spare batteries - the remote control for the server room cooling was dead.

The next day our development box was flaking out and I heard the server fans going crazy in the server room, so I went in to check on them (I am one of the few non-IT people with physical access to the server room) and was met with a blast of hot air. The temp in the room was over 85 degrees.

Apparently the IT tech and auditor turned off the a/c while they were in there since it blows right where they were standing. So I grabbed the remote to turn on the a/c again, only to find that it was still dead. The batteries had been put in upside down!

Yes, this was done by the guy who is responsible for the server environment, and the auditor who was supposed to make sure he was doing his job and that these things don't happen!

A quick primer on Twitter and the PCA General Assembly (or any other event or topic)

2009-06-17T10:51:00.011-04:00

Since there is no webcast of the proceedings this year, and there seem to be so many people that are newly signed up to Twitter to follow the PCA General Assembly as an alternative, I though I would do a quick and simple write up of what to expect, and how to get benefit.

First, you do not need to join Twitter to view the information that is coming from GA, however to actually participate you'll need a Twitter account.

Twitter allows people to post small blurbs ("Tweets") in real-time via the web or their phones. Each tweet is immediately viewable to all.

The official source for PCA GA info is the PCAByFaith account. You can watch that account for posts about the proceeding (although it's been a little spotty).

However when attending the GA or a conference, value is added through the interaction with others. You can get similar value via Twitter by viewing and participating with others on Twitter:

Tweets related to a specific topic (such and the PCA GA) can be identified as such by adding a "hashtag". A hashtag is simply an arbitrary moniker preceded by a "#". This allows users to search for the particular hashtag and get all of the related tweets for that topic. In the PCA GA's case the hastag that people are using is "#pcaga" (without the quotes). So, to see all of the tweets for the GA and the related conversations you can go to http://search.twitter.com/ and enter "#pcaga" (again, without the quotes) and see the conversations in real-time. This way you are only seeing tweets specifically related to the GA (rather than trying to find and follow alot of people who may be tweeting about other stuff and then weeding through it all. Not that this doesn't have a certain value, too).

If you would like to comment on the GA or someone else's tweet you just add #pcaga to the end.

Pro Tip: A desktop client such as Seemsic or TweetDeck make following the GA and setting up other searches (eg. #pca) much easier and more friendly (no having to refresh the search page, etc). If you want to use a desktop client, you will need to have a Twitter account beforehand.

Comments welcome!

Also See:

A few helpful articles on Twitter for and in the church

Virtual Desktop vs. Terminal Server

2009-05-11T13:13:00.002-04:00

As I struggle with service delivery / continuity / management issues in my medium - large size church and as I advise client in my role as a solutions consultant, I often come across a new technology and I have digest content from several different sources to understand exactly what problems it might solve, and what caveats it has.

In the case of VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) and how it compares to the traditional Terminal Services / Citrix solution here is a great presentation by Brian Madden that compares and contrasts the two:

http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/videos/archive/2009/03/23/terminal-services-versus-vdi-brian-s-presentation-from-vmworld-europe-2009.aspx

Twitter for/in Churches

2009-05-04T13:57:00.019-04:00

A few helpful articles regarding Twitter and churches. These are geared toward IT / Comm people effectively using Twitter in ministry for outreach, but there a couple dealing with Twittering in worship, etc.:

Twitter for the Local Church: http://timmybrister.com/2009/04/29/twitter-for-the-local-church/
Don't Waste your Tweets: http://timmybrister.com/2009/04/28/dont-waste-your-tweets/
Churches & Twitter: http://matthaff.com/blog/2009/04/churches-twitter/
Twittering in Church: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1895463,00.html
Twitter for Churches: http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/archives/2008/01/twitter_for_chu.html
Twitter for Churches (ebook - haven't read this - going on recommendations here): http://www.twitterforchurches.com/
John Piper - Why and How I am Tweeting: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2009/3951_Why_and_How_I_Am_Tweeting/
Al Mohler on twitter: http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=3951
More on Not Using Twitter During Worship Services: http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1828_More_on_Not_Using_Twitter_During_Worship_Services/
Josh Harris - Should we Twitter in Church: http://www.joshharris.com/2009/05/should_we_use_twitter_during_c.php
Ministry Best Practices - Should we Twitter in Church: http://www.ministrybestpractices.com/2009/05/should-we-twitter-in-church.html
Dangers of Social Media for Churches & Non-Profits:
http://www.equipthem.info/dangers-social-media-churches-nonprofits/

General Twitter:

Resource Superlist for Twitter: http://johnhaydon.com/resources-twitter-folks/
A different take on the basics of Titter: http://www.twitip.com/twitter-is-a-cocktail-party/

Also See:

A quick primer on Twitter and the PCA General Assembly (or any other event or topic)

Managing User Expectations

2009-04-21T15:26:00.003-04:00

So my Business Dev person was on site at a client doing a post-implementation follow up for a Dynamics GP install. When asked how a particular user likes the new system she stated "Well, it's good but it looks too much like an Accounting system." Ummmm....Ohhhkaayyyy?

Changing the VMware Converter ports

2009-04-16T12:25:00.002-04:00

If you ever need to change the ports that VMware Converter listens on (80 and 443 by default) after you have it installed you can do so though "Add/Remove Programs" in Control Panel.

I had a physical web app server that we had previously installed Converter on to convert to virtual for training/dev purposes. I later needed to add an SSL Cert to the default website, but I was getting "The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process." when I tried to start the site. After googling the error I cam to this article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890015 which basically states that either something else if using that port, or you have registry configuration issues. Using the "netstat -ano" command listed in the article (do "netstat - ano more" it's a long listing) I was able to see that port 443 was indeed being used by process "5196". Task Manager (add the PID column: View-Select Columns)) showed me that it was VMware Converter that was the culprit.

Doing Add/Remove, selecting "VMware Converter Standalone" and clicking modify allow you to change the ports.