As I seem to find my way into getting lots of invites for free trainings, sales pitches, etc that involve free food, movies, etc I’m going to start a new category called “tech freebies” on my blog for those that are always asking to get a free “something”. If you’d like please pass along any freebies you find and I’ll share with everyone as well.

The first one I have to share I wish was a little closer to home for me but don’t think I can justify the drive across the state.  But for a free meal at Morton’s Steakhouse I certainly would go if it was close, especially for a relatively short time requirement just for lunch from 11-1:30pm.  This one is being put on by and for LANDesk Asset Lifecycle Management Seminars in Miami, FL on June 19th, here’s the link to register and more info direct from them:

Join us for lunch and an informational seminar at your favorite local steakhouse

While you network and enjoy a three course meal, an IATAM and ITIL certified industry expert will candidly discuss Asset Lifecycle Management best practices as well as introduce you to how LANDesk® addresses this critical area of IT.

Accurate asset knowledge, accountability, and control are critical to enhancing business value. Address your organization’s most pressing concerns with LANDesk Asset Lifecycle Management.

Topics of discussion include:

Gain Control: Know where assets are/ how they are being used
Reduce Risk: Manage regulatory and security compliance
Reduce Cost: Understand license, acquisition, support, and service
Facilitate Accountability: The right people making decisions about IT
Enhance Performance: Move from cost center to revenue enabler

As always the easiest way to get these and all other of my blog posts is to follow my RSS feed here, and of course to keep up with all that’s going in my life follow me on twitter with @djberg.

Each year Woodland sends a team to New Mexico to minister at the Navajo Reservation. They work mainly with three organizations: Western Indian Ministries, Forest Lake Baptist Church in Black Mesa, and Rez Refuge. Ministry opportunities include: construction and renovation, distribution of clothing and health care supplies, outreach at local orphanages, and senior craft seminars.

This summer a group from Woodland, Shana (my wife), and I will be heading to the Navajo Nation July 10th – 18th. We will be working to renovate and develop a Youth Community Center for the reservation, along with the projects listed above.  I will also be helping out with their network, computers, and possibly starting a computer lab.  We ask for your prayers and financial support as we prepare for this trip.  We also are looking for computer, monitor and networking equipment donations.

Way back when at the end of January I posted “Using your phone during church?!?” on the blog.  It sparked a little conversation but of course most of the response was from other techies that are on blogs and twitter “professionally” I’d like to widen the question to a broader group of people as I’m still not sure how people take the use of technology in a church service.  So please share this on your blogs, twitter, etc. Thanks! Short URL for this post is http://bit.ly/57Dvi

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We used this video as part of our services this weekend at Woodland,  I just wanted to share and say Thank you to my dad, my brother, my uncle, and ALL that have served our country in the Armed Services. And especially for those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, their loved ones, and those they never met.

Last summer I went to the International Shelby Conference where Pat Williams, Co-founder and Senior Vice President, of the Orlando Magic was the keynote speaker.  As I was cleaning my desk and a conference bag they gave out I came across my notes from his speech.

1. Live your life by the faith phenom
2. Character counts (Honesty, Integrity)
3. Never give up
4. Go the second mile
5. Take your hurts and turn them into strengths
6. Seek out the right kind of friends
7. You are responsible (for the decisions you make)
8. Be specific in goal setting
9. Say the right kind of words
10. Think positive thoughts

He also shared a quote from John Wooden that I really liked, “If you can’t discipline yourself, someone else will have to do it for you, and the cost is much higher.”

Once again the Church tech world is going to get a little lighter.  After finishing BL3 in 4th place I’ve set my goals a little higher this time (as I always do).  Of course everything just seems to be an excuse for something else, but I’m figuring this will all be worthwhile so we got the kayaks racks back on the Trailblazer, went and bought a couple of mountain bikes to hit the trails with, and of course all of that will let us do some more geocaching so I’m exicted for a great summer.  The wife has just 16.5 days of school left and then she gets the summer off (I think I should have been a teacher) so I’ll just be trying to keep up with her. All that to say I invite each of you in the Church techie world whether staff or volunteer, IT, Web, AV, or Tech/Production Arts to join us in Biggest Loser 4.  And if you’re wondering it’s all based on % so you have an equal or better shot no matter your size. I double dog dare ya!

I’m always looking for ways to make my life simpler and the tools I use more reliable. After watching many of the bloggers try Posterous and like it, I’m giving it a shot. As I can’t seem to find a good mobile blogging tool for wordpress and my blackberry I’m hoping this will work to satisfaction.
 
Just by emailing posterous you can twitter, flickr, facebook, blog, and more. It can do more than just pictures, you can send photos, MP3s, videos, and whatever else.
 
This is my first blog post via www.posterous.com. I added that not them. Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel

Posted via email from djberg’s posterous

Our Senior Pastor at Woodland, Tim Passmore has started a video blog and I thought his first post was pretty fun, at a minimum he made an excellent choice for his first guest.

I recently rolled out 4 checkin stations for our Daycare, which will be used for checkin and checkout 5 days a week for about 350 children.  Two of these are also being used for Childrens checkin for their weekend service time and the other two will be used for the preschool area at the same time on the weekends.  These will also be eventually used on Wednesday nights for the Student Ministry.  As these computers will be on most days all day in open areas that everyone has easy access to it was important to me to be able to easily secure these computers and make sure that no matter what happens that the next time they are turned on they’ll ready to go same as the last time.  As usual I posed the question to the CITRT IRC chat and quickly was given the answer of Windows SteadyState. It’s a free software available as long as the Windows you are running is legal and legit.  I’m always a big fan of free! The homepage says exactly what I wanted it to:

You can’t always prevent problems during a user session, but now you can undo the whole session. Learn how Windows SteadyState can return your computer and hard disk to its exact condition before the user touched it, simply by rebooting.

It’s pretty simple to setup, just check boxes with all kinds of options that you can turn on and off.  After you get it set-up just the way you want the settings are exportable and importable so you can just load to other computers and have everything match-up just the way you want it.

Sharing this video I got from Steve Ollis’s blog.  Some really interesting thoughts and numbers that make you think.  There’s lot of technology related statistics and absolutely zero religious reference but I think that’s where we come in.  As ministers of the gospel using technology to further the kingdom how can we use information like this to expand our thinking and help us reach people.  Share this with your other tech friends and co-workers, and share in the comments what made YOU think.  Now with that all said, “Did you know?”