smerickson.com the personal website of steven m. erickson

Last time, I discussed the importance of RSS. There is one special use of RSS that deserves attention. It is called Podcasting. Podcasting uses RSS to send audio content. So instead of subscribing to a feed and receiving text, you receive an MP3 file. The nice thing about podcasting is that it goes one step furuther than just delivering the audio file. Most all podcast programs will also add the downloading audio file to your iTunes library so that the next time you sync your iPod (or other mp3 player) you will receive the new audio file.

Here is an example of how I find this to be really helpful. Each day I spend about 1.5 hours in the car driving to and from work and school. What I do to use that time wisely is to subscribe to the Albert Mohler Program and to Desiring God Radio and a few technology shows. By subscribing to these podcasts, I always have the latest shows on my iPod, ready to be enjoyed as I drive around. The best part is that it requires no work on my part to get the updated program! All I have to do is sync my iPod as I normally would and I receive the current file. I don’t have to go to the website, manually download the file and then add it to my iPod.

Recently Apple added this feature to iTunes which makes subscribing to podcasts very easy (link to apple.com). All you have to do is add the feed to your library and iTunes will do the work of downloading the updated files and syncing them to your iPod. Another new product out there is a web app called Odeo.com. If you listen to audio content on the web and have an mp3 player, podcasting is very helpful.

Today begins the first in a series of posts I am calling “Technology Tuesday”. Each Tuesday I hope to post about some neat piece of technology that I think is important and that others should know about. I will give some background about the technology and then provide some resources for how the technology can be used. I believe that technology should helpful and so these posts will focus on those technologies that I find to be very helpful. Enjoy.

RSS

Have you ever wished that instead of visiting a website to see if it has been updated, the site could tell you that it has new content and what that new content is? This is one of the benefits of a growing technology called RSS. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. (There is also another format called Atom that accomplishes the same thing.) The best analogy that I can think of to describe RSS is the concept of a magazine or newspaper subscription. There are two ways to get a magazine or newspaper. You can go to a newsstand and buy one or you can subscribe to the magazine or newspaper and have it delivered to you. This is one of the main purposes of RSS. It allows users to “subscribe” to websites that they visit often (or not so often) so that information will be delivered to them rather than forcing them to retrieve the information themselves. For instance, many blogs and news sites use RSS to deliver frequently updated content to their visitors; so someone could subscribe to CNN.com and receive updates on the latest news headlines instead of constantly checking the site to see if it has been updated.

I find this to be something that is very useful. By subscribing to websites, I am able to stay up to date on information that is important to me. It also enables me to keep track of a large number of sites very easily. At present I subscribe to over 100 sites. If I had to visit each of these 100 sites each day to see if they had been updated, I would spend all day. But because of RSS feeds I am able to spend only 15 minutes reading just those sites that have been updated.

RSS has become very popular, very quickly. As a result, there are some really creative adaptations of the technology. For example, someone thought, “Hey, what if, instead of syndicating text content, I published an RSS feed of pictures.’’ So now you can subscribe to a feed and receive the latest pictures from your favorite amateur photographer (ex. http://www.flickr.com). There are many other uses for RSS, here are some ideas:

• Weather :: Receive updates on the current weather conditions and forecasts
• Calendar :: Share your calendar with a group of people using RSS (ex. http://www.rsscalendar.com)
• Share to-do lists :: There are some online to-do list programs that allow you to share an RSS feed of your to-do list. (ex. http://www.tadalist.com)
• Bookmarks :: Many online bookmarking services allow you to create RSS feeds for a specific person’s bookmarks, or any bookmarks with a specific tag(s). (ex. http://www.del.icio.us or http://www.spurl.net)
• Track packages :: Most shipping companies offer RSS feeds of the status of your package.
• Broadcast Radio programs :: This is called Podcasting. My next post will go into more depth on this growing technology.
• File sharing :: Store files online and alert others, via RSS, when new files have been added or updated. (ex. http://www.box.net)

By this point, you should be asking yourself, how can I subscribe to RSS feeds? In order to subscribe to feeds you’ll need the appropriate software. There are three main varieties of RSS Readers.

1. Browser plugin

Many newer browsers have support for RSS feeds built in. For example, Mozilla Firefox or Safari allow you to track feeds in the browser.

2. Stand alone program

Another way that you can subscribe to feeds is through a stand alone program. A good option here is FeedDemon.

3. Online reader

The third kind of RSS readers available are online readers. I use a new website called FeedLounge. This is nice because it allows me to check my feeds from anywhere and to keep track of which feeds have been updated.

Hopefully you can see how useful RSS can be. People are constantly coming up with new ways to use the technology and I think it is an exciting thing to watch going forward.

Now, I realize that I already had my first Technology Tuesday post, but I came across this link and had to include it, so I guess we will kick off this whole technology thing by having two posts!

Today, the folks over at the English Standad Version (ESV) blog posted an idea about using Google Maps to plot informaton about the Bible. That is a great idea! They also provided a link to an example. All I have to say is that I wish I had had this when I was studying for my Intro to Biblical Studies exam on Ancient Near East geography. Go check it out!

LINK: The Bible and Google Maps @ ESV.org

Earlier this year, I wrote a review of Nancy Pearcey's Total Truth. As my review indicates, I found it to be an excellent book. Apparently the ECPA agrees because they gave the book their Gold Medallion Award for the best book in the category of "Christianity and Society". Mrs. Pearcey sent me the press release, so I thought I would include it here. If you haven't read this book yet, you should.

** Press Release **

NANCY PEARCEY'S TOTAL TRUTH WINS TOP AWARD

Wednesday, July 13, 2005 -- As America continues its heated debates on the role of religion in public life, Nancy Pearcey's highly acclaimed book TOTAL TRUTH: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity (Crossway) has won the 2005 ECPA Gold Medallion Award for best book in the category of "Christianity and Society."

Pearcey, a former agnostic, has been heralded as "one of the few female intellectuals in evangelicalism" (The Evangelical Outpost). She is also a musician and a homeschooling mother. The prestigious award was announced at a celebration held in Denver, Colorado, on Monday, July 11, 2005. The ECPA reports that more than "1,000 publishers, retailers, authors, and industry colleagues" attended the evening's festivities.

"There is much to be thankful for in receiving this award" Pearcey said. "It is a positive sign that a "rock-the-boat" book like TOTAL TRUTH could find a base of support among the grassroots of evangelical publishing."

"The book rocks secular boats because it argues that God is a public figure," Pearcey explained. "It shows why secularists cannot simply relegate religion to the private realm of faith and feelings, which is the most common way of stripping Christianity of its power to challenge and redeem the whole of culture."

"But the book may also rock some evangelical boats," Pearcey said, "because it challenges a tendency to allow essentially secular principles to shape the way we do business in Christian circles, which hurts many people who are seeking authentic relationships and answers to life's questions."

Pearcey, who became a Christian at L'Abri Fellowship in the early 1970s, said, "I am thankful to Francis and Edith Schaeffer, who opened the door to doing this kind of worldview analysis."

Celebrating the news about TOTAL TRUTH are voices from the U.S. and Europe:

"Delighted to hear about the Gold Medallion. Nancy's book TOTAL TRUTH is one of our top books here in Christian Heritage-Cambridge."
--RANALD MACAULAY
Director, Christian Heritage-Cambridge
son-in-law of Francis and Edith Schaeffer
Cambridge, England

TOTAL TRUTH is the "most important single book to have come out of the U.S.A. in recent years because it tackles the root-level misunderstandings which stop people from seeing that the message of Jesus brought, and still brings, individual liberties, social transformation, political freedom, and scientific, technological and economic progress."
-- Prof. PRABHU GUPTARA
Chairman, Trinity Forum-Europe
Executive Director at Wolfsberg (subsidiary of UBS)
Zurich, Switzerland

Congratulations to [editor-husband Rick] and Nancy!
-- DAVID LIMBAUGH
author, syndicated columnist
Cape Girardeau, Mo.

"Nancy Pearcey has performed an important service to evangelicals in TOTAL TRUTH, and her Gold Medallion Award testifies that her kind is not yet extinct."
-- CAL THOMAS
author, syndicated columnist
Washington, D.C., area

Nancy Pearcey is the Francis A. Schaeffer Scholar at the World Journalism Institute, where she teaches a worldview course based on the study guide edition of TOTAL TRUTH. After earning an M.A. from Covenant Theological Seminary, she pursued further graduate work in philosophy at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. Since 1977, she has been a pioneering thinker and writer on the interface between worldview and contemporary issues, such as modern science, and she is currently a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute.

CONTACT: Nancy Pearcey can be contacted through the World Journalism Institute at npearcey@worldji.com.

INTERVIEWS: For interviews, call Crossway Books at 630-682-4300.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.totaltruthbook.com.

This past weekend I was back in Wheaton to be in a friend’s wedding. It was a wonderful time. The whole weekend just seemed so “right”. My friend and his, now, wife are great for each other and the cemeremony and other events were such a fitting way to joyfully celebrate God’s good gift of marriage. This is not the first wedding I have been to this summer, in fact it is the third. Sometimes it feels like it is the summer of weddings (and engagements). With all of that going on, it was fitting that I listened to a recent edition of the Albert Mohler Program which addresed the question: How Do You Know When It?¢?Ǩ?Ñ¢s Time To Get Married? It was a great show, so I thought I’d post a link here on the blog.

LINK: http://www.albertmohler.com/radio_show.php?cdate=2005-07-07

More and more I find myself living a very Wordpress - http://www.wordpress.org del.icio.us - http://del.icio.us spurl - http://www.spurl.net feedlounge http://www.feedlounge.com flickr - http://www.flickr.com gmail - http://gmail.google.com google maps - http://maps.google.com

Recently there has been a lot of buzz about Scientology. This has come about, in large part, because of how vocal Tom Cruise has been about his beliefs in the public. That being the case I thought it would probably be worthwhile to do just a little reading about the topic so as to be informed in case I ever happen to run into someone who happened to be a Scientologist. That situation might not be as far fetched as you might think; according to MSNBC, Lycos reported that “Scientology” jumped to #37 on their list of popular search terms. Here are some links that I’ve looked at, in case you would like to learn some more about the beliefs of Scientology.

LINKS: Wikipedia article on Scientology Scientology: From Science Fiction to Space Age Religion by Dr. John Weldon (an excellent Christian response to Scientology) A seriese of articles in the L.A. Times about Scientology

A few weeks ago, the translation committee for the English Standard Version met to discuss revising portions of the translation. (I actually had the rare privilege of running into the group as they were coming back from lunch one day.) While they met, they spent time answering questions that had been raised by Adrian Warnock and others. Even though the answers are short, I think they serve as at least a point of reference for how the committee made some tough decisions during translation.

Here are links to the questions and answers:

1. Paul House Discusses Doctrine Affecting Translation (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 1)
2. Bill Mounce Discusses the Internet (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 2)
3. Vern Poythress Discusses the Internet (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 3)
4. Vern Poythress Discusses Bracketed Verses (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 4)
5. Vern Poythress Discusses Differences between the ESV and Other Translations (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 5)
6. Paul House Discusses Reviewing the ESV (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 6)
7. Bill Mounce Discusses Greek Texts (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 7)
8. Vern Poythress Discusses the Textus Receptus (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 8 )
9. C. John Collins Dicusses Use of ?¢?Ǩ?ìThe LORD?¢?Ǩ¬ù (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 9)
10. Wayne Grudem Discusses the Need for the ESV (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 10)
11. Wayne Grudem Discusses Commentaries (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 11)
12. C. John Collins Discusses Commentaries (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 12)
13. Wayne Grudem Discusses Learning Hebrew and Greek (Ask the Translators #1 Answer 13)