Disqus - Friends of techmate

Re: A Horrible Parody

Micah Webner — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:44:40 -0000

Hi John,

You mentioned on the podcast that you could buy a compatibility module to allow earlier versions of Office to read Office 2007 documents. Actually, that's a free download from Microsoft, and I believe it allows to to both read and write 2007 files from the older versions.

http://snurl.com/3isob

Micah

Re: Atheists Do It Too

Micah Webner — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:45:55 -0000

From the Christian perspective, if you believe in predestination, then you believe that God has either known or decided since before there was time who was going to get saved and who wasn't. From that logic, it follows that He also chose who was going to be smart and who wasn't. In no way does that imply that there would be any correlation between those two lists, so there's no reason to believe that the decision to believe in God has anything to do with intelligence.

Looking at it from the other side, consider something like the Nigerian 419 scams. Some very intelligent people have been taken in by those. This would imply that even smart people are gullible, and if you think the only people who would believe in God are gullible ones, there's still no reason to believe that the decision to believe in God has anything to do with intelligence.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Micah

Re: ☆ Community Page, New Look, Comments, and Songs Page Additions!

Micah Webner — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:56:15 -0000

Yes! Just posted a comment on an item, both as a test and as an actual question about Wednesday's service. This feature alone rocks! New theme looks good, too.

Only problem I had was when I first logged in, I had no CSS at all. A refresh fixed that. Might have just been my laptop acting up, might have been cached stylesheet needing a refresh.

Re: ☆ Community Page, New Look, Comments, and Songs Page Additions!

Micah Webner — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:56:15 -0000

Yes! Just posted a comment on an item, both as a test and as an actual question about Wednesday's service. This feature alone rocks! New theme looks good, too.

Only problem I had was when I first logged in, I had no CSS at all. A refresh fixed that. Might have just been my laptop acting up, might have been cached stylesheet needing a refresh.

Re: HTML5 and CSS3 - It"s Time To Start Using Them

Micah Webner — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:03:59 -0000

Sounds like you've been listening to Boagworld. If not, go check out the HTML5 interview with Jeremy Keith. There's some great background info on what happened with the XHTML spec and where things are headed with HTML5.

I've already decided that I'll use HTML5 for the next Drupal theme I create, even if I don't incorporate any of the new features. Glad to see you using it here, especially since this blog is about staying up with current best practices.

Micah

Re: 189. How to keep up with web innovations

Micah Webner — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:21:11 -0000

Great show, gentlemen. Enjoyed it immensely.

I don't really have much exposure to eye tracking, but I do know of at least one case where it provided vital information. There were some usability studies done on Drupal last year, and the Drupal community was pretty shocked to watch the eye tracking footage of experienced website builders attempting to use Drupal for the first time. These results are probably the biggest trigger to all of the user experience changes that has gone into Drupal 7.

I have to disagree just a little with Marcus about phantom power being the key to a good podcasting mic. The Shure SM7B ($350US) is a pretty nice dynamic broadcast mic that doesn't require phantom. Of course, as mentioned, anything is better than a built-in or cheap headset mic.

It would definitely be nice if people creating video and/or screencast content for the web would pay at least a little attention to their audio quality. I don't know how many tutorial videos I've watched whose creator spent little or no time checking levels, eliminating background noise, and at least applying a little compression and eq to their finished product. I've turned off great podcasts and screencasts alike because the sound was just awful.

Boagworld has consistently good audio. This is a big deal for me, as I listen using a crap FM transmitter while driving a noisy car. The time you guys spend in post-production, even if it's quick, definitely pays off. Thanks!

I love the podcast. It's a great balance of waffle and useful info that makes my Wednesday evening commutes enjoyable.

Micah Webner

Re: After 200 episodes is it time to change Boagworld?

Micah Webner — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:23:06 -0000

While I can see from the comments how the shorter format will benefit many listeners, I find the existing format provides the perfect trifecta of entertainment, information and good audio quality to ease the burden for a tenth of my weekly one-hour-each-way (and then some) commute through the metro Detroit area. Hurrah for providing both options!

Micah Webner
Michigan, US

Re: Battle of the Drupal 6 Admin Themes

Micah Webner — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:02:50 -0000

I was a big fan of Root Candy until encountering Admin 1.x and Slate. I'm running that on most of my sites now. Based on these screen shots, I might have to take a look at Rubik now, and consider moving to Admin 2.x.

OTOH, it's inevitable that as I start implementing D7, I'll start changing my remaining D6 sites to the Seven theme, so maybe I should just go there now.

Micah

Re: The death of the church

Micah Webner — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:54:41 -0000

My daughter and I have been listening to Perry Noble's message "I Love my Church" this week on the way to school. I could grab a whole bunch of his points (including scripture references) to argue with you, but I've read your post carefully enough to know I'd just be arguing semantics. Besides, I don't think you're really advocating the demise of the local church. I think you're suggesting that the local church, in its current form, is so broken that it would be better to throw out this version and start over rather than try to even fix what's here.

Your comments about hands and feet in action instead of butts in seats ties with what Perry said about membership. He said Newspring isn't having new members' class and membership any more. Instead, they're emphasizing ownership.

When you're at the gym, and something breaks, what do you do? You go to the front desk and report it broken. That's what too many church members want to do: report it to the front desk and make somebody fix it. Membership implies rights, but ownership implies responsibility. As an owner, or at least a stakeholder, it's up to us to get off our butts and start being the Church.

Re: Proving God with Science?

Micah Webner — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:59:27 -0000

About ten years ago, someone pointed out to me that Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Since Genesis 3:1, the devil has worked to make mankind doubt the Word of God, and it's still his best trick today. What better place to start unraveling Truth than on page one?

That talk was the first time I'd ever heard someone give scientific evidence supporting creation history. Can or should that history be proven? No. I agree with Bob and Matt on this point.

However, many people today believe in evolution simply because it is "proven science" and therefore cannot be disputed. Sounds like blind faith to me. I'm now fully convinced that it takes far more faith to believe that matter has defied the tested and established laws of physics and chemistry to randomly evolve into order from chaos than to believe creation required some sort of outside influence. (You really don't have to go past the second law of thermodynamics for that one.) The fact that most (if not all) "proofs" of evolution have been discredited scientifically supports this argument.

Does this prove that the God of the Bible is real? Of course not. However, for the "logical thinker" who believes there can be no God because evolution must be true, it should at least open a door. After all, we Americans cherish the concept of "reasonable doubt" in our court system. I think maybe that's where apologetics serves a useful purpose.

So, if we can cast doubt on flawed science, what evidence can we provide that God exists? Our personal witness is the best message we carry. "This is how a relationship with God changed my life," is a story that the listener cannot dispute. That's the best witness we have on any given day.

Just as we should know the Word of God so that we can speak (and follow) truth, Christians should also be armed with a more accurate understanding about what the scientific community has disproven in areas such as evolution. But it should be used as a tool to open doors to share your own story, not a club to beat on people less "enlightened" than you.

Re: Building A Drupal Site or Module Documentation Site With Doxygen

Micah Webner — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:31:30 -0000

Wow, that's pretty slick. Definitely a prettier site than my API on Garland implementation. I do like being able to see the code for a function right on its documentation page, but the scrollable list of modules in the Doxygen version is a nice trade-off. I'm definitely going to have to consider doing my documentation this way instead.

Either way (Doxygen or API Module) you're right about seeing shortfalls in your own documentation. When I first set up my API site, I spent the rest of the afternoon tweaking and adding comments to my custom modules. On the up side, now that I have a documentation site, I automatically write better documentation whenever I create a new module. Using either method fosters good habits.

Micah

Re: Rainy Mood

Micah Webner — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:29:44 -0000

Very cool. Love rhumphries' rain recordings. Have used those for things at church, including Revelation Song.

Re: Hank Palan: My Story

Micah Webner — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 07:46:12 -0000

I've been continually amazed by Hank's cinematic wedding trailers on the Rustic Red blog since meeting him online a couple of years ago. This three-minute glimpse into the man behind those videos is equally impressive. Makes me glad once again I've had the opportunity to see his work, Superbly done!

Re: http://micahw156.tumblr.com/post/9123540359

Micah Webner — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:56:07 -0000

Intriguing thoughts, Josiah.

There's a lot of talk in the Internet world about who or what is your product, especially in terms of free online services. (Where, quite often, our eyeballs are the product.) Your comment turns this question to the consumer perspective of the Church and asks who or what is the product, then it implies that the product is the people serving, not Jesus, which is doubly bad, because Jesus is not a product to be consumed, either. Great points to ponder!

Thanks!

Re: Converting Mono to Stereo in Audacity

Micah Webner — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:18:53 -0000

It's kind of challenging, but depending on the recording you're trying to alter, there are a few things you could try. There are effects out there that try to simulate stereo, but I think most don't sound very good. You'd probably have more success experimenting with adding some reverb or maybe even a little chorus.

You could also try making multiple copies of the original track, then play with EQ and maybe an effect to bring out just part of the sound. Pan that altered track left or right, then use the volume control to only add a little bit of it back into the overall mix. The results could be anywhere between amazing to good to cheesy to awful.

I once read that sometimes you have to accept that a recording will refuse to be anything but what it already is. The rest of the time, you just keep trying things until you find something you like.

Re: Converting Mono to Stereo in Audacity

Micah Webner — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:41:54 -0000

Good point, Andrew, about this not being true stereo. There are some other comments about this in the thread, but I did fail to make the distinction in the original post.

Re: Drupal 7 on Microsoft Windows Server

Micah Webner — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:56:02 -0000

Good info. Thanks for the update!

Micah

Re: Installing Audacity and Plugins for Sermon and Announcement Processing

Micah Webner — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:43:06 -0000

It appears that Kjaerhus Audio is out of business. I found a link to their classic series at http://www.acoustica.com/pl... but I'm not sure if it's completely valid or what the status might be.

Re: Asexual Reproduction?

joe at joeburnham.com — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:22:43 -0000

I'm not sure when the shift came, but at some point feminism moved from celebrating the feminine (and thus the vocation of being a woman) to the elimination of gender. The one holding point up until now has been reproduction. While abortion has been a "useful tool" in their battle, in the end, if the species was going to continue, reproduction had to occur. It appears that the final resource for a gender free society is now in place (or soon will be).

Re: Post-denominational

joe at joeburnham.com — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:05:25 -0000

Last September at St. Louis' Theological Symposium, Harvard sociologist Robert Putnum gave a presentation covering some of material in his new book, "American Grace". In it, he made a comment that, based on his research, if a person's politics don't seem to match their religious beliefs, they are more likely to leave their faith than their political party. Just one more bit of evidence that, in the United States, liberal or conservative is the dominant measure of where you fit.

Re: Does Evangelicalism Deny Metaphor?

joe at joeburnham.com — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:55:41 -0000

While I disagree with the idea that sacrament is limited to symbol, signifier, and signified, I've been mulling over the same idea, although not focusing on evangelicalism as much as I have literalism.

My thoughts began when looking at a Lutheran bloggers post on sermons as explored through http://wordle.net. He mapped out a Calvinist and a "good" Lutheran sermon and pointed out the difference in the size of Christ and Jesus in the Lutheran version when compared to words like glory or God in the Calvinist sermon.

I'm a Lutheran, I talk a lot about Jesus, and I blog rather extensively on what's unraveling in my brain, so I decided to run my blog through the same test. Much to my surprise, I had trouble finding references to Jesus and Christ on my word map.

So, trying to figure out what happened, I went back and began looking through my recent posts. What I discovered is that the posts that were being analyzed, focused on a number of thoughts dealing with the prodigal son, thus my language was heavy on the terms father and son, as opposed to Jesus Christ and the sinner. Because I'd moved from literal to metaphor, according to this one pastor's grading system, my blog posts failed to communicate the Gospel.

Re: Views Carousel

joe at joeburnham.com — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:30:00 -0000

Is there a way to set it up so the smaller images in carousel either link to the larger images or can have a javascript setup that shows the image in its original size?

Re: Complaint #337

joe at joeburnham.com — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:34:34 -0000

Are their really still people out there who don't appreciate that only widescreen allows you to appreciate the full cinematic beauty (in the form of crap blowing up) of a film like The Dark Night?

Re: Are you a superhero?

joe at joeburnham.com — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:02:59 -0000

Reminds me a bit of this episode of SAP: http://www.superaveragepodc...

Re: A small what?

joe at joeburnham.com — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:51:09 -0000

Interestingly enough, Seminary hurt my love of the Catechism because I had Confessions 2 with the man-devil. However, while on Vicarage, I read, "That I May Be His Own" and my love for the Catechism was born.