12/29/10 12/29/10

Finding Alternatives to Delicious

Delicious, an excellent bookmarking service currently owned by Yahoo!, is an important part of my research process. While in the collecting phase, I use Delicious to tag interesting websites and documents that I need to go back and review at a later date. This allows me to use either Google or Google Scholar to rapidly search and tag documents without getting to engrossed in the details of individual articles.

To illustrate how powerful Delicious tags can be, here are a few lists I have created over the last couple of years as I researched various topics:

Adding sites to Delicious is a simple keystroke in Firefox [Ctrl-D]. The user interface allows you to quickly tag the page, make a note about its significance (or copy a paragraph from the page to jog your memory), even share your bookmark via Twitter.

Unfortunately, Yahoo announced earlier this month their intention to sell Delicious. [The original buzz on the blogosphere was that Delicious was simply going to go away. Fortunately, this proved to be a false rumor.]

Alternatives to Delicious

Still, this realization that a critical part of my workflow is facing an uncertain future led me on a quest for a potential replacement. Here are the prospects as of today:

Diigo. Diigo is a mature social bookmarking, highlighting, note-taking, collaboration site that performs many of the same functions as Delicious. Seizing on the opportunity to capture new users looking for a replacement for Delicious, Diigo wisely provides a “Transition from Delicious to Diigo – Instruction & FAQ” page. Diigo is free.
Evernote. I am a big fan of Evernote and use this application on Windows, Mac OS, iPad, and Android platforms. Evernote is a great archive for all of your digital documents. It is the critical part of my paperless workflow. As much as I like Evernote, I don’t see it as a viable replacement for Delicious. One of the best features of Delicious is its simplicity, and in my opinion, Evernote would add levels of complexity that would defeat the purpose of rapid collection of online resources. Like Diigo, Evernote provides a simple process on their blog to make the transition from Delicious to Evernote. Evernote has both a paid and free version, and the free version is more than adequate for my needs.
Google Bookmarks. With Google sitting as king of the hill when it comes to search engines, it only makes sense that Google Bookmarks would be a viable alternative to Delicious. Tagging sites with Google Bookmarks can be as simple as clicking on the little star next to your search results. Google Bookmarks allows users to create and share lists, and plays well with other Google services like Google Maps, Gmail, Docs, etc.. Unfortunately, Google doesn’t provide instructions on making the transition from Delicious, although there are several recent articles on the web. Google Bookmarks is free.
Historious. I’m not familiar with Historious, but it appears to offer many of the features available through Delicious. Unfortunately (for me) this service is not free, and that knocks it out of contention. (You can get a free account that allows up to 300 bookmarks. The paid account is $19.95 per year and gives unlimited access to the service.)
Pinboard. The final contender in today’s roundup of Delicious replacements is Pinboard. As with Historious, I am not personally familiar with Pinboard, although it does receive some decent reviews. Pinboard provides a side-by-side comparison with Delicious if you need some help making a decision. Like Historious, there is a charge to use this service, so that knocks it out of contention for me.

I will update you on the final results of my search to find a good alternative to Delicious. Do you have recommendations as alternatives to Delicious?

10/23/10 10/23/10

Sunday Morning - When the Truth Hurts

A few months ago I came across a video that pokes a finger in the eye of today’s church. Produced by North Point Media (part of North Point Community church), the video is spot-on when it comes to its depiction of what has become the cliche-driven “cool” church. Churches across the country--big and small--run to conferences hosted by trend-setting churches like North Point Community Church then run home and try to copy their cool style down to the smallest detail.ConfessionI’ve been there, done that. To be honest, the mega churches hosting the conferences usually offer the disclaimer: “Don’t go home and try to do this at your church.” Then they tell you about the Resources available at an incredible “conference-only” discount that tell you how you can go home and do church the way they do church. After all, it must work because they have 10,000 people attending their church every weekend while you only have a few dozen or hundred. So, in spite of the disclaimer, we buy their resources, run home and start implementing the cool, trendy ideas we’ve just experienced. I confess--I am guilty.The Problem as I See ItAs I reflect on this movement within many Evangelical churches, I have to ask myself “why does this bother me?” After all, if a church can implement these new methods and see real, genuine growth, isn’t that a good thing? Perhaps, to a point. What bothers me, however, is that I consider authenticity to be one of the hallmarks of a healthy church. When I see churches attempting to model themselves after “successful” churches all in the name of growth, authenticity is the last thing that comes to mind. When it comes to methodology, it is too easy in 21st Century America for churches to become market-driven, growth-oriented businesses simply for the sake of numbers. Pastors cease serving their congregations as shepherds and teachers, and become ego-centric entrepreneurs who will go to any length and adopt any new idea if it will lead to growth.Again, if you sense I am being unfair with today’s pastors, remember--I’ve been there, done that. I am as guilty as any other pastor who has lost sight at times of what really matters.Question: What do you think after watching the video? Do you see where your church is becoming a cliche-driven church? Is this good or bad?

7/11/10 7/11/10

Sometimes All it Takes is a Wink

We have all learned tough lessons when words we are guilty of speaking are taken out of context and repeated. Gaining self-control of the tongue is one of life’s most difficult tasks.

I recently read a quote by former Speaker of the House Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill that serves as a good reminder when it comes to the nuances of communication.

"Never write when you can speak. Never speak when you can whisper. Never whisper when you can nod. Never nod when you can wink."

7/9/10 7/9/10

Scrivener + OneNote = Perfection

As a relatively new Mac user, I am completely enjoying my introduction into the wonderful world of Mac Application. Unlike many Windows Apps that still sport a 1990s Windows ME look, Mac Apps are clean and contemporary.

One of the new applications I am falling in love with is Scrivener. Scrivener is a writing tool without equal.

Scrivener's Corkboard

Unfortunately, for someone like me trying to juggle both a Windows OS world and a Mac OS world, there is nothing close to Scrivener for Windows. I have tried many of the suggested applications, but without exception, the Windows apps lack the killer features Scrivener offers.

For me, it's not too critical, because I do have a Mac, and Scrivener is quickly becoming part of my workflow. What I am missing on the Mac side is Microsoft OneNote. As with Scrivener, OneNote is without equal as an information gathering tool. The newest version of OneNote 2010, just released this spring, takes the app from good to Wow! I love OneNote.

OneNote 2010 Screenshot

This got me to thinking about my "perfect" toolbox. What would it look like if all applications were cross-platform?

Here is my Windows toolbox (Work):

OneNote (structured research for projects/papers. Better organization, note-taking, highlighting, compiling)
Evernote (general information capture)
PersonalBrain (long-term information store. Shows connection between areas of focus. Thoughts link to pages in OneNote or Evernote)
MindManager (Dashboards for planning and 30,000 to 50,000 related tasks. Mindjet the maker of MindManager offers a Mac version of MindManager, but it is essentially a new purchase at upgrade pricing. At $XXX+, that's too much for cross-platform convenience.)
Microsoft Word (like it or not, most of my writing must end up in Word format, which is the standardized format in most sectors)
TaskAngel / Toodledo for list management and GTD implementation
GoToDo app on Android mobile phone syncs with Toodledo
I will add The Journal to this list. I have played with the trial version the last few weeks, and this will become my writing tool. Prior to this, I have used Microsoft Word.

Here is my Mac OS toolbox (Home):

Evernote (sync with my Windows data)
PersonalBrain (syncs with my Windows brain via SugarSync)
OmniOutliner (the best outliner I have used without question. If only it was available for Windows!)
Scrivener (This is where my search for a Windows replacement for Word started. I love Scrivener and would pay any price to have access to its features on both Mac and Windows. The Journal is my Scrivener counterpart in Windows, but to be honest, it's not even close.)
Toodledo via the web interface.

What's missing from my Mac OS perfect world? OneNote. I love OneNote.

So, if we can engage in some fantasy right now, here is my "perfect" toolbox if all of the applications in the world were cross platform:

OneNote
MindManager
PersonalBrain
OmniOutliner
Scrivener
Microsort Word (a necessary final destination)
OmniFocus (synching with Toodledo)
GotToDo on my Android phone

What do you think? How would you blend applications in perfect world?

7/3/10 7/3/10

Don’t Jump to Conclusions and Skip the Truth

by Chris Eller | July 3, 2010 | Commentary

A couple of weeks ago I had several come up to me following a Wednesday evening class and report on the arrest of four Christians handing out gospel tracts at a recent Arab International Festival in Dearborn, MI.

My first reaction was, “Wow, we’ve crossed a Rubicon here.”

Muslims historically have won their battles through fear and intimidation of their opponents, and the incident in Dearborn seemed like a perfect illustration of how radical Islam is affecting America.

Christian news agencies were quick to jump on the story as revealed here, here, and here. (A Google News search show 86 articles on the topic.)

In the days that followed, Christians were quick to begin calling the event an outrage and a clear violation of the constitutional rights of the Christians involved. The blogosphere lit up with articles describing “creeping Sharia law,” and “Dearbornistan.”

Even Michael Youssef, a man I greatly respect, jumped into the debate:

Every freedom-loving person should be extremely alarmed at the dreadful trend of silencing Christians from the streets of London to the streets of Dearborn, Michigan. In both places, Christians were arrested and imprisoned for preaching the Gospel on public streets...in what Muslims considered to be Islamic territories.

When four young Christian men were recently arrested and imprisoned in Dearborn, Michigan for witnessing to their faith at an Islamic festival, it was hailed as a victory in some Islamic circles-Sharia law has come to America.

Never mind the first amendment...this is the beginning of its demise by overwhelming Islamic ideology that is @#!*% bent on silencing Christians and Jews from speaking of their faith. [1]

Don’t Jump to Conclusions

In a July 2, 2010 article on Baptist Press, Kelly Boggs provides some interesting background on the event:

While the arrest of the four men is troublesome, I have received ample information that makes it clear the Gospel is not being muzzled by anyone in the city of Dearborn. In fact, quite the opposite seems to be true.

For instance, at this year's Arab International Festival several Christian ministries had booth space in an area designated for literature distribution. Among those with a presence at the festival was well-known Christian author and apologist Josh McDowell and the Baptist State Convention of Michigan.
McDowell gave away copies of several of his books including "More Than A Carpenter" and "The Witness," an Arabic murder mystery novel. His ministry distributed thousands of books and McDowell interacted with festival goers while autographing books.

The Baptist State Convention of Michigan also distributed materials during the festival. "Our teams had a strong presence and had no issues at all," wrote Carlos Liese, language ministry leader with the Michigan convention, in an e-mail. "Our volunteers had many conversations about Christ with participants, passed out 2000 'Jesus Film' DVDs and 500 copies of the Gospel of John and Romans in Arabic."[2]

The Verdict

Where does this leave us? It is indeed troubling that four Christians were arrested for distributing literature at an Arab cultural festival. It is equally troubling that the First Amendment appears to be so anemic in contemporary America.

Still, Christians must be careful that we do not herald every incident that appears to be a violation of rights to be clear “signs of the end times.” Christians lose credibility in the eyes of the public when they follow the voices of extreme right over the cliff.

Lesson: Stop, investigate, then decided. Do your research. The Internet is full of half-baked stories predicting the apocalypse. Don’t fall prey to these cooked-up schemes and charges. Do your homework.

Notes

[1] Youssef. M. (June 28, 2010). “A Wake Up Call” Retrieved from http://www.christianpost.com/blogs/christianity/2010/06/a-wake-up-call-28/ on July 3, 2010.

[2] Boggs, K. (July 2, 2010). “First-Person: Finding the truth about the Arab festival.” Retrieved from http://www.bpnews.net/BPFirstPerson.asp?ID=33285 on July 3, 2010.