tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81959608845871428922024-03-13T06:05:32.428-04:00Jonathan E. SmithThoughts and musings pertaining to life, ministry, and the pursuit of technology.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.comBlogger177125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-87282801582789497452016-09-13T22:44:00.004-04:002016-09-13T22:59:53.964-04:00Happy 1st Birthday, Windows 10!My latest article is now live at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ministrytech.com</a>.<br />
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<b>It’s hard to believe that we’ve been in the Windows 10 era for a year now.</b> It seems like just yesterday we were anxiously awaiting the final release, after two years of testing and development. (Of course, technology years are like dog years with things moving so fast.)<br />
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<b>Microsoft’s goal for Windows 10 was to have 1 billion devices running this version within the first three years.</b> They have admitted recently that after this first year they probably aren’t going to hit that goal, mostly due to the failing Windows 10 phone market. If you don’t know what this means, ask how many of your friends have a Windows phone and you’ll soon understand.<br />
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Even after a year, though, the question remains as to whether or not you should upgrade. Microsoft allowed users to upgrade for free through the first year. Since the free upgrade has expired, is there any real rush to upgrade, especially now that you have to pay for the upgrade and the fact that Windows 7 is supported through 2020?<br />
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If you did not take advantage of the free upgrade, then you probably aren’t going to pay to upgrade your existing device. You might wait and get Windows 10 when you purchase a new device. There will undoubtedly be a plethora of new Windows 10-based devices available as we inch closer to the holiday shopping season.<br />
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The release of Windows 10 Anniversary Edition is momentous for several reasons. First, Microsoft kept its promise in terms of the new Windows paradigm shift. No longer is Windows a product that you upgrade once every few years to a new version. Now Windows is in a perpetual state of evolution, constantly changing with feature updates and changes included with security patches. Many doubted whether Microsoft could upgrade Windows several times per year, and so far they have proven they can.<br />
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The Anniversary Edition release also shows us that once a device is running Windows we won’t have to upgrade the operating system every few years. Every organization dedicates significant IT resources to operating system upgrades. Once your device is running Windows 10 it will upgrade itself—there won’t be the need for organizations to dedicate time and money to imaging machines when the next version of Windows comes out. As an IT person who has done countless Windows migrations and upgrades, this is what I’m most excited about.<br />
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<b>Windows 10 Anniversary Edition also contains a ton of features additions and security improvements. Here are just a few of the highlights …</b><br />
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<li>One of the coolest features of Windows 10 running on a Surface is the <b>Windows Hello authentication process</b>. This allows you to unlock your PC just by looking at your device. The Windows Hello camera logs you in based on your face. I love this feature, and in the Anniversary Edition you can now use Windows Hello to login to websites and apps. Instead of remembering your password you just have to remember to keep your head on your shoulders. This may be problematic for those who say they would forget their head if it wasn’t attached.</li>
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<li>There have also been a ton of other under-the-hood security improvements, including an updated <b>Windows Defender</b> and an enterprise version called <b>Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection</b>. It remains to be seen if these built-in security features will have any impact on the third-party security/malware/anti-virus markets.</li>
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<li>For touch screen users <b>Windows Ink</b> has also been built into the update. Windows Ink allows you to write on your screen and convert handwriting to text. It also provides for greater interaction using a pen or stylus with Microsoft Office and other apps that have the Ink functionality built into them.</li>
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<li>The new browser in Windows 10,<b> Microsoft Edge</b>, is also starting to gain some maturity. Edge was released with Windows 10 but it too is undergoing an evolutionary process. With the Anniversary Edition, Microsoft Edge now supports extensions and many more web standards, including HTML5. It has also had significant under-the-hood improvements. Translation— you can start using Edge on many of the sites that didn’t work on it before. Only time will tell whether or not this will convince you to switch to Edge as your browser of choice.</li>
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<li>My favorite improvement is the ability to pin apps to virtual desktops. Windows 10 first brought virtual desktops to Windows users (better late than never). Virtual desktops allow you to have different applications running on different desktops so you don’t have to open everything in a single place. One desktop could be running Word, Excel, and Outlook, while another desktop could be running all of your open browser windows. You could then have all of your games running on a third desktop, then when the boss walks by . . .</li>
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<li>With Windows 10 Anniversary Edition you can now send a single app to all your desktops, so if you want to be able to view your email across all your virtual desktops you can now open it once and have it appear on all desktops as opposed to having to open your email individually on every desktop.</li>
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<li>Other improvements include more functionality for Cortana, better gaming integration with Xbox, additional desktop themes, more control over the action center and notifications, and better management tools for education and classroom environments. </li>
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<b>Windows 10 is here to stay.</b> While there may be a learning curve for some users, it is hopefully a learning curve you will only have to experience once.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-13868379785822910742016-08-11T16:43:00.000-04:002016-09-13T22:59:34.585-04:00Should Churches and Ministries Embrace the Cloud?My latest article is now live at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ministrytech.com</a>.<br />
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To embrace the cloud, or not to embrace the cloud, that is the question. Pardon the Shakespearean paraphrase, but there are a lot of questions swirling around churches and ministries as they consider using cloud services for everything from email and file services to Active Directory. There is also a disconnect between what the IT team says is best for the ministry and what church leadership thinks in terms of utilizing cloud-based services.<br />
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<b>Cloud-based services offer many benefits</b> over hosting your own services, but you’ll want to make sure you are using a reputable vender. It is important to look at the SLA, or Service Level Agreement, to ensure that your provider will keep their services running so your ministry effectiveness isn’t impacted. When you host your own email and/or file servers you have much more control over downtime because you probably have physical access to the server and the people running those servers. When you host in the cloud you may not have direct access to the servers so you are dependent on your provider to resolve any issues that create downtime.<br />
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Using a reputable host like Microsoft or Google will ensure reliability, but there are other companies that provide cloud based services for just about everything, and you want to make sure a provider’s reliability won’t negatively impact your ministry.<br />
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One of the biggest benefits of using cloud-based services is that they take a huge support load off the IT team. No longer are they responsible for maintaining and patching servers. If the servers are on your site then you may also have cooling, power or data issues to consider as well. What happens when the cooling units fail? Do you have sufficient battery backup or a generator for power outages? What happens when your Internet connectivity goes down? Moving to the cloud avoids all these issues as cloud-based services are hosted in large, commercial data centers where power, air conditioning, and data reliability are taken care of for you.<br />
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<b>Cloud services can also play a huge role in your disaster recovery and backup strategies.</b> Remember that disaster recovery and backups are not the same thing. Backups are for recovering data, while disaster recovery refers to how much time is necessary to get your services (like email, files, ChMS, etc.) back into operation after a disaster. By placing these services in the cloud you can enhance these strategies. If a natural disaster wipes out your on-site datacenter what would you do? In the church world think of what happens if a significant tornado or hurricane or earthquake (hopefully not all three at once!) hits your area on a Saturday night. Do you have a way to notify your congregation about your plans for Sunday morning? How fast can you get your email and ChMS back up and running?<br />
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By placing services like your email and ChMS in the cloud, the responsibility of keeping things running falls to your provider. A cloud-based provider will more than likely have your data spread out across servers and datacenters in multiple geographic locations. The same is true for your backups: they are no longer located on your site and you no longer have to relocate backup tapes to ensure your backups are spread out geographically. Most cloud vendors can also provide more backup space then many churches or ministries would be able to afford on their own. This means when the natural disaster hits your area, your services continue to operate. How many churches or ministries are able to provide geographic and hardware redundancy on their own? And if they are able, is it good stewardship of those funds?<br />
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By now you may be thinking to yourself that the cloud sounds too good to be true. “You mean I can place my data, my email, my files, my ChMS, my whatever in the cloud and not have to worry about natural disasters, power outages, cooling equipment failures and maintenance, internet outages, security patches, backups and disaster recovery all while saving the IT team a lot of time, effort, and money? Sign me up!” Hold on, not so fast.<br />
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Whether to move your ministry to the cloud may not be so obvious. While there are obvious benefits, there are also a few challenges. Many in the IT profession believe it is their job to protect the data and ensure it is kept safe. This is why I do not believe this is an IT decision, but rather a church leadership decision. The IT team should make recommendations based on their knowledge and experience, but the data belongs to the church, and the church leadership should decide how to keep that data safe, including how and where it is stored. For some that may mean moving to the cloud, for others, they may feel more comfortable keeping their data on-site and managing it locally.<br />
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There is also the challenge of the IT team. IT folks don’t like to give up control, and moving data and services to the cloud means they will be giving up some control. I strongly believe the benefits to embracing the cloud far outweigh any negatives, including any control IT might lose. For some IT professionals, especially those who have come out of the corporate world, this can be particularly difficult, but it’s one of the many ways ministry IT varies from corporate IT.<br />
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As an IT staff member in a ministry I view my primary objective to be constantly working myself out of a job. My goal is to equip and empower those I support for greater ministry effectiveness. I have no desire to attempt self-preservation by keeping data or services tightly locked up in my control to ensure the long-term security of my job. That level of selfishness only benefits the IT person, not the ministry. Most ministries run lean, so there is always plenty for the IT team to do. The more I empower others and work myself out of some jobs, the more I can focus my time on other areas that may require a specific technology skillset.<br />
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<b>Every ministry has to decide where to spend their money.</b> I would much rather use technology— including embracing the cloud—to save money so they can hire additional ministry staff as opposed to hiring additional technology staff to manage technology that could be moved to the cloud. Again, these are leadership decisions, but this is often where the IT team and church leadership may not see eye-to-eye.<br />
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So, should your church or ministry embrace the cloud? I think so—provided the IT team and church leadership have worked together to understand the issues and implement the cloud in a way that empowers the ministry for greater effectiveness.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-63583032180445915292016-07-06T21:09:00.000-04:002016-09-13T22:59:14.669-04:00How Tech & Accounting Can Live Happily Ever AfterMy latest article is now live at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ministrytech.com</a>.<br />
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Preparing an Information Technology (I.T.) budget can often be a dreaded task. Tech people seem to always want to spend more money and accounting people want to make sure funds are spent wisely. Both parties are striving to be good stewards of God’s resources, but there’s a critical disconnect between the dollar signs associated with a request and an understanding why the technology is needed.<br />
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When the accounting department sees a request or PO for toilet paper they don’t often ask many questions. Everyone knows what toilet paper is for and why it is needed. However, when Accounting sees a PO for a virtual server host they tend to ask a lot of questions. (Granted, one virtual server host costs as much as a year’s worth of toilet paper for most ministries.) This challenge is further compounded when normal ministry politics are involved.<br />
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Budgeting for IT, Audio Visual, or any other aspect of technology in ministry doesn’t have to be a bottleneck. Both technology and accounting folks need to work at making sure technology purchases like virtual server hosts are as easy to accomplish as purchasing toilet paper. But it takes teamwork. Technology is complicated. So is accounting.<br />
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Accountants learn as much about technology in school as tech folks learn about accounting. Tech folks often think accounting is just math and the accounting folks might think that technology is just browsing the Internet. It’s vital that the communication lines remain open. Technology folks should have nothing to hide. Here are a few guidelines to smooth the process of IT budgeting:<br />
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<b>Spell It Out: </b><br />
While it’s easy for us to spout acronyms, we shouldn’t. Our requests for funding or explanations of how we are going to accomplish a project should be easy to understand. It is far better to invest the time to communicate than to attempt to snow someone in an effort to save time. Investing the time in communicating builds trust.<br />
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<b>Trust One Another: </b><br />
Trust is vital to all aspects of ministry. Without trust, giving decreases; without giving there won’t be any money to buy toilet paper or virtual hosts. Trust is sometimes compromised unintentionally as good people try to work towards a common goal. To maintain trust you must not try to hide anything. No question should be ignored and no request for additional data should be put off—whether reasonable or not. Building trust leads to cooperation.<br />
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<b>Play Nice Together: </b><br />
Cooperation is the sweet spot when the accounting team and the technology team are working together at maximum efficiency. As projects and requests come up both teams are able to quickly process information and produce results without unnecessary drama and without any additional drain on resources. And maybe, just maybe, through this cooperation the tech folks will learn a little about accounting and the accounting folks will learn what a virtual server host is (and why it’s needed). Accounting is able to be accountable while Tech is able to be productive.<br />
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Productivity is the ultimate goal—being productive to maximize effectiveness for the Kingdom. The technology team is a trusted resource that communicates effectively and the accounting team is valued for ensuring proper tracking of all funds and stewardship.<br />
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These foundations are critical to managing technology projects and budgeting. Technology expenditures should be planned, and not surprises. Equipment wears out: planning hardware replacement cycles is the duty of every technology manager. When you buy a server you know it won’t last forever, just like toilet paper. These plans can be done numerous ways and it’s important for the technology team to work with the accounting team and church leadership to determine the best way to save for and handle these ongoing expenses.<br />
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<b>Special Needs: </b><br />
There is also the matter of special projects and new construction. It is easy to let the tech costs reach towards the heavens on new construction, but tech budget requests should be prepared and presented knowing that if there isn’t enough money to build the building then there won’t be any need for the technology. Trust can be built when the tech folks show they understand the fiscal realities of a project and don’t attempt to sneak in things just because it is a new building and a much larger overall budget.<br />
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The technology staff should also be looking ahead. At any moment the tech team should be able to enumerate their top three projects, whether those projects are for software, infrastructure, hardware, or employees doesn’t matter. They should also communicate as items age and need to be replaced. Not that every request will get approved, but at least if something important does fail you have communicated in advance—and not in crisis mode.<br />
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This is also why a member of the tech team should have a seat at the leadership table. Not because technology is the driving force but so that when ideas and projects and budgets are discussed the tech team is available to provide input and answer questions. Technology should be positioned as a valued resource that improves effectiveness, not a necessary evil. Too many times the people behind the technology cause the technology to be improperly positioned.<br />
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<b>There is a great deal of comfort</b> and security that comes when the technology and accounting teams work together as part of the King’s community. Surprises are limited. There is security in knowing what you can and can’t afford. Ministry impact increases. Besides, who wants to be part of a community without toilet paper?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-40660282842895056432016-06-23T13:07:00.000-04:002016-09-13T22:58:46.408-04:00Keeping Your Family Safe this SummerMy latest article is now live at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ministrytech.com</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XimYy1bv_eQ/V2wXDuWJd6I/AAAAAAAAAis/GbXS1If-2KAewoVCg7zCtIR2N06JytrNACLcB/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XimYy1bv_eQ/V2wXDuWJd6I/AAAAAAAAAis/GbXS1If-2KAewoVCg7zCtIR2N06JytrNACLcB/s400/Untitled.jpg" width="400" /></a>Who doesn’t love summer time? The sunshine and warmer temperatures, the family vacations, the lack of school homework, and of course, an evening on the porch sipping a refreshing iced beverage. You’d think we would find ourselves outdoors more enjoying creation. Often times though the opposite is true and we end up spending more time looking at our screens during the summer than we do the rest of the year.<br />
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Summer time can also be a cruel welcome to reality. As kids we look forward to summer time because school is out and we get to play. As adults we realize that summer time is no different from any other time of the year – we still have to work and life goes on as normal. That makes it easy to use screens to keep our kids entertained during those long summer days.<br />
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Fortunately, the good folks at Microsoft have built some pretty cool tools into the Windows operating system to make it easy for families to manage their screen time. While other software vendors also have family safety built into their products, Microsoft does it in a unique way that allows for native, remote control over your family’s computers without having to install or manage any additional software.<br />
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Windows Family Safety is a fantastic tool built right into all versions of Windows. Windows 10 has the most features available but Family Safety is still available all the way back to Windows 7. Using Windows Family Safety, you can set filters and block lists, control access time windows and set curfews, track device location, and even get a detailed report emailed to you about all activity taking place with the computer.<br />
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Not only is Windows Family Safety a powerful tool, it is also easy to use and Microsoft has done a great job providing helpful documentation. All it takes is a few clicks and you will soon be monitoring all of the Windows devices in your family.<br />
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One feature that sets Windows Family Safety apart from other filtering or block services that are built into some operating systems is that you can remote control the settings. Once setup on the computer, the parent can change settings remotely without having to touch the kid’s device. This allows mom and dad to control the device from anywhere. It also allows the child to request additional privileges and mom and dad to approve the request via email.<br />
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The content rating and restriction tools are most effective. If you already have content filtering setup on your home network, Windows Family Safety works right along with it. Then when the child takes their device to a friend’s house or other location where the internet might not be filtered Windows Family Safety keeps doing its thing so you know wherever the device is the content is filtered and your time limits and curfews will still be enforced. <br />
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You can also set it up to send you a weekly activity report of each child’s activity. The report shows you which devices the child used, what they searched for on the internet, how long they used each app, the total amount of time they spent on the device, and any content that they attempted to access and was blocked. This is a tremendous accountability tool – especially when you see what they are searching for online.<br />
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If the device is lost or stolen, you can also use Windows Family Safety to track the last known location of the device and disable it to protect your child’s personal information.<br />
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The goal here is not to be oppressive but to use this tool to help teach them to live a godly life, both online and offline. As the child grows and matures you can use Windows Family Safety to provide additional online privileges – Windows Family Safety works from the youngest of kids to the oldest of adults. It can even be used for adult accountability.<br />
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All you need to get started is a Microsoft account, which you probably already have if you are a Windows user. Teaching responsibility with technology and providing accountability is made easier with Windows Family Safety. Visit <a href="https://account.microsoft.com/family/about" target="_blank">https://account.microsoft.com/family/about</a> to learn more and get started and see if Windows Family Safety can help your family.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-74538094398916852092016-05-12T23:47:00.000-04:002016-09-13T23:00:58.663-04:00Protecting the Soft Underbelly of the ChurchMy latest article is now live at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ministrytech.com</a>.<br />
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Last month we talked about the cyber challenges churches face. This month we will look at some simple ways the church can protect itself from those bad actors using wise policies and procedures. This assumes you have a firewall and a proper network design. How do we provide maximum Kingdom impact while also being good stewards of the data God has entrusted to us? <br />
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First, let’s look at your Church Management System or ChMS. Do you rely solely on the ChMS vendor to keep your data secure? Do you test the security of your ChMS or do you just take the vendors word for it? <br />
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Do you have security audits with your financial audits? I assume you have financial audits. Even then the security questions in a financial audit can be useless. A church IT friend of mine answered the security audit question, “How do you keep your data secure?” with, “12 flying monkeys.” He never heard back from the auditor regarding that answer. He should have. Use a security company for a dedicated security audit or ask your ChMS vendor for a copy of the security audit they have done on their product.<br />
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Remember the Anthem hack of early 2015? The hackers were after data that is similar in nature to the data we store in our ChMS software: names, addresses, phone numbers, and SSNs.<br />
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Second, what is your password policy like? Is it written down? How do you enforce it? Does it make sense? Research has shown that longer, more complicated passphrases are more secure than shorter, complicated passwords that users have to change frequently. Forcing users to change their passwords, whether to their computer, ChMS, or any other system on a regular basis leads to the passwords being written down on the bottom side of the keyboard – where some of those bad actors know to look.<br />
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I suggest using long passphrases. 15 characters or more, with a capital, lowercase, number, and special character all required. Using a phrase from your favorite song or Bible verse works. “InthebeginningGod1!” as an example – but don’t use anything obvious or inscribed on a plaque hanging on your wall. A passphrase like this will never need to be changed unless it is compromised.<br />
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Your password policy should also include the ability to enforce preventing users from sharing their passwords, even with volunteers. It is far better to invest the time and issue a volunteer a login then to share staff access. The same is true for your ChMS. Does your password policy also apply to other sites and services that require your users to login?<br />
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If you find that a user has shared or compromised their password I suggest setting it to something like, “Isharedmypasswordsonowittakesme5minutestoentermypassword?!” and forcing them to use that for a week.<br />
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Third, do you have any data access policies? Who gets access to your data? What level of access? Does everyone see everything or do users only see what they need to see? What criteria do you use to determine who sees what? Do you allow people to snoop around your database? Who can view giving data? How do you determine who sees what?<br />
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Volunteers are great and we use them all the time but do they need ChMS access at home? While doing visitor data entry should they see SSNs and giving information? It may take a little more work to set users up so they only see what is necessary but it is better – especially when you consider the amount of turnover volunteers have.<br />
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Fourth, physical access should also be addressed, that’s physical access to the hardware storing the data. How do you protect your server room or is it just a closet everyone can get into? I’m convinced I could walk into most churches, steal a server, and walk it out to my car and drive off with it if I just pretend that I own it. <br />
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Finally, our people or personnel policies also have to be reviewed. Having the right people in the right positions is often times half the battle. What happens when folks are dismissed or fired and access must be removed? While we would like to say that doesn’t happen in the church world we all know it happens far too frequently. Are you hiring people you can trust with your data?<br />
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People are the biggest security risk any organization has. They fall prey to phishing scams and because they want to help they click on things they shouldn’t trying to help people they shouldn’t trust. This leads to data loss. Do you provide training for your users to teach them how to avoid such threats?<br />
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It is vital that security and cyber threat protection decisions not be made by tech people – they are leadership decisions and hopefully the tech folks have a representative at the leadership table. I’ve written about this before and the importance of IT being in submission to the church leadership. Contrary to popular belief tech people aren’t wired to say no. But we are trained to keep things safe. Leadership needs to get input and make wise, informed decisions about how to keep data safe, how much money to invest, and policies and procedures. <br />
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Again, the nature of our business makes this a challenge. We use volunteers. But decisions made in the light of day with the involvement of the necessary parties is a huge step towards avoiding disaster.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-38868062634693060342016-04-06T20:35:00.001-04:002016-09-13T23:01:21.447-04:00The Soft Underbelly of the ChurchMy latest article is now live at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ministrytech.com</a>.<br />
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If I was to someday turn to the dark side, and for the sake
of argument let’s say I haven’t yet, I’m convinced that I could retire hacking
churches. Churches are treasure troves
of data that has a relatively high black market resale value. Churches also aren’t as obsessed with
security as the corporate world is. Of
course, if you are a hacker, my intent here is not to encourage you to go after
churches but rather to encourage churches to be vigilant when it comes to their
cyber security.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Everyone is getting hacked.
It doesn’t take much to see that your data isn’t really safe
anywhere. But that doesn’t mean we go
hide under a rock. It seems that hacking
is in the news daily. Remember Target,
The Home Depot and a small outfit you may have heard of called the United
States government? <o:p></o:p></div>
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When a corporation is hacked their profits and shareholders
may suffer but what happens when a church is hacked? Our message is much more important than
selling goods and our reputations and balance sheets often aren’t strong enough
to weather a hacking storm.<o:p></o:p></div>
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While cyber-attacks are a threat we have to manage it is no
different than the threat of someone slipping on the ice in your parking lot and
suing you. At some point if you are
doing ministry effectively you will be sued.
You will be hacked. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Churches are sitting ducks.
So then why aren’t churches targeted more? Mostly because the hackers don’t think we are
big enough to warrant any attention. I
think that is their mistake, mega churches are plenty big and contain just as
much key black market data as the big box stores. Hackers are after demographic info like name,
address, phone number because they can sell those records to bad actors
conducting phishing schemes and other online criminals.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The value of that information goes up tenfold if you have a
social security number tied to that record and even more if you can connect a
credit card to it. The bad guys don’t
realize how churches work and that we are sitting on tons of that very
information. Nor do they realize that we
don’t protect it very well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Their ignorance -- for now may be our bliss but at some
point they are going to figure it out or someone from inside church ministry is
going to go rogue and open their eyes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Churches are sitting ducks by the very nature of our
business. Our business it to be open and
welcoming. We don’t want to shut anyone
out and we preach a message of salvation and forgiveness. Our goal is to draw people in not push them
away. Our business is based on people
voluntarily giving us their money. What
is the great commission? That makes us a
target, or at least it should.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We also lack the deep pockets of corporate America. How much did the Target hack cost them? They have deep pockets so a $160+ million hit
due to hackers can be weathered. They also
have the additional millions to pour into fixing the problem, hiring security
specialists, etc. We don’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Churches are sitting ducks by the very nature of our
people. We have all levels of economic
status in our churches and we strive to reach out to those who have
nothing. We teach our people to be kind
and loving and forgiving and to be trusting.
We teach them to evangelize and influence others with our message and
not to let pride or shyness get in the way.
Our people are our biggest asset, and also our biggest liability. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We also use volunteers.
Go into your local bank, set up an account to become a member, and then volunteer
to help them and see if they give you access to their database. Churches do this all the time – and we should
as our survival depends on it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In my opinion our data is pure gold. As I mentioned, I think we are getting by for
now because the hackers don’t know much about what we store. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Churches are sitting ducks by the very nature of our beliefs. What does Jesus teach? Lock it all down and throw away the key? <o:p></o:p></div>
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While we are taught to love people and minister to them we
are also taught about stewardship.
Stewardship is what really kicks in here in terms of data management and
security. Remember the parable of the talents
in Matthew 25:14-30? Think of the
talents as our data. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We need to provide access to the data so we can accomplish
our mission but we also have to be a good steward of the data so it isn’t
stolen. We tend to do the former and not
the latter as it is difficult for church leaders to take a step back and
evaluate data access policies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Stewardship is difficult – which is why we struggle with
it. Pastors aren’t taught about cyber
security in seminary. They want to use
technology to connect with people and they don’t want to hear about any
security hurdles. How did the malware
get into Target’s system? Through an
unpatched server. Pastors and church
administrators don’t like to hear technology and data management requires an
investment in security but if you believe in accountability before the Creator
then you may want to think twice about that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I admit this is a difficult balance to strike but we have to
do better because we are sitting ducks.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Next month’s article, entitled <i>Protecting the Soft Underbelly of the Church</i> will address ways we
can help protect our data while still maintaining maximum efficiency and
Kingdom impact.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-83961438939408096462016-03-07T21:09:00.000-05:002016-09-13T23:02:11.702-04:00The Apple and the FallMy latest article is now live at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ministrytech.com</a>.<br />
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The recent developments with the FBI demanding that Apple help them gain access to the iPhone of a terrorist has really got a lot of people thinking. Terrorists are deplorable and we should do all we can to capture them and prevent acts of terrorism from occurring. But what does it mean to do all we can to prevent all acts of terrorism from occurring? While everyone agrees terrorists must be stopped there is great debate over how we stop them. Do the ends justify the means?<br />
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I see both sides of this issue. On the one hand Apple (and other tech companies) have done their best as of late to convince their customers that their data is safe – thank you Mr. Snowden. They have worked hard to make sure when we use their devices that our personal information, our private communications, and everything else that makes up our data is secure and only accessible to the owner of the data. In the analog world this would be the safety deposit box in a steel vault at the bank. It is designed to keep everyone out except those who have access privileges.<br />
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On the other hand, the government is charged with keeping the people safe and wants to do everything possible to prosecute acts of terrorism and prevent future acts from occurring. To do that they have the ability to obtain warrants and gain access to personal property and information to help solve and prevent crime. In the analog days this would be getting a warrant and forcing the bank to open the steel vault and then open the safety deposit box.<br />
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But what happens when all of this becomes digital? What happens when the steel vault is an encryption algorithm and the safety deposit box is an iPhone and the individual holding the key is deceased after committing a horrible crime impacting many innocent lives?<br />
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In the analog world, we could easily figure out a way to get into the vault and safety deposit box. It might take a while but it can be done – as evidenced by several recent high profile thefts from thieves breaking into super secure vaults to steal money and jewelry. In the digital world though it isn’t as easy. We can’t just drill through yards of concrete or blow the door off. There is no concrete and there is no door.<br />
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Because of the divide between the digital world and analog world the government is now asking, through the FBI, that Apple provide a way into the phone. Apple is refusing. The government needs Apple because the tools of the analog world won’t work here. They need the creator of the device to help them access it. <br />
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If this situation has done nothing else, it has pointed out how out –of-date our laws and legal system are to handle these situations. The law the government is using as their reason why Apple should help them is the All Writs Act from 1789, signed into law by George Washington. While this law was amended in 1948 and 1949 (still well before the digital age) there is a great deal of question as to its application based on a Supreme Court case in 1977 where the government wanted help tracing phone calls.<br />
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The amount of misinformation and misunderstanding about this event is amazing. While on the surface the request may appear simple enough, the consequences are tremendous. Should Apple, or any tech company for that matter, have to create and then secure a backdoor into their software? I know many are debating the semantics of the request but the bottom line is they are asking for something that doesn’t exists and would have to be destroyed or protected after it was created.<br />
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This reminds me of another time in our history when the US government needed technology and science to help them bring a World War to an end. The Manhattan Project ran from 1942-1946 and was tasked with creating a super weapon to help end World War II. The weapon did not exist but was possible in theory. If they succeeded the consequences would change the path of the planet but success came with a price. Yes, the war was brought to a quick conclusion without having to invade Japan, simultaneously saving thousands of lives and putting millions more in jeopardy. As a result, the US and its allies have spent every day since trying to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the wrong hands. The world would also come to the brink of nuclear destruction as a result of the Cold War that followed.<br />
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Apple is being asked to create special access to bypass the security on an iPhone that doesn’t exist today. If they create it, and it leaks out then what? Those “bad actors” would certainly get in line to get access to the ability to gain access to phones around the world. Just like the Manhattan Project the results of creating such a tool could change the course of the planet.<br />
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But what does all of this mean to us? The nation is clearly divided on this issue and I find myself agreeing with people I rarely agree with and on the opposite side from those with which I would typically align. <br />
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First, the solution to terrorism is not hacking an iPhone, the solution is Jesus Christ. Only by believing and trusting in Him can people change and “bad actors” can become citizens of heaven. Second, Romans 13:1-7 provides a view of how Christians should relate to their government. Does that mean if this case reaches the Supreme Court and a ruling is rendered that we must abide by it? Third, God calls all of us to participate in our government and to be good citizens. That includes voting, paying taxes, and taking part in discussions with our government officials – including discussions about balancing our security with our privacy.<br />
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Ben Franklin said, "Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one." While this quote has been ripped out of context I think the principle he is referring to applies to what we are facing now. Each one of us has to decide. I know many who would happily give up some privacy in order to be more secure. I know many who abhor that idea. Whatever you believe, I hope that you will take this opportunity to get involved. Our government is going to have to figure this out and they will need our help to do it. Politicians are not software engineers and encryption specialists and engineers and encryption specialists are not politicians. Pray for our elected officials and participate in the privilege that is our democracy. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-48671515994812241582016-02-21T15:05:00.001-05:002016-09-13T23:03:13.178-04:00Don't Go It Alone this YearMy latest article is now live at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ministrytech.com</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CBUQbdjc1f8/VsoXVKB31jI/AAAAAAAAAhY/FxCzxIYARS8/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CBUQbdjc1f8/VsoXVKB31jI/AAAAAAAAAhY/FxCzxIYARS8/s320/Untitled.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">Can I ask you a question? How many of your new year’s resolutions have you already broken? Some of them are probably career oriented—things like network more, learn more, be more efficient, be less busy and more effective, etc. If you work in ministry technology as a career, or if you volunteer, let me encourage you to actually do something about networking this year and not to attempt going it alone.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">The cliché is silos vs. synergy. I started in ministry technology as a volunteer in the mid-1990’s. That turned into a full time career in 2001. When I started there weren’t many technology resources for ministries and I felt like a silo trying to solve the worlds technology problems on my own. Google didn’t show up until 1998 and wasn’t very helpful during those early formative years. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">In 2007 I was introduced to a group of folks who worked in church IT that existed to provide synergy. I attended my first meeting in Chicago and realized I wasn’t alone, my problems weren’t unique, and there were lots of people with more experience than I had who were willing to share and help me get better. What amazed me is that this wasn’t an organization trying to sell something or with some other agenda. They don’t even charge membership dues. It was simply a group of church geeks trying to help advance the cause of the Kingdom.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">I was also impressed that theological differences didn’t get in the way. They weren’t out to solve the questions of the ages but rather to simply help each other apply technology to ministry. Technology in churches and non-profits is different from technology in the corporate world and this group got that. Everyone was willing to share and help everyone else out. No one was trying to protect any trademark secrets. There was no competition.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">It was also encouraging to see IT folks socializing. As a group we can be rather introverted and awkward. Put a bunch of those type folks together in the same room who are all struggling to solve the same technological problems and all of a sudden relationships start to form. Then when we leave that room those relationships continue thanks to our understanding of social media and communication through technology.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">If you work full time in ministry technology, volunteer in ministry technology, or manage ministry technology staff and/or volunteers then consider joining this group or encouraging those you lead to join this group. Did I mention it’s a free group of peers all learning from each other for greater ministry effectiveness?</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">What is this group you ask? I’m speaking of The Church IT Network. Their website says, “If you are passionate about serving the body of Christ through technology, the Chruch IT Network is for you.” Whether you work or volunteer in help desk, IT management, audio/visual, web development, ChMS, DBA, and more you will find a place in the Church IT Network. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">The biggest hurdle most church tech folks have to being a part of a group like this is time. We are all busy, we are all being asked to do more with less, and we all have more to do then we could possibly get done in one lifetime. Instead of using busyness as an excuse let me encourage you to use it as a motivation. There is a big difference between being busy and being effective. Often it is best to stop and make time to make sure you and those you lead are being effective. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">Being a part of a group like The Church IT Network doesn’t take much time. They are there if you need them but don’t require that you participate in required membership meetings. Did I mention it’s free? There are no annual dues. It is simply a group of IT professionals all working towards the same common goal.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">I have found that being a part of the various online communities and discussion has actually saved me money. I’ve posted questions online and received answers within minutes that have saved the ministry I support thousands of dollars. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">The Church IT Network is also a great place to learn about IT in ministry. Pastors, CFO’s, etc. are all welcome to join and learn more about church IT ministry. Volunteers are also welcome and encouraged to participate. Church tech uses volunteers more than any other technology organization in the world and we should want our volunteers to be well equipped.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">There are 2 meeting options each year that are available to those who want to gather together. A regional event in the spring and a national event in the fall. While there are travel costs associated with these events and some minor event registration fees (the last national event was $75 for 3 days, including meals) they are both well worth it. We learn together, worship together, and enjoy great food and fellowship.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">Proverbs 11:25 says, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” (NIV). My involvement in The Church IT Network has made me a better IT pro, a better employee, and a better servant of the King. Take this opportunity at the beginning of the new year to consider growing in your generosity and taking the opportunity to refresh others and be refreshed. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.8px;">For more information on The Church IT Network please visit <a href="http://churchitnetwork.com/" target="_blank">churchitnetwork.com</a>, follow on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/citrt" target="_blank">@CITRT</a> and join the conversation using the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23citrt&src=typd" target="_blank">#CITRT</a>.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-83554943328406799022016-01-15T17:32:00.000-05:002016-09-13T23:04:09.108-04:00Stress in ITMy latest article is now live at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ministrytech.com</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B8BmAXq8gAE/VplyTSPk5oI/AAAAAAAAAhA/kM2LmFVlu0g/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B8BmAXq8gAE/VplyTSPk5oI/AAAAAAAAAhA/kM2LmFVlu0g/s320/Untitled.jpg" width="320" /></a>As I travel around the country talking with IT professionals who work for churches, ministries and non-profits, I’ve noticed that many of us are struggling with similar challenges. While challenges are good and help us grow in our faith and in our profession I’m concerned that good IT folks are burning out quickly and turnover rates among tech staff’s in churches is going to rise. I think there are several issues at play here.<br />
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First, many of us are highly dedicated. In the church world, many IT folks grew up in the churches where they are currently serving on staff. Some may even be the second or third generation of their family to have been part of the ministry. Decades of involvement builds loyalty and a sense of pride and ownership. Because of the investment of time, talent, and treasure, you don’t want to see the ministry fail and you desire to see it grow and thrive.<br />
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Second, we get the eternal impact. While church IT and technical folks may be often misunderstood, I find that many have the same goal as the pastors and other staff. They work hard to provide an eternal impact on the Kingdom. We understand that those 1’s and 0’s we are working with are much more than just 1’s and 0’s. Their impact is on a much higher calling and our passion is to see the Kingdom impacted every day we dive into our geeky craft.<br />
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Third, we know our stuff. We stay up all night reading the latest articles online about the newest features and software releases. We monitor popular culture and trending media so we know how to advise people on what to use. We work hard to not be surprised by the latest security threat and are proactive to keep threats out of our networks and our data secure.<br />
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Fourth, we struggle to communicate. Because of our knowledge, we can come across arrogant and unwilling to compromise. We often don’t do a great job of explaining options and costs. As a result, we create a gap between the decision makers and ourselves. Remember, we both have the same goal but we are coming at it from opposite, often misunderstood directions.<br />
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As a result, frustration can mount. We all have the same spiritual goal but we can’t get the budget we need to accomplish the objective. Or we are trying to ensure security but we are told to keep opening things up to more and more folks. Friction builds when IT focuses on security while the ministry focuses on people. What happens when the Executive Pastor says everyone is going to switch to a Mac or that the ministry is going to use a ChMS that you know isn’t secure?<br />
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Burnout tends to set in. We don’t believe we are being listened to or that our opinion matters. We tend to kill good ideas because we can’t implement them the way we want to. IT and technology isn’t a respected asset but a dreaded necessary evil. So what can we do?<br />
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First, we have to humble ourselves (Luke 14:11). As hard as it may be to admit IT and tech folks don’t know everything. Technology changes fast and we can’t realistically be experts at everything and we need to communicate that. Reading one article doesn’t make you an expert. We have to be willing to listen to those in authority and even if we disagree, humble ourselves to do what we are asked (Philippians 2:3-4).<br />
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Second, in addition to humility we need to have a healthy respect for authority (1 Peter 2:18). Often our passion is what gets in our way. We want the objective to succeed and we don’t want anything to be a hindrance. As a result, we struggle with what we believe are inferior options and often want things done our way. Maybe out of pride, but often out of zeal to see the Kingdom affected. It is important for us to remember who is in charge. Who is going to be held accountable (Hebrews 13:17)? What is my responsibility? When we stand before God who is going to be accountable for the decision? We may not be accountable for the decision but we are accountable for how we respond to it, whether we like it or not.<br />
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Third, we have to learn to communicate (James 1:19, Ephesians 4:29). It is ok to disagree and it is ok to provide options but we have to learn to do that in a way that is respectful and not prideful. We have to understand that it is not our objective to get our way. It is our goal to communicate what we think is best and then to submit and do what we’re told. When we don’t get our way we have to work hard at not saying, “I told you so” or constantly pointing out that this isn’t the way we wanted to do it.<br />
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When we stand before God, we want to hear that we did our job well, even if we didn’t agree with what we were doing. I have found that submission makes life easier. Often times the ax is no longer over my neck and I’m good with that. This is difficult when we are doing something we think will fail but unless we sit at the top of our organizations leadership chart then we need to get happy with doing something with which we disagree.<br />
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My burden is that IT and tech folks latch on to this. The Kingdom isn’t helped through turnover but through IT and tech folks who work hard at humbly communicating and then obeying authority with excellence.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-83479872960877881982015-12-29T08:30:00.000-05:002015-12-29T08:30:04.039-05:00Windows 10 USB Selective SuspendRecently I lost hours of my life due to an odd USB setting in Windows 10. If you are experiencing or have experienced issues with USB devices and Windows 10 then hopefully you can keep reading and save yourself the hours of frustration and rage inducing failures that I’ve been dealing with since first starting to use Windows 10.<br />
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First a bit of background, USB Selective Suspend is not new. It has been around since USB 2.0 in Windows XP. Selective Suspend allows the operating system to save power by placing specific USB ports into a suspended mode to save power, similar to how a laptop or tablet can be placed into sleep mode. What’s cool about it is that it can do USB ports individually without powering down all the USB ports or the entire USB bus. <br />
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What’s bad about it is that it really isn’t necessary on a desktop machine that is plugged into power. Powering down USB ports won’t save the grid that much power on a desktop. Now on a laptop or tablet on battery power it’s a different story. That’s why Windows allows you to enable or disable USB Selective Suspend based on the computer being plugged in or on battery power. <br />
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Another interesting fact here is that previous versions of Windows allows you access to the USB Selective Suspend setting easily in the advanced power profile settings. Windows 10 hides that setting unless you modify the registry.<br />
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One more gotcha here, the driver for the USB device must support Selective Suspend in order for it to work properly. This has been around since Windows XP and USB 2.0 so you’d think that it is widely supported. Well…...cue the rage inducing failures.<br />
<br />
I started using Windows 10 on a Surface Pro 2 using a Toshiba USB 3.0 dock to connect to my keyboard, mouse, and dual monitors. I had no issues. Then I got my Surface Pro 4 and the new Surface Dock and things started to go south in a hurry. The biggest issue I faced was that my display port monitors would go to sleep and rarely wake up when connected to the dock. Randomly they would come back on but most of the time in order to use my monitors connected to the Surface Dock I’d have to unplug the Surface Dock Connector from my Surface and then plug it in again.<br />
<br />
After spending weeks trying to figure out why the monitors wouldn’t wake up I finally broke down and called Microsoft support. They told me it was probably a hardware issue with the Surface Dock so they sent me another one. I hooked the new one up and the same problem. I had a hunch all along it was either a firmware issue with the Surface Dock or it was a driver issue on the Surface itself. <br />
<br />
Without any solution I continued to unplug my new Surface Dock from my Surface multiple times every day to wake up my monitors. The convenience of the new Surface Dock with its single connection into the Surface that provides communications and power was totally lost.<br />
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A few days before Christmas I decided to update my TomTom GPS with the latest map before we did some traveling for the holiday. I plugged the GPS into one my Surface Dock USB ports and told it to update but it kept dropping its connection. It would update for a few seconds and then say it wasn’t connected. I then plugged the GPS USB cable and plugged it directly into the Surface. Same problem. So I unplugged the Surface Dock completely and still the GPS would connect and then drop its connection.<br />
<br />
Must be a cable problem, right? I tried 3 different cables and they all had the same issue. Was the micro USB port on my GPS bad? Seemed unlikely but I checked it out. After another hour of testing and messing with it I still had no luck and by this point my GPS map was totally hosed because of the constant connecting and reconnecting.<br />
<br />
Time to take a step back and relax. Sometimes when troubleshooting an issue, you can lose the forest for the tress so I decided it best to take a break. I did a few other things, took a shower, and then came back to start again. This time I started researching USB connection issues with my GPS and Windows 10. After about an hour of reading it appeared based on some user forums that Selective Suspend was to blame because the TomTom MyDrive software and GPS driver were not configured to support Selective Suspend in Windows 10.<br />
<br />
That made sense. Windows 10 kept trying to enable Selective Suspend on the port and that caused the connection to drop because the TomTom driver wasn’t updated to let Windows 10 know it could not enabled suspend on the port while the GPS was connected and trying to update a 6gb map.<br />
<br />
To test this, I went to disable Selective Suspend in the advanced power profile settings but found the USB Settings option missing. Really? A quick Google revealed that in order to see the advanced power options you had to modify a registry entry. Part of me understands why Microsoft would hide this, part of me doesn’t. You can find plenty of articles online with detailed in instructions for how to change a reg key so you can see these settings. I changed the key, rebooted and sure enough the USB Selective Suspend settings appeared. <br />
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The options are enable and disabled for plugged in and on battery. I disabled mine while plugged in but left it turned on while on battery. Rarely would I every attempt to update my GPS while on battery power and if it does save me some juice to make my battery life last longer then fine.<br />
<br />
Immediately my GPS connected and updated as it should. My rendered useless GPS became useful once again. While I took the long way around the barn was I grateful that the issue was fixed. So I connected my Surface to the dock again and went to bed. <br />
<br />
The next morning, I got up expecting to have to unplug my Surface Dock from my Surface to get my monitors to wake up but found that when I moved the mouse the monitors woke right up. Intrigued I let the monitors go back to sleep again and they again woke up as they should. Fascinating. I finished what I was doing and left for the day. When I got back later that night my monitors again woke up when I moved the mouse or touched the keyboard. Could it be? Could the Selective Suspend issue have caused my Surface Dock to not work properly? <br />
<br />
While I didn’t find any articles saying that there was a connection for the new Surface Dock, remember it has only been out for just over a month, I found many related to docks using USB. Since the new Surface Dock doesn’t use USB I didn’t think the issues would be connected but my experience suggests that they are, even if the evidence is circumstantial.<br />
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It baffles me that Microsoft’s own hardware isn’t compatible with Selective Suspend. Why TomTom hasn’t kept their driver current is also a bit of a surprise but Windows 10 is still relatively new. I don’t see any excuse for Microsoft. <br />
<br />
For now, at least it appears that my Surface Dock works as it should and my GPS can be updated anytime I want. If you are having similar struggles with a dock or USB device, you might want to check out the power saving convenience that is USB Selective Suspend.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-91518551063491733162015-12-26T12:30:00.000-05:002015-12-26T12:37:16.207-05:00Windows 10 November Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Microsoft has released the first major update to Windows 10. In the good old day of previous Windows versions this would have been called a Service Pack but under the new Windows 10 paradigm this is just an update to the continual evolution of Windows.<br />
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There are a lot of changes to Windows in this update, many of them are under-the-hood improvements to how the operating system works. One is that boot times are 30% faster. My testing has revealed this to be true. This update has also helped Windows 10 mature for mass deployments. The business case for upgrading large organizations to Windows 10 continues to grow stronger as these updates are released.<br/>
<br />Here are some of the top feature additions and changes you need to be aware of.<br />
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For mobile users Windows finally has the native ability to track your laptop or tablet. This feature relies on the users Microsoft account. When enabled the device will phone home with its current location allowing you to track the device if it is lost or stolen. Other operating systems have had this for years and it is good that it has finally come to Windows – especially when you consider how many Windows based devices are mobile.<br />
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Another interesting feature is that Windows 10 will now automatically set your default printer to be the last printer you printed to. This feature is enabled by default once you install the November Update. I disabled this feature on my work computer as I often print to different printers but don’t want each of those printers to become my default. This feature has its place but I’m not sure why it is enabled by default when you update.<br />
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Windows 10 also adds the ability to automatically set your time zone based on your location. This may be handy for laptop and tablet users that travel a lot but isn’t very useful for desktop users. Auto time zones is set to on by default – I’m not sure why. Does this indicate that Microsoft thinks the majority of Windows 10 users are mobile? Regardless this did not work well on my desktop. <br />
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I live in the part of Indiana that up until 2007 did not observe Daylight Saving Time. Since the auto time zone setting is turned on by default my desktop set my time zone to Indiana East. Indiana East was the old time zone we used before 2007 as it did not observe DST and left our computers on Eastern time year round. Now that we observe DST our time zone setting is Eastern but the auto time zone didn’t get that right. For desktop users is it probably best to turn auto time zone off to avoid a potential calendar nightmare. (Getting rid of Daylight Saving Time all together is another way to solve this issue but that’s a different topic for a different time.)<br />
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Microsoft Edge also receives several additional features. While still not supporting extensions the new browser in Windows 10 now syncs favorites and reading lists through the users Microsoft account. Edge can now import favorites from other browsers and then keep them in sync across all machines the user logs in to.<br />
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Several visual improvements are also included in the November Update. The right click contexts menus on the Start Menu are much easier to read and navigate. The Start Menu itself can also handle more shortcuts and now allows for additional shortcuts to be arranged into each section. Windows also now applies the default windows color to the title bars making windows easier to see.<br />
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The Start Menu also gains the ability to show advertisements. This is turned on by default but can easily be turned off – which I recommend. I’m not really concerned that Microsoft is starting to insert ads into Windows 10 – so long as the users always have the ability to turn them off.<br />
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One feature that is still lacking is the ability to customize the login screen. The November Update allows you to set a solid background color for the login screen but does not allow you to set a custom image. There are hacks available for doing this online but hopefully the next Windows 10 update will allow for full login screen customization.<br />
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The upgrade process was simple enough but varies based on whether or not your machine is part of a domain. For a non-domain joined machine the upgrade was seamless. The November Update appeared in Windows Update on the Surface Pro 2 I tested and the update process took around 15 minutes. When it was done Windows worked as it did before without any issues relating to the update.<br />
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On a domain joined machine I did not have as much luck. Domain joined machines will not receive the update via Windows Update. To update a domain machine you have to download and install the November Update ISO from Microsoft. On the desktop machine I tested the upgrade process took over an hour. This could have been due in part to the desktop machine not having solid start hard drives.<br />
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Once the update completed there were several issues to fix. Several of my default programs had been changed. PDF files were changed from Acrobat to Edge and the file associations for OneNote were gone. These were easy to fix but I’m not sure why this only happened on the domain joined machine.<br />
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In addition, all of the server admin tools I had installed were wiped out. Active Directory Management and Group Policy Administration still had shortcuts but the applications were gone. I had to download and reinstall the Server Administration Toolkit from Microsoft to get them back.<br />
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Despite these issues the Windows 10 November Update is a step in the right direction. If Microsoft, or any software developer waited until their software was perfect to release it then we wouldn’t have any software at all. Fortunately, Microsoft is keeping with the new Windows paradigm and continuing to improve Windows 10.<br />
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If you are looking to deploy Windows 10 and want to use the latest edition, make sure you download the Windows 10 ISO with the November Update built in.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-71133250533167243102015-12-10T18:57:00.000-05:002016-09-13T23:04:50.320-04:00Technology, Christmas Gifts, and Keeping Kids SafeMy latest article is now live at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ministrytech.com</a>.<br />
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Christmas is a great time of year for ministries as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. It can also be a challenging time for parents as kids Christmas lists are full of the latest high tech gadgets and whatchamacallits so they can visit websites you’ve never heard of. Here are some tips for parents to help keep children safe on Christmas Day and every day.<br />
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I am very pro technology but like most things in life you have to earn the privilege to use it and then continue to use it responsibly. For example, when you learn to drive you don’t get behind the wheel of a race car at Indianapolis right away. That isn’t saying that race cars in Indy are bad but that you have to earn it and work hard to use it properly.<br />
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In the real world we have curfews, why not in the virtual world? Parents should set boundaries on their kids use of technology and devices. I don’t agree with the notion that as parents we should let our kids fail first and then pick them up and help them along and allow them to continue making bad decisions so that they can “learn”. That is how many kids end up viewing porn or participating in online activities that are not appropriate – often times long before mom and dad are aware. And by the time mom and dad become aware it is too late. (Prov. 22:6 and Ephesians 6:4)<br />
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It is also important to encourage Godly relationships. Positive peer influence is critical as over 80% of kids ages 7-10 years old view pornography online at the encouragement of a friend. Do your kid’s friends model a Godly example and help them live a life that strives to become more like Christ? Those peer influences in the physical world also impact actions in the virtual world.<br />
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Proverbs has a few things to say about this. Proverbs 27:17 talks about iron sharpening iron. Remember that this iron sharpening can happen virtually as well. Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man of too many friends comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” What did it say? Too many friends can be a bad thing? Seem to fly in the face of the goal of having as many online friends and connections as possible.<br />
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As a parent I expect obedience. The Bible is pretty clear about the whole children obeying your parents thing (Eph. 6:1) but often the rules seem looser when it comes to online obedience or obeying mom and dad when they don’t understand the technology. Internet use, cell phone use, tablet use, video console use, etc. is not a right. It’s a privilege that is earned through responsibility. It is not an inalienable right. After all, who is paying for it?<br />
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Removing the technology should always be an option that is on the table when it comes to expecting obedience. Granted, some technology is required for school but there must still be a way for young people to accomplish their education and then not use their devices for anything else. If there is a sin issue in their life as a result of the technology then it must be removed, whether that sin is something obvious like pornography or something less obvious like gossip. <br />
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The story is told of a traveling salesman back in the good ole days before the internet and cell phones who struggled with pornography on hotel room TVs. Recognizing this challenge in his life he decided that he would not stay at hotels unless they would physically remove the TV from his room, and if the hotel would not remove the TV from his room then he would stay at a different hotel. <br />
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What lengths are you willing to go to in order to help your kids stay pure? It might not be easy but I believe that if we are going to stand before God and give an account for how we raise our children then how easy or convenient it is shouldn’t matter. (1 Cor. 10:31, Col. 3:23-24)<br />
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Finally, we should provide accountability and set a good example. How are mom and dad using the latest technology and gadgets? Who helps hold mom and dad accountable? What’s better, for mom and dad to learn about the latest technology, gadgets, and social media and teach their children, or for the kids to learn about it from someone else? <br />
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A recent study of 13 year olds by CNN found that parental involvement and accountability “effectively erased the negative effects” of their kid’s online interactions, whether through social media, games, chats, etc. When a secular study says that it seems that, we as Christian parents should take notice and provide accountability.<br />
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Here are some accountability suggestions:<br />
<ol>
<li>Spend time with your children online and learn from them. Ask them to show you what they like to do online and their favorite sites. Ask them to teach you how to use the latest gadgets.</li>
<li>Check up on their logs and history, across all devices.</li>
<li>Use other software for filtering and internet tracking. The goal is not to remove independence but provide accountability to help the children grow and mature spiritually.</li>
<li>Find out about other points of access. Where else can your kids get online and use other devices? School? Friend’s house?</li>
</ol>
I believe we are all accountable for our actions. I think we tend to forget what “ALL” means and who it applies to. We are accountable for our actions both in the real world and in the online world. We are accountable for our children, and our kids are accountable for themselves before God. God is still God, even in the virtual world filled with high tech gadgets and toys.<br />
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If you’d like to learn more about keeping kids safe and technology, visit <a href="http://faithlafayette.org/parenttech" target="_blank">http://faithlafayette.org/parenttech</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-87736580230170254782015-11-09T00:55:00.004-05:002015-11-09T00:55:39.716-05:00Will Apple Watch Save Wearable Technology?<div class="MsoNormal">
I admit that I’m an early adopter for technology. I like to get the new stuff and play with it
right away. I know that the next version
will probably be better, have less bugs, and look cooler but I can’t wait for
version 2. Then I’d feel behind the curve
and have to catch up. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s one of the reasons I bought an Apple Watch. I have been watching wearable technology
evolve and while excited by it I was not impressed with what it could do. I know some corporations are buying the Apple
Watch for their executives but I’m curious what impact if any the Apple Watch
and wearable tech.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before the Apple Watch, wearable tech was relegated to
health and fitness applications with a secondary focus on telling time. Have you tried to change the time on some of
the fitness-based devices? It is almost
as if they forgot that while being worn on the wrist to monitor your heartbeat
it could also double as a watch. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Smart watches have also been around for a while but nothing
as integrated as the Apple Watch promised.
Big companies have been working on these devices for years but nothing
had really taken off. There wasn’t an
“Ah-ha!” moment where everyone realized that they couldn’t live without a
wearable technology device.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I bought my Apple Watch the day they were released but I
didn’t order it at midnight, I waited until after I had a try on
appointment. I wanted to touch and feel
the bands and compare the sizes of the watch.
While some wearable technology devices are relatively inexpensive and
the same price as normal watches the Apple Watch is not. It is an investment – and an investment with
a ton of choices and options. Not only
do you have to decide if wearable tech is right for you but once you do decide
you have another round of decisions regarding features, construction, and
style.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m glad I stopped to try one on. I was able to pick the band I like and
determine the size that worked best for me.
I ended up with a 42mm stainless steel watch with a black sports
band. I picked the 42mm size, as it was
comparable to the size watch I was already wearing. I chose the sports band because of its
leather like feel and its multipurpose applications. It works well if you are working out and very
active but it also works well if you want to dress it up. Granted I would like to have a Milanese loop
or even a link band but at Apple’s prices, I figured multi purposing the sports
band was a much better use of money.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I admit that I struggled between the aluminum Sport version and
the stainless steel Watch version. Not
only is the case made out of different material but the glass surface of the
watch is different. The Sport version
uses Ion glass while the Watch version uses the Sapphire glass. For me the decision was easy, I needed the
Sapphire glass. I’m left handed and I
wear my watch on my left wrist. As such
whatever device I wear is prone to a lot of abuse as 99% of what I do is done
with my left hand. The Ion glass is more
subject to scratching then the Sapphire glass and I needed as much scratch
resistance as possible. Remember though
that the Ion glass is more shatter resistant than the Sapphire glass. That’s why it is on the Sports version of the
watch as you may scratch it up but if you fall down running; your watch should
survive whereas the Sapphire glass is more prone to shatter. For me I needed the scratch resistance over
shatter proof so I went with the Watch edition.
Let’s just say I don’t do that much running. In addition, I like that stainless steel
shine vs the dullness of the aluminum Sport watch.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now that I decided what type of watch to get, I had to order
it and wait for it. It took Apple 5
weeks to deliver my watch. It is hard to
tell if that is because they were selling so many or if that is because they
had so few. No sales numbers have been
officially released but my guess is they had too few.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As an early adopter, I’m often asked about my Watch. The novelty has definitely worn off when
people say I’m the first person they’ve seen board an airplane using my watch
as my boarding pass, or buy groceries or gas and use my watch to pay. I’m often asked if others should get
one. That is difficult to answer because
wearable tech and the Apple Watch are lacking universal appeal. The “Ah-ha!” moment I mentioned earlier.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One easy way to tell if you need an Apple Watch is to look
at your wrist now. Go ahead; I’ll wait,
look at your wrist. Are you wearing a
watch? Do you wear a watch? Do you wear it all the time? Many times I’m asked if I think someone
should buy a watch and when I inquire why they don’t have a watch on they tell
me they don’t wear a watch. The Apple
Watch is far too expensive not to wear.
I wear mine all the time but if you don’t like have a watch on or don’t
wear one a lot save yourself some money and don’t’ buy an Apple Watch, or any
other wearable tech for that matter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Otherwise, whether or not to buy an Apple Watch really
depends on how you live your life. While
the Apple Watch is great for me, I don’t think it is great for everyone,
yet. I’m not sure what corporate America
is using it for. Right now it is just too immature and lacking
necessary applications.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me the Apple Watch could not come soon enough. I don’t care that much about the health
statistics or being able to tell how far I’ve walked in a day or how fast my
heart is beating. I care a lot about
having an accurate timepiece – I travel a lot and love how the Apple Watch
helps me manage time zones. I also care
about easier connectivity. I get a ton
of texts and other communications.
Getting all of that on my wrist is a huge time saver for me. I no longer have to pull my iPhone 6 out of
my pocket several hundred times a day, now I can just glance at my wrist.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I mentioned the Apple Watch is great for traveling. Not
only does it manage time zones well but I also keep a hand free. To board the plane now I just scan my watch,
keeping one hand free while the other hand pulls my carry-on. If my flight is delayed or the gate changes I
know by looking at my wrist after the Watch taps me without having to dig out
my phone. The Apple Watch functions as
an easier to access extension of my iPhone screen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I also really like the complications. Complications doesn’t refer to how difficult
the watch is to operate but rather is a traditional watchmaker’s term. Complications refer to the other functions of
a watch beyond telling time. Things like
showing you the phases of the moon or the date are watch complications as they
complicate the mechanism necessary to tell time. The Apple Watch provides several great
complications that provide data when you glance at the watch. I had several complications on my previous
watch and enjoy having them digitally on my Apple Watch.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Again, this works great for me but it may not be worth the
expense for everyone until there is more universal appeal. Wearable technology in general is still in
its infancy. As it matures, the appeal
will become great and the Apple Watch will become more than a heartbeat monitor
that is an extension of your iPhone screen.
It will be able to do more and more independently making its appeal
boarder. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next version of the Apple
Watch software, Watch OS 2 was a great improvement but also brought about a few bugs. Many good things are happening there but I
think we are several more hardware and software versions away from the “Ah-ha!”
moment where everyone says they need some sort of wearable device to better
their everyday life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me, the Apple Watch has already become a valuable
tool. Whether or not the Apple Watch or
any other wearable technology is a needed and valuable tool for you for now
depends on how you live your life.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-15450387903359539872015-08-29T00:34:00.002-04:002015-08-29T00:34:33.702-04:00Upgrading Windows Versions for the Last TimeThis has certainly been a momentous occasion as this is the last time we will be upgrading Windows from one version to the next. From this point forward the updates will come in periodically, no more waiting for a big upgrade install every 2-3 years. I’m very excited about that.<br />
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Being such a momentous occasion there are a few things I thought I’d share to help make your upgrade process more momentous. <br />
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I’ve upgraded several machines to Windows 10 using several different methods. Overall, I’m very pleased the last time I have to do this is going to smooth. Granted, I’ve heard of issues, mostly with driver compatibility, but for the most part Microsoft seems to have gotten this one right – since you know, it’s the last time.<br />
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My first upgrade was my Surface Pro 2. Yes, I still have a 2. I’m holding out for the Pro 4 that comes with Windows 10. This upgrade was done via the upgrade notification icon that appeared on the taskbar. Windows downloaded the necessary files in the background and I just clicked Next a few times and bam, Windows 10. It took less than 30 minutes and was seamless. I don’t see any need to wipe out and start over again with a clean install as the in-place upgrade worked perfectly. I know the purists will say otherwise.<br />
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The one thing to note here is to uncheck the box that says you will share your Wi-Fi connection with your contacts. While the Wi-Fi sharing feature is kinda cool it has been known to disable some network adapters that don’t fully support it so to be safe just turn that off. You will need to click Customize and not accept the default settings as you click into Windows 10.<br />
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My second upgrade as on my desktop at work. This is a Dell Precision line computer with 2 normal spinning hard drives running in a Raid 1 configuration. No SSD like with the Surface. This upgrade was done using the Windows 10 Enterprise ISO downloaded through a VLSC account. This upgrade was easy as well but it took a lot longer. The upgrade process itself took an hour and a half followed by 3 hours of 100% disk I/O. I can only theorize that the traditional hard disks, the RAID configuration, and the fact that my work machine has a lot more apps on it caused the upgrade to take longer. I found that it was best to just let the disks run at 100% until Windows finished what it was doing as setting anything else up took excessively long.<br />
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Once it finished the disk, activity went back to normal and Windows 10 works great. Another in-place upgrade that saved me a ton of time, as I didn’t have to re-install everything and re-configure everything. Again, the purists would have done a clean install but I don’t have their kind of time.<br />
In all these upgrades, I haven’t experienced any driver issues or had to manually install any missing drivers. I also haven’t had any features not function properly requiring me to roll back to Windows 8.1. I know others have had issues and had to roll back on a variety of different hardware but I don’t have enough data to know what was to blame in those situations.<br />
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One setting I did change was the Windows Update setting. With Windows 10, either you get the updates automatically and Windows just reboots and does it for you or you can set it to prompt you to reboot. I often leave my machines locked doing various things overnight so I set mine to prompt me. I did leave it to Automatically Update for a while but found it was closing Outlook and all my apps and rebooting in the middle of the night on its own and I didn’t care for that.<br />
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It is great having the same OS on my desktop and my Surface. I love the new Start Menu and enjoy that many of the features and configs sync between the 2 devices. <br />
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It is also exciting know that Windows 10 is a product that is evolving. Unlike previous version where development stopped until the next version comes out Windows 10 is already showing its flexibility as the OS is updated with new things all the time. This is Windows as it should be. I also like that they are still accepting feedback via a built in app in the OS. Anytime I stumble across something I don’t like I check to see if anyone else has already submitted the issue and if not I submit the suggestion. I find I’m often late to the submission party, as so far all of my ideas have already been submitted by people much smarter than me.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-790353670296445252015-08-09T13:10:00.000-04:002016-09-13T23:05:21.008-04:00Is Windows 10 Really Free?My latest article is now live at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ministrytech.com</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0aWheUKkULo/VceI-x1OEpI/AAAAAAAAAfw/JVGpo9g9IXo/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0aWheUKkULo/VceI-x1OEpI/AAAAAAAAAfw/JVGpo9g9IXo/s640/Untitled.png" width="640" /></a></div>
Microsoft made headlines when they announced that Windows 10 would be a free upgrade to all users of Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. They even said that pirated and unlicensed versions would also be eligible for the free upgrade. Really? While it is an ambitious goal to get the world to upgrade to Windows 10 how is it that it can be free to everyone, even those running the software illegally? Granted many other operating systems are free but this is Microsoft. Is this one of those situations where if it sounds too good to be true it probably is?<br />
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In a word, yes. Microsoft has several times had to clarify what they actually meant. In other words, they didn’t mention all the catches to the announcement that Windows 10 would be a free upgrade to all users of Windows 7, 8, and 8.1. Knowing the complexity of Microsoft licensing, including educational and charity options, I was surprised that Microsoft would make the upgrade process harder by not clearly communicating how you get the free upgrade.<br />
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So how do you get your free upgrade if you are running Windows 7, 8, or 8.1? In order to answer that we have to know how you got the copy of Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 you are running now. Let’s start with an easy one. You bought a computer from a big box store or online and it came with a copy of Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 on it and you activated that. Congratulation! You quality for the free upgrade and you should have already received a notice via Windows Update that your computer is ready to upgrade on or after July 29. Microsoft got this one right. Pushing Windows 10 out via Windows Update and notifying users in advance is brilliant and the way it should be done. It also shows the future as Windows 10 is the final version of Windows and will be further updated via Windows Update.<br />
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But what if you are running Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 and you didn’t get the update notification from Windows Update? This is where things get complicated. There can be several reasons for this. One is that your copy of Windows is non-genuine. That means the activation code you used to activate Windows is no longer valid or was never valid. Microsoft said originally that all non-genuine copies would be upgraded but later clarified that only certain types of non-genuine software would be upgraded. You can avoid this issue completely if you make sure your copy of Windows is genuine and running with a valid, genuine, single-use activation key.<br />
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Another reason you may not have received the update notification is if you are running Windows under a licensing agreement. Microsoft has numerous licensing agreements for school, charities, and enterprises that are essentially software leasing programs. This allows the organization to lease the software as opposed to purchasing each installation individually. For organizations with hundreds of computers, this can save a lot of money over an operating system’s life cycle. Leased software will not automatically upgrade but rather must be upgraded when the organization renews their lease. Since the organization doesn’t actually own the software, it won’t upgrade unless the lease is kept current.<br />
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As opposed to a computer you purchased at home, you own the software outright and qualify for the free upgrade because you paid full price for Windows with your computer hardware purchase. An organization leasing Windows didn’t do that and as such must pay for another lease term before they can upgrade. For an organization on some sort of agreement, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. It isn’t as if the organization is not going to renew their Windows lease when it comes up. It just means they will have to push out the upgrade to Windows 10, as users using leased software won’t receive an upgrade notification.<br />
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Organizations using this type of licensing will receive a new activation key to use when upgrading and activating Windows 10. This gives organizations control over the upgrade process and avoids an IT nightmare of users upgrading their computers on their own and potentially breaking links to applications within the organization. <br />
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Admittedly Microsoft licensing isn’t’ all that clear to begin with and Microsoft didn’t do themselves any favors with the way they announced and then continued to re-explain that Windows 10 was free for everyone. If you are an individual user using Windows, on a computer you bought and activated then you should have received your upgrade announcement by now. If you didn’t, then check to see what kind of Windows activation key you have. If you are a user on a machine with a copy of Windows that is owned by an organization then check with your organization’s IT department to see if you can upgrade. The sooner you start checking the better. Windows 10 will be worth it. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-60739062509701254352015-07-10T23:43:00.000-04:002016-07-06T21:02:59.666-04:00What Happened to my Blog?<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ntDaxUca2Fw/VaCNcqkQAjI/AAAAAAAAAfA/gJKpw9yFkkc/s1600/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ministry Tech Magazine" border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ntDaxUca2Fw/VaCNcqkQAjI/AAAAAAAAAfA/gJKpw9yFkkc/s400/cover.jpg" title="Ministry Tech Magazine" width="320" /></a>I’ve been asked recently why I haven’t been posting anything on my blog. I was specifically asked why my blog has been silent in regards to Windows 10, apparently I wrote a lot about Windows 8.<br />
<br />
Well fret no more, not that you have been. I’m collaborating with <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">Ministry Tech Magazine</a> and they are publishing my writings. <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">Ministry Tech Magazine</a>, formerly Christian Computing Magazine, launched today with their new branding and I’m honored to have an article on Windows 10 as their cover story. <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">Check them out</a>.<br />
<br />
I will still do my best to post here on the blog. I’m sure I can find something to rant about that wouldn’t be appropriate for the magazine but for now if you are looking for tech stuff be sure to visit their site. They publish monthly and their articles can be read online or you can read the magazine electronically online or download a PDF.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lGksV0QKRXA/VaCPqXEjOoI/AAAAAAAAAfU/feqeYUtgyyA/s1600/featured.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Featured Article" border="0" height="221" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lGksV0QKRXA/VaCPqXEjOoI/AAAAAAAAAfU/feqeYUtgyyA/s400/featured.jpg" title="Featured Article" width="400" /></a><a href="http://ministrytech.com/featured-article/" target="_blank">This month’s article is on Windows 10</a>, next month’s will be on Windows 10 licensing and whether Windows 10 is really free or not. Windows 10 will be released on July 29 but it will be slowly so Microsoft servers aren’t slammed with everyone downloading at once. Then on August 1, the final bits will be released to Volume Licensing and enterprise users and the rest as they say will be history.<br />
<br />
Be sure to send my friends at <a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">Ministry Te</a><a href="http://ministrytech.com/" target="_blank">ch Magazine</a> some web traffic love! See you there!<br />
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Windows 10 for Churches and Ministries<br />
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Microsoft has announced to the world that Windows 10 will be
ready on July 29, 2015. For many this is
great news as the previous version of Windows leaves a lot to be desired. In addition, Microsoft is looking to finally
put XP to bed and entice Windows 7 users who skipped Windows 8 to upgrade. Many ministries and non-profits are probably
wondering if it is worth the effort to upgrade.
Will the work and effort be worth the benefits? What about productivity loss due to staff and
volunteers learning the new operating system?
I think the benefits will be worth the effort and that it will be less
painful than you may think.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Windows 10 is a huge paradigm shift for Microsoft and for
the Windows user base. The first big
shift is that this will be the final version of Windows. There won’t be a Windows 11, 12, or 29. Why Windows 10? No one really knows for sure. Perhaps it is because like <i>Star Trek</i> movies only ever other one can
be good. <i>Star Trek: The Motion Picture</i> < <i>Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn</i>.
Some say it is because 10 is a nice round number and skipping 9 implies
it will be the final version. Others say
that the Windows code base refers to Window 9* too much therefore skipping
Windows 9 makes coding easier. Another
idea, and my favorite, is that seven eight nine. That’s seven ate nine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Despite all the speculation as to why Windows 10 is called
Windows 10 the message is clear, no more versions after this. Perhaps Microsoft will gradually drop the
“10” and we will just be left with Windows.
The reason this is the final version is that there will be no more
waiting for features to be released at each Windows version. Instead, new features and changes will be
released regularly alongside the current mechanism for security updates and
patches.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Releasing features on an ongoing basis will allow Windows 10
to update faster and stay current with the needs of its users. Users will be able to decide when new
features are applied to Windows and organizations will have control over
features rolling out to their end users.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The second big shift for Microsoft are the interface changes
coming to Windows 10. Windows 8 had a
lot of common functionality removed. Many
keyboard and mouse users felt forgotten.
Microsoft said no one used the Start Menu so it was removed. Fortunately, they have changed course and the
Start Menu along with a host of other new features are coming in Windows
10. For some they can’t come soon
enough. Here are some highlights of the
changes coming.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Not only is the Start Menu coming back but also the Start
Screen isn’t being totally abandoned.
The Start Screen is what comes up when pressing the Windows button in
Windows 8 and 8.1. The Start Screen
contains Start Screen apps and Live Tiles.
I find Live Tiles to be very useful for gathering a lot of information
at a glance. In Windows 10, the Live
Tiles from the Start Screen will be merged with the Start Menu providing the
functionality of both in a single location.
Start Screen apps will now run as native Windows apps as opposed to
running in a separate, often confusing window.
The Start Menu coming back will make the upgrade process much less
painful for users currently running Windows7 and will make users running
Windows 8/8.1 rejoice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Windows 10 also includes a more flat graphical design. Many of the drop shadows that were removed in
Windows 8 are back making it much easier to tell which window is the active or
selected window. Of course, many
commonly used icons have also been updated.
Sometimes these graphical changes can cause user trepidation. I find it helpful to remind users that Recycle
Bin is still the Recycle Bin even if the icon looks different. It’s like driving a car, if you can drive
one, you can probably drive most of them even if some of the controls are in
different places. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition to the graphics being flatter, the sounds have
also been updated to be softer and more soothing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Another new feature to Windows 10 is virtual desktops. Virtual desktops have been around a long time
in other operating systems but are new to the Windows world. Virtual desktops allow you to have multiple
versions of your desktop running. In
Windows now, you may have 40 different windows open but they are all filling up
the task bar making it crowded and difficult to find things. With virtual desktops, you can divide them
up. One desktop might have a picture of
your family along with your email open, a Word document and an Excel spreadsheet. Another desktop might have a picture of your
favorite movie and have 3 of your favorite games running. Not only can this be used to separate work
from pleasure but also to better organize your applications based on the task
you have at hand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Windows 10 also comes with a brand new internet
browser. Internet Explorer is dead. While it can still be installed and used,
especially for legacy applications, the new browser is called Microsoft Edge
and it comes installed by default. Edge
does what the name implies; it is there to be an unobtrusive edge around the
internet content. It is clear that
Microsoft is playing catch up here but Edge does run very fast and could easily
become my new default browser of choice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cortana is also coming to Windows 10. If you play <i>Halo</i> then you know who Cortana is.
If you don’t play Halo, Cortana is a built in virtual assistant for
Windows 10. She is similar to Apple’s
Siri or Google’s Now except that Cortana is more contextually aware. The more access to your personal information
you give her the more she can help you plan.
The question is how much access will you give her so she can help you out. It is great that she can remind you to get
your wife a birthday present and help you leave early to avoid traffic but that
means she has to have access to your calendar.
Some may not be comfortable with that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cortana can also help you use your computer hands-free. She can take dictation, and even help you
change computer settings. Of course, if
you want, she can be turned off.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Microsoft has told us that Windows 10 will be free to “most
users”. This is rather complicated as
while “most users” include those who purchased hardware and activated the
version of Windows that came with the hardware it does not necessarily include
business or enterprise users. If you
have questions ask your Microsoft licensing representative, but don’t’ wait too
long as come July 29 lots of business and enterprises will be flooding
Microsoft with questions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If you’d like to start experimenting with Windows 10, you
can download a copy now at <a href="http://preview.windows.com/">http://preview.windows.com</a>. By running the preview, you can provide
Microsoft with feedback as to what you like and don’t like about the operating
system. This feedback will help with the
continual development of Windows 10.
Remember, Windows 10 isn’t going to be released and then forgotten. Once released Windows 10 will continue to evolve.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m excited about Windows 10. Microsoft seems to have gotten this one right
and as end users, we stand to gain a lot.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-25420307373824411842014-10-14T10:22:00.000-04:002014-10-14T10:22:07.703-04:00Microsoft Naming Confusion ContinuesThe naming confusion continue from Microsoft but at least for Windows an end appears in sight. As you probably already know, the next version of Windows will be called Windows 10. For whatever reason Redmond has decided to skip Windows 9. At least they are consistently inconsistent.<br />
<br />
That said, Windows 10 will be the last major Windows release. There won’t be a Windows 11, or 12 or 13 or whatever goofy name is next in their naming convention. Windows 10 is the last major release. From this point forward Windows will be updated incrementally on a monthly basis with the typical security patches we are all accustomed to but also with new features and functionality.<br />
<br />
For this reason, it was thought the next version of Windows might just be named “Windows”. My guess is that starting with Windows 10 Microsoft will start using more traditional versioning for Windows. We start with 10.0 and then work our way up through various 10.something iterations until we eventually hit 11. That is just a guess, as Microsoft hasn’t indicated whether or not versioning will become more traditional or whether we will all still be talking about Windows 10 in 2027.<br />
<br />
I hope they do go with traditional versioning and then when they hit 11 they hit 11. The product name doesn’t have to change as it has been with version updates.<br />
<br />
Speaking of version updates, that process will also change. It is unknown how home users will update but enterprise users can opt-in to the monthly updates. I hope that they can determine if they want security patches or feature updates as many corporate IT shops will be hesitant to update Windows functionality monthly. Sometimes it is all we can do to handle a normal Patch Tuesday.<br />
<br />
The future of Windows is still being determined but it seems at least the naming options may have normalized. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-41900877007988795872014-08-15T01:27:00.000-04:002014-08-15T01:27:32.679-04:004 Birthdays, 1 Day, 90 YearsToday our family celebrates 4 birthdays covering the past 90 years. Try to follow along:<br /><br />First, my grandmother, Freida Gilliland, (mom’s mom) turns 90 today. <br /><br />Second, my grandfather, Bob Smith, (dad’s dad) turns 85 today.<br /><br />Third, my mom, Lana Smith, turns 60 today.<br /><br />Fourth, my daughter, Becca Smith, turns 7 today.<br /><br />From my perspective, my daughter, mom, grandpa, and grandma all share the same birthday<br /><br />From my daughter’s perspective, she shares her birthday with her grandma, great grandma, and great grandpa.<br /><br />Celebrating all these birthdays usually involves some sort of meal together and at least one of them getting some presents. And yes, we are aware that they are all multiples of 5 apart except for Becca. We did the best we could.<br /><br />This date is also noteworthy because here in Indiana it is the start of squirrel hunting season.<br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-47561049267584448312014-08-07T21:02:00.002-04:002014-08-07T21:02:43.297-04:00Keeping up with the SmithsTV networks are always on the prowl for the next reality series and it would appear that by popular demand my life would qualify. I tend to shy away from the public and distrust people in general so it seems I’d get along fine with the reality TV types.<br /><br />The past few days have proven to me that there is great demand and tremendous intrigue into my life and where I live. This week alone I’ve had to fight the traffic of gawkers just to get to my own driveway. Earlier this week I followed a car full of old folks from the entrance of our subdivision clear back to my house. I of course pulled into the driveway and then the garage once they finished turning around as I live here and they were just gazing eyes wide open in awe. In awe of what is a bit of a mystery to me.<br /><br />Today I again followed someone all the way to my driveway where I waited in the street while they turned around in my driveway. What do they see that I’m missing?<br /><br />Then an hour or so later we left to go to dinner and as I backed out of my driveway, I again had to wait for another vehicle that had driven in front of my house and was also trying to turn around having gotten an eye full. Eye full of what?<br /><br />Tonight things really heated up though. I was sweeping the sand and dirt out of my garage from last winter. I figured now that July has warmed up to the lower 80’s it was safe to clean out last year’s polar vortex. As I’m carrying a bucket full of sand to the woods, I heard a loud, high-pitched buzz. I looked up and directly overhead was a drone. That’s right, a flying drone with flashing lights and all. It was one of those four blade helicopter types. I’d guess it was at least 100’ up.<br /><br />It hovered in place directly over the house for about five minutes before flying off to the west. I watched it go for a while and then it stopped again off in the distance for about two minutes before flying due north and out of site. So far, no images of me with my broom and bucket have appeared on Google but I’m going to keep my eye out for them.<br /><br />So look out Kardashians, beware Real Housewives of Somewhereville, it’s the Smiths of Lafayette the masses crave. I just wish I knew why.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-50415767266929153682014-04-16T10:30:00.000-04:002014-04-16T10:30:01.110-04:00Window 8 – Twenty Fifth Pass: Windows 8.1 Update Naming Convention<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Can someone explain to me the Windows 8 naming conventions and how
they make any sense? Perhaps they do to some,
as I am admittedly not the smartest person around but here is what I can’t
figure out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Windows 7 was updated to Windows 7 Service Pack 1, which was replaced
by Windows 8. Windows 8 was then updated
to Windows 8.1. Not Windows 8.1 Service Pack 1 but Windows 8.1. Now there is a new update. It’s not called Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1
Service Pack 2 but rather Windows 8.1 Update.
What’s next? Windows 8.1 Update
1? Windows 8.1 Update New? Windows 8.1 Update Next?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Seems to me that Windows 8.1 could easily name the updates with
Service Pack numbers or utilizing .2, .3, .4, .5, etc. There are lots of options between Windows 8.1
and Windows 9.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">It has been pointed out to me that Microsoft seems to inconsistently
name things. Think about the Xbox. We had Xbox for the first generation product
and then Xbox 360 for the second gen release.
Most thought the third generation version would be named Xbox 720 but
no, they named the third gen product Xbox One. A popular TV show featuring smart geeks even recently made fun of this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The same is true of earlier releases of Windows. We started with Windows 3.1 and then went to
naming based on year of release for a while before switching to numbers
starting with 7. Office is also experiencing
the same lack of continuity, as Office 13 is actually Office 15. While the program says Office 2013, the
program folder on your hard drive says Office15. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Anticipating the next goofy turn to the madness……</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-75800423695425742862014-04-07T08:30:00.000-04:002014-04-07T08:30:04.737-04:00Window 8 – Twenty Fourth Pass: Windows 8.1 Update Improvements<div class="MsoNormal">
There is no doubt that Windows 8.1 Update has greatly
improved the interface for traditional keyboard and mouse users. There are tons of posts online about how a
mouse user can now do as much as a touch user.
Many if not all of the improvements were already known about thanks to
leaks before the release to MSDN and TechNet subscribers on April 2. Now that the geeks have their hands on it, even
more tweaks are popping up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some say that Microsoft has recanted and is admitting that
they goofed by focusing too much on the touchscreen user and forgetting the
legacy desktop users. Legacy isn’t the
right word here, desktop users are treated that way but traditional keyboard
and mouse users are still the number one demographic of Windows users.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Microsoft says that isn't true. They never abandoned the desktop users they
just focused on touch first as that is where the hardware is going and they
wanted to have that perfected before circling back around and making sure the keyboard
and mouse users were satisfied. I’m not
buying it – not for a second.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If that were true then they would not have removed keyboard
and mouse functionality only to later add it back in when the public began to
fuss. If that was true then they would
have simply added the touch interface as opposed to removing legacy features in
favor of new touch features that forced traditional users still using
traditional hardware to re-learn how to use their computers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Microsoft compared working on Windows to making pizza for
over a billion people. I think that’s a
good analogy but they don't follow through with it. If the world likes sausage (or keyboard and
mouse functionality in Windows) then why would you remove the sausage only to
add it back later when folks fussed that you removed something you knew they
liked?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I've already blogged about Microsoft trying to make a single
version of Windows fit both needs and it appears that they may be getting the recipe
right so that it can work well for both touch and mouse users but it may be too
late. I've found that even though there
are improvements to how I use my Surface when I have it docked to my keyboard
and mouse that I’m falling back on old “bad habits” I learned as workarounds
before the new features were released. I
find myself going for the charms menu a lot when that really isn't necessary anymore
and forgetting that there are new right-click menus to make things easier and
faster.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It will be interesting to see what the reviews are when the public
gets access via Windows Update this week.
I predict a few calls from grandma once the Update installs automatically
via Windows Update.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another juicy tidbit confirmed is that the old Start Menu is
coming back. I've been predicting that
for a while but it appears that is now a reality. Microsoft has not said when it will come
back. It may be in another Windows 8.1
update or it may be in Windows 9. Either
way it is coming back and while it probably won't look like the Windows 7 Start
Menu the functionality we are accustomed to will return in another step
Microsoft takes not to recant but to improve the sausage they took away they
knew we liked.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-30249791388362844552014-04-03T17:25:00.000-04:002014-04-03T17:25:34.691-04:00#MH370 Mystery<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m a bit of an aviation geek so the disappearance of a
Boeing 777 fascinates me. Having been to
the Boeing factory in Everette, WA where they assemble the 777 and gotten to
climb through one and see how large it is I’m truly baffled that one has
vanished from the planet.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nothing I say here is revolutionary but as the story evolves
here are my thoughts from a lowly AV geek who flies a lot.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Flying is a high tech enterprise. The planes are high tech, the crews are well
trained, and the communications systems are first rate. That’s my first quandary – how could a plane
with 239 people on it completely vanish without a trace in 2014? The evidence would indicate that they wanted
to disappear as they chose the moment of flight ripe for going off grid in
terms of the hand-off from one air traffic control center to another. However, the obvious cockpit communications
equipment is only one piece of the puzzle.
The engines and other aircraft systems often have their own
communications systems and we know these continued to operate long after the
cockpit communications (transponder, radio, etc.) were turned off.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other part of the communications puzzle is the location
in the world where this happened. The
Indian Ocean is the third largest body of water on the planet and the southern
half is very remote. There is also very
limited satellite coverage for those systems communications to contact. Even still, a remote part of the world with
people intentional on going away should have still be detectable by other types
of spy satellites, military radar, etc. and yet we have nothing. Just a few pings from the engine systems off
a single satellite and a lot of complicated math to even get us in the ballpark
for where the plane may have gone down.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That same high tech though has aided investigators in at
least getting this far. Even without
knowing the altitude and speed of the plane the evidence from those few pings
and knowing how much fuel was on board has at least narrowed things down. Granted it took a while to figure all of that
out but at least we aren’t still searching in the South China Sea.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My next observation is the lack of debris. One would think that by now if the plane did
indeed crash in the water that on some beach somewhere something would have
washed ashore. In previous crashes into
oceans debris and even bodies have washed up on coastlines within a few days
but here we have nothing. Nothing. All we have discovered in searching is that
the Indian Ocean is a much-polluted body of water with folks dumping all kinds
of stuff in there. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There can be many reasons for no debris but most of them are
far-fetched and would be historical if proven true. Finding the airplane in tact on the bottom of
the ocean and understanding how it got there without any surface evidence will
be game changing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Combining these first two mysteries with the disappearance of
239 people and this does indeed become one of the greatest mysteries of our
generation. The loss of life here is
tragic but there doesn’t seem to be a scenario where these folks could still be
alive. If the plane were stolen in the
greatest heist ever then who would want to keep 239 people alive for this long
without making some sort of ransom demand?
If the plane was stolen for purposes of turning it into a weapon then hiding
it this long is a feat in and of itself.
You’d think those determined to use it for evil would want to get their
ill will accomplished before they could be discovered.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m sure that all will eventually be revealed, but it will
take time and patience and those traits are hard to come by in a situation like
this. I do think the Malaysians are in
over their heads and obviously not used to this sort of international scrutiny
and would be wise to turn over the investigation to another nation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It took 73 years to find the Titanic, granted they had eye
witness to tell them what happened but the wreck wasn’t discovered for almost three
quarters of a century. The search areas
are massive and even with our sophisticated technology our lack of ocean
knowledge combined with the sheer size of the area could still leave us waiting
for several years before any of these questions are answered. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-72706291609641776612014-04-02T22:56:00.001-04:002014-04-02T22:56:30.888-04:00Window 8 – Twenty Third Pass: Windows 8.1 Update<div class="MsoNormal">
Today Microsoft released to some of us the latest update to
Windows 8.1 – simply titled Windows 8.1 Update.
The rest of the world will get this update via Windows Update starting
April 8 but I was able to install it today and see how Microsoft has
capitulated to their desktop users. More
on that in a future post.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you have access to Update then you will quickly realize installing
it that any gains made in terms of the interface for keyboard and mouse users
are soon forgotten due to the cumbersome install method. Hopefully the release to the masses via
Windows Update next week won’t be so difficult.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here is how it worked for me updating a Dell desktop, a
Microsoft Surface Pro and a Surface Pro 2.
All were running fully updated 64 bit Windows 8.1 installs. The 32 bit process isn’t that much different.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This process applies to Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2,
and Windows RT 8.1. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I downloaded a zip file that contained 7 files. 6 install files and 1 readme text file. The readme text file gave the recommended
install order for the 6 install files.
Wait, what?! I have to manually
install all 6 files? Yup. Progress in Update.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn’t find much online about this process except that
Microsoft is using the word “recommended” lightly, it should say, “required”.
Doing it out of sequence can create some issues depending on your hardware so I
don’t recommend varying from their recommendation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here is what the readme text file says:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recommended Install Order<br />
KB2919442<br />
KB2919355<br />
KB2932046<br />
KB2937592<br />
KB2938439<br />
KB2949621<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here is what that really means.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li>KB2919442 – when I
went to install this all of my systems said it was already installed. If you are current with Windows Updates then
you should also get prompted that this update is already installed.</li>
<li>KB2919355 – this is
the big one at 707mb. This one took the
longest to run and requires the first of many reboots when you are done. This one also has the only quickly visible
notice that anything has changed as it pins the Windows Store to the taskbar –
change I quickly undid.</li>
<li>KB2932046 – this one
also requires a reboot when you are finished.</li>
<li>KB2937592 – this one
also requires a reboot when you are finished.</li>
<li>KB2938439 - this one
also requires a reboot when you are finished.</li>
<li>KB2949621 - this one
also requires a reboot when you are finished.</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Really? 5
reboots? You couldn’t somehow have
packaged all of that together? Again, I
hope the experience for Windows Update users is far better. Due to the number of reboots it took 30
minutes for my longest update.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One other note – if you are using a Surface make sure it isn’t
docked to anything before installing the second update file – otherwise the second update may hang at 75% forever.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Aside from a goofy name that makes no sense, and a
convoluted update method the benefits of Windows 8.1 Update are beneficial for
desktop users.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Had I known I probably would have waited until next week.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-966358616265215272014-03-15T16:16:00.001-04:002014-03-15T16:16:26.205-04:00Another Emergency LandingMaybe it’s me but as of late I’ve had my share of travel issues. That’s to be expected with the amount of time I spend on the road and statistically I’m due for some travel related issues but do they all have to come at once? <br /><br />Recently I’ve started to experience of string of emergency related landings. <a href="http://jonathanesmith.blogspot.com/2013/10/emergency-landing-and-website-failure.html" target="_blank">The last one was due to the plane catching on fire in flight.</a> This most recent one was due to a medical emergency. Indianapolis is my home airport so we took off for Minneapolis (incidentally I was flying there for my last emergency landing as well) without issue.<br /><br />I was looking at the window as we flew over Lafayette, IN – which is where I live when the flight attendance got on the PA and asked if there was a doctor or anyone with medical training on board. A few people got up and started helping a lady who was unconscious. Within a few minutes the plane begin to bank and I wondered if we were going to land somewhere. They had started doing CPR on the passenger and had her laying down in the aisle. They also were giving her oxygen.<br /><br />Since we were over Lafayette and there is a runway at Purdue I wondered if we were going to stop there or if we would return to Indy. Turns out we returned to Indy. It took 15 minutes from the time we turned around over Lafayette until we landed in Indy. It takes me an hour to drive those same 70 miles.<br /><br />This emergency landing was different in that it seemed all the normal landing rules were suspended. They didn’t do any safety checks, they didn’t make us put our seatback in the upright and locked position or raise our tray tables. The passenger was still lying on the floor with her husband and many others crouched over her. In this case the flight attendants asked those who were seated around them to buckle into the aisle seats and then lock arms over those on the floor in the aisle to hold them in place as we landed.<br /><br />Once on the ground we were met by the Indy Airport fire and rescue crews. The plane quickly taxied to a gate and they boarded and got the passenger off the plane on a small stretcher. Her husband followed with other passengers helping him gather their belongings.<br /><br />As those who were helping her sat down they told us that she and her husband were on their way to Hawaii to renew their wedding vows. Her husband told them that she hadn’t been feeling well the past few days but made herself get out of bed to take this trip. She has passed out and lost all her color.<br /><br />I’m not aware of how the situation turned out but please pray for this lady and her family.<br /><br />Now the wait was on to see what would happen to the rest of us as we sat on the plane at the gate. While the Delta flight crew did a great job responding to the situation the Delta ground crew now had to figure out what to do with all of us. With it being Spring Break time there were no other seats available on any other flights and the airline had to solve 2 problems. First, they had to find a departure slot and second, they hand to replace our oxygen tank as it had been used up.<br /><br />After waiting for 2 hours we were finally cleared to take off. I have no idea if we ever got our oxygen tank or not. I was impressed with how relaxed the rest of the passengers were. Many were traveling for Spring Break and were going to miss connections putting their plans on hold. Context is everything in a situation like that and it is hard to complain about being late when you’re sitting there healthy. I think everyone was also thinking that they would want the same courtesy and attention paid to them if they were the on the floor of the airplane aisle.<br /><br />I arrived at my destination 4.5 hours late and was thankful. Again, contextually in the grand scheme of things I had no reason to complain.<br /><br />I fly again tomorrow and pray for the sake of those around me that it is an uneventful flight.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195960884587142892.post-41135519624878160022014-02-14T10:11:00.006-05:002014-02-14T10:13:18.351-05:00I Really Should Post SomethingI don't get to blog as often as I'd like. While I have no shortage of hot air to turn into pixels on your screen I just don't have and/or make the time to do it as often as I should.<br />
<br />
I'll try to do better but I actually think I've said that on here somewhere before.<br />
<br />
Just thought you'd like to know. Oh, and my family is leaving me this weekend so I'm all alone for Valentines Day.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01991321405489551817noreply@blogger.com0