Worldwide PhotoWalk

Scott Kelby is doing it again.  The 2nd Annual Worldwide PhotoWalk is taking applications for people to lead walks in various cities.  If you are interested just apply over at the official Worldwide PhotoWalk website: (worldwidephotowalk.com) and click on the “Lead Your Own PhotoWalk” link.  You can also get more information on Scott kelby's blog: It’s Official: Announcing My 2nd Annual Worldwide PhotoWalk! 

When Leadership and Discipleship Collide by Bill Hybels

Bill Hybels is the founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and chairman of the board for the Willow Creek Association.  

In his book "When Leadership and Discipleship Collide" Hybels, using the examples from Christ and his own life and ministry, illustrates keeping Christ first whenever the laws of leadership and the demands of discipleship collide.  Here are the points that stood out to me.

•  Jesus actually withdraws from all the action; he goes off alone to a solitary place to reflect and spend some quality time in prayer

•  The potential of this kingdom is greater than any other, and the stakes involved in realizing it are higher.  

•  When we get it right, and especially when we don't, we impact people's eternities.

•  Decide on the side of discipleship every single time.

•  Just because you lead in a secular context does not mean that you, as a believer, don't have the Spirit whispering wisdom into your mind and heart.  At those times, friend, listen.  And obey.

•  you can't put a price tag on being obedient to the Holy Spirit's promptings.

•  I'm challenging you to be a Christ-follower who really does seek God's kingdom first.

•  Be Jesus' disciple in whatever arena you lead and conform yourself to his image in whatever situation you find yourself.

•  the power of the Holy Spirit is the leader's best friend.

•  Nehemiah 4:14 says, "Remeber God, who is great and awesome, and then fight with all your might."

If you are in a leadership position, I would encourage you to pick up the resource.

The New Wacom Intuos4 Pen Tablet

Wacom has introduced its new line of Intuos Pen Tablets.  "Intuos4 redefines the Intuos pen tablet experience, thanks to a new design and new features inspired by members of our professional creative community." If you head over to the Wacom website they give an overview of what the new tablets can do including new features, bonus software, comparison, special offers, and overviews of how the tablet can be used in many different industries.  The Intuos4 comes in four different sizes ranging from small at $229 to extra large at $789.  

Here are some resources covering the Wacom Intuos4 Pen Tablets.

Websites:

DESIGNM.AG community for designers

PHOTOSHOPSUPPORT.com

dimagemaker.com

Digital Arts

Layers Magazine

onOne Software

Terry White's Tech Blog

Videos:

Interview with Leigh Baldwin

Leigh Baldwin is the Creative Communications Coordinator for Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. She is the manager of all technical staff; marketing and promotions, and all internal and external communications.

Leigh,

What are your tools of the trade (Computer, Monitor, Scanner, Cameras, etc.)?
Final Cut Pro, Adobe Creative Suite, Panasonic DVX 100B.

What is your favorite tool (Plug-in, Software, Equipment, etc.)?
Photoshop and Final Cut.

Favorite Resource(s):
Church Marketing Sucks and MinistryCOM.

Who, what, or where do you get your inspiration?
Author Seth Godin; Hanging out at Barnes and Noble reading creative books. Art Galleries, innovative restaurants and coffee shops. I observe experiences everywhere I go and try to see what makes the experience happen - that is inspirational - it gets my mind going. I also find inspiration meeting with our team.

If you could have one thing what would it be? Why?
I have a lot of support and freedom in my job. There's not much more I could ask for.

What are the primary goals of the church as it relates to your position?
To effectively communicate the gospel through various forms of communications. It is also our job to create programming and worship services that are inviting to the world - creating a comfortable and accepting environment. It is also our job to stay on top of the latest communication trends.

What hindrances do you have to overcome?
Managing perception.

What is your favorite trick or technique and would you consider giving an example?
Technique: encourage, encourage, encourage. Pats on the back, handwritten thank you notes, small gifts of appreciation and a platform for the team to feel comfortable taking calculated risks.

How did you get started in your profession?
God called me out of grad school. If you would have asked me in grad school where I would be in 3 years ministry would not have been the answer. He worked through a local church that I was involved in when I was in grad school. I am forever grateful that he called me here.

Readers can find out more about you by?
Having coffee or emailing leighbaldwin@hgbc.org

Amazing Work

You have to check out this amazing work by Slovenian artist Franc Grom.  Grom drills thousands of holes into egg shells to create unique Easter eggs of fragile beauty.  It was posted on boston.com under The Big Picture.

Great Post From Guy Kawasaki

Guy Kawasaki has written an interview over at the American Express Open blog with Hartmut Esslinger, industrial designer.  I think you will find Kawasaki's post "The Inside Scoop on Design: Ten Questions with Hartmut Esslinger" very informative.

Apple AirPort Extreme

Today I would like to share with you my recent purchase of the Apple Airport Extreme and my decision process.

  

Previous Network

I was using a Netgear wireless router WGR614v6 but it just stopped working.  It worked well for what I was doing.  Just surfing the net and email.  

Comparison Shopping

I had been looking at the new Apple Time Capsules because I wanted to have a network attached storage solution as well as the ability to have a network attached printer.  Apple offers a 500 Gb priced at $299 and a 1Tb for $499 with a usb port for printing.  I tried to do some comparison shopping and found that Netgear doesn't really offer anything with a usb port.  The Linksys WRT610 Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router has a usb port but it seems as though it's only good for a hard drive.  Here is a link to a review on cnet.  So there wasn't really anything that was comparable to either the Airport Extreme or the Time Capsule.  Upon further research, the Apple products allow for the attachment of a usb hub that would allow for both printing and storage.  A perfect solution for my situation.  

Number Crunching

So time for a little number crunching.  The Airport Extreme is priced at $179, the 500 Gb Time Capsule is priced at $299, and the 1Tb is priced at $499.  If I bought the Airport Extreme I would have to by a usb hub to allow for hard drive and printer sharing.  The Time Capsules would need no additional accessory.  So Here I go in search of a usb hub.  I came across the NewerTech miniStack priced at $59.99 for 'Add-Your-Own-Drive' Kit.  This usb hub would allow me to add my own hard drive and give me 3 additional usb ports for more hard drives.  It also offers 2 Firewire 400 ports but attached to the Airport Extreme they wouldn't work according to the macsales support.  These ports would be handy later if I decided to use it attached to my MacBook Pro.  So the total price for the Airport Extreme with the ministack would be $238.99.  That's $60 cheeper than the 500 Gb Time Capsule.  Being the penny pincher that I am, the problem was solved.

Setup

Setting up the Airport Extreme was simply amazing! So easy, a caveman can do it.  (Sorry Geico)  First, I had to install the Airport utility and then plugged everything into the Airport Extreme.  After that, just a little typing.  Name and password for Airport Extreme, then if you would like you could enter a name and password for Airport Disks. Next, enter a name and security level of the wireless network and finally, a choice to enable a guest network with a name and password.  That was it.  Beautiful.  

Conclusion

I am very happy that I purchased the Apple Airport Extreme.  I have not purchased the NewerTech miniStack yet.  There's no rush right now, but as soon as I add it, I will definitely be posting about it.