26: All the Skype that your money can buy!
2008-10-05
Download MP3 For Geekons Episode 26
Pop-Up: Skype 3
- Skype, unlike hype, can fly a kite, and it just might.
- I am the walrus koo koo kachoo
- A free and easy telephone application that runs on your computer
- Global computer-to-computer phone calls for free!
- Bandwidth-based quality (usually better then landlines)
- You can purchase outbound calling to make phone calls to mobiles and landlines.
- You can also purchase an inbound phone number so other people on mobiles or landlines can call you
- Hardware is available that allows you to connect to Skype without a computer
- Tons of add-on software to do cool things, like record your calls or share a whiteboard (and tons more)
- There is even an iPhone app (fring) that lets you use Skype on your iPod touch or iPhone! (about a 2 second delay, and the iPod touch doesn't have a microphone)
- Ideal for communicating with internet-connected missionaries
- Full screen video sharing!
- No emergency phone calls, cannot replace your home phone.
- 4 out of 5 stars, because it is free and can easily change the way you look at phones. The only remaining feature required to give it 5 stars is emergency call capabilities.
Geek-Tweak: Doing Cool Stuff With Technology
- Technology is cool
- Cool stuff is cool
- Doing cool stuff with technology is incredibly cool
- Here's the three ways (I could think of) to do cool stuff with technology, there are only three:
- Tell a geek your vision for what you want to accomplish and let them learn about the various technologies and come up with their own ideas.
- Pros:
- Geeks love to be geeky and want nothing more than to do the most they can with technology that is out there.
- You accomplish your goal in a way that you may never have imagined.
- You can still tell the geek your idea if they don't out-cool you.
- Cons:
- Geeks run on their own timetables and may spend many weeks figuring out which technology to use, then many more weeks figuring out how.
- Geeks may run out of coffee and never even get the job done (especially if they are volunteers).
- Pros:
- Tell a geek (volunteer or staff) the idea you came up with and tell them to do it.
- Pros:
- You can set a timetable and get the specific idea you have in mind done on time.
- You can come up with your own vision (goal to accomplish) as well as how to accomplish (specific idea) and feel pretty geeky yourself.
- Cons:
- You may frustrate a geek because instead of giving them direction it may simply limit the directions they can go in. (and one of the directions they come up with may be better)
- The geek will most likely learn what you want them to; nothing more, nothing less. Future cool uses for the technology may not come to mind.
- The geek may accomplish the bare minimum of the task and not even accomplish your original idea as best as possible because they didn't have "play time" (R&D) with the technology.
- Pros:
- Hire someone who already knows the technology to do the idea you came up with.
- Pros:
- You can definitely set a timetable and know when to expect the idea to be accomplished.
- You have total control over the entire project and can demand results or your money back.
- Cons:
- You have no free support from your local geek.
- You probably will get some marketing hype about how it only costs you $30/month to use twitter on your blog.
- The odds of a consultant offering up cooler ideas is much lower than the odds of a local volunteer coming up with something more innovative and relevant to our ministry.
- Pros:
- Keep in mind that there is a time and place for each of those.
- You have tons of money and no time: Hire someone
- You have no money and no time: Tell a geek what you want
- You have no money and tons of time: Tell a geek your goal
- Keep in mind that your staff/volunteer that are geeky consider coming up with geeky solutions to problems their calling that God has gifted them to do. Giving them the opportunity to exercise their talents will help them grow in the ministry.
View-Source: I love you, man!
- The bible gives us a great measuring tool for how to behave towards others in a Christ-like manner (hint: it has to do with love)
- Our love for others should be an outward indicator of our inward change (thought that sounded preachy so I threw it in, plus it is in the bible)
- Sometimes, we can place our love in the wrong things, like Demas did in 2 Timothy, where he loved the world and the things of the world. This caused him to leave the ministry and follow his own desires. (that's bad)
- When asked, Jesus said that the greatest command was loving God with ALL of our heart, soul, and mind.
- He also said that the second greatest commandment was loving our neighbors as ourselves.
- Keep in mind throughout all the commands related to loving God, our spouses, our neighbors, etc that God clearly defined what love is in 1 Corinthians 13.
- The bible never really tells us to love ourselves. We should not hate ourselves, but should love Christ, who is in us, and love God, who we have been made in the image of.