34: Double Plus Good Service Desk Plus
2008-11-30
Download MP3 For Geekons Episode 34
Pop-Up: Service Desk Plus
- Web-based Help Desk software by AdventNet
- All-in-one installer
- Installs on a Windows Server, but can be accessed by OS X, Windows, and Linux (I have even used an iPhone to check up on tickets!)
- Track individual support requests and related emails
- Integrates with Active Directory
- A totally free version that works great for small IT departments, and a paid for version that is more full featured.
- Can be set to send automated emails and text messages to IT staff and the people requesting the support.
- Quick and easy graphs on the home page to see weekly progress.
- A built-in Knowledge Base with the option of choosing what is public KB and what is technician-only KB.
- Paid for version has tools to manage Assets, Software Licenses, Purchases, Contracts, etc.
- Users can add tickets with an online form, or simply sending an email to a general help desk email account.
- 4 out of 5 stars, Double Plus Good options only on paid version, and no access to source code.
Geek-Tweak: How to digitize your analog congregation
- Define what information you want your congregation to know.
- Define what mediums your congregation is comfortable with.
- Define ways to cram your information into all of the mediums your congregation is comfortable with.
- Do it! (or get someone else to do it)
- Basic idea: Church website content for print
- If your church has a website that describes when services are and how to get to the church, make sure that website has a printer friendly version of the page that can easily be printed out and handed to people.
- If your church doesn't have a website, then help to get them set up with one (check back next week, where we will tell you how to get a free web host for life) and put this information on a page, then make a printer friendly version.
- Make sure you are using CSS for layout, and make a special print-only CSS file so all the pages of your website can be printed cleanly and efficiently and offered in display stands at church. (see episode 7 for more details)
- Create sermon note sheets that can be downloaded online as PDF, or mass-produced for the congregation before each service.
- Intermediate idea: Sermons on MP3 or CD
- If your church has a podcast, have a volunteer burn episodes to CD and bring them to church to hand out for those that don't have the internet. (Or buy a high-volume duplicator and pay someone to mass produce the CDs, depending on the size of church you have)
- You can also have someone set up a public computer that can be used to sync the podcast with non-apple devices.
- If you are really brave and love providing free tech support, test out a public iTunes terminal that lets the congregation sync their iPod with pre-approved podcasts that the church produces or subscribes to.
- Advanced idea: events calendar
- Create an online calendar with the Google apps account you set up after listening to episode 31, or a free Gmail account (don't use the default, make a new one!)
- Make that new calendar "public" by clicking the down-arrow near its name in the left menu and select "share this calendar"
- Make sure the "Make this calendar public" check-box is checked.
- Click on the Calendar Details tab and copy the XML Calendar Address to the clipboard
- Use that XML feed as a data source for a web application that displays a rolling 14 days of events.
- Now pull another Episode 7 and create a printer-friendly version of the calendar so church staff can simply print out a set of calendars and lay them on an information table before and after each services.
- Remember, your congregation doesn't need to be turned into online tech-heads, but if you store your data properly, it should be no problem to create an offline version of all of your church info without much work. (after setting it up, that is)
View-Source: Routine Storage Maintenance
- Our spiritual heart is our mind, and we are able to store and recall a staggering amount of information at the drop of a hat.
- What does an indoor swimming pool smell like and sound like?
- If you've been to an indoor swimming pool, you probably just recalled the heavy humidity, the thick smell of chlorine, and the sounds of wet feet slapping on the concrete floor.
- Our brains can recall images and sensations with great detail.
- They can also create unique images by modifying, enhancing, and re-arranging images and sensations we have already experienced.
- Much like a database driven application, our brains can only deal with information we have put in them, which is why God warns us about what we take in.
- Proverbs 4:23 describes our brains as the wellspring of life, and urges us to protect it.
- Matthew 12:35 tells us that the evil things evil men do come from the evil stored in their heart, but the good things good men do come from the good stored in their hearts.
- So how do we make sure we are protecting this wellspring of life?
- How do we ensure we will do good things?
- I remember studying Geometry (mainly because Geometry and Trig were the only math classes I ever got A's in) and fighting through proofs... Instead of telling jokes, mathematicians force young children to work proofs.
- The interesting thing about proofs was you couldn't skip a step, you had to prove every simple step even if it didn't seem important.
- If we set up a pseudo-proof for doing evil, it would probably go something like this, based on the scripture we just read:
- When we watch things on TV, listen to music, and have debates with friends or co-workers, we are storing information in our brains.
- Our brains are only able to create images and ideas based on information we have stored in them.
- Our desires are based on what our brains are able to think to do.
- Our actions are based on our desires.
- Therefore, we can control our actions by controlling what we watch, what we listen to, and what type of conversations we hold with other people.
- James 1:21 gives a pretty blunt request to get rid of all moral filth and evil, and to humbly accept the word planted in us, which can save us.
- There seems to be a pretty consistent theme in the Bible that tells us to guard our hearts, clean out the bad data, and fill it with good data.
- Getting rid of the bad data is only half the battle. According to Matthew 12:35, if we want to do good, we need to put good data in!
- Top three things to do to keep in step with God:
- Filter what goes in (avoiding the bad, seeking the good)
- Get rid of the existing bad stuff
- Run queries! (use the data by living the abundant life God gave you!)
Key Verses: