by Kathy Brasby | Apr 24, 2013 | Hope
I follow several blogs and can’t physically navigate to all those sites every day just to check in. Some bloggers post regularly and some don’t. I found that the “don’t” blogs were getting ignored, even when they were written by people special to me.
Image via CrunchBase
When I discovered Google Reader, life was good. I could visit one site and check in on all my blogs. I could decide which I wanted to read and I could manage subscriptions easily. The list of my subscriptions in a sidebar showed me who had added a new post. Google Reader was a simple but practical solution for my blog viewing.
All was good until Google decided to cancel Reader. What’s up with that? Suddenly I needed a new RSS reader for my blogs.
I’ve spent some time researching ideas. Here are some options:
- Feedly – my current choice. I was able to transfer my subscriptions from Google Reader seamlessly. I don’t have time to re-subscribe so this was important. I like the appearance of Feedly as more of a magazine layout, although sometimes Feedly’s guesses on what my priorities are vary greatly from what my priorities really are. Jury is still out on this one. I’m using it but trying others. It is web-based but also available on IOS and Android mobile devices, which I like.
- Newsblur – I am trying this one as well. It was a bit more complicated to set up. Nothing serious but I had to log in a couple of times before I could get my subscriptions imported into Newsblur. Also, I am limited to 64 sites free and then I have to pay. I’m at 60 so we’ll see how this one goes. The format is simple without the slick magazine look but its similar appearance to Google Reader makes the transition simple. This one is web-based but also available on IOS and Android.
- The Old Reader – Just as then name implies, this one is old-style. It is an exact replica of the web-based Google Reader. If you like simple, this may be your choice. I haven’t tried it yet. Two Reader trials are enough at one time. This one is only web-based, which is a mark against it for me.
- Flipboard – I’ve used Flipboard on my IOS devices. I love the magazine look but I didn’t care for the magazine-look limitations. Articles were selected without regard for my reading preference and only the first paragraph or so were displayed, meaning I had to then download the rest of the article. This might be great for you. For me, it finally led to uninstalling the app. I want a reader focused on blogs rather than the wider range of news articles. You might want something different. But Flipboard is very cool-looking and I may try it again at some point. Flipboard is only IOS or Android.
- Google Currents – Google’s attempt at a Flipboard look-alike, I’m told. I haven’t had time to check out this one yet. If you do, let me know what you think.
- WordPress Reader – If you have a WordPress blog, you already have this. WordPress blogs offer a simple “Follow” button that is very easy to use. Read a blog and want to read more? Press “Follow” and the blog is now in your WordPress Reader. The Reader itself is beyond simple. I’d rather have a list of subscribed blogs in a sidebar so I can choose which I want to read at the moment. For now, WordPress Reader compiles all new blog posts into a list that has to be scrolled through. Barely adequate. There could be so much more offered after the ease of subscription. I hear rumors there are new features coming so we’ll see.
How do you read blogs? Has the loss of Google Reader impacted you?
by Kathy Brasby | Apr 22, 2013 | Hope
Hollywood’s car chases keep getting faster, louder, more explosive and destructive. Where would we be if Jason Bourne hadn’t destroyed innumerable police cars, several taxis and a few SUVs?
But my favorite car chase included a few cell phones, corn fields and an arrogant thief.
After holding up a convenience store on the Interstate highway in western Nebraska, the young man leaped into his car and raced away. As his speed zoomed over 100 mph at times, he probably assumed he could outrun the State Patrol.
Soon he had the Patrol out in full-force following him into Colorado. The driver may have realized he couldn’t outrun their radios and that reinforcements were assembling in front of him.
So, as a couple of towns flashed by, hardly blips in his vision at his speed, he swung onto an exit and headed into farm country.
Out where only corn and wheat fields swayed in the wind. That ought to be secluded enough for him to escape law enforcement.
So the driver flew down dirt roads with no worries. He’d lost his trackers.
But he didn’t understand the nature of the rural mind.
Farmers tend those corn and wheat fields. And they know the traffic on those country roads. When an unknown car flashed by at high speed, a farmer grabbed his cell phone and called a neighbor. That neighbor called a neighbor.
Before long, the sheriff was alerted as farmers tracked the car careening through the farmland through cell phone calls.
While the racing thief thought he had outsmarted law enforcement, the network of farmers calmly plotted his course and helped the sheriff lay out a plan.
think the farmers were willing to block the road with their humongous tractors but the sheriff nixed the idea. What if there was shooting?
In the end, the sheriff and his deputies blocked the road ahead and behind because they knew exactly where their man had been. And was going.
The thief who thought he had outsmarted his pursuers hadn’t counted on the creativity of some farmers and their cell phones.
by Kathy Brasby | Apr 19, 2013 | Stories
The Bible means different things to different people. For some, it is a valuable spiritual guidebook pointing to the nature of God and his plans. For some, it is a powerfully written piece of literature rich in metaphors and figures of speech.
And for some, the second leads to the first.
What is literature?
- Literature portrays the human experience.
- Literature interprets the human experience.
- Literature is an art form. The style of expression is as valuable as the content.
The Bible uses skillful technique and beauty to portray and interpret the human experience in the light of God’s nature.
cain & abel (Photo credit: gabork)
Let’s take a look at the story of Cain and Abel. (I’m not really stuck in Genesis but the Genesis stories are rich and deserve analysis.)
The story of Cain and Abel is a classic tale of sibling rivalry. We meet the perfect child contrasted with the problem child and we encounter violence within a family. We see the consequences of a grudge nursed to bitterness. We learn the consequences of giving in to evil impulses. None of these are lightweight topics and each topic studies human experience.
Cain, jealous that God has approved of Abel’s sacrifice while rejecting his, lures Abel into a field and kills him. God had urged Cain to resist the lurking evil and it was God who called Cain to accountability: “Where is your brother Abel?”
In God’s confrontation, we learn that evil actions have consequences. Obviously, Abel was dead. That alone was a severe consequence for submitting to bitterness and jealousy. But not the only consequence.
We read Cain’s trial. God confronts, listens to Cain’s defense (“Am I my brother’s keeper?”) and sentences Cain.
All the elements of a classic criminal story are here. We meet the criminal, learn his motive, witness the crime, and then watch the arrest, trial and sentencing.
The story contains a beginning, middle and end. We discover artistic story crafting and word choices.
For example, when God speaks to Cain before the murder, he describes the danger in a powerful imagery: “Sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you but you must rule over it.”
Earlier, God had given Cain the way out by explaining that “if you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”
There, in a nutshell, was the problem and solution. Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted because he had not done what was right. That was correctable but Cain not only refused to do what was right, he chose to do what was wrong.
In a gripping story that probed deeply into the human experience, a powerful lesson was taught. Skillful technique brought vivid meaning.
We’ll continue next Friday.
by Kathy Brasby | Apr 17, 2013 | Hope
Although I’m learning to do video editing, I’ve done some video documentary shoots, and I know how to set up lighting for an interview, I am not planning to do a vlog anytime soon.
I know you didn’t ask but a friend of mine did. She wants to start vlogging on her blog site and asked me for suggestions. I had to face this facet of blogging.
A vlog is a basically a video blog. You can include video interviews, shots of you speaking rather than writing, even a movie of the impending snowstorm if that grabs you.
Since I know something about video cameras and editing and lighting, I promised her that I’d do some research.
My research consisted of a Google search: vlog editing free.
youtube (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)
Although I’m learning to use Adobe Premiere and have dabbled with iMovie, I wanted something simpler for my friend. And I was surprised to find that YouTube offers a simple video capturing and editing option.
If you have a YouTube account, log in and locate a button at the top of screen labeled “Download.” When you click that button, a new screen offers a place to upload your file but also to create videos. Options include webcam capture, photo slideshow, Google+ hangout and video editor.
Assuming you have a web camera attached to your camera, you can select the Record button below Webcam Capture and start recording. If you want a video of yourself talking about your blog or your favorite cat or your take on the latest news story, YouTube can record your rant – er, your verbal essay – and save it.
Then select Edit under the Video Editor label and you’ll have a simple video editor for your use. You can’t do a lot but isn’t that the point of a simple video editor?
The videos you have uploaded to your YouTube account will appear in the upper left corner. That should include the webcam recording you just did. All you have to do is click on the video image and drag it to the line below marked by the camera at the left side. Clever, huh?
You can cut the clip, rotate it, add a title, include transitions. Simple but useful. Any sound that was imported with the video will remain and you can also add a YouTube soundtrack to your project. A preview window to the right allows you to watch your project as you edit.
Simple.
And, of course, YouTube makes it easy to save the edited video to YouTube. You can link it to your blog and, suddenly, you have your first vlog.
Simple. Free. YouTube. I’m not associated with YouTube in any way. I just discovered that this is a pretty simple way to get started in video work.
by Kathy Brasby | Apr 15, 2013 | Hope
When our younger son turned 13, he informed me that, although he needed a new bottle of shampoo, he did not want the cheap stuff he’d been using for years.
“I want manly shampoo,” he announced.
English: The hair care aisle of a supermarket in North America. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I understood he might not want to use foofoo shampoo like lilac or rose, but what’s wrong with strawberry and coconut? If it’s good enough to be in dessert, it’s good enough to wash hair.
But I have not yet untangled the male mind. I thought, having two brothers, two sons and a husband, I could get some insight. I figured I could ask any of them and they’d interpret.
When my brothers were boys, they had contests to see how much fruit they could cram in their mouths. One day my younger brother stuffed so much banana in his mouth that he couldn’t move his tongue for several minutes. He had to wait for the banana to dissolve.
So, after we were adults, I cornered him. “Remember the banana incident?”
“Yeah,” he said drawing his words out like cold molasses.
“So why did you do that?” I thought I could get a key in decoding the male mind.
He lifted his shoulders. “I don’t have a clue.”
Some help that was.
One day I watched our 12-year-old son and friend challenge his 6-year-old sister to foot races. Every time the boys crossed the finish line before the little girl, they did a victory dance only matched by my mother when I came home with an engagement ring.
I described the scene at dinner to my husband. “Why would those boys get any joy out of beating a little girl in a foot race? They were older, faster, bigger. What fun was that?” Surely my husband could shed light on the issue.
He lifted his shoulders. “Testosterone causes brain damage.”
Like that was helpful.
Those stories clanged around in my brain as I stood with my younger son at the shampoo aisle. Still trying to learn about a guy’s thinking, I turned him loose. He was my newest study.
We came home with manly shampoo. He rushed to the shower. In the middle of the afternoon.
This was the boy who showered like the cowboys in the westerns: after every cattle drive. And we didn’t have cattle.
Still damp, he rushed out of the bathroom and held his dripping hair under my nose. “Smells manly, huh?” he said.
“Oh, yeah,” I assured him. Then he thrust his forearm in my face.
“Smell that.” Apparently he had manly soap, too. I told him he was very manly and he was satisfied.
I might ask what banana-stuffing, footrace whupping and woodsy shampoo have in common.
Apparently they’re among the pieces in building a man.
