The BUILD Conference will be Tuesday, September 13th at 9:00 AM through September 16th at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.  Quoted from Microsoft, “BUILD is a new event that shows modern hardware and software developers how to take advantage of the future of Windows. Learn how to work with the all new touch-centric user experience to create fast, fluid, and dynamic applications that leverage the power and flexibility of the core of Windows, used by more than a billion people around the world.”

For all intents and purposes this is a revolutionary change, or Microsoft will risk ceding the tablet market to Apple and Google for the forseeable future. Why is that? Because Windows 7, while an excellent keyboard and mouse OS, is nigh unusable in a touch environment. Trust us, we have tried.

First Things First, Get Your Domain Name at Yahoo!  This may not seem that important at first glance but believe me, securing your domain name should be the first thing you do.  By getting your domain name secured you are setting the foundation for your Internet audience.  You domain name will be your identity online.  Your domain name must be personal and relevant to your mission.  It must be easy to remember.

Another reason to secure your domain name quickly is to make sure it is available before you spend any more time and money on branding.  This can give you better ideas about your competition as well.  You will learn what domain names are taken and get a chance to see the websites you are up against in competition for that domain.

Once you have secured your domain name you can look for web hosting.  In some cases the same company you bought the domain name from will also offer web hosting.  I prefer the host with unlimited plans.  This will let you develop as you please without worry of over charges.  Note, you do not have to host your website at the same company where you bought your domain name.  If you choose a different web host you will need to change the DNS on your domain name account to match your web hosting account.  If you need assistance with this you can call your hosting provider tech support for help.

The last reason I can give you for getting your own domain name is that you will be able to create e-mail accounts with your domain name as the address.  For example: YourName@YourDomainName.com

If you are a “grand-fathered in” user of AT&T and you are in the top 5% of data users then you should expect AT&T to thottle your data speed.

Define Throttle – Bandwidth throttling is a reactive measure employed in communication networks to regulate network traffic and minimize bandwidth congestion.

In other words, they will slow you down part of the time.  I have listed some information on this in AT&T’s own forum.

Check it out and let me know what you think of this.

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/articles-resources/wireless-terms.jsp

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History is being made on July 9, 2011 when the world’s newest nation is born.  The Republic of South Sudan becomes an independent nation.  This comes six years after a peace deal ended a two-decade war between Sudan’s north (mostly Muslim) and Sudan’s south (mostly Christians).  They battled over their differences of ideology, religion, and ethnicity.  Two million people died and more than four million   fled their homes when the Sudanese Army fought southern resistance groups from 1983 to 2005.  During the conflict many of the Sudanese fled seeking refuge in neighboring countries because of religious or tribal persecution.  Because of the long war there is a general lack of education.  Nine out of ten people cannot read or write.  Illiteracy is a going to play a big roll in the lack of social media in this new country.  The other challenges that they are facing is the water supply and their intermittent electricity.  Electricity is available in some of the larger towns in Sudan but that can only be afforded by the wealthy and the United Nation agencies that are stationed there.  Rural areas and smaller villages are made up of almost all straw-roofed mud huts.  This presents a huge problem for the state of media in the Republic of South Sudan.  New media or social networks are far from taking hold.  Mobile phone usage is growing but illiteracy limits the range of options available to both the consumer and the provider.  Cell phone companies like Vivacelll are coming out with new ways around this problem.  They are trying out a service that allows consumers to “speak” a text message into the handset, which will then deliver the message in text format.  The only problem is that the recepient must be able to read.  Vivacell projects to have one million subscribers by the end of 2011.  This is because after the country has become a republic in July, many of the exiles will return back to their homeland.  They will be looking for the three essential things in Sudan: water, electricity, and a way of communication.  In March, 2011 the United Nations was still looking for Internet services for the Republic of South Sudan.  Only the future will reveal what is in store for the Republic of South Sudan.

  Will it’s problems of illiteracy be dealt with? will peace remain? will this nation rise from the ashes of persecution and affliction and become a strong Christian nation?  Only time will tell but one thing is for sure; they are free!!  God has heard their cries, seen their afflictions and He has answered.  Let us pray for this new nation, for God to send labourers into the field to not only help them with their spiritual needs but also their physical needs as well.  It seems like a daunting task but with God all things are possible.

written by: Tracy Martin

What if I were to tell you how social media can improve the quality of your ministry and explain to you 3 simple reasons why your church or ministry should have a social media strategy?  Social media is changing the way an entire generation COMMUNICATES, whether we like it or not.  It’s not just the youth that are involved in the social media phenomenon, it is a wide rage of age groups as well.  People are finding it easier to communicate and express their feelings through social media networking sites.  This way of communicating introduces you to a vast mission field on the internet that expands beyond your audience or community.  The different types of communication are what makes this appealing as well.  You can communicate through words, audio, video,etc. There is such a variety to choose from; you could video upcoming sermon skits to publish on your website inviting people to come to your next sermon, video testimonies of people who have recently received the Lord, or make a short video clip about an upcoming mission or project that your ministry is planning.  Your church or ministry could even make a video as an outreach to the lost and post it on facebook or other social media networking sites.  Another reason to have a social media strategy is because it helps you CONNECT with people.  It creates a platform for conversations.  People need to feel like they have a voice.  What if God just spoke to us and we never were allowed to speak to him?  That doesn’t seem like a good way of having a relationship.  If your want relationships established in your church or ministry, you need to allow people to have a voice, express the gift that God has given them.  It is an awesome way to connect to those who are normally shy or timid.  Last but not least, it can also improve your ministry by giving a CALL to ACTION.  You can call people to prayer by posting prayer requests.  I know that several times when I have logged into facebook, friends of mine have posted specific prayer requests than I have seen and prayed for over the years.  You have a chance of getting more prayers prayed by using social media because of the number of people who view the prayer request post. You can also give a call to give.  Ministries all over the world have given the call to give through use of online giving opportunities.  This is a win/win situation.  It gives you a whole new mission field to target for the Kingdom of God and it gives the world the opportunity to hear the message that God has given you to share.

written by: Tracy Martin

So many people have gifts in the Body of Christ that just lay dormant because quite frankly, they never use them or they are not allowed the opportunities to.  Your voice can be heard through writing blogs, social network sites like facebook, twitter, etc.  If you are gifted in visual arts, you can use youtube to put together a short video clip sharing the gospel or making a statement of faith.  There are so many ways now to preach the gospel.  Dramas, Human Videos, writing blogs, etc. 

There are no more excuses.  Today is the day to let your voice be heard.  You have alot inside that needs to be expressed, it needs to be stirred up and used for the Kingdom of God.  Use the internet as a tool to share your voice with the world.  Today IS the day and social media IS the platform.

  As we will read, it is only free to an extent.  In this country, only half of 1% of the population belongs to an Evangelical Church.  The need for the Gospel of Jesus Christ is tremendous.  There are many Christian Television programs in Thailand.  Digital satellite television and digital satellite radios have been around for quite awhile in Thailand.  Today, they even have free christian internet television.  The door is wide open right now for christian radio as well.  In 2002, Franklin and Billy Graham Ministries launched a massive television outreach project, entitled “My Hope.”  In this project they aired sermons on television and recorded DVD’s that were dubbed in the Thai language.   Since 2002, 9 million souls have prayed to receive Jesus Christ.  The Christian Broadcasting Network founded by Pat Robertson, started an massive television outreach directed towards Thai children in 2010.  It is a weekly TV series called, “Pen Dek” when translated means to be a person living a life with high standards.  CBN reports an average of 3 million kids watch this program every month. 

  Social media has expanded in Thailand.  There are an estimated 40 million mobile phone users and 12 million mobile internet users.  Mobile media is mostly used in Thailand and one of the fastest growing in Asia.  90% of the 53 million subscribers use prepaid services.  Social media sites are very popular in Thailand.  There are over 3 million facebook users and an estimated 1 million use twitter.  Hi5 is one of the most popular social networks in the last couple of years that have a total worldwide total of 80 million users.  60% of total users are between the ages of 18 to 29 years of age.  Youtube is popular as well for video uploading but is banned on and off because of pornography, gambling, violence, drugs and terroism.  Any sensitive issue on youtube can be banned by the government.   Blogging is extremely big in Thailand and two main blogging services are used more frequently than most.  Exteen.com which is aimed at teens and reports the highest online traffic in Thailand and Blogging OK Nation which targets “citizen journalists” bloggers.  Bloggers in Thailand have to be careful what they write and link to from their websites.  Everything has to be carefully moderated and anything posted that might be disrespectful or detrimental to the highest institution, which is the Royal Family, has to be quickly removed.  This includes any comments that other people post on blogs.  If they are not deleted quickly by the administrators or moderators of the blog, they can be arrested and thrown into prison.  I just recently read a Thai blog that warns foreigners to be careful what they write or discuss on blogs when in Thailand.  If you move to Thailand or visit Thailand and write anything against the highest institution you could be arrested and thrown into prison.

  An Austrailian novelist who wrote about a fictitious crown prince in his novel was arrested and charged with lese majeste.  It also was reported that an American citizen was recently arrested for linking to a pdf download on a banned book about the Thai King.  WARNING to all foreigners that go to Thailand, “be careful what you post, discuss, or comment on in Thailand!!! You could find yourself imprisioned in a Thai jail.  Social media is advancing on a global scale.  I would caution all missionaries and foreigners to be careful of what social media sites and activities that you participate in when you travel to other countries.  I would do my research before I left so you will not find yourself imprisoned in foreign jails.