Posted under Technology on September 1, 2010
Jumping back into blogging after being away for two month (although the 1PhotoPerDay.com experiment hasn’t missed a day!). And I need to prepare for the 10 week-long RADICAL read-along (book by David Platt) that 100′s of friends are joining over on my wife’s blog (details here / Facebook page here). You still have a few days to pick up the book and join us. If you can’t afford the book, let Marla know.
Back to the title of the blog. I noticed a blog post from a large news network this evening that screamed “Behold, the new iPod”. Behold? Like stop in your tracks, re-adjust your priorities, and lust after a piece of hardware that is less than 2″ in diameter behold. I’ve blogged before about this I’m sure, but there are very few things (if not just ONE) that should stop you in your tracks like that. If you have no clue who / what that ONE thing is I guess that RADICAL read-along thing might be just the thing for you. It will be for me for the next 10 weeks (starting on Sept. 7th).
Today was probably the first Apple event in a few years that I had no clue was even scheduled. The first in a long time that I didn’t drop my work and “behold” what Steve was sharing. And my life hasn’t degenerated as a result. How do you react when Mr. Jobs requests your attention?
Posted under Technology on April 24, 2010
Before you do anything, please test what I’m about to tell you by clicking the “Like” button just above the Comments of this blog post. If you don’t find it helpful, you can always click “Like” again to undo this. Onto the tutorial / tips!
Earlier this week Facebook launched tons of new technology features surrounding the “Like / Social Plugins” project. You’ve probably seen that all of those pages you were a “Fan” of have been converted to pages that you “Like”? That conversion was only the beginning. If you manage a website or blog, I would suggest checking out this keynote address from the f8 conference! Onto why this is interesting for you….
HOW TO TIP A: If you are visiting my blog at GabeTaviano.com you will now see that I have “Like badge” just below each post and above the comments. You can check out all of the details Facebook has made easily available here,. MODIFIED INSTRUCTIONS – If you’re running WordPress, be sure to grab the SNV Facebook Like plugin here! Thanks to friend Mitch from Studio Nashvegas!
If visitors click the “Like” badges on your blog / site, Facebook will post that to the visitor’s Facebook wall. Result? More people will see your content by seeing and understanding that their friends liked it.
HOW TO TIP B: On my blog you will also see a new “Recent Activity” box. Feel free to grab the second piece of code from below and insert it either into a Sidebar Widget (or within the sidebar.php file of your theme) or any area of your site. Just make sure you change the domain name from mine to yours within the code!
COPY CODE A – you can now FORGET THIS if using the SNV Facebook Like plugin:
COPY CODE B:
Posted under Faith, Technology on April 8, 2010
A new online friend of mine, Joey Bergeron, sent me a Facebook message today that made my day. He thanked me for being an inspiration to him, and specifically thanked me for how open I am about my sharing my faith online. Technology allows us to relate to each other. We’ve both been married for 11 years. But God is at work in our lives in very different, but both just as important, ways.
After a few messages / chats, and then even a phone call, I started to see just how much God was behind us connecting. My eyes were opened to the fact that you don’t “need to be somebody” to inspire others. I’m not any more important than you are. I don’t have a better chance of inspiring someone than you do. And neither do leaders, celebrities, or people who are greatly admired for their skill / work. Agree?
To inspire someone could very well be one of the greatest compliments you could receive, which is why I am blogging about this. I want to challenge both you and I to realize that our lives (online and offline) have been given to us to glorify God and relay the thrill of following Him to others. All of us struggle with the necessities of being an inspiration (transparency, honesty, listening, etc.), but we don’t have to be all of them to light the match.
The people you have been placed on this earth to inspire might be totally different than those that I have. Some might know Christ, and some might not. But God has given those people to you. Do you believe you are an inspiration? Are you struggling with connecting with others or finding the place God has for you to shine? Or maybe you could share how you have been inspired (or by who), or maybe how and who you might have been an inspiration to?
That’s the new title God has allowed me to be given after accepting a full-time position today with 104.9 The River (Christian radio station here in Columbus, OH). The way this opportunity unfolded over the last month was nothing but an act of God. I attended a Christian camp years ago while in elementary school, not knowing that God would tap my counselor’s (Director of Sales at The River) shoulder in 2010 and have him invite me into the station for a consulting meeting.
With the economy the way it is, it really shocked me to sense God’s love at the right time. I constantly reminded myself through the process that there are many out there today without a job – and to be offered one when you weren’t hunting for it shows God was moving even more to me. He was allowing us to get by as I worked at home as a freelance web designer (and part-time at our church), but it was getting pretty chaotic after 3-4 years. I tried maybe too hard to keep my fees affordable for ministries, while also not being too interested in bringing in a second hand to assist in completing projects as quickly as I’d like.
A few things God showed me through the process include: In the middle of the process I asked a pastor / friend of mine to pray, and he was quick to let me know that there couldn’t be a better job title for me. Another friend came up to me just last week (without knowing I had just applied), and let me know he heard the job opportunity ad playing on the radio and that I should strongly consider it. What excites me is to work with a group of individuals that sense the reality that God wants to use technology to improve the way they spread / connect His message to the community. To see how the coming generations use different technologies to communicate than the previous, and that God wants to speak to them where they are at.
I’ll share more details after I start (two weeks from today), but I thought I’d just give a small attempt at glorifying and praising God for His provision and guidance. His watch was obviously ticking – I don’t wear one.
Posted under Technology on March 3, 2010
This past November my wife took on the challenge of “winning NaNoWrimo“. The challenge? Write a 50,000 word novel entirely in just that month. Complete the challenge, and you are one of the many (insanely courageous) winners. After she completed the project (Word document) we were both curious what God might want her to do with the book.
She’s had four books published (by a “real” publisher). This was her first shot at fiction, so it’s a pretty safe and humble move not to think it’s ready for the press. But it was definitely ready for an impressive community that follows her blog, and readers of her books that she has been personally in touch with. Our first thought was to make it an e-book. There’s lots of buzz going on in the past year or so about the Amazon Kindle – and the near launch of the Apple iPad. There are also readers that are interested in just downloading a PDF document and reading it on their computer.
I looked into the process of creating a book for Amazon’s Kindle (Digital Text Platform), and while it’s not difficult, you only receive 35% of the proceeds of the price you choose to list the book for. I was close to submitting the book through to Amazon when Marla let me know that she knows quite a few people that take their own PDF documents and transfer them over to the Kindle.
Now knowing that was possible, I was able to find a service called PayLoadz that lets you upload media (documents, etc.) into an account and you only pay a monthly fee based on the number of items you sell. Here’s how the process works:
- Create an account on PayLoadz and connect it with your PayPal account. Your first $50 of sales is free. The next level would be $100 of sales, which requires a $5 monthly payment. After reaching that level it looks like PayLoadz is only keeping just over 50 cents of each $8 purchase.
- Create your first product (enter simple book details, upload PDF document and a product cover image you create)
- PayLoadz produces a purchase link you can share with your readers via your website, blog, email, etc.
- Money is deposited directly into your PayPal following a purchase
- Each consumer receives a unique and encrypted link to download the document immediately via email
By doing this, you’re avoiding handing 65% of your profit over to Amazon while readers are still able to read your book on a Kindle. Marla also chose to launch a WordPress site over at WorldsApartProject.com, where she will be sharing the actual book for free via frequent blog posts (with the option to buy it for $8 and not wait to read it over 10+ months).
