ministry software | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts My Xbox Has a Blog

Read a great post over on 360Voice about the upcoming console war and how/why the 360 is coming out on top at the moment. A great piece if you’re into videogames, here’s a clip of a particularly good section. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the next few months.

Beyond the console: Being a passionate gamer, I don’t stop thinking about games when I get up from my console. I want to be able to share those experiences with everyone–and not just my buddies online. Building upon the Identity and Connectivity, Microsoft is taking it one step further. What began as something simple as being able to display your gamercard online for all to see, Microsoft’s willingness to share this data with the community has really taken things to the next level. Gamers can now show off their gamercard on their own terms and with their own designs. They can have their console automatically blog about what they play, and they can chart their gamerscore over time. As the community continues to develop and more people work with the data, the possibilities truly are endless. Combine this with Live Anywhere and we will be interacting with our games and friends on a whole new level.

Bottom Line: Microsoft has a clear set of goals. They want to allow gamers to create identities, connect with other gamers, customize the gaming experience, reach out to the gaming community, and take gaming beyond the console. With solid hardware backing this, their software is creating a seamless experience across all games. We know regardless of the game, we will always have these features available to us.

Did you know my Xbox even has a blog now?

JG

Add Comment September 30, 2006

Josh GriffinMore Posts Youth Ministry Multimedia Basics

USA Today had a great article today on editing video and creating slideshows. Plenty of good stuff in there for youth ministries. Here’s a clip:

It may seem daunting, but editing video has gotten much easier. Just look at the millions of homemade videos on websites, such as YouTube and MySpace.

With movie-editing software, you can make a real production. Apple’s iMovie, Microsoft’s free Windows Movie Maker and Muvee Technologies’ $99.95 Muvee AutoProducer even have tools to make “automatic movies” that take your clips and
edit them for you.

But any real director wants to be in control, and that entails deciding how your movie opens and ends. Apple’s iMovie is drop-dead easy for editing clips, adding titles and music. To edit, you import your clips into the software by locating the videos on your computer, bringing them in and then arranging them into a timeline window that displays the order of the clips for your production.

In iMovie, you edit by arranging two arrows under the video clip to show the portion you want to use, and deleting the excess. After you’re satisfied with the beginning, middle and end of your production, you reach into the grab bag of graphic goodies that comes with the software for titles, captions and transitions, such as fade-outs. Add music and DVD chapters and click “Share” to start the DVD burn.

Apple also lets you save the movie as a file for showing on the Net, or in the popular MV4 format used for its video iPod and podcasts in its iTunes Music Store.

JG

Add Comment August 24, 2006

Josh GriffinMore Posts The Microsoft Zune

Hold on to your iPods everyone (Nano for me), I just read in WiRED that Microsoft is readying it’s new portable entertainment device. As much as I love Windows XP and my Xbox 360, this is going to be a tough hill to climb. iTunes is pretty unstoppable right now … but I’m sure someone said that about Nintendo, too, and look where they are. Atari? K-Mart? The big polka worship trend? All drown in the same boat. Here’s a clip of the news.

Microsoft said on Friday it plans to release a new music and entertainment player and accompanying software under the “Zune” brand this year, in a belated attempt to challenge the dominance of Apple Computer’s iPod player.
Microsoft confirmed the plans for an entertainment device and software in a statement after touting those products to record companies in recent months.

The world’s largest software maker faces an uphill climb in closing the gap on Apple’s iPod media player and iTunes Music Store, the runaway leaders in their respective areas.

Now if it could play games … so like a PSP/iPod hybrid … well, then …

JG

Add Comment July 22, 2006

Josh GriffinMore Posts Decoding the EULA Code

Ever clicked “I agree” when installing new software fromMicrosoft? Linux Advocate has an explanation line by line of what you’re agreeing to. I’m a Windows guy all the way, but still enjoy reading stuff like this. Check it out!

JG

Add Comment May 8, 2006

Josh GriffinMore Posts SYM Newsletter Tool Online

The new SYM newsletter tool is up and running, pretty sweet stuff. It uses the iFrame command to take advantage of Digital River’s mail software and tools, as well as our ASP server as well. Pretty slick in the end, me thinks!

JG