What where these people thinking!?!

They were thinking, “Easy.”

If you haven’t figured out a system for solid passwords that are easy to remember, be sure to invest in a password management program.

Now, here are the 25 worst passwords from last year:

1. password
2. 123456
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. monkey
7. 1234567
8. letmein
9. trustno1
10. dragon
11. baseball
12. 111111
13. iloveyou
14. master
15. sunshine
16. ashley
17. bailey
18. passw0rd
19. shadow
20. 123123
21. 654321
22. superman
23. qazwsx
24. michael
25. football

There are a few things to keep in mind when creating a password:

• Don’t use a name.
• Don’t use a word that can be found in the dictionary.
• Use at least eight characters.
• Use special characters, upper and lower case letters and numbers.

Finally, make sure you regularly update your passwords!

[via Forbes]

The video below breaks down into simple (and humorous) terms the way Google skims your email for keywords and renders ads based on these metrics.

The video is actually Microsoft’s jab at Gmail as it promotes their own online email solution through Office 365, but it is certainly … funny?

How do you feel about Gmail’s prying eyes?

With this same concept in mind, I can use this handy Photoshop plugin to design any WordPress theme on just about any grid-based CSS template of my choosing.

Traditionally, I’ve found transitioning from a Photoshop mockup design to HTML and CSS code can sometimes be a little tricky. If you like building on a grid, you’ll find this handy Photoshop plugin really slick!

GuideGuide

Dealing with grids in Photoshop has never been this easy!

GuideGuide gives you:

Pixel accurate columns, rows, midpoints, and baselines can be created based on your document or marquee with the click of a button. Frequently used guide sets can be saved for repeat use. Grids can use multiple types of measurements.

Sweet!

GuideGuide is available for both CS4 and CS5+.

Get it!

Now you can legally sell those mp3s.

For now.

The Ruling

A United States District Judge refused to close Redigi, a second-hand seller of  iTunes digital music, in a decision that experts say is a nod to the Exhaustion (better known as first-sale) doctrine.

Basically, the first sale doctrine allows someone who has legally obtained copyrighted material to sell it without recrimination. In this scenario, no new copies are made; ownership is cleanly transferred, and that one copy (in this example) is all that is in circulation.

In the case that precipitated the specific decision, Capitol Records claims Redigi is causing losses by violating copyright. Redigi, who created a unique way to delete the music files off computers of customers before selling the files to new customers, says they were able to ensure that the original purchaser did not have the music, thereby keeping one mp3 file in circulation.

At least in theory.

Loop Holes

Now, the more astute folks will see that there are some holes, so it is not too surprising Capitol is proceeding with the lawsuit, but this ruling seemingly does not bode well for it. In the meantime, get those old iTunes music that you bought commemorating once-sweet relationships from the mid-2000s.

Should consumers be allowed to resell digital material within clear ethical boundaries or is the potential for abuse too high?

I hates it.

Considering so many of my friends and followers throughout social media are decent adults, I’m fairly insulated from seeing any kind of cyberbullying. I do, however, have some sort of an inkling as to just how ugly cyberbullying must be, by simply trolling through a few YouTube videos and reading the comments.

Cyberbullying is ugly.

Cyberbullying is real.

Learn more and spread the word:

[Click for Larger]

Here are some more startling facts about cyberbullying, but what I want to ask you is:

What can the Church do about cyberbullying?

[via Online Counseling Degrees]

Then, I read the post myself.

I had accurately, concisely, and—if I may be so immodest— humorously described the Church’s problem with “quality control,” doing church with excellence. Yet, there was one serious problem:

I hadn’t actually offered a solution.

Quality Control

All I had done was complain, rather than try to offer any constructive/corrective advice. This set off some huge alarm bells in my soul. Suddenly, the problem of quality control lay with my attitude than with the Church.

If I’ve learned anything about being a “church techie,” it’s that the biggest tech-related problem in the Church just might be the tech guys’ attitudes. We see Church from behind the curtain, and sometimes that means that we look at our worship services, our graphics, our (insert your tech-related pet peeve here) with a bit of cynicism that the average congregant doesn’t have.

How many times do you end church by tallying up the mistakes?

Before you leave church each week, do you have to register your complaints with someone?

Your church may does have some quality control problems: every church does! The greater issue, however, is the quality control problem within your own heart.

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

– Luke 6:45

No one wants to be known as the guy with an abundance of cynicism and complaints. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t we become church techies to offer solutions, not continually harp on problems?

3 Steps to a Godly Church Tech Attitude

Here are are few things that help me correct my attitude when I drift toward being overly negative:

1. Take personal pride out of the equation

More than a few times, I’ve been more upset that my advice wasn’t taken concerning an issue than I was upset about the issue itself. When this happens, I have to go to God for some serious perspective. Make sure that what is bugging you is the actual issue and not your status as the “problem-solver.” Humbly is the only way to serve in the Church.

2. Remember that it’s not your problem

My local church doesn’t belong to me. Your church doesn’t belong to you. Neither of our names are on the front door. That means that, in the end, all of these problems/issues/complaints belong to God. He can take care of it. Besides, He’s not nearly as bothered about Sister Suzy’s off-pitch rendition of “El Shaddai” or the church secretary’s dark obsession with Comic Sans—if at all—as He is with our negative attitudes.

3. Church tech should be an act of worship

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got as I was being initiated into the field of church tech was this: It’s worship.

I was about thirteen years-old, and I was talking with an older church tech about how I wished I could sing louder while running the church’s sound booth. He said,

“What you’re doing is worship when you’re doing it for God. Just like the musicians and singers on stage, you’re helping others to worship God and to hear His Word and that’s worship.”

Our technical support should be rendered to our local churches as an extension of our worship of Jesus, but that’s not going to happen if we’re too buy bemoaning the fact that our video announcements are still filmed in—gasp—standard definition.

Do you have a quality control problem where your heart is concerned?

Is your tech support offered as worship?

[Image via J.B. Hill]

Even if you don’t use Coda, you still may find Coda Clips to be a nice resource for grabbing commonly used snippets of code, but if you are a Coda user, you’re going to find Coda Clips a very awesome resource.

Check it out:

Coda Clips

Coda Clips includes the following categories:

• CSS
• Drupal
• ExpressionEngine
• HTML
• JavaScript
• PHP
• Textpattern
• WordPress
• Misc

You can simply browse the selection of clips or use the handy search box, but here’s where Coda Clips gets fancy:

When you find a snippet you want to install into Coda’s Clips, just click the “Install Clip” button!

Easy peasy.

Bookmark, browse, install clips.

Coda Clips.

Me likey.

You’re going to love these!

Check-out more meme movie posters!

[via mememovieposters]

This “toy building brick” became more than just a toy. It’s iconic.

From a 100ft LEGO Tower Built in Brazil to EPIC Lord of the Rings projects, to all the LEGO-manics in between, here’s where it all started:

[Click for Larger]

#EPIC

[via World-Shaker]

Google Chrome for Android Beta is here.

But, there’s a catch.

As reported by Mashable:

… the Android Beta is only available for Android 4.0 devices. The vast majority — that is, 99% of Android devices that have accessed the market in the last two weeks — don’t run Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich.

Wah-wah.

What do you think?

[via Mashable]