Epic.
Archives for January 2010
Review: X3 Watch for iPhone
This is a Guest Post by Gavin Baker.
XXX Church is well known for their offering of X3Watch, a free accountability software that runs in the background on your computer and scans your web browsing history.
With the launch of the iPhone App Store there were many voices clamoring for an iPhone app (myself included).
Unfortunately because Apple doesn’t allow third-party apps to run in the background, the mobile X3 team had to rethink how they would approach accountability on the iPhone, which they turned to developer Sam Soffes, creator of the Holy Bible app for LifeChurch.tv.
Their approach was to build a browser to replace the native Safari app. The replacement browser will capture all your browsing and send a report to the defined (up to 3) accountability partners every 1, 2, 3 weeks based on the users choice.
Just like the desktop version of X3 on install you input email addresses for your accountability partners and any time that the application is un-installed your partners are notified.
The app itself is very similar to Safari and running it through a few Google searches, Gmail and Google Docs produced very similar experiences and speeds, as far as that I’d give it a 5/5.
Using the app as a replacement is fairly straightforward except for a few differences:
- No tabbed browsing
- No bookmarks
- No ability to add a shortcut to the home screen (webapp)
- Any links have to be copy & pasted into it – they won’t open by clicking them
Now let’s be clear, these differences may not matter to some, but for heavy users, I’d consider them major distinctions and a deal breaker.
Additionally, during my testing, hitting the back button in the browser caused the app to close on multiple occasions. This became a frustrating exercise as without tabbed browsing going back required retyping the link. (I’m sure this is just a bug and will be fixed soon).
For some this app could be exactly what they were looking for but I’d suspect not even though the cost is hard to argue with $0 (FREE). I found it an anemic solution from an organization and developer we expected a better product from.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m fully behind an app that would bring better accountability for mobile, because the viewing of mobile porn will continue to grow and this would be a great defense for many Christians.
So download the app and give it a try and let me know your thoughts!
YouVersion Releases NLT Version for Limited Time!
YouVersion has released an offline version of the NLT (New Living Translation) for a limited time for the iPhone and iPod Touch:
The NLT will be available for download for 90 days and will remain there forever (unless you delete the Bible app from your device, heaven forbid).
Again, we want to thank Tyndale House Foundation for their generosity in making the NLT available offline for this time.
Very neat. I will admit that I’m curious why it’s only available for a limited time. What exactly is the purpose of a limited window for download?
Another spiritual mystery.
😉
Do You Have an Email Response SLA?
Technically speaking, the above isn’t really a SLA (Service Level Agreement) since a SLA is a contract. But, I think the term can be appropriately used here.
I found this site Babbaco.com (don’t ask why I was there) and on their “Contact Us” page they promised a 3 day response time via email. I never thought about putting an explicit response time on my contact page but I thought it was pretty cool and it speaks a lot about their business.
I think response time can tell someone a lot about how much they care about their clients (and site visitors). A timely response can make it or break it in some respects, especially in a world which demands immediacy.
I think 3 days is pretty long but perhaps it’s about right. What do you think? Do you have an Email SLA? Do you try to respond in a certain amount of time every time?
Gary Vaynerchuk: Creative Facebook Welcome Tab
Many of you are probably aware of who Gary Vaynerchuck is. He’s the “wine” guy.
But he’s more than that; he’s a social media entrepreneur and the church could learn a lot about how to use online media well by listening to some of the stuff he does (and how he does it).
He’s got an amazing Facebook welcome tab that I think is worth a look. I can guess that ministries are going to start spending more time, attention, and money in making their Facebook pages more awesome. Better start taking notes from those who are doing it well!
Got any other good examples?
Take a look at the full image of Gary’s after the jump… [Read more…] about Gary Vaynerchuk: Creative Facebook Welcome Tab
Another Great Use for Amazon S3: Automatic WordPress Backup Plugin
I got my bill for last month’s bandwidth usage from Amazon S3 and apparently I’m using a lot more traffic than last month by the cost ($10.11). Exciting! Generally this means that I’m getting more traffic which is reasonable since I’ve had some posts (like this one) which got hit hard.
So far, Amazon S3 has done some great work for me in terms of my site speed; in fact I’m really satisfied, and now I’ve found another great WordPress plugin that connects directly with S3: Automatic WordPress Backup!
Here’s what the download file looks like. It backups your wp-content folder and your wp-config.php. All you need!
Now, I’ve always done my backups manually since I can never truly trust an automatic program. I’m just a control-freak like that, but after a few tests with this plugin I’m sold and I’m never doing a manual backup ever again (well, maybe…).
It took me literally 30 seconds to install and then a few more minutes to test the backup. Perfect. If you need a great reason for S3, then you’ve found one:
Anyone else using Amazon S3? What are your thoughts? How do YOU backup your WordPress site?