Low-tech Church TV (@asaltbde)

When ‘church’ and ‘TV’ are mentioned, we usually think of super churches, perhaps in America, that have their own channel. One might think a lot of expensive hardware is required. How does anyone broadcast something anyway?

There are low cost solutions out there, that don’t require a studio team to figure out how to use them, or a big budget. In fact, they are free to use. All you need is a webcam, video camera or a smartphone.

For a while now, I’ve been considering how this technology would benefit a parish church community. In today's inclusive society, where neither disabilities or age should be discriminated against, I believe broadcasting the sermon has a valuable role to play. Imagine you are elderly and can’t make it to church on Sundays. Or perhaps you have had an accident, or even recovering in hospital. Maybe you are curious about your local church, and would like to see what it’s all about before you take the big step of physically visiting. Whatever way you look at it, broadcasting is another way of spreading God’s word to your local community, and that’s got to be a good thing. You might even start by just broadcasting a special service, like Harvest Festival. I’m not suggesting broadcasting a whole service, perhaps just the sermon. You can’t broadcast the worship for copyright reasons, and you will need permission to video children.

How about audio podcasts I hear you cry? They are very effective, but they have a different audience. Audio is great for people on the move. For example, driving to work, at the gym or walking the dog. I’m not suggesting video would replace this, but it could reach a different audience in a more intimate way. Words and pictures have much more meaning. Body language for example is a huge part of how we communicate.

If you’re up for the challenge, and open to new ideas, then stick with me while I mention a few relatively simple ways to broadcast video. There are likely other ways, but these are the ones I’m aware of.

 

Bambuser

Bambuser is free to use for individuals, and video can be transmitted live, or recorded and uploaded later, using an application on your mobile phone. iOS, Android, Windows and all the major phone platforms are supported. The application is very simple to use, and you can start or stop your broadcast at any time. Bambuser provides some HTML which you can embed on your website, so that people can view your broadcast directly, or you can send them to your Bambuser site. Each recording is saved on the site, so you can refer people back to it to listen again, if they missed it live.

I’ve tested Bambuser out, and it works well. I really recommend you have a WiFi connection to do this live.

 

Google ‘Hangouts On Air’

Google Hangouts allow several people with webcams to chat to one another. It’s a great way to discuss ideas, especially amongst different church groups, without having to be in the same physical place.

An extension of Hangouts is ‘Hangouts On Air’. This option is available in Google Plus, and it allows you to broadcast live to your website, or YouTube channel . I am not aware of a smartphone application to support Hangouts On Air, but it could be done on a laptop with a webcam.

 

YouTube

If you aren’t bothered about broadcasting live, but would like to put a recorded video online, then YouTube is a great way of doing it. You can setup a YouTube channel, and upload your video from your computer, or smartphone application. An example of this in action is the Roving Rev project. Daily recordings taking on a smartphone were uploaded using the YouTube app to the St Micheal’s YouTube channel, whilst Rev Bruce was on his walking pilgrimage.

 

So OK we’re not talking high quality, but is that important? I believe it’s more important to be genuine, current and get the message out, rather than focusing on quality. What do you think? Perhaps you have tried this yourself, do you have any hints and tips?

[Also published on the Big Bible]

Stop, Think, Who do you want to share your life with?

Social media is a great way to share information about what we like with our friends. There are so many different types of information we can share, from photos and videos to our location. We choose to share this information. It’s a conscious decision, like sending a tweet with our holiday location attached, or posting a photo of our child’s birthday. Given our demand for all things social, many device application providers have moved to make their applications socially aware. For example applications may wish to read our address book, to see who our friends are, or track our location to see where our friends are or our proximity to a service or event. Is that what we really want?

I love sharing knowledge and information, but I do object to the type of applications that are now becoming socially aware, and the impact that has on my personal privacy (regardless of their disclaimers). Suddenly it seems, applications which should only require a limited set of permissions on your android device, now need far more as they pack in those extra social features that perhaps you never wanted and likely won’t use.  I can understand a virus scanner app may need a lot of permissions, but other applications like games, newspapers or bible apps for example, simply don’t need to access all my personal information, my text messages or my location. I’ve noticed a recent trend over the last few months. Each time an Android app updates itself, it requests more permissions. It’s easy to just accept the ‘OK’ prompt and get on with life, but you may want to stop and think.

• Am I willing to give this application the permissions it has requested?
• Does it seem reasonable, given what the app does, for it to request these permissions?
• Is there an alternative that requires less permissions?

There are plenty of alternative apps out there that don’t require those extra permissions. For example, I’ve recently switched my bible app to the free Amplified Bible. It doesn’t have any bells and whistles, it’s simply, a bible. The only permissions it requires are ‘full network access’ and ‘install shortcuts’. That’s exactly what I would expect. This app is supported by adverts (but also works offline), hence the full network access. I am willing to give this application the permissions it has requested because they do seem reasonable, given what the app does.

If you’re using an iOS device like an iPhone or iPad, you are not immune to this, you just may not know about it yet. Apple’s iOS lets apps read contacts without requesting any sort of permission, according to this article.

So I’d like to encourage you to think about what permissions you grant applications on Android. If you don’t believe the apps should need the permissions they have requested, then move on, and vote with your feet. Install an alternative which doesn’t require that you share your private information with the company who wrote the application. Stop, think, who do you want to share your life with?

How to setup Twitter on your feature phone

Many people don’t have Smartphone's like iPhones, Blackberries or Android devices. If you own an old skool Nokia, that simply allows you to send and receive text messages, then you can still use twitter. The great thing about Twitter is that it’s so simple to use, and requires basic technology.

I’d like to walk you through the basic steps to create a Twitter account using a computer like a PC or Mac. Then I’ll show you how you can register your phone with your Twitter account. Lastly, I’ll explain how to send your first tweet from your phone.

 

On your computer, in your web browser, type in http://twitter.com

You will see a “Sign up for Twitter” button.

Click on it!

 

 

 

 

Now you need to create your account on Twitter. It’s really simple, and requires very little information.

Type in your name, email address (so Twitter can contact you).

Choose a password to login to your Twitter account.

Be inventive, and type in a username. This is the nickname you will be known as on twitter. It could be a real name, or something fictitious. There is a limit on the number of characters.

Once complete, hit the “Create my account” button.

 

 

Here’s one I created earlier

 

Now Twitter will want you to select friends to connect with. You don’t need to do that at this stage. so just go back to your web browser, and type in http://twitter.com again and click on the little cog in the top right hand corner

Then click on “Settings” followed by the “Mobile” option on the left hand side, and select your Carrier (network provider).

Not all networks are supported by Twitter, but the main ones are. Some networks like Tesco or GiffGaff use another carrier like 02 to provider their service, so select O2 if you are with either of those companies.

Type in your phone number, but drop the leading zero (if in the UK). So 07734 123456 should be typed in as 7734 123456. Then hit the “Activate phone” button.

You will be asked to send a text message "GO”  from your phone, to 86444. Once you have done this, after a few seconds, a message will pop up in your browser to confirm your mobile has been activated on Twitter.

Now you are all ready to Tweet using text messages.

I recommend you create a contact in your phone address book called “Twitter” with a number of 86444. Then to send a tweet, simply send a text to “Twitter”. You can send anything you like. For example, how you are feeling, what you are doing, a question you have. Try it.