Internet tips and tricks
I confess, I saw Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend, and I loved it. Sure it wasn’t perfect, but it was a fun, space adventure — everything I want in a summer movie. (As a side note, it made me super excited for what JJ will do with Star Wars). To celebrate the number one movie this weekend. Here’s a funny little video I saw this weekend:
I think I may have to make a starship Enterprise costume like this to wear at Comic Con this summer.
In the latest episode of the new YS web show, YS Idea Lab, they interview Bob Goff. I also enjoy an opportunity to listen to him, if you’ve never heard him before this is worth 5 minutes of your time.
YS Idea Lab – Bob Goff: Loving People Inefficiently from Youth Specialties on Vimeo.
I’m really excited that Bob will be at the National Youth Worker Convention this fall, I hope to see you there.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I have been diving into DSLR video over the past few months. The DSLR Camera has, as Philip Bloom described, “democratized cinematography.” What he means is that the affordability of DSLR cameras has made cinema quality video available to even the low budget amateurs such as myself. The world of DSLR video has certainly exploded, and if you aren’t on the first wave it will be easy to get left behind. I wanted to highlight some of the video gurus in the DSLR field that I have found most helpful.
1. Philip Bloom: A London based professional cinematographer who has loads of helpful videos like this one on Vimeo, and his own personal site.
2. Caleb Pike: Caleb operates a site called DSLR Video Shooter. His site is a very practical approach to DSLR video, complete with reviews, instructional videos and the like.
3. Vimeo Video School: This is by far one of the greatest resources out there on cinematography in general. From equipment, to technique, to post production, the Vimeo Video School is a wealth of knowledge!
Do you know any other video resources out there? Share em with the community in the comments!
I’m a big fan of TED and what they do online with their videos from their events. They just released a new tool that allows anyone to build an online lesson using web video. You can select a video and video and create questions, quizes or give links for people to dig deeper.
Here’s a diagram to show the parts of the lesson:
I could see using this as a quick training to send out to volunteers, student leaders, or even to get kids thinking about a topic before they come to small group, sunday school, Wednesday night, or what ever other gatherings you have. I know a lot of educators are big fans of having the lecture portion of teaching done independently before a student comes to class so that class can be about discussion and unpacking the material. This is a tool that allows you to do that.
To learn more, visit Ed.TED.com. Also did I mention the service is FREE?
Should you buy the new iPad? Well, I was very lucky that a church member wanted to buy 4 staff members at our church the newest edition. After a few days playing around on it I want to make a few comments on why you need an iPad even if you have an iPhone.
1. There are apps on my iPhone that I love, but never use because the screen size is not optimized for the application. The first being the WordPress app I am creating this post on. If you are a serious blogger, iPad is money! The square footage really maximizes the potential of apps like WordPress, Evernote, any “reader” app, and many more. I have fell in love with the same apps I had on my iPhone all over again.
2. Your students will think you are cool. NOT. But gathering students around an iPad for a teaching video in a small group, or having students register for camp on an iPad is way easier than an iPhone. The other night in small groups the iPad became a tool to draw students into conversation, and I wasn’t having to hold my hand near the speaker so everyone could hear.
3. If you have an iPhone 4 or later you know the sheer bliss of the Retina display (cue the angel choir). I really believe the 10″ Retina display comes close to justifying the purchase. I held off on iPad 2 because I was disappointed there was no Retina display, but boy was it worth the wait. This thing dazzles.
If you have an iPad what are your favorite apps? I’ve only had mine for a few days so I am hoping productivity will increase to it’s normal level soon.
“What’s LARPing?”, you ask. Well, you may just want to go re-measure yourself on the geek scale. If you look down on the far end of that scale, near infinity, you will find a term called LARPing. It stands for Live Action Role Play. That’s right! It’s Dungeons and Dragons with costumes, and this year the our youth ministry is holding 2 Larper events– we just won’t be calling them Larper events.They are actually modeled after an old YS! resource called Adventure Games. It’s out of print now, but if you can find one on Amazon or eBay I recommend it! The idea that Adventure Games are built on is that you minimize rules, maximize the story/narrative, and play on a huge area with 60-100 players. Here’s a description and video about our first adventure game event:
Our first will be a theme night called “Aliens”. That 4 hour event will be 1 long game that we are calling Battlefield: Earth. Essentially it’s capture the flag, only with humans. As I said earlier, adventure games EMPHASIZE the story! The better and more realistic your story is, the better the game! We decided that what our game needed was a few promo videos that were a little out of the ordinary. Here’s the one that we’ll be showing our students tomorrow morning. I’ll chat about the production a little bit in the comments– right now I have to go hide some Easter eggs for kids at my church!
Google maps has finally caught on. User want faster loading maps with more basic yet vibrant colors! Google newest app currently available online (coming soon to the widest used video can console) it brilliant even down to street view. Watch the promo video, and preorder your today.
Google Maps is now available for 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment Systems (NES). Availability in Google Store is TBD but you can try it on your browser by going to http://maps.google.com and clicking “Quest” in the upper right hand corner of the map.
Though I am not using this at our Passover Seder, I couldn’t resist sharing it here. Those who were a fan of the digital story of the nativity will love this. I am definitely using this the next time we talk about the exodus!
I don’t know how I missed this, but i just saw my friends from DigitalStache have a blog called GameShow where they are posting some great games. With title like Smart or Stupid and Hit the Chip how could you go wrong. They are providing instructions and graphics for some fun games. Doesn’t look like it’s updated that often, but maybe some traffic will inspire them.
If you need some new games, it might be a good one to check out.
Game Show Blog | Game Ideas for Student Ministry from Digital Stache.
Everyone loves fonts, right? There’s nothing like a new font that can make your next flyer or calendar really feel fresh and fun. Here are a couple of links of over 80 FREE fonts for you to use.
The first group has a bunch of great looking new fonts that can help direct the look and feel of your piece:
45+ Latest Free Fonts To Enhance Your Designs
And if that wasn’t enough, here are some great movie style fonts for you. Fonts like Harry Potter, Disney, Lord of the Rings, Twilight and more. Great for spoofing popular movies with your own version.
