Fork In The Road Music » Communication

48 Free iPhone Camera Background Textures

Russell Martin — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 04:40:31 +0000

I have really begun to enjoy taking photos with my iPhone. I recently started using the instagram app for my iPhone and that has challenged me to take more and more creative pictures. One thing I have begun is to take photos of textures that could be used as iPhone backgrounds, or textures for web and other projects. I thought I’d share some with you.

Go to Free iPhone Texture Dropbox Folder

These textures hosed on Dropbox. Find out how you can your own free 2g Drobpox.

Do you use instagram? Add “rgmmusic” as a friend.

Stop Clicking “Like” and Do Something

Russell Martin — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 05:03:10 +0000

Many years ago I heard a song, which contained this phrase:

“When did a check take the place of love, and what would Jesus think of that?”

Though I can’t recall the name of the song, I do know that that phrase has stuck with me for many years.

To me, it was a warning, and a reminder to do more than just throw money at a problem. Often we see something that needs to change, or people that need our compassion, so we pull out our wallets and write a check. This way we can feel good about doing “our part” without actually having to get our hands dirty.

As it turns out, we don’t even need a checkbook to do “our part” anymore. Just change your profile photo, repost your status, or click “like” and there.. you’re done. Or at least we are led to think so.

It’s called slactivism..and Wikipedia defines it this way:

“The word is usually considered a pejorative term that describes “feel-good” measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfaction. The acts tend to require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist.”

For me it’s my second least favorite Facebook update. You’ve seen these examples:

“Change your profile photo to a cartoon character”

or

“I’m 30 weeks and I’m craving pop tarts ”

or

“If this page get’s 1 million likes, my dad will stop smoking.”

So we click “like” or repost the status, or change our photo, and move on.

I know that these are all good things to support. Yes, we should definitely care about these issues. However, in my opinion these “tactics” are actually counter productive to what is hoping to be accomplished. Here’s why:

1. People Get Confused - My friend, who was married a few years ago, put in her status something like. “I’m 10 weeks and craving honey buns” To which the comments were things like. “Congratulations” and “How long have you known?” ,”I’m going to be an aunt?” I can just say that “Breast Cancer Awareness” was not the message people were getting.

2. We Discourage Real Involvement – We get a sense of satisfaction by participating in these types of updates. It scratches that itch we have to “help out” and can sometimes make us less likely to support something tangible when the opportunity arises. “Would you like to give money?” “No thanks, but I’ll like your page on Facebook.”

3. Nothing Real Happens- Profile pictures and status updates don’t feed people, or provide shelter to families, or really even raise money. I know, before you say “But wait…If we raise awareness, we’ll raise money!!” I want to point out that most of these campaigns do not say what they are raising awareness for, it’s cryptic, much less give a link or place to go for more information or a way to donate.

So what can you do?

1. Be Active - Give money, give of your time.

2. Be Unique - Update your status with something real, don’t copy everyone else. Tell me why you support your cause, make it personal.

3. Be Informative – Tell me the ways I can contribute. Give me a link for more information or to donate, or a phone number to call to volunteer.

Unfortunately slacktivism this is nothing new. Facebook has just given us a new way to express it. This poem is written on the wall of a missionary training center.

I was hungry,
and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger.
I was imprisoned,
and you crept into your chapel and prayed for my early release.
I was naked,
and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick,
and you knelt to thank God that you were in health.
I was homeless,
and you told me of the shelter found in the love of God.
I was lonely,
and you left me alone to go to pray for me.

You seem so holy, so close to God
but I am still very hungry-and lonely- and oh so very cold!

It reminds me that it is all too easy for us to think we are doing something, when we are really doing nothing at all.

I would love to hear your comments and thoughts. Leave them below.

Like I said this is my second least favorite type of Facebook update.. read about the first.

Stop and Research Before You Repost

Russell Martin — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 04:52:35 +0000

Tonight I opened my Facebook feed and was reading through several posts from the day. As I read down past cute photos of new babies, a few bible verses, and what was for dinner I came across the first type of status updates that I have come to find incredibly annoying.

The first is the post talking about not joining a group or about boycotting a product for some specific reason. Most recent example was this one…

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Don’t buy the new Pepsi can coming out with pics of the Empire State building and the Pledge of Allegiance on them. Pepsi left out 2 words in the pledge “Under God.” Pepsi said “Didn’t want to offend anyone” So if we don’t buy them, they won’t be offended when they don’t receive our money with the words “In God We Trust”

Which was followed by…

FYI…Repost Update about the Pepsi Can. SORRY it was a Big Unintentional HOAX…go to snopes.com, search Pepsi Can. The original Pledge of Allegiance written by Francis Bellamy in 1892 did not have the words “Under God” it was added by Congress in 1952….the pepsi and coke HOAX was morphed and twisted somehow… Dr. Pepper did a campaign and had a can after 9-11, w/the statue of liberty it and 3 words, ” One Nation…Indivisible.” If you reposted this from me, PLEASE Repost This! Thank You!!

How long would it have taken for the original re-poster to check that before they went on line and shared this with all their friends? Probably less time than it took to look it up afterwards, and then repost an apology.

So think before you Repost… there are a few sites that help to keep internet stories in check. First you can try Snopes.com, another is thatsnonsense.com

All I am asking is that you check it out. Cause here’s what happens if you don’t..

1. You Spread False Rumors- Your lying and I don’t think that’s very nice…

2. People Get Hurt - I don’t know if the pepsi rumor caused anyone to actually stop buying their product or not. What if it did? Anytime something like this gets started there is the potential for people to get hurt. like a ruined reputation, lack of product sales, or even loss of job.

3. People Stop Following You - Social media is about having conversations and sharing your thoughts and ideas with others. Would you want to talk face to face with someone who lies and spreads rumors? Do it enough and people will get tired of hearing it. And your posts either get hidden, or worse, you get unfriended.

4. You Keep Real Messages From Being Heard -I think the story I am looking for is of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. Eventually no one listened to what he had to say, and when a real wolf came, no one listened.

Agree? Disagree? Did you just unfriend me? Leave a comment…

Here’s the second status update I hate…(coming soon)

Stop Clicking “Like” and Do Something

Follow Friday – People I’ve Never Met

Russell Martin — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:54:43 +0000

Last week I started a post that expanded on the very popular follow friday idea. Basically I am sharing not only the twitter names of those I follow, but a few reasons why you should follow them too.

This week I want to introduce you to people I have never met. These are some people I follow on twitter, whom I have come to know over the years through their blog posts, twitter updates and facebook conversations. I admire them, who they are and what they are doing. I just haven’t actually seen them in person… but I’d like to.

@mandythompson – Mandy is a songwriter, worship leader and takes some of the best photos posted on instagram that I have ever seen. She took part in the album in a day project where she wrote, recorded and produced 5 songs in a 24 hour period. She shares her thoughts, and songs over on her blog mandythompson.com.

@kemmeyer – Kem is the Communications Director at Granger Community Church. Her book Less Clutter Less Noise is a must read for anyone involved any way in communication. Read her thoughts at her blog Kemmyer.com

@mattlipan – Matt is a pastor, blogger, fellow United Methodist and dad who, as he says is, trying to live at the intersection of culture, theology, people, social media, music, and life in the Midwest. Read his thoughts and posts on his blog mattlipan.blogspot.com

So those are my #followfriday folks for the day. What are yours? Who do you follow that I should follow?

Oh and if you want to follow me you can on twitter.com/rgmmusic or Facebook.com/russellmartinmusic or the new google plus

Featured photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/freefoto/

Follow Friday-Friends

Russell Martin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 03:04:05 +0000

I love the idea of the Follow Friday on Twitter. If you don’t know, twitter users will post a list of people they follow that you might find interesting, and then include the #FF or #followfriday hashtag. The problem is that I generally do not end up following any of them, because to me they are just a twitter username. So I thought I would expand on the idea a little and share with you some of my favorite twitter users and blog authors, and tell you why I follow them, and why you should to.

@jasonbhuffman - Two things I have in common with Jason are music and baseball. He’s a Ranger’s fan and I love my ‘Stros. We also love working with youth and helping them to use their gifts to lead worship. In fact Jason wrote a book about it. Check out his blog http://www.jasonbhuffman.wordpress.com

@russbo - I met Russ when we worked together at my church. He loves youth, disc golf and duke basketball. He is a great guy and a good friend. He blogs over at http://www.russbowlin.blogspot.com.. check it out.

@expatminister - Josh Hale is one of the most active twitter users I know, and is always sharing links and thoughts about what’s going on in the methodist church, world, and Astros baseball. He share’s his thoughts on his blog http://expatminister.org.

I hope you’ll go check out these guys blogs and follow them on twitter also. Then leave me a link, let me know who I should be following.. and why.

photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/aechempati/

One Reason to Post Your Photos on Your Website, Not Facebook

Russell Martin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 04:21:28 +0000

When I attended the UMR Communicator’s Conference Patrick Steil from Church Buzz presented on 10 Commandments Church Website Optimization. During the course of his talk he mentioned that though putting your photos on Facebook albums is ok, you should make sure and post photos on your website.

I think I understand why…

Here is a view of our church web traffic over the past month. I put up photos of our “Shake it Up Cafe” VBS starting on 7-25. Then I posted a link to our church Facebook page. Thursday alone there were 180 views of the VBS photo page.

The great thing about it is that those views also trickled down to other pages, like our “Visiting Williams” page, “News and Events” page and “Children’s Ministries.”

While I probably could have gotten a lot of views to our church Facebook page by posting the photos there, I would not have gotten the additional hits and visits of our other pages.

What about you? How do you post photos of your events? Do you use albums outside of your website, and link to them? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

5 Tips to Taming Facebook

Russell Martin — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 05:32:31 +0000

Since I was able to sign up on facebook I have always though it to be a wonderful thing. Over they years I have been able to connect with some old friends, meet some new people, share photos with family and enhance real life relationships.

And yes, while it is a great tool to use, you can have too much of a good thing. Recent conversations have revealed a theme among those I have talked to in regards to their use of facebook.

“I can’t go ten minutes without checking facebook”

“I’m on facebook all the time. It’s on my phone, computer”

“If I get another request to join a mafia, or build a farm, or answer a question, I’ll scream”

“There are too many emails and notifications, I can’t keep up with it all”

For many, facebook has gone from being a blessing, to being a burden.

So what do you do? Well, first of all you can delete your profile, delete your photos and disappear off facebook forever.

But before you do that here are a few suggestions of some other ways you can use it and enjoy it again.

1. Hide Stuff- The next time someone asks you to return their lost cow, or join a mafia, block that application. Hover over the post on your wall, and an “X” will appear in the right hand corner. Click on that “X” and you will have three options: Hide that post, hide that person, and hide all from that application. After a few weeks you’ll begin to clear the clutter from your wall and see only the updates from those you want.

2. Make Lists - Go to your friends page and click “Edit Friends” You will have the option to create friends lists. Create a few lists to group your contacts into. Here are mine:

Family- If they are related this is where the go.

Friends- These are people I would still be in contact with if the internet died and I had to use other means to communicate. Like.. say talking face to face, or on the phone.

Aquaintances - If you are in this group, I know you, I’ve met you, but we really don’t talk or hang out much.

Associates – These are people who I work with on a yearly basis. Includes those in my work place, contacts I use on a regular basis for work related, or music ministry related purposes.

Church- Working at a church, and being in charge of communications I built a group for all my church facebook friends.

You may have more lists, you may have just a few. I know someone who made two lists… 1. People I like, 2. People I added just to be nice.

Then in your newsfeed click most recent, and then select the drop down. You can then choose the friend list you would like to see.

3. Turn Off Notifications- You do not need to get an email or text message every time someone rights on your wall, invites you to join a group or sends you a message. Go to “Account Settings” and then “Notifications” then uncheck a lot of boxes. I unchecked just about everything except when I am tagged in photos and some weekly updates for ads, birthdays etc.

This will allow you to go to facebook when you want to, not have it constantly draw you in.

(You will also need to turn off notifications on your mobile facebook program of choice if installed on your phone)

4. Take a Weekly Break - Consider a facebook free friday, or other day of your choosing. Commit to not use facebook for a complete 24 hour period every week.

5. Separate Personal and Business – When I started with facebook I had one personal page. I used that page as a way to connect with not only personal friends and family, but music ministry contacts from camps and concerts. Every camp I would go to I would accept 50 to 100 friend requests from those I had met. Now some of them, some of you, are great friends, but some only joined to keep up with my music ministry. So I created the Russell Martin music facebook page.

If I had it to do over again I would direct almost everyone to the music facebook page. This would keep my personal facebook much cleaner. If you have a business, or blog, or are part of an organization consider setting up a page for that. That way you can keep your personal site manageable, and those who want to keep up with your business don’t have to see 100 photos of your newborn child, or puppy dogs.

These are just a few of my suggestions. There are so many good things about facebook, but so many ways it can be controlling. Hopefully these tips may help you to keep in touch with those you want, without being overwhelmed.

Do you have a tip on how you have helped tame facebook? Share it in the comments below. Or share it with me on twitter.com/rgmmusic. You can also join my facebook page www.facebook.com/russellmartinmusic

The Easiest Way to Do Slide Shows

Russell Martin — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 17:26:42 +0000

Slide shows have come a long way in the past few years.

I remember having slides developed, arranging them in a projector, and pressing play on the tape player.

I remember having photos developed, videoing each one for 5 seconds and pressing play on the cd player.

I remember taking digital photos, putting them in power point, and inserting a music link

I remember using windows movie maker, adding photos, adding a music track and rendering it together.

Now I just use Animoto

With animoto you upload your photos, or short video clips, and select one of their many themes. Next add your text where needed, and arrange the photos in order. Then you can choose a provided music track or upload your own. Finally click finish and they will send you an email when your video is ready.

From their it is very easy to share your video on youtube, facebook, twitter, email or embed in your blog. There is even an option to download a high resolution video to burn to DVD or show in your church service. Animoto even has an app for your iphone, and you can create a complete video from the photos and clips you have stored there, without ever using a computer.

Right now animoto is running a referral program. Sign up for an All-Access pass, $30 per year, and get one month free (or $5 off). Sign up for an Animoto Pro account $249 per year, and get one extra month free.

Click here to sign up

Check out some of these other uses for animoto.

VBS VIDEO

Senior Video

3 Steps to Manage Blog Reading

Russell Martin — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 06:12:01 +0000

I read a good number of blogs on a daily basis. They range from tech blogs to worship blogs, from communication blogs to friends blogs. For a long time I have used Google Reader to organize these blogs. Here’s how…
1. In the morning I read through the blog headlines and see which ones sound interesting. Sometimes I’ll read the whole post, sometimes just a little bit. If I like it, or would like to read it later I put a star by it
2. In the evening I read through the starred blogs more closely, and determine whether I will keep it, delete it or share it.
3. If I keep it it stays starred. If I delete it I remove the star. If I want to share it I click the share button.

Those shared items are then put onto their own page that you can access. Just go to http://www.google.com/reader/shared/rgmmusic to see my most recent shared items. If you don’t have time to go there now, here are a few of my most recent favorites. If you like, you can also subscribe directly to my shared items on google reader.

When It Comes to Media, It’s Time To Get Real

Freebie Friday 199: Free motion PowerPoint backgrounds

Best Practices of Combining Typefaces

Movieclips.com Raises $3 Million to Help Bring Movie Clips to the Masses

I’m working on creating a twitter list of all those individuals whos blogs I have shared over the past year. See the initial list at @rgmmusic/shared