Adding a shortcut to your Android home screen is easy with Anycut. Or, is it? After you install, you’re presented with an opportunity to code. But what do I code? I’m not a programmer. I’m just a man in love with my Motorola Droid who would like to make my own shortcut on the home screen.

For example, I want to make a home screen shortcut to Google Tasks. It’s found at http://gmail.com/tasks. Anycut’s Make your own option gives you three blank fields to fill in: Action, Data, and Type.

How to Create a URL Shortcut

To create a simple shortcut that will open the URL (i.e., web site) of your choice you only need the first two fields. Here’s what I entered for Google Tasks.

• Action
  android.intent.action.VIEW
• Data
  http://gmail.com/tasks

You can leave Type blank. Note: “VIEW” must be capitalized and you must include “http://” in your URL.

Further Reading

Thanks to the following sites that led me down the right path to figure this out and post it for you:

• http://www.androidguys.com/2008/12/18/make-your-own-anycut-shortcuts-part-2-of-3/
• http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/g-app-intents.html
• http://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/Intent.html
• http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google%20Mobile/thread?tid=5c70246ca3884f20&hl=en

I haven’t blogged in a while (since my daughter was born) but today is just too funny: both Twitter and Facebook are down. All of a sudden I feel the Internet is slightly less helpful and fun. I needed to send a message to someone on Facebook (a message that actually mattered) and my cognitive queue of tweets is rapidly building. The only place left to turn to when I need to express myself online is my personal, self-hosted blog at KataDrew.com. Let’s just hope my host doesn’t go down, too.

Well, in lieu of social networking, may today be the day we pursue real live interpersonal relationships instead of social networking-driven relationships. My cellphone still works. I can still kiss my wife and the Bible’s just as thrilling as ever. I’ll just have to un-tick the “Notify Twitter about this post?” when I hit publish. Real people are still out there!

Or should I say that Zhubert is gone for bad? It is truly lamentable that Zhubert.com and other Greek New Testament (GNT) projects utilizing the MorphGNT database are running into copyright issues with the German Bible Society (GBS).

For example, where Zhubert once provided a portal for the study of the GNT it now reads:

It has come to my attention that the MorphGNT team has had to pull their text offline at the request of the German Bible Society, so this site is offline as well. As their database was the heart of the window-dressing we provided here, there’s not much to show without it.

Others projects like Open Scriptures, an open source project in the works to carry on the baton of Zhubert, is running into similar copyright infringement problems as it utilizes the same MorphGNT database which is in question. Why MorphGNT is still available I’m not sure. The MorphGNT web site says it will be back soon; but I wonder if “soon” isn’t an overly-optimistic word choice. I would hope all efforts are being made to bring projects involving the GSB’s copyrighted text into full compliance.

German Bible Society

When the pioneer of Open Scriptures emailed the GBS concerning the use of their text in his open source project, he received this reply:

The German Bible Society is a not-for-profit religious foundation. Its
mission, in collaboration with other members of the United Bible Societies,
is to promote biblical research and worldwide Bible translation work in
order to make the Bible available to everybody in their own language.

Biblical research and translation work costs a lot of money. Therefore,
according to the standing rules of our foundation, we have to earn money
with our texts to enable further Bible translations worldwide.

Please understand that as a matter of principle we don’t license the NA27
or the UBS4 Bible text for open source projects.

Regarding the “MorphGNT with UBS4″ on the Open Scriptures website: This is
again a copyright infringement as the basis of the text is the UBS4. We ask
you to remove this text from your website, too, as we are the copyright
holder of the UBS4.

The GBS is not to be blamed for bringing or slowing these projects down. Their principles are sound and understandable and should be respected by those looking to forward any Scripture project. At the same time, it can be desired that an agreement be reached in which all parties benefit from their labors and are equipped to continue with their projects. I know I’m not the only one hoping for such a cooperative, Scripture-propagating outcome.

Watch the “Licensing and the German Bible Society” thread on the Open Scripture forum for updates.

Alternative: E-sword

While online projects work to reach an agreement with the GBS, those interested in GNT studies can make use of the exceptional freeware E-sword which utilizes public domain texts not in danger of copyright infringement. E-sword offers six GNT Bibles free for download: the Majority Text, Scrivener Textus Receptus, Robinson/Pierpont Byzantine Greek New Testament (w/ Strong’s), Textus Receptus Greek New Testament (w/ Strong’s), Westcott-Hort Greek New Testament (w/ Strong’s), and Greek New Testament (w/ Variants). Though these are obviously not the UBS4/NA27 text, they are very good, helpful and important for original language study. Don’t overlook ‘em!

A Word about the Robinson/Pierpont Byzantine GNT

Of the above six versions of the GNT freely available, the most salient, in my opinion, is the Robinson/Pierpont Byzantine Greek New Testament. Here is a life’s work carried on by a professor at my seminary (SEBTS), Maurice Robinson, who believes that the Word of God should not be copyrighted nor sold for profit. It is the Word of God and for all. Praise God for such labors of love!

The Bottom Line

Don’t get rid of your red UBS4!

So, you’re listening to a podcast. The host says he just read a great book that he now highly recommends. You’re nearby your computer so you go to what you think is the one-stop shopping, end-all for used books online, Amazon.com. After punching in the the title of the book, you observe a new copy available from Amazon for $14.99 and a used copy for $6.48 from a seller in the Amazon Marketplace. Is it worth the hassle to check out the price on Half.com? you ponder before making an impulse buy. If only there were an easy way to quickly see the prices of a particular book around the web. If only…

Enter Book Burro. It’s a non-invasive FireFox plug-in that delicately introduces a little box that searches for the best price of a book around the web. In seconds, and without leaving the page you’re on, you can see competitive prices from major online booksellers. What’s more, the installation couldn’t be easier unless it automatically bought books for you (on someone else’s credit card of course). The only reason you wouldn’t install it is if you hate getting the best deal possible, which I know there are some of you out there. Click the screen shot below to see what it looks like in action.

It doesn’t matter if your MP3 is a sermon, a podcast or a song you’ve recorded, it should be tagged with metadata for the following reasons. If you have a podcast, post your sermons online, or freely share your musical productions online, you should tag your MP3 files with metadata. But first, What is metadata?

What is metadata?

Metadata is simply data about data. If an MP3 podcast of an interview you conduct is data, then data about your data would be the date of the recording, the web site hosting the podcast, the interviewer, and the notes concerning the interview’s discussion questions. This is the podcast metadata. The data about the podcast.

This is precisely the kind of information MP3 metadata (called ID3 tags) stores. These tags can easily be added to any MP3 so that the file carries along with it the information you have tagged on it. Another more technical way of saying this is that you add ID3 tags to your MP3. ID3 tags are MP3 metadata.

Why Tag Your MP3s with Metadata

#1 – Because it’s your MP3 and you don’t want people to forget it.

Oftentimes MP3s are disseminated without any sort of metadata, meaning that after the file has been downloaded, it’s difficult to impossible to figure out where the file came from. Personally, if this happens, I just delete the file.

Consider this example: you are reading a blog that posts an MP3 recording of a Socratic Club debate at Southeastern wherein John Piper debates Greg Boyd on the openness of God. The file you download is called 2009-01-29-sebts.mp3. Apart from knowing the date of the recording from the filename, you know no other information concerning this recording (excepting of course what you’ve read on the blog previously). Imagine further that months go by and you come across this file in your download folder, only vaguely remembering anything about it and having  not listened to it yet. It’s near impossible to figure out what this MP3 is if it lacks metadata. Therefore tag your MP3s.

#2 – Because it will send listeners back to your site.

Information tagged onto your MP3 goes with that file wherever it goes. MP3 metadata provides a slot to insert your web site URL. Should a curious listener then open up your file information, the URL will be there staring back at them. Moreover, simply tagging the name of your podcast in the metadata (e.g., “KataDrew’s Amazing Blazing Podcast”) gives just enough information enough for the average user to Google your organization’s name and get back to your site. Without it, the file is likely deleted or your presence is lost. Therefore tag your MP3s.

#3 – Because many MP3 players require it.

My Sansa sorts files on it by the metadata. MP3s without metadata are all lumped together in the folder labeled “Unknown” and usually then only show the filename which is most often doesn’t provide the information an interested listener is looking for. Properly tagged MP3s, on the other hand, display under their respective name as expected. Therefore tag your MP3s.

#4 – Because Last.fm will give you statistics if you do it properly.

Do you know about Last.fm? It collects information on what its users have listened to. For an example, see my last.fm account @ last.fm/user/admaust. Last.fm users can install a small program that runs in the background of one’s computer which sends played song information to its database periodically only if the MP3s are appropriately tagged. This makes sense for how otherwise would last.fm know to which artist and to which of that artists’ songs to accredit that play?

Because of last.fm’s social networking features, its aggregation is free publicity and also takes the pulse of your file with no extra work on your part except the extra seconds it takes to tag your MP3. Therefore tag your MP3s.

#5 – Because a telling filename (however so) isn’t enough.

No matter how helpful you think you’ve made your filename, you can always make the filename less invasive by including the desired information in metadata. Instead of a filename including a podcast’s name, date, subject, episode number and URL (e.g., KataDrewsAmazingBlazingPodcast-2009-01-20-ChristianityInTheNewWorld-Episode202-KataDrew.com.mp3), the filename could simply include  one or two of these and rely on metadata to carry the rest of the desired information.

#6 – Because software uses it to categorize.

Winamp, for example, catalogs downloaded MP3s according to metadata (artist, track name, album name, date, genre, etc.). Without this information the program becomes a lot like many portable MP3 players in being forced to list files lacking metadata all together in an “Unknown” category, proving useless for searches and quick finding. Tagged MP3s are found and listened to with ease. Windows Vista even now reads MP3 metadata.

#7 – Because more than all this, you can tag it as you please with whatever you please.

Seventh and finally, MP3 metadata features all sorts of slots for any sort of information you may want to include. There’s even a “Comments” field where miscellaneous information you wish to add may be included. Tag your MP3s because you can add whatever you like.

How Do I Add or Change Metadata on My MP3s?

I most often use Winamp to add metadata as its my main media player and its interface for adding tags is very straightforward. For example, while the MP3 you wish to tag is playing, right-click in the program and select View file info (or alt+3). A dialogue box then appears wherein you can enter desired information effortlessly. This works extremely well for single files.

To tag multiple files, try a freeware program like Mp3tag (http://www.mp3tag.de/en). Note: you should never pay for any software that enables tagging or adding metadata. Freeware solutions are readily available. Don’t buy one for this easy task.

If you are exporting your podcast from the freeware recorder Audacity, take the opportunity Audacity gives you during the process to tag your MP3. It’ll take ten seconds maximum.

With no additional software, tags can be added in Vista as mentioned above. Browse to the folder containing the MP3 you wish to tag. Select the file. You should then see the metadata displayed in the bottom portion of the window. Files without tags will look like screenshot below. Adding tags is as easy as clicking on the text Specify and entering the information.

What I like about Twitter is the short little SOS micro-blog entries you can send off. This morning for me it was “Driving to work like Ace Ventura because I don’t have an ice scraper.” Later this evening I said, “Sitting in my Jonathan Edwards class (taught by Andy Davis) while sipping Pai Mu Tan.” These surely aren’t ground-breaking statements about which I should or would blog, but they’re (kinda) interesting enough. The purpose of Twitter after all is just to shoot off a letter 140 character of less note saying what you’re doing at the moment. I usually limit tweets to things I think others may find interesting instead of just saying “I’m eating” or “I saw a dove.” No one cares and it does nothing for anyone whereas I like to think mentioning Edwards, Ace Ventura, or Pai Mu Tan may pique the interests of my followers.

Secondly, what I enjoy about Twitter is that I’ve got it tied to my Facebook account such that when I do a new tweet it becomes my status on Facebook. What’s great about this is that my Facebook friends can and more increasinly often comment on my status/tweet. It’s great, just a little feedback on what I’m up to and what others think. Social interaction.

What I don’t understand about Twitter, however, is the seemingly random people who follow me. I usually check ‘em out and most often find that they’re also following 3000+ others. What’s that all about? Is it a marketing ploy to get me to follow them so that I would receive their updates? Or, are they truly interested in me and my tweets? I lean towards affirming the former.

For the past hour I’ve been trying to figure out why Windows Explorer was caught in a loop of crashing, checking for a solution and then restarting, only to crash again and continue the loop. The first step to get Vista (SP1) usable again was to hit CTRL+ALT+DEL and open up the Task Manager and end the explorer process. This stops the crash and restarts the loop. And if it tries to tell you that access is denied when you are attempting to end the process, try again and if that doesn’t work close out the Task Manager and then open it back up. This happened to me a couple of times, but a closing and re-opening the Task Manager allowed me to end the explorer process.

Step #1: Think of Possible Culprits

Now that you’ve got the crash-restart loop stopped, stop and have a good think about what might be giving you hassle. For me it was a video file on my desktop called, believe it or not, video.mpg. It was a file I had converted via media-convert.com and was in the process of downloading from the same site when the explorer crash-loop started. After some reading around, I figured it was most likely this file as that was the last action I did before the crash started. This may be the cause of your consternation, too, but if not, unfortunately, there is a long list of reported culprits that throw Vista into the same fit. A search and a little bit of reading will most likely help you to narrow down your problem file or installed program. Also, as part of this initial step go ahead and allow a spyware scanner to run in the background. You never know.

My Culprit

Offending file: a video file I attempted to convert through media-convert.com. The problem is almost certainly with Vista and not with this or any other site (excluding of course any malware or virus that may have been installed).

Restore is a Last Resort

Don’t go straight to flat-out restoring your computer. Attempt everything in your power to find out the exact problem and fix it. Most likely someone has had the same problem before and there’s a simple fix. You just need to be patient and find it out.

Step #2: Create a New Administrator Account (Optional)

You may not need this step. Try step three first and if that doesn’t work come back here to step two.

If all you’ve currently got open is the Windows Task Manager and this blog post, you’ll need to get to the Control Panel. In the Task Manager click File and then New Task (Run…). Type “C:\Program Files” (without the quotes of course) in the Create New Task dialogue box. Hit OK. Up should pop a window, so make your way to the Add or Remove User Accounts page in Control Panel in order to add a new Administrator Account. CTRL+ALT+DEL will bring you back to the crazy in-between worlds Vista screen where you can Log Off and change users. Switch over to the new administrator account. Like a cool breeze washing over you, you should again feel the sweet repose of a prelapsarian Vista world, a world without crashing explorer processes. If your file was on the desktop as was mine, things quickly get sticky because any click leading you towards the desktop of the first user who suffers the crash will result in an invading crash breaking through to your newly created administrator account. Don’t worry though. You can sort it out.

Step #3: Delete the Folder Containing the Bad File

Logged in with the new administrator account I browsed to and deleted the desktop folder and its contents which belonged to my first user who was suffering the crash loop. I’m not quite sure if it’s necessary to be logged in with a separate account to delete the offending folder or not as far as avoiding the crash loop goes; but this is how I did it (see Step #2). I deleted the desktop folder, re-created it, logged off and back on again to the first account and now the first account seems to be working normally. I had to delete the entire folder because the crash loop would show up regardless of the user even if I tried to browse the desktop folder and most definitely if I tried to select the bad file to delete it (whether with right- or left-click). Deleting the whole folder with the bad file seemed the only option left. You could of course restore from the recycle bin the not-bad files, so don’t worry about losing stuff. You can get it back.

You can now go back and delete the second administrator account, if you created one.

My Hope

I was immensely frustated by this explorer crash loop and know that if you’re reading this, you are most likely greatly frustrated as well. Hang in there. The solution may be just as simple as mine: deleting a bad file. Leave a comment here if this fix worked for you. I’d love to here if writing this has helped anyone.

All I got to say is check out my massive, comprehensive tag cloud. I’ve just discovered how to make it display every single tag and not just the top 30 or so.

Initially my cloud displayed only thirty or so of the most popular tags using the following code in my cloud.php file:

But now using this code I’ve got it to print every tag:

Number=0 stands for infinite and by infinite I do mean infinitely awesome. It does look a bit crazy but I love it.

Setting Up a Tag Archive/Cloud

Unsure how to set up your own tag archive or cloud page? The WordPress Codex has got you covered.

I’d like to issue a call for responsible domain name purchase and usage. Many domain names (e.g., theoffice.com) purchased and employed should rather be subdomains (e.g., theoffice.nbc.com) or subfolders of the root domain (e.g., nbc.com/theoffice). What’s happening is domain name clutter and disassociation. Nearly every new movie and book grabs its own domain name when the same site could exist under the greater umbrella of the author, the publisher, or, in the case of movies, the distributor. Their reasoning might be that if they don’t snatch up their eponymous domain name, someone else will and thereby steal their traffic. Shame.

Instant messaging, email and Facebook are all decidedly awesome. You chat will your peeps, get lots of SPAM mail, and eavesdrop on your “friends’” lives via wall posts, photos, and intelligence-bending status updates. All in all it’s a huge chunk…*cough* waste…of time, but you enjoy it. In fact, you may be reading this on Facebook because I’ve set it to automatically import my blog posts as notes and a notification of a new imported note came across your Facebook feed or mini-feed or whatever they now call it. However you’ve come to read this you may now be wondering what this comfortably stout green man to the (upper-)left with no arms, nose or mouth has to do with “social networking.”

I hereby submit to you that Digsby will change your life. He’s an IM client who lets you chat simultaneously on Yahoo, MSN, Google, AIM, and ICQ while also checking all your email accounts (GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo, pop, etc) and also serves as a living geiger counter, giving you notifications of all the Facebook tremors and earthquakes. One minute he pops up saying you’ve got a new SPAM mail…which, by the way, you can delete (or Mark as SPAM) directly from the client. The next minute he whispers in your busy little working ear that Susie Sassalot has a new wall post. And what greater joy than when in the next minute you get an IM! That’s Digsby, just flipping his orange lid. Go on, punch his face with your mouse and give him a download. He’ll change your life.