Youth Ministry Geek - Youth Ministry Ideas - Youth Technology Resources » HouseKeeping

Quick Tip: Use Spotlight (Mac)

Jeremy — Thu, 13 May 2010 10:38:44 +0000

For long-term mac users, this may seem ridiculous. For those converts from the PC universe, be prepared to have your world rocked. Spotlight is Apple’s search feature built into OSX, and if you’ve converted from a PC throw all ideas about how search on large file systems works out of the window.

Without going into mega-geeky details, the way that the Mac formats hard disks allows for incredibly quick search (instantaneous in comparison to the PC). Just click your little magnifying glass at the top right of your screen, type what you’re looking for an voila; (in 1-2 seconds) it’s there! Emails, applications, text files, images… everything!

And here’s the best part: it searches the contents of files as well as filenames! There are lots of other tools that seek to improve on spotlight. I’ve tried them, but keep coming back to spotlight because it is so solid, and it’s on every mac at which I sit down.

Failsafe Backup (The 321 System)

Jeremy — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 03:28:56 +0000

Peter Krough has written an excellent article on backup in which he suggests the 321 system. It says that you should have three copies (one primary and two backups) on two different media with one off-site. Not only is this incredibly easy to remember, it really helps me sift through the myriad of backup solutions to get what I need and not a lot more.

For my on-site backup, I have mentioned before that I like to use Chronosync to automatically backup selected files whenever I mount a specific hard disc or thumb drive though Apple’s Backup (free with Mobile Me) or Time Machine will meet most mac user’s needs. On the PC side of things, I have heard good things about Paragon Drive Backup and NovaBackup.

For offsite backup, I use and am really satisfied with Carbonite while Chris has written a bit about his preferred offsite backup service: Mozy. Both are great and both support Mac and Windows. The point is that you need to have your mission critical files and irreplaceable memories (photos, videos) stored somewhere that fire or flood will not cause you to lose money or memories.

I think Peter Krough said it best in his article, “There are two types of people, those who have experienced hard drive failure and those who will.” Do yourself a favor and get your 321 system in place today.

Hard Drive Spring Cleaning

Jeremy — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 05:41:13 +0000

Maybe you have a once a yer cleaning ritual, or maybe you are just running out of space on the hard drive that you were sure was way bigger than you needed when you initially bought the machine. Whatever the case, you probably find yourself wondering where to start. Where did all your gigabytes go anyway? That’s where JDiskReport comes in. The software is easy and intuitive. After you install it, it will do a scan of whatever directory tree you specify and then come up with an easy to understand pie chart showing where your precious space has gone. You can click through the tree structure on the left or on the pie chart to the right to drill down into the cluttered depths of your hard drive.

The only thing I wish it could do is delete the files/directories from within the program, but that is not a hard drawback to get over in such a handy piece of freeware.

The best news? Not only is it free, but since it is based on java, it is available on Windows, Mac (though with a decidedly Windows look and feel), or even over the web. Just check out their site for all the details!

Welcome to YouthMinistryGeek.com

Chris — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:53:45 +0000

What is the all about?

Youth Ministry Geek is a blog for those who are passionate about teaching students about Jesus and technology. It’s about where they intersect. It’s about finding technology that can help make your ministry better, more organized, and easier. We love to find solutions to make your job easier so you can spend more time with students.

I must confess I also love toys, so we will also cover the latest in gadgets, computers, and other equipment that you might use at church or at home.

We are also part of the YouthMinistryBlogNetwork, a group of blogs dedicated to expanding the youth ministry conversation online.

Chris