Let me just get this out there, mobile versions of websites frustrate me.

As someone who regularly views websites on either his iPhone or iPad, I’m used to browsing the web on the go. And I really like it, I like the ability to have the internet in my pocket. But I find it frustrating when I come across this.

Mobile Version of ProBlogger.net

6.4% of all internet usage is now on a mobile device (via Net Market Share), which may not seem like a lot at the moment. But some people are predicting that by 2015, mobile web usage will outweigh computer web usage (via Mashable).

A lot of websites are taking this to mean that they should care about mobile websites, which I whole-heartedly agree with. What I don’t agree with is their method of doing so.

Most websites think that the best way to appeal to mobile web users is to create a separate look for their website, just for mobile users, such as the above skin that many WordPress based blogs sport.

However mobile devices these days come with large touch-screen displays, that have the ability to display full webpages. When I’m browsing, I want to see the whole website, not some cut down version. For example, look at all that I’m missing out on from ProBlogger.net.

I would much prefer for this whole site to come up when I view it on my iPhone.

So I’ve disagreed with the current method of making a mobile “skin” for your website, a cut down version for mobile browsers. But what do I think the solution is?

Solution

Create the website from the ground up with mobile in mind.

I think that people need to stop thinking about creating a mobile friendly cover for their websites, they need to think about creating mobile friendly websites.

Mobile devices are very capable, and technologies (such as HTML5) exist that allow mobile friendly sites to have most of the features available to regular sites.

With mobile web expanding as it is, people should no longer think of mobile web as an addition, they should think of mobile as the web.

That’s just my 2 cents on mobile websites. For the time being any website that I create will be mobile friendly (to the best of my ability), and I’ll keep reading websites that I like even if they have a mobile skin that I have to turn off.

What do you think about mobile skins for websites, do you like them or dislike them?

No related posts.

I’ve been interested in writing an eBook for a while, but I’ve never known the right tools to use. I’ve thought about using Keynote, and exporting as a PDF, and I’ve thought about using Pages, and exporting as an epub file. But neither of those seemed to allow for easy integration of interactive features. Then came iBooks Author.

iBooks Author is a free program for Mac (available on the Mac App Store) that allows for easy creation of interactive books for iPad. The program is really easy to use, especially if you’ve had experience with Apple’s iWork suite of apps. The program is a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor and not only allows for easy manipulation of text and graphics, but videos and animations too! Watch this video to find out more.

The downside to iBooks Author is that it’s creations can only be viewed on an iPad, and if you want to sell your creation, then you must go through the iBookstore. Now for an Australian this is an absolute pain. If I wanted to sell something myself (i.e. not through an aggregator or publisher), then I would need to get a US tax ID. To get a US tax ID I would need to physically mail paperwork to the US and work out quite complex international taxation laws. I would also need an ISBN for every book that I sold. Quite complicated compared to the simple process of selling something from my own website.

In the end, instead of creating something that I would sell, I decided to make something I would give away for free. This way I could still put it on the iBookstore, without having to worry about all the complicated stuff.

The final creation is the iBook pictured above, “The How and Why of Video Countdowns”. It’s a compilation of rewritten blog posts combined with some original videos and animations. It’s written to help people think through why they are using video countdowns, and how they can best use them. At the end, there is also a tutorial to help someone create their own video countdown.

If you would like to download the iBook, search for it on the iBookstore or click here. You can also learn more about it via the link below (Also click the link below if you don’t have an iPad and would like to download a PDF version).

~The How and Why of Video Countdowns~

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Incase you haven’t noticed, I really like video countdowns and I reckon they’re great. But far too often I’ve seen people use them badly. Number 1 mistake, having a video countdown that leads into someone speaking. This just doesn’t live up to the anticipation. Anyway, here are the 4 tips I gave.

1. Make sure the stage is clear
2. Use music
3. Start with a bang
4. Embed in the presentation

Related posts from calumhenderson.com:

1. Guest Posts At ChurchMag About Video Countdowns
2. Gary’s Social Media Counter
3. Lessons From An Amazing Social Media Campaign

Let me spell it out for you. As the social internet currently stands, I see three tiers of content sharing.

1. Public Social Networking: Involves sharing short pieces of primarily text and links, which may show as pictures or videos on some sites (think Twitter, Google+, Facebook with the new subscribe feature).
2. Microblogging: Involves sharing short pieces of information. Examples include a photo, a video, a paragraph of text, a quote (think Posterous, Tumblr).
3. Blogging: Involves sharing large pieces of information that may include multiple media forms, i.e. a blog post could have text, photos and a video embedded all in the one post (think WordPress, Blogger).

So each tier of content sharing is defined by the amount that you share in a single post. Some people may choose to just use one (eg. only use Twitter), or some may choose to use two. Myself, I choose to use three. I use Twitter to share short updates and communicate links and blog updates with followers, I use my blog to share longer posts about topics. Now microblogging (for me) fits nicely between these two, kind of like an iPad fits between a smartphone and a laptop.

I’ve been microblogging for a while now over at Posterous (You can read about when I started using it here), and I thought it was time to spruce things up. So I’ve done a little redesign.

With the redesign comes the renaming, to “Calum’s Microg”. Why microg? Well blog is short for web-log, so I figured that microblog deserved to be shortened as well, hence microg. People have in the past nicknamed microblogging as tumblelogging, but that was only because of the popularity of Tumblr, one particular site where you can microblog. So I think microg is a much fairer nickname.

Currently I use my microg to share photos, videos and maybe some other stuff, and that then get’s directly posted to Twitter and Facebook. I like it, and think it fits nicely between Twitter and my blog.

Check out my microg at microg.calumhenderson.com

So, do you have a microg? Or perhaps a better question, do you have a more suitable nickname for microblog?

Related posts from calumhenderson.com:

1. Churches using Twitter
2. Why Blog?
3. Delicious

Today is a sad day as Apple announced the death of Steve Jobs. This is the statement Apple has posted on their website.

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

Today I’ll be praying for his family and friends that God will comfort them is this hard time. And I’ll also be praying for other families who have lost loved ones today. Death really does suck.

Come Lord Jesus.

Related posts from calumhenderson.com:

1. Present Like Steve Jobs
2. Apple iPhone 4 Product Video
3. A Bunch Of Video Reviews Of The Apple iPad

Even though the upgrade wasn’t as groundbreaking as some were hoping for, there definitely were some new features that will help in various ministries. I already find my iPhone 4 helping me out with a bunch of stuff, and I’m sure owners of the new iPhone 4S will find it to be helpful for them. So here are 5 features of the iPhone 4S (and new iOS5 software) that I think will help with ministry.

Improved Camera

One of the biggest new features of the iPhone 4S was the improved camera. Up from 5 megapixels to 8, as well as other features that will mean that all those extra pixels will actually be useful. The video camera was also improved, increased from 720P to 1080P. And was given built in stabilisation features using the gyroscope. These improved camera specs mean that using an iPhone for photos in ministry is even more viable. You could probably even get some really nice promo photos for a website or brochure. And 1080P video used in conjunction with iMovie on your iPhone (Read this about iPhones and iMovie in ministry), could create some great on the go movies to advertise events. It will be easy for anyone to capture great photos and video with an iPhone 4S.

Siri – Your Humble Personal Assistant

This was obviously the biggest announcement of the day. If you missed it, check out this video from Apple demonstrating Siri.

I can see Siri being great for increasing organisation. It will help with creating events, quickly finding free times to meet, sending texts quickly on the go and many other things. This may not have a direct use in a ministry like the improved camera will, but it will help you in being organised for the ministry.

Airplay Mirroring

I think Airplay is one of the great under rated features on iOS devices, especially for Churches. With the iPhone 4S (and iPad 2) you will be able to mirror the whats on your display to any TV connected to an HD TV. Imagine this, instead of have a projector with a computer connected, you have a big screen LCD TV, with an Apple TV connected. This means that anyone with an iPhone 4S or iPad 2 can wirelessly mirror what’s on their display to the screen, and if you had more than one person, you could effortlessly switch between devices. You could mirror a presentation or a video, and then walk around the room with the presentation in your hands, as well as being displayed on the big screen. I think this could be a great set up for Churches.

Reminders

I love the idea of location based reminders, and lucky for me this is an iOS5 feature and so I’ll get it on my iPhone 4. The new reminders App will allow you to set reminders on your iPhone (by talking to it if you use Siri), and these reminders can be time based or location based. You could set a reminder to do something when you get to Church, so you’ll no longer forgot that important first task, or you could set a reminder to pray for someone when you leave. So on your drive home your iPhone would remind you to pray for that person you had a great chat with. Just an idea.

iCloud

So this one isn’t a specific feature, but more a bag of features. iCloud means that everyone will be able to store their contacts and calendars (amount other things) easily on all devices they have. I’m hoping this will encourage more people to lean towards digital calendars, as their calendar will be on their computer as well as their iPhone/iPad. I’m not sure if digital calendars are the best for everyone, but at least iCloud means that setting up events (ministry events) in your calendar means that they will be synced across devices. Hopefully meaning that organisation will be easier. This may not be specifically making ministry easier, but I think it’ll make life organisation easier for people with Apple devices.

I really like using my iPhone for ministry (especially filming videos), and as I said I won’t be upgrading to an iPhone 4S. But for someone who doesn’t have a smartphone, I reckon this will hopefully be a great tool that will help them to serve. Can you serve without an iPhone, of course! But I reckon they help out in some ways.

If you do want to pick up an iPhone 4, you’ll be able to on October 14 (be prepared to wait in line), and iOS5 and iCloud will be released October 12.

Can you think of any other uses for an iPhone in ministry? And what did you think about the iPhone 4S announcement?

[Images via Apple]

Related posts from calumhenderson.com:

1. 720p + iMovie For iPhone = Win For Ministry
2. Mars Hill iPhone App
3. 5 ways to use the iPhone 3.0 software to serve God

We have heard a lot about what will be included in iOS5, but not everything. Jan-Michael Cart has created a number of concept videos about what iOS5 will look like. These are not videos of the actual new iPhone, just ideas about what it could be. I reckon these are really cool, check a few out below. Of special note is the second video, which demonstrates the possible new assistant feature that the new iPhone could have. If you want to read more about the assistant feature, check out this post over at 9to5Mac.

Related posts from calumhenderson.com:

1. What The iPhone 4S Can Do For Ministry
2. 5 ways to use the iPhone 3.0 software to serve God
3. 720p + iMovie For iPhone = Win For Ministry

I’ve always loved using video countdowns in ministry. From youth groups to youth camps to Uni events, they’ve been great. And only a few months ago, I started my own countdown website, FreeHDCountdowns.com, which you’ve probably checked out by now. So I’ve developed a real passion for video countdowns.

Below are the two posts that I wrote for ChurchMag.

3 Compelling Reasons To Use Video Countdowns

I think that video countdowns, besides looking cool, actually can serve a lot of function when used properly. I wrote this post with three of those reasons in mind.

1. A video countdown gets people to sit down.
2. A video countdown commits you to a start time.
3. A video countdown builds anticipation.

I didn’t write a number 4, but if I were to give a fourth reason, I’d say because they look cool.

Check out the post at ChurchMag for explanations of the reasons.

3 Quality Sources For Free Video Countdowns

I’ll be the first to admit that this post was quite self promotional, as I did mention my site as the 3rd quality source. But besides my site, there are other great sources of quality free video countdowns. I reckon you could get about 20-30 good quality, free video countdowns from the three sites below.

1. freeCOUNTDOWNS.net
2. OpenResources.org
3. FreeHDCountdowns.com
4. Update: Check out historyofmotion.com for some more countdowns

So go over to ChurchMag and read my very short reviews of each of these site.

All of the posts that I have written for ChurchMag so far were written in an afternoon, and I didn’t expect them to go up so quickly! But props to them for being efficient with reviewing and uploading submitted guest posts. In the near future I’ll write some more over there, but for now I’m going to focus on writing on my own sites.

It’s been good fun writing for ChurchMag, I enjoyed challenging myself to write some quality posts that were targeted to that blog. FreeHDCountdowns saw a huge spike in traffic over a few days and has seen higher than normal traffic since then which is cool, it will be interesting to see if that remains. Overall, a great experience.

Have you ever had experience writing guest posts?

Related posts from calumhenderson.com:

1. Guest Post At WorshipHouse Media
2. Want To Improve The Audio Quality In Videos Recorded On Your iPhone?
3. FreeHDCountdowns.com Has Launched!

Facebook

Facebook took over from MySpace as the number 1 social network years ago, and has continued changing and adapting to what they think is the future, often to the complaints of their users.

Pros

• HUGE user base (750 million people). Pretty much everyone I know is on Facebook.
• Everything’s there, photos, video, groups, pages.

Cons

• Privacy issues.
• Regularly annoy people by changing what Facebook is.

Twitter

Twitter is quite different to Facebook, which I think is why it has survived alongside the number 1 player. Twitter is infinitely simpler, with only one method of communication, the Tweet (ok, and direct messages, but they’re basically Tweets).

Pros

• Simple, only one thing to do, and that’s Tweet.
• Public AI, meaning you can use other services with Twitter, such as an iPhone App.
• It’s public, anything you broadcast you broadcast to the world.
• Everyone has the same type of account, no need to decide between groups or pages or profiles.

Cons

• It’s public, anything you broadcast you broadcast to the world.

Google+

Google+ being the new player seems to (in my opinion) fit nicely between these two. It’s more complex than Twitter, but much simpler than Facebook. (I like to thank my mate John for giving me a list of awesome things about Google+)

Pros

• Everyone has the same type of account, no need to decide between groups or pages or profiles.
• Solid privacy controls, circles allow you to share what you want with who you want.
• Group video chat.
• Quite simple with everyone having the same type of profile (i.e. no groups or pages), but still has inbuilt photo and video sharing.

Cons

• Small user base.
• No one knows how to use it.
• Yet another thing to have on your Google account.

Conclusion

I do really like Google+, and I think it fits nicely between the simplicity of Twitter and the all encompassing Facebook. BUT, social networks are all about people, and until Google+ has lots of people, it will never be as useful as Facebook or Twitter.

Having said that, with Facebook having made another annoying change to it’s layout (I don’t actually mind it, I’ve come to terms with the fact that Facebook will always change), maybe people will check out Google+? Or perhaps with the new Twitter integration coming with iOS5, people will use Twitter more. Who knows.

With all this being said, I think that Twitter is my favourite, followed by Google+ and then Facebook. In fact I would get off Facebook if not for one reason. When it comes to actual usefulness, Facebook is in the lead by far, thanks to it’s large user base. Hence, for the moment, I will keep using it.

Those are my humble musings on this discussion, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

What is your favourite social network?

Related posts from calumhenderson.com:

1. Lessons From An Amazing Social Media Campaign
2. Gary’s Social Media Counter
3. An Amazing Social Media Campaign

“How many times have you seen a video where you can barely hear what the person is saying because of the wind? Thankfully, the solution to your audio problem can be found in another device that you probably carry around with you, your earphones.”

Besides trying to convince you that the earphones are worth using as a mic, the post also has a video with an example of using the mic on the earphones, as well as 3 steps to help you do it youself.

I’ve really enjoyed having the opportunity to write for ChurchMag, and I’ve got some more posts for them hopefully coming up soon, so stay tuned for those. But for now I hope you’ll find these tips helpful.

So head over to ChurchMag now and check it out, and if you’re feeling special, post a comment and share it too.

Related posts from calumhenderson.com:

1. Guest Posts At ChurchMag About Video Countdowns
2. Download YouTube Videos
3. Tips on Making Videos