TST: Use a Reader

The Bible tells us to redeem the time (Ephesians 5:15-17), so I'm going to be posting tips every Tuesday on things you can do to save time. Unlike most resources, we all get the same amount of time, but we have to decide how we're going to spend it. If you have anything that you do to save time that you'd like to share, just let me know and I'll add them to the list.


Today's tip is to use an RSS Reader to surf the Internet with more speed and precision. I personally use Google Reader (www.google.com/reader).



An RSS reader (a.k.a. Atom or Feed Reader) takes info from a website and plugs it into individual articles that are easy to read and quick to skim through.


For example, I have subscribed to several blogs (you can see part of my Blogroll on the right sidebar). Whenever a post is made to one of those blogs, Google Reader creates it into a new article to read. After it's been read, it no longer shows up on my list to read. Google Reader uses the same Read/Unread system that most email services do, except that Google Reader will hide the articles once they are "Read". This means that whenever I log in to Google Reader, I am guaranteed to only be reading and perusing articles I haven't read before.


An RSS Reader is NOT only for reading blogs. Any popular website will have an RSS feed as well, such as USAToday (broken into the different sections of the paper), Amazon (for Gold Box Deals), and ESPN (broken down by authors and/or sports). That means that whenever one of those websites posts are article I haven't read yet, I get a copy in Google Reader.


How does this save time? For one, I don't have to visit through every one of those websites every day looking for stuff I haven't read before. Instead of having to click on a bookmark for each individual blog, news site, or whatever, I can just go to Google Reader and get it all at one time.


It also saves me time because I now have more precision in my web browsing. If I want to read Sports, I click on my Sports label in Google Reader, and I only get websites that I have labeled as Sports. If I don't have time to read all the articles on Deals, I just click on Deals and then mark them all as Read.


As far as RSS Readers go, I highly recommend Google Reader because it's web based, so you can log into it from anywhere (and you aren't taking up more space on your hard drive). They also let you Share articles, which you can have linked to your Facebook account (or friends using Google Reader) and they all see the article too. If none of your friends use Google Reader, there's also an option to email the article to them, which links directly to your Google Contacts. Very handy.


If you'd like more information on RSS feeds, I recommend visiting the Google Reader website (www.google.com/reader), which obviously concentrates on Google Reader itself, but also has good information on RSS and Atom feeds in general.

Tools: ClearPlay

Today I'd like to introduce you to a DVD player that takes the bad out of most movies.

ClearPlay (http://www.clearplay.com/) is a DVD player/service that removes the "bad stuff" from your DVD's by seemlessly editting it out.

How it works is pretty simple. You download the filters for whatever movies you plan on watching (or have in your DVD library) onto a jump drive. You then plug the jump drive into the ClearPlay DVD player and it will pull the info when you watch your movies.

You get to set the level of filtering done based on a variety of categories, such as gore, violence, sex, and language. For scenes containing things you don't want to see, the ClearPlay DVD player seemlessly removes the scene so that you don't even notice it was missing. For language, the player mutes the DVD whever bad language is used. The people at ClearPlay do their best to maintain the plot of the movie (if they didn't, then there'd be little point in WATCHING the movie) while cleaning it up.

If you're wondering if they cover movies you might already own, you can go to their website (http://www.clearplay.com/) and search their list of over 2,000 movies that they cover.

The only problem with this system is how it might affect your testimony if you run into someone you know while at Blockbuster with your arms full of R-rated movies. That could have a negative impact if they don't know that you are running the ClearPlay system. Just something to consider.

TST: Just Record It!

Today we're going to be starting a weekly series call Time Saver Tuesdays, or TST (guess which day of the week I'll be posting these). The Bible tells us to redeem the time (Ephesians 5:15-17), so I'm going to be posting tips every Tuesday on things you can do to save time. Unlike most resources, we all get the same amount of time, but we have to decide how we're going to spend it. If you have anything that you do to save time that you'd like to share, just let me know and I'll add them to the list. Today's tip is to record those shows you want to watch. Use that DVR, DVD-R, or VCR (yes, I know people that still use a VCR) and record the shows. This'll save you loads of time. First off, you get to skip the commercials. Did you know that the average 1-hour show is really only 42 minutes long? That means that roughly every time you watch an hour-long show on TV, 1/3 of your time is spent watching commercials.

Second, you are now free from the time constraint of having to sit down and watch a show at a specific time. You don't have to be at home in front of the TV every Wednesay from 8:00 - 9:00 PM watching LOST (yes, I like LOST). You can watch it later and be able to pause it when life happens (phone rings, kid gets sick, etc). Clarinda and I have gotten into arguements because I want to get home and watch LOST and she wants to keep socializing with people after Wednesday night service. Come on lady, something deep and unexplainable is probably happening right now on ABC! You have to ask yourself (like I had to), which is more valuable: watching TV or building relationships (if only I had other friends who liked/watched LOST, then I could do both!)?

Finally, you can avoid the biggest time kill of all when it comes to TV: watching the NEXT show too. TV executives know that you are most likely to watch a TV show that abuts a show you are already watching, so they advertise the shows that are on immediately before and after. So, while watching an 8:00 show, the commercials are mostly concentrating on the show coming up next (9:00), with a slight mixture of the show that was just on as well (7:00). Yes, they advertise other shows too, but their biggest concern is getting you hooked on the following show so you stay tuned into their channel. This is the most noticeable during the beginning of a season because they want to get you hooked early on. If you record the show and watch it later, you won't run the risk of watching the next show as well.

Tools: CovenantEyes

Today we have our first guest post. I asked Charles Baldon (charlesfreedom.blogspot.com) to write a post on a great tool for helping to keep the Internet safe: CovenantEyes. He started using CovenantEyes years ago, so he knows more about it than anyone else I know. This is the first in another ongoing series that will focus on tools we can use to live our lives in a more Christ-like manner in today's culture.




Be careful, little eyes, what you see…

The Internet is an amazing place, offering us instant access to information that once took weeks to research. We can share information with friends and family with the touch of a few buttons. We can get more work done faster than ever before (if our employers have blocked YouTube and Facebook at work). The Internet has become a virtual reflection of our culture expressed in a million digital ways… which means there is a large portion of the Internet we need to avoid. Enter Covenant Eyes (link to site): as a Christian and as a parent, this software could become one of your best friends online.

Our society eats, sleeps and breathes sex. Go to the grocery store, and examine the covers of the magazines you'll find there. Turn on the TV and watch almost any prime time show. Go to church, and watch how people dress (ladies, your husbands are noticing, even if you aren't). Online, free and easily accessible pornography is everywhere. And over 70% of men and over 20% of women are struggling with it.

What is Covenant Eyes?

Covenant Eyes (CE) can do 2 things. First, it will monitor every site you visit online, scoring them for potential inappropriate content. It then emails your browsing history once a week to your accountability partners, who receive a report and can see where you have been online. The scoring system makes it easy to spend a few minutes with the report and be able to hold you accountable. Secondly, CE can be filter, blocking sexual content and protecting your family's purity.

Covenant Eyes as accountability

Internet pornography is deadly to us because it is a private sin. We can "get away with it" and we have a very good chance of never being caught. Browsing histories can easily be deleted. All traces of where you have been online can be removed. But what you have seen can never be unseen. What we need is accountability. We need our Christian brothers and sisters to look us in the eye and ask us tough questions. Covenant Eyes is a great tool, but it's not perfect and it needs a human touch. Pick two of your fellow Christians who will commit to reviewing your reports, and calling you on things they find there. Is this comfortable? Absolutely not! Is it vital to our spiritual lives? Absolutely!

Covenant Eyes as a filter

My first rule for my kids online is that they are never online without my knowledge – this is where many parents go wrong, thinking that their kids need "space" or "freedom." Letting children (even older teens) online without teaching them good rules for behavior is like letting them play in traffic on the freeway. The Internet is a dangerous place, and our kids need more protection when in it, not more freedom. With CE, you have the power to log them in if you'd like, or you can give them a login to use. Because even the simplest Google searches can lead to questionable sites, it doesn't take long for bad things to happen. Using CE as a filter, these sites (for example, YouTube) are blocked. A page will come up calling for an authorized user to either allow access or not. This lets parents be parents, and kids be safe.

What does it cost?

The price for Covenant Eyes varies, but in general the monitoring runs $7.99/mo and the filtering runs $5.99/mo. It is not just a one-time fee because the Internet is constantly changing, and CE is constantly updating their scoring and what they are blocking. In my experience, the cost is very small compared to the cost of not having it. Coming up with $15 a month is not a problem for the large majority of us, it just depends on what our priorities are. What is your – and your family's – sexual purity worth to you?

But I don't have a problem with…

First of all, most of us men DO have a problem with pornography, we just don't like to talk about it because we are embarrassed and ashamed. So we need the accountability online that CE gives us. And if you truly are in the minority that don't have a problem, great! Installing CE removes any temptation you might have while online, keeps this terrible addiction from developing, and it also protects your family. Either way, the need for protection is there, and Covenant Eyes is the best thing I've found to offer it.