065 – That Is No Joke

This week the WELSTech podcast is packed with April Fools pranks, a contest announcement, the latest iPhone news and loads of comments from our listeners.

The discussion:

• Time out for fun on April Fools – Martin and Sallie discuss web-based April Fools pranks, interesting sites and even a few Easter eggs.  They also share info on the Conficker worm, which is set to spread today.
  • Past April Fools pranks
    • Google search the future
    • Gmail Custom Time
    • Rickrolling – watch Rick Astley “Never Gonna Give You Up”
  • Track April Fools 2009
    • www.AprilFoolsDayOnTheWeb.com
    • www.AprilFools.com
  • More fun to explore
    • www.StumbleUpon.com
    • www.EggHeaven.com
      • Open Office eggs
  • Beware the Conficker worm
• New Contest – Top 5 Desert Island Software Picks (14:57)
  • Send us the five software titles you wouldn’t want to live without – free or fee, desktop or Web 2.0, anything goes
  • Get us your list via your favorite WELSTech communication channel – e-mail us, leave us a voice mail (414-375-2334), send us a message on facebook or twitter – just get us your top 5 picks!
  • One random entry will receive a $25 gift certificate to the WELSTech store (cafepress.com/welstech)
  • Deadline for entry is Sunday April 26, 2009 @ 11:59 p.m.
  • Listen to WELSTech Episode 069 on April 29th to find out if you are the winner and to experience a virtual desert island of software picks

The tidbits:

• New technology showcase (18:35)
  • Apple iPhone Operating System 3.0
• Picks of the week (25:05)
  • Leaving PCs on overnight costs companies $2.8B a year
  • Web-based instant messaging – www.meebo.com
• Community feedback (31:12)
  • Larry McGowan from Pilgrim in Minneapolis, MN is involved in new video ministry efforts.
  • Gail Potratz from Emanual in New London, WI left us a voice mail follow up to last week’s Personal Learning Network discussion. We forgot to mention the WELSTech Podcast is a major contributor to our PLNs!
  • Alyssa Dunning from WELS Web Services shared a link to The Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter from the Webdesigner Depot blog
  • Shelly Karstens from Peace in Hartford, WI sent us a link to the recent WI Education Media & Technology Association (WEMTA) conference she attended.
    • Check out the PLN document shared by one of the speakers, Lucy Gray (LucyGray.org).
  • Pastor Tim Wagner from Abiding Peace in Elgin, IL is using RSS feeds from his delicious.com account to display bookmarked sites on his congregation web page.
  • Chris Hintz from Emmaus in Phoenix, AZ tapped the WELSTech podcast archive for info on the paperless office:
    • Episodes 006 & 007 – The efficient church office
    • Episode 026 – Mass e-mail
    • Episode 036 – Getting organized
    • Episode 063 – PDFs and Potlucks
  • John Shoosmith from Redeemer in Yakima, WA updated the closed caption video page on the WELSTech wiki (welstech.wetpaint.com)
  • Wayne Kittell from Immanuel in Kewaunee, WI shared information on how the FAA frequency change effects some wireless microphone systems
    • 700 MHz Explained in 10 Steps
    • 700 MHz Public Safety Band
    • 700 MHz Wireless Trade In Program from Shure
• Coming up on WELSTech (45:56)
  • Episode 066 – As Internet Evangelism Day approaches, we will look at new resources and ideas for reaching out in the digital age.  We’ll also talk with Dr. John Lawrenz about the influence of technology on outreach and training at Asia Lutheran Seminary.

The featured artist:

• This week we close with the music of WELS artist Mike Westendorf (www.mikewestendorf.com) – Cling from his CD titled Run Boy Run (47:36)

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