Feb 08

Twitter updates for the week of 2010-02-08

Posted in: Uncategorized
  • Superbowl party with a ton of people. Great food and a great game. #
  • Ok… the Monster.com boogieman commercial is pretty funny. #
  • @benjordan 120dB. If it's too loud, you're too old. ;) or hand out earplugs with communion. in reply to benjordan #
  • @theporch delivered a great message this morning @watermarkchurch. Life is too short to worry. Awesome new song from @prcmusic too. #
  • Successful birthday. Now to grill some tomato ranch chicken on the grill. Yum. #
  • At Main Event for the big girl's birthday party. #fb #
  • Any other wm peeps going to pierce HS basketball game tonight for family night? #
  • 635 shutdown had all streets in n Dallas slammed with traffic. #
  • Lots of great stories unfolding on http://www.watermarkblogs.org. Check out stories from Africa, community, & others. via @watermarkchurch #
  • @aaronalexander I use all of them interchangibily. in reply to aaronalexander #
  • @rhowell trip to Lover's Egg Roll = rancid dog meat! in reply to rhowell #
  • @watermarkgeek @benjordan Would love to hear more about that. (via @PeaElAre) / …trust me, you really don't. #
  • Today @benjordan used bluegrass music to remind me of several atributes of the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. #
  • @brookemauritzen Nope… you know… we only watch HGTV. No Lost here. =) in reply to brookemauritzen #
  • RT @davidpenuel: Busted! @skedersha doing a women's bible study while wearing a pink shirt. http://twitpic.com/1110hk /Real men wear black #
  • And in walks @davidpenuel… he apparently didn't get the memo on the shirt… #
  • We are officially a cult. @wesbutler, @skedersha, PB & I are all at the same Panera. 3 of us wearing same shirt. http://post.ly/LnwQ #
  • @dszp Proud of your hard work and diligence through the last 7 years and excited for where God is leading you. Way to go! in reply to dszp #
  • Headed to National Church IT Roundtable at Saddleback – March 11-12. If you are a church IT leader, you should be there. info at citrt.org #
  • ease of use, win-win, major requirements, milestones, demo, phased approach, time sensitive, show the interface… I need buzzword bingo. #
  • Love sitting at panera surrounded by baby IT consultants… using words like knowledgebase, rollout, parallel cutover, and methodology. #
  • Best thing about Xwing vs Tie Fighter? It works just fine on Windows 7. #
  • Playing Xwing vs. Tie Fighter… In all of it's "Made for Windows 95, 640×480 max resolution goodness" Great soundtrack. #
  • Good Morning Texas – Story about group from @watermarkchurch who went to Haiti last week http://bit.ly/a0R1m4 #
  • John Tyler, 10th US Pres, has two living grandsons. How many of us can say "My grandpa was born in 1790." ?! http://bit.ly/bBSpZp @voorhis) #
  • @dszp He wanted to keep the old account for personal use… new account for more ministry related things. in reply to dszp #
  • What is it exactly with teething kids, coughing and vomiting in the middle of the night? 3 kids. It's always the same outcome. #
0 Comments
Feb 03

Orphaned, Raped and Ignored

Posted in: Africa, General Ministry, social justice

Every once and awhile a story comes along that breaks my heart again and again.  Please take the time to read this article from The New York Times.  Warning, the content is graphic and disturbing.  To give full credit, the original article can be found here.

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Sometimes I wish eastern Congo could suffer an earthquake or a tsunami, so that it might finally get the attention it needs. The barbaric civil war being waged here is the most lethal conflict since World War II and has claimed at least 30 times as many lives as the Haiti earthquake.

Yet no humanitarian crisis generates so little attention per million corpses, or such a pathetic international response.

That’s why I’m here in the lovely, lush and threatening hills west of Lake Kivu, where militias rape, mutilate and kill civilians with a savagery that is almost incomprehensible. I’m talking to a 9-year-old girl, Chance Tombola, an orphan whose eyes are luminous with fear.

For Chance, the war arrived one evening last May when armed soldiers from an extremist Hutu militia — remnants of those who committed the Rwandan genocide — burst into her home. They killed her parents in front of her. Chance ran away, but the soldiers seized her two sisters, ages 6 and 12, and carried them away into the forest, presumably to be turned into “wives” of soldiers. No one has seen Chance’s sisters since.

Chance moved in with her aunt and uncle and their two teenage daughters. Two months later, the same militia invaded the aunt’s house and held everyone at gunpoint. Chance says she recognized some of the soldiers as the same ones who had killed her parents.

This time, no one could escape. The soldiers first shot her uncle, and then, as the terrified family members sobbed, they pulled out a large knife.

“They sliced his belly so that the intestines fell out,” said his widow, Jeanne Birengenyi, 34, Chance’s aunt. “Then they cut his heart out and showed it to me.” The soldiers continued to mutilate the body, while others began to rape Jeanne.

“One takes a leg, one takes the other leg,” Jeanne said dully. “Others grab the arms while one just starts raping. They don’t care if children are watching.”

Chance added softly: “There were six who raped her. One raped me, too.”

The soldiers left Jeanne and Chance, tightly tied up, and marched off into the forest with Jeanne’s two daughters as prisoners. One daughter is 14, the other 16, and they have not been heard from since.

“They kill, they rape, burn houses and take people’s belongings,” Jeanne said. “When they come with their guns, it’s as if they have a project to eliminate the local population.”

A peer-reviewed study found that 5.4 million people had already died in this war as of April 2007, and hundreds of thousands more have died as the situation has deteriorated since then. A catastrophically planned military offensive last year, backed by the governments of Congo and Rwanda as well as the United Nations force here, made some headway against Hutu militias but also led to increased predation on civilians from all sides.

Human Rights Watch estimates that for every Hutu fighter sent back to Rwanda last year, at least seven women were raped and 900 people forced to flee for their lives. “From a human rights perspective, the operation has been catastrophic,” concluded Philip Alston, a senior United Nations investigator.

This is a pointless war — now a dozen years old — driven by warlords, greed for minerals, ethnic tensions and complete impunity. While there is plenty of fault to go around, Rwanda has long played a particularly troubling role in many ways, including support for one of the militias. Rwanda’s government is dazzlingly successful at home, but next door in Congo, it appears complicit in war crimes.

Jeanne and Chance contracted sexually transmitted diseases. Like other survivors in areas that are accessible, they receive help from the International Rescue Committee, but Chance still suffers pain when she urinates.

Counselors say that most raped women are rejected by their husbands, and raped girls like Chance have difficulty marrying. In an area west of Lake Kivu where attacks are continuing, I met Saleh Bulondo, a newly homeless young man who was educated and spoke a little English. I asked him if he would still marry his girlfriend if she were raped.

“Never,” he said. “I will abandon her.”

A girl here normally fetches a bride price (a reverse dowry, paid by the husband’s family) when she marries. A village chief told me that a typical price would be 20 goats — but if the girl has been raped, two goats. At most.

Thus it takes astonishing courage for Jeanne and Chance to tell their stories (including in a video posted with the on-line version of this column). I’ll be reporting more from eastern Congo in the coming days, hoping that the fortitude of survivors like them can inspire world leaders to step forward to stop this slaughter. It’s time to show the same compassion toward Congo that we have toward Haiti.

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Feb 01

Twitter updates for the week of 2010-02-01

Posted in: Uncategorized
  • Eminem – living proof that money can't buy happiness. Hi my name is 'mr guy who is angry for no reason and might need therapy' #
  • @wantmoore I sound that way when I want to kick something… in reply to wantmoore #
  • @mstanley @rhowell… greatness. but I gotta say #teamwordsfromwags #teamstopthemadness. #
  • There is a reason that I use a Mac. Not because I love Apple, but I know how much pain something with Microsoft on it will cause me. #
  • Dear Microsoft, your Xbox just chewed up a brand new game. I mean really dug a trench right into the disc. Unusable now. Thanks. #
  • Todd Wagner is moving to @wordsfromwags… please change today to stay current. @Twitdaddy is soon to be no more. Move over with me #
  • @watermarkchurch members sponsoring hundreds of children from Uganda. Check out http://www.watermarkworldwide.com. #
  • External Focus Sunday @watermarkchurch. Lots of great ministry partners and ways to impact the city and world. http://post.ly/LTfZ #
  • Dinner with my hot bride. — at Russo's New York Pizzeria http://gowal.la/s/7Y4 #
  • Go to http://www.watermarkworldwide.com and support the future of Uganda. http://vimeo.com/9080775 (via @rhowell) #
  • At the doctor with the oldest. Ear ache, cough, low fever. Joy joy joy. #fb #
  • @rhowell Yeah… their seafood seem to be throwaway dishes. Hawaiian Ribeye however, was amazing. in reply to rhowell #
  • @rhowell Don't have the fish… seriously. The pan seared tuna at Houstons was awful. in reply to rhowell #
  • This really is an amazing technology perspective of what's going on in Haiti. Just like being there.
    http://bit.ly/5ogtay #
  • no way this is real? Is it? Obama using teleprompter at elementary school? http://bit.ly/diiLz2 #
  • PhysOrg.com- New theory suggests the Moon was formed after a natural nuclear explosion in the Earth's mantle (yet belief in God is hard?) #
  • Thankful for a dry and warm office today. What are you thanking God for this morning? #
  • Well, Jay Leno is on Oprah. My life just powered-down to a level I may never recover from. #powerdown #teamconan #
  • @benjordan If I do, I'm not admitting to sitting on the couch playing until 2 am. =) in reply to benjordan #
  • @leah0719 This time it's not my fault he's working late. =) in reply to leah0719 #
  • @benjordan well, geez there goes the rest of your productive life… #wordswithfriends in reply to benjordan #
  • Dear @mint and @intuit… please fix the current problem with Citibank transactions disappearing. Makes Mint unusable for tons of people. #
  • @marksnewton Oracle officially owns Sun sounds like something from a bad mythology/sci-fi film. in reply to marksnewton #
  • so we had leftover burgers from Burger Bueno at the office today… a little skeptical, but I tried half of one. Actually really good. #
  • Family medicine doctor Chris Berry interviewing a patient. http://twitpic.com/105qfz (via @outwardfocused) – The church BEING the church. #
  • Government isn't the hope of change in America. Neither is Obama. Only Christ is the hope of change for our nation. #SOTU #
  • AWESOME! Glad you are going to do all of that without increasing your budget… RIIIIIIGGGGHTTTT! #SOTU #
  • Not a single person in that room who really cares about serving their citizens. They are politicians. #SOTU #
  • Not sure why I even watch this… #SOTU #
  • This must be what it was like for the American Colonists listening to a speech by King George… 500 clueless people in one room. #
  • @DellServerGeek I will… oh wait, nevermind. in reply to DellServerGeek #
  • To hell with iPhone flashlight apps. Our upcoming masterpiece will be a *floodlight* for the iPad! (via @taptaptap) #
  • @wantmoore nailed it. in reply to wantmoore #
  • Well, $499 it is… #
  • Well, AT&T is providing the service… Which means that the ipad is now officially unusable without wifi. #
  • @wantmoore guessing $599 (16gb), $699 (32gb), and $799 (64gb). in reply to wantmoore #
  • Kindle will still do well if the price point for ipad is too high. Granted the ipad does more… but worth how much? #
  • @rhowell your arteries however, also hate you that much. in reply to rhowell #
  • wonders what the fire sale on the kindle looks like today… #
  • The problem with hype is that you never can meet expectations. Don't ever believe the hype. #
  • Hello ipad. #
  • Imagine that. Apple announcement and somehow At&t's data network is sucking. #
  • Dear #arenachms, when I call for support, your queue shouldn't be so full that I can't get support. Just sayin. #
  • @rhetter what Jobs has to say is probably based on facts.. Obama… well, speculation and wild guessing is ALMOST like facts. in reply to rhetter #
  • Let's see how much AT&T stock goes through the floor if Apple announces an arrangement with iphone/tablet with Verizon. I'd move. #
  • Great… rumors about Farmville coming to the apple tablet… as if Farmville wasn't annoying enough already. #
  • We serve a big God, are you praying for big things from Him today? Don't put God in a box. #
  • In port-au-prince. Bad. Debriefed w/ medical team 20mi outside the city,set up in tents,but amazing medical facility. (via @outwardfocused) #
  • @benjordan I'll take a skinny cinnamon dolce latte please. 1 spenda. Thanks. =) in reply to benjordan #
  • One of many ways to make a difference in a child's life. Check out http://www.watermarkworldwide.com/ – Invest in someone's future. #
  • @clintmiller ESX Vsphere 4. But the licensing comes from microsoft, so I believe it works the same way regardless. in reply to clintmiller #
  • @clintmiller for windows just buy datacenter edition… purchase per socket and run unlimited vms. =) in reply to clintmiller #
  • Todd is going to be tweeting as much as he can while in Haiti this week with several folks from @watermarkchurch. Follow him @twitdaddy. #
  • RT @outwardfocused: http://twitpic.com/zu8u1 wheels up to Haiti! // @watermarkchurch #
  • Do not exercise on the bed. Rule 5d9. Don't ask. #fb #
  • @shannonjmiller whoa… You tweeted. Amazed. But you have to put @watermarkgeek in so I'll see it faster next time… =) in reply to shannonjmiller #
  • @atxtraveler I sent him a direct message back with your email contact info. =) in reply to atxtraveler #
  • True confession. I'm listening to Taylor Swift right now. Don't hate. #
  • Totally too tired to tweet. Totally tweetless. #
0 Comments
Jan 25

Twitter updates for the week of 2010-01-25

Posted in: Uncategorized
0 Comments
Jan 22

Crashplan Pro + Drobo Pro = Warm Fuzzy Feeling

Posted in: CITRT, General IT, Mac OS X

We have just recently implemented Crashplan Pro as a primary backup strategy for our Mac machines.  We will slowly be rolling this out to all of our Mac users, especially laptop users and potentially PC users as well.  A few things that we love about Crashplan Pro.

  • They have a 25% discount for non-profits.  Just ask them.  I love vendors who do this.
  • Crashplan is easy to use from the server perspective and invisible to the end user.
  • It is very flexible and simple while remaining powerful.  They have really hit the sweet spot on this.  You don’t need a PhD to configure it.
  • Users can back up from anywhere across the internet.  That’s right… anywhere.  Meaning my Macbook Pro is still being backed up even when I have it at home.
  • They offer a 30 day trial.  You can run it, fully featured, for 30 days before making a decision.
  • Multiple backup targets.  My Macbook can back up to my local firewire drive AND the crashplan server.  Ok, so I’m paranoid.

Implementation was easy.  We installed the server product on an older server chassis and connected it first to local storage, which was fine but not really enough for all of our users.  Next we purchased a 16 Terabyte Drobo Pro (8 drives x 2TB).  For less than 3k for 16TB, the Drobo Pro is a great backup storage solution.  It’s iSCSI, which makes it a snap for connecting to the Crashplan server, and while I’m not convinced that I would use a Drobo for primary storage of mission critical data, this is a great product for backup data (video archiving, files, etc).  Besides, I trust EqualLogic to handle my primary storage anyway.  We’ll use this same storage (and server) to also store our Veeam backups of our VMware servers.  Now, I should also mention that we have a great offsite backup solution for our critical data.  I highly recommend you look into One Safe Place if you are looking for offsite storage.  I realize that Crashplan offers offsite, but the SQL and Exchange tools that One Safe Place provides are amazing.  I would never recommend that you only backup data onsite, you should always offsite mission critical data in some fashion, but in this case we are talking about the data that resides on individual laptops, not servers.

Licensing for Crashplan is simple.  Once you have purchased your license, you just enter the license key into the server (one time) and your clients will be licensed.  In our case, we purchased 25 licenses.  One of our hurdles to implementing more Mac computers on our campus was backup.  I should also mention that the Crashplan Pro client works for both the PC and the Mac, so users on both platforms can backup to the same server.  Mac users and PC users can use the same client licensing.

There had been lots of discussion around this solution amongst Church IT guys from around the country.  If you are church or business owner looking for a solid backup solution, you should look at Crashplan Pro.

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