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Why Ultraviolet & Flickster Are A Complete Waste of Time

January 5, 2013 – 11:50 am

Maybe you have noticed on a few BluRay and DVD new releases an advertisement for a free digital copy of the movie thru the Ultraviolet service? Well, let me just warn you – run away. That service and process is an unmitigated disaster. If you really want a digital copy for your iTunes – buy it in iTunes. Or get handbrake and make your own copy.

Whatever you do – avoid Ultraviolet.

I’ve had 3 experiences with Ultraviolet. The first one had to do with Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, Part 1. They advertised an iTunes digital copy came with purchase of BluRay. there wasn’t. It was only Ultraviolet and after thousands of complaints, they started giving away iTunes codes.

You’d think I’d learn. You’d be wrong.

My second experience had to do with The Dark Knight. I bought this in the middle of our move and when I finally got it unpacked – the digital copy code had expired. Let me just share the actual customer service email interaction.

Dear Ultraviolet,
I recently tried to download my digital copy of The Dark Knight and realized it had expired. I was in the middle of a move when I purchased this an was wondering if there was anyway to get another code.

Here’s the email I got back:

Hello,

We have researched your issue and the Digital Copy offer for this title has expired. However, we are taking steps to reactivate the digital copy authorization code so that you can access the Digital Copy. Please check back on June 15, 2012 for an update.

Thank you for your continued support of Warner Home Video products.

WB Digital Copy Support Team

My reply…..on August 28th:

Dear Warner Bros.

I made this request on June 14th. It is August 28th. I have clicked on the links to get started in finding my original authorization code and it is just the same cycle of the same information that I originally went through on June 14th.

Warner Bros. wrote back:

Dear Digital Copy Customer:

Our records show that you previously contacted us about an expired Digital Copy offer. We have reactivated the Digital Copy title about which you inquired and you can now redeem the Digital Copy.

For Windows Media: Please follow the redemption instructions on the insert on which the original authorization code appears. If you no longer have the original insert with instructions, you can find information about getting started on the customer support web site.

For iTunes: Please respond to this email with your original authorization code as it appears on your insert. If you no longer have the original insert you can find information about getting started on the customer support web site. Manual issuance of a replacement code may take us a few days, so we appreciate your patience.

In addition, if you have technical problems with redemption, please contact customer service by replying to this e-mail or checking the customer support web site (http://www.wbdigitalcopy.com/support).

Thank you for your cooperation.
WB Digital Copy Support Team
www.wbdigitalcopy.com/support

Of course — none of that worked. It still showed I had an expired code. So I ended it with this email.

Dearest Warner Bros.
I went ahead and bought a non-HD digital version from iTunes. It was cheaper and less hassle than dealing with your company. I realize that you will get some money from my purchase – money that honestly I shouldn’t have had to spend again but this whole experience has soured me on your company.

I’ll pass and keep passing on your products.

Sincerely,
Grant English

You would think after all of that I would have learned, right? I mean – what idiot goes through this again? I own a couple of iPhones, Apple TVs, iPad – what bonehead buys yet another BluRay with the Ultraviolet Symbol instead of just downloading it from iTunes? Tell me?

I will tell you.

I am that idiot.

I see The Dark Knight Rises in Best Buy and I just couldn’t NOT buy it. I get it home. I realize that it is an Ultraviolet copy. I get to their website and they tell me – “This is NOT compatible with iTunes.”

So I figure – I’ll give this another try. I upload the code to Ultraviolet. They tell me that I now need a Flickster account alon with my Ultraviolet account. Why do I need two accounts to have a digital copy? I have no idea. But I get one. I try the code again.

It doesn’t work.

If you aren’t going to be iTunes compatible, if you are going to try to fight against the beast that is iTunes, the least you could do is to make sure it works AND make it easy. They have yet to accomplish either of these tasks.

So as a fool returns – I return to the customer service black hole of UltraViolet.

I start a customer service ticket telling them my problem – can not get Dark Knight Rises to stream on Ultraviolet site or Flickster site. Left them my authorization code.

I get an email with a new authorization code. Awesome. It doesn’t work either.

I send another email asking if there is anyway to get an iTunes code since their product doesn’t work. Here’s the response.

Dear Valued Customer,

Hi there, I would like to apologize for the delay you’re experiencing. We have had an overwhelming amount of requests for iTunes codes. We are working to have this resolved. Warner Bros. will be contacting you with a resolution. Enjoy your digital media, Jessica C.

I respond back…

Enjoy my digital media? Are you trying to be funny? You mean my digital media from ultraviolet that hasn’t worked one single time from Harry Potter to Dark Knight to Dark Knight Rises? It’s been two weeks and you guys can’t figure out how to issue iTunes codes for a faulty product? And why is Warner Bros. contacting me? Is it their fault?

The next day, I get this email…

“Dear Valued Customer,
Since we haven’t heard from you on this issue, we are assuming your issue has been resolved and thank you for your continue patronage.

I respond:

This issue is not resolved. I was told to wait for a response from you. In fact, I just bought Bourne Legacy off iTunes because I saw the ultraviolet logo on the package and I can’t stand the thought of having to deal with your product anymore.

I would like a code for iTunes or at least the ability to have a file I could download to be able to put on my iPhone. Just like your product advertised but has yet to deliver. I did all the steps you’ve told me and I still have no Dark Knight Rises on my mobile devises.

I get this in reply…

Dear Valued Consumer,

Thank you for your email. We appreciate your interest in Universal Studios Home Entertainment products.

While Flixster does offer select Universal titles, we are forwarding on your behalf the request for details on iTunes compatibility to Universal Customer Support. You should receive an email from Universal with more information within 1 – 2 business days.

Thank you for your continued patronage and for taking the time to contact us.

- Flixster Customer Care for UltraViolet™

http://support.ultraviolet.flixster.com

The next day I get an email from Universal – not Warner Bros. – with a code for the Bourne Legacy.

I respond:

Once again – you have gotten this all wrong. I don’t need a code for Bourne Legacy. I already bought that off iTunes and it works great. I wanted a code for the Dark Knight Returns. Do you guys even read the emails?

Ten days later, I get an email asking for an evaluation on my recent experience with Ultraviolet. Here’s what I said…

I originally put in a complaint for a non-working code for The Dark Knight Rises on December 11th. You have my acount info. I’ve got a string of 13 emails from Universal Studios who finally told me – they can’t help me. I’m back at square one. I want to be done with your company and would just like for you to issue me a iTunes credit so I can get the Dark Knight Rises in HD in iTunes so I can watch on my mobile devices. I tried the Flickster/Ultraviolet route. My code does not work – has not worked since the day I bought the BluRay. IF a customer drops $30 on a BluRay that promises streaming and mobile digital copy – you should deliver it. You haven’t. And your customer service is horrific.

I get this the next day.

Hello,

Thank you for your reply. My name is John and I’ll be happy to assist you further.

I do apologize for the experience you have had. to ensure you get a satisfactory resolution to this request.

I did want to let you know I will be escalating this to my supervisor to better address your iTunes code request as we here at Ultraviolet support are not able to provide iTunes codes. He will be responding to your request.

While that is happening, (and I understand you may be finished with us) I do want to make sure you know that while UltraViolet™ titles will not show up in the iTunes library, you can stream and download your UltraViolet™ movies and TV shows to compatible Apple devices including the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch as well as your Mac computer or laptop.

[He gives me the instructions on how to download to iPhone/iPad.]

Thanks again for taking the time to contact us. We’d like to keep the channels of communication open and look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this process,

John P.
UltraViolet Customer Care

http://www.uvvu.com

I gave this response:

John,

Thank you for the reply.

From an end-user perspective, it is not exactly user friendly to have to go through two services – ultraviolet and flickster to use your product.

But more frustrating than that – the codes that were in my blu-ray did not work from the beginning. I was willing to live with the frustration of flickster but trying to deal with your customer service people was a nightmare. I kept getting passed around and asked has the issue been resolved, I kept saying no, it hasn’t. And then nothing.

Somehow in the middle of this mess – I got an email from universal with a free iTunes code for Bourne Legacy – which was nice – but that wasn’t the movie I was having problems with.

So more than the hassle of adding another app, dealing with another place for my media, it was the complete lack of care and communication that just completely frustrates me.

Problems are going to happen with digital media. I get that. Codes don’t always work. But it is the dealing with your co-workers that has me finished with the Ultraviolet experiment.

I don’t tell you this just to be difficult but while I am having this problem, I also had a bad download from iTunes concerning their iTunes extra content. We kept getting this unique error number. I sent a screen shot, a tech sent daily emails giving me steps to do. After about 4 tries – he said – forget it. Sorry for the hassle. Here is your money back, enjoy the movie on us. The movie worked great, it was the behind the scenes stuff but they gave it to us free.

My point is this – people – me in particular – won’t mind the hassle or glitches if they are taken care of. And that is where ultimately your company has failed every time I deal with you.

That was dated December 22nd. And that was the last I have heard from John P. or Ultraviolet or Warner Bros. or whoever else they do business as. And I still do NOT have a HD digital copy of Dark Knight Rises.

Honestly, most of this is my fault. After two experiences with Ultraviolet, I should have known better. It was clearly stated on the BluRay case of The Dark Knight Rises – not iTunes compatible. At the end of the day – despite the ridiculousness of their customer service – if I wanted my media to run on my iOs products, I should have just bought it through iTunes to start with.

And I think I’ve sufficiently learned that lesson.

/end of rant.

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Apple TV (2nd Gen) vs. Roku LT vs. Online TV

May 11, 2012 – 6:30 pm

We’ve dropped the cable (Uverse, technically) but I’m not sure we’re even missing it all that much. It’s been great. We hang out with each other more. Kids are reading and playing outside more. And it’s nice not having that bill at the end of the month. It wasn’t all that big of a deal. We still are able to catch most of the shows we want to see anyway, thank you, online content.

OTA TELEVISION
I remember those days of snowing images and tin foil around the antenna. OTA (Over-The-Air) HD is nowhere near that bad these days as long as you are in range of a local television. We get all the local channels very clear with a simple HD antennae. We don’t watch a lot of television like this – live sporting events, weather – but it’s there and “free” after you have the antenna. COST: $20-40 for HD antenna.

APPLE TVs
We have 2 Apple TVs.

The 1st Generation model is white, big, noisy, and runs hot. I got mine on ebay for $40. It also has a 40 GB hard drive you can store movies, music, photos, or television shows on through iTunes. You can watch YouTube through it but it does NOT have Vimeo or Netflix. We jailbroke it – legal – and now it can pull media off of our family iMac.

The 2nd Generation model of Apple TV is the small, black box. It pretty much is a small box of awesomeness. Netflix, Vimeo, YouTube, MLB.com – all great but the coolest thing is AirPlay. If you have an iPhone or an iPad – pretty much anything you can get on your phone will “AirPlay” on the television. In the 3rd Gen model, there is a mirror mode with the iPad. We have one up at the church – what an incredible teaching tool. I can zoom up maps or pictures or video from an iPad to the whole room. $99 retail.

Roku LT
It’s pretty cool. It’s basically a clumsy Apple TV. It’s got Netflix, Pandora, and Northpoint church has a channel. And Life Church and Granger Community. Pretty awesome. It’s also got Plex and Playon that allows you to stream a lot of online TV stations and whatever else you have on you computer.

It’s cool but takes a while to setup. Have to go back and forth from computer to TV. Not well laid out but it works. $40-90 depending what model you get.

Overall, we haven’t missed it all that much.

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Dear Facebook, It’s Finally Over.

December 14, 2011 – 8:49 am

It’s over.

We’ve been dancing around this issue for a while now. How many discussions and arguments have we had? To many to count. And I know I’ve said these words before but this time it’s serious.

I’m done with you, Facebook.

I’m leaving. The key is on the counter.

Don’t even ask why. You know why. And yes, we started out well – a place where I could keep parents updated on the kids and life in general. A place to catch up with students and post announcements and invite the guys over for Halo.

But then it went….pear-shaped. It got complicated. Awkward. Hurtful.

Every time we settle into a good groove, you’d change. Security settings, features, layout. In short, you became the focus of the relationship instead of a means of relationship. It’s like having another wife – I can’t keep up with all the buttons I have to push or unpush to keep you happy and safe.

And the uninvited “Wall Posts.” I get there are people that really into Twilight or politics or Pirates vs. Ninjas or Farmville. I’m happy for them — okay, honestly, I’m not happy for them. I seriously wonder about their ability to function in normal society but that isn’t the point right now. The point is – it’s my wall, not theirs. I don’t want that junk on there yet I can’t keep it off without having to constantly clicking on your website.

While we are talking about this – can you explain the logic of this? You’ll let anybody post on my wall but you won’t let me publish my blog to my own notebook anymore. What’s up with that? Petty. Very, very petty.

And you’ve devalued what a ‘friend’ is. Current friend count for me – 804. How many of these friends would stop on the side of the road to help me change a flat tire? (I know how to change a flat tire by myself – do not miss the point.) How many of them would I WANT them to stop and help me? Who would have ever thought a friend request would send me into some deep, existential debate? Are we really friends or are we just acquaintances?

You’ve forced people to be lazy and unreasonable. This isn’t totally your fault. But I can’t keep up with all these people’s lives that they seem to be living vicariously online. Partly because I have my own life that I am in the middle of. Partly because I don’t want anything to do with this voyeuristic ritual of knowing what is going on with every single person I’m connected to.

I’m tired of people putting stuff online that they would never say in person. Tired of the immaturity of trying to prove creation, evolution, truth of scripture, pro-life, pro-choice or whatever hot-button issue through links, posts, and comments. I’m tired of people dragging everybody else in the middle of their drama by posting these not-so-cryptic updates slamming someone else. I’m tired of others thinking that just because it’s on Facebook, they should have an opinion on it.

I’m tired of people asking me ‘did you see what so-so put on Facebook?’ (I didn’t. And if I did, I wouldn’t talk to you about it.) I’m tired of those people who get offended easily because they honestly think every post is a personal attack against them. (By the way, I’ve learned it’s just easier to tell them it was about them.) I’m tired of people getting unjustly upset because I am not up to speed on the drama or issues in their life that they have carefully recorded on their profile.

I’m tired of having to only ‘like’ things. Where is the unlike button? Not that it matters. I wouldn’t come back for that.

I’m tired of having to think through a post to make sure it is kind, smart, insightful, funny, non-offensive, vague enough to protect the guilty, or remotely relevant.

In short, I’m tired of you and your drama. And your unspoken expectations. And your unfulfilling, time-wasting, mind-numbing games that steal time from real life, real conversations, real relationships.

So we’re done. I’m walking away. It’s over. I hope you understand but then again it doesn’t matter if you do or not.

Real life awaits.

Grant

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The iPad 2 and Ministry

October 26, 2011 – 1:52 pm

Western Hills surprised/embarrassed me pretty good last week. I never like being surprised, especially on Sundays but they got me good. I had no clue what was coming. Completely and totally surprised. And a little miffed…until I saw the gifts. Then I felt like crying and crawling under the front pew. But that’s another story for another time…

I’ve had a couple of guys bug me about why the iPad is so much better than a normal laptop so this is my apologetic for it.

There are some things that no one should really try on a iPad.

1. Eat.
2. Edit a movie clip.
3. Dance.

That’s pretty much all I can think of right now. But there are some killer apps on the iPad that are pretty much going to render my time on a laptop small. Especially if you add a bluetooth keyboard.

Here is the screen shot of my front page of apps for the iPad2. Let me walk through a couple of MUST have apps for those in ministry.

Logos Bible – Logos 4 is expensive. BUT…for a teacher/communicator – worth every penny. This app lets me access ALL my resources as long as I can get internet. If I need a specific one or two — download them.

Evernote – great for travel logs, blogs, pics, video. Online, PC counterparts as well.

Pages – $10 in the app store. Worth it. It’s basically Microsoft Word on your tablet but better. Doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that the laptop app has. The glaring missing component is the export/share feature.

Dropbox + iBooks = how to teach/preach from your iPad. Put your sermon or message in a PDF form and upload it to Dropbox. When you open it in Dropbox, it will ask what app to use to open it. Pick iBooks. Now you can page turn through your notes without the keyboard popping.

By the way – if you are going to teach with the iPad —-
1. Turn off autolock.
2. Lock the orientation.
3. Put in airplane mode.

Bible (YouVersion) – great, quick, easy Bible. Be sure to download a couple of versions so that if you don’t have internet – you’ve still got the Word.

WordPress – It’s okay. It’s better than nothing if you have a wordpress blog – as I do both personally and the church’s website. So I can add a post from here if I want. I wish it had a bit more power with it.

Hootsuite – let’s you do Twitter and Facebook at same time. I used to think this was the best app for Twitter…and it is still the #2 app for that. What’s #1.

Flipboard – This is like a trip to Disney for apps. Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, LinkedIn, and anything else you can imagine. It’s got a magazine layout, so I can ‘turn the page’ and quickly see a ton of information. I can point to where and go there OR just swipe by. I can’t even describe how incredible this app is if you are an avid reader of blogs, magazines, and the like.

I’m actually going to try to teach from my iPad this weekend. We will see how it goes.

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Getting Movies on my LG Optimus S

February 5, 2011 – 11:03 am

I normally don’t talk geeky stuff on my blog but since I left my iPhone for the LG Optimus S, I’ve had to figure out a couple of things on my own with little to no help from the Geek Nation out there. It’s a great phone so far…no major complaints. No regrets leaving AT&T or the iPhone. BUT there are not as many helps for this phone as there were for the iPhone.

Consider this my contribution to the fold.

I have a LG Optimus S phone with a 16gb microSD card, class 4 speed. I’m also using a MacBook with upgraded 4gb processor. It makes the compression time a bit shorter. Handbrake is the only real program you will need for this unless you are on a PC. I’ve heard that PC’s have to take another step before getting the film into Handbrake to be compressed. I don’t know all the details to that…so mileage may vary.

This article acted as a baseline to this information. There are some cool screen shots and in an effort to save some space and time — I pretty much did everything this article tells you to do except for TWO key areas.

In short — click on the iPhone Legacy preset first then make some minor adjustments in two key areas.

AREA ONE: The article says to uncheck the “Keep Aspect Ratio” box and instead put 480×320 in the dimension boxes. This the maximum screen size for the Optimus S and for most movies and TV shows, this setting will be fine.

HOWEVER, on some movies — big, widescreen, epic films – if you do this, the film will look really funny and distorted. It’s a personal preference thing but that is just annoying. I hate watching Pan&Scan movies so I did some tweaking on this setting.

Using the Live Preview button allows you to scale your movie to exactly the look you want. As I said, some movies will look fine in 480×320 but if you want to keep the aspect ratio close without feeling like you are wasting half of the precious screen size – try using a 480×272 size. It’s not the strict aspect ratio BUT it doesn’t look warped and it uses most of the screen.

AREA TWO: The article says set the bit rate to 1500.

This is going to get a little technical so I apologize in advance…just try to hang with me because this setting is important if you are trying to find that magical place between memory and quality. That’s the trade-off we are dealing with all of these smartphones – you have a smaller screen size so we don’t need as much memory, however you don’t want your copy looking like junk either.

If you keep the 1500 bitrate speed, it will result into roughly a 1GB per hour size file. This is a large size file for a phone. I dropped it down to 1000 and saw no change in quality of the film on my phone but it resulted in a 20% smaller file size! Win!

Then I decided to really experiment with this. I dropped down to 500. I noticed a little pixelating and the blacks were kind of shadowy at points. A little annoying and not exactly what I wanted BUT the file size was a ridiculous 80% smaller. I made a small bump up to 700 bitrate speed and the quality was right back at the 1000 bitrate and only a slightly larger file size of the 500 bitrate speed. Here’s what I’m trying to say —

Bitrate Speed; size of file per hour (roughly)
1000; 1gb
700; 300mb
500; 250mb

Again, it’s a personal preference thing but most folks are going to be fine with 500 and enjoy having more room on their phone. Depending on the movie, I’ll switch between 500 and 700. 700 for action films and graphic intense movies, 500 for chick fliks and musicals of which I only do for my wife and kids, I promise I’m not lying about this.

HUGE NOTE: If you are ripping these movies to playback later on your computer or on your TV — do NOT use these settings. These things look great on a small screen…they do NOT scale up. So if you plan on showing these movies on a projector or on your home theater system — scale as high up as you can.

HUGE NOTE 2: The better your original source, the better your copy.

We now will go back to our regular scheduled programming.

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The Spiritual Application of Leaving the iPhone

January 6, 2011 – 2:13 pm

In case you haven’t heard – I left my iPhone & AT&T this week. I got an Android phone. It’s a shock, I know. And before all of my fellow Apple enthusiasts accuse me of infidelity, hear me out. It’s not as dark or traumatic on this side as you think it is. Of course, I’ve been humming Whitney Houston’s “I will always love you” all week long as well. It’s helped.

In all semi-seriousness, it’s been a bit embarrassing some of the conversations I’ve had. “You’re going to regret leaving the iPhone.” “There’s not another phone like it on the market.” “What will you do without AT&T’s coverage?” Perhaps be able to complete a call?

As wonderful as the 3G was two years ago, it just could not keep up with the new software. Every update just seemed to make it worse. That sleek, wonderful piece of awesomeness had become a sleek, wonderful paper weight that I could periodically make calls with. It was now slow, unresponsive, bulky and….boring.

Something had to change. A bold move was needed. Who knew that a 2-hour visit to the cell phone store would be that bold move.

That’s right. 2 hours to get a new cell phones and a new plan. They can put more technology than it took to go to the moon in my hand but it still takes the same amount of time to program it.

This is the part where we all realize that we’re not just talking about phones anymore.

I’m amazed at how quickly that sleek, wonderful piece of awesomeness called our relationship with Jesus can turn into a slow, unresponsive, bulky, boring paperweight. I’m also amazed at how long we will live with settle with this instead of doing something about it… like change.

I’m not going to lie to you – change means work. It’s inconvenient. It’s awkward at best. It can take forever. There is a large learning curve. It’s risky. It means letting go of something that is knowable and predictable and comfortable – no matter how ineffective it may be. You constantly find yourself wrestling with the question – is all of this worth it?

Is all of this worth it?

The question must be answered at some point, I just think too many of us answer it too soon. I’m ashamed at how quickly I’ll answer that question without allowing the story to unfold, to develop, to deepen. I see the rough path and start looking for the first exit. If I’d only remember the other times that I pushed through, I stayed in the saddle, kept at the journey… If I could only remember how faithful God was just yesterday…

Join us this Sunday as we investigate practical steps that we can take to help make the answer to that question “yes.”

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Cayden’s Commentary on Christmas So Far

December 25, 2010 – 10:40 am

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A Man’s Guide For Christmas

December 17, 2010 – 12:26 pm

Let’s face it, men. The holiday season is tough. We’re supposed to be happier about spending more money on stuff we don’t need for people we are not sure we even like. The Christmas lights are always tangled. It’s always -34 degrees when you finally decide to put the lights up. Add to that the Christmas parties, concerts, recitals, and all the Christmas cards you get in the mail from people your wife says you know but you honestly have never seen them.

I know how you feel. I’m here to help. I’m even going to make this easy for you. So pay attention.

Presents
Let’s start with presents. Gifts. Loot. We don’t buy for just anybody. However, if you find yourself in a position to HAVING to get a gift for someone other than family – here are a couple of suggestions that you can’t go wrong with.

1. Gift Cards – Amazon.com, iTunes, Starbucks.
2. iPad – this is not for you to buy one for your friends but mainly for your rich friends so that they will buy one for you.

For the wife:
No appliances of any kind. Do not under any circumstance buy her anything from Victoria or her secret. Jewelry is safe (but expensive). A night out without kids is relatively inexpensive and shows much forethought and care.

Depending on how long you’ve been married, you can try to do the whole — “I bought this for you but really for me” kind of gift. Stuff like a BluRay player, flatscreen TV, iPad or pretty much anything electronic but they see through this pretty quick. Fortunately for us, they love us anyway. You can get away with this a couple of times so choose wisely when to do this. It can’t be your go-to gift every year.

Kids:
Girl — anything pink and/or a doll/figurine of some sort. This seems to work for every age except the ages of 16-21. Researchers are still baffled as to what works during these ages.

Boys — sports, electronics, jerseys, tickets to sporting events…basically, if you like it, he will. Regardless of age.

Christmas Parties
It’s a fact of life…you are going to have to attend a couple this year. So make the most of it.

First,know exactly where the host puts your coat. Do NOT miss this information. Nothing will drag out your escape longer than having to track down your coat. Do NOT do anything else at the party until you lock down where your coat will be stashed.

Second, head for the food. All the good snacks get sucked up first and you don’t want to miss out on them. Plus there will be other guys that don’t really want to be there and you might find a new friend.

Third, wear a team sweater or golf shirt so that you’ll have something to talk about other than work. And don’t be that guy that shows up to a party and then talks about work for 45 minutes. If you find that guy, find a bathroom. It’s about the only place he won’t follow you into. Then come out and scream in a Jim Carrey voice – “Do NOT go in there.” That will pretty much end the party night for you.

Family Time
We all want more of it until we get it then we wish we had less of it. Couple of activities that will make this not only bearable but enjoyable.

Light Hunting. With a little internet search and investigation, you can find the cool houses with lights and music in your area. Put the kids in PJ’s and a thermos of hot chocolate and go light looking. This is good for about an hour.

Movies
We have two movies we always watch – Elf and White Christmas. Kids can barely make it through White Christmas but we make them. Elf is awesome. Awkward/Embarrassing Christmas Moment: A couple of years ago I grabbed all the kids and watched A Christmas Story as a family. 1. The TV version is edited, the DVD is not. 2. After the shock of a few words that I had forgotten, came to the painful realization that kids don’t like voiceover movies. A Christmas Story is not an English family tradition.

We also do a Christmas “real” movie together. With a family of 5, we don’t go to the theater often. Scratch that – we make it once, maybe twice a year. Much cheaper for us to wait till BluRay or DVD and watch it at home. But this has become a cool tradition for us – take an afternoon matinee movie the whole family can enjoy.

This year it looks like we will divide and conquer – Tron Legacy for everyone except Cayden. Cayden will have a special Nana and Cayden date with Tangled. It works out for us all.

Christmas Eve Service
We will be having ours at 6pm at Western Hills. It will be awesome, funny, kid-friendly. Not all services are this way. Some are very serious. However, fun or serious — you have to do this. Even a bad Christmas Eve service is better than no Christmas Eve service.

Awkward/Embarrassing Christmas Moment: Cooper dumped a whole tray of communion juice at a certain Christmas Eve Service. He was 4 or 5. It was awful in the moment but awesome now looking back at it. There isn’t enough money in the world to buy that kind of memory. So find a service, show up and really enjoy it.

Family Meals
They take forever to set up and prepare then 20 minutes to be done with. This is the best advice I can give you on this one — just enjoy the process and make sure somebody brought a pie. Enjoy a glass of wine or sparkling grape soda as you prep. We make the kids clean up while we enjoy conversation and dessert.

I hope this guide helps you over the next week. I welcome any comments, corrections, and additions below.

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cultural ramblings technology

The Princess Bride with Light Sabers

December 9, 2010 – 3:40 pm

How am I only just now finding this?? How awesome is this?

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cultural ramblings technology

Text-2-Screen For Smaller Churches

November 22, 2010 – 10:57 am

Last week, I started researching services that could help our church use text-2-screen capabilities in our unplugged@9 service. I know of a lot of churches and student ministries starting to do this so I thought it would be fairly straight forward process. I was sort-of right.

First, for years I’ve used the “old” fashion way of putting a mobile phone number on a powerpoint screen and have the people in the back type in the questions as they come. This has some benefits – it’s free…as long as the person’s phone you are using has unlimited text. There is built in moderation.

But there are some serious drawbacks to this system – especially the larger the venue. Do you really want the whole world knowing your cell phone number? It’s at best a 2 person job in the booth – if they are both tech savvy. It’s slow. It stresses out the people in the booth.

So we made the decision to figure out another solution. I researched quite a few options and thought I had found a great simple, cheap solution. Then realized it was software based, not web-based. If you know what that means – skip to the next paragraph. For the rest of you, software-based means the text-2-screen application is installed on a specific computer and you must use that specific computer any time you want to use this service. That’s some serious limitations in our web-based culture. We wanted a web-base service so that all we really needed to run it was an internet connection.

Here were the ones that stood out for us.

Wiffiti
It’s free. It’s fast. It has twitter integration. You can make your own screens. It has an awesome full-screen mode. It’s web-based, not software base.

But we ultimately didn’t choose to stick with this one. First, there is no moderation. Yes, you can delete messages that come in but it is in real time. The screens do have a rating system that catches profanity — most of the time. I still think it’s a great use in smaller settings.

Jarbyco
This is obviously where the big boys play. Their screens look awesome, you have the ability to have your own keyword, change theme slides, surveys, polls, basically, if you can dream it — they can pull it off.

Biggest problem – expensive. According to your venue size, your mileage may vary but it was WAY to expensive for our size or budget. As a sidenote – their web address was not a lot of help. In fact, it was the least helpful of all the services. However, their email support was outstanding. They were incredibly fast with their responses and I’m guessing that this is by design – focus on bigger clients with personal support rather than masses of smaller ones.

Poll Everywhere
This is probably the most famous/popular service. For a classroom size – this seems like the best option but again – no moderation until you spend $65/month. It’s not outrageously expensive but still more than we wanted to pay.

Mozeo.com
This is who we finally decided to go with. First, they had incredible customer service. Second, they had the ability to moderate as well as retrieve deleted messages.

Third, for a nominal one time set-up fee, we got to choose our own keyword (whills) and design our own screen with our logo on it. Have I mentioned that the customer service was outstanding? Any rate, the cost (after initial set up) is based on per text message. They have a couple of different options – both insanely cheap. We bought 100 text messages for $6. Pretty cheap. Mozeo has other services than just this which I’m sure we’ll explore in the future.

I’m putting this all down here because hopefully I can save other people some time when they start researching this.

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