TallSkinnyKiwi

Moving to London

The official news: We are moving our main base to london. We are looking for affordable accommodation on the dodgy side of London and we need it for about 4 months.
In April, there is a possibility of another building that might open up for us in London, but in the meantime, we are looking. Please email or comment if you know of anything.

People

There has been a goodly (yes, that is a word!) crowd of people over Christmas and it has felt like being with family.
Derek and Amy Chapman have been here for a while. Amy's bags were stolen the first day back which was a huge bummer - we gave her a special dress for Christmas to cheer her up. The Chapmans will keep their apartment in Prague and will continue their bi-contintental lifestyle.
The Stuarts have been ice-skating and sledding in all this snow but are probably missing the 40 degree celsius summer weather in Perth.
Shannon Hopkins left this morning for Switzerland and she will meet up with us in London for a spell. We are conspiring together on a world tour for 2004-2005.
Sasa Flek is packing up his office (in our bedroom) and moving it today. He has been translating the Old Testament. Of course he will stay here in Prague
Kim Moeller is sleeping on our couch, but has been helping us clean up the house. She is headed to Sydney in a few weeks for a graduate dance/movement traning.
Jessica Stricker never made it back for Christmas and we missed her - we will see her again for her summer pilgrimage I am sure.

And the Joneses (us) are packing up the Giant Peach, making the Salvation Army richer, stealing boxes from supermarkets, consolidating our stuff - which in itself must be a spiritual discipline.

Leaving Prague

Let me make the news official. We are shifting our base out of Prague. We have been based here for 3 years and have really loved the country and culture. It has been a home to us. I have mentioned during the year that we are looking for another base. Last summer we were looking in England and Spain but didn't see anything pop up.
Why are we leaving?
First and foremost, because we believe God is moving us out. People we trust to be close to God have advised us strongly to move.

New Translation Feature

Hey - I just added some translation tools to this site on the right column. I think they rock!! I heard you could do that but I hadn't seen anyone actually use the Google translation tools on their site. Its real easy to use - just go to Google language tools, use the "translate this page" command and enter in the site address for each language. Copy the address for every language and use the addresses as links in your list. No sweat! I cant believe others are not using this feature. Thanks Google!

official family photo

Here it is . . the family at the end of 2003.

Skinny on 2003 Technology

2003 for me was a year of tapping into some great technology, and admiring other software that I haven't yet got around to.
Before I tell you about the software, you should know about my vintage computers.
I resisted the urge to get a new computer. I still use my 2001 G3 iBook 500 MHZ with a monstrous 10 Gig hard drive. Impressed? Well, my 4 year old iMac, the hub of our vintage digital lifestyle, runs at a blazing 400 MHZ. However, they are still working fine and I will hold on as long as I can before upgrading.
I went WiFi in 2003, after finding a park close to me that offered a free signal. Then I went out and bought an airport station to give our home/office a WiFi coverage - so we can all get online at the same time, on every level, and all without wires.

I didn't manage to do VoIP phone calls but will as soon as i can.
I also never got ADSL. I have been using dial up all year at 56 kps. HOW LAME! By the time they offered it here in Prague, it was too late to sign the contract because we are leaving. Hopefully the next town will wire me up with some decent broadband.

RSS is brilliant and it has changed the way I surf the web. Now sites come to me, and my blog site feeds others with RSS readers. I have been using NetNewsWire Lite for Mac.

I went bluetooth in 2003 also, with a Sony Ericsson T68i but have had problems connecting with my computer and headphones. The phone is in the shop right now. I was really hoping to sync up with my computer before the year ends.

Kung-log was my best software of the year - radically changing the way I write. I am writing this offline in my Kung-Log editor. I still need to send in my donation, which i will do willingly and with gratitude.
What a great piece of software!!! Of course PC people have their blog editing software also.

OS 10.3 Yes, I upgraded from 10.1.5
I never bought 10.2 (Jaguar) since I knew that Panther(10.3) was coming out and i didnt want to part with $100. However, i got myself into trouble - much of my new software and software i wanted to try out was Jaguar only and I wasnt able to buy it for the 2 months preceding Panther's release. Very frustrating. But all is well now.

TypePad, of course, as my blogging home. A move from Blogger and one that i am still very happy about - i like all the typepad options and support from real people.

Lastly, I made the move from G-force VJ software to Arkaos. Good move, although i am loyal to Andy O'Meara from G-force and may switch back one day, if i dont move on to Isadora, which is currently the best VJ/multimedia performance software i have come across. But Arkaos does it for me right now, and i use it for teaching in conferences as well as throwing up images in worship settings. My tribe would never forgive me if i used powerpoint, although i would love to test out the bluetooth option on my phone, together with my Clicker software, to control the presentation wirelessly. Maybe one day when i get older?

By the way, VJ BigLoose, who is featured on the arkaos front page, was the guy who introduced me to the software and has been teaching me along the way. He is a Jesus follower who lives in Switzerland and we connect a few times each year.

Mac 2004 predictions

Mac 2004 predictions are pretty lame. When does the G5 iMac debut? G5 powerbook? Somebody tell me something interesting is coming up, or was 2003 and extraodinarily innovative year for Apple?
News of an impending $100 iPod is good, however, and I can finally get one for myself . . I mean . . . my wife.

Iran earthquake 'kills thousands'

From BBC NEWS: "A powerful earthquake has killed 5,000-6,000 people in south-east Iran"
God, bring your peace to those who lost families and friends. Hear the cries of the poor. Amen

Reading

Amazon dropped off a new book for me - The Church in Emerging Culture, by Len Sweet. I was a little skeptical of this book, but now that my eyes have seen it, and my hand have fondled it, I am beginning to believe.
Its really a great book. Good one, Sweetman!

Christmas

Christmas went well. I took a blog-fast and focused on the family and cooking and presents. Hope you dont mind. i am back and will catch everyone up on the news soon.