Category: Coding

  • Verse of the Day – Part 3: MailChimp templates

    Beside getting OAuth 2 setup for Google Apps, the hardest part of this was to come up with a simple way to create and send MailChimp campaigns with a similar layout and look, but with some custom content. My choices seem to be to between: 1. Create the full HTML5 content from scratch, taking care…

  • Verse of the Day, Part 2: using Google Spreadsheet

    Last time, I described what I thought needed to happen in order to send out a verse of the day message via SMS and email. This makes use of Google Drive, ESV Bible, Twillio, and MailChimp APIs and interfaces. The first thing is to create a place to store our information. This includes people’s signup…

  • Verse of the Day, Part 1: Making use of Google Apps, Twilio, MailChimp, and ESV Bible WS

    Our Church does a 40 Day Event during this time of year that includes, among other things, being able to signup to get an relevant Bible verse and message via SMS and/or email. This year, I decided it was time to make the process a little less labor intensive and take a few ruby modules…

  • timekpr Grows Up ( or “Why I Love Open Source” )

    Back in February, I had the need to limit the amount of time my kids spent on a shared Ubuntu box. I cobbled together a simple script that would give a warning then shutdown the user session. It worked for me (made my kids unhappy, tho’), but I knew it could be better. Dispite my…

  • 12 Step Program for Ubuntu Update-Manager Addicts

    Hi, my name is Chris. I am Ubuntu update-manager addict. I began innocently enough, sometime back in Febuary, I ran ‘update-manager -d‘ to get a peek at Unbuntu Hardy Heron. Since that time I have been unable to resist the little orange “Updates Available” icon. Checking two or three times a day for improved progams,…

  • How to Limit Daily Desktop Usage in Ubuntu

    I have been looking for a way to limit the amount of time my kids spend on the computer. After toying with a couple of different things like timeoutd and pam_time, I decided to hack together something to meet my needs:

  • 6 Tools for Keeping Kids Safe with Open Source

    My family uses open source software almost exclusively. Everyone from the toddlers to the teen to the Mrs. have what they need to play games, chat with friends, manager emails, surf the web, keep busy schedules straight, do homeschooling, and pretty much anything they may want to do.

  • Microsoft likes software pirates – when they count

    Microsoft doesn’t really hate software pirates… when they might count toward market share for their latest Internet Explorer release. In the face of slipping numbers, Microsoft has reversed thier earlier requirement that users have a legal copy of Microsoft Windows XP or greater in order to download and install Internet Explorer 7. M$ has done…

  • OpenWorship project

    After searching for a suitable worship slide system for our church, I decided to write my own using the S5 presentation software and Ruby on Rails. Check it out at the OpenWorship project site. It’s still early, but I can build a presentation (using rails scaffolding) and display it, so thats a start.

  • The Expanding Web

    I’ve realized I’ve gotten into a bit of a rut when it comes to web surfing lately.