Home Networking, Technology - by Jeff - March 3, 2014 - 00:31 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!
In pursuit of home network bliss, I have moved on to step 2.
Step 1: Managed network switch – Netgear GS108Tv2 switch will allow setup of multiple VLANs for managing network traffic.
Step 2: Small PC to setup as a firewall / router – Jetway Quad Lan / Fanless Case (don’t forget to add a small SSD harddrive)
Step 3: Install and Setup PFSense as the firewall software / OS
Now here is where the trouble begins: the Google Fiber Network box can’t be put into bridge mode… so it looked like the only answer was to double NAT, not a good solution…. until this came along: Full Story
Technology - by Jeff - February 24, 2014 - 09:26 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!
Spent a good part of my weekend improving our online security. One big part of this improvement was to tighten up some of my online accounts. We have all seen the new stories of the massive data breeches, the stolen credit card data, the big hacks & wide scale identity theft. And while we need to be careful, there is not a lot we can do with our data that other people have. But what we can improve is the security of the small things. Full Story
family, Home Networking, Technology - by Jeff - February 23, 2014 - 15:15 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!
So Google fiber is here, you would think that would be enough. But consider our crowdedhouse. Our network not only serves our family (which admittedly is larger than average, ranging between 9 and 11 people depending on the day, your definition of family and my general attitude), but the network also serves our carriage house apartment, 3 guest rooms being used by long and short term guest and whoever is couch-surfing in the basement at the time. Add up all these users and all their devices plus the odd server or six we tend to run, and we have 25-35 devices on the network at any one time. Supporting this network has become quite the job.
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Articles, Media, Stewardship, Technology - by Jeff - May 27, 2011 - 16:59 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!
In general, we have found that the median life cycle of audio equipment is around 10 years. Some pieces will last longer, others will require maintenance or refreshing to continue to perform to specs and some things will need replaced much sooner. Environment, handling and maintenance, and materials and workmanship directly affect longevity of components. Indirectly, the experiences and expectations of people effectively shorten product efficacy.You could call this the “inside, outside, upside down” theory of life cycle of audio systems.
Excellence in the Arts - by Jeff - April 27, 2011 - 12:42 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!
A worship facility is not just another performing arts space. As the spoken Word- the sermon- is at once equal to and yet higher than the “singing of hymns, psalms and spiritual songs” it is therefore neither lecture hall nor concert space, but Worship Facility. Designing the Worship Facility means to design a space that supports speech as well as music. Full Story
Excellence in the Arts, Media - by Jeff - March 15, 2011 - 15:36 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!
Church bulletins are calling people to the Lenten season of reflection and preparation for Holy Week and the most important Christian holy day, Resurrection Sunday. This season is a time when the technical staff can get stressed out, because we know if anything goes wrong, everyone will look at us.
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Stewardship, Technology - by Jeff - February 23, 2011 - 01:54 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!
During our last move we left behind a spotlight that had been used for a college touring choir since 1976. It was a used donation when they got it, and it was still being used for special productions in a technologically geriatric setting [stored under risers and used once a year] at a large Baptist church. In finance circles, there has long been a mantra that leasing is not good stewardship. People want to own homes, not lease, to build equity. Buying a car, not leasing, is said to be less expensive in the long run. So why would I promote leasing equipment? You do want to purchase the durable workhorse whose technology remains steady- predictable and reliable. Things susceptible to needing upgrades and becoming outdated should be leased. Here are four points to consider when deciding to buy or lease equipment. Full Story
Articles, Excellence in the Arts, Stewardship, Technology - by Jeff - January 25, 2011 - 13:55 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!
If technology used in the church is of poor quality (in the eyes of those attending), it will tend to reflect poorly on the message, evening cheapening the message. If the technology is too glitzy and fancy (again, in the eyes of those attending), it will make the message feel more like a story, entertainment, even fantasy. We want to get the right system into the right church to give the right message while recognizing that the real question being asked is, “But, how can we make the most of available resources?”
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Q&A - by Jeff - November 16, 2010 - 18:51 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!
How can I mic our choir so we can hear them? We are hearing the orchastra / band through the choir mics and if we turn up the choir any more we get feedback. We currently have six AKG CK47 mics suspended above the choirloft. Do we need new mics?
… I wanted to talk through a couple of the issues and my thoughts on the solution of your choir mic problem. Your setup and arrangement is very similar to what we had at High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin where I was on staff and we battled with some of the same issues.
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Articles, Q&A - by Jeff - November 8, 2010 - 09:42 Etc/GMT+5 - Be first to Comment!
I have a lot of cassettes I want to copy to CD. I’ve been using my cassette deck into the stereo system into an old desktop running Audacity because it has a line in jack. Unfortunately, the wife does not think the desktop adds to the decor of the living room.
Can a laptop record through the mic jack? Thanks.
The Mic in jack on laptops is usually lower quality / higher noise (for line level signals because of the higher gain), and often the mic jacks are not even stereo input…. some laptops can select the jack to be line or mic in (such as some Mac Book Pros and other higher end laptops) -these might work fine. You might check and see if your laptop has that option in the audio properties.
You tend to get better results using an external usb or firewire audio device, and one that is “good enough” for cassettes are fairly inexpensive ($30 ish) and a quick trip to the local computer superstore is worth the time.
