Copyright, Fair Use, and Trust

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An Awesome Service

This past Sunday our church had an opening song that was great. An ensemble of ten very talented vocalists sang the Queen version of “Somebody to Love.” They did a fantastic job! I knew ahead of time how wonderful it would be so I showed up with my new camcorder. I got a fairly good capture of the performance.

Of course, I uploaded my capture of the performance to YouTube as any good video pirate does…

A New DVD
I bought a new DVD the other day. I was excited that I got it “fresh off the presses.” I told some friends about it. One friend wanted to borrow it so I loaned it to him “to watch.” He gave it back a week later.

Later I found out that he had ripped a copy to his laptop’s hard drive. He then used it as a part of one of his programs. I asked him why did he copy it and his reply was that he was “planning” to buy it.

I felt I had trusted him to not break copyright law by copying the the disk but he had. I felt my trust in him was betrayed.

Conviction

Now, our church is Very Particular about copyright. They go to great lengths to protect copyrights. They pay much to the appropriate authorities to use and broadcast rights for the music that they do.

Once I processed what my friend had done, I realized that I had not been much different from my friend. I had broken my church’s implied trust. I couldn’t be angry with my friend when I had acted similarly.

I took down the YouTube video.

Love and War – Eldredge

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This is a great book. John and Staci Eldredge have written an incredible description of what their marriage went though and they are now letting us in on how our marriages can be better.

They sum up the whole book on p.92:

“Pressed to choose our “top three things that would most help your marriage,” we would come down to this list: 

  1. Find life in God.
  2. Deal with your brokenness.
  3. Learn to shut down the spiritual attacks that come against your marriage.
Practice this and nothing else, and you will be amazed at the freedom, love, and joy that will begin to flow.”
I think I have never heard wiser advice. 
Get this book. You will not be the same after reading it. 

Small Group Retreat

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Our first retreat
We got together and spent the weekend together at a friend’s house. We had put together an agenda for the weekend together. We developed a mixture of activities that included a John Eldredge video and a Nooma video and guy-fun things.

We ate well by cooking all our own meals. We shot pistols and rifles at a helpless milk jug. We explored the surrounding cities. And we talked. We talked about the videos, we talked about our journeys. We talked about our walks with God. We had a great weekend together.

Has your small group ever gone on a retreat? How was it?

Easter Traditions

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Sunrise Service

Today some friends and I climbed Stone Mountain to attend the Easter Sunrise service. The weather was amazing. The temperature when I left the house was 60F/15C and the wind was reasonable. The service was good. We made the mistake of parking our blanket right in front of one of the speakers. But the message was good and the songs were ancient.

But we had a good time together and went to eat afterward at the Original Pancake House restaurant on Memorial Drive.

This is the second year I’ve gone and I think going to this service will become a new Patrick tradition.

Easter Tradition

 Each Easter I get a chocolate Easter bunny. I always eat the ears first. Always.

What are your Easter traditions?

Taxes

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To the Accountant!

I’d like to say the taxes are “done” but I’ve done my part. The accountant, who has saved us more than his fee for many years, has to do his part. I didn’t get them to him before his guaranteed date of readiness, so they may not be filed by the 15th and I may have to file an extension. But, I’m glad I got them out of my hair for now.

The hardest part for me is getting all of the volunteer miles together. Since we itemize deductions, each mile spent as a volunteer adds up to a significant deduction.

Are yours done? What’s the hardest part of getting them done for you?

Stella my friend

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I’ve got a friend named “Stella”

She’s my GPS and I’ve named her Stella because she tells me where to go. I don’t know how I got around with out my GPS. It is such remarkable technology. Stella and I get along fine.
Do you own a GPS? Do you always follow where it says to go?

God’s Geeks

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Wycliffe Bible Translators

Wycliffe has people spread around the world working to bring the Bible to every known language. From Wycliffe’s site:
Wycliffe works all around the world. Currently our efforts serve languages spoken in more than 90 countries. The majority of the remaining translation needs represent minority languages—relatively small people groups, many of which struggle to maintain their identity in the shadow of majority culture. Often these groups have no written language of their own, and many struggle to gain the literacy skills they need to prosper in the majority culture.

The benefits of translation and literacy for these minority language groups are many. They include better health as a result of access to medical information, economic growth due to the acquisition of marketable skills, and the preservation of culture thanks to a written history. Most importantly, Bible translation brings people closer to God Himself—the One who transforms hearts.

Techie Missionary?

I’ve been seeking whether God would help use my techie skills to help in the effort to bring the Bible to those who still need it. I went to a Check IT Out conference a few weeks ago with a friend. We learned how important technology is to the translation effort. I feel a tug on my heart. While Wycliffe uses much technology in doing translation work, most of the time the work and expertise in translation is not necessary the same skills as the technology that helps that work. They need techies to come along side of the linguists to help in the work.

Next Step

I’m going this week to spend a day at Wycliffe HQ in Orlando, FL. I will be talking with a number of people about my possible role with Wycliffe. It will be a quick trip but I’ll get to see some good friends while I’m there.

Pray for my journey and my possible calling. Thanks!

God’s Chisel

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“Thank you Sir, May I have Another!”
[Omega Fraternity Pledge (Kevin Bacon) in the movie classic Animal House]

This period of singleness is giving God a great opportunity – and He’s taking it. God is using this as a time of growth for me. I think The Skit Guys skit God’s Chisel very accurately portraits the process I’m feeling. I feel He is opening up deep wounds and bringing some healing that will make me more into the person he wants me to be. And it is tough.

How was the Bosnia Trip?

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From Bosnia Youth Workshops 2009

Youth Workshops

The main workshop was the digital storytelling workshop. The youth (ages 10 to 15) were divided by the Novi Most staff into three teams. They were told that this is a contest. They were to make a three-minute story that would tell an new kid about their home town, Capljina. Each team had a Novi Most staff adviser but they all created their own projects.

The three teams all made very good projects. I was able to provide limited guidance since I was unable to understand the actual story in their native language. They all finished their stories and then on Friday evening they were all shown in the city square. Everyone had a good time. One boy even said that he already knew what he wanted to do for his next project.

Encouragement and Support

We spent a good bit time with both Bernard the pastor and with Mick and Ali of Novi Most. They are on the front lines of the battle to bring the light of the Lord in that country. They really appreciated our presence and the fellowship time we had.

All in all, it was a good trip. All the travel went smoothly and all our connections went without a hitch. Will I go back next year? I’m going to wait to see how the Lord leads me. So I can’t really answer that now.

Link to: Bosnia Youth Workshops Blog and Bosnia Youth Workshops Picture Album.

But Officer…

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“Here come da judge…”

Well, I got a little bit in a hurry and I got timed doing 62MPH ( 100kp/h) in a 45 MPH (70kp/h) speed zone.

So I got dressed up in my best suit and headed to court. What amazed me is that I could FIT into my suit! This is the suit that I got married in 17 years ago. Also, my sister and brother-in-law gave me a nice dress shirt and tie that went well with it.

Since I had (had) a squeeky-clean driving record, they reduced the charge to “driving faster than conditions.” But I still had to pay a good sized fine. The good thing is that charge won’t be reported to the State of GA and appear on my state driving record.