Is Chrislam Another Nigerian Phishing Scam?

This week I've been introduced to a new term: Chrislam. It's an attempt to fuse Christianity and Islam. Since these two religions are seemingly irreconciliable, I decided to do some reading on it.

Chrislam was founded in Nigeria in the 1980s. Nigeria. As an IT guy, 'Nigeria' makes me think of the many phishing scams that originate there. Is Chrislam another Nigerian phishing scam? I think so! The target of this scam, however, is not your financial resources. It is your soul.

Jesus was very clear; there is no way to heaven except by his atoning sacrifice. Like oil and water, Islam and Christianity cannot blend.

Support Arrogance

Everyone in IT has run into this.  While it's frustrating, it also makes for great jokes and lots of laughter-- later.

Geniuses
One example is Apple's naming of their support people "Geniuses".  Really?  I've rarely found one who was more than entry level.  I have many stories to tell of talking with Geniuses who didn't know what they were talking about.

Today:  Lion
I bought Lion via the App Store this morning.  It quickly accepted my purchase, then began downloading.  The download was crawling, even though we have very fast connections in failover configuration.  Finally, the App Store told me I lost my Internet connection.  A quick check proved that I still had a robust Internet connection, so I called Apple Support.

The AppleCare Genius I spoke with insisted that I had lost my Internet connection.  The problem was not Apple's.  I explained that our phone lines are not traditional lines, but are SIP trunks that connect over the Internet.  Thus they could not have told me our Internet connection was down in the call if it, in fact, was!  That didn't matter.

I suggested that Apple was merely being overwhelmed, causing the error.  I was told, after being put on hold and checking with their level two folks, that the problem was not Apple's.  It was definitely my Internet connection.

I just checked again, and I have more than 20mb of free bandwidth, but the App Store says it will take another 23 days and 14 hours to complete the download.

New Article: Changing the Username on a Mac

Have you ever wanted to change the username on a Mac? We need to do it fairly often, and though it's not as simple as one would think, it is easy if you know the steps.  I just released an article detailing them, and you can read it by clicking here!

Changing ChMS's

A church staff person emailed me this week asking about changing their ChMS (Church Management Software solution).  Their team has some dissatisfaction with their current solution-- even though it is one of the top solutions available.  Following is an excerpt from my response that may be helpful.

Changing ChMS's is a big undertaking, and you're currently using one of the top contenders.  My goal is not to talk you into staying with your current solution, but to add to the discussion.

It's always good for ministry teams to understand that there is no 'perfect' solution.  That means that no matter what ChMS you change to, there will at best be an 80-85% fit.  The questions to answer as you consider your current dissatisfaction revolve around trying to identify:

• The needs your current solution meets and doesn't meet, and

• The extent-- preferably expressed in a percentage-- your current solution is meeting/ not meeting your needs.

You may find by going through that exercise that the percentage is such that the change will likely not improve things-- especially if you're already at 80% satisfaction or above.  The cost of changing is not only the cost of the software, but also the cost of lost productivity during the transition.

Mac Malware is On The Rise

For years I've been saying that the Mac is susceptible to malware attacks.  In fact, I'm on record in my articles that it's the most vulnerable of modern OS's.  The attacks on Macs are on the rise, and I encourage you to make certain your Macs are all protected with a solid anti-malware solution.  The one we recommend is Sophos.

New Article: Copier Buying Tips

While at the NACBA National Conference last year I was talking with Rob Leacock, Christ Church Fort Worth's business administrator. We were talking about his recent decision to replace their copier, and his process was impressive and effective! Especially how much money he saved!

I wrote a brief article about it; click here to read it.

Web Development & IT-- Are They the Same Thing?

While at a conference last week it hit me that those who are not entrenched in IT (information technology) often don't know there's a difference between web development and IT.  While the two are related (they both involve computers and data transfers), they are very different.

My Definitions

• IT is the applied science of creating a data infrastructure that supports the applications a team needs to accomplish its mission.  It includes engineering servers, firewalls, switches and routers, workstations, and software.
• Web Development is the applied art of communicating an organization's mission to help people understand the what's, why's, who's, and how's necessary to accomplish its mission.

I'm not saying web development isn't technical-- it is!  But it is very different from IT.