Facebookiversary: the antisocial media

Last week I had mentioned that it was my Facebookiversary - ten years of Facebook membership. I reflected on some of the blessings of Facebook, and had intended to think about the problems associated with it. That post didn't materialise last week, but here it is, Facebook's antisocial aspects.

1. Facebook can be addictive
Have you ever stopped to consider just how often you check your social media? How long you can go without checking, scrolling, posting or commenting? For some, it's the first thing they read in the morning, even before getting out of bed, and the last thing they see at night, even after the light goes out. That may include me, on occasion.

There are probably a few aspects to its appeal. Most people are inherently nosy, wanting to see what other people are up to. But perhaps even more than that, we want to know what other people think of us. So we'll post a status update, or a comment, or a photo, and then check to see if anyone has liked it or replied to it. Scientists have even suggested that the Dopamine hit in our brains can be as strong as any other addictive behaviour.

The Facebook app seems to tie into this addiction. I've noticed that if you've scrolled through your timeline, and you go to close the app, the feed will quickly refresh and show you the glimpse of something new at the top, tempting and teasing you to not leave, but just to see this one new item. And so on, and so on... Addictive, and therefore needing a remedy.

2. Facebook distracts us from real life
I've been in a few situations where a group of young adults are gathered together in the same room, but we were scattered in virtual worlds of our own. Physically gathered, but digitally separated, as we browsed our phones, visiting Facebook or Twitter or whatever the social media app of choice. It's why some people stack their phones in the centre of the table, with the first person to check their phone liable to pay for the meal! With so many out-there social possibilities, we can almost take for granted the flesh and blood people beside us. Let's be present where we are.

3. Facebook presents a distorted image of reality
While we're addicted to it, and distracted from the people beside us, Facebook also lies to us, by presenting a false version of reality. Everyone is a publisher and an editor, as they broadcast their carefully curated version of their life. If some people's Facebook statuses were to be believed, these people never have a bad day, nor a hair out of place, nor get annoyed. And so we compare our regular, normal life with the picture perfect perception of others' lives, and feel inadequate or dissatisfied. Let's remember the health warning as we observe the 'perfect lives' of others.

4. Facebook seems to be spammy
Whether it's the sunglasses sale, the unbelievable giveaways (just like and share to annoy all your friends with this non-competition so we can access their details too), or the hackers making fake profiles, Facebook seems to be a spammer's paradise. My response is always to report, block, or unfollow the offenders, but now it seems some spammers are finding new routes to provide their content - via links rather than status updates. You rarely hear of anyone winning these amazing giveaway competitions - so don't click on something that's spammy!

5. Facebook trades on your name
As someone said before, if you're not the paying customer, then you're the product being sold. This probably links into the spamminess, but our personal data can be big business. When advertising is all about impressions (views and clicks), then the efforts to get people viewing content becomes a never-ending arms race of fake news, clickbait and sponsored posts. We're not being paid to view them, so Facebook must be getting paid to show them to us. While imagining that we're in control, that it's our feed and our friends, we discover that we're being sold to the companies paying for access to our devices.

Facebook - bane or blessing?
So after ten years of Facebooking, and some thoughts on the pros and cons, what of the future? While there are some annoyances, and some antisocial elements, it seems that we'll not get rid of social media just yet. With wisdom, we can filter out some of the worst excesses - report, unfollow, unfriend, block - and watching how much we indulge in Facebook. There are some positives, which can be helpful for the Christian and for ministry. Will you be my Facebook friend?

Facebookiversary: The Blessings of Facebook

Yesterday Facebook drew my attention to the fact that the last ten years of my life have been as a member of their social media machine. Perhaps after ten years it would be helpful to consider some of the bane and blessing of Facebook. Today we'll look at the blessings, and hopefully tomorrow we'll consider the banes. Here's a few things that come to mind:

1. Facebook helps to keep you in contact with people
There's no doubt that Facebook is built on making connections and keeping in contact. The very concept of having friends on Facebook is what drives the experience, fills your news feed and provides opportunities to connect with even more people. 'So and so is a friend of a friend of yours, would you like to add them as your friend?' At last count, I have just over 500 friends on Facebook. Some I haven't seen from school days; others are colleagues in various parts of the country and world; some I see regularly. At whatever level, it's nice to keep in touch.

2. Facebook can be a prompt for prayer
With all those connections, the news feed can provide many prompts for prayer. In some cases, a friend will mention something that's happening in their church - an event, a new sermon series, or something else - and that knowledge leads to prayer. On occasion, someone will specifically ask people to pray, and it naturally follows. But prayer prompts can also come unbidden, as you see what people are writing and sharing and enduring. They may not request prayer, but that doesn't stop us from praying into those situations!

3. Facebook can be a tool for evangelism
Connecting with people and praying for them, Facebook also provides opportunities to share the good news of Jesus with our friends. Sharing a video that you've found helpful. Posting a Bible verse that has spoken to you. Inviting people to an event. All of these and more can be another step along the way to your friend trusting in Christ.

4. Facebook is useful for discipleship
Last year, a group of parishioners and friends decided that we would read through the Bible in a year. Alongside the fortnightly Bible study here in the rectory, we also set up a Facebook group. Throughout the year, it provided a forum for people to share what they were reading, both by highlighting something that stood out and by asking questions when there were things they didn't understand. Relationships were deepened through the sharing. And there was encouragement to keep going because there were a group of people doing the same thing together - even if geographically distant.

I'm soon due to start the Arrow Leadership Programme, and a similar group will be established for the participants and staff, as we reflect on the things we're reading, learning, and growing in together.

5. Facebook can be good for churches
There are so many ways in which churches can use Facebook (and other social media) for good. Having a Facebook group (or page) provides a means for people to keep in contact with the church. Notices, announcements and advertisements can be shared - and then re-shared by congregants. Facebook events can be an easy method of publicising events. Sharing photos of what's been going on - including pastoral occasions like weddings and Baptisms show what's been happening in the life of the parish.

Another way we use Facebook is by integrating it with PrayerMate. Each day, the prayer topic from our Prayer Diary appears on our church Facebook page. Around 100 people see the prompt to pray, as we unite our prayers on a specific theme.

Facebook - all blessing?
With these reasons, Facebook can seem to be a good tool for ministry and life. You may even have a few more ideas on the blessings of Facebook (comment below!). And yet, the experience isn't all positive. Tomorrow we'll turn to some of the antisocial elements of social media, to seek some wisdom in our online life.

Facebookiversary

Facebook has a great memory. Every day, using its 'On this Day' feature, it reminds you of things that happened that very day. But not historical, world-shaking events. No, Facebook delves into its archives to remind you of things on your profile - people you became friends with, or memorable statuses and photos you posted 'on this day.'

Today was an especially significant day, representing the tenth anniversary of my joining Facebook. I'm not sure how or why I signed up for Facebook on the 18th January 2007. I must have received an invitation from friends through my Bebo or else MSN messsenger, both of which were a bigger deal at the time.

In those ten years since joining Facebook, things have changed, changed utterly. At the time I would have been a student at the Theological College, in second year. Since then, I've got married, been ordained, moved house several times, served in Dundonald and now in Fermanagh, experienced times of joy and times of sorrow, and become a dog owner. [The last one would have been particularly surprising for 25-year-old me!] Facebook has become the main vehicle for social media interaction, eclipsing Bebo, MySpace and many others. And the way in which we access Facebook has also undergone a transformation since another recent tenth anniversary - the launch of the first iPhone.

This particular week must be the one to begin new social media experiences, because it's now just over 12 years since I started blogging. In recent times the blog has mostly become the place to find sermons and book reviews, but maybe we'll get a little bit more regular in posting other types of writing as well. With the particular focus of Facebook this week, I'm planning to come up with a couple of posts - one reflecting on the blessings of Facebook, the other reflecting on the antisocial side of that social media. Watch this space.

[I've been trying to post my first ever Facebook profile picture, but thus far have been unsuccessful. I'm on the iPad... maybe later I'll get it sorted!]

Update: Here is my first ever Facebook profile picture:

Feedly: The Google Reader Replacement

I'm very much a creature of habit. Once I get into a routine, I'm hard to shift from it. I don't like change! It manifests itself in lots of little things, but one in particular is my consumption of websites and blogs. For about seven years, I've been using Google Reader as my feed reader. It's always been good, simple, and efficient - all the updates are fed straight to your reader without you having to visit each individual blog to check for updates. But then came the news of Google Reader's pending doom. What to do now?

With various options, I've decided to opt for Feedly. At the start, it seemed clunky, strange to use, and not as familiar as Google Reader. Having trialled it for a month or two, I'm not sure why I didn't change much sooner! Feedly provide a dedicated app for smart phones as well as a desktop reader for, well, desktops! The iPhone app is the version that I've been using the most, and it's well built, much more efficient and reliable than reader, and perfect for the purpose of reading blogs. The easy access to click through to the actual website is very useful, and the whole app doesn't have to reload any time you return to the feed (unlike the old Google Reader mobile site). If you're wanting to be kept up to date with blogs, it's definitely the app/site to use. You'll pick it up in no time, and adding in subscriptions is also very handy.

one slight criticism is that sometimes, the Feedly iPhone app freezes or times out, with the result that you occasionally see the same news items several times before it realises you've read them. Although that could be my phone being jam packed with stuff and not having the necessary RAM.

Desperate Preachers . Com?

Two years ago, I noticed that one of the sermons on my blog was getting an awful lot of traffic in one particular week. It turned out that the sermon was on the very passage recommended by the Revised Common Lectionary, and in the one week that particular page was viewed 805 times.



The peak was on the Saturday, leading me to conclude that there were some desperate preachers looking for sermon ideas (or perish the thought, a ready-made whole sermon) for their Sunday morning gathering. Surely there aren't 805 ministers and pastors who would give pre-chewed food to their congregations?

There is more to the preaching event than just transferring information, or some useful thoughts on a Bible passage. In preaching, the community of God's people is gathered in a particular place, together, to hear from God into their situation from his unchanging word. That means that, although the principles from the passage may be the same, the way they are applied and explained and introduced needs to be carefully thought for the particular context and situation.

What was written for my former suburban parish doesn't necessarily match or work in my new rural parish. And they are only 70 miles apart, let alone congregations in entirely different countries and continents!

It seemed to be a one off. Thankfully. That was, until this week. The numbers visiting my blog in a normal day have increased, but again, the numbers have been off the scale in recent days. The reason? Mark 9:30-37 was the RCL gospel, leading to over 2000 pageviews of my sermon from 2010.

To put this in context: The previous highest number of pageviews on a single day was 400 on the 13th February 2011 (when it was another flurry of preachers looking a sermon on the Transfiguration from Mark 9). This week has totally smashed that - 1072 page views on Saturday alone (more than the whole month of September 2008!).

There definitely appears to be a market for desperate preachers wanting sermons. Let's hope it's not just laziness on their part, avoiding any work and taking a ready-made article from the internet for their congregations on Sundays.

Me, I'll continue to post my sermons on the blog, following the advice of John Piper:

'And if you're going to do it for one person [researching and writing on a pastoral theme] you might as well put it on the Web and just multiply your usefulness.' (p. 141 'The Power of Words and the Wonder of God')

Lizzy's Been Bizzy

Hot off the press within the last hour, we're delighted to announce that while Select Vestry was meeting tonight, the new church website for St Elizabeth's has been unveiled. It's still at the Bizzy Lizzy address, but has been completely renewed (reborn?) by Steveo.

On the subject of church websites, just last week, Kevin DeYoung was urging for churches to be welcoming by having a good website. I wonder how our new one meets his criteria?

McFlurry's McLinks (23)

Having failed to share any links last month, here's a fresh batch of links from the web for your reading and viewing pleasure.

Ordinary Pastor considers the parenting response to seeing two dudes kissing. He also points us to where we see the glory of Christ. The Proclaimer thinks about Dame Vera Lynn, Melchizedek, and the mathematical extinction of religion. Have you ever had a hangover like this one?

I had lots of links about the Rob Bell book, but I'll not bother with them - instead, as a kind of summary, Challies thought about the new evangelical virtues.

The Confessing Student Worker considers no news and good news after recent events. Norwin's eyewitness accounts and updates from Japan and now home were interesting reading.

Very late for Paddy's Day, but étrangère shared why she was celebrating, as well as looking at the preaching of pop songs.

Ali walks off a packet of crisps (almost!). Ever wanted to paint the town red? Or what about wordsearch wrapping paper? 22 Words shared the 101 most common English words. You wouldn't want to eat at this comma deficient house!

The Church of Ireland wed award nominations are open... while the Simple Pastor deals with Facebook, and Failbook highlights the dangers of status updates in school. Imprints of Light shares the very first version of the iPad.

The video this time round is a compilation of Bible Wordles, showing the most dominant words in each book of the Bible (H/T Trevin Wax):

McFlurry's McLinks (22)

Here's another selection of links, carefully chosen. Enjoy.

The New Year Resolutions may be a distant memory, but Ordinary Pastor gives some gospel encouragement. This will also encourage you, as the Kimyal people receive the Bible for the first time.

On culture, Scrabo Power asks if celebrities are the new fall guys. Trevin Wax shares a video from ER on a dying patient wanting a real chaplain and real forgiveness. Failbook explains why we need to be off Facebook. They also reveal the truth about Facebook photos. The Confessing Student Worker thinks about the new store in Belfast promising happiness in every stitch. Fred Sanders looks at the self-religion of Lady Gaga.

I can't drink the stuff, but Abraham Piper has a diagram of what's in your coffee.

The Road to Elder Ado shared some embarrassing moments. Still with ministry, The Proclaimer asks about the preacher's sideswipes. Unashamed Workman finds joy in the difficult sermon passage.

This amusing video shows us just how far we've come since 1994 (HT), when they were asking what's the internet?

NIMA Audio Available

I've just seen on Peter Whyte's website that the 2010 NIMA audio from Bryan Chapell and Vaughan Roberts is available now. Well worth downloading and listening.

Sermon Website: How To

I'd been asked by a colleague how to set up and run a sermon website blog, and had written up some helpful pointers. Here they are, with the links embedded as they might be useful for a wider audience.

Setting Up The Website

Recommended to use Blogger for a free blog, which is easy to set up and maintain. It can be set up with a Google email address. You will be asked to pick your web address - for example, www.[YOURCHURCH].blogspot.com

We use Fileden for free online storage, although there are probably other sites doing a similar sort of thing. A free account will give you 1GB of storage, which is probably about 100 sermons (depending on length!). Easy sign up (and ignore the ads as you sign in).

In Blogger, the standard way we publish is (using the ‘Edit HTML’ section rather than the ‘Compose’ system):

TITLE: “Sermon Audio: PASSAGE x:x-x”

BODY: ‘Sunday Xth X 2010
Preacher: X X

TITLE

-In blogger, the main body as it appears can be saved automatically as above so that you just have to slot in the information each time rather than remembering the link html details! You can do this in ‘Settings > Formatting > Post Template’ - copy the above in, and it will automatically appear each time you begin a new post. The Capitalised information just needs to be altered (see below)


Getting The Audio

Getting the sermon from CD to mp3 is fairly straightforward. On the Mac, Garageband is the program to use; for Windows, Microsoft Movie Maker will produce .wma files, which can be easily converted to mp3 format using a free converter downloaded from the internet (Google wma to mp3); or the free program from Audacity with the mp3 converter LAME also available from their site

A couple of minutes will edit the audio track from the cd, removing the rest of the service and leaving the Bible reading and sermon, or sermon only. Export to mp3 format and save on your computer


Uploading the mp3

Upload the mp3 file from your computer to FileDen. When it has uploaded, go to the Files pages on FileDen; right click on the sermon you want and then click on ‘Properties’; click on ‘Linking Codes: URL’ and copy this.

In your blog composer, click on new blog post and paste the URL code for the sermon (from FileDen) where it says MP3_URL (leaving the quotation marks in the html code - without these, it won’t work!).

Format the TITLE and DATE and PREACHER sections.

In Blogger, it’s also possible to add tags (at the bottom of the composer), which will make your website easier to search - we normally use standard tags such as Bible, Exposition, Expository preaching, Preaching, Sermon, Sermon Audio, as well as the Bible book and the preacher’s name - that way if someone is looking for more sermons from John, they can easily get them all etc.


Monitoring the Website

As an additional extra, you may wish to check how many people are visiting the website - Blogger provide stats information; another one that we use is Statcounter. They provide a small section of html code which you copy and paste into the blog (they give instructions on it), and then they collate the visitor information reliably.


To see a sermon website which is currently working by using the above, check out St Elizabeth's Sermons.

I'm aware this guide might be stating the obvious for some computer folks, but if you're new to the game and wanting to begin, I hope it's helpful. Get in touch if you need some more help, or leave a link for your new site in the comments box below!

Sermon Website: Why?

Over the past couple of years we've been publishing our sermons online at St Elizabeth's. Recently I was talking to a colleague who was asking how it works, and what needs to be done to set up a sermons website. I've prepared a paper which I'll publish here tomorrow on the how, but I thought it would be useful to consider the 'why' question first of all.

Using Emerging Technology

In days gone by, some churches had a 'tape ministry.' The services were recorded on cassette tapes which were then made available for loan, or distributed around the housebound members of the congregation. Most churches with this sort of ministry have now moved on to CD ministry, with CDs (or even DVDs) replacing cassette tapes. the sermon website is the next logical step, using the technology of the internet and mp3 players to spread the word.

Ministry to Church Members

The ministry potential and benefits of a sermon website are huge. Sitting alongside the CD ministry, the sermon website can help the housebound still be part of the worshipping community, and being fed the same family meal that the congregation have heard on Sunday.

It can also serve as a catch-up service, so that if you're preaching through a series and someone is away on holiday or working, they can stream or download the sermon and not miss out through their absence. Similarly, if they heard the sermon but want to listen to it again to think about a particular point, it's available for them to return and listen again.

Perhaps at the end of a series, church members will want to listen to the whole series again over the course of a week, to get the big picture of the Bible book or section. It's easy to do this.

Listening can be done at a time and place that suits the church member. Whether it's in the car on the way to work; while jogging; while up with a baby at 3am; sermons are available at any time.

Minstry to the World

The internet is a public place, with opportunities to reach a wider audience, even more people than could fit into the church building on a Sunday morning.

There's a potential for those moving into the area to see and hear what a church is like, even before they come along on a Sunday, by sampling the recent teaching.

Many people are searching on the internet for good Bible teaching resources and sermons, with good levels of traffic for downloads of sermon mp3s. It's very random, but there's a good potential to reach people with the gospel in this way.

Missionaries and those travelling can still benefit from the Bible teaching at home, even when they're separated from their home church.

The possibilities are endless in the global village, and it's important for Christians to be out there on the internet, using it for good and the gospel. However, it's also important to urge that the sermon mp3 should not be the only form of teaching or fellowship an individual should be receiving. It is good to benefit from the Bible teaching made available on the internet, but it doesn't replace being involved in a local church fellowship and congregation. Internet sermons are a good supplemental to the diet of Bible teaching found in the local church, but a poor solitary diet.

Tomorrow we'll think about how to actually get on the internet with a sermon website.

No News Is...

...good news, except if you're the BBC. Most of their journalists and newsreaders are on strike today in a dispute over pensions, meaning their news programmes and online news is on a skeleton staff, and being poorly updated.

Locally, in Northern Ireland, the BBC NI news website is normally fairly good for being up to date, but today, it hasn't changed since last night. What a chance for UTV to pick up some more viewers/listeners/readers for their news coverage. If only the UTV news website offered a mobile version which was easier to view on an iPhone...

A Year on Twitter

I just realised this morning that I've been a Twit* for one full year. I signed up initially on 13th July last year to follow the Slugger O'Toole coverage of the Twelfth festivities, and to help in reporting on the Belfast and Banbridge parades I was attending. 365 days and roughly 412 tweets later, what have I learnt over my debut year on Twitter?

- It can be a useful tool for blog promotion. My blog is set up to automatically provide a tweeted link to the latest blog post, so that people can know when new stuff is appearing on the blog. It can be interesting playing with blog post titles to try to capture peoples' imagination. It can also be a tool for spamming, which is the downside of the promoting advantage. While some may think my tweets are spam, there are truly genuine spammers using Twitter, which can be a bit off-putting. The block button can come in very handy on those occasions.

- It can be a good way to keep up to date with news stories as they happen, with eyewitness reports and opinion. Sometimes, even before mainstream media even know that something is happening. It's always good to remember that often it is opinion being reported, rather than fact, and that sometimes, discretion is required.

- It can be a good way to keep in touch with friends, particularly 'internet friends' - if that doesn't sound too weird or geeky. So there are some people who I have come to know primarily through Flickr, and it can be useful to see what they're up to, where they're going to, and what they're taking photos of through Twitter. However, the downside of this is that conversations are difficult to follow, especially if several people are involved, so perhaps Facebook is more accessible and easier to follow on a wall post or status update.

- It pays to get stuck in. The only way to truly understand (?) and appreciate Twitter is by getting involved and using it properly. Many don't see the point if they have few followers, but even by starting conversations and building networks, Twitter can be useful and fun.

- It can be used for good purpose. Some American pastors in particular use it regularly to post a devotional thought, or a short nugget of Bible truth, which may be just what is needed at that precise moment. Adrian Warnock also hosts discussion of his book Raised With Christ on Twitter. See also CS Lewis daily.

A full year on, and I'm probably more of a Twit than before. Sometimes it can be a bit unnecessary or narcissistic, but Twitter can be used for good. So go ahead, be a Twit like me!

* or is that a Twitterer?

A New Form of Nosiness

Google have launched their Street View feature on maps now, and it's live on Belfast. Google maps have long been my source of information, especially when planning routes of pastoral visitation in a new and strange area. Call up an address, and you get a fairly good map, which you can zoom in and out, move around and find your bearings.

Now, they've taken it to the next level. For considerable parts of Belfast, you can drag the 'orange man' (no significance, though) onto a street, and the view changes to an interactive picture. It's as if you were standing on that street, having a look around. You can navigate up and down streets, zoom in and out, look up, down and all around, and see what you would see if you're there. Except number plates and faces are obscured.

Have a look yourself and see what you can find. Flickr friends have found their works lorry in Dalry Park, and several have spotted their own houses.

Nominated!

A big thank you to whoever it was nominated me for the Irish Blog Awards 2009. I've been included in the first list of nominations for the Best Personal Blog, released today. Me and another 78 blogs, so I'm not expecting to make it to the long list, let alone the short list.

It's good to see some friends' blogs among the nominations in the same category - Marramgrass; and Alan in Belfast. Slugger O'Toole has also been nominated in a couple of categories. And I managed to get Daniel Owen nominated for Best Photo Blog.

Check out the full list of nominations if you're looking for links or some new blogs to read (as well as continuing to read mine too!).

Anti-Social Networking

Recently, some bloggers have questioned the value and worth of social networking sites like Bebo and more especially Facebook. That is, Abraham Piper, Brian Heasley, Josh Harris, and Phil Whittall. While they can help us keep in touch with friends, they can also be addictive, distracting, and turn into a 'the person with the most friends wins' kind of school playground activity.

This morning on Radio Ulster, (no link available) there was a report claiming that gangs of youths in Dungannon, County Tyrone, were using Bebo and Facebook to organise sectarian confrontations in the town centre. It all started one weekend, when a gang of about 10 'jumped' two Protestant guys. The following weekend, two gangs began a fight, with around 20 young men in each gang. On the third weekend, it had been stepped up again, with tension being raised on Bebo and Facebook, with the sectarian gangs organising themselves on the social networking sites. Thankfully the PSNI intelligence was on the case, and sufficient numbers of police were in the town centre to prevent any further escalation of trouble.

Not so much social networking, as anti-social networking.

Not so Hotmail

For a wee while now I've been growing slightly disillusioned with Hotmail, or Windows Live Mail as it's now called. Nothing specific, just small niggles. This morning, however, is a huge case in point. I received an email from the Windows Live Hotmail Team with a subject header 'Coming soon - faster, better Hotmail.' The ironic thing is that the email won't open! I've tried refreshing the inbox, I've tried clicking on the email in various ways and fashions, and all to no avail. The email just won't reveal it's secrets of a better Hotmail to come. Hotmail? Maybe just lukewarmmail. And that doesn't have the same ring to it.

If only Googlemail would allow you to set up folders for emails rather than keeping everything in the inbox with labels...

The Word on Wordle

Have you encountered Wordle before? It's a web program which analyses websites or documents to gauge the frequency of words. It then creates a Wordle cloud, where the most often used words are bigger in size, and the least used words are smaller.

I can see this being a useful tool for preachers to help them determine the way words are used in a text. Not that it will replace much of the hard work of preaching, but it will be of some help at an early stage.

With that in mind, I submitted the text of next Sunday morning's Bible reading, to see what came up. This is the Wordle for Luke 8:4-21:



So what are the key words? Hear and Word, it seems to me. This is what the sermon draft has been built upon, and the final product will be available online early next week.

Ordination Photos

I've set up a wee group on Flickr for photos from the Ordination. So far there are contributions from two friends, as well as my own pictures taken by Neil.

Enjoy.

10,000 not out!

Just a quick note to observe that my photo site at Flickr has now exceeded 10,000 views. Incredible! I've only properly been using it since January, and currently have over 2000 photos on display. Check it out if you haven't seen them before, or even if you have.