Once in a while media/communications/marketing does something really good. Problem is that ‘good’ is completely relative. MSF has come under some heat on a recent video they did.

MSF, better known in the US as Doctors Without Borders, does some amazing awareness campaigns. To say the least I am very impressed with the quality of their advertising projects. No doubt this turns into dollars and volunteers for them. I’m sure you can understand that this particular component of an organization is of great interest to me as it’s the very reason I am in Sudan with SIM.

Just before we left for Sudan they came through Dallas with their ‘A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City’ project. Though Allison and I did not get the chance to experience the ‘camp’ we did sit through some Q&A sessions they held at REI to find out more about the organization. They do a lot in Sudan and we see them often.

Recently they released a video titled ‘boy’. I want to give warning as this can present a VERY difficult viewing, so do so at your own risk of having many emotions to deal with at the end.

While this clip evokes some strong emotions, this was no doubt the intended effect. I often use my emtions as my gauge to find if something has grabbed my very inner being to be stretched. MSF has fully reached into my heart, perhaps to the point of intrusion. Have they gone too far? Have they taken too much emotion from me? How will my emotions impact my actions? How will I react? Should I react? Do they want me to react? I offer no answers, only the suggestion that we know ourselves deeper after seeing and engaging something like this. Engage God, ask, pray & request that He reveal himself to you in a new way. Seek answers in his Word.

On the flip side, MSF has done an equally well produced video ad with a very positive spin on it. Though it does show some short clips of theatrical pain, overall the piece is very ‘light’.

This clip evokes much less emotion to search through. We just enjoy the good work someone is doing and give them a slap on the back, maybe a few dollars.

Thanks to @bill_easterly for giving me a heads up to the video.

Other than Aljazeera being a great news source for all things Middle East and Arab related, it gives a profound insight into the thought process and worldview of that people group.

Working in Sudan and almost anywhere in the world these days (as the whole world has become the melting pot American was once so well known for being) you come into contact with Arabs in daily life.

When I first started to learn about the Arab culture in college (in large part through Allison and Perspectives) I began to understand the differences in being Arab and being Islamic. The two are not the same. One is a people group the other is a religion. The ‘West’ often confuses these two. Much as I’m sure the Middle East confuses being American with being Christian, the two are obviously not the same. Though the majority of Arabs are followers of Islam and Aljazeera is, if I may borrow the term, by Arabs for Arabs, and they do transmit and came to prominence for delivering the radical Islam news, their news as a whole is well balanced and not religiously motivated.

So, all of that to say that Aljazeera is the best source for understanding the world news from the Arab worldview. They carry news from all over the world, written from the Arab viewpoint. I read an article on BBC.com (as it has better international coverage than CNN) and then go right to Aljazeera.net to see the same article. Often times you can see the different points of view. This is most prominent when the article is on something like the recent Israel/Gaza war. They are noticeably sympathetic to the Arab resistance as much as BBC is sympathetic to the Israeli side of things.

Soon Allison and I will be in the meat of our Arabic leasons. I look forward to learning to read Arabic so that I can read the Arabic web site for Aljazeera and not just the English translation version. I’m curious to know if the tone changes between the two or if the English translation is true to the original article in Arabic.

If you ever want to see what other parts of the world think of America and world news in general, head over to english.aljazeera.net to see what the Arab world is thinking.

Recently a friend asked for some advise on purchasing an Apple desktop and laptop. I’ve never written this thorough of a suggestion, but I thought it was well detailed and straight forward for someone who may be considering it. If you’re looking into getting a Mac, I hope the following can be helpful to you…

The friend wanted one laptop and one desktop. He does a ton of international travel. So all of the info is with this in mind, though 99% of the info will apply to anyone.

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Personally, I’ve pretty much just gone to all laptops. You can still get more computer for your money when you get a desktop, but man, having that portability with all the computers is really nice.

Apple makes two desktop computers. A true tower that is really just for pros. The other one, the iMac is for consumers and casual/business computer users. This is the one where everything is built into the back of the screen. They have 4 versions. The bottom two have 20” screens and differ only by their processor and small hard drive size. The top to are 24” screens and again differ by processor & hard drive size as well as doubled RAM.

I would highly recommend the faster of the 20” iMacs ($1500). This is the best bang for the buck. I would stick with the included 320GB hard drive (unless you really feel you need more) but I would definitely upgrade the RAM (to 2GB, it comes with 1 1GB stick in it with two slots, so you can just get 1 more). It comes with 1GB. Upgrading the RAM with Apple is CRAZY expensive. I would purchase from crucial.com and have someone install. You could do it if you want. It is very easy. If I’m around, I’d do it for you. Apple made this specifically so that the everyday user could service the computer with simple installs like RAM. Lastly, upgrading the mouse and laptop to wireless versions is nice, but not necessary of course.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/9514003/wo/1t7UCJcQyaFB3kUcPieNF9S9UrL/2.?p=0

Moving on to the laptop. Apple again makes the MacBook Pro, for pros. It has a 15” or 17” screen and an aluminum body. They also make the MacBook in a 13” screen, the body is plastic white or black. This is a killer deal. The main difference in these two models is the screen size and the graphics handling. The processor is similar, the memory is similar, the hard drive is similar & the disk drive is similar.

There are 3 MacBook versions. I would go with the middle of the road again. This is the best deal. It has an upgrade in processor speed, but you’re not paying the price for the black plastic. It already comes with 2GB of memory, plenty for what you’ll be doing. The hard drive is 160GB. You may consider bumping this up to a 250GB drive for an extra $100. Other than that, you’re golden. There are tons of accessories for people on the go, such as yourself, that you should consider getting. When you look at the details of the laptop, it will ask if you want external monitor adapters, airline power adapter, etc. You should probably get these with all your traveling and portability needs.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/9514003/wo/1t7UCJcQyaFB3kUcPieNF9S9UrL/6.?p=0

So, outside of computer hardware…. What else is there to consider. You can purchase ‘AppleCare Protection Plan’ which runs about $250 for each of those. When you get an Apple computer, you get 90 days of phone tech support and then 1 year of warranty service. AppleCare bumps both of those to 3 years. It’s pretty nice to have. The laptop has a worldwide agreement whereas any desktop model is only for the country it was purchased in.

The one huge piece of software you should definitely purchase is Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac ($150). If you get the home/student edition, it comes with 3 licenses. So you only have to buy it once for up to 3 computers.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/TQ744LL/A?fnode=home/shop_mac/software/productivity&mco=MTMzMTA

For troubleshooting software problems, computer crashes, software glitches, I would definitely purchase the software CD called DiskWarrior ($100).

No need to purchase Norton, Virus this or that.

They do have various versions of backup software we can discuss if that’s something you want to look into.

If you use something like Quicken for personal or business accounting, they have that and some other kinds for Mac.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/TK302LL/A?fnode=home/shop_mac/software/productivity&mco=MTA3OTE4

HEADS UP: When you buy your mac, they will try to sell you on a few things (as everyone always does). They will ask you if you want a printer, you get a $100 mail-in rebate. Many of them only cost $100, so “it’s free” they’ll say. They will try to get you to purchase .Mac. This is an email account, a web site hosting service, back up, etc. You will likely have no need for it. It’s $100 a year, but “your first year is only $69” or something like that.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA927Z/A?fnode=home/shop_mac/software/apple&mco=MTA3OTE0

They will also sell you on iWork ($80). This is Apple’s version of Microsoft Office. Unless you want to dable in not using PPT, Excel, Word, etc. and try using something else, you have no need for this.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA790Z/A?fnode=home/shop_mac/software/apple&mco=MjU4ODk

Lastly, they will sell you on a relatively new service called ProCare. This gets you one-on-one training or another version that gets you to the front of the line when you need service or help with a problem with your computer. Both are $99 a year. If you think you’d like to spend some time learning your Mac, if might be worth doing the one-to-one for one year. Otherwise, no need to get either.

So, that about does it. There’s lots of other accessories around computers I have not even discussed, but you probably have a good idea of what kind of laptop case you want to use, how many batteries you want, extra power cords, etc. etc.

A short video I put together for use before our commissioning at our church Feb. 10, 2008.

This is awesome! If you ever see stuff like this, please let me know! This little gadget contains a replaceable fuel cell at $20 a pop. It runs on water. It’s good for about 8-10 laptop charges or other things. This would be great out on the field when I don’t have sunlight and need to recharge camera batteries, sat phones and the like.

Read about it at Engadget.com or at Wired.com.

It turns out the same man carried out the shooting in Denver at the YWAM office and in Colorado Springs at New Life Church. YWAM has an office in that church. The young man worked with YWAM a few years ago and had a falling out. Please continue to be in prayer for the families involved in both incidents. The young man was killed at the church by their security.

Click here for the latest CNN.com article.

One of my favorite shows growing up was Animaniacs. I was a bit old for it, but I enjoyed the humor. The following video is a classic. Many of you may have seen it. If you’re unsure of where Sudan is or any other African county, you can always ask Yakko.

A British woman living in Khartoum, Sudan was recently put in jail for blasphemy because she named a stuffed bear Mohammed. Click here to view the story. In the Muslim faith, any image of Mohammed is blasphemy. She made the bear an image of Mohammed by naming it after him.

She took suggestions from the class and ended up naming it after a boy. So now I’m wondering, since the boy’s name is Mohammed, would he be destroyed? If you have any thoughts about this, I’d love to hear them.