A New SYM Website

Here's a good painting of Don Bosco with the boys... found it on the new Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) website.  The site caters as an information and resource centre for all youth ministry initiatives and experiences.  Hope it is collaborative and informal, as envisaged years ago.

Am surprised to see that this site is powered by JJ Softwares.  This was a dream project in the pipeline for several years.  That it is being taken up by the Generalate (Rome) is great.  JJS is the same team that generously and very innovatively helped develop the South Asian Salesian Website (donboscoindia.com)... the best democratic and involving site that I've ever come across. The concept and the process itself have been truly noble and very formative for everyone involved.  Thanks to visionaries like Fr K. J. Louis and Fr P.T. Joseph. 

Hurrah!

I always wanted to do this, but never really did it till this day.  Yes! I did it... I didn't check my e-mails for the past one week!!! The only hick is that I did it without intending it!  It was not that I was away, just that I was too caught up with things to be done and I never really found time to check out the mails!  As simple and plain as that... Whew!

I am still wondering how I can got this far (it is just the beginning of the year!)... juggling renovation work of the dormitories, preparing lists and schedules of and for the Brothers, getting the place ready for their arrival, the various initial programmes upon their arrival and to top it all, my own MA exams. Just couldn't ask for more!

Thank God for the graces and gift of everything that you've blessed me with! Couldn't ask for more!

Substitutes for Microsoft Picture Manager in Linux

While I really do not miss anything much of Microsoft, one thing that I really felt lacking in quality was Microsoft Picture Manager. For someone like me who is not adept at Photoshop and neither intends to be, doing some basic touch up on a picture can at times be a herculean task. While with Microsoft, the Picture Manager did best and it was really great. Once I switched over to linux, I really didn't find anything already existing as good and easy as Microsoft Picture Manager... not until today!

I came across two simple and easy methods to fiddle with pictures and photos from linux itself: gthumb and mirage! The former is much better than picture manager of microsoft!

In 60 seconds on the Web

Here's an amazing piece of statistics about the web...
I came across this on Free Technology for Teachers. It's amazing how much of information is available on the net. The biggest challenge, unlike yesteryears when sources of information were limited, is to sift through it all and transform this information - that too, worthwhile and necessary information - into knowledge and then gain wisdom!

Interesting internet...

Here are a few interesting things people have done over the time using the net! What wonders people can do with just a little bit of creativity and a dose of passion!

Sharing knowledge!

Discussing this morning at table, about the Jubilee of the Bishop of Guntur, someone mentioned of an audio devotional CD being released for this occasion. Some of us felt, so bad about this all! These days everyone is producing and bringing out a CD - just like that!! I believe it is time we start moving from a stage of collecting and gathering to sharing and involving as many as possible. It is here that the internet serves best! Though not everything is free, most of the stuff is! Rather than carry around, hundreds of CDs, DVDs, files and papers and what not ... just put it on the net. Let everyone have access to knowledge and information. Why horde it up? And for what?

The cyber world as today's Oratory

Fr Julian Fox's austraLasia #2211 that I received today has this news bit on the 'Creative models of Evangelisation in Asia'... some important points arrived at during the Consultation on Evangelisation held at Hua Hin, Thailand. Some interesting phrases which I remember reading somewhere else also appeared in the same article: 'stories to inspire', 'crossing boundaries', challenging situations', 'boundless opportunities', 'small Christian communities and new movements'... The one that caught my attention was the phrase 'creative mission'. It had something to do with the cybermedia. I remember someone giving a positive stroke to me when I began to blog... congratulating me for evangelising through my writings. Well, why not? After all, given the facility that I have and the firm resolution that I'm still keeping up (in spite of and through my hectic schedule to spend these 8 min to blog) I feel good. The cyber media and the net is the new age Salesian oratory ... the GC 26 talks of new frontiers. Here's one!