Amiweb
- child-friendly browser
BBCi - BBC's massive network of sites, with
good search engine
Betterministry.com - helping you use
technology effectively
Breakthechain - info and advice on tackling
junk e-mail and those pesky chain e-letters
Chweb.org - free church website-building software
Child-friendly search engines - a CFN
resource
Childnet - charity tackling children
and Internet safety
Christian Webmasters Association - free help
and advice
Churchwebsites that really work -
tips from web-evangelism.com
Computers for charities - give one away
with a click
Dummies.com - straightforward, jargon-free
tips and help
E-mail stripper - free download which
cleans up forwarded messages
Ethics in Internet - Vatican report
on the Church and cyberspace
E-vangelism - a site with a team of
chat room evangelists
Evangelism on the web - advice and resources
site
Evangelism via computer games - Gospelcom
article
Family Life - free family-based content
for your website
Free downloads - mainstream sites
Free downloads - Christian
Free game - apart from shipping costs
Free online training - US pastor and Nethead
Eric Elder
Free site advice - Christian graphics
expert Mike Bennett
Free UK stuff online
Free website-building course - via e-mail
Find people on the Net - sites to help
you
Hosea.co.uk - help in building your church
website
Internet Evangelism Questionnaire -
how are Christians using the web?
Interview with God - good example of how
to use animation in a creative seeker site
IT OK - safe internet use project from National
Children's Homes
It's good to give - charity geared ISP
with good deals
Klez worm - spot and avoid this nasty e-mail
virus
Litmin.com - help for those addicted to internet
porn
LowEnd Mac - advice/community for users of
older Macs
LowEnd PC - advice/community for users of
older PCs
Mailwasher - handy free programme for
tackling unwanted e-mails
Net Accountability - tackling internet
porn - and winning
Parentalguidance.co.uk - filtering software
reviewed
Planetkids.co.uk - protected surfing
for kids
Purple Turtle - web e-mail with a conservation
twist
Silverhairs.co.uk - for silver surfers
Stay healthy while you work - PCs can
damage you ...
Surfonthesafeside.com - server-based internet
filtering
Swordsearcher - try this PC Bible study tool
for free
UK online statistics
Way Back Machine - old sites as they were
from 1996
Web evangelism resources - how to reach out
online
Web evangelism for your site -
free pages to reach surfers
We-blocker - free filtering for safe surfing
Xalt - new Christian ISP and portal
Youth Ministry Computer Tutor - use
your PC to bring added creativity and zing to your youthwork
- Latest
in a steady line of children's portals offering a protected environment
(ie only access to approved sites) is Planetkids.co.uk.
It offers links to 50,000 vetted child-friendly sites, ranging
from games and entertainment, to homework help and information.
You can register free on the site, and the service has been backed
by Nigel Williams, director of Childnet,
the charity which works worldwide to build awareness of the dangers
to children of unregulated Internet access
- Matthew
Rich in Ulverston, Cumbria has launched
e-vangelism.org.uk to encourage, support and pray for a team of chat-room evangelists
- The
National Children's Homes charity is campaigning for 'safe
and equal' access to information technology throughout the UK.
Its 'IT OK' website has information about the internet
plus safe surfing guidelines for parents and youngsters: http://www.nch.org.uk/itok/
- FamilyLife.com,
a ministry website devoted to family-building, is now offering
free syndicated content for webmasters. Among the eight available
features are daily devotionals for couples, parenting tips and
articles for couples and singles.
- Can
cyberspace be an effective medium to spread the Gospel? How many
Christians and their church communities are actively involved
in internet evangelism? Are existing evangelistic websites effective?
Mike Leggett set out to answer these questions and more when he
designed his Internet Evangelism Questionnaire. Check out
the results at: http://www.mleggett.uklinux.net/weq/index.htm
- What
cultural, economic, and ethical issues have been raised by the
internet, and does the Christian Church have a responsibility
to address them? A recent study issued by the Vatican - Ethics
in Internet - takes a comprehensive look at the many challenges
presented , and suggests helpful approaches for all believers.
- Worried
about your children's safety online? One option is Christian-based
Surf on the Safe Side, which has servers updated every 24 hours
with blocked sites and gives you heavy duty protection for £3
a month. Check it out at www.surfonthesafeside.com
- Christian
software company Net Accountability - www.netaccountability.com
- claims its latest release provides realistic ways for Christian
men to help one another stay pure online
- Fed
up with junk e-mails and endless chain letter/petition pleas?
Head for breakthechain.org
and learn how to deal with them effectively.
- There's
a new church website template-editing system. And it's free. Developed
by Darren Jones and friends, you'll find it at www.chweb.org.
Church domains come in the form http://churchname.chweb.org or
http://www.chweb.org/churchname. Darren explains: "Users
choose from a list of template styles, choose which pages they
want on their site, and enter their own text. Once their site
is up and running, they can go back and change the template, update
text, add or remove pages, or even add an image of their church
building or pastor. All of this is very easy, and free. "I
am confident that this will be of benefit to those many smaller
churches who lack the resources, skills, or funds to generate
a website in any other way."
- As
a result of users indicating their dissatisfaction with current
search options during research - too many US sites in results,
and too much US advertising - the BBC has launched a new Internet
search engine called BBCi Search.
It challenges these issues by delivering both UK and foreign websites,
(although hierarchical preference is given to the most relevant
UK destinations), has no adverts and is tagged a 'family-friendly'
search facility due to the use of sophisticated software to remove
any pornographic/derogatory material from the search database.
SwordSearcher - try Bible-search software for free. Includes several commentaries and study helps, including Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary, Easton's Bible Dictionary, C.H. Spurgeon's Morning and Evening devotional, and more.
Watch out for a new and particularly annoying e-mail 'worm' virus - the Klez worm. It takes advantage of a vulnerability in older versions of MS Internet Explorer to not only propagate itself, but to forge the "From" headers on the virus-laden e-mails so that recipients can't tell where the virus actually came from. So remember to take the address listed in the "From" field with a grain of salt, update your anti-virus programs and your version of Internet Explorer, and don't open email attachments unless you're sure it's safe to do so. Full story (Wired News); Microsoft IE updates.
A free diagnostic and removal tool is also available from: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.klez.e@mm.html
- BetterMinistry.com
is a new Christian site that seeks to "foster an atmosphere of
education and encouragement, while equipping ministers with relevant
tools for ministry." Find the latest tech and ministry news, tutorials,
tool recommendations and reviews, "neat Net Tricks", conference
listings and much more.
- If
you've ever read a forwarded email joke or a long e-mail thread,
you know how difficult it can be to read when it's riddled with
'>' signs and formatting problems from dozens of other mail
clients. EmailStripper
is a freely downloadable program for PC users that will restore
forwarded e-mails and responses to their original state by stripping
out unwanted carats and other characters, making them much easier
to read.
- As
the internet continues to grow in almost every country in the
world, it has become a powerful tool for evangelism. A new free
resource has been released to help Christians share their faith
online. A Christian webmaster can add Tony Whittaker's detailed
training guide to any website, just by including a few lines of
coding on a page. The pages are completely integrated - they match
the appearance of the other pages on the site. This Guide helps
Christians to understand the issues involved in effective online
communication. It also includes a customized poster for the webmaster's
own site. Find it at: www.web-evangelism.com/yourpage/
-
Relatively
few churches have websites. Perhaps some people are put off by
the technicalities involved. But there is an easy alternative
- pre-designed template church sites which are edited using a
normal browser webpage. The Web Evangelism Bulletin has published
a review of these church site systems. To obtain your free copy
by email autoresponder, send a blank email to: web-evangelism-get.35@lists.gospelcom.net
or visit www.web-evangelism.com/church.html.
- http://www.litmin.com/
- new site for fathers and sons struggling with online pornography.
Provides resources for individuals and churches.
- If
you own a PC that is a couple of years old or more, you might
well be interested in LowEndPC.
It's a site from the makers of LowEndMac
- a fantastic site much loved by Apple Mac users - and is aimed
at the vast majority of us who want to make the most of our PCs,
even if they're getting on a bit and being left behind by the
relentless drive to upgrade. You'll find advice on operating systems,
tips on improving performance and much more. And you don't have
to be a geek or a techie to find it useful.
- Ever
wondered what websites looked like a few years back? Or would
you like to try tracking some that just don't exist any more?
If so, try the internet archive Way
Back Machine which boasts 100 terabytes and 10 billion web
pages from 1996 to the present day. We kid you not.
- Looking
for safe surfing options? Check out We-Blocker: Enables you to
restrict access to the types of websites that you feel may be
unsuitable for your family. Fully customizable and easy to use,
the We-Blocker software lets you set up accounts for each family
member and place restrictions on access to seven categories of
material. Free from: http://www.we-blocker.com
- Why
not turn your hobby into an evangelistic website? You can do it
without knowing anything about HTML or page design - check out
http://communities.msn.com/WebEvangelismResources/
- Computer
and web knowhow has never been easier to get for free - check
out the world famous Dummies
site for easy to understand tips. You can even sign up for daily
e-mail tips for a variety of subjects, formats and programmes.
- Getting
plenty of attention in the US is AmiWeb, a new child-friendly
browser that gives access to hand-picked sites for 4-8s, or 8-12s.
You can configure the browser to suit your child and it's a free
download. Go to http://www.midmultimedia.com/amiweb_ca/
Mailwasher is a powerful e-mail checker with effective spam elimination. Bounce back unwanted emails so it looks as if your e-mail address is not valid. Delete unwanted emails before you download them. Free from: http://www.mailwasher.net
- Unmetered
24/7 internet access for £9.99 a month or around £107
a year? Check out http://www.itsgoodtogive.co.uk/
- the ISP gives cash to charities from its income
- Could
computer games be an increasingly valid way to reach the internet
generation? Worth a read is this perspective on the massive Gospelcom
site ... and then check out two Christian fantasy games looking
to put it into practice: Sword
of the Elyon and Claymore.
And let us know your thoughts, whether you're a gamer, a parent
- or both!
- Hosea.co.uk
aims to promote good church website design and is rich in resources,
including design tips and advice on how to target your site
- Taking
a fascinating slant on the seeker who has stacks of questions
they're burning to ask God, Interview
with God has gained huge publicity - and popularity - recently.
It's easy to see why: stunning photos of the natural world drift
in as backdrops to an unfolding conversation between the seeker
and God. The work of Alabama Sunday School teacher Reata Strickland,
it's a superb example of slick Shockwave animation and pithy Christian
insight. A starting point for your not-yet-Christian friends.
- Christian
catalogue and internet retailer Guardian
Gifts is offering a free 10-week e-mail course on building
a website. One lesson is sent out each week, for 10 weeks. "We
want to use the course to encourage and equip Christians to use
the Net for the Lord," says MD Darren Court.
- Interested
in using computers and technology to enhance your youthwork, but
aren't sure where to begin? Check out Youth Specialties' "YM
Computer Tutor" by Lou Hornberger, youth pastor and self-confessed
"computer geek". Each month, Lou takes an in-depth look
at a technology issue relevant to youth ministry and provides
tips on putting technology to work for your ministry.
- There
are plenty of free things to be had on the Net, from samples to
software, advice to vouchers - if you know where to look. Problem
is, so much of it is geared only to US residents. Things are improving
for the UK, however - try these for size:
http://www.britishfreestuff.co.uk
http://www.freestuff4uk.co.uk
http://www.freebiesite.co.uk
A word of warning - you won't see eye to eye with some of the stuff on offer (eg free horoscopes, online lotteries) but there's still plenty you can benefit from with a clear conscience
- If
you find web-based e-mail useful - basically, the facility to
send and pick up e-mail from any computer anywhere with an Internet
connection - you might like to investigate www.purpleturtle.com
It's a service that donates 20% of its advertising revenue to preserving endangered species. You can also keep tabs on a turtle called Destiny on their site,whose progress is tracked at regular intervals thanks to a transmitter attached to her shell ...
- Check
out Computers
for Charities. Just click on the donate button and you'll
be contributing to the scheme that hopes to get IT equipment for
selected charities. Initially sponsored by Microsoft, Life Software
and Computer Shopper, they are looking for more hardware and software
companies to increase the momentum of this worthwhile campaign.
- At
July 2000 the number of people online in Britain reached ten million,
according to figures just released. And according to the ABC of
Web sites, the top ten sites include Yahoo UK, BBC news, Sports.com
and Virgin Net. For more info, check out
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/11825.html
http://www.abce.org.uk (ABC = Audit Bureau of Circulation)
- Worried
about your children's safety on the Internet? Check out www.parentalguidance.co.uk
for some fairly independent reviews of filtering and blocking
software, and other useful pointers. And don't forget to check
out our page
on child-friendly search engines.
- Arcamax
are currently offering the popular fantasy game Myst for
only the cost of shipping. Last time they did this, the copies
all went in about a day! Written by Christians Rand and Robyn
Miller, this is a game with a Christian worldview. If only there
were more games that could communicate truth in this way! (Shipping
costs for the UK are $15.55, so you may need to do your maths
- it may be cheaper to check out your local Electronics Boutique,
Game or other computer game shop. I have seen it for as low as
£9.99 - Russ Bravo).
Using games evangelistically:
http://www.web-evangelism.com/web-evangelism1.html#games
- Are
you a bit of a web wonder? Into building web sites and making
your presence felt on the Net? You might be interested in joining
The Christian WebMasters Association. Membership is free and offers
newsletters, discussion groups and members-only parts of the site
at www.cweb.org ... Oh, and
if you're after free stuff for your site, check out www.mycomputer.com
www.download.net www.virtualquincy.com
- New
UK Christian ISP and portal Xalt
is now onstream, promising safe surfing, e-mail and webspace,
plus your time online earns funds for Christian causes. You can
even get a special webstrip on your home page with regular updates
from Christian Family Network and Christian
Herald! Sign up online, or mail info@xalt.co.uk
or call 0870 011 7070.
- If
you're hunting for free software on the Net, it's good to find
places you can trust. Make sure you check out www.completelyfreesoftware.com
which is Christian-run, and has loads to choose from.
- Need
help with your website? Christian and top graphics specialist
Mike Bennett offers free advice on his excellent site, which you
can zip to by clicking here
- Looking
for people on the Net? Good places to check out e-mail addresses
are bigfoot.com, www.emailfinder.com,
www.peoplesite.com, www.whowhere.com,
and people.yahoo.com
- If
you're after free online workshops - well, there's a voluntary
donation suggested - check out the 60-minute seminars on Net safety,
making the most of the Net, and your church and Net offered by
US pastor and Internet consultant Eric
Elder
- And
if you find yourself aching after a spell in front of the screen,
you might find 10
Tips for Easier, Gentler Computing a great help ...
- If
you'd classify yourself as a senior surfer, here's a specifically
British site aimed at helping you get to grips with computer software
and hardware, as well as pointing you to good sites and giving
you tips on building your own: www.silverhairs.co.uk
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