tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-140825282012-02-06T15:51:17.752-06:00The primary purpose for this blog is to gather feedback regarding various online projects, occasional general thoughts regarding Unitarian Universalism may get thrown in.UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.comBlogger711100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-62146697185211108712011-09-25T14:00:00.000-05:002011-09-27T10:28:28.282-05:00

It has been interesting to watch the Roller Derby Reverend story progress.  Along the way there have been a number of comments left on sites along the lines of "what is the big deal" about being a roller girl. Sometimes talking about how other ministers participate in other semi-pro or pro sports.  Well, if you are one of those folks I would suggest checking out this article about Roller Derby

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-22828314974404685892011-09-21T18:55:00.001-05:002011-09-21T18:55:29.702-05:00

I have a few nitpicks with the story, but overall i think they did a good job: Local reverend rolls out big secret.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-14016798982374106832011-08-20T12:00:00.003-05:002011-08-20T12:05:31.010-05:00

The questions was asked: "What tv shows get you thinking about theology and ethics the most?" In terms of theology I would have to go with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or most any vampire show. The vampire mythos involve mechanics based on theology and so certain questions arise. Would a vampire recoil from any symbol of faith (chalice, cross, star of David, etc.)? Can all clergy create Holy

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1585708749215670872011-07-22T21:10:00.001-05:002011-07-22T21:11:50.244-05:00

I have set up a mobile site at http://m.uupdates.net/.  I had already set up a css for small screens, but it was not working on my new phone.  If anyone with a mobile phone could let me know how the new mobile site looks I would appreciate it. Better mobile version on the horizon.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-81526001170355773262011-04-13T17:08:00.005-05:002011-04-13T17:21:24.961-05:00

Minor issue with the new host (mostly my own fault) will cause some downtime tonight should be starting at 9:00 PM Eastern Time. I am getting to know the new hosting offering. I went with http://myhosting.com/ because they had a pretty good deal on VPS plans. So far, not so bad., a lot to like but customer service seems difficult to get a hold of. If you are going the VPS route with them be

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-55690082294984229742011-03-24T20:01:00.002-05:002011-03-24T20:04:29.162-05:00

UUpdates is migrating to a new host. Unless you are a big fan of the Wiki (and judging by the usage no one was) you probably won't even notice the change. Or hopefully you won't. If anything seems odd or there are hiccups in the process please let me know.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-27171350298242075252010-10-14T21:47:00.002-05:002010-10-14T22:01:32.369-05:00

So my daughter came home with a scene that she needs to rehearse for theater class. It was especially interesting because there were a number of lines that she didn't get, she couldn't understand how to say the lines. What is a saint? What is a monsignor? Why would you have to sue to be a priest (after all, mommy is a minister)? Why is nun/sister used interchangeably? What does it mean to

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-14418309602875879462010-05-07T23:30:00.002-05:002010-05-07T23:39:23.690-05:00

Occasionally when UUpdates has had issues the feedback pages have also had issues. So, I am just opening up this post for any feedback in case the email or other feedback mechanisms are broken.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-83133457025225550072010-02-15T15:53:00.002-06:002010-02-15T16:10:39.657-06:00

I have made a change to one of the sites that is being tracked by UUpdates. I was tracking the main feed for the "Standing On The Side Of Love" site (http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/feed/) but it appears that some of the items from the feed link to blank pages. So, I have updated the site to track http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/category/blog/feed/ instead. Unfortunately it looks

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-30911411059425116322009-10-23T08:28:00.002-05:002009-10-23T08:38:32.030-05:00

The hosting company providing services for UUpdates migrated the system to a new server. Ever since then I was looking for a new hosting company. I did find one, but things did not work out well. So, I am making my way through any issues that I find with the site currently to fix it post migration.It looks like finding a new host might be difficult. The site has enough activity that the basic

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-34499071854904250172009-09-12T20:57:00.002-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.430-05:00

Due to some server issues, migration, etc. etc. I got a tad behind on adding entries to UUpdates. One blog seems to be updated fairly regularly, and the particular post of interest is no longer current I thought I would link to it here. Check out this post on growing religion through social media.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-38112184094043126492009-09-03T21:40:00.003-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.431-05:00

Anyone have suggestions for a good hosting company? My current hosting company has annoyed me for the last time. It is more than time to move on. Requirements include:Would be nice if they were a "green" host. Run on wind power or some such.Need at least 2-3 GB of bandwidth per month. Thousands of visitors and all the fetching traffic add up.PHP/MySQL are absolute musts fewer the

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-40880545003906344332009-09-03T21:23:00.002-05:002009-09-03T21:26:43.918-05:00

There may be minor interruptions as UUpdates is migrated to a new server. The hosting company that I am currently using (I will be asking for recommendations for a new host in a later post) was bought out and the servers got migrated despite my selecting the "I will do this manually option".Hopefully things will be straightened out shortly.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-14807184216235470412009-01-20T20:30:00.005-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.431-05:00

Howdy folks, a bit of a late start on the blog awards this year...Last year I remember thinking when I saw Aaron Sawyer blog post about presenting at an award show how uninteresting an awards show would be if the accounting firm of "so and so" simply walked on stage, thanked everyone, then tacked up the winners on a poster board. This seems to me to be what I have been doing with the blog awards

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-70830145481970022712008-11-13T07:34:00.002-06:002010-04-14T14:02:04.324-05:00

If you have checked out UUpdates in the past on a mobile phone like the iPhone, then you might want to check it out again. I won't go into the technical details (unless asked), but suffice it to say it should look much better now that I have been able to look at it myself.I recently got a G1 Google phone and I have to say I am very impressed with the idea of cloud computing. Within minutes of

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-41152741299577118342008-07-28T18:42:00.004-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.432-05:00

I saw the following suggestion in FaceBook. I thought it was worthwhile to pass along.Please send paper cranes to the children of TVUUCIt is a very tangible way to show the children how many people are thinking and praying for them.The address isTennesee Valley UU Churchc/o Brian Griffin, DLRE2931 Kingston PikeKnoxville, TN 37919I got the idea from a Fred Small song "Cranes Over Hiroshima" which

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-32351680696125522282008-02-16T05:49:00.001-06:002008-02-16T05:53:09.104-06:00

The winners of the Fourth Annual UU Blog Awards have been posted. Congratulations to all our winners and nominees, and thanks to all who have participated in the process.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-51418603144190789552008-01-28T23:49:00.000-06:002008-01-29T00:15:07.711-06:00

Thanks to everyone who took the time to show their appreciation for our UU bloggers by nominating their work for consideration in the awards. A special thanks from me for those who helped pre-sort posting by identifying posts you thought were good candidates for specific topics, and to all those who used the select features instead of writing in blog names.Please take some time to review the

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-16126697528480796232008-01-17T18:37:00.000-06:002008-01-17T18:54:45.222-06:00

Primarily based on discussion from last years process I am planning on dropping two of the categories. The Group blog category and the best commenter. I would love to hear other opinions on this and am certainly willing to be swayed. I am not sure the potential pool for the group blog has grown, and perhaps it has even shrunk with Coffee Hour remaining defunct. Fuuse deserves much credit for

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-83078332603216198482008-01-16T22:12:00.000-06:002008-01-16T22:23:43.201-06:00

Well, it's getting to be about that time, perhaps a little past even, for the UU Blog Awards. I am working through things and setting up the pages for this years process. So, might be a good time to start thinking about those favorite posts you've read and perhaps for bloggers to remind others of their favorites with some year in review round ups.I am hoping to finish things up shortly, but

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-25755965512765140482007-11-04T16:42:00.000-06:002007-11-04T16:47:12.027-06:00

So, my company is bought and it's the big move weekend. This means disconnecting all the servers trucking them to another city, setting everything up and spending a lot of time fixing anything that's broke. Long weekend with 14+ hour days at work.None of this had anything to do with why UUpdates wasn't available, that I could have planned for, but wouldn't you know it the hosting provider

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-90099584765222021462007-10-31T08:00:00.000-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.432-05:00

Time for another seasonal plug for a UU musician:John's Garden by Peter MayerFarmer John wandered backAnd when he reached the pumpkin patch, began to speakHe said “the weather’s getting colderSummer’s over and it’s almost HalloweenThat’s the day, the reason you were raisedWhen everything about your life will change You will have eyes to see, and for that night, you’ll be A bright lamp burning in

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-8931886032945130202007-05-24T23:35:00.000-05:002007-05-24T23:38:53.778-05:00

The ISP let me know that my site, and most of it's settings had been migrated. I have managed to mostly get things running, but you may notice some odd behavior. If you do please let me know, like strange characters, sites not updating, etc. I have been working through a list of errors I have noticed.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-91564860404284777652007-05-09T20:55:00.000-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.433-05:00

As a follow up to Church with an Infant I'd like to share some thoughts about bringing older kids to Sunday services. I'll start with my experience growing up. I was raised a Catholic, and attended Catholic school. So five days of religious education was deemed plenty and I did not have to attend Sunday school. Of course for the Catholic church attending Sunday school did not mean missing the

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-37827691584380613782007-05-08T20:40:00.000-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.433-05:00

My wife has been on the path to UU ministry for about a decade now, she says she is on the turtle track. During this time we have traveled to many congregations where my wife preached. We also had two daughters and that gave me the opportunity to care for my young daughters at several different congregations and see how different congregations handle things.Did I stick the kids in the nursery?

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-24285728463716752772007-04-01T15:31:00.000-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.434-05:00

So, for the folks who have been long time visitors to UUpdates and formerly "What's New With UU?" you may recall that I had done some minor April fools jokes. This year I decided to take it one step further and actually invite someone who knows how to write an actual article. The basic gist of the idea being "What would happen if the folks at the Onion took over UU World?"I think I managed to

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-71675166052097829202007-03-01T16:28:00.000-06:002007-03-01T17:03:00.055-06:00

A three column format seemed inappropriate when most folks simply are there to click through to the latest updates. All the menu options (and a bunch more) are still there. If you notice any "buggy" behavior with the new software let me know. I'll highlight individual features in new blog posts.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-67599946137719815052007-02-28T18:16:00.000-06:002007-02-28T19:32:10.302-06:00

I am almost ready to release the new UUpdates. Two changes have been made to the current site and will carry over into the new one:First is a set of optimizations to the database. I did some things to make results faster, and some of you may have noticed the total page count was lowered. By looking at the web traffic I noticed that people are far more interested in the latest information than

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-81840420354810184242007-02-19T08:50:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.435-05:00

As many of you already know The Rev. Victoria Weinstein has been generating publicity with her PeaceBang's Beauty Tips For Ministers.So, is there the potential for starting a series of blogs here? Similar to how there is a series of "[insert blank] for Dummies" (no correlation intended). As others have noted it is good publicity to have the "The Rvda. Weinstein victory" which I assume to be a

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-27019608142993081262007-02-18T19:40:00.000-06:002007-02-18T20:00:13.838-06:00

Like Ms. Kitty I am thrilled to be mentioned in the latest UU World. more specifically UUpdates.net and not my blog. After the UU Blog Awards I got a bit of a bug to work on a redesign and finally kicking out some new functionality. It's not there yet, but in anticipation I wanted to share one thing I have finally settled on, a new logo/chalice.The chalice idea is basically an inversion of an

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-21403378744467454352007-02-02T23:57:00.000-06:002007-02-03T00:04:58.082-06:00

Just a basic post to get feedback on the blog award process. What can be done better next year? It's an evolving process.Should we have nominations, and then a run off to determine the five (at most) for voting? Or do folks like the long lists of potential vote getters?Would it be easier for people to submit specific posts to an e-mail address? It might help by giving me a way to respond to

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-87733786726459303772007-02-02T23:37:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.435-05:00

There is a reason that t-shirts declaring "World's Best Mom/Dad" can be mass produced. There is no absolute criteria by which something like that can be judged. We all have our own opinions of what is important in determining what is best. What makes an anecdote great? That it touches your heart? Gives a new perspective? Moves your soul? However the lack of an absolute criteria does not make

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-28241424443414156852007-01-29T09:56:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.436-05:00

As others have noted, the blog award voting has opened and the votes are rolling in. The threshold has been broken and the vote totals are now being revealed.Good luck to all our nominees!

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-27784100431661693852007-01-26T16:20:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.436-05:00

The countdown to the opening of the voting for the Third Annual UU Blog Awards has begun. Last year opening and closing the voting period was a manual process making it hard to communicate a time (had an issue with nominations for this year as well). I wasn't sure when I would be sitting there ready to go. So this year the timing is all automated. Oh, and some folks liked watching the vote

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-63998326036793878202007-01-19T22:12:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.437-05:00

Nominations are closed so we have the final list of nominees for the Third Annual UU Blog Awards. Congratulations to all who have been nominated, and thanks to those who participated. In particular a personal thanks for those who had the time and inclination to make things easier for me to compile the results. It helped. If you don't see a nomination you submitted let me know.First I would

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-22450188318589734452007-01-15T13:05:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.437-05:00

I received the following comment through the blog award comment box:Do the blogs with the most number of nominations (like the top five) make it to the voting round, or do all blogs with nominations move on? It seems like that could get crowded if all blogs that are nominated move on.... Just a thought.In brief, my plan is to post the list of nominations then ask for feedback regarding which

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-87947237960312728412007-01-15T08:43:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.438-05:00

Nominations are open for the Third Annual blog Awards. If you have any questions about thepage, process, etc. feel free to comment here or send an e-mail.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-12286067948713545262007-01-10T21:18:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.438-05:00

The more categories the more chances for people to feel appreciated, and the more to promote. So, I am planning on opening nominations for the following categories next Monday based on comments and recommendations. Hopefully the list did not get to overwhelmingly large. And if we don't get any nominations in a category, well I suppose we can drop it. Oh, I also tried to group the categories.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-37497145812849528122007-01-10T21:16:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.439-05:00

The Schedule for the Third Annual UU Blog Awards will be as follows:January 10th Announce CategoriesNominations from January 15th through the 19thPost Nominations and finalize nomineesVoting from January 29th through February 2ndWinners finalized and postedSo, today (in a little while) I will post the categories based on prior suggestions. These will be the final categories heading into

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-86494048016195730742007-01-06T23:05:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.440-05:00

So, I am assuming, and hoping there is interest in running the UU blog awards this year? I took a quick look at some other blog awards and found that different groups had very different ways of running their awards. So, I couldn't really figure out a "best of practice" for running the awards.One thing I did like is the idea of having a panel of judges. Last year I made some decisions and

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-68113840611902115812006-12-31T20:10:00.000-06:002006-12-31T20:23:08.287-06:00

Happy New year everybody. Year end seems like a good time to put together another "top X" list. So, this time I decided to pull the top 50. And here they are:The ChaliceBlogPeaceBangBoy in the Bands: Scott Wells on the practice of Christian faithPhilocritesA Minister's MusingsYet Another Unitarian UniversalistA Spiritual Walk TogetherThe Happy FeministMaking ChutneyPeaceBang's Beauty Tips For

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-29046788481573407962006-12-24T07:52:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.440-05:00

If, like others, you are looking for something fun and singable at a holiday celebration (yeah I know I am probably way too late on this, maybe next year) then I would recommend checking out Where is the light? by Peter Mayer. If my 3 year old can start singing "The light's inside of me" the day after hearing it for the first time then it seems to be a catchy and easy to remember tune. The five

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1166810056572241332006-12-22T11:15:00.000-06:002010-04-14T14:02:04.325-05:00

In general I have really been enjoying Gmail, but recently something has happened which really annoys me. Gmail has tagged some e-mails sent from UUpdates as spam. And, of course, they were not. I think a quick search has revealed the messages and now i am working my way through them. If you sent something along feel free to resend, but hopefully i will be responding shortly. If you do not

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1162333971671903442006-10-31T16:16:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.441-05:00

I like the idea of asking optional demographic questions on the blog award voting. So far CC has also indicated she would be interested in seeing demographic breakdown of votes. Not many other have expressed an opinion.I like the idea, but I hate the idea of trying to define demographic questions myself. If we ask about Theological Orientation should we ask in a "Select all that apply" format,

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1161821436303663692006-10-26T09:35:00.000-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.441-05:00

Last year after the second annual UU Blog Awards I posted a request for feedback. I also mentioned that I would like to have a bit of discussion well before the next awards to make sure ideas had time to be implemented.Anyway some initial things that I would like to work out:What's a good timeline to shoot for. Should there be a break between nominations and voting to give people time to read

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1161103492098675372006-10-17T11:19:00.000-05:002006-10-17T11:44:52.340-05:00

Ok, so no promises that this will be a regular feature, but people seemed to enjoy it last time. Here is the top 30 places people visited from UUpdates for the past 30 days.The ChaliceBlogPeaceBangThe Happy FeministPeaceBang's Beauty Tips For Ministersarbitrarymarks.comYet Another Unitarian UniversalistBoy in the bandsLo-Fi TribeMaking ChutneyElizabeth's Little BlogCUUMBAYASexuality and Religion

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1160716657803185952006-10-12T23:56:00.000-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.442-05:00

I wrote the following back in 2004 (or earlier) before I had a blog. Seems appropriate to bring it up again. A post on the hanif blog reminded me of it.I listened to a interesting "sermon" given by a lay person at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston. According to the person giving the sermon the natural evolution of organisms was as follows (and I believe this is simplified):

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1160532444042367702006-10-10T20:48:00.000-05:002006-10-10T21:07:24.520-05:00

Typically I don't mention it when I remove a blog from UUpdates. Generally it's an unceremonious removal of a blog that has gone defunct. But I thought I would mention this one because it means the removal of a UU Blog Award winner. So, a fond farewell and best wishes to Lo-Fi Tribe's Shawn Anthony.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1158797677511607572006-09-20T19:12:00.000-05:002006-09-20T19:14:37.543-05:00

So, the ISP applied some updates to the server, and Apache needed to be restarted, and blah blah blah.....From about 1:30PM to 7:00PM UUpdates didn't pull in any updates from any websites. According to the ISP everything should be fine now.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1158610133168807262006-09-18T14:20:00.000-05:002006-09-18T15:27:15.833-05:00

Welcome back to Errant Frogs! And with this "addition" UUpdates has now hit 200 sites that it is tracking. Google analytics tells me that just shy of 4,000 visits have been made and there have been about 12,000 page views (which includes links out to sites) in the past month. In terms of "unique" visitors it reports an avergae daily of about 50, and the visitor recency and loyalty numbers look

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1153943796181905092006-07-26T14:46:00.000-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.442-05:00

A while back someone commented that the description I put together for the UU Blog Awards was, to put it politely, lacking. I wholeheartedly agree. I believe my response to that was along the lines of "good observation, I'll fix it by the next time the blog awards role around". But now it occurs to me that others are still linking to it, and it is still getting traffic, and the description is

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1152774085764219372006-07-13T01:55:00.000-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.443-05:00

To put this in context this is a lengthy response to Peacebang in her"God loves You, you Know It" post. She wrote "Another reader sharedsome deep doubts about some of the essential claims made by liberalreligion, saying, 'I am a part of a liberal religion because it's theway I think things should be, but that doesn't mean I believe it.' Ifound this comment intriguing and honest, and had the

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1152593537701630792006-07-10T23:30:00.000-05:002006-07-10T23:52:17.713-05:00

I finally thought of a chalice/logo for UUpdates. The image is very basic chalice with two portions of a circle surrounding it. Lest anyone think that the partial circles are a theological commentary I will point out that it's inspired by the Live Bookmark button used by Firefox. For an explanation of the logo (Firefox's not mine) check out this post. I wanted a similar idea.In case it changes

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1150859773697055192006-06-20T22:10:00.000-05:002006-06-20T22:16:13.713-05:00

I created a Javascript (2 actually) to generate a link to a random url, where the url is pulled from the database of urls at UUpdates. If you would like to add a link to a random UU website (UU blog, UUA, UU World, etc.) then follow the instructions for adding a random url here.Also, please feel free to ask for clarifications or help with the instructions, and feedback for making the

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1148528343555621592006-05-24T22:29:00.000-05:002010-04-15T09:31:54.443-05:00

I visited a congregation in Ames, Iowa. One of the things that really impressed me was that they had a section of the service entitled "Milestones". It was remarkably similar to "Joys & Concerns" but the name and relatively few number of candles seemed to keep people from rambling on about the little things that made them happy or concerned. Or as ChaliceChick would say "Births, deaths and

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1143329502023995232006-03-25T17:20:00.000-06:002006-03-25T17:31:42.046-06:00

Every so often I get a recommendation to add a website to be tracked by UUpdates, the Unitarian Universalist Syndicated website tracker, that doesn't appear to be trackable (at least by standard RSS). I got another recomendation, and the person that recommended the site didn't leave an e-mail address so I thought I would mention it here. Most of the time even if the site can't be tracked it's

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1140211397042022462006-02-17T14:59:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.444-05:00

Jess has now reminded me twice that I should really put in a plug for a UU musician named Peter Mayer. The first time was when she reviewed Blue Boat Home which was part of her Singing the Living Tradition review series. And the second time was when she mentioned her job. When I read her post I found myself hearing a Peter Mayer song in my head. Emphasis added is mine.WAKING UPLast night I

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1139643495304569172006-02-11T01:32:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.444-05:00

So, the big thing I realized I need to do a better job of is communication and explanation of the process. Or, find someone else to "MC" next years blog awards helping to communicate begin times, cut off times, etc.Things for next year include more lead up time and discussion of categories.Should there be a review of nominations? We had some nominations in "group blog" that I don't think really

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1139643116774422462006-02-11T01:26:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.445-05:00

We have winners for the 2006 UU Blog Awards. If you are one of our winners, then please be sure to check out the prize page.Congratulations to all our fine winners and nominees. Thanks to all who participated.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1139582477611823032006-02-10T08:32:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.445-05:00

Just a reminder that today is the final day of voting for the Second Annual UU Blog Awards. If you haven't voted please take the time to do so, I will be cutting off voting at some point tonight, but I can't guarentee when.Some of the races have gotten pretty close. So, for those who won't be checking in until later there is still a little mystery left. If nothing else you can be sure to check

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1139289234222378772006-02-06T23:10:00.000-06:002006-02-07T09:47:45.380-06:00

So, in general I am sure most people have an idea of what is considered SPAM. But as an administrator I know things always wind up getting interesting. For example, anti spam tools have given users a very simple way to indicate they no longer wish to receive specific kinds of e-mail. Anyone who has been a member of a listserv for a while is probably familiar with the phenomena of getting a

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1138921171064498802006-02-02T16:30:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.446-05:00

Well, we have surpassed over 100 votes submitted in the UU Blog Awards. Not everyone has voted in every category thus the lower totals for each category.I have received a request from Lo-Fi Tribe to disqualify/remove himself from the "Best Online Community or Group Blog" category. Last year the blog award process was run entirely through a blog and so their were comments and feedback throughout

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1138623177760411352006-01-30T06:08:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.447-05:00

Voting has begun for the second annual UU blog awards.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1138491894226932942006-01-28T17:38:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.447-05:00

The nominations have closed for the year 2005 UU blog awards. Apparently last year all nominations were elligible for voting, and I don't see a reason to change that for this year. I know I said otherwise on the web site. If anyone has serious objections feel free to post. But honestly i can't remember why i thought it would be a good idea to limit the voting to only a few nominees.Anyway, I

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1138225781073490932006-01-25T15:20:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.448-05:00

As I have been reading through the fixing UUism series of posts I keep asking myself "so is this a bug fix, or a new feature request?" Yeah, I know, I deal with software too much.To try and put this in non-computer geek terms is this a fix for something that is broken, or is it just a new idea - a way to enhance what we have? The reason I wonder this is because for some of the suggestions I

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1138220465725104732006-01-25T14:07:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.449-05:00

I have updated the tallies for the UU blog award nominations. The results can be seen here.Interesting notes from this this update:Someone stuck "James fields BLOG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" in the comment field, not sure what to do with that.So far ChaliceChick is the most "written in" nomination, my guess is the nominators couldn't find " The ChaliceBlog" which is the offical name of the

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1138042957865521192006-01-23T12:50:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.449-05:00

I did get a comment which was a suggestion to include a category for "Best Religious Writing or Theological Commentary - Single Post/Entry".So, since this is late getting posted (my apologies)...If I get enough nominations for particular posts in the above category as responses to this post then I will add this category prior to the voting process. So, if you would like to nominate any posts for

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1137605110170328172006-01-18T09:09:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.450-05:00

Nancy Everson, a member of the Lake Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists church in Shorewood MN, was murdered this past Sunday. From the Twin Cities Pioneer Press article:Everson was well-known in Chaska. She was training to become a volunteer rescue diver for the sheriff's department. She was always busy with church and community groups. She treated friends to vegetables plucked from her back

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1137538879256727542006-01-17T16:14:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.450-05:00

I have tallied the results for the UU blog award nominations. The results can be seen here.The only entries I had a hard time deciding what to do with was one entry for "Best of class" which referred to a specific post instead of a blog in general, so I moved the nomination over to the specific entry and under one of the specific entry categories ("Best Review or Cultural Commentary") someone

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1137183366697427102006-01-13T14:08:00.000-06:002010-04-15T09:31:54.451-05:00

Philocrites asked Will there be Second Annual UU Blog Awards?Yes! Nominations are now open for the 2005 UU blog awards.Please feel free to comment here regarding the awards. I basically just set things up to to automate the tallying of the nominations/votes and used last years categories. So, if there are any suggestions for changes, additions etc. please feel free to comment.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14082528.post-1137178995759960152006-01-13T12:59:00.000-06:002006-01-18T14:38:24.776-06:00

I have finally decided that I am not really interested in maintaining the blog software I had been using so, this will become my "real" blog. I will transition content over here at some point, but I wanted to start using this blog for some of the upcoming blog entries i will be posting.

UUpdaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11760554842376249263noreply@blogger.com2