Furthermore, I’ll soon be making a Facebook Page for where I work. In preparation I’ve been reading up on the ins and outs of the site’s privacy settings and policies. As a rule, they’re pretty good.

However, there are two features on Facebook which each lack a privacy filter, and I would argue each needs one. I’ve sent numerous inquiries to Facebook, but since they haven’t replied or tightened things up I figured I’d point them out.

1. Imported Stories

I add/generate content on a lot of different sites, but if I don’t share that content on Facebook or Twitter no one knows about it. Facebook has a built-in feature that lets you automatically import activity from other sites. To access the area shown above click on the Options link on your profile (right under the Share button), then click on Settings. I think this feature is great, though I get the impression it’s not used by many people.

The trouble with this method of import is there’s no way to designate which of your Facebook friends can and can’t see the stories you import. (There is one exception: the Blog/RSS import is actually part of the Notes application, which does have a privacy filter.)

I think I know why there isn’t a privacy filter on the Imported Stories feature, assuming it’s not just an oversight. In order to import content this way, each of the profiles you import from must be publicly viewable. So even if there was a privacy filter on this feature nothing would prevent someone I’ve filtered out from going straight to the source. I see the logic for excluding the filter, but it’s shortsighted. This filter is necessary so a user can choose who is alerted to the existence of my content and who isn’t, even if it can’t control who can and can’t see it somewhere else on the web.

I can offer a simple alternative for those wishing to auto-import content to Facebook, but who would like the ability to add privacy controls: the FriendFeed app. The whole “import from elsewhere automatically” thing is what FriendFeed is all about. You can even join FriendFeed without signing up for a new account because they let you sign-up with your Facebook credentials.  Facebook recently purchased FriendFeed, so don’t be surprised to see these two in cahoots more often. (I don’t use this app because I import my Twitter activity into FriendFeed and don’t want to bombard my Facebook friends with all my tweets.)

2. List of Pages

Stick with me on this one, because I know some of you might be thinking, “Pages are supposed to be public.” You’re right about that, but I’m talking about the list of Pages that appears on a user’s Info tab. There is currently no way to filter which of your friends can and can’t see the list of Pages of which you’re a fan (the list you see above), even though there are a similar filters for who can see your Friends list and Groups list.

There really isn’t a workaround for this one. Once you become a Fan of something, your Facebook friends can find out about it.

You can prevent your Pages list from appearing when someone who isn’t your friend searches for you, but this is not the default setting. To change it go to the Settings drop-down menu at the top of Facebook, click on Profile Settings, then on Search. Under “Search Result Content” uncheck “Pages I am a fan of.”

General Advice: Check Your Privacy Settings

Look, I know it’s a pain, especially on Facebook because there’s just so many of them. But it really is a good idea to check through what other people can and can’t see on your web accounts. This article on AllFacebook.com might be a good starting point if you’re looking to tighten up your Facebook privacy.

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© 2004-2009 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved

I’m happy to tell you that you can listen to this message online. You can also listen to more messages by staff and student leaders on the FSU Navigators Podcast.

I never really felt like this message had as much cohesion as I would have liked. Still, I was able to create a three-point outline to lend some structure to my thoughts. As a way of addressing my concern of speaking to neophytes I decided to emphasize the fact that sharing your faith is not optional, even though it is often the one part of being a Christ-follower that is easiest to treat that way.

One way to know whether this message had any impact will be to check back with me in three months. Students will be deciding where to live for the following year. I challenged them to have a missional mindset when making that decision, to live around those they can impact for Christ. Additionally, three months from now will also be near the sign-up deadline for summer training programs and short-term overseas mission trip. Any student who signs up for one of these trips will be demonstrating a willingness to grow in these areas.

Near the start of my message I made reference to buying a used car. I lifted this example from the intro to Donald Miller’s new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Also, I chose an ‘89 Ford Taurus (rather than the Volvo in Miller’s intro) because my parents owned that car when I was growing up. I have more memories of that car being in the shop than of it being on the road.

I extensively used Crazy Love by Francis Chan in the preparation of this message. I recommend you check it out.

I’m not sure when I’ll next be teaching at Nav Night. At the earliest it wouldn’t be until January. For more information about the FSU Navigators visit us at our website, on Facebook and on Twitter. We also have videos on YouTube and photos on Flickr.

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© 2004-2009 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved

Google Voice is Google’s take on voicemail. It offers those of us without an iPhone or other fancy smart phone some pretty slick features for saving and organizing voice messages. But it does much more than archive messages. Google will give you a new phone number. You can then direct all your existing numbers to that one number. Indicate which line should ring when Person A calls. Block Person B entirely. Even listen in on Person C’s voicemail as they’re leaving it and, if it’s too important to wait, pick up the call mid-message just like back in the day when we all used our answering machines to screen our landline calls.

The feature set sounded awesome from day one, but I didn’t like the idea of needing to give out a new phone number to everyone just so I’d have a few more features on my phone. Google has hinted at allowing users to port their existing number to their service sometime in the future. They still haven’t added that ability, but today Google released the next best thing. You can now use many of the Google Voice features with your existing cell number.

Pro Tip

The way Google explains it you might think you would have to choose between using either a Google-provided number or your own number. In fact, when you first sign up for the service this is the first question you’ll be asked. But no matter which option you think you want, always select to receive a Google Voice number. Why? Because down the road you may want the additional features available with your Google-provided number. Because at some point you may find yourself changing numbers anyway. Whatever your specific reason, the point is you can setup Google Voice on your existing number whether you ask for a Google number or not. So why wouldn’t you?

If you sign up for Google Voice with your existing number, you’ll get:

• Online, searchable voicemail
• Free automated voicemail transcription
• Custom voicemail greetings for different callers
• Email and SMS notifications
• Low-priced international calling

If you decide to also get a new Google number, you’ll get all of the above PLUS:

• One number that reaches you on all your phones
• SMS via email
• Call screening
• Listen In
• Call recording
• Conference calling
• Call blocking

All the features in the second list only work when the person calling you dials the Google-provided number. The features in the first list can be made to work on any number, whether the person calling dials your Google-provided number or your original number.

Here’s How to Set it Up

Setting up Google Voice on your existing number is as easy as setting up call forwarding. Let’s say you signed up for a Google-provided number like I suggested, but like me you’re not eager to pass it out just yet. You just want to use the features on the first list for now. Once you sign up for Google Voice, just click on the settings tab in the upper right corner of the screen. You’ll see a screen that looks a bit like the one below.

Just click Activate Google voicemail for this phone and follow the instructions. You’ll need your phone to dial in some numbers to setup call forwarding. (It’d be a good idea to check out whether your carrier charges extra for call forwarding before you set this up.)

Get Started

To use Google Voice you’ll need to find an invite. Some existing Google Voice users have invites to pass out. (I have not been given any yet.) You can also request an invitation here. If you’re already using Google Voice let me know what you think of it.

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© 2004-2009 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved

I’m happy to tell you that you can listen to this message online. You can also listen to more messages by staff and student leaders on the FSU Navigators Podcast.

From my perspective the evening went quite well. I’ve been happy to find, after talking with a number of students, staff and alumni who were there, that what I said met many people right where they were at. In the end it turned out my one issue — an issue only I seem to think is a big deal — was time. I spoke for an hour! I didn’t have a watch on and the room has no clock. Going in I knew I had more material for this talk than I’d ever had when teaching at Nav Night previously, but while speaking I had no concept of how long I’d been up there. When I sat down I glanced at a friend’s watch and was stunned to see that it was 10 PM. Lesson learned: keep a close eye on the run time, both during prep and when teaching.

If you’re interested in studying the topic of conflict resolution further you should have a look at the books I used to help me prepare: The Peacemaker by Ken Sande and Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges.

I’ll be teaching at Nav Night again on November 3. This time I’ll be speaking about missions. Check out the FSU Navigators at our website, on Facebook and on Twitter.

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© 2004-2009 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved

The post on my blog that attracts the most traffic (for reasons I don’t understand) is a post I wrote last December announcing that Google Street View had put my house on the web. I thought this story would make a good follow-up, since it looks like Google is intent on putting every square inch of the world on its website. Now, to get to those places for which its van is just too big, Google has outfitted a tricycle with its Street View image capture technology. That’s right, a trike! (Here’s the official announcement on the Google blog.)

When my house first hit Street View I wrote that I thought the service was overkill and a bit creepy, and I still feel that way. Now it seems as if there will soon be nowhere we can hide from the watchful eye of the world’s most popular search engine.

I watch the guy riding the trike and conclude he must have one of the most awkward jobs in America. If you’re the Street View van driver I bet you get some weird looks, and maybe you occasionally have to explain yourself to someone if you’re at a stop light or something. But the cyclist is right there for you to interact with as he pedals by your corn field. Imagine all the strange conversations this guy is going to have with the people he passes. (In fact, for fun why don’t you write an example conversation in the comments!)

What do you think of the new Street View trike? What do you think of Google Street View in general?

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© 2004-2009 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved

There were four students in the newspaper club. I gravitated toward (no pun intended) a young man who I’ll call “Wayne.” Wayne was a really smart kid. His English skills were among the most advanced of any of the children at the camp. But when it came time to participate in the club activities he tended to act out rather than go along with what we were doing. The truth was he was bored. I finally realized that what Wayne needed was a challenge, something that he’d have to put a lot of time and effort toward, and something he could brag about when he finished. And I knew just what would pique his interest. I asked Wayne to write our front-page article.

I sat down with Wayne and explained what I wanted from him. He was very interested, but wasn’t sure how to decide what to write about. I talked with Franz, the leader of our club, and he suggested using a photo as a starting point. From there Wayne could write a fictional story about that scene. And Franz had a great picture for Wayne to use.

One night earlier my teammate Lauren had almost been hit by a bicyclist on her way home from our evening debrief. This was a pretty common occurrence for all of us; the bikers in Germany have the right of way much of the time and won’t slow down for an ignorant American. We had all started to get used to keeping our eyes open for them, but on this particular night Lauren had received a bouquet of roses from her boyfriend (now fiancé) back home, so understandably her mind may have been elsewhere.

Another teammate with her at the time of the near-accident commented that she could see the headlines about an American with roses being hit late at night by a German biker. In a moment of pure awesome Lauren decided to stage that scene. Three shots were taken, and one of those was used as Wayne’s inspiration.

Woman Gets Hit by Alien

It was a dark evening in Berlin. Lauren V. was back from English Camp and only wanted to sleep in her hotel. She wanted to ride on her bike.

After she rode a few minutes she heard a lot of strange noises. At first she thought that it was only an animal. But she was wrong. The sound came closer every second. As she turned around to see what it was, all she saw was a big strong light. She heard a sound like from a big angry pig. After that, it became so loud that she could barely hear anything else and she felt something hit her on her head. “I was so scared at the sight that I could not make out what happened,” she said after she recovered from the shock. “It looked like a burning golf ball, though.”

Franz L. saw the whole incident and was able to describe it. “It was an alien orbiter that was the size and shape of a pear. The woman fell from her bike and lay on the ground for a long time. The orbiter crashed and was destroyed.”

The next morning, Lauren V. woke up and had a big bump on her head. But otherwise she was unhurt.

Obviously I’m biased, but I think Wayne’s article is great. It’s one thing to be able to write in a foreign language and another thing entirely to write something funny in a foreign language. Wayne’s article makes me laugh, in part because I know all the people involved, but I think he’s done a great job even if you’re coming at it from an outside perspective. I’m really proud of him.

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© 2004-2009 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved

American League
Angels over Red Sox, 3-1
Yankees over Twins, 3-0
Yankees over Angels, 4-2

World Series
Cardinals over Yankees, 4-2

I think this postseason is boring with the exception of the Rockies. Here’s hoping they win it all, but I think the Cards will prove to be too much for them. The defending champs have no relief pitching. The Red Sox haven’t looked impressive all year, but I’m picking the Angels mostly because I don’t want to see the Yanks and Sox play yet another ALCS. I can’t stand picking the Yankees out of the AL, but they’re clearly the best team in that league.

What do you think of my picks? Also, will a World Series win by the Cardinals make them the team of the decade?

Go Marlins! Another season over .500 and a second place finish in the NL East!

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© 2004-2009 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved

All the vignettes in this book are woven around one central story. Miller is contacted by two filmmakers who want to turn his bestselling memoir Blue Like Jazz into a movie. Miller accepts and begins to work with these filmmakers as they develop a screenplay about Don, the fictionalized version of Miller. But not far into their work Miller realizes that the process is going to be much more personal than he’d originally imagined.

“I mean no disrespect, ” I said. “But what is wrong with the Don in the book?” The question came out of my mouth more personally than I wanted.

Steve sat thoughtfully and collected his ideas. He scratched his chin and collected some sympathy. “In a pure story,” he said like a professor, “there is a purpose in every scene, in every line of dialogue. A movie is going somewhere.”

That last line rang in my ear like an accusation. I felt defensive, as though the scenes in my life weren’t going anywhere. I mean, I knew they weren’t going anywhere, but it didn’t seem okay for anybody else to say it.

Miller is shaken by the reality that his life has no direction. After exploring the concept of story some more, he wonders if the same elements that make for a great story on screen might also make for a great life story. He defines the essence of story as “a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it,” and that without a targeted desire and without facing the conflict that character’s story will not move forward.

I’ve been a Donald Miller fan ever since I read Blue Like Jazz when I was in college. Jazz is a memoir about the spiritual questions Miller asked during his time at Reed College. The book gripped me because I had many of the same questions, and it was comforting and empowering to know I wasn’t the only one asking them. Here again in A Million Miles Miller and I are struggling with the same questions, and once again his writing has taken hold of me. Miller very honestly describes times when he wrestled with God, when Miller struggled to trust God as the stories of his life became difficult or seemed too daunting to undertake. And even though not each of his stories has a happy ending, Miller gets it right when he says, “It wasn’t necessary to win for the story to be great, it was only necessary to sacrifice everything.”

Do you ever wonder where your life is going, or whether it will count for something meaningful? If so, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years will give you hope and maybe even a vision for rewriting your own life story. I think you’ll love this book. I already want to reread it.

Interested? Check Out These Links

• Purchase A Million Miles is a Thousand Years on Amazon
• Read the first three chapters of A Million Miles online
• Find out where Donald Miller is going on his book tour
• Official Donald Miller: website, Facebook, Twitter
• Watch this interview of Miller about A Million Miles
• More on Blue Like Jazz: The Movie
• The Mentoring Project, one of Miller’s new adventures

Book Review Bloggers

In the interest of full disclosure let me end by telling you how I’m able to write a review for a book that’s only been officially available for a few hours. I am part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers program. I volunteered to read Donald Miller’s new book and publish a review on my blog on the book’s release date (September 29, 2009). Thomas Nelson sent me two copies of the book a few weeks before the release date, one of which I was able to give away in a contest on my website.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2

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© 2004-2009 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved

Congratulations to S.C. Davis! You’re the big winner. (Here’s the winning comment.)

Look for Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years on September 29. Look also for my review of the book to be posted the same day on this site.

Thanks again to everyone who participated in this giveaway! Special thanks to my roommate Joe for promoting the heck out of this giveaway over on his Facebook profile.

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© 2004-2009 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved

THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED. View the results.

I’m one of the Thomas Nelson book review bloggers. Earlier this week they were looking for bloggers to review Donald Miller’s upcoming book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Now, Donald Miller is one of my favorite contemporary authors. So I had already preordered the book. Months ago, actually. But I couldn’t resist being one of the first to have it.

I got my copies on Thursday afternoon. Wait, they sent me two?! The note included with the books suggested the second copy could be given away to one of my blog readers. I’ve never had a contest on my blog before. Sounds like a great idea!

UPDATE: I’ve posted my book review of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.

Check out the video for all the details.

Again, just answer this question: If somebody was going to turn your life into a movie, what would be that movie’s best scene?

I need your comment by 5PM EST on Sunday, September 13, 2009. Click here for a complete list of rules.

Good luck!

UPDATE: Check out this interview of Donald Miller conducted by Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson.

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© 2004-2009 John Andrew Ledwith, All Rights Reserved