Barack Obama's Speech in Denver

I think this is a historical speech, no matter who will win the election on Nov 4th.

I was actually a bit irritated by the amount of coverage the upcoming US election got in German news during the past months, but I think now I understand why. Watch this speech and you will too.

Part One
Part Two

Missional vs Missionarisch

Was wir damals unter "missionarisch" verstanden:
Zieh los um zu reden.
Zieh los um zu lehren.
Zieh los um zu urteilen.
Zieh los um zu retten.
Zieh los mit der eindeutigen Haltung dich selbst zu schützen.
Zieh los um die Leute mit zurück in die Kirche zu bringen.

Was wir heute mit "missional" meinen:
Zieh los um zuzuhören.
Zieh los um zu lernen.
Zieh los um zu empfangen.
Zieh los um gerettet zu werden.
Zieh los mit der offenen Haltung Christi.
Zieh los um Kirche zu sein.

(frei übersetzt von Simon deVries, Quelle: Makeesha Fisher)

The Church

"In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy.
Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution.
Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture.
And, finally, it moved to America, where it became an enterprise."
(Richard Halverson, former Chaplain of the United States Senate)

Warum tötest Du Zaid - 10 Theses about the "Antiterror"-Policy of the West

Jürgen Todenhöfer traveled to Irak and visited Iraki families and resistence fighters. The central figure is Zaid, a 22 year old young man whose dream is to study and have a big family. After both of his brother have been shot innocently by US army members, he joins the resistance fighters.

The second part of the book contains "10 theses" about the "anti-terror"-policy of the west, and the relationship between the west and the muslim world.

German TV Interview of the author

Gabriela Montero improvisiert

Gabriela is a piano artist from Venezuela. She's not just playing classical masterpieces in her concerts but improvises based on melodies sung by members of the audience.

This is a short ZDF piece about her:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUqhPoA5bIY

JPMCCC 2008

• JPMCCC 2008: 29:30 :-)
  
• JPMCCC 2007: 32:40
  
• JPMCCC 2006: 34:06
  
• JPMCCC 2005: 34:15
  
• JPMCCC 2003: 33:13
  

"Earth" / "Unsere Erde"

"Unsere Erde" ("Earth") is a movie playing in cinemas in Germany right now. This movie is based on a BBC TV production from 2006. I have seen quite a few documentary movies showing the beauty of creation before, but this one does really set a new standard. This movie is a heart moving and breath taking celebration of life and nature - and as such indirectly its creator.

The trailer can be seen here.

Erstes Grillfest 2007

Connecting Data and Voice

I've writte about connecting data and voice channels in customer interaction call centers a while ago. The www.boooming.com website shows an excellent example how this can be achieved: generate a session-ID in the data application (e.g. a corporate website or customer portal), and then let the customer dial a phone number that contains this session-ID - voila! The corporate ACD system can the detect the session ID, and automatically connect the phone channel and the data channel.

Sales Example: customer tries to configure a complex product (e.g. software product or a car) using the online configurator of the vendor. At some point, the customer has a question and needs support. The website displays a phone number that contains a session ID, e.g. 0800-1234-5678, where 5678 is the session ID. The ACD system routes the call to a sales agent, and the session ID is handed over to the sales agent's CRM system which automatically displays the current product configuration that has been selected by the customer.

Customer Service / Remote Support Example: customer needs help with a certain problem, visits the vendor website and requests remote support. The remote support application is launched from the website. The website also displays a phone number containing a session-ID. The customer calls this phone number. The call is routed by the ACD system to a customer service agent. The agent has a software on his system that connects the session-ID from the phone call to the session-ID of the remote support application, i.e. he automatically sees the screen desktop of the calling customer.

JPMCCC 2006 - 34:06 Minuten