Conmergence

OpenSER

OpenSER is a mature and flexible open source Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) server (RFC3261). It can be used on systems with limitted resources as well as on carrier grade servers, scaling to up to thousands call setups per second. It is written in pure C for Unix/Linux-like systems with architecture specific optimizations to offer high performances. It is customizable, being able to feature as fast load balancer; SIP server flavours: registrar, location server, proxy server, redirect server; gateway to SMS/XMPP; or advanced VoIP application server.

OpenSER aims to be a collaborative project of its users to develop secure and extensible SIP server to provide modern VoIP services.

Anyone can contribute to one of next items:

• - code development - OpenSER core, modules and adjacent applications
• - documentation - writing or enriching documentation
• - miscellaneous - different management tasks (e.g., web site maintenance)
• - ideas - new ideas bring brilliant solutions

Features:

• robust and performant SIP (RFC3261) Registrar server, Location server, Proxy server and Redirect server
• small footprint - the binary file is small size, functionality can be stripped/added via modules
• plug&play module interface - ability to add new extensions, without touching the core, therefore assuring a great stability of core components
• stateless and transactional statefull SIP Proxy processing
• support for UDP/TCP/TLS transport layers
• IPv4 and IPv6
  
• support for SRV and NAPTR DNS
• SRV DNS failover
• IP Blacklists
  
• multi-homed (mhomed) and multi-domain support
  
• scripting language for configurations file. With a syntax similar to sripting languages, the configuration offers a powerful and flexible way to deploy custom SIP services.
• management interface via FIFO file and unix sockets
• pseudo-variables to access and manage parts of the SIP messages and attributes specific to users and server
• authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) via database (MySQL, Postgress, text files), RADIUS and DIAMETER
• digest and IP authentication
  
• CPL - Call Processing Language (RFC3880)
• SNMP - interface to Simple Network Management Protocol
• XMLRPC -management interface via XMLRPC
  
• NAT traversal support for SIP and RTP traffic
• ENUM support
• PERL Programming Interface - embed your extensions written in Perl
• Java SIP Servlet Application Interface - write Java SIP Servlets to extent your VoIP services and integrate with web services
  
• load balancing with failover
  
• least cost routing
• support for replication - REGISTER offer new functions for replicating client information (real source and received socket).
• logging capabilities - can log custom messages including any header or pseudo-variable and parts of SIP message structure.
• modular architecture - plug-and-play module interface to extend the server's functionality
• gateway to sms or xmpp
• multiple database backends - MySQL, PostgreSQL, flat files and other database types which have unixodbc drivers
• straightforward interconnection with PSTN gateways
  
• impressive extension repository - over 70 modules are included in OpenSER repository
  

Scalability:

• OpenSER can run on embedded systems, with limitted resources - the performances can be up to hundreds of call setups per second
• used a load balancer in stateless mode, OpenSER can handle over 5000 call setups per second
• on systems with 4GB memory, OpenSER can serve a population over 300 000 online subscribers
• system can easily scale by adding more OpenSER servers
• OpenSER can be used in geographic distributed VoIP platforms
• straightforward failover and redundancy

Make It Free

Matt Perman's take on Open Access: "...anything that hinders the ease with which your users can access and share your content imposes a 'cost' on them."

<ed.note>You hear a lot religious folks suggesting you tithe your ten percent -- not so much about restricting their "publishing profits" to the same amount. There is a new testament ( pauline ) tension between not muzzling the ozen as it treads out the grain and a workman being worthy of his hire ( leaders, preachers, teachers ) on the one hand and not peddling the gospel on the other. I've noticed that a lot of rationale for division is expressed in theological terms -- but is easier to track with a financial spreadsheet. Every fuss opportunes that two books get published instead of one, two colleges built, two publishing houses publish, two pulpits filled, etc. Here's a call to pull the profit motive out of the equation so there be no doubt concerning motivations. Oh, and feel free to download this ;-)</ed.note>

First Wendell and Bettye Broom Colloquium Videos

Introduction by Jack Reese at the first Broom Colloquium in 2007 where Wendell and Bettye Broom were honored for their many years of service to missions.

"Does God Now Speak with a Southern Accent?" (The Bible, faith, and Christian practice in the global south) Philip Jenkins Chapel Address - March 1, 2007

Philip Jenkins’ personal reflections on his experiences and research relating to the rise of the new global Christianity - Luncheon Address - March 1, 2007

"God is Going South: The New Face of Global Christianity." Format: Jenkin's Presentation - 45 minutes (with 10-15 minutes moderated Q & A following)

Stephen Bush on Prayer

here ( mp3 ).

The Wikiklesia Project

The Wikiklesia Project is an experiment in on-line collaborative publishing. The format is virtual, self-organizing, participatory - from purpose to publication in just a few weeks.

Anyone* can write a chapter for the Wikiklesia. The first volume, Voices of the Virtual World, is a "collective, chaordic conversation on how emerging technologies are impacting the church." All proceeds from Volume One will be contributed to the Not For Sale campaign. The e-book is now on sale at Lulu.com. The paperback version will be available in late August 2007.

ChurchInfo

Rob Mitchell ( http://nakedchurch.wordpress.com ) writes:

I'm helping to do documentation on the ChurchInfo project. It's still early in its development and needs some other functionalities, but it's a great start. I wrote a doc on installing ChurchInfo on an Ubuntu LAMP server from bare metal to using the app, including the installation of some support tools. This is a PDF available on the ChurchInfo web site.

ChurchInfo has some really neat functionality -- basically it allows you to enter families, individuals, and organize them into groups and add roles. You can upload photos for families and individuals, and it ties in with GoogleMaps API to show geographic coordinates. You can create groups and organize people therein.

Another plus is that the database schema is extensible from within the application. Michael Wilt, who wrote ChurchInfo, is from a church polity that has basically active and inactive members, and that's the default. In my tradition (Presbyterian) we have several classes of members: communicant, non-communicant, baptized, non-baptized (these last are the kids of member families), active and inactive, and the ChurchInfo interface allows you to add new membership classifications as you desire.

Similarly there are a couple of group classifications built in, but you can add new types of groups and roles to suit your own organizational structure, and this can grow over time as you dictate.

ChurchInfo is 100% open source -- it uses PHP middleware to sit between the Apache server and the MySQL database back end. You can install it on Windows if you must, but it's ideally suited for Linux.

If you don't want to use an in-house server, it is straightforward to install on your ISP, provided it's got PHP and MySQL available.

I recommend having PHPMyAdmin as a support tool. This will allow you an easy-to-use method of doing database backups (with PHPMyAdmin you can download the database to a text file already in SQL query format, that will re-create the database schema and populate it.)

The financial portion of Churchinfo allows you to track pledges and contributions, and will print out a report or output to a delimited text file. The latter is probably preferable, as it will allow you to customize a document in your spreadsheet program. I don't remember if it allows you to designate funds to different accounts or campaigns, one of the functions I'd like to see.

Future enhancements should include a calendar module (there are presently hooks to work with WebCalendar, a PHP project) and an event scheduler, which should include a facility/resource scheduler as well. If you have a good email/workgroup package already that should suffice for you and doesn't need to be part of your church management system, though being able to tie groups and members and roles together with schedules is helpful.

Bottom line, ChurchInfo is a pretty good little package. It still lacks some of the functionalities of the big commercial packages, but for a free app, it rocks. ...Please consider giving it a try -- it will cost you nothing. It's not a full-featured Swiss Army Knife like some commercial packages, but if all you need are the awl, corkscrew, and a couple of regular cutting blades, it just might work for you.

Thinking Outside the Circle

Lyndsay Jacobs, Christian Churches NZ/Associated Churches of Christ in NZ, Uniting Congregations Partner Representative, in "The Wider Church - Number 7, July 2007 (Occasional news and updates prepared for Uniting Congregations in Aotearoa New Zealand with Christian Churches/Churches of Christ participation)" writes:

I am very encouraged by the way many union/cooperative churches are responding to their call to ministry and witness in this new century. But being effective parishes/congregations in this post modern, post denominational, post Christian, post Christendom era is a huge and constant challenge to us all.

IT IS A NEW WORLD. Like many others, I feel absolutely sure that trying to do what we've always done, but doing it better, JUST WON'T WORK. That is like looking through the wrong end of the telescope or trying to get ice cream into the cone through the bottom. It's coming at things from the wrong end. That's thinking 'Inside the Circle' - looking out from where we are. THE WORLD HAS CHANGED. We're not where we were anymore.

The first (and major, huge) step for any congregation wanting to be real in 21st Century New Zealand, is to understand today's community and HOW THE COMMUNITY SEES CHRISTIANITY and the CHURCH. We need to step outside our circles, see ourselves (our congregations) from the outside looking in. We need to think outside the circle.

I have prepared a one day or two evening discovery/action program for congregations which feel they're ready, like Abraham, to explore moving into a 'new country'. Let me know if you're game. ( Contact info: lyndsaylorrainejacobs at xtra.co.nz, PO Box 211, Kirwee 7543, New Zealand. Ph: +64 (0) 3 317-8011. Mobile: +64 021 424516 ),

Prophets' University at Abilene Christian Univeristy Lectureship September 16-19

<ed.note>Kate Miller ( miller at bible.acu.edu ) sent me a head's up about this event at my alma. While living in Abilene I attended Minter Lane where I had the blessing of attending the class which Tom Olbricht* taught ( I can't remember a thing except the emphases on compassion and unity ). In a class at ACU, John Willis* had the unenviable task of getting the concepts of mercy and justice into my thick skull via the prophetic literature. As a teacher he modeled what he taught and he inspires his students to greater holiness ( oy, what a challenge ) reminiscent of Assisi Frank's admonition to "preach the gospel at all times -- when necessary, use words". I might mention also that ACU is a sponsor of the World Convention ( Christian - Churches of Christ - Disciples of Christ ) scheduled for Nashville next summer. Mark your calendars now ( July 30th - August 3rd, 2008 ).</ed.note>

Each year ACU’s Bible Lectureship brings outstanding scholars to lead us deeper into the holy writings. This year, we have assembled a team to lead us into the rich worlds of Israel’s eighth-century prophets, namely Micah, Amos, Hosea and Isaiah. The powerful pictures offered by these prophets will aim to give you a greater understanding of God and his concern for the world. More info available here.

Eighth-Century Prophet Classes

Dave Bland
Experiencing the God of the Prophets:
Experiencing God’s Lament: Amos
Experiencing God’s Love: Hosea

Phillip Camp
Injustice is Blind … and Deaf: Isaiah
Confronts Injustice in Judah and in Us

Christopher Heard
God’s Favorites: Election and Uniqueness in the Book of Amos

*Tom Olbricht
God Loves Forever (hesed in Micah)

Glenn Pemberton
Worship Wars, Israelite Style: Three Psalms, a Sacrifice and a Prayer? And Other Burning
Questions From Worship

Rodney Plunket
The Wild, Wild, Near East: The World of the Eighth Century Prophets
Superpowers, War Crimes, and Coups d’Etat

Mark Shipp
A Harlot’s Wages: No Knowledge, No Mercy, No People
God Sows: Mercy, People, Knowledge of God

Trevor Thompson
Micah at the Margins: Micah as Medium, Micah Muted

*John Willis
The Message of Micah
God’s Central Concern for the Oppressed
God’s Treatment of Hardened Sinners and Persistent Sin
God’s Work in and Through His Chosen People and and the Nations

Timothy Willis
Anyone Want to Play ‘Follow the Leader’?
Being an Elder in Biblical Israel

Ministry as Open Source

<ed.note>There are several podcasts on the meme of of Ministry as Open Source over at Geeks and God. My assertion is that the true strength of open source is its transparent community collaboration.</ed.note>

The Wired Scholar: Five Free Tools You May Not Know About

Danny Zacharias

The Internet has radically changed how information is stored, researched, and published. Work that was once done in a file catalog and in the midst of towering book shelves can now be done with a few keystrokes on a computer. The ability not only to find information, but to store your own information for the benefit of others makes the Internet an exciting tool for academic research. At the same time, the Internet has also become a resource for free quality resources. The purpose of this article is to introduce Society of Biblical Literature Forum readers to five free online tools that can serve to enhance research and productivity.

An "Amazing" Ethnomusicology Lesson

here. <ed.note>When I was at ACU Dr. Jack Boyd first taught me to see music in it's historical context -- that history often related to an individual's attempt to work thru their faith struggles. Saul of Tarsus ( St. Paul ) thought music was an important avenue of collaborative adoration, edification, blessing enumeration, and supplication ( Col. 3:16; Eph. 5. 19 ) </ed.note>

Climate Savers Computing Initiative

<ed.note>In the meantime, of course, builders and computer vendors can begin deploying geothermal heat exchanger driven data centers. And we might all support the use of biosand water filters (portable potable) so there will actually be someone around to use those computers.</ed.note>

Believe it or not, the average desktop PC wastes nearly half the power delivered to it. Half! This wasted electricity unnecessarily increases the cost of powering a computer, and it also increases the emission of greenhouse gases. Improving the energy efficiency of computers is a cost-effective way to reduce electricity consumption and the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. The Climate Savers Computing Initiative brings together industry, consumers and conservation organizations to significantly increase the energy efficiency of computers and servers.

Collaboration in Churchworld, An Example

Chad Entinger, Deaf Experience, Deaf Missions

<ed.note>Greg comments on the desire of Deity to share communion with humankind -- a meme which is always in the back of my mind when considering the sense of satisfaction we humans tend to get from a successful collaboration -- which is ( shush, don't tell anyone, this can be our secret ) a very real, though almost entirely unrecognized, form of worship -- hence the resulting joy.</ed.note>

We find a beautiful model of individuals working together as a team from Deaf history. In the early 1800s, this “team” worked together to influence the life and education of a Deaf girl. Who were these individuals? They were Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, Laurent Clerc and Mason Cogswell.

Gallaudet was an Episcopalian priest who noticed Cogswell’s daughter, Alice, playing outside by herself. He later learned she was deaf. Mason Cogswell was a doctor. Mason and his friends gathered money and sent Gallaudet to Europe to learn about educating Deaf children. After experiencing frustration in England, Gallaudet ended up in Paris, France, where he met Laurent Clerc, a bright Deaf educator. Gallaudet and Clerc came back to the United States together. Upon their arrival, Gallaudet, Clerc and Cogswell established the very first school for the deaf, American School for the Deaf in Connecticut. Their desire was for Deaf children to learn to read so that, as they grew up, they could read the Bible and understand God’s Word.

A parent of a Deaf child (Cogswell), a pastor with a heart for others (Gallaudet), and a Deaf man (Clerc) all worked together to influence others.

We would be wise to learn from this successful model of cooperation and unity for Deaf ministry. Are you a leader of a Deaf ministry? Or are you involved in a Deaf ministry in your church or area? Does your Deaf ministry have a team of leaders, or is it contingent upon the leadership of one person?

Finally, the Advocacy World Learns the True Meaning of the term "Activist Shareholder"

<ed.note>Although I love animals and I'm daily vexed by my hypocritical non-vegetarianism ( see the Fall of Mankind ) I'm more concerned here with my joy to see advocacy grow up to the point that as movement it recognizes that you don't get a say if you don't want to pay. The Edism for this is: "There is no such thing as an unfunded right!" I hope to see unions utilize their pension funds with this kind of attitude more often in the future than they have exercised in the past -- or step aside as shareholder class action suits rise in ascendency.</ed.note>

This One's For You, Mr. Anderson!

<ed.note>Dana points me to Howard's article where he writes "Open source is not a movement; it's a religion" -- to which I return with the intellectually pleasing: "So! -- and unbridled capitalism isn't a religion? Isn't there something about Mammon worship in the holy writings somewhere?" In reality, Howard is anxious because publishing is being open sourced (democratized|meritocratized|interoperantized|transparentized), too. With all the media consolidation happening at one end of the content spectrum and the paid blogging/youtube phenomena on the other -- he has to defend the paradigm in which he feels the most comfortable competing. Ok, let me be serious a bit and look at his analysis: a point he doesn't mention factoring in is that most "mainstream, commercial IT shops" are already mixed sourced shops... because of quality concerns... quality which results from collaboration and transparency. As I opined in response to Dana's piece -- The "Problem" with Open Source is, at the end of the day, it teaches the users/software consumer and institutional stock holders that the coder is more valuable than the CEO. Coincidently, it is teaching at a time, when in proprietary software the coder is being offshored and down-salaried, and the C-Suite is receiving a bonus for the "jump in productivity." And yet, on the third hand, it is at a time when C-Suites are under increased share holder pressure to tie pay to performance.</ed.note>

Fairtrade Fortnight

<ed.note>Gillian Southey, Christian World Service, Aotearoa New Zealand, informed me: Thanks for your enquiry. CWS has prepared resources for Aotearoa New Zealand churches - some of which can be downloaded from the web and others are available from the Fair Trade Association of Aotearoa New Zealand. In terms of US churches promoting fair trade I suggest you initially look at this, and this - which has links to all sorts of church 'coffee projects'.</ed.note>

Un-Cover-ed Tennessee [ Repost: was Faces of Tenncare - Portrait Project ]

<ed.note>Apparently, things semantically delicious are all the rage within fedgovworld -- stories about intellipedia and even various campaign sites using RSS. I bet Donna, who recently left a comment on this 2006 post I've just gotten around to publishing, wished there were a push for tools for transparency in tennessee politics -- semantic sunshine, if you will. Hint: Donna, you can start here and here and here. A thematically similar post to the following can also be found here.</ed.note>

Aired January 3, 2006, WPLN's Kim Green reports on "a young Nashville photojournalist has spent half a year quietly documenting the people affected by TennCare cuts. Now she's collaborating with a local filmmaker to harness the emotional impact of these photos and distribute them nationally."

Disability Education in Seminaries? Your Input Sought!

<ed.note>Over at the Christian Council on Persons with Disabilities web site I saw this:</ed.note>

How to tackle this situation is a question the subcommittee is now studying. Should there be a survey and assessment of current initiatives in seminaries? Would a series of cost-free summer institutes be helpful to provide training in state-of-the-art strategies for including issues related to pastoral and spiritual supports for people with disabilities in theological education and professional training? Would funding be available for such institutes? Would seminary professors appreciate and use disability-related modules in their courses if these were available? Do people in disability ministry need to do more to stimulate thought by presenting papers at professional conferences and submitting articles for national religious and educational journals? Here, too, the input of others is sought. Responses to the above questions may be sent to the CCPD office.

<ed.note>My response of course is to begin by hosting a wiki.</ed.note>

Open Journal Systems

Open Journal Systems (OJS) is a journal management and publishing system that has been developed by the Public Knowledge Project.

Scripture4All

Connexions

Connexions is a rapidly growing collection of free scholarly materials and a powerful set of free software tools to help

authors publish and collaborate
instructors rapidly build and share custom courses
learners explore the links among concepts, courses, and disciplines

Our Content Commons contains small "knowledge chunks" we call modules that connect into courses. Thanks to a Creative Commons open license, anyone can take our materials, adapt them to meet their needs, and contribute them back to the Commons. And everyone is invited to participate!

View an in-depth introduction to Connexions in the TED2006 presentation by Connexions Founder Richard Baraniuk.

The Emergent Church and Blogs

I passed "a fascinating article in the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, on the "Emergent Church" movement, titled "Postmodern Christianity: Emergent Church and Blogs" on to a fellow Nashville blogger.

Welcome to Open.Source.Theology

The purpose of this site is to assist the development of a transparent, community-driven theology for the ‘emerging church’. If you’re new here, have a look at the Introduction to Open Source Theology and the Rules of engagement; to help you get started there is a listing of some of the most important conversations here. This is meant to be a collaborative project – so feel free to collaborate!