Sitting in my hotel room getting ready to go set up our exhibit booth at Worship Northwest near Salem, Oregon. With me on this trip is Joey McNair who is the man behind Defy Creative, creater of Shoutable media. It is his Luminous Bible Backs collection that we use every sundy in our services and on the road.

Flying in we saw Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier rising above the mounainous landscap topped in white. God’s masterful creations are so incredible to look upon.  We are expecting to have a great time and meet some new faces at this event that we can introduce to MediaShout’s great list if features and user friendly interface.

More updates to come….

laptops from Sager Notebooks.

17″ Models

Sager NP5797

Starting @ $2,059.00

• 17″ Wide Viewing Angles WSXGA+ LCD with Super Glossy Surface (1680 x 1050)

• 45nm Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 / 3MB L2 Cache, 2.40GHz, 1066MHz FSB

• 2X Blu-ray Reader/8X DVD±R/2.4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software

• 2GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 1 X 2048MB
• Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTX Graphics with 1GB DDR3 Video Memory

Sager NP5793

Starting @ $1,299.00

• 17″ WUXGA LCD with Matte Finish Surface (1920×1200)
• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5800 / 2MB L2 Cache, 2.0GHz, 800MHz FSB
• 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 X 2048MB
• Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTS Graphics with 512MB DDR3 Video Memory
• 250GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive

15″ Laptops

Sager NP8660

Starting @ $1,499.00

- Display: 15.4″ WSXGA+ LCD with Super Glossy Surface (1680X1050)
- Processor: 45nm Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 / 3MB L2 Cache, 2.40GHz, 1066MHz FSB
- Video & Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTS Graphics with 512MB DDR3 Video Memory
- Genuine MS Windows® VISTA Home Premium 32/64-Bit Edition
- 2GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 1 X 2048MB

&

Sager NP2096

Starting @ $899

• 15.4″ WXGA LCD with Super Glossy Surface (1280X800)
• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5800 / 2MB L2 Cache, 2.0GHz, 800MHz FSB
• Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT Graphics with 512MB DDR2 Video Memory
• 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 X 2048MB
• 320GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive ,

All Available Right now at the Defy Creative/Clearpoint Presentations Store

A Powerful 15.4″ Notebook For An Amazing Low Price!

Starting at $1099.00

Powered By Latest Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology Kick your mobile world into overdrive with the new Sager NP2096 notebook featuring the latest Intel Centrino 2 processor technology (Montevina platform). The system, complete with new Intel Wi-Fi Link 5100AGN 802.11n wireless LAN connection, also gives you faster access to the jaw dropping speeds of the NP2096 with optional 2GB/4GB Intel® Turbo Memory, which lets you boot up faster and accelerates load times of frequently used applications.

Unparalleled 3D Graphic Performance For rich colors and sharp visuals, the NP2096 utilizes NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT Graphic chipset with 512MB dedicated video memory is ideal for handling HD contents, and delivering outstanding 3D graphic performance for all of today’s most visually-intense applications and games.

High-Definition Multimedia Interface Turn your HDTV into abrilliant high resolution computer display with our HDMI port that supports full 1080P HD output allowing you to connect to any 1080P HDTV at full 1920×1080 16:9 HD resolutions. Your TV will become a first-rate PC monitor or allow you to enjoy movies saved on your computer in full HD on a larger screen.

Redline speed with Intel Turbo Memory Access the speed and power of the NP2096 in the blink of an eye with the optional Intel® Turbo Memory Technology. The Sager NP2096 incorporates an innovative design by using NAND flash memory to increase the performance on application load time and shorten the time it takes for a computer to power up. You’ll be amazed at the dramatic improvement in your load times as well as the increased power savings you will experience if the optional module card is installed.

Power or Charge Mobile Peripherals On The Go Power up your peripherals without turning on your notebook with yet another unique feature of the NP2096 – the Power Source USB ports. By pressing the Power USB button, the system USB port supplies a total 3A power source for your external mobile peripheral devices without turning on your notebook.

Face to Face Across the Globe Enter the world of online communication and take advantage of the built-in high resolution 2.0 megapixel video camera to participate in a video conference, or simply chat with your friends face-to-face no matter how far apart you may be.

Secure Your Login Feel secure in the knowledge your system is protected by the most advanced methods possible. The NP2096 utilizes a fingerprint reader for added security and easy log in.

Starting @ $2275.00

Sager has once again released an amazing notebook that rides the cutting edge of today’s portable technology. This is model replaces the NP5793, both having the same case and design, but the guts of the NP5796 are better yet. Check out the power sitting under the hood of this hot rod.

Experiencing the “WOW” Improvement with New Intel Centrino 2 Processor Technology Enjoy blazing speeds with the new Intel® Centrino® 2 Platform with improved 1066MHz FSB speed Intel® 45nm processor, PM45 chipset, and enjoy lightning fast downloads with the Intel® Wi-Fi Link 5300AGN Wireless Card that features impressive range that allows you the freedom to go where you want.

Leading Graphics Technology From nVIDIA Have the freedom to choose the right graphics card for you. The NP5796 features a wide variety of powerful graphics solutions including the lastest nVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX w/1GB GDD3 memory with a record-setting 3DMarks06 score of 9000+ points or choose the GeForce 9800M GT with 512MB GDD3 memory for the balance of performance and price. Regardless of your preference, you can’t go wrong with either of these cutting edge graphics cards.

Enhance Your Scene with HDMI Interface Turn your HDTV into a brilliant high resolution computer display with our HDMI port that supports full 1080P HD output allowing you to connect to any 1080P HDTV at full 1920×1080 16:9 HD resolutions. Your TV will become a first-rate PC monitor or allow you to enjoy movies saved on your computer in full HD on a Larger screen.

Enhance Performance with DDR3 System Memory Your system’s performance will never disappoint thanks to the latest DDR3 1066MHz system memory providing greater memroy bandwidth for performance that will never lag behind.

New Intel Turbo Memory 2.0 Say goodby to long startup and load times with the new 2GB/4GB Intel® Turbo Memory, enabling Windows Vista® ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive support. Along with application Pinning support, these features will significantly improve your system boot time and application load time.

Expanded Storage with E-SATA support Never again worry about taking up too much space with the media you want to save because of the expanded storage space made available through the use of E-SATA. This advanced technology allows for ample space without sacrificing performance compared to USB or FireWire as it is connected directly to the HDD controller when using E-SATA.

On the Go in Style Because style matters, the NP5796 comes available in two eye catching designs. Choose between two visually appealing cases that give your system an additional splash of color but also maintain its sophisticated appearance.

I downloaded the free trial and was immediately impressed with its capabilities. I have been using the Beta build 0.9.0.33422 and it works great. According to the home page at www.blueshareware.com it has limited time usage but you can simply restart the connection.

Once the Bluetooth server connection is made between the PC and the phone you can choose which currently running application you wish to control.

When MediaShout is running I choose the Screen Control application from the Options menu. I can now use my finger or stylus to control the placement of my mouse and the slideout Qwerty keyboard on my phone operates the same as any other (minus the F keys). The up and down arrows can be used to select cues in the script and the Enter key will Fire it.

Here are a list of features from the website.

- Control iTunes, PowerPoint, Mouse, WinAMP, Windows Media Player and much more
- See the actual desktop in your phone
- No Bluetooth setup! Just connect from your phone
- Create your own applications via Keymaps or VB and JScripts
- Supports all PC Bluetooth solutions Toshiba, Windows, BlueSoleil and Widcomm/Brodacom

This last Sunday I was preaching so I set up my sermon points in MediaShout and used the Vines Bumper set from Igniter. I did not have to put MediaShout into SlideShow mode, I simply opened the remote app on my phone, chose Screen Control, and hit the spacebar to advance all my pre-set sermon cues. IT WAS SWEET! I was about 15-20 feet from my laptop and did not lose the connection.

It was a day of Firsts for us as I also used the Visualizer as a background for the first song. I was very proud of MediaShout’s abilities even though few people knew or even understood the complexity of the setup that morning. This is yet another reason why I believe that MediaShout is the best presentation software on the market today.

To download and try it for yourself you can go to the developers page at http://www.jaylee.org/RemoteControl/ or http://www.blueshareware.com/bluetooth_remote_control.asp.

I will post any updates as I learn more about the capabilities of the full version.

Build update 726 puts things back to normal. MediaShout now grabs the data from the download of the text file and imports the song directly into the ShoutSinger library. It really is impressive considering they have had to completely change the way this happens due to the major security updates that CCLI made to its SongSelect service. If you have not yet gotten the latest updates, go to Help>Check For Updates within MediaShout and download it now. IF you do not have internet access on the MediaShout computer, you can download it to a flash drive on another PC by going to the web site. This update is currently only available for Version 3 Standard. Updates for Express are soon to follow.

Thanks again to the determination of the programmers at MediaComplete and the CCLI IT department for making this process quick and simple again.

Put this Effect

Into This Software?

Now You Can and its FREE!

I had an idea the other day that it would be great if there were a way to have a virtual capture device that MediaShout would recognize as a Live Video Feed. This dream app would be able to point to any window that could then be displayed as a background to lyrics or simply as the foreground for the audience to view its contents.

Here is the Recipe:

1 MediaShout V3.5

1 VH Capture Software (get it here)

1 Windows Media Player 11 (other players use much more CPU but they do work)

Optional: Visualizer plug ins

1 PC or Laptop with a good video card (need one?)

Directions:

• Stir in (read:install) VH Capture Software and open.

• Click on the CREATE New One button

• Open Windows Media Player to the lower corner of your screen or a third monitor
• From the Now Playing menu choose your Visualization
• Click on the Range button on the VH Capture panel

• Now Select a range within the Visualizer window roughly the same shape as your screen output whether 4:3 or Widescreen.
• Open MediaShout but do not maximize its window. Click the Restore button if you need to.
• Arrange your windows so that you can always see the media player window

(NOTE: screenshot from 17″ laptop running 1600×1200 resolution)

• Bring a song into your script and go to the Background tab of the Cue Properties Box.
• Click on the browse button and choose Video Feed from the source selections at the top.
• Select the VHCAP as your source and hit select.

• Now begin playing a song in Windows Media Player to activate the visualizer.
• Fire the song you just set up.

• You should have the visualization as your background to the song.
• Be creative and mix it up with multiple backgrounds within the same song from different sources eg. Video files, Still images, video feed.
• The song you play to activate WMP (Windows Media Player) can be the same song the worship team is playing or just any song with a similar tempo. Be sure no one can here the music from WMP SHHH

Added Bonus:

You can point the VH capture to any window including Word, Adobe pdf, Youtube, Webcasts, Streaming video,etc.

I hope to have a cheesy video of this recipe in action very soon, so come back and look for it.

Its not hard to do and best of all ITS FREE!!! I’ll leave comments open for questions and such.

Here is what I received from CCLI.
SongSelect Upgrade May Affect Worship Planning Software

CCLI has made some modifications to improve the performance of SongSelect and enhance your worship planning experience. Some of these changes may affect the way some of our subscribers use worship planning software programs such as Media Shout, SongShow Plus, Sunday Plus, Easy Worship, etc. If you discover any difficulties with your software functionality in relation to SongSelect, please contact your software provider for technical assistance. Thank you for choosing SongSelect as your comprehensive worship planning song database.

CCLI License Holder Services

This is the response from MediaShout found on the User fourm

As of yesterday, CCLI has changed the access point to their SongSelect website. Because of the change in link and a tweak in the code, users will be unable to access SongSelect or downlad songs directly from SongSelect through the MediaShout interface. We are currently working on a new build to fix this issue.

We originally hoped that a new build might be available today, but since CCLI changed more code than just the login page, we’ve had to delay the release to get everything working again. We currently anticipate a new build being available Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning.

Users can always still access SongSelect by going to www.songselect.com or portal.ccli.com and log in from there. They’ll then need to manually import songs into MediaShout using the ‘old’ method until we can release a new build. Our Knowledge Base has an article detailing the steps necessary for users who need help. (http://mediashout.com/support/kb/custom.asp?a=4&q=85)

We will post status updates to this issue here, as well as on the MediaShout page at GetSatisfaction (http://getsatisfaction.com/mediashout)

I know that they are working very hard to create a patch that will remedy the issue and things should be back to normal soon.

To get an email when the update is available send an email to msupdates@news.mediashout.com with the subject: Subscribe. You should receive notification of the build release that fixes the SongSelect import feature.

Thanks to the programmers at MediaaShout who do their best to fix the situation when blindsided.