DDOS: from God with love

neteffect, DDOS: from God with love, 21 Oct 09 "On hearing the news that web-sites of several atheist foundations/NGOs have become victims of severe DDoS attacks, I could only think about one thing: it would be quite hard to blame these attacks on either China or Russia."

LDS Church and the net

mormontimes.com, LDS Church using the Internet to its advantage, 8 Oct 09 "There are "Mormon Messages" on YouTube, the Mormon Channel streaming online and several sites designed specifically for search engine optimization. Future offerings may include personalized online general conference journals, upgraded ward directories and content for mobile phones."

Scientology

Julian Dibbel, wired.com, The Assclown Offensive: How to Enrage the Church of Scientology, Wired 17:10 background on 4chan and campaigning techniques used against Scientology

Holy Apps

Guardian,The app economy, 29 Jul 09 discusses several religiously oriented apps for the iPhone, such as iBreviary (longer article in American Magazine on the latter app).

Internet et religion

Jean-François Mayer, Livre: Internet et religion - les enjeux d'une mutation technologique (Infolio/Religioscope)

Details on a new book (in French) on the study of religion and the internet. Some specific content in relation to Islam, and some interesting thoughts on how to approach this growing discipline. I would advise students to use this on my Studying Religions on the Internet MA module. Recommended.

Virtual Shtetl Portal

AFP, High-tech edge for Poland's Jewish history, 16 Jun 09 "The creators of Poland's future Museum of Polish Jews Tuesday in Warsaw launched the Virtual Shtetl website, a portal they hope will build the museum's collection even before its doors open in 2011.

""This portal has the potential to become the greatest source of information about Jewish life in Poland prior to the war," project creator and coordinator Albert Stankowski told reporters in Warsaw Tuesday."

See Virtual Shtetl Portal

Koogle

Reuters, Orthodox Jews launch "kosher" search engine, 14 Jun 09 "Religiously devout Jews barred by rabbis from surfing the Internet may now "Koogle" it on a new "kosher" search engine, the site manager said on Sunday.

"Yossi Altman said Koogle, a play on the names of a Jewish noodle pudding and the ubiquitous Google, appears to meet the standards of Orthodox rabbis, who restrict use of the Web to ensure followers avoid viewing sexually explicit material."

Lester Haines, The Register, Orthodox Jews tuck into kosher Koogle, 15 Jun 09 "Orthodox Jews - whose religious beliefs have previously kept them a safe distance from the internet - can now avail themselves of a "kosher" search engine, suitably tuned to satisfy even the most demanding rabbi."

Some sections of Koogle appear to still be in development.

China's computers at hacking risk

BBC News, China's computers at hacking risk, 10 Jun 09 "Every PC in China could be at risk of being taken over by malicious hackers because of flaws in compulsory government software."

'Holy Twitter! They're tweeting from the pews'

Diane Mapes, MSNBC, Holy Twitter! They're tweeting from the pews, 2 Jun 09 "Welcome to the 3G(od) network, where social media have become as vital a communication tool for clergy and congregations as the traditional post-sermon coffee hour. While not all churches have gone as far as to incorporate real-time Twitter streams into their Sunday services, many are using Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, LinkedIn and other social networking sites to get the word (or, rather, “the Word”) out there."

Interesting article, with plenty of detail.

Twitter Users Join Psychic Powers Study

Sky News, Twitter Users Join Psychic Powers Study. 1 Jun 09 "The test, conducted by university professor Richard Wiseman, requires Tweeters to correctly guess a location from five photographs."

wired.com, Wikipedia Bans Church of Scientology

wired.com, Wikipedia Bans Church of Scientology, May 29, 2009 "Wikipedia has banned the Church of Scientology from editing any articles. It’s a punishment for repeated and deceptive editing of articles related to the controversial religion. The landmark ruling comes from the inner circle of a site that prides itself on being open and inclusive."

Guardian, Seek and ye shall find, 19 May 09

"Ecclesiastical history is not, at first glance, a topic naturally associated with the web. Yet a pioneering web database is taking shape that whizzes church history smartly into the 21st century. The Clergy of the Church of England database (CCEd) aims to provide a constantly updated digital record of the identity and career of every Anglican clergy man in England and Wales over three centuries, from the Reformation to the start of the Victorian age."

Find The Clergy Database here. I thought this was a fascinating article, demonstrating the potential of online resources as a significant tool of study (even though the clergy is not my area!).

Facebook removes Holocause denial groups

CNET, Facebook confirms removal of two Holocaust denial groups. Is it enough?, 11 May 09, "Facebook has confirmed my earlier suspicion that it has disabled two of the five Holocaust denial groups whose presence has caused much controversy over the past week, following attorney Brian Cuban's consistent pressure for the groups' removal."

'Jesus Face' iPhone app

CNET, Apple rejects 'Jesus Face' iPhone app, 11 May 09 "An iPhone app called "Me So Holy," that allowed you take a face shot and insert it into a portrait of Jesus or some other religious figure, has been rejected by Apple's tasterati."

When Religion Meets New Media

Currently reading Heidi Campbell, When Religion Meets New Media which contains a range of detailed links on the academic study of religion and the net.

Bible Nano

AFP, Israel president to offer Pope nano Bible, 8 May 09"The Hebrew-language Bible was engraved on a 0.5 square millimetre (0.0008 square inch) chip by scientists from Technion, Israel's Institute of Technology."

Religious teaching straight to your iPod

USA Today, Religious teaching straight to your iPod, 9 Apr 09 "Evangelists have long used the airwaves to get their messages out to a mass audience. But now, podcast technology is opening the doors to a wider variety of religious teaching than ever before, available on demand and delivered automatically to the computers of a growing number of Americans hungry for spirituality."

Facebook CofE

Church of England, Successful youth vocations conference continues on Facebook, 27 Apr 09 "Eighteen would-be priests aged 16 to 19 attending the Church of England’s first specially organised vocations conference for young people in more than 30 years are to continue meeting on Facebook as they listen to their calling. The conference was held at Westcott House and Ridley Hall theological colleges in Cambridge on 17th-19th April, 2009."

Worldwide Faith News, 2010 Religion Communication Congress to Explore Religion Perceptions

"Changes in perceptions about religion, its influence in the public arena and how technology delivers the message are among the issues communicators will consider at Religion Communication Congress 2010."

Also see Religion Communication Congress

CSM, Cyber spy network with global reach raises alarms, 29 Mar 09

"A group of hackers based almost exclusively in China has hacked into 1,295 computers in 103 countries. Canadian researchers at the University of Toronto revealed that cyber spies infiltrated systems in foreign ministries, embassies, international organizations, and the offices of the Dalai Lama. Thirty percent of the targeted computers could be considered "high-value" targets. No US government computers were compromised; however, the cyber spies broke into a NATO computer for half a day."

Telegraph, Facebook group attacks the Vatican with condom campaign, 28 Mar 09

"A campaign on Facebook has recruited tens of thousands of supporters to bombard the Vatican with condoms to protest against the Pope's controversial remarks about the spread of HIV."

Pope on net

Times Online, Pope embraces internet in apology over Holocaust bishop, 11 Mar 09 "The Pope has admitted fallibility over the Vatican's handling of a Holocaust-denying bishop and has vowed to make full use of the internet to make sure the Holy See is not caught out again."

SongMap

NPR, Web-Based Program Maps Sunday Worship, n.d. "The Southern Baptist Convention has introduced a new Web-based application called SongMap, which allows music ministers to rearrange hymns and contemporary praise songs with a few clicks of the mouse. For example, the traditional hymn "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross" has four verses and four choruses, but the Web site allows a verse to be cut, a chorus to be added or the song to be put in a new key. "

WebUser, Church asks faithful to give up Facebook, 4 Mar 09 "Catholic priests are asking the faithful in Italy to throw away their iPhones and not log into Facebook for Lent.

"Church leaders hope that by giving up text messages and updating status messages on social-networking websites, people will rediscover the art of communication without using technology."

AP/wired.com, Vatican 2.0: Pope gets his own YouTube channel, 24 Jan 09 "Puffs of smoke, speeches in Latin and multipage encyclicals have all been used by the Vatican to communicate with the faithful. Now the pope is trying to broaden his audience by joining the wannabe musicians, college pranksters and water-skiing squirrels on YouTube. In his inaugural YouTube foray Friday, Pope Benedict XVI welcomed viewers to this "great family that knows no borders" and said he hoped they would "feel involved in this great dialogue of truth.""

Also see:

AKI, Vatican: Pope uses YouTube to reach 'digital generation', 23 Jan 09 "Pope Benedict XVI on Friday reached out to the digital generation and launched his own channel on the popular video-sharing YouTube website. The site will be updated with daily news bulletins initially in English, Spanish, German and Italian, said Vatican press office chief, Federico Lombardi.

"The website (www.youtube.com/vaticanit) will carry up to four video clips a day of the Pope's speeches and activities and also contains links to Vatican Radio, the Vatican daily newspaper Osservatore Romano and information on the Vatican, Lombardi told a media conference in Rome."

AFP, Atheism 2.0 -- Indonesia's nonbelievers find refuge online, 24 Jan 09 "Chain-smoking at a trendy coffee shop while studiously ignoring the mosque's evening call to prayer, Indonesian atheists Didi and Dewi have little patience for the beliefs of most of their countrymen.

"The two young women are defiant unbelievers in the world's largest Muslim-majority country, but they let few people in the real world know it.

"Instead, the women have joined scores of young Indonesian atheists who have found refuge on the Internet, using web tools such as social networking sites, mailing lists, blogs and wikis to communicate with like-minded people in a country where declaring there is no God can turn someone into an outcast."