Several years ago a pioneer missionary who was translating the Bible into Toaripi encountered tragedy. His house at Moru London Missionary Society station in Gulf Province was destroyed by fire. The missionary, Rev Dr Bert Brown had almost completed the Bible and all his work went into flames.
However the late Rev Brown who has been a well loved missionary by the Toaripi people was determined to continue the task. In 1980 the complete Toaripi Bible was dedicated. This determined missionary persisted in those days when there were no computers.
Recently a SIL translator had her computer stolen. She had worked very hard to write a TEE course. However she will have to start all over again.
In the DTE department two years ago our main computer used by the Secretary crashed. All our typed course notes were lost. Fortunately we were able to recover the data base.
These three stories show that we must save our work on CDs, floppy disk, flash drives and other means. Even if you have a hard copy somewhere in a book, keep the book in a safe place as well. Keep all your notes that you scribbled on as well.You never know that you will need the copies in the future.
Do not forget to make back up copies. Keep all your copies of work safely stored away in a filing cabinet.
It is better to work on a few books at a time. Here at DTE since we want our books to go out on the hands of our students, we are working on several books at the same time.
Here at the DTE department we are typing some of the books while other notes are being scanned. It is good to have a scanner and CD burner. When you want to record something you can easily copy it. The good thing about CDs is that they are lighter then carrying 5-6 books which may cost you so much if you travel by air.
Not only that but ants and other insects will eat the paper and therefore it is good to save you work as soon as you can. In places where there are frequent blackouts, you must keep saving your work in the computer.
Keep you computer hidden away, if it is a laptop.
After publishing your book, send a copy to any Library so it will be kept safely. I will be back with more tips and hints but at the moment always keep your work in a safe place stored physically or digitally.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Wonders of technology
A few months ago someone in Finland contacted me after reading my blog. Then just last week a former student of CLTC emailed me from Malaysia after reading Melanesian Scribe. I had few more people writing to me.
Just yesterday another old friend of mine now living in Lae contacted me telling me that he read MS. This person wrote to me via Face Book. This is the wonder of technology. Writing these days is not focused on books only. With the arrival of the new technology- blogs, Face Book and other computer programs are becoming popular.
And it is quicker and effecient to use e-mail to send notes all around the world in one day. Then there is skype and other ways of communicating. I live in a small rural town so I am still learning all these new developments.
Only when the internet goes fast then communication will be effective from my end. There will come a time when you will not need paper to communicate. Already Divine Word University is following this trend. Not only that but all students are given laptops and flash drives.
Here at Banz, most students have digital cameras, flash drives and laptops. This was something unheard of 10 years ago. Not only that but there are more mobile phones around. So we now live in a small world. However there is the bad side of things such as texting unwanted photos through mobile phones. So we all need to be cautious as well.
Just yesterday another old friend of mine now living in Lae contacted me telling me that he read MS. This person wrote to me via Face Book. This is the wonder of technology. Writing these days is not focused on books only. With the arrival of the new technology- blogs, Face Book and other computer programs are becoming popular.
And it is quicker and effecient to use e-mail to send notes all around the world in one day. Then there is skype and other ways of communicating. I live in a small rural town so I am still learning all these new developments.
Only when the internet goes fast then communication will be effective from my end. There will come a time when you will not need paper to communicate. Already Divine Word University is following this trend. Not only that but all students are given laptops and flash drives.
Here at Banz, most students have digital cameras, flash drives and laptops. This was something unheard of 10 years ago. Not only that but there are more mobile phones around. So we now live in a small world. However there is the bad side of things such as texting unwanted photos through mobile phones. So we all need to be cautious as well.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Back to work
Yes, I am back to work. It takes time to het back to the routine. Well, I had to check my email and delete all the old ones. Then clear my table. You see I was down with malaria and I have just recovered.
I had to get all the correspondence done, reply all the emails and then start working on a Tutor's guide for Efesus Buk 2. Sometimes phone calls and people wanting to see me disturb the editting process as well as proof reading.
Sometimes I am organised but in Melanesia sometimes people can come to see you any time so you get side track again. Anyway I am almost finishing this book but then there are administration work to attend to and meetings.
I sometimes write when my wife and daughter are watching TV. At other times I get up so early to write. I cannot manage to get away somewhere at a Guest House I prefer to write while my family is nearby.
The secret to writing more is being disciplined. Yes, I get carried away or do other things but when I am disciplined I can manage to write as much as I can no matter what.
I had to get all the correspondence done, reply all the emails and then start working on a Tutor's guide for Efesus Buk 2. Sometimes phone calls and people wanting to see me disturb the editting process as well as proof reading.
Sometimes I am organised but in Melanesia sometimes people can come to see you any time so you get side track again. Anyway I am almost finishing this book but then there are administration work to attend to and meetings.
I sometimes write when my wife and daughter are watching TV. At other times I get up so early to write. I cannot manage to get away somewhere at a Guest House I prefer to write while my family is nearby.
The secret to writing more is being disciplined. Yes, I get carried away or do other things but when I am disciplined I can manage to write as much as I can no matter what.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Back to school
My daughter is only 10 but she asks me so many questions. She is learning somethings that I never learnt at her age. She will probably make a better reporter than me. She is so observant and can remember many things. She learns so fast and is good at memorising Bible verses. Yes, young minds are so keen and alert. They need to learn many good things to become better and productive citizens.
My daughter, is so fortunate that she has learnt to use a computer, mobile phone and other new technological innovations. She can use the e-mail and send SMS. I never did this things at her age. She can also operate a DVD player and use a digital camera. One day she made some video clips, and that was when I sarted learning from her. What a genius? However for sure I am wiser in many ways.
Let's look after our children and guide them in their future. When I look at the young kids they are blessed with so many technological innovations. Let's give proper education to our children and help them in their learning.
My daughter, is so fortunate that she has learnt to use a computer, mobile phone and other new technological innovations. She can use the e-mail and send SMS. I never did this things at her age. She can also operate a DVD player and use a digital camera. One day she made some video clips, and that was when I sarted learning from her. What a genius? However for sure I am wiser in many ways.
Let's look after our children and guide them in their future. When I look at the young kids they are blessed with so many technological innovations. Let's give proper education to our children and help them in their learning.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
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