Great App: Bible Audio Pronunciations
I was waiting to board a flight out of DFW recently when I (as I entertained myself with my iPad) found an app that instantly caught my eye. “Wow.” I thought. Why didn’t I think of that?
The app is called Bible Audio Pronunciations by a company of the same name. The purpose is to help those of us who are not necessarily Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic scholars accurately pronounce difficult biblical names and terms. I quickly reached out to the apps creators and asked to feature them on this site. Here is their story:
My wife and I are the parents of 5 wonderful children. I am a professional musician – a saxophonist in the U.S. Army Band in Washington D.C. My wife, also a musician, is a stay at home mom. We are active in our church and in our community.For many years, we have talked about making an iPhone app – one that could be helpful to others, if even in a small way.In 2011, we determined to make it happen. Neither of us know anything about writing code; however, we found that it was possible to outsource the project via elance.com. We simply had to come up with the concept of the app and flesh it out on paper.After several brainstorming sessions, we came up with many “brilliant” ideas, only to find that these ideas were already converted into apps. Except for one.I said to my wife, “What if there was an app that pronounced all of those challenging words in the Bible? Surely we are not the only ones that struggle with this.”We did a search on the iTunes store for “Bible Pronunciation” in all its various forms, and each search came back with 0 results!Immediately, we purchased as many Bible Pronunciation Guides as we could find and began doing our homework. We settled on a list of 1000 Bible names and began recording them. For better or for worse, it is my voice on the app. 🙂Our target audience for this app was the lay member – families reading the Bible together, members of Bible study groups, and so forth. However, our most enthusiastic customers have been theological students and pastors! (It never occurred to my wife and I that THEY struggled with these words as well. I guess we thought it was covered in seminary!)After version 1.0 was released, we immediately recognized that the app would have to be expanded to include every proper noun in the Bible. There are now over 4100 words included in the app – and counting.We have also had many requests to expand the app to the Android platform. We anticipate that it will be released by the fall of 2012.What challenges have we faced in creating the app?1. The incredible amount of time and energy that goes into recording and editing all of the names. I recorded each word 4-10 times. We would then go back and choose the best one. This has taken thousands of hours! It’s a slow process with a two person team doing this on the side.2. The inherent challenges of compiling a Bible pronunciation guide. As noted in the preface of the HarperCollins Bible Pronunciation Guide, many of the biblical terms that appear in English “are the results of passage through several languages [e.g., Greek and Latin] with their own distinctive patterns of pronunciation. Thus it is impossible to say what is ‘correct’ pronunciation of many biblical terms, especially of names from the Old Testament.”Our goal in creating this app is to provide quick, easy, and accurate access to correct pronunciations of challenging Biblical terms. However, in doing so, I offer the same disclaimer found in the HarperCollins preface: “The editors would not claim that the pronunciations given are, in every case, the only or even necessarily the best pronunciations; they do believe, however, that each pronunciation given is an acceptable and defensible one.”3. Getting the word out! As mentioned before, there is no other app in the Appstore that provides this particular service. This is both good news and bad news. The good news- there is no competition. The bad news- Most people aren’t looking for it because they don’t know it exists.The feedback we have received has been extremely positive. We have been featured on a dozen Christian Radio shows, a TV segment, and numerous newspaper and online articles and blogs. We have been ranked as high as #6 in the Reference Category of the iTunes store in the U.S. We also using Twitter and Facebook, and are still looking for other ways to get the word out.
Website: http://www.biblepronunciations.comTwitter: http://twitter.com/BibleSpeakiTunes link, both the Lite (free) version and full ($2.99): http://itunes.com/apps/pronunciationappsReviews:
BELKIN offers 50% off Everything
BELKIN is offering 50% off everything at belkin.com today, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2011 only. Use coupon code FB50 at checkout.
They are perhaps best known for approved iPod, iPhone, and iPad accesories.
Hat tip to MacRumors.com and Gizmodo.
UPDATE: I was just on the phone with Belkin customer service. The site is basically useless right now because of the flood of traffic, but the agent I spoke with advised that the 50% promotion will be valid until the end of the month of September.
Podcasts I Dig
Do you subscribe to any podcasts? I love them. If I’m in the car, working in the office, or doing something around the house I’m generally kept company by a podcast or two. I thought I’d let you know what I’m currently getting in my feed.
SIMPLY YOUTH MINISTRY PODCAST
A must if you are in youth ministry. Doug Fields and friends talk about all things students and the life we share with them. And some other stuff too. Their slogan is “Just enough youth ministry that you don’t feel guilty for listening.” Available in both audio and video.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE SIMPLY YOUTH MINISTRY PODCAST
THE MACCAST BY ADAM CHRISTIANSON
“For Mac Geeks, by Mac Geeks. The show where we discuss all things Macintosh.” What else needs to be said. If your not just a Mac user, but a serious Mac user (a.k.a. nerd) you need this podcast in your life. My wife is a Mac user, but she doesn’t want to talk about Macs all day, or anything else that requires recharging for that matter. This show is not for her. For the rest of us, Adam Christianson does a great job sharing the latest Apple news, tips, tricks, and anything else relevant to the Apple cult. I mean community.
THE MACCAST MEMBERS PODCAST
It’s just like THE MACCAST, but more so. Extra shows and content for members only. Available for $5.00 US per month, and it’s money well spent. Don’t tell my wife.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE MACCAST MEMBERS PODCAST
MAC OS KEN
Another Mac podcast. I do what I want. Mac OS Ken is a daily weekday Mac podcast focusing on bringing you Apple and Mac news. I have only recently subscribed to Mac OS Ken, but I’m loving it.
The New Apple TV
image from apple.com
Like any other devoted Apple, Inc. follower when the new Apple TV (or Apple TV II as it is sometimes called) came out a few months ago I was terribly excited. I do not own the previous gen Apple TV, but I felt I was ready for Apple to invade my home theater experience, and the results have been nothing short of life changing.
The price point of the previous model had prevented me from even considering it, if memory serves it was over $400 U.S. but in typical Apple, Inc. fashion they increase technology and somehow the price falls. At $99 it is hard to justify not buying one of these little black boxes. This thing is amazing. In our house, the source for video rental has come from two formats, Netflix and iTunes. We have a Netflix subscription via which we receive three disks at a time from our queue, and can stream unlimited content. This we often accomplished via a xbox on our home network. iTunes rentals would be downloaded via a macbook, then sync’d to either an iPhone our iPod Classic and connected to the t.v. with the Apple iPod to t.v. cable. This worked fine, although even with my pretty darn fast connection (25 mbps) it would still take 20-30 minutes to download a full-length movie. Also, with iTunes rentals delivered this way, we were unable to view high definition video.
The new Apple TV changes all that, and setup could not be simpler. Plug in the power supply and HDMI (HDMI is the only connection offered on this device, but honestly why would you need anything else?), connect to your network via ethernet or wireless and your done. iTunes rentals stream instantly to your television, and HD content is no longer an issue. I cannot imagine a better way to stream Netflix video. Also on demand in YouTube.
Yet another incredible feature of this interface is Airplay. With one click you can stream virtually any media from your mac or iOS device (iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch). Photos, music, or even entire movies can be streamed wirelessly straight from my iPhone. Very cool. Also, since it’s on the network, I can listen to music and control it from anywhere in the house with Airplay or using Apple’s Remote app.
Granted, you will need a decent high speed internet connection to have this device achieve it’s fullest potential, but that is true of any method of streaming video delivery. I am so impressed with this device, I honestly think I will end up buying one for every t.v. in my home. If you ask me, you should too, and you’ll not be disappointed.
delighted to share. 