I love Firefox - been using it for probably 4-5 years now and simply love it. It's the browser I design websites for & then work backwards to make them work for Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.

One of the cool things about Firefox that most people don't know is that it supports keyword bookmarking. This allows you to not only save bookmarks to your favorite sites, but set up the address/URL bar to work for you. Here's how it works...

Imagine wanting to find information about a book on Amazon. What would it be like to simply type "amazon" followed by the ISBN or book title in the address book & be instantly transported to the appropriate book detail page on Amazon's website? What if you wanted to look up a Bible verse/passage & could simply type "bible" followed by the reference & be taken to the passage using a popular online Bible site? Keyword bookmarking lets you do these kinds of things & more!

Here's a step-by-step guide to keyword bookmarking in Firefox...

1. Pick a site that utilizes searching (like Amazon.com, Dictionary.com, etc.). For this example we're going to use Crosswalk.com's Bible site (bible.crosswalk.com).
2. Go to the site, locate the search box & try searching for something.
3. When the search results come up examine the URL in the address bar. For our example I searched for John 3:16 & came up with the following URL:

http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?word=
john+3:16&section=0&version=nlt&new=1&oq=
&NavBook=ho&NavGo=3&NavCurrentChapter=3

1. Everything beginning with the "?" is what's called a variable. The first variable is always defined with a question mark. Subsequent variables are defined with an ampersand ("&"). Some of the variables Crosswalk defines are gibberish to us, but some make sense. "word=john+3:16" is the reference (the weird symbols are replacing the space & the ":" in the reference, which don't work in the URL). "version=nlt" tells it to return the passage using the New Living Translation. And so on.
2. Copy & paste the URL into a text program like Notepad & 'clean it' up by removing any variables you don't care about. For me, I'm going to remove all but the version & word variables. My URL becomes:

http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?word= john+3:16&version=nlt

2. Rearrange any remaining variables so that the one you search with is last. Remember that the first variable needs to have a "?" before it & all other variables need a "&." My URL becomes:

http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?version=
nlt&word=john+3:16

2. Time for the magic... Remove the words you searched with & replace them with a "%s" - mine becomes:

http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?version= nlt&word=%s

2. Select "Organize Bookmarks" from the "Bookmarks" menu. A new window with all of your bookmarks will open.
3. Select "New Bookmark..."
4. Name your new bookmark - mine is "Bible Search." Copy/paste your new cleaned up URL (the one with the new "%s" on it) into the "Location" field. Enter a keyword trigger in the "Keyword" field - for mine, I put "bible." The "Description" field is optional. Click "OK"
5. You're done! You can now close the Bookmarks Manager window. Try out your keyword bookmark by typing your keyword in the address/URL bar followed by your search terms. For me, I'll type "bible John 3:16" and hit enter. Voila! Instant Bible search!

If all of this sounds too complicated, check out the following page that explains it pretty well (they even provide a file with many pre-done bookmarks)... "Geek to Live: 15 Firefox Quick Searches"

Here are a few others that I use on a regular basis:

• Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%s

• Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/104-5156180-5013527 ?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=%s

• Dictionary.com:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/%s

• Thesaurus.com:

http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/%s

Just got finished uploading photos from our Thanksgiving trip to our Flickr account...

• Thanksgiving 2007 - Branson, MO

Okay, I'm tired still from the weekend and don't feel like being ultra-introspective, so just wanted to comment on two of my teams going down this weekend. We got a chance to stop in Springfield, MO Saturday & stayed over night with the Jenkins in their temp home. It was great getting to watch the KU-MU game with them. Wish it would have turned out better. As my friend Grant said on his blog, "I can’t stand Mizzou. Why? I really don’t have a good reason. Ever have some teams that you just don’t like? Mizzou is one of those teams." Hear hear!

Can't wait until Saturday night - Boomer Sooner! If MU plays like they did Saturday there is no way they will win - OU is much quicker on defense and more balanced on offense.

What about my Chiefs? I just have to say that I can't believe we lost to the lowly Raiders. The only consolation was that Denver blew their lead with Chicago & let them come back to beat them in overtime. Bad news is that San Diego won, which means it is highly doubtful we can string together enough wins coupled with others ahead of us losing enough in order to make it to the playoffs (which the AFC West champion may very well enter with a losing record).

At least my Jayhawks pulled out an overtime win against Arizona in b-ball.

Spotted on the web is this great new PC vs. Mac ad in the vein of the popular TV commercials. Running for a limited time here (and on other sites): http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2219207,00.asp

Honestly, when I sat down to write this tonight I thought it had been something like 2 weeks since I had posted here. Feels like I was getting a pretty good blogging rhythm going there for awhile. Then busyness & life set in. It's actually only been one week, which makes me feel somewhat better. I remember when I was doing good to post at least once a month there for awhile. Compare that to the 217 (including this one) posts that I have made thus far in 2007.

We've been slowing painting the last remaining rooms in the Ediger house & got on quite a roll there & finished! Everything looks really great - wish we would have done this a few years ago.

Okay, enough about that. The real reason I'm finally sitting down here is because I'm waiting on the computer (the other one, the non-Mac one :-) ) to finish dumping off all of our Christmas CDs into iTunes. Most are already in there from last year, but we have about 8 more to add. Right now = Michael McDonald's "Through the Many Winters" - great CD! We're getting the iPod ready for our Thanksgiving trip to the midwest (leaving bright & early in the morning). Let's see, after these finish, we'll have a total of 1080 songs - enough Christmas music that we could play it non-stop for about 2 1/2 days straight without having to listen to the same song over again :-)

We're meeting up with family in Branson, MO, for a few days to celebrate the holidays. My dad, Cheryl, Lisa & Kenneth & the boys, as well as my Uncle Sam & Aunt Tina & cousins. It's going to be great to see everyone!

I keep track of about 32 websites using Google Reader (and that number is growing). I check what's new on these sites about every other day. It's typical to look down at my 'updated' list and see a new post or two from such sites as LifeChurch.tv: swerve blog, Seth Godin's blog, Church Marketing Sucks, and MicroExplosion. Some, like iMediaConnection and Apple Insider will sometimes have 3 or 4 new posts to read.

The winner? Hands down it's Mashable, which covers all things social networking. When I logged in this morning, Mashable had 50 posts to read! I'm not sure how many writers they have contributing, but, as someone who maintains a few sites/blogs, I know that it is extremely difficult to come up with good content on a daily basis, let alone on a 20-25 posts-per-day basis.

One of the things I really like about Mashable are their lists. Here are a few that you might find helpful (all of these are from the last week or so)...

• "20+ Places for Public Domain E-Books"
• "25+ Classified Advertisement Sites"
• "20+ Educational Sites About Independent Political Parties"
• "20+ Educational Sites About The Democrats"
• "20+ Educational Sites About Independent The Republicans"
• "25 Tools for the Independent Musician"
• "30+ Reminder Services"

Every few months I like to travel back into my past - hitting the websites of some of the places we've lived, working, studied, etc. This time around I found a new (at least new for me) website for Bridgeway Church - our church from OKC.

It was good to spend some time with Andrea just looking back over things and watching some of the videos they have online now describing what Bridgeway is all about.

I'd have to say that when we found out we were moving for the 2nd time in a year back in 2004 - from OKC to Nashville - one of the things I felt cheated on was that we didn't get to experience Bridgeway longer than we did. We just felt like we were starting to scratch the surface - that God was just beginning to break down some of the walls we had built to hold Him in (non-deliberately). We were only there for 8 months, but God did big things in that short time.

Although the following copy is no longer on the site, it gives a good picture of what Bridgeway is about:

Bridgeway Church is a community of people that are being changed by Jesus Christ. We are business owners, we are kids into soccer, we are families, we are college students, we are into homeschool, private school, public school, grad school, and no school. We are rich and we are barely making it. We are addicted and we are free. We are mothers and fathers. We are friends. We are broken and needy, but we have hope. We are committed to each other and to Jesus who brought us together. We do life together in Oklahoma City, Shawnee, Norman, Guthrie, Turkey, Germany, Mexico, and throughout the nations. This community is about Jesus, not Bridgeway Church. So welcome! Come and do life with us. Or let us give away to you what we have been given, no strings attached. Whoever you are, you look a little like Him, and we love you.

In case you're new to the Ediger saga, here's a glimpse at some of our past surrounding Bridgeway (circa 2004)...

• June 6, 2004 - First Day at Bridgeway
• June 14, 2004 - Houses that Change the World
• July 2, 2004 - Spiritual Family
• July 15, 2004 - First House Church

Just got an email this morning from Switchfoot, one of my favorite bands. Thought I'd pass along the song/chance to help...

My name is Jon Foreman - I play guitar in a band called Switchfoot. Many of our songs have deeply personal stories behind them. This one, "Rebuild" has a story that grew even bigger after the song was written.

This summer, Matt Thiessen and I began to write a song specifically for our fall tour, the "Appetite for Construction” tour where a dollar from each ticket sold will go to Habitat for Humanity. The song, (written with Habitat in mind) was called "Rebuild." Afterwards, we said our goodbyes and both bands parted ways and drove on down the road. Hours later his bus burned down. After the flames died down, the song and the tour had a much deeper meaning.

Now, as our hometown of San Diego recovers from the worst fires we've ever been through, this song has a deeper meaning still. I've spent the last week on tour trying to find out if friends and family are ok. It's been an incredibly helpless feeling. And though we're far from home, we've been trying to figure out ways that we can help.

.:: Find out how you can download the song "Rebuild" and help...

We finally got a chance to sit down & watch the Meet the Robinsons DVD we bought last week.

Afterwards, Emerie was sharing what she wanted to be when she grew up. Here's what she said before I grabbed the video camera & tried to get her to tell us again...

When I grow up, I'm going to be a Princess...
When I get tired of being a princess, I'm going to be a baker...
When I get too hot from baking, I'm going to be an ice climber...
When I get too cold in the snow, I'm going to be a life guard...
When I get too hot in the sun, I'm going to be a race car driver...
When I get too hot & sweaty & tired from being a race car driver, I'm going to be a farmer... a girl farmer... the one that carries the food for the animals.

Emerie's Future from Chris Ediger on Vimeo.

At Scouts last night, Micah was learning about Native American history. It was really cool as there is a woman in our pack who grew up on a Chickasaw reservation who shared for about 10 minutes with the boys last night about her experiences, & family heritage.

At one point Micah raised his hand and waited patiently until she was done talking and recognized him (about 3 minutes later), and proceeded to share, "I know a Cherokee indian."

I was a bit surprised by this. While our good friend Tara is Native American, she isn't Cherokee, so I didn't know where he was going with this. He continued...

"In Oklahoma, at the University of Oklahoma, who we cheer for, the quarterback is a Cherokee indian... his name is Sam Bradford."

I smiled.

Thanks to a friend of ours, the boys & I went with another friend to the Titans/Panthers game on Sunday. It was a lot of fun! We left right after teaching the young adults (about 10:30am), grabbed lunch, and headed downtown. We parked at LifeWay (free and away from the game traffic), which meant we got a good walk in from the parking garage, all the way downtown, and then across the pedestrian bridge to the stadium.

I told the boys that I was in my mid-twenties before I got to go to my first pro football game, so they beat me by quite a bit. The Titans dominated the whole game, which made it even more enjoyable.

I have to say that while the experience was great I still prefer sitting in my living room with my trusty TiVo watching the game - no commercials, as many instant replays as I want, commentators, & free food :-) My few trips to Arrowhead to watch the Chiefs were much better as well, but I'm not sure there are many better football atmospheres than in Kansas City.

Check out pics from our trip to the game in the following Flickr Photoset...

• "Titans vs Panthers - Nov 4, 07"

I had a desire this morning to read Watchman Nee. I've got several books of his, and "Read More Watchman Nee" is on my to do list. Now is as good a time as any to begin! The only problem is that all of my books are at work. So, it will have to wait until Monday.

I searched back through the archives of this blog, though, because I knew I had quoted Nee many times when I had read him in the past. I thought I'd share a few of these posts with you - enjoy!

• July 14, 2004 - "Watchman Nee 'Thought of the Day'"
• August 23, 2004 - "More Watchman Nee"
• September 4, 2004 - "Finally Finished"
• September 15, 2004 - "Final Watchman Nee Quotes"
• March 27, 2006 - "Watchman Nee on 'The Victorious Life'"

Finished uploading some new photos/sets to our Flickr account...

• Halloween 2007
• Neighbors Tree Down

Head over to iTunes & grab their free "Discovery Download" - "When the Saints" by Sara Groves

This song is great! I've been a Sara Groves fan for years. If the rest of her upcoming release, "Tell Me What You Want" (Nov 6) is as good as this single, I'm going to have to by it.

Here's what Sara said about the song & its origins:

"'When the Saints' was inspired by the work of The International Justice Mission. Their work made me think about the people I have admired in history and made their kind of action seem more accessible. I used to read about amazing heroes like Harriet Tubman who secured her own freedom from slavery and then helped rescue many others through the Underground Railroad. I have always wondered how I would have responded in different times in history. Would I have opened my home to the Underground Railroad or given Anne Frank refuge? We think those stories are removed from us, but right now there are millions of slaves, millions of people hiding from their oppressors. I realized not too long ago, that I have not been the Good Samaritian. I have been the other guys, who walk on the far side of the road. It is my heart's desire to change that, and 'When the Saints' is a celebration of people who were placed by God for certain times and events, and a prayer that I will have the strength to show up for my time."

.:: Official Sara Groves Website

So, we get the kids all dressed up (pictures coming later today), pumpkin candy buckets in tow, driving down the road to a friend's neighborhood to trick-or-treat. We turn the radio on and what do we hear? Christmas music! No joke.

The local Christian radio station does the 24-hour Christmas music thing every year. This is the earliest that I can remember them beginning.

I love Christmas time & our house turns into Christmas music mode from about mid-November. "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" playing on the radio while you're going trick-or-treating? Seems a little weird. :-)