Accordance 10 Now in Mac App Store

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Sep 19, 2012 in Bible Software, Digital Bible Study, Featured, Software | 0 comments

For those want to check out Accordance 10, the best shot is to download it from the Mac App Store for $49.99 which includes $49.99 of credit for an upgraded package. In other words, downloaders will get a nice discount on a larger package.

The previous version was available, but only a more expensive $200 version. This makes entry easier with a lower threshold. On their blog the listed som differences between the Mac App Store version and the regular version purchased directly from Accordance. (see it below quoted from their blog)

Mac App Store

• Requires Intel Macs running OSX 10.7.3 or later
• Updates are released through the Mac App Store
• Updates may be delayed due to Apple’s approval process
• Possibility of future iCloud support
• No special discounts are available for full-time students, ministers, or teachers
• Requires a separate download of the Accordance files for each “user” running Accordance on your computer
• May require you to redownload your current Accordance modules due to sandboxing. This is the case if they are currently in your local HD rather than your user folder.
• Only the Accordance 10 Starter Collection is available

Direct from Accordance

• Requires Intel Macs running OSX 10.6 or later
• Updates are released as in-app downloads
• Updates are released as soon as they are ready
• iCloud support not available, but other sync options like Dropbox are being considered
• Special discounts are available for full-time students, ministers, and teachers
• You have the option to move the Accordance files to a location that is accessible to all users on your computer
• All Accordance 10 Collections are available

The key difference is that you get iCloud from the app store which will possibly sync between machines in a future release. Also they don’t offer discounts for full-time students, ministers or teachers.

The direct version might offer syncing via a Dropbox. The rest works like usual.

They also said the following:

Once you register your Mac App Store purchase, you can receive a $49.99 credit towards the purchase of a larger Collection on our website. If you do not automatically see the credit in your cart, be sure to send the order to manual processing with a note requesting the credit and our sales team will adjust the price before charging your card. We appreciate your patience as we process the order

Stephen Johnson, CEO of OliveTree Shares Hidden Secrets

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Sep 10, 2012 in Digital Bible Study | 0 comments

Stephen Johnson took over as CEO of OliveTree Bible software when founder Drew Haninger retired. We got to interview him via email recently. I published a shorter version of this in Christian Computing Magazine, but here’s the full text of the interview unedited and raw!

1. Tell me about your journey from being a cute kid your mom loves to how you ended up working as a Bible software engineer with Olive Tree.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a doctor just like my dad. I took a programming class in 7th grade and learned to program in BASIC on an Apple IIe and I loved it. I then experimented with programming on my HP calculator in high school. As a kid I also loved building legos. Towards the end of high school I realized that I did not have the stomach for blood. So I decided to pursue my love of building things by majoring in mechanical engineering. For some reason I never really thought about pursuing a career in software until after I started college. After my first year of college I decided to try a few programming classes to see if that is what I wanted to do and I never looked back. Creating software is a highly creative, artistic, and problem solving process. 15 years later, I am still in love with the craft of software engineering. During my senior year of college I did an internship at Olive Tree (I believe I was the 2nd or 3rd person ever hired at that point). After college I got a job working at Tektronix working on software for their assembly line. I then went to Portland State University for my master’s degree in computer science. My master’s thesis was on debugging functional logic languages. I had a blast in grad school and loved diving into languages like Curry and Haskell. After graduating from Portland State I started working full time at Olive Tree. It was awesome building software to help people study the Bible. At the time Olive Tree was very small and so I was involved in just about everything. As Olive Tree grew I keep part of my time in software and part in the business and operations. It was a very natural fit for me to move into the role of CEO.

2. When did you become the CEO and how?

I became CEO on July 9th, 2012. We had a company meeting and announced the transition. At the meeting I spent some time talking about “What We do Matters”. We don’t just create Bible software to let people study the Bible. We create tools that God uses to change lives. Marriages are saved because of what we do. Fathers lead their families because of what we do. We don’t just sync notes and highlights. We sync sermon notes from a pastors desktop to his iPad so he can preach a sermon that God uses to save a marriage. We sync the Roman’s road verses to a phone so that a young lady can share the gospel with her coworker. When people interact and understand scripture their lives and the lives of those around them are changed! We don’t just help people study the Bible. We create, build, and support tools that God uses to change lives! What we do matters.

3. Compre the offerings OliveTree has to your competitors.

Olive Tree connects people with God and the Bible using technology. We are approachable for someone without seminary training and we have awesome features for those with seminary (or equivalent) training. Olive Tree runs on Android smartphones, Android Tablets, iPads, iPhones, Macs, Windows, and Windows 8 UI. Your books, notes, highlights, and bookmarks are keep in sync between all of your devices with the Olive Tree cloud. The resource guide is an easy and quick way to find related content in your library to the passage you are reading.

4. What’s the greatest strength of OliveTree?

We have an amazingly passionate team that is highly innovative and creative.

5. What do you think that you uniquely bring to OliveTree compared to your predecessor, the founder of OT?

Drew and I share a passion for connecting people with God and the Bible using technology. We both love the Bible and technology. I think I bring a little more organization to our operations.

6. What did you learn from him that can help others in the Christian world who lead organizations of all shapes and sizes?

I learned perseverance and never giving up. Drew preserved and continued “pushing on” even when things were hard. I learned to focus on what we know we need to do and not get too worried or distracted with the “competition”. (As a side note, we really don’t have competition. We have fellow workers in Christ )

7. What’s on your iPod?

Vaughan Williams, Tschaikowski, Berstein, Sibelius, and Rachmaninov. Listening to classical music sparks creativity and keeps me at heightened levels of productivity for longer periods of time. I also have the EntreLeader podcast, Casting Crowns, Mercy Me, Hillsong United, Zac Brown Band, and Keith Urban.

8. Mac or Windows?

Definitely mac. I am a big Apple fan. Before the “post-PC era” I used to tinker with computers and customize them. If Android had been around at that time I would have loved Android. I now want devices that just work. My Mac, iPhone, and iPad combo is awesome and it just works. So now I spend that time with my family and creating apps on the side. I still haven’t finished any of my 3 side project apps

9. What do you think of the current/future direction of the various platforms that OliveTree runs on?

I think Android has a lot more potential, especially in the tablet market. It is the leader in the smartphone market for total handsets sold and I think it will make a lot more headway in the tablet market. Tablets like the Nexus 7 are very nice and priced really well. I think we are going to continue to see 3rd party innovation in the Android space. This is very exciting and provides a lot of really great options for users. Fragmentation is an issue in the Android space, but it is also an advantage. Fragmentation is the result of innovation, creativity, and options.

iOS is a rock solid OS that just works for most people (it doesn’t always just work). One of the things I really like about iOS the high quality apps in the app store. It is easier to create high fidelity apps for iOS and to compete on iOS you have to create awesome looking apps. I think we are going to see continued massive growth in iOS devices. With the release of Mountain Lion, the Mac is even more integrated with your iOS device via iCloud. I think that iCloud will be a key technology for the future of iOS. In time everything you do will be seamlessly connected via iCloud and it will just work.

Macs are continuing to sell well and gain market share. I think we are going to see this continue with the release of Windows 8. I helped my grandfather get set up with both a Windows computer and a Mac. The mac was much easier for him. There were a number of little things that make a mac easier that I hadn’t noticed until I watched him use the computers.

Windows is the interesting one. I am very excited to see what will happen with Windows 8. Microsoft is making a bold move and radically changing the Windows experience. Their designs are opinionated and well thought out. This will create a lot of passionate Windows 8 fans (we have a few in the office). I think that a lot of average computer users who have grown used to the way windows work will be shocked when they buy a new computer and see Windows 8 on it. On the one hand Windows 8 is easier to learn than Windows 7. However, so many people already know how to Windows XP, Vista, or 7 that learning is not an issue. They don’t want to learn something new, they just want to accomplish some task. So I really don’t know how well it will do. As a tablet UI it has some really nice interactions. I think it is very good that to run a Windows 8 UI app it has to be an approved app from the app store. This will help a lot with the security and virus issues that are so prevalent with Windows today.

Thanks to Stephen Johnson (@StephenLJohnson on Twitter) for answering our questions and for helping make OliveTree a maker of great Bible study software and apps.

Accordance 10 is Here

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Aug 20, 2012 in Digital Bible Study | 2 comments

Accordance Bible Software updated their excellent OS X Bible Study software program to Accordance 10 bringing some really great new features, including a single window interface, an updated and more modern looking toolbar, better library access, flexible searching features and much more. The basic package of Accordance 10 will cost $49 for the Starter pack that includes the basic tools for simple Bible study. More advanced packages come at a higher cost ranging up to $2000 for the “Ultimate Collection” which has just about everything but the kitchen sink. I think you can get that for an extra fee.

Single Integrated Window

Lets look at some the basic new features in Accordance 10 starting with the single unified window interface. I love that I don’t have to move a bunch of separate windows around anymore. I came up on Windows machines that always offer one window for most programs. Working with three or four separate windows got old on the previous versions. This one features makes it worth the upgrade fee for me.Full disclosure I was given a review copy for free, but I’d have paid if they hadn’t.

Library

For users of the previous versions, the integrated library list along the left will surprise you. Also the the toolbar looks more modern with a customizable set of buttons to add or remove. Make Accordance work your way.

At the bottom of the left hand library pane notice the filter buttons. This lets the user show various sets of books based on their usage.

Searching

Flex Search adds are more powerful search features. Instead of trying to explain it, I’ll let Accordance speak for itself (from their site):

Flex Search is a new feature of Accordance 10 that finds variations of the words and phrases you search for. Specifically, Flex Search will find all inflected forms of verbs and all singular and plural forms of nouns. This mode also allows words to occur out of order or to have other words in between them. For example, a flex search for the phrase “build houses” will yield results for “build houses,” “building a house,” and “the house that King Solomon built.”

That’s great. Other software had this kind of “fuzzy search” capability, but Accordance 10 does a good job of it.

Accordance also offers the following new or improved search modes:

• Exact Search: very precise searching based on your specific criteria
• Search All: finds content in every module or groups you specify
• Amplify: select a word in the text and click Amplify to open things like Dictionaries (also works via triple click)
• Search Analytics: the visual search results using bar graphs and charts saw some great improvements

Full-screen Reading Mode

The new Reading Mode turns the program into a distraction free, full screen mode that lets you focus on the text of the book or translation.

Various Packages

As I said above, the various packages offers something useful for multiple budgets and uses. To determine which package best fits your needs, see their comparison chart.

Minor Annoyances

Is Accordance 10 perfect? No. I like the new Reading Mode, but wish it offered a OS X full screen mode using the regular interface as well. Most modern OS X apps work with the new form of display Apple added to Lion and Mountain Lion. There’s good news. Accordance knows users want this and so maybe we’ll see it in a future version.

Like previous versions, there’s a steep learning curve with Accordance. It takes some getting used to and things are not as intuitive as other Bible programs. Because of this, users should check out the Accordance Podcast entitled Lighting the Lamp. I’m hoping they will go back and update some of the older videos with the new interface because I’m still learning how to work with this powerful tool.

Finally, I’d like to see better synchronization between multiple computers and the iOS app. Right now I sync my user tools like notes and workspaces using SugarSync, but I wish Accordance offered an automatic built-in syncing feature like Logos. Also, I’d love for the content to sync with their iOS app. Right now I have to do this manually. I’d like it to happen seamlessly over the Internet.

Windows Version in 2013

That said, version 10 is a great improvement and Accordance is still one of the most powerful and efficient Mac Bible Study programs you can buy. What’s more a new Windows version will be coming in 2013. Here’s how they describe it:

For over 10 years, Accordance has been available to PC users on the free Basilisk II emulator. While the emulator version of Accordance includes almost every feature available in Accordance for Mac, we have long desired to offer PC users a better solution. And so, we are pleased to announce that we are in the process of developing a native version of Accordance 10 for Windows. In fact, we have been working on this project for well over a year, and we are excited to announce that Accordance 10 for Windows will be available in 2013.

In the meantime, PC users can still buy Accordance 9 for use with the free Basilisk II emulator. Those who purchase Accordance between May 1, 2012 and the official release date will receive a free upgrade to the native Windows version. Those who purchased Accordance before May 1, 2012 can upgrade to the Windows version for just $49.99 once it is released.

The great thing about the new version for Mac users? It will be free. So those of us who run both Windows and Mac can use the new Windows version without paying again! And it won’t run on an emulator! That’s exciting for anyone who wanted the power of Accordance on Windows.

5 Reasons to Buy Logos Bible Software

Posted by Kevin Purcell on May 14, 2012 in Bible Software, Digital Bible Study, Software, Technology | 2 comments

I read a terrible article that made me want to post a response entitled “5 Reasons to never read [Fill in offending website's name]“. It was so bad it inspired me to do something I don’t do a lot – defend Logos Bible Software.

I’m a Logos user but I’ve critiqued the popular Bible software company and their products lately. Yet after reading this ridiculous review, I had to say something.

The review offers what the reviewer calls 5 reasons to not buy Logos. Here they are with my response:

Thousands of Books You’ll Never Use

Many Bible software packages do the same thing Logos does – offer lots of books you won’t use. The maker includes a bunch of books so they can brag about the fact that they offer “hundred of titles” in each of their base packages. I get that the writer of the original post might not think all the tools available in some Logos packages are useful. One man’s wasted tool is another man’s treasure. I don’t use Matthew Henry’s commentary in any form, but I know others who love it. To me it would just waste hard drive spice. To others, they wouldn’t buy Bible software if it didn’t include it. I love the Holman Christian Standard Bible, but others wouldn’t want it on their hard drive.

Logos offers some interesting collections and throws in a lot of added content. Some will find the added content more useful than others. Is that a reason to not buy an application? Of course not. It’s a reason to say, “Cool! They have a lot of stuff and in that content I’ll find some useful tools.”

Thousands of Dollars You’ll Never Save

I can understand not wanting waste a lot of money on tools you’ll never use. I hang around the user forums for a number of Bible software programs and find that many users buy just about any new book available. One user in one forum literally owns everything available. That program offers more content than on person can read or use in a lifetime.

The original post’s complaint is not a fair complaint to make about Logos. It is a good thing to remember when buying Bible software. Don’t throw good money away on added content unless you think it will be useful.

As for Logos, if you buy software from them and find it’s not useful, they have a fair and generous return policy.

Thousands of Hours You Would Never Spend

The writer of the original post complains that Logos returns too many results when you search. That’s a problem? Sure, only if you don’t understand how to prioritize the tools in Logos.

When I run what’s called a Passage Guide search on my next sermon passage, Logos returns a huge list of useful tools that I can read to study that passage. The same holds true for the Exegetical Guide, which focuses on language study tools, while the Passage Guide focuses more on tools you would use after doing your language study.

Logos provides too much for me to effectively study in a reasonable amount of time. It also gives me a way to list the most important tools first. I go into my library and prioritize my favorite tools. That way those tools show up at the top of the list. If for some reason I’ve exhausted all of those and still can’t get a handle on the message of a passage I have the extra content to fall back on for further study. Doesn’t happen often, but with Logos I have the help I need.

This problem would still exist no matter what Bible study tool you own, if you own a lot of tools. The original writer brags about Bibleworks. It’s a great tool for Windows users. I used it all the time when I was a Windows user. It also has more content than I can use. So does WORDsearch, PC Study Bible, QuickVerse and Accordance.

You Can Only Read One Book at a Time

Not true! I’m reading about five books right now, not including my Bible and the reference works I access each week as I prepare my Bible studies, sermons and Preaching class. True I can’t literally read more than one book at a time, but I can read a little out of book one, then out of book two and then out of book three before I study my Bible, read a commentary and consult a few Bible dictionaries.

To do all that reading with physical books, I’d need to be Superman to carry it all. On my iPad, iPhone and Kindle Fire I can carry those book and hundreds more.

Sometimes I’ll refer to a book I read last month. With Logos and other iPad apps, I can pull out that book and show it to the person I’m telling about the book.

Technology Changes

True. It’s the reason Bibleworks doesn’t add a lot of extra content and recommends physical books. Books don’t change. They are heavy and gather dust. It can make it hard to transfer from one place to another when you move or travel.

The writer of the original post said he or she is a missionary in a country dangerous enough to make it unwise to name him or herself. I would think that such a person would like the ability to carry Bibles inconspicuously. I’d also think such a person could like to save time and money transferring a library oversees. If I served as an International Missionary, I wouldn’t bring my physical library with me. I’d carry my laptop, my iPad and iPhone and a good backup of my books on a flash drive. That’s it.

Don’t get me wrong. I love books. I have hundreds of them. I just don’t buy them much anymore because I love digital books.

Digital books I bought for use in STEP from QuickVerse years ago are useless to me now. When QuickVerse upgraded and no longer offered STEP as a tool, they did offer to let me transfer them to their new format. WORDsearch did the same. Logos upgraded their format a few times and every time they gave users a new copy of their books for free.

Technology changes and I’m glad. I still own the same books I had before it changed much.

Final Thoughts

I was pretty hard on the review in my opening paragraphs. You should’ve sent he original draft; it was worse. That’s because this review introduced the review in sensationalistic way as link bate, the practice of writing just to get links from other sites. I won’t like to the review. Instead you can find it if you see the wonderful website BS Review the author of which had a similar response.

I must admit that I’ve offered negative comments about Bible software, Logos included. I’ll be more careful after reading this ill-advised screed.

Logos Combined Notes and Highlighting to Drive Me Nuts

Posted by Kevin Purcell on Feb 2, 2012 in Bible Software, Digital Bible Study, Software, Video | 0 comments

I believe that the software engineers at Logos combined the handling of highlighting and notes for one reason – to drive me crazy. As a vocal critic of recent practices by the company, I think Bob Pritchett and the clan had a meeting late at night in Bellingham, WA (the headquarters) brainstorming how they might drive me nuts. The outcome was the decision to add highlights syncing their note file synching infrastructure. Logos stores highlights as if they were blank notes on a passage or selection of book text with a visual markup added to the Bible or book.

The Problem

Kidding aside, this forced me to review how I used highlighting and notes in Logos. Previously I just had a couple of notes files:

• One for Bible Study
• One for Book Notes
• Highlights were a separate file hidden in the structure of Logos Bible Software

If I was working with a Bible, then I’d add all of my text-based observations to the Bible Study note file. If I was reading a book, then I would add them to the Book Notes file. Following this same workflow will get complicated the more I use the feature. The cryptic names Logos gives to books makes it worse because each note will have a strange name with letters. I read The Passion Driven Sermon by Jim Shaddix (you should read it) adding a lot of notes and highlights. In the note file for that book it refers to the book as PDS:CWPPCL instead of something that makes sense to me.

The system is no longer set it and forget it. You have to pay attention to where you’re adding the notes and the highlights. Adding highlights via the iPad forces you to either use the default open note file or you can select one. I still haven’t figured out how to tell the desktop version where to add the highlight. It has all highlights set to the a file name for the highlight style when I’d like to add it to a file for the book. Crazy! Before it was simple. All highlights were just quietly and conveniently synchronized. Now they get muddled in with my Book Notes or Bible Study notes files or whatever other files I’m using. I don’t like that because I like to open a book and see all the highlights just for that book listed in the note file. Before I couldn’t do it at all so this is better. Logos made this possible, but they also made it difficult.

My Video Demo

Still Much Better Off

Before I get to far down this road, let me say that we are miles ahead of where we were and I like being able to use the Notes feature in Logos and I also like having them synchronized with my iPad and iPhone. I’m also looking forward to when I can do so on my Kindle Fire too.

My Notes and Highlighting Solution

I believe this could be made easier with two things.

1. I can right-click and add note to a specific note file, so why not right-click and add highlight to a specific highlighting note file?
2. Let me open a note file and put a toolbar button that I can click, adding a default highlight style to selected text in another window to the current note file.
3. Let me simply drag and drop highlighting “notes” between note files for when I accidentally put my highlight in the wrong “notes” file.

Going forward, until Logos makes this simpler, here’s my solution: I will create a new file for each book I read and keep all of my notes in that file. I will still have a note file for Bible Study where I will still add Bible study observations and findings. I underline every passage I preach so that I can look back and see what I’ve already covered and when. After I highlight it with an underline, I edit the note created by the highlight and put the date, time and place there. I created a new Highlighting palette and added a new style and gave it the keystroke P so I can select text and hit my keyboard’s P key to add the underline. I add a date to the “note” so I can see that I preached that text already. For my Bible text highlighting I will just let Logos handle it with the various note files for the highlighting palettes. Right now, when you add a highlight using the Highlighting tool (accessed from the Tools menu) it opens with four default palettes:

• Solid Colors
• Emphasis Markup
• Highlight Pens
• Inductive

When you use a highlight from one of those palettes it places an empty note with the highlight marking style you chose into a file by one of those four names. I created a fifth palette called Passages Preached and added my new style and the matching keystroke to that palette. That way all my passages preached underlines get added to that file.

How to Create a New Highlighting Style

Her are the steps to create a new palette and thus a new highlighting note file.

1. Open the Highlighting tool from the Tools menu
2. Click on the New Palette button at the top of the Highlighting tool
3. Give the new palette a name. I chose Passages Preached
4. Hover over the new palette and a down arrow appears at the end – click it to show the menu (or right-click the new palette)
5. Choose Add New Style
6. Select the markup style you wish to use in this new palette (there are six traits to choose from) and customize it as you prefer
7. Give it a name at the top
8. When finished create the new highlighting style, click Save
9. Click the down arrow again (from step 4) and hover over Shortcut Key
10. A list of letters flies out to the right. Select one.