This is how the website itself describes it:

The Simple Parallel Bible is a search and lookup tool that can be easily added to any PHP/MySQL website. It lets you link to multiple passages, in parallel (for side-by-side comparison) or in a list, with a single link, without leaving your website.

This can be very useful, and you don’t even need to host the database locally. If you want to write a passage on your site, simply point to the external link. For instance, to open John 1:1-18 you would write this code: http://jesus.com.au/demo/bible/index.php?q=john+1.1-18. The result would be John 1:1-18. But there’s more. You could also point your readers to a parallel passage, like The Parable of Salt (pericope #218 in Aland’s Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum, 15th ed.) — a list view of the same passage would look like this — or to a Bible search for verses in the New Testament than contain the term forgiven (in this particular case it will also match “forgiveness”). Please note that the only version currently available is the World English Bible, nevertheless, it can be a useful tool.

I’m really interested in the use of online courses developed with Blackboard, Moodle
or similar packages, aka Learning Management Systems (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environments (VLE). The problem is that I have never had a first-hand experience with any of them. I know that some institutions make use of these systems, but I have not found a single one of them freely accessible. If anyone out there can share some info on the
subject or, better still, allow me to sneak into a biblical studies or theology class, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

This is from the latest Software Newsletter from Christianbook.com:

In this issue, we compare commentaries on CD-ROM vs. print. If you’ve ever had to conduct your research in several commentaries at once, or across multiple volumes, you know how time consuming it can be. If you’ve ever had to move a multi-volume set, you know how heavy and cumbersome it can be. And of course, if you’ve ever purchased a commentary set, you know how costly they can be.

Software is a sensible alternative. Commentary software is searchable, portable, and affordable — saving your time, your back, and perhaps most importantly, your money.

I agree that it is indeed a “sensible alternative”. As a matter of fact, in my experience commentaries are some of the most suitable tools for computer-assisted Bible study. I must confess I don’t like reading books on screen. It’s hard on my eyes and, besides, it takes away the romanticism of holding the “real” thing in your hands (i.e., a printed
book). Also, a commentary is not the kind of book you tend to read from cover to cover. Instead, you basically turn to it to look things up, or to read some sections related to the passage under study. However, when it comes to all the introductory and critical matters (which I do enjoy reading and which can at times be quite lengthy), I miss not having the printed copy with me. I can naturally print that part of the book, but that seems to defeat the whole purpose of owning an electronic version. Yes, I also admit to not liking the idea of having to print large chunks of material. I guess you can’t burn the candle at both ends Anyway, just my thoughts. Your mileage may vary.

Ken Ristau lets me know that he has started a new blog. In his own words, “Future updates to the site will be posted here in my blog, alongside my other random thoughts on news, politics, biblical studies, Bible software, movies, etc.” Welcome on board! Notice that he has also opened a forum for the discussion of these subjects.

Over at SansBlogue, Tim Bulkeley is looking for a group of Bible scholars who are into the “doing biblical studies with a computer” business. The aim is to make
some short presentations and hold a panel discussion at the next Association Internationale Bible et Informatique conference to be held later this year in Leuven (Belgium). Read the full story here.

Joe Fleener, Director of Library Services at Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary, Lansdale, Pennsylvania (USA), has posted a note at the BibleWorks Users Forum where he says they are considering hosting a professor’s conference and panel discussion next July under the general title “Using Exegetical Software in the Classroom”.

These initiatives are becoming common place. Now, given the fact that not everybody who might be interested will be able to go to all these different meetings, I submit to you the possibility of hosting a
similar online event here at Bible Software Review. If we could have four or five people willing to invest some time in sharing their professional experience on the use they make of computer technology and Bible software resources in their writing, research, or teaching, I would be happy to coordinate the team and take up questions from readers. I’m just thinking aloud really (that’s what blogging is in a sense), but if you think this might be something worth pursuing and/or you would like to participate, please email me.