Catholic Tech Talk

When I initially came across QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) I started seeing a lot of great possibilities for our parishes  (Click here to see my previous post explaining QR Codes and how you can use them in parishes today).  Lately there has been a slew of QR Code “bashing” and many saying they “won’t ever [...]

It’s nice to see so many parishes embracing social media and establishing accounts on services like Twitter and building Facebook Pages.  As I look at various parish websites that have staff email addresses posted I have noticed that many are obviously personal addresses (i.e. @Yahoo.com, @Live.com, etc.) I wonder how many parishes have a technology, [...]

As most internet users have found out, not all browsers are created equally.  Internet Explorer was basically the one most used for several years, but then quickly got tired of the fact that the internet moved faster but your browser didn’t.  Or that they made the application increasingly more complicated to the point of not [...]

Ever since I was a kid I have loved music.  I remember spending hours sifting through and listening to 45′s (yes, I’m that old).  Later on, like many people, I amassed the large number albums, then cassettes, and then CD’s.  There was always a few problems I ran into with these: Storage Finding the music [...]

If you’re a Google user like me you probably noticed what seemed to be “rapid fire” changes this past year. All of which were great changes too. Let’s take a look: Google+ – A lot of people have mistakenly approached Google+ as simply a competitor to Facebook.  In all honesty, Google+ is what Facebook has [...]

The past two weekends my wife and I traveled to visit family.  I’m a fan of traveling, but I’ve never been a fan of packing.  In addition to clothes and toiletries, now we have to be concerned with access to business stuff plus you want stuff to do.  So here’s what we took in addition to our [...]

The Parish Website is becoming more and more common.  Most parishioners think the parish needs one, and most Pastors want one.  I’m a firm believer that every parish should have a website.  It’s my firm belief that the parish website’s purpose is to serve as a community hub and 24/7 extension of your parish office. [...]

So Google+ Pages went live this past week.  Someone in your parish office or a parishioner might even suggested that your parish set one up.  Then the thought comes to your mind, “Well, we have that Facebook page they told us we should get; why do we need another one somewhere else?”  Good question, and [...]

As most know, Google+ launched a while ago and one thing I have particularly loved about it is the strong Catholic user presence on the service.  Up until yesterday the service lacked the ability for organizations and brands to have their own “page” like Facebook Pages.  So the announcement yesterday was very welcome news.  I [...]

Facebook pages can have great uses for our parishes, and any Facebook user has probably ‘Liked’ a page or two.  As ‘Admins’ of those pages we know we need to get those ‘Likes’ right?  And building the number of those ‘Likes’ is paramount often times for us too.  But have you ever wondered why someone [...]

If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! (1 Corinthians: 16) Not too long ago within some conversations the phrase “new evangelization” came up.  I have to confess that I was not [...]

Yes, I’m an Android user.  One of the first things I looked for was Catholic Apps for Android and found several, but we’ll focus on two here. The first is Catholic One by Aycka Soft.  This free app provides users with: Daily readings Prayers Rosary Access to the NAB Bible (when online only) Aycka Soft has been [...]

If you weren’t aware, October has been National Anti-Bullying Month.   When I hear the word “bully”, it sometimes seems harmless.  I picture that kid on the movie A Christmas Story.  The truth is that it’s not harmless.  In recent years it’s even been taken to another level with technology to what is now called [...]

This past year I read a great book by Jennifer Haigh called “Faith”.   The story begins in Boston in the 50′s and I remember this one little part standing out to me.  The Mother in the story gets her rosary, sits next to an open window in her apartment, and participates in a group [...]

I checked in at Google+ this morning and was surprised to see a user post that he just deactivated his Facebook account.  The question that immediately came up for me, “Why would he do that?”  As online social networking is evolving many are left wondering which one to use or use multiple services.  The other [...]

As the conversation continues about technology and the Church, those advocating it’s uses encounter a lot of objections.  The objections interestingly seem to be pretty consistent.  It came up again last night in a phone conversation and today online, and a question has been going through my mind for a while now . . . [...]

I’m sure there are Pastors out there getting the constant barrage of “we gotta be on Facebook”, “we gotta be on Twitter”, “we gotta get a better website”, so forth and so on.  I’m also sure that many Pastors are also similarly asking “Why?” which is where the conversation is often taking a “nose-dive”.  I [...]

If you’ve stopped into Facebook within the past week or turned on the news, you’ve probably seen and heard about big changes to the service format and features.  You’ve probably seen opinions that range from extreme displeasure to not knowing what to think.  It seems strange that a free internet service causes such huge stirs [...]