Catholic Tech Talk

The ashes we’ll wear tomorrow will be an outward sign of penance and contrition. As an outward sign during Lent online, I created a graphic to replace my Facebook and Google+ profile pictures with. I’d love to see other people use this as well—let’s create awareness online and remind ourselves and our Christian brothers and [...]

Since Google+’s launch, I’ve been a big fan of it.  It’s often misunderstood as “just another social network” in my opinion, because it’s actually far more than that.  And it’s not at all a simple “apples to apples” comparison with Facebook.  Facebook definitely has benefits to opening up new communication avenues for parishes and the Church [...]

One of my favorite Catholic rituals is the candle lighting at the Easter Vigil.  A few years ago I witnessed this event in a somewhat large parish from a balcony.  The whole worship space was pitch black.  In comes the newly lit Pascal Candle down the main aisle.  Candles of those in the pews on [...]

I truly have become a big fan of social networks such as Facebook and Google+ for parishes.  These systems allow for our faith communities to become connected and a part of everyday lives like never before.  One of the things I love about them is event sharing and keeping photos of events for everyone to [...]

For years backups have always been a challenge.  For anyone else who has lost a hard drive or had a computer crash you know the importance of backing up your files and data.  The solution has often been a local external hard drive connected to the computer and or a local network.  This is ok [...]

It’s been about 9 months since Google+ has launched, and many of us have gotten a good idea of what it’s all about and how it can best  be used.   The biggest misconception I’ve found is the tendency to try and understand the service through a simple “apples to apples” comparison with Facebook.  The [...]

You’ve probably heard about the potential benefits for your parish.  You’ve read about it here.  You’ve heard me say it.  Even some Bishops are tweeting.  The Facebook thing looks great.  Google+ looks interesting.  So you and the Pastor decide to give it a go.  You set up all the accounts, do your customization, you tweet, you [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]