Catholic Tech Talk

For those who has gotten involved in integrating tech within your parish, you probably know all too well that it can be easy to get overwhelmed and get distracted.  I know for one that I can tend to want to do it all . . . right away.  And my plans at times have been [...]

So you’re venturing into a new project at your parish, or you’re getting a bit lost in the tech stuff for your parish . . . what do you do?  The simple answer . . . ask another parish or ask another Catholic involved in tech for our unique environments.  We’re becoming an ever-growing sub-culture [...]

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 [...]

The other day a friend of mine posted a link to an article where a Pinterest user had come to some point where she felt uncomfortable with using the service and violating copyrights.  The writer was a not only a photographer, but a lawyer.  After reading the article, my friend (who has been an artist [...]

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 [...]

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 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 [...]

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 [...]

As someone who works full-time in support of helping parishes increase their ability to communicate and engage their parishioners, I am all too often confronted with the lack of familiarity and use of technology by parishes. It is infrequent, even at some of the larger and more financially blessed parishes, that I find a strong [...]

Yup, it’s that time of year again . . . Back To School.  Parents are gathering supplies and getting ready for that first day (if it hasn’t already come like here in Florida).  And this year, students may have something different in the backpacks . . . a tablet or ereader.  Many are still trying [...]

I was an avid user of Microsoft Outlook Express and then Outlook for many years.  I liked the organization features (I despise paper planners) and having my calendar, contacts, and messaging all in one place that linked them together.  There were two things that I never liked: Having access to the information away from my [...]

First of all, I would like to introduce the newest convert To the Catholic Faith, my iPad! I have over the last week successfully transformed it into the “cathPad”. I will give an overview of the apps I have installed as well as tips and tricks that you can use when that Protestant is trying [...]

Most people today have multiple ways to be contacted.  We have multiple email addresses (personal and work), Facebook accounts, multiple phones (home, work, cell); and it can get confusing how to manage it all.  In fact, it can become so difficult that messages can often go missed.  In essence, we have all these great tools [...]