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Pics & Vids from the Media & Faith Conference

Catholic Tech Tips — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:01:37 +0000

Last year or so, I attended the Media & Faith Conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. The conference featured several well known freelance authors and journalists, a television news anchor, independent video producers, podcasters, bloggers, and students and faculty from surrounding Christian colleges.

These are the only pictures that half turned out from this fun-filled event! I had boughten a cheep B&W throw-away-camera at a gas station on the way there, because I realized that I had forgotten our digital at home : (

I really enjoyed this conference and getting to meet so many new friends. It was also really cool hangin’ out with all the SQPN people! There were many non-SQPN speakers that were also excellent. Sherry Kennedy Brownrigg and Michael Kreidler were of my favorites. I also got to hang out with my cousin Ross, who is a graduate of Steubie U, and spent some time in Prayer & Adoration too!

Me & Fr. Roderick Vonhögen of SQPN.com

George Leite of the Catholic Rockers Podcast, Dr. Paul Camarata of The SaintCast, Myself of The Perseverance Podcast, and Fr. Bill Kessler of TechnoPriest.

Me with Jennifer & Greg Willits of the Rosary Army Podcast. If I would have known they were smiling so nicely, I wouldn’t have thrown two thumbs up (which were cropped out of the picture)! Hints why my smile is such a weird looking one : )

Some friends I met from Lancaster, PA!

I finally got around to posting some of the talks from this conference onto the world wide web. Here is the opening talk by Fr. Roderick. You can view this talk in its entirety here.

There used to be some of the other talks on uStream, however they have since been taken down, which is kind of sad. I did some searching on YouTube, but the only video that I was able to find was this video by Susan Bailey.

Here is the list of talks that were taken down from uStream: The closing talk with Rosary Army and the open-forum with a pannel from SQPN. “Web 2.0: Challenges and Opportunities” presented by Eugene Gan, David Schaefer, Ruth Lang, Wally Metts. “To Liturgy…and Beyond: Boldly Bringing Catholic Music to the People” presented by Susan Bailey and George Leite. Friday Evening Opening Talk by Fr. Roderick Verhogen.

If anyone has this footage posted somewhere else online, let me know! I’d love to link to it.

College Admissions and Facebook: To Friend or Not To Friend?

Catholic Tech Tips — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:28:55 +0000

Many of you know that my son Eric is in the throes of applying to college. It’s likely during the next several months that I’ll be writing a great deal on this topic, not only for those of you with high school seniors, but also for those with younger children too. You’d be amazed how quickly this process sneaks up on you, and it seems impossible to be “overprepared” to apply to college.

So many things have changed since I applied to college, including the many technological advances that now exist. So when I ran across this USA Today article this week entitled To friend or not to friend? College admissions in the age of Facebook, it caught my eye immediately. This article deals with the ethical issues that surround college admissions officers’ use of social networking sites. Here’s an amazing statistic from the article:

While 86% of college students have a Facebook account, according to a 2008 survey by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, only 13% of the 401 admissions officials surveyed this year say their schools have a policy about interacting with students on social networking sites, Olson says. “That’s the picture of the changing landscape that we are in right now.”

I’m certain that most of you with teens who are online are carefully supervising your kids’ use of tools such as Facebook. But it’s worth having a discussion today about the types of “friends” your child should be accepting online. We had a personal experience of this during the summer, when Eric received a personal letter from the Dean of Admissions at an Ivy League school. This professional shared all of the usual information about their wonderful college and then invited Eric to be his “friend” on Facebook. Thankfully, I was standing nearby when my son zealously grabbed the letter and headed to the computer. I was able to stop him and have an immediate conversation about the propriety of this use of Facebook. While I’m certain that the college official in question is likely simply using Facebook as another marketing tool, we were able to discuss the importance of Eric’s personal profile – both his own postings there and what his friends write on his profile.

It seems that history is now being written about the role of Social Networking profiles in the college admissions process. We’ve always discussed around our home the need for Eric to have the attitude that his Facebook profile serves in a way as his “online resume”. In other words, don’t post (or allow the posting of) anything you wouldn’t want a potential college or future employer to consider.

For those of you who use Facebook or have teens who are on any social networking site, I’m curious to hear how you handle these issues around your home. How do you regularly monitor your child’s online presence? Do you feel it is ethical for colleges and universities to consider information posted online as part of the application process? Please chime in with your thoughts!

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

Social Media Do’s & Don’ts for College Students

Catholic Tech Tips — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:27:26 +0000

Over at UniversityParent.com, there is a terrific article entitled Social Media Do’s and Don’ts for College Students. The facts and ideas presented in this column are important to review with your children of any age who may be using Social Media. Around our house, my kids are constantly reminded that their Facebook pages are their “online resumes” — future college choices, employers, and even their own parents will be closely watching their online activities and judging their characters as a result.

The information in this article is also pertinent to adults of any age who are active online. Think twice before you type, post a photo or video, or hit “send”.

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

Are you giving up Social-Networking this Lent?

Catholic Tech Tips — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:21:21 +0000

The topic of giving up social networking for Lent has come up quite a bit. I have been pondering the idea for about a week-and-a-half now. I normally give up pop (that’s soda for you whom are living outside the Ohio limits ; ) Friends keep asking me what I am giving up for Lent and before I can reply they say, “Don’t tell me you are giving up pop again” (in that tone of voice too). “I think you should give up Twitter,” one friend uttered. To be honest, I didn’t like the sound of it, but upon further prayer and reflection, I have come to the conclusion that this would be the best thing for me to give up this Lent.

So for those like Lindsey Turrentine, the author of “How to give up Facebook for Lent and keep your friends” (who is not even Catholic) and myself, here are some Lenten avatars that you are welcome to use.

I will continue posting to the blog, but other than that, I’ll be focusing on Scripture study and Prayer this Lent.

Below are some related links to this topic:

Simple, but Useful flockNote Facebook App

Catholic Tech Tips — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:09:40 +0000

The ever growing flockNote has come out with a nifty, little Facebook App. What this application does is allows you to view your subscribed feeds within Facebook. It can save you quite a bit of time — I know Lisa Hendey likes the sound of that!

Here are some important things you need to know about the App: Currently, Facebook does not have a developer function to prompt the user to bookmark Apps. User’s tend to load an App and then can’t figure out how to get back to it! So follow the steps below to ensure a successful install.

Step 1: Login to flockNote.

Step 2: Go to http://apps.facebook.com/flocknote/ and follow the instructions.

Step 3: Be sure to “Bookmark flockNote for Catholics Application”

Note: You can use this Bookmark feature for other Apps too.

Enjoy : )

Below are some related links to flockNote:

How Long? Bad Robot.

Catholic Tech Tips — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:34:39 +0000

Season 5 is closely upon us! And if you are as excited as I am, then you might want to check out this very cool widget!

Catholic Tech Tips >> sdıʇ ɥɔǝʇ ɔıloɥʇɐɔ

Catholic Tech Tips — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:33:11 +0000

Flip Title is a site where you can easily generate upside down text. You can use this generated text in a couple of different ways:

IM screen names
Put it in your profiles like MySpace, Bebo, Hi5, Facebook, Youtube
Create strong passwords
Encrypt your download links to prevent leechers
Freak your friends

Now, I think this is somewhat annoying if you are using this to micro-blog, but I kind of like the idea of using it to create strong passwords, encrypt download links, and to freak out your friends : )

Enjoy!

Add the “Blog Networks” to your Facebook

Catholic Tech Tips — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:52:18 +0000

Even though I rarely log onto Facebook anymore, here is a nice application I noticed on a friend’s page. It is the Blog Networks App. If you have a blog of your own, this may be a good way to widen your reader base.

After you have activated this app you can…

Search for your favorite blogs on the Blog Networks. (someone may have already added them)
Add Catholic Tech Tips to your list of fave’s. Thanks! : )
Add any of your favorite blogs not already in the Blog Networks and help them gain exposure.

This is what it will look like if you add your list to your profile page.

Below are some related links to this topic:

What is going on with all the social networking sites?

Catholic Tech Tips — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:52:08 +0000

Like the different divisions within the Protestant Reformation, some of the social networking identities are “throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” for the sake of “unity.”

Both MyChurch.org and MySpace have been making changes to be more like Facebook (or so it seems). Facebook is making changes to try and distance itself from the copy-cats (or so it seems). Then MyChurch.org goes and tries to copy the changes that Facebook is making (or so it seems).

MySpace has managed to implement some of Facebook’s features pretty well. I just hope they don’t go even further and try to copy facbook’s latest changes. This is what MyChurch.org is dong and it will probably backfire on them. I wonder, how many less people are logging onto Facebook since the new changes? The only time I log onto Facebook anymore is to check a post someone has left on my wall or to view my friends’ pictures. MyChurch.org is headed that direction. I find myself using MySpace more than I previously had been.

MyChurch had some neat things that set them apart from other social networking sites and these are some of the things they are getting throwing out. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

4marks.com, which is similar to Facebook, has not made the switch to the new Facebook format yet. Who knows, they may become my new social networking home. I do like their built-in poll feature. I stumbled upon 4marks a long time ago, but you had to pay a monthly fee to use many of its features. They have since opened it up and you can now use these features free of charge.

I would be interested to hear what features our readers like about their favorite social networking sites and what they dislike. Click here to take part in the discussion.

Below are some related links about Online Social Networking:

Hate the New Facebook? Go “Back to the old Facebook!”

Catholic Tech Tips — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:51:50 +0000

I was having a conversation on MyChurch.org about how much I despise the new profile layout on Facebook. Others shared the same sentiment. One of the other members pointed out that at the top right corner of your Facebook profile page is a link that says “Back to the old Facebook.” Click it! : )