Tech Tips for Catholics

If you follow us on Twitter, then you know how much we love Kickstarter.com.  Kickstarter is a fun way to fund creative projects.  So, whether you are a Christian musician trying to fund your album, an artist trying to inspire, a software developer with an idea for a game, or someone with an idea for a book and a board game, Kickstarter is a super, great way to get others involved.  What we love about Kickstarter is the community aspect of it.  I have personally created one project and have backed several other worthy projects.

Why really great projects do not succeed…

1. You have no clear vision for your project: If you don’t know exactly what you want out of your project, how do you expect others to be on board?
2. Your project lacks a personal connection: Kickstarter people are real people, doing what they love.  Show your passion. Tell your story.  If your kickstart does not feature a good pitch video, of you, then your project is destined to fail!  Just be yourself and have fun with it.
3. You spam, rather than share: Sending out unsolicited @ tweets makes the rest of the Kickstarter community look bad.  A status update, letting those in your social network(s) know about the project is fine (just don’t over do it!)  Letting your family and friends know about your exciting project is totally acceptable and encouraged.  Podcasting and blogging are other great ways to share your project with others on a personal level.  If your project is creative enough, the buzz may come naturally.
4. You have lame backer rewards: One of the cool things about Kickstarter is the ability to create fantastic rewards for different level of support.  The more special the reward, the more support you will have for your project.  Spend some time looking at what other successful projects have offered to get an idea of what works and what doesn’t.
5. Your goal is too high: Because Kickstarter uses All-or-nothing funding, it is more important to reach your goal, than it is to reach the amount you hope you can get to fully fund your project.  If you go above and beyond your goal, then great!  But, if you do not reach your goal, then you get nothing.  Some people that you see often, and who want to support your project, but do not feel comfortable using Amazon payments, will probably provide funds the old fission way.

We hope to support your Catholic Kickstarter in the near future.  If you kickstart a  project and you would like to plug it in the comments section below, please do!
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[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/24431752[/vimeo]

My wife and I taught 7th Grade CCD and the room that we used had a smart board, but we were not allowed to use it : (  Personally I’m pretty old fashion when it comes to education (I think I watch too much “Little House on the Prairie”.)

If you are a teacher, do you use a smart board or some other form of technology in the classroom (besides an electric pencil sharpener?)

Here is a video of Greg & Jennifer, from The Catholics Next Door, testing out the new uStream iPhone App during their show.

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In this YouTube Video, Eric Giler demos MIT’s breakthrough version of WiTricity.  This was recorded back in July, at TED Global 2009, in Oxford, England.

Below are some related links to this topic:

• WiTricity Technology: The Basics
• TED Global 2010 (July 13-16, 2010)

Skype launches its iPhone application today!  The app itself is free and lets you make calls and chat with other Skypers over WiFi networks.  You’ll notice that the current reviews left by users talk about how the app crashes constantly.  What I think is funny is their disclaimer, “Skype is not responsible for errors or crashes which result from changes to the underlying iPhone OS.”  You can download the Skype iPhone App here.

Here are some screenshots for what it’s worth:

If you’ve installed this app, we’d love to hear your comments.

Not to be confused with “iMissle”, the portable thermonuclear warhead launcher for the iPhone, iMissal, from Cantcha Inc. (www.cantcha.com) is the iPhone’s first digital Sunday Missal.

Cheese and crackers! What’s a Missal?!? That’s what I often heard as a youth minister working with Catholic teens. A Missal is, according to Wikipedia, a liturgical book containing all instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the year. Plain and simple, it lets you follow the Mass from beginning to end including the Mass readings and all the text of the prayers said in the Order of the Mass. It’s a tradition that goes way back to at least 1570. So how does iMissal work as a Missal in the digital age? Read on to find out.

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On March 31st, 2009, Mevio plans to discontinue the sale & support of the recording software known as CastBlaster (which was created by Mike Versteeg, creator of other popular programs like VidBlaster, WinPodder, and Mscan Meteo).  But not to worry, Mike and his company, CombiTech, have been working on a new program called StudioRack.  StudioRack has recently been made available to the public as a free trial download.

If you are using a hardware mixer, StudioRack does everything CastBlaster does and more!

There are currently three editions:  StudioRack Trial (everything enabled but the Load Profile command), StudioRack Audio (does not include the AV Client), and StudioRack Pro (all features enabled).

Note: StudioRack is currently only compatible with Windows.

So PodCasters, give it a try and see what you think.  Post any comments here.  And since StudioRack is in the first stages of public beta, feel free to post any suggestions to the Think Tank on the StudioRack Forums.

Also, make sure you check out Mike’s podcast.

Below are some related links to this topic:

• Editing and Creating Shortcuts in Audacity
• Is your RSS feed valid?
• Shrink the Volume Control Panel in XP

According to the BlueInstinct website, “iConfess was created in order to make it easier for [Catholic Christians] to have a good Confession.”

iConfess Features Include:

• About Confession
• Examination of Conscience
• Prayers for Confession
• Click here to view more

One of the neat features, is the ability to tag specific content so that you can easily come back to it when needed.  Plus it has a search function so that you can search for key words or phrases.

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You can purchase the iConfess app on iTunes.

Below are some related links to this topic:

• Advent App for the iPod Touch & Apple iPhone
• Mobile Catholic Prayerbook
• Scripture, Reflections & Prayer

Amazon recently announced the availability of the new Kindle 2 App for the ubiquitous iPhone. As an iPhone owner and someone who’s been coveting the Kindle 2: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation) since its release, I hustled over to the iTunes app store to download the free application.

I’ve had Stanza on my iPhone for a few months and have been slowly working my way through my free download of Emma. The truth is, I don’t have a lot of time these days to cuddle up with fiction, so I’ve wondered how much I would truly use the Kindle 2. I’m attracted by the thought of discontinuing my periodical subscriptions and going paperless via the Kindle. As of now, the Kindle iPhone app will not allow access to periodicals.

Having downloaded the app, I’ve used it to get a few sample chapters of books that have caught my eye. At this point, however, I likely wouldn’t actually purchase a full Kindle book and read it on my iPhone. For the brief amount of time I spend reading on the iPhone, I will likely stick with sample chapters or free downloads of classics via Stanza.

It’s not surprising that a free app won’t replace a $359 tech toy. For a complete and extremely thorough look at this new iPhone app compliment to the Kindle 2, check out this awesome article by CNET’s Nicole Lee, who owns the real thing!

This post is courtesy of the Productivity @ Home Blog.

Every Friday I normally post the top 5 favorite blogposts that I’ve come across throughout the week, however this week I have decided to post my top 5 links about Twitter API (and creating Twitter Apps)  So, What is an API you ask?  It stands for application programming interface and it controls the behavior of various functions of an operating system, library or web service.  An API protocol or language can support the building of third-party applications.

The following five links can help those whom are interested in building a Twitter App (hopefully one that will help build up God’s kingdom).

1.  Twitter API wiki.
2.  “Twitter API: Up and Running” by Kevin Makice (Book)
3.  50 Twitter Tools and Tutorials For Designers and Developers
4.  Twitter API for Dummies
5.  Send message from a PHP page using Twitter API

You can see what others are doing with the Twitter API for some inspiration.  Perhaps you have some ideas of your own!  If you build a Christian App, let us know about it and we’ll feature it on our blog.

Have a great weekend!

Joshua